DescriptionThe economic expansion that began in the spring of 1991 is now the longest in U.S. history. Why all this happened in the 1990's and who or what is responsible are matters of some debate right now. Public radio's award-winning business program, Marketplace, offers a thorough analysis of some of the major questions about this economic prosperity: who gets the credit?; who got left behind?; and why haven't our economic competitors/allies across the Atlantic fared as well?
DescriptionThey're closing in on me, Dick, and I'm afraid they're going to get me, said Frank Wood, publisher of the Green Bay News-Chronicle, in a phone call to his friend and colleague Richard McCord. Drained of cash and spirit, Wood could not hold out much longer against a devouring giant, the Gannett Company. As editor and publisher of the weekly Santa Fe Reporter, McCord had successfully fended off Gannett's "Operation Demolition" when it moved into town. Now Wood was seeking the help of a survivor. This dramatic story of two men's efforts to save the small Green Bay daily from obliteration at the hands of the nation's largest newspaper chain brings together startling case histories of the dubious tactics practiced by Gannett and unsparing insights into the newspaper industry. Their success might be compared to one of the oldest triumphs in the world: that of David over Goliath.
DescriptionIn just the last few years, traditional collaboration in a meeting room, on a conference call, and even in a convention center has been superseded by collaborations on an astronomical scale. Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual fu…
DescriptionToday's business world is looking less like a jungle and more like an amusement park as executives and their corporations explore ways of bringing creativity and pleasure to the work environment. This series of articles from the Wall Street Journal 's Interactive Edition brings the listener closer to uncorporate America. Take for example the trend in untraditional titles, such as Creator of Chaos, Bean Baron, and Tea EO, with some companies giving up titles altogether, a highly successful mutual-fund that encourages its employees to have a life, and a solar-powered stove manufacturer that's growing by leaps and bounds as a result of Y2K hysteria. Plus, listen in on valuable advice for surviving in this less traditional environment on everything from ethics to entrepreneurship.
DescriptionTechnology is drowning the world with information. But it's also beginning to produce new tools to make sense of it all. The following 3 articles, part of a Wall Street Journal Special Report on technology, examine the severity of our current infor…
DescriptionA CEO copes with overload, finding a better Internet search engine, seeing in 3 dimensions, the death of the offline salesman, and more on this Wall Street Journal Special Report on technology. It's focus is the current state of information overload. You'll hear how you are not alone in feeling burdened by information and what tools are coming available to help ease the strain, how we are getting closer to having a better Internet search engine - a possible solution to the overload problem - and how companies have never had more data, statistics, and customers available at their fingertips...now if they could only get a handle on how to manage them. This report is also available in 3 individual parts, "Drowning in Data", "Customer Information, " and "Managing the Chaos."…
DescriptionMost companies know very little about the way their customers and employees think and behave. Sears is different. Its executives are learning not only to measure such attitudes but also to run the company on the basis of them. Learn more about the employee-customer-profit chain at Sears in this article by Anthony J. Rucci, Steven P. Kirn, and Richard T. Quinn. This article, which originally appeared in the January-February 1998 Harvard Business Review, is offered in audio form exclusively through Audible.
DescriptionHead-to-head competition can only get you a larger piece of an existing pie. To break free from the pack and stake out new ground requires a different competitive mind-set and a systematic way of looking for opportunities. This article, which originally appeared in the January-February 1999 Harvard Business Review, is offered in audio form exclusively through Audible.
DescriptionIt's hard to determine how an investment will ultimately influence a company's value, but by drawing on the techniques, benchmarks, and information of the financial markets to make disciplined decisions, executives can close the gap between strategy and shareholder value. The authors will share with you the 3 components of discipline and how to apply them and offer examples of how decisions can be disciplined by financial markets. This article, which originally appeared in the January-February 1999 Harvard Business Review, is offered in audio form exclusively through Audible.
DescriptionLook beneath the surface of most companies, and you'll actually find 3 kinds of businesses: customer relationship management, product innovation, and infrastructure management. The authors provide a roadmap for unbundling these core processes and rebundling them into a more efficient - or an entirely different - organization. This article, which originally appeared in the March-April 1999 Harvard Business Review, is offered in audio form exclusively through Audible.
