DISCOUNT SALES AND THE COMPANY SALES FORCE Discounts are reductions that are made from the regular price of a product or service in order to obtain or increase sales. These discounts – also commonly referred to as sales or markdowns – are utilized in a wide range of industries by […]
HOW TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY Brand equity refers to the intangible value that accrues to a company as a result of its successful efforts to establish a strong brand. A brand is a name, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes the company’s goods or services in the marketplace. Consumers often […]
DECIDING TO USE AN ADVERTISING AGENCY FOR BUSINESS Advertising agencies are full-service businesses which can manage every aspect of an advertising campaign. They vary widely in terms of size and scope and cater to different kinds of businesses. Some agencies have one or major clients whose accounts they manage. Others […]
CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS AND SMALL BUSINESS Many people think that cross-functional teams are only successful in large companies. Conventional wisdom dictates that small companies are probably already operating cross-functionally out of necessity – i.e., the company is so small that people have to perform multiple tasks and work together with everyone […]
HOW CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS ENHANCE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The most simple definition of cross-functional teems (or CFTs) is teams that are made up of people from different functional areas within a company – marketing, engineering, and human resources, for example. These teams take many forms, but are most often set up as […]
WHY CLUSTERING IS IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies or institutions that manufacture products or deliver services to a particular field or industry. Clusters typically include companies in the same industry or technology area that share infrastructure, suppliers, and distribution networks. Supporting firms that provide components, […]
CLOSELY HELD CORPORATIONS Closely held firms are those in which a small group of shareholders control the operating and managerial policies of the firm. Over 90 percent of global businesses are closely held. These firms defer from most publicly traded firms, in which ownership is widely disbursed and the firm […]
ASSEMBLY LINE METHODS An assembly line is a production arrangement of workers and equipment in which the product that is being assembled passes consecutively from operation to operation, with each station adding to the work of previous stations, until the product is completed. Assembly line methods were originally introduced to […]
ELEMENTS OF EMPLOYEE REINSTATEMENT In the past, it was a rare occurrence if an employee left a company and then returned to it at a later date, either in the same position or a completely new one. Many companies strictly enforced policies that discouraged this sort of hiring of ex-employees, […]
TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS CHECKING REFERENCES Employee references are the positive or negative comments about an employee’s job performance provided to a prospective employer. In most cases, a prospective employer will contact a person’s current or former employer to seek references as part of the process of considering that person for […]
