ARTICLES

What should a manager do when two or more employees are squabbling with each other? Chronic conflict can hurt productivity, cause customers to leave and induce talented employees to look for a more agreeable place to work. But if managers jump in...

The old saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” But in the world of fraud, this may not be the case. In the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud & Abuse, 1,843 cases of...

How you grow your company can be as important as whether you grow your company. Business growth carries with it a certain amount of risk. To avoid potential pitfalls, consider the following tips for successful growth. 1. Find your key...

You have probably seen them – barcodes that look like strangely deformed checkerboards. But you may not be sure of the business purpose or opportunity. These two-dimensional barcodes store a lot of information that can be read automatically by...

The dreaded Internal Revenue Service audit is one of the universal concerns for companies everywhere. While there is no guaranteed method to avoid an audit, a variety of situations may increase the chance for examination. IRS officials are...

Many companies faced layoffs during the past year as the economic downturn continued. If your company was one of those, you may soon find yourself facing the other issue of deciding who or how many people to bring back. The question “What is the...

When an employee tells you she is pregnant, it is important for you to know what you must do, and what you must not do or say. Following are highlights of the federal laws. Also be sure to check your state laws because some states mandate more...

Have you ever had a situation where you told someone what to do, and they didn't do it like you wanted them to? Of course you have. We all have, and it's very frustrating. We throw our hands in the air and sigh about how hard it is to find good...

What is the most valuable process in your business? Is it acquiring hard-to-find parts, adding value by packaging related items or modifying a product to make it unique? Or are you simply capitalizing on volume? Whenever you or your employees touch...

After numerous postponements dating back three years, the long-awaited Red Flags Rule finally became effective Jan. 1, 2011. During this process, slight revisions have been made that impact the parties involved. It's important to know whether your...

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." If it were only that easy! Ask anyone in business, and they'll likely tell you that it takes more than having a good product or service to attract...

In these challenging economic times, every company is looking for ways to gain market share and increase sales. But connecting with new customers requires more than a glossy brochure. One way is to leverage the power of social media – a new...