Crisis communication: Now more than ever, a timely topic

When it comes to examples of crises in business, we have "an embarrassment of riches," according to the author of "Crisis Communication: Practical PR Strategies for Management and Company Survival." The debacle of Enron's collapse and the Tylenol package-tampering scare are examples of crises tha

Sending clear messages: Communicating the 'core idea'

People who know Mike Figliuolo likely were unsurprised when he founded a training and development firm called "thoughtLEADERS, LLC" in 2004. Up to that point, every stage of his career led seamlessly to the next, as he groomed himself in teamwork, delegating, structure, strategy and leadership.

Arizona Cardinals' Super Bowl trip provides timely boost for Phoenix economy

"Victory is contagious, and food always tastes better when you win," says Ray Artigue, the former senior vice president of the Phoenix Suns, who is now a professor of practice in the marketing department at the W. P. Carey School of Business and director of the W. P. Carey MBA

Geek Squad: Best Buy's corporate mythology

We all know the Best Buy brand — the big-box stores have been around for 30 years, populated by employees wearing blue shirts, selling products emblazoned with the yellow tag. Around 10 years ago, services began taking center stage — derailing some industry leaders and empowering others.

Podcast: Persuading nervous customers to buy

With the economy continuing to falter, consumer product and service companies are looking for every edge to bring in business.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Customer focus key to record sales during retail slump

Wearing faded gray jeans, a gray striped shirt and black sneakers, Tony Hsieh hardly looks the part of a $1 billion company's CEO.

Dave Lewis: Creating the creativity economy

In Canada, a group of Nike employees meets once a week in the same place at the same time for a creative brainstorming session. But there's an element that keeps the sessions from going stale. The meetings are on a Toronto subway car.

Podcast: Framing the issue — did 'bailout' label skew debate?

Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke learned a lesson from Media Relations 101 the hard way when they introduced a plan of action to stem the financial crises and did not suggest a catchy name for it.

Authors answer the age-old question: 'What was I thinking?'

Brothers Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman followed different paths in life, but they decided to collaborate on a book when they realized that Ori, with his MBA, and Rom, with a Ph.D.

"OBD: Obsessive branding disorder": Has branding jumped the tracks?

In his book "OBD: Obsessive Branding Disorder," Lucas Conley asserts that branding has gotten out of hand. At it's worst it is deceptive, he writes, and it diverts companies away from real product improvement to focus on superficial details.