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Too often leaders of multi‐business groups struggle with how to best add value at this level of management. CEOs and business group leaders can improve the odds of success in these roles, and better retain potential successors, by answering three questions: Is there a clear business case for grouping these businesses? Given a clear business case, what are the most important roles the group executive should play? Given these roles, what are the key skills I should look for in each group executive? Drawing from interviews, existing literature, and their own extensive experience, the authors provide frameworks and perspectives that help top executives answer these questions.

This study aims to review the existing literature on corporate-level strategy to develop a conceptual framework of the headquarters’ roles as well as situational factors influencing them.

The systematic review is conducted. Accordingly, 598 studies (published from 1962–2018) were extracted from three databases (ProQuest, EBSCO and Web of Science). Then, after screening and ensuring the quality by the TAPUPAS checklist, 53 articles were systematically analyzed by manual coding method.

In total, 31 interventions in the form of four roles, namely, “value creation,” “value reduction,” “portfolio management“ and “loss prevent“ were identified for headquarters (HQ). Furthermore, four influencing situational factors distinguish “business characteristics,” “headquarters characteristics,” “corporate company characteristics” and “characteristic of the HQ-subsidiary relationships.”

The value of this research can be outlined as: mapping the cutting edge on the topic and systematizes the current knowledge; presenting an integrative, unique conceptual framework of HQs’ roles and influences, and particularly, of situational factors that determine the consequents of the interventions; and producing practical insights for corporate parent managers considering the situational factors influencing HQs’ roles and influences in managing their business portfolio successfully.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Alignment between corporate and business strategies has been deemed essential by many observers, although conflicting aims make the task challenging. However, firms can use an alignment matrix to select the appropriate combination of alignment direction and relationship to ensure that the respective goals can be achieved.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The note explores the requisite competencies of subsidiary unit general managers in a successful multibusiness group dealing primarily in industrial goods. The authors define a competency model for the particular genre of general manager based on the literature. They then attempt to validate the model by reference to data related to outputs, skills and personality attributes which have been collected over a number of years in the context of a variety of action research projects, i.e. research undertaken for operational, rather than academic, purposes. With minor exceptions, the empirical data support the hypothesised model. The data also provide insight into the distinction between those which are threshold competencies, i.e. differentiating between poor and average performers, and those which distinguish the superior performer, as well as indications as to which competencies correlate most with overall performance indices.

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is seen as crucial for innovation and entrepreneurship in China. An empirical research was carried out to investigate main dimensions of the model of human resources management (HRM), practices and their effects on organisational performance in relation to innovation and entrepreneurship.

The research has two parts. The first part is a field survey on human resource management practices and its main dimensions. The study was conducted in the Chinese local companies and joint ventures across different partnerships. The second part is an in‐depth case‐set analysis of Chinese entrepreneurship models from a strategic HRM perspective.

The results showed that both functional and strategic dimensions of HRM could be identified which had differential effects upon organisational performance and that the most successful local entrepreneurial firms were among the collective‐based and globally‐oriented ones.

This study demonstrated that the fit between strategic HRM practices, innovation strategy and entrepreneurship model was significantly contributed to entrepreneurial performance. A regional comparative model of SHRM and entrepreneurship was proposed for sustainable business developments and organisational change.

The purpose of this paper is to propose and generate initial evidence on the psychometric properties of a re‐conceptualized organizational career system (OCS).

Data were collected from head of HR/head of business units on the career system variables. Reliability and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS and confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS helped the authors to test the theoretically derived factor structure. The psychometric properties of the three‐factor instrument were examined and provided initial evidence of the reliability and validity of OCS.

The model fit indices confirm the three‐dimensional factor structure of organizational career systems. The three dimensions pertain to labor market orientation, employee advancement orientation and employee lateral movement.

In proposing this conceptual model, the authors draw insights from a number of distinct literature streams. The further development of an instrument to evaluate perceptions of career systems should encourage researchers and practitioners to use the instrument for empirical and diagnostic purposes.

In recent years, action learning has been widely adopted as a problem solving and leadership development tool. The purpose of the article is to reflect on key learning points when initiating action learning sessions and provide tips on what to expect from such sessions.

Documentation of the author's initial first‐hand action learning coaching experience and sharing of lessons learnt in organizing and coaching action learning sessions.

The paper offers a view on how action learning practitioners can overcome initial coaching issues to run more effective sessions.

This article contributes to the existing action learning literature by providing a deeper understanding of key factors affecting action learning. These factors include team member selection, role of the coach, questioning techniques and desired outcomes.

Launched in 2005, Aava natural mineral water is one of the key brands in the natural mineral water market in India. It had sales of over Rs. 15 crore (150 million) in 2012 and it is the second largest brand and a volume leader in the natural mineral water category. The case discusses the dilemma faced by its Managing Director and his team in light of the emerging competition. The company needs to take important decisions related to customer segment selection, product mix and introduction of new product offerings.