In the current economic climate, many companies find themselves negotiating price increases with customers. Negotiations expert Warren G. Langley, Group MD, Scotwork Ltd, shares his top tips to help maximise acceptance, minimise rejection and get the best value out of negotiation. Be specific It starts with clarity – be specific about what you want, what […]
Cameron’s “Deal” And The Growing Brexit Threat
The “deal” struck between David Cameron and his 27 fellow EU leaders is largely irrelevant to the UK’s Brexit debate and the outcome of the June 23 referendum writes Giles Merrit, Secretary General of Friends of Europe. The increasingly tense arguments within Britain are emotional and about local British politics rather than about the rational case […]
German Ifo Takes A Dive In Icy February
Wake-up call. Global events have finally reached German companies’ boardrooms, writes Carsten Brezski, Chief Economist at ING-DiBa. At least this is one conclusion of today’s Ifo reading. Germany’s most prominent leading indicator, the just released Ifo index, dropped to 105.7 in February, from 107.3 in January; the third decline in a row and the lowest […]
‘For How Long Can EU-Russia Economic Relations Deteriorate?’ Asks Chizhov
Let me start by quoting the EU Trade and Investment Strategy approved by the EU Council on 27 November 2015, writes Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union. “The EU’s strategic interest remains to achieve closer economic ties with Russia. The prospects for this will, however, be determined primarily by […]
Violence Against Women – The EU’s Great Unfinished Business
Europe and Latin America have a problem in common: the high rates of violence against women continue to increase in their countries. That is why, today November 25th, the International Day Against Gender Violence, the network of European NGOs, Grupo Sur, calls on the European Union to meet its commitments in the fight against this […]
Schaake: “Council must adopt more ambitious Telecoms plan”
Dutch Member of the European Parliament Marietje Schaake (D66/ALDE) foresees a big fight between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on the Telecoms Single Market. Today the Council announced that instead of abolishing roaming, it will be gradually capped. This measure will be effective in 2016 and only in 2018 they will be […]
Back To A Digitised Future For European Business
The 1989 cult movie “Back to the Future II” predicted that the year 2015 would bring with it a world of hover-boards, flying cars and self-lacing trainers, writes Carsten Bruhn, Executive Vice President, Commercial at Ricoh Europe. While few of the flashy gadgets foreseen by the film’s creators have come into existence, 1989 proved a landmark year […]
Digital Gold. “Turn Data Into Knowledge,” says Rufus Pollock
Every day we face challenges – from the personal, such as the quickest way to get to work, or what we should eat, to global ones like climate change and how to sustainably feed and educate seven billion people on this planet, writes Rufus Pollock, Founder, Open Knowledge At Open Knowledge we believe that opening up […]
The Vision Thing. Europe Needs A Real Coalition For Digital Jobs.
What is at stake today is the safeguarding of our European social model through innovation, writes by Herman Van Rompuy, Presisdent of the European Council. Innovation, that is more than just R&D; innovation consisting of the ability of a system not only to produce new ideas but also to bring them to the market and translate […]
“Make awesome products, awesome services, for your awesome fans,” says Rovio’s Kaj Hed
In 2009, a small independent video game studio in Finland called Rovio is on the brink of bankruptcy. It employs a dozen young people, one of them is my own son; one my nephew; none of them have any previous corporate experience, writes Kaj Hed, Chairman of Rovio Entertainment Ltd. I believed in their dream, invested […]