What's on the web
Claiming to be the site of “gurus” Robert Heller and Edward de Bono, this site looks disappointing – the first impression you get being a rather lurid yellow pop-up window which asks for your email address. At this stage you might quite well question whether the site is going to contain anything you would want to read. The answer is yes, there are a couple of features that make this site more than merely a waste of space. These are(surprisingly) the blogs, along with some articles and resources. But don’t go lateral, you have to drill down to get to any substance.
The site as a whole needs work to create a more professional image, and one exceedingly annoying feature is that the heading of each page remains exactly the same, so that until you actually scroll down you wouldn’t realise it had changed. If you’ve got a spare five minutes (it’s really not worth any more than this) to play with though, do have a quick glance at the resources link, which is where the majority of the site’s half decent features are situated.
Thought leadership
Well put together, easy to use, and full of insightful features, this is a truly excellent site. Under sub-titles of “strategy”, “innovation”,and “future”, are enough links to provide you with reading material all day and yet the site manages to appear completely free from clutter. Each interest area under these sub-titles has yet more links leading to various resources such as white papers, conferences, presentations, articles and books. One feature we found to be particularly helpful was the “relevance navigator” which is set up to sort through the huge quantity of material for you, and is based on three criteria; relevance, quality, and “recency”(although we are not convinced this is actually a word). “Thought leadership for business” is the strapline – again a slightly clunky use of language. This is pretty much our only criticism however.
Most of the site is accessible to the general public, although there are sections requiring membership, much of the best stuff on cutting-edge management thinking is free.
Listen up
“This site has one aim – to give you access to the most effective strategies in the world to grow your business and increase your profits.”Is that all?
Actually it is not at all bad. Audio speeches along with written tips and messages form the backbone of the site. It focuses its attentions on the concept of marketing in order to increase the profits of a business. It offers some sound advice and the audio facility makes a pleasant change from merely reading. Although several large businesses are listed as clients, it is aimed mainly at small to medium businesses, and provides a free newsletter via e-mail if requested. All the information provided on the site is clearly laid out, often with the titles and headings set out in the form of questions to consider regarding your business. With links named appetisingly such as “hidden wealth” and “golden rules” you just have to take a quick look. The content of each of these was informative and interesting. If your business could do with a helping hand in the marketing department then this is a site well worth considering having a look through.
Good in parts
“Global-Investor provides information and resources to the worldwide financial community”. The website gives an overview of the various resources offered by the company. These include a financial bookshop wherein you can search for specific literature, worldwide courses and conferences, and a finance glossary. The top ten holiday reads based in the world of finance are also reviewed although one feels that a holiday should be exactly that – a holiday. A good starting point when searching for resources (especially in book form), the site unfortunately lacks any real substance. However, one reasonably effective section is “tools”, containing devices for interest estimation and investment returns, among others.
Silver touch
A very promising site, this is the Argenti System of Strategic Planning. Their innovative approach centers on the concept that defining the purpose of your organization is the first step in planning, rather than the more commonplace strategy of using mission statements and visions which must then be fulfilled. “Whatever organisation you represent, if you want it to grow and prosper you need a plan, a strategic plan, that has the support of the shareholders and staff.” Simple but true.
Their system is termed “The Elephants” and works through concentrating on the long term changes that will affect your organization. The site itself explains the procedures clearly and simply. With a professional and confidence-inspiring lay out they have definitely struck on a winning formula. Members of their team are situated across the globe and their clientele base reflects this. Although this site does not offer any generic advice, strategic planning is explained in some detail and a wealth of information is provided regarding the company itself. Good stuff.
And finally
Some years ago a client engaged a consultant to help with a small postal mailing to the purchasing departments of blue chip corporations. The consultant sourced the list and drafted the letter. Thereafter the client was keen to take control of the project, i.e. to run the mail-merge and the fulfillment(basically printing, envelope-stuffing and mailing).
The consultant discovered some weeks later that a junior member of the client’s marketing department had sorted the list (changed the order of the listed organizations in the spreadsheet), but had sorted the company name column only,instead of all columns, with the result that every letter (about 500) was addressed and sent to a blue chip corporation at another entirely different corporation’s address.
Interestingly the mailing produced a particularly high response, which when investigated seemed to stem from the fact that an unusually high percentage of letters were opened and read, due apparently to the irresistible temptation of reading another corporation’s mail.
Contact us
For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try the Emerald one! And if you have any favorite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, please drop us an e-mail and we will submit them to our reviewers’ usual rigorous analysis.
