Dig into your toolbox Dear subscriber,
You may never use all of the functions of the 2007 Microsoft Office System, but when you have an unanticipated need, you'll likely find you already possess the right tool for the job. Learning more about what you already have on your system can help save your organization time and money by reducing the need for additional tools. In this issue of Momentum, you'll find explanations and tips on how to use your Windows desktops and laptops to tap into the security, collaboration, and CRM capabilities of Office 2007. Please let us know what other ways we can help you stay on top of your responsibilities. Email us at mo-info@Microsoft.com.
Best regards,
Fred J. Studer
General Manager
Information Worker Business Group
Microsoft Corporation
|  | | | Technology at work |  | | | |  | | Lava World information bubbles to the top | | In the wake of a severe restructuring, a maker of lava lamps expands its product line and keeps its competitive edge by tapping into AccessTek's Microsoft Dynamics expertise. |
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| |  | | Rules and tools can reduce junk e-mail | | Simple steps like setting a policy and using the features of Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Exchange keep spam and other unwanted e-mail under control. |
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| | | |  | | Integration drives tomorrow's autos | | Consumer Electronics Show introductions are being hailed for bringing improved functionality to automobiles. However, this may be just the start of market-changing integration.
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| |  | | POSitive reinforcement | | Michael Griffiths, global product manager for Microsoft Dynamics Retail Solutions, says retailers can get business-critical data in real time thanks to end-to-end, sale-to-supply-chain automation. |
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| | | Spotlight |  | | Survival strategies
By Pete Bartolik
In the doldrums of winter, the stock market and the political world took on a chill with the growing sentiment that the U.S. was either a) beginning a recession or b) waking up to the fact that it's already in a recession.
What is a recession and how do we know when it begins? The first part is fairly easy to answer, the second less so.
"A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales." So says the Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which has the enviable task of making the call.
Unfortunately for business managers, the NBER generally doesn't make the call until six to 18 months after the recession has actually commenced. "A recession begins just after the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends as the economy reaches its trough," says the NBER.
So what's a manager to do? According to a paper by Robert G. Atkins and Adrian J. Slywotzky, senior partners at Mercer Management Consulting, "Many senior managers, especially in North America, have little or no experience steering their firms through a recession. So when the next recession arrives, they're likely to react instinctively and hunker down with fixed cuts across the board. If you're lucky, that's what your competitors will do."
Among the strategies Atkins and Slywotzky recommend:
- Become indispensable to your best customers.
- Focus on costs, but avoid the traditional across-the-board cut. Instead, cut back in areas that support your weakest customers or market segments.
- Control inventories and receivables by sharpening up your production and logistics management skills.
- Invest in future opportunities now, because a recession is the best time to buy or build those assets.
- Accelerate your shift to becoming a digital business.
If the economic news sounds grim now, keep in mind that, as the NBER notes, "Expansion is the normal state of the economy; most recessions are brief and they have been rare in recent decades."
Pete Bartolik edits Momentum and gets dizzy following the economic news cycles from his office in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
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