Joseph James Slawek: Four tips to recognize and encourage hard work to drive results
The duty of leadership to effectively reward is essential to the survival and prosperity of any organization. Issues between the leader and his or her people regarding incentive compensation can undermine the entire motivation process. We really are in the “timely rewards” business as company leaders. Here are four principles for successfully rewarding your people […]
Eric Lofquist: How profit sharing attracts and retains national clients
Small and middle-market companies aspiring to land national accounts may have advantages over larger competitors by offering more flexibility, greater efficiencies, better service and faster turnaround. But often that’s not enough to win the business of the biggest and best brands, and the benefits that smaller organizations bring to the negotiation can be offset by […]
How to increase the value of your biggest asset — your company
Companies are valued based on a formula that takes into account cash flow and the multiple that a buyer would be willing to pay. Increasing the value of a business amounts to finding ways to affect those two factors. “Certain businesses, like a developer investing in land, are valued based on how much their assets […]
How to handle three hot tax issues for 2014
Smart Business spoke with Tyler A. Shewey, an associate at Berliner Cohen, about three tax issues that are receiving more attention in 2014. What is happening with sales and use taxes? The California State Board of Equalization (SBE) has focused on several areas lately. One area relates to delivery charges. When a business invoices customers, […]
How business owners can help identify expert witnesses
An expert witness is a person knowledgeable in a particular subject area who can assist a jury or judge in understanding specialized, technical or scientific evidence presented in a court case. Experts are needed to explain what is reasonable in various industries, scientific or technical information, complicated financial data, and anything else that laypersons might have difficulty understanding on their own. That’s why having a good […]
The organizational effects of health care coverage decisions
To provide or not to provide? That is the most pressing health insurance question facing companies across the country this year. As implementation of the Affordable Care Act moves forward, many businesses are making strategic decisions regarding health care benefits. Those that have sponsored health insurance for years are now considering dropping coverage and reallocating […]
How fund investors fare when attempting to time the market
The performance of the average mutual fund, exchange-traded fund (ETF) and hedge fund investor lags the performance of their funds. “The average fund investor loses money by engaging in active investment timing,” says Marco Pagani, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance and Interim MBA Director of the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San […]
How to get real about your emotional risk tolerance
The current market is making some investors question their allocation strategies amid concerns of volatile equity markets and where bonds might go. Your portfolio strategy, however, needs to be about how you want to be positioned in the market for the long haul, taking into account your financial risk capacity and emotional risk tolerance, says […]
How to decide financing options in the current market environment
Much of the country is still recovering from the recession, making it difficult for companies to secure financing. Northern California, however, is an exception. “It’s definitely a bifurcated market right now. The environment for financing is very robust here in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs,” says Kelly Cook, senior vice president and market manager […]
Annalee Saxenian: Look beyond computer science to build your data science team
You know that you need to harness your data to stay competitive, but where will you find these data scientists? Before rushing to hire an army of computer science candidates with doctorates, understand what successful data science teams do. Data scientists write code that applies complex algorithms to analyze and transform data into actionable insights, […]