How do you deal with brilliant jerks at work? Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says “fire them”. Ariana Huffington, cofounder of the Huffington Post says – “No brilliant jerks allowed”. The cost to the company is too high if you do. Do you agree?
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What Your Boss Never Told You About Career Growth?
Accenture had surveyed 3400 employees in 2011 and realized that only about one third had asked for a promotion, raise or job change. Interestingly, out of those who asked, 65% reported it helped them. More than half of the employees who asked for a promotion got one. Asking for a promotion or raise helps. What else increases your chances of a promotion? What your boss never told you about career growth and advancement?
Business Lessons from Denny Crane
Denny Crane, played by William Shatner, in the legal drama Boston Legal is one of my all-time favorite characters. Josh Bell, TV Critic for Las Vegas Weekly, describes Denny as “egomaniacal, sexually ravenous, prone to malapropisms”. That’s an apt description. In the show, Denny is a “renowned attorney of some fifty years of practice, who claims to have won 6043 cases and will never lose one”. With such an impressive resume, he sure has some life and business lessons for all of us.
A/B Testing – What can managers learn from marketers?
A/B testing or split testing is how marketers use a number of variations of a campaign. This lets them determine which performs better. As a manager, how do you know what works best? Can you do better? How can managers use A/B testing?
Why is marketing understanding important in strategy formulation?
Value in a business is what the customer is willing to pay for. Business strategy is about creating and communicating value to the customer. What is value for the customer? How do you create and communicate value? This is what makes marketing understanding important in strategy formulation.
Where to promote a small business for free to gain greater exposure?
The best of businesses and products need marketing to succeed. When larger businesses and your competitors are literally bombarding customers with promotions, offers and marketing, you cannot sit silent waiting for customers to walk in. How do you pull customers? Your small business needs promotions and marketing support. With lack of both resources and budget, how can you promote a small business for free? Yes, it is possible. This is how we can promote a small business without breaking the bank.
How to win back lost customers?
Losing customers can derail your sales goals. Your rate of adding new customers has to be higher than the rate of losing old customers. If you lose more than you add, your sales will decline. Not a good situation for any business. How do you win back lost customers?
How can customer experience create a differentiation for a brand?
People tend to remember the extreme experiences – the most pleasant and the most unpleasant. What people remember is what they talk about. Brands want customers to talk good about them. Word of mouth is the best marketing you can ask for. This is where customer experience creates a differentiation for a brand.
Unconscious bias at work – Are you a victim or accused?
You may not need to think too hard to answer this. While I will consciously refrain from saying all, a very large majority of us have been a victim of unconscious bias. Not just victims, we all can as easily be accused of being unconsciously biased against someone.
Stereotyping is a form of bias. How often we stereotype others? How often have you been “stereotyped”?
How are marketing strategies affected by the firm’s business level strategy?
Can smartphone makers Apple and Xiaomi use similar marketing strategies? No, they cannot. While, both may promote design features the core marketing message would be different. While Xiaomi talks about cost effectiveness, Apple’s entire strategy is based on differentiation. Marketing strategies have to be aligned to the overall business level strategy.