He began his career at the business school at the University of Illinois and then taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and he has been a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University, London Business School, and IESE in Barcelona.

Pfeffer currently serves on the board of directors of ... Continue Reading

Once you know what’s getting in your way, it will be easier to overcome these issues.

By Kaya Singer

(BizNik) If you own a small business you likely spend more time marketing than everything else put together. You also know that in marketing there’s an  order and a system to the process and when you follow the system correctly, it works and it brings you more clients.

One of the biggest mistakes small business people make is trying to sell to people before building a ... Continue Reading

This interview with Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.

Q. Do you remember the first time you became somebody’s boss or supervisor?

A. I became chair of the department of American civilization at the University of Pennsylvania, and so it would have been in 1980. But a department chair is an interesting kind of boss, because it’s not clear ... Continue Reading

Rekindle that startup spirit with agile development

By Darren Dahl

(Inc.com) The first thing you notice when you walk into the Chicago offices of Total Attorneys, which provides software and services to small law firms, is the number of people on their feet. Every morning, the company’s 180 employees gather around the office in groups of five to 10. Close your eyes, take in the often raucous banter and laughter, and it’s easy to mistake Total Attorneys’s headquarters for a college cafeteria. But these meetings, which last for about 15 minutes, ... Continue Reading

How Datotel overhauled its employee-appreciation, -recognition, and -incentive programs

By Nadine Heintz

(Inc.com) David Brown thinks it’s important to make his employees feel valued. So Brown, founder and president of Datotel, an IT services and data storage business in St. Louis with 38 employees, was dismayed when he realized his employee-of-the-month program wasn’t helping morale. Recipients didn’t seem enthusiastic about the award, which consisted of a $25 gift card, a perfunctory e-mail, and a mention on the company intranet.

It seems like a simple concept: Make employees feel appreciated, and they will ... Continue Reading

(Sacramento, CA) The California Association of Business Brokers (CABB- a non profit trade organization) says if you are a small business owner looking to sell your business but are waiting for the economy to turn around, use this time to start preparing. One of the most vital steps in this process is to understand what your business is worth.

Ron Hottes, president of CABB and of several Business Team Business Brokerages says that a business broker’s opinion of value can provide you with an objective view of what your business ... Continue Reading

By David Whitehead

The financial crisis may not be the only thing putting a strain on your business. If your IT upgrades didn’t keep pace with your growth during the boom years, chances are expensive inefficiencies are starting to get noticed. Surviving a tough economy requires all of us to be as efficient as possible, which means it’s time to take a hard look at productivity problems created by poorly planned IT systems.
I have worked for several companies that allowed their IT to become grossly inefficient because systems were allowed ... Continue Reading