Net Gains For Managers

A manager cannot afford to live by bread alone. With the business scene changing at the speed of thought, one has to update oneself on new ideas and new information almost daily. Some of this may come from books, newspapers and periodicals, but the web is the ultimate repository of gainful information. Here are a few suggestions on where to look:

FOR WOULD-BE ENTREPRENEURS

This is a site for entrepreneurs but there is a lot here that would be of interest even to those who are not. For instance, there are articles on starting your business and steps must one take to retain and attract the best talent. This is something most of us would like to know. Or, for instance, there is an article on "How to prevent knowledge from walking out of the door?"

The site deals with common issues and problems that we all have to deal with at the workplace. It also carries a listing of American business schools, centres for entrepreneurship and incubators for start-ups that can be accessed for free. It has a listing of all family business courses and institutes in America. All this is useful and handy information.

The site also offers internship opportunities for entrepreneurs. Browse through and you may find some interesting surveys and reports drawn up by some of the world's leading consultancies on entrepreneurship and management styles.

Entreworld.com operates as a search engine for the entrepreneur. But there is enough here that managers and B-school students can find use for. www.entreworld.com

US BUSINESS INFO-SOURCE

The online version of the Houston Business Journal is a good library resource. One can access articles and about 50 other business journals for free through this site. The site is also neatly split up according to industry and districts with respect to USA.

About 46 industries are represented here and it says that subscribers to its free e-mail update service have free access to its archive of half-a-million local business articles. It also promises to track specific industry and competition-related features as they appear in the national press for companies which request them to do so.

For a company or an individual looking for local and micro level business news about the US, it offers plenty. In fact, the site advertises itself as one that is "strictly business, strictly local."

If looking for a global perspective, there is not much. Except of course, the advice library, an invaluable resource for mangers and promoters anywhere in the world. Reported and written by over 90 journalists from American business papers, it offers `advice' on a range of industries. For example, it has articles on banking and finance, environment management, computers, etc. The information here is well set out, like the rest of this site.

www.houston.bizjournals.com

HELPING HAND WITH CAREERS

This online career journal is an offshoot of The Wall Street Journal. The site is more than just a careers listing site. If you are looking at interesting reads and information related to HR and policies adopted by some of the world's largest organisations and the lessons learnt therefrom, log on.

The articles are mostly taken from the online version of the newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. There are articles that managers and non-managers would find of use there. Besides, the career management section is extremely well charted out.

It is split up into 16 sub-channels. Each has a host of articles and related information guides. To name a few of the segments here: Climbing the Ladder, Success Stories, Career Killers. Each segment has a number of articles that discuss issues and policies therein.

The site offers a large database of career-related events, seminars and job clubs. Access is free. There are also job listings and career counselling here but these need one to register. Among the services it offers is a free resume critique.

www.careerjournal.com

KNOWLEDGE PORTAL FOR BUSINESS

Brint.com positions itself as a knowledge portal for business and technology enthusiasts. It comes highly recommended as a one-stop shop for all kinds of information related to business. The Wall Street Journal called it a "pool of the largest collection of knowledge management literature." Other compliments: "Top frequently-visited knowledge economy web site" (Fortune); and "E-Business: 'What every CEO should know" (Business Week). The site has an exhaustive list of links on almost every topic or sub-topic you would associate with business and technology.

There are four major channels:General Business, Business Technology, e-Business and Knowledge Management. Each of these draws on a number of search engines as well as lists its own sites. The biggest advantage here is the narrow focus of the portal. This enhances the efficiency of a search run on any related topic.

The portal also offers usual resources like chat rooms, job listings, an e-zine and discussion forum. For those interested, it has a vast pool of career-related information, articles and surveys. It also carries research papers and reports by leading management consultancies.

www.brint.com

FOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS

This is the official website of the Institute of Management Consultancy. It offers a plethora of courses and certification opportunities for budding consultants. "The institute has over 4,200 individual members, 170 registered practitioners, 19 certified practitioners and 12 provisionals, and over 60 corporate members. Budding consultants can access 27 IMC-approved training providers and 75 courses."

The site is a forum for management consultants, providing them with news, analyses, industry-related information and events, updates and a certification course online. There are several membership options and you can choose between becoming an individual, associate or corporate member.

The institute says that aims include enhancing "the image of the profession" and to be a custodian of professional standards for management consultants. It says that it represents and protects the professional interests of qualified members.

Access to the site and almost all its resources is free. The only things restricted to members is access to the consultancy reports and a monthly newsletter. The library is worth a visit and so is the careers link. For the latter, the site links up to www.insidecareeers.co.uk.

You have to register to view the job opportunities, career advice and related articles that are posted here. Registration is free. Similarly for the news, the site links up to an online newsletter: insideeurope. This too is a free site.

www.imc.co.uk

INFO-SITE FOR MANAGERS

This website of the Institute of Management and Administration offers professionals "the kind of industry news, tips, and strategies that will get them ahead of the competition".

The site operates like a management library that allows you to do business research by topic on a pay-per-view or subscription basis. Besides research resources, it offers a host of free newsletters about and for managers.

The site hosts online discussions on a variety of management-related topics. There are links to business and management issues as well as a calendar of events where companies announce internal and industry-wide conferences to be held during the year.

There is a job guide where one can post resumes. Ioma.com belongs to the flipdog.com family of sites. Flipdog.com is a recruiting network that runs the usual gamut of career-related services. This is a free service and though it is limited to the US, provides a list of jobs segregated by area and industry.

www.ioma.com

FOR THOSE OUT OF A JOB

Most managers and management students would find this an interesting site to browse through. For one, it has a large selection of resources and articles to pick from. And secondly, it deals with a lot of issues that other sites prefer to brush under the carpet.

For example, there is a Layoff Survival Kit that offers advice, counselling and a job search facility for people who have lost their jobs. Apart from this there is a lot of stuff that one finds in regular career sites - like resume builders, job listings and articles on how to manage your job and employer, etc.

CareerBuilder is in partnership with Tribune Company and Knight-Ridder Inc. The site claims to provide "the most integrated print and online recruitment solutions available in major markets throughout the United States". They also claim that CareerBuilder-branded help wanted sections go out to "more than 25 million people every Sunday."

The site has a number of tools that are available to members. Membership is free and open to all who are willing to fill out a long and detailed form about themselves and their jobs and their job aspirations!

Although the site is focused on operating as an exclusive and efficient link between employer and employee, it has a number of interesting sidelights such as pop quizzzes that are free to take on the site.

www.careerbuilder.com

This article was published in the May 2002 issue of Indian Management