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Abstract: * This paper develops and tests a model that explains how the quality, quantity and timing of knowledge flows from headquarters influence subsidiary performance. It extends recent research on [...]

Wisconsin Gas, wanting to deal effectively with deregulation, needed to ensure customer loyalty by implementing outstanding customer-focused services. To determine which e-commerce customer relationship management (eCRM) initiatives would be best choices to meet its business needs, the company used the loyalty value added (LVA) methodology from eLoyalty. LVA provides a 'probability distribution' of net present values for a project, rather than relying on a single, unrealistically exact number.

In recent years, one of the lodging industry's most pressing problems has been the issue of 'sick hotels,' properties that are losing money because of poor management, bad location or [...]

The ethical dilemma faced by a university professor in his capacity as private consultant for a glib entrepreneur is presented. The university professor's experience reflects the ethical problems that come with the conflict of interest arising from his relationship with the businessman-alumnus. Possible solutions to the professor's ethical dilemma are also presented.

Delphi Automotive Systems Europe began an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project in 1995, but as time passed, various difficulties were encountered. For one thing, the ERP system needed to operate across multiple geographic, cultural and linguistic boundaries. For another, the Jun 1999 spinoff of Delphi Europe from General Motors occurred in the middle of the project, and matters were further complicated by the Year 2000 (Y2K) software crisis. At the end of 1997, Delphi contracted with A.T. Kearney, aiming to ensure on-time, on-budget completion and a return on investment (ROI). The process employed by Delphi, consisting of six major initiatives, is described.

Weber Marking Systems redesigns its processes with a full toolbox. MUCH OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONSISTS SIMPLY of labels that are used to describe objects--this is a "chair," that is […]

STAMFORD, CT: American workers are skeptical of their companies' internal communications efforts, according to a study released last week by HR services firm Towers Perrin. The study is called Enhancing [...]

Food manufacturers and grocers are using a study by Sparks Cos. Inc. to fight attempt by U.S. dairy producers to limit imports of milk protein concentrates used in coffee creamers, [...]

"Been there-done that!" accurately sums up the efforts of 12,000-plus Senior Corps of Retired Executives volunteers across the U.S. who use their years of experience to help small businesses succeed. […]

When it comes to business development, Freeport-based CoGrow Systems practices what it preaches. Founded by Vikram Rajan, a graduate of SUNY Albany with a degree in political science and sociology, [...]

For most of 1997-98, I spent time consulting in countries away from my home--in Australia and in several European countries. Through this experience and my previous work in other jobs [...]

Employers are spending less on health benefits and the sharpest cuts have been made in the behavioral health arena. A new study by the Hay Group, an actuarial and benefits [...]

Perception International is a company that, for a $24,000 fee, observes events and perceives connections among them, which often lead to accurate predictions of coming economic and political changes. The company has accurately predicted the increase in the value of U.S. film libraries (due to the increased number of TV stations in Europe), and is predicting changes in the manufacture of aluminum cans, cooking utensils and jet fuel. The company's eight partners describe the firm as assisting, rather than replacing, the strategic planning departments of corporations. The observations made by the company are inferential and cannot be quantified. Four of the company's eight partners are live in the U.S.

The Grammar Group is a Chicago-based consulting and training firm that conducts training seminars in English usage for corporate clients. Companies that have sent their employees to the seminars include 3M, Ford Motor Co., and Parke-Davis. The Grammar Group was founded in 1984 by Zacharias Rosner, a former English teacher. Annual sales are $300,000 and there are nine full-time employees. Each grammar seminar consists of 12 hours of instruction. The instructors do not use grammatical terminology or theory in teaching the classes, but instead present 300 rules concerning grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage that can be applied immediately to business communications.

Eliyahu M. Goldratt is a New Haven business consultant and co-founder of two consulting firms, Creative Output Inc. and the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute, who takes an unconventional approach to industrial management. Goldratt contends that keeping workers continually busy is actually counterproductive, that manufacturers should do away with efficiency as a standard for measuring productivity, and that cost accounting should not be used as a decision making tool. These ideas are put forward in Goldratt's book, The Goal, which is a treatise on productivity in the form of a novel. Goldratt also argues that by slowing production down, materials would move more smoothly through production bottlenecks, thus eliminating excess inventory.