Business Week Full Article

The 30 Most Innovation-Friendly Countries

By Bruce Einhorn

Which countries provide the most innovation-friendly climates for companies? That’s the question the Boston Consulting Group, working with the National Association of Manufacturers’ Manufacturing Institute, set out to answer in its recent survey. BCG consultants, led by James P. Andrew, looked at both “inputs”—government policies supporting education, workforce quality, infrastructure, and trade—and “performance”—R&D results, business performance, employment growth, and other impacts of innovation.  READ MORE or click through Countries.

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Entrepreneurs

Nine Young Chinese Entrepreneurs To Watch

Hannah Seligson, 02.28.10, 06:00 PM EST

The world’s third-largest economy just keeps on growing, and these wunderkinds aim to take advantage of it.

In Pictures: Nine Young Chinese Entrepreneurs To Watch

By 2015 there will be 500 million people under age 30 in China–roughly the population of the entire European Union. And they aren’t idolizing Lei Feng, a devoted follower of Mao. They are looking to figures such as Bill Gates and Michael Dell, says Ge Dingkun, a professor of entrepreneurship at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

Young people, barely a generation removed from Chairman Mao’s strict communism, are embracing entrepreneurship. The incomes of twenty-somethings in China grew 34% in the past three years, the largest growth of any age group, according to a survey by Credit Suisse ( CS – news – people ). While large industries in China–such as banking, steel, telecommunications and electricity generation–are still essentially state-owned, a growing chunk of new wealth being created comes from the hard work and vision of scrappy upstarts.   Full Story

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

March 1, 2010

Partners from PlazaBridge Group Lend Business and Development Expertise To Global Economic Discussions

Firm accelerates local and global business initiatives, receives industry recognition and increases revenue growth

(Raleigh, N.C.) – PlazaBridge Group, a leading business consulting firm specializing in corporate strategy, go-to-market implementation and sustainable revenue growth, today announced doubled revenue growth in 2009 over 2008.  In addition, Teresa Spangler, Managing Partner, PlazaBridge Group, received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Business Leader Magazine.

“Where other firms have slowed or stopped growing and hiring, PlazaBridge has actually accelerated.  We’ve broken into new markets with key wins in retail analytics, drug safety and CROs,” said Richard Spangler, Managing Partner of PlazaBridge Group.  “We’ve increased our focus on adding exceptional talent to our team and recently launched ‘Open Season on the Status Quo,’ a PlazaBridge initiative to provide thought leadership and ideation services for CEOs, decision makers and entrepreneurs.”

Managing Partners Richard Spangler and Teresa Spangler have also increased their involvement in area economic development efforts. Richard Spangler, a recognized problem solver whose expertise includes product strategy and management, mergers and acquisition and entrepreneurship analytics, recently moderated a panel on international expansion possibilities between North Carolina and Poland. The panel was hosted by the North Carolina World Trade Association and brought together officials from Polish Embassy and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Teresa Spangler serves on the Board of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, is president of the North Carolina World Trade Association and is Chair of the non-profit arts organization, Night of Dreams.  She will participate in the upcoming Global Business Development Program offered by the North Carolina Department of Commerce on March 16, 2010. This program is in collaboration with Counsel for Entrepreneurial Development, TiE and North Carolina Department of Commerce. Jean Davis, North Carolina Department of Commerce, Tom Kurke, COO, GeoMagic and Neil Bagchi of Incanus Advisors join Teresa in the presentations.

For more information on how PlazaBridge Group helps clients develop strategies

to create and capture new business growth, please see www.plazabridge.com.

About PlazaBridge

PlazaBridge Group, a leading business consulting firm, offers creative, innovative and effective programs, services and products to expand the possibilities of success for our clients. Our engagement methodology begins with a rapid understanding of the core values of our client’s business, leading to effective engagement with business functions, ensuring real impact, lasting change and accelerated results.  This unique Fractal Approach™ to business leverages proprietary on-line reporting tools for executive sponsors to monitor critical progress.  We are a group of experienced and highly educated change agents with intimate knowledge of how to apply entrepreneurial action to companies seeking help in navigating the changing business landscape.  Our reputation is built on driving the financial and market growth of our clients. Started in 2007, the firm has impacted companies in Healthcare, Technology, Medical, Services, Government, Consumer and Web-enabled industries.  Additional information can be found at www.PlazaBridge.com

Media Contact:  Melissa London

PlazaBridge Group

919-621-0737

melissa@plazabridge.com

Teresa W. Spangler

Teresa Spangler, Managing Partner, PlazaBridge Group will join, Jean Davis, NC Department of Commerce, Tom Kurke, COO, GeoMagic, Neil Bagchi, Incanus Advisors in presentations and panel discussions  at CED’s second annual Global Business Development Program.

The program is in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, International Trade Division, TiE Carolinas, World Trade Association and the North Carolina China Business Association, is hosting a program on international business development for North Carolina companies seeking to expand operations globally. For more information about this Entrepreneurs Only Workshop  Click here details and registration.

Sample Session:  2:45 pm – 3:30 pm  Finding international partners? Marketing, Sales and Distribution

• Teresa Spangler, Managing Partner, PlazaBridge LLP – Moderator
• Owen George, Owen George Communications
• Eric Wolff, US Commercial Service, China
• David Himebaugh, President, Blue Nano

Partner

Posted by David Rose

6 New Insights on Media Usage
Posted by Daniel Flamberg on February 01, 2010 at 05:00 AM PDT

In a world of continuous, always-on media consumption and endless media hype, most marketers think they know what consumers like, what consumers use most and how often consumers are engaged with different media channels. Yet every-so-often new data challenges our assumptions.

That’s case with L.E.K. Consulting’s 2009 Media Consumption Survey, an online survey of 2000+ households, conducted in December 2009, that addressed media use in 28 media types. This study sought to identify changes in media consumption habits, find opportunities in new media and cast light on how the recession has affected media consumption. The data and the implications weren’t what I expected and made me think.

Here’s quick summary:

Channels Cross-Pollinate. Thirty-eight percent of consumers said they’d pay an extra fee to get content from cable channels on their computers or on their smart phones. This data validates the “content is king” notion and supports the business strategies driving Yahoo, Google and others. It also implies that marketers should orchestrate and integrate campaigns across channels and that video-to-go will soon become a common expectation which will dramatically increase demand for portable bandwidth.

Radio isn’t Dead It’s Gone Online. One third of respondents listen to Internet radio services for 5.8 hours each week; a third more than listen to satellite radio. Interestingly 83 percent still listen to traditional radio for an average of 8.1 hours each week. Neither TV, cable nor the Web killed the radio star which is a testament to its portability and targeted content offerings. Fifty-two percent of survey respondents listen to the radio and listening to music is second only to TV, ahead of the Internet, in terms of time allocated to media. Americans craft individual soundtracks to their lives and use music as a mood elevator.

E-Readers Are Heavy New Media Users. Not only do E-Reader owners drive the market for books but they consume significantly more new media than iPod owners and the general public. It’s probably not much of a stretch for educated literate readers to invest more disposable time and discretionary income using emerging media. E-Readers are four times more likely to see movies online, play more Web-based games and listen to more Internet radio than iPod Users, Facebook fanatics or the general public. Think of E-Readers as the vanguard of the digital proletariat.

50+ is the New Black. Don’t forget or ignore the power of the Boomers who still wield great numbers, great enthusiasm for new or revolutionary ideas and great wealth even as they age. The 50-64 year old age group uses new media almost twenty percent more than 25-39 year olds. Boomers do the most e-mail, play the most online games and pace every other age group in doing online tasks.

Everyone Multi-tasks. It’s no longer just teenagers who text and play online games with opponents in China while watching TV. One-third of consumers responding to the survey, watch TV and go online simultaneously. Nineteen percent listen to the radio while surfing the Web and eleven percent talk on the phone. Look for smart marketers to design campaigns to leverage and capitalize on this behavior in real time.

TV is Still Our Mass Medium. Online TV is just starting and in spite of the growth of DVRs and time shifting, TV represents the biggest gross audiences and the most time spent with media. The margin is big – 38 hours per week for TV versus 7.6 hours online. TV is still the place to launch new ideas and revitalize brands.
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Computers In 2020 02:29 –

Google TechTalks April 27, 2006 Barry Schwartz