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An iPhone app to help you make decisions

2009-06-13T00:04:00.006-05:00

You may recall a previous article which spoke of a useful decision-support tool called the Decision Maker Spreadsheet. Well now there's an iPhone/iPod Touch web app version of this handy little tool. Use your iPhone to help you with making tough decisions.From the web app description:"DecisionMaker is meant to help you come to a decision whenever there are multiple reasons both for and against.

Why you should read 'How'

2008-10-15T17:51:00.003-05:00

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

Stay informed by topic area

2008-10-12T00:47:00.007-05:00

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

Think about more than just the bottom line

2008-10-02T17:39:00.002-05:00

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

Thoughts on eliminating stress

2008-09-27T11:44:00.004-05:00

In his recent article, About.com Management guide John Reh writes of some key ways to reduce your stress at work. He mentions the kinds of things we hear about often: learning not to sweat the small stuff, exercising and taking personal breaks or time-outs to recompose yourself, and improving your time-management and organizational skills, among others.These are all great tips, and while its

Hiring for experience or for attitude?

2008-09-17T22:29:00.003-05:00

Phil Gerbyshak of the b5 Media Business Channel asks: would you rather hire an individual with a great attitude or one with great experience?Visit the site to vote and to read my comment on this great question from the wonderful world of HR and hiring.

Use probability to forecast your sales

2008-08-14T19:51:00.008-05:00

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

Leveraging your core competencies

2008-06-13T17:41:00.001-05:00

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

More ways to reach out

2008-05-28T22:51:00.004-05:00

More and more businesses these days are finding new ways to reach potential customers and partners online. The debate as to whether sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn are more useful than company blogs is an ongoing one; however, with additional services such as Twitter gaining in popularity due to the supposed huge potential for its use, many nimble organizations are eager to create online

Understanding Strategy

2008-05-04T14:38:00.002-05:00

When it comes to setting the direction and objectives of your business, what you do isn't nearly as important as how you do it. With that in mind, here's a little refresher on strategy development and execution. Share and enjoy.Start with the business plan!Use your core competencies effectivelyHow to develop a consumer-oriented marketing strategyHow to connect your high-level strategy to your

On Performance

2008-04-18T09:48:00.003-05:00

If you’re new to the site or if it’s been a while since you’ve used the Leader’s Toolbox featured here, now is as good a time as any to become familiar with how you can find the content you are looking for.Today’s featured subject area is the topic of performance management. This is the one of the many content areas listed in the Leaders’ Toolbox found on the right of this page. Some of the

Reduce Your Business Expenses

2008-04-11T16:31:00.003-05:00

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

How Do You Know if You're Good?

2008-04-08T16:55:00.003-05:00

One of the most effective ways of assessing financial performance and making good decisions is by determining your return on investment, or ROI. A good understanding of the ROI will help you go a long way in making the right choices in business and in life. Here’s what it is, and how you can benefit from knowing how to figure it out.The ROI is a financial formula used to determine, as its name

Increase Profitability with Benchmarking

2008-04-05T11:39:00.004-05:00

Regardless of the industry you operate within, if you want to truly identify your company's competitive advantage, you need to be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your business, and how the strategies you have chosen affect your profitability.It's simple enough to list all of your company's strengths and weaknesses, but to do this effectively, you must benchmark, or compare,

Is Facebook Bad for Business?

2008-04-01T21:36:00.004-05:00

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

How to Profit with a Market-Focused Approach

2008-03-29T17:50:00.007-05:00

The most profitable companies are the ones which fully understand their markets and their competitors. According to the CEO Refresher, there are six ways to deliver customer value by becoming more market-focused:Develop a sense of purpose around creating superior customer value and communicating this purpose to your entire organization. This approach also requires you to reward and encourage

How to Protect Your Business During a Recession

2008-03-26T16:13:00.005-05:00

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

Startup: Get the Business Plan Right

2008-03-22T01:53:00.002-05:00

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

Update: Decision-Maker Spreadsheet

2008-03-20T23:01:00.004-05:00

The link to the Decision-Maker spreadsheet has been corrected. Thanks to David for pointing out the error.The file described in the previous article, can be downloaded here:Decision-Maker spreadsheet.

The Decision Maker Spreadsheet

2008-03-19T20:05:00.015-05:00

If you've read Seymour Schulich's recent book, Get Smarter, you will have surely read the section in which Schulich, a self-made billionaire and philanthropist, outlines how he deals with making difficult choices in life. He calls this approach the "Decision-maker."Schulich's Decision-maker is essentially a weighted list of the pros and cons of a specific decision. However, don't let its bare

Tips for Entrepreneurs: Mastering the Pitch

2008-03-15T11:02:00.003-05:00

Having the ability to deliver a concise and effective sales pitch is an absolute must for entrepreneurs. In his article, "Learning to throw," Canadian Business magazine columnist Jeff Daniels provides some good advice for those wishing to perfect their delivery to potential investors, such as: explaining who you are and what "pains" your company is addressing; what solution you are offering to

Bridging the Strategy and Operations Gap

2008-03-10T17:46:00.003-05:00

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

Keep track of our new articles on Netvibes

2008-03-08T16:07:00.005-06:00

For the readers using Netvibes to catch up on news and events, there is now a way to keep track of new business and management articles on DILAWRI.com.Visit www.netvibes.com/dilawri to track new articles as they are published here, see the featured article and post your own comments and feedback on the wall.

A Quick Primer on Financial Ratios

2008-03-07T17:08:00.003-06:00

Whether you’re looking at your own company’s own performance and financial situation, or at that of other companies for opportunities to invest, financial ratios are a very useful thing to understand. This article will serve as a guide to understanding some key financial ratios such as: current ratios, quick ratios, debt and debt-equity ratios, as well as asset turnover and profitability