CHUCKREY.COM

"Mission and Vision Statements…Do they make a difference?"

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:11:00 +0900

Maybe not.

Brief analysis of the company eBay shows that they’ve formalized neither a vision statement nor a mission statement — at least of which the company broadcasts to the public (David, 2011). There is no telling what kind of posters deck the halls at eBay corporate though. With that said, eBay’s annual reports are riddled with strategic language that quite clearly announce targets and goals as they relate to eBay’s core Marketplaces segments; where the company has evolved its focus into three reportable segments: 1) Marketplaces, Platforms, and Services; 2) Payments; and 3) Communications.

So is the eBay business affected negatively by operating without precise vision and mission statements? Unlikely.

In fact, eBay has shown increased revenues and profits over the period from 2009 to 2011 (Yahoo!Finance, 2011). This paints a positive picture that the company is doing something right and doing it without overarching statements of vision and mission.

Reference:

eBay (EBAY). Income statement, March 29, 2011. Yahoo!Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=EBAY&annual

David, F. (2011). Strategic management. (pp. 99-110). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

A Complete Color Spectrum of Web Design Inspiration

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:08:14 +0900

A Complete Color Spectrum of Web Design Inspiration:

guillaumeb:

From Line25.com

Website designs come along in all kinds of colours and tones, from muted greys right through to psychedelic mixes of every colour imaginable. This post rounds up a showcase of some of the best web designs from every colour in the spectrum, featuring vibrant designs using reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues and purples.

"Steve knew that his people were his company. And while he made us work hard, never settle, never..."

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:12:55 +0900

“Steve knew that his people were his company. And while he made us work hard, never settle, never accept mediocrity, he also made us feel like people. Like we were as much a part of Apple’s success as he was.”

- The Rundown by Matt Drance.

Although this quote does not entirely reflect the tone of the story it is worth pointing out. This is quality rarely seen in our leaders. Most fail to recognize the importance of their people, falsely assuming leadership is only responsible for the success of a company. If only more of our leaders were like Steve.

(via jark)

Innovation in Business Practices: Part of the Oracle Culture

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:12:01 +0900

Q:What drives Oracle’s culture of innovation—does it come from the top?

A:Absolutely, it comes from Larry. Larry was a technical guy. He loved technical innovation, and he hired people that were really, really good. We didn’t necessarily follow the rules that other businesses follow. We’d hire people like me—who graduated with a degree in human biology from Stanford—and let them start a sales division with no sales background. The idea was to give smart people a project and let them figure it out. That’s the essence of the culture at Oracle. It started with technical innovation, and then it expanded to other parts of the business.

Apple, Steve Jobs, and the Apple Logo

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:08:17 +0900

Janoff says that he received no specific brief from Steve Jobs, and although he’s hazy about how he settled on the simple outline of an apple, the reason for the bite is crystal clear: it’s there for scale, he says, so that a small Apple logo still looks like an apple and not a cherry.

Holden Frith in a 2009 interview with CreativeBits, Rob Janoff, the man who drew the logo.

YOUTUBE Profile Name:NONSTOP (aka Marquese Scott) Channel...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:01:37 +0900

YOUTUBE Profile

Name:NONSTOP (aka Marquese Scott)

Channel Views:152,807

Total Upload Views:8,371,221

Age:29

Joined:Apr 30, 2006

Latest Activity:2 days ago

Subscribers:22,697

Website:http://www.facebook.com/marquese.scott

Country:United States

"Skype for iOS contains an XSS vulnerability that allows attackers steal information."

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 16:25:36 +0900

““Skype for iOS contains an XSS vulnerability that allows attackers steal information.””

- “Executing arbitrary Javascript code is one thing, but I found that Skype also improperly defines the URI scheme used by the built-in webkit browser for Skype. Usually you will see the scheme set to something like, “about:blank” or “skype-randomtoken”, but in this case it is actually set to “file://”. This gives an attacker access to the users file system, and an attacker can access any file that the application itself would be able to access.”

Source: SUPEREVR SECURITY BLOG

Decisions...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:46:06 +0900

Decisions are core determinations made based on analysis of a given situation in the manager’s environment. Managers make decisions in order to propel and steer their organizations on the best route to set goals and achieve success.

Approaches to decision making can vary greatly from predetermined and systematic to artful in nature. Programmed decisions for example are proactive approaches based on a predictable cause and effect. These types of decisions are typically made by following preset policies and procedures. Nonprogrammed decisions on the other hand are less proactive and more ‘off the cuff’ in response to an unforeseen and changing environment. Both can be effective courses under the right circumstances.

Defining the problem or opportunity is the first major step in the decision making approach. This step is critical in ensuring success in the decision efforts that follow. In this step managers will distinguish between problems and symptoms through a series of questions such as those provided in the funnel approach.

Analyzing the alternatives is midway in the decision process and the step where managers evaluate their options. Two questions should be asked during this process: 1) Does the option fit, and 2) What are the consequences. This step helps the manager in eliminate and retain the appropriate options.

Establishing a control and evaluation system is our final step that wraps up the decision making process and provides a framework in which results can be captured, measured and reported. The information garnered in this step gives the manager necessary feedback to ensure the success of current and future decisions.

Reference:

Plunkett, Attner and Allen, Warren, Raymond and Gemmy (2008). Management : Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations 9th Ed.

jark: A glimpse of North Korea from Boston.com. All of the...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:10:18 +0900

jark:

A glimpse of North Korea from Boston.com.

All of the imagery is absolutely stunning.

Skype is so easy to implement, so hard to secure. Risk worth...

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:07:00 +0900

Skype is so easy to implement, so hard to secure. Risk worth taking? Doubt it.

A researcher has supposedly found a vulnerability in videoconferenceing software Skype that allows an attacker to potentially inject HTML and JavaScript code into the program.

Berlin-based Levent Kayan said that the vulnerability may affect Skype for Microsoft’s Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems.

“It has not been verified though, if it’s possible to hijack cookies or to attack the underlying operating system. Attacker could give a try using extern .js files,” he said in an August 17 advisory.

Kayan said the vulnerability particularly affects Skype version 5.5.0.113.

Sources: Yahoo News (http://goo.gl/UUVVH) and NOPTRIX.net (http://www.noptrix.net)

Tokyo Random - Biker (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:42:37 +0900

Tokyo Random - Biker (Taken with instagram)

Tokyo Random - Asagaya Barber (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:24:12 +0900

Tokyo Random - Asagaya Barber (Taken with instagram)

Pink slips. Who wins? (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:02:20 +0900

Pink slips. Who wins? (Taken with instagram)

High class Roppongi Real Estate (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:27:22 +0900

High class Roppongi Real Estate (Taken with instagram)

Apple Chapel

Sat, 21 May 2011 15:54:21 +0900

Apple Chapel

Japan's Great Earthquake

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:37:54 +0900

Aftershocks starting to grow further apart. 余震すくなくなって. Nuke plant is [serious] but stable. 原発もすこし安定. Japan’s rescue and recovery efforts continue 救出もつずいている. 頑張れ日本.

"At least two key factors have prevented Apple from shipping a white version of the newest iPhone on..."

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 09:48:06 +0900

“

At least two key factors have prevented Apple from shipping a white version of the newest iPhone on Day One and even still on Day 251, Apple employees said.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak uses a white iPhone 4, which he says he assembled from parts made by a Chinese supplier and deemed to be defective by Apple. The device takes poor-quality photos when the camera’s flash is used, and the white materials make the proximity sensor less reliable, he said.

”

- CNN.com http://bit.ly/fuVx3u

BlackHole RAT

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:10:03 +0900

BlackHole RAT

Apple Macbook Pro (circa 2009)

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:02:58 +0900

The battery on my 2-year old Macbook Pro circa 2009 is expanding. The battery compartment is no longer closing flush with the aluminum body. The battery life has steadily decreased over the last few months. Now we know why. Lucky for me, I have AppleCare. We’ll see if it pays off. Update to follow.

Will Sports Illustrated’s Subscription Plan Rescue Digital Magazine Sales?

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:44:06 +0900

Will Sports Illustrated’s Subscription Plan Rescue Digital Magazine Sales?