Resource for Education

Art Schools - Academy of Art University - one of the top art schools

Italian language schools in Florence - Learn Italian in a language school in Italy, the language of culture and the arts

American Online Universities - Earn your degree online in record time from top universities.

MBA Essay, Personal Statement and Letter of Recommendation Editing at AdmissionConsultant.com - Provide MBA essay, personal statement, resume editing and admission consulting for business, graduate, law and medical school admission.

Aviation Schools - Directory of flight schools and aviation schools. Helicopter Pilot Training.

Essays - Custom Writing for Your Applications

College Correspondence courses - Ashworth College offers exciting degrees and correspondence courses for a higher education programs.

UCAS Personal Statement - Apply2Uni offer a UCAS Personal Statement example, editing and writing service to help people apply to Universities in the UK. Our services are offered by experienced UCAS writers and we provide initial and ongoing advice to help applicants (both undergrads and postgrads) secure a place at their first choice University

Term papers - We offer term papers, essays, thesis, book reports, disseration and editing services. Order plagiarism free custom written products with Berkeley to get complete peace of mind.

Boarding School Advisor - Assisting parents in choosing a boarding school that is the right fit for their child by offering very useful information regarding different types of Boarding Schools.

Bachelor Degree Online - Directory of bachelor degrees online and students resources for your bachelor life.

BearEdu Technologies - BearEdu Technologies is dedicated to the development of physics, chemistry, math and science educational software programs for High School and College/University students. BearEdu Technologies uses animation and examples to teach the basic principles.

Online education master degree - Site offers informative articles on online education master degree including education resource and tips

Business School Directory - Learn more about careers in business and find business schools in the USA & Canada.

CPE Online Course - We provide online interactive self-study Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses, professional development courses and exams for cpe licensed professionals, general practitioners and individuals.

Aluminum - Aluminum atomic weight, density, state and more at www.chemicool.com. Chemicool.com - chemical elements and forum.

CV writing - CV, Cover Letter and Interview Information.

Chicago GSB Master Degree in Business If you are looking to attain your Masters Degree in Business, Chicago GSB provides evening MBA, weekend MBA, and executive MBA, and EMBA programs.

Cooking Schools Search - Cooking School search engine for both cooking schools and culinary schools in the United States.

College Essays - Free College Essays, Free College Essays, Free College Essays!!! Whatever…

Application Development Outsourcing - Outsource your Application Development requirements to ISO 9001 Software Services company in India. We've expertise in developing Java, .NET,XML, applications.

Quality Custom TermPaper,Essays,Articles - Classictermpapers , a perfect choice for student and professionals seeking for good service,lowest rates and ontime delivery .

Career2.com - A Comprehensive Career and Employment Web Directory

Criminal Justice Degree Search - Criminal Justice Degree Search has valuable information related to schools offering criminal justice degrees.

Associate Degrees in Miami with Financial Aid Programs - At College of Business and Technology, we offer the best competitive one year and two year college programs, and also certificate programs. All programs offered, contribute toward IT Certifications.

Christian College Directory - A one stop resource for all your Christian College needs.

College Search Engine - Browse Top Colleges for College Degrees - College Search Engine provides valuable information to help you complete your college search

College Degrees Search - Browse Top Colleges for College Degrees - College Degrees Search provides access to the best colleges and information on college degrees offered.

College and University - Your guide to college life, tax breaks, scholarships, loans and just about anything to do with college and university life!

Teach or Study in China - TOSIC (Teach Or Study In China) is helping people around the world to find teaching positions or studying place in China. Helping Chinese educational institutions recruit oversea teachers and students.

Career Resource Center - Free tips, advice and resources to help you get your dream career

DirectoryEmployment.com - A Comprehensive Career and Employment Web Directory

UK essay and dissertation Service - UK based personalised degree essay and dissertations service provider offers custom law essays, custom marketing essays and other custom essays written and delivered by qualified academic research writers worldwide.

Online Degree Programs - Optional description: DegreeUSA.com provides online degree programs.

Dissertations - Dissertation Abstracts, UK University Dissertations and Dissertation Topics – We are Your Source for Dissertation Abstracts Online

EF Education - EF offers study abroad and cultural exchange programs for all ages worldwide

Sprachreise Australien -Mochten Sie Sonne, Meer und Sand um zu entspannen wahrend Sie English lernen? Ein Sprachreise nach Australien ist die Antwort!

Edu411.org - Boost Your Career With Education

Research Papers - The research experts at EssayTown.com can write research papers, college thesis papers, essays, dissertations, book reports, and term papers for students on all school topics.

Essays By Experts -Welcome to Essayexperts.net

Business Management Schools - Directory of online and campus-based schools with business degree programs.

Elib Directory : Education in Europe :Education, School and more

Education Whiz - Education Whiz - A guide to finding your perfect accredited online and campus degree. With over 200 schools listed, there are over a 2000 online and campus degree programs available for you to choose from.

Federal Student Loan Consolidation

Get Unique Gift Ideas - Buy Unique Gifts - Buy Gifts, Play Free Online Games, Chat with Friends and More at GiftCat!

GRE CAT: GRE Prep Course and Free GRE Test - Offer GRE CAT test preparation technique, online GRE prep course, and downloadable free GRE sample questions.

GMAT CAT: GMAT Prep Course and Free GMAT Test - Offer GMAT CAT test preparation technique, online GMAT prep course, and downloadable free GMAT sample questions.

Guatemala Tourist & Language School Office - Learn Spanish in Antigua, volunteer and/or travel in Guatemala.

MBA Programs - International MBA Progam Directory

Study Abroad in Summer - GSE offers short term, quarter, semester, and year-long study abroad programs in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Florence, Berlin, and London.

Human Resource Degree Programs - Directory of schools with human resource degree and certification programs.

Design - Interior Design Courses - Design Information, News, Useful Tips and Design Examples

Tuition Agency London - London Home Tutors is a professional private tuition agency based in the London area with well experienced, qualified & highly educated teachers

InternationalStudent.com - The Premier International Student Exchange and Study Abroad center online.

International Jobs - Job search at international organizations.

High School Diploma - At James Madison High School, you can earn a high school diploma anywhere, anytime, in distance learning courses that let you study at home.

Education: Online Degrees and Campus Colleges - Just-Linda.com - Find details on online programs and online degrees from online colleges and universities as well as campus colleges, career, specialty, technical, trade and vocational schools, and junior colleges in the US and Canada.

Online High School - JMHS online education offers an easy way to earn your high school diploma with a full high school curriculum, included single courses for those who home school.

Just-Education - Provides a guide to higher education programs, degrees, and courses. Find online and campus schools, colleges, and universities sorted by states and topics.

Law Essays UK - Law Essays UK offers custom law essays and law model answers including company law essay, contract law essays, adminstrative law essays, EU law essays, BVC model answers, land law essays, public law essays.

Loan And Student - College loans for students with customized loan services for an effective, fast, cheap college loans. Loans include private loans, stafford or federal stafford, plus and loan consolidations.

Translation Industry Career Guide -Lingo24 would like more graduates to enter translation and the language services industry in general, and to this end has created a career guide to translation for languages graduates.

Louisiana State University - Louisianastateuniversity.info contain the information about all colleges in lousiana

Mba Blog - The comprehensive Mba web directory. The online Mba directory designed to help its users find the Mba information.

GRE GMAT LSAT Test Prep Course, Personal Statement and MBA Essay Editing - Access over 800 free GMAT GRE LSAT practice questions and downloadable prep courses, or sign up for admission essays editing for business school, law school and other graduate schools.

Graduate School of Ashworth College - Provides you an opportunity to earn a masters degree program in a specialized career-focused curriculum to prepare for a successful career.

Publish Your Resume Online - Publish your resume online and have your own web page. Offering resume writing tips and examples.

Maths Practice Primary and Elementary School Educational Software - Young Einstein Mathematics educational maths software by Maths Practice P/L. Ideal for tutoring, classroom or home use. The educational software range covers a large portion of the maths curriculum K-8 and has over 300 different activities that can be configured for various difficulty levels.

GMAT Prep - GMAT information, preparation, classes, reviews and tutoring from the world's largest GMAT-exclusive preparation provider.

Medical School Directory

www.netlingo.com - NetLingo is an Internet Dictionary with thousands of terms about the online world of business, technology & communication.

NY Document Scanning Services NJ Document Imaging - Affordable pdf ocr services, large format blueprint scanning, cad conversion, cad drafting, raster to vector service. New York NY-New Jersey NJ-Philadelphia PA-LA Orange County CA California offices.

Filosofie, Sociologie, Management Theorie, Methoden, Technieken Books - A portal selling books on management Filosofie, sychologie,Psychotherapie Sociologie, Gespreksvoering, Groepsontwikkeling, Teamontwikkeling, Orthopedagogiek Pedagogiek and more

Photography Course - The world renowned photography school of NYIP, provides photography courses to students for a bright career in photography.

Online Education Search - Online Education Search - Browse Top Colleges for Online Educations

Online Degrees and Scholarships - Online Degrees and Scholarships

Organizational Culture Center - To educate current and emerging leaders on issues related to Organizational Culture with the release of Making Culture Pay Training Series.

Online Universities - Earn your degree online from wide range of online universities.

Online Bachelor Degree Information - Online Bachelor Degree offers information, which is useful to visitors looking for a school offering online bachelor degrees.

Online Degree Programs | Online Education - Advance your career with an online degree. Browse this site to find the top schools offering online degrees in fields like Business, Marketing, Technology, Management, Design, Education, Psychology, Nursing, Paralegal and more.

Online Degrees & Online Degree Programs - Online Degrees SchoolSearch provides access to a wide selection of online degree programs and the information necessary to determine, which school is right for you.

Photography Schools and Colleges - Directory of photography schools and colleges.

College textbooks - Discount college books and textbook buyback process at Phatcampus online college bookstore.

Questions With Answers - Get Answers for your Questions - Earth Our Planet, Science And Space, Plants And Animals, Our Body, People And Places, History, Earth Sciences, Atmosphere, Geology, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Botany, Zoology, Health And Medicine, Physical Sciences, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, General, Applied Science and Technology.

IIT JEE Coaching, IIT Coaching Kota, IIT JEE Preparation - At Resonance,the students learn to practice and to be subject experts. They learn to master and to take a broad perspective; to solve problems and to seize tomorrow's opportunities

College Directory - An online university which offers online degrees and information on all U.S. Universities and other colleges.

SAT Course - Our team has developed an online SAT training course that is not only entirely at no cost to you, but is easy to use.

Spanish Courses - Learn spanish at one of our spanish language schools.

Students - Tips For Students

Sanford-Brown Institute - Atlanta - The Sanford-Brown Institute, founded in 1977, is a private, career-focused learning institution. We bring highly focused, quality, short-term programs in a variety of healthcare fields straight to you.

Spanish Language - GLearn Spanish free with interactive, on-line, language lessons

Interior Design Course - Complete interior design courses from Sheffield School with a combination of lessons, audio and video programs, and design projects.

India 1 Education Guide Portal - India 1 Education Guide Portal

Student Loans & Student Loan Consolidation - ScholarPoint Financial is the most trusted resource for student loans, federal student loan consolidation, college loans, education loans and student loan refinancing

Online Education at Study-Online.net - Provides information about online degrees & courses, colleges & universities. You can find the program you need, register, and earn your degree from the convenience of your home or office.

Scholarships

Athletic Scholarships - one of the leading athletic scholarship services in 29 sports

Student Success Manifesto - Are you a student who wants to succeed? Read The Student Success Manifesto by best-selling author Michael Simmons and create a life of passion, purpose, and prosperity.

Study AbroadStudy Abroad Resource Page - Study Abroad Program, Study Abroad, Study Abroad Scholarship, High School Study Abroad

Teen Private SchoolsHelping Parents to choose the best of private schools for teens considering all the related factors.

Thomson Learning World Class AsiaYour number one choice for an English language distance learning education. Choose from a wide range of high-quality courses that offer the internationally recognized education you want.

Thomson Learning World Class Asia - IndiaYour number one choice for an English language distance learning education. Choose from a wide range of high-quality courses that offer the internationally recognized education you want.

English Language Schools - Find quality English language schools at The English Language web directory.

Teacher Certification Schools - Directory of schools that offer educational programs for new and current teachers.

TEFL.NETbecause you teach English

Term Papers -Professional essay writing and research assistance

Science Fair Project Ideas - Provides grade school students with science fair project ideas.

TranslatorsIf you are looking for professional translators, then you are in the right place. We will offer you full-range of translation services for all your localization needs in over 100 languages: document translation, website globalization, software localization and more!

TOEFL Test Preparation - Prepare for the TOEFL test with The TEST PREP Team in Vancouver, Canada.

Tests Resources - Everything you ever needed to know about Tests! FREE Resource site all about Tests. Hundreds of articles, links, newsletters and it's all FREE!

World Universities - Online University and College directory. Find universities or colleges by browsing countries.

Degree Essays UK - Custom Essays - Degree Essays UK - Custom Essays

THE resource for University College !THE resource for University College !

- Westwood College OnlinePut your creativity to work with an interior design degree from Westwood College. Students learn the fundaments of design from both a technical and creative perspective. Choose Westwood today!

Education Directory

York University - York University is influenced by the groundwork of an interdisciplinary thinking where both students and faculty are motivated to hit the boundaries of change

Technology predictions for 2010

With solid product introductions ranging from the iPhone 3GS to Windows 7, 2009 was a good year for technology.

2010 appears poised to build on the strength of trends already in place: greater mobility, a heightened awareness of data security, and web-enabled products and applications that focus on collaboration and interoperability. Here’s a taste of what’s in store.

Smartphones over netbooks

Netbook sales took off over the past few years, and for good reason: these tiny, light computers were tailor-made for the mobile user who increasingly performed most office—related activity online.

Netbooks provide some of the convenience and functionality of a full-fledged notebook while weighing less than half of even the lightest units and boasting battery life that can in some cases take you through an entire day without recharging.

But many netbook users quickly bump up against the limitations built in to this form factor. Screens are cramped, and processors are barely adequate for running Windows. In addition, a notebook computer - even if tiny and lightweight - is still a notebook computer, requiring you to stash it, and the inevitable accessories, in some bag that you have to carry around with you.

As smart phones get smarter and more capable, though, many are finding that they provide a reasonable - and in some cases even preferable - alternative to the netbook. Expect that trend to pick up steam in 2010. Surf the web on a smartphone? No problem. Send and receive e-mail? No problem? Put a smartphone in your pocket? Of course. Smartphones vs. netbook? Unless netbooks start offering much more, expect smartphones to get the nod in 2010.

Apple energises e-books

By now, no one underestimates Apple’s ability to transform markets with innovative products. The iPod, iPhone, and MacBook are all trend-setters that come to represent the cream-of-the-crop in their respective segments and quickly inspire legions of imitators.

Apple’s forthcoming tablet computer, rumoured to be called iTablet, appears destined to follow suit in 2010. Apple is expected to unveil the new device early in the year. Supposedly larger than an iPhone but smaller than a laptop, the thin iTablet can reportedly be used to read e-books, surf the web, play games, and even watch television - all wirelessly.

Apple has been working for some time with selected publishers to port their publications to the new device. When released, the iTablet could shake up not just the computer industry but the publishing industry as well.

Home servers make it home

It’s not often that anyone accuses staid old Microsoft of being ahead of the technology curve, but in the case of its Windows Home Server (WHS) product, released a couple of years ago, that case could easily be made. Windows Home Server is designed to back up your home computers, stream music and video throughout your home, and provide an online gateway to your home computers so that you can access them - and their data - while you’re on the road.

When WHS was first introduced, few saw the imperative of having such a device. Now though, with households regularly having multiple computers and the prospect of data loss being more critical than ever, a home server of some kind has become a necessity for many. In 2010, expect more people to realise that while the majority of their technology gets smaller and more portable, a data storage and backup box of some kind is a vital component of an increasingly digital lifestyle.

You enter the cloud

Cloud computing - which essentially amounts to saving, storing, and retrieving your documents and files online - is still struggling for widespread adoption, despite the emergence of very capable cloud computing applications such as Google Docs http://docs.google.com.

There are also some compelling benefits of cloud computing: backups become a non-issue, and you’ll have access to your files from any computer, so long as it has an Internet connection.

But cloud computing also means trusting a third-party with your data, and it means that you won’t have access to your files if your Internet connection goes down for any reason, so there’s almost built in resistance to the concept.

Still, adoption of cloud computing is likely to get a boost in 2010, due in part to the introduction of Microsoft’s Office 2010, which offers customers the option of using lightweight browser-based versions of its popular office productivity applications.

You won’t even have to purchase Office 2010 to be able to use the cloud counterparts of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, however. Microsoft has said that anyone who signs up for a free Windows Live account will be able to use the online versions of these products. That should increase the comfort level of millions of currently desktop-bound application users and add momentum to what will undoubtedly be a fixture of computing in the future.

Emergence of Web 3.0

Web 2.0 is all about social networking, community building, and the empowerment of the individual information creator. We’ve seen what that can do through sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

We’ve also seen the limitations of this model, chiefly in the degree to which such megasites create data silos that require users to hop from one to the other in the course of gathering information.

2010 will see the emergence of Web 3.0, the chief goals of which will be to link these vast resources, open up architectures and create hooks so that web developers - and users - can access data from multiple sources using a single interface.

Google is already venturing into this territory by providing real-time search tools that mine information on social networking sites, and a growing number of Web 2.0 sites today are not only acknowledging the existence of other web-based communities and their data but openly providing users with a way to link resources.

Ultimately Web 3.0 applications will allow us to do away with the mountain of user IDs and passwords that we need for today’s web in favour of helping us mine the information we need with a minimum of surfing. And by almost any standard, that represents progress.

‘Google plans launch of online business software store ’

Internet giant Google Inc is planning to launch a store for selling online business software, a media report says.

Attributing to people briefed by the company, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) stated, “Google Inc is preparing to launch a store selling online business software that integrates with its Web services, enlisting software developers in its battle against Microsoft Corp.”

The people in knowledge of the development said the store would sell business software designed by outside developers to integrate and add capabilities to Google Apps, such as enhanced security features or the ability to import contacts.

Google Apps provides web-based e-mail, word-processing and spreadsheet functions.

“Google could announce the new store - a revamped version of its Solutions Marketplace site that features third-party programmes - as soon as March,” the report said.

Google eventually plans to allow customers to purchase its partners’ software through the site, taking a cut for itself and sharing some revenue with developers, WSJ attributed the report as saying.

Moreover, Google would allow users to quickly access their purchased applications through the menu at the top of their screens within Gmail or Google Docs, it added.

According to Google, more than two million businesses are using the paid or free version of Google Apps.

When You Think the Strategy is Wrong

Chances are that at some point in your career you've been asked to implement a strategy that was developed by someone other than yourself. A manager's job is to implement that strategy, and to be sure that her team, unit, or department executes well. But what if you believe the strategy you've been asked to implement is flawed? Perhaps you think the strategy won't achieve the intended result, or worse, that it will put the company at risk. Regardless of the severity of your concern, you have an obligation to speak up. However, immediately pulling the strategy fire alarm isn't always useful, and may brand you as an alarmist. It's important to find ways to express your concerns productively. By acting cautiously and thoughtfully, you can make your concerns heard while perhaps saving your team — or the company — time, energy, and money.

What the Experts Say
Strategy development is a difficult, time-intensive, and often messy process. The end result is never perfect. However, as a good citizen in any organization, you have an obligation to act if you see something wrong with your organization's strategy. Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and author ofBecoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership, says, "Anyone with a deep commitment to the organization owes it to that organization to ask questions and clear up confusions." However, you need to proceed cautiously. Don Sull, Professor of Management Practice in Strategic and International Management, the Faculty Director of Executive Education at the London Business School, and author of The Upside of Turbulence, cautions, "Saying 'this is stupid and wrong' isn't helpful." Before you cry "wrong strategy," follow these three steps to understand what is truly at stake and explore your motivations.

1. Diagnose: Understand the Full Picture
An organization's strategy is often steeped in complex political issues. Before you speak up, try to understand the situation in which the strategy was developed. As Gary Neilson, a Senior Partner at Booz & Company and co-author of Results: Keep What's Good, Fix What's Wrong, and Unlock Great Performance points out, "Too many people view themselves as a self appointed strategist for the company." Don't assume you know how or why the strategy was developed. Use your network to find out more about the process and the assumptions used. According to Hill, a good network will return useful information and advice if it includes a diverse set of people who have differing perspectives — what Hill calls, "a personal board of directors." Send out feelers to get more background about what went into the strategy and what its intended purpose is. Try to understand what problem the company's leaders are trying to solve with the current strategy or if there is a shift in priorities that you don't know about. Gaining a perspective on what went into the strategy can help you to reflect on what is underlying your concerns.

2. Reflect: Contextualize Your Concerns
When it comes to strategy, right or wrong is in the eye of the beholder. Sull points out that a "good enough strategy excellently implemented will trump a perfect strategy lukewarmly implemented nine times out of ten." Because no strategy is infallible, it's likely that there are things you feel should be different, but these things don't necessarily require you to cause a mutiny. Neilson urges that concerned employees ask themselves, "Is it that you would have expected a different direction or do you believe that the analysis, facts, or process that the company used [were] flawed?" It's your job to understand what about your unease is critical to raise and what is simply the result of a difference of opinion.

It's also important to ask yourself if you are using your objections as a reason not to do something difficult. Sull says, "Middle managers may use imperfect strategy as an excuse not to take initiative." It may be that your unease is rooted in your resistance to change or resentment about not being included in the strategy development process. It's better to know the true source of your concerns before speaking up. After you've done your research and reflected on your true motivations, if your concerns remain, it's time to verbalize them.

3. Speak Up: Proceed Carefully 
You should start by going to your direct manager to share your apprehensions. Your manager may or may not have been involved in the development of the strategy, but hopefully she will know more about the background. This is a conversation that should happen in private (see Linda Hill's experience in Case Study #2 below). Take an inquiry stance, asking questions and enlisting your manager's help in understanding why this is the strategy the company has chosen. You can use questions such as, "What are the assumptions behind the strategy?," "Could you explain to me why this particular piece is important?," or "What scope do we have to adjust the strategy to the realities of the local market?"

It is important when sharing your concerns that you provide data that supports why you're raising questions in the first place. If you've done your research, you should have this information at the ready. You can make this conversation more successful by proposing alternative solutions that would help mitigate the risks you see. Be sure that you don't accuse your manager or hold her responsible. You should make clear that you are not questioning her authority but trying to better understand the strategy you've been asked to implement.

When to let it go — and when not to
After taking the above steps, if your concerns have been shrugged off or disputed, you may need to choose your battles. "Skepticism is hugely helpful in organizations but bloody-minded obstinacy is not," Sull says. People have very little respect for someone who ruthlessly fights over imperfections. You may have to trust your boss or other superiors especially because there may be issues they are not at liberty to disclose. "In those cases, you may want to say, 'If you truly think this is the right direction, I will do it,'" Hill suggests.

Sull points out that there are rare cases where the strategy is putting the company at such risk that you may want to consider leaving. These are cases where there are ethical concerns or the company may fail if the strategy is pursued in its current form. If faced with a strategy that is severely flawed or that you just can't comfortably support, you may want to consider quitting. "If she believes there were fact-based errors, such as the strategy choice was just a negotiated settlement between two warring executives who feared losing turf, then the manager should ask whether she should really stay at the company for her own benefit and the company's" says Neilson. If you do leave, don't bury your concerns. Write a letter to the CEO, no matter where you are in the organization, explaining your decision and the risks you see in the strategy.

Principles to Remember

Do:

• Understand the root cause of your concerns
• Research the inputs and assumptions underlying the strategy
• Express your concerns to your immediate boss first

Don't:

• Insist that your concerns be heeded
• Assume you know the assumptions or reasoning behind the strategy
• Question the strategy in a public setting

Case Study #1: When the competitive advantage is a disadvantage
In 2005, Laura Casela (some details, including her name, have been changed) joined a strategic communications firm started by two former consulting colleagues of hers. Laura was brought in as the Director of Business Development to help grow the year-old firm. Laura was excited about her new role and about the company's future. The firm was founded on a unique premise. Most communications firms rely on freelance writers to do a lot of their work and clients have little knowledge about who these writers are. Laura's colleagues decided to change that by hiring stay-at-home moms who had left the industry to have more time with their families; they felt this was an untapped and experienced resource and if leveraged appropriately, could be a competitive advantage for the young firm. They built their brand around this hiring approach and had success with it in their first year in the market.

However, soon after taking the job, Laura discovered that the leads she was pursuing were not turning over. She was able to capture referrals but when new leads went to the website, they seemed to lose interest. She asked a few would-be clients what turned them away and they explained they weren't looking for a business of stay-at-home moms. Many said it just didn't feel like "a right fit." Laura realized that "clients wanted the best writers they could get and they were hiring a communications firm to do the hiring for them. They didn't care who did the work, as long as the work was great." Laura was conflicted; she believed in the brand and like the founders, thought it would help them stand out in the crowded New York market. But the evidence showed something different. Laura shared what she learned with her colleagues and explained that despite how much she believed in the principle, this was an angle they should drop. The founders were surprised; but they were open to what Laura had to say, primarily because of the evidence she provided, including client feedback and emails. Laura's speaking up had a huge impact and the firm's founders, together with Laura, are now working with a strategy consultant to rethink their branding.

Turkish India Cooperation Platform

Interactive session with Indian technocrats

To build a more intense economic relationship and establish greater linkages with Indian businesses across sectors


Event Description:
he diplomatic relations between India and Turkey were established 50 years ago, since than, the two have shared common values including commitment to secularism and democratic principles. The bilateral trade between our countries has touched US $ 3.4 billion for the year 2007-08, registering a phenomenal growth of 106.84 % as compared to previous year.
The economy of Turkey is largely dominated by modern industries and services sector. The country is among the world's leading producers of agricultural products, textiles, motor vehicles, ships and other transportation equipment. Consumer electronics and home appliances also contribute considerably to the trade. Though, in recent years, the Turkish private sector has scaled rapidly, the Government still plays a major role in areas such as, banking, transportation, and communications.


Date and Venue:
Start Date:Feb 11, 2010 
Venue: Hotel Trident,, Regal Room-I, Mumbai Maharashtra India


Contacts: 
Pankaj Jain
[Executive Officer ]
Confederation of Indian Industry
Western Region Headquarters
CII Western Regional Headquarters
105, Kakad Chambers1st Floor
132 Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli
Mumbai-400018
Maharashtra
India
Phone : 91-22-24931790, 24930565, 4930287
Fax :91-22-24939463
Email : pankaj.jain@cii.in

Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results

Most companies have massive amounts of data at their disposal, yet fail to utilize it in any meaningful way. But a powerful new business tool - analytics - is enabling many firms to aggressively leverage their data in key business decisions and processes, with impressive results. In their previous book, Competing on Analytics, Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris showed how pioneering firms were building their entire strategies around their analytical capabilities. Rather than "going with the gut" when pricing products, maintaining inventory, or hiring talent, managers in these firms use data, analysis, and systematic reasoning to make decisions that improve efficiency, risk-management, and profits. Now, in Analytics at Work, Davenport, Harris, and coauthor Robert Morison reveal how any manager can effectively deploy analytics in day-to-day operations--one business decision at a time. 

They show how many types of analytical tools, from statistical analysis to qualitative measures like systematic behavior coding, can improve decisions about everything from what new product offering might interest customers to whether marketing dollars are being most effectively deployed. Based on all-new research and illustrated with examples from companies including Humana, Best Buy, Progressive Insurance, and Hotels.com, this implementation-focused guide outlines the five-step DELTA model for deploying and succeeding with analytical initiatives. You'll learn how to: Use data more effectively and glean valuable analytical insights Manage and coordinate data, people, and technology at an enterprise level Understand and support what analytical leaders do Evaluate and choose realistic targets for analytical activity Recruit, hire, and manage analysts Combining the science of quantitative analysis with the art of sound reasoning, Analytics at Work provides a road map and tools for unleashing the potential burie.


Source : Harvard Business Review 

The Decade in Management Ideas : Harvard Business IdeaCast

1. Shareholder Value as a Strategy. The notion of producing attractive returns for investors is as old as investing, but this was a decade when the pursuit of shareholder value eclipsed too much else. Increasingly sophisticated tools and metrics for value-based managementpushed the consideration of stock price effects deep into operational decision-making, and made sure everything pointed toward bonus day. By 2009, even the man most known for focusing on value was saying it was adumb idea. "Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy," Jack Welch proclaimed. "Your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products."
2. IT as a Utility. The current mania for cloud computing is the latest step in a long process by which enterprises have dispensed with their proprietary glass houses and begun buying computing capabilities as services. One impetus was the Y2K scare, which forced attention onto those onerous legacy systems as the new millennium dawned.
3. The Customer Chorus. Through a range of technical and social developments, customers' voices grew louder (whether collectively in ratings systems like Amazon's, or individually through viral kvetches like Dave Carroll's "United Breaks Guitars") and companies found ways to listen. It's a true megatrend: the steps along the way have felt gradual and natural, but collectively they change everything.
4. Enterprise Risk Management. Sounds crazy right now to say that the last decade was notable for risk management. But especially after 9/11, companies saw the sense of bringing the many and various pockets of it under the same umbrella. Newly empowered chief risk officers looked for trouble spots on a landscape ranging from financial hedging to pirates on the open sea.
5. The Creative Organization. The decade saw a general revolution in the way many organizations came to view their source of competitive advantage, and a commitment to finding ways to produce creative output more reliably. Even before they embraced "design thinking," managers were encouraging collaboration, drawing on diverse perspectives, and engaging whole workforces in "ideation."
6. Open Source. Purist geeks will be quick to point out that the term open source and some very substantial achievements came in the late 1990s, but here we pay homage to the spread of that model beyond software code. Was it only in 2001 that Wikipedia was born? And how many things have been wiki'ed since?
7. Going Private. Cheap debt reignited the LBO scene just as post-Enron reforms created real disincentives to operate as a public company. As the decade wore on, private equity's playbookfor turning around businesses was increasingly held up as best-practice management. Now, ideas like, ahem, leveraging up don't seem so wise, but private equity's devotion to strategic focus and demanding governance might endure.
8. Behavioral Economics. Okay, by now, you're all shouting "that's definitely older than 10 years" and you're right. But talk about a set of ideas whose time has come. In the prior decade, can you remember when someone with Steven Levitt's profile had a breakout bestseller? Or when someone modifying the word economist with "rogue" (or "rock star") could keep a straight face?
9. High Potentials. Consulting firms and other deeply knowledge-based businesses knew this all along, but in the past decade the rest of the corporate world woke up to the fact that some managers are more equal than others. Formal programs were established to identify, cultivate, and retain "hi-po's". Executive coaching, a perk often provided for the anointed, experienced explosive growth as an industry.
10. Competing on Analytics. Decades of investment in systems capturing transactions and feedback finally yielded a toolkit for turning all that data into intelligence. Operations research types, long consigned to engineering realms like manufacturing scheduling, got involved in marketing decisions. Managers started learning from experiments that were worthy of the name.
11. Reverse Innovation. The bigger story here is the maturation of the concept of globalization, particularly with regard to emerging economies. Most big corporations in 2000 saw them primarily as a source of natural resources and, increasingly, cheap labor. Then, as rising employment fueled the development of middle classes, cities in India and China came to represent valuable markets. Now, these non-US consumers are coming to the foreground. Firms like GE and Microsoft are doing R&D in emerging markets, optimizing on those preferences and constraints, and then bringing the results back home.
12. Sustainability. More than anything, the first ten years of the 21st century will be remembered as the decade that businesses went green — if only in their marketing to a public highly attuned to Al Gore's inconvenient truth. We're not cynical on this point, however. The efforts we see by companies large and small to reduce their carbon footprints and other environmental impacts are sincere and effective, as far as they go. But ten years from now, as we revisit this exercise, forgive us if we declare 2010-2020 to be the decade of sustainability. "The idea was in the air before 2010," we can picture ourselves writing. "But this was the decade when it really took hold."

Source : By Julia Kirby from Harvard Business Review blog. 

Google's Plan For Buzz

Google's new social media platform for information sharing, Google Buzz, is clearly a response to the runaway growth of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Even more, however, Buzz is about increasing the strength and effectiveness of other Google products, by adding what it gets from observing and organizing this social knowledge.

Buzz, unveiled Tuesday, is a service based in Google's (GOOG - news - people ) Gmail that lets you share status updates and links to other media, like videos, news stories and photos, with friends and colleagues. There are settings to share things with the world or with select groups. There is also a mobile version of the service that seeks to tie activities and updates to the phone user's location.

At first pass, that sounds a bit like sharing links and videos on Facebook, or managing lists of people one follows on Twitter. Google, however, has a very different core business from those other companies'  information organization, particularly on the Web. What Google gets from Buzz is a new means of organization, one that should make Google an even more useful part of life--with the not-incidental effect of improving its ability to sell advertising on its search results and mail.

By watching what people upload or who they follow, for example, Google can move towards a more personalized Web search inside the Gmail application. That would make Gmail a more attractive service to have on all the time, for both communication and Web search.

Likewise, status updates on mobile can add to Google's knowledge about who does what when, which can affect the sorts of buildings and businesses it identifies on Google Maps. If Buzz has broad uptake and collects enough opinions, it could serve as a competitor not just to Facebook and Twitter for status updates, but for review sites like Yelp.

Google plans to make Buzz part of its fast-growing offerings to business as well. In this case, a corporate user might choose to follow the updates from a key manager inside the company, or a corporate division in a related field. Top management can float ideas to generate rapid feedback from highly regarded executives and partners worldwide.

Doubtless, much of the tech punditry will agonize over whether Google is doing anything really new here, or just executing its own version of an existing product. Being a creature of Silicon Valley, it's a big deal to Google to be considered a "thought leader" and not a follower.

World’s Fastest Internet Connections

Asia’s Internet speed is not surprising news, but the details of this recent report on the Internet by Akamai show how much Asia and South Korea dominate the world of high speed Internet. Korea is also increasing the average national Internet speed at the fastest pace of any country in the world.

Korea, Japan and Hong Kong have the world’s fastest connections

Although South Korea continued to hold the top spot  as the country with the highest average measured connection speed at 14.6 Mbps, its fastest city (Masan) was ranked fifth among Asian cities, at approximately 1.2x the country average. South Korea, unsurprisingly, has six of the top 10 fastest cities in Asia, all with average speeds above 15 Mbps.

As compared to the second quarter of 2009, South Korea saw a shift in the distribution of connections to higher speed buckets, with the 5-10 Mbps bucket declining from 35% to 29%, while the higher speed buckets all saw increases, with more than 10% of connections once again being made to Akamai at speeds greater than 25 Mbps.
The increased percentages of extremely high speed connections are in line with South Korea’s third quarter growth in both average measured connection speed and high broadband adoption rates.
While having a high broadband adoption rate that approaches just half of South Korea’s, Hong Kong has the second highest levels of extremely high speed connectivity among the top 10 countries, with more than 2.5% of connections to Akamai at speeds between 20-25 Mbps, and more than 5% at speeds in excess of 25 Mbps. The distribution of connection speeds above 5 Mbps remained fairly flat in the United States between the second and third quarters, and the United States remained #12 globally for this metric.

Source : Forbes 

World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland - 2010

Who will participate: 

Participation in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is by invitation only and strictly limited to the criteria and quota of each stakeholder group.

Of the 2500 participants at the Annual Meeting, more than half come from the business sector. With over 900 chief executives from our Strategic, Industry, Regional Partners and Global Growth Company Partners, they represent the world’s foremost global corporations in the following sectors: Basic Industries, Consumer, Financial Institutions, Information Technology, Electronics & Telecommunications, Mobility, Energy, Health, Media, and Professional Services.

The non-business participants include:• Government representatives of the world’s top 25 economies and fast-growing small countries, including heads of state and government, ministers of finance and economy, and ministers of foreign affairs as well as governors and mayors of the world’s top regions and cities.
• Civil Society leaders from international NGOs, trade union leaders, religious and faith community leaders, cultural and sports leaders.
• Thought Leaders related to the foremost challenges on the global agenda, heads of the Forum’s Global Agenda Councils.
• Academia: presidents of the world’s top universities, leaders of the world’s top think tanks, and experts related to particular issues in the programme
• Media: publishers, editors-in-chief, top columnists and economic editors

Other stakeholders include:
• Young Global Leaders from the Forum’s Community of Young Global Leaders, representing the voice of the future.
• CEOs of companies whose technologies are changing business models represented by the Forum’s Community of Technology Pioneers.
• Social Entrepreneurs from the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
• Trade Union leaders
• Reporting press

Annual Meeting History Timeline: 

2009
• In association with Qatar, Singapore and Switzerland, the World Economic Forum initiates a global, multistakeholder dialogue on a wider global cooperation system. The aim is to examine ways of improving global governance to meet a changing international reality.
• World leaders at the Annual Meeting 2009 celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UN’s Global Compact, which was launched at the Annual Meeting in 1999.
• The Annual Meeting 2009 provides a global platform for four heads of government from the G8 (Germany, Japan, Russia and United Kingdom) as well as from China and from G20 members in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to help the international community explore the origins of the financial crisis and to begin work on solutions based on a common understanding of the situation.

2008 • At the Annual Meeting 2008, the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveils a five-year, US$ 10 billion fund to support efforts in developing countries to combat global warming. At the same Meeting, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces a US$ 306 million package of agricultural development grants.

2006
• The Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis (2006-2015) is launched by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Bill Gates at the Annual Meeting 2006. The project – a coalition of over 400 organizations – aims to treat 50 million people and prevent 14 million tuberculosis deaths worldwide over 10 years.

Corporate Global CitizenshipImproving the state of the world through business’s engagement in partnerships that address key global societal challenges

Corporate Global Citizenship is anchored in the mission of the World Economic Forum.  We believe that corporate global citizenship is fundamentally in the enlightened self-interest of global corporations since their growth, prosperity and sustainability is dependent on the state of the global political, economic, environmental and social landscape.  The license to operate in a global market and to make profits entails a responsibility of being engaged in society.

Source: Pls click here for complete details.