A couple weeks ago I watched some grade school kids getting back-to-school supplies and, for some reason, remembered that first-day-of-school-assignment: Write a composition “How I spent the summer.” I wonder if that is still the first day assignment? Read more

The Story of Google from Shame back to Courage

“Courage takes many forms. There is physical courage, there is moral courage….” So said the American sport Journalist Howard Cosell. He went on to add yet still higher types of courage. Around seven months ago my favorite Internet Company lacked even the basic courage to take a stand. Google, my absolute favorite gave in to Chinese censorship early this year. Annoyed like its millions of fans across the globe I wrote a column titled “Goodbye Freedom – Shame on you Google”. This week has been rather wonderful. The old Google is back. The courageous Google, the entrepreneur’s dream Google has taken a stand and showed the best any new media company should.

Read more

Stepping into the RFID World

Six months ago I got an opportunity to do a special on RFID for this very newspaper. I had written a column titled “Soaps that talk and pens that sing” and had mentioned the kind of impact RFID would have on human history is beyond description. Just two days ago a very interesting development happened in the US using RFID. It was underway for a long time and finally on Monday it happened. The US Department of State on Monday started to issue electronic passports (e-passports) equipped with RFID-chips.

Read more

Almost all of us love to play games. Toddlers are intrigued by games of manipulating colorful shapes. Seniors crowd bingo halls. Every generation plays games of skill and games of chance from chess to backgammon to tic-tac-toe. Games can be social events, team events or solitary challenges. We watch games filled with vicarious thrills on reality TV. Games are part of the fabric of our lives and have a place in business also. Read more

With product demand that is vulnerable and dependent on the expansion of industrial manufacturing infrastructure, the manufacturers of programmable direct current (DC) power supplies and electronic loads are forced to find ways to invigorate this highly stagnant market of today. Read more

This may sound overly simplistic but, for purposes of today’s column, I don’t care what products or services a company sells, business boils down to just three activities "sales, administration, and fulfillment.

"Sales" gets the business. "Fulfillment" produces the product / service. "Administration" provides the infrastructure that allows the other two activities to function. They are equally important, co-dependant activities so the relationship between them should be synergistic with clear, open communications.

In a perfect world the three functions should meet often to discuss future schedules, desired changes in offerings, changes in procedures, and methods of constantly improving.

In large companies large departments perform the three activities. In micro-companies, a handful of people (often just one person) may fulfill all functions. In either case, the division of labor is determined by dividing assets (time / investment / focus) among the needs of the company, its people, and its clients.

I like to describe these activities of a company as being like a child’s teeter-totter. Think of "sales" on one side, "fulfillment" on the other, and "administration" as the balance-point or fulcrum. If the goal is to keep the company utilizing assets to the maximum, "administration" continually moves the balance-point of investment to the side that has the greatest need at the moment. If the "sales" side is very effective, "fulfillment" has to be increased or the business will not be able to produce the quantity the "sales" side created. If there is greater production capacity than orders, more emphasis must be placed on activities that get the product sold or the revenue stream (and those who produce that stream) will suffer.

It would be easy to keep the teeter-totter balanced if we were in a constant marketplace where supply and demand were constant but the marketplace is forever changing so "administration" must be constantly looking forward, analyzing sales cycles, production cycles, threats of competition, the velocity of changing tastes and fashions, opportunities, and technological changes to adjust that balance point.

Every so often kids unbalance their teeter-totter and someone gets hurt. Don’t let that happen to your business. Keep it all in balance.

Larry Galler advises executives, professionals, and businesses to extraordinary achievement. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com. Address questions and comments to larry@larrygaller.com

There are several potential obstacles that may impact a product's ability to reach its full market potential in the near term. In a field where technology is evolving, it becomes highly essential that new technologies can be integrated with the existing systems so that the cost of switch over to a new technology for the manufacturers would be minimum. Adoption of a new technology is quicker when the costs involved are lesser. Read more

Hanoi, Vietna - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country's central bank, has selected advanced technologies from Cisco Systems(R) (NASDAQ:CSCO) to help increase operational efficiencies in its countrywide infrastructure and provide a platform to regulate the banking system in alignment with developments in financial markets around the world. The end-to-end Cisco(R) network will be deployed in SBV's major hubs and branches around the country. Read more

World GameMaster Tournament (WGT), one of the world's largest gaming competitions in 2006, recently announced its selection of ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (ASUS) as its official gaming hardware provider. ASUS, the leading motherboard and graphics Solution Company, will supply gaming equipment for the tournament ranging from motherboards, video cards and chassis to LCD monitors and much more. Read more

The Great Indian Telecom Story

The biggest and the best organizations are in it. From the Tatas to the Ambanis to the Bhartis, the biggest companies are in the telecommunications arena. India is the second largest mobile handset market in the world. Just name an international telecom brand and it is in India. Nokia, Qualcomm, Sony, Motorola just name it and it is here. Other biggies are on the way setting up base in India. According to reports the total market for handsets alone was valued at Rs.8.05billion (US $2billion) in 2005 and this will surge by 62% with approximately 100-million subscribers nationwide by 2007. Read more