Is Your Office Dress Code Reasonable? | Business News Daily

April 13, 2017April 12, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The U.S. has no federal law governing employee dress codes. Because of that, employers are allowed to implement dress code guidelines they feel are appropriate as long as they do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, disability or any other federally protected status.

“Dress codes across industries have become more casual than ever – and what were once major taboos like jeans, stubble, messy buns, tattoos, have become increasingly commonplace in the modern workplace,” said Rachel Bitte, chief people officer at Jobvite.

Rather than attempting to create a strict atmosphere of fancy blouses tucked into long skirts and dress shirts with ties, many employers are now open to informal attire and personal fashion trends.

St. Louis sues NFL for moving Rams to L.A. | Money Cnn

April 13, 2017April 12, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The place the Rams called home for two decades is now suing the football team.

The city of St. Louis, Missouri — where the Rams were based for two decades before jilting it for Los Angeles last year — filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the team and the NFL failed to use proper protocol when the Rams were relocated.

“In the years leading up to the Rams relocation request, Rams officials decided to move the team and confidentially determined that they would be interested in exploiting any opportunity to do so,” the complaint reads.

Embracing Digital Disruption in the Business World | The Startup Magazine

April 13, 2017April 12, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Technology has become so disruptive in the business world that sometimes its exact purpose can be forgotten.

From marketing to product development, to new software tools and communications, the list is almost endless as to the digital transformations taking place.

While disruption can be scary at first, it is absolutely necessary for any entrepreneurial aspiration.

Here’s how these three companies are embracing digital disruption that also satisfy a range of business needs.

SEC Cracks Down on Fake Stock News | NBC News

April 12, 2017April 11, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

“Fake news” can sway not just elections, but the stock market. Now the SEC is cracking down.

The stocks and securities regulator charged 27 firms and individuals Monday with fraudulently promoting stocks through secretly paid-for articles on top financial websites. The sites included Forbes.com, Yahoo Finance, Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, Benzinga, and Wall Street Cheat Sheet. None of the sites were named in the complaint.

Don’t Do It Alone | Getentrepreneurial.com

April 12, 2017April 11, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There’s a huge temptation when you have a crazy idea to keep it all to yourself but if you read the stories of those people that truly challenged convention you’ll often find a theme of sharing their idea with others that the mainstream media hasn’t really picked up on.

From Nike to Starbucks, the last 50 years have seen the creation of some huge brands by focused entrepreneurs who stand as figureheads to thousands of employees and billions of annual revenue. Yet despite being vastly different in operation, both of these giants hid a secret in plain sight.

The people behind these conglomerates may have been individually lauded as the men behind their respective brand success, but both openly admit to having shared the responsibility of growing their businesses and wouldn’t have succeeded without having done so.

Why do airlines overbook their flights? | TechCrunch

April 12, 2017April 11, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We’ve all been there: You arrive at the gate and it turns out there are more passengers wanting to fly from point A to point B than there are seats on the plane. You wouldn’t be the first person to have thought the thought that, “Well gee, if you only have 200 seats, why would you sell more than 200 tickets?” It turns out, however, that there are a couple of excellent reasons for doing this, powered by money, efficiency and a whole lot of statistical analysis.

Moving 900 million passengers around within the U.S. every year is no mean feat, and people travel for all sorts of different reasons, with leisure and business being the two dominating categories. The thing is, not everybody turns up to every flight. On average, the number of people not turning up to flights is around 5 percent, but, in certain circumstances, that number can be up to 15 percent. Obviously, that puts airlines in an interesting position.

Not so friendly skies: United Airlines’ public relations disaster | BBC News

April 11, 2017April 21, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Another day, another public relations disaster for United Airlines.

America’s third biggest carrier is being slammed online for violently dragging a passenger – a 69-year-old Asian man, believed to be a doctor – off an overbooked flight.

This comes just weeks after the company, whose slogan is “Fly the Friendly Skies”, was ridiculed for refusing to allow two teenage girls to board a flight because they were wearing leggings.

Chief executive Oscar Munoz added more fuel to the fire with his response, which didn’t mention the use of force. “This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers,” he said in a statement.

How Systems Make Your Business More Human | Duct Tape Marketing

April 11, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I’m a huge fan of technology. Without it, my business would be in a much different place than it is now. However, over-reliance on it can be a trap that puts you out of touch with your customers and can prevent you from building relationships that will help you get better at what you do and help you build a strong network and community.

To set you and your business up for success, and make sure you don’t fall victim to technology’s downfalls, you’ll need the following traits.

1. Systems to manage technology and chaos

In short, business systems allow your business to run without you. I cannot emphasize enough how important systems are for your organization. Putting systems in place helps you gain more clarity, control, confidence and customers for your business. When you develop systems, start with the outcome in mind and work backwards from there.

Netflix remains the streaming giant, but they’ve got competition | Mashable

April 11, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

While Netflix remains the giant in the world of over-the-top (OTT) streaming, other services are staking their own claims to the landscape.

According to a new report by comScore, more than half of America’s wi-fi connected homes have at least one OTT streaming service (streaming services that don’t require an additional cable subscription). The dominant service, in a whopping 75 percent of those homes, is Netflix—presumably because no one wanted to miss out on Stranger Things.

Should Tax Preparation Be Free? Credit Karma Challenges TurboTax | Bloomberg

April 10, 2017April 9, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tax preparation isn’t rocket science.

That’s Kenneth Lin’s pitch to get you to use Credit Karma, his popular credit-monitoring site, to do your taxes online for free. He’s striking out at TurboTax and H&R Block, which are now charging the typical homeowner or investor more than $90. Their prices have jumped more than $20 over the past month, the tax preparer’s version of surge pricing, as the April 18 filing deadline approaches.