Business Coaching

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about how to review the past year to prepare for the new year. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: 2022 is almost in the history books. The end of the year seems like a good time for business leaders to review the past year. Should we just breathe a sigh of relief at having made it through it and move

This story started as a question for business leaders in the CSRA who have found success: What advice would you give your younger self? To some extent, this 411 is incorporated into the stories ABD offers every day – the “how to” of putting together a strategic plan, marketing your business or dealing with a possible recession. The interviews are with those who’ve walked the walk and the advice isn’t just for professionals looking to stay on their “A” game. Whether you are a seasoned business owner, an employee or

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the business aspects of sports. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: As fans, we generally think of sports as a form of entertainment (or life-and-death, depending on how into it we are) but behind the scenes, sports is a business. How should we, as fans process that? Rick: It depends on how you as an individual treat it. If

As we move through the first full week of December, we can begin to anticipate the end of the calendar year. Since Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Sundays this year, many businesses are giving their employees the last week of the year off from work. In addition, most are also off on January 2, and many are taking days off in the week leading up to Christmas, particularly with Hanukkah running from December 18-26. Therefore, many of us have anywhere from one to two weeks away from

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the upcoming Economic Forecast breakfast. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: On Thursday morning you’ll be hosting the 15th annual Economic Forecast breakfast at Augusta University with your economist, Simon Medcalfe. What can we expect from this event? Rick: This is endowed locally by Wells Fargo and is more community oriented rather than AU-oriented. We already have more than

I believe there are 13 “C” that make a great leader: Compassion, Creativity, Confidence, Consistency, Consideration, Courage, Charity, Competence, Communication, Courtesy, Comedy, Curiosity, and Collaboration. Compassion. Medal of Honor and Carnegie Medal recipients can be our guides. In many cases, these people acted heroically because of the compassion they felt for those in grave danger. Throughout the CSRA, thousands of folks are deeply compassionate as they provide care for others. Creativity. There are four aspects of creativity: Being creative yourself; recognizing creativity in others; operationalizing novel ideas; and protecting creative people from their bad

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about recruiting good employees and the importance of retaining them. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: It seems everyone these days is looking for employees. What’s going on? Rick: We’ve always had a good relationship with the local community, but we’ve never had so many businesses, both small and large, be as proactive with us because they’re so in need

We, at Augusta University’s Hull College of Business, are extremely proud to hold the most prestigious accreditation for higher education schools of business (held by only 5 percent of all such schools worldwide!). We are accredited by the Association to Advance College Schools of Business, known familiarly as AACSB International. Every five years, AACSB-accredited schools, such as AU/Hull, go through a Continuous Improvement Review (CIR), based on AACSB’s Accreditation Standards, which were most recently updated in 2020. Since we just went through our latest CIR in October, these standards are

There are more than 33 million small businesses in the United States, and Saturday is a chance to celebrate them – and buy from them – during Small Business Saturday. American Express started Small Business Saturday in 2010 as a way to promote the impact small businesses have on local economies. Last year, 51 million people participated in Small Business Saturday, spending $20 billion according to American Express – an average of almost $400 per person. Small businesses are especially popular with women and with Millennials. A Lending Tree survey

In the 4th edition of the book Rules and Tools for Leaders, there is a chapter that describes the opportunities and challenges of the electronic workspace. Here are a few examples that may be helpful. Batching Batch your activities. Reserve one hour each morning and two hours each afternoon to focus totally on electronic and telephone interactions. Let your colleagues, clients, and friends know that you will be available electronically from 10 to 11 and from 3 to 5. Also, let them know that you will not be available electronically