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Judy Estrin is CEO of JLABS, LLC, formerly known as Packet Design Management Company, LLC. She is the author of Closing the Innovation Gap, published in September, 2008. Prior to co-founding Packet Design, in May 2000, Estrin was chief technology officer for Cisco Systems. Beginning in 1981 Estrin co-founded three other successful technology companies: Bridge Communications, Network Computing Devices, and Precept Software. In 1998 Cisco Systems acquired Precept, and she became Cisco's chief technology officer until April 2000. Estrin has been named three times to Fortune Magazine's list of the 50 most powerful women in American business. She sits on the boards of directors of The Walt Disney Company and FedEx Corporation as well as two private company boards - Packet Design, Inc. and Arch Rock. She also sits on the advisory councils of Stanford's School of Engineering and Stanford's Bio-X initiative. She holds a B.S. degree in math and computer science from UCLA, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
The co-founders of a public relations and events-management firm discuss the role of negotiation in enabling them to operate as equal partners. Balance, trust and skills are necessary for the give-and-take involved, and the authors provide suggestions for achieving that.
John W. Thompson is chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Symantec Corporation. Since joining Symantec in April 1999, Thompson has led the transformation of the company from a consumer software publisher to the global leader in information security solutions for individuals and enterprises. With global operations in more than 35 countries, Symantec offers a broad range of software, appliances and services designed to help customers secure and manage their IT infrastructure. Under Thompson's leadership, the company has defined a new category of information security software for consumers and has made a number of strategic acquisitions to enhance its ability to serve the rapidly changing security and management needs of large global enterprises. In September 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Thompson to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NIAC), to make recommendations regarding the security of the critical infrastructure of the United States. In addition, Thompson has served as the chair of the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology to identify and evaluate technology-driven solutions to improve the security and efficiency of national and local aviation. Prior to joining Symantec, Thompson had a distinguished career with the IBM Corporation where he held senior executive positions in sales, marketing and software development. In his last assignment, he was general manager of IBM Americas and a member of the company's Worldwide Management Council. Thompson is a member of the board of directors of UPS, NiSource, Inc., and Seagate. He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida A&M University and holds a master's degree in management science from MIT's Sloan School of Management.
Creativity is the emotional lifeblood of entrepreneurship. Without creativity, thousands of companies would not have been launched. However, it is an element of entrepreneurial life that isn't easy to safeguard under the law.
Creativity is all about finding innovative solutions to difficult problems, says an engineer who did just that to build what is now the country's fifth largest craft brewery. The article looks at how that principle applies to manufacturing, management, marketing and product development.
Marketing creatively will enable entrepreneurial retailers to prosper in difficult or changing times, writes the founder of a venerable direct marketing company. The author offers examples of creative marketing from the company's half century in business.
The process of going through a legal audit isn't easy, but the risks associated with avoiding the issue are too high for any company to bear. Doing so is not only necessary, but beneficial.
The author, Jana Matthews, asserts that without policies and procedures, business growth becomes much harder to achieve. If you want to grow, you (the entrepreneur) have to stop doing everything yourself.
When it comes to compensation, the issue is not what you can pay, but what you can offer to the people you need to grow.
Entrepreneurs needing to motivate high-performance people must reward them for creating long-term value and satisfying customers, rather than for maximizing annual profit, argues a compensation consultant, who devised an alternative to the bonus-based performance award.
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