WikiBlog Consulting

U.S. STATE ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWED IN 2007

WikiBlogger — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:47:11 +0000

New estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that economic growth slowed in most states and regions of the U.S. in 2007. Real GDP growth slowed in 36 states, with declines in construction and finance and insurance restraining growth in many states.1 Nationally, real economic growth slowed from 3.1 percent in 2006 to 2.0 percent in 2007, one percentage point below the average growth of 3.0 percent for 2002–2006. Read more.

EU food prices up by 7.1% year-on-year in April 2008

WikiBlogger — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:45:18 +0000

Since the end of 2006, but particularly since July 2007, food prices1 in the EU2 have increased more rapidly than overall inflation. The same pattern was observed for the euro area3. In April 2008, the annual increase in food prices in the EU was 7.1%, compared with 3.6% for overall inflation, as measured by the all-items HICP. In the euro area, the annual increase in food prices was 6.2%, compared with 3.3% for overall inflation. Read the full report here.

Personal Income Increased 0.2% in the U.S. During April

WikiBlogger — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:23:49 +0000

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued the following news release on May 30, 2008:

Personal income increased $20.1 billion, or 0.2 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $23.4 billion, or 0.2 percent, in April, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Read the full report here.

Free Foreign Language Courses for Global Professionals

WikiBlogger — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:56:36 +0000

Did you know that you can access free foreign language courses online? The Foreign Service Institute offers a variety of learning materials for a range of languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

The Internet has no borders and neither should you. Learn a new language and open yourself up to a broader understanding of the world while at the same time opening up a new world of professional opportunities.

Visit http://www.fsi-language-courses.com to learn more.

GDP and the Economy: Advance Estimates for the First Quarter of 2008

WikiBlogger — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:14:56 +0000

From the U. S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

Real GDP grew 0.6 percent after growing 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. Consumer spending for services, inventory investment, and exports increased. In contrast, housing investment and consumer spending for durable goods decreased. Read the full report here.

Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us

WikiBlogger — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:32:35 +0000

Are you uncertain what the Web 2.0 hype is all about and how it might apply to your business? If so, here is a creative, user-generated video that illustrates the evolution from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and why it’s so important.

VISIT THE WIKIBLOG CONSULTING WIKI TO CREATE, NEW PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WEB 2.0!

Just When You Thought It Was Cool To Be Nice…

WikiBlogger — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:24:40 +0000

The recent issue of Wired magazine reports on (and some may say glorifies) the rude, authoritarian, my-way-or- the-highway leadership style of Steve Jobs in the article, How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong. So, just like that, after over a decade of management gurus coaching us on how to be coaches instead of bosses, and telling us how we should flatten our organizations and throw open wide the doors to the corner office, and after hour upon hour of Edward Demming videos warning us about the dangers of competition between and amongst our employees, and after finally just about convincing just about everyone to create a culture of nice in corporations throughout the globe, the Evil Manager rises once again and poof, it’s cool to be mean again.

If Steve Jobs is, in fact, an evil manager, then it goes without saying, it must be cool to be mean because no one epitomizes corporate cool more than the Mr. Jobs, himself.

Thank you Mr. Jobs!

Now, I’m not saying that it’s not important to be nice, or to cooperate and collaborate. It is. But what I am saying is that there is a place for mean and a place for conflict within the office.

Too much nice, too much cooperation, just might, after a period of time, make an organization soft and complacent. The organization may put so much emphasis on nice that it forsakes ingenuity–and profit–all in an effort to keep everyone happy.

Too much nice just might be deadly as well. Think: groupthink. Think: Challenger disaster. Think: Iraq intelligence failures.

So, in our effort to be nice, it would be nice to show a little mean every once in a while.

What do you think? Tell me about it.

FURTHER READING

A WikiBlog Consulting White Paper: IF NOTHING’S WRONG, THEN SOMETHING AIN’T RIGHT: An Interactionist Approach to Conflict

The WikiBlog Consulting WIKI

WikiBlogger — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:38:12 +0000

Are you a fan of Wikipedia but have always wished that you could have been one of the early adapters? Well, now is your chance! WikiBlog Consulting has started its own wiki project with the goal of creating new knowledge for the global, professional community.

Why join the project?

…For too long consulting and professional firms have kept their knowledge as a closely guarded, proprietary secret where the only way to get at it, is to pay for it. THE WIKIBLOG CONSULTING WIKI is FREE! (as in freedom…and as in free beer!)

…Web 2.0 and and open-standards revolution has proven that transparency and global collaboration is truly an unstoppable, self-synchronizing, self-organizing force that closed, industrial-era mindsets and business practices cannot compete with.

…Because professionals have been and continue to be conditioned to create in closed environments, free, open-source professional knowledge and information is hard to find. The free, open-source WIKIBLOG CONSULTING WIKI aims to fill this void…but we need your help!

Please go to http://wikiblogconsulting.com/wiki and join our project to create new knowledge for the global, professional community!

Welcome to WikiBlog Consulting!

WikiBlogger — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:04:32 +0000

WikiBlog Consulting is a free, collaborative resource for professionals and is dedicated to discussing topics relative to business professionals worldwide. Not only is it WikiBlog Consulting’s goal to discuss business-related topics, it’s goal is also to create new knowledge for the business professional. WikiBlog Consulting invites professionals to join in this collaborative effort by visiting THE WIKIBLOG CONSULTING WIKI and helping to build this valuable, free resource for professionals.

Thank you for joining our new, professional, collaborative community!