Business Forum articles from June 1994

Business Forum archives from June 1994

Monster on the loose: the civil justice system.
June 22, 1994... Americans are facing a monster...just as terrifying as, and certainly more real than, anything coming out of Jurassic Park. It is abuse of the civil justice system. According to a survey, 69 percent of Los Angeles area voters fear that they, or a...

What the info superhighway means for business. (Cover Story)
June 22, 1994... The evolution of communications technologies is a history of business opportunity. Whenever people are presented with a richer means to stay in touch, they tend to seize it. In 1924, the age of radio opened. That year, one-third of all dollars...

Multimedia - what is it? (Cover Story)
June 22, 1994... The term "multimedia" has new meaning today. Multimedia now describes the ability to combine text, high-quality graphics, sound, animation, photo images, and video into a single interactive presentation in conjunction with computing technology....

Have you talked to your computer today? (Cover Story)
June 22, 1994... With the increasing use of communication technology in all business applications, employers and employees frequently are confronted with yet another piece of technology to be included in the work environment. The mere idea of learning another...

On-line information services - the world at your fingertips. (Cover Story)
June 22, 1994... On-line information services have become a valuable source for research, news, and personal needs. Vast amounts of information are available in their data bases, for a fee, at any hour. However, potential subscribers to on-line information...

Communism is gone, but what of the future?
June 22, 1994... A shift to democratic capitalism in the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries isn't a certainty, new research shows. These authors surveyed the opinions of college students enrolled in schools of business in Russia, Poland,...

Light a bonfire under your sales staff with training and development.
June 22, 1994... Did you hear the one about the woman who telephoned the manager of a restaurant to ask if it had simply had an off night because her experience there had been so awful? The manager responded, "Madam, you were our off night!"(1) Or, how about...

Are corporations improving efforts at social responsibility?
June 22, 1994... Society has entrusted the management of a large portion of its wealth to corporation executives. As a result, investors and creditors are understandably interested in the effectiveness of corporate management of the assets in its care. When...

Expanding the auditors' role to narrow the expectations gap.
June 22, 1994... Since the early 1970s, the auditing profession has been under increased pressure and scrutiny by government and users of audit reports. The Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities (generally known as the Cohen Commission) coined the term...

The conundrum of patents and market testing: pitfalls aplenty.
June 22, 1994... Market testing of a new product or process before investing in expensive patent protection may seem like prudent business practice, especially for small businesses or private inventors-entrepreneurs operating on shoestring budgets. But, under the...

Reflections on southern China.
June 22, 1994... I am at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. A rude security person measures my bag and declares that one side is one inch longer than the Hong Kong limit. This means I have to go back past a crowd of rude people to the airline counter to get a...