Want Your Company To Return To Its Entrepreneurial Roots?  Columbia University Professor Rita McGrath Says It’s All Mental!
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Walmart.

Starbucks.

Amazon.

Apple.

Home Depot.

We all know the names that we tend to think of when we rattle off the list of the most successful giant companies in the U.S.  You can probably add your own to the list, and find ten people who can agree with your additions.

But what  ELSE do they all have in common?

They were all started by entrepreneurs.  Risk takers.  Folks who entered into these ventures with a fearless, “damn the torpedoes”, never-say-die attitude that saw them through truly lean times in the early days of each of these companies.  Going days…weeks…. months…..even years without seeing a dime for any of their blood, sweat, and tears.

Now think about the last time you stepped foot into one of these brick and mortar locations,or engaged in online customer service interaction, with these or other large-scale companies.  Does it seem like ANY of the sacrifices laid out in the previous paragraph matter at all to the first two or three people you come across who represent the company?

Sure, there are exceptions, but according to Rita McGrath, therein lies the problem facing many medium- and large-size businesses. The great majority of these companies get too big for comfort, and the entrepreneurial spirit that once propelled these companies has become lost on most of the employee base, who are “just there for the paycheck.”

But the best-selling business author and Columbia University professor, hailed by “Thinkers 50″ as one of the foremost business thinkers in the world sees a turnaround on the horizon for these companies.  All they need to do is change the way they think, from the top-down..  For McGrath, it begins and ends with what she calls “The Entrepreneurial Mindset”, or the idea that EVERY idea, methodology, and process, (and, yes, person) in your company is up for constant reevaluation and reinvigoration.   If McGrath’s theory has its way, this return to form will do wonders for your company.

On this edition of “The Raja Show”, Rita McGrath talks with Raja about why, with apologies to George Carlin’s signature standup bit, “But we’ve always done it this way” are the REAL seven dirty words you should never say in your business. Plus, she’ll discuss many of her other business and leadership axioms that have earned her global acclaim as one of the most sought-after speakers, writers, and thought leaders on all things business.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to find that missing spark in your company or an employee looking to make an impact that actually matters in your company, this show is a MUST for you!

Want To Re-Engergize Your Company’s Approach To Marketing and Promotion? According to Joseph Jaffe, All It Takes Is a Little “Juice”!
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If Joseph Jaffe had his way, no night out at a local restaurant with friends or family would be complete without “The Stack”.

The rules are simple.  Before your meal, take out your portable technology (cell phones, tablets, etc.)   Put them in a pile at the center of the table (a.k.a. “The Stack”).  The first person to touch his or her device during the meal, for any reason, pays for the entire tab.

(Sound easy?  Try it next time you go out.  See what happens!)

Jaffe points to this social experiment with a disapproving finger, noting how all-encompassing these technologies have been in all of our lives on a daily basis.  So based on that, you can safely assume that Jaffe would share that antipathy towards tech gadgetry in all facets of his life, right?

Wrong!   When it comes to technology, Joseph Jaffe doesn’t have antipathy.  Just a sense of perspective.

In fact, Joseph Jaffe has made a career of embracing technology, especially when comes to helping nationally recognized companies such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Time-Warner Cable, ABSOLUT Vodka, Embassy Suites, and many others find new ways to get their messages out to a marketplace that, by and large, has “been there, done that” when it comes to hearing what these companies have to say.

His current startup, Evol8tion (not a typo), specializes in the matchmaking of established brands with startup innovation to infuse a unique entrepreneurial energy into these brands, to help them reach new markets and audiences.  These pairings have gone a long way towards breaking the tacit “we’ve ALWAYS done it this way” mentality of some of the foremost brands in America, while giving startups that boast groundbreaking technology, sans the platform on which to show it, the opportunity that they have been craving.

One of the foremost thought leaders in the world when it comes to new media and innovation, Jaffe is on the cutting edge when it comes to getting the word out about a company in ways that, not only would many not have ever considered, but in ways that are accessible and feasible right now.  In Jaffe’s world, gone are the days of the “old school” 30-second TV or radio spot, and in its place are methodologies that take advantage of the level playing fields of social media and word of mouth.

On this edition of “The Raja Show”, Joseph Jaffe talks with Raja about the ways that marketing and advertising are changing constantly in our society, and how the methodology that got your business to where it’s at right now may not necessarily hold up when it’s time to reach the next level.  Plus with the “Super Bowl of Advertising” (a.k.a…..The Super Bowl) just over two weeks away, we’ll talk about what the companies that are shelling out millions for a 30-second ad should be doing OUTSIDE of the Big Game to maximize their ROI.

Time to face facts:  the marketing game is changing.  And tuning into this discussion with Joseph Jaffe is the first step to seeing what lies ahead,whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketing professional, or just an innocent bystander watching it all unfold.

For Techies Throughout the U.S., The Future Is NOW!: An Inside Look At the Consumer Electronics Show, and What the Neat New Gadgetry Actually Means For the Companies That Release It
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Compact Disc Technology.

Digital Audio

HDTV

DVD Technology

Microsoft Xbox

Blu-Ray Technology

Over the past three decades, these and other technologies have become second nature in the lives of millions of consumers in the United States, and billions more throughout the world.

And these and other technologies were launched at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an event that has become just as much of an annual staple in Las Vegas as music shows, comedy acts, and the latest pay-per-view prizefight.

For years, this event, the lynchpin of the busy calendar of its parent organization, theConsumer Technology Association,  has been hailed as the “Super Bowl of Technology”, and not just because of its proximity to the NFL’s Big Game on the calendar.  “Techies” and non-techies alike look to the CES as the place to be to see not only the technological advancements that some of the largest companies in the world have produced for consumer use today, but for a sneak peek at some of the technologies that may be one or two years away, if not longer, from ever seeing the light of day.

CES 2016, which wrapped up on January 9 in Las Vegas, has once again proven its reputation as the place to be be for innovation and inspiration.   It has also been the place for industry analysts to keep score to see which companies are emerging as leaders in the tech sector, and which ones have fallen behind to the point where they are in desperate need of a comeback.   The pageantry and the gadgetry may be nice for the casual observer who likes to watch the whole spectacle unfold, but truth is, many companies live and die by the reception their newest product lines receive at this event.

Here at “The Raja Show”, we pride ourselves on keeping an eye on the future, and as such, are fans of the futuristic vision that the CES provides the technogeek in all of us.  On this edition of “The Raja Show”, we talk with one of the foremost authorities on consumer technology in the United States, a man who prides himself on being “The Digital Answer Man”.  Jim Barry, who has spent decades as the face of the Consumer Technology Association, and has written and presented extensively on the subject of consumer technology for a wide array of media, will talk with Raja about the companies that thrived, and the ones that fell behind as the dust settles on CES 2016.  He’ll also provide a look at what consumers can expect from the current and future crops of technological advancement in the months and years to come.

Whether you’re on the cutting edge of what’s new and what’s hot in the world of technology, or you’re as hardcore a luddite as they come, This conversation will be a must when it comes to the information you need to know (or the info that you need to know you’re missing).

Your Public Awaits! (…So What Do You Tell Them?):  Why An Effective Public Relations Strategy Is More Important Now Than Ever Before!
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Here at The Raja Show, we pride ourselves on keeping things clean, when it comes to our language. (Raja IS a family man, after all!).  We discuss socially acceptable topics on a family-friendly radio station. that serves as our flagship.  We’ll happily leave the crass conversations for the other hosts on the other shows on the other stations up and down the dial.

But some things are just too big to ignore, and this Sunday, we will address, head-on, the four-letter “s”-word that has long been the bane of businesses, and the public, for decades:

SPIN

To an often-dismissive public, “spin” is the other word for what is more commonly known as “public relations”, and truth be told, public relations is an ESSENTIAL tool for businesses to effectively get the word out about their company.  Whether it’s the launch of a new product or service, a company-wide rebrand, or providing first hand information to the media about a potential “breaking news” story pertaining to that company, for better or worse, an effective public relations platform is one of the first things a company should develop as it grows throughout its life cycle.

Ironically, the element of public relations tends to be ignored when things are going well in a company, but when things go awry, as in recent cases with Subway, BP, Chipotle, and others, including the landmark case for how effective public relations can literally SAVE a company, Tylenol, that’s when the public relations professional can sink or swim.

Publc relations challenges, taken on their own, can be quite burdensome to a company.   But in recent years, with the rapidly increasing influence of social media on both the perception of a company among the public, and the company’s increased capabilities to spread the word in real time over a number of channels, the challenges of a public relations team have increased exponentially.    It just takes one bad review or anecdote shared on Facebook or Twitter (or Yelp, or Instagram or….well, you get the point), one that lives in perpetuity, thanks to Google, and the best laid PR plans can go up in smoke.

Managing these challenges can be tough, as can be educating the next generation of aspiring public relations professionals about these pitfalls as they arise.  While the tenets of “Public Relations 101″ still hold true, the onus is on colleges and professors to not only teach these principles to students, but to expose them to social media-driven PR landmines that they themselves don’t even know exist yet.

One of the fastest-rising collegiate public relations programs in the country can be found in Western Pennsylvania, on the campus of Waynesburg University.  In only its sixth year, the program, under the leadership of Richard Krause, the Chair of the Waynesburg University Department of Communications, has already received considerable acclaim from the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), acclaim that matches, if not surpasses, that of schools that are much larger than Waynesburg (enrollment: 1,400), and that have been in the PR “game” longer.

On this edition of The Raja Show, Richard Krause, along with Megan Bayles, one of the program’s standout students,who, herself, has garnered numerous individual accolades from the PRSSA, will join Raja to discuss the importance of effective public relations strategy to business.  They will also discuss how public relations education is changing at a faster rate than ever before.