Nearly 75% of entrepreneurs will exit their businesses in 10 years. Who will fill their shoes?

Posted by & filed under Entrepreneurship, Management, Strategy.

Description: Selling up is a huge emotional challenge, compounded by tax regulations and finding someone qualified to step into the business: Opinion

Source: FinancialPost.com

Date: Dec 13, 2018

Link: https://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/nearly-75-of-smb-owners-will-exit-their-businesses-in-10-years-who-will-fill-their-shoes

Questions for discussion:

  • Given that many existing small businesses will be available for acquisition in the near term, how should their current owners find their replacements and capitalize on the transition as much as possible?
  • What does the report say about current entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards business ownership? Why do you think this is so?

Salesforce’s Marc Benioff unplugged for two weeks, and had a revelation that could change the tech industry

Posted by & filed under Change, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Global Management, Human Resource Management, Innovation/Creativity, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Negotiation, New product, Organizational Change, Planning, Social Responsibility, Strategy, Teams, Technology.

Description: In early July 2018, Marc Benioff packed his iPhone and iPad into a FedEx envelope and mailed it to his summer home in Hawaii. The billionaire CEO of Salesforce then hopped on a plane out of San Francisco for a quiet two-week vacation across the Galapagos Islands, Bora Bora and Easter Island.

Source: CNBC.com – video report

Date: Jan 05, 2019

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/30/salesforce-marc-benioff-talks-tech-ethics-time-magazine-and-vacation.html

Questions for discussion:

  • How does the article describe Marc Benioff?
  • Do you believe his leadership style and managerial thinking is the way of the future?

Amazon’s Biggest Bull Says It Should Disrupt Gas Stations

Posted by & filed under Decision Making, Management, Operations Management, Planning, Strategy.

Description:  Amazon.com Inc. is a dominant player in industries as diverse as cloud computing, streaming media, and of course e-commerce, but the next business it should set its sights on is decidedly more old fashioned: gas stations.

Source: Bloomberg.com – video report

Date: Jan 02, 2019

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-02/amazon-should-disrupt-gas-stations-says-street-s-biggest-bull

Questions for discussion:

  • What are the pros and cons for this new venture?
  • Do you think Amazon will go ahead with it?

6 common beliefs about productivity that are total lies

Posted by & filed under Human Resource Management, Individual Behavior, Innovation/Creativity, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Planning, Teams.

Description: Some conventional wisdom isn’t so wise. Productivity experts weigh in on some commonly held beliefs that are just wrong.

Source: FastCompany.com

Date: Jan 04, 2019

Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/90280925/6-common-beliefs-about-productivity-that-are-total-lies

Questions for discussion:

  • Why do you think these ideas about productivity have become popular?
  • Do you subscribe to any of these beliefs?
  • What are possible managerial problems associated with these beliefs?

Some Bad (and Good) News for Facebook in 2019

Posted by & filed under Decision Making, Global Management, Innovation/Creativity, Management, New product, Planning, Social Responsibility, Strategy, Technology.

Description:  Looking ahead to key digital trends in 2019, eMarketer’s analysts render a bad news/good news pair of predictions for Facebook.

Source: eMarketer.com

Date: Dec 04, 2018

Link: https://www.emarketer.com/content/predicting-some-bad-news-and-good-news-for-facebook-in-2019

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say about expected online viewing behaviors?
  • What does this mean for online businesses and FB in particular?

12 Entrepreneurial Traits That Will Tempt You to Quit Your Job Immediately

Posted by & filed under Entrepreneurship, Human Resource Management, Individual Behavior, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Social Responsibility.

Description: Unhappy in your job? It’s possible you’re an entrepreneur.

Source: Entrepreneur.com

Date: Jan 01, 2019

Link:  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/324979?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think this list is a fair guide to someone considering an entrepreneurial career?
  • What else would you suggest?

These are Canada’s top places to work in 2019, according to Glassdoor

Posted by & filed under Compensation & Benefits, Decision Making, Diversity, Human Resource Management, Innovation/Creativity, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Planning, Social Responsibility, Teams, Technology.

Description: Recruiting website Glassdoor has released its annual ranking of Canada’s top employers, and this year software companies are taking home much of the hardware.

Source: BNNBloombeg.com

Date: Dec 05, 2018

Link: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/these-are-canada-s-top-places-to-work-in-2019-according-to-glassdoor-1.1178136

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say about what employees want in their work environment?
  • Why do you suppose more companies do not provide the same benefits?
  • What lessons are there here for Canadian managers?

This is why women leave jobs in tech

Posted by & filed under Communication, Compensation & Benefits, Decision Making, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Ethics, Global Management, Human Resource Management, Individual Behavior, Leadership, Management, Motivation, Organizational Change, Planning, Social Responsibility, Teams.

Description: Not only are there still very few women in tech jobs, the ones who are there leave at a much higher rate than their male counterparts. Here is why and what we can do about it.

Source: FastCompany.com

Date: Dec 06, 2018

Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/90274067/this-is-why-women-leave-jobs-in-tech?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=3&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=12062018

Questions for discussion:

  • Why do women leave jobs in tech, according to the report?
  • What are the solutions suggested in the report?
  • Do you have other advice to offer?

Here’s how the Apple Watch’s heart monitor works

Posted by & filed under Communication, Innovation/Creativity, Leadership, Management, New product, Operations Management, Planning, Social Responsibility, Strategy, Teams, Technology.

Description: CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how to use Apple Watch’s built-in ECG monitor.

Source: CNN.com – video report

Date: Dec 04, 2018

Link:  https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2018/12/05/apple-watch-ecg-app-health-review.cnn-business/video/playlists/top-news-videos/

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think this device will significantly increase consumer choice for Apple in place of other brands?
  • Who is the target market for this and other health related technology devices that Apple could produce?
  • What sorts of products and services would you think Apple should develop?

Why the Arrest of Huawei’s CFO Has Helped Send Stock Markets Into a Tailspin

Posted by & filed under Conflict, Control, Decision Making, Ethics, Global Management, Leadership, Management, Negotiation, Planning, Social Responsibility, Strategy, Technology.

Description: Asian indices plummeted today—Nikkei 225 down 1.9%, Hang Seng down 2.5%, Shanghai Composite down 1.7%—and Europe’s Stoxx 600 is down 1.9% at the time of writing. The main catalyst for the continuation of this week’s selloff was the arrest in Canada of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Dec 06, 2018

Link: http://fortune.com/2018/12/06/huawei-cfo-arrest-stock-market-today/

Questions for discussion:

  • How has the arrest affected the stock market?
  • How should management of the firm deal with this problem?
  • What do you think this story is about?