Latest News
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Go back to school in 2011
Virginia Harrison | December 6, 2010Thinking of hitting the books next year but not sure where to start?
There are plenty of options to consider, from short courses, diplomas and certificates through to a full-blown MBA.
We’ve done the first bit of hard work for you. Here’s an outline of what’s on in executive education for 2011.
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It pays to be flexible
Virginia Harrison | December 1, 2010Want to drain an extra 2 days’ work out of your staff each week? Let them set their own start times and embrace workplace flexibility.
Flexibility helps attract and retain staff, as well as boost discretionary effort by encouraging employees to go the extra mile.
“Managers in SMEs know the cost of losing an employee and the cost of recruiting again, and building someone up. If flexibility can help you retain a person for longer than you otherwise would have, then you have to put it onto the table,” Aequus Partner Juliet Bourke says.
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Business group delivers work to network
Virginia Harrison | November 29, 2010A new networking group promises to be the middle man, sourcing work as well as contacts to save businesses time and money.
IPNConnect is a UK-based networking company that will launch in Australia next month.
Founder Paul Lawton visited Australia this month for talks with local partners including government departments, chambers of commerce and private enterprise.
“We’re going to kill traditional networking, all over the world. I know I wouldn’t go to a networking event and pay a fee just to swap business cards. I want more,” Mr Lawton says.
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Style tips from a corporate image guru
Virginia Harrison | November 25, 2010For Robin Powis, the clothes really do maketh the man.
A corporate image stylist, Powis helps individuals seeking to take the next career step or simply polish their “personal brand.”
“I help people create a natural confident style. Everyone, no matter what industry they’re in has to think about what image they create,” Robin Powis, founder of Defining Style says.
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Tools for SMEs to trade on sustainability record
Virginia Harrison | November 24, 2010
No business wants to do more reporting, but tracking and publicising sustainability performance could help boost the bottom line.
Sustainability reporting covers an organisation’s economic, environmental and social achievements, to satisfy a range of stakeholder obligations.
The benefits for corporates of improving sustainable practices include brand and reputation strengthening, increased efficiency and market differentiation.
But it’s an area smaller companies often overlook.
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Banish workplace bullies
Virginia Harrison | November 23, 2010It’s a multi-billion dollar problem that affects more than half of Australia’s workforce. Find out how barrister Peter Gorman is acting to stamp out workplace bullying, and how you can make sure it doesn’t set foot in your organisation.
Gorman has worked with the law for more than 5 decades – first as a uniform policeman, and then detective before moving to the bar.
In that time he’s seen plenty of bad behaviour.
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Bookless library the next big thing
Virginia Harrison | November 23, 2010
I’m not ready for the death of the book.
Like many, I can’t imagine a world where Kindles line the bookshelf, or the latest title is downloaded rather than carried home from the bookshop.
Apparently I suffer from a sentimental objection to progress. Read this take on the two types of digital dissenters, sparked by the construction of a library-less American school.
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Creating a marketplace of ideas and opportunities
Jeanne-Vida (JV) Douglas | November 19, 2010At the launch of First 5000 on 20 October 2010 held at NSW Parliament House business journalist Jeanne-Vida Douglas interviewed First 5000 Editor Virginia Harrison.
JVD: There are literally thousands of Australians out there at the moment working in jobs that they are not enjoying all that much while sitting on excellent business ideas which could blossom into successful ventures, if only they had the know how to take those ideas and put them into operation.
That’s why I wrote the Profit Principle, with my co-author Peter Fritz, to get those businesses up and running and to get those ideas out there. In a similar vein, the First 5000 business network has been created to bring together Australia’s most successful and entrepreneurial businesses to look for new and innovative ways to grow their enterprises and thereby increase opportunities for, and productivity of, the economy as a whole.
Virginia can you tell us more about the network you are working to create through First 5000?
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Tyro charge at the big four
Virginia Harrison | November 16, 2010
FEW have been brave enough to take on Australia’s major banks at their own game. Even fewer succeed.But 5 years ago the CEO of Tyro Payments Jost Stollmann saw an opportunity to crack into the billion-dollar card payments market – and it’s working.
“When I started everyone said you must be crazy. They said you cannot compete with the majors in a core banking process. But we have to get away from this idea,” Mr Stollmann says.
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Asia to drive tourism boom
Virginia Harrison | November 15, 2010
THE tourism industry has its sights firmly fixed on Asia to deliver growth, as local travellers take advantage of the strong currency and holiday abroad.
The latest predictions from the Tourism Forecasting Committee show international arrivals to Australia are expected to grow by 5.3 per cent in 2010 and 5.6 per cent in 2011, fuelled largely by an increase in Asian visitors.
“The Australian economy has become increasingly linked to the economies of Asia with tourism also reflecting the trends in other major export sectors,” Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson AM MP said.
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UncategorisedGet on the virtual high street to boost business traffic
Virginia Harrison | November 15, 2010
Land more business with a tell-all approach – that’s the message from online marketing expert Phil Robinson, who sees many SMEs miss out on customers by failing to advertise effectively. “You need to be fairly verbose about what you do, for it to come up on Google. So you really want to make sure that the answers to people’s questions are out there, online and on your website. If you don’t, you won’t be found,” Robinson says.
Robinson is the Strategy Director for Hotfrog, a business idea he pitched in 2004 “to break the model of business directories.”
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Surprise jump in jobless rate
Virginia Harrison | November 11, 2010Australia’s jobless rate jumped in October, dampening short-term expectations of an interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank.
The unemployment rate rose by 0.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent in October, and now sits at its highest level since April.
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Women need role models not targets to get to the top
Virginia Harrison | November 11, 2010
Women need mentors not gender targets to improve their numbers at senior management level, according to a group of top-performing businesswomen.
Almost three quarters of respondents to a survey of winners and finalists in the 2010 Telstra Business Women’s Awards said mentoring programs for talented young women were vital for greater gender equality.
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Cablex finds space in offshore markets
Virginia Harrison | November 9, 2010
Adapt to survive and thrive could be the motto for Melbourne-based company Cablex, which traded telecoms for the space race and built a multi-million dollar business.
Nearly 30 years ago Michael Zimmer was working as an apprentice when he stumbled upon a gap in the engineering market.
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Get set for the mobile revolution
Virginia Harrison | November 8, 2010
Forget the iPhone, it’s all about Android. Find out how harnessing the power of mobile phones could transform your business.
Shane Williamson is a telecommunications consultant who advises small through to large companies on how organizations can better utilise mobile technology.
The self-described “technology evangelist” clients’ include Optus and Deloitte, as well as start-ups looking to enter the mobile market.