Collaborative leaders must balance competing and shifting requirements.

Are you working for a nonprofit or promoting a social cause? Many of the for-profit rules about marketing strategy apply there, too.

Software vendors are gradually closing the gaps in online billing and payment systems, but getting rid of paper is not as simple as it sounds.

An interesting look at the dynamics involved between Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Congress and the SEC, including some historical background on battles, notably the ongoing one concerning expensing stock options.

The European Union is emerging as a formidable competitor among world economies, thanks to an aptitude for cross-border management and an ease with cultural diversity.

Next generation Auto-ID technologies promise a range of business benefits in many industries. This paper from the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change discusses the potential benefits across the value chain, and business models for deploying Auto-ID.

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) means different things to different people, but essentially is investing in firms that treat their employees well, care for the environment, and make products or perform services that are aligned with the goals and desires of the investors (for example, many investors may refuse to buy tobacco stocks). For as long as I can remember there has been a debate as to whether investors give up pecuniary returns when they choose to invest in a socially responsible fashion (SRI). Theoretically limiting the choice of firms you can invest must reduce the efficient frontier. Dupre, Girerd-Potin, and Kassoua investigate the actual cost of socially responsible investing from a different angle. Using the ARESE ratings (a rating based on firms' social responsibility) for 173 European firms from 1999-200, they construct efficient frontiers with and without social concerns. Predictably, the social concerns push the efficient frontier down (lower return) and to the right (more risk). This is NOT to say do not invest ethically, merely it points out that utility maximization (and not merely maximization of financial returns), is the reason for the increased popularity of socially responsible investing. [FinanceProfessor.com Annotation]

See related articles
"Critics Find Study of SRI Underperformance Fundamentally Flawed"
http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/article1190.html

Investing in Socially Responsible Mutual Funds
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=416380

The key to an effective presentation? You have to capture your audience in the first few seconds. Here are six ways to get off to a strong start.

Managing warranties for complex products is increasingly complicated as supply chains stretch out

Rudolph G Burkhard commends the management thinker and writer Eli Goldratt and urges corporate leaders to focus on the small number of issues which are likely to be frustrating the growth of shareholder value.

Editor's Note: examines Goldratt's five focusing steps and four different types of constraint; also offers a nice criticism of the following concepts:
- Management by objectives
- Measurements
- Full absorption costing
- Using resources efficiently

Issues inherent in Web data analysis make it difficult to get accurate, insightful data. This article's purpose is to make you aware of the pitfalls associated with Web data analysis so you can plan for or avoid them.

Here are five ways your data can be skewed by the very technology you seek to leverage.

Read Part 2 at
http://www.marketingprofs.com/3/reynolds4.asp

By treating innovation as a legitimate business process, CEOs are encouraging the development of new ideas from a variety of sources - and managing the risk that goes with it.

The world's top executive coach explains why half of what a leader says may not be worth saying.

"Efficiency" is one of those terms everyone believes they understand but find surprisingly difficult to define...Economic efficiency is the point at which the value of the marginal product equals its price or, more generally, where the benefits from using an additional unit of resource equals the cost needed to acquire it...What of the efficiency of the two other legs of the triple bottom line, environmental and social? If we cannot define these in terms of efficiency, does it reduce our ability to implement a TBL approach?

Wharton marketing professor Barbara Kahn calls them candy jungles - bulk confection stores whose walls are lined with bins full of different assortments of brightly-colored candy. Intrigued by these displays and by the somewhat frenzied response consumers have to them, she wondered if people buy more when they see what looks like unlimited variety. Does creating a visual perception of activity and an abundance of choices ultimately increase consumption? She and a colleague answer this question in a paper titled, "The Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption Quantities."

Advertising is very expensive. In a recessionary economy, you need to use your marketing budgets wisely, making certain you reach your target audience at the right time and in the right place. By implementing a pop up survey on your website, you can identify how many of your visitors match your customer profile, as well as measure the effectiveness of advertising programs as they are running. This article discusses why you should implement this type of measurement and how it can help you refine your programs for better return on investment.

Suppliers put off by open business-to-business exchanges might find that the newly emerging private ones offer a better deal-as well as four ways to play.

Also see "B2B Benchmark: The State of Electronic Exchanges"
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=2488&file=links

and "Supply Chain Management: Why B2B eMarkets Are Here to Stay"
http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enweb&xd=ideasoutlook7.2001emarkets.xml

Transforming supply chain operations can have a substantial impact on a company's ability to grow and prosper, new research from Accenture, INSEAD and Stanford University has found.

The three organizations undertook the multifaceted research project to understand how companies derive competitive advantage from their supply chains. The research demonstrates a correlation between the quality of a company's supply chain and its financial performance. It also yields conclusions about how and why leading companies incorporate supply chain management into their business strategies.

Another channel of inquiry focuses on the design and development of integrated operating models, which the research finds to be the key strategic difference between supply chain leaders and laggards. The research initiative also devoted significant effort to understanding how supply chain leaders execute against their strategies and adapt them to changing market needs.

Editor's Note: requires free registration, but definitely worth the effort...

Globalization is a fact. Most people, though, still live on a regional basis. Globally operating companies who want to succeed must consider the regional preconditions that they operate under. This article shows how large corporations can set up reliable performance measures at a project level.

In some countries, greasing palms is part of doing business. Does that mean you should?

By transforming the IT organization into an internal service company, CIOs can show measurable value to the business.

Or, How to Get Ahead of the Competition by Becoming Your Own Economist.A well-known economist pulls back the curtain on the indicators he and other top insiders use to figure out where the economy is headed. These indicators can guide you, too.

Building a team is hard work -- if you are not willing to do the work, don't try to be a team.

Faster than a brand strategist, stronger than a line marketer - and in demand at companies worldwide.

Why CEOs Make Lousy Team Players.