I recently wrote a report in a course called Management of Human Resources at Cass Business School on General Electric (GE) and its Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. When researching for this report, I came across a very interesting article published by The Economist, a news and international affairs publication, on golf and the game’s importance in business.
GE, for example, is famous for being a ‘golf company’. Jack Welsh, the company’s famous ex-boss, is according to many the best golfing CEO of all times and golf has over the years become an essential tool within the company for any manager looking to move up the career ladder. The Economist claims that Welsh used the game as a character test to see whether a person had the guts to work for his organisation. Many other organisations value the game very highly too. For example, John Mack, the boss of Morgan Stanley, is said to have made it a habit to appoint golfing friends to the board.
The Economist addresses a very interesting and important issue in the article. Is it possible that there’s a correlation between the very low number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and the fact that they don’t get the opportunity to play golf with the male counterparts (e.g. because of mens-only clubs such as Augusta National in the US)? On the rare occasions when women get to play golf with their male colleagues, they play off a different tee. At the time of print, there were only eleven female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and sadly, I don’t think the number has increased dramatically since then.
What’s your option? Do you think it’s possible that there’s a correlation between the very low number of female CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies and the fact that they don’t get the opportunity to play golf with their male counterparts?
You can read the original article here.
Don’t use Wikipedia as a source
Published March 12th, 2008 in Web 2.0 and Media and Internet. 0 CommentsI have seen many students use Wikipedia as a source for academic reports. Perhaps even worse, many of these students have referred to articles published on the website in their bibliographies. Wikipedia is great for checking general knowledge you have forgotten and some articles do provide a good reference list. However, you shouldn’t under any circumstances use the online-based encyclopaedia as a source.
Wikipedia is what many refer to as a “wiki”, a server program that allows its users to collaborate in forming the content of a website. Companies can use wikis to create effective intranets and for Knowledge Management activities. A detailed article on the wiki concept and its pros and cons can be found here.
One of the primary concerns about Wikipedia is that it’s openly edited, i.e. anyone can change or update entries. Even the website’s co-founder, Jimmy Wales, has said that it shouldn’t be used as an academic source.
You can use a tool called WikiScanner to get an understanding of how inaccurate information published on Wikipedia can be. The tool allows you to cross-reference the IP address of thousands of Wikipedia edits made anonymously with the IP address of organisations from around the world. This result in a service which allows you to see which organisations were responsible for editing any article you choose.
Wired, an American magazine, has published a list of salacious edits made by different organisations. For example, an IP address belonging to Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft’s PR firm, edited a page about MSN Search to say that it was a major competitor of Google.
The 45 most influential people in technology
Published February 18th, 2008 in Technology. 0 CommentsA panel of experts, which included Clive Holtham of Cass Business School, has named Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web in 1989, the most influential figure in technology over the last 150 years. The nominees were given marks across the following five categories: innovation; ground-breaking technology; industry success; impact on society and influence.
Here are the 10 most influential people in technology:
- Tim Berners-Lee: Founder of the modern World Wide Web
- Sergey Brin: Co-founder of Google
- Larry Page: Co-founder of Google
- Guglielmo Marconi: Inventor of the Radiotelegraph system
- Jack Kilby: Inventor of the Integrated Circuit and Calculator
- Gordon Moore: Co-founder of Intel
- Alan Turing: Played a major role in deciphering German Code in the 2nd World War
- Robert Noyce: Co-founder of Intel
- William Shockley: Co-inventor of the Transistor
- Don Estridge: Led the development of the IBM computer
The complete list, which was sponsored by Intel, can be found here.
Facebook finances leaked onto the net
Published February 1st, 2008 in Web 2.0, Media and Internet and Business. 0 CommentsThere has been a lot of speculation in the media during the last year about Internet’s latest phenomena Facebook and its profitability. An article by the Economist published in October 2007 suggested that Facebook might generate revenues of some $100m this year. Microsoft later paid $240m for 1.6% of the company – which valued the company to as much as $15bn – an amount many experts think is mad.
It now looks like the finances of the private-held company finally have been leaked onto the Net. Kara Swisher at AllThingsD.com, part of the Wall-Street Journal, has published the following financial metrics – which she claims comes from a meeting held by Facebook’s CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, yesterday:
- 2007 Revenues: $150 million
- 2008 Revenues: $300 to $350 million (projected)
- 2007 Headcount: 450
- 2008 Headcount: 1,000 (projected)
- Capital Expenditures: $200 million (i.e., servers)
- EBITDA*: $50 million
- 2008 Cash Flow (EBITDA - Capital Expenditures): negative 150 million
*EBITDA = Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
Sounds like a fantastic investment opportunity – doesn’t it? But of course, the figures can change dramatically if Facebook would make a breakthrough in social network monetization – such as their very own version of Google Ads.
Read Karen’s article for more information.
I have just started to take a course called IT for Business at Cass Business School. The course touches upon everything from IT Management issues to Web 2.0.
Ron Young delivered the first lecture yesterday and talked about Knowledge Management (KM) and technology. Ron is the CEO of a company called Knowledge Associates. He is acknowledged as a leading expert in KM and has worked with leading organisations in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Ron outlined five key challenges that he reckons companies will face within the next 10 years:
- Companies need to substantially increase the productivity of knowledge working, at least by a 50 fold
- Companies need to exponentially develop global knowledge sharing networks and relations
- Companies need to radically innovate
- Companies need to dramatically improve quality
- Leadership must be aligned to the timeless business principles (increase sales, reduce costs, increase profit/value)
For more information, visit his blog on the URL below:
Internet start-ups: today vs. yesterday
Published November 28th, 2007 in Media and Internet and Business. 0 CommentsI found a great magazine last week called Entrepreneur. It is an American magazine but can be found at selected bookshops such as Borders in London. The magazine offers some great information and interesting reading on sales and marketing, management, technology and business strategy.
The November issue features an interview with Guy Kawasaki, known as the former chief evangelist for Apple. He has recently launched a social media site called Truemors and shares his start-up experience so far.
What I found most interesting with the interview was his comparison between the old internet start-up and his way of doing it – which I think applies to a lot of new internet based businesses today that does not require a significant amount of funding from VCs to get functioning.
How to track people and companies on the web
Published November 19th, 2007 in Media and Internet. 0 CommentsAre you looking to learn more about a candidate you are considering for an opening at your company? Or perhaps you are keen on knowing how your company is described in the media? Then you should try a service called Google Alerts. The service, which is free to use, gives users the possibility of learning when and where a certain keyword, e.g. a person or competitor, is quoted in the media. Updates are sent via e-mail in either plain text or HTML format.
How to use the service:
- Create a new account on Google Alert’s website. This is very easy and not at all time consuming, especially if you already have an account with Google.
- Enter the keyword(s) you wish to receive updates on. It is possible to add/delete keywords later on.
- Enter the frequency in which checks are made for new results (e.g. daily or as it happens).
- Decide in which format you wish to receive the updates. I can recommend HTML for formatting reasons.
Google Alerts is relevant for a range of business activities, from HR to market research. Learn more about the service on the URL below:
I found this survey on the website of the McKinsey Quarterly, the McKinsey & Company’s print and online publication, on how companies are currently marketing online. The survey, which is based on the responses of 410 marketing executives from the private and public sector around the world, shows where online tools are most important, how they are being used, and on which ones companies plan to spend more in the future.
Some of the findings are stated below:
- 83% of the respondents say they use e-mail as a digital advertisement vehicle whereas only 33% use video ads.
- The most popular vehicle for brand building is branded sponsorships (55%).
- A company’s consumer website is the most popular digital channel to use for selling products and services (79%) where as only 6% make use of an external action site.
The survey is a must-read for anyone who is interested in online marketing and doing business online.
EBay writes down its investment in Skype
Published October 2nd, 2007 in Media and Internet and Business. 0 CommentsEBay, the company behind the online auction and shopping website ebay.com, has written down its investment in Skype, an Internet telephone service, by £695m (nearly 50%). Skype has continued to add new users (its current user base is said to be 200m) at a fast rate but failed to produce the sort of e-commerce and advertising revenues that EBay had hoped for when it acquired the firm.
FT.com reports that EBay continues to insist that its long-term hopes for Skype remain unchanged and that it has no plans of selling the business.
