A million dollars worth of advice: the experts answer some of managers' most difficult questions.

Nine business consultants were asked to offer solutions to problems most often encountered by business managers. The issues covered included employee motivation, empowerment, cost control, price competition, work teams and alcoholic problem employees. Other topics discussed were customer complaints, late payment by customers, difficult-but-creative employees and dealing with bad decisions.

BCNet: international partnerships within easy reach. (Business Cooperation Network)

The Business Cooperation Network (BCNet) provides international partnering service to small and medium-sized businesses. Among its major offerings is a confidential, inexpensive, timely and useful instrument that can match businesses, in two different countries, that are willing to enter into mutually beneficial strategic partnerships. It also offers profiles of companies that are good candidates for such partnerships, as well as a team of advisors in several countries. BCNet has just been in...

Communicating in other languages ... a business issue for the '90s.

The Canadian corporation's need for multilingual communications is increasing as its target customers and employees become more highly diverse in terms of ethnicity. The old 'one size fits all' approach embraced by management is no longer acceptable because this only hampers communication with important audiences. To become better multilingual communicators, managers must first study the cultures of their audiences, assess the effectiveness of existing policies and publications in reaching ou...

Distance education: promoting a continuous learning culture.

Distance learning is a non-traditional approach to education that can be conducted via mail or computer modem connections and hence does not require students to attend lectures. This accredited program can lead to a university degree, a college diploma or a professional qualification. Distance learning is attractive because it does not cost as much as traditional education, allows students to study at their own pace, does not necessitate careers to be interrupted, does not lead to lost income...

Managing telecommuting - 10 guidelines.

There are 10 guidelines that office workers should follow for successful telecommuting. These are adopting a contract mentality, writing expected output for the week every Monday, planning meetings with supervisors or managers, attending group or team meetings, acquiring individual rooms for every telecommuter, using technology in out-of-office activities, and using a home office. The other three steps are for employees to share work experiences to other telecommuters, manage themselves for t...

Privacy now a consumer need: report urges businesses to react.

The report entitled 'Privacy Protection Makes Good Business Sense' states that Canadians are becoming wary of the possibility of their privacy being abused by businesses. In this light, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), which released the paper, extolled Canadian corporations to establish policies that would protect the privacy of consumers. IPC's Tom Wright claims this strategy makes good business sense.

Sales has a role in keeping customers. (building a long-term relationship)

Salespeople should not consider the sale as the end of a relationship with customers. Rather, it should be treated as the commencement of a relationship, whereby customers continue to be satisfied by the sales professionals even after the sales. This technique is guaranteed to foster the loyalty of customers and therefore makes customer retention significantly easier. Retaining old customers frees companies from focusing on strategies aimed at attracting new ones, which are usually more expen...

The race: positioning for leadership in technology.

Information technology companies must learn how to differentiate themselves from the competition if they want to establish a desirable position in their chosen markets. A firm can only attain a desired position, wherein the company and its products are positively perceived by its target markets, if its offerings can better serve the needs of its customers than its rivals'.

Trust me - North America's approach to quality and productivity isn't working.

Entrepreneur and business writer Tom Davis believes that the approaches being used by US and Canadian firms in improving quality and productivity are largely ineffective. In his book 'Huparallations,' he describes a method that can be used by employees as an alternative. This technique involves answering questions about themselves and their supervisors, who are then required to answer the same questions about themselves and their superiors, up to the highest level. Davis says this makes indiv...

Western Canadian companies cite computer technology as top business investment. (Computing)

A survey of Western Canadian corporations shows that they are increasing their investment in information technology. Respondents claim that they are using this investment to cut their costs and enhance management decision making. Minor uses for information technology are improving sales and enhancing product quality. Aside from information technology, these Canadian companies are also investing in international operations, research and development, and staffing.