There’s been a growing movement of Conscious Capitalism and, in Arizona, the passage of a benefit corporation law. It’s all part of the increased attention to corporate social responsibility. Business extends into every aspect of people’s lives and touches every point on our planet. Many businesses have come to take on a responsibility to forces outside their individual … [More]
Brian Mueller, Grand Canyon University
Corporate social responsibility is rooted in a basic biblical and societal principle — to love our neighbor as ourselves. But before there can be charity, there must be prosperity. Free-market principles have brought more people out of poverty than any other economic idea in history. It creates the opportunity to form companies that generate jobs that can turn deteriorating … [More]
Community Responsibility
Giving back is here to stay, but companies that incorporate giving and social responsibility with their mission and way of doing business are seeing a ripple effect that exponentially improves the community around them, employee morale and, in many cases, profitability. The words “corporate social responsibility” are more than buzz words for doing great. There are actual … [More]
Death of the Performance Appraisal?
A growing body of data suggests that the traditional annual or twice-yearly performance appraisal may have outlived its usefulness. Today, information is both transparent and instantaneous, goals are mutable, and organizations of all kinds are ditching the paper trail. The problems with performance appraisals are wide-ranging. Not only do they frame the conversation in a way … [More]
Historically Successful Leadership
As Gordon Leidner notes in his introduction to The Leadership Secrets of Hamilton and the Founding Fathers, “the Founding Fathers’ adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was the most revolutionary demonstration of leadership in American political history. … It was not because of the political unanimity of the nearly … [More]
Employers vs Employees on Social Media Posts
Social media is increasingly ubiquitous in the corporate world. From marketing campaigns to talent acquisition, today there is at least some social media component in almost everything a successful company does. Yet, despite the prominent role social media plays in modern business, it retains something of its origins among college students and garage bands. The … [More]
Quiet Does Not Mean Silent
Today’s comprehensive fundraising campaigns often include a quiet phase before going public. But what does quiet really mean to executives who sit on nonprofit boards? “The quiet phase is really about growing your circle of influence every quarter and progressively amplifying what you are doing to achieve your strategic plan,” says Lori Bachand, Sacramento State’s associate … [More]
Eric Miller: Riding the Wave of 3-D Printing
Flash back to 1994, and you could probably fit everyone outside of the aerospace sector in Phoenix who knew about numerical simulation and 3-D printers around one dining room table. While the technology has now entered the mainstream, that wasn’t the case back when Eric Miller and his partners were launching PADT (Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies) 23 years ago. The … [More]
Stress Relief where Tech and Healthcare Intersect
Buzzies is a new wearable technology that can reduce a person’s stress in as few as 30 seconds. Created by neuropsychologist Amy Serin, Ph.D., and launched last December by her Phoenix-based company The Touchpoint Solution, these non-invasive devices use patent-pending neuroscience technology to not only relieve stress and anxiety but improve focus and performance, reduce … [More]
Homes Are Getting Wired Up
Due to the type of progressive technologies out there, there is no limit to a “smart” home. Smart technology can now be added anywhere without ripping open a wall or ceiling. The technology that enables this has to do with not only how the user communicates with the it, but, more importantly, how the pieces of technology communicate with one another. Years ago, this type of … [More]
Personal Tech Training
GroovyTek, an education-based company providing hour-long, in-home, personal technology training sessions, recently announced the launch of its services to the Valley of the Sun. The company, which is headquartered and has an established customer base in Denver, was created to serve clients and to help navigate the roads of technology independently. GroovyTek is committed to … [More]
Simple Storage Innovates
Last year’s launch by Kat Nouri of her Stasher Bag was innovation that cut right through the commonly accepted green choice “plastic or paper.” Plastic containers, from storage bags to food containers, are ubiquitous in our lives, but plastic is petroleum-based. Nouri was worried about the effects of petroleum-based plastics on her family plus considered the cumulative impact … [More]
Avoid a Costly Flu Season
When it comes to flu season, both employees and employers are at risk. According to the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 20 percent of the U.S. population suffers with the flu each year. The loss of employee earnings is estimated at $16.3 billion annually and the overall economic burden is roughly $87 billion. Given that the flu can … [More]
Advanced Illness Management
Hospice of the West, a leading community-based hospice and palliative care organization in Maricopa County, points to the importance of Advanced Illness Management for health plan members with serious illnesses, effectively improving care quality, addressing financial consequences, and coordinating access to care. To further advance satisfaction with care and health plan … [More]
Stand Up for Work
Standing desks are gaining attention as a way to promote health and wellness in the workplace. The peer-reviewed British Journal of Sports Medicine recommends office employees work their way up to standing for four hours per day. One key reason, aside from workers being more alert and focused, is that standing burns more calories than sitting, according to the U.S. National … [More]
How Much of Arizona’s Economy Goes South?
Trade with Mexico has been a hot topic for the past few years. That currently still holds true, but the tenor of that discussion has changed. Given the differing attitudes emanating from the various national and state policy makers, In Business Magazine is taking a look at cross-border trade’s place in Arizona’s economy. WalletHub recently conducted a study to gauge the … [More]
Engineering Change
Southland Engineering launched recently from its parent Southland Industries, one of the nation’s largest MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) building systems experts, with a vision to bring an integrated approach to a discipline that traditionally operates in siloes. By looking at all the elements of project — from efficiency in the construction process by designing for … [More]
Native American Entrepreneurship Gets Boost
The American Indian Policy Institute at Arizona State University, in collaboration with ASU’s Entrepreneurship + Innovation, The Department co-working space, Maricopa County Small Business Development Center and The Visionary Business Magazine, launched the Inno-NATIONS Tribal Business Collision Community — an inter-tribal initiative championing tribal entrepreneurship and … [More]
