Fatmanur Erdogan By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click) I see it happen all the time.  Companies think they are being customer-centric, but the actual experience they offer their customers doesn’t back that up. Sure, the companies offer statistics saying 95% of their customers are happy with their service, but we all know the qualifications in the fine print would make this an empty boast.  When it comes down to it, the reality is that most companies wish they were customer-centric, but they can’t stop thinking about themselves. For an example, let’s take websites, and let’s pick on a couple […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click) Wherever you turn for career advice, you’re bound to hear about the importance of networking. Over and over, you hear the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.  Sometimes the hype around networking gets so intense you might think that if you’re not a pro at it, you’ll never succeed at anything. There’s no question that a strong network can help you go far in life, but the common consensus seems to be that networking is incredibly boring. It’s true, if you network the way people typically think networking is […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hurriyet Daily News (click) No matter what kind of business you are starting, your success will depend largely on how well you market and sell yourself and your ideas. If you are looking for an accessible way to hone your marketing and customer relations skills in preparation for your entrepreneurial leap, consider Twitter. Twitter started out a few years ago with people answering the question, “What are you doing now?” Many of you will recognize this as the status update you see on Facebook, too.  Nowadays, though, the Twitter community has matured to the point where people […]

By Fatmanur Erdogan, Hürriyet Daily News, Savor Success, Speed Through Failure I love the copious amounts of research and writing that come out of Harvard University. Whatever kind of information you are looking for, you can bet someone at Harvard has already studied the subject.  All universities should expect such a prolific amount of publication activity from themselves.  Being more research-oriented would certainly benefit universities in Turkey, more so than adding another me-too MBA program. One report from Harvard’s Entrepreneurial Management Unit looks into the interesting question: Are successful entrepreneurs more likely to succeed in their next ventures than first-time […]