News
Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo will leave the company later this year to return to the United States, it was announced today. Telstra chairman Donald McGauchie said Trujillo and the Board agreed that now was a suitable time for a transition to a new CEO given Telstra’s transformation is well advanced and on track. The Board […]
Sometimes it’s inevitable—you have to deliver bad news in the workplace—but how you do it may make the world of difference. “When you have to deliver bad news to someone, it’s not what you say or what even what you do, but how you say it. The worse the news, the more important it is […]
Analysis of Symantec‘s February intelligence report highlights that although spam dropped by 1.3 percent, levels rose dramatically when spammers tried to cash in on Valentine’s Day and the financial crisis. “February saw the spammers pulling at both the heart and the purse strings with the emphasis on Valentine’s Day and the global recession,” said senior […]
Forget networking and business card exchanges. Brisbane businesswomen are aiming for wealth, business success, personal fulfillment and contribution, says business leadership expert Mia Munro. She cites a global entrepreneur research study that found the number of female entrepreneurs increased from 48 percent to 71 percent in 2008. Her organisation, Entrepreneurial Women in Action (EW), is […]
A recent survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Management has shown that 90 percent of businesses are confident about surviving the economic crisis, and see retaining skilled staff as the number one priority for their business during the downturn.
The tight venture capital market, brought on by the global financial crisis, and the withdrawal of the Federal Government’s Commercial Ready grant last year have threatened the viability of start-ups with research and development projects. Spokesperson for GBS Ventures Brigitte Smith says the majority of companies in the life sciences sector have less than a […]
The economic downturn seems to be having little effect on the property and construction industry with first-home buyers surging into the market, and the Housing Industry Association (HIA) predicting that housing starts will grow by 13 percent in the next year. The number of first-home buyers has increased over recent months, on the back of […]
Results from Australia’s first trial of contactless mobile phone payments show a strong appetite for the technology and give Telstra, National Australia Bank and Visa the impetus to continue to work towards commercialisation of the technology. The three-month trial at Melbourne’s Docklands saw consumers download the NAB Visa credit card software application to their Telstra […]
With thousands of businesses expected to collapse this year and thousands more under pressure, is life:work balance possible for business owners? Most research on life:work balance focuses on employees—but what about business owners? This question is at the heart of the New Norma.com study of women entrepreneurs and business owners, launched this week. The two […]
Last week I was reminded of a quote by Warren Buffet who stated following the extreme market pull in 1974 that we are fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Times have definitely changed, and people have swung from the greedy heights of the long bull-run between 2003 and 2007 to […]
Citrix Systems Inc. have announced a new web-based remote support service enabling individuals and small businesses to provide online technical support to their clients. According to HR Shiever, managing director of Citrix Online Asia Pacific, the web-based remote support service, GoToAssist Express, can help businesses to streamline operations and save money. “In the current economic […]
In response to the tightening credit market and continually high interest rates on business loans, the Victorian Government has launched an online tool to match small business needs with available loans.
Making it big in the news this week is the RBA’s announcement to reform ATM fees for consumers. Sounds exciting right? Not really. Here is what you need to know. Effective from March 3 2009, any consumer using a foreign ATM will be notified of the fee charged on the screen before they complete their […]
Written by Ian Bennett Thailand has been in the news over recent months for all the wrong reasons. Political turmoil was the state of play and resolution was only finally achieved through actions of the court. Behind the scenes, actions by key parties was not played out in the media as has been in the […]
The economic slowdown has forced Australian consumers to amp up their savings, amid fears of a possible recession. According to JP Morgan chief economist Stephen Walters, households are saving their money as opposed to spending it, in order to prepare themselves for the possibility of further job losses and recession. “People anticipate that things are […]
Despite cash rate cuts by the Reserve Bank totalling more than three percent in the past six months, the interest rates on some business overdrafts are higher than they were this time last year. A number of standard variable loans for businesses have barely moved. While householders have seen a significant drop in mortgage rates […]
Getting your business listed on search engines is no longer a question of why. Rather, it is a matter of what method and how soon. And knowing the difference between paying for placement (like pay-per- click via Google Adwords) and earning a good position organically (search engine optimisation) is key. Is one approach better than […]
The Federal Government will spend $155 million on creating incentives for employers and group training organisations that take on trainees and apprentices who have lost their jobs in the downturn. Support includes wage subsidies for those organisations that hire trainees. Australian Chamber of Commerce Industry spokesperson Peter Anderson says that while more could be done, […]
Results from the latest National Australia Bank’s (NAB) fourth-quarter SME survey have painted a grim picture for small and medium businesses, with business conditions slumping as a result of a deteriorating economy. Conditions dipped three index points to minus-4 in the December 2008 quarter, the lowest index score since June 2006. According to NAB regional […]
The Victorian and Federal Governments now have an assistance program in place for primary producers and businesses affected by the bushfires. Small businesses that have lost property or equipment in the bushfires can claim an immediate $5,000 Emergency Business Grant for repair and restoration, with another $25,000 available for significant damage, subject to assessment. Also […]
