Wanted: paradise island ‘caretaker’

It was describing as “the best job in the world”. It was wanted someone to work on a tropical island off the Queensland cost. The candidate must be willing to swim, snorkel, dive and sail. The salary offered was U$130,000 for six months and a rent-free in a three-bedroom villa, complete with proof.

The new recruit will work for 12 hours a months - feeding fishes, collecting the island’s mail, prepare a blog, a photo diary and video updates to attract tourists to the area.

Do you want this job? It’s too late, the candidate selected was Ben Southall and he already moved to the island with his girlfriend.

This news was a marketing strategy to promote turism in Queensland , Autralia, through a search of a candidate to the best job of the world: take care of the paradise.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7823812.stm

Is nepotism so bad?

Nepotism is a very controversial subject. Is it really so bad? This article gives some examples of succeed and unsucceed cases of nepotism and points out some comments about this practice. In the cases that it worked, we saw that family members had knowledge, responsibility and qualifications that made them worth the position, but on the cases that it fails the members were not prepared and caused morale problems.

Professionals of Human Resources says that this situation must be address very carefully, for example, it’s not good hiring family members without alerting others in the organization. These members need to be watched and closely controlled.

There are situations that nepotism is impossible to avoid, as in specialized service from family business.

Businessman should take care to do not give promotion to a member of his family less qualified than others members of his company. It includes privilege between co-workers that get marriage.

In a company the family members should work harder than anyone else and prove their worth to others and to themselves. According to the article, nepotism works well if people already have a good grasp on their family relationship in the first place.

Source: www.forbes.com/2009/06/19/ceo-executive-hiring-ceonewtork-leadership-nepotism.html

HOW TO BEHAVE AT YOUR FIRST JOB

You’re lucky you got one in this economy. Don’t mess it up.

This article gives useful clues to behave in a new job. Some of them are:

1 – Dress professionally in your first day, then observes what everyone is wearing and tone it down;

2 – Be sure you’ve got a clear understanding of what’s expected. Write down all the details;

3 – Don’t promise you’ll finish a job quickly just to impress your manager. Be realistic and keep your manager up to date on your progress;

4 – Ask for feedback;

5 – Before you run to the boss with a problem, try to find a solution on your own.

6 – When you’re in a meeting, participate sharing your thoughts and opinions;

7 – Never behave as if small tasks are beneath you. At some point everyone needs to file or make photocopies. Your objective is to make your boss’ job easier.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/17/first-job-advice-leadership-carreers-employment.html

WHAT DO MARKET MOVES MEAN FOR YOU

According to this article the fluctuation of share prices affect all of us. They affect our pension, our child’s nest-egg, the value of our home, etc. the text explains the difference of savings on a bank account and do an investment. Investments can go down in value as well as up. However, we should be aware when we do investments in short terms, as in housing market, and long terms, as pension fund and nest-eggs for children.
The worth of this kind of investment are not foreseeable. So people should rebalance where theses funds are invested. According to Mr. Butler it is the fool who jumps.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/766139.stm

Publish: 2008/10/10 10:34:33 GMT

The seven principles you must know about public speaking

This week I read an article written by Richard Zeoh about public speaking.This article was written for leaders who need to speak in public, but itwill be very useful for our final presentation.The author says that the majority of effective public speakers are trainedto be so; he observed some common qualities among them and wrote thefollowing seven essential principles to do well in public speaking:1. Stop trying to be a great speaker – you should focus on the speakingand let go of the public; try to be relaxed, comfortable and authentic.Never try do be someone you’re not.2. Stop trying to be perfect. When you make a mistake, no one cares butyou – most people really hear about 20% of speaker’s message; the other80% they internalize visually. People want to hear someone real.3. Visualize. If you can see it you can speak it – the best way to fightanxiety and become more comfortable is by practicing in your mind. Imagineyou’re talking to public and being successful.4. Be disciplined. Practice makes good – The more you practice, moreprepared and self-confident you will be.5. Describe. Make it personal – talk about your experience, other people,triumphs, tragedies and every day humorous.6. Inspire. Speak to serve – the main focus can be in the audience. Youshould teach, motive or entertain them.7. Build anticipation: Leave your audience wanting more – make yourpresentation a bit shorter than they expect. You will win their attentionand interest.

Source:www.forbes.com/2009/06/03/public-speaking-tips-leadership-managing-communication.html

THEORY OF NEEDS

The theory of needs was written by Abraham Maslow in 1943. This theory describes the necessities of human being in five levels of importance. The lowest one is the physiological needs. They are related to human survival. If this level was not met, the human body cannot continue to function. Examples: breathing, sleep, food, excretion and clothing.
The second level is the safety. it is related to personal security, health and well being. Examples: security of body, of employment and resources.
The third leve is connected to sense of belonging and acceptance. Examples: friendship, family and sexual intimancy; without this, many people become susceptible to lonliness, anxiety and depression.
The fourth level is the esteem, it is the need of be respected, recognized and valued by the others. Examples: self esteem, confidence and achievement.
Finally, the last level is the self actualization that is the maximum potencial and possibilities of a human being. Examples: morality, creativity, spontaneity and lack of prejudice.
In administration studies, the theory of need is very useful to help the leaders identify what are the real necessity of their subordinates and motivate them to work.

MERGERS FAIL MORE OFTEN THAN MARRIEGES

This article compares merges with marrieges and relates that mergers fail more often than marrieges. While the divorce rates varies between 40 and 50 % in North American and Europe, 70% of mergers fails. The causes of divorces vary according to country, education levels and income. The reasons for companies merges are expantion of market share, acquisition of new lines of distribution or technology, or reduction of operating costs but the reasons of fail is a clash of personalities and priorities.
Some examples of fail corporation marriege are Daimler and Chrysler, AOL and Time Warner, Shanghi's SAIC motor Co and Koreas Sangyong Mottor Co. Examples of successful groups are: The formation of General Motors and Volkswagen with Skoda an SEAT.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/05/21/merger.marriage/index.html