Companies 'not doing their best' to communicate strategy

I found this very interesting that 80 percent of companies recognize and know that they are “not doing their best” when it comes to communicating strategy throughout the organization. Business strategies are constantly changing and new plans are being developed, one of the company’s most important parts to handle is the execution and being sure everyone is on the same page. I find this frustrating, because you spend all the time planning, but then not follow it through or know how to effectively handle the execution. I tend to see this a great deal at my place of employment. There are big plans dreamed up and they are talked about for a month or so then fall off the face of the earth. Or it is followed through to a certain step and not everyone has been trained, informed or told so it is not being completely followed through. A company’s employees are one of their biggest assets in order for their business to be successful. Goals, targets, pay performance, reviews, and an effective communication of strategy should all be closely handled by the company to ensure success of their employees and for the company.

A Blue Print for Change

This article is similar to one I posted last week but as I was looking for articles on the Wall Street Journal website the majority I found had to do with women in the workplace. I think this is extremely interesting... it is interesting because people are investing so much time in this research. This particular article speaks about the dropping numbers in women in management and higher positions, while yet more women are graduating and with masters than men. The article also talks about what women and men are judged on when it comes to promotion time. Its interesting to see how much thought is being put into bringing women up in the work force. This article also talks about different countries and what women do to help them move forward. I think its worth a look at!

Which Country Works The Hardest?

I found this article interesting. It's comparing the amount of work done in hours per country. It also compares data of paid and unpaid work. The highest working country is Mexico when combining paid and unpaid(chores, cleaning, etc) work."
In the United States, people spent about 8.2 hours per day on paid and unpaid work, including 4.8 hours each day on the job or studying.
The Belgians seem to have really figured out this work/life balance thing. The researchers said they spend about 3.8 hours each day on work and study, plus another 3.3 hours on other chores."

quote- from the article. While USA is toward the top half of the spectrum it is not nearly as high as some.
Belgium is looking pretty good right now!

Government shutdown threat paralyzes contractors

This article was a good example of the trickle down effect that a government shutdown could going to have on the workforce. Specifically they mention a firm that is contracted to provide IT services for government offices throughout Washington D.C. It speaks of the uncertainty of when and if they will have work for the government, and how it's impacting this particular company's projected business.

The article was interesting, but a government shutdown is going to affect everybody-not just a contractor that works directly within the government. It would be wise for this firm to outbranch their customers a bit, so they don't have all their eggs in one basket. So that in the event of a government shutdown their business can continue at some capacity-until the government can figure things out and come back into session.

Egalitarian Workplace: Pro or Con?

I found this article interesting because of the debate that it entailed. The first section talks about the pros of an egalitarian workplace where the hierarchy is essentially thrown out and there are no "bosses" at all. Everyone is placed on an equal footing regarding job title.

The second section was the con section and mainly talked about how hierarchies are a necessary part of large groups. The section says that hierarchy is ingrained in our very DNA and we need it to function as part of a group larger than a few people.

As fun as the idea sounds I think I would have to side with the con side of this argument. To a certain degree, yes, groups can work as equals but when it comes down to it, someone needs to make a decision and, maybe more importantly, someone needs to be held accountable for the decisions or actions of the group.

U.S. fast-food chains bet on India to drive growth

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110411/bs_nm/us_india_us_food_retail MUMBAI (Reuters) – The scramble by global food companies into India's fast food sector intensified on Monday as several U.S. chains announced plans to enter the country, hoping to tap the surging spending power in Asia's third-largest economy. Restaurants like Denny's Corp (DENN.O), known for serving pancakes and sausages all day, and Rita's Water Ice, which would be the first foreign competitor to local water ice brands like Gola, which operates out of little stalls placed mostly on streets, plan to enter India over the next two years. Pollo Tropical of Carrols Restaurant (TAST.O), known for Caribbean-flavored chicken, Applebee's and Johnny Rockets, known for its hamburgers, are also looking to cash into the Indian quick-service restaurant market worth $13 billion. See above link for rest of article. I found this article interesting because I would not have thought of India being a fast food country. They will have to make a lot of changes on the menus, they would be stripped free of beef and pork, and would focus on fish and vegetarian dishes instead. That is really funny since one of the company's that want to get in ( Johney Rockets)is know for their burgers. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

Walmart ready to do battle

Walmart is bringing back thousands of products that were unceremoniously dumped from stores, saying it is ready to roll up its sleeves to win the lowest-price battle with its rivals. Walmart listened to the customers who are telling them that they want the right products in a one-stop shop at the lowest prices. Customers are still interested in name brands like Hellman's mayonaise, Febreeze and Glade. After a long sales slump the giant retailer is going to try a new tagline "low prices, everyday, on everything. Walmart will now promise to match a competitors advertised price and ring this on the register while the purchase is happening. Other new elements are necessary for the sales to improve and regain the share of the marketplace they once held.

skin bleaching in Jamaica tied to career opportunities

I found this article very interesting, people in Jamaica and other areas using lightening creams to make themselves more attractive to advance in career opportunities, opposite sex, and be accepted into the circle of society. Some go as far to use mercury in their lotion allowing the metal in the mercury to block melanin. This article stated some use dangerous creams on their babies! I thought this tied into our class regarding racial profiling and color prejudice - all to do with identity and race.

Google’s Page makes first changes to management

Google’s new CEO Larry Page announced a major reorganization of the six key product groups marketed by the Internet search colossus. This is Page’s first major move since taking control at Google earlier this week. The reorganization places the heads of the major product groups directly under Page’s control. This eliminates the previous bureaucracy that had several layers and slowed product development. The reorganization will help Google to fast track products to market, especially mobile devices and social media tools. Google has struggled with social networking and is feeling the heat from the Facebook, which now has an estimated 500 million members.

It is important for a business to identify the market trends and revise their business model to satisfy the changing needs of their customers. This is especially true with social media and Internet products. Even Google, which generated an estimated $29 billion in revenue last year, is not complacent. Regardless of the size of the business, management must be ready to change the direction of the business to fulfill the needs of their customers and keep pace with your competition. If you snooze, you lose.

Disney Plans Lavish Park in Shanghai

After two decades, Disney is finally allowed to open a theme park in Shanghai. In 2005, Disney opened a park in Hong Kong. This park has not done as well as they had planned. The problem with the first park was that they designed it based on American culture. They neglected to take into consideration the Chinese cultrual norms and what impact Disney plays in their country. The new park to be opened in Shanghai, however, will be designed with less "Disney" and more of what Chinese would want to see.

Hispanic Workforce Growing

http://www.jsonline.com/business/119034319.html I found this article interesting. I am not sure I agree to this article so much. Why do we need to do so much for the hispanics? Why don't we focus on people in general? I have a hard time with the minority issues being over stressed when most of us no matter what our race have similar opportunities depending on the choices we make. What do you all think?

5 ways GE plays the tax game

I found this article to be very interesting and yet made me question many things. General Electric is well known for their tax department inventing ways to pay Uncle Sam less, but yet everything they are doing seems to be legal. GE has been consistently at the top or near the top of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies. General Electric’s tax rate sometimes is even in the single digits when compared to the U.S. corporate rate of 35 percent. Jeff Immelt is the CEO of General Electric and on January 21st it was announced from the White House he would become the chief of the Council on Jobs and Competiveness. In Washington debates occur to make the tax system fairer and a question remains will Immelt’s new role help or hurt the tax advantages that General Electric has been taking full advantage of. The organization of General Electric is something quite interesting as they have structured much of their company it seems in order to reap better tax benefits. How convenient that GE’s tax department has almost 1,000 former government officials. Another factor that makes GE unusual is their practice of recruiting dozens of former tax officials from Washington’s official tax world. A significant tax benefit they reap the benefits of is the “active finance exemption” which allows the income of GE’s overseas lending to remain untaxed in the U.S. This tax benefit alone means hundreds of millions a year in savings and higher profits for GE, thus why they push the need for it to be renewed by Congress. Other tax benefits that GE focuses on to make their success is by moving jobs overseas, get a tax break. The organization of this company, where their business is conducted and the employees seems to be solely based on tax benefits and any breaks that could possibly benefit them. It seems as though GE has this down to a science, but what does that mean now that Jeff Immelt, CEO is chief of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness? Will his decisions and arguments be based on the thought of how it would benefit General Electric?

American Airlines Becomes First U.S. Airline to Launch Daily Nonstop Service Between Los Angeles and Shanghai

This articles about American airlines & it's regional affiliate American Eagle beefing up international flights as well as adding 10 new destinations. American will offer non-stop daily flights to Shanghai, which will mark the biggest global partnership between American and fellow oneworld® Alliance partners British Airways and Iberia Airlines. This will allow easy access for businesses that need to be face-to-face with their Chinese partners or possibly open new expansion opportunities for current U.S. companies. With most business done over the internet or video conferences the 10 new destinations will offer a chance to get back to a more hands on approach for some companies.

LAX is the main hub for the international flights, as well as the main port for flights in the U.S. The move will put American airlines firmly in the driver seat as the leader in global travel. The 20 million dollar investment could pay for itself in less then 5 years, and is unique simply for going non-stop to China. It may be the first, but definitely won't be the last.

Starbucks furthers commitment to Central America with store opening in Guatemala

This week I thought it would be interesting to find an article on Starbucks. Starbucks is well known for doing business internationally. Being an employee, I believe that their mission and cultural behaviors can be seen within their actions. This article is about the commitment that Starbucks has in helping out the communities in which they are apart of. To me this is a good example of what global businesses should be doing. What do you think?

Money Talks

I watched Shark Tank last night and one of the sharks said to three young kids that "Money is everything. If you don't have it you are nobody and when you do have it you just want more." I found this comment to be the truth. The world is driven by money. It is hard to do anything these days without signing contracts or being hassled to lower your final price to make a sale.

I found an article that talks about International Bribery and how a company from California bribed a Mexican company by buying their CEO a yacht and a Ferrari. This was done in order to win a bid and be awarded a contract for 5.4 million dollars. Not a bad investment if you ask me. Cost of bribes is around a 1/2 mil for 5.4 mil worth of business. It turns out though that this is against the law due to international bribery laws. My question to that is what is considered a bribe? Would it be considered a bribe if I would bid a job but then throw in a 30% discount if they give me their business and allow me the chance to bid all future jobs? According to the laws "Any means of incitement used in order to secure financial gain" would be considered a bribe. This seems awfully open for interpretation. Every request for proposal that my company bids out includes a discount or incentives for people to use us over our competition. We could offer anything from a 30% discount if balance is paid in full before work begins, to a 10% discount or finders rewards if we get additional work from the original source and or any of their friends. So now I ask the question again, is this bribery? My company offers a discounts in exchange for financial gains.......so another words we are inciting people to use us by giving them money.

The problem I have with this is that this is a norm for any transaction that happens within a business. People are always haggling for more money off or perks, but within the US it is okay to do this. When a business does this overseas it becomes a problem.

Personally I think this is a waste of money and resources to monitor these actions. A company needs to do whatever it can to ensure it's survival. If it takes a new Ferrari then so be it. That just shows that the winning company was willing to give more to get the job. I will admit that I do not know every aspect of the law for international bribery, but the nutshell version seems that it is open to interpretation and I feel that this is a law that should be thrown out.

Coaching Urged for Women

This article talks about women in the workplace and the lack of leadership mentoring they recieve. It touches base on the statistics of men and women in management positions. Women are far less seen as top management in fortune 500 companies than men. This article talks about why this is. Research has shown that is all comes down to the lack of leadership training and mentoring. It talks about how companies need to groom women to climb the corporate ladder to add diversity to top management. This article is focused on companies that want diversity, but what about the ones that don't? They should just be able to ignore the fact that women don't recieve the same training or mentoring, or that they are put into positions that will never lead to a CEO position? Its an interesting article but I don't think it should be expressed only to companies looking for gender diversity.

Social Security not mailing statements

Beginning this month the Social Security Administration will no longer be mailing the 4 page statement to individuals. This is a move to conserve funds, it costs about $70 million dollars to print and mail the information. It appears the move will be great way to help send funds back into the system. As people become more involved on the internet a sample of their statement is available to review on an annual basis for accuracy and updates to help with retirement planning. Sounds like a fantastic way to save on unnecessary spending. My only suggestion would to be sure the public is aware of the change and fully understands how to secure the personal information when needed. Each individual can make a choice to print or not giving the environment a break also from the killing of all the trees.

McDonald's takes aim at "McJob" with U.S. hiring spree

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110404/bs_nm/us_mcdonalds;_ylt=AnUw3LAGHRVD6B3ebD0L2_uyBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJkdTVpczhuBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwNDA0L3VzX21jZG9uYWxkcwRjcG9zAzMEcG9zAzgEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDbWNkb25hbGQzOXN0 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp announced a one-day spring hiring spree aimed at fighting the use of the term "McJob" as shorthand for describing low-wage, dead-end work. The global restaurant chain said it plans to hire as many as 50,000 new U.S. employees -- ranging from restaurant crew to managers -- on April 19. The move would increase the hamburger company's U.S. workforce by 7.7 percent to 700,000, but such hiring is typical in the lead up to the busy summer months. "Our total hires are similar to past years, but the goal of hiring 50,000 people in one day across the U.S. is unique," McDonald's spokeswoman Ashlee Yingling told Reuters. The April hiring event is preparation for the busy summer months. "But these are not just seasonal jobs. It's a mix of permanent and temporary jobs," Yingling said. I thought this was an interesting way to hire can you imagine the HR nightmare this is going to be. But the fact that they are hiring is good; they had a 2.7% increase of sales in Feb. I'm not sure why they think this is going to dispell the myth of it being a dead end job but good for them.

China dairy producers

China halts nearly half dairy producers in quality crackdown

I found this article interesting; not sure I agree with the China government's answer to tighten up on regulations and quality by having fewer but larger players in the dairy industry. The government feels they can control and watch over a smaller amount of producers.

With having producers adding melamine and illegal leather protein powder to gain protein readings - is inhumane. I would fear the larger producers would find a way to cheat readings of protein if they wanted to take the risk. An extreme penalty should be enforced if producers are found guilty of lacing food consumption products that causes harm.

More Customers Exposed as Big Data Breach Grows

This is an article about a breach in security with online marketer Epsilon that occurred last week. The fear is that this could be the most extensive breach in Internet security in U.S. history, and although it did not expose personal financial information or social security card numbers, it did include names and e-mail addresses of information from many well know credit card companies. I am currently taking a criminal justice class and this is a topic that we have discussed in that class as well, so that is probably why it caught my attention. Although Law enforcement agencies are investigating the breach, it is not clear at this time how many customers have been exposed.

"Shut Your Cyber Mouth"

I found this article very interesting, because it's a topic very relevant in my life and work. What can you say on social networks? It's becoming more difficult to maintain a balance between Employer's rules and Employee's Freedom of Speech. Everyone has to be careful of what they say even when outside of work. Is this right? I understand both sides of the issue. A company wants to protect it's image and reputation and therefore does not want employees to say hurtful things about the company or other employees. Also, a company may not want an employee that makes hostile  or derogatory comments, either at or away from work. On the other side, an employee wants the freedom to go home and rant about work and decompress. I'm not sure which side I take more than the other, however I do know that it is a fine line to walk and when looking for a new job, you have to take into account what you look like on the internet. Can people find what you've said? Questionable pictures? A frustrated but misconstrued "tweet"? It's becoming more and more difficult to navigate the waters of work and social media.

Thoughts?

Deere Enhances Focus on Russia

Deere & Company recently announced that the company would double its sales by 2018. Last year, the company’s sales and revenue totaled $26 billion with earnings of $1.87 billion. To reach the 2018 goal, Deere plans include global expansion, especially in Russia, China, and India.
Deere’s Russian expansion will focus on agricultural products. Russia has 9% of the world’s arable land and plans to double their wheat production to react to worldwide demand. It can be a struggle for foreign companies to operate in Russia, due to the volatile political climate. In the past, the Russian government has enforced policies that have stopped foreign equipment manufacturers from distributing their products. Current Russian policies are favorable for Deere’s expansion, but there is a considerable risk of a flip-flop of these policies. Deere has mitigated this risk by opening a manufacturing plant in Russia and high-level government negotiations.
Deere’s expansion into China and India is focused on construction products. The rapid expansion of infrastructure and urbanization in China and India has fueled the demand for excavators and bulldozers.
As domestic demand for Deere’s products is flat, the company has moved their focus to the global market. This is an excellent example of the global nature of business today. I applaud Deere’s approach to the changing global environment, which shows great promise for its stockholders, employees and vendors. As an employee of one of Deere’s vendors, I am happy to hear of Deere’s planned expansion. I have witnessed firsthand the growth in our Deere business. Deere’s growth provides me with the peace of mind that my employer’s business will be stable for the near future.

The Ford Family

I found this article really interesting because it is talking a lot about the slow restructuring of the Ford family at the highest levels. Many of the senior members are slowly but surely passing their vast amount of shares in the Ford Company to more junior members of the family like Bill Ford, Jr.

William Ford, Sr (Henry Ford's last surviving grandchild) owner 13.3% of the Class B shares last year and is now down to 9.5%. On the other hand, Bill Ford, Jr increased his stock from 5.8% last year to 6.9%.

Ford stock has recently been trending up so it will be interesting to see if this affects it in a positive or negative way. Since the family itself isn't actually selling off any of their stock overall I don't think it would be seen negatively necessarily. It seems to me that the older generation is just getting ready to pass the torch in the next few years. The only reason I could see this going negatively is if the younger generation is not seen as the best thing for the company. Since I don't follow the Ford Company I can't really weigh in on that argument.

Supply woes, high prices changing chocolate treats

The symptoms are high prices and supply woes but the cause are organizational management challenges. The short term tactics used by the producers to compensate for the high cost of cocoa are meant to buffer the consumer from the volatility and high cost of the commodity. The solution however lies in addressing the global challenges and pressures such as political unrest, futures contract pricing, increasing global demand, stagnant yields, land cost, shortage of future farmers, government policies or lack thereof and even international infrastructure to name a few. Opportunity is also affected by the global nature of this industry, for example: the frustration of coordinating multi-national organization and cooperation to increase yield is a challenge with tremendous potential for profit. Even chocolate can benefit from international organizational attention.

More Businesses Are Outsourcing - To Rural and Small Town U.S.A.

This article is very interesting as it talks about an increase in a new trend called “ruralsourcing”. The way this is described is that many businesses are dealing with an increased workload with a greater demand from their customers. While this is great, businesses are still uncertain about the economy and do not want to put themselves in a position that they were before by having to do mass layoffs, so instead they are not hiring full-time employees quite yet. Ruralsourcing though is described as outsourcing jobs, but instead of outsourcing them to India or China, they are being outsourced to small, rural communities local throughout the United States. This is great news, because more jobs are available for more people, instead of sending them over to another country. I can say that I have seen this happen also at my place of employment due to our heavy workload and our owner not wanting to commit to additional full-time employees. We have been outsourcing to other sources, even competitors of ours, all working together. Besides from that outsourcing our employees are working overtime and there have been additional temporaries brought in to assist where capable. But I do question when I look at the dollar figures, how beneficial is this if not taken into account when the job is quoted. Is a profit still being obtained? If this can be a temporary fix I guess at least the customer is happy and still a customer of yours. This trendsetter of ruralsourcing is definitely a win-win situation for all involved and the recovery of the United States economy.

The Culture Of Business

This article basically says that different forms of corporate cultures work in different markets. What works for Microsoft wouldn't work for say Delta airlines, and finding the right culture involves a little trial & error sometimes. I don't really like the fact that the term corporate culture is used as much as it is in todays business environment. To me culture is something that doesn't change. We as intelligent people can adapt to different surroundings and learn from other cultures, especially in a business environment where the way of doing things can change with the market itself. Changing up the direction of a company in order to stay competitive or to gain a new competitive advantage is what a good business is supposed to be able to do, but the focus still is geared towards profits and creating a high functioning, cohesive, team that does things a certain way that works for them, so the culture really wouldn't change, but the focus of the company would. That's why I don't like the term corporate culture, I understand the meaning, but just don't dig it.

Your Hired!!

I usually don't get upset when I read business articles, but this article struck a nerve. Private sector added 201,000 jobs in March.......but that is off the trend of 211,000 jobs per month so now it's a bad thing. Just because March didn't have another 10,000 job openings doesn't mean that it is a bad month. People need to realize that any positive number of created positions is a good thing for the economy. This means that people are no longer collecting unemployment, they now have income to fuel the economy with purchases, and that this is one more person that paying taxes which lessens the weight for everyone else that is working. I realize that 1 person really doesn't make a bit of difference, but when there are 200,000+ new hires every month...it adds up quick. Just think at the end of March there are now 620,000 less people that are unemployed when compared to the beginning of the year. 600,000 people can now dig themselves out of financial troubles or burdens that unemployment placed on them and can now start looking to the future with a positive outlook. 600,000 people are happier now than they were in December.

Investors are idiots. They only look for trends and when they see that numbers are going in the wrong direction suddenly they panic and move their money into safe investments. If investors would just open their eyes and see what these numbers mean for America in the long term they would be investing double in the market than what they currently are.

Positive V. Negative Reinforcement

This article relates a bit to the exercise we did in class on positive and negative reinforcement. Basically, the article states that, in the case of ethics, negative reinforcement works better. Employees are more apt to heed consequences for bad behavior than rewards for good behavior. I think part of this is because of the intangible nature of ethics. It is hard to reward someone consistently for being a good person. What type of reward would you give? How often would you give it? What behavior, exactly, would be rewarded? People grow up knowing that there are consequences for bad behavior, it's a concept they are used to, and it makes sense to keep using that structure in the workplace once they are adults.

Caterpillar CEO: No Plans to leave Illinois

Recent news reports had Caterpillar Corporation threatening to move out of Illinois, because of the substantial increase to state personal and corporate tax rates. These reports were based on a letter that was sent to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn from Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman. In a speech on Wednesday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Oberhelman stated that Caterpillar is not planning to leave Illinois. This looks like another case of sensationalistic reporting, where statements are taken out of context and facts are distorted to sell copy. Caterpillar is definitely disappointed with the Illinois’ revised tax code, but Caterpillar considers Illinois home. This is good news for my employer who does in excess of $30 million dollars of business with the Illinois based Caterpillar facilities.

Why The Decision To Hire A High Paid Sales Rep Failed

This article is about Prometheus hiring a high-paid sales rep to help launch a new marketed data management software. They were trying to pitch this new product to a new client, to do this they hired a senior sales rep to help them do that. In the end the money it cost to get this marketing and product set to sell and to meet with new customers it had already set the company back. The company ended up pulling out and also laying off their senior sales rep. There is some great information in the article and also the interview is very interesting. The link is attached to the title.

International SOS

International corporations have to deal with cultural issues, geographic issues, distance barriers, political challenges and also health and safety issues with compounding logistics and coordination worries. The article presents an interesting business and a specific company, SOS International, which offers services designed to meet these corporate needs. In today's world, this seems to be a company with a definite in demand product. I also found the comments on the importance of getting the right partner in Asia particularly eye opening. The emphasis on "valuing the network above their direct team" and "understand that really our value is this global network" drives home just how "worldly" this company's scope of operation is and how the scope itself is part of the culture. The final comment regarding expatriate benefits and expertise costs in developed countries is revealing.

NY Times To Charge for Online Newspaper

I thought this article was interest, because I personally used to read NY Times on occasion. I think it's interesting that in a world that is becoming more and more online and with more information being free, that they would choose to start charging readers.  I'm not sure whether or not they will be as successful with the new fees. I know they will keep some readers, but I feel like more casual readers will be turned off by the new fees. You can still read up to 20 articles a month for free, which really isn't that much when you think about it. The prices seem pretty high to me too, but then I also don't have a normal newspaper subscription. Again, I just think it's interesting that they are now choosing to start charging fees during a time where information is becoming easier to access.

Harry & David bankruptcy filing

This article was in the USA Today. Talks about the speciality gift store for fruit, nuts and other gourmet items is filing for bankruptcy protection. In the world of consumers keeping an eye on every penny they spend it appears the high end foods offered by Harry & David stores were one of the first things to go from consumer buying. This sounds to me like again a company did not plan well for a tough economy and is going to take the somewhat easy way out. The debts to the banks, vendors, etc. of the Harry & David company will be given the option to take less on what is owed to them or maybe they will not get anything. The method of closing stores could not keep the company from the situation it is now facing. Unsure about what the future holds a new management team has been put in place. Things are not so sweet at Harry & David's right now.

AOL Tries for Some Silicon Valley Cred

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_14/b4222043205512.htm This article talks about the building that AOL purchases and how they hope it will as they say: "AOL hopes its Palo Alto office will generate entrepreneurial energy, create better products, and give it an edge on acquisitions. " The new digs are part corporate office, part startup incubator, and part college community center. The hope for AOL executives is that some of that entrepreneurial energy rubs off on their 28-year-old company. An interesting part of the article was this statement: "While the mother ship has been shedding employees—AOL recently laid off more than 900—Garlinghouse is looking to fill 80 tech positions in Palo Alto, New York, and Virginia. "AOL wasn't building great products, and the brand was reflecting that," he says. "We have to expunge the ghosts of AOL and start fresh." " It shows in this market you have to step out of the box and createn ew ideas to succeed.

Are we using our ‘people data’ to create value?

The article touched on the continued use/growth of human resource analytical software, and how the results directly correlate between people and performance. In my own personal experience, I've worked at a place where they've implemented ERP software, and I felt it had a great impact on the workplace as a whole. Not only did it create a central data source for forms, policies, and procedures; but it also helped to manage and analyze worker performance. Entering information into a system, and having the data analyzed or compared to note trends, problems, and highlights in employee performance are much easier than simply filling out paperwork and filing it.

McInnovation: How a fast food giant sees the world

In doing business globally, a company must know how to promote their products for each different culture. McDonald's is one of those companies that has learned from failure in the past and has become an expert in doing business globally. I found that this article ties into the class very well. We have talked about how businesses fail due to a lack of not finding out more about the culture before taking products overseas and McDonalds is the perfect example of this.

Unpaid jobs the new norm?

I found this article interesting in regards to companies using interns instead of paying a salary to advance their own business goals. It is good there is the Fair Labor Standards Act to hopefully discourage and fine businesses that take advantage of workers.

Although working as an intern while completing schooling can be a learning experience and help an individual's future growth, I think a business gaining from an intern should pay at least a minimum wage. An unpaid intern position should be limited to the number of weeks a person would work without pay.

The web-based company the article mentioned that hired 50 unpaid interns to get a project off the ground seems to be illegal, but the interns gained experience, were willing to do the work without pay, now have a reference, and have experience on their resume. I certainly hope this is not the start of the new norm.

Here, Tweeting is a Class Requirement

In an article recently published by the Wall Street Journal it talks about many big consumer product companies heading back to school. But, they are not heading back to school for their own personal education; instead they are using classes to help promote their company image and/or products. Some of these companies include Sprint Nextel Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co. and Mattel Inc. They are sponsoring college classes and graduate-level research to get help with their online marketing. With their donations to these colleges they are in return receiving advertising, research, promotion of their company and a local Internet push. The sponsoring businesses are using these classes to increase their online presence with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter through these college students who are more greatly involved with the online networks than their company was.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704476604576158643370380186.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Europe lags behind US in productivity

This article touched on how Europe is currently behind US in productivity. The two main contributors to this gap are regulations and a monopolization of businesses. Thus the author feels deregulating and increasing competition would help to bring Europe closer in competition with the US. There are some interesting graphs within the article that highlight the specific industries and trends of production growth throughout the late 90's into the early 2000's. What I'm uneducated in is how much regulation there is within the US government on businesses, so while the article is interesting-I don't have a true comparison of where the US is at in productivity and the contributors as to why we are successful.

Nestlé's Recipe for Juggling Volatile Commodity Costs

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_13/b4221029399707.htm?chan=magazine+channel_news+-+companies+%2B+industries

This is an article about a company that has mangement that is prepared for anything.
Quote from Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke:

"There's no business school that can prepare you for that," says Bulcke, now 56 and Nestlé's chief executive officer. "What you learn there is how to reconnect the dots very fast."

Bulcke is again using the quick-response skills he honed in Latin America, this time to cope with the volatility in food and raw material costs that's buffeting the world's largest food and beverage company.

IT Supplies Not Disrupted By Japan Quake

Since the quake in Japan my employer has not felt any purchasing disruptions for technology products. Instead what we are seeing is that the price of the product is slowly rising. On any given week we will order roughly 10 new laptops to replace aging laptops within the organization. All of our products are Dell, which in fact many parts are made in Japan. This has caused a rise in price for the laptops and now we are starting to see a longer lead time before we receive product. I found this article interesting since Yes IT supplies have not been disrupted, but the article fails to mention that the end user will be paying more. I have also noticed that it is now taking longer to receive replacement products for damaged laptops. In the past if a motherboard fails I would have a replacement product within two days delivered to me. Yesterday, I placed an order for a replacement board and I was quoted a lead time of one week.

If a person wants a product they can still buy it, but it will cost them more. Japan's quake did not stop the flow of products to the end user, but now companies are scrambling to find other suppliers of parts in order to fulfill their customers needs. Different suppliers will be more than willing to manufacture parts for anyone, but there will be a higher cost associated with the part.

Short term I don't foresee Japan's quake causing to many problems with IT related products, but long term be ready to pay the extra money since many of these products are now being made elsewhere.

Arizona Senate Rejects 5 Bills on Immigration

I found this article dated 3/17 about the Arizona Senate rejecting 5 bills on immigration. This article dovetails with our discussion last week in class. It appears that the economic boycotts initiated when Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed the immigration law in April 2010 have had an impact. Even republican leaders who had previously supported more stringent immigration law have asked for a “timeout” to allow Arizona to recover economically. The legal struggles will continue, but for the time being, the left has won in Arizona.

AT&T/T-Mobile Violate Antitrust Laws?

I personally think this merger is a terrible thing, for consumers at least. The acquisition will lead to higher prices for users and will limit the number of options available for cellular phone choices. There was a reason for the break up of Bell Systems in 1974 due to the anti-trust laws. There was finally competition and choices. Now we're just heading back to the same old system of one large company holding all the power. Except this time AT&T also does TV, internet, home and cell phones.

Zippo hopes to spark sales by branching out

Expanding a company with a strong brand name is risky. With Zippo’s product driven by people who smoke and with the push of not smoking, I think it is a good decision to broaden their product line.

I found it interesting they plan to start many of their new products overseas before introducing the product to the United States. It is wise to market to Asia because they are a key smoking target, this will develop the brand name and then branching out will catch on. I think they may be going too diverse; from leisure clothing to watches to cologne….I don’t think their product should be so vastly different, and they should stick to the brand core.

Google Asia Boss Searches for Local Style

This article is about Google's President that runs the Japan and Asia-Pacific Operations. It is basically an interview done by the Wall Street Journal. They ask the boss about Google's relationship with China, things they have done wrong in an international market, and adjustments they are making to their international department to make it work better overseas. Currently they are working on expanding their company overseas and doing so they have had to make adjustments to their American company overseas and standards. One of the topics discussed is that they have generally required their employee's to speak English, but that has been one of their issues with staffing their international company. They now are allowing for their employees to not speak english. It is a very interesting interview, not only about Google itself, but also about the mistakes they have learned from and what they are doing to make their international business better. If you click on the title it will take you to the article!!!

CEO's welcoming demeanor

by GregHardt:
The CEO is the captain of the ship and a major variable in company culture. It is refreshing to read about a humble, welcoming and resourceful CEO. How can these skills be incorporated into the boardroom successfully? Why don't more companies adopt this management phylosophy? I think one of the reasons is that this mindset as applied to business is not easily taught, developed or learned. Instead, this is to a large extent based on your personality and character. Few are willing to work at being "nice" to employees yet those that do often are leaders of companies and employees who are "loyal beyond reason" to the cause whatever that cause may be. This is better than the "us versus them" mentality that is so prevalent.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/profile/2010-11-22-wyndhamceo22_ST_N.htm

Hartland Boy Invents Reusable Decals for Legos

I found this article about an 11 year old boy from Hartland, Wisconsin that invented reusable decals that you can use on Legos or other building bricks. Greyson MacLean took his product to the Toy Fair 2011 in New York City. Well, sort of. He actually was not able to attend because he is not old enough, you have to be 18 years of age to set up a booth. His parents and other relatives took his product there for him.
Greyson calls his new product Brixstix, which he first launched in January of this year. They are now in more than 50 store in 20 states. Retailers in other countries have shown interest and the family has been in contact with International distributors.
I think that it is awesome that an 11 year old is doing this. I do feel that he has had some help and motivation from his family, but that is alright. If he has his family encouraging and helping him along the way then he will have an easier time succeeding and continuing as he grows into adulthood.
His kind of thinking and motivation will only improve our future.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/118282384.html

Getting Overseas Funding for a Business

This video is about going overseas to get funding for a business, MVP RV's, that cannot recieve funding in the U.S. This partnership helped to save the job of MVP RV's employees as well as attempt to bring this lifestyle to a new location. Do you think that getting financing from another country for a business a stay afloat is a good idea?

Going Virtual: Can It Work for Your Business?

This article talks about someone that works exclusively via the web. Can that work for a lot of businesses that have a store front currently? Many companies are now remotely operating their business in the managing of their business and the organization of the business. Some companies are even strictly just via the Internet. Amazon is a great example of a company that exclusively only sells their products online. They do however have a headquarter location physically located in Arizona. Would this work for a lot of other companies? Some companies have even began to set up their employees virtually by having them work remotely, thus saving in the physical location needed. But, I question, what will these changes do to the economy and how great of a loss of jobs will be seen with more companies moving towards these types of business organizations?


http://gigaom.com/collaboration/going-virtual-can-it-work-for-your-business/

With Fifth Third Out, Banks Have Repaid 99% of TARP

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704261504576205142438418336.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

I found this article to be interesting. This talks about how banks have repaid 99% of TARP funds that were given to them during the recession. What this means for businesses is that banks no longer have the burden on their shoulders to repay the government and instead will be able to borrow more money to individuals or re-invest their money within their organization. For the banking industry this is great news. For the private sector this is also great news. With interest rates at an all time low, business should be able to easily secure a loan and reinvest with their organization. There is no reason that a business should not take advantage of this opportunity to help their-selves grow and succeed.

Japan Quake Tests Supply Chain From Chips to Ships

I read an article about worldwide supply chain problems caused by the Japanese earthquake and ensuing tsunami. This natural disaster destroyed ports that handle approximately 7% of Japan’s industrial output and damaged the electrical infrastructure. This disaster will have a global impact on the supply of high-tech components, especially semi-conductors, as well as, steel, polysilicon, and wafer material. South Korea seems to have the most to loss, as they depend on Japan for steel to support their shipbuilding industry, LCD glass, silicon wafers, and other materials for making semi-conductors. The impact of this disaster will also affect the U.S. solar energy business, the European car industry, and Japan’s auto industry.

This article illustrates how interdependent the countries of the world are in the manufacturing of products. One seldom considers the complexity of manufacturing an automobile, but the bill of materials for an automobile consists of thousands of items. The supply chain for these components spans the globe. Typically, automobile manufacturers only hold a few days inventory of components, so they are quickly dead in the water if the supplier cannot perform. It only takes one missing component to prevent the car from moving to the end of the assembly line. If a supplier’s business is severely damaged and no contingent suppliers are available, the automaker could experience long-term part shortages. This will eventually generate shortages for the consumer, which can cause the consumer to purchase a competitor’s product. It is ideal to have a contingency plan in place just in case the unthinkable happens.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-japan-quake-supplychain-idUSTRE72D1FQ20110314

senior debt

I found the following article to be very interesting and a bit scary - I wonder where the money will come from.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/credit/2010-11-21-senior-debt_N.htm?csp=obinsite

About one third of the seniors surveyed for this article carry their mortgage debt into retirement.

Many are not worried about their debt and continue to rack up debt, they feel it is too late to do anything. The feel privileged, continue to vacation and entertain -- do these people have a conscience? Where is there moral goodness? Some don't talk about debt because of pride and some are scared; 75% went into debt because of medical expenses and funeral expenses.

With over 38.5 million Americans over the age of 65, this is becoming a huge problem. Should lending agencies continue to allow mortgages after a certain age; or would this be discrimination? Should credit card agencies tighten the limits? Maybe the new Health Care Reform will reduce the medical expenses on individuals....but this money too must come from somewhere.

Japan's Crisis and the Auto Industry

I know this is a very new and uncertain topic, but the thought of how the disaster in Japan effects the rest of the world and the business world is very interesting.  I know questions have already been raised about how the nuclear crisis will influence the nuclear power situation in the rest of the world. In this article, however, I found it intriguing the way in which Japan's crisis could effect the auto industry. The loss of thousands of vehicles, parts, raw materials and factories will greatly influence the world's new supply. It also stated that Japan manufactures the batteries central to US car producers hybrid cars. It's just amazing how one country's struggles influence the rest of the world.

Fear of Escalating Drug Violence Delays Fresh Fruit & Vegetables from Mexico

This is an article that caught my attention this week regarding the problems Mexican farmers are having getting fresh fruit and vegetables shipped into the US. The problem is with the drug wars going on in all of the border towns between Mexico and the US. This is not only a concern for any of us who enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables here, but it is a major concern for Mexican farmers. Mexico's #1 farm export to the US is fresh tomatoes.

China's Facebook Syndrome

hi everyone,
I posted an interesting article about Facebook and how censorship hinders access to China's online markets. Chinese social network can tap U.S. capital markets, but American social networks can't tap Chinese consumer markets. Does that sound fair?

Week 2

Post your week 2 articles and comments to this thread

Week 1 Prof Steve's Post: The Apple Corporate Culture

Hi class, I will start off the class with a Ripped from the Headlines" post for you all to respond to and use as a model for your future posts. I was personally surprised by the organizational culture at Apple because we all hear about the creativity and innovation at Apple but seldom here of the employee issues or cultural environment at play in the company. Apple has always been able to pay their people way above the norm to attract and keep the best talent. The stock options have been well documented with the number of millionaire secretaries in the heyday of the company. Their continual innovation generates the prestige that motivates the creative minds they employ. http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/applepeels/2005/07/the_apple_corpo.html

One notable is that it is amazing that Apple has had the power to "tell" customers what to buy as you have referenced. This innovation domination is what may allow Apple to remain at the top of their game despite the issues that the article raises.

The Apple Corporate Culture