Hackers target net call systems
Malicious hackers are turning their attention to the technology behind net phone calls, says a report.
The biannual Symantec Threat Report identified Voice over IP (Voip) systems as a technology starting to interest hi-tech criminals.
The report predicted that within 18 months, Voip will start to be used as a "significant" attack vector.
As well as prompting new attacks, Voip could also resurrect some old hacking techniques, warned the report.
Call charges
Voip has been in the news a lot in 2005 as more and more people realise how much money they can save by making some of their calls via the net instead of through old-fashioned phone lines.
But routing phone calls via the net makes Voip systems vulnerable to a whole series of security problems, notes the Symantec report.
The growing use of Voip could encourage the emergence of:
audio spam that clogs voicemail boxes with spoken adverts
voice phishing that tries to con people into handing over confidential details
caller-ID spoofing which allows conmen to make it look like they are calling from a legitimate number such as a victim's bank
call hi-jacking that re-directs calls to conmen and criminals
Ollie Whitehouse, technical manager at Symantec's research labs, said it was important not to overplay the threat from the subversion of Voip technology.
"While there are currently very few reported attacks directed at Voip systems," he said, "Symantec believes it's only a matter of time before attackers target it more intensely."
The report also said that Voip could fuel a renaissance of an old hacking technique known as war-dialling.
In its original form this involved making a huge number of phone calls to find out which ones respond with a data tone.
THREAT STATISTICS
48% increase in Windows viruses in six months
74% of the top 50 malicious code samples steals confidential information
80% of the top ten adware programs install themselves via browsers
50% of top ten adware programs hijack browsers
61% of all e-mail is spam
51% of all spam originates in the US
Some hacker groups could trawl through Voip numbers to find what is sitting at the other end of them or to root out poorly protected servers that can then be exploited.
The report also mentions other computer security threats that continue to be a problem.
Symantec researchers have noticed the growing use by criminal hackers and hi-tech crime groups of stripped down worms, viruses and trojans to compromise machines.
Once installed, the programs contact a server and download new parts so they can cause more damage to the computer hosting them or other machines on that network.
So-called bot herds - networks of compromised PCs under the control of a malicious hacker - continue to be used as launch pads for other types of attack.
Increasingly common, Symantec researchers noted, was their use in carrying out denial-of-service (DoS) attacks which bombard target machines with so much data that they cannot cope.
The report noted that, on average, 927 DoS attacks were being carried out every day.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4259554.stm
Published: 2005/09/19 09:30:55 GMT
© BBC MMV
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
VOIP Security threats
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051012.gtslabyoct12/BNStory/Technology/
VoIP-specific security threats include:
Service Availability Attacks: DoS (Denial of Service) attacks, Spam and viruses can impact the quality of VoIP services or make them unavailable. DoS attacks are designed to flood a target call manager, phone, or VoIP infrastructure with an overwhelming number of spurious service requests or malformed packets. It is expected that voice Spam will fill up users' voicemail boxes, much like email Spam today. Viruses clog the network with unnecessary and useless messages, and exploit weaknesses in operating systems and applications, leading to network instability.
Eavesdropping: Free tools exist on the Internet that allow someone connected to a VoIP network to 'sniff' phone calls. An attacker can listen, copy, alter, and replay confidential phone conversations. For example, in July 2005, a flaw was identified in Cisco's Call Manager that could be exploited so an intruder could listen in to all calls routed through it. The flaw was discovered and addressed before it could be exploited, but this gives a clear idea of the potential for eavesdropping.
Impersonation: Call hijacking can be initiated by faking a network element or any other entity within the VoIP network. A hijacker can impersonate a personal profile or enterprise system to gain access to private information on customers, or disrupt the business of an organization.
Theft of service: Call tracking tools can be used to capture authentication credentials and subsequently spoof legitimate users in order to place calls at the subscriber's expense.
http://www.networkworld.com/cgi-bin/mailto/x.cgi
Great Site
http://hhi.corecom.com/voipsecurity.htm
VoIP-specific security threats include:
Service Availability Attacks: DoS (Denial of Service) attacks, Spam and viruses can impact the quality of VoIP services or make them unavailable. DoS attacks are designed to flood a target call manager, phone, or VoIP infrastructure with an overwhelming number of spurious service requests or malformed packets. It is expected that voice Spam will fill up users' voicemail boxes, much like email Spam today. Viruses clog the network with unnecessary and useless messages, and exploit weaknesses in operating systems and applications, leading to network instability.
Eavesdropping: Free tools exist on the Internet that allow someone connected to a VoIP network to 'sniff' phone calls. An attacker can listen, copy, alter, and replay confidential phone conversations. For example, in July 2005, a flaw was identified in Cisco's Call Manager that could be exploited so an intruder could listen in to all calls routed through it. The flaw was discovered and addressed before it could be exploited, but this gives a clear idea of the potential for eavesdropping.
Impersonation: Call hijacking can be initiated by faking a network element or any other entity within the VoIP network. A hijacker can impersonate a personal profile or enterprise system to gain access to private information on customers, or disrupt the business of an organization.
Theft of service: Call tracking tools can be used to capture authentication credentials and subsequently spoof legitimate users in order to place calls at the subscriber's expense.
http://www.networkworld.com/cgi-bin/mailto/x.cgi
Great Site
http://hhi.corecom.com/voipsecurity.htm
VOIP Threat
Network Providers Fight FCC on VOIP Wiretapping
November 17, 2005
http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=165251,00.asp
By Caron Carlson
The government's stance on VOIP is creating uncertainty for many network providers heading into 2006.
Protesting that new federal wiretapping rules will stifle innovation and require the re-engineering of private IP networks at a huge expense, universities, ISPs, libraries and privacy organizations, along with Sun Microsystems Inc., are going to court to overturn the rules.
RELATED LINKS
VOIP Firms, Privacy Pros Spar with FCC Over Wiretaps
VOIP Subject to Wiretap Law
Is VOIP Wiretapping a Privacy Threat?
Wiretap Law Should Apply to VOIP, Too
VOIP No Longer for the Underdog
Two petitions were filed last month challenging the Federal Communications Commission's decision to apply the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, to voice-over-IP providers whose networks connect with the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
Sun joined the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Pulver.com, Comptel and the American Library Association in filing a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Susan Landau, a distinguished engineer at Sun, said that building wiretapping protocols into IP increases the complexity of the technology and heightens the possibility of error, which would weaken national security rather than strengthen it.
The group maintains that the FCC has not shown that the new burdens on industry will actually make the nation more secure and that the FBI has not made a convincing case that it has difficulty conducting surveillance over the Internet today.
"This is really the first step in terms of extending CALEA to a huge diversity of services on the Internet," said John Morris, staff counsel at the CDT. "If the CALEA mandate can be imposed on VOIP, it will be imposed on things like instant messaging and Xbox Live."
Click here to read more about the conflict over wiretapping VOIP.
Another rallying point of opposition is the complicated semantic explanations that the FCC provided in the rules. The commission decided last year that Internet communications like those offered by Pulver.com fall under the regulatory classification of "information services" and therefore are not subject to traditional telephone mandates.
CALEA exempts the Internet, and so, to extend the law to VOIP, the FCC had to perform a "convoluted definitional shell game," said Jonathan Askin, legal counsel at Pulver.com. "Under the guise of national security, we believe the FCC usurped Congress' role."
The American Council on Education filed a separate challenge with the court, arguing that compliance with the rules will require colleges and universities to spend $7 billion in upgrading switches and routers.
Some lawmakers have already joined their voices with the opposition. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., cautioned last month that the mandates could give the government the authority to dictate software designs, drive innovators offshore and threaten security as well as privacy.
"The expansion of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to the Internet is troubling, and it is not what Congress intended," Leahy said. "We certainly need to hear whether law enforcement agencies are actually experiencing interception problems on the Internet, since the last thing we should do is fix a problem that does not exist."
The FCC's rule, issued in August 2004, gives VOIP providers until 2007 to ready their networks to comply with CALEA. For some nonprofit organizations, universities and libraries, the cost of buying new equipment and re-engineering the networks may just be too high.
"What's at issue here is public libraries' ability to provide Internet access," said Carrie Lowe, Internet policy specialist at the ALA's Washington office.
Check out eWEEK.com's VOIP & Telephony Center for the latest news, views and analysis on voice over IP and telephony.
Copyright (c) 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
November 17, 2005
http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=165251,00.asp
By Caron Carlson
The government's stance on VOIP is creating uncertainty for many network providers heading into 2006.
Protesting that new federal wiretapping rules will stifle innovation and require the re-engineering of private IP networks at a huge expense, universities, ISPs, libraries and privacy organizations, along with Sun Microsystems Inc., are going to court to overturn the rules.
RELATED LINKS
VOIP Firms, Privacy Pros Spar with FCC Over Wiretaps
VOIP Subject to Wiretap Law
Is VOIP Wiretapping a Privacy Threat?
Wiretap Law Should Apply to VOIP, Too
VOIP No Longer for the Underdog
Two petitions were filed last month challenging the Federal Communications Commission's decision to apply the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, to voice-over-IP providers whose networks connect with the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).
Sun joined the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Pulver.com, Comptel and the American Library Association in filing a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Susan Landau, a distinguished engineer at Sun, said that building wiretapping protocols into IP increases the complexity of the technology and heightens the possibility of error, which would weaken national security rather than strengthen it.
The group maintains that the FCC has not shown that the new burdens on industry will actually make the nation more secure and that the FBI has not made a convincing case that it has difficulty conducting surveillance over the Internet today.
"This is really the first step in terms of extending CALEA to a huge diversity of services on the Internet," said John Morris, staff counsel at the CDT. "If the CALEA mandate can be imposed on VOIP, it will be imposed on things like instant messaging and Xbox Live."
Click here to read more about the conflict over wiretapping VOIP.
Another rallying point of opposition is the complicated semantic explanations that the FCC provided in the rules. The commission decided last year that Internet communications like those offered by Pulver.com fall under the regulatory classification of "information services" and therefore are not subject to traditional telephone mandates.
CALEA exempts the Internet, and so, to extend the law to VOIP, the FCC had to perform a "convoluted definitional shell game," said Jonathan Askin, legal counsel at Pulver.com. "Under the guise of national security, we believe the FCC usurped Congress' role."
The American Council on Education filed a separate challenge with the court, arguing that compliance with the rules will require colleges and universities to spend $7 billion in upgrading switches and routers.
Some lawmakers have already joined their voices with the opposition. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., cautioned last month that the mandates could give the government the authority to dictate software designs, drive innovators offshore and threaten security as well as privacy.
"The expansion of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to the Internet is troubling, and it is not what Congress intended," Leahy said. "We certainly need to hear whether law enforcement agencies are actually experiencing interception problems on the Internet, since the last thing we should do is fix a problem that does not exist."
The FCC's rule, issued in August 2004, gives VOIP providers until 2007 to ready their networks to comply with CALEA. For some nonprofit organizations, universities and libraries, the cost of buying new equipment and re-engineering the networks may just be too high.
"What's at issue here is public libraries' ability to provide Internet access," said Carrie Lowe, Internet policy specialist at the ALA's Washington office.
Check out eWEEK.com's VOIP & Telephony Center for the latest news, views and analysis on voice over IP and telephony.
Copyright (c) 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
ROI Of VOIP
http://www.cio.com/archive/060105/forum.html?printversion=yes
http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/071105-voip.html
http://www.networkworld.com/research/2005/071105-voip.html
ROI Of M-Commerce (1)
Corporations Remain Cautious About Mobile Business Applications ROI
06/12th/2003
Many corporations remain unclear as to how providing employees with mobile access to business applications will generate a ROI, according to a new report released this week by Analysys.
However, a break-even ROI can be achieved if employee productivity is improved by just 0.6% - a time saving of 14 minutes per week per employee, in some sectors.
Study Highlights
Corporates remain confused as to which employees would most benefit from being provided with mobile access to business applications
A break-even ROI can be reached if employee productivity is improved by between 0.6% and 3.4% in different industry sectors
Significant economies of scale are available from deployments of up to 250 employees
The report, Return on Investment from Mobile Business Data Applications: lessons from corporate customers, argues that there is a clear rationale for providing certain types of employees with mobile access to business applications - assuming employee productivity can be sufficiently increased. But more complex and costly implementations require much higher productivity improvements. In the examples modelled in the report the most expensive implementation required a 3.4% productivity improvement, a time saving of 1 hour 17 minutes per employee per week, in order to generate a break-even ROI.
"The level of productivity improvement required for a break-even ROI varies widely between types of implementation," says Jonathan Tee, lead author of the report. "If employees must be first equipped with PDAs or laptops, substantially higher productivity improvements are required."
Analysys argues that corporates considering the relevance of mobile business applications must consider how employee functions vary in their requirement to have mobile - or WLAN - access to specific applications across industry sectors. While most deployments to date have focused on email, sales force and field service applications for sales and service employees, there is a potential ROI to be gained from broader scope implementations across a wider range of employee functions: for example, providing manual workers with mobile and WLAN access to inventory and order management applications, and middle management with access to intranet and time and expense management applications.
"Most corporates that have deployed mobile application access to date have tended to implement solutions with under 50 employees," added Tee. "While these offer a valuable learning experience, they do not enable companies to gain the economies of scale available in most - though not all - sectors, when larger numbers of employees are provided with mobile application access."
Analysys expects corporate spend on data networking and person-to-person messaging services to increase rapidly, from EUR186 million in 2002 to EUR308 million in 2003 within Western Europe.
ROI from Mobile Business Data Applications:
Lessons from corporate customers analyses the drivers for corporate adoption of mobile and WLAN access to business applications, and illustrates how potential demand from corporates across a range of sectors breaks down by type of employee and application. Seven example mobile application deployments at companies across industry sectors are modelled: a distributor, hospital, insurance company, manufacturer, professional services firm, utility company and wholesaler. The report breaks down costs between applications and implementation, connectivity and equipment and indicates the required break-even productivity improvement in each case.
06/12th/2003
Many corporations remain unclear as to how providing employees with mobile access to business applications will generate a ROI, according to a new report released this week by Analysys.
However, a break-even ROI can be achieved if employee productivity is improved by just 0.6% - a time saving of 14 minutes per week per employee, in some sectors.
Study Highlights
Corporates remain confused as to which employees would most benefit from being provided with mobile access to business applications
A break-even ROI can be reached if employee productivity is improved by between 0.6% and 3.4% in different industry sectors
Significant economies of scale are available from deployments of up to 250 employees
The report, Return on Investment from Mobile Business Data Applications: lessons from corporate customers, argues that there is a clear rationale for providing certain types of employees with mobile access to business applications - assuming employee productivity can be sufficiently increased. But more complex and costly implementations require much higher productivity improvements. In the examples modelled in the report the most expensive implementation required a 3.4% productivity improvement, a time saving of 1 hour 17 minutes per employee per week, in order to generate a break-even ROI.
"The level of productivity improvement required for a break-even ROI varies widely between types of implementation," says Jonathan Tee, lead author of the report. "If employees must be first equipped with PDAs or laptops, substantially higher productivity improvements are required."
Analysys argues that corporates considering the relevance of mobile business applications must consider how employee functions vary in their requirement to have mobile - or WLAN - access to specific applications across industry sectors. While most deployments to date have focused on email, sales force and field service applications for sales and service employees, there is a potential ROI to be gained from broader scope implementations across a wider range of employee functions: for example, providing manual workers with mobile and WLAN access to inventory and order management applications, and middle management with access to intranet and time and expense management applications.
"Most corporates that have deployed mobile application access to date have tended to implement solutions with under 50 employees," added Tee. "While these offer a valuable learning experience, they do not enable companies to gain the economies of scale available in most - though not all - sectors, when larger numbers of employees are provided with mobile application access."
Analysys expects corporate spend on data networking and person-to-person messaging services to increase rapidly, from EUR186 million in 2002 to EUR308 million in 2003 within Western Europe.
ROI from Mobile Business Data Applications:
Lessons from corporate customers analyses the drivers for corporate adoption of mobile and WLAN access to business applications, and illustrates how potential demand from corporates across a range of sectors breaks down by type of employee and application. Seven example mobile application deployments at companies across industry sectors are modelled: a distributor, hospital, insurance company, manufacturer, professional services firm, utility company and wholesaler. The report breaks down costs between applications and implementation, connectivity and equipment and indicates the required break-even productivity improvement in each case.
How does VOIP work?
From
http://www.voip-architecture.com/
VoIP generally work on the established methods of sending packed digitized data over the internet. TCP/IP networks are made of IP packets containing a header (to control communication) and a payload to transport data: VoIP use it to go across the network and come to destination. While sending information analog data is digitized with the help of an ADC (analog to digital converter), transmitted and then at the other end the data is again transformed in analog format with DAC (digital to analog converter) to use it. VoIP also works in very similar manner. VoIP digitalizes voice in data packets and then sends them to the destination and reconverting them back to voice at destination.
Voice at the Source -> Digitized using ADC -> sent over Internet -> Digitized Data Received at Destination -> Data is reconverted to Voice using DAC.
http://www.voip-architecture.com/
VoIP generally work on the established methods of sending packed digitized data over the internet. TCP/IP networks are made of IP packets containing a header (to control communication) and a payload to transport data: VoIP use it to go across the network and come to destination. While sending information analog data is digitized with the help of an ADC (analog to digital converter), transmitted and then at the other end the data is again transformed in analog format with DAC (digital to analog converter) to use it. VoIP also works in very similar manner. VoIP digitalizes voice in data packets and then sends them to the destination and reconverting them back to voice at destination.
Voice at the Source -> Digitized using ADC -> sent over Internet -> Digitized Data Received at Destination -> Data is reconverted to Voice using DAC.
How does M-commerce Work?
According to iMobile's Daniel Cheung, M-commerce is enabled by using the mobile phone to access the Internet to surf for and make purchases - just like e-commerce. This means that you need to use a WAP-enabled mobile phones. WAP, of Wireless Application Protocol, is a technology that allows mobile handsets to connect to the Internet and read specifically-coded pages (coded in wml, rather than the html of normal web pages).
What is VOIP?
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is simply the transmission of voice traffic over IP-based networks.
What is M-Commerce?
According to MobileInfo.com it is "any electronic transaction or information interaction conducted using a mobile device and mobile networks (wireless or switched public network) that leads to transfer of real or perceived value in exchange for information, services or goods. "
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Evil Marketing? A Great Article by Dr. Joe Vitale
Evil Marketing?
What A Buffalo Rancher Taught Me About Selling
by Dr. Joe Vitale
www.MrFire.com
Yesterday I met a rancher who raises buffalo and sells bison products. He clearly loves his job. He gushed facts.
For example:
I didn't know buffalo never get cancer. Or that buffalo meat is leaner, healthier and better for you than any other red meat.I also didn't know that buffalo contains less calories than even chicken.
"Most people just don't know how to cook it," the rancher explained. "Since the meat is lean, it needs to be slowly cooked on a really low flame."
He went on to add:
"People on the Paleo Diet, sometimes called the caveman diet, really love it. It helps them lose weight and get trim naturally," he said. "I eat one to two pounds of
bison every day, some veggies, and I'm fit and strong."
Since I'm into wellness and just lost over 70 pounds, I was eager to hear all this. I was so taken by this new information that I placed a large order on the spot.
But the rancher also had some opinions that made me curious.
"I'm just a rancher," he told me "I run my ranch by myself and I work night and day, yet at the end of it all, I have to go out and market this stuff. I almost hate it."
"You hate marketing?" I asked.
"I just saw the actor Billy Bob Thornton on television and he said, 'Marketing is evil.'"
"That's interesting," I countered. "The reason Thornton is on television is he is marketing the latest movie he's in."
"Well, I don't like marketing," the rancher told me. "Maybe it's because I don't know how to do it."
At this point, Nerissa came out and met the rancher, too. He offered her a sample of the buffalo jerky he made. He held it out in front of her as he said:
"You'll eat this and you won't want anything else the rest of the day. This is the most filling and satisfying food you'll ever have," he said. "There are no preservatives and it's all-natural."
Of course, at that point I wanted some jerky, too.
When the rancher went to write up our order, he pulled a beautiful note book out of his truck. He started to place it on the hood of my BMW Z3 sports car when I stopped him.
"I don't want it scratched," I said.
"Look at this," he said, rubbing the leather on the notebook. "Go ahead and touch it and see how smooth it is."
I did. The leather was melted butter soft.
The rancher then asked me something hypnotic:
"Can you imagine walking into a meeting with one of these under your arm?"
Of course, that natural question activated the visual part of my brain and engaged my ego.
I instantly wanted the unusual product.
"How can I get one of those?" I asked.
"I can have one made for you, if you want."
I ordered one of the buffalo notebooks, too.
I then paid the rancher, shook his hand, and he got in his truck, still muttering that he didn't like marketing. He said he was so behind in learning
marketing that he was prehistoric in his practices.
"Guess you're doing Paleo Marketing," I offered.
He laughed and drove off.
He didn't seem to notice that his "non-marketing" made a lot of sales that day. I bought meat, jerky, and a notebook. I also bought a case of honey, which I forgot to mention. None of it was cheap, either.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Marketing is simply engagingly
informing the people most likely to be interested in your product or service that it's available.
This is what I teach people in my Executive Mentoring Program. I'll repeat it:
"Marketing is simply engagingly informing the people most likely to be interested in your product or service that it's available."
It's not about manipulation.
It's about information.
The more passionately and sincerely you convey your information, the more hypnotic your marketing will be.
But if you try to market your business to someone who has no interest in it, you may be considered evil.
That rancher was marketing, though he'd never admit it. His love for his product was apparent. He eats buffalo, wears buffalo, raises buffalo, and talks buffalo. He doesn't talk bull, he talks buffalo. And when he talks, if the people listening are at all interested in bison, they buy.
Marketing is only "evil" when you lie or mislead people to make a sale, or when your message isn't appropriate for the audience you reached. No one should ever do that sort of mis-guided marketing.
Ever. There's no excuse for it.
If you're offering a product or service you believe in, then share your excitement for it to the right audience. (If you don't believe in your product or service, what are you doing trying to sell it?)
Said another way, if you have something that would truly benefit a certain group of people, and you don't tell them, aren't you doing them a dis-service?
Again, marketing is basically sharing your love. Your passion. Your belief. When you share it with someone who elcomes it, more often than not it leads to a sale. Naturally. Easily. Effortlessly.
And that's no BS.
Note: The buffalo rancher's site is at http://www.ThunderHeartBison.com
********************************************
Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here. His latest title is "The Attractor Factor:5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else)>From the Inside Out."
Visit his database of articles and browse his catalog at http://www.mrfire.com
What A Buffalo Rancher Taught Me About Selling
by Dr. Joe Vitale
www.MrFire.com
Yesterday I met a rancher who raises buffalo and sells bison products. He clearly loves his job. He gushed facts.
For example:
I didn't know buffalo never get cancer. Or that buffalo meat is leaner, healthier and better for you than any other red meat.I also didn't know that buffalo contains less calories than even chicken.
"Most people just don't know how to cook it," the rancher explained. "Since the meat is lean, it needs to be slowly cooked on a really low flame."
He went on to add:
"People on the Paleo Diet, sometimes called the caveman diet, really love it. It helps them lose weight and get trim naturally," he said. "I eat one to two pounds of
bison every day, some veggies, and I'm fit and strong."
Since I'm into wellness and just lost over 70 pounds, I was eager to hear all this. I was so taken by this new information that I placed a large order on the spot.
But the rancher also had some opinions that made me curious.
"I'm just a rancher," he told me "I run my ranch by myself and I work night and day, yet at the end of it all, I have to go out and market this stuff. I almost hate it."
"You hate marketing?" I asked.
"I just saw the actor Billy Bob Thornton on television and he said, 'Marketing is evil.'"
"That's interesting," I countered. "The reason Thornton is on television is he is marketing the latest movie he's in."
"Well, I don't like marketing," the rancher told me. "Maybe it's because I don't know how to do it."
At this point, Nerissa came out and met the rancher, too. He offered her a sample of the buffalo jerky he made. He held it out in front of her as he said:
"You'll eat this and you won't want anything else the rest of the day. This is the most filling and satisfying food you'll ever have," he said. "There are no preservatives and it's all-natural."
Of course, at that point I wanted some jerky, too.
When the rancher went to write up our order, he pulled a beautiful note book out of his truck. He started to place it on the hood of my BMW Z3 sports car when I stopped him.
"I don't want it scratched," I said.
"Look at this," he said, rubbing the leather on the notebook. "Go ahead and touch it and see how smooth it is."
I did. The leather was melted butter soft.
The rancher then asked me something hypnotic:
"Can you imagine walking into a meeting with one of these under your arm?"
Of course, that natural question activated the visual part of my brain and engaged my ego.
I instantly wanted the unusual product.
"How can I get one of those?" I asked.
"I can have one made for you, if you want."
I ordered one of the buffalo notebooks, too.
I then paid the rancher, shook his hand, and he got in his truck, still muttering that he didn't like marketing. He said he was so behind in learning
marketing that he was prehistoric in his practices.
"Guess you're doing Paleo Marketing," I offered.
He laughed and drove off.
He didn't seem to notice that his "non-marketing" made a lot of sales that day. I bought meat, jerky, and a notebook. I also bought a case of honey, which I forgot to mention. None of it was cheap, either.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Marketing is simply engagingly
informing the people most likely to be interested in your product or service that it's available.
This is what I teach people in my Executive Mentoring Program. I'll repeat it:
"Marketing is simply engagingly informing the people most likely to be interested in your product or service that it's available."
It's not about manipulation.
It's about information.
The more passionately and sincerely you convey your information, the more hypnotic your marketing will be.
But if you try to market your business to someone who has no interest in it, you may be considered evil.
That rancher was marketing, though he'd never admit it. His love for his product was apparent. He eats buffalo, wears buffalo, raises buffalo, and talks buffalo. He doesn't talk bull, he talks buffalo. And when he talks, if the people listening are at all interested in bison, they buy.
Marketing is only "evil" when you lie or mislead people to make a sale, or when your message isn't appropriate for the audience you reached. No one should ever do that sort of mis-guided marketing.
Ever. There's no excuse for it.
If you're offering a product or service you believe in, then share your excitement for it to the right audience. (If you don't believe in your product or service, what are you doing trying to sell it?)
Said another way, if you have something that would truly benefit a certain group of people, and you don't tell them, aren't you doing them a dis-service?
Again, marketing is basically sharing your love. Your passion. Your belief. When you share it with someone who elcomes it, more often than not it leads to a sale. Naturally. Easily. Effortlessly.
And that's no BS.
Note: The buffalo rancher's site is at http://www.ThunderHeartBison.com
********************************************
Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here. His latest title is "The Attractor Factor:5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else)>From the Inside Out."
Visit his database of articles and browse his catalog at http://www.mrfire.com
Dupont
Got this information from EWG about Dupont
http://www.ewg.org/issues/pfcs/20051116/index.php
Thought it is a good starting point of discussion for environment, patents, crisis management.
http://www.ewg.org/issues/pfcs/20051116/index.php
Thought it is a good starting point of discussion for environment, patents, crisis management.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Knowledge and Inquiry (From MOE Website)
KNOWLEDGE AND INQUIRY
Offered at: H2 level (In lieu of General Paper)
Knowledge and Inquiry (KI) gives students the opportunity to explore different methods of inquiry in the sciences, the social sciences, mathematics and the aesthetics.
In the course of studying KI, students will:
• Develop, via the process of inquiry, the skills and attributes that will enable them to understand and evaluate the construction of knowledge;
• Develop a sense of global identity that is grounded in a strong sense of social responsibility; and,
• Develop a keen appreciation of values and beliefs and an understanding of their roles and responsibilities within societies.
Examinations:
Students offer three papers.
• Essay (Paper 1): Students are required to write two 1000 – 1200 word essays on the areas of learning
identified in the content coverage.
• Critical Thinking (Paper 2): Students apply their knowledge and understanding of what they have learnt to unseen stimulus material.
• Independent Study (Paper 3): Students select a topic of their choice on the nature and construction of knowledge, and carry out independent research on that topic. The selected topic must be focused and suitable for an in-depth study of six months’ duration.
Offered at: H2 level (In lieu of General Paper)
Knowledge and Inquiry (KI) gives students the opportunity to explore different methods of inquiry in the sciences, the social sciences, mathematics and the aesthetics.
In the course of studying KI, students will:
• Develop, via the process of inquiry, the skills and attributes that will enable them to understand and evaluate the construction of knowledge;
• Develop a sense of global identity that is grounded in a strong sense of social responsibility; and,
• Develop a keen appreciation of values and beliefs and an understanding of their roles and responsibilities within societies.
Examinations:
Students offer three papers.
• Essay (Paper 1): Students are required to write two 1000 – 1200 word essays on the areas of learning
identified in the content coverage.
• Critical Thinking (Paper 2): Students apply their knowledge and understanding of what they have learnt to unseen stimulus material.
• Independent Study (Paper 3): Students select a topic of their choice on the nature and construction of knowledge, and carry out independent research on that topic. The selected topic must be focused and suitable for an in-depth study of six months’ duration.
More about Managerial Economics (From MOE Website)
NUS MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS
Managerial Economics aims to equip students with the basic working knowledge of contemporary economic thinking. It adheres closely to mainstream economics thinking, but pays particular attention to business applications. Students will be taken through market equilibrium, competition, monopoly, price and non-price business strategies. The teaching methodology takes a fundamentally problem-solving approach. Models and analytical skills are introduced in order to solve business problems systematically. Information technology and the Internet have made many changes in the way businesses are run, and Managerial Economics has changed significantly with it. A portion of this course will be devoted to discussing how firm strategies and network effects propel the information age, which result in significant monopoly powers such as Microsoft. Related anti-trust and other cases are also discussed as well as game theory and economics of asymmetric information.
Mode: University-taught course
Pre-requisite: H2 Economics and
‘O’ level Additional Mathematics / H1 Mathematics
Assessment:
Students undertake the following components:
• Tutorial session participation
• Assignment
• Case presentation
• Midterm examination
• Final examination
Managerial Economics aims to equip students with the basic working knowledge of contemporary economic thinking. It adheres closely to mainstream economics thinking, but pays particular attention to business applications. Students will be taken through market equilibrium, competition, monopoly, price and non-price business strategies. The teaching methodology takes a fundamentally problem-solving approach. Models and analytical skills are introduced in order to solve business problems systematically. Information technology and the Internet have made many changes in the way businesses are run, and Managerial Economics has changed significantly with it. A portion of this course will be devoted to discussing how firm strategies and network effects propel the information age, which result in significant monopoly powers such as Microsoft. Related anti-trust and other cases are also discussed as well as game theory and economics of asymmetric information.
Mode: University-taught course
Pre-requisite: H2 Economics and
‘O’ level Additional Mathematics / H1 Mathematics
Assessment:
Students undertake the following components:
• Tutorial session participation
• Assignment
• Case presentation
• Midterm examination
• Final examination
Managerial Economics Resource
Managerial economics (also called business economics), is a branch of economics that applies microeconomic analysis to specific business decisions. As such, it bridges economic theory and economics in practice. It draws heavily from quantitative techniques such as regression and correlation, Lagrangian calculus, linear programming, decision theory, and game theory. It is similar to operations research in this regard, and indeed uses operations research techniques.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managerial_economics
Ivan Png's case-studies
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~ipng/mecon/ap_content.htm
Powerpoint downloads
http://www.booksites.net/download/davieslam/download_files/Chapter2.ppt
http://www.cbe.csuhayward.edu/~skamath/powerpoint/econ3551s1/sld001.htm
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/Resources/100404/StudyProgram/
Academic Resource
http://homepages.strath.ac.uk/~hbs96106/modules/31%20460.htm
Strategy Game
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/SGTM.html
Macroeconomics For Managers
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/MM.html
Economic Appraisal
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/EIA.html
(Q&A) Unchecked
http://www.niceindia.com/qbank/Engineering_Economics_and_Fin.accounting.doc
Work In Progress
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/qnbank/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managerial_economics
Ivan Png's case-studies
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~ipng/mecon/ap_content.htm
Powerpoint downloads
http://www.booksites.net/download/davieslam/download_files/Chapter2.ppt
http://www.cbe.csuhayward.edu/~skamath/powerpoint/econ3551s1/sld001.htm
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/Resources/100404/StudyProgram/
Academic Resource
http://homepages.strath.ac.uk/~hbs96106/modules/31%20460.htm
Strategy Game
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/SGTM.html
Macroeconomics For Managers
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/MM.html
Economic Appraisal
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~bobm/teaching/EIA.html
(Q&A) Unchecked
http://www.niceindia.com/qbank/Engineering_Economics_and_Fin.accounting.doc
Work In Progress
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/qnbank/
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Ebook2 - Kirstin Pohl
If you view yourself as a talent asset for your organisation, is there a framework to ensure you provide returns?
During my work-life and my studies I have had the chance to observe different kinds of so called "frameworks" trying to ensure that the "talent assets" provide returns.
I have seen complex excel-sheets, networking-programmes, weekly meetings and yearly evaluation-reviews. And not to forget the pre-observing recruitment-tests (such as MBTI - Myers Briggs Type Indicator) - to assure that the future employee will suit his tasks and the team in the best possible way.
All established in the best sense of observation.
And, yes, I think that a lot of these "framesworks" are very useful - and helpful. At least for numbers and facts!
No doubt, it is highly important to know what sales figures were produced by a certain sales-person. Or how many clients he has seen during the last month. It is important to see his success in negotiations, compared to others.
But what about those things that cannot be measured?
There are persons that have a very creative attitude or job. How can you measure the return produced by a designer when creating a product design?
How can you measure the influence of a person on the team spirit? Or ones influence on the customer opinion?
I am sure there are tons of "framesworks" that try to measure things like these and even more which are supposed to guarantee a certain "output".
But you have asked me for a framework to ensure that I - as a talent asset - return profit.
This is an easy framework. Easy to explain - but, at the same time the most difficult to achieve: It is the "happiness and satisfaction framework".
In a short explanation this just means, that the closer I feel to a team and a company, the more profit I will return.
This includes a family-like atmosphere, instead of a coal-mine style climate. Team spirit instead of hierarchy. Guidance instead of control.
Solutions instead of problems. Communication instead of commands. And especially mutual respect instead of authority.
This is the framework that makes me gain profit for the company I work for.
A precondition for this is certainly a good team - which again can be perfectly chosen and suited with aids such as the MBTI, meetings and evaluation-reviews.
And in this case excel-sheets and networking-programmes are helpful tools that - chosen and implemented with the help of the team - find perfect acceptance.
This is the outcome of my experience - and it is what I strive for for my own business.
I do not care where a person spends his work time, how long he privately speaks on the phone or surfs the net, as long as the results remain satisfactory! A team exists of equal persons, where everyone has rights and responsibilities - a network of indipendant people - willing to work together.
A team that will benefit each time the company benefits (may it be in wealth, knowledge or - even more important - acknowledgement).
And - as far as I can see after one year experience in my own company - it seems to work ;-)!"
Kirstin Pohl
During my work-life and my studies I have had the chance to observe different kinds of so called "frameworks" trying to ensure that the "talent assets" provide returns.
I have seen complex excel-sheets, networking-programmes, weekly meetings and yearly evaluation-reviews. And not to forget the pre-observing recruitment-tests (such as MBTI - Myers Briggs Type Indicator) - to assure that the future employee will suit his tasks and the team in the best possible way.
All established in the best sense of observation.
And, yes, I think that a lot of these "framesworks" are very useful - and helpful. At least for numbers and facts!
No doubt, it is highly important to know what sales figures were produced by a certain sales-person. Or how many clients he has seen during the last month. It is important to see his success in negotiations, compared to others.
But what about those things that cannot be measured?
There are persons that have a very creative attitude or job. How can you measure the return produced by a designer when creating a product design?
How can you measure the influence of a person on the team spirit? Or ones influence on the customer opinion?
I am sure there are tons of "framesworks" that try to measure things like these and even more which are supposed to guarantee a certain "output".
But you have asked me for a framework to ensure that I - as a talent asset - return profit.
This is an easy framework. Easy to explain - but, at the same time the most difficult to achieve: It is the "happiness and satisfaction framework".
In a short explanation this just means, that the closer I feel to a team and a company, the more profit I will return.
This includes a family-like atmosphere, instead of a coal-mine style climate. Team spirit instead of hierarchy. Guidance instead of control.
Solutions instead of problems. Communication instead of commands. And especially mutual respect instead of authority.
This is the framework that makes me gain profit for the company I work for.
A precondition for this is certainly a good team - which again can be perfectly chosen and suited with aids such as the MBTI, meetings and evaluation-reviews.
And in this case excel-sheets and networking-programmes are helpful tools that - chosen and implemented with the help of the team - find perfect acceptance.
This is the outcome of my experience - and it is what I strive for for my own business.
I do not care where a person spends his work time, how long he privately speaks on the phone or surfs the net, as long as the results remain satisfactory! A team exists of equal persons, where everyone has rights and responsibilities - a network of indipendant people - willing to work together.
A team that will benefit each time the company benefits (may it be in wealth, knowledge or - even more important - acknowledgement).
And - as far as I can see after one year experience in my own company - it seems to work ;-)!"
Kirstin Pohl
Ebook2 - Lisa Haneberg
The impact that your blog has created for businesses
Based on the feedback I have received from readers of my blog, they see Management Craft as another development source and tool for managers, leaders, and trainers. By reading the blog every day, managers stay engaged and focused on their work and know that they can make a significant impact.
Lisa
Lisa Haneberg
Author, H.I.M.M. (High Impact Middle Management): Solutions for Today’s Busy Managers
Author, Organization Development Basics (Dec 2005)
Haneberg Management website www.haneberg-management.com
My management blog, Management Craft www.managementcraft.com
2 Weeks 2 a Breakthrough Blog: http://managementcraft.typepad.com/2weeks2abreakthrough/
Southwest Lifestyle blog, Chile Pepper http://managementcraft.typepad.com/chile_pepper/
Based on the feedback I have received from readers of my blog, they see Management Craft as another development source and tool for managers, leaders, and trainers. By reading the blog every day, managers stay engaged and focused on their work and know that they can make a significant impact.
Lisa
Lisa Haneberg
Author, H.I.M.M. (High Impact Middle Management): Solutions for Today’s Busy Managers
Author, Organization Development Basics (Dec 2005)
Haneberg Management website www.haneberg-management.com
My management blog, Management Craft www.managementcraft.com
2 Weeks 2 a Breakthrough Blog: http://managementcraft.typepad.com/2weeks2abreakthrough/
Southwest Lifestyle blog, Chile Pepper http://managementcraft.typepad.com/chile_pepper/
Ebook2 - Denise O'Berry
What is the impact that your blog has created for businesses?
I see two distinct advantages to a business blog and it has proven to be true with mine.
1) It helps position you as an expert in your field. You become the "go to" person for people needing help.
2) It sets the stage for a dialogue to happen between you and your prospects / customers.
The people interaction is what business is all about. People do business with people, not companies. If people get to know you as a person and can talk with you --even virtually -- a business relationship has been established which can be developed and nurtured over time.
Best regards,
Denise O'Berry
Small Business Expert
The Small Business Edge Corp. | Odessa, FL USA
Email: denise@whatspossible.com
Web: www.deniseoberry.com
I see two distinct advantages to a business blog and it has proven to be true with mine.
1) It helps position you as an expert in your field. You become the "go to" person for people needing help.
2) It sets the stage for a dialogue to happen between you and your prospects / customers.
The people interaction is what business is all about. People do business with people, not companies. If people get to know you as a person and can talk with you --even virtually -- a business relationship has been established which can be developed and nurtured over time.
Best regards,
Denise O'Berry
Small Business Expert
The Small Business Edge Corp. | Odessa, FL USA
Email: denise@whatspossible.com
Web: www.deniseoberry.com
Ebook2 - Ganesh
1.. How has working for w2forum broadened your professional experience?
Working with W2Forum has indeed contributed to my overall development
despite enhancing my professional skills and expertise in the telecom domain
W2Forum has helped me associate directly with top professionals in the
wireless industry and also share views on various industry topics. My work
with W2Forum involves two things: Research Analysis and associating with
Business development team during critical projects. These two roles have
introduced me to new avenues of knowledge sources. I have contributed in key
areas of research such as data aggregation, analysis, case studies etc. The
following are the main highlights
· Importance of accuracy and quality in any given process
· The need for a well defined process flow before initiating any work
· Ability to make mission-critical decision
· Realisation of Time-factor and how it could affect the course of a
project
2. Do you think that researchers have a competitive advantage in
understanding the future of technology?
Yes. The reason, as far I am concerned would be because of the nature of the
job of research, where you have to look at the future, understand what would
be the impact through quantitative analysis - a process which helps to
narrow better on individual technologies and their characteristics. Research
also involves competent domain knowledge, which forms the key to successful
inferences. These factors, I feel, give a professional researcher the edge
in judging a situation better than what would be otherwise.
3. Do you consider as a new technology authority? If so, why?
Yes. Creativity is the key to innovation and I see that any new technology
needs to be creative enough to be authoritative.
4. Do you have a wish list for wireless and 3G?
I would love to see a 3G service that is affordable and powerful similar to
I-mode that did wonders in Japan. Want a solid technology that can implement
VoIP over Wi-Fi safely. I also like to see wide spread acceptance of mobile
payments (m-payment).
5) If you are an independent consultant, what will be your selling point?
If I were an independent consultant my selling point would be my
open-approach. Companies look at things or problems in their traditional
perspective, whereas an independent consultant, having been associated with
more than one company, looks at them in a wide array of views largely
attributed to the outsider-factor, as thoughts are not tangled to a
particular view point. In addition, the experience of having worked with
many companies does give you a variety of cases which one can look back
during a repeat situation.
6) Any books to recommend?
I would personally recommended the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - an excellent
insider of how proper regulation of your finances could do work magic in the
future.
7) How can new technology be effectively promoted to the masses?
Affordability is the #1 factor that any technology needs to address if it
wants mass acceptance. The other factor would be the amount of impact that
the technology can make which decides whether the technology is a hit or a
miss.
8) Do white-papers serve any purpose?
White papers are the best source for first hand information for any kind
technology or product. But white papers are also being used for marketing
purposes; it is not uncommon for different vendors to produce competing
white papers on the same topic. Nevertheless white papers still serve the
purpose of authoritative information.
Regards
Ganesh Sathyanathan
Researcher, Wirelesss World Forum
Working with W2Forum has indeed contributed to my overall development
despite enhancing my professional skills and expertise in the telecom domain
W2Forum has helped me associate directly with top professionals in the
wireless industry and also share views on various industry topics. My work
with W2Forum involves two things: Research Analysis and associating with
Business development team during critical projects. These two roles have
introduced me to new avenues of knowledge sources. I have contributed in key
areas of research such as data aggregation, analysis, case studies etc. The
following are the main highlights
· Importance of accuracy and quality in any given process
· The need for a well defined process flow before initiating any work
· Ability to make mission-critical decision
· Realisation of Time-factor and how it could affect the course of a
project
2. Do you think that researchers have a competitive advantage in
understanding the future of technology?
Yes. The reason, as far I am concerned would be because of the nature of the
job of research, where you have to look at the future, understand what would
be the impact through quantitative analysis - a process which helps to
narrow better on individual technologies and their characteristics. Research
also involves competent domain knowledge, which forms the key to successful
inferences. These factors, I feel, give a professional researcher the edge
in judging a situation better than what would be otherwise.
3. Do you consider as a new technology authority? If so, why?
Yes. Creativity is the key to innovation and I see that any new technology
needs to be creative enough to be authoritative.
4. Do you have a wish list for wireless and 3G?
I would love to see a 3G service that is affordable and powerful similar to
I-mode that did wonders in Japan. Want a solid technology that can implement
VoIP over Wi-Fi safely. I also like to see wide spread acceptance of mobile
payments (m-payment).
5) If you are an independent consultant, what will be your selling point?
If I were an independent consultant my selling point would be my
open-approach. Companies look at things or problems in their traditional
perspective, whereas an independent consultant, having been associated with
more than one company, looks at them in a wide array of views largely
attributed to the outsider-factor, as thoughts are not tangled to a
particular view point. In addition, the experience of having worked with
many companies does give you a variety of cases which one can look back
during a repeat situation.
6) Any books to recommend?
I would personally recommended the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - an excellent
insider of how proper regulation of your finances could do work magic in the
future.
7) How can new technology be effectively promoted to the masses?
Affordability is the #1 factor that any technology needs to address if it
wants mass acceptance. The other factor would be the amount of impact that
the technology can make which decides whether the technology is a hit or a
miss.
8) Do white-papers serve any purpose?
White papers are the best source for first hand information for any kind
technology or product. But white papers are also being used for marketing
purposes; it is not uncommon for different vendors to produce competing
white papers on the same topic. Nevertheless white papers still serve the
purpose of authoritative information.
Regards
Ganesh Sathyanathan
Researcher, Wirelesss World Forum
The hybrid - of VoIP and Wi-Fi - is being billed as VoWiFi will run on 802.11n,at access speeds of up to 200 Mbps (megabits per second).
Another issue is with law enforcement. Lawful interception with regard to broadband P2P Skype connections is difficult, for example.
IDC predicts that Singapore's VoIP revenues are set to cross US$209 million in 2009
There is an increasing awareness in Africa that VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and Wi-Fi communications technology can help countries on the continent achieve development targets, and governments are taking concrete steps to promote these new communications technologies, according to analysts, cabinet-level officials and telecommunications company executives. Africa has much to gain by using VOIP and Wi-Fi technologies because traditional fixed-line telephony penetration is still very low in many countries, and communication costs are high, according to industry insiders.
To help promote this technology, the Infocomm Development Authority will issue a new series of 8-digit phone numbers starting with the digit "3".
Making an international phone call may soon become even cheaper.
You could only be charged just the fixed price that you pay for your unlimited broadband connection every month
It works by transmitting your voice over the Internet
This can be done through a computer or handsets that are designed to use VoIP.
Another issue is with law enforcement. Lawful interception with regard to broadband P2P Skype connections is difficult, for example.
IDC predicts that Singapore's VoIP revenues are set to cross US$209 million in 2009
There is an increasing awareness in Africa that VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and Wi-Fi communications technology can help countries on the continent achieve development targets, and governments are taking concrete steps to promote these new communications technologies, according to analysts, cabinet-level officials and telecommunications company executives. Africa has much to gain by using VOIP and Wi-Fi technologies because traditional fixed-line telephony penetration is still very low in many countries, and communication costs are high, according to industry insiders.
To help promote this technology, the Infocomm Development Authority will issue a new series of 8-digit phone numbers starting with the digit "3".
Making an international phone call may soon become even cheaper.
You could only be charged just the fixed price that you pay for your unlimited broadband connection every month
It works by transmitting your voice over the Internet
This can be done through a computer or handsets that are designed to use VoIP.
Thoughts About Customer Service
- From the first day of the employee's employment, he must understand the organisational and departmental culture and ideals of the organisation.
- The employee must think that the organisation works as a team with designated roles - just one bd performance will mar the image of the team immediately.
- If the employee has a bad day, this sentiment must not be shown to the guest.
- Interpersonal differences have to be resolved within closed doors.
- Equipping the employee with the right working knowledge is also important as he will not provide the guest with the wrong information. In contrast, if the employee is not explained the rationale of re-training, he will not take it seriously.
- The initiative of the employee is directly related with his sense of belonging and confidence that his role is appreciated in the organisation. He has a stake in the organisation.
- The views of the employee must also be taken seriously by the management as he is in the frontline and knows the pulse of the guests.
This is the copyright of Colin Ong TS, MR=MC Consulting
For usage of article, please email request at colin@mrmc.com.sg with your company and website details.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Essential Rules About Blogging For Students
Blogging Rules
- If your blog is not password protected, you will not know who will be viewing your blog content.
- If you are a job-seeker, your future employer may use a search engine to locate your blog. Thus it is prudent to ensure that your blog content is not detrimental to your job-search.
- Do not upload photographs that may identify your home address. Describing your neighbourhood should be sufficient information.
- Be mindful that sharing your daily routine may attract the unwanted attention of some readers.
- Ask your friends for permission before you upload their photographs.
- Ensure that you do not infringe the intellectual property of various organization when describing whole passages of books and IT instructions.
- As you decide on the web-host of your blog, read carefully the term of service of your blog. Some companies state in the small print that they are allowed to use various portions of your blog content for advertising and marketing purposes.
- If you are sharing negative views about a person or organization, ensure that it is not in public domain. Have it password-protected.
- Check every link that is posted to your blog. You do not want your visitors to be directed to a site that is different from what is described.
Students Should Learn About Working From Home
The trend of working from home has attained greater acceptance. Employees and entrepreneurs alike find that they can multi-task and yet efficiently achieve what they have set out to do. This is quite a tall order.
Here are some tips:
Here are some tips:
- Communicate with your family members that you need to have quality work-time alone.
- Have a daily time-table for what you want to set-out to do. Many home-workers actually clock more hours then their office counterparts!
- Try not to constantly access your email inbox – it is not efficient!
- Have sufficient exercise and watch your diet.
- Ensure that you have a quiet area in your home to pick up your calls. It may not be professional to have a noisy background.
- If your family members were to pick up the phone, insist that they highlight the name of your company first to the caller.
- Do family errands when you need to leave your house for corporate commitments. Not the other way around.
- For privacy, put a PO box address or a corporate mailing address in your namecard.
- Allocate sufficient time to read and surf the internet about new developments in your industry.
- Join alliance-building organisations and network with people.
- Develop a strong web presence by launching your corporate website and blog.
- During slow periods, you can take up an online course or learn a new language. Redecorating your house may be too time-consuming and exhausting!
Students Should Learn About Feedback Facilitation
Tips About Feedback Facilitation
- The feedback facilitator should provide a brief introduction about his background. This is to assure the group about his competence and professionalism in directing the session. The feedback facilitator should also have the detailed bio of all the participants.
- It is preferable to have another person to take down and later transcribe the minutes of the session.
- It is very important to set out the parameters and the background of the discussion.
- The duration of the feedback session has to be confirmed and the feedback facilitator has to ensure that all ideas have to be recorded within that time period.
- The facilitator must have good communication skills in not allowing any one person to monopolise the feedback sharing.
- If the discussion is going to be taped, all feedback contributors have to be informed first. The reason is that some members will want to be anonymous when providing their view point.
- Relevant materials must be given out for feedback contributors to review.
- The facilitator should ensure that all participants be given at least the summary of the entire proceedings.
- The facilitator should provide his contact or email if contributors will like to give more ideas after the session.
The Coming A Levels Exams
Here are some tips for the coming A Levels Exams:
- Go through your prelims exam papers meticulously.
- Have a time-table.
- Ensure that your notes are in order.
- Don't study in the wee hours of the day.
- Exercise regularly.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Book Review 9
Review:
Title: Raising Your Family EQ
Author: Christabel and Lisabel
PUBLISHER: Students Care Service
ISBN: 981-05-2683-0
This book by Christabel and Lisabel is a must-buy workbook for all families who want to cultivate family EQ. Through its short and relevant stories, it is very effective in getting families together and apply the 4Ts(Tale, Talk, Think, Task). Its clear approach and simplicity belies the great importance in reaching out to families of varied background.
An example in this approach can be seen in Tale 39 about Martin, who was addicted in computer games. The authors ended the tale with Martin's mother abruptly stopping him from continuing after persistent warning.
This situation is constantly played out in Singapore families and this tale allows both parents and children to think through and find a collective solution. There is no guided answer for this situation - thus it forces both parties to come to terms with the problem.
Good work!
Title: Raising Your Family EQ
Author: Christabel and Lisabel
PUBLISHER: Students Care Service
ISBN: 981-05-2683-0
This book by Christabel and Lisabel is a must-buy workbook for all families who want to cultivate family EQ. Through its short and relevant stories, it is very effective in getting families together and apply the 4Ts(Tale, Talk, Think, Task). Its clear approach and simplicity belies the great importance in reaching out to families of varied background.
An example in this approach can be seen in Tale 39 about Martin, who was addicted in computer games. The authors ended the tale with Martin's mother abruptly stopping him from continuing after persistent warning.
This situation is constantly played out in Singapore families and this tale allows both parents and children to think through and find a collective solution. There is no guided answer for this situation - thus it forces both parties to come to terms with the problem.
Good work!
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Sweet Parting Of Ways
Why settle for bad feelings when your employee leaves the firm? Human resource managers can help to sweeten the occasion during the exit interview, and get valuable information to help the company in the new knowledge age.
More often than not, human resource (HR) managers place more importance on job interviews than on exit interviews.
In the best scenario, the manager will view the employee's departure as an opportunity to reshuffle the work team; in the worst scenario, the manager may feel this action as a 'slight' to the running of the department.
But exit interviews can be an important channel of feedback that can benefit the organisation in the longer term. Though it may be difficult to conduct such an interview, the manager must do some groundwork beforehand to get as much out of it as possible.
Here are some tips:
Interview immediate supervisor:
The manager must conduct a private interview with the employee's direct supervisor first.
This is to hear from both sides of the fence. If the worker is adamant on leaving, it is best not to burn bridges with the supervisor who may not intend to leave for sometime to come.
Acknowledge achievements:
Prepare a list of achievements that the employee has achieved since joining your organisation.
It will also be better if you can get this designed as a framed memento with signatures from top management. Every employee that leaves your organisation is a walking billboard.
Arrange for alternative posting:
If the employee has potential but feels that the current job has no career prospects, you should take the initiative to ask what alternative posting he will consider.
You can also use this opportunity to reshuffle the job responsibilities of your staff and implement the overdue promotion exercise. Always remember that a talented employee will be continually restless in his current job. Job rotation may prove useful in this situation.
Offer educational opportunities:
Some employees feel that they cannot have a 'grip' on their jobs because they are not trained sufficiently. They may have found this out when they attend conferences and share experiences with their peers in other organisations.
You can arrange for this employee to handle projects that are not bound to the office. He can also use this opportunity take up short courses. An overseas attachment can be considered here.
If the situation is changed…
Many HR managers are wary about conducting exit interviews because they feel uncomfortable by the employee's 'emotional' state. Managers must realise that the labour market is never static, taking into account the current influx of online employment agencies.
It is the norm that the employee's decision to leave is also strongly influenced by better offers of competing organisations.
The manager must tactfully encourage this employee to reveal his conditions to stay in your organisation.
You may not be able to keep this employee; but you can put a lid on the problem spreading to other employees.
Will the departure affect organisational knowledge?
The departure of an employee will inadvertently create the transfer of organisational knowledge. It is the duty of all HR managers to ensure that their organisation's intellectual property has not been transferred to a competitor. Thus it is crucial to do a knowledge management audit.
Build future alliance
The visionary manager must see the departure of the employee as an opportunity to build future alliances with the other organisation that the employee is joining. Thus it is crucial that there must be an amicable parting.
More often than not, human resource (HR) managers place more importance on job interviews than on exit interviews.
In the best scenario, the manager will view the employee's departure as an opportunity to reshuffle the work team; in the worst scenario, the manager may feel this action as a 'slight' to the running of the department.
But exit interviews can be an important channel of feedback that can benefit the organisation in the longer term. Though it may be difficult to conduct such an interview, the manager must do some groundwork beforehand to get as much out of it as possible.
Here are some tips:
Interview immediate supervisor:
The manager must conduct a private interview with the employee's direct supervisor first.
This is to hear from both sides of the fence. If the worker is adamant on leaving, it is best not to burn bridges with the supervisor who may not intend to leave for sometime to come.
Acknowledge achievements:
Prepare a list of achievements that the employee has achieved since joining your organisation.
It will also be better if you can get this designed as a framed memento with signatures from top management. Every employee that leaves your organisation is a walking billboard.
Arrange for alternative posting:
If the employee has potential but feels that the current job has no career prospects, you should take the initiative to ask what alternative posting he will consider.
You can also use this opportunity to reshuffle the job responsibilities of your staff and implement the overdue promotion exercise. Always remember that a talented employee will be continually restless in his current job. Job rotation may prove useful in this situation.
Offer educational opportunities:
Some employees feel that they cannot have a 'grip' on their jobs because they are not trained sufficiently. They may have found this out when they attend conferences and share experiences with their peers in other organisations.
You can arrange for this employee to handle projects that are not bound to the office. He can also use this opportunity take up short courses. An overseas attachment can be considered here.
If the situation is changed…
Many HR managers are wary about conducting exit interviews because they feel uncomfortable by the employee's 'emotional' state. Managers must realise that the labour market is never static, taking into account the current influx of online employment agencies.
It is the norm that the employee's decision to leave is also strongly influenced by better offers of competing organisations.
The manager must tactfully encourage this employee to reveal his conditions to stay in your organisation.
You may not be able to keep this employee; but you can put a lid on the problem spreading to other employees.
Will the departure affect organisational knowledge?
The departure of an employee will inadvertently create the transfer of organisational knowledge. It is the duty of all HR managers to ensure that their organisation's intellectual property has not been transferred to a competitor. Thus it is crucial to do a knowledge management audit.
Build future alliance
The visionary manager must see the departure of the employee as an opportunity to build future alliances with the other organisation that the employee is joining. Thus it is crucial that there must be an amicable parting.
Make Training More Interesting
Many HR managers believe that by sending their workers to participate in external training programs, they have fulfilled their responsibilities. This is not the best situation. In this article, I will be emphasizing on how to increase the interest-level of your employees who attend the training program taking into consideration that there is increasing cultural diversity and computer literacy in the workplace.
Meeting the Trainers:
Before you send your workers to a training program, you should arrange a prior meeting with the trainers to ensure that their program is suitable for your workers. The trainers should also offer a quick run-through of the training program and also ensure that a thorough report of the training findings should be given to you.
Give them advance notice:
It makes good sense to inform your employees in advance about the duration and location of the training. This will give them more time to arrange for colleagues to take over their duties and not create too much disruption in their departments.
How the Program was selected:
You must inform them about why the training program will be suitable for his job. This will leave an indelible impression that your organization takes the aspirations and needs of every employee very seriously.
Check the Venue:
Many HR managers do not make the extra effort in checking out the venue for the training. This is essential if the participants have to travel long distances in the morning to reach the venue, assuming that it is not held in the office premises.
Check the Refreshments:
Most full-day training programs include refreshments and it is the duty of the organizers to find out about the eating preferences of the participants. On many occasions, vegetarians have their meals at another location because organizers did not take into consideration of their eating preferences. This will create a void in the participants’ cohesiveness during training.
You will not be contactable!:
We have seen an emerging trend during our corporate training where participants are constantly contacted on their mobile phones. The ringing of the mobile phone serves as a distraction for the rest of the participants and the receiver will not concentrate about the training.
Try Web-based Training:
As the new workplace emerges and workers are expected to embrace new economy tools, HR managers should be flexible in incorporating web-based training in their programs. This will definitely encourage workers to improve their proficiency in using internet tools and create more variety in their training contents.
Employees’ Report:
To ensure that your employees that the training seriously, you should insist that they summarise how they have benefited from the training and also provide feedback on how the training can be improved in the future. This is can in the form of a presentation or a short document to the departmental head. Photographs of training activities can also be pasted on the company’s notice-board.
Casual Clothes:
Many training programs encourage group activity and games. Participants are advised to be dressed casually so that they can be totally involved with the training program.
Meeting the Trainers:
Before you send your workers to a training program, you should arrange a prior meeting with the trainers to ensure that their program is suitable for your workers. The trainers should also offer a quick run-through of the training program and also ensure that a thorough report of the training findings should be given to you.
Give them advance notice:
It makes good sense to inform your employees in advance about the duration and location of the training. This will give them more time to arrange for colleagues to take over their duties and not create too much disruption in their departments.
How the Program was selected:
You must inform them about why the training program will be suitable for his job. This will leave an indelible impression that your organization takes the aspirations and needs of every employee very seriously.
Check the Venue:
Many HR managers do not make the extra effort in checking out the venue for the training. This is essential if the participants have to travel long distances in the morning to reach the venue, assuming that it is not held in the office premises.
Check the Refreshments:
Most full-day training programs include refreshments and it is the duty of the organizers to find out about the eating preferences of the participants. On many occasions, vegetarians have their meals at another location because organizers did not take into consideration of their eating preferences. This will create a void in the participants’ cohesiveness during training.
You will not be contactable!:
We have seen an emerging trend during our corporate training where participants are constantly contacted on their mobile phones. The ringing of the mobile phone serves as a distraction for the rest of the participants and the receiver will not concentrate about the training.
Try Web-based Training:
As the new workplace emerges and workers are expected to embrace new economy tools, HR managers should be flexible in incorporating web-based training in their programs. This will definitely encourage workers to improve their proficiency in using internet tools and create more variety in their training contents.
Employees’ Report:
To ensure that your employees that the training seriously, you should insist that they summarise how they have benefited from the training and also provide feedback on how the training can be improved in the future. This is can in the form of a presentation or a short document to the departmental head. Photographs of training activities can also be pasted on the company’s notice-board.
Casual Clothes:
Many training programs encourage group activity and games. Participants are advised to be dressed casually so that they can be totally involved with the training program.
What SMS Users Are Telling Telcos
The recent rollout of 3G-ready mobile devices has caused a lot of excitement in the Telco industry, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. This article will highlight the message that current customers are sending through their SMS messaging habits. Many consumers have been used to sending SMS for at least 2 years. Even with its humble typing of tiny keypads and source of simple news channel, SMS is a global phenomenon. Telcos must take time to study what their customers are saying.
Here are some guideposts.
Equitable Pricing Plan:
Most customers fall under a mobile plan that guarantees a certain number of free SMS a month. This will imply that even with future sophisticated messaging systems, they are still more inclined to expect the same pricing plan. Thus it could be inappropriate to introduce a per-messaging pricing, no matter of sophisticated the delivery. Telcos must conduct extensive market research to find the correct pricing plan.
Customisation of Ads:
Customers are not only willing to receive high quality advertisements on their mobile devices, but also want these advertisements to be customized to their interests and preferences. This implies that customers are ready to share more personal details and the mobile devices can be viewed as a channel for dynamic and real-time feedback channel. This may spell the demise of the print newsletter and survey form as the penetration rate for mobile devices increase.
Unchanged Keypad:
Many critics of the SMS system had reservations that customers are not adept at typing messages through small mobile device’s keyboard. They had felt that the customer is too impatient and too many typing errors will be made. Well they were wrong! Telcos should collaborate with phone makers to keep the current mobile device’s keyboard unchanged and concentrate on keeping the screen larger and equipped with better resolution.
Integrating the experience:
Telcos must pay heed in collaborating with the various broadcasting corporations to create an integrated experience. Current mobile device users are very comfortable in voice and SMS communication. Take this as an example: A customer plays a LAN game on broadband in an Internet Café, decides to leave the play-station and continues the game on a mobile device. When he reaches home, he turns on his home entertainment system and continues the final stage of the game. This is possible with the GPRS system and 3G Technology synergising with the broadcasting corporation. But more importantly, a number of media and communication providers benefit from this integration. New revenue streams can be developed.
The overlooked education industry:
It is unfortunate that the education industry has not fully utilized SMS to complement the delivery of lecture notes and tests. The same grouses are the small mobile device screen and the lack of security features to determine the identity of the user. However, with 3G technology, educators should think out of the box and allow students to spend more time off campus to conduct their own research. Occasionally, they can arrange for the student to sit for a test that can be transmitted through their mobile devices.
Untapped Security Market:
The Mobile Device can be the next “in-thing” as a security device. The concept is relatively simple. The student’s location can be tracked by the GPRS system through the mobile device and the parent can have a face-to-face chat with the child. This concept can also be stretched to include these devices in various parts of a car – i.e. like a black box in a plane. If there are any major accidents, insurance companies can view these recordings and get a better picture of the accident.
Here are some guideposts.
Equitable Pricing Plan:
Most customers fall under a mobile plan that guarantees a certain number of free SMS a month. This will imply that even with future sophisticated messaging systems, they are still more inclined to expect the same pricing plan. Thus it could be inappropriate to introduce a per-messaging pricing, no matter of sophisticated the delivery. Telcos must conduct extensive market research to find the correct pricing plan.
Customisation of Ads:
Customers are not only willing to receive high quality advertisements on their mobile devices, but also want these advertisements to be customized to their interests and preferences. This implies that customers are ready to share more personal details and the mobile devices can be viewed as a channel for dynamic and real-time feedback channel. This may spell the demise of the print newsletter and survey form as the penetration rate for mobile devices increase.
Unchanged Keypad:
Many critics of the SMS system had reservations that customers are not adept at typing messages through small mobile device’s keyboard. They had felt that the customer is too impatient and too many typing errors will be made. Well they were wrong! Telcos should collaborate with phone makers to keep the current mobile device’s keyboard unchanged and concentrate on keeping the screen larger and equipped with better resolution.
Integrating the experience:
Telcos must pay heed in collaborating with the various broadcasting corporations to create an integrated experience. Current mobile device users are very comfortable in voice and SMS communication. Take this as an example: A customer plays a LAN game on broadband in an Internet Café, decides to leave the play-station and continues the game on a mobile device. When he reaches home, he turns on his home entertainment system and continues the final stage of the game. This is possible with the GPRS system and 3G Technology synergising with the broadcasting corporation. But more importantly, a number of media and communication providers benefit from this integration. New revenue streams can be developed.
The overlooked education industry:
It is unfortunate that the education industry has not fully utilized SMS to complement the delivery of lecture notes and tests. The same grouses are the small mobile device screen and the lack of security features to determine the identity of the user. However, with 3G technology, educators should think out of the box and allow students to spend more time off campus to conduct their own research. Occasionally, they can arrange for the student to sit for a test that can be transmitted through their mobile devices.
Untapped Security Market:
The Mobile Device can be the next “in-thing” as a security device. The concept is relatively simple. The student’s location can be tracked by the GPRS system through the mobile device and the parent can have a face-to-face chat with the child. This concept can also be stretched to include these devices in various parts of a car – i.e. like a black box in a plane. If there are any major accidents, insurance companies can view these recordings and get a better picture of the accident.
Examination Strategies
1) Prepare a realistic time-table for your study preparation. Take into account that you may still have to go back for remedials and tests.
2) Look at you examination time-table. Are there days that you may have sit for 2 papers? Strategise and be prepared.
3) Check the marks allocation. Go through the different ways in which you can get distinctions. There could be some sections that you are confident of scoring well.
4) Do you have any friends or relatives who have set for the same examinations? Maybe they can provide tips like "The last essay is always tricky" or "There is not enough time for the MCQs".
5) Take time to know thyself. Especially your weaknesses. Are you careless in essay-writing or write rather slowly?
6) Studying in groups may not be advisable right to the eve of the examinations. You must have sufficient solitude to reflect on your examination strategy.
7) Some students have the tendency to listen to their Walkman during their revision. Be mindful that the examination is held in silence.
8) If you are sitting for an essay-style examination, don't just study in point form. It is crucial that you take a "trial-run" and write complete essays to time yourself. You may be surprised that of not having enough time for completing the essays in the stipulated period.
9) Exercise regularly during this period.
10) It is okay to study during the wee hours of the night but remember that the examinations are held during waking hours! It will be a tragedy if you are able to perform best after your examination schedule.
11) As matters of the heart do play a part in distracting students, have a pact with your partner to give each other space to study and prepare.
12) Lastly, if you feel that you can't manage your examinations preparation, talk to your teacher or course coordinator. There are many reasons why you can't cope and most may not be academic in nature.
2) Look at you examination time-table. Are there days that you may have sit for 2 papers? Strategise and be prepared.
3) Check the marks allocation. Go through the different ways in which you can get distinctions. There could be some sections that you are confident of scoring well.
4) Do you have any friends or relatives who have set for the same examinations? Maybe they can provide tips like "The last essay is always tricky" or "There is not enough time for the MCQs".
5) Take time to know thyself. Especially your weaknesses. Are you careless in essay-writing or write rather slowly?
6) Studying in groups may not be advisable right to the eve of the examinations. You must have sufficient solitude to reflect on your examination strategy.
7) Some students have the tendency to listen to their Walkman during their revision. Be mindful that the examination is held in silence.
8) If you are sitting for an essay-style examination, don't just study in point form. It is crucial that you take a "trial-run" and write complete essays to time yourself. You may be surprised that of not having enough time for completing the essays in the stipulated period.
9) Exercise regularly during this period.
10) It is okay to study during the wee hours of the night but remember that the examinations are held during waking hours! It will be a tragedy if you are able to perform best after your examination schedule.
11) As matters of the heart do play a part in distracting students, have a pact with your partner to give each other space to study and prepare.
12) Lastly, if you feel that you can't manage your examinations preparation, talk to your teacher or course coordinator. There are many reasons why you can't cope and most may not be academic in nature.
Book Review 8
Review:
And Dignity for All: Unlocking Greatness with Values-Based Leadership
by James E. Despain
The uniqueness of this book is how Jim Despain shares his career journey - warts and all. It makes a great motivational read as it candidly highlights his fears in picking up a skill to not even getting his commission. He does not just spouse out management concepts; he lives his beliefs. It is surprising how down to earth he comes across.
There are a few sections that are particularly memorable:
1) How Jim's dad shot's their family Dalmatian in the head -; the phrase "break the rules, pay the price" really stands out.
2) How Jim stands up against the union because he believes in achieving his full abilities.
As a career counselor, I feel that this book is suitable for all job-seekers as it speaks out their deepest fears and rejoices their career high.
It is like a career journal and is a must read for all.
And Dignity for All: Unlocking Greatness with Values-Based Leadership
by James E. Despain
The uniqueness of this book is how Jim Despain shares his career journey - warts and all. It makes a great motivational read as it candidly highlights his fears in picking up a skill to not even getting his commission. He does not just spouse out management concepts; he lives his beliefs. It is surprising how down to earth he comes across.
There are a few sections that are particularly memorable:
1) How Jim's dad shot's their family Dalmatian in the head -; the phrase "break the rules, pay the price" really stands out.
2) How Jim stands up against the union because he believes in achieving his full abilities.
As a career counselor, I feel that this book is suitable for all job-seekers as it speaks out their deepest fears and rejoices their career high.
It is like a career journal and is a must read for all.
Book Review 7
Everything You Need to Know at Work: A Complete Manual of Workplace Skills
Ciara Woods
Review:
Ciara has written a well thought-out book with lots of good advice. I am particularly impressed with her clear writing and practicality. This book definitely offers more than an ordinary business correspondence/writing book. Ciara demonstrates a good grasp of the workplace requirements and also makes an extra effort in keeping this book relevant to new technology too.
My Favourites:
1) Research chapter 6
2) Working In A Team - Project Management Chapter 9
3) Commonly confused words pg 192
This book is very effective and relevant. An extremely good buy
Ciara Woods
Review:
Ciara has written a well thought-out book with lots of good advice. I am particularly impressed with her clear writing and practicality. This book definitely offers more than an ordinary business correspondence/writing book. Ciara demonstrates a good grasp of the workplace requirements and also makes an extra effort in keeping this book relevant to new technology too.
My Favourites:
1) Research chapter 6
2) Working In A Team - Project Management Chapter 9
3) Commonly confused words pg 192
This book is very effective and relevant. An extremely good buy
Book Review 6
Review:
Content Critical: Gaining Competitive Advantage through High-Quality Web ContentBy: Gerry McGovern, Rob Norton
The authors provide advice that is authoritative and comprehensive. What is pleasantly surprising is that while this could serve as a useful reference book, the authors are also able to present content in a way that would make it easily accessible to the layman.
I run a few portals and would say the book is a must-read for people who have or desire to have a web presence.
Good work.
Content Critical: Gaining Competitive Advantage through High-Quality Web ContentBy: Gerry McGovern, Rob Norton
The authors provide advice that is authoritative and comprehensive. What is pleasantly surprising is that while this could serve as a useful reference book, the authors are also able to present content in a way that would make it easily accessible to the layman.
I run a few portals and would say the book is a must-read for people who have or desire to have a web presence.
Good work.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Book Review 5
Review:
Heroes.Com: The Names and Faces Behind the .Com Era
By: Sun Microsystems (Editor)
I purchased this book during the dot-com boom and I strongly feel that this book should be on the shelf of any budding entreprenuer or decision-maker.
Why?
This book is not only about the profile of dot-com visionaries, it is also about the passion of developing a unique business model that is accelerated by new economy tools to reach out to a global market. As we enter the wireless age, this book helps us take a step back to understand that the rules of business will not change.
That business passion and risk taking will remain the key in just about every era.
An important read and a classic business textbook too.
Heroes.Com: The Names and Faces Behind the .Com Era
By: Sun Microsystems (Editor)
I purchased this book during the dot-com boom and I strongly feel that this book should be on the shelf of any budding entreprenuer or decision-maker.
Why?
This book is not only about the profile of dot-com visionaries, it is also about the passion of developing a unique business model that is accelerated by new economy tools to reach out to a global market. As we enter the wireless age, this book helps us take a step back to understand that the rules of business will not change.
That business passion and risk taking will remain the key in just about every era.
An important read and a classic business textbook too.
Book Review 4
Review:
Key Management Questions: Smart Questions for Every Business Situation
Tom Lambert
Tom Lambert has been nicknamed "The Consultant's Consultant". However, with this book, I strongly feel that Tom has further established himself as "Every Business' Catalyst".
He has come out with a very practical book. Its content has a refreshing Question format which makes it a suitable workbook. Tom also value-adds with his thought-provoking anecdotes and his considerable consulting experience.
This book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in business issues, especially those who are establishing themselves as independent consultants. It teaches you how to ask the right questions and also serves as a good guide for emerging start-ups.
Key Management Questions: Smart Questions for Every Business Situation
Tom Lambert
Tom Lambert has been nicknamed "The Consultant's Consultant". However, with this book, I strongly feel that Tom has further established himself as "Every Business' Catalyst".
He has come out with a very practical book. Its content has a refreshing Question format which makes it a suitable workbook. Tom also value-adds with his thought-provoking anecdotes and his considerable consulting experience.
This book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in business issues, especially those who are establishing themselves as independent consultants. It teaches you how to ask the right questions and also serves as a good guide for emerging start-ups.
Book Review 3
Negotiating Partnerships: Increase Profits and Reduce Risk
Keld Jensen
have decided to integrate my interview with Keld (Co-author) and book review together because the book also emphasises the strengths and ideals of Keld`s company Market Watch.
From the back jacket of the book 'An international study based on over 20,000 negotiations revealed that a huge amount of time is wasted on producing deals that are often of only marginal merit. This book will help you identify the deals which are worth doing and set you on the right track to make them profitable.
Negotiating Partnerships will take you through dozens of areas where additional value can be found, to make win-win partnership deals that really work for you. You will learn how to identify opportunities and conclude better deals at the same time as making the other party feel good.'
The book has definitely made good its promises.
My favourite bits:
Good and Bad Negotiators (Chapter 2), Checklist (pg 63) - These are set out in a very clear manner
Added Value and 4-Step Model (Chapter 5) - My last foray with the term Added Value was while lecturing Macroeconomics! Yet again, the authors expertly highlight these concepts in very workable fashion.
The back Appendix 1 and 2 are also good guidepost to accelerate your application of these models.
This book is authoritative and highlight the experience of the authors. It is essential reading for HR, Management and Corporate Strategists.
A very good business book!
Keld Jensen
have decided to integrate my interview with Keld (Co-author) and book review together because the book also emphasises the strengths and ideals of Keld`s company Market Watch.
From the back jacket of the book 'An international study based on over 20,000 negotiations revealed that a huge amount of time is wasted on producing deals that are often of only marginal merit. This book will help you identify the deals which are worth doing and set you on the right track to make them profitable.
Negotiating Partnerships will take you through dozens of areas where additional value can be found, to make win-win partnership deals that really work for you. You will learn how to identify opportunities and conclude better deals at the same time as making the other party feel good.'
The book has definitely made good its promises.
My favourite bits:
Good and Bad Negotiators (Chapter 2), Checklist (pg 63) - These are set out in a very clear manner
Added Value and 4-Step Model (Chapter 5) - My last foray with the term Added Value was while lecturing Macroeconomics! Yet again, the authors expertly highlight these concepts in very workable fashion.
The back Appendix 1 and 2 are also good guidepost to accelerate your application of these models.
This book is authoritative and highlight the experience of the authors. It is essential reading for HR, Management and Corporate Strategists.
A very good business book!
Book Review 2
Review:
Title: Keep Your Kids Safe On The Internet
Simon JohnsonMcGraw-Hill/Osborne2004
ISBN: 0-07-225741-5
Simon has written a guidebook that appeals to parents and educators who may not be too comfortable with IT - lingo. Thus his approach is to present the internet safety message with ample screen snap-shots (black & white though), lots of online reference and bulleted tips.
He has also ensured that the language is not too technical and is meticulous in providing the readers insights into how he makes his recommendation.
Some of the book highlights:On page 71, Simon introduces a host of commonly used acronyms in Internet Chat Rooms and Instant Messages for eg. A3 refers to Anytime, Anwhere, Anyplace - very useful for parents who are confused about the "new language" of children.
On pg 116, Simon embarks in thoroughly testing content-filtering software and has ranked CYBERsitter in first place. What is of special interest is how Simon describes the parameters of his testing.
This book is a great help in allowing busy parents to understand and pre-empt any potential online security threats.
Title: Keep Your Kids Safe On The Internet
Simon JohnsonMcGraw-Hill/Osborne2004
ISBN: 0-07-225741-5
Simon has written a guidebook that appeals to parents and educators who may not be too comfortable with IT - lingo. Thus his approach is to present the internet safety message with ample screen snap-shots (black & white though), lots of online reference and bulleted tips.
He has also ensured that the language is not too technical and is meticulous in providing the readers insights into how he makes his recommendation.
Some of the book highlights:On page 71, Simon introduces a host of commonly used acronyms in Internet Chat Rooms and Instant Messages for eg. A3 refers to Anytime, Anwhere, Anyplace - very useful for parents who are confused about the "new language" of children.
On pg 116, Simon embarks in thoroughly testing content-filtering software and has ranked CYBERsitter in first place. What is of special interest is how Simon describes the parameters of his testing.
This book is a great help in allowing busy parents to understand and pre-empt any potential online security threats.
Book Review 1
How To Promote Your Local Business On The Internet
Sharon Fling
http://knowbetter.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1&mid=544&ctl=reviewview&itemid=137
Review:
In this ebook, Sharon uses very clear illustration and interesting clip-art to help the reader "think through" about promoting a local business on the Internet. Chapter 3 - Laying the Groundwork - is this ebook's best selling point as it effortlessly lays the foundation of thinking through the promotion strategy. I also benefit from reading the Local Business Success Stories - especially MattoCycle - and am impressed that Sharon is able to display an extensive glossary/terminology and online resources at the end of the ebook.
Sharon shows that she is top in her class and this ebook is a good guide.
Sharon Fling
http://knowbetter.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1&mid=544&ctl=reviewview&itemid=137
Review:
In this ebook, Sharon uses very clear illustration and interesting clip-art to help the reader "think through" about promoting a local business on the Internet. Chapter 3 - Laying the Groundwork - is this ebook's best selling point as it effortlessly lays the foundation of thinking through the promotion strategy. I also benefit from reading the Local Business Success Stories - especially MattoCycle - and am impressed that Sharon is able to display an extensive glossary/terminology and online resources at the end of the ebook.
Sharon shows that she is top in her class and this ebook is a good guide.
Get Distinction In Economics Essay-Writing
- Get the economic model right.
- Get the economic definitions right too.
- Remember to draw the relevant diagrams, with the correct labels and intersection points. You must also elaborate on the diagrams.
- What are the assumptions? Is it a short-run or long-run concept?
- Did you remember to elaborate with updated, real-world examples? Like protectionism or monetary policy?
- If a case-study is provided, you must relate the economic concepts with the case-study.
General Paper - Foreign Talent
Why is it important to attract foreign talent?
- Foreign talent are able to provide the much needed skills to complete the
work team. - Foreign talent can help expand global networks.
- Foreign talent can help spur the team and also provide competition.
- Foreign talent can give a different perspective to problem.
- Foreign talent can actively promote the country and boost tourism.
These views are provided by Colin Ong TS - if you need tuition in GP, please contact/sms Colin at 96749640
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Being A Socially Aware Organisation
Private organizations must appreciate that being socially-aware is not just to donate monies to various charities every year – though this effort is laudable. It is more complex and requires a lot more coordination and corporate planning.
However, the benefits of having a well-run social outreach programme can provide a great multiplier effect in terms of positive public perception and organizational identity. New admirers of this social contract can be easily transformed into a potential pool of new customers and at the same time this practice can boost employee loyalty.
But how can a socially-aware organization be developed from scratch?
Here are some tips:
Identify Your Organisational Goals
Every organization has unique short-term and medium-term goals. Ensure that the social goals that your organisation embraces are congruent with these goals. The public perception has to be clear and not confused. This may imply that your organization should be consistently supportive to a particular type of social contract for at least 5 years, which is in the medium-term.
Check Your Recipient Organisation
Choosing a non-profit organization to support is more than browsing through a search engine or viewing a glitzy website. Your organization should also check the credentials of the advisory board and scrutinize the non-profit organisation’s annual reports. It even pays to have a word with their executive director about possible synergy.
Acceptance Of Your Employees
Your employees must have a united agreement about your organisation’s social agenda. For instance, employee participation may be lukewarm in the very near term if your organization embraces the vegetarianism movement and a huge majority of employees are not vegetarians. Unless your organization has a mission that starts from changing the perception of employees first.
Setting Of A Fund
It is important to have a plan in the setting up of a fund. The easiest way is to have a percentage of your organisation’s revenue be put into this fund. You can also have a system in which like-minded employees can have a portion of their salaries deducted for this purpose. However, this deduction has to be strictly voluntary and opt-in.
Proper Progress Report
Create a Progress Report that can be accessed by both employees and customers. The progress report should be launched off your corporate server or included in your organisation’s monthly newsletter that is posted to your customers.
Create A Standalone Website
Set up a standalone website to post details about your social cause. Get as many people to post their thoughts about the issue and encourage your employees to be moderators of these online forums. You can also grow a vibrant networking community from this site.
Get Employees’ Family Involved
Encourage your employee’s family members to get into the action of collecting donations for your organisation’s social cause. This can be in the form of organizing a fun fair, walkabout or even selling personal items.
Create Public Roadshows
Your organization can also set some time-off for employees to create public roadshows and even give talks in schools.
However, the benefits of having a well-run social outreach programme can provide a great multiplier effect in terms of positive public perception and organizational identity. New admirers of this social contract can be easily transformed into a potential pool of new customers and at the same time this practice can boost employee loyalty.
But how can a socially-aware organization be developed from scratch?
Here are some tips:
Identify Your Organisational Goals
Every organization has unique short-term and medium-term goals. Ensure that the social goals that your organisation embraces are congruent with these goals. The public perception has to be clear and not confused. This may imply that your organization should be consistently supportive to a particular type of social contract for at least 5 years, which is in the medium-term.
Check Your Recipient Organisation
Choosing a non-profit organization to support is more than browsing through a search engine or viewing a glitzy website. Your organization should also check the credentials of the advisory board and scrutinize the non-profit organisation’s annual reports. It even pays to have a word with their executive director about possible synergy.
Acceptance Of Your Employees
Your employees must have a united agreement about your organisation’s social agenda. For instance, employee participation may be lukewarm in the very near term if your organization embraces the vegetarianism movement and a huge majority of employees are not vegetarians. Unless your organization has a mission that starts from changing the perception of employees first.
Setting Of A Fund
It is important to have a plan in the setting up of a fund. The easiest way is to have a percentage of your organisation’s revenue be put into this fund. You can also have a system in which like-minded employees can have a portion of their salaries deducted for this purpose. However, this deduction has to be strictly voluntary and opt-in.
Proper Progress Report
Create a Progress Report that can be accessed by both employees and customers. The progress report should be launched off your corporate server or included in your organisation’s monthly newsletter that is posted to your customers.
Create A Standalone Website
Set up a standalone website to post details about your social cause. Get as many people to post their thoughts about the issue and encourage your employees to be moderators of these online forums. You can also grow a vibrant networking community from this site.
Get Employees’ Family Involved
Encourage your employee’s family members to get into the action of collecting donations for your organisation’s social cause. This can be in the form of organizing a fun fair, walkabout or even selling personal items.
Create Public Roadshows
Your organization can also set some time-off for employees to create public roadshows and even give talks in schools.
Creating An Effective Corporate Blog
The terms “blog” and “blogging” have become part of the new economy dictionary and are an extremely cheap and efficient way of disseminating information through the web. A blog is best described as an online diary that readers can also post their thoughts.
Many subject experts and academics have created open blogs (free access) that are read by thousands of readers and futurists are predicting that these blogs will emerge as the new mega magazines. Which leads to the question about why companies are slow to create corporate blogs in order to promote their organizational goals and ideals.
The reason for this lax attitude is that corporate blogs can be misinterpreted for techies and the employment of full-time blog administrators as too costly. Before creating a corporate blog, determine some guidelines.
Here are some tips:
Clear Organisational Message
Before starting a corporate blog, you have to be very clear about the organizational message and direction. The reason is that your blog will be read by the public who may also be potential customers who have different global perceptions. You do not want your blog to convey negative perceptions of your organizational values.
Determine Success Targets
The setting up of a corporate blog is not just an opportunity for people to ventilate or post their comments online. There must be clear success targets. Feasible short term targets are the generation of new sales leads and increase in customer database. In contrast, a medium term target can be the creation of new alliances.
Promote Your Alliance
Your corporate blog can be used to highlight your current alliances and give your customers a better understanding about your global reach. You can invite representatives of these organizations to either be guest bloggers or have a separate blog within your main corporate blog. With enough online exposure, your corporate blog can also evolve into a dynamic networking online community.
Great Feedback Channel
Invite your customers to post their comments in the corporate blog and get your blog administrator to act on the feedback as soon as possible. This will give the image that your organization is very serious about all feedback and you can also rectify the problem before it escalates. The more advanced blogs can also provide immediate sms to blog administrators once a feedback has been posted too.
Value-add to Your Print Newsletter
A corporate blog can value-add to your current monthly print newsletter. One way is that some online postings can provide article-ideas for future newsletter issues. Blog visitors can also request for print newsletters to be posted to their homes.
Test Out New Products
Your organizational engineers and sales team can use the corporate blog to test out new products and ideas. This is an effective and cheap solution as your blog readers should already have a good idea about how these ideas should co-exist with your other products.
Security Measures
Ensure that your corporate blog has security measures that prevents spamming to your blog readers. This will ensure that spamming will not create a definite negative image about your company. Your blog administrator should also ensure that there is no flaming and that all potential debates should not be a battle of personalities.
Not Infringe Intellectual Property
Some blog posters may introduce other websites which may have beta versions of new products. To some blog readers, this may be purely educational but the implication for your organization is that it may infringe intellectual property
Many subject experts and academics have created open blogs (free access) that are read by thousands of readers and futurists are predicting that these blogs will emerge as the new mega magazines. Which leads to the question about why companies are slow to create corporate blogs in order to promote their organizational goals and ideals.
The reason for this lax attitude is that corporate blogs can be misinterpreted for techies and the employment of full-time blog administrators as too costly. Before creating a corporate blog, determine some guidelines.
Here are some tips:
Clear Organisational Message
Before starting a corporate blog, you have to be very clear about the organizational message and direction. The reason is that your blog will be read by the public who may also be potential customers who have different global perceptions. You do not want your blog to convey negative perceptions of your organizational values.
Determine Success Targets
The setting up of a corporate blog is not just an opportunity for people to ventilate or post their comments online. There must be clear success targets. Feasible short term targets are the generation of new sales leads and increase in customer database. In contrast, a medium term target can be the creation of new alliances.
Promote Your Alliance
Your corporate blog can be used to highlight your current alliances and give your customers a better understanding about your global reach. You can invite representatives of these organizations to either be guest bloggers or have a separate blog within your main corporate blog. With enough online exposure, your corporate blog can also evolve into a dynamic networking online community.
Great Feedback Channel
Invite your customers to post their comments in the corporate blog and get your blog administrator to act on the feedback as soon as possible. This will give the image that your organization is very serious about all feedback and you can also rectify the problem before it escalates. The more advanced blogs can also provide immediate sms to blog administrators once a feedback has been posted too.
Value-add to Your Print Newsletter
A corporate blog can value-add to your current monthly print newsletter. One way is that some online postings can provide article-ideas for future newsletter issues. Blog visitors can also request for print newsletters to be posted to their homes.
Test Out New Products
Your organizational engineers and sales team can use the corporate blog to test out new products and ideas. This is an effective and cheap solution as your blog readers should already have a good idea about how these ideas should co-exist with your other products.
Security Measures
Ensure that your corporate blog has security measures that prevents spamming to your blog readers. This will ensure that spamming will not create a definite negative image about your company. Your blog administrator should also ensure that there is no flaming and that all potential debates should not be a battle of personalities.
Not Infringe Intellectual Property
Some blog posters may introduce other websites which may have beta versions of new products. To some blog readers, this may be purely educational but the implication for your organization is that it may infringe intellectual property
Being A Mentor For A Startup
You have to decide on your purpose in mentoring – do you want to be a partner in the startup or just desire to volunteer to give an extra help for budding future entrepreneurs.
You must have access to the startup’s business plan. If this is not possible, an executive summary will do.
You should have the trust and confidence of the members of the startup.
If the startup has a patented proprietary software, you should fully understand it.
Understand your role and what is expected of you.
You should have valuable and relevant contacts for the startup.
You may be expected to set aside some time to attend various meetings with financiers together with the startup.
You must have access to the startup’s business plan. If this is not possible, an executive summary will do.
You should have the trust and confidence of the members of the startup.
If the startup has a patented proprietary software, you should fully understand it.
Understand your role and what is expected of you.
You should have valuable and relevant contacts for the startup.
You may be expected to set aside some time to attend various meetings with financiers together with the startup.
Banish Internet Addiction
Here are some tips to prevent your kids from being addicted to the internet. These tips are not exhaustive and cover both gaming, chatting and surfing.
These are the personal views of Colin Ong TS.
Always have an “open door” policy of communication with your kids.
Encourage your kid to take up a sport to complement online activities.
Develop a family website together. You can delegate your kid to design the site while you take digital photos and upload them.
Have frank talks about e-commerce and developing an internet start-up. Many parents do not spend enough time talking about the business aspects of the internet.
Some online games require strategy and teamwork. Find time to develop team-spirit with your kid by playing these games together.
The search engine is very useful for researching project work. Ask you kids to be time-effective when getting references and not be encumbered by information overload.
Online chatting is good if your kid initially does not know the people who are online. But encourage your kid to meet up with these friends in a group.
Explain to your kid that viewing online pornography demeans the people who appear on these sites. In most cases, these people either need psychological counseling or may be forced to appear due to financial hardships. Pornography is a lucrative trade – especially for website owners.
These are the personal views of Colin Ong TS.
Always have an “open door” policy of communication with your kids.
Encourage your kid to take up a sport to complement online activities.
Develop a family website together. You can delegate your kid to design the site while you take digital photos and upload them.
Have frank talks about e-commerce and developing an internet start-up. Many parents do not spend enough time talking about the business aspects of the internet.
Some online games require strategy and teamwork. Find time to develop team-spirit with your kid by playing these games together.
The search engine is very useful for researching project work. Ask you kids to be time-effective when getting references and not be encumbered by information overload.
Online chatting is good if your kid initially does not know the people who are online. But encourage your kid to meet up with these friends in a group.
Explain to your kid that viewing online pornography demeans the people who appear on these sites. In most cases, these people either need psychological counseling or may be forced to appear due to financial hardships. Pornography is a lucrative trade – especially for website owners.
Being An Effective Public Speaker
Many people find it hard to speak in public. There are many reasons, namely the fear of being rejected or forgetting one’s train of thought. This will lead to stage-fright.
Even with the emergence of many multimedia devices that can spruce up a presentation, the importance of public speaking cannot be denied. The reason is that the individual has to be persuasive in bringing forward his views. For instance, in the workplace, a successful presentation may translate into a lucrative contract; in a school presentation, a good speech may mean a better grade.
Though many people may never be conference speakers with a large audience, the rules of effective public speaking is similar to giving a small presentation.
Here are some tips:
Background Research
It is important to conduct background research about the topic before giving your speech. You can use the search engine to find relevant materials or use the reference section of a public library. Remember to inform your audience about where you get the information.
Programme
You have to be aware of the programme in which you are delivering your speech. The audience may find it hard to be captivated during your speech if it is allocated right after lunch. In this situation, you may have to be lively or ask your audience to move about. In contrast, if your speech is in a programme that is somber, you may have to omit your funny anecdotes.
Voice
Many public speakers have very good content but their voice has a quivering quality. This gives the audience an impression that they are not confident of their own material or are timid in nature. These outcomes will give the speaker a negative impression and the audience may not be receptive to the rest of the speech.
Attire
Many public speakers do not place enough attention to their attire. This not the correct attitude. The first reason is that the speaker may constantly adjust his jacket and the audience will automatically look at his jacket and not pay any attention to his speech. A second reason is that his attire may be too striking and the audience may not listen to him.
Question And Answer Session (Q&A)
The Q&A session can be the most harrowing time of any public speaker because he does not know how the questions will be structured. From my experience, with a good background preparation of the speech, the audience’s questions actually value-add to the presentation. The reason is that most of facts would have already been included in the speech. A heated Q&A implies that the presentation may be rhetorical or unsubstantiated.
Multimedia
The use of multimedia presentation tools is almost compulsory in most public speech. However, the speaker has to ensure that the multimedia tool is not too wordy or has too many “bells and whistles” and has the unintended result of distracting the audience. It is good to distribute presentation handouts before your speech so that your audience can take notes.
Selling Your Organisation/School
During your speech, you may want to provide personal case-studies and it is unavoidable that you bring up your oganisation or school. If this is done subtly, the audience may be receptive. However, if your speech is a total marketing exercise, your audience may be skeptical about the reliability of your speech.
Even with the emergence of many multimedia devices that can spruce up a presentation, the importance of public speaking cannot be denied. The reason is that the individual has to be persuasive in bringing forward his views. For instance, in the workplace, a successful presentation may translate into a lucrative contract; in a school presentation, a good speech may mean a better grade.
Though many people may never be conference speakers with a large audience, the rules of effective public speaking is similar to giving a small presentation.
Here are some tips:
Background Research
It is important to conduct background research about the topic before giving your speech. You can use the search engine to find relevant materials or use the reference section of a public library. Remember to inform your audience about where you get the information.
Programme
You have to be aware of the programme in which you are delivering your speech. The audience may find it hard to be captivated during your speech if it is allocated right after lunch. In this situation, you may have to be lively or ask your audience to move about. In contrast, if your speech is in a programme that is somber, you may have to omit your funny anecdotes.
Voice
Many public speakers have very good content but their voice has a quivering quality. This gives the audience an impression that they are not confident of their own material or are timid in nature. These outcomes will give the speaker a negative impression and the audience may not be receptive to the rest of the speech.
Attire
Many public speakers do not place enough attention to their attire. This not the correct attitude. The first reason is that the speaker may constantly adjust his jacket and the audience will automatically look at his jacket and not pay any attention to his speech. A second reason is that his attire may be too striking and the audience may not listen to him.
Question And Answer Session (Q&A)
The Q&A session can be the most harrowing time of any public speaker because he does not know how the questions will be structured. From my experience, with a good background preparation of the speech, the audience’s questions actually value-add to the presentation. The reason is that most of facts would have already been included in the speech. A heated Q&A implies that the presentation may be rhetorical or unsubstantiated.
Multimedia
The use of multimedia presentation tools is almost compulsory in most public speech. However, the speaker has to ensure that the multimedia tool is not too wordy or has too many “bells and whistles” and has the unintended result of distracting the audience. It is good to distribute presentation handouts before your speech so that your audience can take notes.
Selling Your Organisation/School
During your speech, you may want to provide personal case-studies and it is unavoidable that you bring up your oganisation or school. If this is done subtly, the audience may be receptive. However, if your speech is a total marketing exercise, your audience may be skeptical about the reliability of your speech.
Leadership Tips For Students
Today’s youth are living with an explosion of technological advances especially in the area of the internet, mobile applications and multi-player gaming. This increases the need for proper supervision and mentoring as they may be overwhelmed by the sheer overload of activities and information.
How is leadership relevant for them? Are they able to see beyond their examinations and their leisure activities?
Leadership values are crucial life-skills for students because they enable students to be able to manage their career-progression and financial independence when they mature. The accessibility of updated information is not a problem; however, there must be a leadership quotient for a student to make a decision and act on this information.
Here are some tips for educators:
School Achievements
A school’s achievement will have an indelible mark for students, especially in the area of school loyalty and branding. However, it is how the school reacts to unplanned events like losing in a sports competition that it is supposed to win easily, provides leadership insights to students. Leadership values are not only relevant for periods of success but also help a student go through times of adversity.
Teachers are leadership models
The interaction time for students and their teachers can be greater than with their own parents. This does not diminish the importance of parental guidance but at the same time puts a lot of responsibility for teachers to impart leadership principles. Students are very observant about how their teachers motivate them and put the extra effort to make their lessons more interesting. This is leadership at work.
Leadership Case-studies
Teachers have to ensure that leadership case-studies are relevant to the student’s understanding. It is absurd to get a leadership case-study from a business journal and expect the student to be “wowed’ by how a CEO had turned the financial fortune of an MNC or how a Military General won a battle with under-strength military force. These macro examples can be adapted to the daily experience like how students can organize a charity drive to raise monies for their school building fund.
Current Affairs Knowledge
Students should be encouraged to voice their opinion about how to take charge of global issues. This is important as leadership is within the context of an ever-changing global landscape, not in an air-conditioned class-room. A relevant class activity is how countries that were badly devastated by the tsunami disaster can put up a global warning system.
Presentation Skills
Following from the point above, students must complement their current affairs knowledge with good persuasive and presentation skills. They have to be convincing enough to lead the rest of the team members. This entails the blending of multi-media presentation tools with a lot of background research. However, with the usefulness of the search engine, a student’s research time can be drastically shortened.
The Team
All great leaders are supported by a world-class team. Leaders must have good people-skills and be able to bring out the best from the individuals in the team. These skills take years to be developed and it is important that every student is given a specific leadership task to fulfill.
How is leadership relevant for them? Are they able to see beyond their examinations and their leisure activities?
Leadership values are crucial life-skills for students because they enable students to be able to manage their career-progression and financial independence when they mature. The accessibility of updated information is not a problem; however, there must be a leadership quotient for a student to make a decision and act on this information.
Here are some tips for educators:
School Achievements
A school’s achievement will have an indelible mark for students, especially in the area of school loyalty and branding. However, it is how the school reacts to unplanned events like losing in a sports competition that it is supposed to win easily, provides leadership insights to students. Leadership values are not only relevant for periods of success but also help a student go through times of adversity.
Teachers are leadership models
The interaction time for students and their teachers can be greater than with their own parents. This does not diminish the importance of parental guidance but at the same time puts a lot of responsibility for teachers to impart leadership principles. Students are very observant about how their teachers motivate them and put the extra effort to make their lessons more interesting. This is leadership at work.
Leadership Case-studies
Teachers have to ensure that leadership case-studies are relevant to the student’s understanding. It is absurd to get a leadership case-study from a business journal and expect the student to be “wowed’ by how a CEO had turned the financial fortune of an MNC or how a Military General won a battle with under-strength military force. These macro examples can be adapted to the daily experience like how students can organize a charity drive to raise monies for their school building fund.
Current Affairs Knowledge
Students should be encouraged to voice their opinion about how to take charge of global issues. This is important as leadership is within the context of an ever-changing global landscape, not in an air-conditioned class-room. A relevant class activity is how countries that were badly devastated by the tsunami disaster can put up a global warning system.
Presentation Skills
Following from the point above, students must complement their current affairs knowledge with good persuasive and presentation skills. They have to be convincing enough to lead the rest of the team members. This entails the blending of multi-media presentation tools with a lot of background research. However, with the usefulness of the search engine, a student’s research time can be drastically shortened.
The Team
All great leaders are supported by a world-class team. Leaders must have good people-skills and be able to bring out the best from the individuals in the team. These skills take years to be developed and it is important that every student is given a specific leadership task to fulfill.
Project Work Tips
It is important to understand the project topic and the various deadlines.
Start electing a leader.
Delegate various tasks and agree on the timelines.
Create a collaborative tool (preferably online) so that each sub-team can provide quick updates
without the need of face-to-face meetings.
Create a scoring system so that each member knows what is expected of him.
Have regular heart-to-heart talks with members who are not performing as expected.
Decide on how the final presentation is going to be delivered and the various multimedia tools.
Agree upon the handouts that will be given during the presentation.
Each presenter must be very sure of his role.
Anticipate the various questions that will be asked during the Q & A
Start electing a leader.
Delegate various tasks and agree on the timelines.
Create a collaborative tool (preferably online) so that each sub-team can provide quick updates
without the need of face-to-face meetings.
Create a scoring system so that each member knows what is expected of him.
Have regular heart-to-heart talks with members who are not performing as expected.
Decide on how the final presentation is going to be delivered and the various multimedia tools.
Agree upon the handouts that will be given during the presentation.
Each presenter must be very sure of his role.
Anticipate the various questions that will be asked during the Q & A
Teaching Of Economics
Economic Models
Economic Models are essentially expected end results with given constraints. An example is the law of demand states that a price fall will lead to an increase in quantity demanded for a good – thus a negative correlation between Price and Quantity demanded.
Assumptions
Students are expected to appreciate the importance of assumptions that are made in the various economic models. In microeconomics, the consumer is assumed as “rational”.
Diagrams
The learning of diagrams helps in communicating economic ideas – basic diagrams are drawn in two axis.
Short run and Long run
In microeconomics, students are introduced to the concept of short run and long run.
Equilibrium
The importance of equilibrium is that you can lead on to the concept that the world is dynamic.
Applications
In teaching economics, it is important to complement your teaching with real-world examples. These examples can be found in newspapers and online news websites.
Problem-Solving
Ask your students about how they can use economic theory to solve macroeconomic problems like inflation and unemployment.
Trade-Offs
One basic theme of economics is the idea of trade-offs. This appears in the production possibility curve and the policies solving inflation and unemployment. Thus the student has to understand that the solution to a problem may lead to the creation of another problem.
Economic Models are essentially expected end results with given constraints. An example is the law of demand states that a price fall will lead to an increase in quantity demanded for a good – thus a negative correlation between Price and Quantity demanded.
Assumptions
Students are expected to appreciate the importance of assumptions that are made in the various economic models. In microeconomics, the consumer is assumed as “rational”.
Diagrams
The learning of diagrams helps in communicating economic ideas – basic diagrams are drawn in two axis.
Short run and Long run
In microeconomics, students are introduced to the concept of short run and long run.
Equilibrium
The importance of equilibrium is that you can lead on to the concept that the world is dynamic.
Applications
In teaching economics, it is important to complement your teaching with real-world examples. These examples can be found in newspapers and online news websites.
Problem-Solving
Ask your students about how they can use economic theory to solve macroeconomic problems like inflation and unemployment.
Trade-Offs
One basic theme of economics is the idea of trade-offs. This appears in the production possibility curve and the policies solving inflation and unemployment. Thus the student has to understand that the solution to a problem may lead to the creation of another problem.
General Paper Topics (Sample)
Youth-Type Essays
Are the youths of today good leaders of tomorrow?
With better education and greater access to new technology, are youths of today better placed for future challenges?
With more information on the internet, are youths of today more globally aware?
Are youths of today more affected by information overload?
New Technology Essays
Does better technology equate higher living standards?
Will the abolish of patents lead to the closing of the global poverty divide?
Is open-source solutions more cost-effective for companies?
Family-Type Essays
Do children have a more liberalized view of divorce?
Women-Issue Essays
Has the leadership position of women improved?
With better income, are women now the target of advertising blitzes?
International Trade Essays
Is free trade viewed as fair trade?
Singapore-Issues Essays
Do foreign talent add to the economic and income prosperity of Singaporeans?
Should casinos, part of an integrated resort concept, be built in Singapore?
Explain school branding in the Singapore context.
What are the advantages of Singapore having free trade agreements.
Are Singaporean affected by the mass media?
Are Singaporean any closer in forging a Singapore-identity?
These views are provided by Colin Ong TS - if you need tuition in GP, please contact/sms Colin at 96749640
Are the youths of today good leaders of tomorrow?
With better education and greater access to new technology, are youths of today better placed for future challenges?
With more information on the internet, are youths of today more globally aware?
Are youths of today more affected by information overload?
New Technology Essays
Does better technology equate higher living standards?
Will the abolish of patents lead to the closing of the global poverty divide?
Is open-source solutions more cost-effective for companies?
Family-Type Essays
Do children have a more liberalized view of divorce?
Women-Issue Essays
Has the leadership position of women improved?
With better income, are women now the target of advertising blitzes?
International Trade Essays
Is free trade viewed as fair trade?
Singapore-Issues Essays
Do foreign talent add to the economic and income prosperity of Singaporeans?
Should casinos, part of an integrated resort concept, be built in Singapore?
Explain school branding in the Singapore context.
What are the advantages of Singapore having free trade agreements.
Are Singaporean affected by the mass media?
Are Singaporean any closer in forging a Singapore-identity?
These views are provided by Colin Ong TS - if you need tuition in GP, please contact/sms Colin at 96749640
Developing A School Brand
A school brand can start off as an intangible positive image that attracts the public to enrol their children there. An example is the perceived high teaching standards or an impressive list of sporting achievements. Many school administrators do not take a structured approach in developing the school brand and assume that through word of mouth, the school brand will prevail.
This view is erroneous and arrogant. This article will provide relevant tips about developing a school brand.
Alumni Feedback
The best way to start is to conduct a feedback session with the Alumni who are presumed to have experienced the unique culture of the school for a number of years. They can be asked about what they perceived are the strengths of their alma mater.
Teachers’ Expertise
Many school administrators are ignorant that their school’s unique teaching materials and techniques can be legally protected as intellectual property of the school. This is to prevent competitor schools from using these as their own. However, it is also important to develop a culture of exchange and mutual research with other schools.
School Website
Another cost effective way is to develop the brand from the school website. This can be easily achieved by hosting online forums which discuss about various aspects of the school. Teachers, current students and alumni can use these online forums to interact and bring out new ideas and strategies. There can also be a feedback section to improve the running of the school.
Individual School Email Address
A quick-fire way of creating a sense of ownership and branding is to provide stakeholders with a personalized email address from the school server. This will provide free email storage and create online exposure for your school. However, it is imperative that email users are briefed about privacy and confidentiality clauses. They must also be reminded not to “spam and flame” using these complimentary email addresses.
White Papers
It is very difficult to have credibility if the school does not provide research and white papers that are accessible to the public. These white papers are a quick way of differentiating your school and to highlight your research strengths. Of course, the way forward from here is to create a school press and publish the materials of your teachers. This is crucial as it provides an avenue for your teachers to be rewarded for their specialized writings and inculcates school loyalty within your own teaching community.
Contributing To Society
Every school should develop innovative ways in contributing back to society. In the area of school branding, the public can be provided with free talks in the area of the school’s competency or even free tuition for disadvantaged families.
This view is erroneous and arrogant. This article will provide relevant tips about developing a school brand.
Alumni Feedback
The best way to start is to conduct a feedback session with the Alumni who are presumed to have experienced the unique culture of the school for a number of years. They can be asked about what they perceived are the strengths of their alma mater.
Teachers’ Expertise
Many school administrators are ignorant that their school’s unique teaching materials and techniques can be legally protected as intellectual property of the school. This is to prevent competitor schools from using these as their own. However, it is also important to develop a culture of exchange and mutual research with other schools.
School Website
Another cost effective way is to develop the brand from the school website. This can be easily achieved by hosting online forums which discuss about various aspects of the school. Teachers, current students and alumni can use these online forums to interact and bring out new ideas and strategies. There can also be a feedback section to improve the running of the school.
Individual School Email Address
A quick-fire way of creating a sense of ownership and branding is to provide stakeholders with a personalized email address from the school server. This will provide free email storage and create online exposure for your school. However, it is imperative that email users are briefed about privacy and confidentiality clauses. They must also be reminded not to “spam and flame” using these complimentary email addresses.
White Papers
It is very difficult to have credibility if the school does not provide research and white papers that are accessible to the public. These white papers are a quick way of differentiating your school and to highlight your research strengths. Of course, the way forward from here is to create a school press and publish the materials of your teachers. This is crucial as it provides an avenue for your teachers to be rewarded for their specialized writings and inculcates school loyalty within your own teaching community.
Contributing To Society
Every school should develop innovative ways in contributing back to society. In the area of school branding, the public can be provided with free talks in the area of the school’s competency or even free tuition for disadvantaged families.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)