Business articles
Showing page 70 of 90 - There are 2700 Business articles
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - A fast and simple way to update your business
- You open your computer, the flashing button says, "We have a new update for your software program. Do you wish to update now or later?" You choose the Update Now button and immediately your computer begins to download a new version of the software program.What is the program updating? It's fixing broken parts of the software program; it's adding new features. It does this quickly ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Five steps to increase the people power in your business
- Take some bold steps and help your employees and business partners open up to real change and help them start thinking again to the longer term. Send a message that you are ready to commit to new ways of thinking and that that includes a commitment to the success of your employees in the changing workplace.1. Reconsider your company vision.A vision statement uses the future to help a...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - What your employees want you to know (but you might be afraid to ask)
- This is a challenge for every company owner and manager. You have tremendous plans for growth and expect a lot of your employees. But do you know if the company is meeting your best employees' expectations? Are you providing the type of environment that supports high productivity and high quality? Do you really want to know?If you do, consider creating a Company Performance Review to find o...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Four employee behaviors that can kill your business
- I found it important to clarify for employees what "deal-breaker" behavior was at my company. These are the things I insisted would not be tolerated and would lead to immediate or ultimate termination, depending on the nature of the infraction of these hard and fast rules. Here are the behaviors I would not tolerate:1. Gossip. Rumors can be incredibly disruptive to a company. A la...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Five essential hiring practices
- Recruiting and hiring are often done in haste, leaving the company to repent in the long run. Today, there's a reason to be concerned about negligent hiring. Negligent hiring means you and your company can be sued if one of your hires injures other employees, especially if you could have foreseen a problem but did not do a thorough check of the new employee before hiring.The following list ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Are you in awe of your employees?
- Employers have become so concerned about seeming "unfair" or worse becoming the victims of lawsuits by unhappy ex-employees that they've stopped requiring minimum standards of employees. This can only lead to poor individual and eventually poor company performance. Your best employee performers will resent the fact that you use company money to pay people who aren't up to standard and wi...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - What consultants want you to know (but you never ask)
- I've been both a CEO and a consultant, so I've seen from both perspectives what goes right and what goes wrong when a consultant comes in to a company. Generally the CEO or the manager who hires the consultant tells the consultant what he or she wants. Often the manager is frustrated with something that is happening at the company and expects the consultant will have the expertise to "just fi...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 10 critical questions to ask before hiring a consultant
- Talk to as many consultants as you can before hiring one. Even if you have one person or firm in mind, interview at least a few others as a sort of due diligence. You'll probably find that each interview helps you focus on the issues you're hiring a consult to help resolve.1. Most consultants focus on two areas: cutting costs and raising revenues. What do you see as the relationship between...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Five defining characteristics of great ceos
- 1. Personal insight. Great CEOs are great leaders. They know themselves and what they stand for. They have been called on all their lives as problem solvers because others know them to be fair and impartial. People respect their opinions and look to them for guidance. Great CEOs are mature as people. They can suffer disappointment more gracefully than others and give others credit for their ac...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - How to hire the right people
- One of the biggest challenges any business owner or manager has is hiring the right people. I've recently discovered a simple, inexpensive yet very effective way which will help you get it right. This week I've asked Nathan Chanesman, Managing Director of Myprofile Pty Ltd. to please explain?"Without quality employees who share your vision and work ethic your business is not going anywhere....
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Develop your people and make more money
- What is the no. 1 asset in your business beside yourself? It's your people.Then why is it they often fall to the bottom of the list when it comes to doing anything to help them improve their performance and look after them?If you want your business to run more effectively and/or make more money then you must invest time and energy into your no. 1 asset otherwise you will eventually lose the...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Develop your managers and keep your staff
- Following on from the last edition of The Organised Times where we spoke about developing the people in your business, this week we're focussing on the importance of the continual development of your managers.Leadership comes from the top down. Poor management skills is the cause of most employee dissatisfaction and results in their poor performance.The following article by Nathan Ch...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Rethinking the ceo-chairman split
- Traditionally, in American businesses, the same person occupies the role of chairman of the board and chief executive officer, though this is gradually shifting to the European model. In most European, British, and Canadian businesses, the roles are usually split, in an effort to ensure better governance of the company, and in turn bring higher returns to investors.Combining the roles does ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Knowledge management - capturing and structuring knowledge into reusable assets
- Many organizations have an approach for identifying and recording lessons learned, perhaps as part of a post-project review or similar process. Unfortunately, lessons learned reports have a tendency to end up on a shelf gathering dust, or lost in the un-chartered corner of a fileserver somewhere. Let's get real. How many people will really trawl diligently through a number of lessons learned docum...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Knowledge management - learning whilst doing - facilitating an after action review
- Introducing a learning culture into organisations can be difficult at times, particularly if the effort required it great and the benefits aren't quickly identifiable.After Action Reviews (known as AARs) are one of the simplest knowledge management techniques, and have been used to great effect in organisations ranging from the US Army, to BP, and even in the development sector in NGOs like...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Improving patient sensitivity in doctors and hospital staff
- COMPANY/ORGANIZATIONA South Florida hospital. The CEO of the hospital saw the need to provide exceptional customer service to differentiate itself from the competition and avoid being acquired.PROBLEMThe hospital was undergoing a series of changes involving personnel, organizational alignment and even an expansion of the property which caused disruption to the entire staff. Th...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Improvements in a large public electric utility in south america
- The company decided to develop and implement an improvement program. The main thrust was to propose strategies and alternatives for the implementation of a quality program.Later on, the company declared the "Year of Quality", which kicked off the beginning of an improvement program focusing on providing better service and paying more attention to the customers. That same year, after several...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Do you really care what people think?
- You had better care! Because what people think usually leads to predictable behaviors that can really affect your business, non-profit or association for better or worse.Look at your employees. If they believe you really don't care about them, your organization's productivity can take a nose dive.And what about customers? They had better remain convinced of the value of your products...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Five problem-solving success tips
- The ability to solve complicated problems quickly is more important than ever in today's tough economy.From the time we're little kids, we're taught to solve problems by trial and error. That's fine if the problem is as simple as a burned out light bulb. When the problem is a muddle of business, technical and political problems, we need something that helps us untangle the mess. Unless you'...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Iso 9001 registration ? 8 steps for success
- You've made the plans, built the quality system and conducted the audit. So how do you register your company as ISO 9001 conformant? And how can you be sure you're getting the most value for your investment? Here's how the process works.Certifying Your Company and Quality SystemAfter your company's ISO 9001 audit, you will want to register your company's quality system to show...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Auditing improves effective planning
- Speak of operations assessment, and we'll hear its significant value. Speak of an audit, and we'll run for the nearest emergency exit. There's no difference between the two, yet that word audit chills us. But is an audit really designed to help us or hurt us?Improve Performance with AuditingProblems most often arise from poor planning. Sometimes we're uncertain if we're tackli...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Steps to build iso 9001 compliant program
- Implementing an ISO 9001 system represents a major effort. However, all of that effort can represent a significant shift for a business - from quantity to quality. And this could make sure your business gets the desired results.Shift Policy and Procedures Focus to PerformanceDeveloping, implementing and maintaining your ISO 9001 program can be crucial to the core issues of a b...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - How to meet quality standards with iso 9001
- In today's hectic business environment, it is vital that we are all on the same page, right? But how do we know if we meet those standards? Business owners and executives can avoid the uncertainty, and that's where ISO 9001 certification comes in.Standardizing Quality SystemsThe ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop internat...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - 9 strategies for writing accounts payable procedures
- The Cash to Cash Cycle Part Four of SeriesNext: Complete Cash to Cash CycleThe white flag is just a nose away?toward the Million dollar prize in cash savings for your business?So far, in Inventory and Accounts Receivable, we've found $250,000 each in cash savings. Then we found another 250K in Sales and Marketing. And so, now, Accounts Payable is the final process within t...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Your blueprint for business success
- Before you start your own business one of the first things you need to do is draw up your business plan. This is your blueprint for success. Your business plan states the purpose of your business. It never ceases to amaze me that so few businesses have any type of written business plan. Because without one, you have very little, if any, chance of success.The day-to-day details and problems ...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - What personal assistants really want
- What would happen if the personal assistants in your organisation were away for a week? How would it affect the running of your business or department? How would it affect you?personally?If you are fortunate to have a personal assistant whom you heavily rely on to assist you, in most instances you would find yourself run ragged if they were absent for longer than a day.This week I sp...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Knowledge management - leadership behaviours which encourage knowledge-sharing
- The concept of knowledge management or knowledge sharing makes intellectual sense to the leadership teams in most organisations. Why wouldn't we want to learn from our successes and failures, and translate that learning into value?However, there is often a gap between the conceptual understanding, and their own behaviours as leaders - and that can be a problem? How do you engage leaders bot...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Proven secrets to keeping your people and increasing your profits
- Why are people changing jobs so quickly these days?Here are a few reasons why:They have a boring job therefore they feel they are not achieving anything.They have no leader to follow.They feel unappreciated.They work long hours and want a life.They are not paid what they are worth.The above reasons are not taken fr...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Managing after downsizing
- So, you survived the downsizing. Your company did something that will probably show minimal, if any, return -- and will make your job as a manager a living hell. Your life has changed dramatically. People on your staff are frightened, fearful that they may be next to go. They will lie low hoping that they can be spared the next swing of the ax. (You may be feeling the same thing as well.) Teamwork...
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- 2007-11-13 22:16:19 - Knowledge management: more than just know-how!
- People sometimes interchange the terms "know-how" and "knowledge", but there's a world of difference! Systems vendors are falling over themselves to sell you so-called "integrated knowledge management solutions", but these are rarely more than glorified information management systems with go-faster stripes.If we fail to understand knowledge in all its facets, then there is a danger that in ...