The mismatch between job openings and skilled applicants is a hot topic these days. Every few days there’s another interview with a CEO who says he has a lot of job openings he can’t fill; then there’s a panel discussion calling for the country to do a better job of workforce preparation. Let me tell… [Read more…]
January 23, 2012
This installment of The Common Sense Manager continues the review of Fundamental 6: Plan, Act, Review, Correct. Creating a hierarchy of objectives for your own organization works the same way. Here’s an example with three levels in the hierarchy of marketing and sales. The hierarchy of objectives today THE COMPANY MARKETING SHOW MANAGER… [Read more…]
January 14, 2012
This installment of The Common Sense Manager continues Chapter 9′s discussion of Management Fundamental 6: Plan, Act, Review, Correct. What, then, are the steps you should take to make sure you have a realistic budget that’s based on an operating plan? Start with a forecast of the consumption of your product. In most industries the… [Read more…]
January 10, 2012
More recollections about wining and dining in the past. It will come as no surprise to older Americans that many counties in the South are still dry, nor that many more were in that same state years ago. Neither should it be a surprise that hotels in those counties do not have bartenders on the… [Read more…]
January 9, 2012
How about this new look? It results from about three hours of work by son, David B. Thomas, the world’s leading authority on social media. He’s the one who created the blog for me in the first place, about three years ago, more or less as a 78th birthday present. I appreciate it a lot,… [Read more…]
January 1, 2012
This time of year the men in my family tend to get into discussions about wine and whisky. We’re shopping for them as gifts, seeking opinions from wine-shop owners, thinking about the rare Scotch we’re hoping to receive. And we go to parties, where partaking of grape or grain often strengthens people’s opinions. “Why would… [Read more…]
December 22, 2011
This installment of The Common Sense Manager begins Chapter 9, which deals with Benchmark 6, PLAN, ACT, REVIEW, CORRECT “Are you going to do that? Then why aren’t you writing it down?” Bob Starski Never leave a meeting without deciding and recording “who will do what by when.” The management team that fails to decide… [Read more…]
December 21, 2011
If you’re familiar with French vineyards you may want to skip the background and go right to the limerick. That’s right: limerick. In the French region of Beaune, the Ursuline Sisters produce wine at their estate, the Clos des Ursules. Further south in Rhone lies the estate of Chateauneuf du Pape, or the Pope’s new… [Read more…]
December 16, 2011
The celebrated among us celebrated 90+ years in November; we also note those who entered their 80s for the first time. Jaques Barzun is 104 He was Professor and Dean at Columbia University, taught the “Great Books.” Two of his books, Teacher in America, and The House of Intellect, became popular and had a great… [Read more…]
December 7, 2011
Hot political buttons We don’t want excessive taxes for our friend, the small business owner in town who runs an insurance agency. Stick it to those hedge fund operators in Greenwich, Connecticut who build those $50 million dollar mansions and buy their own 747s. We don’t want to deport that nice couple who came here… [Read more…]
January 27, 2012
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