Author Archives: lawrence serewicz

About lawrence serewicz

An American living and working in the UK trying to understand the American idea and explain it to others. The views in this blog are my own for better or worse.

Who is creating the rotten barrels in your company?

Posted on August 7, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

In an earlier post, I discussed the myth of the rogue employee. The post focused on how the term was used when an organisation wanted to scapegoat an employee. When that happened, I argued that the organisation used the term to … Continue reading →

Posted in change, coruption, culture, leadership, learning organisation, management | Tagged Barclays, Business, Employment, Enron, LIBOR, Organization, Organizational culture, rotten apple, Senior management | Comments Off

Culture eats your structure for lunch

Posted on July 10, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

Peter Drucker allegedly said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. If strategy is for breakfast then your structure is for lunch. Culture will overcome any structural chart or any reorganisation. Companies fail because they believe that a restructure will change … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, culture, leadership, learning organisation | Tagged Business, culture change, Double loop learning, Learning organization, management, Microsoft PowerPoint, Organizational culture, Peter Drucker, PowerPoint | 25 Comments

Snowden’s public resignation as a whistle blower: lessons for changing an organisation?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

Recently, Edward Snowden publicly leaked National Security Agency (NSA) documents in a bid to alert the public to the surveillance state. He wanted to change America by igniting a debate over security and privacy. By disclosing documents publicly and speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged current-events, edward snowden, Goldman Sachs, HBOS, National Security Agency, NSA, Sherron Watkins, Snowden, United States, Whistleblower | 2 Comments

As the raw material of the digital economy, are you worried about your privacy or your cut of the profits?

Posted on June 6, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

The Guardian recently published a story about BUPA buying patient identifiable information from the NHS. The story explained that the government approved selling access to the NHS patent data in its attempt to maintain economic competitiveness in the … Continue reading →

Posted in data protection act, information management | Tagged Amazon, Big Data, BUPA, Data mining, economic competitiveness, Facebook, Google, internet, invasion of privacy, NHS, Personally identifiable information, technology | 1 Comment

To get better complaints: help the customer to complain

Posted on May 16, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

I read this HBR blog and thought about how it could be applied to complaints. When a problem occurs, an organisation will often wait until someone before trying to fix the issue. As most organisations do not work actively to … Continue reading →

Posted in customer service, management | Tagged Company, Complaint, Customer, Customer experience, Customer Management, customer service, Facebook, Twitter | 4 Comments

Systems thinking for middle managers: workplace democracy in action.

Posted on April 6, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

As middle manager, I have been thinking a lot about how I do my job. As a colleague explained to me, “We are the jam in the sandwich.” I liked the idea because it shows a central, sweet, and connective … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, learning organisation, management | Tagged brendan mccarron, Business, Democracy, difficult conversations, Harold Jarche, Human resources, leadership, management, Middle management, Senior management, Thought | 1 Comment

In the age of social media, will your Chief Executive sort your mail?

Posted on March 8, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

The question is shocking, as it seems impossible. Yet, in today’s social media enhanced workplace, the potential is implicit within the technology. We would not expect a Chief executive to open a company’s mail, sort it and deliver it. Yet, … Continue reading →

Posted in change managment, leadership, management | Tagged Business, Chief executive officer, Project manager, Richard Nixon, Senior management, social media, Strategic planning, United States | Comments Off

Tesco, horsemeat, and how to write an apology letter.

Posted on January 20, 2013 by lawrence serewicz

Tesco has been at the centre of a food scandal recently in which value beef burgers sold under its label were found to contain horsemeat. While other companies such as Aldi and Iceland have been involved, Tesco has received … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aldi, apology letters, FSAI, Horse meat, Iceland, Ireland, Johnson, Tesco, Tylenol | 2 Comments

Privacy and the right to be forgotten: who owns your personal information?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

Over the past year, the right to be forgotten (RTBF) has become a topic of debate and interest. What began as an academic or theoretical issue has become a legislative proposal within the European Union. From the perspective of the … Continue reading →

Posted in change, change managment, data protection act, information management, innovation | Tagged Business, European Union, FBI, GPS, internet, Privacy, Radio Frequency Identification, RFID, rfid radio frequency identification, RTBF, technology | 2 Comments

Is augmented reality the future for archives in a digital age?

Posted on November 11, 2012 by lawrence serewicz

I have been thinking about the future of archives for the next 20 years and how services will be delivered. I am interested in how the public (archive users) will access the archives. In particular, I am interested in how … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, information management, learning organisation, local government, records management | Tagged Archive, Archivist, Born-digital, digital integrity, digital phase, Heritage Lottery Fund, HLF, Information Age, Rare Book School, records management, Research | 1 Comment