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Alternative Development Best Practice 4 – Common Cost and Value Identifiers

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Beginning with the end in mind, it is important for those developing business cases for the organization’s various ongoing operations and proposed initiative alternatives to do so in such a way that leaders can compare the cost and benefits of the proposed activities. Only when leaders can make a one-to-one comparison can they clearly understand the overall value contribution a given initiative and, subsequently, the portfolio of initiatives have for the organization. Therefore, business case developers should use a common, pre-established set of cost and benefits identification standards.

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Seven Strategies for Managing Workplace Internet Usage

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As social media and personal email continue to be many individual’s primary forms of communications, it becomes harder to keep them focused at the workplace. An increase in usage of media-rich sites can place a considerable strain on limited bandwidth, which can hurt the performance of critical business tasks. The challenge is establishing a proper workplace balance that allows some personal internet usage without a related drag on business efficiency.

As a business owner or IT manager, you need tips and tactics on striking the right balance. We offer seven strategies:

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About the Author

Keith RossKeith Ross is product manager for Networking products at Black Box Corporation. His product line includes Ethernet switches, media converters, network security, and WAN optimization products. Keith has over 10 years experience in telecommunications and data networking. He worked at FORE Systems, Marconi, and Ericsson previously. Keith has a BSEE from Carnegie-Mellon and an MSEM from Stanford University. To learn more about Black Box, click here.

How to Speak American: Building Brands in the New Heartland

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“I think the Heartland is a nice place to raise children. People are nice, but they’re dumb, overweight and gullible. They wear tacky clothing and jewelry. They’re racist, unworldly and dumb.”

Marketing executive in New York City

If you are reading this column, you most likely play a role in building brands. You may even share the views of the marketing executive that I quoted above. If either is true, you need to take a deeper look into this massive segment of America.

From what I’ve seen, many marketers don’t understand the New Heartland. At all. They have wasted time and resources, and the results delivered, no matter how strong, are only a fraction of what they could have been. The Heartland consumer is a unique segment that is ever evolving and requires constant attention for brands to remain relevant.

This segment is underestimated, underserved and misunderstood, and that presents a huge opportunity for brands who become Heartland savvy. It is my mission to make sure that your brand will be among them.

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About the Author

A brand strategist for more than 20 years, Paul Jankowski has created and executed consumer promotions for some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, including Pepsi, Ford, FedEx, and Beyonce. His experiences targeting the “typical American consumer” on the East and West Coasts coupled with several long drives within America’s interior in his Ford F150 provided fertile ground for his study of an often-overlooked segment of the population, what Paul calls “America’s New Heartland.” As Author of How to Speak American: Building Brands in the New Heartland, Paul shares his groundbreaking insights and has emerged as one of the most respected voices in marketing today. To read Paul Jankowski’s full biography, click here.

The Dark Side of the Digital Revolution

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Recently, The Los Angeles Times reported on cell phone use in Korea and revealed remarkable information about where our digital culture may be heading. They discovered Korean teenagers make up to 90 cell phone calls a day, and social scientists are now beginning to correlate high cell use with rising rates of depression. For some time, I’ve noticed that many young people value their digital life as much (if not more) than their real life. A friend of my daughter sent 3,500 text messages in a single month, (that’s more than 116 per day, and not unusual for today’s teens).

Add that to another recent study released by the Knight Ridder news service that Americans are reporting fewer and fewer close friends. In 1985, pollsters noted that the average person reported having three close friends, but today, it’s only two. And the number who say they have no one to discuss important matters with has doubled to one in four. The social implications are significant, from no friends to visit people in the hospital, weakened bonds during crisis, fewer watchdogs to deter neighborhood crime, and a lack of community.

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About the Author

Phil Cooke is a television producer and media consultant at Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California. His new book is ‘Jolt! Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing.‘. Find out more at philcooke.com.

Alternative Development Best Practice 3 – Common Assumptions, Variables, and Calculational Methods

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Business planning documents not only seek to communicate the organizational value of a particular ongoing operation, in-progress project, or proposed initiative, they also provide a comparative basis which decision-makers use to determine those activities the organization will pursue. In order to facilitate this comparison, decision-makers must be presented with business cases that not only present costs and benefits in a similar way but that also calculate each activity value statement in a similar manner. To do otherwise yields an apples-to-oranges comparison and leaves decision-makers guessing as to which value proposition truly represents the greatest merit.

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