So You Wish to be a Future CIO! What Skills are Essential?
Many a CIO will have started their career being passionate about one or another aspect of computer technology. That may be business analysis, programming, quality assurance, project management, building networks, architecture, or a focus on hardware. Generally speaking IT is passionate about change. At the start of your career you learn how essential it is [...]
80% of Business Leaders make Critical Decisions without Full Information
Today we have more information at our fingertips than we have ever had before, yet informed decisions are not always made, when they should be. Every critical decision made in business should always be made on the basis of information, statistics and analysis. Although this is a staggering statistic, it has been stated before that [...]
Do Corporations have to think about International Law/Treaties?
Google recently announced that it will no longer censor search results on its Chinese site. The sad aspect about this affair is largely the fact that that Google has been prepared to limit freedom of speech for some of its users. China has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and therefore has a duty [...]
“End of Year Rush” Business Planning Alleviates the Need.
About a year ago in an article on IT Toolbox I asked whether the “End of Year Rush” was really necessary. I concluded that “Change the business culture – from one of ad-hoc, last-minute requests to proper planning of the work is essential”. One year on and this question continues to have relevance with some [...]
Emergance: Are we Ready for Growth?
As we emerge from these current economic troubles then corporate development budgets will get reinstated, yet one thing that the future does hold is conservative spending plans. Senior management has become acutely tuned into many former wasted expenditures that will not be allowed to recur.
Maximizing resources and aggressively planing for the future are likely [...]
Closer to the Customer? Do we Really Understand their Needs?
During the course of my career getting closer to the customer has been an ever present business challenge. In the average corporation we have mountains of data about customer performance, yet we still believe we do not understand our customer. Customer Relationship Management is a modern oxymoron and it seem that the more that we [...]
12 Questions you should ask when Implementing Social Media Solutions.
One of the biggest challenges when a new technology comes along is in understanding its business impact. In this regard Social Media is no different to other technologies in this regard. Here are the top questions a business leader should ask when defining their Social Media intervention:
◊ Where do I find my customers, or prospects?
◊ [...]
Speaking: It is Our Opening Words that Count.
When we look at the skills we are born with and the ones that we learn during our youth we find that, at least in professional fields we spend more of our time communicating through the written word than we do through talking. Yet talking is perhaps our earliest skill, yet many live in fear [...]
Wisdom & Leadership – A Required Combination?
We concentrate on improving the knowledge of professionals in our workforce and rightly so because without an educated workforce we fail to deliver value to our businesses. Yet knowledge itself should not be the ultimate goal. Continuing education is vital and formal or not, it pays to have an edge in your decision making. It [...]
Leadership: Understand the Needs of the Business, Not Simply Technical Brilliance.
A couple of weeks ago I talked about the Thirteen Qualities of Leadership which skimmed over many of the qualities required for good leadership. Today I want to expand on just one of those qualities our ability to focus on the need of the business, and not simply demonstrating technical brilliance.
Irrespective of your technical background [...]
Your IT Department – To be disposed of? Or a Necessary Change Agent?
I have heard recently several comments that an IT department should be dismantled as a department and assigned to every other part of the corporation. If there were only a single source suggesting this then I would name and shame them here, but sadly there are many who persist with this errant vision. I also [...]
Will Social Media Change how we Get/View Advertisements?
This is an interesting question that was raised the other day on LinkedIn. My own view is that advertisements will continue to be a part of the landscape on Web 1.0 and on Social Media sites well into the future. If used correctly adverts can target the right market sector more precisely on this channel [...]
