OIM SIGNS EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH CATALYST OF SWEDEN

Osborne Interim Management announced today it has entered into an exclusive joint marketing agreement with Catalyst AB (www.catalyst.se), a leading independent provider of interim management executives in Scandinavia. Based in Stockholm Sweden, Catalyst provides executive resources to countries across the Nordic region.

"This is extremely significant for our clients", comments Mark Olson, President and CEO of Osborne Interim Management. "Catalyst is a well established, focused company which shares our values in providing quality interim management that delivers superior value. With over 3,500 registered interim executives and an impressive list of clients, Catalyst will be a terrific resource for Canadian organizations with interests in Sweden, Finland, Norway and/or Denmark."

Johan Tysklind, Managing Partner at Catalyst, states "We’re extremely pleased to find a trusted partner like Osborne Interim Management to explore Canadian-based opportunities. Interim Management is growing globally as companies require more flexibility and greater value in adding senior executive capacity to their organizations in this uncertain economy. We have successfully completed leadership, change and transformation roles for clients across all sectors and look forward to assisting Osborne’s clients."

STEPHEN KENDALL APPOINTED MANAGING PRINCIPAL-VANCOUVER

Osborne Group Contract Executives Corp is pleased to announce the appointment of Stephen Kendall as Managing Principal-Vancouver Market effective April 1st. Stephen will take over responsibility for all British Columbia based client business for both Osborne Interim Management and Osborne Business Advisors. He will work with our talented and experienced team of principals and business advisors to develop integrated client based solutions.

"Stephen has done an exceptional job as a Principal with us these past two years and is the perfect individual to lead our future growth in the BC marketplace", commented Mark Olson, Osborne President and CEO.

To view Stephen’s profile, please click here.

THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

I have a set weekly coffee date with some colleagues; two who work full-time and one works part-time and me, a consultant who works piecemeal and interim. I was preparing for this article and so I asked them what was the hot topic at their office. Each of them replied that office politics and people not doing their own work but complaining about others was the main topic of concern. I replied that the benefit of working as a consultant was limited office politics as I am an outsider looking in. Consultants aren’t involved in office politics and their role can be to stand on the edge of the organization, look at the issues and clarify the needed fix or fixes. Their question was how to reduce or eliminate office politics in their workplaces.

Simply put, office politics are strategies used to gain power or advantage over another. Some people revile in office politics and others think it is simply vile, but it is a fact of life in any organization and the issue is growing. Roffey Park's "Management Agenda" survey found that organizational politics ranked bottom by managers in a list of demotivators in 1998, while today it has risen above the issues of increased workload and management style to be the highest causes of stress. Additionally, the survey of almost 500 managers revealed that conflict in the workplace has also increased, with four out of ten (44 per cent) believing that office politics are the main cause of this increase.

To read the remainder of the article, click here.