Making the business case : proposals that succeed for projects that work [book]

Author: Ian Gambles

A good business case is so much more than simply the means to justify a decision. A well-written and well-researched business case will secure funding; make sure any project stays on the right side of regulation; mobilize support for the cause; provide the platform for managing the project and the benchmark against which to measure progress.
Ian Gambles' Making the Business Case shows you how to make sense of the task at hand, develop a strategy, articulate your options, define the benefits, establish the costs, identify the risks and make a compelling case.

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Professional Services set to lead the pack (special report)
Source: IBISWorld
"The past year has seen the professional service sector – spanning accounting, architecture, law, engineering and management consulting – navigate a tumultuous and rocky road. Business sentiment fell rapidly in 2009, leading to excess spending being cut from tightening budgets and any service not viewed as mandatory placed at risk of removal. In this article just published in PSF Journal, IBISWorld outlines which professional services are expected to post the strongest recovery in 2010 and why."

Data data everywhere (journal article)
from The Economist, Vol 394 No 8671, 27 Feb 2010, pp. 3-5
"The article discusses information resources and information resources management. Digitalization has enormously increased the amount of data that can be stored and distributed, which offers opportunities for businesses, governments, and scientific research. However, the amount of computer storage space for the data is growing limited. Privacy protection and data security become more difficult as the amount of information available expands."

Keep on tracking
Matty Soccio explores tracking, measurement and monitoring to help marketers conquer their fear of failure.
from Marketing Magazine, February 2010
"It can be taken as fact that the majority of marketers want to be stimulated – you want to be involved with the fun parts of campaigns, kept in the loop during the creative process as the agency goes about its business making something spectacular for you to take back to the CEO and have him say, “This looks brilliant, well done, here’s a 50 percent raise!”
But when the commotion dies down and the last of the leftover stuffed toy promotional products have been packed into a box, what do you have to show for it? A discernable ROI? Hardly.
Tracking and measurement begins even before an eccentric creative has had time to head to the toilet to dream up a ‘creative strategy’. It starts with your brand – how are your consumers ‘consuming’ your product or service? Why do they and how often? But, most important of all, what does your data tell you about the ROI your campaign produced?"
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The craft of project shaping (journal article)
By Charles Smith and Mark Winter
from International Journal of Managing Projects in Business Vol 3 Iss 1 2010, pp. 46 - 60
"This paper aims to look closely at the actuality of project formation to investigate the performance of project shaping – those acts performed by individuals to make that form of “sense” that constitutes a new project, and to propose a framework for mapping the skills of those individuals who are directly involved in shaping projects."
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Free : the future of a radical price [book]

Author: Chris Anderson

"Considers a brave new world where the old economic certainties are being undermined by a growing flood of free goods - newspapers, DVDs, T shirts, phones, even holiday flights. ... Shows how the flexibility provided by the online world allows producers to trade ever more creatively, offering items for free to make real or perceived gains elsewhere. ... Demonstrates the ways in which, as an increasing number of things become available for free, our decisions to make use of them will be determined by two resources far more valuable than money: the popular reputation of what is on offer and the time we have available for it." - cover.

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Business process mapping : improving customer satisfaction [book]

Authors: J. Mike Jacka, Paulette J. Keller

"Business Process Mapping is a powerful tool that offers a solid understanding of any given process, as well as the methods for that process to be more effective, and ensures that true value is being provided to customers. From management to internal auditor to external consultant, the new edition includes more detailed work and examples related to ERM [Enterprise Risk Management] practices, particularly focusing on how objectives, risks, and key performance indicators are fundamental to understanding and analyzing processes. As well, new tools are included toward enhancing and enriching the basic work done with process mapping." - from publisher.

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The Next Big Thing (journal article)
by Richard Jones
from Management Today, Nov/Dec 2009
"If you are wondering what the next big thing is for business, SAP's Jeff Word believes he knows: business network transformation.... Word recently edited a book on BNT and he is convinced it is the next step for business innovation. He says BNT is not primarily related to technology and is more akin to the next generation of competitive dynamics. Word admits it is a sort of outsourcing 2.0 but, when combined with the new technological capabilities to manage relationships, it is actually a much smarter proposition. "

Working smart and small : the role of knowledge-based and service industries in growth strategies for small states [book]

Authors: Mahvash Qureshi and Dirk Willem te Velde / Commonwealth Secretariat

"Suggests how small states can reposition themselves in the global economy and move into knowledge based and service industries. It provides an overview of general factors stimulating or constraining the development of services sector and trade in services. It also identifies key trends and provides analysis. Six case study examples are presented of how some small states have promoted knowledge based and service industries in their economies (including Botswana, Mauritius, St Lucia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Vanuatu). The studies cover the performance and supporting factors in five service sectors: the financial sector, information and communication technologies, education, professional services and tourism. The policy implications are also considered." - from publisher.

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Services, ICTs and the Changing Nature of Economic Development Processes in the KBE Era (journal article)
by Tom Mandeville and Hadi Kardoyo
in Prometheus, Volume 27, Issue 1 March 2009 , pages 17 - 25
"We present a concise, exploratory, discussion paper that provides some promising hypotheses concerning how economic development processes may be evolving in the KBE era. Emerging roles for ICTs and services in the economy are driving these changes. Developing countries may be able to leapfrog stages of growth, or structural change, that presently developed nations historically went through. Case studies of India and Indonesia are utilized. "

The Competitive Process in the Age of the Internet (journal article)
by Peter E. Earl and Tom Mandeville
from Prometheus Volume 27, Issue 3 September 2009 , pp. 195 - 209
"This paper examines some of the impacts of the widespread adoption and use of the Internet in advanced countries on business, consumers and the media. It is argued that while capital costs of entry into Internet-based businesses may be very low, this does not guarantee that markets in which such firms operate will necessarily be hotly contested, for success may require substantial sunk costs to be incurred in development. It explores the changing nature of market institutions associated with the rise of e-commerce (including the advent of what are labelled 'portal' firms) and associated changes in the division of labour between buyers, sellers and intermediaries. The authors provide behavioural, evolutionary, and information theoretic perspectives on these dynamic issues. "

Throwing sheep in the boardroom : how online social networking will transform your life, work, and world [book]

Authors: Matthew Fraser & Soumitra Dutta.

"Examine the powerful forces behind the social 'e'-revolution, detailing often absurd and powerful reactions to it as well making predictions about its long-term consequences. ... Argues that while the Web 2.0 revolution has reached a tipping point socially ... it is facing powerful forces of resistance inside organizations - especially corporations and government bureaucracies." - cover.

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The 2008 state new economy index : benchmarking economic transformation in the states [online]

Authors: Robert D. Atkinson, Scott M. Andes, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) / Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

"Examines the degree to which [U.S.] state economies are knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, IT-driven, and innovation-based. With these indicators as a frame of reference, the report then outlines a state-level public policy framework aimed at helping states master forthcoming challenges and take advantage of opportunities." - introduction.

Starting an online business for dummies [book]

Authors: Melissa Norfolk & Greg Holden

Chapters include: Opening your own online business in ten easy steps, Planning your new e-business, Selecting the right web host and design tools, Organising your business site structure and layout, Creating a secure shopping experience, Accepting payments, Running a business through online auctions, Advertising and publicity, Search engine optimisation, Taking advantage of Google’s tools, Online business accounting tools, Ten must-have features for your web site, and Ten must-see online business success stories.

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Managing smaller projects : a practical guide [book]

Author: Mike Watson

"So called "small projects" can have potentially alarming consequences if they go wrong, but their control is often left to chance. The solution is to adapt tried and tested project management techniques. This book provides a low overhead, highly practical way of looking after small projects. It covers all the essential skills: from project start-up, to managing risk, quality, and change, through to controlling the project and implementing a simple control system." - cover.

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It's the Data stupid
Source: Dun and Bradstreet, White Paper
"Every year Australian companies spend millions of dollars on customer and supplier relationship software and systems. Yet all too often this investment fails to realise its potential and organisations are left wondering why their expectations haven’t been met. At the heart of this problem is a failure to understand that technology is just one part of the solution. Equally important is the data used to power these systems.
This Dun & Bradstreet whitepaper examines the critical role of data in business development and risk mitigation and explores a number of ways in which smart companies can gain true insight from data management and integration strategies."

Integration Means Change (journal article)
By Lance Dublin
from Training Vol 46 Iss 5 June 2009, pp, 27-27
"So you're ready to launch a new e-learning initiative. But just because the technology is in place doesn't mean your employees and your organization are ready. Change implementation is the key."

Developing a social media strategy for your brand (article)
by Matt Granfield
from Marketing Magazine, June 12 2009
"You’ve got a marketing plan of course, and a business plan, and a company mission statement, and you’ve probably got a bunch of other formal forms informing you of the formula for formulating strategic marketing decisions, but in all of that there’s probably not a single bit of guidance on what to do when TeenyBopper88 from Mildura starts telling all her Twitter followers that your product a) is brilliant and should be bought by everyone, b) is entirely unremarkable or c) left her without sight in one eye."

The benefits of being good (journal article)
by Beverley Head
from Information Age, April 2009
"The ICT sector loves its TLAs (three-letter acronyms) and is learning to live with the GFC (global financial crisis). Now it’s getting to grips with CSR (corporate social responsibility)."

Document management - a hidden source of value (journal article)
by Ferruccio Lagutaine and Stefano Martinotti
from McKinsey Quarterly, April 2009
"Recently, a big insurance company looking for savings to finance growth decided to target document operations. Spending was high and evidence of waste widespread. In some locations, under a third of all marketing brochures reached designated customers; the rest sat in storage for years. Fragmented communications hurt the company’s brand image—logos, for example, were printed in different sizes and colors.
Top executives thought an integrated document-management strategy could cut costs and improve operations significantly. An analysis revealed that over three years these costs might fall by up to €150 million..."
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