YOUR MBA JOURNEY

Case Study: Rupali Café

2013-08-28T10:29:00.001-07:00

Introduction:
Vanita’s family run a Rupali café infront of Wadia group of college. Later on Vanita got
married to Vilas, whose common friend is victor proposed a plan for the introduction of non-vegetarian,
beer bar. Vanita’s father asked victor to design a plan with cost required and time implemented in each
step.
Problem:
Victor is to design a plan regarding cost and time estimate of given plan.Victor’s proposals can
be considered or rejected.
Main people involved:
Vanita and her family who run café near a college.
Victor who is a common friend of Vanita and vilas.
Facts:
-Vanita’s family run a Rupali café in front of Wadia group of college
-The café was open between the times 7am to 10 am and between 12noon to 5 pm.
-The café also provides good quality vegetarian items.
Assumptions:
-Introduction of non vegetarian items, beer bar.
-opening the café all the day i.e. from 7 am to 9 pm.
-Building a good brand for café with increase in revenues.Varied Possible solutions:-
-Identifying the different areas where the market is divided.
-Basically they define it by dividing it into three age groups.
15-30 yrs
30-50 yrs
50 yrs +
Now they should target the market accordingly.
First to capture the market in the age group of below 30 years.
-they would introduce various types of products in various different costs with various different
quantities. So that the customer think rather than discard to buy the product.
-At the same time, they shouldn’t integrate beer bar with café. As it may hurt the sentiments of family.
They do expect a cool, good and clean surroundings.
-Infrastructure wise they should make difference in café bar. They should place café on the front and
beer bar at the back . At the same they should time make non vegetarian open to all.
-Now to build brand. they should target different sectors of people accordingly.
First to target all the students. they should organize a small café with nv in all colleges especially during
the time of fests.
-A group of 5 people first conduct a small quiz. Questions were asked on the basis of rupali café. Then
for the winners, instant coffee of their choice is the gift. So especially in these fest many college
students were present. At the same time it is also profitable with little investments in these areas.
-Later on they should turn these profits with little investment in advertisements to make brand popular.
Once it is into the market, distribution channels become wide open. Many new customers who wish to
sell these products will come forward. At the same time distributors will come forward to take franchise
for this product..
-Now to market beer bar with café and other non vegetarian items .They should choose the sites
according to needs. Especially where the market size is big .Also they should I will introduce these items
in pubs and other function halls, where especially youth plays a key role. In order to this they should
contact all the officials who wishes to give contract.
-Next once the distribution network is wide open they should I will introduce marketing strategies. First
they should promote all the products through social media marketing. they should concentrate on targeting all people of particular area, they should also make sure that many people follow their pages
and posts.
-Once the brand is established. Different products with different products will be released into market in
every two month period.
Cost estimates:
-They should maintain one café & beer bar located in the city centre. So that it is infrastructure wise
looks good. Also they shouldn’t integrate beer bar with coffee. Basically the costs of the setting up of
good infrastructure depends on themselves. I would recommend to invest at least 15lakhs.
This includesAdvance-5Lakhs(Depends on the area)
Furniture-5Lakhs(Sufficient in the beginning)
Setup for coffee and non veg and veg items-2L
5 Workers and 5sales boys -90,000/-
2 motor bikes for free home delivery within 3km - 1L(Starting enough)
Special chefs for veg and non veg-1L per month.
5 professional bartenders-1L per month.
5 Workers and 5sales boys in beer bar -90,000/-
-A team of 2 who would appointments in famous colleges, companies, function halls etc, for giving
franchise or for giving contracts.30,000/- per month.
-A team of 5 who were consistently in the market whether in schools, colleges, public places to promote
product-Rs/-50,000/-per month.
-Basic inauguration function with 500 instant coffee free per day for 3days.on starting day and Saturday
of first week and one Sunday on next week. Here we calculate material costs and salesmen's costs-
30,000/-
-A social media marketer who markets the product in social media like facebook . Rs25,000/-per month.
-An advertisement in the news papers on every Saturdays and Sundays of every month . Rs/-20,000 per
month.

Indian Institute of Management to see more freshers, less engineers in 2014

2013-08-24T19:18:00.001-07:00

AHMEDABAD: Fewer engineers may join the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad(IIM-A) after CAT this year. In a significant change in its admissions policy, the premier management institute is expected to welcome students from diverse backgrounds.

According to the institute, over 96 per cent of students in the 2012-14 and 2013-15 batches have an engineering background. In order to bring this number to 80 per cent, IIM-A has proposed two major changes in CAT 2013, which will have a considerable influence on the composition of the batch. The formula for calculating the application rating (AR) has been changed; a provision for direct shortlist to the written analysis and personal interview (WA-PI) round for top performers in the five academic categories has been included.

The IIMs have faced flak for becoming bastions of graduate engineers, mostly from IITs. The changes proposed in the admission criteria is in line with IIM-A's desire to break the mould and increase diversity among the incoming students with respect to their academic background.

"There were several complaints since the past two years that due to the multiplicative calculation of AR scores, there was too much focus on marks obtained in X and XII standards. Under the old system, if the candidate had fared badly in any one of the exams but showed exceptional performance otherwise, it would have hampered his chances in getting shortlisted. By giving more weightage to performance in the undergraduate degree and shifting to a completely additive model, the proposed system makes sure that recent performances are given adequate weightage as performances farther back," IIM-A posted on its blog with data compiled by the institute's media cell.

The number of students without work experience or a master's degree is also set to increase in the personal interview round at IIM-A, as it will not give any points for work experience or for postgraduation in its new system. Currently, freshers constitute around 27 per cent of the batch strength.

IIM, Bangalore, and IIM, Calcutta both have higher percentage of non-engineers in their current batches as compared to IIM-A.

IIMs expect 10% rise in applicants this year

2013-08-24T19:17:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: Indian Institutes of Management are expecting an increased number of registrations for the Common Admission Test 2013 (CAT 2013) due to an increase in the number of seats. Around 115 seats have been added taking the total seats across 13 IIMs to 3,335.

The organizers also expect a bigger participation by female candidates as IIMs have started giving extra points during admissions to women.

From this year, CAT has introduced e-vouchers, but sale of physical vouchers will also continue. Moreover, four more cities have been added to the list of 36 where CAT 2013 is to be conducted.

After gradual decline in the number of CAT takers for over five years, last year the number of registration increased marginally with a total registration of 2,14,068. Due to increase in number of seats as well as the gradual increase in interest for MBA, IIMs are expecting a 10% increase in registration. "The IIMs are preparing for more students to appear for CAT 2013 as they will have greater chances for admission," said Rohit Kapoor, CAT 2013 convenor.

Going by the trend and IIMs initiative to give extra points to woman candidates, their number is also expected to increase this year. The number of women appearing for CAT has been steadily increasing-from 53,700 in 2010 to 56,000 in 2011. For 2012, more than 60,800 women appeared for the CAT.

The registration window for CAT 2013 will start from August 5. "New to this year's CAT is the option to buy vouchers electronically. Details about online payment of fees will be made available on the website, www.cat2013.iimidr.ac.in, from 5 pm on August 3. Candidates can also buy vouchers for registration and scheduling from designated Axis Bank branches from August 5 to September 24," said Kapoor.

This year CAT is being coordinated by IIM, Indore. The results will be declared on January 14, 2014.

Similar to last year's exam, CAT 2013 will have two sections. The first will focus on quantitative ability and data interpretation and the second on verbal ability and logical reasoning. The two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits. The examination will be for140 minutes.

SOME OF THE QUESTIONS APPEARED IN ONLINE CATE-2012.

2013-07-07T09:10:00.002-07:00

1)what is the units digit of 7^2001?
a)7 b)3 c)0 d)5

2)A circle is inscribed in a squareABCD of side 4 cm.If the circle touches the square at 4 distinct points E,F,G,H at 4 midpoints of a square..Two lines are drawn from G to vertices A,C.meets circle at I,J.Now find the height of the triangle formed by triangle GIJ?

DOWNLOAD CAT-2013 PAPERS WITH SOLUTIONS.

2013-07-07T08:56:00.001-07:00

Follow my blog.I will update all the latest mock cat papers of various institutes...
http://www.ziddu.com/download/22505992/AIMCAT1101.pdf.html

Serious about cat!!.Download free mock cat papers present you by TIME

2013-07-07T08:47:00.001-07:00

http://www.ziddu.com/download/22505992/AIMCAT1101.pdf.html

Online CAT: Do's and Don'ts.

2013-07-07T08:29:00.002-07:00

Beginning this week, Business Standard will bring you a two-part series on cracking the Common Admission Test — one of the most anticipated examinations in the country.

Dear Students,
The most pressing question on the minds of students appearing for the examination is ‘How do I tackle the Online CAT?’

The most obvious aspect of the ‘Online CAT’ that concerns students is the emphasis on the word ‘Online’ rather than the the word CAT. Well, the answer is to keep things simple and not to worry about the ‘Online’ format, instead concentrate on the ‘content’ of the paper.

CAT is more a test of elimination than a test of selection. The successful candidates often attribute their success to their approach — a poised and calm mind, avoid errors and do not fall into the traps that the exam often surprises you with. This article will address the common errors that students make in the run-up to CAT.

Some of the common errors are as follows:

Error#1: Preparing only for select topics
One of the serious flaws in the approach over the years has been to narrow down the syllabus and prepare only for select topics based on questions that have appeared in the past few years of CAT. CAT has been an extremely unpredictable examination and is known to spring a surprise every year. There is a high probability that topics or areas that have not had much of a weightage in recent years might make a comeback. Therefore it is in the best interest of students to prepare for all topics.

Error#2: Speculating on the composition of the paper
CAT is known to ask questions from a wide assortment of test areas and therefore there is no point speculating as to what might happen this year. The IIMs have hinted that there will be ‘around’ 60 Qs across three sections: Verbal, Quantitative and Logic & Data Interpretation in CAT2013.

Error#3: Overdose of mocks
Most students believe that the best way to prepare is to take as many mocks as possible. Repeated mock tests only highlight the same weaknesses and if students are not analysing their mistakes and rectifying them, then there will not be any major improvement in their performance. Therefore, a thorough analysis of every mock test will yield far better results than taking a large number of such tests.

Error#4: Missing out on items to be carried to the examination centre
This year, students should carry their Admit Card, the CAT Voucher, a Valid Photo identity (any among Driver’s License, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID, College ID, Employee Identification Card or a notarised affidavit with photo, signature, date of birth and residential address) and a valid document as proof in case the student belongs to the SC/ST categories.

Error#5: Blind guessing
It is has been observed in ‘experimental’ conditions that blind guessing almost always leads to a negative/low score, therefore avoid blind-guessing and marking answers indiscriminately. However, if you are able to eliminate two/three choices (out of the four or five) on proper reasoning, then, it is not advisable to leave out the question even if you do not know how to solve it.

Error#6: Unequal distribution of time across sections
The IIMs calls only those students who manage to clear the cut-offs in each section of CAT and also the overall cut-off. To meet this objective it is imperative that you spend equal amounts of time across all three sections to give yourself enough opportunity to clear the cut-off in every section.

Error#7: Not having a buffer time
This year the exam will be for 135 minutes and a good time allocation strategy would be 40 minutes across three sections with 15 minutes of buffer time. The buffer is required to cushion against bad performance in any one section or to tackle a section that is exceptionally difficult, or one where the student is not confident of clearing the cut-offs.

Error#8: Targeting a specific number of Qs to clear cut-offs
Targeting a pre-set number of questions to clear the cut-offs is not a great strategy, as the cut-offs are a function of the difficulty level of the section and the paper. Hence, one can decide to attempt a certain number of questions during the exam but not before.

Last-minute exam tips for CAT

2013-06-29T18:30:00.002-07:00

About 10,000 students will be taking the CAT 2009 once again on Saturday and Sunday! If you are amongst these students, then following advice may be of help!

First of all, while it is natural to be unhappy about this unfortunate development, you should follow the dictum let bygones be bygones. Most of you would have taken many mock tests, some on paper and some that were computer-based. Take the re-test with this mindset that the cancelled CAT was the last mock CAT test taken by you. Since the objective of taking mock tests is to understand one's strengths and weaknesses and fine-tune the time distribution and sequencing of sections, the cancelled CAT would also help each of you to further understand dos and don'ts. Further, you will do well to keep on reminding yourself that your chances of selection have not gone down due to re-test and you can do better in this one!

Think positive! This is the lesson number one! So, what inferences can be drawn from the details known about the CAT test papers held in 20+ slots earlier? In each slot, the difficulty level of the paper was not the same. Chances are that you will get a paper with 20-20-20 distribution but if you get a different pattern, don't get devastated! Don't go with a pre-conceived notion about the difficulty level of any section or paper as a whole that creates any minimum number of attempts as a target for the re-test.

Keep an open mindQuite a few students got distracted by the noise/disturbance last time. Hopefully, your test should go through smoothly this time. Another issue that bothered a lot of students is that the paper wasn't that difficult provided you saw all the questions properly and did not get stuck on any questions.

See all questionsEnsure that you see all the questions properly and don't leave any questions unseen. A test is like a one-day match. If something went wrong last time, it may not happen again. Similarly, if something went well last time, it may not recur. Treat CAT re-test as another test where your performance does not depend upon what happened in the last test. It is another opportunity to score well hit a century!

Finally, for most of the students taking the re-test, wishing that it should have been a pencil-and-paper test is of no use. CAT is being held in a CBT format and you should believe that you are fully geared up to tackle it. The last lesson is: Believe in yourself till the last of the 135 minutes!

How to tackle the online CAT-2013

2013-06-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

The most pressing question on the minds of the students is 'How do I tackle the Online CAT?' However, the most obvious thing that one notices in the question is the emphasis on the 'Online' aspect more than the one on 'CAT'. Well the answer to this question is to keep it simple and not to worry about the 'Online' format as much as the 'content' of the paper.

One can get familiar with the Online format through the "CAT 2010 Practice Test" on http://catiim.in/ and through online mock tests.

The key to doing well on CAT has always been 1) Sound preparation

2) Getting the Basics right

3) Plenty of practice on Sectional Tests

4) Taking a good number of Full Length Mock CATs (Online) simulating all possibilities

5) Self-belief

'Sound preparation' encompasses looking at questions from previous years' CATs and understanding the 'syllabus' of CAT. First, one should make a list of all topics/areas on which questions have been asked in Quantitative, Logic & Data Interpretation and the Verbal section.

Then, one should assess whether one is 'proficient', 'average' or 'needs improvement' in each of those areas. The areas that fall in the third category is what one should look at quickly addressing rather than hoping that questions from that area do not come in CAT2010!

The IIMs, through CAT, test the students on their understanding of basic concepts and this is where 'Getting the basics right' plays a vital role. Often students look for the toughest material to practice without realising that their understanding of concepts as simple as LCM & HCF is not as good as they think it is.

CAT has often trapped students with simple and elegant questions that probe into their understanding of the basics. A quick recap of all the chapters in Quantitative and the concepts involved in each of them would go a long way in rectifying this.

One key aspect of CAT has been its unpredictability in terms of the pattern, the question types, areas emphasised and the difficulty level. However, CAT 2010 has eased the unpredictability to an extent by mentioning the pattern beforehand (3 sections with a total of 60 questions).

Students should try to strengthen their performance in each section in terms of speed and accuracy by practicing on a good number of sectional tests. Students should also ensure that they get enough practice of all kinds of full length papers through a comprehensive Mock series program.

This ensures that one is exposed to relevant and plausible question types which increases one's capacity to deal with any surprise in CAT2010. However taking lots of mocks is not the only preparation strategy - analysing the mocks after the test is over and learning from ones mistakes is, in fact, a key step, which students often overlook.

Finally, the most important ingredient in tackling CAT 2010 successfully is self-belief - the conviction that the effort that one has put in over the past months will yield positive results.

Constant worrying about the end result only makes the task much more difficult to accomplish.

So keep your spirits high and elevate your level of preparation in the next one month leading upto CAT. Success will belong to those who can follow this advice religiously and keep up their belief quotient.

Where MBA Career Pay Totals $3 Million-Plus

2012-06-21T01:49:00.000-07:00

Brand has real value in the business school world. If you go to a top ten business school, chances are you’ll outearn MBAs from lower-ranked schools when you graduate but also throughout your career.

That’s the conclusion from the latest study of career pay by Payscale, a data-crunching compensation firm. The numbers were published earlier this week on June 12 byBloomberg Businessweek which concluded that the short- and long-term value of the MBA degree closely correlates to rank.

Of the 10 schools with the highest career pay, eight are top-10 schools in BusinessWeek’s latest ranking, while all but five of the 30 schools with the highest career pay are among the top 30 schools. Only MBAs from eight schools–all ranked within the top ten on some if not all major rankings–earned more than $3 million in cash and bonus during their professional careers, according to the data.

Harvard MBAs make $3.6 million in salary & bonus over a career

Not surprisingly, Harvard Business School assumed the top spot in the ranking, with 20-year pay of $3,639,643, followed by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School at $3,460,707 and Stanford Graduate School of Business at $3,432,013 (see table below).

These numbers, especially for the big brand schools, are highly conservative estimates. Payscale, for example, concluded that Harvard MBAs are making $136,000 five years after graduation. The latest number published by Harvard’s career management office show the median base salary alone last year was $120,000, with nearly seven of every ten graduates earning a median signing bonus of $20,000 and nearly one in five earning guaranteed year-end bonuses of $35,000.

The upshot: the median salary and bonus for Harvard MBAs in year one last year was close to $140,000, not including the year-end bonuses. That’s already $6,000 more than Payscale is reporting for Harvard MBAs five years after graduation.

The reason for the discrepancy has to do with the way Payscale calculates its estimates. The pay reports the firm uses are “for groups of people who graduated from the same school at various times, not for one group of people who reported their pay throughout their careers.” The estimates, moreover, do not include the value of stock or stock options or the value of tuition reimbursement, which can make up a big chunk of MBA pay in the short- and the long-term.

It’s also possible that the most highly compensation alums are less likely to report their income to Payscale which makes these estimates based on what it says is a database of 100,000 MBA graduates.

Career choice and geography are big factors in career pay

Obviously, career choice and geography also weigh heavily in these estimates. A Harvard MBA who gained a job in hedge funds last year earned median base salary of $150,000 to start, with 23% of them reporting other guaranteed compensation of $150,000 in year one. On the other hand, Harvard MBAs who took jobs with the government or with a non-profit organization last year earned median base salary of $90,000, with no upside bonus.

Graduates of the 10 programs with the highest earnings took home nearly $3.2 million apiece, or $159,122 a year, an increase of 3.6% from a year earlier. The remaining 47 schools averaged $2.3 million, or $114,724 a year, virtually no change from last year.

“The effects of the Great Recession on the labor market for MBAs can still be felt today, a full three years after the official end of the recession,” Katie Bardaro, analytics manager at PayScale, told BusinessWeek. “The only MBAs who appear to be escaping these stagnant wages are graduates from top-ranked programs.”

Schools with the lowest starting salaries typically had the biggest increases. Payscale said MBAs from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business showed the biggest gain—a whopping 174%, to $139,000 at the 20-year mark. MIT’s Sloan School MBAs had the smallest, at 4%, to $169,000.

Why MIT had the smallest increase: a data problem

“The MIT numbers highlight one of the study’s inherent limitations,” BusinessWeek acknowledged. “Pay data for smaller schools such as MIT may be based on fewer than 50 reports and may not accurately reflect pay for the entire class.”

How to Choose Colors to Help Establish Your Business Identity Read more: How to Choose Colors to Help Establish Your Business Identity | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2279317_choose-colors-help-establish-business.html#ixzz1uRKM2kux

2012-05-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

- Instructions
  1
  
  Identify the target market(s) of your business. Be as specific as possible, identifying whether your "typical" customer will be male or female; what age group they fall within; their likely education and type of career; their potential income; whether or not they are married and/or have children; and anything else that you can possibly spell out. The more information that you have about "who" your customer is, the easier it will be to develop a business identity that will appeal to that customer.
- 2
  
  Determine the message, in terms of thoughts and feelings, that you want your customer to get about your business. For example, do you want them to view your business in terms of creativity or reliability, as steadfast or professional, or something else altogether. It is only possible to transmit those thoughts and feelings through color once you have narrowed them down and matched them against the psychological factors that color imbues.
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- 3
  
  Decide if you are going to use a logo or graphic to help build your business identity. Certain types of designs will more easily lend themselves to certain colors. Others may be flexible no matter what color you choose. Nonetheless, it is important to keep the big picture in mind as well as each small aspect of it.
- 4
  
  Determine the types of marketing materials and advertising promotions that you are likely to use for your business. For example, online businesses rely heavy on website design where multi-color graphics and designs are common. Regular businesses may rely more heavily on old standards like business cards, brochures or pamphlets, flyers and billboards. While a new business won't likely use a full arsenal of marketing or advertising materials going in, it is important to understand the direction that a marketing plan is likely to take and the role that color might have in the overall marketing package. Don't forget items like packaging, uniforms, signage and other advertising items. If they are to be used in your business, then you must take them into consideration.
- 5
  
  Start matching the thoughts and feelings that you want to elicit within your customers to the colors that have been shown psychologically capable of achieving such response. There are several standard colors that businesses often opt to use. These are chosen for their unique psychological effects. Red is one of the most powerful colors of the spectrum. It demands immediate attention, elicits feelings of strength and boldness, and stimulates a number of actions (like buying). It also stimulates the appetite, which is why so many restaurants incorporate red into their business identity.Yellow also calls for immediate attention. It also has the unusual effect of spurring one to concentrate.Pinks like mauve trigger a chemical reaction in the brain that calms people, which is why so many law offices, doctor's and dentist offices incorporate that color in their in-office color scheme.Blue is the most popular color of a large majority of people. It represents many things that businesses want, like dependability, sincerity and loyalty. It also stimulates productivity.Green says high quality and appeals to the majority of customers when it is used alone (without being mixed with another color except black). The color is also relaxing and refreshing, which is why a lot of businesses choose green for their waiting area (think of TV's green room).Orange increases energy and warm feelings. It also has the unusual effect of gaining almost instant attention as well as sticking in the human memory long-term.Purple is not usually the best color for traditional businesses but works well for new age, religious, and other spiritual type endeavors because it is associated with those things. However, purple can be useful in businesses that want to denote an air of luxury and sophistication such as high class hotels or spas.Brown spurs confidence and reassures the customer that the business can be trusted.Gray stands for conservative and traditional thinking, which is why a large number of businesses like law offices, Chambers of Commerce, and other business organizations choose to use it.
- 6
  
  Cross-check the positive psychological effects of color against the negative effects before choosing it to help establish your business identity.Red, if used in excess, can be too overpowering and actually cause customers to stay away. It also stimulates the body by making the heart beat faster, the blood pressure go up and the pulse race. Those things would not be good for businesses that are health-related.Yellow, in some people, relates to "temporary" (think taxi cabs). Mixed with black, yellow actually causes a physical draw back. It spells "danger" (think road signs). It isn't the best color for packaging either because it stimulates of feelings of inferiority.Pink, to men in particular, actually elicits energy loss, which is why gyms and health clubs don't often use the color.Blue, used in the wrong shade, can depress the appetite, which is why few restaurants use the color. Too much of the color can also cause depression and unhappiness because it is so cold and aloof.Green also implies wealth; not something that certain types of businesses may want their customers to feel about them. Who wants to think that the business is robbing from the poor?Orange clashes with a lot of other colors and must, therefore, stand alone. Retailers like choosing orange for packaging because it psychology tricks customers into thinking that their product is less expensive than it really is (think about the number of expensive detergents that use orange in packaging).Purple, because it is often linked with royalty or nobility, can have an effective on the consumer that the business is snobbish, arogant or aloof.Brown, used too lightly, can actually spur sadness.Gray, used in the wrong way, can actually decrease productivity or buying power. Women don't associate well with the color; therefore, businesses appealing to the female customer probably don't want to use gray.
- 7
  
  Achieve a good balance of the color your choose in order to get the positive responses that you want without achieving any of the negative ones. For example, let's say that you decide that you want to use red because it elicits psychological feelings of strength and stimulates customer buying actions. Red, used too heavy-handed can be too over-powering and undo the very thoughts and feelings that you are trying to elicit.
- 8
  
  Determine the "shade" of the color that you will use. For example, still using red, if the majority of your business customers are male, it is important to know that men respond better to yellow-based shades of red. Therefore, using a raspberry red might not have the effect that you ultimately want on your target audience.
- 9
  
  Make certain that the mix won't undo the effects that you are trying to achieve if you choose to mix multiple colors (other than black). For example, choosing to mix red and yellow together in a business identity could negate the overall effects of both colors, depending upon how the colors are used.
- 10
  
  Determine where in your overall business identity the color will be used. In most instances, you will want to use color the same way you use a logo or font style to promote an overall identity. However, in some instances, you may opt to develop some of your marketing and advertising materials in standard black and white, using color selectively for only certain pieces of your marketing package that you want to have the most impact.
- 11
  
  Test the color choice in limited pieces of marketing materials to see if it helps your business achieve the identity that you want.

How to Lose a Job in 10 Days

2012-05-04T21:53:00.004-07:00

So you are discontent, dysfunctional, discomfited and dis-eased with your job, and by hook or by crook you want to get terminated from employment. You've tried to be as incompetent an employee as possible, and yet you've not fallen to prey to the job cuts and the economic recession, that people keep talking about (you're an economist yourself, but don't know what recession is, that's how bad an employee you are but they're still not firing you!) So what do you do? Getting terminated is not very difficult. When in a soup, go for a coup, is what I say! Take an extreme step. Don't wait for someone to slip the pink slip to you. Don't wait for that entire long-drawn termination process. An easy way to get the office to rid themselves of you, is to become the number one villain of the office. You don't have to be very blatant in your villainy - you don't have to get your face tattooed or scarred, nor do you have to empty a bottle of eye-liner onto your eyelid to get the deathly Gothic look. You can always be subtle because 'tis the age of subtlety. Yes! You can dress up in pristine branded clothes, resembling the hero, when actually you are the villain. You don't need to have a loud and guttural evil laugh, a snigger to the side will suffice. So getting down to business, how do you go about becoming the villain in the office, thus, successfully ensuring losing your job? There are so many ways for losing a job that you will be spoichoice. Let me lead you into temptation.. . The Yawnfather
Sleep during meetings, irrespective of whether they are boring or not. In fact, irrespective of whether the director is excitedly talking about his ambitious project to foreign clients, while speaking exceptionally bad Spanish at the top of his voice. In fact, irrespective of the presentation having such bright slides that it would make Gwen Stefani's makeup seem dull; still fake sleeping (you get the point). And now is the time to use that loud, obviously fake and extremely distracting yawn you have been practicing since you were six years old. It's sure to be a head turner and a job burner. Simple, soporific and a terrific way to get terminated from job.

Lord of the Trings
Cell phones have truly become more of a nuisance than anything else. Hence, why not take advantage of this and use this nuisance to become a nuisance yourself? Set your cell phone to the loudest and most annoying ring-tone ever. Don't stick to the staple ring-tone's, make a style statement. If you're a guy, you can keep a song that has a string of abuses (any Eminem song basically) or just to irritate people further, you can keep 'I'm a Barbie girl' and claim you have to keep it because you lost a bet, or you can use the chorus of 'Mr. Lonely', nothing irritates people more than that shrill high-pitched voice. Oh and of course, ensure that your cell phone rings. Ask a friend to give you a missed call every half an hour. That's what friends are for anyway, aren't they!

Distress the Damsel in Distress
In every office, there is always the perennial damsel in distress, the woman who does not know how to even walk a step without beckoning for help, at which all the males in the office would leave a dying relatives bedside to spontaneously appear. Yes, while most men will be at her beck and call (hoping half-heartedly for a peck and call), you need to willfully ignore her. Yes, this is a case where ignorance will be bliss. She will get disgruntled with your 'discourteous' behavior and will use her popularity and get you fired. There you go! This story will become the office version of Beauty and the Beast indeed. (Warning: There might be some people who will go about masquerading with placards claiming you were wrongfully terminated from job or that you were terminated for no cause that was worthwhile. Take adequate measures to handle these people beforehand).

Who Let the Dogs Out?
When it comes to animals, at one end of the spectrum are hardcore non-vegetarians, whose digestive tract can only digest meat, while at the other end are PETA activists. In between these two extremes, are people who are dead scared or dead allergic of animals. So if you have a colleague who is an asthmatic, then all you have to do is leave a cat in her office. Also if you know of a colleague who cakes her face with so much make-up that her face looks double its original size, then you can just drop in a cute dog who can't do without licking people's face. And voila! Your new-found hobby of being the zoo-lander will land you with a pink slip before you can say "Holy cow!"

The Whole Nine Guards
There is no better way than by capitalizing on your talent for procrastination. You always keep snoozing your alarm, thus ending up coming late to office. The only difference is that now, you will purposely come late to office, and will not ask your horn-rimmed bespectacled best buddy to swipe your card for you while all the security guards aren't looking. Now, you will actually take credit for coming late. Stroll into the office at your own leisurely time like you're the king of the jungle. If anyone asks you why you're so late, you can suddenly turn into a nature-freak and say things like "I was waiting to see the leaves turn yellow" or "I was waiting to see whether after rising from the east, does the sun stay there or not?" or you can even say "I was willing to test my neighbor's patience level by seeing how long it takes for him to blow his top when I'm staring at him through my window." You can actually do these things if you want. And before you know it, you'll be walking out of the office with the termination letter in your hand and a smile on your face.

Become the Gossip Girl
Use the office cooler for reasons besides thirst. You know that if the office cooler had ears, he would have to go that extra mile for asking for forgiveness from God for having sinned by hearing all the gossip that he has no option but to hear. And irrespective of your gender, you've been a part of that gossip group all through. The only difference will be that this time when people ask you if it was you, you only have to truthfully admit it, unlike vehemently denying it the way you always did. You can say things like "Oh you know, Mel is on a diet! And you know why she's going on a diet? 'Cuz Sam told her she was too fat for him!" This will obviously enrage women who are members of WTF (Women True to Feminism), and they will go stomping off to eat Sam alive. Of course, after the furor is settled, and you have been identified as the cause for the whole episode, you will be fired under clause no. 420 which states 'Fired for causing discontent and discord in the harmonious and peace-loving office environment', or some untrue clause like that. Oh, but make sure that while you are leaving office with your packed brown boxes, leave Sam a sorry note, or at least your coffee mug (provided it is unstained and uncracked) or better still, a part of your remaining pay slip, if you get any at all that is.

Dumb and Dumber
Ever wondered what it must be like to be Archie for a day? Sans the noisy jalopy (do use one if you have one!) you can try out all the antics that he uses to bug the life out of Mr. Lodge. Drop everything in sight, stumble on everyone in sight and if you have a cup of hot coffee in your hand, the more the merrier! Especially, use this trick if you know that the office environment is such that job stress is at its peak. If you see a colleague in a white or cream-colored shirt, let the loaded coffee mug 'accidentally' slip out of your hand. Mix up your colleague's extremely important documents just before his big presentation. Let the first slide of the presentation be 'I am done. Thank-you for your time and money, suckers!' Even if all the above tips fail, this one surely won't.

Let me add an obvious ~~disblamer~~ disclaimer. This article is purely for entertainment purposes (evil laugh). The way to quit a job in real life is by ~~curtly~~ courteously going into the required person's office cabin and ~~slamming~~putting down your papers.

Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.. Attractive women should not include a photo with a job application

2012-04-18T05:28:00.003-07:00

AT WORK, as in life, attractive women get a lot of the breaks. Studies have shown that they are more likely to be promoted than their plain-Jane colleagues. Because people tend to project positive traits onto them, such as sensitivity and poise, they may also be at an advantage in job interviews. The only downside to hotness is having to fend off ghastly male colleagues; or so many people think. But research by two Israelis suggests otherwise.
Bradley Ruffle at Ben-Gurion University and Ze’ev Shtudiner at Ariel University Centre looked at what happens when job hunters include photos with their curricula vitae, as is the norm in much of Europe and Asia. The pair sent fictional applications to over 2,500 real-life vacancies. For each job, they sent two very similar résumés, one with a photo, one without. Subjects had previously been graded for their attractiveness.
At first, Mr Ruffle considered what he calls the “dumb-blonde hypothesis”—that people assume beautiful women to be stupid. However, the photos had also been rated on how intelligent people thought each subject looked; there was no correlation between perceived intellect and pulchritude .For men, the results were as expected. Hunks were more likely to be called for an interview if they included a photo. Ugly men were better off not including one. However, for women this was reversed. Attractive females were less likely to be offered an interview if they included a mugshot. When applying directly to a company (rather than through an agency) an attractive woman would need to send out 11 CVs on average before getting an interview; an equally qualified plain one just seven.
So the cause of the discrimination must lie elsewhere. Human resources departments tend to be staffed mostly by women. Indeed, in the Israeli study, 93% of those tasked with selecting whom to invite for an interview were female. The researchers’ unavoidable—and unpalatable—conclusion is that old-fashioned jealousy led the women to discriminate against pretty candidates.
So should attractive women simply attach photos that make them look dowdy? No. Better, says Mr Ruffle, to discourage the practice of including a photo altogether. Companies might even consider the anonymous model used in the Belgian public sector, where CVs do not even include the candidate’s name.

Nice Girls Don't Ask

2012-04-08T07:50:00.001-07:00

Men and women are still treated unequally in the workplace. Women continue to earn less, on average, for the same performance, and they remain underrepresented in top jobs. Research has shown that both conscious and subconscious biases contribute to this problem. But we’ve discovered another, subtler source of inequality: Women often don’t get what they want and deserve because they don’t ask for it. In three separate studies, we found that men are more likely than women to negotiate for what they want. This can be costly for companies—and it requires management intervention.

The first study found that the starting salaries of male MBAs who had recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon were 7.6%, or almost $4,000, higher on average than those of female MBAs from the same program. That’s because most of the women had simply accepted the employer’s initial salary offer; in fact, only 7% had attempted to negotiate. But 57% of their male counterparts—or eight times as many men as women—had asked for more.

Another study tested this gender difference in the lab. Subjects were told that they would be observed playing a word game and that they would be paid between $3 and $10 for playing. After each subject completed the task, an experimenter thanked the participant and said, “Here’s $3. Is $3 OK?” For the men, it was not OK, and they said so. Their requests for more money exceeded the women’s by nine to one.

The largest of the three studies surveyed several hundred people over the Internet, asking respondents about the most recent negotiations they’d attempted or initiated and when they expected to negotiate next. The study showed that men place themselves in negotiation situations more often than women do and regard more of their interactions as potential negotiations. (See the exhibit “Can We Talk?”)

When to Drop an Unprofitable Customer

2012-04-08T07:44:00.002-07:00

As Tommy Bamford and Jane Oldenburg drove into the visitor section of Westmid Builders’ car park, Jane pointed out the man they had come to see: Steve Houghton, Westmid’s purchasing executive. He was in front of the headquarters building, waving a greeting. Jane waved back to her friend, whom she had known for decades, but Tommy scowled. He wasn’t looking forward to this visit. “Oh, come on,” Jane said, nudging him. “Look how friendly he is.”

Tommy was a director and Jane was the Midlands regional sales manager for Egan & Sons, a supplier of doors and staircases to Westmid for 63 years. The two executives had to pause before crossing the gravel road that ran through Westmid’s grounds, because of the steady stream of trucks traveling to and from construction sites around Birmingham and all the way to London. Tommy knew that despite the heavy traffic that April morning, Westmid was hurting from the economic downturn in the UK. The company was building only half as many housing units this year as it had during recent boom times. With the steep falloff, Westmid was no longer Egan’s biggest customer, but it still retained considerable clout. Too much clout.

“I’m flattered by such an august delegation,” Steve said. “Shall we start with a tour?” Jane, a tiny and exuberant blonde with a boy’s haircut, happily agreed. She had been here many times, of course, but Tommy was not a regular. Steve chatted away as he shuttled them in a little electric vehicle past warehouses and outbuildings.

Jane had promised Tommy that a visit to Westmid would change his view of the company. But he could not shake his newfound awareness of how much money Egan was losing with Westmid—the account’s ratio of operating income to sales was a negative 28%. The two companies had enjoyed a smooth relationship for decades, but Tommy strongly believed the time had come to terminate it.

Steve kept glancing at Tommy during the tour. “You look pale,” Steve said at one point. “I hope my driving isn’t making you queasy.”

“That’s quite all right,” Tommy said. “I’ve got a strong stomach.”

The Power of Customer Costing

Egan & Sons, founded in Birmingham in 1908, was hardly a sleepy company. With three efficient plants staffed by 3,000 employees, it had reinvented itself to become an innovative manufacturer of modular steel staircases and fiberglass doors. Its accounting system, however, remained simple and traditional. The weaknesses became apparent only in the mid-2000s, when Chinese companies began to encroach on Egan’s low end, severely undermining profitability.

With careful study, Tommy had figured out that the company’s costing system had made it blind to its own operations: It allocated factory overhead to products as a percentage markup over direct labor costs, and corporate overhead as a percentage of sales. Thus, the company could not accurately identify its costs for serving individual customers or for designing and producing all the new goods it had recently brought to the marketplace. The lack of traceability and transparency extended to the costs for specialized equipment that was used only for particular products or customers

Career Plans Are Dangerous

2012-03-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Despite the tendency to slip in some of the questions Google asks when interviewing people (such as, what is the next number in this sequence: 10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66..?), this remains a fairly popular question when you are looking a job.

It's usually an extremely silly question (although you are not supposed to say that in your response.) You know most of the reasons why the question is so bad: It begs a lame joke ("When, Ms. Manager, do you think you will be moving on?"), or brown-nosing ("I hope to be well along my career within this fine company") and it assumes that you are going to indeed like working at "this fine company" and that they are going to enjoy having you.

But there is a bigger reason the question is awful. It assumes the world is going to remain constant between now and then. That is never a good idea.

If in 2007 you asked people who worked in the mortgage banking or real estate business, or in journalism or at Blockbuster what they were expecting to be doing in 2012, we guarantee you their answer isn't what they are doing now.

If you don't know what the world is going to look like five years from now, there is not a lot of sense trying to predict potential external factors planning your career based on that dubious prediction. ("Let's see, it's 2007 and I am associate store manager of a Blockbuster store. The world is always going to want to make it a "Blockbuster" night, so I am going to plan on being a regional manager. Yes, two promotions in five years. That feels right. So, that's my plan.")

So are we saying career planning is waste of time? Yes, much of the time it is, at least as it is typically taught.

Let's deal with the exceptions first. If you want to work in an industry where the industry is fairly predictable — say nursing — then plan away. The courses you need to take to gain an entry position are well known and so is the career path and the things you need to do to advance. So, simply figure out where you actually want to be in five years, and work backwards, just like all the career planning manuals tell you.

But increasingly, the world is not this predictable. And it is in settings of high uncertainty where traditional career planning is both a waste of time and potentially dangerous. A career plan can lead you into a false sense of confidence, where you fail to see opportunities as they arise and miss taking smart steps you otherwise hadn't planned for.

You need an alternative. Let us suggest one.

Instead of formulating the logically perfect ending job and the optimal path to get there, begin with adirection,based on a real desire, and complement that with a strategy to discover and create opportunities consistent with that desire.

In an uncertain world you can't even come close to saying what a specific job might be, but you can say what's valuable and important to you. Who are you? What matters to you? Is it working in a specific industry? Managing people or not? The answers will point you in productive directions.

Having considered that, what are your means at hand, your talents and skills, who you know, what you know? And how do you get started on concrete actions that are consistent with these desires? Some of those will take the form of looking for a job, but others might simultaneously entail starting something of your own. As you act, different opportunities will present themselves.

So, the process looks like this:

Determine your desire
Take a step toward it
Incorporate what you learn from taking that step
Take another step
Learn from that one
Repeat until you have a job, your own business, or have achieved your goal

It's not career planning. It's acting your way into a future you want.

(Oh, by the way. Still curious about that Google question? The numbers in the list are in ascending order, based on the number of letters in the spelled-out numbers, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out. "A correct response will have nine letters: 96, for instance. A cleverer answer is "one googol." That's the huge number that can be written as a "1" with a hundred zeros after it. Google, the company's name, was originally a misspelling of 'googol.")

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

2012-03-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

The Biggest Myth in Time Management

2012-02-24T06:30:00.000-08:00

Brad* is as hard a worker as anyone I know. He's not just busy, he's keenly focused on getting the right things done. And it pays off — he is the largest single revenue generator at his well-known professional services firm.

A few days before Thanksgiving, Brad flew from Boston to Los Angeles with his family. He was going to work for the first few days and then relax with his family. During the flight, he decided not to use the plane's internet access, choosing to talk and play with his children instead. A five-hour digital vacation.

When they landed, Brad turned on his BlackBerry and discovered that a crisis had developed while he was in the air and he had close to 500 email messages waiting for him.

So much for a digital vacation.

The truth is, we can't ever really get away from it. There is no escaping the nonstop surge of email, text, voicemail, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn — and that's just the technology-based stream. How can we ever catch up?

We can't.

The idea that we can get it all done is the biggest myth in time management. There's no way Brad can meaningfully go through all his email and there's no way any of us are going to accomplish everything we want to get done.

Face it: You're a limited resource.

Each day only has 24 hours and we can't sustainably work through all of them.
On the one hand, that's depressing. On the other hand, acknowledging it can be tremendously empowering. Once we admit that we aren't going to get it all done, we're in a much better position to make explicit choices about what we are going to do. Instead of letting things haphazardly fall through the cracks, we can intentionally push the unimportant things aside and focus our energy on the things that matter most.

There are two main challenges in doing the right things: identifying "the right things" and "doing" them.

Most of us manage our time reactively, making choices based on the needs that land on our desks. To determine the "right things," we need to make deliberate choices that will move us toward the outcomes we most want. Which, of course, also means that we need to make deliberate choices about what not to do. The world will take what it can from us. It's never been more important to be strategic about what we choose to give it.

In terms of the second challenge — "doing" or following through — we need tools and rituals. We need an environment that makes it more likely that we will do the things that matter most and less likely that we will waste our time with meaningless, unproductive diversions. We need to know how to prioritize properly, delegate deliberately, tabulate to-do lists, and mitigate multi-tasking.

But which tools work best? Which rituals will help us follow through? If you spend all your time discovering and using all the advice you get from me and others, it could become a distraction to the work itself. Here's a process to help you avoid turning time management into another excuse to procrastinate on your most important priorities.

Think for a moment about the time-management problems you face. Do you leave the office with a nagging feeling that you worked all day but didn't get your most important work done? Do you feel like you aren't taking advantage of your talents and passions? Are you distracted by little things? Avoiding big hairy projects? Do you interrupt yourself with email and other distractions? Try taking this three-minute quiz to discover where you are distracting yourself the most.
Once you've identified your biggest time-management challenges, choose a single one to tackle. Maybe you're not clear on your "right things." Maybe you use the wrong rituals. Maybe you strive for perfection. Pick the challenge that most often gets in your way. Then choose one time-management tactic to solve that challenge — just one of the many good suggestions you've encountered here and elsewhere.
If that tactic works, repeat the process with another challenge. If it doesn't, try a new tactic. Continue to approach things this way, one at a time, so you can be sure what works for you and what doesn't.

Brad, overwhelmed by his hundreds of emails, put his BlackBerry away and did nothing until he arrived in his hotel room. Then, using his laptop, he triaged his now more than 500 emails based on what he knew were his most important priorities, answering the ones he needed to and deleting the majority of them. Within an hour, he was done. He shut his laptop, left his BlackBerry in his room (gasp!), and enjoyed a fun, chaos-filled dinner with his family, which, at that time, was precisely the right thing for him to do.

*Names and some details have been changed

How to Start the Big Project You've Been Putting Off

2012-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

I want to write a screenplay.

I wanted to write one last year, but other work took more time than I expected, and I kept pushing "write screenplay" off my to-do list.

I know I'm not alone in struggling to make incremental progress on long-term projects or goals. How do you get started when you have "all the time in the world"?

Maybe you have a project with no deadline, like my screenplay. Or maybe you have a deadline that's months away — like preparing a speech, developing a business plan, or designing a training program. Perhaps you have a habit of procrastinating on projects with generous schedules until "next month" is "next week" and suddenly your long-term project has morphed into a panicky, short-term stress-inducing nightmare?

Doing something big and important is rarely as simple as just getting it done. Often we don't know how to start and, even when we do, we rarely already have all the knowledge and capability we need to see it through. Also, we almost always have more urgent things to do and so we push off long-term goals.

I know the basic advice: break the work into smaller, more manageable chunks, focus on the next small step that will move you forward, set intermediate deadlines.

It's good advice. But, in my experience, it's not enough.

Because, ultimately, the reason we procrastinate on a big, long-term project isn't just because we have too much time or don't know where to start. And it's certainly not because we think it's not important. In fact, it's the opposite.

We procrastinate on that big project precisely because it's important. So important, in fact, that we're too scared to work on it.

I've never written a screenplay. I don't know how to format it. I don't know how to structure the story. I don't even know the story I want to tell.

I'm afraid. Afraid that I'll fail. That I'll spend a lot of time on it — while other more immediate things don't get done — and it will be terrible, anyway.

I'm also afraid of the opposite: That I'll just dream about it but never actually work on it. Which, paradoxically, discourages me from starting it. If I'm never going to get it done, why start?

My screenplay isn't just mundane work; it's work I care deeply about. Almost all big projects fit into that category — even the report your boss asked for that you might think you don't care about. That's because a big project is a mirror. It reflects your thoughts and effort and even character. It has your signature on it. Failure in a long-term project isn't just a work issue; it's an identity issue. Is it any wonder that we procrastinate?

So what's the antidote?

Don't ignore your fear. Acknowledge it. As soon as you know you're going to give that speech or design that training program, take a quiet moment and experience the fear that comes with the importance of the project. Maybe you're afraid of getting up in front of all those people to give your speech. Maybe you're afraid of failing in your new business. Maybe you're afraid that your training design will expose how much you don't know. Maybe you're afraid of letting other people down.

Resist the temptation to minimize your anxiety. That's a false macho response and it lacks courage. It's also counterproductive; it gives power to the fear, almost guaranteeing that it will haunt you and prevent your progress.

Here's why acknowledging your fear works: You're scared because you expect a lot from yourself and you're afraid you'll underperform. When you acknowledge that fear, you're acknowledging that you might not have all that it takes to meet your expectations; you might not have all the tools, information, skills, etc. Admitting that, in turn, reduces your expectation of getting it perfect right off the bat.

And lowering your expectation of getting it right is the key to getting it started.

Acknowledging your fear also serves another, crucial purpose: it informs you. By recognizing that you don't have all the tools, information, skills, and support to see the project through, you're identifying your next, manageable step in getting started: rounding up the tools, information, skills, and support.

Even if it's not your choice (e.g., your boss committed you to do it) — commit yourself to it fully. Recognize that it will be a reflection of you and admit that you care about it. Even if you don't care about the project, you do care about your work and, in this moment, your work is the project. Make it one of your top five priorities. When you make the project one of your top five priorities, you're also — and just as importantly — choosing what's not a priority. If you have too many important things on which to focus, you'll never get to the big long term one. So slash your list until you're left with only five.

I use a six-box to-do list — each box represents one of my top five priorities and the sixth box, labeled the other 5%, is for everything else. That last box shouldn't take more than 5% of your time. One of my five boxes always represents a long-term priority, which, for this year, contains my screenplay.

Now you're ready for the standard advice: Break the work into smaller chunks and make sure you know how to do the first chunk. Set an intermediate deadline. If you need other people involved, get them involved early, as commitments to others helps you take your deadlines seriously.

Finally, decide when and where you're going to accomplish the first chunk and make an appointment with yourself in your calendar.

When you sit down to start your work, you may feel the resistance — fear — come up again. But now you know what it is. Acknowledge it and it'll be easier to move into the work.

There's one more thing. Share your fear. Some people may think you're a wimp. But that hasn't been my experience. Telling others you're intimidated by something you have to do gives them permission to feel — and maybe express — their own fear. I find that people are gracious, supportive, and empathetic.

And that support, it turns out, helps us all get our most important work done.

How to Work with Someone You Hate

2012-02-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

Working with someone you hate can be distracting and draining. Pompous jerk, annoying nudge, or incessant complainer, an insufferable colleague can negatively affect your attitude and performance. Instead of focusing on the work you have to do together, you may end up wasting time and energy trying to keep your emotions in check and attempting to manage the person's behavior. Fortunately, with the right tactics, you can still have a productive working relationship with someone you can't stand.

What the Experts Say
If you work with someone you don't like, you're not alone. The detested co-worker is a familiar archetype. Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University and the author of Good Boss, Bad Boss and The No Asshole Rule, says this is part of the human condition. "There are always other people — be they relatives, fellow commuters, neighbors, or coworkers — who we are at risk of tangling with," he says. Avoiding people you don't like is generally a successful tactic but it's not always possible in a workplace. "Some people are there, like it or not," points out Daniel Goleman, the co-director of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University and author of The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights. Next time you find yourself shooting daggers at the person in the cubicle next to you, consider the following advice.

Manage your reaction
Your response to your dreaded co-worker may range from slight discomfort to outright hostility. Goleman says the first step is to manage it. He suggests that if there is someone who is annoying or abrasive, don't think about how the person acts, think about how you react. It's far more productive to focus on your own behavior because you can control it. To handle your triggers, Goleman advises you practice a relaxation method daily. This will "enhance your ability to handle stress, which means the annoying person isn't that annoying anymore," he says.

Keep your distaste to yourself
While working through your displeasure, avoid the temptation to gripe with other coworkers. Don't corner someone by the water cooler and say, "There's something about Jessica I don't like, don't you agree?" Sutton notes that we all have a tendency to look for confirmation of our own opinions, but we should also resist it. "Because emotions are so contagious, you can bring everyone down," Sutton says. Besides, complaining about someone in your office can reflect negatively on you. You may garner a reputation as unprofessional or be labeled as the difficult one. If you find you have to vent, choose your support network carefully. Ideally, choose people outside the office.

Consider whether it's you, not them
Once you have your reactions in check, think about what it is you don't like about the person. Is there something specific that sets you off? Is it that she's just different than you? Does he remind you of your father? Do you wish you had her job? Jealousy and other negative emotions can cause us to wrongly assess and mistreat others. "When someone is doing better than us, we tend to scorn them," Sutton says. Differences can make us biased. "Our favorite person in the world is ourselves. The more different someone is from us, the more likely we are to have a negative reaction to them," he says. Focus on the behaviors, not the traits, that irk you; this will help you discern stereotypes from true dislike. "Start with the hypothesis that the person is doing things you don't like but is a good person," says Sutton. By better understanding what is bothering you, you may also be able to see your role in it. "It's reasonable to assume you're part of the problem," says Sutton. Be honest with yourself about your share of the issue. And be on the lookout for patterns. "If everywhere you go there's someone you hate, it's a bad sign," Sutton warns.

Spend more time with them
"One of the best ways to get to like someone you don't like is to work on a project that requires coordination," says Sutton. This may seem counterintuitive since you likely want to run from the room screaming whenever the person is there. But by working together, you can understand him better and perhaps even develop some empathy. "You might feel compassion instead of irritation," says Goleman. You may discover there are reasons for his actions: stress at home, pressure from his boss, or maybe he's tried to do what you're asking for and failed. Spending more time with your foe will also grant you the opportunity to have more positive experiences. But before you sign up to lead the next task force with someone you don't like, remember that there is one exception: "If it's someone who violates your sense of what's moral, getting away isn't a bad strategy," says Sutton.

Consider providing feedback
If none of the above has worked, you may want to consider giving your colleague some feedback. It may be that what bothers you is something that regularly gets in her way as a professional. "Don't assume the person knows how they are coming across," says Sutton. Of course, you shouldn't launch into a diatribe about everything she does to annoy you. Focus on behaviors that she can control and describe how they impact you and your work together. If shared carefully, you may help her develop greater self-awareness and increase her effectiveness.

But proceed cautiously. Goleman says whether you give feedback "depends on how artful you are as a communicator and how receptive they are as a person." If you feel he might be open and you can have a civilized conversation focused on work issues, then go ahead and tread lightly. But if this is a person you suspect will be vindictive or mad, or will turn it into a personal conflict, don't risk it. "The landmine when giving emotional feedback is that they take it personally and it escalates," says Goleman. You also need to be open to hearing feedback yourself. If you don't like him, the chances are good he isn't very fond of you either.

Adopt a don't-care attitude
In situations where you are truly stuck and can't provide feedback Suttons recommends you "practice the fine art of emotional detachment or not giving a shit." By ignoring the irritating behaviors, you neutralize the affect on you. "If he's being a pain but you don't feel the pain, then there's no problem," explains Goleman. This type of cognitive reframing can be effective in situations where you have little to no control.

Principles to Remember

Do:

Manage your own reaction to the behavior first
Practice emotional detachment so the person's behaviors don't bother you
Spend time trying to get to know the person and better understand what motivates him

Don't:

Assume that it is all about the other person — you likely play some part
Commiserate with others who could be unfairly influenced by your negativity or may judge you for your complaints
Give feedback unless you can focus on work issues and can avoid a personal conflict

When to Share Sensitive Information with Your Team

2012-02-24T05:11:00.001-08:00

Being the boss means you are often privy to information that your team isn't. You may learn that a major client is unhappy with your service, or that senior leaders are considering outsourcing your team's work. At these moments, it's easy to feel stuck between your bosses and the people you manage. Do you share the information? Or do you protect your employees from it? Whatever the news, it's up to you to decide whether, when, and how to tell your team.

What the Experts Say
There are of course times when you are not allowed to share the news — your company has been acquired but the deal is not finished, or someone on your team is being let go. But there are a whole host of instances when it is up to you. At those times, you're likely to feel pressure from one side or another. "It's very rare people don't want to know the news even if it's bad," says Michael Useem, the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management at the Wharton School and author of "Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership." But it's important to assess each situation individually and to remember it's not your job to coddle employees. "We're not their parents, we're their bosses," says Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and coauthor of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader. Telling or not depends on the situation, but these guidelines can help you make the decision.

Know your natural tendency
When it comes to privacy, we all have a preferred approach in our personal lives. Some tend to keep things quiet, while others are more of an open book. In your role as a manager, though, neither end of the spectrum is ideal. "If you're too private and people aren't getting the information they need to do their jobs, you need to get over it," says Hill. But if you're being too transparent — divulging too much information — it can come off as unprofessional. If you understand your biases, you'll be better able to counteract them and find a middle ground.

Question your motives
If you find yourself chomping at the bit to share news with your group or, on the flip side, resisting a conversation you think you should have, question your motives. Are you feeling guilty about harboring information? Are you afraid of people getting mad at you? "Understand your reasons for telling or not and ask yourself if they are legitimate," says Hill. Definitely don't share news if you are simply doing it to make yourself feel better. You shouldn't pass your anxiety on to your employees. At the same time, don't keep quiet just because you're uncomfortable or can't figure out how to deliver the news.

You should also question whether or not your motives are manipulative. Don't hold back information to gain or prevent a certain outcome from your people. For example, Hill says she takes issue with companies that know they have to lay people off but don't tell in the hopes that employees will work hard until the bitter end. Secrecy in this case is deceitful.

Tend toward transparency
Both Hill and Useem argue that managers should typically be as transparent as possible, especially when it comes to negative messages. "You need to give them bad news if it's going to impact their work or career in ways that are material," says Hill. Telling also allows you to enlist your team's help in solving the problem. Openness builds your credibility, which Useem describes as "cash in your account." Employees will trust that you're going to tell them what they need to know. Then, if at some point, you can't tell them everything, they are much more likely to understand.

Frame it about the future
If you decide to share, make sure your delivery includes a degree of hopefulness. "Frame the news so they can absorb it and do something about it," says Hill. Useem concurs and says that leaders have a responsibility to show people what the path forward is. For example, if you need to tell your team that you lost an important project bid, you can say something like, "While this is definitely bad news, we are going to double our client development efforts and work towards securing three smaller projects by the end of the year. You can help by reaching out to your network and reporting any leads back to me." Useem says that no matter how bad the news you need to convey optimism. Of course you don't want to give anyone false hope. "Overstating the likelihood of success can lead to disappointment later on," says Useem.

But don't over share
Also realize that total transparency may be unnecessary and overwhelming to your employees. Resist the temptation to share news when you don't have complete information and to delve into details when it will cause more harm than good. "People have a hard time coping with probabilities on the down side," says Useem. Instead of hearing there is a small chance of the negative outcome, they are likely to panic and assume it's a done deal. Hill agrees: "You don't need to share your entire thought process with people."

When to keep your mouth shut
There are also times when you are not at liberty to disclose information because of corporate policy, or a directive from your boss. In these cases, if you feel your employees should know the news, challenge the rule or decision by talking to upper management and making the case for telling. But without permission from above, don't go against policy. You could put your job at risk.

Principles to Remember

Do:

Ask yourself why you want to tell or not and assess whether it's a legitimate reason
Lean toward being transparent if possible
Frame the news so that people know what they can do about it

Don't:

Hold back information because you aren't sure how to deliver it
Flout company policy if you want to share something you've been asked not to
Give your team every detail about a decision — tell them just what they need to know

WORLD'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES

2012-02-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

For the 50 most admired companies overall, FORTUNE's survey asked businesspeople to vote for the companies that they admired most, from any industry.

Rank	Company
1	Apple
2	Google
3	Berkshire Hathaway
4	Southwest Airlines
5	Procter & Gamble
6	Coca-Cola
7	Amazon.com
8	FedEx
9	Microsoft
10	McDonald's
11	Wal-Mart Stores
12	IBM
13	General Electric
14	Walt Disney
15	3M
16	Starbucks
17	Johnson & Johnson
18	Singapore Airlines
19	BMW
20	American Express
21	Nordstrom
22	Target
23	J.P. Morgan Chase
24	Nike
25	Goldman Sachs Group
26	PepsiCo
27	Caterpillar
28	Cisco Systems
29	Costco Wholesale
30	UPS
31	Nestlé
32	Intel
33	Toyota Motor
34	Exxon Mobil
35	Volkswagen
36	Best Buy
37	Marriott International
38	Samsung Electronics
39	Deere
40	Netflix
41	Wells Fargo
42	Honda Motor
43	DuPont
44	Yum Brands
45	eBay
46	Sony
47	General Mills
48	Oracle
49*	Accenture
49*	Lowe's

Do you believe this will be Your Best Year Ever?

2012-02-23T06:36:00.003-08:00

Do you believe you can make this your best year ever? You know what some wise person (can’t remember who it was) said once “What you believe, you can achieve”!

I haven’t made any New Year’s Resolutions this year. Instead, I’ve written down very detailed goals and all the actions I should take to achieve those goals. Brian Tracy recommends this as an easy way to write down your goals:

“Imagine it’s December 2012 and you’re reflecting back on all the wonderful things you’ve achieved throughout the year. Then, start with ’2012 has been the best year of my life because…….’ “

By starting off like that, I found it really easy to write down a story that incorporated my goals. Then, I broke it all down into separate goals, including health, business, financial, and relationships. I put a time commitment on each of the goals.

Next, I wrote down all the actions required to achieve those goals. For my business, there are a lot of actions, so I’ve broken them up into:

Daily Actions
Weekly Actions
Monthly Actions
One Off Actions

I typed all the actions into a spreadsheet, with the above actions as column headings. In addition, I have the following column headings:

Time Required
Outsource
Urgent
High Income
High Impact

Now that all these actions are in a spreadsheet, and I’ve put a tick in the appropriate column, I can sort them all. I’ve sorted by Daily, Weekly, Monthly and One off, then printed out each one as a separate list.

It’s really easy for me now, because each day I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I only spend the time allotted. This way, I’m not going to muck around procrastinating and waste my time (like I have in the past). Each weekly action has been allocated to a specific day, and I’ll choose from a monthly and one off task each day/week.

I don’t know about you, but I feel so much better when I’m organized like this, and it makes my goals believable to me! One of my biggest reasons for procrastinating, is overwhelm. In the past, I’ve often looked at my long lists of actions, and instead of choosing the “highest income” or “highest impact”, I would just do things which passed the day very quickly.

So, that’s how I’ve started off my New Year, and how I plan to achieve ALL goals for this year, by the end of 2012. Please share with all of us, what you’re doing to achieve your goals this year.

India to be backdrop for Hurt Locker filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow's upcoming movie about bin Laden's final days

2012-02-22T09:38:00.002-08:00

Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, who won the best director Oscar for The Hurt Locker in 2010 beating exhusband James Cameron for his Avatar, will shoot her new film on the final days of Osama bin Laden in Rajasthan.

Bigelow will land in India next month for the project and this was confirmed by actress Jessica Chastain in an interview to a Hollywood website.

'I've been working on Bigelow's movie in Jordan... After the Oscars, I go to India to shoot more of the exteriors for the film,' Chastain, who stars in the movie, told justjared.com.

Sources in Mumbai said the filmmaker and her co-producers, Mark Boal and Megan Ellison, were reluctant to shoot in Pakistan owing to security issues.

Ideally, the major part of Bigelow's yet-untitled political thriller should have been shot in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, where the al-Qaeda chief was killed in a daring American operation in May last year.

'Bigelow wanted a backdrop that resembles Abbottabad. Since shooting in Pakistan is out of question, so she seems to have settled on India. Most probably, filming will be done in parts of Rajasthan in March,' an industry source said.

An earlier buzz had suggested that a team from the film's unit had arrived in India to hunt for locales sometime back. The house where Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad 'The team did a recce of western Punjab and Rajasthan over several weeks. They seem to prefer Rajasthan,' the source added.

The film will focus on the final days of Osama bin Laden's life

Cameron's ex-wife seems to be bullish about shooting in India, sections of the trade, however, are wary. Several big-ticket projects had lined up plans to shoot in India in the recent past but failed to get adequate clearances and permits.

Not long ago, the Indian railways refused to let the makers of the James Bond franchise to shoot their upcoming Daniel Craigstarrer Skyfall in India. Before that, plans to shoot portions of The Dark Knight Rises, the next Batman film, in India also fell through.

Bigelow, whose film The Hurt Locker made actor Jeremy Renner a household name, has once again chosen a cast of relatively unknown actors in her new film.

The cast of her Osama flick includes Mark Strong, Chris Pratt, Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler and Edgar Ramirez besides Jessica Chastain, who has been nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar this year for her role in The Help.

Bigelow, known to be secretive about her projects has, refrained from announcing who plays what role.

While there has been considerable curiosity about who plays Osama in the film, sections of the Hollywood trade indicate that the character may not feature in the screenplay at all.

Controversial "Chief Yahoo" Jerry Yang Resigns Effectively Immediately

2012-02-22T09:11:00.001-08:00

Jerry Yang has left the building. Yahoo! Inc. announced on Tuesday that Yang resigned from his position on the Board of Directors and all other positions within the company (including Yahoo Japan Corp and Alibaby Group Holding Ltd.) effective immediately.

With a nod towards Chief Executive Officer, Scott Thompson, Yang ended his long and often controversial run with the company he co-founded with David Filo nearly 17 years ago. The company has been publicly held since 1996 but has been struggling as of late.

Speculation on Wall Street for the potential rise in value of Yahoo! stock began almost immediately and after-hours trading showed a quick 4% rise within a few hours of the announcement (according to thestreet.com and other sources).

Many members of the business media were feigning surprise over the move, but just as many have been openly expecting it for some time. The company's Board of Directors and stockholders clashed with Yang in 2008 when he turned down an offer of $33 per share for Yahoo! stock at a time when the stock was trading at a conservative $14 per share.

That brief dance with Microsoft ended up on the sidelines and Yang stepped down as CEO assuming the title of Chief Yahoo, a position he has held since.

The stock has never completely recovered and the company has been faltering under the economic pressures of competing with behemoths such as Google and Facebook.

When new CEO Scott Thompson was brought over to Yahoo! from PayPal two weeks ago, some saw it as the death knell for Yang.

It is rumored that his resignation from Yahoo! will allow the company to more actively pursue the sale of some of it's major assets, namely, it's share in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

As of this writing,however, much is being speculated. Yang surely has plans and we'll be waiting for the next chapter in this saga. Expect some announcements about restructuring within Yahoo! very soon.

Attempts to navigate to Yahoo's homepage on the internet yielded the spinning ball of death. Hope that's not prophetic.