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Its very hard to pinpoint how much to give, not only to executives but to everyone in the company! Though the executives are more expensive, and their impact are more pronounced. However, yes, it has always to be reminded that we are all accountable to the people we deal with -- the person who wants to follow his own way should just live as a hermit! As long as you are getting other people's money, then you have the obligation, and responsibility to answer for it! Just like as long as you are a person voted into the position... A Magna Carta For Corporate America - Forbes.comObviously, executives who grow shareholder value by astute management of company assets should be well rewarded. Those that don't should be redeployed or shown the door. The problem is that there is no real formula for determining exactly what an executive should be paid. It is essentially a judgment call by a company's board of directors, based on its confidence in the executive and the likelihood of success.
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When it's OK to raise prices - Feb. 18, 2009The signs in the window of Jay Kos, an upscale men's wear boutique on Park Avenue in Manhattan, seemed at best cheeky, at worst clueless. Surrounded by glaring economic-crisis headlines cut out of newspapers, they said, "Cashmere sweater: $2,500. Recession price: $2,500." "Lamb's fleece jacket: $11,000. Recession price: $11,000."
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I think Linux is user friendly enuogh, but the ease of adding programs, availability of programs, as well as adding peripherals and video drivers is still not quite there. HP UK pulls Linux from all new netbooks • Register HardwareHP has decided UK consumers don't want Linux-based netbooks. Actually, it appears to believe business buyers don't want the open-source OS either.
It emerged today that the company will not now be bringing its Mini 1000 netbook to the UK - at least not with Linux on board.
Nor will it release the more business-oriented Mini 2140 with Linux.
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I know. It is difficult. But in times of crisis, you want to do everything to get rid of unproductive or bad employees, but you still want to retain the good ones. I'm sure the terms of the bonuses were agreed upon during easier times, and when the person does what he can to hit his goals, you just have to give him something, can't you? After all, you need to save, but you also can't stop spending to do what you can because in times of crisis, and especially in bad times, it will still be good employees that will pull you through. Obama scolds Wall St. executives over bonuses - Jan. 29, 2009Obama, his vice president and chief spokesman all fired off statements voicing outrage after the New York comptroller reported $18.4 billion in 2008 bonus payouts at a time when taxpayers' money was shoring up a financial system in crisis.
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I just read that Mama Mia! ( an ABBA musical) starring Meryl Streep has just become the all time highest grossing movie in the United Kingdom, even overtaking 1997's Titanic from the top spot.
This is a pretty mean feat ( I like Mama Mia! and while it grossed well, it hardly registered, in my own estimates not even in the top 50 highest grossing movie of all time)...
It also sold 1.7 copies of DVd sales in its first day, again another record.
The other thing of course is that Mama Mia the musical has been playing in the London stages since 1999.
So that means the people like the musical, so went to see the movie. and they like the movie, so they bought the DVD.
What do they say about overexposure?
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A good lesson to ponder....
Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announce that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers, seeing that there are many monkeys around, started to go to the forest and catching them.
The man boughts lots of them, and the supply started to diminished. So there were fewer monkeys, and the villagers stopped.
The man increased the price to $20, and the villagers renewed their efforts.
As the supply diminished further, the offer went up to $25.
And monkeys got even scarcer.
So the man said he would buy it at $50 , but first, he needed to go to the city, and his assistant would be the one to manage the business.
When the man was gone, the assistant rounded up the villagers and said, " Look at all the monkeys we have. Why don't you buy it from me at $35. I will say that the monkeys escaped. And when the man returns from the city, you can then said that you caught them again, and of course, he will pay $50.
The villagers became greedy and bought all the monkeys they could afford. They then waited for the man to return from the city.
unfortunately, the man, nor his assistant never came back....
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S&P says worst September for dividends in 50 years - Oct. 3, 2008Dividend cuts in the third quarter took $22.5 billion out of the pockets of investors during what one Standard & Poor's analyst called the worst September for dividends in more than 50 years.
Of the 7,000 or so publicly traded companies that report dividend information to S&P, 138 decreased their dividend during the third quarter of 2008 compared to 21 during the third quarter of 2007.
That marks the worst September for dividends since S&P started keeping such records in 1956, said senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.
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Here's some inputs to whether you should buy or lease... sometimes, it depends on your cash, and sometimes it depends on what the law can give you in term of benefits. Should You Lease or Buy Your Computers?With the economy on the rocks, many companies are wondering if they should lease (or finance) their computers, telephone switches, and office equipment rather than buy them. This year, the decision is a bit more complicated: The Economic Stimulus Act, best known for its $600 rebate checks, holds some powerful tax incentives to get small businesses to purchase new equipment. If you're clever, you might be able to get the tax break on a leasing deal as well. But you don't have much time left to take advantage of it.
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This is not advisable -- unless in an emergency. Credit card financing is risky, and expensive. In business, it is always possible to work so that you can get a little cash discount in lieu of using your credit card, and in today's competitive world, a few percentage counts a lot! 44% of businesses rely on credit cards for financing | IT Facts | ZDNet.comShare of businesses using credit cards has jumped from 16% in 1993 to 44% today, according to National Small Business Association. The proportion using bank loans dropped from 45% to 28%. A Federal Reserve survey showed that share of firms using business credit cards jumped from 34% in 1998 to 48% in 2003.
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I have no problem with that... actually piracy has a bad connotation, but what they are saying is that you get the record, and you can copy it, and you pay it if you like it. Other names are better -- you can call it open source, or you can call it viral marketing... I use it in our software, I use it also to spread my business cartoons. You can buy it, but you can download the ebooks 1 and ebooks2 for free. Piracy as a core business strategy | The Open Road - The Business and Politics of Open SourceYou may call this process "piracy" if you wish--for me it is an act of generosity and it both increases our audience size and record sales. And as I always say on the night--if you're going to do it anyway you may as well feel good about it! I believe the official term is "viral marketing," and we depend utterly upon it.
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Microsoft has always win in the market. Maybe there is method in their madness.... Its a continual understanding of the way businesses work -- sometimes the best strategy may not be the most straightforward way. When worlds collide: Microsoft funds Apache |CNET News.comMicrosoft, one of the biggest rivals to open-source programming, has begun funding the Apache Software Foundation, one of open-source software's biggest supporters.
"Microsoft is becoming a sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). This sponsorship will enable the ASF to pay administrators and other support staff so that ASF developers can focus on writing great software," said Sam Ramji, a senior director of platform strategy at Microsoft. He announced the move Friday in a speech at the Open Source Convention, and noted Microsoft's support of the Apache on the software company's Port 25 blog as well.
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What this article says is simple - if you lose power, you will lose data. Systems and databases now still can't handle an abrupt power outage.... Why power failures are bad for your datawhat happens to your precious data when there is a power outage? Will your file system recover? Properly? Are you sure? Or, will you resort to your backup, just to be safe? Maybe you need a UPS. Then again, maybe not.
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Here are the most sought after jobs, even when economic times are bad. People who are good at what they do are still very much in demand. one thing stood out -- because of advances in technology, ironically, we need more nurses -- simply because people live longer, and those with many terminal illnesses also survive longer.... Recession-Proof Jobs - Forbes.comJobfox examined its database of about 4,000 job postings from November 2007 through July 2008 to see which professions have the most openings monthly. The most recession-proof are those with the highest median monthly rankings over this time period.
Sales representatives top the list--and, unlike other professions, not because there's a shortage. Rather, in tough economic times, a good sales force is a critical way to pull a company out of a downturn.
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I am just going over this interesting Fortune magazine article about America's hottest investor - Ken Heebner.
When we think of investment funds, the standard is Warren Buffet.
However, apparently Ken has been doing really well, and has been called the Barry Bonds without the steroids. Since 1998, he has had an average annualized return of 24%, the best record of any US mutual fund, compared to only 4% of S&P 500.
Last year, he soared 80%, as compared to only 5% of the S&P.
While that is still shy of Peter LYnch's gold standard - Magellan recorded an average return of 36% from August 1977 to August 1987, in some ways, he is better than Lyunch. While compartively speaking, Lynch beat the market by 17 percentage points, Ken Heebner beat the market by 20 - in short, the only reason he is behind from Lynch is because the market was less good during this period, but he beat it by more points.
He has some similarities with Warren Buffet, and also much differences. Both are famous for shying away from tech stocks, but while Warren Buffett advocates holding stocks for a long term, he is extraordinarily hyperactive.
The Turnover rate of his investment fund ( which typically holds 20 to 30 stocks) was a whopping 384% last year, which in theory means he traded his entire portfolio nearly four times. ( He could have traded and changed stocks more in a year than Warren would have in his lifetime).
Which just goes to show that there are many roads to wealth, and one style that suits you is as good as another....
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Gartner counts over 1 billion PCs served | Green Tech - CNET News.comThe number of personal computers in use around the world has exceeded 1 billion and will double by 2014, with most growth coming from developing markets, according to Gartner research released Monday.
A 12 percent annual increase would amount to more than 2 billion PCs in use by 2014, according to a report that counted installed machines rather than laptops and desktops sold.
Emerging markets will account for 70 percent of the next billion PCs to come online, Gartner analysts suggested. They named dropping prices and improved Internet access as factors driving that trend.
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