Business School management article in UK Top 5

In it, they argued that businesses, through their capacity to innovate, are uniquely placed – more so than governments or civic society - to address contemporary sustainability challenges, and that some enlightened businesses are taking the lead. They are moving towards a way of working that has a net positive effect on society and the environment. The authors describe three phases an organisation can move through, from being more efficient and reducing harm, to a second phase of innovating new ways of working, towards a third level where a business is properly viewed as part of an interdependent society and environment working toward sustainable objectives.

Richard Adams lead author of the article commented: “We are thrilled to have been recognised as one of the Top 5 articles and encouraged that our work is resonating with our peers and practitioners alike. The framework we have suggested enables companies to easily identify where they are on the journey and plan more effectively on how to move themselves on to the next phase.”

Routes to innovation and growth were at the heart of this year’s collection of the CMI Management Articles of the Year, with topics ranging from the use of competitions to solve complex business issues to innovating for sustainable business.

The competition aims to reduce the gap between theory and practice in management and leadership, by directing time-poor managers to the five articles from the past year their peers believe will most help boost performance.

Petra Wilton, Director of Strategy at the CMI (Chartered Management Institute), said: “This competition helps managers to get their hands on the best of academic research and thinking.”

Articles were submitted to the competition by academics which were then reviewed and rated online by CMI members. Those with the highest ratings were then assessed by CMI’s Academic Advisory Council, a committee of leading UK academics, who selected the following as the top five and overall winner. The other articles were:

• The Fatal Bias: the prevailing managerial bias towards cost efficiency is seriously harmful to corporate performance by Dr Jules Goddard,Fellow, London Business School (overall winner).
• Does Management Really Work? How three essential practices can address even the most complex global problems by Professor Nicholas Bloom, Professor of Economics at Stanford University, Professor Raffaella Sadun, Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School, Professor John Van Reenen, Director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Managing for sustainable employee engagement by Dr Rachel Lewis, Lecturer and Course Director in Occupational and Business Psychology at Kingston Business School and Director of Affinity Health at Work and Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Occupational Psychologist and Director of Affinity Health at Work.
• Test-Driving the Future: how design competitions are changing innovation by Professor Joseph Lampel, Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Cass Business School, City University, London, Dr Pushkar P Jha, Lecturer in Strategy at Newcastle University Business School and Professor Ajay Bhalla, Professor of Global Innovation Management at Cass Business School, City University, London.

To download the articles or find out more about the competition, visit the CMI website. Entries can be submitted for next year’s competition from the 7 March 2014 by visiting the CMI website. CMI Management Articles of the Year is supported by the British Academy of Management, the Association of Business Schools and the British Library, and is sponsored by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.