Extrapreneurship
An article in the Futurist magazine addresses an new way of developing / running enterprises that uses the best of the outsourcing trend, the connection economy, and connection technologies. The article 'blurb' says: "Information Technologies are toppling traditional...
Auditing in crisis – and a solution?
KPMG, one of the global "Big Four" accounting giants, has acknowledged guilt in criminal tax frauds, by providing sham tax shelters to wealthy clients between 1996 and 2002. This was announced by the US Justice Department on 29 August, together with a fine imposed on...
Just call me the Oracle
Business2Day Blog reports "Goodbye, Coins. Hello, Digicash", which, in my humble opinion, adds weight to my predictions at RIP: Newspaper. My genius aside, can you think of one good reason coins and notes should stay in circulation? (ok, besides the tooth fairy...)
Working Mothers – the debate still rages
Michelle Conlin wrote in 2000 for BusinessWeek on how the turn of the millennial would not necessarily solve one of women's age ol dilemmas - how to balance work, marriage and kids. It seems that men just get to carry on, assuming that the women will pick up the child...
RIP: The Newspaper
BBC News (UK Edition) has published a thought-provoking article titled "What will newspapers look like in 20 years?", on the back of The Guardian's decision to switch from 'broadsheet' format to a more compact, practical 'berliner' style. 10 years ago predictions were...
Where do you get your news from?
I find it fascinating that more and more people are getting their news from "spoof" news shows. The Late Night Shows (Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, etc), have always provided light relief, with a few well placed jokes about current affairs up front. But now, with the...
Global talent drought to hit in next five years
The HR magazine, Personnel Today, 13 Sep 2005, cites a survey by Deloittes that indicates globally HR practitioners are most worried about attracting and retaining talent over the next few years (read the full story here - includes graphic summaries). They state: "the...
WOMMA and The Deathmatch
WOMMA is an acronym for the newly-formed Word-of-Mouth Marketer's Association. It is the official trade association for the word of mouth marketing industry, and according to the site, a collection of "fantastic brands and marketers who know that happy customers are...
Free phone calls are worth a lot of money
Ever wondered how much free phone calls are worth? Wonder no more. E-Bay is going to pay around $4.1 Billion for Skype. From an article carried on ZD Net "The auctioneer said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the Web communications...
Work/Life Balance – So what does that mean in this fast moving world we live in?
The other day someone commented that they were worried about me because all I seem to do is work. I don't see it like that at all. I think I do understand the concept and have a definite control over what I do . I do work from a virtual office and maybe that does...
Where does the water go?
Today, the pumps in New Orleans started up again. The levees are being repaired, and the USA can start pumping the water out of the 60% of New Orleans that is still under 3 to 6 feet of water. The 10,000 odd people who are refusing to leave the city are being warned...
Africa Leaps Forward
The Newsweek of 11 July 2005, carried a multiple page on Africa (read it here). It is fairly upbeat, arguing that Africa cannot wait for foreign assistance or aid, but needs to sort its own house out. It goes on to point out that money countries are doing this now....
What Skype's doing – way kewl
A previous post by Mike introduced Google's new desktop search tool (worth getting) as well as Google Talk. Certainly a threat to the likes of Skype who dominate currently. But Skype isn't sitting back waiting for Google to attack. Check out Mark Evan's Blog on...
start.com – kewl
Got to be honest that I don't know what it's about, but it is interesting. Check out Start.com It's a Microsoft test site. I know some of that cos of what's wrtitten at the bottom of the front page "this site is not an officially supported site. It is an incubation...
Builders Wanted
From the Futurist Update, September 2005: A building boom, an aging workforce, and higher technical demands of workers are laying the foundations of a potential skills crisis in the U.S. construction industry. Now employing nearly 7 million carpenters, electricians,...
Language limits
Edward de Bono, the famous lateral thinking guru, suggests that language is really difficult to work with, and often doesn't convey what we actually mean, or takes too long to convey complex thoughts and emotions without being misunderstood. Although I have not heard...
The Quillionaire – Innovation 'Reality TV' style
To read the original version of this post go to Innovation Tools - Case Study Lights, cameras, action: Innovation 'reality TV' style at Quill Corporation By Stephen Shapiro Innovation -- it’s the buzzword of the moment, and for good reason. In today’s...
The Quillionaire – Innovation ‘Reality TV’ style
To read the original version of this post go to Innovation Tools - Case Study Lights, cameras, action: Innovation 'reality TV' style at Quill Corporation By Stephen Shapiro Innovation -- it’s the buzzword of the moment, and for good reason. In today’s...
Workers of the world unite
In The Economist of 25 Aug 2005, A "Going global" feature looked at the issue of "Workers of the world attempt to unite against Wal-Mart" (login required, I think). The report is of a meeting of some of the world's biggest trade unions, who are (not for the first...
Top industry trends for 2005
On BizCommunity, Louise Marsland recently looked at some key industry trends. The article is the first one at this page. Its focus is specifically aimed at the marketing community. In her opening, she says the following: "If you are blogging regularly, have your...