May 7, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

I do not have a MySpace account nor anything posted on Facebook. Both of my kids are college age (one is graduating next week!) and I'm a bit afraid to run into them online. Not that they do anything bad mind you but no news is often good news. Yet I so think that social networking is an important aspect of Generation @ or even those of us from older generations.

This week I was invited by three people to join their personal networks on LinkedIn, a social network for professionals. I have been a member for a while and it seems to be growing. A few of my graduating students have sent me invitations as well as some folks I've worked with over the years. Of course, some networks are more intricate than others, but I have access to them all. I FEEL the value but I don't SEE the value.

 Maybe I'm wrong. I'm interested in your take on LinkedIn or other social networking sites. Please share the good, the bad, and the ugly if you get a chance.

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I am attending an event with students next week and they asked me what the dress code would be for the event(they are learning!). I said business casual and they asked me to define what that was. These two words strike fear in the heart of most folks I know, as the definition is often in the eye of the beholder. What is business casual for you is not necessarily business casual for me. Is it a blazer? A sweater? A golf shirt? Yikes. Why does it have to be so complicated?

Back in the day it was easy. A long-sleeved shirt and a tie would cover most office attire needs; maybe a jacket when visiting a supplier. It was just so easy, and predictable. I remember attending a trade show where one booth s...Read More

April 30, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I had the good fortune this week of speaking at this year's APICS Seminar 1 in Marlboro, Mass. Seminar 1 is an annual regional APICS educational conference and is led by colleague and friend Mike Walsh. He routinely does a nice job in bringing in a wide range of speakers and attendees. This year was no exception.

April 23, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

It is an unusually warm (almost 80 degrees) afternoon on Boston's North Shore, so when I made my customary stop at Dunkin' Donut this noon for coffee today, I decided on an iced coffee….medium. The clerk told me apologetically that she'd have to prepare it in a large cup because they were out of medium cups. I told her to make it a large, thinking it would be awkward to make the mixture right. Perhaps I should have been offered a large at a medium price but that is a subject for a marketing blog.

As she was making the coffee (and as the manager walked behind her carrying two empty milk crates and banged off the wall…but that is a subject for an operations management blog) I hesitated to...Read More

April 21, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)