Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Productive companies

Jason Jennings recently authored a study of the most productive companies in the world. Starting with more than 4,000 companies, Jennings applied several factors to compile the top ten most productive companies. One trait these companies shared was that they do not layoff workers. In fact, each has specifically refused the idea of manipulating revenue or profits through the use of layoffs.
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Monday, June 6, 2011

Creativity Economy

The Creativity Economy is the next bastion beyond the Knowledge Economy. According to a recent Business Week article, new paradigms such as design strategy and consumer centric innovation are fueling new corporate growth. The new strategies are a blend of consumer observation, discovery, educated risk and process improvement.
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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Tea

People have been drinking tea for at least 5,000 years. Studies show that tea produces a multitude of health benefits for humans. Tea contains Theanine, a molecule that improves one's ability to focus, and with caffeine, produces as calming effect. Research has found that tea supports the aging brain. In addition, tea researchers believe it may prevent lung cancer.
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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Creative people

Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests that creative people have one trait that most makes them different from other individuals - complexity. Csikszentmihalyi's summary of exceptionally creative people: smart but naïve, often introverted, both humble and arrogant, more androgynous than others, both conservative and rebellious.
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Friday, June 3, 2011

Bad news

Medical Doctor Robert Buckman consults businesspeople, including executives at IBM, Andersen Consulting, and Upjohn, on how to deliver bad news. As stated in an article by FastCompany, Buckman suggests communicating bad news by engaging and listening, maintaining emotions, and ending with summary: review the message, identify a plan, and agree on a "contract" for the next contact.
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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Stay-at-home moms

Stay-at-home moms are on-duty 24/7, wear several hats and work many jobs in the home. Compensation software and services provider Salary.com recently set out to estimate the worth of stay-at-home moms in the marketplace. Based on a schedule of up to 100 hours a week, they have estimated that a fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom would be $131,471 for executing all of her daily tasks.
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Chorei

"Chorei" is a common morning meeting ritual in Japanese organizations. Each work day begins with a meeting where employees stand in a circle and share their day's work agenda or project status. Chorei is a cultural export in the expanding global economy. Practitioners of chorei believe this type of meeting technique can help improve communication resulting in better productivity.
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