Business articles
Showing page 46 of 79 - There are 2359 Business articles
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - The leadership imperative: making your leadership your life
- Nearly all leaders I've encountered are underachievers. They're getting a fraction of the results they are capable of. And in most cases, it's their fault. Their failures are the result of the choices they make. For the opportunities to consistently get more results are all around them all the time, theirs for the taking.For instance, to start getting more results than you are accustomed to...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Innovation management ? what are the practical impediments?
- Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial su...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Innovation management ? does the idea fit with the firm?
- Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial su...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Innovation management ? some ideas are better than others
- Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial su...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Innovation management ? selecting good ideas
- Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success,...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Manufacturing capacity as a commodity
- Excess capacity in an automobile plant at Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, GM, and Honda is a commodity and those who study finite capacity scheduling modules can readily see the possibilities for increased production and that means profit. Einstein said time is relative, that is true, time is relative, manipulating commodity theoretical models allows companies to see thru time and keep costs and purchases...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Character: is it necessary in leadership? (part two)
- In the first part of this two part article, I talked about the importance of character in leadership. After all, the best leadership involves the people bonding with the leader in deep, human, emotional ways. The passive way of looking at character is that the bonding won't happen if the people are confused about or disdain your character. But there is also an active way of looking at character: Y...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Character: is it necessary in leadership? (part one)
- We know character when we see it, but what exactly is it? How do we define it? What role does it play in our getting results as leaders? What role does character play in our careers?In this two part article, I'll explore these questions and give tips on using character to get results and build your career.A key function of character in leadership is to engender trust in people, and t...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Credibility - a golden key to becoming more influential
- You have been named a new leader in your organization, or you are a long time leader with some new people in your organization. Or maybe you aren't a formal leader but are working on an important new project. Or perhaps you are staff person with expertise that can benefit the business? but only if you can get others to see your perspective.These are just four situations where having the abi...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - When code freeze turns to code slush
- Time To Market (TTM) is a vital concept that every executive understands. Releasing a product to market before your competition gives you a significant first-mover advantage. As such, project managers are extremely pressured to shorten their project schedules. But does accelerating code freeze optimize TTM?All things being equal, the sooner you declare code freeze, the faster you'll reach T...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Must project managers be technically savvy?
- "Must Project Managers be technically savvy?" This topic always seems to cause quite a stir. While some believe that all you need to manage a project is a PMP certification, others are convinced that you can't successfully manage a software development project unless you truly understand the intricacies of the product.I agree! To be an effective Project Manager, you must know the ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Eight key steps to building b2b major account client alliances
- Audiences who saw the fabled Broadway musical, Chorus Line, marveled at the intricate timing and seamless interaction of the dancers as they mastered the choreographer's precision steps after many false starts in rehearsal.At the final curtain, the stage is crowded with dancers whose images are multiplied by mirrors strategically placed about the stage.That's a tough scene to match....
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Marketing miracle: outsource your creative services
- The current economy is causing most companies to tighten their belts. With limited staffing and a restricted budget, how do you continue to promote your business? The simple solution is the occasional or ongoing use of outside resources such as graphic designers, writers, webmasters, and other creative talent.There are some real advantages to outsourcing.First, your business only has...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Empowering others - giving them some control
- It's been a pretty good weekend around the place - not done a lot, but I have done what I've wanted to do - and that makes the difference.I changed my role when I first left the employed world. Having been a manager for over 25 years. I became a true employee with a manager breathing down my neck. It was the most difficult thing to accept. It wasn't because I could do it bette...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Management training: are you satisfied with the results?
- If you're not satfied with the results of your management training programs, maybe it's because you handle training as a 'one shot' event rather than a process of developing your people to be better managers.One of the common misconceptions is that a manager can take a course and voila he is now skilled in communicating with others, or managing his time or delegating work. Rome wasn't built...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - You?re hired, now go home: managing workers at a distance
- Telecommuting or virtual work opens up a wider net of potential employees for businesses ? the disabled, the stay-at-home parent, the student, the retired, the flextime person, etc. However, it also creates unique challenges in hiring, supporting and managing this new group of workers. Here are six tips on managing workers at a distance.Select the right employees. These will be p...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Employee orientation: the 90 day difference
- Why do some new managers succeed while others fail? It all depends on the first three months ? the critical time when the new hire is learning the ropes. The new manager's boss plays a vital role in the orientation process. Here are four strategies to quickly get the new hire up to speed and working productivelyClarify goals and priorities. What are the performance expecta...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Jewelry use by employees
- Many companies have dress codes, which include jewelry. Some companies do this because they do not wish to offend customers who are of various faiths by employees who wear necklaces with religious symbols. Others out of practicality as some jewelry can get caught in machinery and cause severe injury or even death. You may wish to have a jewelry policy to prevent loss of your customer base and/or p...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Quick tip - effective meetings have a complete agenda
- Most agendas for a meeting look like this.* Budget* Payroll* Staff* Sales* VutszxtnSome people would tell me, "That's a perfectly good agenda. I know what all of those things mean, except, uh, 'vutszxtn'." The point is, vutszxtn means as much to you as the other terms mean to the other participants. For example, does budget mean increase the budget? Plan a...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - How to hold effective staff meetings
- Many people believe that they conduct effective meetings, when all they really do is host a party. Or worse, they deliver a monologue. In either case, their meetings produce little.Here's how to hold an effective staff meeting.1) In general. Keep them short. Most staff meetings should last less than an hour. You want your staff to spend their time working on things that earn money fo...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Why would anyone hold a bad meeting?
- Pssst, want a stock tip that will make you rich? Okay, here it is: phone a public corporation and ask to speak with the CEO.If a secretary tells you that the CEO expects to be busy in meetings for the next six hundred years, call your broker and sell the stock short. Any company unable to manage an activity that should last an hour is on its way down the financial tubes.Although it's...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Effective meetings - quick survey
- Here's an easy quiz to check the health of your meetings.1) Who leads your meetings? a) No one, b) Everyone, c) A facilitator2) What happens to the ideas in your meetings? a) If we had to think of ideas, it would be work, b) We make fun of them, c) A scribe writes them on a chart pad3) Are results obtained in your meetings? a) We eat all the donuts, b) And we drink all of the ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Employee motivation: it?s more than a paycheck
- Managers often ask, usually with exasperation, "How can I keep my employees motivated? I pay them decently. What else is there?"Offering competitive salaries is certainly important. But a paycheck is what helps people get to sleep at night, not what gets them going in the morning.What keeps them committed to come in on the weekend or stay late or go that extra mile is more ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Employee surveys: a strategic tool for positive change
- Do you want to measure your workers' level of satisfaction? Or change policies and procedures to make them more effective? Or find out if your supervisors are stuck in out-dated ways of managing? Good Idea! But how do you make sure you are getting reliable information to make sound management decisions?When it comes to conducting quality research, a pound of prevention is worth much more th...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Quality hiring: are you doing it right?
- Quality hiring is more than running ads, screening, interviewing and checking references. It is a series of specific procedures that can bring in top candidates or create bottlenecks and inefficiencies. Here are six ways to enhance the entire recruitment process.Select the right sourcing method. While the typical sourcing channels include in-house recruiters, employee refe...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Employee turnover: is it eating up your profits?
- Keeping the cost of doing business down, yet providing a quality product or service, is one of the most critical components of success for today's leader. What many fail to realize is that employee turnover can represent a very substantial price tag to a company's productivity and its bottom line.Turnover is costly ? just how costly? Research studies have shown that the cost of replacing a ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Another use for meetings
- Every meeting is a laboratory where you can observe and learn important things about the people who attend. In fact, you can use meetings to identify people who merit being promoted into leadership positions. Watch for:Is it planned?Effective leaders always begin with clearly defined goals and then prepare plans for achieving them. They have the courage to set a direction and then ma...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Why training fails
- Sometimes when I conduct my workshop on Effective Meetings, one of the participants will ask, "Where's my boss?"And I say, "Your boss claimed to be an expert on holding effective meetings."Then the person laughs. "My boss needs to attend your workshop more than anyone in our company. And without our manager's support, no one will use this."This is bad because if no one uses th...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Interviewing: how to stay out of legal hot water
- Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and, worst of all, some ask questions that can get them into legal hot water.Every recruiter, hiring manager, executive, and department manager must realize that asking the wrong questions or making improper inquiries can lead to discrimination or wrongful-discharge lawsuits. These suits can be won or lost based on statements...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Recognition: a quick, low-cost way to motivate employees
- Recognizing good performance through praise or other positive action is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to motivate people. It provides three major benefits: It lets people know that their performance was valued, and increases the likelihood that they will continue to perform well. It builds confidence so that people are willing to try new things, and develop further ...