Irrespective of the size of the business, it is quite possible that legal problems do arise. In most of the large corporate a disconnect legal counsel body exists to combat these issues. But in case of small business, this may not happen. Here comes the role played by law firms in helping small business. There are several law firms fully dedicated to serve small business in every possible way. These firms cover a wide range of practices like business litigation law, copyright law, intellectual property law etc. From small business that immediately started to few years old establishments law firms offer temporary or long term litigation attorneys, lawyers according to requirement. Since, budget is a major issue with small business thus legal help is offered at reasonable price.
Law firms also help business when legal issues arise from employee or customer. Every time a business deal with customer or employees are hired a contract is made. Thus, when legal issue arises like customers refusing to pay or employees breaking contract they help by showing the right path and drawing case in their favor.
The power of collection letter sent by attorney is absolutely much more powerful than letter sent by established business. In this connection traditional compilation agency would have asked a percentage of money, whereas seeking help from legal firms help to recover money effectively and quickly. Law firms offer different prepaid authorized plans protecting not only business but also personal life. There are different legal plans offered by legal firms with flexible payment facility. If carefully chosen these legal plans helps tremendously to grow, develop and protect the business effectively. As law is a vast subject, law firms for small business are dedicated to different branches of laws. With right information and proficiency help, a business can expect to grow more by overcoming any legal barriers and helping to reach target profit margins. Thus, from corporate lawyers to personal injury lawyers, immigration attorneys, patent lawyers law firms are surely dedicated to help small business.
Irrespective of the size of the business, it is quite possible that legal problems do arise. In most of the large corporate a disconnect legal counsel body exists to combat these issues. But in case of small business, this may not happen. Here comes the role played by law firms in helping small business. There are several law firms fully dedicated to serve small business in every possible way. These firms cover a wide range of practices like business litigation law, copyright law, intellectual property law etc. From small business that immediately started to few years old establishments law firms offer temporary or long term litigation attorneys, lawyers according to requirement. Since, budget is a major issue with small business thus legal help is offered at reasonable price.
Law firms also help business when legal issues arise from employee or customer. Every time a business deal with customer or employees are hired a contract is made. Thus, when legal issue arises like customers refusing to pay or employees breaking contract they help by showing the right path and drawing case in their favor.
The power of collection letter sent by attorney is absolutely much more powerful than letter sent by established business. In this connection traditional compilation agency would have asked a percentage of money, whereas seeking help from legal firms help to recover money effectively and quickly. Law firms offer different prepaid authorized plans protecting not only business but also personal life. There are different legal plans offered by legal firms with flexible payment facility. If carefully chosen these legal plans helps tremendously to grow, develop and protect the business effectively. As law is a vast subject, law firms for small business are dedicated to different branches of laws. With right information and proficiency help, a business can expect to grow more by overcoming any legal barriers and helping to reach target profit margins. Thus, from corporate lawyers to personal injury lawyers, immigration attorneys, patent lawyers law firms are surely dedicated to help small business.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the business world was revolutionized with the advancement and focus on corporate culture. Imprinting a new form of culture has had much to do with a corporate success, by retaining a talented work force, increasing productivity, and fostering innovation. As a result of the current economic crisis, the gains made over the last twenty-five years, in this regard, are being ignored or lost, and as a result, the short, medium, and long term health of companies are threatened.
The genesis of the modern corporate culture can be traced to the boom of the early 1980s. It was the time immediately after the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, and hyper-inflation. The economy was starting its expansion, and tax cuts made more money available more available for investments. People began spending again, and jobs became plentiful. Competition for the new breed of MBAs, and a professional workforce was becoming fierce. Compensation became the new “hot” human resources specialty as salary compression control became an art. New hires were being offered more in starting salary. New graduates were being offered more in salary, than fifteen year company veterans were making. New and creative compensation programs, including stock options, were offer to new hires, where they were traditionally only offered to the top executives. It was a time of delirious confusion, and exciting changes.
However, there was a logical endpoint to what could be offered in the way of compensation that could lure and retain talent by companies. In addition, the workforce was becoming younger, including the management level. The traditional pre-1980’s business model of being hired into a starting position, at a low salary and waiting years to be promoted, based on length of service, was quickly being replaced by hiring younger, more dynamic and more qualified management. Productivity was the “de rigueur” of the times, and for the first time it applied to, and expected of, not only the lowest levels of the organization, but to all management levels. As a result of these forces, the corporate environment, and how companies relate to their workforce, their clients, and how the people in the workforce related to their coworkers, became the next level of focus.
If necessity is the “mother of invention”, then the book, “In Search of Excellence”, by Robert H.Waterman and Tom Peters, was the “invention to that necessity”. For the first time there was a roadmap of how to marry a satisfying corporate culture to the inner workings of a successful company. The contention of the book was that while not all companies used the correct methods and systems, some did some things better than others. Therefore, the authors contended that out of those methods that worked there was an amalgam of the “best of breed” that could be synthesized into a superior business model. They developed a model called the 7-S, and it was successfully applied, in various forms by companies, like AES Corporation. This book and model launch a “thousand ships” of books and other models, like Jack Welch’s overlapping circles for General Electric. There were even major corporate award programs, like the Baldridge Award, that companies competed for, and were, and are, considered the Academy Awards of the business world.
Therefore, the question that arises, looking through the today’s lens, is whether the gains in corporate culture have survived and what forces are playing against this survival. Over the last fifteen years, the steady globalization of business has taken a firm root. Besides jobs being shipped overseas, foreign companies have purchased or merged with US companies. At the base of the corporate philosophy of these foreign companies is an organization that mimics a governmental structure. For those companies, a bloated staff is the rule, rather than the exception. Layers of management are present, as these companies never went through the cultural changes that affected US companies. In addition, the current economic crisis has created an atmosphere of job security fear. As a result, many companies are back sliding to pre-1980s culture, or lack thereof. Make no mistake, there are plenty of companies that continue to tout their corporate culture, but most are only paying homage to it, while not executing it. Practicing a modern corporate culture is hard work. It takes everyone to “talk the talk, and walk the walk”. This is especially true for the senior management. The senior management’s must believe that their job is to help the workforce do their job, and to process input from the workforce, themselves, to increase productivity and job satisfaction. Top down management, is not sustainable, and failure to implement this attitude, may yield disastrous result, such as the loss of loyalty, loss of innovation, the limiting of productivity, and the losing of the most talented people as the economy pick up. Ultimately, the company environment will play the deciding factor when it comes to retention of people, and the success of a company. In the short term, it is easy to continue along without a strong corporate culture, but failure in the medium and long term, is likely. It does not matter if economic times are good or bad, a corporate culture should be immutable. Senior managers should spend at least thirty percent of their time talking about, and promoting the culture. More importantly, they should openly interweave it into the decisions that are made, and explain, to the workforce, how those decisions fall within the culture. The senior management must live the culture, and be the model for others to follow.
As a result of the current economic downturn, there has been a slide backwards with regard to the gains in corporate culture that have been made since the 1980s. Some of this abandonment of companies’ cultures is related to the non US ownership which is more government like in their structure, and some is due to the personal ease in which senior management can operate in a top down pre-1980s business model. The medium and long term survival of a company is dependent on productivity gains, innovation, and retention of a talented workforce. It takes a lot of senior management’s time, but the payoff is enormous.
/CNW/ – Overall deal activity in the industrial products sector continued to rise in the first quarter of 2010, according to reviews by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) of merger and acquisitions (M&A) in several industries, including: engineering and construction, transportation and logistics, aerospace and defence and metals. The outlook remains positive for the remainder of the year as the environment stabilizes and becomes favourable to increased deal activity.
Engineering and Construction
With 29 transactions in Q1 2010 in the global engineering and construction (E&C) sector, the year is off to a fast start, according to Engineering growth: an analysis of first-quarter 2010 global engineering and construction industry mergers and acquisitions.
– Deal value in the sector totaled US$21.2 billion in the first quarter
2010, compared with US$3.8 billion and US$23.7 billion in the first
and fourth quarters of 2009, respectively.
– There was a strong rebound in mega-deals (transactions of at least
US$1 billion) during Q1 2010, with four transactions announced -
quite the opposite from the zero mega deals announced in the first
quarter of last year.
– Of the 29 transactions announced during the period, nine (31%)
involved a US entity and of the US$21.2 billion in deal value
announced during the period, 61% was attributable to YS affiliated
activity.
Only 15 deals totaling just $2.6 billion were announced in all of 2009, suggesting that many of the factors that adversely affected deal activity last year such as the lack of credit availability and weak global demand have moderated, which bodes well for deal activity in 2010, says Sal Bianco, partner and national leader of the Engineering and Construction practice at PwC.
Metals
The volume and value of M&A deal activity in the global metals industry improved moderately from the lows of 2009, according to Forging Ahead, an analysis of first-quarter 2010 global metals industry mergers and acquisitions.
– The 21 deals announced in Q1 rank above the three-year quarterly low
of 17 deals announced in Q1 and Q2 of 2009, although lower than the
34 deals announced in Q4 2009.
– The US$5.9 billion deal value announced in Q1 2010 remains above the
three-year quarterly low of US$4.6 billion announced in Q3 2009.
– Deal makers from emerging and developing economies appear to have
increasingly become more aggressive as acquirers of metals targets.
These deals have been driven by greater involvement from Chinese
acquirers, in 2009, 28% of acquirers were Chinese entities, in
Q1 2010 this proportion grew to a majority, 57% of acquirers.
While deal totals have not yet fully recovered from the downturn, the environment is becoming more conducive to deal activity in the metals sector, says Jim Forbes, partner and global leader of the Metals practice for PwC. Globally, the relative sense of urgency to engage in new deals is likely greatest for steel companies, which face a consolidated base of iron ore suppliers. Those could lead to additional mergers among steel constituents or backward integration.
Transportation and Logistics
The M&A environment continues to exhibit signs of recovery in the global transportation and logistics (T&L) sector, demonstrated by the general rise in overall deal activity in Q1 2010 PwC reports in Intersections: First-quarter 2010 global transportation and logistics industry mergers and acquisitions analysis.
– There were 34 deals announced in the first quarter, which exceeds the
total number of deals announced in each of the four quarters last
year.
– Deal value in Q1 2010 was at US$13.4 billion, up US$7.5 billion from
Q1 2009. Additionally, this quarters aggregate deal value is on pace
to approach the value level of 2009; however, when excluding a major
rail transaction from 2009 totals, 2010 deal value is actually on
pace to far exceed last years level. This improvement may indicate
that acquirers are gaining confidence to engage in larger deals.
– Asian and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and proximate islands)
targets accounted for approximately half of all announcements in 2009
as well as in the first quarter of this year, compared to
approximately 35% in 2008. A single passenger air mega-deal in
Q1 2010 led Asia and Oceania acquirers and targets to account for the
majority of deal value, comprising 78% of deal value by target
region.
Aerospace and Defence
The global aerospace and defence (A&D) sector experienced its strongest performance in the past five quarters with regards to total deal value PwC reports in Mission Control: an analysis of first-quarter 2010 global aerospace and defence industry mergers and acquisitions.
– The total number of deals increased to 68 deals in Q1 2010 from 63 in
Q1 2009.
– There were two deals greater than US$1 billion in the first quarter
of 2010, with a total quarterly deal value of US$5 billion up from
US$3.2 billion in Q3 2009 and US$2.5 billion in Q4 2009.
– On a year-over-year quarterly basis, total transaction value
increased by 345% from US$906 million to US$5 billion for all deals
with a reported value over US$50 million.
– The average deal value of transactions greater than US$50 million
also rose to US$630 million during the first quarter of 2010,
representing a 52% increase compared to the previous quarter.
We believe there are many catalysts in place that support continued strength in the A&D mergers and acquisitions market, including an improving commercial aviation picture and reduced levels of defence spending which will spur some consolidation in the sector, said Mario Longpré, partner and national leader of the Aerospace and Defence practice, PwC Canada. This sector is trending towards more large and mid-size deals as many A&D companies came out of the recession with strong balance sheets.
For more information and to read the full reports, please visit http://www.pwc.com/us/en/industrial-products/barometer-mergers-acquisitions.
About PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 163,000 people in 151 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. In Canada, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (www.pwc.com/ca) and its related entities have more than 5,300 partners and staff in offices across the country.
PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, or, as the context requires, the PricewaterhouseCoopers global network or other member firms of the network, each of which is a separate legal entity.
/CNW/ – Trading resumes in:
Issuer Name: Argentex Mining Corporation
TSX-V Ticker Symbol: ATX
Resumption Time: 10:00 ET
/CNW/ – Cumberland Investment Management Inc. (the Manager), the manager of the Cumberland Capital Appreciation Fund (the Fund), announced that at a special meeting on May 26, 2010 unitholders approved a change in the principal investment objective of the Fund.
The change was proposed because the Manager believes that a balanced mandate is more appropriate for unitholders seeking capital preservation as a key element of their investment objectives, as well as long-term capital appreciation. The addition of the fixed income asset class provides more options for capital preservation and can provide better yields when compared to short term cash deposits.
The change allows the Manager to seek long-term capital appreciation while managing risk through the use of income trusts and high quality government and corporate fixed income securities as well as equities.
The change in investment objective is effective May 27, 2010.
About Cumberland Private Wealth Management Inc.
———————————————–
Cumberland Private Wealth Management, the portfolio advisor of the Fund, provides discretionary investment management services for high net worth individuals and families, and the trusts, companies and foundations under their stewardship. The firm is privately owned by its employees and offers a wide spectrum of investment and wealth management expertise.
/CNW/ – Centennial College is marking the topping off of its bold library and academic facility under construction at Progress Campus with a special ceremony on Tuesday, June 1 at 1:30 pm.
The college is moving quickly on its visionary plan to construct a new library and classrooms, which will add much-needed academic space for a student population that has expanded by 24 per cent over the past year. Centennial cites booming enrolments in the provinces Second Career program and international student registrations for its unprecedented growth.
The project received federal and provincial funding totalling $35 million through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program and Ontarios 2009 Budget. Centennial is contributing $5.8 million towards the overall construction budget of $46 million.
The project is on budget and on time, and scheduled to open next spring. The 104,000-square-foot building will include a full-service library — replacing a smaller, older facility — as well as 22 additional classrooms, lab space and a large lecture theatre.
Centennial is inviting local dignitaries to take part in the topping-off ceremony, which will be led by Aboriginal Elder Andrew Wesley, who will be honouring the four directions. Guests will sign a special I-beam before it is raised in position as part of the four-storey building.
Date: Tuesday, June 1
Time: 1:30 to 2:30 pm
Location: Centennial College Student Centre at Progress Campus
941 Progress Ave. (east of Markham Rd.), Scarborough
/CNW/ – Trading resumes in:
Issuer Name: Sierra Geothermal Power Corp.
TSX-V Ticker Symbol: SRA
Resumption Time: 10:30 ET
/CNW/ — Goodman Group (Goodman or Group) today announces the signing of an agreement with discount supermarket chain, LIDL for the development of a 39,392 sqm logistics facility at Chanteloup-les- Vignes in the Western Paris region.
The development of the new distribution centre will be pre-sold to LIDL France on a forward funding basis for a total consideration of euro 28 million.
Danny Peeters, Goodmans Chief Executive Officer for Continental Europe said, We are very pleased to be undertaking this important development for LIDL France, which continues to demonstrate Goodmans proven ability to secure attractive deals with high quality customers.
The pre-funded and pre-sold nature of this development is consistent with Goodmans prudent development approach and focus on innovative and flexible sources of capital that significantly reduce the reliance on its own balance sheet.
The new distribution centre will complement LIDLs two existing logistics centres located near Paris and consists of 37,065 sqm of logistics warehouse space, with an additional 2,327sqm of office space.
This transaction highlights the extensive work undertaken by Goodmans French team with land owners, local authorities, customers and contractors to package and deliver a turnkey solution to Europes largest discount retailer.
We continue to see strong demand for high quality logistics space in France and across our other European markets. This latest deal further expands our European development pipeline following the 45,000 sqm of new projects announced this month across Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands, Mr Peeters added.
The LIDL development is expected to be completed by July 2011.
About Goodman in France
Goodman currently manages 23 logistics centres throughout France, which represent a total area of approximately 680,000 sqm, predominantly located on the Paris – Lyon – Marseille axis. Goodman also manages three new generation business parks: Val dEurope Business Park and the Air Park Paris-Sud both in Paris region, and Parc Valentine Vallee Verte in Marseille.
About Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)
Please visit: http://www.goodman.com
Contacts:
FD – Financial Dynamics
Leila Salimi
Tel: +33-1-4703-6862
Email: leila.salimi@fd.com
Goodman Europe
Danny Peeters
Tel: +32-2-263-4000
/CNW/ – In Canada, it is estimated that 22,700
women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and that an estimated 5,400
women will die from the disease this year.1
Breast Cancer Today: An Evening of Care & Community is a free
educational forum tailored to the needs of people diagnosed with breast
cancer, their family members, friends and informal caregivers.
Participants will have the opportunity to hear about the latest breast
cancer advances and initiatives, learn about services and support groups
in their community and connect with others affected by the disease.
Breast Cancer Today is presented by the Canadian Breast Cancer
Foundation – Ontario Region in partnership with Scotiabank.
Please plan to attend:
WHAT:
A free educational forum for people living with breast cancer and
their families and friends.
WHERE:
Living Arts Centre
The Staging Room
4141 Living Arts Drive
Mississauga,
ON
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 1, 2010 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
WHO:
Dr. Kelly Metcalfe, Women’s College Research Institute
Dr.
Ophira Ginsburg, Women’s College Research Institute
Dr.
Timothy Whelan, McMaster University
FOR MORE
INFORMATION:
Visit: www.cbcf.org/careandcommunity
_________________________________
1 Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of
Canada. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2009, Toronto, Canada, 2009.