Schizophrenic security markets are reflecting the Federal Reserve’s dilemma. It’s torn between reducing and eventually eliminating its ongoing additions to huge excess member-bank reserves and supporting what it sees as a still fragile economy with unacceptably high unemployment.

With trillion-dollar federal deficits and gridlock in Washington, further fiscal stimulus is off the table. So monetary easing is the only game in town. And with the federal funds rate already at zero, it’s left to quantitative easing.

When the Fed buys securities, its payments add to bank reserves, which can then be lent and re-lent in the fractional reserve system. As a result, in normal times each extra dollar in reserves results in $79.50 more in M2 money. But with banks reluctant to lend and creditworthy borrowers eschewing new loans, each new dollar in reserves has boosted M2 by only $1.40 since August 2008, when massive central bank easing began.

Full Miami News >>>

NPR, which has suffered a succession of leadership changes over the better part of a decade, needs a new chief executive again.

Gary E. Knell, the public radio organization’s chief for the last 20 months, announced on Monday that he would be leaving to run the National Geographic Society. It came as an unwelcome surprise to NPR staff members, given that Mr. Knell brought some desperately needed stability to the executive ranks when he was hired in late 2011.

Conflicts between past chief executives and the NPR board resulted in repeated shake-ups in the years leading to his arrival. On Monday, though, Mr. Knell and the board hurried to reassure public radio fans that his exit was because of something more mundane: a better job offer.

Full Miami News >>>

Companies seeking influence need to be careful they don't network themselves into bribery investigations.

An inquiry by U.S. securities regulators into whether J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. hired the children of some Chinese officials to win business is a fresh reminder of the risks around the practice of giving jobs to the well connected.

The Justice Department has warned companies since at least the 1980s about hiring practices that appear to be attempts to curry favor with officials. In recent years, the U.S. has pursued several companies, including Tyson Foods Inc. and Daimler AG, for hiring relatives of foreign officials ...

Full Miami News >>>

Job of the Management Consulting Firms are not at all limited in helping you to get the firm's projects in right order, but as well to efficiently manage whole project. Thus, hiring consulting services will save your firm from great deal of the money in the terms of extra staffing. Choosing the correct management consulting company is of main importance for successful completion of the business projects.

How to Choose the Management Consulting Company

Here are a few tips for helping you to choose right consulting company.

* In choosing the management consulting company, one should establish if firm can do this job according to the specific business project needs. You have to be clear with company about results that you seek in order to achieve in the terms of quantity, quality, as well as time. You may use the criteria to select the consulting company just by comparing deliverables the firm will commit to.

* When you’re in the discussions with project management company, pay very careful attention to solutions for the business project that they recommend. Check out if they’re attentive to the specific business needs. Take a note whether solutions they are offering are customized for the business project needs & criteria.

* Acknowledge if consultant company fits with a company culture & people in the organization, like the key stakeholders. Find what roles a consultant firm is playing about any project. The good working relation between project management consultants & people in the company is important for the fruitful business project.

* Select beforehand if you want people from consulting company to identify these problems that you’re facing in a project or if you have identified problems & want them just to give solutions. Keep in mind that the combination of two is available always.

* Check out for the references & testimonials from the earlier clients. And cross check the references and find how much of experience they’ve to manage the business projects. You can ask them in case, they’ve handled projects with the similar needs like yours. Look up last project that they have managed. Make use of quality, quantity as well as time constraint factors for judging the work on earlier projects.

* Ask if project management consulting company gives complete progress reports on business projects that they’re handling. Find what type of the project management software they’re using. It is very important that technology they are using is updated.

So, these are the opportunity and problem identification or definition, the formulation of the clear expectations and terms of reference or development of the request for proposal. It can pave a way in selecting consultants well suited to address company's management consulting requirements. You must know how the project managers are all screened before the company hires project management consulting company. Providing the company with the references of finished projects, firm must have important experience in construction industry and must have the proven record.

The Management Consulting Firms is something that the large organizations use for helping to overloaded the staff with the special projects like strategic planning. But, the smaller businesses have slowly come to see value to have the outside expert to examine the processes as well as make suggestions for improving the productivity and report on the activities in the pre-specified work. Being very cautious while selecting the business consulting company to give the knowledge and skills from without business is wise. Do not rush in making the decision without the solid research, it can have the disastrous consequences. Prior to approaching the unknown companies for the advice on the consulting business owners must seek the references and the testimonials to establish the independent record for under consideration firm

There are a few business management consulting companies that operate within the narrow band of the expertise, whereas other companies cover the broad number of the disciplines. There’re benefits & drawbacks to both the approaches. Advantage in using the consulting company that actually specializes in a particular area is depth of the knowledge & influence this consultancy can bring to client business. But, if additional skills and advice is needed in the area outside expertise of a consultancy, client business will again have to go through the selection process as well as establish the relationship with the different company for getting an advice for your business requirements.

Job of the management consultant isn’t just to help and get your firms projects in order, however to look at a complete project. In place of using the project managers, to hire the management consultants is a trend in many companies. This will save the companies the huge amounts of the money in the additional staffing. As they are contracted to actually work on the construction projects during construction season, the companies that will work in 4 season climates use the project management consultants. Road construction, building construction as well as outdoor planning are the projects that the management consultants are actually hired to work at. Construction industry encompasses wide range of the project management projects. The project management consulting companies that actually operate in construction industry must be very much familiar with the building codes, planning intentions and zoning laws for areas where they’re working. Lots of businesses in construction industry love to hire the project management consultants firm for this reason. As they have the experience to work with different municipalities as well as other government entities, often they will get the projects approved.

Search for the company with the consultants that are versed in a field, employ the consistent management methodologies, as well as have the proven success while considering the project management consultant firm. While doing this, they can get a job done in the time needed and budget allowed. The project management methodologies, which are consistent with company must be well known by everyone who work for the project management consulting companies.

Fast evolution in the business practices, recent spate of the financial frauds as well as changes in the regulatory regimes have pushed businesses toward Management Consulting Firms, which give customized business services. Small, boutique companies give several benefits over the large consulting company. Let us take a close look at these.

• Focused Attention: The boutique companies can customize the approaches to client's need very finely.

• Quick Deployment: The companies will put together the team faster as well as take charge of the project very easily. It is mainly important if the business is in the fast approaching threat and is battling the crisis.

• Access To the Skill: Small companies employ the top level of executives with several years of the experience for attending to client's needs in contrast at large companies that generally have the mid level of executives for handling the average consulting requests.

• Cost Efficient: In place of giving the similar range of the services to all the businesses, boutique companies assess a need of client as well as give services accordingly. It will result in the important cost savings.

• Long Term Relation: It is very simple for the customers to maintain the long term business relation with the small companies than big firms. Advantage is the management consulting company is completely knowledgeable about client's business & will give solutions fast on demand.

• Ethics: In post Enron period, it is necessary for the consultant to follow the ethical business practices as well as make sure that the client does same. One more key dimension is the social responsibility — the management consulting company isn’t about how you can facilitate the bigger bottom lines to business, but to foster the spirit of the teamwork as well as focus on detail while they work with the customer teams. The good Management consulting company does better. For all these benefits, it adds more — it gives same competency & effectiveness as the big company. In order, to achieve this, company employs best professionals, with several years of the experience with the large consulting services.

Selecting the Management Consulting Company

While selecting the management consulting company, besides above points, you have to keep other factor in your mind. Is the business set for the advisor? Even though your business isn’t facing any of the critical problem, you have to optimize this (what is called as the business process improvement). IT will be a best time for hiring the consultant.

The outside experts have a lot of benefits over the internal team of the experts. They’ve more objectivity & have experience to handle the diverse range of the businesses. And one challenge that you should consider is how the teams will handle working with the outside experts. Whereas the client business might not need the disciplines on an offer, there’s usually 2 or 3 that the client may eventually need assistance with. Other project manager will easily step in in case, one leaves the consulting firm.