Good management strategy is key to any business—a lack of coherence has an insidious effect on a company’s longevity. But, in addition to an understanding of how to manage a company, strong leadership is a vital hinge in the growth apparatus of any successful firm.

I appreciate that some readers will not be old enough to remember life without a mobile phone. But for those of us who are, it is interesting to reflect on what happened when we went on a development programme for a couple of days. How did we keep in contact with the workplace so that things didn’t fall apart in our absence?

What can help you to run a business without wasting money or resources?

Thirty two years ago in 1985, an article appeared in the Financial Times crowning the latest winners of the UK’s National Management Championship, a simulation competition that challenged teams from businesses across the country to make the biggest profit with a fictional enterprise. At the time, the government secretary presenting the prizes said “’in survey after survey, British managers at almost all levels have been...