How business can learn from Sun Tzu THE ART OF WAR. Learn about Responsiveness and Agility from military experience.

Business is certainly not war; business is about creation whereas war is about destruction. Business happens when we find constructive ways to meet our needs; war happens when we do not. Yet there are useful analogies and lessons to be learned about responsiveness and agility from military experience.

Sometimes people in the military are forced to learn lessons faster than people in business because the consequences of failure in combat are so severe. And military organizations all over the world have learned that strategies and tactics emphasizing the use of responsiveness and agility deliver the best results at the lowest cost in casualties and destruction. Here, we will take a look at some of the approaches they have found to be effective in situations analogous to situations that businesses encounter.


FIVE THEMES FROM Sun Tzu THE ART OF WAR

In any discussion of military strategy, one book in particular often comes up as a source for concepts and ideas. This book, written in China about 2,500 years ago by a Taoist philosopher named Sun Tzu, is called The Art of War. It is not so much a book about war as it is a book about the art of competition and collaboration—whether in business, politics, the military, or even sports. This book has become required reading in the officer training programs of many of the world’s military organizations (and it can also be found on reading lists at many fine business schools).

Sun Tzu’s book embodies a spirit and approach to warfare and business that emphasizes responsiveness and agility. I have selected five themes that speak to issues of strategy and tactics.For each of these themes, I quote a relevant statement from Sun Tzu and then provide a few comments to illustrate how these statements relate to business. The five themes are:
1. Win Without Fighting
2. Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness
3. Know Truth, Sow Deception
4. Organize for Speed, Build Momentum
5. Shape Your Opponent, Choose Your Battles

Win Without Fighting
... those who win every battle are not really skillful—those who render others’ armies helpless without fighting are the best of all.
In business we compete with each other for customers by offering attractive products at good prices. When companies differentiate themselves from their competitors and offer unique and desirable products at profitable prices, they capture a market that is profitable. When they get into a price war with each other simply by offering products similar to their competitors at lower prices, they destroy the markets they are trying to capture. Whoever wins after a lengthy price war will capture a market that has little profit left in it, so it will not be worth much.

Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness
Military formation is like water—the form of water is to avoid the high and go to the low, the form of a military force is to avoid the full and attack the empty; the flow of water is determined by the earth, the victory of a military force is determined by the opponent.
All too often companies attack each other head on. All too often they make the obvious moves. Because those moves are so obvious, they are also easier to prepare for and easier for competitors to fend off. This is what happens in price wars or when companies launch copycat me too products and services. If a company instead finds an unexpected new way to attract customers or a way to disrupt a competitor’s supply chain, those actions are far more likely to succeed. And those successes will happen faster and cost much less than a direct frontal attack on a competitor’s entrenched market position.

Know Truth, Sow Deception
... it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
Companies do not take the time to collect information and truly understand their situation and that of their competitors. Because the business world is awash in data, we feel overwhelmed by it all. We filter or summarize it, or we simply don’t bother. But in that process, we often miss important information that could improve our chances of success. There are also tremendous competitive advantages to be gained by deceiving opponents and causing them to believe in and act on one assumption while we move in a different direction to attack them at an advantageous and unexpected location. Avoid making obvious and predictable moves.

Organize for Speed, Build Momentum
Order and disorder are a matter of organization, courage and cowardice are a matter of momentum, strength and weakness are a matter of formation.
The energy and commitment needed within a company to maintain speed and momentum require that the company be well organized and that its people enjoy the positive effects and rewards that this momentum can provide them. Once an advantage is perceived, companies must move quickly to capitalize on it. Once an advantage is gained, companies must keep moving to capitalize on new opportunities that appear. When companies pause, when they fail to follow up on opportunities in a timely manner, they lose their business advantage as competitors catch up with them.

How business can learn from Sun Tzu THE ART OF WAR. Learn about Responsiveness and Agility from military experience.

How to Persuade The Unpersuaded. Persuasion skills to create alignment and execute for results.

“People do not lack strength; they lack will.”

Persuasion is a leader’s stock in trade. Sometimes the odds are stacked against the argument, and so more than persuasion is needed.

There comes a time in every leader’s career when he or she is faced with seemingly intractable obstacles. Not in terms of deficiencies in resources or competitive pressures, but in terms of people in the organization. Often, it comes in the form of a coalition of people who do not like or trust the leader. Sometimes this lack of trust is due to lack of knowledge. Or it may be based on lack of faith; they do not think the leader is up to the job. The way the leader handles the situation will determine success or failure as a leader. When facing such situations, the leader must defuse the forces against him or her and then bring people together. Persuasion becomes the rule of the day.

There are some things you can do to persuading the unpersuaded:

Do your homework. Disagreements arise for all sorts of reasons: personality conflicts, organizational politics, and simple ignorance of the issues. The leader must find out what people are against and why they are against it, especially if the people are against your ideas. For example, if the leader is pushing for a change, people may naturally push back because change brings discomfort. If change brings pain, that is, people feel loss of control, influence, or security, the issue is more serious. It is up to the leader to find out the root cause of the discomfort.

Listen to the opposition. It is up to the leader to give people a voice. Allowing them to explain their point of view as well as their resistance to the idea is critical. Many leaders make the mistake of ignoring this step, thinking they know the issues. Perhaps they do, but allowing people to voice their opposition is critical. It is not simply a matter of venting; it is an acknowledgment of real opposition. Listening also involves asking questions and finding out why people feel the way they do. That step is critical to understanding and then building for the future.

Find common ground. What holds people together is their shared belief in a common cause. Disagreements often arise among peer-based organizations where there is no centralized hierarchy; examples include professional service firms, universities, and even volunteer organizations. Disagreements can be fatal; they can fester and cause ruination. So it is up to the leader to bring people together to find a point or points of agreement. Often, this will get down to the mission of the organization. For example, volunteers may coalesce around the concept of service to the disadvantaged, or physicians may come together on principles of patient care. Finding that common ground is essential. It can take time to uncover and agree on, but if the organization is to survive, people must agree.

Turn your opposition’s strength into his weakness. Sun-Tzu, the legendary general of ancient China, was a master at observing his enemy and discovering strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes you attack where an opponent is vulnerable, but other times you attack where the opponent is strongest. For example, in battle, you use an enemy’s size to his disadvantage. Avoid frontal assaults; attack from the side. Draw him into low, open ground and attack from above. It catches the enemy off-guard, and it can expose real weaknesses. Such maneuvering is vital when arguing the leader’s point of view.
For example, expose the opposition for what it is—a faction. Position the leader as representative and protector of the whole organization. By staking such high ground, the speaker positions herself as the keeper and protector of the whole organization.

Demonstrate inclusiveness. There must be respect for the past and the value of the institution. Use language that reinforces team; avoid “us vs. them” characterizations. Strive to use “we” when possible. However, use “I” and “me” when demonstrating personal accountability. Good leaders often acknowledge their own shortcomings and ask for support of others. Make it clear that alternate points of view are welcome. However, the person in charge must lead; you must work with others and enable them to succeed. But it is your job to set direction and to enforce discipline. Failure to do so gives the opposition leverage to do whatever it likes. Organizational values, coupled with common ground, can be used to reinforce the leader’s authority and ensure that things move forward.

Give people a stake in the outcome. None of us enjoy being dictated to. Yet things happen beyond our control, especially in large organizations that we must accept. That said, the leader can sometimes intervene to make the reality more palatable. How? It is now that the leader can make adjustments when possible to give people greater voice in shaping the change and having more influence over the outcome. This gives people ownership of their destiny. Make it clear that support of the team is essential to moving forward.


Summaries
Reaching out to the opposition to persuade them of your point of view is essential, but often it does not work. People do remain unpersuaded. The leader has two choices. One, allow the situation to remain as is, understanding that the coalition against your leadership will only gain in strength. Two, act decisively. Give the opposition an ultimatum. Either they are with you or against you. Those who decide to stay, stay. Those who disagree will leave. Forcing an ultimatum will demonstrate the leader’s resolve to move forward. It also will motivate the undecided to follow the lead, or leave.

For example, if people are resisting change because they feel a loss of authority, you demonstrate that without change, they will have no authority whatsoever. Only by going along with your leadership will they retain position and power. This is not simply a matter of strong-arming the opposition; it is pointing out reality. Yes, people will be cowed by the fear of losing jobs, but you will preempt this sentiment to a degree by demonstrating a willingness to listen and learn from them.

Persuasion skills are vital to a leader’s ability to create alignment and execute for results. Bringing people together for common cause is essential, but it often requires leaders to deal with the naysayers first. The leader’s authority depends on defusing opposition as a means of moving forward. How the leader does it is a testament to her ability to read the situation and do what is best for the organization.

How to Persuade The Unpersuaded. Persuasion skills to create alignment and execute for results.

Safe, natural, economical and sustainable source of quality water

Rainwater is a safe, natural, economical and sustainable source of quality water for all purpose - drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry, toilet flushing, watering the garden. Rainwater is safe and healthy as it does not come in contact with the soil, and therefore it does not contain contaminants such as harmful bacteria, dissolved salts, minerals or heavy metals. Significant economic, social and environmental benefits can be achieved by using rainwater. Rainwater Harvesting saves water, money & helps the environment. Once you have installed a rain harvesting system, you use less mains water and can reduce your water bills. By using rainwater for toilet flushing, laundry and garden use alone, you can reduce typical household's mains water requirements by 70%. Rainwater Harvesting reduces the significant damage to our creeks, water habitats and organisms caused by stormwater runoff, and save the environment. Rain Harvesting often involves the collection, storage and distribution of rainwater from the roof. Getting good quality water (safe and clean water) with minimal maintenance is not a simple as just putting in a tank, you need to install a complete system to get the best results. Importantly, Safety measures must be applied during which rainwater is collected, stored and distributed in order to optimize water quality. Complete Rainwater Harvesting system includes: choosing suitable ROOF SURFACE, installing GUTTER MESH Systems, fitting GUTTER OUTLETS from the underside of the gutter, fitting Leaf Eater or Leaf Beater RAIN HEADS to downpipes, installing WATER DIVERTER/S and the TANK SCREEN, choosing appropriate size of rain water barrels, attaching INSECT PROOF SCREENS or FLAP VALVES to the end of all pipes to the tank screen and to TANK OVERFLOW OUTLETS, installingl PUMP SYSTEM, installing RAINWATER FILTER, installing WATER LEVEL MONITOR.

Rainwater harvesting technologies are simple to install, operate and maintain. Maintenance is generally limited to the annual cleaning (before the start of the major rainfall season) of the tank and regular inspection of the gutters and down-pipes. Cleaning typically consists of the removal of dirt, leaves and other accumulated materials. The drawback of Rainwater Harvesting are mainly due to the limited supply and uncertainty of rainfall. The capital cost of rainwater harvesting systems is highly dependent on the type of catchment, conveyance and storage tank materials/rain barrels used. The storage capacity of rain barrels should be calculated by considering annual rainfall, roof catchment area, water usage and site characteristics. You can choose from 34 Gallons to 300 Gallons.



Find better ways of using water with SimplyRainBarrels to build sustainable futures and saves money.

Safe, natural, economical and sustainable source of quality water

9 Reasons Why Buyers make Strategic Acquisitions. Your Business Growth Strategy through Acquisitions.

Reasons Buyers Buy

Buyers have a number of motives for making acquisitions. They may use an acquisition as a way to gain new technology or new products and service capabilities. Acquisitions can be a good way to add customers or talent, such as an engineering or development team. An acquisition can provide a buyer with intellectual property, know‐how, and patents. Acquisitions can also be an inexpensive and fast way to enter a market and capture market share, or add a brand name and a new geographic presence.

New and unique technologies are often created by smaller companies; however these firms frequently struggle in taking the technologies and the products that embody them to market. Small companies are pretty good at developing technology, but not so good at successfully selling the product or the service.

Let's briefly review each of the asset categories that acquirers find attractive in making strategic acquisitions:

 New Products and Services—More acquisitions are made to acquire new products and services than for any other reason. Buyers can sell the target's products and services through their existing sales channels.

 New Technologies—Buyers use acquisitions as a way to capture newly developed technologies that they can incorporate into their own products. These products could be existing products or new products that the company is developing. Acquisitions to obtain technology are most common in the early phases of a market's development. In a late stage or consolidating market, acquisitions are rarely made to obtain technology.
Most technologies can be used in a variety of ways. Technology developed for one market may be utilized in other markets. For example, one company that we sold had developed innovative software for caching data on a hard disk. The software organized the movement of data in a clever way and improved the effective speed of data transfer. As a result, it improved the speed and performance of a personal computer. It turns out that this technology and its algorithms also worked well for caching data on compact discs (CDs) and other storage media. We sold the company to a firm that manufactured CD drives. The manufacturer benefited because this software enhancement enabled its CD drives to transfer data at a faster rate than competitors’ drives. This example is typical of many types of technology that can be used in different applications.

 Additional Customers—Buyers always benefit by bringing additional customers onboard. In the consolidation phase of a market, customers are the primary reason that acquisitions are made.

 Engineering and Development Teams—Talent is a key asset for most intangible companies. As buyers expand they discover that it is often difficult to hire enough good people. Acquisitions can be a great way to bring talented people on board.

 Increased Capabilities—Capabilities include resources such as consulting talent, sales teams, or other service‐oriented resources. These resources give the acquirer the ability to deliver new and additional services to its customers.

 Distribution Channels—Acquisitions can enhance a buyer's distribution channels. We completed one transaction in which a European buyer acquired a U.S. company to add to its product line but more importantly to increase its distribution power in the United States.

 Geographic Location—Acquisitions to obtain a geographic location or presence are not all that common with intangible companies; however in some cases this motive can drive an acquisition. We closed a transaction with an East Coast software company that acquired a West Coast software firm in order to provide better service to its West Coast clients. In another transaction a Canadian firm acquired a U. S. company to gain a foothold in the U. S. market. Generally, these are smaller‐sized acquisitions.

 Gain Mass—Smaller buyers make acquisitions to gain mass—to simply get larger. Usually this means adding revenues and customers. Even if the acquisition is not highly strategic it can be beneficial for a small buyer to grow in size and enjoy greater economies of scale. This may be an odd reason for making an acquisition; however it does happen from time to time. Large buyers rarely make acquisitions to gain mass. The motivation to make an acquisition to gain mass is probably most common among very small buyers, typically with revenues under $30 million.

 The Price is Right—Sometimes a buyer will make an acquisition simply because the price is extremely attractive. It may not be a must‐have acquisition but at a low price it is a good deal. The acquired assets are usually “nice to have” technology or a “nice to have” customer base; they are not critically important assets. These deals are very price sensitive. This type of acquisition is an inexpensive way for an acquirer to gather assets that are at least of moderate value.

9 Reasons Why Buyers make Strategic Acquisitions. Your Business Growth Strategy through Acquisitions.

Tips for Adjusting to a New Boss under any circumstances. How to Act Differently When You are Promoted from Within.

Adjusting to a New Boss
Sometimes in interim roles, you'll have an overlap with the person replacing you at the back end. Even though that's a relatively short period inside an interim assignment, take it seriously. It doesn't matter how successful you and your team have been. It doesn't matter what your previous results and ratings were. Whether it's interim or permanent, a new boss reshuffles the deck, just as you do when you're the new boss. Given that, here are some tips for adjusting to a new boss under any circumstances:

 Foundation: Treat your new boss decently as a human being; make the boss feel welcome, valued, and valuable. Enable the new boss to do good work. Do your job well—and not the boss's.

 Attitude: Choose to be optimistic. Believe the best about your new boss. Focus on these positives at all times with all people, making sure your spouse and closest confidants do the same.

 Approach: Proactively tell your new boss you want to be part of the new team and follow up with actions that reinforce this.

 Learning: Present a realistic and honest game plan to help the boss learn:
o Clarify the situation and plans, offering objective options.
o Seek out the new boss's perspective early and often and be open to new directions.

 Expectations: Understand and move on your new boss's agenda immediately.
o Know the boss's priorities.
o Know what the boss thinks your priorities should be.
o Decide what resources you both agree to invest in your area.

 Implementation: Adjust to your new boss's working style immediately. This is a hard shift, not an evolution:
o Control points: Give the boss requested information, in the format desired, at the frequency wanted.
o Decisions: Clarify decision making (When each of you decides. When each of you provides input.) Remember, the old rules are out. It's a new game.
o Communication: Clarify the boss's preferred mode, manner, and frequency, and how disagreements are managed.
o Imperatives: Readjust your team's imperative, if necessary, to match your new boss's vision.

 Delivery: Be on your "A" game:
o Be present and "on"—everything done by you and your team will be part of your new boss's evaluation of you.
o Deliver early wins that are important to your new boss and to the people the boss listens to. (In a restart, the score is reset. Your old wins and your team's old wins are history.

Tips for Adjusting to a New Boss under any circumstances. How to Act Differently When You are Promoted from Within.

Four Steps of Strategic Staffing Process. Designing Your Strategic Workforce Planning Process.

Designing Your Strategic Staffing/ Workforce Planning Process

Strategic staffing/workforce planning is a process that organizations use to help them identify and address the staffing implications of business plans and strategies. By implementing this process, organizations can ensure that they will have the right number of people, with the right capabilities, in place at the right time. When implemented effectively, the process results in two major outputs or deliverables: staffing strategies (which describe what will be done in the long term, across planning periods, to address critical staffing issues) and staffing plans (which describe specific, short-term tactical plans and staffing actions to be implemented in the near term—within a given planning period).
This strategic staffing process has four steps:
1. Define critical staffing issues/areas of focus. Strategic staffing efforts will be effective only when they focus on a relatively small number of particularly critical staffing issues or job categories—not on entire business units or organizations. The first step of the process, then, is to identify and prioritize your most critical staffing issues and select those for which specific staffing strategies are required.

2. Define staffing gaps and surpluses. Once you have selected an issue (or an area on which your analysis will focus), the next step is to develop a staffing model to address that issue that defines staffing requirements, forecasts staff availability, compares demand to supply, and calculates staffing gaps and surpluses for each job category for each period in your planning horizon. The design of the model will be specific to the issue that you select.
3. Develop staffing strategies. The next step is to review the preliminary staffing gaps and surpluses, as calculated by your model, across all the planning periods in your planning horizon. Create a series of long-term, directional plans of action that describe what your organization should do to address those critical staffing issues most effectively (i.e., how to best align staffing demand and supply) across all planning periods, throughout the entire planning horizon. At this point, do not focus your efforts on any one planning period.

4. Define staffing plans. After you have developed staffing strategies that span all planning periods, go back and examine the specific staffing needs for each period. Following the concept of the ‘‘upside-down T’’, use the staffing strategies developed in the previous step as a long-term context and define the specific staffing actions that will allow you to meet the staffing needs effectively and efficiently in each planning period. Make sure that those actions are consistent with and fully support the staffing strategies that you developed in the previous step.

Four Steps of Strategic Staffing Process. Designing Your Strategic Workforce Planning Process.

Energy Efficient climate control to your home

Ceiling fans can be functionally useful as a source of energy efficient climate control to your home. You can save more energy all year long at fraction of cost, compared to air conditioning. In the summer, they effectively reduce energy usage while still creating a cool breeze. In warmer weather, it can make a room feel up to seven degrees cooler by creating a wind chill effect. In the winter, you can run your fan to recirculate the hot air trapped near the ceiling, creating warmer atmosphere. Ceiling fans and accessories comes in a wide variety of styles, sizes, and finishes that bring beauty, comfort and elegance to your home for years of enjoyment. Look for powerful and most durable ceiling fan Motor, superior quality Blades that bring exceptionally quiet air movement and efficient operation. For maximum performance, choose the right fan size for your room. For long or large rooms, consider more than one fan to handle your cooling requirements. For maximum comfort, the fan should be placed as close to the center of the room as possible. Blade tips should be at least 18 inches from any wall. Puts the blades seven feet from the floor for the best air movement and clearance.

If you plan to improve your home decor with high quality, energy efficient, durable, stylist Ceiling fans and accessories, you should visit Farrey's Wholesale Hardware Corporation for their extensive selection of contemporary, designer, transitional, traditional, modern, industrial and outdoor ceiling fans. Many Interior Designers or home owners choose Farrey's online store for their unique high quality products and best professional service.


Farreys.com is reputable online ceiling fans store established since 1924. They offer thousands of unique ceiling fans and ceiling fan accessories in a wide range of styles and at the lowest prices from top manufacturers including: Casablanca, Craftmade, Ellington, Fanimation, Hunter Fan Company, Luceplan, Matthews Fans, Minka Aire, Modern Fan Company, Monte Carlo, NuTone, Quorum and Westinghouse.
Shop for Casablanca Fans which produces very unique collections of high quality, customizable ceiling fans and accessories that represents the successful synergy of elegance, versatility, efficiency, endurance and comfort. Or Craftmade Fans that delivers impressive collections of reliable, durable and energy efficient ceiling fans at reasonable prices.

Their powerful search engine allows you to customize your desired ceiling fans solution from combination of different criteria: By Style, By Brand, By Type, By Finish, By Price Range. In addition, you can compare Ceiling fans and accessories easily with their search feature. So, it is easy to find your perfect Ceiling fans solution that fit into your needs and budget. With Farreys.com, you can enjoy safe shopping and fast shipping with 30 day return guarantee. If you are general contractors or interior designers who plan to purchase in large quantities, you can enjoy volume discounts.

So, get your Durable, Elegantly Designed, Best Price Ceiling fans Solution from Farreys.

Pros:
Reputable & Long Established since 1924
Extensive High Quality Product Choices

Cons:
For international orders, they can only accept payments via credit cards issued by a US bank, not by International bank.

Energy Efficient climate control to your home

Company Profile Assessment for Real Estate Business Plan.

The underlying purpose of assessing Company Profile is to understand the potential profitability of your enterprise and to want to become involved.

Here are the questions to answer in your company profile:
 When and where did your organization begin?
 Why did you go into business?
 Where are you located now?
 What other properties do you currently own?
 What kind of properties, or which specific properties, do you intend to acquire?
 What is the current market, or current income potential, for the kinds of property you work with?
 What is your structure — single proprietorship, partnership or corporation?
 What business name do you use?
 Who are you, and who are the other key people involved in your enterprise?
 What kind of real estate properties or activities are you involved in?
 How is your company positioned to take advantage of key trends in your region or in real estate?
 What kind of growth or increased value can you reasonably foresee in the years ahead?
 Are there important studies or articles that will help your reader understand the kind of properties you intend to acquire, the strength of the real estate market in your area or other reasons that make investing in you a good idea?
 Are you able to present documents from your accountant or tax-preparer that will document the strengths of you and/or your enterprise?
 What are your plans for the future? How will you implement them, and what kind of resources will you need?
 What other companies or entities are your chief competition? What advantages, if any, do you enjoy over them?
 What are your key competitive advantages — experience with certain properties, property holdings, and so on?
 How much have you already invested in your activities, with what kind of return?
 How have you secured funding in the past? What did you use that money for, and what was the return to investors?
 If you obtain funding, where will you use it specifically?
 About how much money do you need?
 If you obtain funding, where will it be spent?
 How much payback are you prepared to offer to investors, over what period of time?

Company Profile Assessment for Real Estate Business Plan.

Understand Systemic Deficiencies that hamper Effective Decision Making. Address the root causes of Boardroom problems.

THE ROOT CAUSES OF BOARDROOM PROBLEMS

When confronted with a Boardroom problem, the usual inclination on the part of members is to search for quick fixes. For example, if a Board member acts as a rebel, attacks Board decisions after they are made, and violates confidentiality, there may be an instinctive desire to remove the person from the Board. Such an intervention may indeed tackle the immediate problem, but unless the root causes are addressed, the same situation may repeat itself at some future time.

To address the root causes of Boardroom problems, you need to shift your focus from problematic personal behaviors to systemic deficiencies that serve as nutrients for such behaviors. The root causes of the rebel problem may be the following systemic deficiencies:

 A Lack of a Compelling Sense of Collective Purpose. For example, there may be no mission, vision, and strategic plan, or—if they exist—they may not be adhered to. As a result, the work of the Board may be mediocre and uninspiring. This lack of a compelling collective drive makes room for individual drives (sometimes misguided) to emerge and dominate.

 A Lack of Knowledge and Skill to Make Quality Decisions. Such a deficiency can shift discussions away from logic, objectivity, and professionalism to emotion and hype. A proposal may win not on its merit but on the passion displayed by its rebel proponent.

 A Lack of Mentors and Role Models. Without principled leaders who effectively act as the organization’s conscience and compass, there are no barriers to stop assertive yet misguided members from taking center stage.

 A Culture of Entitlement and Self-Interest. The culture of the Board should promote the interests of the organization as a whole. If the Board is instead immersed in a culture of entitlement and self-interest, members focus on themselves and compete for power and control.

 Weak Selection Processes. For example, Board members may be selected on the basis that no one else is available for the job. They are not advised of the required commitment and of the Board’s code of conduct before their nomination or selection.

 Weak or Nonexistent Board Orientation or Training Programs. Such programs would emphasize—among other things—the duties to balance individual initiative with teamwork, keep Board confidentiality, adhere to conflict of interest guidelines, place collective interests ahead of narrow ones, and avoid undermining validly made Board decisions. Without such rules of interaction in place and without them being reinforced and monitored regularly, there is a good likelihood that rebels will violate them.

 A Lack of Feedback and Evaluation. Board members may be afraid to confront others and give them honest and constructive feedback on counterproductive behaviors. As a result, they may talk about rebels instead of talking to them. In addition, there may be no regular evaluations of Board members, the Board Chair, the Board as a whole, and the CEO.

 A Lack of Trust and Respect for the Board from the Community That It Serves. Such a deficiency tends to generate support for dissenting members and fuel their sometimes misguided causes.

 A lack of protocol for meetings. People speak whenever they want, and no effort is made to equalize the opportunities to participate. As a result, rebel members can take over.

These and other systemic deficiencies must be addressed proactively. There should be organized efforts to establish a solid foundation for Board decision making. Such efforts will reinforce the Board’s immune system and deprive dysfunctions of the nutrients they need to thrive.

Understand Systemic Deficiencies that hamper Effective Decision Making. Address the root causes of Boardroom problems.

Different Nature of Fragrances that suit your taste

Choosing the suitable perfumes and fragrances for your personal use or as gifts for friends, loved ones and family is never easy. Although all fragrances are designed specifically to evoke our sensory or emotional responses, we choose them differently due to number of factors:

1) Sex
Man fragrances have different characteristics from women fragrances. Fragrances for women can be broken down into categories: Floral scents, Fruity scents, Spicy scents, Woodsy scents. Fragrances for man come in a variety of themes: Citrus scents, Spicy scents, Woodsy scents, Leather scents.

2) Seasons
Summer calls for cooler lighter fragrances, whereas winter might suggest more intimate and warmer aromas. Spring is the return of freshness, and autumn is a period of subtlety.

3) Event
Daywear and everyday work perfume calls for a different perfume to an evening out perfume. An intimate dinner might suggest a different aroma to a family get together.

4) Age, Personality and Moods
The essential oils of a perfume react differently with different person. Some perfumes are more suited to some personalities than others. Some perfumes are gregarious, others are more reserved. Your choice needs to fit the wearer's attitude, demeanour, your relationship with the wearer. For example, you wouldn't buy the same fragrance for your grandmother as you would for a recently acquired girlfriend.

Here are some characteristics of different fragrances that suit different personality and moods:

• Romantic and feminine nature of Floral fragrances.
• Refreshing and uplifting nature of Citrus Fragrances.
• Earthy aromas of Chypre (Cyprus) Fragrances.
• Warmth and exotic sensuality of Oriental fragrances.
• Fresh and alive aromas Green fragrances reflect sporty personalities and most suited to daytime wear.
• Clean, sporty, youthful and energetic feeling of Aquatic fragrances.

Where to Buy Perfume, Fragrances and Colognes
It is common practice to visit the perfume shop and spray different scents on different parts of your body so you can smell and feel them. If you like to buy from online shop in internet, you can often buy cheaper perfume, including top brands, than from brick mortal stores. Importantly, you can get useful Buyer's Guide and Tips that will help you make better decisions when deciding which perfume is right for you or a special friend. I suggest you to visit Shopwiki UK that offer lots of useful product comparisons and buying tips. They have a big shopping directory of more than millions products crawled from 30000+ online stores. This means that you will find more product choices from more stores for your online shopping. You'll find all Product Features, opinions, Product Reviews, Buying Guides, Top Rated Models, list of Approved Online Merchants/Manufacturers & their corresponding Product Price to make your shopping experience faster, easier, and more engaging. Compare and shop for the best deals and savings on the internet with Shopwiki UK.

Different Nature of Fragrances that suit your taste

THE PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE OF BOARD DECISION MAKING. Guide for achieving Quality Shared Decision Making.

THE PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE OF BOARD DECISION MAKING

The success of a Board is determined by both the substance of its decisions and the manner in which they are made. An effective Board generates quality decisions, together, and within a reasonable amount of time. Such a Board balances the need for effectiveness and efficiency with the need to engage its members as equal partners in debate and shared decision making.

It should be noted that process (the manner in which a decision is made) is just as important as substance (the decision itself ). A substantively good decision may fail because it was rushed, minorities were bullied, or the community and stakeholders were not sufficiently informed or consulted.

Starting with the five substantive criteria, a Board decision should be:
1. Strategic. The decision supports the attainment of the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. It transcends short-term crises and narrow issues and addresses broad and long-term priorities.
2. Informed. The decision is based on knowledge and objective analysis of benefits versus risks. It is not tainted by anger, envy, narrow interests, premeeting promises, conflicts of interest, and so on.
3. Smart. The decision employs creativity and innovation. It seeks to optimize the use of human, financial, and other resources and maximize the benefits over time.
4. Balanced and Fair. The decision achieves an appropriate balance among the needs of the whole organization, the needs of individuals and constituent units, and any other legitimate needs.
5. Sustainable, Affordable, and Legal. The decision is realistic and can be implemented with available and reasonably foreseen means. It complies with legal requirements, bylaws, and policies.

From a process perspective, the manner in which a Board decision is made should be:
1. Collectively Driven. All Board members are included in the decision-making process, thereby arriving at the same outcome together as active partners and not as acquiescent or reluctant followers.
2. Transparent and Accountable. The community is kept informed from the conception of the decision to its implementation. If the decision has substantial impacts, the Board seeks community input on it.
3. Respectful and Honest. All parties to decision making are treated with respect and honesty. There are no hidden agendas. The process is not tainted by bullying and trickery.
4. Measured and Gradual. The pace of decision making is comfortable. It is neither rushed nor slow. Progress is deliberate and measured. Sufficient time is allocated to the scrutiny of proposals.
5. Efficient and Timely. The decision is reached within a reasonable amount of time and without unnecessary delays, which may be caused by a focus on minutiae and by poorly managed meetings.

THE PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE OF BOARD DECISION MAKING. Guide for achieving Quality Shared Decision Making.

European shopping portal

Shopping experience should be easy, fast, and engaging. Importantly, when shopping you would expect getting best deals, savings and value for your purchase. This often requires visiting several shops by comparing the price, quality, service, and brand. Search engine allows you to quickly find relevant shops for particular products/services you are interested. It's even better if use specific shopping search engine. It is designed to crawl the internet to give the best value, latest and cheapest price, best deals or savings for relevant products/services. Fast Search result, Product Rating, Buyer Comments, Related Products, and ability to sort by price and product features gives extra power.

I come across one shopping portal with European shopping search engine. It specialized on England, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy market. Its product range is quite diverse, ranging from Adult clothing, clothing, clothing accessories, computers, electronics, entertainment, food, furniture, garden, gifts, health, home, jewellery, malls, office products, photography, sports, tools and toys and games. It helps you to find the right product at the right price. With their advanced search tools, you have the option to search by Price Range, search by Product, sort by up to 4 automatically defined price ranges. Furthermore you can sort the results by lowest price, highest price, relevance or alphabetically. What is interesting of this site is the ability to:

• 1) View PriceHistory. It allows you to see the price movement and make purchase decision accordingly.
• 2) Set PriceAlert. If you want to get desired product price, just set price alert, and you'll receive email notification when the price drop to your target.
• 3) Tip a friend. This friendly tools allows you to inform your friend about the best deals you've got.
• 4) Rate product. You can rate product so that other buyers can see the overall product rating that help them making buying decision.

CONS:

• 1) No comparison on price from multiple product vendors. The search result just give price from single vendor.
• 2) Limited product vendors

European shopping portal

Myth and Facts about Older Adult workers. Adapting the Workplace to Accommodate Physiological Age-Related Changes in Older Adults.

Here are Myth and Facts about Older Adult workers.

Myth 1: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Reality: Studies show only negligible loss of cognitive function of people under 70. While older workers take longer to absorb completely new material, their better study attitudes and accumulated experience lower training costs. The fastest growing group of Internet users is people over 50.

Myth 2: Training older workers is a lost investment because they will not stay on the job for long.
Reality: The future work life of an employee over 50 usually exceeds the life of new technology for which the workers are trained.

Myth 3: Older workers are not as productive as younger workers.
Reality: Overall productivity does not decline as a function of age. Productivity can actually rise due to greater worker accuracy, dependability, and capacity to make better on the spot judgments. Older workers' production rates are steadier than other age groups.

Myth 4: Older workers are less flexible and adaptable.
Reality: Older workers are just as adaptable once they understand the reason for changes. They are more likely to ask why, because they have often seen past changes in processes and procedures abandoned in midstream when they didn't bring expected rewards quickly enough.

Myth 5: Older workers are not as creative or innovative.
Reality: General intelligence levels are the same as younger workers. Eighty percent of the most workable and worthwhile new production ideas are produced by employees over 40 years old.

Myth 6: Older workers cost more than hiring younger workers.
Reality: While workers with tenure are entitled to more vacation time and pension costs related to number of years worked, replacing workers is not cost free. Aetna Insurance Company did a study of this issue and discovered these factors added 93 percent to the first year's salary of new employees.

Myth 7: Benefit and accident costs are higher for older workers.
Reality: Total sick days per year of older workers is lower than other age groups because they have fewer acute illness and sporadic sick days. While individual older workers' health, disability and life insurance costs do rise slowly with age, they are offset by lower costs due to fewer dependents.
Overall, fringe benefits costs stay the same as a percentage of salary for all age groups. Older workers take fewer risks in accident prone situations and statistically have lower accident rates than other age groups.

Myth and Facts about Older Adult workers. Adapting the Workplace to Accommodate Physiological Age-Related Changes in Older Adults.

College and career planning

Pursuing Higher Education and achieving greater Career Success that best suits your needs, interests, values, personality and strength is important. For adults, this often requires continuous learning by constantly acquire new skills, improve knowledge, strengthen abilities and finetune attitude that gives you competitive edge for greater success. Students who define clear goals; develop and execute their own plan for college; proactively pursue career opportunities will succeed at higher rates than those who don't. When it comes to your future, the sky is the limit. Are you ready to plan for your future? Do you know what you want to do after high school? Or still searching for career possibilities? Either way, explore the resources below.

MyPursuit.com is website for your college and career planning, with resources for finding TOP CAREERS, TOP JOBS, TOP COLLEGES. With information on more than 5,000 Colleges and Universities, you'll find Admission Requirements, Majors and Degree Programs, Tuition and Fees, Academic Programs for each School. For financial aid, you can apply for a $2,500 cash MyPursuit Scholarship to the choice of your School. For jobseekers, search Job Database in over 300 categories in more than 2,000 Cities. Search more than 350 career paths and occupations to get answer on your questions relating to each profession. For example: If you aspire to be an architect, you'll learn on:

• What does an Architect do?
• What skills or qualities do I need to become an Architect?
• How much does an Architect make?
• Who are some influential professionals in this field?
• What are some leading organizations in the field of Architecture?
• What are the top cities for Architect jobs?.

It is the web site that provides students and parents with free, quick, easy access to the best education and career planning. They help you succeed in your academic, career and life pursuit.

College and career planning

Experience the best home entertainment solution

If you have been looking for the best home entertainment solution, DIRECTV is the answer. Get the Ultimate HD TV Experience with higher resolution, brighter colors and better clarity digital picture and superb theater quality 5.1 Dolby® Digital surround sound. DIRECTV delivers a digital signal 99.96% of the time, rain or shine.

DIRECTV is one of the largest Satellite TV company in the world. DIRECTV is popular with its subscriber base exceeding 16 million. When you subscribe with Direct TV, you'll get unbeatable customer service, free installation and equipment, 100% Digital TV Quality, and the largest programming packages with hundreds of popular High Definition Digital TV channels.

Numerous Channel Selection includes:

• Sports Channels - multiple ESPN channels, the NFL Sunday Ticket, the NBA League Pass, the Golf channel, College Sports TV, etc.
• Movies Channels - blockbusters movie channels like Showtime, HBO, Cinemax, and Starz; classics movie stations like TMC, Turner Classic Movies, and Encore; etc.
• Special Interest Channels - Whatever your interest, you'll find it on Direct TV. Adventure channels with Travel Channel and the National Geographic Channel; news channel with CSPAN, CNN, and the BBC; and science channels with NASA TV, Science TV and multiple Discovery Channels; etc.
• International Channels
• Local Channels

The best deals on Satellite TV are available from independent retailers. If you live in New York, get special deals with Direct TV in New York. Independent retailers can offer you a far better promotions, such as free installation and equipment, discounted HDTV dishes and receivers, and free trials of premium channel. You'll get satisfactory installation and quality customer service. For installation, technician will discuss the appropriate place to mount your satellite dish. After mounting and aiming the dish, the technician will run a cable from the dish to your existing cable wire, replace your cable box with a satellite receiver, configure the TV and receiver, and then leave you in peace to surf hundreds of crystal clear digital channels.

If you have Cable TV Network, there has never been a better time to switch over. Current cable television customers know the problems of cable: the bills keep getting bigger and the service keeps getting poorer. DIRECTV offers an alternative to these frustrations. With most retailers offering free installation, you can start enjoying satellite TV fuss free. What's more, you keep the satellite dish and receiver and you won't need to pay a monthly rental charge or worry about returning the equipment if you move.

Experience the best home entertainment solution

Top 10 Entrecard Droppers - May 09

I like to thank to all droppers for their continued support.
My special appreciation for the following Top 10 Droppers for May 2009:


Positive men

Serian Man

Mutual Love

60 Were Enough

Blogger Templates

Isker's Blog

Everyday Living

All blogspot templates

A Simple Life

Mommy's Little Corner


Please visit their great sites.

Top 10 Entrecard Droppers - May 09