Insight Community

As you probably know from our earlier case, American Express is sponsoring a conversation here in the Insight Community concerning how small businesses are dealing with the financial crisis. Already, a bunch of the insights generated by that first discussion have made their way to American Express' OPEN Forum blog. Some great examples of the type of content include Zack Miller's post on Black Swan Contingency Planning and Dennis Howlett's Quick Tips for Small Businesses. If you decide to participate in this case, we suggest those two posts are great examples of the level of quality to strive for.

This time, we're looking for a little reflection. Now that we're well into the financial crisis, and some of the initial concerns have been somewhat alleviated (at least temporarily), how is your small business managing? It looks like the worst fears of the financial crisis (complete economic meltdown) have been avoided, but there's still plenty to be concerned about. Now that we're past that first stage, though, what more concrete steps are you taking or would you advise other businesses to take to manage to survive the current economy? Are these steps different than what you had originally expected?

To enter, please submit a post around these concepts. Please try to avoid just listing out the questions here and answering each one separately. The description is just a conversation starter, from which we hope you'll craft an interesting, insightful, compelling, and relevant blog post that will be helpful to small business owners, such as yourself. The goal here is to go beyond what everyone else is talking about, and dig a little deeper.

This case uses the "claiming" system. You can claim a slot and reserve that spot for yourself, guaranteeing payment if the response actually does meet the guidelines laid out in the case description. Any insight that is selected to then be placed on the American Express OpenForum blog, also will be designated a "top insight" and the authors will be granted the additional bonus on top of the guaranteed claim amount. Please be aware that claiming a spot but failing to submit an insight will lead to a poor rating and an inability to participate in future cases.

We're looking to get insights into how individuals and the workplace are changing due to an increasingly "mobile" workforce -- thanks to things like widespread laptop and mobile device usage, as well as wireless connectivity. These days, "working" no longer means "being in the office." People and employees have truly become "Digital Nomads."  We're hosting a series of cases exploring different aspects related to this new mobile workforce. Dell is sponsoring the conversations here, and the best results will be placed on a site sponsored by Dell: http://whitepaper.digitalnomads.com/. The content may later also be added to a whitepaper and a wiki on the subject. While Dell is sponsoring the conversation, the content is vendor neutral. Just provide your insights on the question at hand.

One of the biggest challenges a digital nomad faces is keeping in touch with coworkers, team members or partners, when the group is not in the same physical space most of the time.  These days, many rely on tools like instant messaging, wikis, collaborative workspaces, email and other tools to keep everyone on the same page.  What are some tips and tricks that you've found for keeping a group of digital nomads working together well?  What were some of the downsides and challenges?  How were those overcome or minimized?

We're looking to get insights into how individuals and the workplace are changing due to an increasingly "mobile" workforce -- thanks to things like widespread laptop and mobile device usage, as well as wireless connectivity. These days, "working" no longer means "being in the office." People and employees have truly become "Digital Nomads." Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be hosting a series of cases exploring different aspects related to this new mobile workforce. Dell is sponsoring the conversations here, and the best results will be placed on a site sponsored by Dell: http://whitepaper.digitalnomads.com/. The content may later also be added to a whitepaper and a wiki on the subject. While Dell is sponsoring the conversation, the content is vendor neutral. Just provide your insights on the question at hand.

We all know that more employees are becoming Digital Nomads, but from a business and IT perspective, how do you determine if this is a net benefit or a net loss?  Do you do anything to measure the specific ROI of having a dispersed workforce?  If so, how are you measuring it?  What have you found?  What would make it easier to determine the ROI of having a distributed workforce?  Basically, we're looking for any discussion that can speak to the ROI (good or bad) of having a workforce made up of Digital Nomads.

Following the discussion on Techdirt about the financial crisis, American Express wanted to sponsor a Techdirt Insight Community Case to facilitate a larger conversation about how this impacts small businesses, and what they can do during this crisis. To kick it off, we've written another post on Techdirt and on American Express' OpenForum blog, about how the financial crisis might impact small business, but we want to hear from you, based on your experiences, recommendations and perspectives as owners, workers or partners of small businesses.

As a conversation starter, you can discuss whatever you want about how this current financial criss might impact small business and how they can and should deal with it. Here are some topics that could be worth covering:

• What are the implications of the current economic crisis for small businesses?
• How can you plan to survive this crisis?
• What advice do you have for others in your shoes?
• What do you do if your bank goes under?
• What steps can you take to protect yourself from the impact of the wider market?
• What does this mean about your small business?
• What is next for the overall economy?

The best insights will get posted to the American Express OpenForum blog as well.

This case uses the "claiming" system. You can claim a slot and reserve that spot for yourself, guaranteeing payment if the response actually does meet the guidelines laid out in the case description. Any insight that is selected to then be placed on the American Express OpenForum blog, also will be designated a "top insight" and the authors will be granted the additional bonus on top of the guaranteed claim amount. Please be aware that claiming a spot, but failing to submit an insight will lead to a poor rating.

We're looking to get insights into how individuals and the workplace are changing due to an increasingly "mobile" workforce -- thanks to things like widespread laptop and mobile device usage, as well as wireless connectivity. These days, "working" no longer means "being in the office." People and employees have truly become "Digital Nomads." Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be hosting a series of cases exploring different aspects related to this new mobile workforce. Dell is sponsoring the conversations here, and the best results will be placed on a site sponsored by Dell: http://whitepaper.digitalnomads.com/. The content may later also be added to a whitepaper and a wiki on the subject. While Dell is sponsoring the conversation, the content is vendor neutral. Just provide your insights on the question at hand.

While a dispersed workforce has many advantages these days, it also creates some challenges: such as keeping workers on the same page and functioning as a team. There's no more watercooler to gather around, and a lot less informal chitchat over cubicle walls. What strategies have you taken to keep dispersed mobile teams on the same page and working productively as a team, rather than as a group of separate individuals? What strategies work best? Which sounded good but didn't live up to expectations? What other tools would make keeping a nomadic workforce even easier?

In general, as a guideline, answers should be around 500 words. That's not a definitive guideline, but that's about what we're expecting. You don't have to answer all of the questions here, but can pick just the one or two you feel you have the most insight on. Or, if you feel you can answer multiple ones in detail, feel free to write up separate insights.

Entries chosen to go on the site will get a share of the pot. The pot will be split depending on how many insights are chosen.

 

Business analytics are playing an increasingly important role in helping companies gain the insight they need to make better decisions. How have you found this to be the case with your business? Please share your best examples with us of how analytics (CRM, dashboards, or other analytics capabilities) have improved the performance of your business. For an example, see this video clip by Malcolm Gladwell.

Responses for this case will be used in a whitepaper being created by Techdirt for TheCustomerCollective and included with the results of a survey we are hosting titled, "CRM Analytics."

Web 2.0 has spawned a new wave of collaborative online sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and del.ici.ous which harness the power of groups. Are Web 2.0 tools (personal profiles, rating, tagging, wikis, bookmarking and commenting) being incorporated into your sales process, CRM applications and other applications that your business uses? If yes, how are they being used? Are they making you more efficient?

How should companies be using these technologies? Which tools should they be using to make them more efficient and why?

Responses for this Case will be used in a whitepaper being created by Techdirt for TheCustomerCollective and will be included with the results of a separate survey we are conducting. Please take the survey and we will share the results with you.

Accounting software solutions have grown in complexity with an ever increasing number of features aimed at small businesses as well as large enterprises. Now, software focusing on medium-sized businesses is becoming a more important area. How can software solution providers better serve this middle segment? What are the unique challenges facing mid-sized businesses that small or large organizations aren't dealing with?

For those of you who have transitioned from Quickbooks to Intacct Enterprise, NetSuite, SAP BusinessOne, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, Sage MAS 90 or another mid-market solution, how did you know it was time to upgrade? Please describe your successes and failures in making the transition and how the transition ultimately helped or hurt with your company's growth. What advice would you give small and medium-sized business owners to help them to avoid pitfalls and better make this transition?

For those of you who haven't done this switch, but are familiar with these products or the space, what do you think are the key factors in moving up to mid-market solutions and what are the biggest pitfalls and risks that companies face in making that transition?

Responses for this Case will be used in a whitepaper being created by Techdirt for MyVenturePad and included with the results of a survey we are conducting. Please take the survey and we will share the results with you.

 

Cadbury Schweppes sells a wide variety of beverages in the US including brands like Seven-Up, Dr. Pepper, Snapple, Motts, Hawaiian Punch, Canada Dry and A&W. The company is looking for ways to go beyond the normal web offerings of online coupons, and they want to create real value for their retail partners -- using the internet to drive customers to those retailers.

They want to focus their efforts on their top retail channels in the US, like Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, Albertson, Stop & Shop, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, YUM, 7-Eleven, CVS. The key goal is to find ways to use Cadbury Schweppes brands as an asset to bring shoppers into the stores (not just to buy Cadbury Schweppes drinks). Don't limit yourself to just focusing on drinks. The ideal project drives more interest in getting shoppers into retail partners, increasing the overall amount of consumer spending.

What innovative and new ideas are there for engaging shoppers with retailers & Cadbury Schweppes brands online that can translate to added profitable sales for retailers? Please describe specific examples of strategies that could be employed, and estimate budgetary and return on investment factors for any proposed solutions.

 

What features do you feel are missing from the Techdirt Insight Community and should be added? How can we improve the service?