The largest retailer in the world needs to find and train a new generation of management. It is promising college students and recent grads a path to become store managers in just two years and oh, make over $200 grand a year! — Overview How does $200 grand a year sound to you? Pretty good, eh? …

Why It’s in the Interest of All to Finally Deal with the Ultimate Threat — The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the unthinkable prospect of the use of nuclear weapons suddenly thinkable, at least for Vladimir Putin. Here’s why it is vital to understand and deal with the ultimate strategic threat for all of us — including companies Introduction Every student who has ever gone…

What is believed to be the first (and only) sports bar dedicated to women’s sports recently opened in Portland. How this new, innovative restaurant stands as a simple lesson in staking out a unique position for your business. — Overview A sports bar for women. No, it’s not an oxymoron — or a fantasy any longer. When you think of a sports bar, whether it be your favorite local place or a large chain, like Buffalo Wild Wings or Walk On’s, what image do you have in your mind? If…

The Refrigerated Food and Beverage Section in Stores Across the Country is Undergoing a Tech-based Remake — and Some Consumers Really Don’t Like the Changes. — Introduction It’s probably one of the oldest adages used in parenting. While the times and circumstances may change, it’s certainly one of “parenting’s greatest hits” that can be brought out time and time and time again. So whether we’re talking about the latest fad or new technology to come down the…

How Condor Airlines Boldly Remade Its Livery and Set an Example for Innovative Branding and Creative Decision Making in Marketing and Beyond — Overview The word for today is “livery.” It is a word with multiple meanings, as it connotes things from renting vehicles to housing horses to military uniforms. One of the meanings of livery, owing to a British origin, is that it is “a special pattern or design that is put on…

How foldable shipping containers may both help resolve problems in the global supply chain today and help transform the global economy in the process — Overview What does it mean to truly be disruptive today? We live in a world where we expect the unexpected. We have come to expect innovations in every industry that are game changers on a routine basis. In short, as Paul Simon once so aptly put it, we expect that we…

The Baltimore Museum of Art recently launched a special exhibit curated not by professionals, but by the security guards who guard the precious art pieces every day. What managers everywhere can and should learn from this artful case. — Overview As a management professor and consultant “of a certain age,” I can now say that I have studied, taught, talked, researched and written about management for over four decades. During the course of all of this, I have run across so many case studies and stories that are heralded as…

A simple lesson in being a good manager, a good leader, and a good person seen at the convenience store — Overview Even as one who has taught, studied and consulted on management for a long time, every once in a while you are lucky enough to see something in real life that can top any great case study, book, or article that you have ever read about what it really means…

The CEO of the mammoth Kohl’s retail chain recently announced a strategy that might have, at first blush, sounded more like a fake news story from “The Onion.” But here’s why the company’s radical shift in strategy might enable the company to survive in the fast-changing retail marketplace. — Overview If you were like me, you were scrolling Twitter a few days ago and suddenly the hashtag #Kohls was trending. In and amongst all the terrible and tragic news we face today coming out of Ukraine and the costly repercussions of the conflict here at home, one had to wonder…