It’s been widely reported that the company co-founded by Michael Porter, the famous Harvard Business School professor who wrote The Book on business strategy, was forced into bankruptcy protection. We’ve written several blogs about Michael Porter’s insights. How could a business started by the guru of five-force analysis, possibly one of the most widely-adopted competitive …

This posting by: Hank Lewis I received the following email: I am involved in local education foundations which is a 501(c)(3). We do some really neat things that help to educate kids in our community, and we have a few big fundraisers each year. On our website and in the marketing info for the events, …

Strong policies are the only way to protect yourself from backlash over employee conduct You’ve probably heard about the Adria Richards “public shaming” mess already, but for those haven’t here’s a recap. At developer conference PyCon, well-known developer evangelist Adria Richards overheard a pair of male attendees from gaming company PlayHaven making what she took …

[Editor’s note: In this guest submission, Jason Snyder, VP of WordWrite Communications, explains why it’s critical for hospitals to invest in crisis communications and reputation management planning, especially in this period of healthcare reform.] Hospitals, rife with risk, need a crisis communications plan “As long as they spell my name right.” There are plenty of …

Seems obvious: of course prior business experience is a big advantage when starting a social enterprise. But now there’s evidence that this might not be correct. Research suggests that LESS experienced social entrepreneurs were MORE successful (in terms of revenue and social media network) compared to their MORE experienced colleagues. And the WORST performance came …

The Drivers Model is Leadership Strategies' methodology for strategic planning and the ultimate tool for masterful planning. The Drivers Model process covers seven key principles for masterfully planning any activity. The seven principles are summarized below. Let’s break down each one.

This posting by: Jayme Sokolow Being a Success According to Dr. Heidi Grant Stevenson, a blogger for Psychology Today and the author of an intriguing new book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals (2011), even very bright people are often clueless when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. Recent research on …

Want to start a small business, but missing some skills? Here’s one option: take some online classes, where you might learn what you need, for a fraction of the time and cost. Improve your business plan AND your business. There are 100s of web-based business classes, many of them free (open source) or for a …

This posting by: Hank Lewis An issue was raised on a listserve: “I have become more and more concerned about the exploitation of client stories in fundraising tools.” “How do you counsel clients about the ethics/morality of using client stories as appeals?” ========================= Whenever a question is posed about ethics/morality that includes the words “using” …

Business and Training Insights: The Power of Warmth My Cave Man Guide to Training and Development is a “fuzzy” approach, closer to the humanities than the sciences. But I don’t apologize for it. It is from the humanities that we see creativity affecting human behavior directly and therefore human performance in literature, art, theatre, dance, …