Search

Reports on Mecklermedia Corp.'s launching of its online service aimed at creating an electronic yellow pages for the Internet and helping companies develop a storefront on the global computer network.

Focuses on the use of the Mosaic software as a `browser' to sell goods and services on the global computer network. Capabilities; Software limitations; Companies that are using the software.

The article presents an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of outsource workers who work at call-centers in India for outsourcing companies such as Wipro. While the employees may have to handle angry or uncooperative customers during their shifts, they are also paid a decent wage and are offered heavily subsidized food, tuition assistance, and free transportation.

The article reports that married couples working together is more strain than most marriages can take. Most people do not want to be around their spouse 24 hours a day. Couples at work together never get a break from each other's little annoying habits. Transplanting the office hierarchy into a relationship can be difficult. If people work in the same industry, they are subject to the same market downturns, which means both husband and wife could be job hunting at the same time.

Focuses on the practice of some executives and bosses to sit with their employees and not in a plush office. Signal that an executive is trying to send to employees when moving out of an office; Comments from Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of leadership at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, regarding the practice that has evolved from a means of tightening control over employees to a way to project camaraderie; Impact of studies by anthropologist Elton Mayo in forcing companies to be more concerned about employee morale; Comments from Haywood Kelly, a securities analyst at Morningstar Inc., regarding the subtle changes he made once his boss started sitting next to him.

Discusses issues in the workplace with a particular focus on microwave ovens. Comments from a manager at a software company in Virginia, describing the filthy condition inside his company's microwave oven; Discussion of food-borne illnesses, which are sometimes mistaken for the flu; How a microwave oven works, indicating the importance of puncturing the skins of certain foods lest an explosion occurs that will dirty the walls of the unit and create a health hazard; Comments from Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern, regarding the odors created in microwave ovens from subsequent reheating.

Examines the discrepancies encountered by new employees, whose job responsibilities are not what was presented to them when they were first hired. Comments from executive agent Neal Lenarsky about hiring managers; Comment from Den Dattner, who heads is own consulting firm, regarding the promises made to recruit employees; Discussion of job descriptions, which include many euphemisms hiding unpleasant work tasks; What the euphemistic job description phrases really mean, according to Don Steinmann, who used the same exact phrases when assembling a team of computer programmers; "Character building"; "Mentoring"; "Expense account"; "Team working environment."

Focuses on the working relationship between men and women, which are not intimate or romantic, but exhibit the qualities of an old married couple. Comments from Lilli Friedland, an organizational psychologist who counsels executives and has worked with several workplace noncouples; Comments of Dory Hollander, an organizational psychologist, regarding the competitive nature of same-sex relationships and the supportive nature of male-female relationships; How the working couple's relationship becomes enhanced by the nine-to-five job and can lead to each having more in common with the other than their spouses.

Focuses on conversation in the workplace, particularly among office workers. View that workers talk, but offer little of substance in their conversations; Comments from Debra Fine, a trainer and author on the subject of small talk; Discussion of the ability to chitchat in Bernardo J. Carducci's "The Pocket Guide to Making Successful Small Talk"; Examples of conversational openers, low-involvement responses, and sure fire closers designed to wrap up a conversation.

Focuses on the antitrust case filed against Microsoft Corp. by AOL Time Warner Inc. in behalf of Netscape Communications Corp. in the U.S. Possible impact of the suit on the financial status of Netscape; Causes on the competition conflict between Microsoft and Netscape; Issues with the market performance of Netscape.

The article focuses on how corporate personnel managers cope with the departure of employees. Most companies attempt to minimize the event, for fear it tells other employees they should consider leaving also. Management experts state this is a wrongheaded strategy which causes more morale problems and spurs more departures than it prevents.

The article examines the almost universal human practice of talking to oneself in the context of the workplace. Psychologists state that talking to yourself serves a variety of uses in what is known as self-regulation, such as goal-setting, which are helpful at work. However, it can also create an inappropriate distraction to other employees. Researchers note most instances of talking to oneself stem from frustration.

The article examines corporate employees who are assigned mentors with whom they are incompatible or who they find unhelpful. A female worker in a theater's marketing department describes how she used the same method of politely reducing contact to end the relationship she did to break up after dating. Research shows formal mentoring programs are often more damaging than helpful.

The article discusses meetings in the workplace. Many people disparage meetings, but a study by Steven Rogelberg of the University of North Carolina indicates significant numbers of those complaints aren't sincere. Moreover, many people believe the ideal work day would include at least one meeting.

The article discusses how a desire by managers to avoid conflict can exacerbate problems. Former manager Lowrie Beacham's efforts to avoid confronting issues lead to a dysfunctional workplace with poor discipline. David Bradford of the Stanford University School of Business notes that in a knowledge-based economy, providing honest feedback to employees is essential.

The article discusses the challenge of deriving job satisfaction in the information age. People whose jobs don't involve the production of a tangible object need to find other ways to measure their accomplishments. Sometimes people take up do-it-yourself projects or hobbies such as gardening so they can actually see the results of their efforts.

The article discusses the work of nighttime office cleaning staffs. It can be a thankless job with difficult hours and considerable back strain. Fred Bishop of the cleaning firm First Quality Maintenance has seen a great deal during his 25-year career, including a suicide jumper. Cleaning personnel can make inferences about office workers from the trash they leave behind.

The article presents an overview of difficulties businesses and employees face when attempting to do business with and communicate with businesses from other countries or different regions of their own countries due to cultural differences and language barriers or dialect differences. Case studies of employees who have encountered the difficulties are presented.

The article presents an overview of the benefits and disadvantages associated with feigning infallibility in the workplace. A discussion of psychology professor Carol Dweck's book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", which is concerned with employees who never admit to making mistakes at work, is presented.

The article reports on a survey commissioned by Staples Inc. which found that 51% of small business professionals dream about work. An overview of the impact that dreams can have on employment and life in general is presented. Case studies of employees that have had dreams about their work are examined.

The article presents an overview of the ways asking for and receiving favors impact the work environment. A discussion of several research studies which looked at favors, including one by Frank Flynn at Stanford University's School of Business and another by Robert Cialdini of Arizona State University, is presented.

The article presents an overview of the difficulties of working for an employer that has obsessions, including sports or a particular hobby or food, that he or she feels you should become involved with. Several case studies of employees that have had to work for bosses with obsessions are presented as an example.

The article presents an overview of the impact both optimistic and pessimistic people can have in places of employment and in society in general. A discussion of research, included that which was performed at Carnegie Mellon University, which looked at pessimism and optimism and its side effects, is presented.

The article presents an overview of problems which are seen by evaluators and employees with performance reviews in the workplace. A discussion of books, including "Perfect Phrases for Performance Reviews", which help employee evaluators give better reviews, and of employees that have had problems related to performance reviews, is presented.

The article reports on the habit of lateness that the author claims is more contagious than punctuality, and that late people use as a weapon. Professor Anthony Warren states that he deducts points from students who are late as he considers it an arrogant move. Diana DeLonzor, author of "Never Be Late Again," claims that late people engage in magical thinking, remembering when they traveled a distance in a record time. She says that the worst late person is the punctually late one.

The article focuses on the positive aspects of telling off an annoying, argumentative or insulting coworker in one's own mind rather than in a face to face meeting. Arguments are presented which suggest that by not doing this, employees can ruminate over the coworker and remain unhappy, and that the odds are more favorable of winning an argument with people who aren't there.

The article focuses on an increase in the number of U.S. employees that say they are staying in jobs they don't really like only because they have to help pay for their childrens' child rearing and college expenses. A discussion of research which indicates that most adults stay in jobs because they are satisfied with them and not just because they have financial obligations is presented.

The article presents an overview of the psychological and social aspects of waiting for things at work. A discussion of the impact technological innovations have had on the amount of time people spend waiting for things, and of the impact waiting can have on a person's drive and inspiration, is presented.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of taking a two-day class devoted to building efficient listening skills.

The article presents an overview of the role social comparison theory, in which people compare themselves to others, plays in the workplace. A discussion of several employees, including accountant Joe Pizzileo, who have been involved with upward or downward comparisons in the workplace is presented as an example.

The article presents the author's opinions on blaming the bearer of bad news in the business environment. Arguments are presented which suggest that blaming the bearer of bad news doesn't help but we all do it anyway, and that it is a symptom of the ill aimed, trigger happy nature of office blame, and the gulf between knowing a problem and solving it. Case studies of poorly placed blaming in the work place are presented.

The article presents the author's opinions on office tyrants in critical positions and the unnecessary aggravation they give to other employees beneath them. A discussion of several employees who have had bad experiences with office tyrants is presented. Arguments are presented which suggest that while employees expect authoritarian rule to come from management, tyranny form others in non management positions tends to blindside them and can bring work to a stop.

The article discusses the psychological benefits of quitting a job that has become overwhelming or stressful. The cases of several people, including account manager Anne Marie McClaran, who quit jobs that they didn't like before finding a new job despite the knowledge that their decision would lead to financial problems, are discussed.

The article presents the author's opinions on the reasons many corporations have employees that try to be like their bosses. Arguments are presented which suggest that employees remake themselves to be like the boss out of ambition, survival , or a need to belong and bosses hire in their own likenesses out of comfort, fear of differences or narcissism.

The article presents an overview of the way children of information age workers, who work at non physical jobs, view the job duties that their parents have. A discussion of the reactions several employees, including George Reinhart, the director of associate service for New England at the Conference Board, received from their children concerning their work duties, is presented.

The article focuses on the difficulties which are encountered by employees who are asked by their managers to become friends on online social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Case studies of employees that have encountered problems after becoming involved with managers on the websites are presented.

The article presents the author's opinions on mystery employees; employees who manage to work in businesses without being seen frequently or without having co-workers know what their job functions are. Arguments are presented which suggest that mystery employees seem to thrive in bureaucracies and business growth periods in which profit masks unproductivity.

The article presents an overview of the advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of shared electronic calendars in the work place. Examples of employees who have had problems with the use of shared electronic calendars and have found ways to avoid the problems and meetings which have been placed on their calendars are presented.

The article presents an overview of the social implications which the accidental redialing of cellular telephones and accidental cellular phone calls can have. A discussion of the impact accidental dialing can have on work relationships, interpersonal relationships and the 911 emergency call system, is presented.

The article discusses problems that executives often encounter when attempting to use corporate management strategies to handle family relations and issues while at home. A discussion of several executives that have attempted to handle home issues with work management skills and failed is presented.

The article focuses on the difficulties that are often associated with honest communication in the workplace, specifically communication with workplace managers. Arguments are presented which suggest that honesty may not always be appreciated or welcomed by workplace managers and that often a lack of communication with supervisors can be beneficial to employees. Examples of employees who had negative experiences with honest communication are offered.

The article reports on the problems and difficulties which are often associated with working for a needy, overly demanding boss. Cases studies of employees who worked for needy bosses are presented. Arguments are presented which suggest that vulnerability in managers is acceptable but when they are very needy they become work for their employees.

The article focuses on food borne illnesses which U.S. travelers contract while in foreign countries. A discussion is presented of preventive methods and remedies which travelers have used to recover from the illnesses, which G. Richard Olds of the Medical College of Wisconsin reports affect 70% of Americans traveling to developing countries.

The article presents the author's opinions on and a discussion of strategic incompetence in the workplace. A discussion of the causes, benefits and disadvantages of strategic incompetence, which is the avoidance of work related chores through a false admission of one's inability to perform them, is presented.

The article discusses the benefits and disadvantages of and the author's opinions on self promoting behavior in the workplace. A discussion of various tactics which are used by those promoting themselves in the workplace, including taking notes at business management meetings to appear diligent, and speaking first and often at meetings, is presented.

The article presents the author's opinions on the ways work advise from spouses can negatively effect a person's success at the workplace, The cases of Jane Genova, And Martina Schramm, who asked for and received advice from their husbands that led to problems at their places of employment are offered as examples.

The article reports on a number of U.S. companies including eTelemetry and Secure Computing that are erroneously reporting that the 2007 NCAA basketball tournament is negatively effecting workplace productivity and increasing workplace betting and tournament watching. A survey conducted by Workplace Media, which disputes the companies' claims and found that 69% of Americans workers were not wagering on the tournament and 50% had no interest in the tournament is discussed.

The article focuses on Earl and Carol Crews who left their corporate jobs in the U.S. to open the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary Foundation on the shores of Golfo Dulce in Costa Rica. The Crews left their lumber trading business to escape the pressure and inhumanity of their jobs. What they found is that any job can be stressful and that animals can be just as unsociable, territorial and unpleasant as some of the humans they wanted to escape from.

The article focuses on an increase in knowledge outsourcing or outsourcing of skilled labor which in being seen in India. Knowledge outsourcing employees include PH.Ds doctors and lawyers in the country that perform work for companies from other countries including the United States. Opinion is offered on when these well payed and well treated employees will start vying for higher positions and become involved in office politics.

The article reports that false deadlines in the workplace are bad for productivity. Many managers use deadlines far in advance of the date a project actually needs to be completed. When employees see that these deadlines are meaningless, they do not pay attention to future due dates. Managers use false deadlines to help organize their work flow.