Howard Brodsky set out to conquer the carpet world. Dan Bleier just wanted to save his family-owned business. But both cherished their independent status in a retail chain, "big box" business world. Now, each realizes success through a purchasing cooperative.The pair spent almost eight months reviewing different business models, disqualifying one after another. Then they looked at cooperatives. Brodsky and Bleier are founders of two of the...more
Most IT jobs consist of doing work in a constantly reoccurring cycle: define, design, create, test, deploy, repeat. When we get our first IT job or when we jump onto a new program, this can all seem so very new and exciting. However, once we reach the fourth or fifth cycle, it all starts to see the same. We also start to ask the BIG question: why am I doing this and does anyone really care?Ultimately this is THE BIG question. I know that I have...more
Corporate frauds undermine organizational effectiveness. Understanding the root causes of corporate frauds and dealing with them is critical to advancing organizational effectiveness and corporate integrity. Understanding corporate frauds is more than skin deep. It's truly a matter of understanding the heart.The ScourgeFrauds and financial malpractices have become cankerworms globally. In the African region, where there is less than thorough statistical record, anecdotal reports indicate that a staggering amount of the equivalent of U.S. $1.75 million is lost yearly to corporate frauds, defined here as frauds committed against organizations. For example, in Nigeria the indication was that between 2003 and 2005, over N12 billion was lost through frauds and forgeries in the banking industry alone! That's a huge amount of money; more than the national budget of one or two of Nigeria's less endowed neighboring countries. Although such amount of money may be peanuts when compared to large scale corporate frauds in more developed economies, no organization can reach its potential or attain corporate excellence when paralyzed financially, and, particularly so, from within. The damaging...more
Magical but Simple Do-It-At-Home VirtuesMost of the "blockages" to success are originated in cosmic imbalance that slows down the process of attracting abundance or financial prosperity. Learn how to induce your own "Good Luck" combining two magical ingredients and performing simple actions."Good luck" is known as the magical combination between...more
Trading As A BusinessTrading in the financial markets, whether it be the Stock Market; the Commodities Market; the Futures Market; the Forex Market; or even the Options Market; is taking big risks on your hard-earned money.You have to treat trading as a serious business whether you are trading full-time or part-time if you are ever going to succeed...more
Are some customers better than others? Of course they are. So how do you attract the customers you want and deflect or discourage those who would do better elsewhere? First, know your customers. Which ones are making your business successful? Which ones are wasting your time? Second, adjust your business to create a great shopping experience for your best customers. Third, continually fine tune and monitor what you are doing. An Example: Celia has a boutique store that features beauty products and some jewelry. The store caters to women. A customer can try any of the beauty products at any time using sample product that Celia provides. If someone comes in with a friend, she can shop guilt-free while her friend relaxes in a small sitting area that is part of the store. The staff courteously answers questions and focuses on great customer service. Celia offers a variety of weekly specials designed to get people to visit her store. The Problem: Celia's store was just breaking even when we talked. Her staff was working hard, but she needed more customers and wanted to know how to double her sales. Our first step was to look at her customers. Celia discovered she had three kinds of...more
Credit cards are considered to overpass gap between requirements and contentment, disquiet for purchasing and smile for escalating capability of procure even with inadequate cash in hand. Since these synthetic cards came to market, they have allured...more
Many kinds of loans are available to the Non-Resident Purchasers in France. Some of them are: French Fixed Interest Rate Loans The interest rate is fixed at the starting of the loan for the duration of mortgage period of 5 to 25 years. The positive...more
Demand Planning is a dynamic process. The goal is to provide a realistic prediction of sales of the upcoming months enabling the supply chain to procure raw and packing materials that will produce the right mix of finished products, at the right...more
Most companies use Material Requirement Planning (MRP) software or an MRP module of an ERP to plan and manage the purchasing and scheduling of materials based on a demand plan or forecast. It is time phased and can manage large numbers of materials...more
There's a lot of talk going around about stimulus packages being offered to stimulate the economy, with all the promises and hopes of the economy coming back to its norm, there's one aspect that the people of power are overlooking, the real estate...more
Most investors profit when a stock, index, or commodity goes up. But the market never goes straight up or down, but worms up and down on its trend in one direction or the other. Most investment dollars are left on the table when the market pulls...more