Strategy.manage.ent

Knowledge Workers Zodiac.
Via Seb's Open Research.

Al has just dug up a gem by David Skyrme on the German language blog fliegenvonferne which describes twelve types (or roles) of knowledge workers. Pretty neat, concise descriptions.

The roles are (see here for the full descriptions):

Expert

Knowledge analyst

Knowledge leader

Knowledge networker

Knowledge custodian

Knowledge creator

Knowledge entrepreneur

Knowledge packager

Knowledge visualiser

Knowledge activist

Knowledge seeker

Storyteller

And a knowledge manager is all 12! It's nice to have the distinctions around the roles and to recognise how each drives different activities. But remember, they are roles describing action - not who we are. I would hate to see "Company X is looking for a knowledge packager. The successful applicant..."
[thought?horizon]

Amazon Gains Bertelsmann as Services Customer

5:44:21 PM

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Amazon continues to sell their e-commerce expertise to the BigBoyz in the media biz. Sooner or later Amazon will be profitable, but I'm betting it won't be from sales of retail products. As I noted back in September, expect more of this as the reality continues to emerge than making a living selling products requires very different skills from running large-scale e-comm services.

Bertelsmann aligns with Amazon.
BERTELSMANN HAS TAPPED online retailer Amazon.com to help run Bertelsmann's music retailing Web site, CDnow, company representatives said on Tuesday.
The Gütersloh, Germany, media company has contracted Seattle-based Amazon.com to provide services to CDnow, according to spokespeople from both companies. Bertelsmann's BeMusic division oversees the CDnow music site and Bertelsmann's BMG Music Service record club.[...] [InfoWorld: Top News]

Opportunities in Russia

4:12:00 PM

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Tomorrow I'm meeting with Andrey Dulub, a Russian intern here seeking out business partnerships with US companies. Andrey contacted me through my relationship with CRMA and wants to discuss possible opportunities for sharing information. I thought this AMR piece on the Russian market was timely.

Market Opportunities in Russia
Russia is probably not on your map in the search for new growth opportunities. I rarely hear software providers talk about their expansion plans east of Poland. But Mirantis, a technology outsourcer that features what it calls "instant-on" services for the Russian market, believes that many North American and Western European countries are missing an opportunity to participate in one of the great growth economies. Of course this assessment is a little self-serving since the company targets Russia, but a quick check of top performing mutual funds on Yahoo! Finance shows that six of the top seven mutual funds for the last year are Russian or Eastern European-focused with growth rates of 22% to 40%. No, I didn't forget the negative sign--that is positive growth. [...] [AMR Research]