PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

  Do we get the bosses we deserve?   Certainly, many of those leading organisations have views of their achievements that are poles apart to that of their employees. For example, a recent report from Deloitte showed a massive difference between those executives who felt they had done a good job supporting their staff during the last two years and those workers who felt otherwise.  Whilst nine out of ten of those in executive management said that they had understood what their employees had gone through the pandemic and they have made the best leadership decisions for the company, only half of their workers agreed with that sentiment. Perhaps the biggest problem, as this column as discussed previously, is that the style of leadership we see in an increasing number of organisations relies on individuals only being powerful because of their job or position, with this power acquired and maintained by a combination of patronage and fear rather than trust and respect. By h...

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been using my annual leave to catch up with some long overdue reading.  One of the books that I revisited was the autobiography of Jack Welch, the former CEO of global conglomerate General Electric and someone who is widely acknowledged to be one of the most astute and successful businessmen of the last 100 years. Obviously, there are many quotable sayings from the great man but one that I think that is pertinent to the challenges facing today’s economy is one he made at a symposium in Boston back in 2006 where he said that although people often think innovation is limited to practical scientific advances, it’s about much more than that. In fact, Welch always believed that to innovate something is as important as inventing it. In fact, a study from Jack Welch’s old employer GE showed that innovation is a key tool in developing a competitive advantage in a global economy but that businesses do not do that on their own. In fact, increasing collab...

Having worked with fast growing firms for over 20 years, I have found that one of the major barriers to the further expansion within small firms is the lack of strategic skills amongst entrepreneurs and their resistance to change. Many also fail to create a balanced management team and an organisational structure to support the delegation of decisions. Academics studying entrepreneurship have long recognised this as ‘Founder's Disease’ i.e. entrepreneurs who start up their new venture founders are unable to adapt to the needs of organisation as it grows. In some firms, this becomes such a major issue that if the founders continue to lead the business beyond the start-up phase, its performance will suffer and, in some instances, it may fail. To deal with this problem once it has been identified, the entrepreneur either has to learn a new set of skills or relinquish authority to someone else. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs cannot or will not break old habits to learn new sk...

On Monday, the final leadership campaign for the three main parties in Wales will be complete. This, in many ways is the most important as the next leader of the Welsh labour Party will also, unless there is political earthquake, become First Minister on the 12th of December. And the campaigns for the Labour leadership by Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan have generated many new policies that hopefully will not just be left on the campaign trail but will be considered for potential implementation during the remainder of this Assembly term. Unfortunately, this column will not do justice to all of the ideas that have emanated from all three campaigns so I will instead try to examine succinctly some of the big ideas from each of the candidates. The Finance Minister Mark Drakeford passionately believes that the creation of worthwhile, properly rewarded employment is the most effective way out of poverty, the best route to fulfilled lives, and has a positive impact o...

Following the recent elections for the leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly, the next political party to have a leadership election is Plaid Cymru. Given that it has already been in coalition with Labour between 2007 and 2011 and there is a high possibility, if there is no overall majority, that this may happen again, it is worth examining the economic policies of the three candidates as one of them could well be responsible for the Welsh economy after the next election. Let’s start with the current leader, Leanne Wood, who has argued that the structure of the British economy - which she suggests is based on selling financial services of dubious actual value around the world, and on property bubbles in big cities. This stifles enterprise in a small rural economy like Wales that is rich in natural resources while dragging its young people to the south east to work in jobs that may be financially rewarding, but are often of limited social worth. Under her co...

Over the next few months, the three main parties in the National Assembly for Wales will be holding contests to elect new leaders for their groups. First up will be the Welsh Conservatives, who will be choosing between Paul Davies, the AM for Preseli Pembrokeshire, and Suzy Davies, regional AM for South Wales West with a decision due on the 6th of September. Given that the Welsh Conservatives are the second largest party in the National Assembly and the official opposition, their new leader will be taking the lead in scrutinising the Welsh Government in how they are running the economy and supporting the business community. So what are some of the highlights for business from each of candidates’ manifestos? Not surprisingly, both are in favour of a low tax economy with Paul Davies suggesting that with additional powers being devolved there should be a debate to cut taxation in wales, arguing that this would increase efficiency in the Welsh economy, be more attractive to succe...

An increasingly complex business environment, where rapid changes in technology, competition, regulation and customer needs are the norm, has led to the search for new ways in which organisations can develop the right capabilities by which they can continuously anticipate the need for change. In particular, effective entrepreneurial leadership is becoming increasingly important in ensuring that organisations adapt quickly to changes in today’s fast moving global economy. But what is entrepreneurial leadership and what does it mean for those working with such an individual? Various studies have shown entrepreneurial leadership is actually not one particular trait but actually a range of different personal attributes. These include the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically and work with others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organisation. However, the most critical defining factor is that good entrepreneurial lea...

With many predicting that David Cameron would have to stand down as Conservative leader in the event of not winning the 2015 general election, the majority obtained by the Conservatives means that leaders of three of the UK’s other political parties resigned their positions on Friday, although Nigel Farage has since declared he is now staying in charge of UKIP. Therefore, with Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg no longer leaders of as the leaders of Labour and the Liberal Democrats respectively, much of the political speculation over the next few months will be on who succeeds them over the next few months. Indeed, with leadership election occurring very rarely in politics, the press is already examining the characteristics of those who want to head the two parties. But even within the world of business it is not easy to find new people to lead your organisation. The Global Workforce Leadership Survey, which recently questioned 1000 human resource (HR) executives and 1000 employees in...

Whilst promoting entrepreneurship is seen as being important to the economy, there has been an increasing interest by governments in so-called high growth firms that make a disproportionate contribution to wealth and employment creation in economies around the World. For example, a recent study from Cambridge University found that fast-growing small firms - defined as having an annual turnover of between £1-20m and over 20 per cent average yearly growth over three years - created 68 per cent of all new jobs in the UK between 2012 and 2013, despite making up just 1% per cent of the total business population. They also generated 36 per cent of UK economic growth despite representing just 3.4 per cent of the total UK economy. As readers of the Western Mail will know, we have not been slow in appreciating the achievements of the businesses here in Wales and since 1999, the Fast Growth 50 project has recognised the fastest growing firms in Wales annually. However, we have always fel...

This week, I have spent considerable time reflecting on the common attributes of successful of companies in Wales for a new Wealth Creators supplement, published on May 16th in the Western Mail. In examining 200 mid-sized companies, the research undertaken by Dr Niall MacKenzie and myself will demonstrate the importance of medium-sized businesses to the Welsh economy and, more importantly, their potential for growing the Welsh economy. Whilst not wishing to fully pre-empt those findings, the importance of good leadership and developing talent shines through in those successful companies that are creating wealth and employment throughout Wales. But the role of a leader in both the private and public sectors is constantly changing and its significance in identifying talent is becoming increasingly debated. To help deal with such issues, it is timely that the University of Wales Global Academy recently announced a new initiative this week that will help to tackle the critical iss...

The marvellous and hard-fought win by Wales at the home of English rugby to capture the Triple Crown a week ago is not only the culmination of the development of a squad of talented young players, it is the living embodiment of successful leadership and what it can achieve. Clearly, the extensive coaching ability and in-depth knowledge of Warren Gatland and his backroom staff has been critically important. However, I think that everyone in the rugby World and beyond acknowledges the simple fact that without the on-field leadership of Sam Warburton, this team would only be a collection of talented individuals. Sam, even at the tender age of 23, has shown himself to be a leader who has brought together a group of rugby players, many of them from regional sides that are playing well below their potential and has, by example, helped to mould them into a team of champions. Unfortunately, outside the rugby pitch, this culture of individual leadership is an alien concept across mos...