November 20, 2008
By Jeff Bond
Steve Singh remembers it as a moment of clarity when he decided to change the direction of his expanse management company. The CEO of Concur was sitting on a jet in the spring of 2000, next to his sleeping wife as the new couple flew off on their honeymoon. Not exactly the best timing to…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Shirley Hendrickson
A few years ago, Joe Harb, a customer relationship management expert, was listening to NPR in his car and wanted to identify the artist who had played a particularly beautiful jazz piece. By the time he got through to KUOW, several other songs had played, but the DJ gave Harb a name. The next day,…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Gianni Truzzi
When major retailer Wal-Mart announced in January 2008 that its suppliers to Sams Club could face fines of $2 to $3 for each pallet received without a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, officials at Seattles Impinj couldnt have been more pleased. The RFID firm in Fremont had already placed a large bet that the wireless product-identification…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By David Volk, Jeff Bond, Manny Frishberg and Randy Woods
Scandal of the year The Washington Mutual Implosion I was just following orders, even if they were mine…. WhileKerry Killinger didnt actually say these words, they pretty muchconvey the gist of what he told a Rotary Club meeting in mid-June, afew months before Washington Mutuals sudden crash and burn. Accordingto reporters with The Seattle Times,…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Manny Frishberg
Not long ago, the concept of a green office was mainly considered a public relations mattersomething warm and fuzzy to appease the tree-huggers but not really a fundamental change in business practice. That was before businesses got a rude awakening this fall in the form of a Wall Street implosion and fears of a worldwide…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Myke Folger
Life has been good to commercial banks in the Northwestif, of course, you ignore the last eight months when the waves of the subprime fiasco finally broke over Washington state. Still, many local banks that have identified their problems have remained relatively healthy amid this falls financial crisis. According to J.D. Delafield, founder of Seattle…
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Kim Sklar
Stepping off the Bremerton ferry, one sees a paradoxical view of the town. To the right are fashionable waterfront condos and a polished, white marina. To the left are crumbling concrete naval shipyard buildings. And so the modern tale of Bremerton goes: From the rust of the almost-forgotten war town, Bremerton endeavors to modernize itself….
- December 2008
November 20, 2008
By Jenny Lynn Zappala
Not all pink slips are created equal. Terminate employees properly, and you will find that keeping existing employees, strengthening your reputation and attracting qualified candidates is easier and less expensive than using Donald Trumps favorite youre fired method. If layoffs are coming due to this shaky economy, give employees fair warning and the full picture….
- December 2008
October 9, 2008
By Kayvon Sharghi
For those who like puzzle games like Tetris and Bejeweled, which require minimum neural processing but provide maximum stimulationnot to mention big revenues for game developersthings in Seattle may get a bit more interesting in the coming months. RealNetworks, one of the largest casual-game publishers and distributors in the world, announced plans last spring to…
- November 2008
Commentary
The Best of Business 2008
November 20, 2008
By David Volk, Jeff Bond, Manny Frishberg and Randy Woods
Lets face it: 2008 was, without a doubt, one of the ugliest years any of us can remember. Probably not since 1929 have so many of the Puget Sound regions most powerful economic titans looked so vulnerable.There was the near-collapse of the worlds financial system due to a whole string of obscure and complex derivatives…