-
How family businesses get retail right — and what everyone can learn…
Catherine Iste RetailJokes about family businesses and the problems associated with the obligations to hire, promote or otherwise put the bloodline before the bottom line are common. However, there are a few principles of successful family retail operations that nonfamily organizations can incorporate effectively. For example, when leadership is forced to create succession planning to preserve owner intent, a couple of things happen.
-
Why your business needs an editorial calendar for marketing
Mashaal Ryan MarketingBusiness marketing isn’t just about throwing money at influencers or trying to find out when to post on social media. It needs to be a complete and total project that is ongoing, timed, creative and budgeted. Marketers usually use the word "campaign," which is a series of maneuvers they are using to aggressively market a product or service. You don’t have to have a marketing degree to implement some of this at your own small business. The first step is to create an editorial calendar.
-
Infographic: Opioids and the American workplace
Brian Wallace PharmaceuticalThe opioid crisis has started to affect workplaces, where 31% have already seen an overdose, injury, or arrest related to opioids. Getting people the help they need is about more than just being compassionate — it can also make a workplace safer. Employees who are suffering from addiction can often feel their job would be threatened if they were to come forward and seek help. Providing employees with a path to rehab and then back into the workplace can address the opioid crisis head-on.
-
Why cultural-fit hiring is the enemy of diversity
Simma Lieberman Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementA study by Cubix International of 55 organizations, including Ikea, found that 9 out of 10 recruiters passed over applicants that were not a "cultural fit." Hiring for "cultural fit" has become somewhat of a trend and buzzword. It usually applies to values, visions, norms and the way a company does business. Some people have told me that hiring for "cultural fit," as opposed to just skills, is a way of ensuring that the new hire gets along with everyone and be a "team player." I’ve also been told that it is a way of increasing diversity since you’re not just hiring based on degrees and grades. But what if this is part-fallacy?
-
3 ways to say no
Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementNo is such a powerful word, and yet few of us seem to know how to use it. We gracefully accept additional work, commitments and obligations, then spend our energy either trying to improve our time management to fit it all in or stressing about the fact that we will never have enough time to do it all. Instead of focusing our efforts on getting it all done, here are three ways to say no and save our energy.
-
5 ways you can identify fake and misleading consumer feedback
Lisa Mulcahy MarketingConsumer comments — whether they're online and given face-to-face to your company's service employees — are invaluable indicators of what your brand is doing right or wrong. When that feedback is fake, however, or when you don't get a complete or accurate picture of what your audience is trying to tell you, you don't make the right moves and your brand can suffer. You need to know when that feedback is fake and get the true picture of how your products and services are perceived. Want five outside-the-box ways to do it? Follow this science-driven advice.
-
Watch what happens when you align your team
Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementOn a crisp late September morning, as I stood on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill River just outside downtown Philadelphia, I witnessed a tremendous lesson on alignment. An eight-person rowing team was practicing for an upcoming race and one of the oarsmen was having difficulty staying in sync with the other seven rowers. Principles of alignment are true in business and almost every other human activity. Failure to properly align means missed goals, wasted time and resources, and a less-than-optimal working environment. Results range from poor to good, but never great.
-
A climate of change: What should your organization do?
Linda Popky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe data show the earth is getting hotter — hotter now than it’s been since records were first kept in 1880. The rise in temperature affects animal and marine life and causes potentially devastating dangers for people. What should we do about it? How involved should businesses and associations be on this issue? Will support one way or the other help or hurt your business? Here are a few points to consider.
-
AI, IoT converge to create a new technology superpower: AIoT
Joseph Zulick Science & TechnologyWhen people hear the terms artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT), most think of modern advances in a futuristic world like those that have been depicted in science-fiction franchises. Many of those predictions are now coming to fruition in this Fourth Industrial Revolution that is currently transforming the way the world works. Even though the full capabilities of AI and IoT are still in their relative infancies, these two technology superpowers are now being combined across every industry to provide scenarios where information and problem-solving can improve outcomes for all stakeholders.
-
What every entrepreneur needs to know before making the big pitch to investors
Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementEntrepreneurs know how important investors can be. According to the 2019 State of Entrepreneurship Survey by the Kauffman Foundation, 83% of entrepreneurs do not access bank loans or venture capital, and 65% rely on personal and family savings for startup capital. The right investors can provide much-needed funds and peace of mind, allowing you to focus on your business. The right investors also have a lot of experience and they can provide valuable advice. But, your pitch to investors needs to be compelling and persuasive.
All Communications Articles