By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News It is today’s hot trend. University students dream about finishing their undergraduate degrees and applying for an MBA. It is the thing to do. Many of them don’t even understand why they need one, but they figure a trend is a trend and it must be followed. An MBA is an expensive investment in time and money. However, look at the curriculums of the different universities’ MBA programs, and you will see that they are simply “me too” versions of one another. Schools are tripping over themselves, all of them competing to be the […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News Ask any CEO or senior level executive what his biggest challenge is, and the answer is almost always finding and keeping talented people. The world is in a talent hunt. Companies look for the best and the brightest because they know to compete and make a difference requires finding people who have unique skills. Around the world, we hear companies saying, “our people are our greatest asset”. But do they really mean it, and are they acting accordingly? At too many companies, even the top management leaves the talent hunt to the HR department, […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful,” says Warren Buffet, the world’s richest man. We nod our heads in agreement, but it’s difficult to actually muster the courage to follow his advice. In our economic times, fear has replaced hope. Some people have lost their jobs, and the people who still have jobs are afraid of losing them. Many of us are frozen by fear, and we act as if keeping, or finding, any sort of employment is the only way to stay alive today. Guess what? If […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News In 1985, the first domain name, symbolics.com, was registered in the U.S. In 1994, the Internet became widely known among the general public, and the first third-party services for processing online credit card sales began to appear. In 1995, Amazon.com revolutionized the use of the Internet, doing business on the web with customer oriented online sales. Although Amazon started by selling books online, today it sells pretty much everything that can be sold on the web. Ebay.com, a popular online auction site, grew up alongside Amazon, making it possible for even those with little […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News They are your youngest hires. They were born between 1978 and 1995, and you might think of them as juniors, newbies, kids. But they are the Millenials, and they should be taken seriously, because they are our future business leaders. When the current generations retire, they will be the ones who take over. Most companies struggle to understand these millenials. Managers and human resources professionals are puzzled by this generation, and confused by their different skills and values. They are ambitious, wanting upward mobility in a short period of time. They actively seek mentoring, […]