SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
How to break through business malaise
By Suzanne Ross Guest columnist It’s not news that people are tired of being marketed and sold to in the traditional manner. Yet the malaise threatens organizations from demonstrating their real customer and industry value. As companies build their market leadership, the aim should be to arm teams with what’s of most value to customers [...]
Lillian Bjorseth: Why women leaders need to speak up to be heard
By Lillian Bjorseth Guest Columnist Women, it’s not enough to know what you know. You have to sound as if you know what you know. Have you ever been in a meeting and made a really good point, yet people keep right on talking? Shortly thereafter, a man makes the same point and he is [...]
Tips for making complex changes in a merged organization
By Lisa Pollard Guest Columnist Mergers and other major business events often mean completing complex, cross-functional integration. For example, during a merger, one organization’s enterprise financial system might be selected to support the combined organization, requiring the integration of all systems from both organizations into that platform. When contemplating major organizational change, a report by [...]
Soft skills get short shrift in business school: DePaul study
So-called “soft” skills used in business, such as managing workers and decision-making, might be most important on the job, but they often get short shrift at business schools, according to a DePaul University study of 373 business schools as reported in the Wall Street Journal. About 13 percent of required business courses taught skills for managing workers, while 10 [...]
Guest column: On helping customers grow
by George F. Brown Jr. In 1970, Walt Kelly’s famous comic strip character Pogo used the phrase, “We have met the enemy and he is us” on an Earth Day poster. Since then, we’ve seen it applied in diverse settings from discussions of information overload to our nation’s challenges in Afghanistan. It is a universal [...]
Groupon gets personal
To hear founder and CEO Andrew Mason tell it, Groupon is not all about saving money. It’s about encouraging people to try new experiences by reducing the financial risk, also known as the price. That mission promises to mold the Chicago-based company’s new targeted marketing strategy, where customized Groupons are offered to subsegments of its [...]
