THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Performance

“Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best. ” - Anonymous

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Why Use An LCD Enclosure In A Factory

One important part of any factory information collection solution is an LCD enclosure, these protect the expensive electronic devices from dust and fluids that are deployed in factories.
One thing is for sure if you have ever toured a factory you will know that there is a fair amount of dirt and this is why the data systems that are used on the shop floor are accommodated in computer enclosures, these protect them to NEMA 4 and IP65, now with the evolution of technology, big format TVs are being configured in factory environ

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Marketing calculator : measuring and managing return on marketing investment / Guy R. Powell

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Optimist

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Optimists Get Jobs More Easily — and Get Promoted More, Researchers Find

Recent research finds evidence that optimism pays off in job hunting and promotions.

Researchers Ron Kaniel (Fuqua School of Business, Duke), Cade Massey (Yale School of Management) and David T. Robinson (Fuqua School) studied the effect of an optimistic disposition on MBA students’ job searches and then promotions in the two years after they graduated.

The bottom line? Optimists fared better than their less-optimistic peers in some important ways, the researchers report in a recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper. For one thing, the optimistically inclined MBA students found comparable jobs to their peers — but found them more easily, with less-intensive job searches. Even better, two years after graduation, the optimists were...

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Leadership

“In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock. ”
- T. Jefferson

TOPIC OF THE DAY

How to Recognize (and Cure) Your Own Hubris

Confidence is an attribute that every leader needs to embrace and to foster in others. But when confidence goes too far, it can become hubris.

Overdosing on confidence is easy to do. Jim Collins writes about the organizational side of hubris in his latest book, How the Mighty Fall. Stage 1 of organizational failure is "hubris born of success." It "sets in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place."

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Marketing calculator : measuring and managing return on marketing investment / Guy R. Powell

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Change

“The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. ”- George Bernard Shaw


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Seven Truths about Change to Lead By and Live By

I call these the Change Agent Bumper Stickers. Here are seven universal sayings that can comfort and guide anyone engaged in the effort of setting a new direction, orchestrating innovation, establishing a culture, or changing behavior.

"Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done by me." I coined this truth in my book The Change Masters, which compared innovation-friendly and innovation-stifling corporate cultures, and then saw it in operation in personal relationships, too. Resistance is always greatest when change is inflicted on people without their involvement, making the change effort feel oppressive or constraining. If it is possible to tie change to things people already want, and give them a chance to act on their own goals and aspirations, then it is met with more enthusiasm and commitment. In fact, they then seek innovation on their own.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Marketing calculator : measuring and managing return on marketing investment / Guy R. Powell

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Assertiveness

“Assertiveness is not what you do, it's who you are!”- Cal Le Mon

TOPIC OF THE DAY

The Delicate Art of Being Perfectly Assertive

One area where self-awareness is particularly hard to gain has to do with one's level of assertiveness. Bosses often can't tell when they're pushing people too hard versus not challenging them sufficiently. But as research conducted at Columbia University by Daniel Ames and Frank Flynn suggests (see this pdf), striking the right balance between being too assertive and not assertive enough is immensely important to being (and being perceived as) a great boss.

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Marketing calculator : measuring and managing return on marketing investment / Guy R. Powell

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Benefits

“Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.”- Benjamin Franklin


TOPIC OF THE DAY

The Benefits of Documentation

As a practitioner and supporter of Agile and Lean, I am a strong believer in doing things for a reason and only those things that add value. So when it comes to documentation, many with basic exposure to Agile may think that the methodology means that project documentation is not created. Instead, it should be more about creating meaningful plans and if that means documentation, then it should also add value and be the proper amount. I do not believe in producing documentation (unless the contract specifically requires certain documents) for the sake of documentation. While many technical individuals balk at the thought and mention of documentation, I personally see some real benefits. Below are my top thoughts on documentation:

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MARKETING RESEARCH by Sunanda Easwaran

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Guru-Mantra

“The biggest guru-mantra is: never share your secrets with anybody. It will destroy you.”- Chanakya


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Perfecting the Art of Silence in Negotiating

As Sarah wound her way past the tables and toward the stage to get her "Top Salesperson Award" at the company's annual dinner, her colleagues were mumbling about how someone with the firm only a year could have sold more than anyone else. Sarah was pleasant enough, but hardly the gregarious salesman type. When asked how, Sarah wasn't talking. What her colleagues didn't know is that was the real key to her success. Sarah was making sales by practicing the art of silence, not the art of talking.

Silence is the secret tool of power negotiators. Knowing when to listen, not talk. Using facial expressions, not your voice, to make a point. Here are five tips on how perfecting the art of silence can make you a better negotiator:


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LATEST ARRIVALS

MARKETING RESEARCH by Sunanda Easwaran

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Faith

“Faith is spiritualized imagination ”- Henry Ward Beecher

TOPIC OF THE DAY

System safety

The system safety concept calls for a risk management strategy based on identification,analysis of hazards and application of remedial controls using a systems-based approach.[1]This is different from traditional safety strategies which rely on control of conditions and causes of an accident based either on the Epidemiological analysis or as a result of investigation of individual past accidents.[2].

The concept of system safety is useful in demonstrating adequacy of technologies when difficulties are faced with probabilistic risk analysis. [3] The underlying principle is one of synergy: a whole is more than sum of its parts. Systems-based approach to safety requires the application of scientific, technical and managerial skills to hazard identification, hazard analysis, and elimination, control, or management of hazards throughout the life-cycle of a system, program, project or an activity or a product.[1] "Hazop" is one of several techniques available for identification of hazards.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development Asian Development Bank

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Ideas

“Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.” - Napoleon Hill

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Protect Your Good Idea

The best idea can still die when naysayers raise concerns, even if the concerns are meritless. Instead of trying to dodge unavoidable attacks, learn to expect the common types you'll face, and how to counter them simply and convincingly:

1. Death by delay. Adversaries may try to put off the discussion, ask for additional information, or otherwise delay a decision on your idea, thereby slowing momentum. Keep your audience focused on making a decision.

2. Confusion. Detractors often present distracting information or try to link your idea to several others in an attempt to confound people. Be clear about what your idea is and what it isn't.

3. Fear mongering. Nothing kills an idea faster than irrational anxieties. Know what fears your challengers might stir up and be prepared to allay them.

Today's Management Tip was adapted from Buy-In by John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Intelligence

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. ”- Salvador Dali

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Dealing With The Dimensions Of Diversity

When employed in the corporate world I recall vividly going through some of the first diversity training workshops put on by the company. These were all focused around the women versus men working together topic and the relevant issues which arose from that.

As things progressed the voices of individuals from the other many dimensions of diversity started to be heard and; now it is clearly acknowledged that we need to pay attention to employees from all of the dimensions Of diversity in order to craft out effective diversity strategies which lead organizations developing and maintaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development - Asian Development Bank

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Work

“The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work. ”- Michael Jackson



TOPIC OF THE DAY

Groups that Work

Groups form a basic unit of work activity throughout engineering and yet the underlying process is poorly managed. This article looks at the basics of group work and suggests ways to accelerate development.

In the beginning, God made an individual - and then he made a pair. The pair formed a group, together they begat others and thus the group grew. Unfortunately, working in a group led to friction, the group disintegrated in conflict and Caian settled in the land of Nod - there has been trouble with groups ever since.


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Agriculture, Food Security and Rural Development - Asian Development Bank

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Birth

“A man is great by deeds, not by birth.”- Chanakya

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag pronunciation (help•info) (Hindi: वीरेंद्र सेहवाग) (born 20 October 1978, in Delhi, India), affectionately known as Viru, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008,[3] subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.

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Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814
by Dominic Lieven

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Speech

“It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Guide to Persuasive Presentations

Are you preparing an important presentation? Does public speaking make your face flush and your heart race? Are you struggling to create a concise, powerful argument? Packed with practical advice on everything from structuring content to overcoming stage fright, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to master public speaking.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 by Dominic Lieven

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Communication

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Role of Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Organized Retail

Indian industries due to globalization facing lot of competition, in order to protect the business interest, every industry is trying to improve their process it could make the cheaper product with better quality. For that purpose industries are trying to redefine, reorganize and reengineering their traditional processes. More emphasis is given on the effectiveness of the whole supply chain rather than single function of the supply chain. Supply chain management is complex process of different function; involves so many issues at different levels. And many organized retail stores adopted six sigma concepts to reduce the cost, defect, cycle time reduction and to increase the customer relationship management, market growth share, productivity and product and service management.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 by Dominic Lieven

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Culture

“Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart. ”- Mohandas Gandhi

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Continuous Improvement Strategies to Build Your Desired Culture

What is involved in attaining successful improvement activities that will allow you to build and maintain your desired culture?

We all understand the need to measure results; particularly revenue, cost, productivity and budget. For the most part organizations are disciplined in developing strategies and action plans to improve these results. However, few organizations plan improvement activities based on their desired culture. Why? First, developing plans targeting financial and productivity targets can be much more tangible than culture related improvements. Second, writing a list of values is a relatively easy exercise; while implementing them takes significant effort.

We currently work with two companies that have, over time, come to truly understand what's involved in building a desired culture. One is a very young company that has a definite advantage in building their work culture, while the other has established itself through generations of owners. The established company has had to be very realistic about the amount of change accomplished each year but have, essentially, followed the same types of improvement activities as the younger company in their pursuit of creating a new culture that matches their stated values.



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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Satisfaction

“Don't just work for the money; that will bring only limited satisfaction. ”- Kathy Ireland

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Customer Satisfaction Survey

We all know customer satisfaction is essential to the survival of our businesses. How do we find out whether our customers are satisfied? The best way to find out whether your customers are satisfied is to ask them.

When you conduct a customer satisfaction survey, what you ask the customers is important. How, when , and how often you ask these questions are also important. However, the most important thing about conducting a customer satisfaction survey is what you do with their answers.


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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Self Management

“Always do right. That will gratify some of the people and astonish the rest.”- Mark Twain

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Managing Yourself: The Boss as Human Shield

William Coyne headed research and development at 3M—the company behind Ace bandages, Post-it notes, Scotch tape, and other inventions—for over a decade. Shortly after retiring, Coyne spoke to a group of hundreds of executives about innovation at 3M and his own management style. He said he’d started at 3M as a researcher and learned firsthand how well-meaning but nosy executives who proffer too many questions and suggestions can undermine creative work. So when he became head of R&D, he was determined to allow his teams to work for long stretches, unfettered by intrusions from higher-ups. Coyne understood his colleagues’ curiosity; if successful, an R&D project could generate millions in new revenue. But he limited their interference (and his own) because, he said, “After you plant a seed in the ground, you don’t dig it up every week to see how it is doing.”

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Decision making

“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”- Anonymous

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Five Ways Pixar Makes Better Decisions

I'm writing a new book with Larry Prusak and Brook Manville. If we had to name it today, we'd call it Judgment Days: How Great Organizations Make Great Decisions. It's about how organizations — rather than individuals — build their capacity for good judgment and decision making. We're going to try to show how individual decisions, made on particular "judgment days," were shaped and succeeded by activities to improve organizational judgment. We hope to describe a variety of organizations — from companies to schools to hospitals to foundations — that make consistently great decisions over time. In order to surface some of the ideas and get feedback from readers, I'm going to start blogging about the book and plan to get Larry and Brook involved in that activity.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Thinking

“Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”- Albert Einstein

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Positive thinking

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that anticipates happiness, success and favorable outcomes in every situation or action you do. The thoughts get registered in your subconscious mind and you start taking action to create favorable change.

A positive outlook can help you to cope better with stressful situations and can change your life for the better.

Why think positively?
Ever wondered why some people find learning an enjoyable and exciting experience? Why are some people disinterested and find it an unpleasant experience while others use it merely as a road to fetch a good job? The difference between these people lies in their attitude and their approach towards life. Your mindset plays a huge role in every aspect of your life.
Your mind can control your body for better or for worse. A negativemindset can mar your life while a positive mindset can make your lifehappy and peaceful. The choice is yours!


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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Education

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”- William Butler Yeats

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Business intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) refers to computer-based techniques used in
spotting,digging-out,and analyzing business data,such as sales
revenue by products and/or departments or associated costs and incomes. [1]

BI technologies provide historical, current, and predictive views of business operations.Common functions of Business Intelligence technologies are reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, data mining, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, and predictive analytics.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Teamwork

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”- Michael Jordan


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Leading Virtual Teams to Real Results

If a leader is like a conductor, as Peter Drucker said, then are virtual leaders like virtual conductors? In this video, Eric Whitacre conducts a virtual choir in a performance of "Lux Aurumque." This moving virtual symphony, a collaboration between more than 185 singers from 12 countries, has been viewed more than a million times since it was uploaded in March.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Sudoku of India's Growth by Arvind Virmani

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Communication

“Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.”- Jim Rohn


TOPIC OF THE DAY

CONVERSATION AS COMMUNICATION

Communication is best achieved through simple planning and control; this article looks at approaches which might help you to do this and specifically at meetings, where conversations need particular care.

Most conversations sort of drift along; in business, this is wasteful; as a manager, you seek communication rather than chatter. To ensure an efficient and effective conversation, there are three considerations:

• you must make your message understood
• you must receive/understand the intended message sent to you
• you should exert some control over the flow of the communication

Thus you must learn to listen as well as to speak. Those who dismis this as a mere platitude are already demonstrating an indisposition to listening: the phrase may be trite, but the message is hugely significant to your effectiveness as a manager. If you do not explicitly develop the skill of listening, you may not hear the suggestion/information which should launch you to fame and fortune.


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LATEST ARRIVALS

From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation - Rishikesha T. Krishnan

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Skill

“Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose.”- John Stossel


TOPIC OF THE DAY

The Art of Delegation

Everyone knows about delegation. Most managers hear about it in the cradle as mother talks earnestly to the baby-sitter: "just enjoy the television ... this is what you do if ... if there is any trouble call me at ..."; people have been writing about it for nearly half a millennium; yet few actually understand it.

Delegation underpins a style of management which allows your staff to use and develop their skills and knowledge to the full potential. Without delegation, you lose their full value.

As the ancient quotation above suggests, delegation is primarily about entrusting your authority to others. This means that they can act and initiate independently; and that they assume responsibility with you for certain tasks. If something goes wrong, you remain responsible since you are the manager; the trick is to delegate in such a way that things get done but do not go (badly) wrong.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation - Rishikesha T. Krishnan

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Service

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ”- Mohandas Gandhi


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Customer Service, Not Customer Servitude

You've had a hard day, with many demanding, impolite customers who think they own you. But, the final straw comes as you're just finishing listening to a customer tell you exactly, in excruciating detail, what she is looking for. As you turn around to retrieve the items for her, she says very loudly to your back, "Whoa!"
Not "excuse me", not "just a minute", just "Whoa!" As to a mule. As in a command, not a request.
This immediately irritates you and your first reaction is to have your head spin around 360 degrees and say in your best DiNiro voice, "You talkin' to ME?" But, of course you don't. You say concerned and politely either "Yes?" or "Was there something else?" with a frozen smile. But what you really feel is that you have just about had it.
So begins the attitude that serving customers is more servitude than service. Most will simply write off the negative attitudes to burnout.


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LATEST ARRIVALS

From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation - Rishikesha T. Krishnan

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Attitude

“Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.”- Ralph Marston


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Turning Around Negative Attitudes

At one time or another, organizations develop an over-abundance of "negative energy" or attitudes. Sometimes they can be linked to organizational trauma, like down-sizing, budget restraints or workload increases, but sometimes they evolve over time with no apparent triggering event. The negative organization is characterized by increased complaining, a focus on reasons why things can't be done, and what seems to be a lack of hope that things will get better. It feels like the organization in stuck in treacle. And, it's contagious. Negativism can affect even the most positive employees.

What can you do? Based on an article by Arthur Beck and Ellis Hillmar, professors in organization development at University of Richmond, we suggest the following:

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Progress

“Without a struggle,there can be no progress.”- Frederick Douglass

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Online analytical processing

Online analytical processing, or OLAP, is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries.[1] OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining.[2] The typical applications of OLAP are in business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management (BPM)[3], budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and similar areas, with new applications coming up, such as agriculture [4]. The term OLAP was created as a slight modification of the traditional database term OLTP (Online Transaction Processing).[5]

Databases configured for OLAP use a multidimensional data model, allowing for complex analytical and ad-hoc queries with a rapid execution time. They borrow aspects of navigational databases and hierarchical databases that are faster than relational databases.[6]

The output of an OLAP query is typically displayed in a matrix (or pivot) format. The dimensions form the rows and columns of the matrix; the measures form the values.

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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Leader

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” - John C. Maxwell


TOPIC OF THE DAY

Lead and Be a Leader

Leadership today has become a very multi meaning term. Professionals from various disciplines have defined 'Leadership' in different ways. Paradigm shifts in the cultures of Organizations and the consistent parallel and horizontal development of companies have raised the need to look at leadership in a new angle.

A strong company is the one that has leaders spread all across the company, not just at the top. The business world today needs both good leaders and good managers. However, because of the rapid change occurring in the industry today, a company needs far more leaders, not more managers.

Time after time again, businesses put the wrong person in charge. Unintentionally, they reward a "don't rock the boat" mentality. Conformity and status quo are the first steps leading down the staircase of a business disaster. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.


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LATEST ARRIVALS

The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande