Dave Berkus on: Contemplating Selling Your Business |
In Can you list ten buyers for your business?, Dave shares an exercise that he performs at least every several years in planning sessions with his boards and their senior management. To summarize, on a spreadsheet, four columns are labeled: "Name of candidate buyer," "What they want," "What we want," and "Likelihood." The group then brainstorms 10 potential purchasers of the company for column one. For column two, the group does its best to divine what it is about their company that would most attract the buyer if the potential buyer had perfect knowledge of their business and its resources - perhaps intellectual property, geographic reach, superior product, management team, or dominant position. Dave explains the rest of the exercise, but concludes that it's the information gleaned for column two that shines as the true core competency of the corporation, and that is where resources should be directed/re-directed. And, in Another personal story: Timing is everything in a sale, Dave says, "Almost anyone who has sold a company has a story to tell about their good deal, the problems with the buyer, a last-minute change of terms, or more. I have saved this story until now because it is one of my favorites, and certainly illustrates the point about timing being a combination of luck and skill." (Dave Berkus, Monrovia & West Los Angeles)
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Cornerstone on: Diversity & Other Lessons from HR Tech 2018
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Cornerstone OnDemand has published The Business Case for Diversity and Other Lessons from HR Tech 2018, which reports that conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion took center stage at the recent conference. Cornerstone discusses five favorite take-aways, which in summary are: Diversity is about making everyone feel welcome; Data leads to better hires; Automation is coming, but there's no need to panic; Learning management tools are gaining importance; and Don't be afraid to fail. Meanwhile, Cornerstone has been recognized as a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Talent Management Suites for the fifth consecutive time, and was positioned highest on the ability to execute. Also, Cornerstone has been named to Training Industry's "2018 Top 20 Learning Portal/LMS Companies List." (Adam Miller, West Los Angeles)
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Intellect on: Supply Chain Risk Management |
In Supply Chain Risk Management: 5 Different Types, Intellect's Romeo Elias examines five categories: Change Management Process, Supplier Performance Management, Out-of-Specification and Non-Conformance Management, Corrective Actions, and Post-Market Reaction. Romeo concludes that supply chain risk can effectively be managed with most of the techniques explained here, however, if you want entirely effective risk management that involves all of what he describes, an out-of-the-box Quality Management System solution is your best option. That's because the risk is no longer an isolated part of the QMS, but more a feature of it. (Romeo Elias, West Los Angeles)
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PeopleG2 on: Great Leaders & Update for Employers |
In Great Leaders Say "Yes!", published recently on thoughtleadersllc.com, PeopleG2's Chris Dyer extols the benefits of a positive outlook, particularly the "Yes, and. . ." response. This is also the first step to becoming a positive and more transparent leader, according to Chris, who adds: "Saying 'Yes' forces us to explain, provide context, and engage in dialogue. Saying 'No' just ends the conversation." And, in Update for Employers! A New Summary of Consumer Rights, PeopleG2 reports that, effective September 21, employers must use a new model of the "Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act" disclosure document. Failure to provide this notification can lead to class action litigation. (Chris Dyer, Monrovia)
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The Joy Factory on: Choosing a Proper Tablet Case & Mount
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In How to choose the right tablet case and mount combo, The Joy Factory provides information to help a person and/or company find the right tablet mounting solution that will best fits their environment and needs. Some things to consider include deciding where you will be using this mount, such as automotive, flat or round surface, or fixed mounts. With just four easy steps, you will be able to have peace of mind and protection for your tablet(s) in the office or in the field if you are a mobile professional. (Sampson Yang, Orange County, & Miranda Su, Monrovia)
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WorkDone on: Automating Repetitive Company Tasks |
In WorkDone Use Case: Purchase Orders, WorkDone provides a use case to explain how the company's AI-based automation platform works. Briefly, in this example of processing purchase orders at a company, a browser plug-in, called WorkDone Monitor, follows along with a person as they process the POs. Soon, WorkDone's "Expertise Capture" gets the hang of it, and the Monitor alerts the person that it has built a custom WorkDone Agent to handle that process. This Agent can stage work for the person to review before submission, or the Agent can complete the entire process without human involvement. As the Agent keeps learning and the person keeps tweaking the process to make automation as effective as possible, the company can keep track of increasing productivity gains on the WorkDone Dashboard, and share this Agent with others doing similar tasks across the company. (Joe Rogers, West Los Angeles)
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6 Amazing Ways Technology Will Transform How We Shop |
If you thought it was high-tech to tap your phone or smartwatch to buy something, wait until you get a load of the following half-dozen scenarios to roll out over the next few years. In summary, they are: Stores with no checkout; autonomous cars providing delivery and serving as mobile storefronts; virtual shopping - walk the virtual aisles of stores; augmented reality glasses that can superimpose info on top of items in a supermarket; voice-controlled assistants; and delivery drones. (Read Article: USA Today, 10/1/18)
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DOJ & Broadband Industry Sue California to Stop Net Neutrality Law |
The Justice Department recently sued California to stop the state's new law that would guarantee full and equal access to the internet, a principle known as net neutrality. The suit was filed shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the net neutrality bill - one of the strongest efforts in the nation to restore internet access rules since they were rolled back by the FCC last year. (Read Article: New York Times, 9/30/18) Subsequently, four lobby groups representing the broadband industry also sued California to stop the law. Mobile industry lobby CTIA, cable industry lobby NCTA, telco lobby USTelecom, and the American Cable Association, which represents small and mid-size cable companies, together represent all the biggest mobile and home Internet providers in the US and hundreds of smaller ISPs. (Read Article: Ars Technica, 10/3/18)
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FCC Moves to Free Up More Airwaves in Prep for 5G; Verizon Launches 5G in L.A. |
Federal regulators are proposing to free up a broad swath of underused airwaves for Wi-Fi and broadband, as part of their efforts to deploy next-generation 5Gwireless technology around the U.S., officials said. The move will open up airwaves now used by a range of industries including communications companies, utilities and broadcasters for unlicensed uses such as Wi-Fi, to help alleviate the growing wireless traffic crunch. The proposed changes are a part of the federal government's broader plan to foster more shared uses of the nation's increasingly crowded airwaves. (Read Article: Wall Street Journal, 10/1/18)
Meanwhile, on October 1, Verizon officially turned on 5G services in four U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Houston, and Indianapolis. Verizon's offering is an end-to-end 5G solution, including the necessary wireless hardware to deliver next-generation wireless speeds to home broadband users. (Read Article: Venture Beat, 10/1/18)
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AT&T and City of L.A. Explore Smart Cities Public-Private Partnership |
To foster the creation of a Smart City, AT&T and Los Angeles are in talks regarding a public-private partnership - exploring the deployment of a variety of solutions ranging from digital kiosks to structural monitoring to digital infrastructure. The deployment of these technologies will help to provide better connectivity to neighborhoods that have been traditionally left behind in the digital divide. To enhance existing voice and data capacity in the city, they'll be looking to deploy a greater number of small cells more rapidly to expand AT&T's existing network and begin deployment of a 5G network. (Read: AT&T Release, 9/12/18)
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California Institutes Board Gender Diversity Law |
Noting that representation of women in leadership roles, in technology and businesses at large, is not proportionate to the workforce, California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill into law mandating companies headquartered in the state have at least one female board director by the end of 2019. By the end of 2021, companies with five board members will need at least two female directors, and companies with six or more members will need at least three women. Companies that fail to comply can be fined $100,000 for initial violations and $300,000 for subsequent ones. (Read Article: CIO Dive, 10/5/18)
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Augmented Reality Poised to Eclipse Virtual Reality |
While AR and VR are related, they are distinct technologies with different applications. VR completely immerses users into visual environments that are separate from the real world, while AR involves overlaying information onto images or camera views of the real world to enhance users' experiences. Thanks to its affinity with smartphone tech, AR is proving easier to implement. AR and VR are also expected to grow at different rates. By the end of 2018, eMarketer estimates that there will be 51.2 million AR users in the US, compared with 36.7 million VR users. And July 2018 research, conducted by VR Intelligence and SuperData Research, found that 46% of industry professionals believed that AR would reach mainstream adoption within three years, compared with 33% who said the same for VR. (Read Article: eMarketer, 10/1/18)
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World Wide Web Inventor Develops Startup to Give Users Control Over Data |
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has launched launch Inrupt, with a mission to turbocharge a broader movement afoot, among developers around the world, to decentralize the web and take back power from the forces that have profited from centralizing it. Berners-Lee and other internet activists dream of a digital utopia where individuals control their own data and the internet remains free and open. Inrupt will be the first major commercial venture built off of Solid, a decentralized web platform that Berners-Lee and others at MIT have spent years building. (Read Article: Fast Company, 9/29/18)
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California Autonomous Farm to Produce Food Without Humans |
With agricultural labor in short supply in the U.S., a Californian robotics company has opened an autonomous farm that aims to produce food without human workers. The startup Iron Ox aims to autonomously produce 26,000 units of leafy greens at its facility every year. A series of robotic arms and movers will work together to gradually shift plants from their trays as they grow. Although 15 farm hands will initially work alongside the robots as they quietly tend to rows of leafy greens, the company's ultimate goal is to operate "a fully autonomous farm," where software and robotics replace human agricultural workers altogether. (Read Article: MIT Technology Review, 10/3/18)
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