Source: http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/tech-toolkit-how-to-select-tools-for-training-employees/

Employees, or the major part of the human resources, are key resource of a business. They are the intangible asset of a company.The significance of employee training is obvious because to some extent employee’s ability and potential decide the destiny of a business. You may enter into a industry at the right time by applying Poster’s 5 Force Theorem, but your company won’t survive the competition without skilled staff. Your employee determine how different it is between what you planned and what happened.This cannot be computed out by management accounting. If a manager ignore employee training, his/her business is doomed to failure.

Here comes the question, how to train employees?

In the article, determining company’s outcome, focusing on engagement, and considering your employee base are mentioned to among the toolkit of employee training. From my perspective, making employees realize where are they going is important. To say in a academic way, give them creative tension, a personal vision. Employees with personal vision are working with a purpose and their daily progress toward their vision builds confidence and leads to a belief that anything is possible. (Creative Tension, Personal Excellence, Volume 18, Issue 7, 2013, Mark Hopkins).The mentally stronger are the employees, the profitably stronger is the business.

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source:http://www.economist.com/news/business/21586344-xiaomi-often-described-chinas-answer-apple-actually-quite-different-taking-bite-out

（picture from yesky.com）

Xiaomi, a new smartphone manufacturer emerging in China several years ago, is gaining a larger and larger market share in China. In the second quarter of 2013 Xiaomi’s market share in China was 5%, exceeding Apple ‘s 4.8% share for the first time.

How can Xiaomi boost its sales?

My analysis shows that there are two main reasons.

First of all,  Xiaomi build a close relationship with customers.Applying a co-creation strategy, Xiaomi is going beyond the traditional customer-vendar relationship to co-create value with customers.（Business Model Generation, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur）Users give feedback and suggestions by app or weibo, the Chinese twitter. People will be more willing to purchase a certain product if they feel involved in the developing process.

Furthermore, Xiaomi caters to the need and self-respect of Chinese customers.China has been entitled for a long time a country with abundant labor force but no innovation. People criticize that ‘made in China’ cannot become ‘created in China’. Xiaomi and its products are strong strike-back. “If a product is not going to be first, it then must find an unoccupied position in which it can be first. “(Positioning,  The Battle for Your Mind, AI Ries and Jack Trout) Although Xiaomi isn’t the first smartphone brand in China, but it becomes the first smartphone that be able to concentrate on serving Chinese customers ad represent the technology development of  China.

（picture from huodongpingxuan.zt.brandcn.com）

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http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/sustainable-entrepreneur-sees-opportunity-in-food-waste/

This is an article about food-waste composting industry. Max Milinkovich, the CEO of Full Circle Organics LLC, is a man having strategic thinking focusing on the industry of  food-waste composting which is an environment-related issue being and more concerned with by the world.

Strengths of a company includes exclusive access to high grade natural resouces and favorable access to distribution networks.（Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J, Tarcy, Brian, Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nosecse Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast! (SWOT Analysis)）

Full Circle has its strengths. First, as a new industry field food-waste composting is,the company has little competition in the field. Second, food-waste from local institutions and restaurants provides Full Circle an exclusive access to resources to produce its products. Third, the company have favorable access to distribution networks by cooperate with commercial haulers and local landscapers.

(picture form www.biocycle.net)

Opportunities for profit and growth include: loosening of regulations and arrival of new technologies.（Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J, Tarcy, Brian, Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nosecse Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast! (SWOT Analysis)）

Compared with current regulation, the proposed rules lower the requirement of food composting :under the proposed food composting rules, no liner will be required. The loosening of regulations makes it an opportunity for Full Circle to develop and enhance itself.

However, the six-month-turning-into-compost process seems too long to make  short-term profits for the company. Advanced technology should be introduced.

(picture from www.uwstout.com)

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Source：http://finance-commerce.com/2013/09/worker-killed-at-saints-ballpark-site-osha-to-investigate/

This is an article about a tragedy happened in workplace of demolition. The tragedy arouse my attention to business ethics.

(picture from finance-commerce.com)

This is an article about a tragedy happened in workplace of demolition. The victim was Johnny Valek, 61,. He was killed when a 30-foot-by-10-foot piece of concrete fell onto the cab of his backhoe. His employer – Rachel Contracting declined to comment.

Profit or Safety?

Rachel Contracting, as well as other company in all fields, has to balance profit and the safety of workers. As an experienced worker he was, Valek was more efficient than regular or younger workers. Meanwhile, efficiency of a experienced worker means more profits to a demolition company than hiring a less experienced one. That ‘s the reason why Rachel Contracting still hired Valek to do demolition work even though he was over 60. However, Rachel Contracting neglected an important rule of  business ethics: to keep worker safe to the greatest extent. This rule of business ethics should be considered before the profits. In the case, if a younger worker who responses quickly to accident is hired to do the same job and face the same accident, he will have much higher probability to escape the accident and survive. After all,  the social responsibility of business is not only to increase its profits.

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