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- How Chicago became so corrupt
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was charged by the feds Tuesday with trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat. If the accusations turn out to be true, they would be right in line with the Windy City's astounding tradition of, ahem, political entrepreneurship. Among the many questions now is whether any of the mess will blow back on President-elect Barack Obama. But what we're really wondering is: Why is Chicago so crooked? Slate
(12/9)      
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 | It's All About the Salesperson: Taking Advantage of Web 2.0 - Wondering what role Web2.0/Sales2.0 and/or social networking plays in the sales arena? This paper reveals what it is and how it can help the quota carrying sales rep sell more, faster. |
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- The 3 big trends in sustainability
Terry Tamminen, an adviser to world leaders and clean-technology companies, predicts three sustainability initiatives will dominate business in 2009: sustainability labels, virtual meetings and zero waste. "These investments may have some costs upfront," he says. "What smart business people realize is you get payback." Fast Company magazine
(12/2008)
- How the Japanese model performs in the crunch
The West has long decried the five big Japanese trading houses as inefficient monoliths that have the Japanese economy in a chokehold. But, as the credit crunch strangles the West, the Japanese house practice of providing credit within the fortress doesn't seem so limiting. The Economist
(12/4)
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 | Blah, Blah, ROI, blah, blah. Anyone can talk about results. SmartBrief delivers them. Target prospects by industry; capture a senior-level audience, gain actionable results and reporting. Learn why advertising in SmartBrief makes dollars and sense. Contact a SmartBrief ad expert today. |
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- Bad captains blame it on the storm
It's time to give up the "perfect storm" excuse, says financial columnist Steven Pearlstein. It's an unbecoming whine that failed leaders resort to when they want to get off the hook. Now Sam Zell is using it to explain what killed the Tribune Co. "The only perfect storm to hit the Tribune was the one that resulted from the collision of Zell's ego, his arrogance and his utter ineptitude in running a media empire," Pearlstein says. The Washington Post
(12/10)
| Innovation and Creativity |
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- Innovation lessons from the 1930s
An executive's natural response to economic uncertainty is to delay investment, but in the Great Depression the leaders of DuPont, Hewlett-Packard and Polaroid kept sinking money into innovative projects, and their foresight made those companies great. Keeping up with investment -- despite hard times -- is particularly important for technologies that are slow to commercialize. The McKinsey Quarterly (free registration for SmartBrief readers)
(12/2008)
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Your plan to enhance profits in 2009
1,072 SmartBrief on Leadership readers weighed in on last week's poll question: What strategy will be central to your effort to enhance profits in the new year? - Product and service innovation to increase volume: 446 votes, 41.6%
- Cost cutting, including work force reduction: 266 votes, 24.81%
- Organizational consolidation to reduce costs: 230 votes, 21.46%
- No further changes are contemplated: 47 votes, 4.38%
- Price increases to bolster margins: 44 votes, 4.1%
- Price cutting to induce volume: 39 votes, 3.64%
The large majority of respondents -- a total of nearly 88% -- look to strategic, long-term means for profit enhancement in the coming year. Breaking down the data into profits from cost cuts vs. innovation, 47% will increase profits by work force reduction and organizational consolidation while 41% will create new products and services to increase revenue. Notably, less than 8% look to pricing for profit enhancement. -- Eva Schmatz, president, Summus Limited.
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Will your office have a holiday party this year?
 | Yes, it's important to morale, especially given the current economic climate. |
| No, we feel it would not send the right message about our corporate responsibility in the current economic climate. |
- Chinese hunt L.A. for real estate bargains
California's housing woes have inspired a new type of tour group: The Chinese bottom fisher. Convoys of Hummers and Lincoln Navigators have been prowling Los Angeles neighborhoods, filled with well-heeled residents of Beijing and Wenzhou who are shopping for bargain American digs. New U.S. visa requirements and looser Chinese investment laws have brought into the open a market segment that used to stay mum. Los Angeles Times
(12/7)
 | What capsized the economy was ... a widespread failure of business leadership -- a failure that is only compounded when executives refuse to take responsibility for their misjudgments and apologize."
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Recent SmartBrief on Leadership Issues:
- Tuesday, December 09, 2008
- Monday, December 08, 2008
- Friday, December 05, 2008
- Thursday, December 04, 2008
- Wednesday, December 03, 2008
| | | Lead Editor: Mary Ellen Slayter
Contributing Editor: Liz Ruskin
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