Today's Manager

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

The wasteful speed of new technologies.(FOREFRONT)
WE LOVE music. How many from the Generation Y knows what vinyl records are? They come in three speeds: 78 revolutions per minute, rpm; 45 rpm; and 33.3 rpm or what is known as long-playing records. . . .

Priority seat hogging remains a problem.(CROSSROADS)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LOOK at the young man in the uniform of Singapore's armed forces. He is neither carrying a walking stick, pregnant, nor carrying a child yet he is oblivious of the other pas . . .

Oil is a necessity in food production.(CROSSROADS)
WRITING for Earth Polciy News, Lester R Brown highlighted the importance of oil in producing food for the world's growing population. The prospect of peaking oil production has direct consequences . . .

Improving induction and onboarding programmes to achieve results.(CROSSROADS)
ACCORDING to to the latest survey from talent retention specialists Performability Pty Ltd, in a recession many organisations should be having a new onboarding programme. Performability recently a . . .

Colourful windows of Hill Street.(TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME)
THIS colourful building at the corner of Hill Street and River Valley Road is a favourite for tourists with cameras who want to capture a slice of old Singapore. First opened as the Hill Street poli . . .

Financial institutions face "toughest economic environment".
THIRTEEN Chief Risk Officers (CROs) and their deputies from the region's top financial institutions attended the recent Singapore Risk Roundtable, organised by IDC Financial Insights Asia/Pacific. B . . .

Increasing interest in applications based on Web 2.0.
RESULTS from IDC's survey, Asia/Pacific Dynamic IT Benchmark 2009, reveal that 59.1 per cent of Singapore CIOs are increasing their investments in building new business applications based on Web 2.0 . . .

Phoenix-like resilience: starting anew after a business failure: rebuilding after business failure is a difficult proposition fo
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE numbers are stark--some 50 per cent of businesses do not survive the first five years. Worse still, some studies indicate only one in four new businesses survive the fir . . .

Emerging stronger from business failure: Bernie Utchenik, better known as "Botak Jones", was hailed the blue-eyed boy of the foo
ASKED to describe his firm, Bernie Utchenik says Botak Jones is a food and beverage business that is trying to introduce a finer quality of food and higher quality of service to the average Singapor . . .

The case of the difficult boss: Bonita was unfortunate to work for an unreasonable boss. She should have resigned long ago but s
GRINGO Lim, 45, was a high flyer in Quintez Information Technology Inc, a software company. As Asian sales director, he managed to double his sales for the past two years. He has a reliable person . . .

Compensation should be paid.(The Case of the Worker Who Lost an Eye)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wangsa was a victim of the ploy. He played along with his employer as he felt threatened, and he was under stress as he had family commitments back in China. Wangsa's empl . . .

Victim of employer's ploy.(The Case of the Worker Who Lost an Eye)
Wangsa was a victim of the ploy by his employer to avoid being fined by the authorities as he was threatened to be sent back to China should he disclose the facts of the unfortunate incident. His . . .

Compensation based on insurance policy.(The Case of the Worker Who Lost an Eye)
Wangsa was a victim. Despite considering the seriousness of Wangsa's injury, the employer had threatened and insisted that he tells a lie. His employer, William Lam, and his supervisor, Wong Ah Lo . . .

Honesty counts.(The Case of the Worker Who Lost an Eye)
From the article, it can be deduced that Wangsa is an honest man who heeds his grandfather's advice not to tell lies. It is understandable that he lied to the doctor at Changi Hospital for fear of b . . .

Ignorance of workman's compensation law.(The Case of the Worker Who Lost an Eye)
William is obviously trying to cover up the incident by inciting Wangsa to falsely report the cause of his injury. In doing so, William can avoid reporting it to MOM and thus evading the demerit poi . . .

Good corporate governance keeps the company on track: weak corporate governance weakens a company's potential and may lead to fi
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CORPORATE governance involves the rights and responsibilities of a company's management, its board of directors, shareholders, and stakeholders. The efficient running of a c . . .

Effective high-level planning process: one purpose of planning is to get clarity, to know what you should be doing on a daily ba
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ALAN Lakein wrote that "Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now." There is truth in the meaning of the sentence, for plann . . .

Business plans that bring results: you have a million-dollar idea. Your company is doing well but needs finance to expand. Eithe
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU have a great idea that may earn you millions of dollars. Your company is doing well but needs finance to expand. Either way, you need to excite wealthy friends or ventur . . .

Opportunities off the beaten track in the knowledge outsourcing field: a knowledge process outsourcing sector doing well even in
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN 2007, several agencies had predicted that knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) would be in the range of US$10 billion to US$17 billion by 2009/2010. They certainly did not . . .

Extraordinary features of the financial crisis: the economic crisis is testing the resolve of the rich countries to hold on to t
WE are daily reminded by the mass media that the current financial crisis is the worst in our life time, the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s. To get a better feel of how the situation . . .

Safeway as a way of life: the Keppel group's safety objectives are to ensure that no harm comes to people, property, and the env
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACCORDING to the Ministry of Manpower, in 2008, there were 399 workplace injuries per 100,000 employees in the marine industry. This compares with 796 injuries in the constr . . .

Recognising and overcoming work stress: stress is bad for people and organisations, it's a threat and a health risk, and it need
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MANY organisations will agree that stress is one of the leading factors in illness and absenteeism among employees. Besides lowering a person's productivity, stress makes pe . . .

Concerns of Singapore managers: a broad-based survey of Singapore managers reveals that most view good health and work-life bala
A RECENT survey by the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) has found that most Singaporean managers are a pragmatic lot. An overwhelming 80 per cent of them view good health, work-life balance, . . .

Five steps for achieving work-life balance: working longer hours and E-mail make it hard to balance the demands on your time, pa
THE recent decade's economic and environment upheavals--like the 1997 Asian financial crisis, 2003 SARS, 2006 Tsunami, and 2009 Global credit crunch--have changed and impacted companies' and individ . . .

Sales strategies to capture market share in a down economy: selling is tough business in the current economic climate. After the
DURING the recession of the 1980s I was working with McKinsey, the management consultants. The advice they gave to their clients, which I heartily endorsed, was to pare back almost every corporate f . . .

New creations based on traditional Korean cuisine: taking its name from the Korean word for love, Sarang aims to share the herit
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TUCKED away in the Buona Vista area at Science Park I, there is a new Korean restaurant which prom . . .

From Singapore to the world automatic video production: technology firm muvee Technologies is recognised as the pioneer and lead
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHAT DO you get when a research scientist with a love for jazz and an inventor with a love for art and computer music decide to collaborate? An idea that makes perfect sense . . .

The reading revolution is here.(FOREFRONT)
THE WAY we read books, newspapers, and magazines will change when Amazon's Kindle 2 becomes as popular as the cellphone in a few years' time. While the older folks will take a longer time to catch o . . .

Internet and mobile banking as one channel.(CROSSROADS)
Financial Insights, an IDC company, believes that the move towards the convergence of Internet and mobile banking, which are two previously separate channels, will impact not only how channel strate . . .

Contract working becomes popular.(CROSSROADS)
PROFESSIONALS in Singapore are showing an increased interest in taking on contract work, according to a Robert Walters survey. Professional candidates from around the globe were asked about taking . . .

Getting closer to job applicants.(CROSSROADS)
Global marketing and design staffing specialist, Aquent, has broken convention by launching a new corporate Web site with no job search/job board function, but with open access to all its recruiters . . .

Peranakan houses remain an architectural attraction.(TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME)
NESTLED among the shopping buzz of Orchard Road, Emerald Hill retains its tranquil residential ambiance except for a few pubs and shops. The Straits Chinese or Peranakan were trusted by the British . . .

Asian companies hiring fewer professionals in Q1 2009.(CROSSROADS)
Robert Walters, the international recruitment consultancy, released Asia Job Index for the first quarter of 2009. Advertising for professional positions across Asia was very sluggish at the beginnin . . .

Corporate mindset is key to unified communications adoption in Asia-Pacific region.(CROSSROADS)
IDC research revealed that corporate mindset is the key characteristic driving the adoption of Unified Communications (UC) and Enterprise 2.0 technologies in companies across the Asia-Pacific exclud . . .

How to manage the challenges of change: by understanding the nature and dynamics of organisational change, managers will be able
IN this age of new technology, changes are occurring each day in the workplace and in the industry. Standing still is no longer an option. Rapid changes require that managers re-evaluate how they ma . . .

The case of the worker who lost an eye: when Wangsa lost one eye at work, he was asked to lie that the accident happened after w
WANGSA, 27, was a hardworking Chinese from Tianjin. He has been working as a construction worker with Tianjin Construction in Singapore for the past two years. He has been sending S$150 home to supp . . .

The case of ungrateful relative: don't keep secrets from the spouse.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Firstly, Bernstein should have discussed the matter of the loan with his wife. Being one entity, one party's actions will affect the other person. Instead of lending the full sum to Boon Huat, Berns . . .

Antidote works.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Bernstein should not lend the money to Boon Huat in the first place, knowing that he has a gambling habit. This will not help Boon Huat in solving his problems but may lead to more gambling in Bangk . . .

Forego the interest.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Before lending money to Boon Huat, it would better if Bernstein could ask him the reason for the loan. After that Bernstein should have a discussion with his wife not only because Boon Huat is her . . .

Lend cash without regret.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Bernstein should not lend Boon Huat the money as it is not a small sum. He is 58 and it will not be easy for him to earn more. The passage also indicated that he is very careful with his money. On t . . .

Bernstein's disappointment.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Bernstein should not have lent Boon Huat the $6,500 if he is not mentally prepared that he might not get his money back. As Bernstein relies on his retirement savings to run his own company, he ough . . .

Don't lend money to gamblers.(READERS' COMMENTS)(Letter to the editor)
Judging from the facts of the case, Bernstein is a superstitious person in essence as he has associated the coconut water from Thailand with the black magic spell cast on him. It could be precisely . . .

Regaining productivity lost to workplace bullying and abuse.(HUMAN RESOURCE)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In respectful workplaces, employees are more productive because they are more focused in their work. In non-respectful workplaces, the employees' productivity may suffer as . . .

Boosting your employability in turbulent times: in a tough economy, it can be difficult to hang on to your job. It's equally imp
MOST countries are going through a tough patch economically. Simple economics says that when people don't have as much money available to them, or are just not willing to spend it, they don't buy as . . .

Interviews help to secure a job: senior level people often end up in the wrong job, and are doomed to repeat their errors. But i
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT IS normal for panic to set in when job security erodes. Should I stay put? Should I look for something else? This in turn creates fear. When people are afraid, they grab . . .

The Board of directors' role in crisis management: boards of directors have to be vigilant to prevent crises and ensure that man
CRISES can strike any corporation without notice, potentially destroying huge amounts of shareholder value. When crises occur, they divert the attention of both management and the board of directors . . .

Companies see value in lavish annual reports: it's time for listed companies to reduce spending on full-colour annual reports th
AFTER the close of the financial year in March, my post box begins to fill up with annual reports from April. The post officer's bag is much heavier than usual with its extra load of thick annual re . . .

Powerful presentations capture attention: this article looks at how habit and technology can combine to create an ineffective ap
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Technology helps us in so many ways. Yet, it can have a sting in the tail. One aspect of modern business use and computers is Microsoft's PowerPoint software. For all its ad . . .

Finding strategic opportunities in a recession: Peter Steidl, the author of Survive, Exploit, Disrupt: Action Guidelines for Mar
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SINGAPORE plays a role in global trade and international business well beyond what one might expect given its relatively small population base. It is a major trading hub, a . . .

Treat your customer as your guest.(CUSTOMER SERVICE)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DURING times of poor demand, companies tend to cut costs in labour, staff training, capital investment, and marketing. Such measures may work in the business ecosystem but n . . .