Commentary

Independence requires entrepreneurs

Rowser — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:35:52 -0300

Author

Donne Smith

Source

Telegraph Journal, Published Friday June 26th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/710932

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Donne Smith, outgoing head of the New Brunswick Securities Commission, attends a conference at Vancouver’s Canada Place.. Photo by: Kim Stallknecht/Telegraph-Journal Archive

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The importance of vibrant capital markets to New Brunswick's economic prosperity is significant! From the expansion and commercialization of R&D coming out of our universities, to creating new, innovative ventures and attracting investment capital, from home and abroad, to develop these growing companies, improvements to our capital markets will not take place overnight.

Fullsail is the New Brunswick Securities Commission's capital markets development initiative. The work done in this area has been a critical part of our mandate. Our overall objective is to create economic wealth and independence for the province through capital markets development.

We recognized that meaningful progress on this initiative would require the dedicated commitment and active involvement of many players across a broad front. This is why Fullsail has reached out to and attracted academics, entrepreneurs, business professionals, economic development agencies, financiers and government. No one solution or solution provider can build the infrastructure and support needed to transform and sustain the entrepreneurial business culture in this province.

Three years ago, we launched the Fullsail Summit as a call to action to engage partners and launch the initiatives that would be the catalyst for this change.

Fullsail Summit 2009, held in Fredericton in May, was entitled "Moving Beyond Today." It provided the 120 delegates with insight on current issues from renowned world experts and local entrepreneurs. This sparked the generation of grassroots ideas among those participating.

As with previous summits, Fullsail 2009 showcased successes to date and provided an opportunity for a diverse range of players in the capital markets arena to interact. This year, in addition to the many returning professionals, were a number of new and young delegates who brought a fresh viewpoint to the discussions.

The experiences shared by our speakers and panellists helped delegates broaden their perspectives. In addition, as with previous Summits, delegates were tasked with "rolling up their sleeves" to identify the next steps for further developing our capital markets.

Three of the notable ideas put forward were:

*Establish pools of private investment by putting in place mechanisms to match capital with needs;

*Create an Atlantic Canada economic region to lead Canada in commercializing R & D in the fields of ICT, health and energy; and

*Increase the number of public companies in New Brunswick by 50 per cent.

In order to make these types of major changes and improvements successful, we need widespread renewed energy to build critical mass.

We have been following the developments taking place in Wisconsin. That state shares many similarities with New Brunswick. Recently, commission staff returned to Wisconsin to assess their progress. They met with a variety of stakeholders who demonstrated success in advancing Wisconsin's capital markets and entrepreneurial business culture. Our team was struck by the commitment of the key influencers and decision-makers in the academic, public and private sectors to entrepreneurism. All shared the same vision and worked to see that their contribution "moved the markers" in the overall game plan.

We believe we have that same opportunity here in New Brunswick.

Over the past five years, we have witnessed real progress in New Brunswick's business culture. For example, significant enhancements to the Small Business Tax Credit program place New Brunswick among the leading provinces to grow a business. Mynexia, a business connections portal, is up and running. Financial literacy is being discussed in schools and homes. Entrepreneurial incubators, mentoring and support networks are being created. Angel investing is openly discussed and occurring. Business reporting of entrepreneurial ventures and issues is commonplace.

As I look back over the past five years, I am particularly proud of the work and commitment made by the commission and its partners on the Fullsail initiative. We are pleased to have played a role in these improvements. However, we also recognize that there is much more that needs to take place to advance our capital markets.

While we have demonstrated a real commitment to the education of investors and entrepreneurs, self-sufficiency will not be achieved without the systematic adoption of financial literacy and entrepreneurism programs in our educational institutions. Likewise, our goal to achieve financial independence through capital market development requires a much greater public policy commitment to developing the environment that supports entrepreneurs.

We have clearly shown that success is possible if we, along with our stakeholders, remain committed and visionary. Only by working together can we truly strengthen New Brunswick's capital markets!

For more information on past Fullsail Summits, please visit www.nbsc-cvmnb.ca.

Donne Smith is the out-going Chair and CEO of the New Brunswick Securities Commission.

More ideas will generate more capital

Jeff Roach — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:33:34 -0300

Author

John Pollack

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Wednesday May 27th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/679971

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Marcel LeBrun, chief executive of Radian6, a New Brunswick company that has become a global leader in social media monitoring, says attracting large companies to the province won’t likely create the human capital necessary for developing a cluster of new innovative businesses. LeBrun says the province just needs the people that are here to bring their innovative ideas to market. ‘I’m a believer that the more good ideas there are the more capital will come.’

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Technology Executive favours attracting entrepreneurs to province, not big companies

New Brunswick needs to stop promoting the province as a place to do business if it wants to encourage new innovative startups, a leading technology executive says.

"If they're setting up here because they can get access to low cost call centre workers than no, it's not going to do anything for the tech sector," LeBrun said of a large technology company hypothetically opening operations here. "If they move their research and development here that would be a different thing, but I don't think that's what's being sold to them at the moment."

He said idea generation is usually kept close to the leadership of a company that won't likely move its headquarters here.

LeBrun will be the keynote speaker at Propel ICT's annual general meeting today in Saint John. His speech to the technology association crowd will focus on how web 2.0, particularly social media, provides new opportunities for businesses and further breaks down geographic borders.

Though the Internet has connected people around the world for about 20 years, LeBrun said in an interview, he will argue in his speech that the more recent popularity of the social web makes virtual proximity more important than physical proximity thereby eliminating geography as a factor for many businesses.

LeBrun said attracting companies to New Brunswick may make sense on an economic development agenda, and acknowledged discouraging the job creation efforts is controversial, but he, like many others involved with Propel ICT, feel the province needs to have a strong focus on entrepreneurship.

LeBrun sees value in inspiring creative home-grown business ideas that can use new Internet tools to compete in a world-wide market.

"It's a global world and we need to build globally minded companies," he said. "When you're in a flat world where geography doesn't matter you can't take your geography and use it as a differentiator."

He wants to see New Brunswick develop a technology cluster that will breed creativity, such as in California's Silicon Valley. Similarly to the popularity of a sport, LeBrun said a successful regional industry will come from people seeing it done and wanting to give it a try.

"If you come to bat enough times you're eventually going to hit something," LeBrun said. "I think the number of times we swing our bat is the key metric we need to be focused on."

Though New Brunswick doesn't have the population or money that Silicon Valley does, he said the province just needs the people that are here to bring their innovative ideas to market.

"I'm a believer that the more good ideas there are the more capital will come," he said.

LeBrun argues consumers don't care where a product or service is from - if it is interesting and stands out enough to generate discussion online it will likely sell.

"If you're a little jewelry company in Fredericton and you've got a product that's remarkable, that people will talk about, there's no reason why you can't really figure out how to grow that business," he said.

Foundation for 21st century communication

Rowser — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:57:11 -0300

Author

Brett Bundale

Source

Telegraph Journal, Published Tuesday May 12th, 2009

Source Url

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/664170

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Rahaf Harfoush, a member of U.S. President Barack Obama’s online social media team and associate-director for the Global Cooperation Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, shared secrets from the successful U.S. presidential campaign with a room filled with business leaders, investors, academia and government officials at the Fullsail Summit at the Delta Fredericton. Photo by Cindy Wilson/Telegraph-Journal

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Online technologies can help advance business goals in innovative ways, panelists tell the Fullsail Summit delegation

She's a "net roots" campaigner and he's a tech whiz and together they delivered a clear message to the New Brunswick Securities Commission Fullsail Summit Monday: Online social media is the foundation for communication in the 21st century.

Rahaf Harfoush, a member of U.S. President Barack Obama's online social media team, and Tod Maffin, a powerhouse on new technologies, kicked off the third annual event at the Delta Fredericton hotel.

The Fullsail Summit, with the theme "Moving Beyond Today," is part of the Crown corporation's goal of increasing equity capital opportunities and encouraging entrepreneurship in New Brunswick.

The panel discussion, moderated by John Ibbitson, the Globe and Mail's Washington correspondent, informed delegates about online technologies that can help advance business goals in new and innovative ways.

"At the heart of the Obama campaign was a business," said Harfoush, now the associate-director for the Global Co-operation Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Geneva. "It was a multi-million dollar organization with a product to sell and clear goals and targets."

The 24 year-old shared secrets from the successful campaign with a room filled with business leaders, investors, academia and government officials.

"First you need to have a clear brand and message," she said. "Then you have to get on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter and spread the word."

The latest in a slew of online social media websites, Twitter allows a user to create an individual profile and post status updates - called Tweets - publicly, which can be easily viewed by those who follow that user.

The online tools are not only for friends to stay connected, Harfoush said, but for companies to share that information and cultivate online discussions and customer engagement.

In fact, the New Brunswick Securities Commission has its own Twitter account, which provides followers updates on events and other information related to the Crown corporation.

Maffin, a national CBC broadcaster, podcasting pioneer and entrepreneur, gave tips on recruiting the Facebook generation.

"Traditional communications for corporations has been like a flock of birds," he said. "Companies were always trying to push their message to the front of the flock."

"But in the new world of social media," he said, "trust and affinity groups are the key drivers behind information spreading. It's more like a swarm of bees where information sharing is based on trust."

Although every company should use online social media tools, Maffin said executives - often well past the 18 to 32 year-old Facebook generation - don't need a crash course on how to Tweet or upload photos to Flickr.

"CEOs of corporations don't necessarily have to Tweet or become an expert in all these nerdy things," he said. "What they do have to do is recognize results when they come in."

Harfoush agreed, adding that the role of a CEO is to have a clear message or brand they want to share.

"Then you can hire an 18 year-old to do it for you," she said.

Donne Smith, chairman and chief executive of the New Brunswick Securities Commission, said at first he was lukewarm about focusing on online social media for the opening panel of the Fullsail Summit.

"But the session was fascinating," he said. "Looking around the room you can see that there's a generational gap between those on the stage and those in the audience but you can tell by the nature of questions that there is great interest."

Smith said the panel provided delegates with one more tool with which to weather the current economic climate.

Established in 2004, the New Brunswick Securities Commission is an independent Crown corporation funded by investors through industry.

Its mandate is to protect investors from unfair and fraudulent practices and encourage efficient capital markets.

The Fullsail Summit continues today with panelists Gene Fowler, founder and president of Fatkat Animation, and Curtis Howe, CEO and co-founder of Mariner.

The event wraps up with a keynote address by Peter Schiff, president and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital.

First we take Manhattan

johnsgunn — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:19:26 -0300

Author

David Campbell

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Wednesday April 15th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/635592

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I had the opportunity to meet Robert Bell, executive director of the New York City-based Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) last week when he was in New Brunswick.

Bell was in the province gathering information that will be used to help select the ICF's global Intelligent City for 2009. Both Fredericton and Moncton made it to the short list of seven out of almost 400 submissions from around the world. Even if Moncton or Fredericton are not ultimately named the Intelligent Community for 2009, in my opinion, they already won by getting to the top seven.

Whatever the reason, a number of people reacted to Fredericton and Moncton making the list of intelligent communities by questioning the process. I received a number of telephone calls, emails and blog postings from New Brunswickers questioning the validity and credibility of the process.

For many of these naysayers, the idea of Fredericton and Moncton beating out 380 communities from around the world doesn't make much sense. How could two communities in one of the poorest regions of North America go through a serious process and win?

As Robert Bell said in his own words, this is not some type of "beauty contest" where a handful of people evaluate subjective factors and then choose the winner. A group of experts and academics evaluate a rigorous set of criteria and then assign individual scores to each of the seven finalists. Then these scores are aggregated to determine the short list and the eventual winner for 2009.

Underneath the wafer thin veneer of confidence coming out of our politicians, community leaders and newspaper editorial pages, I have long believed that New Brunswickers suffer from a collective lack of self-confidence. This is likely due to 140 years of being the poor cousin in Confederation.

We need to tackle this self-confidence problem head on. We should bring Dr. Phil to the province and have him put all 750,000 of us on the couch. He could dig up all of these insecurities and help us work through them. You know the ones I am talking about.

We don't believe New Brunswick can attract top global companies. We don't believe that New Brunswick can incubate exciting new entrepreneurs that can compete with anyone, anywhere in the world. We don't believe that people might actually want to move to our province. We don't really believe that New Brunswick could ever achieve economic self sufficiency.

I hope that New Brunswick sends a large delegation to the ICF event in New York City in May. I hope Business New Brunswick sends their top sales guys and gals to pitch New Brunswick to every technology company at the event. I hope the local economic development agencies in the province also turn out in full force to support their communities. PropelICT should also be there to represent New Brunswick's IT industry.

After all, New Brunswick's information technology firms are one of the main reasons Fredericton and Moncton made the short list.

Finally, I hope that a number of IT industry champions attend the event and showcase the talent we have here in New Brunswick. Let's storm New York City and make the case for New Brunswick.

To paraphrase Leonard Cohen, it may be necessary to first take Manhattan before we take New Brunswick. In other words, in order for New Brunswickers to truly believe in the potential of our own province, maybe we need some big wig New York think-tank to convince us.

David Campbell is an economic development consultant based in Moncton. He writes a daily blog, It's the Economy Stupid, at www.davidwcampbell.com.

Strong innovators stand out, get results

Rowser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:07:53 -0300

Author

Chet Wesley

Source

Daily Gleaner, Published Tuesday April 14th, 2009

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http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/rss/article/634313

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The most powerful word for any entrepreneur is "next." Yes, to be successful, "stick-to-it-ness," as they say, is important, but knowing when it's time to stop is better. What really makes you an entrepreneur with the capital "E," is growing a business, letting go of what's going good, and starting new things. Anything else is just owning a business.

Being an entrepreneur doesn't mean you've got to build and run a bunch of different companies. It can happen in the company your operating now, whether you own any of it or not. We've all seen at least one employment ad that asks for "self starters" and "entrepreneurial thinking." But what they're really looking for are innovators; people who add value by creating new ways to do things that save or make money.

One company that stands out lately is Red Ball Internet, which is in the process of expanding its operations in Fredericton. They got started in Moncton after two freshly graduated computer programmers showed up at a new consulting gig without some much needed documents. With no Internet connection they started wondering how they could wirelessly and securely access files at their office from anywhere. The next thing you know they're negotiating with Kyrocera to license their iBurst technology, one of the world's most robust secure wireless network systems.

But wait. Can't you already do this with the Fred e-Zone? Well, not exactly. First, the Fred e-Zone is not secure, and you've got to be within 300 or so feet from one of its access points for it to work. With Red Ball's iBurst, you can get encrypted high-speed Internet access anywhere within 12 kilometres of one of their towers.

They originally got started providing secure high-speed wireless Internet in Moncton, and for a short while in the Village of Gagetown, only to find out that getting into the Internet service provider (ISP) game, against Aliant and Rogers, was a bad idea. Plus it wasn't like there was enough volume of business in Gagetown to make it worthwhile over the long run. So what did they do? They just stopped. Instead of holding on, they stopped and asked those all-important questions: "What else?,-What's next?"

Instead, they started to focus their attention on how they could apply their incredible technology, instead of how they could sell it. The next thing you know they're writing software applications so you can securely use your credit card in a cab, or if you're a lawyer, get that 50MB confidential file you forgot while sitting in court. Sorry, your BlackBerry just can't do that. They're even working on an application that will wirelessly communicate your power usage - no more meter readers lurking around our backyards and basements.

When it comes to entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial thinking, I think Red Ball's got it right so far. Especially when it comes to engaging their customers and getting them to dream about all the things they could do with their technology. I'm anxious to see what they'll make possible here in Fredericton. Stay tuned.

Chet Wesley is the director of communication at the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and has no stake in Red Ball Internet. NBIF makes investments in new growth-oriented companies and commercially-driven research.

Telecommuting's upside

Jeff Roach — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:20:58 -0400

Author

John Pollack

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Saturday February 28th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/587570

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Stephen Nickerson, owner of software development company RapidMind Solutions, has six employees in the Saint John area and one each in Toronto, Halifax, Truro, N.S., and the Washington, D.C. area. His employees can work from anywhere there is an Internet connection. ‘It really doesn’t matter where you’re at,’ Nickerson says.

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The price of letting your employees not work from the office? Decreased absenteeism, cost savings, efficient and happy workers. Two experts weigh in on the pros and cons

Stephen Nickerson has six employees based out of Saint John, but most days his Canterbury Street office is virtually empty.

When RapidMind Solutions Inc. employees aren't at a client's office or site, Nickerson lets them get their work done from wherever they like.

"It really doesn't matter where you're at," he says.

His office has room for 10 people, but only two of the six workers are there regularly, the rest telecommute.

"I've got really good quality people here in Saint John," he says. "But I can't find enough of them fast enough. I'll eventually get them, but in the mean time I don't want to throw away work."

Since his employees can work from anywhere there is an Internet connection, RapidMind also has workers in Toronto, Halifax, Truro, N.S., and the Washington, D.C. area - one each.

The software development company's employees spend up to half their time working where clients need them to be.

"It doesn't really matter where you start," he said, "but are you willing to travel?"

Having his employees spread over North America allows RapidMind to have someone close to clients or at least to a heavy traffic international airport.

But the staff's internal communications are mostly through email, online text meeting, and voice and video conferencing programs such as Skype.

University of New Brunswick human resources professor Jeff Frooman sees this lack of face to face time as a potential source of miscommunications and frustrations.

"It becomes complicated for them to know exactly what the boss wants if they're not actually in the office with the boss," he says, speaking generally about telecommuting.

As executive director of the society for business ethics, Frooman knows long-distance communications can leave the wrong impression as emails can sometimes seem curt.

"It's critical that we meet at least once a year face-to-face for us to get to know each other and realize we're not jerks," he says.

Nickerson can easily hold formal staff meetings with his oversized office.

"We can always fly in the other people to have the face-to-face," he says, although he rarely does.

Nickerson says his office space is overkill, but with an affordable rent he isn't concerned because it gives him room to grow, which he plans on doing.

Nickerson incorporated his business two years ago and only hired his first employee a year after that.

Despite plans to expand operations, including increasing the Saint John staff size, Nickerson says he will likely keep his office until he has more than 10 people who want to work from there.

"I could probably keep the size of the office up to 20 people," he says as he suspects at least half will want to work from home.

Frooman is concerned some people won't be able to work as efficiently from home with extra distractions. He says companies looking to have employees start telecommuting should make sure the person is suited for it.

"You could have a very good employee who's been a very good employee for years and suddenly you've made a very dramatic shift in how they do their work," he says.

But Bob Fortier, president of the Canadian Telework Association, says the practice will increase efficiency about 10 per cent. He gathered this from talking to managers who incorporated some telecommuting into their traditional office set up.

Fortier also gathered that many workers will spend some of what used to be commuting time working, and that teleworking decreases absenteeism.

"They might feel too unwell to take a shower," he says. "However they might feel well enough to do some of the work from home for some of the hours, perhaps all of the hours."

About 1.5 million Canadians telework at least one day a week saving their employers about $5,000 each, Fortier says.

"I haven't found a case yet where we've not been able to easily convince top executives our numbers are quite conservative and very achievable," Fortier says.

Nickerson doesn't notice a huge savings from allowing teleworking. He does it to make his employees more efficient and happier.

But if his company were to grow into the dozens or hundreds of employees, Nickerson says he could see where a significant cost savings could occur.

Both Frooman and Fortier agree telecommuting isn't for everyone. While Frooman also recognizes the potential benefits he says businesses should weigh the pros and cons of telecommuting for their companies.

If they do decide to make the change, Frooman says they should do it slowly while documenting the effects on productivity and morale.

Promote new growth in ICT sector

Jeff Roach — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:43:32 -0400

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Telegraph-Journal, Published Thursday February 12th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/569606

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Q1 Labs, Inc. is one of many information and communications technology companies in New Brunswick. Its aggressive expansion has caught the business community's attention. It should also be noticed by government. It's not every day that a company doubles the size of its workforce in the midst of a recession.

ICT executives have called on the Premier to appoint a champion for the industry. The success of companies such as Q1 Labs strengthens their case. Co-ordinated promotion of what New Brunswick has to offer would bring more skilled jobs and investment to this province. As costs in the United States go up, New Brunswick's value to employers and investors is only going to increase.

Premier Frank McKenna saw the benefit of appointing a minister to oversee development of the "information highway." It's time to revisit that idea - if not with a cabinet minister, then with an information technology secretariat. A deputy minister supported by a modest staff could sell New Brunswick's advantages full-time, bringing established firms to the province and promoting policies and programs that help home-grown firms flourish.

Business New Brunswick needs to put some dedicated resources into promoting this sector. New Brunswickers have a specific value proposition to sell and great opportunities to attract new business.

Invest in Canadian technology

Jeff Roach — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:53:09 -0400

Author

Richard Woodbury for the Telegraph-Journal

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Wednesday January 21st, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/546574

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‘We need traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges, but you need to combine that with 21st century infrastructure that includes broadband, mobile, wireless broadband as well,’ said former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord Tuesday in Halifax.

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Broadband Stimulus package must address today's modern economy, the 21st century infrastructure, says Lord

HALIFAX - The federal government should include boosting broadband and wireless broadband services in its upcoming stimulus package, said former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord Tuesday.

"Every sector that uses a cellphone now would benefit from this investment and that's basically every single business out there," said Lord, now the president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.

The association has lobbied both the ruling Tories and the Liberal Opposition on this topic and will meet with the other two parties this week regarding budget recommendations.

Lord thinks the stimulus package needs to include traditional items such as roads and bridges, but a stimulus package must address today's modern economy as well.

"Yes, we need traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges, but you need to combine that with 21st century infrastructure that includes broadband, mobile, wireless broadband as well."

"It's not simply about helping this industry. Frankly, this industry doesn't need a bailout."

Lord would like to see three measures implemented. These would "create immediate jobs and save jobs, but would have a lasting effect in terms of wireless and telecommunication infrastructure in Canada," said Lord.

First, Lord would like to see the government double its financial commitment and implement it within two years. Another $500 million would be matched by the private sector for a total stimulus of $1.5 billion.

During the last election, the Ferderal Tories committed $500 million to broadband over seven years.

The second measure is an accelerated capital cost allowance for data network equipment. Lord would like to see it raised to 100 per cent just for the year 2009. It currently sits at 30 per cent.

"This could generate up to $12 billion of additional investments this year. This would increase speed for those that have wireless now. It would enable us to get broadband not only at home, but on the move."

All businesses need this to be able to compete, he says.

"If you can't compete at the speed of light, then you're really left behind."

The third measure is to improve 911 for wireless users. Lord is not asking for money for his industry, but wants the government to invest $250 million in public safety agencies to upgrade systems and call centres so that it can find people faster and better.

"By making these types of investments, you're investing in Canadian technology," says Lord. "A lot of this technology is Canadian and will be installed and implemented by Canadians throughout the country."

These measures will all help improve competitiveness, innovation, and productivity, says Lord.

"This is an enabler, this is a catalyst for all other sectors of the economy and when they can use our technology, they can become more competitive."

Bell Aliant boss has the insight to bring the company back

Jeff Roach — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:58:51 -0400

Author

Rebecca Penty

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Saturday January 17th, 2009

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http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/542763

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Karen Sheriff, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bell Aliant

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Over a decade ago, when Karen Sheriff launched a branding campaign for what was then a large U.S. telecommunications firm, Ameritech Corp., she focused on the customer.

As the executive at the helm of corporate marketing and branding, Sheriff oversaw the interviewing of tens of thousands of customers and employees to learn what Ameritech's brand identity could be.

In an article Sheriff wrote, published in 1998 by the New York-based Association of National Advertisers, Inc., she estimated that Ameritech would spend $1 billion on initiatives like revamping its automated voice response system, establishing 24-hour customer service and providing cell phones to service technicians so they could reach customers - all to "deliver the Ameritech brand experience."

"In any competitive market," she wrote, "the strength of a company's brand obviously represents an enormous - and enormously valuable - competitive advantage."

Now, just over 10 years on, Sheriff is the president and CEO of the troubled telecommunications firm, Bell Aliant (TSX:BA.UN).

Just two months into the job, Sheriff announced this week that the company will axe about 500 managerial jobs.

Her senior executive team has already been trimmed from 11 managers to seven.

Analysts say the cuts will likely continue as Sheriff faces one of the toughest assignments of her career so far: turning around a company some say has lacked innovation and convincing customers to buy into its only growth potential - Internet service.

Sheriff, who was born in Chicago but now splits her time between Toronto and Halifax, served for five years in the 1990s at Ameritech before moving over to Bell Canada in 1999 as the chief marketing officer and then as president of small and medium business.

She arrived at Bell Aliant last summer as the chief operating officer.

Between 1984 and 1994, Sheriff worked at United Airlines (NASDAQ.GS:UAUA) in various positions, including being the executive in charge of domestic advertising.

Sheriff should be using her marketing savvy to focus Bell Aliant on nabbing new Internet customers, said Mark Goldberg, a Richmond Hill, Ont.-based telecommunications analyst and consultant who has worked for nearly all the sector's major companies in Canada.

Bell Aliant is stymied by the small scope its services, Goldberg said.

The home phone sector shows little promise as demographic shifts mean more embrace cell phone service - which Bell Aliant does not offer.

The company's only hope is for growth in its Internet business, Goldberg said.

He said while Atlantic Canada has good Internet access, its adoption rates for Internet are lower than in the rest of Canada.

According to a Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission monitoring report from 2007, while 93 per cent of Canadian households have access to broadband services, 65 per cent of these households actually subscribe to the service.

The lowest subscription rate was in Prince Edward Island at 43 per cent of households.

"They need to be the very best Internet service provider," he said, explaining that it's up to Bell Aliant and potential partners - which could include banks with online banking - to lure future customers, especially in rural areas, to the web.

"It's about showing the value of online, then being the best provider."

Goldberg said Sheriff could be good at helping the company build partnerships to navigate rough waters, "because of Karen's background in marketing, understanding the power of the brand."

Goldberg pointing to United Airlines' success at branding its image on a slew of regional carriers it does not own, to create familiarity for customers.

Eamon Hoey, a senior partner of Toronto-based Hoey Associates Management and frequent commentator on the telecommunications industry, said Sheriff should take a page out of NBTel's book and reconnect with the customer, in turn spurring innovation.

"The biggest area to me is to bring innovation to Bell Aliant," Hoey said.

"You've really got to ask yourself: 'What does the customer want?' " Hoey said, adding that he was disappointed when in a press release this week on management cuts, Sheriff was quoted as saying that the "leaner management structure will bring all employees closer to customers," on top of cost reductions.

"Typically what we find in tough times is that companies are turned over to cost cutters." Hoey pointed to the former telecommunications firm NBTel, which merged with Aliant in 1999, as an example of a company that used innovation and dialogue with customers as its mantra for breeding success.

"(NBTel) used to say, 'It's about the customer,'" Hoey said.

As president and CEO, Sheriff's leadership qualities - which she has been building into her marketing roles - will also be important.

She commented on her previous job as chief marketing officer for Bell Canada in an interview for a 2001 story in Marketing Magazine, saying that convincing others of a corporate vision is instrumental to one's success.

"You also need to have a hold over others and be able to persuade others that your vision is the right vision," Sheriff is quoted as saying.

In her role as chairwoman for the board of trustees at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto, Sheriff is known to have a vision for the museum's corporate success that goes beyond idea, according to the museum's executive director, Alexandra Montgomery.

"She's able to traverse the highest concepts, down to the nitty-gritty details."

Sheriff was recognized in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as one of The Women's Executive Network's top 100 Canadians and named to the organization's hall of fame in 2007.

Sheriff declined a request for interview by the Telegraph-Journal.

The creation of a smarter planet

Jeff Roach — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:04:35 -0400

Author

Brett Bundale

Source

Telegraph-Journal, Published Tuesday January 13th, 2009

Source Url

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/rss/article/538006

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Image Caption

Companies today are expecting increased innovation and value-addition from service providers so there is a growing trend of partnering and collaboration. The wave of the future lies in globally integrated enterprises, says Suhas Bhide of IBM India. ‘Companies can actually gain a competitive advantage while at the same time doing good. It’s win-win.’

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Modern globalization Geopolitical risk mitigation, wage inflation and carbon footprint reduction are the new rewards

HALIFAX - The world is smaller. The world is flatter. And the world is about to get a whole lot smarter.

That was the message of Suhas Bhide, partner and vice-president of global delivery and business services for IBM India, the opening keynote speaker of Monday's Balanced Viewpoint 2009 Worldsourcing Conference.

Standing at the podium on the Neptune Theatre's stage, Bhide gave the crowd - a mix of business leaders, government and experts - a very brief history lesson. Spanning British colonization, two world wars and the new millennium, he outlined modern globalization.

It started with trade routes and the exporting of raw materials. Then came multi-national corporations and protectionist trade laws. But the future, he says, lies in globally integrated enterprises.

And it was at this point in the conference that the delegates - eager to learn how the current trends, drivers, and risks of outsourcing in light of the current economic challenges will change the world - leaned forward in their seats.

"Accelerated and increased global collaboration - made possible with communications technology, an opening up of the business environment and a reduction of trade barriers - has caused a tightening of the world," says Bhide, who is based in Bangalore.

"Over the last few years companies have looked to India for service providers or China for manufacturers and these countries have participated more and more in global supply chain," he says during an interview after his address.

"The playing field is levelling off so everyone can contribute and the whole world is coming together better. That's been the phenomenon that we've referred to colloquially as the flattening of the world." But Bhide says the phenomenon of a flat world - described in the bestselling book by Thomas L. Friedman The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century - is old news.

With rimless glasses and a polished suit, Bhide explains with a soft accent that the world today is more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent than it was when Friedman first published the book in 2005.

"The world is becoming smarter," he says. "Companies are no longer outsourcing just to reduce costs," he adds. "They are expecting increased innovation and value-addition from the service providers. There is more partnering and collaboration and that's why globally integrated enterprises are the wave of the future."

Bhide says this demand creates not only smarter companies, but smarter industries and a "smarter planet."

"In the past when companies needed IT outsourcing they'd go to India or for manufacturing outsourcing to China," he says. "But there is a lot more thought going into the decision-making."

Bhide says historically outsourcing decisions were made strictly from a cost-benefit point of view. But increasingly companies are looking at the risk and reward of going into certain areas of the world.

And other big players - like in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Egypt - are offering alternatives.

"When companies start to consider geopolitical risk mitigation, wage inflation and reducing their carbon footprint, these other areas sometimes emerge as smarter places to do business."

But Bhide quickly points out that this smarter way of doing business is not about altruism or doing good.

"Companies can actually gain a competitive advantage while at the same time doing good. It's win-win."