Date:08/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/ew/2008/12/08/stories/2008120850030100.htm

Back Three quick ones

Enterprise at work. - S.THANTHONI

Over the years, I have written, many times and in different contexts, of the dangers of the email communication model - how we sometimes can't make a clear distinction between what is important and what is urgent; the reduction of our threshold in waiting for a response; and a carelessness in how we write and respond.

I have always feared that will pass on to the other things we do; for instance, the way we do business - 588 Kleiner Perkins iFund applications were accidentally published to the Web. Read the details at TechCrunch (http:// www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/03/588- kleiner-perkins-ifund-applicationsaccidentally- published-to-web/). I also have strong feelings about the true role of middle management being "business continuity" facilitators and the management leadership role in organisations. I am currently re-reading Akio Morita's "Made in Japan" and am fascinated by the Japanese approach to enterprise. But it seems they were not alone in their concept or idea of enterprise, as an excerpt from HP's (Hewlett-Packard) original business plan shows. You can find it at a HP communities post (http:// www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/ hparchives/archive/2008/11/27/originalbusiness- plan-1937.aspx).

And I have a great fondness for people who walk the talk, and my latest icon is Dave Ramsey, a radio show host famous for his talks on life and money, who refuses to accept credit cards at his Web site and explains why (see http:// www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/ debit_card_policy_32.htmlc). Enough about the hints to my boss already, but when am I really going to get walking the talk about my email habits, and when am I going to cut up my credit cards?

N. NAGARAJ