Not Just Google: Some business leaders have watched with a mix of envy and consternation as the technology firms, and large retailers, have taken advantage of big data. Until now, smaller firms have not been able to afford significant data science operations. However, predictions are that this year and next will be the year when Small to Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs) …
Over the holidays a couple of years ago, I was able to tour the Henry Ford museum. It was fascinating to see all that engineering talent embodied in the decades-old machinery on display. I was reminded of this as I browsed through some images on my PC. Can’t Go Back Last week’s post discussed (once again) the issues around automation …
In case you have somehow missed the prevalent message of the day, this book is the latest addition to all the “reasons why” our business models and leadership training must change. According to Downes and Nunes, “Thanks to dramatic changes in the core economics of innovation in general, every industry is now at risk from competitors that enter the market …
Who’s Interest? Shocked and disoriented is probably the best way to describe how companies and salespeople are feeling lately. Virtually everyone is husbanding cash. Nobody wants to be “sold” anything. People still want to buy, but only when and what they want, not what someone else wants them to buy. And they don’t really need salespeople; they can find what they …
There are few commentators, “speaking heads,” who I respect more than Fareed Zakaria. Most have little of value to add to the so called “news” of the day and ask what seems to me to be pretty inane questions much of the time. Zakaria digs in; and this book is no exception to his professional pursuit of a new view. …
A month or so ago, I received a call from an excited colleague who was wondering if I’d be willing to review a book for her. It seems her friend had just successfully published a book and was to begin publicizing it in a round of events. My reply was, “Sure, have the publisher send me a copy.” A couple …
I thought Thomas L. Friedman had done a superb job with his book The Lexus and The Olive Tree, and he did. But Friedman has hit yet another home run with The World is Flat as it picks up where The Lexus and The Olive Tree left off. I will be thinking about, rereading, referring to, and quoting this book …
This is a superb book when it comes to the subject matter and content, but I’m afraid I had a hard time getting by the lecturing “tone of voice” that Friedman so often has in his speaking and writing. Despite the fact that there is a great deal of information in this timely book that will help clarify the trends …