text:
MACROVITA Olive & Argan Multi-Effective 24-hours Face Cream for normal-combination skin 50ml
- OLIVE & ARGAN MULTI-EFFECTIVE 24-HOUR CREAM: Argan cream provides long-lasting and deep hydration, smoothes wrinkles, removes stains and signs of fatigue, tightens and smoothes the skin, giving it a velvety structure, uniform colour and shine.
24-hour cream for normal and mixed skin
Rejuvenating power of argan, cells hydration and skin youthful glow
Perfect argan cream, innovation of MACROVITA, provides your skin long-lasting and deep hydration, smoothes wrinkles, removes stains and signs of fatigue, tightens and smoothes the skin. Gives it a velvety structure, uniform colour and shine. For normal and mixed skin. A unique component TimeCode™ - an innovation of MACROVITA company, is responsible for the effectiveness of anti-aging cream. This effect is permanently connected with a long and deep hydration of skin cells and its illumination. A wealth of phytosterols, hyaluronic acid, shea butter and BIO-ingredients from organic farming (Moroccan argan oil, olive oil from Crete, aloe) contained in the cream argan of MACROVITA results in a clear improvement of the skin and its healthy, young appearance.
The content of natural ingredients reaches 82%. The formula contains no parabens, free of mineral oil (paraffin), Vaseline, propylene glycol and genetically modified plant extracts (GMO FREE).
- Moroccan Argan Oil* - one of the most expensive vegetable oils, known as "liquid gold", "elixir of youth" or "Moroccan gold". It is a recognized antioxidant that protects cells against oxidants, eliminates the problems of dry skin, fights wrinkles, works anti-inflammatory, nourishes and tones the skin, regulates sebaceous glands, relieves the symptoms of allergies, accelerate the healing of wounds, burns, bedsores, frostbite.
- Olive oil from Crete* - contains a wealth of vitamins, minerals, natural antioxidants, polyphenols and monounsaturated fatty acids. Olive oil is used in Macrovita cosmetics, comes from Greece and is considered as the best in the world. Works intensively as an antioxidant, stimulates cell, anti-inflammatory, astringent and effectively moisturizes.
- TimeCode™ (anti-aging lipo-amino acids) – an innovative component which prevents deficiency of collagen, increases the elasticity of the skin, effectively prevents the formation of wrinkles and makes skin cells regain the characteristics of much younger cells. Anti-inflammatory, reduces redness and inflammation. Thanks to it dull, exhausted skin becomes firmer, regains a healthy appearance and glow.
- Aloe* - present in it vitamins A, C and E act as antioxidants to eliminate free radicals. Aloe stimulates fibroblast activity, it means, cells producing collagen and elastin. As a result, the skin becomes more strained and well moisturized.
- Shea Butter - contains significant amounts of vitamins A and E, polyphenols and natural UV filters. What's more, exhibits excellent moisturizing and antioxidant properties. Delays the aging process, nourishes, smoothes wrinkles, restores skin vitality and healthy appearance.
- Seeds of Sandalwood - Sandalwood essential oil combats skin problems (both dry and oily) because of the perfect regulation of sebum production. Recommended to the skin care due to the astringent and antiseptic qualities.
- DayMoist - a synergistic complex of active substances of plant origin, brings immediate and long lasting hydration of the stratum corneum after just one application.
- Hyaluronic acid - a natural component of the intercellular matrix of the skin, responsible for the binding of water in the body. With age, its quantity decrease and by that the skin loses water binding capacity, which in turn is the direct cause of wrinkles.
- Licorice* + concentrated licorice extract - the base component of licorice is glycyrrhizinic acid with outstanding soothing and regenerating properties. Works antiseptic, perfectly moisturizes and eliminates free radicals.
- Vitamin E - is a powerful antioxidant, stimulates the synthesis of collagen and therefore prevents the formation of wrinkles, evidently improves the structure of the skin surface and provide the desired smoothness and elasticity.
- Phytosterols - plant origin compounds that strengthen the epidermal barrier, inhibit the loss of water and moisturize, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic, regenerate, soothe irritations and have a special ability to stimulate collagen synthesis
- Allantoin - accelerates cell renewal, soothes and moisturizes, helps healing damaged skin. Exfoliating action stimulates the formation of new, fresh and firm layer of the epidermis.
- Provitamin Β5 (Panthenol) - exhibits healing effect, relieves irritations, redness, and perfectly moisturizes the skin, leaving it soft and flexible. Panthenol shows no allergenic properties.
* BIO ingredients with organic certificate
Clean the skin with cosmetic from MACROVITA series. Apply the argan cream on the skin of the face and neck, avoiding the eye area. 24-hour cream formula is perfect for the whole day and night, giving the skin a velvety appearance, protect aging stability and long-lasting shine. The box also contains a spatula, which provide hygienic application of the appropriate amount of the cream.
Aqua (Water), Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Distarch Phosphate, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Steareth-21, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Palmitoyl Glycine, Olea Europaea (Olive*) Fruit Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel (Argan) Oil, Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root Extract, Caprylyl Methicone, Panthenol, Lonicera Japonica (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Tocopherol, Aloe* Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice*) Root Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Xymenynic Acid, Phytosterols, Allantoin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Stearic Acid, Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate, Steareth-2, Parfum (Fragrance)**, Caprylyl Glycoll, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Phytate, Butylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Phenoxyethanol | *BIO | **ALLERGENS FREE


text:
Caring for patients in a medical intensive care unit in a hospital and flying a 747 are complicated tasks that require tracking thousands of important details, some of which could get overlooked. That's why the pilot has a checklist and a copilot to make sure nothing slips by.
A new Northwestern Medicine study shows the attending physician in the intensive care unit could use a copilot, too. The mortality rate plummeted 50 percent when the attending physician in the intensive care unit had a checklist – a fairly new concept in medicine — and a trusted person prompting him to address issues on the checklist if they were being overlooked. Simply using a checklist alone did not produce an improvement in mortality.
"Attending physicians are good at thinking about big picture issues like respiratory failure or whatever diagnosis brought a patient to the intensive care unit, but some important details are overlooked because it's impossible for one person to remember and deal with all those details," said Curtis Weiss, M.D., the lead investigator and a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Weiss conducted the study in the medical intensive care unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The study was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and will appear in an upcoming print issue.
"We showed the checklist itself is just a sheet of paper," Weiss said. "It's how doctors interact with it and best implement it that makes it most effective. That's how we came up with prompting."
A checklist is a useful tool only if a physician gets continual reminders to use it to promote decision making, Weiss said, "rather than just being a piece of paper that gets shoved in someone's face like busy work."
For the study, Weiss and colleagues developed a checklist to be used by physicians in the medical intensive care unit. The checklist focused on important issues the researchers believed were being overlooked by physicians during daily rounds.
The checklist included six important parameters often overlooked such as testing whether a patient can be taken off a ventilator and the duration of empiric antibiotics (for suspected but not confirmed infections) and central venous catheters.
"We observed that physicians sometimes wrote information on the checklist but were not using it to improve their decision making," Weiss explained.
The study was designed to determine whether prompting physicians to use the checklist would affect the decisions they made about managing their patients' care.
One team of physicians had face-to-face, frequent prompting by a resident physician to address issues on the checklist, only if the issues were overlooked during daily rounds. The other team of physicians continued to use the checklist without such prompting.
The prompted physician team oversaw the care of 140 patients; the unprompted team oversaw 125 patients.
The prompting by a physician not actively involved in the patients' care reduced mortality by 50 percent over three months. The saved lives may have resulted in part from reducing the time patients were on ventilators (thus reducing cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia) as well as reducing the number of days patients were on empiric antibiotics and central catheters. Prompting also cut patients' intensive care unit length of stay, on average, by more than one day.
Researchers also wanted to see if using a checklist alone (without prompting) made any difference. They compared a pre-study group of almost 1,300 patients to patients in the study whose physicians used the checklist alone. The results: a checklist alone did not improve mortality or reduce the length of stay.
Having a subtle approach with the physicians was one key to the success of the prompting, Weiss said.
"We didn't mandate that they had to change their management; it was nuanced," Weiss said. "It was 'do you plan to continue the antibiotics today?' not 'you should stop the antibiotics.'"
Weiss concedes hospitals aren't likely to hire physicians just to be prompters. But perhaps nurses or even an electronic version of the verbal prompting could be equally effective, he said.
"It should be fresh eyes or someone from the existing team who is assigned to concentrate on these issues," Weiss said. "What matters is that someone is specifically thinking about these issues."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Washington DC Regional Threat and Analysis Center report re Inauguration, 16 Jan 2009
From WikiLeaks
Unless otherwise specified, the document described here:
- Was first publicly revealed by WikiLeaks working with our source.
- Was classified, confidential, censored or otherwise withheld from the public before release.
- Is of political, diplomatic, ethical or historical significance.
Any questions about this document's veracity are noted.
The summary is approved by the editorial board.
See here for a detailed explanation of the information on this page.
If you have similar or updated material, see our submission instructions.
- Release date
- January 19, 2009
Further information
- Context
- United States
- Military or intelligence (ruling)
- Washington DC Regional Threat and Analysis Center


text:
Instant Download!
Get a pack of 15 Valentine Quotes machine embroidery sets designs for ONLY $2.99.
Includes 15 quotes perfect for your loved ones this Valentines! This will surely melt their hearts and make them feel loved. So get them before its gone.
This set includes all 15 Valentine Quotes embroidery designs shown in the photo. Each of the 15 designs are included in 2.5″ 3″ 3.5″ 4″ 4.5″ 5″ & 5.5″ Sizes
It's an incredible steal at just $2.99!
Available in all major machine embroidery formats. Buy this amazing set today!
If you bought these font sets at the normal already low price of $7.99 all them together would cost nearly $40. Today you can get The Entire Pack for ONLY $2.99
Act Today! Purchase Now and Get Immediate Access to these 15 Valentine Quotes designs!!
To see all that's included see the listing photo
- **files sent via electronic delivery. you will receive an email link after purchase. You may also create an account during check and login after payment to download.


text:
After passing through the clanking doors and winding hallways of the Baltimore City Detention Center on Thursday, state lawmakers said the state should consider upgrading the troubled jail or even demolishing it and rebuilding from scratch.
Del. John W.E. Cluster Jr., a Baltimore County Republican, said he has asked the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to calculate the cost of a replacement jail. Del. Keiffer Mitchell Jr., a Baltimore Democrat, said he "would like to see a new, state-of-the-art facility."
"It's clearly an antiquated facility," said Del. Guy Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat and a chairman of a special legislative corrections commission. But he said building a new jail would likely be "cost-prohibitive." Initial estimates to build one are close to half a billion dollars, officials said.
The legislators were part of a 14-member commission on prison and jail corruption, formed after a federal indictment charged 25 alleged gang members and corrections officers in a smuggling scheme.
"This commission is going to be an asset for the department," said corrections secretary Gary D. Maynard. "We really appreciate your help."
The age of the downtown Baltimore jail was immediately apparent. Parts of the facility date to before the Civil War, and inside, hand-painted signs remind visitors to keep their children behaved.
The event was a chance for the department to show off the changes it has made since the indictment, which was unsealed in April, and show what other changes might be needed.
Immediately after the federal charges were announced, Maynard left his Towson office to set up shop in the detention center. He sometimes uses jail administrator Ricky Foxwell's desk, or sits in an adjoining room. Acting security chief Maj. Timothy Woodrum sits down the hall — his predecessor was forced out after officials said she failed a polygraph test.
The jail administrator and security chief now have large wide-screen televisions in their office displaying feeds from the jail's hundreds of digital security cameras. The recordings are also archived for 45 days, Maynard said, to be used in investigations.
On Thursday, the screens showed the lawmakers moving through the hallways and a pair of inmates in yellow jumpsuits cleaning a door.
Mitchell said officials described how corrections officers are hauled in and reminded of the prohibition on fraternization if they are seen on camera talking to an inmate for more than a minute.
He added that Maynard told the legislators that his top priority was getting automatic security doors installed. Currently, Mitchell said, corrections officers unlock doors with keys, slowing down movement in the facility and leaving officers exposed.
Breaking News Alerts
A number of lawmakers said they were surprised by the number of people moving around inside the facility. Corrections officials said the traffic — involving inmates being taken to court every day or heading for medical treatment — is a big difference between jails and prisons, where daily life is much more regimented.
"You could see the contraband issue" as a result of the movement, Mitchell said.
Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr., an Anne Arundel County Democrat, said the department expects to have a new dining hall for inmates open by the fall. At the moment, he said, the daily meal servings to each cell present a ripe opportunity for passing off contraband.
DeGrange said that he had confidence in Maynard but that more work remained to be done.
"It's going to be a long process," he said.


text: The acclaimed creative team behind Marvel Zombies 3 returns with another adventure that takes place in the Marvel U! The vampire. The witch. The werewolf. The muck-monster. The devil. They're nobody's idea of heroes, but they're all that stands between our world and an unstoppable apocalypse! They're the new Midnight Sons, and their quest to track down the undead who escaped from A.R.M.O.R. will lead them around the globe - and right to a cruise ship overrun with undead undersea-dwelling cannibals! Can this monstrous team stop the "red tide" before it unleashes untold horror upon the mainland? Not if the Merc With Only a Mouth has anything to say about it! Yes, writer Fred Van Lente and artist Kev Walker - the guys who made IGN.com say "Marvel Zombies 3 may actually rank as the best in the series" - are back again, unleashing the flesh-eaters for another roller coaster ride of gore, action, gore, thrills, gore, and gore! Collects Marvel Zombies 4 #1-4.


text:
Sorry, there are no The Wiggles dates.
**The Number One Children's Entertainment Group Introduces, a New Cast Including the First-Ever Female Wiggle, a New TV Show, CD & DVD and a New Partnership with
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital **
The times are a changin' and so are The Wiggles. After 21 years of entertaining children around the globe, The Wiggles will introduce three new cast members including the first-ever female member, Emma Watkins. These vibrant new Wiggles will bring the "Taking Off!" worldwide tour to over thirty-five major cities across North Americabetween August and October to support their new album of the same name available on Razor & Tie. The Taking Off! DVD is slated for release later in August, a new television series recently added on Treehouse (CAN) and will debut on Sprout August 19th (USA). Continuing with their charitable efforts, The Wiggles are now a proud sponsor of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®, the global leader in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other deadly diseases.
Always educational and entertaining, The Wiggles includes a fun group of people and characters including Blue, Red, Yellow and Purple Wiggles with Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus on board for an extra wiggly good time. "The Wiggles are all about getting kids to eat healthy and moving through dance. They're known for delighting generations of children and families who are captivated by their unique brand of music, fun and learning" said Paul Field, Managing Director of The Wiggles. Founding member Anthony Field, known as the Blue Wiggle noted, "The new cast will truly connect with today's generation." New members, Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle), Emma Watkins (Yellow Wiggle) and Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle) round out the group of talented musicians and entertainers. Anthony added,"Their energy and dedication to the brand is invigorating, and we are especially thrilled to add our "First Lady" Emma who, literally, has been a fan since she was a little girl. It was her dream come true." Paul went on to say, "Little girls finally have a female Wiggle to look up to. InAustralia, the "Mini-Emma-Army" is becoming a national phenomenon with girls coming out in droves to each show dressed up as Emma in replica outfits complete with lots of bows."
This will be the first time that North American audiences will get to meet the new line-up and hear new music, as well as sing along to their favorite hits all incorporated into their live show. Taking Off! features 21 new feet-stomping songs including the catchy soon-to-be favorite, "Do The Propeller!" as well as "Beep! Beep! Buckle Up!" "Emma (with the Bow in Her Hair)" and classics such as "Rock-A-Bye Your Bear" and "Get Ready To Wiggle."
The Wiggles have sold more than 23 million DVDs and videos, 7 million CDs and 8 million books worldwide and touched the lives of millions of children and families around the world. Major celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Martin are among their many fans. They have performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and on several national TV shows including "The Today Show", "The View" and "Fox & Friends." "The New York Times" declared The Wiggles as "the band that rocks the cradle" and "TIME" mused, "The Wiggles may be singing and dancing their way into the heart of a toddler near you."
The Wiggles brand continues to thrive, establishing major partnerships with Wicked Cool Toys, video and music partners N Circle and Razor & Tie and entertainment partners, Sprout TV, SiriusXM Radio and Corus Entertainment inCanada.
For a complete list of tour dates and ticket information for the "Taking Off!" tour, please visit: www.thewiggles.com.


text:
Maytag Expands Recall of Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.
Name of Product: Maytag(r), Magic Chef(r), Performa by Maytag(r) and Crosley(r) brand refrigerators
Units: About 46,000 (1.6 million units were previously recalled March 2009)
Manufacturer: Maytag Corp., of Newton, Iowa
Hazard: An electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator's compressor, can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard.
Incidents/Injuries: Maytag has received 23 additional reports of refrigerator relay ignition, including 4 reports of property damage ranging from smoke damage to extensive kitchen damage.
Description: The recall includes certain Maytag(r), Magic Chef(r), Performa by Maytag(r) and Crosley(r) brand side-by-side and top freezer refrigerators. The affected refrigerators were manufactured in black, bisque, white and stainless steel. They have model and serial numbers printed on a label located on the top middle or left upper side of the refrigerator liner and have the following model and serial number combinations:
Side by Side Refrigerators
Serial Numbers ENDING with: CN, CP, YY, YZ
Model Numbers BEGINNING with: MZ
Top Freezer Refrigerators
Serial Numbers ENDING with: CA, CC, CE, CG, ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH
Model Numbers BEGINNING with: CT15G4, CTB152, CTL151, CTM152, CTN151, MTB195, MTB215, MTB245, MTF195, MTF215, PTB155, PTB175, PTB195, PTB215
Refrigerators with freezers on the bottom are not included in this recall.
Sold at: Department and appliance stores and by homebuilders nationwide from September 2000 through May 2004 for between about $350 and $1,600.
Manufactured in: United States
Remedy: Consumers should immediately contact Maytag to determine if their refrigerator is included in the recall and if so, to schedule a free in-home repair. Consumers should not return the refrigerator to the retailer where it was purchased.
Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Maytag toll-free at (866) 533-9817 anytime, or visit the firm's Web site at www.repair.maytag.com
To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09322.html


text:
Book reviews: Animal magic, awesome science and a medieval romp
Age 4 plus:
My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals
What's the next best thing to meeting a bunch of cheeky chimps face to face, or seeing the life that buzzes inside a bee hive?
The answer, of course, is to turn the pages of the latest magnificent encyclopedia from Dorling Kindersley… a fabulous feast of wild and wonderful discovery deep inside the awe-inspiring animal kingdom.
Since 1974, Dorling Kindersley has been publishing outstanding quality, illustrated reference books for both adults and children and this fantastic new encyclopedia provides pages of facts, fun, graphics and stunning photography, all perfectly created for little learners who want to know about fabulous creatures from land, sea and air.
My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals, the follow up to the hugely successful My Encyclopedia of Very Important Things published last year, provides answers to those very important questions from your inquisitive little animal lovers.
Written in an informal and fully accessible style, this sumptuously produced and informative book combines beautiful full-colour photography with enchanting illustrations and an educational mine of enjoyable discoveries, interesting information and fascinating facts.
From rare poisonous birds and hopping frogs to fearsome sharks and guide dogs, we get up close to Earth's most awesome animals and learn how they live and eat, how long they sleep, how fast they can move, what they do to protect themselves from predators and how they keep warm in wintertime.
Dive into the ocean to see the terrifying Portuguese man-of-war, known as a floating stinging machine, dig under the soil to find a long-snouted aardvark or fly high above the Earth to catch sight of the golden eagle, a master of the skies.
The information in the book, which supports the KS1 National Curriculum, is split into four sections… an introduction to animals, fun facts about unusual creatures, animal behaviour and more wonders from the animal world.
With a beautiful ribbon marker to keep track of your journey into the wild, this is an ideal gift for children and an inspirational look at wildlife for animal lovers of any age!
(DK Children, hardback, £14.99)
Age 9 plus:
Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists by Adam and Lisa Murphy
Enjoy learning about the history of science… straight from the corpse's mouth!
Join ingenious TV chat show host Adam Murphy in another extraordinary Corpse Talk adventure as he digs up the dry bones of history to meet some of the most amazing and exceedingly clever scientists ever.
This brilliant comic-strip book – packed with science, comedy and fascinating facts – comes from the increasingly successful The Phoenix Presents series, published by David Fickling in partnership with The Phoenix comic.
The astonishing non-fiction comic series Corpse Talk was created by Adam and Lisa Murphy, and stars the versatile cartoon character Adam Murphy who gets the answers to tricky questions about the world and its history by bringing the 'dead famous' to life.
In this new comic book extravaganza, he interviews dead famous scientists like Archimedes, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein who changed the world, in a hilarious and mind-expanding chat show. How did a taste of tortoise inspire Darwin's discoveries? What led Einstein to unlock the secrets of spacetime? What's the deal with Marie Curie's deadly diaries?
There are over 120 pages of cheeky humour, discoveries and surprises to enjoy in this educational and yet hugely entertaining book which has been rather aptly compared to 'having science history injected into your brain.'
Clever, comical, informative and brilliantly illustrated, this wonderful book achieves what many youngsters thought almost impossible… it makes science laugh-out-loud fun!
(David Fickling Books, paperback, £9.99)
Age 6 plus:
Al's Awesome Science: Egg-Speriments! by Jane Clarke and James Brown
Science doesn't have to be boring... in fact, it can be awesome!
This inventive and entertaining new fiction series, which makes learning an adventure full of knockabout fun, comes from Five Quills, a small independent publisher with big ideas on books for younger readers.
Five Quills is on a mission to fill its books with lively illustrations and carefully written stories, making them perfect for reading aloud and sharing with both new and experienced readers.
And this all-action story, starring terrible twins Al and Lottie, is positively brimming with concepts, imagination, and science-based experiments, all guaranteed to set young readers' brains in motion.
Al's Awesome Experiments is written by Jane Clarke, the talented author of over 80 books for young children who has mastered the science of fun-filled storytelling, while James Brown's charismatic illustrations add extra comedy and energy to this inspirational new series.
Be prepared to laugh out loud but also share a few poignant moments as Al and Lottie set about making a time travel machine so they can go back to meet their father who died a few years ago, leaving their mum sad and overworked.
The energetic twins are always one step away from trouble… eight-year-old Al is fascinated by science. He spends his time experimenting to test his theories and create his favourite inventions while his twin sister Lottie is crazy about biology and the natural world. Their antics often have unexpected – and very messy – consequences!
Al's latest plan is to invent a time machine to take his family back to meet their Great Grandpa Boffin. He would also like to go back to a time when their dad was alive and mum was much happier. But first, Al needs to work out the strongest shape for his time machine capsule, with the help of Lottie and their very naughty dog Einstein. The experiments around force involve using all the eggs in the fridge (that were meant for dinner!) and the result is a very sticky situation for their neighbours! Can they finish the experiment before mum finds out or are they going to end up with egg on their faces?
Al is an inspirational young scientist who never gives up and curious kids will love trying out their own eggstra experiments at the back of the book. But best to put a grown-up in charge as egg-sperimenting can get seriously messy!
Al's Awesome Science is ideal for children who are becoming confident readers and ready to move on to chapter books. With step-by-step experiments to try at home, all taken from Al's own notebook, this is an entertaining and accessible introduction to scientific principles.
The fine art of making science a sport!
(Five Quills, paperback, £6.99)
Age 6 plus:
The Colouring Book of Cards and Envelopes: Unicorns and Rainbows by Rebecca Jones
Making your own cards is much more fun than buying them… and here's everything you need to get started in one cute and creative colouring book.
Published by Nosy Crow in association with the National Trust, this entertaining and cleverly designed colouring book includes unique cards and envelopes which quickly and easily tear out. Use your own crayons to colour in the design then add the colourful stickers provided and personalise your creation.
Unicorns and Rainbows is just the latest title in the much-loved Colouring Cards and Envelopes series which has sold over 130,000 copies. The 24 gorgeous pen-and-ink designs include magical unicorns, adorable kittens, charming rainbows and gliding swans, and are perfect for all ages to decorate and send to family and friends.
Take inspiration from real life or get experimental… try unusual colours and different materials to make each card unique. With enough blank space inside for a message, envelopes to customise and 24 colourful stickers to seal your card, each book is the complete card-making package for creative children.
With helpful and easy-to-understand instructions, and good quality card paper for your creations, hours of fun are guaranteed in one big, beautiful book!
(Nosy Crow, paperback, £9.99)
Age 5 plus:
Winnie and Wilbur: The Naughty Knight by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
It may still be summer but the witching hour is here!
Welcome back to the magic and mayhem of everyone's favourite witch and her mischievous black cat. The adventures and misadventures of bewitching Winnie the Witch and the long-suffering Wilbur have been providing spellbinding, bite-size stories for young readers for an incredible thirty years now.
The amazingly inventive Valerie Thomas pens the dynamic duo's mad, bad and dangerously hilarious escapades, and all the action is brought to life by Korky Paul's distinctive, wildly energetic and brilliantly detailed illustrations.
The secret of the books' success is that scatterbrained Winnie is not as simple as she seems and she always manages to conjure up some subtle life lessons amidst all the zany antics.
In their new adventure, Wilbur – aided by Winnie's magic – takes a starring role in a medieval romp which sees a naughty knight on the loose, and all the thrills and spectacles of castle life.
When Winnie and Wilbur fly over a castle, they can't help swooping down to take a closer look. When the castle turns out to be nothing more than a ruin, Winnie realises that they are 'hundreds of years too late' and so gives a wave of her wand to send them back to medieval times.
In not time, the ruin becomes a fully functioning fortress and the two of them are there, in suitable attire, on a day of much archery, jousting and feasting. Winnie disguises herself as a medieval lady-in-waiting while Wilbur is a dashing knight in armour but when they come across a naughty knight making mincemeat of his rivals in the tournament and losing his temper in the banqueting hall, a little magic is required to put him in his place and give everyone else the entertaining day they have come to the castle to enjoy...
This short, punchy and action-packed story is perfect for young readers who are ready to tackle the challenge of longer books but still enjoy following the action through bold and vibrant illustrations.
With medieval magic and mayhem at every turn of the page, this classic Winnie and Wilbur adventure is guaranteed to cast a spell!
(Oxford University Press, hardback, £11.99)
Age 2 plus:
I Want to Go First by Richard Byrne
Shout, shake and growl… the extraordinarily creative author and illustrator Richard Byrne is back to perform his conjuring tricks and he is looking for a few assistants!
In his delightfully playful, interactive and innovative new picture book, Byrne introduces us to a cheeky and enterprising little elephant who needs readers' help to prove that sometimes brains count more than brawn.
Elphie is lining up with the other elephants to start the long march to the watering hole at the back of the book but as the littlest elephant, he has to go last. What mischievous Elphie really wants is to go first so he asks the reader to help him move up the queue by scaring off the other elephants with some subtle but effective sound effects. And he almost manages it until the biggest elephant cottons on to his tricks and they move back into the correct order.
What they hadn't reckoned on was discovering that the watering hole is already occupied by a very, very big and very, very selfish elephant. Only Elphie's quick thinking saves the day and on the long march home, the other elephants decide that this time the cleverest elephant should go first. Could that be Elphie?
Byrne's colourful parade of elephants, a comically quirky plot and all the fun of taking part in the story ensure your own little ones will be hissing, growling, roaring, shaking and wobbling the book to help Elphie get to the front of the queue, and guarantee that this adorable adventure will be an odds-on family favourite.
Animal magic with a terrific twist in the tail!
(Oxford University Press, hardback, £11.99)
Age 2 plus:
Clumpety Bump by Phil Allcock and Richard Watson
Lazy horse Clumpety Bump doesn't like helping caring Wally Wobblebottom deliver gifts for friends… he'd rather eat, drink and generally take it easy.
So what will happen when his owner runs out of patience and takes the tractor instead?
Author Phil Allcock and illustrator Richard Watson deliver their own wonderful wordplay and visual magic in this funny, lively and playful picture book brimming with addictive rhyme and madcap antics.
It comes from the burgeoning stable of Maverick Arts Publishing which was launched in 2009 by Steve Bicknell and has been gaining momentum over the last few years with beautiful picture books and a classy collection of early readers.
Maverick believes that with everyone leading such busy lifestyles, it is important for children to spend the time with adults sharing and engaging over a picture book, and Clumpety Bump is an entertaining new addition.
Clumpety Bump is a lazy horse. In fact, he's a very lazy horse. He just wants to plod slowly and munch on his favourite food… apples. His owner, Wally Wobblebottom, who likes to help people and take presents for them, needs Clumpety Bump to trot, jump and gallop, but Clumpety just can't be bothered. Fed up with his lazy horse, Wally decides to do his deliveries on his tractor instead but the plan hits an obstacle… a big muddy puddle. Will Clumpety come to the rescue?
Children will love joining in Allcock's wordplay, learning about the importance of hard work and helpfulness, and following Watson's colourful gallery of vibrant illustrations.
Hilarious horseplay for the under-fives!
(Maverick, paperback, £7.99)
Age 2 plus:
Hamster Sitter Wanted by Tracy Gunaratnam and Hannah Marks
Family love is put to the test when an unruly bunch of hamsters turn adventures into misadventures!
Hamster Sitter Wanted is another adorable picture book from children's publisher Maverick and sees author Tracy Gunaratnam and illustrator Hannah Marks leading their little readers on a merry dance through mayhem and madness.
Intrepid hamsters Marco and Polo simply love adventures, whether that's heading to Mars in a rocket, doing a spot of skydiving or climbing the world's highest mountain. But disaster strikes when Aunt Fluff leaves them in charge of Marco's anarchic little cousins who like nothing better than causing chaos. Are Marco and Polo's adventures destined to grind to a halt or can Ms Bottomus, their very large hamster sitter, finally squash the little terrors into submission?
Children will enjoy all the mischief-making of Marco's misbehaving cousins and there is plenty of extra fun just waiting to be discovered in Hannah Marks' remarkably detailed, colourful and fun-packed illustrations.
Entertaining anarchy for little animal lovers!
(Maverick, paperback, £7.99)
Age 12 months plus:
Up and Down: A Walk in the Countryside by Ros Beardshaw
It's never too early to teach children the joys of the countryside, and this delightful board book provides their first step into the great outdoors!
Up and Down is the fourth and final title in an inventive and enchanting series of concept books, including ABC, 123 and Colours, which have been created especially for the National Trust by multi-award-winning independent publisher Nosy Crow.
This chunky, colourful and inspirational new book has the theme of 'opposites' at its heart and takes very young readers on a winter walk through the countryside, going up and down, left and right, from big to small, from cold to warm, and from dark to light.
Ros Beardshaw's warm and appealing illustrations are guaranteed to win over both parents and children, and the book's countryside themes are the perfect way to bring little ones close up to nature.
A breath of fresh air for babies and toddlers!
(Nosy Crow, board book, £6.99)


text:
Conan O'Brien and crew debuted a fresh batch of new video games last night, and I'm not sure which ones I should pick up first. Which sounds better, Super Diabetic Mario Brothers or The Elder Scrolls: Skymall?
The 3 Best And 3 Worst Korok Challenges In Tears Of The Kingdom
I'm all about Grand Theft Auto: Texting While Driving Edition myself, but only because the feature Conan's writers came up with, having messages appear on-screen while you drive, would actually be a pretty nifty way to connect with other characters in a real Grand Theft Auto game. You watching, Rockstar?
Oh, and watch out for the cheap shot at UFC at the end, it's ever-so-slightly not safe for work.


text:
DALLAS – Now that the voters have chosen Troy Polamalu over Clay Matthews for The Associated Press 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, the two stars can prove their worth against each other on the field.
In the Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh safety Polamalu received 17 votes Monday from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who cover the league, edging Green Bay linebacker Matthews by a hair — two votes.
Despite missing two games, in which Pittsburgh went 1-1, Polamalu became the sixth Steeler to win the award. He had seven interceptions this season along with 63 tackles, but made his mark with big plays. In a late-season victory at Baltimore, his leaping tackle forced a fumble that set up the winning touchdown.
That victory catapulted the Steelers to the AFC North title. Now, they are in the Super Bowl for the third time in six seasons, where they face Matthews and the Packers.
"I don't imagine their game plan changing over one player," Polamalu said. "We don't single out anybody. Anything we achieve here is done as a team, as a whole."
Added Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who finished third in the balloting with eight votes and won the award two years ago: "Troy brings this defense from a 'C' defense to an 'A' defense. He's someone that you have to account for in the secondary."
So much so that one opponent called the eighth-year pro the NFL's top player, regardless of position.
"With all due respect, I honestly think Troy Polamalu is probably the greatest player I've ever played with or even seen play in person," gushed Jets receiver Santonio Holmes, who was the MVP of Pittsburgh's 2009 Super Bowl win over Arizona. "Everybody has their one person they think is the greatest player. In my eyes, I think he's the greatest player I've ever played with."
Polamalu has had better statistical years than 2010, including the 2008 championship season and in 2005, when he had a career-high 91 tackles and three sacks as the Steelers won the title. He hasn't had any season where he made more big plays than in 2010.
That fit perfectly with defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's claim that Polamalu is the most versatile defensive back he's ever worked with. And LeBeau has been involved with the NFL for about a half-century and is in the Hall of Fame.
"I know Troy is going to do the right things," LeBeau said.
Matthews did plenty of things correctly in only his second pro season, enough to make the All-Pro team thanks to 60 tackles, 13½ sacks (fourth in league), an interception return for a touchdown and, like Polamalu, a penchant for delivering decisive plays.
"Game-changing plays," Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley said with emphasis. "I mean, you look at all the plays Troy's made — game-changing plays. ... So many game-changing plays to go out there and help win football games. Things that he (does), not only in the secondary — coming up, tackling backs in the backfield. Troy does it all."
Matthews said it would have been a "unique honor" to win in his second year. His goal, he said, is to become "world champions."
Added Matthews: "Despite defensive player of the year, I get the chance to play Sunday for the world championship."
Considered the lesser of three linebackers drafted in the first round in 2009 from Southern California, Matthews has had the biggest impact of that trio. Yes, Brian Cushing was the league's top defensive rookie in '09, but he tailed off in 2010 while Matthews was surging.
Matthews' sensational season came while facing consistent double-teaming.
"You really just attack it," said Matthews, whose father and grandfather played in the league and whose uncle, Bruce, is a Hall of Fame offensive lineman. "I think last year, obviously, was about winning the one-on-one battles. Towards the playoffs, that's when I saw the increase and it's kind of continued. ... So you deal with it, you try and beat one, then another, and get to the quarterback."
Polamalu and Matthews take their competition to Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. They already are considered marketing adversaries, with Polamalu's jersey the top seller in the league, and both vying for hirsute superiority.
"Well, I can guarantee you my hair's more expensive," Polamalu said.
Also receiving votes for AP Defensive Player of the Year were Chicago end Julius Peppers with six and linebacker Brian Urlacher with two; and Baltimore safety Ed Reed and nose tackle Haloti Ngata, one each.


text: Check out the Xiaomi Mi Max 2's images, UI screenshots, videos and more in this page. With pictures of the Xiaomi Mi Max 2, you can get a better look at the phone's design along with enjoying its 360-degree view. There are screenshots as well which lets you see the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 wallpaper that comes out of the box as well as the preloaded apps. And with the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 camera samples, you can get an idea of its picture quality.+ Read More


text:
(CNN) -- Voters in Mississippi will be given a chance to decide whether life begins at conception, a controversial abortion-related ballot initiative that the state's highest court has refused to block.
The Mississippi Supreme Court late Thursday allowed Measure 26, also known as the Personhood Amendment, to appear on the state ballot November 8. The decision was a rejection of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and abortion-rights groups.
The 7-2 ruling said those groups had not met the legal burden required to restrict the right of citizens to amend the state constitution.
"We cannot invade the territory of the legislature or the electorate to review the substantive validity of a proposed initiative, and thereby, we will honor the maxim embodied in the constitutional mandate of separation of powers," said Justice Randy Pierce for the court.
He said any challenges to the constitutionality of such statutes can come only after they are enacted or approved by voters.
The measure would amend the constitution to extend "personhood" to the unborn, likely rendering abortions illegal in the state if upheld.
Anti-abortion forces hope the amendment, if passed, would ultimately be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, providing another opportunity for the justices to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
"Although our opponents were beaten in this lawsuit, we know that they will not stop in their desperate attempts to deny the obvious truth that life begins at conception and that every life deserves to be protected in the law," said Steve Crampton, general counsel of the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel. "Not only Mississippians, but all Americans, should support this commonsense amendment."
A coalition of abortion-rights groups -- including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Reproductive Rights -- expressed disappointment in the opinion.
"A measure will be on the ballot that will allow the government to dictate what is a private matter that's best decided by a woman, her family and within the context of her faith. Mississippi voters should reject this intrusive and dangerous measure," said Nsombi Lambright, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi.
Mississippi is the only state with a "personhood" initiative on the ballot this year. Similar measures are being planned for next year in Florida, Montana and Ohio, say supporters. Efforts it at least five other states are in the planning stages.
The state high court also allowed separate ballot initiatives on eminent domain and voter identification.
The property rights initiative would block the state from taking private land and giving it to another person or business. Eminent domain has traditionally been used to acquire a citizen's land for such projects as transportation and infrastructure improvements, but the U.S. Supreme Court has recently given local governments the power to use eminent domain for private economic development.
The other measure endorsed by the Mississippi court would require voters to present state-issued identification when they vote.
The "personhood" case is Hughes v. Hosemann (2010-1949).


text:
Mar 1, 2012
Balenciaga does "The Office" for Paris fashion week
Mar 1, 2012
PARIS - Balenciaga gave the fashion world a high-style, highly finished glimpse at corporate glamour on Thursday in a fashion show set in an office tower featuring voluminous shapes and blocks of colour.
Balenciaga - AW 2012/13 - Photo: Pixel Formula
Playing with finishes from shiny to matte that incorporated leather, wool and silk, designer Nicolas Ghesquiere paired bold flashes of citrus or electric blue with reflective blacks and greys for a modern, futuristic look.
Form-fitting dresses of leather and silk featured panels of colour and texture -- shocking red at the bottom and shiny black silk at the bodice, cut in two by a swathe of cream and black printed fabric.
Blouson-type pants were roomy at the hips and narrowed at the ankle in a parachute-type fabric, at once both structured and flowing, and imparting an early 1980s vibe on the Fall/Winter ready-to-wear collection.
Balenciaga - AW 2012/13 - Photo: Pixel Formula
Balenciaga, now owned by French luxury group PPR, is one of the great 20th century couture labels which showed its first Paris collection in 1937 under founder Cristobal Balenciaga, who was born in the Basque region of Spain.
Called "Fashion's Picasso" by no less than Cecil Beaton, Balenciaga introduced the bubble skirt and other defining designs in the postwar decades and dressed the who's who of the well-heeled elite.
The label, which has enjoyed a revival since the 1997 hiring of Ghesquiere, held its collection on the 27th floor of a modern office tower with a stunning view over Paris. Models walked down make-shift runways highlighted by neon spotlights in the floors.
The interplay of textures and a penchant for shine was also seen at Guy Laroche on Wednesday, as designer Marcel Marongiu showed sheer black blouses, full with volume, paired with boucle pants or skirts, and roomy dresses whose draping evoked a 1920s elegance.
At Carven, designer Guillaume Henry chose a bold palette of colours from mustard to red in flamboyant prints, inspired by Medieval Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. One trapeze skirt was sewn in fabric woven into a scene of rural farm life in the Middle Ages.
Carven - AW 2012/13 - Photo: Pixel Formula
"We still wanted it to be young and fresh and appealing," Henry told Reuters TV, saying the collection was geared to a city girl who liked the historical look of tiny waists and full hips.
Carven, which opened its first boutique in Paris early last year, is enjoying a burst of popularity and has become one of the new darlings of fashion editors after the couture label that began after World War One lost its lustre in the 1980s.
Prints were also front and centre at Rochas on Wednesday, as creative director Marco Zanini, inspired by the early 20th century Swedish ceramics artist Wilhelm Kage, took muted bronze, blue and brown tones and combined them in geometric prints.
The results, according to the collection notes, rest on "hand work, exquisite execution and a certain disregard for the notion of 'quiet good taste'."
(Additional reporting by Cindy Martin and Alexandria Sage; Writing by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Patricia Reaney)
© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.


text:
Managing Director & Senior Partner
Related Expertise:数字al Transformation,数字al, Technology, and Data,Business Transformation
数字al transformations are an imperative as today's leading corporations need tobuild bionic capabilitiesin order to harness the potential of disruptive technologies and integrate them into new processes, organization models, and ways of working. This necessity has been accelerated by the pandemic.
Our research shows that more than80% of companies plan to accelerate their companies' digital transformations—and with good reason. Overwhelming evidence shows that successful digital transformations drive performance and competitive advantage and propel companies toward becoming bionic.
数字al leaders achieve earnings growth that is 1.8 times higherthan digital laggards—and more than double the growth in total enterprise value. In the short term, digital technologies and ways of working offer productivity improvements and better customer experiences. In the medium term, digital opens up new growth opportunities and business model innovation. Successful transformations also set companies up for sustained success; they won't have to digitally transform again as they master continuous innovation. Investors say that 50% of companies shouldinvest more aggressively in digitalcapabilities and technology.
But there is a conundrum for management: digital transformations are difficult to execute. And with so much on the line, only 30% of transformations succeed in achieving their objectives. There are good reasons for this, too. Delivering such fundamental change at scale in large, complex organizations is challenging, especially with short-term pressures. Individual leaders must decide whether they want to jeopardize their careers against these odds or risk falling behind.
The technology is important, but the people dimension (organization, operating model, processes, and culture) is usually the determining factor. Organizational inertia from deeply rooted behaviors is a big impediment.
Failure should not be an option, and yet it is the most common result. The consequences in terms of investments of money, organizational effort, and elapsed time are massive. Digital laggards fall behind in customer engagement, process efficiency, and innovation.
相比之下,成功的公司在桅杆上ering digital technologies, establishing a digital mindset, and implementing digital ways of working can reach a new rhythm of continuous improvement. Digital, paradoxically, is not a binary state, but one of ongoing innovation as new waves of disruptive technologies are released to the market. Consider, for example, artificial intelligence, blockchain, the Internet of Things, spatial computing, and, in time, quantum computing. Unsuccessful companies will find it extremely hard to leverage these advances, while digital organizations will be innovating faster and pulling further away from digital laggards—heading for that bionic future.
数字al transformations can define careers as well as companies. The fundamental question on the minds of all business leaders must be: "How can I ensure that my organization is among the 30% of successful transformers?"
With the insights gathered from both our empirical work with clients and a global survey of senior executives whose companies have undertaken transformations, we have carefully analyzed the main drivers of success. The work is evidence based. It shows that getting just six things right flips the odds for success from 30% to 80%.
是你r Company Configured for Success?
How ready is your organization to embark on a digital transformation? See how you stack up against others with BCG's two-minute assessment.
Our research involves both internal and external data sets. The internal data comes from BCG's own experience working with 70 leading companies worldwide on their digital transformations over the past several years. The external data comprises responses offered by 825 senior executives in a detailed survey about their transformation experience.
To determine how companies succeed, we asked executives to assess their transformations on a scale of 1 to 10. We defined success to include the percentage of predetermined targets met and value created, the percentage of targets and value met on time, success relative to other transformations, and success relative to management's aspirations for sustainable change.
Only 30% of transformations met or exceeded their target value and resulted in sustainable change; companies in this group are in the win zone. Some 44% created some value but did not meet their targets and resulted in only limited long-term change; these companies are in the worry zone. And in the woe zone, 26% created limited value (less than 50% of the target), producing no sustainable change. (See Exhibit 1.)
Which Sectors Perform Best in Digital Transformation?
We explore why some sectors and segments have higher success rates than others.
From a comparative point of view, successful transformations created, on average, 66% more value, improved corporate capabilities by 82%, and met 120% more of their targets on time than those in the woe zone. Compared with the worrisome transformations, winners created 29% more value, improved capabilities by 20%, and met 32% more targets on time.
Despite the differences in industries, starting points, and goals, management teams wrestle with a very similar group of questions at the start of a transformation:
Executives must make many important decisions before starting, and typically there are (legitimately) differing views around the leadership table. These can range from "Let's manage this in the business units so we can integrate well" to "We need to do something across the entire organization to change the mindset"; or from "Let's do some pilots, and if they succeed, we can expand to other areas" to "We must commit the whole organization to change."
When trying to bring everyone along with the overall plan, it can be easy to compromise and lose focus on the transformational aspiration. This is where the trouble usually starts. But among all the decisions that must be made, six critical success factors stand out. The companies that get these six factors right flip their odds of success from 30% to 80%.
The six essential success factors are:
When tackling these six factors, companies must satisfy two conditions. First, management needs to make sure that each of the six is adequately addressed in their planning, preparation, and execution. Most companies in the worry and woe zones put effort into this. The problem is that these organizations did not address each factor sufficiently.
Sufficiency can often be a vague term and is susceptible to embellishment, especially when program leaders are justifying their plans in order to get sign off and resources. In the sections that follow, we provide a readiness checklist for each factor that companies can use to assess their positions. Imagine a high-jump contest. All the contestants have been practicing, all have prepared for the competition. But only those who clear the bar will advance. The defining questions that we provide, based on empirical evidence, will help companies determine whether their chances of clearing the bar are low or high.
Second, it is crucial to addressall sixfactors. (See Exhibit 2). Companies that adequately addressed only three or four failed.
We tested more than 35 factors that reflect commitment, strategy, approach, governance, financial and people resourcing, and technology enablers. (See "BCG's Proprietary Research.") Out of all of the possible combinations that we examined, none had the same impact on success as these six. One reason is that many of them are correlated with one another. When organizations address one factor effectively, they also tend to address one or more of the others. For example, adopting an agile governance mindset correlates strongly with the adoption of agile principles and culture through the organization. Similarly, the quality of talent correlates closely with turnover rates, so that when organizations bring in strong people to run the transformation, these individuals are also less inclined to leave midway through the transformation.
We examine each of the six factors in depth in the following sections.
All companies undertake some form of strategy setting. But only 40% overcome the hurdles to create a truly integrated strategy: a clear vision backed by a set of strategic imperatives and quantified business outcomes, linking digital to the overall business strategy and sustainable competitive advantage. A strong vision, or sense of purpose, energizes and aligns the organization. The strategy must be translated into specific actions embedded in an actionable business roadmap that addresses use cases and technology, people, and organizational capabilities.
One technology company had been spending money for several years on many discrete digital initiatives. But it made little progress until the CEO decided to align the executive team around company-wide digital imperatives. The management team then designed an approach for implementation that prioritized resources around impact and struck a workable balance between company-wide initiatives and customized approaches at a business unit level.
Exhibit 3 provides the defining questions to assess whether this factor is adequately addressed.
"The starting point must be a clear vision, focused on and motivated by customers. To deliver, you need a specific business case, led by senior executives, who are committed to working together."
—Andrew Thorburn, former Group CEO and Managing Director, National Australia Bank
Most people understand the importance of commitment by the CEO and other top executives to large-scale change. Yet, by itself, commitment is not sufficient. Companies must also involve the relevant middle managers in the planning and execution of the transformation program to make sure they buy into the goals and strategy. Without this, middle managers often become sources of resistance, defending functional siloes and power bases. As one executive put it, "We knew that it was absolutely critical to address the 'frozen middle.' We couldn't afford our middle management to be cynical or to want to preserve the status quo."
Companies also need to recognize the threats to people's careers that transformations can represent. Automation, bionic processes, and new ways of working mean job losses, especially if retraining and upskilling programs can't compensate. And new digital skills must be brought in. Middle managers feel particularly vulnerable. As organizations adopt agile operating models, they must adjust compensation programs and career paths and then communicate those changes effectively. A motivating purpose, coupled with transparency, is a powerful weapon for bringing people on board and activating behavioral change.
One successful company took the time to involve middle management in the design of the transformation, making it evident that individual managers would be unable to deliver their specific targets unless company-wide digitization succeeded. In another example involving a global organization, management took care to demonstrate the impact of the digital solutions in one operating company before scaling to its functions in other countries. Senior executives also worked hard to respect different countries' business contexts while remaining firm about the need for full adoption.
In our survey, three out of four executives felt that they had good leadership engagement. In fact, however, only one in three had committed middle-management engagement. In those companies, the middle managers felt motivated and empowered to deliver outcomes.
To assess your organization's leadership commitment from the CEO through middle management, see the questions in Exhibit 4.
"It was the persistence and results-oriented mindset from the leaders as well as employees from all parts of the company that got us through."
—Somkiat Lertritpuwadol, Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, IRPC
Companies often do not have the mix of skills that they need, and they tend to underestimate the skills and expertise of the people required to execute a successful digital transformation. In fact, only one in four organizations in our research cleared the hurdle on this dimension. The successful companies paid particular attention to transformation leadership positions, addressing both digital expertise and broader skills. One executive told us, "You need a core of around 10 digital superstars to drive new ways of working in around 100 others." Just as important are broad-based skills, such as persistence, pragmatism, resilience, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and learning agility.
Successful companies demonstrated visible commitment to the organization by appointing the best people with the highest potential to lead the transformation. They carefully assessed the roles and skills required and were prepared to source some roles externally if needed. They also ensured that talent was managed actively—by, for example, rewarding and retaining strong performers and rotating out underperformers.
一个大型航空公司明白t的选择he transformation program manager was key to success. It took the time to find a digital native who also had the leadership skills to be authentic, honest, persistent, and, when necessary, confronting.
To assess whether your organization is playing its part in securing high-caliber talent to drive transformation, see Exhibit 5.
"You need program leaders who bring digital skills and a digital mindset as well as the ability to navigate organizational dynamics. Qualities like stamina, authenticity, and a single-minded focus on the goals are also critical."
—Sander Stomph, Vice President Leading Digital Operations, KLM
This success factor has two elements that turn out to be highly correlated. First, the leadership must govern the transformation with anagile mindset. This means engaging deeply enough to be able to actively steer decisions, tradeoffs, and priorities by serving as an effective escalation point for teams. One executive described her company's approach this way: "We had a weekly 'impediments' agenda item where program leaders could tell executives about roadblocks and get them addressed." Leaders should also be prepared to adapt the governance and adjust priorities on the basis of changing context. In this way, they demonstrate resilience and reinforce commitment to the vision and goals, especially when there are setbacks or moments of truth, such as funding or competitor pressures.
Second, the leaders mustdrive agile behaviors broadlyinto the organization. This requires authentic belief in the behavioral changes required, as well as playbooks, processes, and support to enable the organization to work in a cross-functional, mission-oriented way.
At the start of one successful transformation, members of the executive team were skeptical about agile ways of working. They also recognized that certain corporate initiatives, such as migrating customers to new products and technology stacks, had not been progressing well in the functional organization because motives and incentives were not aligned. The team visited some companies that had deployed agile and became convinced that the move from a functional orientation to a mission-based approach was vital. They oversaw the development of playbooks and operating models and revamped corporate processes around such principles as agile funding and mission-oriented initiatives. At that point, everyone on a mission shared the same targets and worked collaboratively in two-week sprints. The organization began to deliver results much faster.
The research shows that more than two out of three winning digital transformations had effective agile leadership, while 90% of those in the woe zone lacked this factor. In our discussions, executives agreed that theythemselves must initiate the change.
To assess whether your organization has adopted an agile governance mindset and is set up to drive broader agile adoption, see Exhibit 6.
"Our vision was to build a connected company, internally and externally, with customers and suppliers. We knew it would take three to five years and spent considerable time building the conviction to stay on this course."
—Phillip Tetteroo, Vice President, Digital Programs, Global Brands, Strategy & Programs, adidas
Often, monitoring progress is regarded as a simple matter of good corporate hygiene. However, only two out of five organizations in our study addressed this factor adequately, compared with 90% of organizations with winning transformation programs. Measuring success adequately includes:
For example, one organization implementing a new technology stack developed a comprehensive set of KPIs around the delivery of specified functionality. Management used data from the software teams to develop company-wide measures of productivity and defect rates as well as to assess progress toward agreed-upon milestones. It also developed metrics for value realization, measuring customer migration, operational efficiency (such as end-to-end processing without human intervention), and associated productivity benefits.
As one executive said, "It was essential to join the dots between people with accountability for delivering IT solutions and line managers who had signed up for the business impacts. It is not easy."
To assess whether your organization is ready to effectively monitor progress of your transformation, see Exhibit 7.
"Effective monitoring of results is critical. I presented ROI-based marketing performance (versus our shared targets) to the leadership team weekly. By the end of the first quarter, we were seeing positive results from the marketing initiatives and overall positive impact on the shared company targets. The team started to believe in the power of the initiatives and were excited to invest more."
—Aimée Lapic, former Chief Marketing Officer, Pandora
Accelerating Digital Transformation
By taking a bionic approach, blending human and technical capabilities, companies can kick their digital transformation into gear—and keep the momentum going.
More than half of the companies in our research struggled with a lack of flexibility in their technology platforms. Among successful transformations, however, two out of three invested in a business-led, modern fit-for-purpose technology and data platform to support the development and scaling of digital use cases.
Successful CIOs reinforce that the technology and data platforms must be designed around business priorities. They then implement them using best practices for modularity, flexibility, and scalability, with continuous learning and delivery. Deployment is carried out in frequent release cycles in order to adapt to changing business needs and deliver value incrementally. "We knew that deploying new IT architecture without addressing product and process complexity would have minimal business impact, so we focused on radical simplification and then enabled this with new IT platforms," one company executive said. According to another, "All IT teams were mandated to adopt agile DevOps, and this enabled tight business ownership, rapid iterations, and continuous feedback."
One company waited until it was in the late stages of its transformation to upgrade the data infrastructure and technology architecture for each country. As the tools were rolled out to frontline brand mangers globally, improvements made in one country could be quickly replicated across the whole organization.
To assess whether your organization is prepared with respect to technology and data, see Exhibit 8.
Beyond the checklists, which are broadly applicable, we also see many innovative ways to address the six success factors. The best companies tailor ways to increase their confidence in success. Some examples are shown in Exhibit 9.
"The advantages of moving to a modern, cloud-based, modular technology stack are huge in terms of end-to-end operational efficiencies and support to business needs and innovation. This type of transformation is a highly complex undertaking, but the rewards—delivering faster and higher-quality outcomes for our people and customers—are worth it."
—Nikos Katinakis, Group Executive, Networks and IT, and Executive Sponsor Digitization Program, Telstra
数字al natives have shown us that the future of business organizations is bionic. By combining human and machine capabilities, bionic companies have the ability to do things that traditional businesses cannot. This bionic end state is a compelling goal, but achieving it requires a successful execution of a full transformation of both technology and human capabilities.
公司从他们的起点(您ver that may be) toward becoming bionic, the six success factors for digital transformations reduce the risks of getting there and directly address building the necessary capabilities. (See Exhibit 10.)
"We focused on big opportunities, mapped the business processes to uncover the pain points and value, and used data and analytics to define measurable outcomes expressed as KPIs over a two-year period."
—Andrew Geoghegan, Global Consumer Planning Director, Diageo
Our work with clients on digital transformations surfaced other important lessons confirmed by our external research.
The impact of the six success factors—and the ways in which they materially shift the odds for success—are remarkably consistent across all types of digital transformation, geographies, and industries. (See Exhibit 11.) The recipe for success is the same, although specific action plans to address each factor will vary with company context. The implications are important: don't get bogged down in the details until you are confident that you are configured for success. Delivering a digital transformation effectively is a highly complex undertaking. Ensuring that the leadership understands the difference between configuring for success and delivering the specifics helps simplify the task.
Few organizations have the luxury to develop their digital transformation plans from scratch, with no constraints. In reality, there are often digital initiatives underway, perhaps with subcritical mass, as well as pressing business issues that require short-term delivery. And few executive teams start out fully aligned on the digital agenda. So, when the decision is made to launch the transformation, the six success factors are usually not in place.
它既不实际也不希望延迟单元il each factor has been effectively addressed. Instead, the critical issue is to be aware of the shortcomings for each factor and to put in place a plan to address them. Winners learn to adapt as they proceed. They identify where they are not configured for success and develop solutions to improve their scores as they move forward (much as fully bionic companies do). Exhibit 12 shows an example of this.
我们的研究表明,同样的六个成功的rs work in the same combination for all transformations, whether the scope is narrow or broad. There is a statistically insignificant difference in success between transformations with a single digital initiative (say, customer journeys) and those with multiple initiatives (for example, customer journeys, data and analytics, and technology replacement). (See Exhibit 13.) Similarly, there is no difference in success between digital transformations involving just one business unit and those that are company-wide. We also found no correlation between the quantity of resources devoted to the transformation program and the outcome: the 60% of the companies in the worry and woe categories expended a similar or commensurate level of resources as the winners—but for substantially less benefit.
Given that the executive attention, costs, and elapsed time can often be similar for narrow and broad transformations, the implications of this finding should not be overlooked: companies should take the time to configure for success, and then go big with an aggressive scope and bold aspiration.
Even with a bold, company-wide aspiration, however, companies should focus and prioritize their efforts. Transformations that successfully scale up often start by picking one or two major use cases or "lighthouse" opportunities, building a minimum viable solution, and testing and iterating until that solution works in the market and can be scaled. The company then moves to another use case or deploys the initial use case in a second country or business, and works backward to solve for the platforms, infrastructure, and support required to scale up the solutions. This is radically different from assuming that if you build the platform, the businesses will figure out how to get value from it.
Success in business is transitory. Companies need to continue proving themselves to investors and other stakeholders quarter after quarter, year after year; and forevery starting point, there is a value-creating road forward. Digital transformations are no different. The point at which success is declared (for example, the organization has transitioned to agile ways of working, or the last workload has shifted to the cloud, or customers have migrated to the new stack), is actually a beginning rather than an end. The success of the digital transformation is the start of a fresh chapter for the business as it learns how to leverage the new capabilities and to drive continuous innovation in new digital technologies, such as AI, augmented reality and mixed reality, and edge computing. Companies that succeed in industrializing continuous innovation as part of their new operating models have become bionic. They will never have to do another transformation program because the digital capabilities and mindset become part of their new way of working.
One of the hardest questions—and one frequently asked by boards—is, "Is the transformation on track? What are the risks of spending all this time and effort and failing to achieve our objectives?"
We can provide both a quantitative and a qualitative answer on the basis of our research.
First, you can periodically score your transformation against the six success factors and adjust your action plan to close the gaps. One company is using the success factor framework to assess how well configured they are for the success of a technology stack replacement and agile operating-model transformation. Its initial score placed it in the worry zone, but the leadership team adopted a clear action plan to address this, and subsequent reevaluation showed progress toward the win zone.
Second, some threshold behaviors can provide good indications of whether the transformation program has critical momentum. An assessment of these behaviors will almost inevitably be negative at the outset, but many leadership teams nonetheless find it useful to calibrate progress in this way. Threshold behaviors include:
The best leadership teams regularly step back from the detail to discuss the quantitative and qualitative ways to assess whether the transformation is configured for success.
The costs of failure are high. The rewards of success are great. In all industries, COVID-19 has accelerated the need for companies to transform their digital capabilities. There is no time for incremental outcomes. Putting in place the six success factors makes all the difference.
The authors are grateful to the following colleagues for their assistance with the development of this report: Ali Arsiwalla, Ramendra Awasthi, Tauseef Charanya, Olivier Laugeray Cleaver, Rano Diehm, Suzanne DSilva, Akshaya Mahesh, Tanya Mondal, and Albert Ngan. They also thank the members of the project's steering committee: François Candelon, Kurt Hogan, Amanda Luther, Kelly Nelson, and Michael Rüßmann.


text:
On Thursday morning, many consumers will get their first taste of a ritual that some of us have been performing since time immemorial—or 2007, at any rate. They'll line up outside their local Apple Store or Verizon Wireless outlet and wait patiently for their chance to buy the latest technological gadget.
I will not be among them.
I know: I'm crazy. Last year I moved half a mile to a new apartment, and while all my belongings seem to have made the trip, I lost one thing: a decent AT&T signal. Whereas my previous domicile had rarely dropped below five bars, I now found myself unable to get more than two at my new stomping grounds—and most of the time it hovers around one or zero. In the last ten months, I've missed and dropped more calls than a butterfingered outfielder with the sun in his eyes.
So why the heck wouldn't I already be camped outside my local Apple Store with an "I <3 Verizon" t-shirt and a song in my heart? What possible reason could I have for holding back?
So glad you asked.
Reason number 1: Frugality
As someone who's ended up with a new iPhone every year for the last four years, I'm perpetually tied to AT&T by a contract signed in blood. Even prorated, the early termination fee for escaping out of my AT&T contract before the term is up is still more than $250, meaning that the cost of purchasing even the 16GB Verizon iPhone 4 jumps to $450. As the old adage goes, "Don't change horses midstream…because it will cost you an extra $250. Or you might drown."
Reason number 2: It's an iPhone 4
I've had an iPhone 4 for almost eight months now, and I'm quite happy with it: it's speedy, holds my media, and even lets me access the Internet on the go. In fact, I'm happy enough that I have very little impetus to swap it out…for another iPhone 4. Of course, there's really only one reason to switch from an AT&T iPhone to a Verizon iPhone…
Reason number 3: What's a phone?
Sure, my AT&T iPhone 4 doesn't exactly make or receive phone calls in my apartment as reliably as I would prefer, but by and large I don't really use it for that: I use it for surfing the Web, checking my e-mail, and even—on occasion—for sending text messages. In the increasingly rare cases where I do need a phone, I turn to my digital voice service from Comcast—which I've also hooked up a Google Voice number—and it's worked just dandy for the last ten months. (It doesn't hurt that the bundle package of Internet and digital voice makes my monthly service bill lower than subscribing to Internet alone.)
Reason number 4: The iPhone 5
I have no inside information on the iPhone 5—not even the hint of a whisper of a rumor. And even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell you anyway. But as sure as I am that Fox and ABC will cancel most every show I'm interested in next season, I'm equally certain that an iPhone 5 will appear this summer, as it has every year since the original iPhone's debut in 2007. No doubt it will sport some earth-shattering new feature that will have me salivating uncontrollably (an unfortunate medical condition). And that phone of phones will almost certainly be available on AT&T and Verizon. So why not wait? I've made it this far—what's another four months?
Make no mistake, though: when the iPhone 5 surfaces, I'll be thinking very hard about exactly which cart I want to hitch my horse to for the next year or more. And while the ability to make phone calls in my apartment might be icing on the cake, well, I really like icing.
[Dan Moren is a senior associate editor at Macworld. Don't call him, he'll call you. (No, seriously, he doesn't get calls.)]
iPhone 4 16GB Black (CDMA, Verizon)
16GB iPhone 4 (GSM, AT&T)
iPhone 4 32GB Black (CDMA, Verizon)
32GB iPhone 4 (GSM, AT&T)