From humble beginnings in the automotive sector, Harleysville Group has risen to become one of the nationÔÇÖs prominent insurers with multi-billion dollar finances┬áThe success story came out of local adversity. Harleysville Insurance came to fruition in 1915, when Alvin Alderfer, concerned by the theft of several Ford sedans, held a meeting of prominent citizens in Harleysville, Pennsylvania.

Claude Lemasson tells Gary Toushek how people-centric policies have helped Goldcorp go from junior miner to the worldÔÇÖs second-largest gold company┬á These days Claude Lemasson spends a lot of time traveling between his Toronto office and the James Bay area of northern Qu├®bec, looking after his current priority, the ├ël├®onore project, a major new gold discovery situated within a relatively unexplored area of James Bay, in Cree Nation of Wemindji territory.

A sparkling new realityDianor Resources Inc. has been focusing exclusively on diamond exploration for several years now to help meet the worldwide demand for diamonds. Keith Regan gets the details from the companyÔÇÖs CEO. For decades the diamond market was dominated and controlled by the DeBeers cartel, which was able to set prices and help determine which types of diamonds were most sought after by consumers.

That small-town feelModern life has all but abolished the sense of community that residents in many large urban areas crave. This Canadian superpower has drawn up some creative plans for a derelict downtown area. Kate Sawyer reports. Devimco, a commercial developer based in the province of Quebec, Canada, has taken on the biggest project in its historyÔÇöthe $1.3 billion restoration of Griffintown, the partially abandoned ÔÇ£old canalÔÇØ district of Montreal.  ÔÇ£We are offering Montrealers a unique urban project.

Tying it all togetherCompany president John Paxton tells Jenn Monroe how Demag Cranes and Components makes everything fit. Demag Cranes and Components takes pride in having developed a unique range of products in which ÔÇ£everything fits together.ÔÇØ This idea also informs how the company does business and where it looks to make improvements.

Prognosis is very favorableBob Bonar of Dell ChildrenÔÇÖs Medical Center explains to Alan T Swaby how it is taking a wider view of healing, and breaking new ground in the process. The staff of Dell ChildrenÔÇÖs Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin is on tenterhooks at the moment, nervously awaiting the outcome of an ongoing evaluation. However, itÔÇÖs not their clinical expertise thatÔÇÖs being assessed.

Under new ownershipThe sale of Aquila to two separate buyers is not expected to change the culture or the cost of electricity and natural gas in the Midwest. Kate Sawyer takes a reading. For 90 years, Kansas City, Missouri-based Aquila (and its predecessors) has provided safe, reliable electricity and natural gas service to customers throughout Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Those customers, however, will soon be writing their checks to different utility names.In July, the assets of Aquila were sold in two separate transactions.

Abdon Callais Offshore, LLC may have charted a course through deep waters, but its commitment to strong family values keeps it on an even keel. Kate Sawyer reports┬á More than a half century has passed since old Abdon Callais had the inspired idea to convert his barebones shrimp trawler into an offshore service vessel. Since that moment, family-owned and -operated Abdon Callais Offshore has employed the best talent and equipment in the service of far-flung oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

TMC TransportationTMC TransportationÔÇÖs trucks are emblazoned with the slogan ÔÇ£Destination: Excellence.ÔÇØ Keith Regan reports on how the company is using technology and training to stay on that trajectory. The 50-acre headquarters of TMC Transportation in Des Moines, Iowa, demonstrates the companyÔÇÖs belief in the importance of training and technology as it seeks to establish itself as the leader in customer service in the open-freight hauling business.

Designing and developing the organizationOnce business leaders define the companyÔÇÖs vision, they must develop an organizational structure to accommodate the strategies that will achieve this vision. Part two of a series on managing & leading people by Jon Minerich, Principal, Oliver Wight Americas, Inc.┬á This second article in the managing & leading people series focuses on four key areas of the organizational design process: business maturity, strategy, consistent work practices, and HR policies and procedures.