NevOn

Net calls to take on landlines

This could really shake up the traditional telecommunications business -- net upstart Skype is launching a new service that lets you call any number in the world over the internet.

The SkypeOut service will let Skype's 7.7 million subscribers use their PC and internet connections to call landlines and mobile phones at low rates.

• Full story: BBC NEWS / Technology / Net calls to take on landlines

Another corporate exec heading for jail. A never-ending story?

Yet another example of corporate wrongdoing, reported in the Daily Telegraph today -- the former CFO of Boeing is to plead guilty to a criminal charge that could land him a fine of $250,000 and up to five years in jail.

• Full Story: Telegraph / Money / Ex-chief at Boeing to plead guilty (registration required)

What is it with some officers of large publicly-held corporations? Enron, Worldcom, Martha Stewart in the US; Ahold in The Netherlands; Parmalat in Italy... It's almost a never-ending litany of tales of personal greed and to hell with anyone else. Did you see Enron's Ken Lay speaking on CNN a few weeks ago? It was all someone else's fault, according to Lay. He was just the CEO and didn't know what was happening!

It does amaze me that these stories keep emerging at a time when the focus on an organization?s ethical behavior has never been greater, what with Sarbanes-Oxley in the US and growing attention in Europe by EU legislators. What might have been broadly tolerable in the past is no longer so (if it ever was), and the potential consequences of unacceptable corporate behavior are far greater, as we see with stories such as these, not only for the individuals concerned but also for the many other stakeholders who are directly affected as a result of the bad guys' actions.

In continental Europe, particularly in the western part, many countries have long upheld corporate governance as a visible yardstick for corporate ethics, with publicly-communicated policies governing acceptable behavior. Defined corporate structures with accountable oversight by supervisory boards -- mandated by local laws -- is a common method of demonstrating adherence to such policies, lessening the risks of questionable actions by maverick individuals or whole managements.

Europe is no Garden of Eden in this regard, though. As business continues to globalize and become ever more competitive, grabbing more market share or selling more products or services means the risks of ethical failure in doing so are ever present. This is especially so where such activities are focused in developing countries where cultural and business practices differ and competition is often very tough.

From the communicator?s point of view, a major challenge is one of continually educating stakeholders that ethical behavior equates to customer interest, where such behavior has a direct relationship with the organization?s financial health and overall reputation. Indeed, reputation (sullied or unsullied) is the bottom line for corporate governance.

End of rant - at least, for the moment.

See also:

• Corporate Fraud - News and Latest Information
• Corporate Governance website (US)
• European Corporate Governance Institute

Still in Two Minds

Thinking more about whether to switch blogs from Blog*Spot to Typepad. Both have their pros and cons.

Blog*Spot is a far easier system to use. Could be, though, that I'm now up to speed with how to use it. Typepad is also easy to use and I've certainly not used it as much as Blog*Spot. Typepad is a much more polished interface. (Reminder of what each one is: Blog*Spot Plus vs Typepad Plus.)

As I see it at the moment, the major advantages of each are these:

Blog*Spot: 1) Extremely easy to change the template or design/upload your own; I have no problem editing HTML or fiddling with Blogger tags. 2) FTP access means I can manipulate the blog structure at will. 3) Very easy Blog button in the Google toolbar for on-the-spot blogging.

Typepad: 1) Categories! This is now becoming a must-have feature (benefit). It's just not good enough having a linear (well, vertical) blog that is organized purely on dates. I want to do and find stuff by topics. 2) Lists organization - very easy. 3) Very good commenting/permalink/trackback feature. 4) Looks easy to import all posts, etc, from Blog*Spot into Typepad.

The main disadvantages of each look like:

Blog*Spot: 1) No categories. 2) No trackback.

Typepad: 1) Can't manipulate the template HTML (that needs upgrading to Typepad Pro); 2) In compose mode, there's no easy way to do simple formatting like bullets!

I think if I were starting out now, I'd probably choose Typepad. I'm beginning to see that categories are important, probably more than the look-and-feel flexibilty I have with Blog*Spot compared to Typepad. But Typepad Plus costs $8.95/month or $107.40/year. I forget what I paid for the Blog*Spot Plus account (not offered any more) when I opened it in Dec 2002; I think it was $30 for 2 years. Can't ignore those cost differences. Maybe push Amazon more, make enough to cover the costs!

My main worry is if I switch now, what about all the building I've been doing over the past 2 weeks to get nevon.blogspot.com listed in various blog directories and get the site generally known? Will that mean starting over again with nevon.typepad.com? Or is it better to just bite the bullet and do it?

Still got 27 days of the trial remaining...

The Empire Blogs Back

The promise of blogs, wikis and social networks to upend business as usual was on display at a high-powered conference on Friday, when blogging software company Six Apart and evangelists from Microsoft co-chaired a panel detailing how these tools lead to better customer relationships.

In something of a throwback to the halcyon days of the Internet boom, the BlogOn 2004 conference, held last Thursday and Friday in Berkeley, California, stressed how the latest in Internet technologies -- such as social networks and syndication technologies -- are starting to revolutionize life on the Internet and outside it.

• Full Story: Wired News: The Empire Blogs Back

(PS: The title of Wired's article, as a take on Star Wars film names, reminds me that Lucasfilm announced on Friday the name of the next Star Wars film currently in production and planned for release in May 2005 -- Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith. I'm not especially excited by the title, but I'll be there anyway when the movie opens! And you can already buy the T-shirt. More info at Starwars.com)

SAP and Oracle going to market together

Another story in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye this morning - a public spat between SAP and Oracle, two of the enterprise software industry giants, over a new ad campaign Oracle is running.

It seems that SAP is mightily upset over the focus of Oracle's campaign, which SAP says is a rip-off of the long-running advertising SAP has been doing in 42 countries around the world with the theme of "The best-run businesses run SAP" and using a different, usually well-known, company in different ads. Oracle's new ad has the tag line "The best companies run Oracle applications."

Oracle believes there's no merit in SAP's accusations. Whether there is or not, Oracle's tactics are typical of a company that's very aggressive in its approach to its market and winning market share. It's also one reason why it's a very successful business.

So, here's the no-brainer quiz question. Do these two ads - SAP on the left and Oracle on the right - convey a similar message? Don't take too long on this...

Full Story: WSJ.com - SAP Slams Oracle's Ad Tactics, Calls Rival's Campaign Imitative

See also:

• On Oracle's battle to acquire PeopleSoft: After the Trial: What's Next for Oracle?

Meet the political bloggers

From today's Wall Street Journal. This report is about how blogging is a potent communication force in US politics. Another sign that blogging is rapidly catching on in a big way as a more structured and organized means of communication.

Excerpt:

The Democratic Party is widening its media tent for the Boston convention. For the first time ever, Web loggers, or bloggers, are being accredited for a national political convention.

While scores of bloggers will be covering the convention, only about 35 have official accreditation, meaning they can access the main Fleet Center hall and use a dedicated workspace. (These bloggers will be dwarfed by an estimated 15,000 accredited journalists from traditional outlets.) But blogs' hallmarks ? quick publishing, links, commentary, reader feedback and light or no outside editing -- mean bloggers could bring new approaches and a wide range of voices to covering an event steeped in tradition.

Convention organizers say they chose from among about 200 applications based on creativity, readership and professionalism. (Another 20 or so bloggers -- including several conservatives -- were invited, then disinvited, prompting accusations of bias; organizers say it was "a pure logistical error" and most disinvited bloggers weren't conservative.) The Democratic National Convention Committee didn't release a list of accredited bloggers. But CyberJournalist.net has been compiling a list of bloggers who say they have credentials.

The Wall Street Journal Online e-mailed questionnaires to about 30 bloggers who are accredited for the convention, asking about their political views, blogging style, approach to the convention and opinions on mainstream media coverage. Almost all replied. Click on the bloggers' names to see their responses to the questionnaire (edited for space and readability) and a link to their Web sites.

• Full story: WSJ.com - Meet the Bloggers

Time for your blog

There are so many neat things out there in the wide web world that add functionality to a website or blog and make it look rather cool as well. Many are free yet represent a considerable amount of time and energy to develop.

I came across something today that is well done in its implementation - a clock. There are plenty of these around, but I was struck (pun unintended) by the simplicity of the one I found at ClockLink.com, which I discovered on the blog of Johnnie Moore, a facilitator and consultant in London.

Clocklink's clocks are either analog or digital. I've chosen a digital one, shown at the top right of the screen, as I think it fits best with the design and layout of my blog. Plenty of customization options, eg, time zone, city, colours, etc.

The clock is rather like a widget (it's actually an embedded Macromedia Flash application) that you just code into a web or blog page. Easy to do.

Links:

• ClockLink.com
• Johnnie Moore's blog

[Update 1-Aug-04: I wrote this post originally in my blog on Blog*Spot, and did have the clock displayed. I don't currently have it in this blog on Typepad.]

The power of passionate consumers

In its August 2 issue, Business Week publishes its annual ranking of the world's most valuable brands, in conjunction with Interbrand.

The ranking includes the top ten brands worldwide (top 3: Coca Cola, Microsoft, IBM) with the collective brand value of the ten amounting to more than US$380 billion.

It's a well-written article with some good commentary and examples on what many familiar global brands are doing to maintain market share and keep in front of consumers. Includes some pithy comment like this -

[The] seismic shift in clout from companies to their customers is creating opportunities, especially for younger brands that grew up with the Internet and have become adept at building user communities. Meanwhile, some traditional brands, such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft, are struggling to retain their mammoth leads in a market where consumers increasingly resist what they see as bland ubiquity and a surfeit of power.

Read the full article at Business Week Online. You'll need to register.

• BW Online August 2, 2004 Cult Brands

Blair shooting for 3rd term

British Prime Minister Tony Blair looks confident of getting re-elected for a third term when the next UK general election takes place, very likely within the next 12 months. He is looking very confident these days, confounding his critics - within the Labour Party and elsewhere - who have been clamouring for his resignation in recent weeks in the wake of the report on intelligence failings leading up to the Iraq war and many domestic issues.

Yesterday, he enabled Peter Mandelson, disgraced former Cabinet minister, to be the next Commissioner for the UK at the European Commission in Brussels. That is confidence!

Blair's currently got a clear run at achieving his goals. There really is no credible alternative in sight to unseat the Labour Party at a general election. The Conservatives? A joke. Even under Michael Howard as new leader, that party just does not have any credibility as a political party that knows what's going on, never mind clear ideas on how run the country.

Keep going, Tony!

• BBC News report: BBC NEWS / UK / Politics / Third term in our grasp - Blair

Developing some Passion

I discovered a well-written article about blogging and its future as an organizational communication tool. Written in March by Trevor Cook, director of a PR firm in Sydney, Australia, and published in his Corporate Engagement blog, the article explores and comments on how blogs are developing beyond purely online versions of personal diaries and evolving into communication channels that will change the way the (connected) world communicates.

The key word here is 'change.' I believe that blogs will soon begin to emerge as one of the most powerful communication tools an organization can use (see my earlier post on corporate blogs). Indeed, the overall thread weaving through Trevor's article confirms my view on this.

Blogs do represent change, and many people are feaful of such change. Blogs challenge the established order and way of doing things. They are spontaneous and instant, and just about impossible to control. That's how it should be!

Trevor says in his article, "[the] emphasis on authenticity, and personal engagement with the audience, leads many blogging experts to be deeply sceptical about the prospects for blogging in the corporate world. Weblogs are personal, passionate and opinionated - all attributes rarely found in corporate communications."

Actually, I'm not skeptical about the prospects for corporate blogging. Far from it. Communicators have a great opportunity to embrace blogs with passion, which will open up the often stodgy world of corporate communication. That's got my vote.

Read Trevor Cook's article: Corporate Engagement: Blogging: a personal medium is now the message

[I originally posted this piece on 24/7/04 in my blog at http://nevon.blogspot.com]