More often than not in traditional management consulting engagements involving operations, there is usually room for setting up or revising goals, metrics & reporting, and service level agreements. Depending on the phase of development of a company (often couched as Stage 0 [Ad-Hoc], Stage 1 [Functional], Stage 2 [Intrabusiness Cross-Functional], etc. maturity levels by a consulting firm), the next higher-level of metrics and reporting may apply and be a goal for the client organization to strive for.

Where management has to be somewhat careful about applying metrics, however, is how people and company culture play a role in getting everything to work together right.

To put a finer point on things, one can put in place a perfectly appropriate set of metrics and reporting systems for a company yet miss the boat completely on a management-level as to how the results should be applied because of the culture.

As an example in sales operations, I have frequently seen a competitive environment laid out. People's individual performance levels are exposed, and poor performing people are weeded out. This environment can work out in some cases. On the other hand, in a collaborative engineering or product development environment, cooperation may be encouraged.

On a related topic, a friend of my wife and I, Dr. Uri Gneezy at the University of Chicago, has some great research on the relationship between competition and gender. From the research summary:

Gneezy suggests that CEOs creating incentives in their firms should be aware that making the internal environment more competitive might create a bias that helps men, while putting women at a relative disadvantage.

My take on applying this type of research would be to recognize and raise one's sense of awareness to the environment one is implementing metrics in. Although metrics may be encouraged to be tracked to an individual-level doesn't automatically equate to that the environment has to be a competitive one. Choosing a collaborative versus dictatorial management style that is compatible with the desired company culture is a separate choice from metric implementation.

Steve Shu Managing Director S4 Management Group Email: sshu@s4management.com Web: http://www.s4management.com

"The Florida Baptist Convention has taken a proactive stance to encourage all churches to run background checks on employees and volunteers-as we do with every volunteer who works with children and teens in Convention-sponsored events and programs" - How ironic that this is brought up in the context of the Gilyard saga. Had Shiloh Baptist done a background check on Gilyard he would have come out clean back in 1993 - he had no criminal record. But he was KNOWN to be a serial adulter by Paige Patterson and Jerry Vines, and had confessed to having sex with women he had counseled in his churches prior to coming to Shiloh, yet a background check would never have revealed that when Shiloh hired him in the early 1990s. Of course now if we run a background check, he is a convicted sex offender. - Christa Brown and others have called for the Southern Baptist Convention to establish a database to track ministers who have been convicted of crimes, or credibly accused of serious misconduct. The SBC heavies have opposed such a system, and the Gilyard disaster is example #1 of why such a system is required. The FBC statement above painfully points this out. -- "Christ Tabernacle Baptist Church (sic) in Jacksonville has been affiliated with the Florida Baptist Convention since 1998. During that time, the congregation has not demonstrated cooperation as defined by our Bylaw 2, which includes participating in the Cooperative Program giving and providing statistical information. They have given nothing in the past six years." -- OK, that is interesting. Glad to know that in addition to hiring a pedophile and kicking the kids out of the church, they also are guilty of the terrible offense of not giving any money to the Cooperative Program. Who really cares that they have given no money to SBC missions, if they are putting a pedophile in the pulpit?

By Lou Pritchett, Procter & Gamble

A LETTER FROM A PROCTER AND GAMBLE EXECUTIVE TO THE PRESIDENT* THE
LAST SENTENCE IS THE MOST CHILLING

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an
Acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest
Rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize
Him as the foremost leader in change management.. Lou changed the way
America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to
Be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to
Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and
Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike
Any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.


You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive
Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no
Visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth
Growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus
Don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned
Yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to
Publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America '
Crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style
Country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system
With a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly
Capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose
That lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of
Living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics
Against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from
Challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider
Opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both
Omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything
You do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the
Limbaugh's, Hannitys, O'Reillys and Becks who offer opposing,
Conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will
Probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett
*
*
This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it.
Big surprise. Since it hit the Internet, however, it has had over
500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed
Is that good men do nothing.. It's happening right now.*

I have felt the shadow of Timmy since childhood - but never imagined the name would be hurled at me by strangers in my 30s.

Me in South Park Originally uploaded by bkirsten. (Sadly it doesn't have the option to add freckles.) Create your own South Park character. Link courtesy of Samantha Burns...

Munich, Quincy/MA, July 23, 2024 – Consumers who use high-end mobile phones trust that their smartphones have been manufactured fairly from an environmental, social, and economic point of view. However, for the majority of smartphones this is not the case. Whistleblowers have revealed that Largan, by far the largest manufacturer of camera lenses for smartphones, manufactures its products using illegal practices.

The Law Office of Richard M. Kenny is proud to announce that Richard M. Kenny, Esq. has been selected as a member of America's Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys® for 2023.

Richard M. Kenny Selected for the National Trial Lawyers Top 100. The National Trial Lawyers is an invitation-only professional organization composed of the leading personal injury trial attorneys across the United States.

Fisher-Price issues a partial recall on all models of over two million Snuga Swings after five infants die from suffocation

Salary.com, the leading SaaS provider of cloud-based compensation data and analytics, today released the results of its eighth annual U.S. and Canada National Salary Budget Survey – revealing, for the eighth year in a row, that annual salary increase budgets are expected to remain flat at 3% for the upcoming year.

Borro's team of accredited luxury asset experts and financing specialists tailor loans to meet individual and business needs, making Borro a trusted lender to over 15,000 clients since 2008.

Our favorite operating system is now changing the default shell (ksh) to enforce not allowing invalid NUL characters in input that will be parsed as parts of the script.

The commit message reads,

List:       openbsd-cvs
Subject:    CVS: cvs.openbsd.org: src
From:       Theo de Raadt <deraadt () cvs ! openbsd ! org>
Date:       2024-09-23 21:18:33

CVSROOT:	/cvs
Module name:	src
Changes by:	deraadt@cvs.openbsd.org	2024/09/23 15:18:33

Modified files:
	bin/ksh        : shf.c 

Log message:
If during parsing lines in the script, ksh finds a NUL byte on the
line, it should abort ("syntax error: NUL byte unexpected").  There
appears to be one piece of software which is misinterpreting guidance
of this, and trying to depend upon embedded NUL.  During research,
every shell we tested has one or more cases where a NUL byte in the
input or inside variable contents will create divergent behaviour from
other shells.  (ie. gets converted to a space, is silently skipped, or
aborts script parsing or later execution).  All the shells are written
in C, and majority of them use C strings for everything, which means
they cannot embed a NUL, so this is not surprising.  It is quite
unbelievable there are people trying to rewrite history on a lark, and
expecting the world to follow alone.

Read more…

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) Membership Management Software Market is expected to reach USD 8.64 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 4.7% between 2024 and 2030. The membership management software is used to help organizations with work. Most of the administrative duties are expected to be automatized....

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) Mineral Sand Market size is projected to reach USD 55.13 Bn. by 2030 from US$ 46.06Bn. in 2023, at a CAGR of 2.6% during the forecast period. The mineral sand sector refers to the extraction and production of titanium dioxide and zircon products, which are utilized...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) Nail Care Market size was valued at USD 11.57 Bn. in 2023. Nail Polish, one of the segments reviewed in our reports dominated the Nail Care Market. Nail care involves caring for both toenails and fingernails. Nail care, including manicures and pedicures, can...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) The Asset Performance Management Market is expected to grow from USD 1.91 billion in 2024 to USD 3.19 billion by 2029 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.8% during the forecast period. A need for optimizing cost efficiency will boost the growth of the...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 24, 2024 ) The paper-based consumer bags market is experiencing growth due to increasing environmental regulations, rising consumer awareness, and growing demand from various end-use industries. Stricter regulations regarding plastic bags are driving the shift towards paper-based...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 24, 2024 ) The oligonucleotide synthesis market is experiencing significant growth due to its applications in diagnostics, therapeutics, and research. North America holds the largest market share due to established research infrastructure and strong demand. Asia Pacific...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 24, 2024 ) Okra being a nutritious powerhouse is a rich source of protein and oil. The decreasing arable land is driving demand for high-yielding hybrid okra seeds.The rising awareness about okra’s benefits is rising the demand of the vegetable. However, fructans in okra...

Small-business owners were victims in 43 percent of data breaches tracked between Nov. 1, 2017, and Oct. 31, 2018, according to a 2019 Verizon report. The report tracked security incidents across all industries, but the most vulnerable sectors this year were retail, accommodation and healthcare.

What does the issue look like on a national scale? If we take the sample size of infected sites SiteLock said they found in 2018 -- approximately 47,244 out of 6,056,969 checked -- and apply that percentage to the country’s estimated 30.2 million small-businesses websites, minus the estimated 36 percent that do not have one, then we can loosely estimate the amount of infected small-business websites to be around 150,757.

complete article

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 25, 2024 ) The global polysilicon market is projected to expand significantly, fueled by the rising demand for solar panels and electronic devices. With the photovoltaic segment dominating the market, polysilicon plays a vital role in solar energy production. Asia-Pacific...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 25, 2024 ) The global rock drilling equipment market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the expansion of infrastructure projects worldwide. Major developments in emerging economies like India, China, and Brazil are fueling demand for advanced rock drilling machinery....

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 25, 2024 ) The global phenolic antioxidant market is poised to experience robust growth, projected to reach $2.78 billion by 2030. Phenolic antioxidants, which inhibit free radicals, are essential in industries like plastics, rubber, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The synthetic...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 27, 2024 ) PET Bottle Market overview PET bottles are plastic containers crafted from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is a form of polyester resin. PET plastic is clear, durable, lightweight, and can be recycled. It is resistant to shattering, stable in extreme...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 28, 2024 ) The global IoT security market size is projected to grow from USD 24.2 billion in 2024 to USD 56.2 billion by 2029 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.4% during the forecast period. Organizations face significant financial losses and reputational damage...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 28, 2024 ) Lamp Market Drivers Growing competition among lamp manufacturers as the demand for in various applications (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) increases are important driving factors in Lamp Market. The government regulations are promoting energy efficient...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 28, 2024 ) Women’s Activewear Market overview Women's activewear is clothing designed specifically for women to wear while engaging in physical activity and working out. It typically includes sports bras, leggings, shorts, tops, and jackets made from breathable, moisture-wicking...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 28, 2024 ) The neuromorphic computing market size is expected to reach USD 1,325.2 million by 2030 growing at a compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 89.7%, from USD 28.5 million in 2024. The globalization of neuromorphic computing would further gain its momentum based on...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 29, 2024 ) Vanilla Market size was valued at US$ 27.66 Bn in 2023 and the total revenue is expected to grow at 5.6% through 27.66 to 2030, reaching nearly US$ 40.51 Bn. What is Vanilla Market Vanilla is the taste found in dishes like ice cream, derived from the vanilla...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 30, 2024 ) Integration of renewable energy sources requires modernizing the grid, including the use of reclosers and sectionalizers. Utilities are investing more in distribution automation to enhance reliability and efficiency by automating grid management. Increasing need...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 30, 2024 ) The 3D-printed drones market is projected to grow from USD 707 million in 2024 to USD 1,891 million by 2029, at a CAGR of 21.8% from 2024 to 2029. The market growth can be attributed to the growing utilization of 3D printing technology for rapid prototyping and...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) The Butadiene market is expected to reach US$ 50.93 Bn. in 2030, with a CAGR of 4.4% for the period 2024-2030, because of growing demand in the tire industry. The butadiene market, a key component in synthetic rubber and automotive parts, is navigating a complex...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) Automotive Adaptive Front Lighting Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.8% throughout the forecast period, to reach US$ 6.55 Bn. by 2030 The global automotive adaptive front lighting market is on the rise, driven by increasing safety concerns and consumer...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 31, 2024 ) The global Big Data and Data Engineering Services market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing volume of unstructured data and the need for advanced analytics. Key factors driving this growth include the rise of IoT devices, social media,...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) Aromatherapy Diffuser Market was valued at USD 1.87 Bn in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 3.45 Bn by 2030, at a CAGR of 9.17 % during the forecast period Aromatherapy Diffuser Market overview: The aromatherapy diffuser market has witnessed significant growth...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) Artificial Intelligence Chipset Market size was valued US$ 20.76 Bn in 2023 and the total revenue is expected to grow at 40% from 2024 to 2030, reaching US$ 218.85 Bn. by 2030. The AI chipset market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by increasing adoption...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 06, 2024 ) The global AI in finance market is on a rapid growth trajectory, projected to surge from USD 38.36 billion in 2024 to an impressive USD 190.33 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6%. According to a MarketsandMarkets report, this growth...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 07, 2024 ) According to MarketsandMarkets' latest research, the Edge Computing Market is projected to grow from USD 60.0 billion in 2024 to USD 110.6 billion by 2029, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.0%. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues its rapid...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 08, 2024 ) The global quantum communication market size is projected to grow from USD 0.74 billion in 2024 to USD 5.54 billion by 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 39.6% during the forecast period. Download PDF Brochure@ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=143942501&utm_source=emailwire.com&utm_medium=paidpr&utm_campaign=quantum-communication-market Increasing...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 13, 2024 ) The Security Service Edge Market is expected to reach USD 2.8 billion by 2028 from USD 0.8 billion in 2023, at a CAGR of 25.4 % during 2023–2028. The evolving cybersecurity landscape and the dynamic digital transformation of organizations are driving the adoption...

From Rolling Stone: Kenny Chesney, James Taylor Salute Jimmy Buffett at 2024 Rock Hall Ceremony. Dave Matthews, Mac McAnally also appear as late singer-songwriter receives Musical Excellence Award at Cleveland ceremony. Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney, …

Le stand chinois a attir� un large public, en particulier de jeunes visiteurs d�sireux de d�couvrir la culture et la langue chinoises lors de la 27e �dition du Salon international du livre d'Alger (SILA), a constat� sur place Xinhua. Selon Liu...

Le secteur chinois de la livraison express a enregistr� une expansion rapide en octobre, avec une acc�l�ration significative du taux de croissance des affaires, selon un indice de l'industrie publi� mercredi par le Bureau national des postes. ...

The Bears have signed restricted free agent tight end Josh Hill. The New Orleans Saints have five days to match the offer.

On 3/14/2011, the Master of Space and Time was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Yesterday, I had lots of tasks and projects on my To Do list that I was working on diligently, until 11:30 a.m. or so. That's when I got a call from my daughter's school telling me Amanda had a bad...

Hello Gents, I wanted to connect my Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Folio m1 which worked OK in the past but now is not typing anything. The battery is freshly charged and connected. Removing/Adding...

In a surprising turn of events, the Brazilian government has found a new ally in its fight against inflation and energy challenges: online casinos and crash games, like Aviator operators. By introducing additional taxes on these rapidly growing sectors, the government aims to channel the revenue into critical areas of the economy, including the burgeoning green energy sector. This strategy not only addresses economic stability but also aligns with Brazil's long-term commitment to sustainable development.

The good folks from Japanese publishing giants Shueisha Inc have sent us details about My Hero Academia - World Best Hero - Global Character...