Openers

THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY ISSUE REPRESENTS SOMETHING MORE THAN A REDESIGN. The physical differences are obvious: an elegant nameplate, streamlined design, environmentally friendly paper. But the changes — some of which we’ve been introducing over the last couple of issues — go far deeper.

First, we’re reorienting the articles to focus more on what’s going on in the corner offices of the corporate world. While continuing to highlight views from authors and consultants and bloggers whose work you might otherwise miss, we’ll increasingly put you in touch with those who actually make tough decisions: the executives who create and carry out corporate policy. In this issue, for his cover story on employee discipline, senior editor Vadim Liberman went to the source — VPs of HR at multinationals — and came away with a genuinely informed look at how companies around the world deal with misbehavior and poor performance. (Evidently, flogging is still out of fashion pretty much everywhere.)

At a time when the economic ground is shifting daily under everyone’s feet, we’re also looking further afield for voices with important things to say. This issue’s Soundings section begins with an essay on cutting costs by U.K. consultant Andrew Wileman and spotlights what will be a regular column by “punk rock HR” blogger Laurie Ruettimann. Among the feature articles, check out in particular Jay Stuller’s “Reinventing Edison,” which lays out a smarter way to manage electric power, and Constance Gustke’s “All the Options,” exploring how companies are adapting the practice of scenario planning to today’s challenges.

We’re redesigning the magazine’s website as well, adding utility — including an effective search function and easy links to other Conference Board information — as well as original online-only content. We’ll have material that extends and elaborates on the articles in the print version, and multimedia features such as podcasts of interviews we conduct. And more changes are on the way: Over the next several issues, we’ll be rolling out new departments such as Challenging Views, in which we’ll convene a panel to tackle a key business question, and introducing another new columnist.

Through all this change, the magazine’s goal remains constant: to raise questions you hadn’t necessarily thought to ask. Questions about how to run a business in a time of uncertainty and relentless change, about a corporation’s proper place in a world transformed by new attitudes and awareness, and about how corporate leaders can best serve both stockholders and stakeholders — especially when the planet itself is a stakeholder.

I hope you’ll write me at budman@tcbreview.com and let me know what you like and dislike about the new TCB Review, and what we can do to more accurately direct our efforts. It’s a privilege to be one of the voices to which you listen, and we’ll continue to work hard to rise above the din.

Matthew Budman