Core Columns

Articles about what matters most to you.

Archive for the ‘Business & Marketing’ Category

Factors in Hiring a Document Translation Company

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

Document translation is a service that is widely used by businesses and organizations. If an organization needs any type of document translated, it must hire a document translation company to perform this service. Document translation can be described as the process it takes to translate a document from one language into another. In some cases, a company or organization may need one document translated into multiple languages. This is necessary if the organization has employees or customers in other countries where the languages are different. In order to have this process done, an organization must find a company that offers document translation services. This is a very unique and specialized service and it should really only be done by experienced document translators.

To be an experienced document translator, you must be able to read, speak and write in at least two languages fluently. If a translator is not completely fluent in two or more languages, the translator may not offer good services. When choosing a document translation company, you should look for a company that has experience in the languages you need translations in. For example, if you need a document translated from English to Chinese and Russian, be sure to find out how much experience the company has in these languages. They should be able to fluently speak and write all three of these languages in order to offer you accurate services. You may wonder why an organization needs document translation services. Well, there are many reasons. One reason occurs when a book is written.

If the author or publisher wants the book available to people in other countries, where other languages are spoken, the book will need to be translated. In order to have it translated correctly, the translator must know the languages. Another common reason to hire a document translation company occurs when a business is moving overseas. If a business moves overseas, most likely it will end up in a country with a different main language. The workers at the new company must understand the company, its procedures and its policies. In order for this to take place, all of the company’s information must be available in the language they speak. This includes company manuals, employee policy books, instruction manuals and any other documents that the company needs. If these documents are not translated accurately, the employees may not perform the procedures correctly.

This can cause troubles and problems for the products the company makes and for the business itself. Other organizations may also need document translation services for other reasons. Suppose an organization is trying to complete a major business deal with a company in another country. The workers in the other country would most likely not be able to read over the contract and other necessary documents if they were in English. In this case, the American company would have all of the documents translated into that country’s language. This would make it easier for the deal to go through, and would eliminate the need for a live translator to be present during the business negotiations.

As you can tell, accuracy is the number one factor in quality document translation. Without accuracy, mistakes can happen and misconceptions may arise. To obtain quality document translation services, hire a company that has a proven track record. To learn more about this service and which companies provide the best services, read reviews online or talk to other organizations that have utilized these types of services. Accuracy is important and you must remember that you are putting your trust in the company you hire to provide you with accurate translations.

FDA & EMA: Regulatory Bodies and Their Stand Vs. Bladder Cancer Risk

Monday, March 26th, 2012

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) seemed to tilt toward the direction taken by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) regarding Actos (pioglitazone) bladder cancer risk.

With the move of France to suspend sales of Actos and Germany to restrict prescription of the type 2 diabetes drug severely, the watching world expected the agency to recommend an Actos recall.

In October 2011, EMA, however, announced that after the reviews of available data, no Actos recall would take place. EMA believed that Actos is still an effective type 2 diabetes treatment.

Taking into consideration the Actos bladder cancer risk, EMA suggested physicians to prescribe Actos only when other treatments for type 2 diabetes failed. It also prompted physicians to monitor patients carefully for any signs of a growing bladder tumor.

Prior to the June 15, 2011, confirmation from the FDA that Actos could indeed cause bladder cancer, France has already published results of its own study regarding the link between Actos and bladder cancer. While the findings convinced France and Germany to take tough regulatory measures, EMA and FDA thought otherwise.

With three studies screaming Actos bladder cancer link, the FDA merited Actos a black-boxed warning for bladder cancer. It required Takeda to reflect the new development, and when Takeda did a month later, Actos was once again available for prescription as if there were no bladder cancer link, no heart failure, no lawsuits, and no deaths. The diabetes drug is still effective to lower blood sugar level, that’s what matters.

EMA and FDA upheld a wait-and-see policy while at least 1,140 cases of adverse reaction to Actos have been reported in the United Kingdom.

There were at least 2.3 million Americans who were prescribed Actos in the first nine months of 2010. In the United Kingdom, nearly 233 thousand diabetic patients were prescribed Actos for the same year.

The first of the three studies published in 2011 establishing the link of Actos to bladder cancer was conducted by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). ADA reviewed and analyzed reports on FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) and confirmed the obvious: Actos can cause bladder cancer.

In July 2011, the first Actos lawsuit alleging the drug caused bladder cancer was filed in the U.S. Plaintiffs accused Takeda of negligence, fraud, and deceit.

In December 2011, it was decided that all Actos bladder cancer claims would be consolidated for multidistrict litigation (DML). One judge will be assigned to handle the cases for pretrial proceedings in one federal court. Currently, around 170 charges are consolidated before Judge Rebecca Doherty of the Western District of Louisiana. The first hearing is scheduled on March 22.

Actos, approved by FDA in 1999, is linked to a fleet of side effects from the most common like headache and cold and flu-like symptoms, to the most deadly, congestive heart failure, macular edema, bladder cancer, and liver and kidney damage.

Actos became a hit as it effectively carries out its selling point: lower blood sugar. With Avandia’s highly publicized 43 percent increased risk for heart failure, Actos gained the trust of the medical community and consumers.

It enjoyed burgeoning sales after the 2007 publication of studies linking Avandia to heart failure, and in 2008 signaled its ascent to top: Actos from that year on has become the top-selling diabetes drug worldwide.

Best Positioning for Investment Growth

Monday, March 26th, 2012

If you are looking for good investments for growth, this is a great year to do that as the US economy bounces back and the stock market follows. Here are some good stocks to buy as you get back into the equities market like many in the investing community.

As the economy comes back to like, look for good growth rates in technology. They are trading right now only at 14 times earnings. That is super low for this usually high P/E sector. That might indicate that the bottom has hit for this industry.

If you think about it, any growth in any advanced economy will require that technology improves.  Just think about the internet for example.  Any company wanting to be in the 21st century will have to grow their infrastructure and leveraging of the internet.  This is not an option for a viable and growing business.

Also look for commodities companies to do well, especially those that are fueling the growth in China and India. These would be companies like Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminum maker in the world.

In order for the world to continue to build and expand their economies, they will need raw materials.  That means demand for things like copper, silver and chemicals will go up.  Look for companies that provide these things.

In addition, as economies develop, they will need more advanced and sophisticated capital equipment like back hoes, cranes and barges.  These would be stocks that are included in the capital goods sector.

Foreign investments that would be good would be Canada and Australia. These countries are stable, but they also provide a lot of raw materials that are fueling the growth in the emerging markets.  Also, they have strong financial regulations to keep them afloat during crisis times, like the one we saw most recently.

Three Types of Inventory Control Systems

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Inventory management is becoming more and more important for organizations as competition heats up. Knowing how much inventory is on hand is important to keep carrying costs low. Knowing how much inventory has been sold is just as important so your organization can decide which products to keep or modify. Knowing where your inventory is, how much it costs to make, and how often it is turning over can give you a leg up on less ambitious competitors. This article will list three types of inventory control systems and help you decide which would be best for your organization.

Many smaller businesses start out trying to track their inventory using spreadsheets. This is a very low cost option and spreadsheets are valuable tools. If you are a spreadsheet whiz then you can track hundreds or thousands of products with this system. However, spreadsheets have their weaknesses. One is that they quickly proliferate. You started a spreadsheet to track Blue Widgets, while your coworker started one to track Red Widgets. Another coworker has one to track purple widgets and so on and so forth. At the end of the period you have ten worksheets all with different styling and functionality. Sure yours is the best, but maybe your coworkers don’t see it that way.

One other weakness of using spreadsheets to track inventory is that their data entry controls are often not up to bar. Don’t get me wrong, you can make spreadsheets very control heavy, but most users don’t know how to do this. For example Sue, your coworker, accidentally entered letters where a dollar amount should have been. Some types of inventory control systems will already have a control in place that won’t let Sue make this mistake.

If you’re a small corporation with very few product lines and only one person over controlling the inventory, then spreadsheets may be a good option for you. However, if you have many product lines, I would recommend moving onto a barcode system.

Barcode systems include barcode printers, stickers, readers, and software. Your inventory controller will ensure that all of the correct barcode information is printed onto the stickers and that the stickers are on the correct products. Then each inventory employee simply has to run the scanner over the product and the information is automatically organized into one secure location. There isn’t any chance that Sue will make any mistakes. I would highly recommend a barcode inventory control system for companies with multiple product lines.

The third inventory system, and most advanced, is known as radio-frequency identification (RFID). This system almost seems like magic; basically little tags send information to readers from a specified distance. You don’t have to actually scan anything, the reader just picks up the information. One advantage of RFID over barcodes is that you can “scan” multiple items at once.

RFID software will automatically update the inventory information on your computer. Again there is no room for employees to make data-entry errors. RFID technology is still a little expensive, though prices are coming down. I foresee this as the main-stream inventory control system in the future.

Whether you decide to use spreadsheets, barcodes, or RFID technology to control your inventory really depends on the size of your organization as well as the variety of your products. Small companies with few products can get away with using spreadsheets. However once multiple product lines start appearing, then it is time to make a shift to either Barcodes, or the more expensive RFID.

What Type of Candy Vending Machine Is The Best?

Friday, May 14th, 2010

I’ve learned a few things from my 2 years in the vending business. One thing I’ve learned is that double heads are definitely the way to go. When I started out, I bought an already existing route of 18 used vending machines that were triple heads – the kind with one top. I loved the idea of triple heads; it thought I was giving my locations more candy selections which would naturally make me more money. It took awhile for me to do the math, but I finally learned that more selections sometimes actually means less money. Unless you have very busy locations, triple heads are simply too much vending machine for most locations. I have a lot of product waste. I, of course, tried filling the head only a fraction of the way up, but this doesn’t work either. It makes the machines look unattended and doesn’t show the product in all its full glory.

I’m going to keep the triple head, because, well… because they’re paid for. But I’m gradually making the move to double heads. One thing I like about the double head is that the candy looks real nice, I never considered it before, but this may actually increase sales. In the one top triples, you can only see the candy from the front. Does this matter? I don’t know for sure, but I did swap out a couple triples on my route for doubles and my profits increased significantly. Significantly! Is it because the machines were newer? Is it because the candy is more visible? Don’t know, but obviously it’s a change I’m happy with.

The best thing about using individual heads is that they can be set up as singles, doubles, triples or racks as well. This gives you a lot more flexibility with your machines, a flexibility that my single top triples sorely lack. The individual heads of these machines also make changing out candy selections much easier. With my machines I have to scoop it out the top or drop it out the back, but with the individual heads, I can just take off the entire head and dump it out. It’s very quick and easy.

I’m sure my triples will be OK for some locations, but I won’t be buying any more. Individual heads are definitely the way to go.

Seat Foam

Monday, April 12th, 2010

When you are having mild to moderate lower back pain, and you are not sure why? You want to re think the way you sit every day. If you have a desk job then the reason for this back pain may be the seat you are sitting in. It might not be comfortable enough, and provide enough support for your whole back. You will want to assess this situation and fix it as soon as you can. All you have to do is find out ways you can fix the way you sit. This can be done easily with a nice piece of seat foam, allowing you to relax on your chair without feeling stuffy, or stiff. This can be one of the best things when you choose the type of foam to rest on. Bring it to work, and take it home with you to lounge on. There is no stop to how and where you can use this.

Using The Google Submit Tool May Be A Waste of Time

Monday, February 15th, 2010

A lot of people are trying to get more attention drawn to their website.  They know they can’t make any money if nobody knows their site exists, but they’re not really sure how to get their name out there.  What’s a poor site owner to do?

Many site owners turn to Google to solve their problems.  This isn’t a bad idea, really; look how well Google’s doing.  Obviously, someone there knows what they’re doing.  One of the options is to submit a site to Google, so they can index the site and include it in their search results.  Unfortunately, Google submit is a waste of time that most people would do well just to avoid.  It won’t harm your chances any, but it won’t really help, either.

See, it seems that many who have submitted their site to Google have found that Google doesn’t really do anything about it.  It looks nice to see that little URL typed in, and know that Google knows you exist somewhere.  But, when it all comes down to it, Google doesn’t really seem to be doing anything with those URLs.  Whether it’s because they’re slow, or maybe just because it’s not too high on their priority list, most sites still won’t get up on the search engine result pages until they’ve got some links on other sites – which is how the GoogleBot finds the site when it isn’t submitted directly.

If you’re really looking to increase your revenue with Google, it’s going to be a lot smarter making money with Google AdSense.  The program will post ads on your page for other websites, which will allow you to get a little extra money every time one of your viewers clicks on an ad.  Granted, you’re not going to make a lot of money unless you’ve got a decent amount of viewers, but it’s better than nothing – which is probably what Google Submit would get you.

How to Make Money Online with Adsense

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Many people are wondering about ways how to make money and the world of the internet certainly opens a great many doors for those that think they can find the perfect opportunity for making large sums of profits. Is this an easy process? Well, the word ‘easy’ has a tendency to be a subjective one. A more accurate way of addressed the question would be to ask “Can I succeed if I put the proper amount of effort and hard work into my venture?” The answer to this particular question would be a resounding yes. Many people have been able to earn a lot of money online and Google has definitely proven to be a resource in which many of these profits stream.

Of course, this does bring up questions regarding the ways to make money on Google. There are a few ways this can be achieved and probably the most popular would be the obtaining of a Google Adsense account. Some individuals have made some incredibly lucrative profits with Google Adsense and this is why working with an Adsense account may be the best plan as far as earning money via the internet is concerned.

The way Adsense works is that pay per click ads are placed on websites that you publish. These could even be free sites which would cut back on the amount of money you invest. The way how to make money is that when people click on the Adsense ads, you would be credited a commission and, depending upon the high number of people that click on the ads, you could earn significant income.

The ways to make money on Google for many people would be to utilize an Adsense system. For some, the profits that have been earned were significant and that is why this process is one worth exploring.

Things to Sell on Ebay

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

So it’s time to take a step into the online selling world and what better place than the world’s largest online auction:  ebay!  Over 18 million people know how to sell stuff on ebay as a money-making resource and you can too.  It’s easier than you think.  If you were planning to have a garage sale this summer, what sorts of things would you dig out to get rid of?  These are exactly the types of things you can use to get started on ebay.  Sell your old CDs or clothes you don’t wear anymore.  Believe it or not there are people out there looking for antique ashtrays and if you happen to have a stack in the basement from when you or someone in your family quit smoking, you can cash in on the old junk you’d just throw out eventually anyway.  Never underestimate the axiom that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure.

Church Management Software Program Benefits

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

If your church is looking to increase its productivity and streamline operations, then you really should consider using a good church management software program. These programs have advanced quite a bit over the older, cumbersome programs that were prone to crashing a lot and not working well.

It used to be that if you wanted to integrate your church accounting software, membership database, library tracking and fundraising efforts, you would have to use 3 or 4 different programs to accomplish this. It would usually require some modifications, head scratching, custom programming and prayer to get things to work the way you really needed them to in order to prepare reports and use the information in a meaningful way.

Many different management programs for churches now have most, if not all of these functions built into them to allow you to better manage your church. While not every program has everything, most of them do and they are improving everyday. If you are seeking to learn more about how to increase your productivity and reporting for your church, learning all you can about the different options available, planning for the future needs of your church and determining what you really need are the most important factors to determining which type of program is best for you.