Speaking the Right Language Online

On September 8, 2009

Speaking the Right Language Online

A rose by any other name can raise quite the stink, making the act of localizing Web sites to fit foreign cultures all the more thorny. "Ben and Jerry launched their 'black and tan' flavor of ice cream without realizing that this phrase referred to British soldiers that were best known for their cruelty in the fight for Ireland's independence," said Nataly Kelly pf Common Sense Advisory.


On September 8, 2009

Customer Respect Management: It’s About Time

Aretha Franklin didn't intend it, but she offered a powerful business lesson when she sang "R.E.S.P.E.C.T -- find out what it means to me." Customer relationship management has evolved into customer experience management, and respect is the biggest part of providing an excellent customer experience. So, what does respect mean to your customers?


On September 8, 2009

Gen Y Insists on Work/Life Balance Despite Recession

BusinessWeek's First Jobs blog offers some thought-provoking research on one marked trait of the youngest workers taken from a survey of 60,000 undergraduates: Great Recession or no, they're still insisting on work/life balance.


On September 8, 2009

Bose Trademark Win Good News for Tech

Last week, Bose Corp. won a two-year-old dispute over its Wave trademark, having lost that major piece of intellectual property at one point, which should be welcome news to most industries, including high tech. And the reason can be summed up in one word: Medinol.


On September 8, 2009

Trade Creditors Deserve a Voice in Insolvencies

Businesses fail during recessions. That's inevitable. But creditors deserve protection from firms that walk away from debts and immediately restart. There are now two alternatives to a conventional winding up -- the creditors' voluntary arrangement or CVA and the pre-packed administration. Both allow unprofitable parts of the business to close with the owners continuing to trade, but while suppliers must approve a CVA, they may not hear of a pre-pack until it is completed and their money is lost.  The Barratts shoes and Focus DIY businesses illustrate the difference. Both faced expensive property costs, especially on outlets no longer wanted. Both are still operating but the shoe retailer went into pre-pack administration while the DIY group is implementing a CVA...


On September 8, 2009

Is Your Strategy Lost In Translation?

Many managers believe that strategies fail in development, while others argue that they fail in implementation. They are both wrong. The most common cause of ineffective strategies is through the mismanagement of the gap between development and implementation, an area I call "strategy translation". Let me give you an example. Two years ago I helped a client identify their strategic priorities. The most important internal issue was to improve the low productivity of certain sales teams, and we established a high-level strategy to resolve this issue. A month ago I was back at the same client. Unfortunately, their biggest internal issue had not changed; it was still the productivity of their sales teams. The reason that the issue had not...


On September 8, 2009

An Oil Company Finally Opts to Go Green

It's not a major company like BP, Exxon, or Shell -- although it's about 40 percent owned by the last. But Showa Shell Sekiyu, a refiner in Japan, may still count as the first example of an oil company staking its future (not just a tiny percentage of profits) on renewable energy. Showa is looking to invest about $1.1 billion (more than two years' profits) in a solar cell factory in southern Japan, boosting its output tenfold to 900 megawatts, according to Bloomberg. The investment would probably cost more, but the plant is one acquired from Hitachi, allowing Showa to re-use some technology. The plant will make low-efficiency thin-film solar panels, so Reuters is billing the move as competition for...


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