In today’s economy companies in many industries are forced into massive layoffs to ensure their survival. While those cutbacks are necessary, the decision to let a significant portion of your workforce go carries potential legal, financial and public relations consequences. When faced with downsizing, you need to minimize anxiety and disruption while maximizing the morale of...

One of the most costly — yet easily prevented — disasters for any business is the failure to secure ownership of intellectual property (IP). Here are the details you need to know. Under the law, the ownership of copyrights and inventions may actually belong to your employees and independent contractors unless there is a prior written...

If numbers are a barometer of success and figures don’t lie, how do we explain the following contradictory evidence: More than 50 percent of all chief executives of Fortune 500 companies had C or C- averages in colleges.   Sixty-five percent of all U.S. senators were in the bottom half of their classes.   Seventy-five percent...

Credit sales are a fact of business life. And to keep those accounts from spinning out of control, your company must maintain a delicate balance between the total cost of bad debts and your profit gains. Your cash manager needs to constantly monitor your total receivables and bad debts. Part of the process involves weighing the...

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced that the minimum wage rate for federal contractors will increase from $10.20 per hour to $10.35 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. Background Information On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 which established a minimum wage rate for federal contractors. The...

Establishing a winning position in the marketplace is obviously critical to your company’s success. The position, however, must be based on a sustainable competitive advantage. What constitutes an unbeatable advantage? There are two choices: You have consistently lower costs than your rivals. As long as your product or service maintains an acceptable quality level, this advantage...