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2010-04-30T21:35:00.001-05:00

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UT Dallas Coaching Program

2010-02-04T13:47:00.003-06:00

UT Dallas has an excellent online 15-hour coaching program within their School of Management for busy executives who wish to hone their skills as internal coaches withing their companies. The course gives one a certificate and is recognized by the International Coach Federation. For more information visit UTDallas.edu.

Outliers

2009-09-20T18:56:00.004-05:00

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers, says forget IQ, class, demographics, or heritage when it comes to success. It matters the year you were born (1935), where you were born (NYC, China, California); Gladwell shares his unexpected logic that 10,000 hours of study and practice will make you an expert in whatever field you choose. Forget about genius: look at family, birthplace, and culture.

By the Numbers

2009-08-16T10:02:00.002-05:00

Seventy-five percent of small business owners think workplace profanity is offensive and unprofessional; cloud computing is the renting of storage space on larger corporate computers by small businesses or individuals; 90% of all e-mail is spam, 19% unemployment in construction, 27% of 1.6 million graduating college seniors plan to work for non-profits.(from Fortune Small Business)

Newt Gingrich

2009-05-29T18:28:00.003-05:00

Newt's book on Real Change is a blue print for how to get the red and blue states to allow a little white into our political dialogue (as in red, white, and blue). Yes, Newt is a conservative. But he is a moderate conservative with good ideas on how to get our country back on track. Check out his book. One teaser, we need to eliminate paper in our healthcare system and go digital, including lab, medications,

Nudge: Improving Choices

2009-04-17T12:52:00.002-05:00

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein have written a book about choice architecture and how humans are influenced by the way information is presented to us. It will change the way you think without getting paranoid about "Big Brother." They claim that they can "nudge" people into making the best decision for themselves without restricting their freedom of choice. Topics include investing, prescription drugs, environmental concerns, improving our schools,

When Government Calls the Shots

2009-04-11T10:26:00.003-05:00

The U.S. stimulus package of $2 Trillion outpaces Japan's $200 Billion, China's $586 Billion and will be the highest GDP share since WWII. Don't expect Uncle Sam to ease your burdens; look for more labor unions, continued financial bailouts, and over regulation. Government will soon be the world's economy driving force.

GoToMeeting.com

2009-03-20T09:43:00.002-05:00

Designed for busy execs who don't have time for global travel, Gotomeeting.com helps your participants send emails with a pass code and link to a meeting time. You can hook up Webcams to see each other, pass control of the mouse, share documents, and have others write on them.

Microsoft Lays of 5000

2009-01-22T13:50:00.002-06:00

In the first round of cuts, Microsoft lays off 5000 employees on slim computer sales; fourth quarter earnings for many manufacturing, financial, software, and telecom companies are below expected; housing starts for December were down 15% adjusted for seasonal variations. Our 2008 recession continues into 2009 with no sign of abatement for at least another year.

Bank CDs and Investments

2008-12-23T09:37:00.003-06:00

One of the newer investment strategies is to bundle equities, bonds, commodities, and global currencies into three to six year notes with no access to your investment until the note is retired. The upside is that regardless of a down market, the worst one can do is to recover their initial principal. The downside is that in an up market you cannot transfer your money into a more liquid asset. Banks bundle these notes and sell them to customers to increase their own liquidity for short-term currency investments and to reduce debt.

Big Three Auto Bailout

2008-12-09T10:31:00.002-06:00

Congress will vote today on the 15 Billion dollar loan to GM, Chrysler, and Ford (although Ford doesn't need money in 2008); the Senate holds the ticket and the Big Three need 60 senators to agree on the loan which calls for an "auto czar" and a detailed plan by 3/31/09 from the automakers or they default on their loan at six percent interest.

Don't Panic Business Owners!

2008-11-09T13:46:00.000-06:00

Don't panic small business owners despite Joe the Plumber's desire to have his own business, someday. Our President-elect will most likely give tax breaks to new business owners, many of whom make less than $250k annually and are incorporated under Subchapter S of the Tax Code.

Behavioral Economics

2008-10-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Richard Thaler is the father of behavioral economics, a timely topic today with the uncertainty of Wall Street. Instead of traditional economic theory where markets are rational and selfish, Thaler offers that humans are bounded by rationality, selfishness, self-control, and artibrage. As humans we fear loss more than we love gain. He favors "opt out" savings programs so that we must "act" to NOT SAVE. We should also take long-term views instead of predicting short-term gains and losses in the market.

The Financial Markets

2008-09-21T10:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, you’ve heard the news from both political candidates about our woeful financial crisis and there is cause for concern—i.e. a 200 Billion dollar bail-out for Fannie and Freddie; an 85 Billion bail-out for AIG, Barclays saves Lehman Brothers on the heels of former brokerage collapses on Wall Street. Who’s minding the store? The Democrats would say “no one.” All Bush appointees are clueless and didn’t see the train wreck coming; Republicans blame a democratic Congress who vetoed reforms to increase regulation on banks and lending institutions in 2005. Whoever is responsible isn’t owning up to it, and we, the tax payers are footing the bill to the tune of $2400 per tax payer.

About Those Electric Cars

2008-08-31T19:24:00.000-05:00

The new-generation lithium ion battery can hold their charge for 100,000 miles or more. Chances are your car would break down before your battery would. Electric rates would run a third of what gas costs today. Our electric generators can charge tens of millions of electric cars at today's capacity.

Gas Savers

2008-08-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Three models are at the top of the list: Toyota's Prius, Jetta's BlueTDI, and Fortwo (the smart car): The best value for the money is still Prius with 48 city/45 hwy at 110 hp and $21,500; close behind is VW's BlueTDI which runs on diesel with 38 city/44 hwy and a 2-litre turbo diesel engine at 140 hp.

Clean Tech

2008-07-26T16:06:00.000-05:00

Next to software development start-ups in 2008, clean tech companies received more than 800 million investment capital for alternative energy sources including wind, solar, and waste conversion to fuels.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

2008-06-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

It’s not a new TV or cable network. Small businesses are turning to customer satisfaction and rewarding employees for their NPS scores. It’s s single number that can fluctuate depending on your interactions with customers. Customer satisfaction is rated on 1-10 scale; scores 9-10 are promoters, less than 6 distractors; NPS is %promoters minus % distractors. NPS scores in the 25-50 range are good. NPS was first introduced by Fred Reichheld, a partner at Boston consulting firm, Bain & Co. According to Bain’s research a company’s promoters are responsible for 80% or more of new customer referrals, which is key to increasing revenue.

What's With The Economy?

2008-05-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

Everyone is bellyaching about gas prices as crude begins to recede slightly; the USA is still paying less per capita than any other nation. If you want to see gas prices drop then cut the demand for V-8, gas guzzling vehicles; last year the three top selling cars in the U.S. were: Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus. Start buying smaller cars and hybrids, carpool, take buses where possible, and quit complaining.

Nokia's N810

2008-05-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Step aside Palm Pilot and IPhone (Apple), and Microsoft. Nokia's new N810 has a touchscreen, videocamera, and slide-out keyboard that enables Nokia to interface with existing applications like Linux, Skype, and Hava, a video-streaming application. Developed by the Geek Squad in Mountain View, CA, but conceived in Finland,this internet,phone device shows how existing technology and cooperation can work globally.

Corporate Coaching

2008-04-19T12:23:00.000-05:00

What do you want to make sure you get from the coaching relationship?
How do you want me to be as your coach?
What do you want from your job?
What projects are you leadng?
What are your key job goals?
What skills of knowledge are you developing?
How do your job goals support your personal goals?
What else can you do to advance the company's objectives?

If you want help with the above questions, then perhaps you might benefit from an executive coach to help you align personal and corporate goals.

Target's Niche

2008-03-30T16:48:00.000-05:00

Target's worldwide bulls-eye branding creates international consumer demand for its fashion products at lower prices. Its business strategy is to create demand for innovative products for the more astute consumer who would otherwise buy at Wal-Mart or Kmart. Gregg Steinhafel is due to become CEO in May, 2008, while Robert Ulrich steps into the Chairman role before his retirement in 2009.

Industry Stars for 2008

2008-03-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

Auto: BMW, Toyota Motor, Daimler, Honda Motor, Volkswagen
Apparel: Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, VF, Phillips-Van Heusen, Quiksilver
Home Builders: KB Home, Centex, Toll Brothers, D.R. Horton, NVR
Telecommunications: AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Virgin Media, DirecTV
Specialty Retailers: Costco, Lowe's, Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot
Aerospace: Textron, United Technologies, Raytheon, Boeing, Honeywell

Audit Red Flags for Small Business

2008-03-01T12:15:00.000-06:00

The IRS will most likely audit your small business if: no profit annually after a big gain; very low revenues, a sloppy return, a neat return, unlikely deductions, outsized deductions, too much fun (entertainment), filing a big schedule C with more than 100k income, nice round numbers (from Fortune Small Business, Mar 2008)

Stem Cells Cause Cancer?

2008-02-03T10:04:00.000-06:00

Dr. Michael Clarke believes that immature stem cells can cause certain cancers. Clarke founded ONCOMED which won the backing of GlaxoSmithKline which is betting that Clarke is correct and might reap $1.4 billion to fight tumors in the colon, head, neck, lung, prostate, and pancreas.