JULY 2010 issue

COVER STORY

Running the pariah company

CEO Louis Gries – in his singular drive to remake James Hardie into an investor darling – is leaving it to someone else to sort out the company’s dark past.

FEATURES

Management Two faces of a crisis

Whether the disaster is financial or environmental, the rules for dealing with it are similar.

Innovation Social skills

The traditional brainstorming session isn’t the only way to generate good ideas. innovative Solutions are percolating up from the coalface.

BIG IDEAS SPECIAL

10 ideas for right now

In our 10th-anniversary year we’ve heard plenty about the big ideas for the future. Here are some that you can use right now.

Location location

Location-based, real-time social apps are helping to improve our neighbourhoods and daily lives.

Agenda 2020

The next decade The edge of sanity

AFR BOSS’s continuing series tapping some of our best minds to discuss ideas on how to build a better future. We need very different business models to avoid environmental calamity, Dexter Dunphy writes.

10th anniversary series

Leadership insights The collector

Sony’s Sir Howard Stringer explains how he overcame his cultural assumptions after being named to run the Tokyo-based electronics empire.

Training Double impact

It’s performance management at its most literal: A band of former performing artists teach corporate types how to boost their personal influence.

Harvard Business Review Dance to a new tune

The maverick CEO of an IT giant that was losing market share explains how he persuaded his team to leap into the future.

BOSS REPORT

Self-starter Do-in-yourself super advocate Sharyn Long tells Alison Kahler how a small-business accountant gets the politicians' attention. Pressure cookers So what’s with all the jaded professionals hard at the stoves in this winter's hit TV series MasterChef? Going up The growing skyline in parts of Asia is one quick way to check the global shift of economic power to emerging markets. Guru A guide to the unwritten laws of the workplace.

Dress code Street cred

Our regular look at tribal style and the visual cues in business.

Dual drivers Brand Rice

When Olympian swimmer Stephanie Rice got to know SunRice boss Gary Helou, it led to more than an eponymous marketing opportunity. Fiona Carruthers reports.

24/7

Where my ideas come from Valerie Wilder

Australian Ballet executive director Valerie Wilder spoke to Lucinda Schmidt about what inspires her.

What I’m working on Robyn Goodwin

Robyn Goodwin conducted her PhD research with associate professor Markus Groth and professor Stephen Frenkel. She spoke to Jessica Gardner.

Pods, blogs etc Think about it

Mike Hanley points out where some nimble minds are sharing their latest ideas.

Journals Grin and bear it

The importance of alliances, relationships and good teeth. John Toohey summarises the journals.

Travel Travel blues

If you had to cancel that R&R you had planned at the end of your next business trip, Kendall Hill has a carry-on bag full of reasons why it wasn't going to be much fun anyway.

Best advice Theresa Gattung

The chairman of insurer AIA Australia and former CEO of Telecom New Zealand tells Narelle Hooper about baking the perfect cupcake.

Book reviews

Speed Thinking: How to thrive in a time-poor world | Glimmer: How design can transform your business, your life, and maybe even the world | The Facebook Effect: The inside story of the company that is connecting the world

What’s happening

Interesting events this month and beyond.