Consider the rise of Likelihood to Recommend (L2R) as a business metric with growing appeal. Many large businesses have collapsed complex success metrics to judge their own business by asking customers: "Would you recommend me to others?" -- the foundation of L2R or Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

The U.S. economy is careening toward the so-called fiscal cliff at a frightening pace, and it's creating a lot of concern. Will political sclerosis drive America -- and the world -- to the precipice? If it did, it would be a shame. Consumers are spending at a rapid clip. Housing markets have turned the corner. Is the present whiff of recovery incentive for action?

There has been a colossal breakdown of the Archie family business, and it sounds like something right out of the movies; egos, lawyers, yelling matches, sexual harassment claims, defamation lawsuits and restraining orders. This one has it all. It makes me think of different measures that friends and family members can take when entering into businesses ventures

Vulnerability is a business skill that every leader should consider in good times and bad. It's not weak. It takes greater strength to recognize and acknowledge criticism than to will it away. It's not submissive. It's about taking responsibility and being accountable. It's not being afraid to make tough decisions. It's about recognizing the impact of them.

What is a "lovemark" you ask? Well, I like to say that it's all about the emotional cement. Brands that are emotionally cemented to their customers reach their hearts as well as their minds and they deliver beyond expectations of great functional performance. They capture "heartshare as well as mindshare." It really has been a bad year for lovemarks (ahem, RIM).

On Thursday this week, the CRTC killed the Bell Astral deal. The decision was entirely unexpected by anyone, including me, although all along I have argued that Bell's bid to acquire Astral Media, the eighth largest media company in Canada, gave the CRTC ample ground to do exactly what it did. I also argued that it was the right thing to do, and that the CRTC should stop Bell's take-over bid for Astral "dead in its tracks."

I once witnessed a bar fight in Ottawa where a seemingly docile civil servant and a mild-mannered professor were reduced to fisticuffs over their contradictory alliances. True story. But, incidentally, I'm not talking about hockey here folks. I'm talking about the airline carriers across our fair northern nation.

October 15-19 is Small Business Week in Canada and this really is a very special year for me. This year I've partnered with Scotiabank to help shine a light on the important issues and challenges businesses in Canada face today. I've had a lot of experience on both sides of the business table and I'm really looking forward to getting a conversation started with entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders from across the country.

Pierre Lassonde, one of the world's foremost experts on gold, says the only way's up for the shiny stuff. He should know and has made his fortune in the gold game. This week, he spoke at a mining seminar in Toronto organized by mining consultant Terry Ortsland, Chair of the Mineral Resource Analyst Group.

TOKYO (AP) — Softbank Corp. has reached a deal to buy 70 percent of U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. for $20.1 billion in the largest ever fo...

The hardest thing for me to deal with after starting my start-up was the lack of a business card. I had no card. And no big title. And, after 25 years, no logo, website, stationary, network, IT guy, EA, expense account, limo charge account, crowded schedule, flights to catch and people to see. Nothing. Nada. So, how to start over? How to build something from scratch and fill the day?

All too often, marketers of all industries will look at one piece of measurement and decide whether a campaign was successful or not. If sales are up, the campaign worked; if sales didn't move, the campaign flopped. But how can you measure the success of each of the campaign's elements? How can you make sure you're getting the most bang out of each of your marketing bucks?

A collective identity is the organizational DNA that gives people a common sense of culture and belonging, and allows them to feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves. It's one of the reasons why we hear so many people say they love their company or profession and talk about it as a lifestyle. As the next generation moves into the workplace, a generation that is more connected through social media than any other, here are a few tips for corporate leaders to develop and foster a collective identity in their organizations.

During a poor economy, it can be a challenge for a business to increase profitability as competition for the "cautious consumer" intensifies and there is increasing pressure on margins. But a recession offers the perfect opportunity to question the way things have always been done -- and drive out waste and inefficiency. One of Jim's favourite slogans is: "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

In just the energy efficiency (EE) field, $2 trillion can be invested by 2020 with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 17 per cent. To put that into perspective: that rate of return is better than investing in the stock market or in real estate over the long-term. Why aren't we executing some of these simple, economically viable -- in fact hugely profitable solutions?