Showing results by narrator "Eric Conger" in Business & Careers

Everyone wants to be an influencer. We all want to learn how to help ourselves and others change behavior. And yet, in spite of the fact that we routinely attempt to do everything from lose weight to improve quality at work, few of us have more than one or two ideas about how to exert influence. For the first time, Influencer brings together the breakthrough strategies of contemporary influence masters.

"Silos" are organizations' vertical structures—but the word has become synonymous with barriers to workplace effectiveness and connotes deep political infighting. Silos devastate organizations, kill productivity, push good people out the door, and jeopardize the achievement of corporate goals. They cause stress, exasperation, and disappointment by forcing employees to fight bloody, unwinnable battles with people who should be teammates.

The success of Starbucks is one of the most remarkable business stories in decades. Since 1987, the coffee merchant has grown from a single retail store on Seattle's waterfront to a company with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and a new one opening somewhere every business day. According to Fortune magazine, Starbucks "has changed everything...from our tastes to our language to the face of Main Street."

The curtain is about to rise, say Pine and Gilmore, on the Experience Economy, a new economic era in which every business is a stage, and companies must design memorable events for which they charge admission. With The Experience Economy, Pine and Gilmore explore how successful companies, using goods as props and services as the stage, create experiences that engage customers in an inherently personal way.

Getting a new job or a big promotion is like building a house: You need to get the foundation right for both. With a job, the quick-drying cement is how well you do in your first hundred days, since they establish the foundation for long-term momentum and great performance.

Are there really secrets to success? Turn to Fortune for analysis and information about the people and ideas that drive global business. These eight articles profile business executives - from corporate giants to innovative entrepreneurs - who have something important in common: successful approaches to business challenges.

Until now, all it's taken to build a successful e-business is the right technology. An online storefront goes up and a company's market capitalization goes through the roof, despite low sales and no profits. But now the race to get online is over.

Learn the 25 keys to a great business plan, including writing the company's mission, identifying marketing opportunities, calculating appropriate financial ratios, and projecting growth rates, that will help guide your company's expansion and attract necessary funding. Business Planning is part of The New York Times Pocket MBA Series.

Learn the 25 keys in managing the growth of a business, including identifying your company's competitive advantage, implementing a total quality strategy, hiring a professional management team and creating a visionary growth-oriented corporate culture. Part of The New York Times Pocket MBA Series.

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Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute provides practical and simple concepts that CEOs, COOs, and managers at all levels in organizations both public and private can apply to their particular situations. This program is written by Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and a regular contributor to Executive Excellence.