|
Aug30
|
In a bid to keep its produce safe in the minds of its customers, Dole Food Company has ramped up its testing and tracking of produce to prevent any more outbreaks of E.coli like the one that killed three people last year and caused 200 others to get sick. Talking to Reuters, Eric Schwartz, Dole's president for worldwide vegetables, said that every acre of spinach, and other vegetables to be marketed under the Dole label will be tested. If any problem is discovered the plants from that area won't be included in Dole's processing chain. Another move Dole is taking to protect the produce is putting an electronic system in place that can trace within 30 feet where any specific batch of spinach was grown. With this weeks' news that more contaminated spinach testing positive for salmonella was found in California's Metz Fresh LLC products, it's imperative the food companies have strict measures in place to protect the food supply.
|
|
Aug30
|
Majority of Scientists, Climatologists Now Reject Global Warming HypeIt will probably take months to filter through the various media outlets and reach the general population, but the global warming fears and the alleged science behind it is starting to fall...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The U.S. economy grew at its quickest pace in over a year with business investment and international trad leading the way.For the April - June quarter the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 4 percent, higher than...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug29
|
"What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose."In...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Leona Helmsley left her dog "Trouble" a small fortune in her will, as she bequeathed the pup $12 million trust fund in her will. After the dogs' luxury life, it will be buried next to Helmsley in the mausoleum. In...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug28
|
The seven point drop in consumer confidence to 105.0, is the worse drop since Katrina hit New Orleans.With the United States consumers accounting for about two-thirds of spending in the economy, it looks like economic growth may be stale for...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The Koch Foods Inc. chicken plant in Fairfield, Ohio was the target of a massive raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday as hundreds of agents took part in the operation."As of 2:45 p.m. (EDT) more than 180...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
For low-income famililies in the United States, 2006 proved to be a much better year as the poverty rate dropped from 12.6 percent to 12.3 percent. The median household income also grew during that same period, reaching $48,200.The US Census...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug27
|
When it comes to newly hired people in a company and delegating, I think it's important to handle things differently with them than those that have been around for some time.Even though we may be confident in our hiring process,...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug26
|
"Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information."One of the problems I think business leaders have with expectations is a emotional...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The eventual appearance of Tesco's "Fresh & Easy" neighborhood grocery stores in the U.S. market has Wal-Mart (WMT) concerned for the first time in a long time.With the expansion of their Supercenter stores in certan markets being opposed, it does...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug25
|
Focus on what you can control! There is nothing like a good situation that you have no control over to get your focus off what matters.What can you do about something you have no control over? Pretty much nothing. So I wonder...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"One of Berkshire's businesses is FlightSafety, the founder is dedicated to preventing deaths, he's not motivated by the next quarter's numbers."This was Warren Buffett's response to how he identified extraordinary business ability. The thing he was getting at was having...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
With unemployment rates as low as two percent in the eight states bordering the Rocky Mountains, businesses aren't able to find enough workers to fill positions.The overall unemployment rate in the eight states on average was at an all-time low...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
With Wal-Mart being given the go ahead to enter the Indian retail market as a wholesaler, they've begun their search for suppliers with the Indian market itself.Wal-Mart has partnered with Bharti Retail in the venture, and is already in talks...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug24
|
"Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
“I was taught to put my best effort into anything I did, and I can honestly say I've always done that.”Mary Kay made that statement shortly before she died, reflecting on how she handled things in her life.When you consider...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
A report from the Commerce Department shows before the tightening of credit, the US economy had been much strong in July. Sales of new homes in July rose by 2.8 percent, that came after a 4 percent decline in June....
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The impact of the subprime mortgage market problems is continuing to make American consumers jittery. News of housing foreclosures, problems with mortgage lenders and heavy debt, among other things, has put the American consumer in a skittish mood.A lot of...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
4 Things we can do to protect our marriages if we run a business together.The disruption in the Christian celebrity world over the last couple days concerning the alleged beating of Juanita Bynum by her estranged husband Thomas Weeks III,...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug23
|
Welch's 21 Steps to Management Greatness - 17 "Managers should learn to become team players. Middle managers have to be team members and coaches. Take steps against those managers who won't learn to become team players." That business success is...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"She challenged and did much to overturn the psychology of decline which had become rooted in Britain since the Second World War, pursuing national recovery with striking energy and determination."The area a lot of leaders don't understand when they attack...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
With a strategy of developing a hyperlocal series of business magazines, BusinessWeek announced it will launch its efforts in Chicago. “You could call us a guinea pig in a way,” said Michael Arndt, a senior correspondent who is now the...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) have doing a lot of shuffling in their management ranks, and the latest move has been to place Almar Latour in the managing editor position of the Wall Street Journal Online. Latour will replace Bill...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
In a move that will hurt the company, AMD (AMD) chief sales and marketing officer, Henri Richard will be leaving the company next month. The company has suffered its third straight quarterly loss, dropping $600 million in the second quarter.Richard...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug22
|
Citing data from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. and adding up the proliferation of layoff announcements recently made, an AP report says over 40,000 workers have lost their jobs at mortgage lending businesses since the beginning of...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) has invested $2 billion into Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC), in a bid to shore up confidence in the beleagured company. Countrywide has been rocked by the abundance of defaults on the subprime mortgages they had...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"The mission of the organization must be clear enough and big enough to provide common vision. Managements' first job is to think through, set and exemplify those objectives, values and goals."If business leaders and managers take care of the most...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Thankfully the second hit on land in Mexico from Hurricane Dean wasn't at the level it hit on Tuesday, although it's still a formidable force.Tuesday the Hurricane hit the Yucatan as a Category 5 Hurricane with winds reaching 165 mph,...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
With almost all the aspects of the case taking place in Arkansas, a Michigan state judge dismissed the lawsuit by former Wal-Mart (WMT) marketing executive Julie Roehm. The judge wrote that Arkansas "is the appropriate, convenient forum."Wal-Mart had filed the...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Early indications are the auto industry could be down 10 percent in August sales, following the plunge of 19 percent in July sales.Those tracking the industry are increasingly attributing the continually falling numbers as being connected to the mortgage problems...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug21
|
"Think small and there is room for expansion."This is another one of those counterintuitive thoughts that have to be digested a little to understand their power. Everyone seems to thing in terms of big and huge, fast and furious. Those...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Assume any career moves you make won't go smoothly. They won't. But don't look back."One of the most paralyzing habits by business leaders, and anybody for that matter, is the tendency to look back when things don't go smoothly. Many...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Leona Helmsley lived big and now she evidently has died big, as her final resting place in a mausoleum is worth about $1.4 million. She will be laid to rest at Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, where, you guessed it, the writer of...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
In somewhat of a surprise move, Delta Air Lines (DAL) named board member Richard Anderson as the airlines new CEO, replacing Gerald Grinstein, 75. It's a partial surprise because Grinstein had been known to favor hiring someone from the current...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug20
|
Countrywide Financial Corp. has been under scrutiny as the largest mortgage lender in the United States, and is obviously a bellweather of the industry. Today they announced they are cutting 500 jobs in the Wholesale Lending Division and Full Spectrum...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"...if you don't do it someone else will, so you may as well be the one to get the money." Be careful!Buffett has talked about this type of thinking and how it can get business leaders and managers into a...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The decision by Wal-Mart (WMT) to disgard its former uniform vests has been a boon to troops serving in the U.S. armed forces or former troops as well.Working together with the VFW, Wal-Mart has taken the former vests of their...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
While there have been a number of concerns over Chinese exports over the months, for the first time clothes are now officially part of the concern as scientists in New Zealand allegedly discovered high levels of formaldehyde in some children's...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) announced it is closing it wholesale mortgage unit, which will end up costing 1,900 jobs.Accorging to the company, effective immediately they'll stop originating mortgages through its GreenPoint Mortgage business.The Greenpoint unit has 31 locations across...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."Jobs has said more than one time something along the line of what he...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug19
|
"Ash believed that without a sense of direction, it would be too easy for one to get lost in the business world, as in life."This particular reality I can relate to personally. In the past, one of my problems was...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Welch's 21 Steps to Management Greatness - 16 Involve EveryoneJack Welch caught the essence of business like very few business leaders before him. Along with Welch though, far before it became the flavor of the day, the great business...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed."If nothing else Margaret Thatcher was bold. When you...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"We must change old habits and acquire new ones. The more successful an organization has been, the more difficult and painful this process is apt to be."We've talked before about the challenges success can bring us. It's truly an amazing...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Good enough is never good enough."In talking about "Good enough is never good enough," let's first say that we need to be working on the right things, or great,or even being close to perfection won't matter. Working on the right...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Risk is the cost of aggressive objectives."Risk is an interesting phenomenon in that there is a right and wrong way to approach it. Risk for the sake of risk, is just recklessness. Being reckless has no real connection to risk....
Continue Reading
|
|
|
As Warren Buffett mentioned earlier this year, when the bid by Rupert Murdoch for Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) became the headlines of the day for about 3 months, he wouldn't buy into the newspaper industry with Berkshire funds because...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug18
|
"Manage good times for bad."This message is an excellent one during this time of upheavel. A mistake many business leaders make when things are going great for a company, is not managing that time so when the bad times come...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Customers of Countrywide Bank in California came in droves to the branch offices, phone lines and Web site to get their money out of it for fear the bank will declare bankruptcy.The concerns stem from Countrywide Bank parent Countrywide Financial...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
After losing a battle over trademark rights and 10 years of delays, Starbucks (SBUX) is about to open its first Café in Russia. In September the company will open in the Mega Mall on the northern outskirts of MoscowConsumer spending...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"The danger today is that future generations of Americans will be unwilling to continue paying for today's spending and force political action with potentially negative consequences." This was Buffett's response to a question on what he thought about leveraging the...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug17
|
He abandoned his consumer instincts in favor of a strategy that amounted to, I’ll show you. Recipe for disaster.This was one of the times of weakness for Jobs, as the writer above was talking about obsession with developing a computer...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Why are you theorizing about a dream company. Why don’t you just start one?” When writing down notes on ideas to write a book, Mary Kay suddenly asked herself the question above. The answer to the problem of course became...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action."I guess you could say Peter Drucker believed it was important to have times of quiet reflection, and he was right.To me the most important...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Michael Wolff has been enlisted by Doubleday to write a book on Rupert Murdoch and how he got to where he is today, along with the recent successful bid for the Dow Jones (DJ) company. The book is scheduled to...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
In a move that deals more with the psychological side of the market, the FED lowered its key discount rate by half a percentage point. The market reponded by climbing 233.30 points, to go over the 13,000 mark again.This was...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Success" is still trying to live up to its namesake as it keeps coming back after it seems to have died. "Success" was originally launched in 1891 as a personal development magazine.After being shut down for five years, in May...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug16
|
"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left." The importance of Thatcher's comment above, as it relates to...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Marketing should reflect and promote the corporate culture to employees and customers."One of the simplest to understand but greatest disciplines needed in a business leader is sticking to the corporate purpose, culture and core values of a company.Yet over and...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
In a letter from the editor on Barrons.com web site, they announced the site now as about 102,000 paying subcribers, over the 97,000 reported by competitor Financial Times. Sister site of Barron's, The Wall Street Journal Online, enjoys almost 1...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The growing crisis in the US mortgage industry underscores why we must stay with what we know in business, as we talked about last post. One of the biggest mistakes businesses and business leaders make is doing something because everyone...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
“There are all kinds of businesses that Charlie and I don't understand, but that doesn't cause us to stay up at night. It just means we go on to the next one…Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”Warren Buffett...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug15
|
The storm season is upon us with Tropical Storm Dean increasing in strength in the Atlantic Ocean, and heading toward the Caribbean. Tropcial Storm Erin is projected to hit the coast of south Texas on Thursday, although at this time...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
A Harris poll says that a huge 94 percent of Americans are satisfied with their lives. Two years ago the numbers were at 90 percent. It makes you wonder about the other polls that imply life is a disaster. You...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"He had his eye on marketability of electronic products and persuaded Wozniak to work with him toward building a personal computer."Wozniak is Stephen Wozniak, co-founder of Apple (AAPL) with Jobs. He was a superior engineer to Jobs. The reason I...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
As business leaders and owners, we need to be careful on what causes we may want to align ourselves with: it can come back to haunt you.The latest example is the bottled water issue that really isn't an issue, but...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
In its quarterly filing, Warren Buffett revealed he purchased 2.8 million shares of Dow Jones & Co. through Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) before the deal was completed by Rupert Murdoch. The filing didn't reveal how much Berkshire paid for the shares...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug14
|
Responding to Transitional CrisisFor the first time in the history of Mary Kay, in 1984 the company experienced a decline in sales. Changes in the American labor force had finally caught up with the company. Losses also were experienced in...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"I tend to concentrate on things where I have something to say, and I do a lot of homework. So I ration the use of that role, which is probably one reason I have it."Grove was responding to the observation...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Almost two weeks after recalling 1.5 million toys under the Fisher-Price brand, Mattel has announced another recall of over 9 million toys made in China. Some of the toys are Barbie, "Cars" and Polly Pocket.The two issues are lead paint...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug13
|
In a survey by the Federal Reserve, it was found that over half of banks responding said they're tightening the lending standards for subprime mortgages, lending further proof the problem is larger than may have been first admitted or expected.The...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The hiring of former FED chairman Alan Greenspan in an advisory role by Deutsche bank is really interesting. The bank says Greenspan will "speak at conferences, attend meetings and take part in conference calls with bank clients, analysts and traders."Why...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
A Chinese newspaper said Monday that Cheung Shu-hung, co-owner of Lee Der Industrial Co., hung himself over the weekend after a huge recall of toys by Mattel (MAT). The levels of lead in the paint on the toys was excessively...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Margaret Thatcher has been one of the world's most influential and respected political leaders, as well as one of the most controversial, dynamic, and plain-spoken."In the world of politics, to be respected and influential, you have to truly believe in...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The News Corp. (NWS-A) spin machine is in high gear as people are going over as many scenarios they can think of to try to figure out what they'll do with the Wall Street Journal.One thing Rupert Murdoch threw out...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug12
|
"Stay lean - it is difficult to hide poor performance."Running a company lean has so many advantages, and we've talked a lot about them through the last couple years. Here's another one we haven't talked about yet: "Stay lean -...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Often the recipients of stock options don't place the same value on them as the giver does, or should."This is important to me not because of the stock option side of it, but the general area of compensation for our...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The Apple changed people's idea of a computer from a gigantic and inscrutable mass of vacuum tubes only used by big business and the government to a small box used by ordinary people.Possibly more than any other trait that Steve...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
She ... put herself in a positive frame of mind by, "making a list of only those good things that had happened to me during the previous twenty-five years." The grind of business and the day-to-day challenges and disruptions can...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Wal-Mart (WMT) is one of the best, if not the best supply chain management companies in the world. Their recent move into India as a wholesales supplier and consultant underscores this strength.Another strength it plays to is their experience and...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug11
|
"You must understand your mistakes. You're not going to have the chance of making the same mistake again--you can't step into the river again at the same place and the same time--but you will have the chance of making a...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple (AAPL) came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have,...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Retail store-based health care is on the rise in the United States, as it is estimated there will be 700 by the end of 2007, and by the end of 2008 they'll increase to 2,000, said industry trade group Convenient...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage."The point in looking at Margaret Thatcher as a leader, for the most...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The fallout continues from the U.S. subprime market as the impact is starting to spread around the world. In response, central banks from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia pumped around $136 billion into the banking system to try...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug10
|
Citing he wants "to pursue other interests," James M. Smith, Chief financial officer for AnnTalyor Store Corp. says he's leaving the company. The company said Smith will stay in the position until the end of September or sooner if they...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Do whatever it takes - there is very little traffic in the extra mile."There's one thing that great business leaders and companies have in common: they're all very lonely. That's what Kelleher means when he talks about their being very...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The 5-year long saga of John and Timothy Rigas is about to come to an end, as the founder of Adelphia Communications Corp., and son are about to be imprisoned on Monday.John Rigas was sentenced to a 15 years, while...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”When Buffett was young, he took the time to evaluate what his strengths and weaknesses were. He also went about creating a business plan based upon the result of his self-searching.As he said:...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
A lot of talk has been circulating on the impact upon the Wall Street Journal (DJ) if it offers free access to its online Website.For them its a matter of enduring short-term pain, as ad-supported content would take some time...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."While the contentiousness of Steve Jobs with his people is one of the known, but also dirty little secrets of the tech world.We'll cover that...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 9
|
“Those who are blessed with the most talent don’t necessarily outperform everyone else. It’s the people with follow-through who excel.”I've always thought, believed and said it's never the most talented that succeed. It've seen extraordinarily talented people fall by the...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"We must learn how to give an organization of specialists a common vision, a view of the whole."The information age has brought about a workforce of specialists. A group of specialists can't be brought together like sheep because of the...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The expected slowing of retail sales in the United States is attributed to two problems: One is consumers may be more cautious with their spending as home values fall and gasoline prices remain high. The other is stores may not...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The largest bank in France, BNP Paribas SA, stopped withdrawals from three investment funds based on the inability to "fairly" value them after continuing losses in U.S. subprime mortgages.With the funds having assests of about $2.2 billion as of August...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 8
|
"I wasn't cutout to be an opera singer, but it was a nice fantasy for a teenager growing up in Hungary during the Stalinist era."This is a great comment and observation by Grove. What was his point? We must know...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"While many admired her toughness and determination, at home and abroad, others loathed what they regarded as her uncaring attitude to the casualties of economic change."Those that loathe people who are agents of change never understand that change must happen....
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Everyone benefits from profitability."There are a lot of ignorant people who misunderstand what it means as a business to be profitable. There is almost no substitute in the world that can do as much for a multitude of people than...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Saying they were waiting for the results from the immigration bill before taking any major steps, the Department of Homeland Security said they will unveil new rules this week that will require employers to fire employees who have used counterfeit Social...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Too much intelligence and energy is being devoted to scraping the crumbs off the table of capitalism instead of preparing the meal."The statement by Buffett above was in response to a question: "Do you feel global wealth is being transferred...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Will US Dollar Crash? For those of you that follow world financial events over the years, you know that China has bought up a huge portion of U.S. Treasuries, with foreign reserves of $1.33 trillion. It has now threatened to liquidate those...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 7
|
"We believe it's the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney started it all with the release of Snow White 50 years ago."When Jobs made that statement he was talking about the animated film "Toy Story."Jobs is a great conveyor...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Mary Kay Ash urged managers to "praise people to success."An interesting thing about praise? People love it. There may not be a better motivator among the numerous tools we use to encourage our people.This powerful tool can be used as...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Status is a very dangerous thing. It's hard to fight the temptation to set yourself apart from the rest of the world."Why is it so dangerous to become insular? Why is the battle so difficult for many business leaders to...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."I like it when great leaders get down...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
While India still refuses to legally allow foreign multi-brand retailers to operate in the country, there is a backdoor to getting in, and that's through the wholesale business. Wal-Mart (WMT) has went that route, as they've partnered with Bharti Enterprises...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 6
|
The naming of Jason Young as CEO of Ziff Davis Media so quickly after the July 31st close of the company's acquistion by Insight Venture Parters, reveals they are going to back off of focusing on reselling the company for...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
It is reported that Rupert Murdoch will set forth a number of plans he has for Dow Jones & Co., which bid he made for the company was accepted last week. Murdoch has already made a number of statements and...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"All decisions are made based on clearly defined corporate values which are communicated clearly and frequently to employees and customers."The statement made by Kelleher above is extraordinary in the breadth it covers in a very short, but easy to understand...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Berkshire is the company I wanted to create. It's not the company Alfred P. Sloan wanted to create. It fits me. I run it with our investors and managers in mind, but it is designed to fit me."It's really an...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
So much for the rhetoric about Wal-Mart not paying what people need. Evidently over 5,000 people applied for jobs at a new Wal-Mart (WMT) Supercenter opening in the Detroit area.The supercenter is also the first in the metro Detroit area...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 5
|
An AFP report citing the Wall Street Journal said former General Electric (GE) executive and Home Depot (HD) CEO Robert Nardelli will be taking over the reigns of Chrysler.Cerberus Capital Management LP is the new majority owner of the company, which...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on."It's amazing when you look at someone like Steve Jobs and hear him say he had stumbled into a lot of things...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
We Need Leaders Who ... 5. ... follow a moral compass that points in the right direction regardless of the trends. At first glance at the statement by Mary Kay, it looks like she's abandoning the idea of following trends...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Somehow over the years, folks have gotten the impression that Wal-Mart was something I dreamed up out of the blue as a middle-aged man, and that it was just this great idea that turned into an overnight success ... Like...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing coverage of the Dow Jones StoryThe New York Times (NYT) isn't the only media company that was concerned about the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) by News Corp. (NWS-A) and Rupert Murdoch. Some international publications and media companies...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 4
|
It's hard to talk about someone like Margaret Thatcher in relationship to management and business because of her chosen profession of politics. The problem is there are a large number of people that find it almost impossible to separate what...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Last post we talked about how the "Dow Jones Acquisition Underscores Newspapers-Media are First a Business." It made me realize that this is also the case in all businesses we run or manage.What made me have to write this post...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones StoryOne of the major things the process of the acquisition of Dow Jones and Co. (DJ) by News Corp. (NWS-A) underscored was news - in whatever form it's presented -is a business. Even journalists...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 3
|
"Satisfaction doesn't come in moments but in periods of time."I like Grove's idea about periods of time, and I'm not just thinking quarterly here. That's one of the ongoing problems of companies, that they attempt to do all sorts of...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"Ask your employees what's important to them. Ask your customers what is important to them. Then do it. It should be that simple."The above comment of course assumes you have your core purpose and values as the center of the...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones StoryJohn Edwards recently castigated his fellow Democrats concerning the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) by News Corp. and receiving campaign contributions from people working in the company.Edwards said: "The time has come...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story Is Pinch Sulzberger going to feel the pinch soon?The acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) by News Corp. (NWS-A) will not only put more pressure on the New York Times (NYT) as far...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
There's no free lunch."With most things in life, those who work harder and think more clearly are ultimately rewarded. If you're willing to roll the dice on a business or life decision, then you should be willing to accept a...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 2
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story The five members of the committee created to guard the integrity of The Wall Street Journal (DJ) have been named. The five people agreeing to sit on the committee are former U.S. Rep.Jennifer Dunn; Nicholas...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story Desparately trying to get back in the Democratic campaign race, John Edwards attacked his fellow Democrat presidential hopefuls by calling on them to refuse to accept donations from News Corp. (NWS-A). Edwards said, "The time...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
The deal between Dow Jones (DJ) and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS-A) shouldn't have any trouble being completed within about a three-month period. Very few people believe there's anything standing in the way of that becoming a reality.What will be...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
"I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple."It's pretty amazing to see that some of the greatest accomplishments in life happen after some of the most challenging. When Jobs was fired by...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
We Need Leaders Who ... 4. who live with people to know their problems and live with God in order to solve them.Just the statement above shows Mary Kay was a true leader. After all, how many business leaders to...
Continue Reading
|
|
Aug 1
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones Story The depth of the panic of the New York Times (NYT) over the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) and its accompanying Wall Street Journal by Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. (NWS-A) is surprising...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
There's nothing unique in the acquisition of Dow Jones by News Corp. being subjected to scrutiny. Any deal valued at over $60 million is automatically placed on a 30-day review by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department as a matter...
Continue Reading
|
|
|
Continuing Coverage of the Dow Jones StoryWith the passing of Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) from the family Bancroft to the family Murdoch, I was waiting to see what the response of the Wall Street Journal would be after the...
Continue Reading
|