Always remember that you are representing your company during your entire journey, starting and ending with your trip to and from the airport.

At the recent launch of the South England’s Offer for the 2012 games, the clarion call from each presenter at this day-long conference was - “Compete, Create, and Collaborate”. The overwhelming response from all (400+) participants was “HOW” – the overall response to this very tricky question was “a mixture of silence – a few waves of the hands and signposting to some far distant place or person.” London 2012 operatives are being encouraged to award contracts to firms, but SME’s do not appear to know how to win these contracts.

The same can be said for most products people buy – even high-end IT systems normally come with tools to measure their ROI, making the decision making process a lot easier for the customer.

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Following a structured approach, and by probing and debating the issues that emerged in response to critical questions, John and the executives who kindly agreed to talk to him spent up to an hour at a time mapping out precisely what excellence in the contract publishing industry actually looked like.

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Apart from forming one’s own company, or joining the board of a family company, there is no standard or automatic path to a directorship.

Today's businesses are operating in real time as the demand for instant access to information and services grows.

It is as if there is a force field around the front bumper of your vehicle and that by creeping up to the car in front it is possible to push their car faster so that we can get where we want to go quicker. But have you ever thought what happens when someone starts to creep up too close behind your own car. Do you accelerate away smartly leaving them to catch up? Or do you slow down? The fact is we are all human beings and the human reaction to being pushed in one direction is to resist or to push back in the opposite direction. (Remember what happens when a teenager is told to clean their room?) If someone is trying to make us hurry up by driving too close we will almost invariably resist by slowing down.

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That there is absolutely nothing wrong with the new London 2012 Olympics logo, but there is something seriously wrong with the logo-driven branding industry at large, as this new logo clearly proves that as we approach 2012, global society will not respond to conventional logos or graphics, but only to these kinds of insignificant, dysfunctional and obscure design works which will eventually become branding norms throughout the world.

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Business to business (B2B) companies can achieve the benefits of a strong customer experience in customer loyalty, buying preferences, and referrals to other customers.

The Service-Profit Chain developed by Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger (1997) from Harvard Business School establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty, and employee satisfaction, loyalty, and productivity.

Let’s say you run a business that specializes in artist supplies and tools.

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With some one thousand theme-based-cities being developed at a phenomenal rate here in the Middle East, the branding and name identities of such projects become nightmares.

Are you applying the "So What Factor" every time you talk about your products and services? If you are passionate about what you do, it is very easy to fall into the trap of telling potential clients as much as you can about the features of your products and services and ignoring the "So What Factor." Are your potential clients really interested in listening to you talk about all the features of what you have to offer? The answer is no.

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Despite all denials, newspapers all over the world are simply dying.

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I recently had time to reflect on my 20 or so years of experience working on boards of management and boards of governance.

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These changes have never really begun to occur until now.

Wouldn’t you like to do more work in less time? Or maybe earn more money, but not have to work any harder? Of course you would.

Management Consultant, Peter Drucker, once said that “structure follows strategy.” The premise contained in this quotation is the basis for the recommendation of a workforce planning strategy with the appropriate components within it to facilitate the effective, transparent, and objective development of organizational structures with optimum staffing levels.

Words conjure up pictures - they are powerful in what they can convey.

Earlier this year I was engaged to research, develop and write a number of subjects for a proposed Bachelor degree course for vocational teachers.

The literature also suggests that stress brought on by poor performance prompts executives to reduce information processing activity, which decreases their consideration of strategic alternatives.

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A new study by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Sapient titled, “The New Marketing – IT Power Partnership,” explains why it’s more important than ever for company growth that marketing and IT partner in their strategies.

A number of articles have appeared recently about my concept of Intelligent Dressing™ and how the subliminal messages sent by personal presentation can influence the subconscious or unconscious mind of others in order to gain an advantage. What no one has stressed is that whether one uses Intelligent Dressing™ or not one is still sending subliminal messages whatever one wears or however one presents oneself. So, just as what you wear can improve your chances of success, so what you wear can also ruin your chances. The subconscious mind is an amazing machine, it takes in information all the time and computes it and most of the time one is unaware it’s happening. Emotions come from the so-called subconscious or unconscious mind.

Often regarded as the “operational backbone”, reliance upon hardware, software, and networks is second nature in the modern business environment.

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Three Chinese companies now rank among the world's ten largest banks, all with market capitalizations of well over $100 billion.

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Despite the size and remarkable growth of emerging markets, a surprising number of U.S.

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Today, it is possible for anyone to borrow, copy or steal any original idea, and use it in any given format without even a slight modification; all this is performed in broad daylight with little to no concern.

Are you getting your strategic planning process back to front? Many chief executives start their company strategic planning process by getting their top team to agree a Mission or Vision Statement, or both.

‘Benefit’ - an interesting word.

Banini explains: "The process of hiring a consultancy firm should be approached from two angles.

"It was while I was having a few lessons with Howard," explains Smith, "that I realised that his approach to teaching golf bore some remarkable similarities with the way TUSP helps companies undertake project assignments and business improvement.

Like scenes from a never-ending story, where there in endless halls and huge chambers, dark robes and heavy cloaks slide, stern men in attire ready to quip and stab gather, a decorum of strained hostilities and false grins, and somewhere there, they greet the wizard of the century, the one who pauses, takes a posture and then sharply raises his voice and addresses the chamber: "Sire, your children are in trouble, failing in education while you are shutting doors on highly skilled magicians from far away lands…open the gates and let the talent march in, or this land is in trouble." In quick response from the very high altar, the hooded men shout unison: "Close the doors; they are nothing but barbarians outside the gates.