Can Google+ replace your company’s intranet?

Can Google+ replace your company’s intranet?

August 22, 2011 | Curtis Smolar

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(Editor’s note: Curtis Smolar is a partner at Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

A reader asks:  With all of the buzz surrounding Google +, I’ve been contemplating using it to replace my company’s intranet. I realize there are likely some risks that go with the savings this will create, but are there any legal implications?

Answer:  Google+ introduces a paradigm shift from a walled garden to an open web in the social media space.  With it, Google users now have easy access to telephone, video conferencing, document creation, social networking, instant messaging, maps and search engine capabilities from any computer – whereas normally this collection of activities would require one to interface with multiple equipments and applications.

Coupled with Google’s Android strength, the company is really in a position that no company has been in since Microsoft in the 1990s in terms of owning operating systems for all computers – which today includes smartphones.  This means that instead of simply being a new cool social networking application, Google+ is changing the way we do business – period.

This shift creates a myriad of legal issues, most of which are not unique to Google+, but instead apply to cloud computing in general.  The legal implications associated with the use of cloud computing and social networking applications are fairly new and uncharted legal territory, but here are a few prominent legal issues to be aware of:

Security - Google, undoubtedly, is actively taking measures to prevent security breach or hackers from accessing cloud stored data.  But no third party can conclusively say how safe it is. We have to take Google’s word.

Your IT professional is critical here in ensuring that the latest security patches are downloaded and that you’re protected your hardware from malware, viruses, etc. Any IT pro worth their salt should be able to guide you to more secure cloud computing these days.

To protect yourself from losing data – should you be the unfortunate victim of an account hacking – you can download your entire Google+ profile.  This is incredibly valuable.  Now, the user owns the content and Google is simply the channel on which it is broadcasted.  Fellow social network Facebook has zealously prevented users from doing this.

Privacy - Google has dealt with privacy issues many times with its older applications (Gmail, Google Docs, and Buzz, to name a few).  The company mantra appears to be that if you want things to be private, make sure your account settings are configured correctly.  So, when using Google+, it’s imperative to double-check those settings. (That’s the only way to prevent unwanted users from seeing your information.)

Also, be sure to read updates from Google regarding any changes in privacy settings.  With Facebook’s ever-changing policies of the past few years, the clear lesson is “be vigilant about web privacy.”

Many users complain that the privacy-setting feature on Facebook is overly complex and cumbersome.  Google+ offers a couple fixes: The “Circles” function, allowing users to segregate their contacts into “Friends,” “Professional Contacts,” and more and users are allowed to edit their own contents.

Another Google+ distinction is that only the user knows which “circle” the contact is placed in.  Crucially, Circles allow you to create business only groups that keep employers/employees from seeing information about you.

Intellectual Property – For small businesses planning to use Google+, the intellectual property issue may be the most important. (Technically, companies aren’t allowed in Google+ right now, but employees of small companies could, conceivably, use the service in the purpose you inquired about.)

The Google Terms of Service clearly spell out that the creator of the intellectual property owns it.  That said, there is also a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license for Google to use it – but this is a bit misleading because it refers to the consumer Google information.

As for the enterprise versions of Google services, Google clearly states that it does not have any rights to the intellectual property of the other company. Assuming the individual user Terms of Service governs Google+, though, using it could pose a significant risk of granting an unintended “perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license” of your company’s valuable intellectual property for Google to use.

Startup owners: Got a legal question about your business? Submit it in the comments below or email Curtis directly. It could end up in an upcoming “Ask the Attorney” column.

Disclaimer: This “Ask the Attorney” post discusses general legal issues, but it does not constitute legal advice in any respect.  No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented herein without seeking the advice of counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.  VentureBeat, the author and the author’s firm expressly disclaim all liability in respect of any actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post.

=======================================================================
PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com
If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.
CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).
Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.
With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

Using HR to Change your Company’s Compliance DNA

In his Editor’s View column, in the August issue of Compliance Week, entitled,

“Compliance, Collaboration and HR”, Matt Kelly wrote about the interaction of

Compliance Departments and Human Resources (HR). He noted that while Compliance

Departments may look to HR to support internal investigations, HR can also be used to

assist in “molding company culture.” However, it is rarely used for this function. I

heartily agree with Matt’s sentiments. In addition to supporting internal investigations, I

believe that HR can be used in some of the following ways to assist the Compliance

Department. It can be a key component in changing or maintaining your company’s

compliance DNA.

Training

A key role for HR in any company is training. This has traditionally been in areas such as

discrimination, harassment and safety, to name just a few, and, based on this traditional

role of HR in training, this commentator would submit that it is a natural extension for

HR’s function to expand to the area of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance

and ethics training. There is a training requirement set forth in the US Sentencing

Guidelines and companies are mandated to “take reasonable steps to communicate

periodically and in a practical manner its standards and procedures, and other aspects of

the compliance and ethics program, to the individuals referred to in subdivision (B) by

conducting effective training programs and otherwise disseminating information

appropriate to such individuals’ respective roles and responsibilities.”

What type of training should HR utilize in the FCPA compliance and ethics arena? The

consensus seems to be that there are three general approaches which have been used

successfully. The first is the most traditional and that is in-person classroom training.

This gives employees an opportunity to see, meet and interact directly with the trainer,

not an insignificant dynamic in the corporate environment. It can also lead to confidential

discussions after such in-person training. All FCPA compliance and ethics training

should be coordinated and both the attendance and result recorded. Results can be

tabulated through short questionnaires immediately following the training and benchmarked

through more comprehensive interviewing of selected training participants to

determine overall effectiveness.

Employee Evaluation and Succession Planning

What policy does a company take to punish those employees who may engage in

unethical and non-compliant behavior in order to meet company revenue targets?

Conversely what rewards are handed out to those employees who integrate such ethical

and compliant behavior into their individual work practices going forward? One of the

very important functions of HR is assisting management in setting the criteria for

employee bonuses and in the evaluation of employees for those bonuses. This is an

equally important role in conveying the company message of adherence to a FCPA

compliance and ethics policy. This requirement is codified in the US Sentencing Guidelines with the following language: “The organization’s compliance and ethics

program shall be promoted and enforced consistently throughout the organization

through (A) appropriate incentives to perform in accordance with the compliance and

ethics program; and (B) appropriate disciplinary measures for engaging in criminal

conduct and for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent or detect criminal conduct.”

Does a company have, as a component of its bonus compensation plan, a part dedicated

to FCPA compliance and ethics? If so, how is this component measured and then

administered? There is very little in the corporate world that an employee notices more

than what goes into the calculation of their bonuses. HR can, and should, facilitate this

process by setting expectations early in the year and then following through when

bonuses are released. With the assistance of HR, such a bonus can send a powerful

message to employees regarding the seriousness with which compliance is taken at the

company. There is nothing like putting your money where your mouth is for people to

stand up and take notice.

In addition to employee evaluation, HR can play a key role in assisting a company to

identify early on in an employee’s career the propensity for compliance and ethics by

focusing on leadership behaviors in addition to simply business excellence. If a company

has an employee who meets, or exceeds, all his sales targets, but does so in a manner

which is opposite to the company’s stated FCPA compliance and ethics values, other

employees will watch and see how that employee is treated. Is that employee rewarded

with a large bonus? Is that employee promoted or are the employee’s violations of the

company’s compliance and ethics policies swept under the carpet? If the employee is

rewarded, both monetarily and through promotions, or in any way not sanctioned for

unethical or non-compliant behavior, it will be noticed and other employees will act

accordingly. One of the functions of HR is to help ensure consistent application of

company values throughout the organization, including those identified as ‘rising stars’.

An important role of HR in any organization is to help in building trust throughout the

company and recognizing the benefits which result from that trust.

Background Screening

A key role for HR in any company is the background screening of not only employees at

the time of hire, but also of employees who may be promoted to senior leadership

positions. HR is usually on the front lines of such activities, although it may in

conjunction with the Legal or Compliance Departments. This requirement is discussed in

the US Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) as follows “The

organization shall use reasonable efforts not to include within the substantial authority

personnel of the organization any individual whom the organization knew, or should

have known through the exercise of due diligence, has engaged in illegal activities or

other conduct inconsistent with an effective compliance and ethics program.”

What type of background checks should HR utilize in the FCPA compliance and ethics

arena? The consensus seems to be that HR should perform at least routine civil, criminal

and credit background checks. Care should be noted in any such request made in countries outside the United States as such information may be protected by privacy laws

or where the quality of such information is different in substance from that of the United

States. For instance in the United Kingdom, the request of a credit check can negatively

impact a prospective employee’s credit score so such a background check may not

provide useful information to a prospective employer.

Additionally, although it may be difficult in the United States to do so, a thorough check

of references should be made. I say that it may be difficult because many companies will

only confirm that the employee worked at the company and only give out the additional

information of dates of employment. In this situation, it may be that a prospective

employer should utilize a current employee to contact former associates at other

companies to get a sense of the prospective employee’s business ethics. However, it

should be noted that such contacts should only be made after a thorough briefing by HR

of the current employee who might be asked to perform such duty.

A company can also use HR to perform internal background checks on employees who

may be targeted for promotions. These types of internal background checks can include a

detailed review of employee performance; disciplinary actions, if any; internal and

external achievements, while employed by the company and confirmation of both ethics

and compliance training and that the employee has completed the required annual

compliance certification. A key internal function where HR can be an important lead is to

emphasize that an employee, who has been investigated but cleared of any alleged ethics

and compliance violations, should not be penalized.

When the Government Comes Calling

While it is true that a company’s Legal and/or Compliance Department will lead the

response to a government investigation, HR can fulfill an important support role due to

the fact that HR should maintain, as part of its routine function, a hard copy of many of

the records which may need to be produced in such an investigation. This would include

all pre-employment screening documents, including background investigations, all postemployment

documents, including any additional screening documents, compliance

training and testing thereon and annual compliance certifications. HR can be critical in

identifying and tracking down former employees. HR will work with Legal and/or

Compliance to establish protocols for the conduct of investigations and who should be

involved.

Lastly, another role for HR can be in the establishment and management of (1) an

Amnesty Program or (2) a Leniency Program for both current, and former, employees.

Such programs were implemented by Siemens during its internal bribery and corruption

investigation. The Amnesty Program allowed appropriate current or former employees,

who fully cooperated and provided truthful information, to be relieved from the prospect

of civil damage claims or termination. The Leniency Program allowed Siemens

employees who had provided untrue information in the investigation to correct this

information for certain specific discipline. Whichever of these programs, or any variations, that are implemented HR can perform a valuable support role to Legal and/or

Compliance.

Doing More with Less

While many practitioners do not immediately consider HR as a key component of a

FCPA compliance solution, it can be one of the lynch-pins in spreading a company’s

commitment to compliance throughout the employee base. HR can also be used to

‘connect the dots’ in many divergent elements in a company’s FCPA compliance and

ethics program. The roles listed for HR in this series are functions that HR currently

performs for almost any US company with international operations. By asking HR to

expand their traditional function to include the FCPA compliance and ethics function, a

US company can move towards a goal of a more complete compliance program, while

not significantly increasing costs. Additionally, by asking HR to include these functions,

it will drive home the message of compliance to all levels within a company; from senior

to middle management and to those on the shop floor. Just as safety is usually message

Number 1, compliance can be message Number 1A. HR focuses on behaviors, and by

asking this department to include a compliance and ethics message, such behavior will

become a part of a company’s DNA.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and

research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering

business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a

substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any

decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking

any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor.

The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss

sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his

permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose,

provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at

tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2011

=============================================================

PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com
If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.
CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).
Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.
With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

Using the Octagon: Lozier’s Eight Steps to Further Your Compliance Program

In an article published in the July 29, 2011 issue of the Houston Business Journal entitled “Eight

Steps to a More Effective Anticorruption Compliance Function” Chris Lozier, Principal at UHY

Advisors in Houston and Manager of the FCPA - Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - Anti-

Corruption Compliance Group on LinkedIn, wrote about the gaps that companies are finding in

their compliance programs. To help remedy these gaps Lozier discussed eight key steps he

believes that companies can take immediately to establish a more effective anti-corruption

compliance program. They are as follows:

1. Identify the requirements of anti-corruption laws in all the countries in which your

company does business. This is critical in understanding the key differences in

requirements that your company may be facing. A clear example is the differences in the

FCPA and the UK Bribery Act, which does not have an exempt for facilitation payments

and extends liability to private, commercial bribery.

2. Publish a statement from senior management. This demonstrates a strong company

commitment to a robust compliance program. This statement must leave no doubt that

pursuing “business as usual” will not be tolerated and that employees or business

representatives will no longer be associated with the company. This statement should be

reinforced with strong training for relevant company employees and any third parties

which represent the company.

3. Using the information that you developed in Point 1, update your company compliance

program to a more comprehensive global anti-corruption policies that extend past the

FCPA. If your company is subject to the UK Bribery Act, not only should you revisit the

issue of facilitation payment as discussed in Number 4 below, but remember that here the

US is the foreign jurisdiction and all conditions that your company places on business

outside the US should be included inside the US as well.

4. If your company is outside of the United Kingdom, you should revisit the issue of

facilitation payments. While the FCPA does allow facilitation payments, the UK Bribery

Act does not. Additionally, several respected international organizations such as the

Organization for Economic Development (OECD) have advocated for the end of such

payments. The end of facilitation payments is most likely coming so your company

should be ready for this change,

5. Perform an updated, detailed and defendable anti-corruption risk assessment. This risk

assessment should include such factors as geographic risk, level of interaction your

company has with government officials, industry risk, extent of third party representation

and review the results of any previous audits or assessments to determine their

effectiveness.

6. Identify, categorize and list parties that represent the company and those vendors in the

Supply Chain which provide services involving a foreign governmental official and implement a risk based due diligence program. Your due diligence will be influenced by

this categorization.

7. Provide or update an effective means for anonymous reporting, such as a hotline. With

the implementation of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions, a company must have a

robust internal reporting system. It is therefore in the best interest of your company to

have an effective hotline and response system in place.

8. Perform reviews to assess the effectiveness of your internal compliance program. This

should include testing of your internal controls and the examination of transactions. You

should have, at a minimum a full FCPA compliance audit every two years, but your

company should also perform an annual assessment on selected portions of your

compliance program as well.

While Lozier’s 8 steps are not comprehensive they certainly are a good start and excellent

reference point from which you can assess your company’s program, determine where any gaps

might be and move to remedy those deficiencies.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research

of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice,

or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice

or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your

business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you

should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not

be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The

Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful

purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at

tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2011

======================================================


PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com
If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.
CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).
Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.
With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

How to Engage Employees in Compliance

How to Engage Employees in Compliance

In the September 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review, in an article entitled “How to

Cultivate Engaged Employees”, author Charalambos A. Vlachoutsicos wrote about his

experiences in working for a family-owned multi-national organization. From his experiences he

learned how to “engage contributions from and thereby promote engagement by, local

employees” in a multi-national organization.” His article detailed some of his lessons learned in

“fostering a sense of mutual dependence” or what he termed “mutuality”. I believe that the

principles that he set out in his article can be of guidance to a compliance practitioner who is

working across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures to foster a better working relationship

between the Compliance Department and business units in an organization.

1. Be Modest

Here Vlachoutsicos believes providing “condescending, absurdly detailed instructions” together

with irrelevant stories is not the way to move forward in a meeting. If you recount your own

experiences, relate them to your audience. Make clear to your business team that your ideas and

advice can help them do more, and better, business. More importantly, show that you are human,

that you make mistakes but that the point is you learn from your mistakes, not that the business

unit personnel will be sanctioned immediately for one foul-up.

2. Listen Seriously and Show It

Most companies teach managers the value of listening. However, communication is a

multifaceted exercise and you must be aware of your cultural setting and surroundings. In some

cultures it is viewed as rude to take extensive notes while listening to another person. If you must

do this, explain in advance that you are taking notes and explain that no disrespect is intended.

Conversely in some cultures it is viewed as an insult if you do not take notes because the

employee you are listening to will feel that what they are saying is not even worth writing down.

Managing these signals is critical. But whatever culture you are in do not keep looking at your

watch or take a cell phone call when involved in such a conversation.

3. Invite Disagreement

You should view every interaction as an opportunity to tap into the expertise of your workforce.

This requires you to let employees say what they think. One of the first (and most insistent)

questions you will face as a compliance practitioner is explaining how and why the Foreign

Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) applies to a country and culture far from the United States.

Another related question is often along the lines of the endemic corruption in a country and how

the business unit personnel cannot do business any other way. Let your co-workers express these

thought and sentiments and then explain why the law(s) applies and how they can do business

going forward. The business unit will usually have a solution to these problems and if you can

get them to engage with you, it may well be a solution for you and the company.

4. Focus the Agenda

You will still need to focus the agenda of any group meeting. Failure to do so can lead to lengthy

discussions and critical agenda items are never reached in the time allotted for a meeting.

Vlachoutsicos suggests sequencing your issues according to importance so that the key issues are

reached. If issues of lesser importance are not reached, they can be held over for another meeting

or handled offline.

5. Don’t Try to Have All the Answers

I learned from a very wise law school professor that only Socrates has all the answers and those

were only to the questions which he posed to his students. A compliance professional should

seem him or herself as a catalyst for problem solving. As a lawyer I understand that you are

required to know law and compliance requirements. But remember-it is OK not to know

everything. That is the whole point of collaboration.

6. Don’t Insist that a Decision Must be Made

If you make a decision all the time the chances are that, some of that time, you may well make

the wrong decision. But beyond this factor, people may stop proposing ideas to you because

either think that “you already have your mind made up in advance” or that you know some fact

that they do not which was pertinent to the decision. This could well quell any information which

might come to you through dissent. The key here is not to avoid making a decision; it is to follow

a process which allows input before final decision is made.

Vlachoutsicos’ six factors can be used by any company to help them work through collaboration

issues. They show how you can create ‘mutuality’ with the work force. As a compliance

practitioner your strongest asset is how you are perceived by the business folks. I think that if

you take these factors to heart it will greatly help you to sell and improve the compliance

message in your company.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research

of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice,

or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice

or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your

business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you

should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not

be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The

Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful

purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at

tfox@tfoxlaw.com.

© Thomas R. Fox, 2011

======================================================================


PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com
If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.
CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).
Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.
With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

Sample Resume for Military Members Returning to Civilian Life

One resume challenge for military members who are returning to civilian life is translating military-speak into plain English. This sample resume shows it can be done! The targeted resume is for a returning military member who is now seeking a civilian job as an operations manager.

By carefully targeting resumes for specific jobs and situations, you can greatly improve your chances of getting noticed in the job market.

This example uses the hybrid resume format, which is a combination of the reverse chronologicalresume format and the functional resume format. This resume leads off with the applicant's professional and personal skills, followed by employment and experience qualifications.

A gray box atop the sample resume contains a mission statement that details what this job seeker aims to accomplish. The mission statement also includes the typical requirements for this type of occupation or career field. Notice that the numbers listed with the requirements shown in the gray box are cross-matched to qualifications shown in the resume.

This resume sample is intended to focus your attention on requirement-and-qualification matching, the most important factor in causing your candidacy to get not noticed during a job search.

The cross-matched numbers between the job’s requirements in the gray box and the candidate’s qualifications shown in the sample resume are just for illustration, not for your actual resume.
Sample Resume for Military Members Returning to Civilian Life 

===============================================    

PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC
SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655
WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com


If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.

CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).

Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.

With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

5 Things You Should Know Before Starting a Compan!

5 things you should know before starting a company

August 18, 2011 | Stuart Wall

http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/18/5

(Editor’s note: Stuart Wall is co-founder and CEO of Signpost. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

Despite the rocky nature of the stock market these days, it sure seems like a great time to start a company.

The stories of early stage founders graduating from Y Combinator and TechStars with $8-$10 million pre-money valuations soon after graduation are encouraging. And late stage valuations appear to be equally generous, with LinkedIn trading at a 554x P/E multiple on the day of their IPO.

These seemingly outsized returns are attracting a new group of aspiring entrepreneurs, who often leave MBA programs and business careers to try their luck at a startup. I was one of those people last year, leaving a private equity job to start a consumer-facing company. Here’s some of what I’ve learned in making that transition.

Customers normally aren’t free – We spend most of our days using products that have experienced extraordinary viral growth. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and more recently, Turntable.fm. These businesses inspire a disproportionate number of startup ideas that rely on viral adoption to justify a low or unknown customer value.

Unfortunately, most ideas aren’t so useful or well executed. High unit margins (customer lifetime value – customer acquisition cost) support predictable growth and execution mistakes. Groupon, the fastest growing company ever, spent $480M in consumer marketing arbitrage to acquire subscribers worth $30 for $5.40 each. The company has also enjoyed a relatively high viral coefficient (k factor) in early days – but it didn’t simply rely on that buzz.

You undervalue disciplines that you don’t understand – Despite a significant number of blogs on the topic, an alarming number of initial discussions with first-time founders go as follows (brackets for my interpretation):  “I’m going find a [horrible] computer programmer in the next few weeks. I’ll ask them to do all the [product, design and] coding work based on some PowerPoint slides I made. I think I can negotiate a [unfair equity] contract, then hire more programmers after I get funding [because of the product the first one built].”

I’m using hyperbole, of course, but my main concern is that business founders rarely allocate enough resources behind tech, product or visual/UX/UI design. It’s not because we’re dumb, it’s just that many barely understand the complexity of coding and product development.

If this sounds like you, remove “normally” from the previous lesson. You will certainly pay for customers. Non-tech/product founders who aspire to create a viral consumer facing web property are like tennis players trying to win an NBA championship.

Don’t worry about people stealing your idea – Teams without execution experience often assume the first person with a great idea is almost certain to succeed. The lack of focus on execution reminds me of the SouthPark episode on underpants gnomes: Phase 1: Great idea -> Phase 2: ?? -> Phase 3: Profit!!

By the time Facebook launched in 2004, Friendster, a competing service, already had 3M users – roughly the same number as Foursquare in Q4 ’10. Friendster’s success drove scores of copycats. Like Facebook, most category killers weren’t the first to execute an idea; they were the ones who executed better than anyone else.

Put your business plan on SlideShare. Present at Meetups. Tell potential co-founders what you’re doing, get them excited about it, and learn from their feedback. If you do succeed, it’s unlikely to be repeatable anyway.

You won’t get it right on your first try – Unless you’re copying a proven business model, you probably don’t know who your customers are, what they want, or what they will pay for. It’s nearly impossible to answer these questions with research. The best tool for most consumer startups involves rolling up your sleeves and building something ugly, seeing how people use it, making it better, then repeating the process.

Many new founders seem to pursue a zero iteration strategy. This often involves hiring a contractor to design or code a site that won’t care if something breaks, let alone execute another turn. When things don’t go well at launch, the inability to iterate leads to businesses untimely demise.

Don’t be discouraged by FOMO (fear of missing out) – The newness of a company can be deemed press worthy. Postabon, a tiny bootstrapped startup that I built part-time, was named in “The 10 Companies That Will Matter in 2010” by PC World. It was a distinction we shared with Google Wave.

The average startup isn’t able to capture the full value of PR via sticky traffic, subscriptions or revenue. PR can be a cheap way to identify leaks in your product; just don’t seek more water at the expense of fixing the bucket.

======================================================================




PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC
SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching -
(908) 822-9655
WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com


If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.


CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).
Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.


With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

6 social marketing truths executives must understand 

• © 2011 VentureBeat

August 16, 2011 | Reggie Bradford

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(Editor’s note: Reggie Bradford is CEO of Vitrue. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

With more than 20 years of experience as an executive in the technology and marketing spaces, I’ve learned a lot about how technology directly affects marketing strategies.

The arrival of sites like Facebook, Twitter and most recently Google+ have changed the way societies communicate. While many brand marketers have incorporated social into their plans, many still wrestle with questions like how much, to what degree, how to execute, and what is next?  Simply “being social” is not enough. Here are six truths marketing executives need to know about this phenomenon:

The social sandbox is getting bigger:  With 750 million engaged and active fans, Facebook is absolutely the most effective and important overall social network (and should be your main focus).  You’ve probably heard the refrain about engaging on Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and emerging platforms, as well. But it’s foolish to not have an eye on Google+, which amassed 20 million users in only a month.

Despite its infancy, and some launch hiccups, Google+ has great potential – most notably its integration with other Google products, essentially creating a social layer across numerous properties. According to Experian Hitwise, 56 percent of Google+’s upstream traffic came from other Google properties, with 34 percent of that traffic coming from Google.com. 37 percent of its upstream traffic came from search engines, while 21 percent was driven by email. In the aggregate, Google+ could offer a valuable real-time multimedia content sharing and discovery social platform.  Only time will tell.

Google+ also has promising features like its “circles,” a friend-grouping capability, as well as the “huddle” and “hangout” video-chat functionalities. And many have noted Google+ as simply offering consumers a place to “start over” with a fresh, a brand-new social slate. Smart brands have already taken notice, led by Ford, whose social media head Scott Monty noted: “It’s a priority for us to understand what’s on the cutting edge and where influencers are going and look at the technology shaping the way people are communicating. Normally we try to go where the mainstream are. In certain circumstances we’ll be an early adopter because we see the potential.”

Social networks are your best consumer connection: No other marketing channel offers such an effective, direct communication between your brand and your consumers. The two-way flow of that talk can lead to increased brand awareness and loyalty, which will drive your business forward. Buffalo Wild Wings learned this by combining a digital “Wall App” coupon strategy and traditional media. During a 27-day period, more than 179,000 coupons were printed, with almost 100,000 coming directly from the Wall App. The company had a 63 percent redemption rate of coupons from Facebook, helping to provide a healthy in-store sales boast for the promotional period. And they gained 57,000 fans during the promotion.

Don’t ditch traditional marketing just yet:  Despite social’s power, brand marketers will need, for the foreseeable future, a solid execution of traditional marketing married with digital and social. TV still remains the dominant “branding” mass medium. And despite sagging readership, print newspapers, magazines and radio will continue to grab a share, albeit digital continues to erode the traditional “print” outlets.

Be strategic about integrating traditional, digital and social marketing to ensure consistent messaging and maximum reach. Social will continue to grow in importance, but it needs support of other marketing channels.

Great content trumps fan volume:  A large fan base is good, but an active one is better. What you say and how you say it is more important than simply building a following. Publish content that garners engagement. Among those who are doing content right are: iTunes Facebook community, the NBA, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Tide.

These brands all take time to “know” their fans and deliver content that is exclusive and of value, whether that be follower-only specials, promotions and exclusives, rich video content or compelling information around their products. Philanthropic tie-ins cause consumers to associate your brand with social good and typically results in a higher level of brand loyalty. And social games can be an engaging, fun element that will give social audiences a reason to visit and interact with your brand.

You need to localize and target that content: Because the conversation is two-way now, it’s more important than ever to know as much as you can about your customers. As the space matures, marketers will need to deliver hyper-targeted, localized content –coupons, information, specials, stats, etc. –at the right time in the right format for maximum effectiveness. Learn to segment and put content into audience silos. MTV, for example, has separate Facebook Pages for each of its individual shows because the network knows that fans of “MADE” might not be fans of “Jersey Shore”.

Pay attention to key emerging trends: Changes in the digital world will affect what’s possible and relevant to your audience – and these changes aren’t mutually exclusive to your social marketing strategy. For example, mobile phones and tablets will likely become the main means of communication for the digital/social world, meaning brand marketers must have the sophistication and technological platforms to manage and deliver on those devices.

Other trends to keep your eye on include the rising trend of alternative commerce technologies and the potential with NFC (near-field communication) technologies for mobile commerce is incredible. We’re also seeing the rise of sCommerce with fully integrated Facebook storefronts, and the potential is great. The jury is still out on sCommerce, but it’s worth keeping an eye on it.

The advance of social technologies has given consumers much greater access and, in turn, control. Brands now have to sprint to keep up with them.  =======================================================


PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC
SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com


If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.


CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).


Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.


With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities

The “Forgotten” Network

Published by: Caroline Ceniza-Levine/ Vault.com | 

Most people think of networking as seeking out people who are relevant to your job search.  This should not be your only target population.  Consider these four possible types of contacts:

Relevant to your search AND willing to help

Relevant to your search AND not willing to help

Not relevant to your search AND willing to help

Not relevant to your search AND not willing to help

Many focus on the first group -- people able to help who are willing.  The braver ones also tackle group two -- people able to help who are unwilling – and try to win them over and make them willing.  However, don’t forget the third group – people willing to help but who may not appear relevant to your search.  These people may be more relevant than you initially think (e.g., they may know some relevant people). 

Family and friends are common examples of Willing/ Not Relevant people.  But every group to which you have ever belonged is a potential source of Willing people:

Schools – elementary, high school, college, graduate

Race/ ethnic affinity group

Social service group

Professional organization

Geographic community

Hobbies (e.g., neighborhood chorus, sports team)

Remember that some groups are tight and willing to help even a stranger from the same group.  I know a PhD in biology who got a venture capital job, not by networking with the VC crowd, but by networking with other PhDs in biology who transitioned outside that field.  These fellow PhDs knew what this candidate was going through and wanted to help one of their own.  One of these PhDs had transitioned into banking.  He had some VC contacts, and the rest is history.  If this candidate had focused only on who was “relevant”, he may have missed this important contact.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart (www.sixfigurestart.com).

=======================================================


PRESENTED BY: Executive Leadership, LLC
SPECIALIZING IN: Human Capital Transition and Executive Coaching - (908) 822-9655 WEBSITE: http://www.exec-leadershipLLC.com
If you are seeking an Executive Coach for yourself or your organization, consider contacting CB Bowman at Executive Leadership, LLC 908.509.1744 cb@exec-leadershipllc.com; http://www.exec-leadershipllc.com.

CB Bowman, MBA is the president, CEO of Executive Leadership, LLC. She is also the Chairperson and Founder for the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches (http://www.acec-website.org).

Among mid to senior level professionals Executive leadership LLC is the go to company for individuals and companies seeking human capital repositioning, development and/or growth through coaching, counseling, and strategic advice.

With her Fortune 500 business background, laser like precision, and a take no prisoners approach she swiftly narrows in on the issue, and unlike others, she presents financially sound, creative and action oriented solutions with infinite possibilities