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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about old and new networks, Microsoft, Campbell's, CEO's and golf, and micro-distillers.

From the Economist: Insider out
"Old-fashioned networks—alumni associations, social cliques and religious groups—continue to exert a surprisingly powerful influence on business around the world (see article). In French firms, where networks are particularly widespread, outsiders can find themselves struggling to navigate their way among the énarques and polytechniciens from the elite schools, not to mention all those masons. Fortunately, digital technology appears to be thundering to the rescue of anyone blackballed by the old-style networks. For those denied entry even by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, a declining American fraternal order, there is now a wide range of online business-networking sites. On LinkedIn, based in America, Xing, headquartered in Germany, or France’s Viadeo, members can meet and keep track of dozens of contacts, with no need to perform strange rituals. Such sites transform every employee into an entrepreneur and facilitate all sorts of connections. Surely LinkedIn, which has members in over 200 countries, is likely to be a more fertile source of contacts than a college reunion dinner?"

Wally's Comment: Will the new, online social networks replace more traditional networks? My guess is "probably not." Deep, experience-based social connections will always trump wider, but weaker networks. Even so, online social networks will be an important part of the future. The Economist shares their analysis.

From Business Week: Microsoft Defends Its Empire
"Microsoft is under siege from rivals offering cheap or free software on the Web. So it's revamping its Office suite and shifting into online services"

Wally's Comment: People have been predicting the death of the Dinosaur from Redmond at the hands of the net for over a decade. Is now the time? Or will Microsoft learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome?

From Forbes: How Employee Engagement Turned Around Campbell's
"When Douglas Conant was brought in from Nabisco to be chief executive officer of the Campbell Soup Co. in 2001, Campbell had devolved into what one magazine called "a beleaguered old brand." Sales for its largest product line, condensed soups, had declined amid intense competition, and the company was rumored to be near being taken over by one of the food industry's best performers. Eight years later, Conant is well on his way to fulfilling the mission he then set for himself, taking what he called a "bad" company and lifting its performance to "extraordinary." He has done it with cost-cutting, smart innovations, increased marketing and, especially, a concerted effort to reinvigorate the workforce."

Wally's Comment: The title of this piece implies that Conant set out to improve engagement directly. That's not exactly true. He set out to improve performance and morale. He says: "We can use engagement as a tool to measure our progress in building a high-performance culture and to set higher standards for our leaders." The idea is to be more productive, not just to be engaged. We can use what we know about engagement to get an idea of what to do and as one measure of how we're doing.

From USA Today: In bad economy, CEOs don't want to be seen playing golf
 "Many CEOs have been shamed into playing less golf, or at least humiliated enough by their tanking public image to play their rounds on the sly."

Wally's Comment: Great article by Del Jones. I can imagine CEOs thinking, "Well, we can't look successful anymore. Quick, everybody look like the little people until the media goes away."

From Entrepreneur: Make Room at the Bar
"America's micro-distillers are causing drinkers--and the liquor establishment--to take notice."

Wally's Comment: First it was American wine. Then beer. Now liquor. The question is, will consumers see craft liquor as an extravagance or a small, affordable luxury?

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.