I’m generally not a great fan of business plan competitions, for two reasons. First, they can consume huge amounts of time often with little benefit to those who don’t win. And, unfortunately, lately they have become more about the “pitch” and less about quality research and business competitiveness. Actual success in the marketplace won’t be …

Innovation and energy often come together on campus, and today many of them have an entrepreneurial sparkle. College and business school is no longer a place for just preparing and planning how to launch a new venture or nonprofit organization. For many students, the venture starts while on campus, long before graduation. Here’s an article …

We have been discussing using stories in your presentations.Part One discussed the compelling reasons for using stories in business speaking. Part Two provided important Do’s for storytelling. Today we examine a few pertinent tips for better storytelling, and a few Don’ts you will want to be aware of. Tips for Better Storytelling: Think of structure. …

n organizations, there are people who love to participate in training events and there are at least an equal (most likely more) amount of people who hate training events. Those haters of the training events are most likely not opposed to learning. In fact, when they need know something, most of them will find a way to learn it.

There are about ten things your non-profit must do now in order to have a Tips for CFC successful campaign this fall – CFC campaigns run from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15 each year. I don’t have room to cover all ten in this post, but here are three of the most important, with the …

How successful brands can utilize design thinking to shape whatever transpires in world of commerce, brands and in public life

Stressful situations are all too common in a workplace that’s facing budget cuts, staff layoffs, and department changes. It may become harder and harder to manage your stress and emotions under these circumstances, but it’s even more important for you to do so. Here are seven strategies for how to overcome stress, and how to …

I have written multiple times about he ever hated performance review. This dreaded ritual in many companies is also often tied to the annual salary increase. An increase that often times is given within a tight budget constraint somewhere between 2-4%. It also often called a merit increase or a pay for performance compensation system. Those who are top performers may get a 4% increase while the poor performer may get the 2-3% increase. The result of this system actual keeps employees at very close salaries. And my guess is that if the top performer in a particular position or team has a little less tenure than the bottom performer, the bottom performer could still make more money.

Modern technology creates crisis management risk While our never-ending quest for modernization has simplified many common tasks, it’s also spawned a new breed of crises related specifically to vulnerabilities in technology. The most common involve computer hacking, either as straight out attacks or a means of professional or amateur espionage, but it’s easy to forget …

Rina has asked for your advice. She is a long standing director of a holding company for a large group of companies. The holding company Chairman, Quentin, has been a friend and mentor to her over many years. Recently the holding company bought a stake in a small listed company and Rina was appointed to …