MBA

Leather goods wins over technology in a polycrisis year

Mike Redwood Published: December 20, 2022

Mike Redwood ends the year with a word of caution and a call for the leather industry to stick together against the problems of 2022 and those ahead.

People are our most important asset

Published: April 21, 2021

Rather too long ago, when I was studying for my MBA, a much-respected Professor raised the often-used phrase in Company Mission Statements that employees are key assets. His course was about recognising that the majority of business activity was routine and how the efficient company analyses and automates them. He was scathing that so many companies who trumpeted the “people are first” statement steadily released staff whenever their automation allowed it.

Education is not preparation for life – it is life

Published: February 17, 2021

I recently read Dr. Tara Westover’s book Educated. Having often travelled to the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City and regularly incorporated it in a longer trip which allowed me to see more of the local area, I was interested to learn about life growing up in rural Idaho and Utah. In one of many interviews she has done since publication, she said that she thought it was wrong to say that education is only to prepare us for life - it was life.

Jimmy Choo opens fashion academy in London

Published: January 21, 2021

The footwear designer has set up his own fashion academy in London, with enrollments already open for entry in September 2021.

New President for Abicalçados

Published: August 22, 2019

The Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) has appointed Haroldo Ferreira as its new Executive President.

Repositioning the ‘brand’ leather

Published: March 25, 2019

A few weeks ago, I spent most of the day teaching an Executive MBA Class on brand authenticity and repositioning. To get on this course, the students combine academic qualifications with considerable business experience. These are senior staff, full of ideas, and quick to spot weaknesses. With many of them working for major companies, the mostly already realised that the brand is a vital asset. For many the importance of getting the positioning correct, and understanding why, is well understood and any organisation that plays games with authenticity risk a rapid decline.

Leather is a complex brand

Published: December 5, 2018

I spent most of the day yesterday working with an Executive MBA Class on brand authenticity and repositioning. To be in the course, the students combine academic requirements with considerable business experience. They are mostly quite senior people, so everything gets critically evaluated.

CTC Groupe appoints new Director General

Published: May 23, 2018

French leather and footwear technology research centre, CTC Groupe, has appointed a new Director General.

A marketing giant without realising it

Published: January 5, 2017

Today you can buy a leather version of a 1972 Nike Classic that changed the running shoe market. The red leather Cortez. It's existence is like a three dimensional history of the past 50 years in our industry.

Indian tanners provide jobs for three million

Published: March 14, 2016

Leather goods evoke a feeling of luxury and class. However, the leather industry per se including abattoirs, beamhouses and tanneries, does not enter the minds of consumers.