finance

Social metrics that matter to your boss

A business case usually relies on numbers.  Numbers to justify the investment, numbers to project the return on investment, and numbers to compare against other investment opportunities.  Numbers that matter, matter differently dependent on the view of the person you talk to.  Certainly social media, or social software, numbers rely on us to know our [...]

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Evaluating risk: financial models versus competency models, part 1

We make models to get an idea, on a small-scale, of what might happen on a large-scale.  Models help identify risk and attempt to predict outcomes.  Many use models to then run scenarios or alternatives to identify what could or should be.  Models then become a map for many management discussions as models provide options [...]

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Business as a foreign language for HR professionals

Today in Human Resource Executive Online I eagerly read a post titled Is Business a Foreign Language for HR? Anyone who has seen or read my blogs knows, I’m pretty insistent that HR (organization development, organization behavior, training, diversity, compensation) does not deserve a place at the table until HR understands the essentials of business:  finance [...]

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5 reasons human resources hurt consumer brands

Every person connected to your organization is in sales and marketing.  Each interaction anyone connected to your company, your government agency, your non-profit, or your university has with the anyone is an interaction with your brand. Every interaction with a vendor, supplier, or competitor is as important as an interaction with a potential customer.  At [...]

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Sales, finance, and human resources, only room for 2 at the table

There are really on 3 swim lanes, or functions, in business. Every business function is subordinated to either; sales, finance, or human resources. How can HR possibly have any impact when business is all about sales, brining in the money and finance making the best use of the money?

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CSI Music Industry, Part 1: The Crime Scene

First in a series of investigations into the death of the music industry record business. Background: I went to Berklee College of Music as a conducting and arranging major. I switched my major to music business mid-way when I discovered how lawyers and accountants make the major decisions about the music I heard. I wanted [...]

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