5 ways to squeeze more downtime into your next business trip

5 ways to squeeze more downtime into your next geschftlicher umgang trip5 ways to squeeze more downtime into your next business tripTraveling for work? Brace yourself for long work days. Between getting to your destination, long meetings, follow-up work in your hotel room and then perhaps a meal with clients, business travel isnt as glamorous at it sounds.In fact, according to a mens suit retailer Jos. A. Bank survey of 2,000 American business travelers, the average traveler only has two hours to themselves when away for work. In addition, added hassles include being away from family, airports issues and living out of a suitcase.Here are some strategies to gain some rest and relaxation while on a business trip.Take in the cityKnowing that youre on a tight schedule will keep you productive. Free time can be hard to come by when youre traveling on the clock but having the opportunity to see a new place is a perk.Try a restaurant that serves local cuisine, walk to a meeting rather than catching a ride and explore the destination if you have a gap in the day.Build in some extra time during your long daysBefore or after your work is when you may have some extra time.Build in some extra time before or after your work obligations, says Mary Beth Blake, brand president of Jos. A. Bank. Perhaps an early morning zulauf outside before your day starts, or take in a local comedy show after your last meeting.Turn to local contacts for suggestionsSince youre in their town for business, use these contacts as a resource.If you have the time to do any preplanning, ask locals in the area if they have any recommendation of favorite places to visit or eat, and you can build that into your schedule, continues Blake.If you really do need to spend extra time answering some work emails, do it in a caf rather than your hotel room, she continues.Most places have free WIFI, and you can still get some work done, but see something other than your hotel room, adds Blake.Bond with coworkers o utside a boardroomYour coworkers along for the trip may be great companions for meals out or a stroll through town, says Blake.Or there may be opportunities to catch up with some colleagues from the past while you are town, she suggests.Take some time to connect with your network before arriving and have some plans in place.Add a day to decompressAlthough many may find it hard to add in an extra day of leisure to a business trip, if your travels take you to a more exotic destination than usual, add some time and plan an itinerary, suggest Blake. Understand this will be at your own expense and that personal time will need to be used.

Strategic Planning Pitfalls You Will Want to Avoid

Strategic Planning Pitfalls You Will Want to AvoidStrategic Planning Pitfalls You Will Want to AvoidMany companies fall short when it comes to providing clear direction for their employees. They call various planning processesstrategic planning but the results of their efforts fail to create an overall direction for their company, office, or workgroup. This overall direction is necessary for their success. People need to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. At the same time, they need clear direction to know what thebigger thingis that they are part of. Strategic planning is rarely strategic and most frequently results in pages and pages of plans that sit unused in senior leaders desk drawers. Almost every HR practitioner has been a part of an unsuccessful strategic planning process- or has been asked to participate too late to have any impact on the success of the process. Problems with Strategic Planning Many companies fail to implement their strategic plans for reasons such as the following. In a fast-moving, fast-changing industry, you can create an overall compass for your direction. You can put together operational plans. You can set goals. But, sales, your industry, your competition, upgraded products- yours and your competitors, your ability to fill growth created positions, and more, make strategic planning, in the traditional sense, problematic. No sooner do you set up a plan, than one of these variables changes, and you need a new plan. At a mid-sized manufacturing company, the plant manager held an offsite strategic planning meeting that felt a lot more like the prioritization of to-do lists. But, at least, the to-do lists were yielding clear priorities for the companys success. The employees were enthusiastic about having actual priorities so they didnt feel as if they were failing all of the time.The company owner met with the participants a week later, expecting to find happy, excited employees working on the chosen p riorities. Instead, he found sad employees wallowing in too many priorities. As soon as they were back to work after setting priorities, their plant manager had informed them that the prioritization of objectives as A, B, or C, was great.However, all of the stuff was important and had to get done. Thus, the priorities were ignored and each employee made baby steps forward on each of their too many objectives. And, when everything is a priority, nothing is really a priority. And, employees lose their way. More Pitfalls in Strategic Planning In several companies, strategic planning was leuchtdiode by a strategic planning facilitator who was brought in to help the companies with their planning. When strategic planning sessions are facilitated by consulting companies, the consultants frequently recommend and request 50-60 pages of research about competitors, markets, and current company measurements.While you can laud such a systematic approach, small- to mid-sized companies rarely have all of this data collected nor do they have the ability to utilize it effectively in planning. The amount of time invested in the research plus the time invested in the actual planning is excessive. Thus, they render all of the hours of work as meaningless regardless of the skill of the facilitator. Second, many companies lack the ability to execute strategy. For whatever reason, they make great strategic plans and then, fail to create the specific framework necessary for strategic planning follow-up. Without a follow-up framework and accountability system, action items and follow-up plans and actions that make the execution of the strategic plan a success, dont happen. Finally, even if the senior managers adopt a strategic plan, they rarely do the work that is necessary for a plan to become adopted and implemented across the company. Employees want to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves. But, just because the big boss says, x is our direction, that is not e nough for employees to do the work needed to get to x.The senior leaders, starting with their direct reports must work with each level of the organization so that employees understand and can act on the specific tasks needed for their jobs. The more personalized and close to home this planning occurs, the better. Involving every employee can help your strategic planning achieve results. Strategic planning can be simple or it can be complex, but avoid these pitfalls to make the time invested valuable and meaningful to your organization.

Sony BMG Major Record Label Profile

Sony BMG Major Record Label ProfileSony BMG Major Record Label ProfileSony BMG Music Entertainment is the second largest of the Big Three record companies in the world. Holding the No. 2spot, it falls behind the Universal Music Group(UMG) and isahead of theWarner Music Group (WMG).Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is a Japanese-owned Americanrecord label conglomerate that is owned and incorporated bySony. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary ofthe Sony Corporation of America. How Sony BMG Music Entertainment Was Formed Known in the trade simply as Sony, the company welches started in 1929. For the first nine years, it was called the American Record Companyand maintained that title until it acquired theColumbia Broadcasting System in 1938. At that time it renamed itself the Columbia Recording Corporation. The Sony name came into being in 1988 when the Sony Corporation bought the Columbia Recording Corporation and fittingly renamed the new entity Sony. Sixteen years later, in 2004, Sony an d the Bertelsmann Music Groupjoined hands and established a 50-50 joint venture and became officially known as the Bertelsmann Music Group. However, four short years later, in 2008, Sony decided to grow the business and made the move to acquire Bertelsmanns stake. The new company was renamed the Sony Music Entertainment. A Buyout Creates a Music Behemoth The Sony buyout proved to be a strategically-sound move because it allowed Sony to acquire all of BMGs significant labels, including the former Columbia PicturessubsidiaryArista Records and Epic Records. Today, Sony Music has a stable of eclectic labels including country labels Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville, and RCA Records Nashville Latin label Sony Music Latin Christian/gospel labels Provident Label Group and Verity Records, and classical label Sony Masterworks. The Payola Scandal Its impossible to look at the history and status of SME without noting Sonys highly publicized payola scandal. In June 2005 SME was force d to pay an estimated $10 million in fines after being found guilty of engaging in payola by the state of New York, under New Yorks then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The label group had been the subject of a yearlong investigation that revealed it was paying and providing expensive gifts- otherwise known as payola- to radio stations and their employees in return for airplay. This is in direct violation of state and federal law. The bulk of the charges surrounded payment for playing Jessica Simpson tracks. The payola also took the form of outright bribes as well as fictitious contest giveaways, supposedly to listeners, that actually went to station employees. The Epic division of SME was singled out, in particular, for running fake contests to cover up their payola. It was determined that DJs were the only ones who ever won prizes in the contests being held. Another Scandal In February 2016, in a 24-hour period, 100,000 people signed an online petition calling for a boycott o f Sony Music and all other Sony-affiliated businesses after rape allegations against music producerDr. Luke were made by musical akrobat Kesha.Kesha asked a New York Supreme Court to free her from her contract with Sony Music. Although the court denied the request, a highly negative public relations campaign ensued. A Look at the Sony BMG Labels Under the huge umbrella of Sony BMG, more than 20 labels are owned and distributed by the corporation. Sony BMG labels include some of the biggest names in the business, including the following Epic Jive Columbia RCA Arista LaFace Zomba Music Group (including Rough Trade and Pinnacle) SoSo Def Legacy J Records Red Music Distribution Sony BMG also has distribution and partial ownership deals with five indie labels, including the following IndependienteGOOD Music Nick Records Wind Up Records Sony BMG Artists As you might imagine of a company that is responsible for 25 percent of all music sales, Sony BMG represents some of the bigges t names in music. Some of the companys top-selling artists include Britney Spears Jessica Simpson Celine Dion The Fray Belle and Sebastian Justin Timberlake Kelis Other featured artists include Carrie Underwood, Ke$ha, Kenny Chesney, Meghan Trainor, G-Eazy, Miranda Lambert, and Willie Nelson. The label also handled the king of rock and roll Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Jimi Hendrix. Headquartered in New York City, Sony BMG employs over 168,000 workers across the globe and has offices in more than 30 countries worldwide. In March 2018 Sony began producing vinyl records in-house for the first time since ceasing their production in 1989. In April 2018 Sony Musics total global revenuehit the $4 1000 milliarden mark.