Samuel Greengard

Different generations have always clashed about how to approach work and use various tools and technologies. But in an era of mind-bending and unrelenting change, the challenges–and the gulf between generations–have grown exponentially. As more and more young workers push the envelope on consumer devices, including smartphones, and organizations rush to adopt collaboration tools, social […]

Use these five principles to navigate the sometimes rocky waters that come with managing a multigenerational workforce. For more on this topic, read CIO Insight‘s full report "Managing a Multigenerational Workforce." Avoid myths and stereotypes. Some older workers are savvy at using leading-edge technology, and there are younger workers who are essentially Luddites. Likewise, studies […]

You’d think that if any industry could skate by with poor customer marks, it would almost certainly be a franchised utility. But at Avista Corp., an integrated gas and electric provider serving approximately 480,000 customers in the Pacific Northwest, a focus on excellence has helped the company capture service awards and distinguish itself as a […]

Customers are rarely satisfied with the service businesses provide. Understanding those complaints, as well as the processes and technologies associated with customer service, can help CIOs and their teams avoid these customer-care blunders. See Also: Keeping the Customer Satisfied 1. Outsourcing without understanding all the implications. It may seem tempting to outsource customer service and […]

These days, the term “customer service” might well be considered an oxymoron. Consumers constantly grumble about the quality of service they receive, and businesses often stare down the barrel of poor customer satisfaction ratings. See Also: Getting a Customer View Consulting firm Bain & Company has found that as many as 80 percent of senior […]

Amid a dizzying array of management philosophies and business strategies, one thing stands out in the daily scramble to create viable products and services: Above all, success centers on a company’s ability to innovate. Equifax CIO Robert Webb understands the concept well. “The ability to transform ideas into viable policies, practices and programs is what […]

Technology drives innovation. You’ve heard this one before, but it’s easily lost amid the daily hubbub: Technology merely facilitates innovation. Social networking, cloud computing, virtualization, you name it, do not intrinsically drive business improvements. In fact, they can diffuse and dilute innovation and become just another thing to manage. As Kevin Harris, CIO at ICW […]

Utter the word “metrics” to any cio and you’re likely to get an earful about opportunity and risk. It’s a fairly simple concept: Measure the right things, and the business will likely thrive. Monitor the wrong factors, and the same enterprise will veer off course and perhaps even crash. While no sane executive would ever […]

Identifying the right benchmarks and making them work isn’t merely a journey into numbers and technical data. A company’s culture plays a major role in framing any strategy regarding metrics. One of the biggest problems, says Harvard Business School Professor Robert S. Kaplan, is that CIOs tend to look for external solutions and apply general […]

The relationship between financials and technology isn’t lost on most corporate executives. But connecting the two worlds and introducing metrics that matter can prove challenging. Tom Kelly, who until March served as chief financial officer and CIO at 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment, in Eden Prairie, Minn., has the unusual perspective of viewing things from both […]

Few businesses are as much of a numbers game as running a restaurant chain. Razor-thin margins, tough labor conditions and fickle customers are only a few of the issues such a company faces. “You have to understand what drives the business and how different factors impact the bottom line,” says Nicolas Ibrahim, CTO for restaurant […]