Category Archives: Business Practices
Seth on Having a People Strategy
Seth Godin recently asked in a blog article "Seth’s Blog: Do you have a people strategy?". Sometimes, when it comes to information technology (IT), we want to come up with all sorts of strategies, but in the end we forget that it is all about people.
Just Another Reason Companies Do Not Hire the Right People
The job search field is a lot like playing a game. No, I take that back; it is a game. It is a game where everyone loses.
MSNBC.com recently ran the story “Job candidates’ purgatory: multiple interviews per job”. One person in the story did ten (that’s right, ten) interviews and spent over $240 in transportation and supplies just to not get a job.
Is it any wonder people are out of work so long?
I have long been critical of the entire job interview process, and it seems to now have turned rather malignant. People being out of work so long is not good for the economy. Frustration mounts, health and other issues increase, and overall society suffers. However, it also is not good for employers. Companies do not end up with someone willing to do the job, but end up with good game players instead. Not only that, but now people doing the hiring waste even more time on getting bad candidates.
Thumbtack.com Complaints
Bait and switch is nothing new under the sun, but spammers and scammers seem to always lower the bar even more. Thumbtack.com does a good job of lowering it as far as legally possible, it seems.
I never really complained about them very loudly in the past, but that is about to change. While several of their practices are shady, including their “free” service with hidden fees, I just researched them and added them to my junk filter – or so I thought. Just like only a true spammer would do, though, they keep changing their email addresses so as to get around the filters.
Future Employers: My Facebook Password Is ‘None0fYourDamnedBusiness’
In a recent article on The Telegraph’s website “Companies asking for Facebook passwords for future employees”, they tell the real life story of a New York statistician in a job interview:
Justin Bassett, a New York City statistician, had just finished answering a few character questions for a consultancy job at a lobbying firm, when the interviewer turned to her computer to search for his Facebook page. But she could not see his private profile. She turned back and asked him to hand over his login information.
Mr Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he did not want to work for a company that would seek such personal information. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them cannot afford to say no.
I dispute the “cannot afford to say no”, as it is no different than asking you for your password to your bank account online, your house keys. After all, they want to make sure you aren’t money laundering and live according to their standards, right? That is not just an invasion of privacy, which is illegal in the first place. It is a security risk, and it is immoral. There is a reason you have a password, and many security experts even advise keeping those passwords even from family members. How much more are you going to trust some corporate mafia goon? It is also not ethical because they are asking you to break the Terms of Service (TOS) in most cases, and esp. in the case of Facebook.
How OWS Misses the Mark About Corporations
I try to stay on the periphery of politics on this blog, but Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has made business and large corporations take center stage in the current political environment. I doubt that many would realistically say that many banks and large corporations haven’t allowed greed to overtake their business tactics in recent years, and not all of them are on Wall Street, either. However, the solutions seem a little more vague and uninspiring to say the least. At worst, however, a lot of the proposed ideas could actually cripple the business environment in the US and result in even higher unemployment and wage disparity.
Perhaps it is time to re-examine what exactly is a corporation. After all, how can you fix what is not properly defined?
G Edward Griffin gives a convincing talk about how corporations are really a legal fictitious entity that in general allows people to act in an unethical manner if they so desire.
Apple’s Greed not Dead in Trademark Dispute
The Telegraph posted an article yesterday about how “Apple takes on German café over logo”. A small café in Germany called Apfelkind (child of apple) has a red apple shaped logo with the silhouette of a child inside of it (go to link to see picture). It looks next to nothing like the Apple computer logo, but that hasn’t stopped them from pursuing a trademark “infringement” complaint against the café.
IOW, it is another example of stupid marketing and stupid legal maneuvers gone haywire.
One of the comments on The Telegraph’s site mentions that it doesn’t have to be confusing in order to be a trademark case. Balderdash! Almost all trademarks center around whether or not the consumer is confused. Not only are the logos very distinguishable, but I really doubt anyone is going to confuse a café with an Apple Store.
You know, my iPhone can be replaced in a few months. Perhaps I will look at other options?
Stupid Things Companies Do: Scripts, Rules and Customer/Employee Satisfaction
Without a doubt, this is a wacky world. I know someone who was a top seller, but she made a mistake. She forgot to silence her cell phone. So, they let her go. After all, rules are rules.
Who are the rules made for? The customer? The employee? The company? In this case, the customer didn’t really gain or win. The employee definitely didn’t win. The company might temporarily lose some upsale opportunities, so they didn’t win either.
As you probably know, I cut the cable. The representatives were very courteous. However, twice I was thanked for “choosing” their company. Huh? As in “choosing” to leave? I assume that they are required to use that phrase, though, and, after all, rules are rules.
Computer Glitches and Business Innovation
The recent story on MSNBC.com “United Airlines computer glitch snarls air traffic” reminded me of a story I once heard about FedEx. I don’t know if it is true or not, but it makes you think.
Computers are pretty much what made FedEx possible, but to say it is the main ingredient in their, or anyone’s, success is to overlook the fact that companies are run and operated by human beings.
It’s Official: Craigslist Is Stupid
Technology is ever evolving, and it creates all sorts of opportunities. On the downside, it also creates opportunities to be more stupid.
What if I had a product that you could use? What if I give it away for free? All you have to do is come and get it. Sound good? It should.
However, what if you pulled up in the driveway and tell you, “Sorry, no. You are not allowed to haul it away in a Kia. You can use a Toyota, Ford, Honda, etc., but not a Kia.” What would you think of this free deal now? Sound silly? It should.
DVI-D? On an HP Computer?
A not-so-geek Wednesday.
I was working on an HP computer the other day. I went to hook up a monitor, and I noticed there was a DVI port and a regular VGA port on the back. Well, I hooked up the VGA port to a VGA monitor, and I didn’t get any video, so I decided to try the DVI. I slipped on the DVI adapter, and it wouldn’t fit!
I kept checking the orientation, removed the adapter from the cable and tried just the adapter. I tried another adapter. I then carefully inspected the connector, and it was different!
I had to look this one up on the web. Turns out that computers normally have a DVI-I or a DVI-A connector to carry analog signals. You can tell these because the flat horizontal piece is closely surrounded by four short pins (2 at the top, 2 at the bottom).
This connector did not have the four pins!
Turns out is is a DVI-D connector, in that it only carries digital signals. When I looked it up on the web, these types of connectors are usually found on monitors, not on computers.
People wonder why I grumble about HP/Compaq so much. I’ve always disliked both HP’s and Compaq’s propensity for proprietary equipment. When they merged, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the whole notion.
Seems not much has changed.
