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The 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.

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Here are five choice articles from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about measuring corporate performance, choosing, Harry and David, social networks at work, and mindful leadership.

From Emory: Assessing the Pitfalls of Corporate Performance Measurements
"While corporations routinely utilize scorecard measurements to evaluate their strategic performance, the interpretation of this data can sometimes be clouded by the preconceived notions and motivations of those in charge, says William B. Tayler, assistant professor of accounting at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. In a research paper titled “The Balanced Scorecard as a Strategy-Evaluation Tool: The Effects of Responsibility and Causal-Chain Focus,” Tayler discusses how managers are more likely to favorably review the corporate initiatives they created."

Wally's Comment: This seems like common sense, but it's only one of many ways that we humans make bad judgments. One of the best lists of cognitive biases that I've come across is on Wikipedia, with links to more information.

From Kellogg Insight: Pick a Rule, Any Rule
"Pepsi or Coke? Coffee or tea? Over-easy or scrambled? Economists Christoph Kuzmics, an assistant professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management, and Olivier Gossner, a professor at the Paris School of Economics, don’t debate the appeal of Coke versus the underdog draw of its rival. Instead, they ponder why people care in the first place. “If one thing is better than the other, why does the worse one still exist?” Kuzmics asks rhetorically. “And if neither choice matters, why do we have such strong preferences?”

Wally's Comment: Here's another article about decisions and choice. In this one, researchers try to tease out where certain biases come from.

From the LA Times: A century-old merchant's decline
"Harry & David promises 'happiness delivered' with its gourmet foods. But the mood's not so happy inside the firm, where cost-cutting since a private equity firm took over belies a folksy public face."

Wally's Comment: The recession has not been kind to retailers in general, especially those selling what might be deemed "luxury goods." For background on Harry & David, read this Portland Oregonian article from early 2009: "Harry & David layoffs calculated to position company for retail revival."

From Workforce Management: Social Work
"To satisfy employees' need to feel connected, a growing number of companies are developing their own social networks."

Wally's Comment: The phrase "social networks" is used in two ways and that's sometimes confusing. The article concentrates on the technology of social networks.

These technologies set out to re-create the "get-together" that happens in many businesses at the beginning or end of the day. Technicians pick up their assignments and then all show up at the same coffee shop to chat before hitting the road. Salespeople stop at the office or a favorite watering hole at the end of the day for a chat that's mostly shoptalk.

But the phrase is also used to describe the social ways that people are connected to each other. For more on that read, "Connecting the Corporate Dots: Social Networks Reveal How Employees and Companies Operate" and a review of five important books titled "On Trust and Culture."

From HBS Working Knowledge: Mindful Leadership: When East Meets West
"Asian beliefs, philosophies, and practices are influencing everything from the way we treat the ill to how we make cars. Now, a Harvard Business School professor is looking to the East as a model for developing strong business leaders. William George, an expert on leadership development, recently teamed with Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche to present a conference on "mindful leadership," a secular process to explore the roles of self-awareness and self-compassion in developing strong and effective leaders."

Wally's Comment: All the work on mindfulness ultimately goes back to the Eightfold Path of Buddhism even though the term is used in Western psychology in a slightly different way. What makes this article especially powerful to me is the attempt to bring together Eastern and Western concepts and practices in a way that can help you become more self-aware.

For a general article on mindfulness in the context of Western psychology, read "The Cause and Effect of Mindful Leadership," by Ronald Alexander.

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to check back on Wednesday when I select five excellent posts from the week's independent business blogs. Last week I highlighted posts on some lessons from Gilbert and Sullivan, the real purpose of delegation, reorganization, hedgehogs, and social media and leadership.

The most popular post on my blog last week was "Performance Evaluation Made Simple".

And be sure to find out more about my latest book, Ruthless Focus: How to use key core strategies to grow your business or just jump right over to Amazon and buy a few.

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.