IN A DIGITAL WORLD, WHY HOSPITALITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE STILL REIGN SUPREME By Maria Orozova Everywhere I turn lately, it seems there’s a growing nostalgia for the glory years of American business. Audiences are cheering shows like Mad Men for celebrating the golden age of the ad industry on Madison Avenue. They see something exciting [...]

UNDERSTANDING AVAILABLE EMPLOYMENT TAX CREDITS By Thomas Jones, Jr. Our nation’s unemployment rate hovers at nine percent and monthly job losses continue to rise. That has generated discussions in Washington about innovative fiscal policy instruments, such as job creation tax credits, to help stimulate labor demand. In 2010 Washington took action and signed the Hiring [...]

WHY PUSHING QUARTERLY SALES DOESN’T ALWAYS YIELD REVENUE INCREASES By Bill Harrison Some sales organizations are organized, goal-oriented, and process-driven – most, however, are fairly disorganized and unfocused. An easy way to tell great sales organizations from average sales organizations is to measure where managers spend the majority of their time. Is it at the [...]

THREE TALENT MANAGEMENT METRICS CEOs CAN USE TO IMPROVE THE BOTTOM LINE By Deborah L. Kerr and Paula A. Soileau What would happen if the CEOs scorecard looked something like this? 19 percent success rate – about 1 in 5 of process outputs is an unequivocal success 31 – 50 percent of data used are [...]

NEW ANTI-INDEMNITY LAW IS A GAME CHANGER — WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW By Heather E. Asselin & Sam K. Arora On January 1, 2012, a new law will significantly alter the way owners and general contractors are allowed to shift their risks and responsibilities to subcontractors under indemnity agreements. Texas is now among a [...]

WHY INVESTING IN THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION NOW IS SMART LEADERSHIP By Sharon Birkman Fink It’s time for businesses and other organizations to stop trying to recruit leaders and instead to start building them. Companies should discover that the best leaders are invested in the organization through more than just stock options. They understand the culture [...]

6 “RIGHTS” TO DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE EARLY-STAGE BOARD By Hal Shear After the money’s in – be it angel, VC or self-funding – and the dust settles, early-stage companies can create a path to success by establishing winning governance practices. Best practices in corporate governance represent not only those practices that comply with the letter [...]

HOW EXECUTIVES CAN SHAPE THEIR HEALTH AND THEIR COMPANY’S FUTURE By Tyler C. Cooper, MD/MPH Despite the demands placed on top executives, it’s no surprise that as a whole many in corporate America are not always inclined to incorporate exercise and good nutrition into their daily routine as much and as often as they should. [...]

WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH CARE BENEFITS SAVINGS – THINK LONG TERM, NOT WEIGHT A Commentary By Ragen Chastain It’s New Year’s Resolution time. If this year’s resolution involves saving money on employee benefits and helping employees be healthier and more productive then a focus on healthy habits is the key. It has become increasingly [...]

ARE DECISION-MAKING FUNDAMENTALS BYPASSED IN SOFTWARE INVESTMENTS? By Keith German CEOs and their leadership teams make tough, important decisions every day. Many of these decisions come after extensive consideration, often requiring the application of skilled planning efforts. Why are so many companies and non-profits straining valuable resources in the software purchase process? Surprisingly, many executives [...]

6 STEP ACTION PLAN TO STRENGTHEN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT By John Casey The market for talent has turned this year in North Texas. Every day there are more new jobs and fewer quality candidates. Some company CEOs have already been affected by the growing war for talent and many more will be impacted by this change [...]

WHY PEOPLE, PLANET & PROFITS = TIME, ACCESS & SPACE By Brian Loeb and Jeff Shaabani The modern workforce is drowning in paper – the average employee produces 27 pounds, or 10,000 sheets, per year, says the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s no wonder, a study shows, that knowledge workers spend half their time searching [...]

WHY CEOs NEED TO BE THINKING GREEN ENERGY NOW, NOT LATER By Mark  Kapner, PE and Virginia Palmer, Ph.D Mark Twain once said, “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you DO KNOW for sure that just ain’t so.” This gem seems to apply to the conventional thinking about [...]

MAKING STEM FOR K-12 MORE ACCESSIBLE VIA MENTORSHIP AND CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT By Dr. James Truchard The National Academy of Engineering recently published the 14 Engineering Grand Challenges, authored by a select group of our country’s most esteemed scientific and engineering minds. The engineering grand challenges lay out the 14 most important and significant issues our world [...]

THE INTEGRAL AND PRACTICAL ROLE TWO-YEAR COLLEGES PLAY IN HIGHER EDUCATION By Dr. Richard Carpenter If I told you that you had a choice of paying either $18,514 or $28,516 for a bachelor’s degree from a Texas public college or university and that you had a better chance of graduating with the lower priced option, [...]

HOW TO LEVERAGE HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE NEW ECONOMY By Christine Reyes Within the next six months, top performers – in particular – will be polishing up their resumes and looking for work environments that will help them develop their skills and careers in exchange for increased productivity and engagement. During the economic downturn workers [...]

THE APPROPRIATE PROCUREMENT METHODOLOGY – PIT BULLS OR A PRECISION DOGSLED TEAM? By Mike Novak It is inevitable that a CEO is required from time to time to pull the trigger to commit funds and begin a Capital Improvement Project (CIP). No doubt a painful responsibility as “CIP” translates to big dollars and an additional [...]

FIVE LEADERSHIP TACTICS THAT WILL PUT YOUR COMPANY AHEAD By John Carlson With a sputtering economy and congressional gridlock, it’s not difficult to see where the challenges are in the construction industry. The biggest issue facing the industry today is funding. The federal government is deep in debt, and it sets the agenda for state, [...]

RECRUITMENT OF EFFECTIVE BOARD MEMBERS DEPENDS UPON MUTUAL RESPECT By Kent Burress It’s board member hunting season in our little corner of the non-profit world. We have a strict tenure policy, so every year about this time we recruit a few new board members. It’s a good policy that guarantees a renewing flow of ideas, [...]