Citation
(2008), "What's on the web", Strategic Direction, Vol. 24 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2008.05624gag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
What's on the web
Article Type: What's on the web From: Strategic Direction, Volume 24, Issue 7.
TAH very much
A clean, easy to navigate website, providing information on UK-based company “TAH”, a solutions and service provider whose mission is to “deliver performance advantage to their customers through the provision of technology, applications and business intelligence platforms for effective decision making.” No doubt one of many companies who “supply a wide range of services ranging from management consultancy and assisting with business requirements gathering and end-user workshops, through to implementation, change management, product customization, support and training”, TAH’s unique selling point is their “collaborative investment process” and thirty years experience in delivering what they promise. The site is straightforward and clear, with minimal and understated graphic design and a brochure type feel to it rather than a website type feel. The site is well worth a visit and read through for any company who may require the sorts of services TAH provide. At the very least one visit to this site will familiarize you with all the latest business and management speak and jargon!
Growing pains
Growth Business website is operated by Vitesse Media plc, an apparently fast growing (whatever that may actually mean!) media company who are quoted on AIM (the London Stock Exchange’s most successful growth market in the world) and quote their strengths as: independent, unbiased opinion; deep knowledge and expertise; extensive monthly reach to 1.2 million entrepreneurs, advisers and investors; creative and innovative solutions; comprehensive databases; and strong customer relationships. The site is clean enough, with a white background, minimal colors and information in smallish boxes. But it is also busy, with lots to say and tell the site visitor about in an effort to help them appoint the best advisors, target the most appropriate venture capital and grow their businesses as fast as possible but in a strategic and controlled way. Site space has been sold to several advertisers, all with flashy ads that, in this reviewer’s opinion, detract from the site. No doubt Growth Business can do all they claim to, but the site has a vagueness about it that is in keeping with the operators quoted strengths. No harm in taking a look, but we are not convinced the site has as yet a defined purpose.
Not old ladies
Despite the confusing title (well it confused us), this site is not dedicated to women in the later years of their lives. The site is actually all about promoting women and helping them to advance in business. With a Google page rank of 7, this site went live in 1996 with the expressed aim of helping women break through the career/business “glass ceiling” by providing career strategy, tools, resources, products and services to support women’s career, business and leadership goals, and work-life balance issues. A magic panacea for all that is wrong and dangerous in the male orientated and dominated world of business! Set up by two women who had had enough of male attitudes in the business world in San Antonio, Texas, the site has proved highly popular and effective in informing and empowering women on a multitude of business and personal issues. But it is no fun to navigate. The site is old fashioned, overloaded with links and information and a bit unnecessarily heavy on the use of the color pink! There’s no doubting the founders discovered a niche in the market and are serving a valuable purpose. Now they need to find a female web designer to give their site the look, style and feel required for the twenty-first century.
Eeek
The Academy of Business Strategy is a serious organization, committed to the three “Es”: e-commerce, e-learning and e-consultancy. An international business school, global business consultancy and provider of software solutions, with offices in New York and London, ABS offers “professionalism without compromise.” It is all very noble and impressive except for the website. It looks like it has been designed by an over zealous PowerPoint presentation designer, finally let out of their cage long enough to build a website. If you stare at it long enough you start to feel a little dizzy, or at least disorientated; the faint hearted may get nauseous! There is too much moving, sliding, flashing and blinking around the screen. It is off-putting and distracting. Every information box instructs you to click “next” for further information but none move you on to any further information. I would not doubt their credentials for a second, but ABS badly need to find a web designer and save the PowerPoint for the lectures and presentations.
MBA condensed
Billed as “knowledge to power your business”, this website offers clean, clear, easy to read information on every subject area you would find on an MBA course. The site is effectively an online knowledge resource for business administration. The subjects covered are: accounting, business law, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, management, marketing, operations, statistics and strategy. It is not the most sophisticated design, but it is information not design orientated so it does not have to be. Each subject area is easily accessible and offers a comprehensive list of articles and information about the given subject. There is good use made of diagrams and charts to both break up the text and illustrate the point(s) being made. Operated by “The Internet Center for Management and Business Administration, Inc”, the site has a friendly, accessible feel to it. No registration is required and you are invited to browse freely, bookmark, come back often and leave feedback and comments. Well worth a look for anyone in business administration, whether they have got an MBA or not.
And finally
In an attempt to give moral and ethical behavior more significance to current times, the Vatican has recently announced seven new deadly sins, published in its official newspaper.
The revision of the list comes after 1,500 years. The new mortal sins are:
- 1.
Genetic modification.
- 2.
Human experimentations.
- 3.
Polluting the environment.
- 4.
Social injustice.
- 5.
Causing poverty.
- 6.
Financial gluttony.
- 7.
Taking drugs.
Best of all
For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try the Emerald one!
If you have any favorite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, or wish us to consider your own site, please drop us an e-mail and we will ask our reviewers to check them out.