Archive for the ‘BUSINESS’ Category

Cydcor Helps Boosts Sales for Companies

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

No matter how advanced business models become during the Internet Age, there is still no replacement for face-to-face sales. Many companies still rely on this form of sales, but they do not have the staff and resources to initiate this labor-intensive program. That’s where California-based Cydcor comes in.

Cydcor has been cited by 26,000 C-level officers and senior executives as number one in such areas as sales team outsourcing, sales support service, client satisfaction, and several other performance categories. This extensive survey was conducted by Datamonitor, which publishes the “Black Book of Outsourcing.” With 200 offices and 3,000 representatives, Cydcor is positioned to cover every marketing niche.

Cydcor has served companies in the telecommunications, cable, Internet, office products, financial services, and energy industries. In 2008 alone, Cydcor has created $2 billion of value with 92,000 new customers per month. According to Cydcor Chief Executive Officer Gary Polson, Cydcor’s mission anticipates and fulfills an escalating market need, as organizations seek more scalable solutions to achieve top-line growth and bottom-line value in the post-recession environment.

Cydcor instills seven best behaviors the firm instills in its people: integrity, service, team member development, collaboration, respect, open communication, and execution. This code of conduct guides every company policy and initiative.

These best behaviors have driven Cydcor to be recognized by a California survey as one of the “Best Places to Work” for two years in a row, citing supportive work environment and culture, open communication, quality and commitment of management, and benefits.

“Delivering excellence at every level is not just lip service. It’s simply who we are and what we do,” says Jim Majeski, Cydcor’s president.

“We know that our business leaders and sales support staff are the face of Cydcor and it’s our goal to provide them with the tools they need to grow, change, and keep up-to-date about industry trends,” said Vera Quinn, senior vice president of operations at Cydcor. “Our independent sales offices make up our Cydcor Community, and this is something we’re very proud of. The Keys to Success event is our way of honoring everyone’s accomplishments and to let them know how much we appreciate their dedication to our business.”

Jamie Egasti

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Jamie Egasti, a 30-year old native of Boston, is a Procter and Gamble (P&G) veteran. He joined the P&G Corporation’s Food and Beverage Sales right after his graduation from Harvard University in 1979. Jamie Egasti held certain levels of duties in the Food and Beverage business’ sales and marketing departments, with various assignments in Texas, Ohio, and New York.

After 10 years, Jamie Egasti moved to P&G’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, where he was reassigned to the Global Fabric & Home Care New Business Development Group’s General Management. One of his duties as a member of the development team was to lead the creation and launching of several businesses such as the household odor eliminator Febreze, Dryel, and Procter and Gamble’s line of cleaning products, Swiffer. So far, Febreze has branched out to include additional products such as fabric refreshers, air fresheners, odor eliminating candles, and other similar goods.

Jamie Egasti also served as the vice president of the Americas Snacks Business. After some time, he was promoted as the president of a $3.2 billion revenue business, Global Snacks & Coffee. He was recently named as the chief executive officer of the Folgers Coffee Company. As the CEO, he led Procter & Gamble’s coffee business split-off, as well as its transition to the J.M. Smucker Company.

His position at P&G’s coffee and juice businesses left him responsible for managing the company’s trade promotion structure and commodity pricing. In addition to these duties, Jamie Egasti also significantly shared some of his leadership to acquire both Hawaiian Punch and Sunny Delight.

Jamie Egasti is married and is a father of two boys, aged 15 and 13. Apart from his corporate duties, he also keeps himself busy by serving as a coach to the Lacrosse team at the Mariemont Jr. High School.

Lakshmi Mittal – Leader in the Steel Industry

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

The UK-based Indian Industrialist Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was born on June 15, 1950. Hailing from the Churu district of Rajasthan, India, Lakshmi Mittal now maintains his residence in Kensington, London. The billionaire industrialist is the renowned founder of the Mittal Steel Company.

In addition to being a steel baron, Lakshmi Mittal also serves as a non-executive director of EADS, Goldman Sachs, and ICICI Bank. His personal wealth of US$19.3 billion has made him the richest man in UK and the 8th richest person in the world as of 2009.

He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta. A few years after his graduation, Lakshmi Mittal married Usha Mittal, who soon gave him a son and daughter. He started his 30 year-experience in the steel industry by working in the family’s steelmaking business in India. Eventually, in 1976, he successfully built his own company, Mittal Steel, formerly known as the LNM Group. Since then, Lakshmi Mittal slowly developed his business until it became an international steel producer with operations scattered in 14 countries.

By pioneering the use of DRI (or Direct Reduced Iron) as an alternative for steelmaking, Lakshmi Mittal led the global industry’s consolidation process. With profits of more than $22 billion and shipments of 42.1 million tons of steel, Mittal Steel stands as the largest steelmaker worldwide.

In 1996, Lakshmi Mittal was hailed by New Steel as “Steelmaker of the Year”. Due to his outstanding vision, leadership, entrepreneurship, and success in the international steel development arena, he became the recipient of the “Willy Korf Steel Vision Award” from the Paine Weber’s World Steel Dynamics and the American Metal Market in 1998. In addition to these honors, Lakshmi Mittal was also hailed by Fortune Magazine as the “European Businessman of the Year” in 2004.

John Ilhan – Mobile Mogul

Friday, January 29th, 2010

John Ilhan, also known by his Turkish name Mustafa Ilhan, was the man responsible for the creation of Crazy John’s mobile phone retail chain. Under the age of 40, he was hailed as the richest man in Australia.

He was born on the 23rd day of January 1965 in Yozgat, Turkey. At the age of five, John Ilhan and his family moved to Australia. Growing up, John spent his years in the working-class area of Broadmeadows in the northwestern part of Melbourne.

After spending some time working as a salesman at Ford, John Ilhan found himself employed at Strathfield Car Radio, a phone and electrical retailer. In 1991, he left his sales job in pursuit of his own mobile phone shop in inner-city Brunswick. With a total of 18 stores in Victoria, his business eventually became the biggest Telstra mobile dealership in Australia. John Ilhan continued to expand his business by opening a number of stores in Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide.

The success he attained for his ventures in the mobile industry has earned him great fortune. Having secured a whopping $200 million in his bank account, John Ilhan was ranked first in Business Review Weekly’s List of Young Rich Australians for 2003.

Having amassed such great fortune, John Ilhan initiated the Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation in 2006. The foundation was established to promote research and proper distribution of information to the public regarding the issues and causes of anaphylaxis.

Apart from mobile phones and anaphylaxis, John Ilhan was also a huge football fan. He was a vocal supporter of the Australian Football League’s Richmond Football Club. In order to improve the team’s performance, John Ilhan recruited Kevin Sheedy after he made his offer to buy out Terry Wallace’s contract.

Unfortunately, in October of 2007, John Ilhan’s life was taken away due to a hereditary heart condition, leaving behind his wife Patricia and four children at the age of 42.

Profiles in Business: Eric Sedler

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Eric Sedler, the managing partner of ASGK Public Strategies, was a business partner of David Axlerod, Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist for 2008. Eric Sedler, David Axlerod, and John Kupper formed ASK Public Strategies in 2008 (renamed ASGK Public Strategies in 2009 when Larry Grisolano joined the partnership). David Axlerod, on becoming President Obama’s chief advisor, divested himself of ASGK.

As the managing partner of ASGK, Eric Sedler uses his expertise in communication programs to serve clients in major industries including telecommunications, energy, financial services, health care, entertainment and land use. Through ASGK, Eric Sedler has worked with corporations, trade associations, labor unions, and advocacy organizations.

Before co-founding ASK Public Strategies, Eric Sedler managed corporate PR on the regional level for AT&T in their Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami branches. Eric Sedler directed AT&T’s PR in the central and southeastern US. His successful initiatives included securing regulatory approval for AT&T’s acquisition of cable systems in several states. Eric Sedler also managed the launch of local telephone services in several important markets.

Before becoming a public relations manager, Eric Sedler has worked for federal, state, and local officials, managing several successful state and local political campaigns. These officials include Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Eric Sedler has helped develop communications programs that gave extensive coverage to such legislation for telephone area codes, mammogram coverage, and fireworks safety.

In addition to his work with ASKG Public Strategies, Eric Sedler is often a guest speaker on communications and issues management. Eric Sedler has given presentations at the University of Chicago, Loyola University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Eric Sedler has been awarded the Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America and the Silver Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago.

Carlos Slim

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Carlos Slim Helu, or Carlos Slim, was born on January 28, 1940 in Mexico City, Mexico. Descending from Lebanese-Mexican roots, Carlos Slim is a philanthropist, engineer, and businessman with a primary focus on the burgeoning telecommunications industry. He dominates over the telecommunications industry within Mexico as well as for the greater part of Latin America. He controls Telcel, Telefonos de Mexico, as well as the America Movil companies. Having an estimated net worth of US$35 billion, he currently ranks as the third wealthiest person in the world competing amongst Lawrence Ellison, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Carlos Slim completed his engineering studies at the prestigious Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. In 1967, he married Soumaya Domit, who gave him six children. The couple was married for 32 years until Soumaya’s death in 1999.

From 1996 to 1998, Carlos Slim served as the president of the Latin-American Committee of the New York Stock Exchange Administration Council. He was also a president of the Mexican Association of Brokerage Houses and vice president of the Mexican Stock Exchange.

Carlos Slim was also responsible for building Grupo Carso, a large Mexican financial-industrial conglomerate. Twenty eight years after its inception, Carlos Slim became the business’ Honorary Lifetime Chairman. The firm owns a variety of companies including the electronic retail chain CompUSA. In addition, he is also the chairman of the Grupo Financiero Inbursa.

For his active involvement and significant influence in the telecommunications industry, Carlos Slim became the recipient of Mexico’s Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneurial Merit Medal of Honor. In addition to this, the Belgian government also awarded him the Leopold II Commander Meda award. In 2003, he was hailed as CEO of the year by Latin Trade magazine and a year later, he received the title CEO of the decade from the same publication.

Cydcor named one of the best places to work

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Cydcor, the Westlake Village, California-based sales organization, was mentioned among “Best Places to Work” by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. This is the second year in a row that Cydcor has achieve this distinctive honor. Cydcor ranked #14 for mid-sized companies.

The Business Journal and Best Companies Group analyzed area companies’ commitment to workplace excellence. The criteria included employee benefits, corporate philanthropy, progressive policies, work-life balance, internal working conditions, local management, workplace camaraderie and support of employees’ personal growth. The selections were conducted through surveys and employee comments.

Cydcor was cited for maintaining a supportive work environment and culture, open communication, quality and commitment of management and benefits. Fore example, Cydcor employees are eligible for benefits in their first month. After their first year, each Cydcor employee receives fifteen days of personal time off. Cydcor has also instituted an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides mental health counseling and referrals, along with wellness and quitting smoking programs. Cydcor encourages open communication with a a suggestion box, open-door policy, employee surveys, and regular organizational newsletters.

Cydcor is a company that values hard work on our clients’ behalf, but also a company that rewards our employees and contributes to our community,” said Gary Polson, chief executive officer of Cydcor. “We’re proud Cydcor has been recognized as one of the area’s Best Places to Work once again.”

According to Cydcor senior VP Vera Quinn, Cydcor’s culture is guided by a code of valued behaviors. “Our values aren’t just words on paper. They are well thought out actions that represent who we are and what we do for our clients. Cydcor team members are rewarded monthly for exhibiting the Behaviors We Value, encouraging that these values live on in our daily interactions,” Quinn said.

Cydcor is heavily involved in corporate philanthropy in Cydcor’s community. In 2009, the Cydcor community hosted Business Building Blocks, a weekend filled with philanthropic and training activities with the Boys & Girls Club of Venice. The Cydcor community also initiated a toy drive for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Cydcor has also donated groceries and health products to a Manna-sponsored food drive and helped more than 500 Sylmar families who lost their homes to a 2008 fire. Cydcor is also a strong supporter of the Harbor Wetlands Restoration Project.

Source: Cydcor Named Among San Fernando Valley’s 2009 “Best Places to Work” For Second Year (PR Wire)

Shoppers Scramble for Zhu Zhu Pets

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Parents across the US are dashing to buy the mechanical rodent known as the Zhu Zhu, currently the most in-demand Christmas gift for children.

They could be hard to come by though.

Retailers like Toys “R” Us and Walmart have been losing stock of the toys as parents continue to make requests for them. Meanwhile, opportunists at eBay have been selling them for as much as $100 each; the elusive toys otherwise only retail for $8.

In research conducted by the NPD Group, Zhu Zhus now rank among the five fastest-selling toys of 2009, in league with old favorites like G.I. Joe. In this view, Zhu Zhu’s maker, Cepia, could pocket $70 million in profits.

Loosely translated in Chinese as “piglet,” the Zhu Zhu is essentially a squeaking and chirping piece of artificial intelligence covered in faux fur. It is engineered to respond randomly to a touch and can scoot around reflexively.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Largely made for 4-year old tots, the Zhu Zhu comes with a wide array of accessories, for which parents stand to shell out as much as $50. A single slide costs around $35, while a skateboard retails for nearly $13, the full-fledged “hamster city” selling for $130.

With daughters Natalie and Ashley, Cepia founder Russell Hornsby started conceiving the Zhu Zhu in 2008. At that time, the trio just discovered a 45-million strong demographic for live hamsters; they were willing to gamble on such market to splurge on artificial pets.

Such sales pitches grew to a crescendo this Yuletide, spawning a hysteria unseen since the debuts of Tickle Me Elmo, Pokemon, and Cabbage Patch dolls.

So-called Zhu Zhu parties have even been held. Throughout 2009, there were 300 of these affairs, in which parents could bond over their children, who would in turn bond over Zhu Zhus.

Now Wal-Mart has ordered more of the toys, to be shipped via 747s from China. In addition, the store has started holding Zhu Zhu sales twice a week, just so parents could satiate their children in time for Christmas morning.

Profiles in Business: The Core Team of Avista Capital Partners Equity Firm

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

With a roster of experienced professionals, Avista Capital Partners specializes in private equity investments that targets growth oriented media, healthcare and energy companies. The company is considered one of the largest private equity firms in the world. Avista Capital Partners is unified by a team of professionals that thrives on an extensive background of collaborative teamwork since their days at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners — one of the world’s largest and most successful investment firms.

The core team of Avista Capital is composed of its co-managing partners, beginning with DLJMB former managing partner Thompson Dean and former chairman of DLJMB Global Energy Partners Steven Webster; David Burgstahler; former chairman of DLJMB Global Healthcare Partners Larry Pickering; OhSang Kwon; David Durkin and Robert Cabes. These individuals, who are responsible for pointing the company to a direction leading to profitability and efficiency, are all experts in the field of private equity.

One of the most important goals of the company is to manage influential minority investments, especially those that are US-based. Avista Capital Partners holds on to a solid paradigm of investing revolving in a Global Partnership Strategy shaped by focus, expertise and good relationship in business. The company believes that this welcomes more than good procurement in the present market. With this strategy, it is no wonder then that Avista has continued to perform strongly as its management continues to work on producing real value that their clients can count on.

Texting Grows Among Americans

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

More Americans are using their thumbs rather than their mouths to communicate. In figures released Dec. 15, 2009 by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of text messages sent in 2008 doubled from the previous year. In 2008, Americans sent more than 110 billion text messages. In comparison, only 48 billion messages were sent in 2007.

Interestingly, it appears as though Americans prefer to conserve their voices when contacting persons via cellphone. On average, they only spent 2.3 minutes each on a mobile phone call in 2008.

All in all, more than 270 million mobile phone and texting device users were accounted for in 2008. This number represents a 70% jump from 2003, when there were only around 159 million subscribers.

Merely 2.1 billion text messages were sent that year. That number has since risen more than 52 times in the six years leading to 2008’s record breaker. From two billion, the number of sent text messages rose to 4.7 billion in 2004, 9.8 billion the following year, 18.7 billion in 2006, and finally a quadruple billion in 2007.

Still, the average monthly cellphone bill relatively stayed the same throughout this six-year period. Since 2003, it has remained at approximately $55.

Talk time reached its pinnacle in 2004, even as call plans and mobile phones became increasingly available and affordable for everyday consumers. The average user talked for 3.05 minutes on the cellphone that year.

These numbers are largely based on a survey conducted by the nonprofit group known as the CTIA-Wireless Association. The Census Bureau used the data for their yearly Statistical Abstract, known in American terms as Uncle Sam’s Almanac.

Now on its 129th outing, the Statistical Abstract contains figures and tables about the economy, politics, society and everyday life in the United States. The abstract has been a traditional source of statistical information for many researchers and businesspersons.