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Showing posts from February, 2013

A Sunday Afternoon by Georges Seurat

1884-1886 Georges Seurat spent two years painting A Sunday Afternoon through constant observation. Such a painting took a considerable amount of effort and he spent many hours sitting in the park drawing sketches, making preliminary paintings and perfecting his craft. He used a concept called pointalism which is painted in small dots to enhance the colors and make them more vivid to viewers. He is the perfect example of how many years of practice make perfection with one’s work. This is a very different concept than many people view today through the instant television impressions of success. Even our modern day heroes of sports players recognize the amount of time and effort they put into their own crafts. The painting was created as a representation of Ile de la Jatte which is an Island at the gates of Paris. Locals would bring their families to the park and lounge on Sunday afternoon. Such patrons would play games, fish, have meaningful conversation, and do other s

German Innovation through Foreign Subsidiaries

American firms are not the only ones seeking competitive advantages using innovative development in emerging markets. German companies, with fingers in a number of different countries, are trying to better understand how innovation and knowledge based strategies impact their competitiveness. Research helps highlight the competitiveness of German companies in international markets and how this impacts their firm’s ability to compete internationally. Innovation activities in multinational firms do not live within a vacuum and are subject to and influenced by the environmental impact of its host country. Innovative activities of firms abroad depend on the technological abilities and capabilities of the home country (le Bas & Sierra, 2002).   It is difficult to develop innovation through home grown businesses in emerging markets without the support of the home country. Information and abilities are transferred from the home country to the host country through the subsidi

The Metaphysical Nature of The Book Tree

Walking into The Book Tree you would become distinctly aware that you are in a philosopher’s nook. The incense swirls around the room and pictures of the Egyptian “all seeing eye” hang on the wall. Lined along the wall and down the aisles are little treasures in written form ranging in everything from philosophy to history.   The place is simple and small but seems to provide the local community with its philosophical outlet.  Metaphysical is a branch of philosophy that seeks to explain the nature of life. It focuses on answering two questions 1.) What is there? 2.) What is it like? A Metaphysicist attempts to clarify the how people understand the world. They seek to understand cause and effect, objectives, space, time properties, etc… It is an understanding of all things in the universe and how they relate to each other. Metaphysics was the science before science. Before the use of the scientific method and empirical data people engaged in what is called natural philosop

Business College Students Seek Opportunities of Self-Ownership

The value of a college education cannot be underestimated in an increasingly complex world. Business education is important in fostering new minds that will go forth and try out their ideas in the international market. Research helps highlight how a simple majority of business college students seek to develop their own business operations but feel as though these opportunities may not be forthcoming. In 1865 Horace Greely stated, “ Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country .” The commonly used quote is deeply rooted in the psychology of young people who desire to flap their wings and seek their fortunes. The nature of business is about flapping wings and trying to get off the ground. Many do, many more do not, but it is the journey that takes precedence. One of the reasons why young business students are so eager to start their own entrepreneurial endeavors lays in the uncertainty the recession has created over the past decade. They were reared in an era wh

Servant Leadership and Change

“ Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor. ” - H. Jackson Brown   The ability to adapt and bend is important when addressing change in this fast-paced marketplace.  As H. Jackson Brown, the author who wrote many of those Life's Little Instruction Books, said: "Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor."  For those businesses that are out there in the mix of the chaos, it is easier for them to move to another partner or change the beat...so to speak.  The role and style of leadership is particularly critical when facilitating change.  A leader shares the “vision of what could be and speaks a new organizational future into existence” (Lloyd & Maguire, 2002). Purposeful dialogue, courage and vision allow for change to manifest and for those changes to remain sustainable (Quy Nguyen & Mintzberg, 2003).  A leader must be virtuous also.  According to Cameron (2006), “when people are exposed to virtuous