Economics

An Unusual Dinner

Posted by on November 25, 2012 at 10:40 am

Last Thursday evening I went to a book launch. Not just your average book launch with a glass of chardonnay and some canapes, mind you, but instead a book launch and formal dinner for several hundres in the ballroom of the 4 Seasons Hotel in Sydney. And the event wasn’t just remarkable for the dinner. […]

How Real Estate Agents Affect Our Local Economy

Posted by on November 6, 2012 at 10:24 am

Yesterday morning just before I headed out to a couple of meetings at the uni, there was a knock at the door. It was someone who lives a couple of streets away, and who was the realtor who sold us our house. (I’ll call him John for the purposes of this story). He and his […]

Developing Scenarios To Aid Planning

Posted by on November 4, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Last Friday I gave a brief presentation on scenario planning, to the research groupthat I consult to. One of the things that came out of that all too brief session was that there is a very real lack of understanding of  interdependency of nations and of industries in a globalized economy. It is remarkable how […]

Google: The New Weed Killer

Posted by on April 2, 2012 at 6:19 am

Google is a transformative technology, of that there is no doubt. However its ability to effect change are creating some unforeseen business impact. I was talking to someone on the weekend who has some keen insights into the ecosystem of grass… Yes that’s right – that cash crop that everyone knows is at the heart […]

The Digital Steamroller

Posted by on March 3, 2012 at 7:11 am

Isn’t it amazing that in a world in which so many things are so obvious, so many people keep on ignoring the signs. When there is so much momentum for change so many people keep thinking “same”. Steve Jobs had a great instinct for the signals of change and the way that one mans infrastructure […]

The Trick To Getting Great Customer Service

Posted by on February 3, 2012 at 7:23 am

You would think that it might be reasonable to assume that good companies aspire to provide great customer service, wouldn’t you. Some companies establish customer service as their primary goal. The bigger the company, the more the focus on the customer, in my view. But how much do we, as customers, help them to achieve […]

The Year Ahead

Posted by on January 6, 2012 at 3:01 pm

It looks like it is going to be a big year. This year I will be back at University Of Wollongong teaching in the Arts Faculty – the same subject as last semester, ARTS301. I had tremendous feedback last semester from students. The subject is really about helping those about to graduate to understand how […]

Don’t Eat The Marshmallows Until Later…

Posted by on December 15, 2011 at 8:00 am

This year has been incredibly busy. Next year looks set to be even busier – in my life certainly. As we all seemingly accelerate toward the adoption of more toys, more technology, with more speed and more connectivity, I find myself seeing more clearly what is happening on another plane, and find that many of […]

Musings On A Sunday Afternoon.

Posted by on October 23, 2011 at 6:05 pm

Last weekend my wife and were guests with a friend who is a barrister, and on the way to becoming a judge, all being well. We were talking about the mobile devices that we each had. He does not have one. No iPhone, no iPad, no Blackberry – not even a good old fashioned mobile […]

UK Report on IP and Economic Growth

Posted by on May 22, 2011 at 8:01 am

In the last week a major report has been released in the UK on the state of IP and economic growth. This is really quite significant because what it serves to do is to look at the issues of copyright and patenting not from the subjective point of view of corporations in the content industry, […]