Tag: Management

journalism

FROM NICHE TO NATIONAL – How a gourmet yoghurt spread across Australia – A HOMEMADE SUCCESS STORY

From The Australian, Entrepreneur: Detailed research and some great timing has paid off for this niche market player, writes Ed Charles THE secret of a successful product is that it must be something that people want. And it must be something that a lot of people want most days in their lives. For businesswoman Ivone Ruiz it turned out that homemade yoghurt was exactly what Coles felt that people wanted to see on its shelves. It started when she discovered […]

journalism

Cut costs, not staff

There are ways to improve revenue performance, if only CFOs had time to look for them. CFO. 01 May 2006 For the first time since 1987, companies are starting to see annual productivity gains slow. Dr Frank Gelber, chief economist at BIS Shrapnel, said last year that Australian companies have cut back the fat to the point that there were no more efficiency gains to be had. He said this means companies face cost increases and either rising prices or […]

journalism

In The Black: Share and share alike

When workers own shares in their companies they are motivated and loyal. So why are Australian companies failing to catch on? From In The Black November 2005 Power to the people. Get them to buy shares. Even better, give them shares in the company for which they work. The staff are no longer revolting. They’re quite nice now, work harder and everybody is richer. That’s how it works in the UK and the US, where employees are raking it in. […]

journalism

The Australian: Emitch

Original unsubbed copy for The Australian. October 2005. In business timing is everything. During the dot.com boom it seemed like the best idea ever to launch agency specialising in buying advertising space online. Emitch, a spin-off from real world media buyer Mitchell & Partners, listed on the ASX in March 2000, and soon after the market crashed. Its shares fell 27.5 per cent to 87 cents then plunged. The next three years were spent with its share price bumping along […]

journalism

In The Black: Pressure Cooker

Seeing the hardboiled Matt Moran being confronted with a restaurant critic in Heat in the Kicthen on SBS reminded me of  when I interviewed him for In The Black in 2004. Yes chef! Nowhere is teamwork and leadership more tested than in the fiery atmosphere of a top kitchen. In the first of a regular articles on the way different industries manage, I found out how the kitchen brigade tickGordon Ramsay’s recipes for business success (From Kitchen Nightmares) When you […]