Just when we think we've grasped what's happening in business, something changes to disrupt the precarious balance. It may occur in the economy, an industry, a region, a particular market, or technology that alters even the most flexible business plan.

Establishing a strategy, then staying with it, was possible for most businesses until the last decade. Planning a year or more in advance was relatively easy. Ups and downs would occur but with a high degree of predictability. Hitting sales and revenue targets was almost a natural outcome.

In spite of 19th-hole braggadocio about rising sales figures, bottom-line results, and upcoming prospects, businesses do stall and stagnate. Streamline.com was a raging Internet stock until it ran into a wall. Kodak used to be a Wall Street favorite, and now it's struggling to find itself. P&G once had 99.44 % acceptance; now the tide seems to have turned. For years, Xerox set the standard; then it lost direction.

HOW MUCH CAN YOU RELY ON YOUR CONSULTANT'S LAWYER? by Gary Lawson, JD, LLM, Bruce Campbell, JD, and Gavin Kahn, Esq. A common practice in business today is for comp...

IDEAS FOR MOVING FORWARD: PUTTING A STALLED ECONOMY BEHIND YOU by John Graham If weve learned anything over the past couple of years, its that nothing is easy. No matter wha...

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF MARKETING by John Graham Quite often, the problem is that companies fall into a marketing trap. In this article, John Graham explores the seven most likely reasons wh...