All Entries in the "Business Management" Category
Shedding Light On Global Commerce
In the summer of 1997, I drove through the 17th century Chinese philosopher’s Zhu Bolu’s hometown. The Village of Kunshan had posted a large sign, in Chinese, above the highway that read, “Mend the roof while the weather is fine, and dig the well before you’re thirsty.” Simply interpreted: Get your house in order to [...]
The Catalyst
As the laws of physics state, an object at rest tends to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. This inertia can be the death knell of an organization, cause or culture. The question, of course, becomes how to transition any endeavor or enterprise; how to transform or merely reinvigorate a program [...]
Team Member Or Criminal Offender
According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, one-third of all businesses fail due to employee theft. The problem? Business owners fail to identify the villains stealing their profits. Perhaps owners fail to identify the thieves because they don’t have unshaven faces and approach them with a firearm yelling, “Stick ‘em up!” Rather, they appear [...]
Changing Company Culture
Most people never give company culture a second thought until there is a need to change it. Culture is rarely defined in a business or an organization and, unlike personnel policies or procedures for established workflow, company culture is not something written down. Rather, culture can often be described by any veteran employee to a [...]
Why You Should Edit That Memo One More Time
You’ve finished writing a letter or perhaps an e-mail to a customer, and are ready to send it off. But what about the embarrassing chance that you notice simple errors in your letter after it’s too late to change them, or worse, the customer points out the mistakes during a conference call? Keep your communication, [...]
6 Sins
Surviving in today’s business world is more difficult than we have witnessed ever before. Small- and mid-sized businesses are failing at a rate that has not occurred in more than 60 years. An analysis of the reasons for this high rate of failure quickly points to the following fundamental errors made by business owners. A [...]
The Winds Of Adversity
By Gentry Stanley & Micah Stanley, JD Adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity or distress. An unfortunate event or circumstance. A crisis. Trouble, affliction, opposition, pressure, anguish, testing, catastrophe, disaster, misery and loss. It is greater than our ability to resolve and it usually comes in multiples—it is adversity. If you [...]
Women-Owned Businesses
While the number of women-owned businesses—defined as privately held companies that are at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more women—is increasing, and the economic contribution of this group is significant, the percentage of women-owned businesses in America is still relatively small. According to the latest published statistics from the Survey of [...]
Question & Answer – Small Business
I own an eatery in a very slow mall. We have a corner spot right by the main entrance. I post daily specials and advertisements in the commons area. What else can I do? Restaurants, like most businesses, are driven by sales and marketing. Marketing attracts customers, and selling your products to these customers is [...]
Why Join A Trade Association?
Some business owners might say their schedule is demanding enough at the moment, and the thought of adding one more activity to their busy calendar is unbearable. So why should they try to cram time into their already-hectic schedules to join an industry association or other professional organization? Because membership in an industry association offers [...]
Going Green
A beginner’s guide to going green at work, financially and otherwise. During these past two years of global economic crisis, executives at companies around the world have been looking for ways to increase their bottom lines. Generally, businesses are stretching the dollar, adopting a “less is more” attitude. While some have laid off employees, reduced [...]
Does A Building Need An Architect?
Information Technology (IT) is more complex than most buildings. As such, it requires a similar architectural process in order to achieve a positive and predicted outcome. Too many IT projects don’t conclude positively or as predicted. Business analysts run hundreds of surveys in companies located throughout North America. They’re exposed to many IT environments of [...]
Success Insured
Most small- and medium-size construction companies are inadequately insured. It’s easy to understand why, as most never consider their liability and exposure, and besides, no one likes paying for insurance.