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Last week we listed six things entrepreneurs do and gave examples from Business As Mission (BAM) businesses we know. This week we will look at five things they do not do – in and out of the BAM world. Steve Tobak of Fox Business (and author of Real Leaders Don’t Follow) suggests in a March […]
While on a recent flight I picked up the Spring 2015 issue of Startups magazine. An article by Marcia Layton Turner caught my eye: Get started: 12 signs you’ve got what it takes to start your own business. You can read the online version (12 Signs You Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset) in full on Entrepreneurs […]
I have recently been listening to Clay Christensen (Harvard Business School) describe his idea of disruptive innovation. He calls it a theory and has some amazing examples from the steel and auto industry, tech examples and even education. The definition below comes from Christensen’s website which I highly recommend. “Disruptive innovation, a term of art […]
We have written some thoughts in recent blogs about ethics, corruption and bribery. Because IBEC serves businesses in countries that are the most corrupt in the world (see www.transparency.org), we hear stories like this from time to time. This story gives a glimpse of what it is like to make ethical decisions in the real-life […]
On Dec 29, 2014 I wrote about being on the lookout for that big opportunity, something retired Harvard Business School professor John Kotter calls The Big Opportunity (TBO). It is a window into a winning future that is realistic, emotionally compelling and memorable. In business it can be new markets, advances in technology, new products, […]
In recent months I have been in on several conversations with the owners of overseas kingdom business start ups who were discouraged – who were ready to give up. It is not easy to know if they need encouragement, or if they need a key resource they currently lack, or if they legitimately need to […]
I enjoy reading the blogs of Paul Sohn, and the following can be found in its entirety in his blog, God and Guinness: The Missional Drink that Changed the World. I am quoting most of Sohn’s thoughts here with some modifications, not as an advocate of the Guinness drink, but as an example of what businesses can […]
“Be wise and give serious thought to the way you live.” (King Solomon in Proverbs 23:19) The football season is over for another year but not without its accusations of cheating, scandal and ethical challenges. Such is true of all of life and especially in doing business internationally and cross culturally. Doing business ethically between […]
Some people find it confusing to read about socially conscious business, social entrepreneurship or values-driven business. Isn’t business just business – driven by profit margins acceptable to shareholders? What’s all this talk of values, social impact and community development? For the past decade or so it has become increasingly popular to talk about social purposes, […]
Marcus Mariota of the Oregon Ducks football team has been much in the sports news the past two months. Last month he won the 2014 Heisman Trophy in a landslide and on January 12 he led the Ducks in the national championship game. There is no question he is a talented record-breaking all-star quarterback. But […]