This new BMW Z4 looks excellent.
BMW’s green supercar
source site – Autocar – BMW’s green supercar
BMW is exploring a plan to build what a senior company official calls “a breakthrough green supercar” by the end of 2012.
The new car would rival the Audi R8 and forthcoming Mercedes SLC, and has been described by company insiders as ‘a puristic two-seater that draws on all the very latest BMW technology and lightweight build processes.’
Productivity 2.0: How the New Rules of Work Are Changing the Game | Zen Habits
source site – Productivity 2.0: How the New Rules of Work Are Changing the Game | Zen Habits
For years, books and articles and blogs on productivity have been showing us how to be more productive: crank out the tasks, multi-task, work faster, be organized.
In short, they’ve taught us to be a good part of a corporation that wants more out of us. But that’s old-school productivity, or Productivity 1.0.
Today let’s take a look at Productivity 2.0: a new set of rules have changed everything for the workers of the world. Don’t crank out tasks — learn to work with a deeper focus. Don’t plan and hold meetings and form committees — just launch the software or product or service and keep improving it. Don’t spend time organizing — you’ve got more important things to worry about.
it is good to re-look at the way we work nowadays. more and more productivity increases are coming from leveraging on the strength and diversity of our connected communities. never before in our history has the ability to access a wealth of talent and ideas been at our finger tips.
7 Ingredients Of Good Corporate Design
source site – 7 Ingredients Of Good Corporate Design | How-To | Smashing Magazine
It’s hard to define design. We have a broad range of definitions to choose from: design refers not only to graphic design, but to design strategy, too. It is used in a variety of industries, such as engineering, architecture and Web design.
This means that design is not just graphical in nature (which is a form of visual artistic representation), but also the planning of processes to achieve certain goals. Large corporations clearly understand this and incorporate every form of design into their strategy to achieve success.
For a good corporate design, we need to be aware of two main elements, which can be further broken down into a total of seven “ingredients”:
* design, as in artistic representation (logo, typography, colors), and
* design strategy (brand, quality, community, culture).
to me design is an important element of an organisation or product. design helps your potential customers, acquaintances and partners decide within the first few seconds on what they think about your organisation. so, i would generally put a lot of thought into design and branding.
the reason for this is the nature of our world today and in the future. our population is increasing. businesses are increasing. the internet is bring down the barriers to businesses and reaching out to even more people than ever before. so many decisions and so little time. so many things are becoming more visual and emotional. and design needs to reflect this trend.
Can BMW and Mercedes-Benz Put Rivalry Aside to Take on the VW Group?
source site – Can BMW and Mercedes-Benz Put Rivalry Aside to Take on the VW Group? | Automotive News Blog – Wide Open Throttle
Despite some disagreements over CO2 rules, European companies haven’t abandoned plans to work together. How far those plans will get, though, appears to hinge more on setting aside traditional rivalries than justifying the economic benefits. At the center of the talks is BMW, which is talking to Mercedes-Benz as well as Fiat and already has an R&D partnership with PSA/Peugeot-Citroen. The question is just how far the talks will go.
although not news, this is an incredibly interesting sign of the times today. 10 years ago, you would be laughed at if you suggested that BMW and Merc should collaborate. but the top guys at these two (still) very bitter rivals are accepting that possibility. however, the challenge is whether the culture and history between these two could be overcome to achieve economic sense. time will tell.
i for one would prefer a bmw-psa/peugeot-citroen-fiat partnership / alliance rather than sleeping with the merc enemy. this is more than an emotional rhetoric… but for 2 reasons:
1/ the psa and fiat groups do not provide direct rivalry (yet) to the likes of bmw
2/ the ethos and essense of the psa and fiat brands fit well with the bmw brand essense of driving performance experience
an alliance with merc could result in potential cannibalisation of either the bmw or the merc brand.