tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247334902009-06-13T00:14:57.870-05:00Thoughts on business development and strategyRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-57637124453085218542008-10-15T17:51:00.003-05:002008-10-15T21:52:10.133-05:00

It's always a good idea to revisit how we do things in business in addition to what we do and why we do it. Thomas Friedman takes us through a brief revisit of Dov Seidman's excellent book, "How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything in Business (and in Life)" and relates the topics discussed by Seidman to the current global economic crisis.The central theme of the book is that in today's

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-72568794550114092362008-10-12T00:47:00.007-05:002008-10-12T01:02:30.314-05:00

Eleven new RSS feeds featuring some of the most popular subject areas have just been created. Now you can keep track of new articles by subject by subscribing to any one of the feeds below:Full Feed (All articles)New feeds:BooksBusinessCommunicationEthicsFinanceHRManagementMarketingMotivationPerformanceProductivityUse the new feeds to keep track of the latest content in any given topic area

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-27208750917275024892008-10-02T17:39:00.002-05:002008-10-02T17:44:03.488-05:00

A recent study by LeHigh, Rutgers and DePaul University placed business school graduate students in a situation where they were given a certain amount of play money. The condition was that they were to share information about this “cash” by email and by handwritten letter with a complete stranger. The students were tasked with sharing the cash with the stranger via these two mediums and the

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-12803132668871609862008-08-14T19:51:00.008-05:002008-08-17T00:12:38.762-05:00

Today's online edition of Canadian Business magazine features an article by Dominic Rubino on the importance of accurate sales forecasting. The premise is simple: rather than forecasting sales based on purchase orders (using the example given by the author), factor in the probability of each value-adding scenario and multiply it to the value of the order. Tallying these figures up will then

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-40363093272973785232008-06-13T17:41:00.001-05:002008-06-13T17:44:50.653-05:00

Here's a great example of using your core competencies and leveraging your supply chain to your advantage. An interesting article entitled 'How Crocs Rakes In Revenues From Ugly Shoes,' describes how Crocs Inc.-- the company responsible for the popular but aesthetically displeasing Crocs footwear -- managed to earn over $800 million in revenues last year, and project to grow by 10 to 15 percent

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-84585170134791279362008-04-11T16:31:00.003-05:002008-04-11T16:36:23.344-05:00

If you’re running your own business, perhaps there’s no better time than the present to look for ways in which you can reduce your total expenses, without sacrificing the quality of your products or services.The Entrepreneur website has listed 50 ways to save money by way of traditional and web marketing expenditures, location expenses, office overhead and insurance costs, and even tax and

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-48786907120242329072008-04-01T21:36:00.004-05:002008-04-01T22:06:27.864-05:00

Many businesses today are turning to social networking websites such as Facebook or LinkedIn to reach out to new customers and market their products and services in new ways. Websites such as Facebook have even tried to make it easier for businesses by opening their network and providing direct access to the websites 60 million or so users.Numerous articles have been written on the potential for

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-4704232432654646552008-03-26T16:13:00.005-05:002008-03-27T17:26:51.182-05:00

The lagging U.S. dollar, soaring energy prices and the current credit crisis have no doubt had an impact on the worldwide economy. In such turbulent times it's helpful to understand some ways in which you can protect your business. Today's edition of the National Post offers some tips on how to make your business recession-proof. Among the key suggestions are:Offer a discount on your accounts

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-7459158875861335862008-03-22T01:53:00.002-05:002008-03-23T17:42:09.305-05:00

Most aspiring entrepreneurs fail to recognize the importance of the business plan. If you want to be successful in business and in life, you need to be able to define your goals and targets and measure your progress as you aim to achieve them. For entrepreneurs, this is where the business plan comes in. Getting this important first step right will help to give you the focus you need as you

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-78857928493663914842008-03-10T17:46:00.003-05:002008-03-10T18:26:22.848-05:00

A challenge for business leaders is the ability to connect their company's strategy with the operational side of their business. The shortfall, in most cases, is the inability of leaders to break down the organizational strategy far enough to be able to understand the details needed for the higher level plans to work.In an interview conducted last year with Strategy+Business, Jack Stahl, former

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-1513548901687092842008-03-02T15:26:00.002-06:002008-03-02T15:38:47.977-06:00

If an outsider to your business were to ask you what your core competencies are, would you be able to list them? Core competencies are the key aspects of your business; the things that you do really well and if understood properly, can transform your business and even your industry.Too often, when leaders think of the key skills and functions of their organization, they list things that are

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-6161841661287653462007-07-28T14:34:00.001-05:002008-03-03T20:33:58.605-06:00

In his most recent article, "Forget Formulas: How Managers are Fooled in their Search for Success," author Phil Rosenzweig writes of the over-importance many business leaders place in following cookbook style recipes for success offered by well-regarded books such as Built to Last and Good to Great.Rosenzweig writes of the example of K-Mart in the early 1990s; the company had met most of it's own

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-78641626228169605312007-01-24T22:41:00.000-06:002007-01-24T22:50:18.225-06:00

The Wall Street Journal online has some great advice for budding entrepreneurs. In the article, "The Essential Balance: From 15 People Who Know," you'll get to read some interesting tips on how to succeed in growing your business and on some key attributes which make a great leader. It sounds so simple and straightforward, but too often many of these tips just aren't followed or executed

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-67081430171433458722006-12-24T10:45:00.000-06:002007-01-09T23:13:44.425-06:00

If the holidays have given you a chance to catch up on some reading, and you have no idea where to start, the 800-CEO-Read-Blog website has put together a list of the top business books of 2006. In addition to being able to vote for your favourite title at the website, you might also find a great title among the list that you hadn't previously heard of.Selections include popular titles such as

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-1145215134913758622006-04-16T14:07:00.000-05:002006-11-14T22:33:27.400-06:00

In the article "The Secret to Small Business Success," by Fire Wheel Design, the author makes a case for why small business owners must not be afraid to raise their rates. The author Josh, explains how he has successfully used what is known as cost-plus pricing in determining the rates for the products and services offered by his website and says that other small business owners should use this

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24733490.post-1143406555821787032006-03-26T14:55:00.000-06:002006-12-26T11:15:15.456-06:00

Here's an interesting article from Fortune discussing some of the myths about success that companies routinely believe in, and how, by abandoning these myths and breaking with convention, organizations can achieve real success.According to the article, there are five ways that organizations can shake things up by either reinventing their businesses (or even their entire industries, ala the CEO of

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08737058947889623029noreply@blogger.com0