While employers deal with issues of healthcare coverage and employee benefits, the workplace environment is also impacted by the actions and attitudes of the work force. Study after study supports the belief that productivity is impacted by employees’ health; that healthier employees are more productive. But do employees consider the effect of their healthcare choices on their … [More]
‘Spring Training’ Is a Year-Round Business
Spring Training calls forth talk of batting averages and RBIs. But there are other figures equally compelling. The revenue impact of Spring Training and Cactus League Baseball Association extends beyond the ballpark box office to — of course — hotels and restaurants, but also to grocery stores, other retail and municipal governments throughout the Valley. Nor is it just a … [More]
Success Follows Attitude
The Success Index was developed based on responses to questions regarding business growth and characteristics proven to be emblematic of high-performing entrepreneurs. Based on a 100-point scoring scale, four distinct levels emerged: “strugglers” (scoring 0-40 points), “sustainers” (scoring 41-60 points), “strivers” (scoring 61-80 points) and “high achievers,” who scored … [More]
TPP May Drive International Trade and Investment for Arizona
Negotiations are continuing on the U.S. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which aims to broaden trade between the United States and 11 other countries — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Arizona trade with TPP countries — exports and imports — supported nearly 278,000 jobs in 2011. Notwithstanding controversy … [More]
Customer Experience Has Market Impact
Research from Watermark Consulting and Forrester Research tracked the six-year stock performance of companies on Forrester’s Customer Experience Index. Even during the recession years of 2007-2012, customer experience leaders averaged double-digit gains in stock performance, besting customer experience laggards by an impressive margin. This is not a coincidence — the better a … [More]
Update: Recovery in the Phoenix-Area Real Estate Sector
Phoenix-area home prices shot up since hitting a low point in September 2011. From last August to this August, the median single-family-home price rose 28 percent — from $150,000 to $192,000. The median townhouse/condo price rose 31 percent. This dramatic rise is largely due to the relatively small supply of homes for sale. Now, an increase in homes on the market is helping … [More]
Economic Growth Up in Valley and Nation
Real GDP increased in 305 of the nation’s 381 metropolitan areas in 2012, led by growth in durable-goods manufacturing, trade and financial activities, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real GDP in metropolitan areas increased 2.5 percent in 2012 after increasing 1.7 percent in 2011. Greater Phoenix-Scottsdale-Mesa was among the … [More]
Tourism Makes Economic Indicators Travel in Right Direction
Tourism provides a significant counterbalance to economic shortfalls. Even as the nation’s trade deficit for May swelled by $4.9 billion to $45 billion, the U.S. Travel Association reports that travel was doing more than its share to increase total exports for the U.S. While exports fell by $500 million, travel exports (all purchases by international visitors, including … [More]
How Boardrooms Assess CEO Performance
Boardrooms are giving poor grades to CEOs for their mentoring skills and board engagement. However, although an overwhelming majority of companies consider long-range planning to be important, they place very little weight on many non-financial performance measures when actually evaluating a CEO’s performance. The survey found that only a 5-percent weighting was given to a … [More]
Sales Managers are Key to Unlocking Peak Sales Performance
“Forecast accuracy” is an oxymoron, according to the recently released Sales Management Optimization Study from CSO Insights. Key findings show that only 45.7 percent of forecast opportunities are being won as projected. The report also shows that, while process and coaching are considered important areas for sales management time allocation, these functions are disconnected … [More]
Big Price Tag on Counterfeit Software
Unwitting piracy is a “surprisingly large problem” in the United States, says Peter Han, Microsoft’s vice president of original equipment manufacturing in the U.S. Counterfeit software has become harder to spot — instead of packaging with misspellings and poor printing that made the counterfeit product fairly obvious, packaging now is more sophisticated, “even with some … [More]
Taking the Pulse of the Housing Market
Along with dropping foreclosures and waning interest from investors looking at Maricopa and Pinal counties, as of February, Phoenix-area home prices have risen sharply since hitting a low point in September 2011, according to the latest housing report from ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business. The median single-family home price went up 4.3 percent from January to … [More]
Sports Figures Are Prime Here
Major events bring millions of dollars to the Valley Sports is an attraction, no doubt about it. Blockbuster events attract impressive numbers; more importantly, they generate impressive numbers in a far-reaching impact that this issue’s cover story explores. The Valley is host to a great number of these marquee events for a variety of sports, both professional and … [More]
The Affordable Care Act: Where Do You Stand?
Many employers are feeling overwhelmed by a flurry of new regulations governing their benefits packages, taxes and methods of compliance as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Fortunately, many organizations are aware of this and are gearing up to make 2013 the year of information. The new healthcare reform law includes a number of new taxes and fees … [More]
Survey: CFOs See Stability in U.S. Economy’s Near Future
Nearly 70 percent of chief financial officers of U.S. companies believe the U.S. economy will either improve or remain stable during the next six months, according to the recently released 2012 Fall CFO Survey from Grant Thornton LLP. The survey findings reveal that 39 percent of respondents believe the state of the U.S. economy will remain the same in the first half of 2013, … [More]
Arizona On Track for Full Recovery
According to many of the nation’s top indicators, local university research teams and various economic scholars, Arizona is moving toward a full recovery. After the recent 49th Annual Economic Forecast Luncheon organized by ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, where an assembly of experts was gathered, it seemed to be good news — Arizona is on a fast track to recover. “As … [More]
Election Lessons: No Mandate for Business?
Results are in and, after an exhaustive campaign season, it seems that this year’s election has no mandate for business and we may be in for more of the same from our government. The President is as he was, the House and Senate are as they were (at least leadership-wise), and local elections and propositions seemed to say little in giving business owners any further … [More]
Employers Anticipate Employee Pay Increase
Employers in Arizona reported they anticipate pay increases in 2013, says a study completed by Mountain States Employers Council released in early October. Arizona employers project the highest increase of the three states surveyed, with an anticipated 2.8 percent pay increase in 2013. Survey findings were collected from 580 organizations in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming and … [More]
