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Distinctive Living: Morocco
Morocco is working hard to attract tourists and international property investors
Principal content
Mastering uncertainty
In an uncertain world, it is impossible to predict how change and other powerful forces will affect your business. So, how can companies plan for the future and how can they have confidence in their decision-making? Over the next four weeks, Mastering Uncertainty will explore these and many other questions. - -
Difficult decisions for an uncertain world
It is impossible for companies to predict or control how competition, macroeconomics, technology and other powerful external variables will interact to create new opportunities and threats. In this state of unforgiving uncertainty, managers must develop ways to anticipate and respond to novel situations
Europe’s transition to IFRS
Europe is in the middle of the most far-reaching accounting change process in its history. So, what will be the impact of these changes, and will they increase the volatility of financial reports?
An even-handed response to an uncertain context
Adaptability to a changing environment is not sufficent as a response to uncertainty, says Julian Birkinshaw. In addition, companies need to have alignment around their existing activities. It is only by this dual focus that they can achieve ambidexterity
Out with the old, in with the new
Pablo Martin de Holan argues that companies facing novel situations will only be successful if they can discard, or “forget”, knowledge and practices that belong in the past
Past experience points the way to the future
Eric K Clemons writes that it is only by looking for patterns and understanding historical precedents that managers have any hope of converting an uncertain situation into one that is merely risky
The ghost in the machine
Chaos in supply chains is more likely to be generated by the systems we use than by external events, says Richard Wilding
More than idle chatter
Conversation is the central mechanism for co-ordinating activity across the organisation. Donald Sull and Ben Bryant argue that, when discussions are properly managed, they give companies a better chance of handling uncertainty
Avoiding unrest in a volatile environment
Navigating political uncertainty poses a significant challenge for business. As Ethan Kapstein explains, there are two broad approaches that companies can take to help them steer a safe course
The price is not always right
Confident pricing can be an effective shield against uncertainty, writes Tony Cram. But getting it right demands a new process
When alarm bells ring
Uncertain situations can be a source of great anxiety. If they are to prevent poor outcomes, managers will need to respond creatively and avoid common traps, say Paul Dobson and Richard Donkin
