Word: authorization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...from Mandalay, Burma's last royal capital, he dropped out of high school and worked in a post office before joining officer-training school and rising up through the military ranks, specializing in psychological warfare. Unquestioning loyalty was "the secret of his success," says Benedict Rogers, co-author of a forthcoming book called Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant. "He always followed orders. He was never seen by anyone as a threat, and therefore was rewarded with promotions, precisely because he didn't really demonstrate any flair or initiative...
...entrench military rule but protect his legacy - and his skin. In 2002, suspecting a plot against him, Than Shwe put Ne Win, the man who had first elevated him to power, and his daughter under house arrest and jailed his grandsons. "Ne Win died in ignominy," says Christina Fink, author of Living Silence: Burma Under Military Rule, a landmark book about life under the junta. "Than Shwe must be painfully aware that the same could happen to him." The junta chief has another weakness: his family. He allows them "to run wild," says Rogers. In July 2006, his jewel-bedecked...
...seems overly simplistic, but much corporate strategy revolves around trying to grow a brand beyond its core market. (Think low-end Mercedes.) But it's not doable, says the author, who refers to this aspiration as the "fidelity mirage." It's a trap that companies frequently fall into. "Contrary to what many businesses want to believe, achieving both high fidelity and high convenience seems to be impossible," he writes. "It looks tempting. Some companies believe they can get there, and life will be beautiful. But as it turns out, any company or product that attempts to capture both is likely...
...author cites handbag maker Coach as a firm that fell to earth trying to bridge market segments. Since the 1970s, Coach had been known as a luxury brand with a status more like Louis Vuitton's or Hermès'. But from 2004 to early 2008, the company opened 94 new stores and dozens of outlet shops. By the end of 2007, same-store sales were dipping for the first time in years. Says the author: "Convenience acts like antimatter to aura and identity." Likewise, Motorola took its sleek, fashionable $400 Razr cell phone and flooded the market with...
...measure of how contentious work relationships can get that the author, a psychiatrist, draws on hostage-negotiation techniques to instruct readers on how to deal with "defiant executives, angry employees or self-destructing management teams." A frequent reaction to such recalcitrance is arguing. Stop raising your voice, says Goulston. A better course would be to "listen, ask, mirror, and reflect back to people what you've heard." By making people feel understood, you are likely to see a more conciliatory colleague. Mission accomplished...