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Nestlé Makes the Very Best Choc… uh… Medicinal Foods
- September 27, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Consumer Products, Food, Healthcare, News, Pharmaceutical
No CommentsNestlé has announced its intention to invest $500 million to “pioneer a new industry between food and pharma” by creating a medical nutrition institute in Lausanne, Switzerland and a stand-alone subsidiary called Nestlé Health Science SA. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé’s chairman, said that Nestlé is aiming to use the new business unit, and associated nutrition institute,
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Data-Driven Decision Making
- September 21, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Business Analytics, Decision Making, News
Last year, IBM formed a new services business unit focused on business analytics and optimization. The stated focus was to “improve the speed and quality of business decisions.” The goal is to promote information as a strategic asset and remove “gut feel” from managerial decision making and pushing for “fact based enterprises” that operate more
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Power + Knowledge ≠ Wisdom: The Fall of an IBM Executive
- September 16, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Ethics, Legal, News
Early in 2001, I rode the IBM corporate helicopter to accompany senior executives, of a large insurance company, to a meeting at the executive wing at IBM’s headquarters in Armonk, NY. Waiting for us, in his own, personal, conference room, was Sam Palmisano, then president of IBM. Also waiting in the conference room was Robert
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HP Rides the Slippery Slope from Ethics Violations to Charges of Corruption
- September 10, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Ethics, Legal, News
Yesterday, it became known that the U.S. was widening its investigation into possible bribes paid by Hewlett-Packard to help win a contract in Russia. The government probe began in April when authorities arrested three HP employees in Germany and Switzerland who were charged, by German prosecutors, with bribery, embezzlement, and tax evasion in connection with
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GE Incandescent Light Bulb Factory to go Dark
- September 9, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Consumer Products, Economy, Environmental Sustainability, News
GE has announced the pending closure of the last major factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States. Two hundred jobs will be lost as the operation shifts to “green” light bulbs (compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs) that are to be made in China. China manufactures 85% of the world’s total CFLs. Replacing
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Hurd Joins Oracle – An Ethical Strike Three?
- September 8, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Ethics, News
We wrote earlier about the dismissal of HP CEO Mark Hurd for ethics violations. We were reminded of a previous ethics mess that Hurd was tied to at the time that he was President of HP. His role in that issue was rewarded by his being elevated to CEO. At the time of his departure
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GM IPO is Equivalent to a Government Bake Sale
- September 7, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Automotive, Government, News
You may have experienced, as a child, when your school or Boy Scout troop wanted to raise money, it held a “Bake Sale.” A “Bake Sale” basically meant that your Mom baked a cake or cup cakes, donated them to the bake sale, and then bought them back. The school or troop received the proceeds
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The Road to Gold or the Golden Route: Tug of Warlords in Afghanistan
- September 6, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Metals, Mining, News
We have previously written that, during the current recession, precious metals, particularly gold, will fare well due to the following dollar. We also wrote of increased M&A activity. Three days ago, Canada’s Goldcorp Inc. announced it had agreed to buy Andean Resources Ltd. for about 3.6 billion Canadian dollars (US$3.42 billion). Goldcorp, the world’s second-largest
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Implementing IT Cultural Change without Resistance
- September 5, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Change Management, Decision Making, Information Technology, News, Organizational Behavior
A new white paper has been posted on the SECG web site. This is a case study on cultural change within IT organizations, focuses on the ability to implement cultural change without resistance. This is especially challenging with the high pace of technology change. People resist change when they perceive the change is against their
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IT Asset Management Practices
- August 29, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Asset Management, Information Technology, News
A new white paper has been posted on the SECG web site. The focus is IT asset management best practices. Included in the paper are the following: Define IT Inventory and Asset Practices Capture and Maintain Inventory Information Maintain IT Asset Information Administer License or Lease Maintain Warehouse Inventory Charge-back Administration Technology Portfolio Financial Planning