517 - Corporate Cuts, Political Learnings, Elliott Goes Mac
April 30, 2008 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - April 30, 2008.
#517 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
54,197 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host, Learning ‘08 - Oct. 26-28 - Orlando.
1. 88% of Companies Planning Cuts - Trying to Hold Line on Jobs.
2. Conversations about Political Campaign.
3. Elliott Goes Mac Today!
1. 88% of Companies Planning Cuts - Trying to Hold Line on Jobs: Here is a powerful piece of research from i4CP on the impact of the economy on corporate “cuts” and jobs:
“The cuts are coming suggests a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). According to the study, 88% of companies surveyed plan to implement cost-cutting measures within a year. When asked about how companies are planning to reduce costs, a full 87% of respondents said they are considering improving efficiency to a moderate, high or very high degree. Seventy-one percent said they are considering cutting discretionary spending to the same degree, and 65% are considering seeking lower costs from vendors. By contrast, just 33% said their organizations are planning to reduce head count to the same degree.”
“The most likely cutback targets are operations, with 49% of companies reporting they are looking at reducing costs in this area. That’s closely followed by administration, at 48%, and the use of external vendors/outsourced partners, at 43%. More than a third (35%) said they’d look to HR as a place for reducing costs. The least likely areas for cost-cutting measures are research and development, with just 19% of respondents saying their firms are – to a moderate, high or very high extent – planning to reduce costs in this area.”
“In this uncertain economic environment, it’s clear companies are intent on not being caught flat-footed,” notes Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp, “but so far it’s looking more like careful surgery than a bloodbath. Layoffs don’t seem to be the first choice for a lot of companies.” More info at http://www.i4cp.com
2. Conversations about Political Campaign: We have a fascinating discussion underway about learnings from the current U.S. Presidential Campaign. We have dozens of comments about learnings, ranging from the impact of YouTube to targeted education to the role of the Educator in Chief. Please join in on the front page of LearningTown at http://www.learningtown.com
3. Elliott Goes Mac Today: Today, this is my first Learning TRENDS sent from my new Apple Mac, which just became my primary computer. After a year of experimenting with Macs, including using the thin MacBook Air as my laptop, I decided it was time to make the big shift! This is interesting given my background as the host of Microsoft Television during the release of Windows ‘95.
I moved to Macs as I saw my workstyle and format evolve. All of The MASIE Center systems are now web-based and hosted externally, so most of the day, the browser is my primary environment. In addition, I am producing audio and video segments throughout the day. Using Microsoft Office for the Mac has allowed me to make the shift easily. (I still have a Vista machine near my desk for an occasional Windows-only application.)
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Contact Elliott Masie: emasie@masie.com