The award of more than $150,000 to a whistleblower that was announced this past October by the Securities and Exchange Commission calls attention to what some see as a shortcoming in the whistleblowing provision of the Dodd-Frank Act enacted in 2010: An employee can go directly to the SEC to report an alleged violation instead of informing his employer first. With the SEC … [More]
Equity Deduction Window Is Closing
Equipment financing “is an active market,” says Michael Brown, president of Washington Federal’s Equipment Finance Division, headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., which has experienced tremendous growth in the six years since the nearly-century-old institution added the product to its portfolio. And this month is ripe to see even more activity in this area in the final weeks before … [More]
Holiday Gatherings: Last-Minute Counts
Busy times make for focusing on all business. This is the time of year to thank staff and clients. Here are our picks for the immediate holiday or year-end thank-you party (big or small). Olive & Ivy, Scottsdale Located on the Waterfront in Scottsdale, this has become a great holiday destination this time of year. With holiday décor inside and out, this whole area is … [More]
Wanted: Leadership Advice
The old saying “It’s lonely at the top” seems to be as true today as ever. The 2013 Executive Coaching Survey recently conducted by Stanford University and The Miles Group found that nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive coaching or leadership advice from outside consultants or coaches, and almost half of senior executives are not receiving any, either. “What’s interesting … [More]
Visitors Wanted — Get Your Website Found on the Internet
Last month, we discussed how to design a website to support your sales process. Now that you’ve created a sales-oriented site, it’s time to make sure you get found by your prospects. More than 85 percent of “clicks” go to the highest-ranking websites. The key search engine ranking components are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and traffic building. In this article, we’ll take … [More]
The Changing Dynamics of Negotiation
“The advent of greater use of technology and social media has changed the way businesses are going about negotiating,” says attorney John DeWulf, of Roshka DeWulf & Patten. Parties are better able to negotiate thanks to technology that enables them to access more information not just about the subject matter (i.e., market trends) but also about the other side of the … [More]
Leadership Control vs. Business Growth
Most entrepreneurs want to grow their companies. However, the road to success is often a bumpy one. While many businesses start quickly growing revenues and profits, they frequently plateau well short of their potential. This often leaves the owner confounded regarding why his or her once-thriving enterprise has fallen on hard times. It can be a frustrating … [More]
Why Sales Tax Fairness Matters for Online
In conjunction with the release of a new set of House Judiciary Committee principles, which lay out a legislative roadmap for addressing the collection of online sale tax, the National Retail Federation released a video on sales tax fairness. The two-minute video features small-business owners and retail leaders — from Arizona, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont — … [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]
What Works and What Doesn’t in Leadership Style
The best CEOs are always learning. The certainties of today — whether it’s relying on a particular business model or banking on a “category killer” or operating under a particular regulatory framework — can be up-ended and disrupted tomorrow. Corporate chiefs who internalize this reality are best equipped to steer their companies through disruption. Executives and directors … [More]
Overcome Autocorrect
“Theirs a new project I’d like to discuss with you. Its a weigh to catch misspellings but to long to go into hear. Lets meet.” It’s unlikely you’ve ever received an email or other written message with that many spelling problems. But there are surely words in those three sentences that you’ve seen misspelled, and most probably you have misspelled some of them … [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]
Branding Arizona
The common thread running through the minds of Valley economic development and political leaders is: Arizona needs to tell its story. The state’s image and reputation drive what happens to business in the Valley of the Sun. Arizona has never cohesively presented its message to the world. Officials say we’re always playing catch-up and trying to erase archaic and wrong … [More]
Create a Workplace that Meets Three Powerful Human Needs
Employers may be clear on what they need from their employees: hard work, efficiency, innovation, motivation, results. But what do employees need from their employer? To answer in practical terms — a steady paycheck, a quiet workspace, more training — is only partly right. Before they can meet the employer’s deepest needs, the employer must meet theirs. Psychologist Abraham … [More]
Spot Business Opportunity in Tomorrow’s Economy
Some of today’s largest, most recognizable companies may not be around after the next several years. To succeed, company leaders must not only be able to innovate, they must recognize opportunity and ensure they’re poised to seize it. Napster’s impact on the music industry is an example of the need to be alert to opportunities in innovation. Napster was a rule-breaking company … [More]
Due Diligence as Partnership
As the economy picks up, so does mid-market merger and acquisition activity. Yet successful deals remain elusive. According to a wide array of respected industry studies, the failure rate of M&A deals ranges between 70 and 90 percent. Even the most upbeat research shows M&A success as a 50/50 proposition at best — daunting odds for such a high-stakes venture. The … [More]
Role-relevant Certification Helps in Recruiting Talent
The publication of 2012 global jobless figures reveals a deepening of the crisis plaguing employers in every town around the globe. A paradox between numbers of unemployed and difficulty in recruiting talent is here for a generation. And while widespread unemployment and the need to up-skill populations has been widely reported, one vital ingredient is absent from the … [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]
