PRODUCTIVITY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
	From the Desk of APS Chairman  Robert Jacobson

           What's up with our Portal to Productivity? More than you can imagine, unless you use this stimulating and informative gateway on a regular basis.
          Just the other day I started on the APS Website, www.a-p-s.org, with a trip to the APS Bookstore. I bought the "Book of Business Anecdotes," on sale for $7.46. With a shipping charge of $5.40 the total cost was $12.86. A pretty good deal, one of many you can find and close in less than a minute on-line. The range of categories includes fiction, health & fitness, leadership, management, motivation, public speaking, selling, video and audio. APS members can purchase best-selling business books at 25 percent to 90 percent off retail prices. 
          As APS members know, the Portal to Productivity is customized for our major regions: Europe, Asia and North America. 
          Proceeding from the APS Bookstore, I checked the Portal to Productivity and found a couple major magazine pieces. They took about 10 minutes each to read, but they were well worth the investment of time. 
          Business 2, an on-line magazine, has a wealth of offerings. The January-February edition featured "5 Ways To Reduce Labor Without Layoffs" and "Craig Conway Is Not A People Person."
          Conway, brought in as CEO to save the software maker PeopleSoft, had to pick up the pieces at a laid-back operation where bill collection of product rollouts suffered as the company's stock imploded and it lost $178 million in 1999. 
          In the last quarter of 2001, however, PeopleSoft recorded a 15 percent increase in sales and beat Wall Street's profit forecast by 3 cents a share. While Conway's predecessor walked around in shorts hugging employees, Conway instilled a new mantra to the company's mission statement: Competitiveness, Intensity, Accountability. He required his own personal approval for purchase orders over $100,000. The time between billing and payment was cut from 103 days to 63 days. 
          All in all, this story was not only instructive, it was fun to read. Again, it only took about 10 minutes. 
          The Portal to Productivity also offers many standard features. These include Business Week, The Economist, Financial Times and Forbes. There are also links to computer software, dining and restaurants, headline news outlets, human resource tools, investing, internet search engines, leadership and leisure. The three regions -Europe, Asia and North America - also feature the leading newspapers in their respective areas. 
          For business and pleasure, you can't beat the productivity and efficiency of our APS Portal to Productivity. 
          A couple lines down from Business2 I found Worth Magazine, which is geared to CEOs and top executives. Generally Worth's pieces are well-written and in-depth. 
          I checked out the story, "Terry McAuliffe Is Money in the Bank." McAuliffe, a golfing buddy of former President Clinton, is the top fundraiser in the history of the Democratic Party. He was rewarded for his efforts with the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. 
          The Worth story takes an even-handed look at how McAuliffe separates rich people from their money and doles out political favors. 
          Many of the features in our Portal to Productivity are strictly business. Still others add a dimension that enhance the quality of our personal and family lives as well. Give it a click. I guarantee it will be worth your time.

SPECIAL NOTE FROM THE CHAIRMAN:

          Finally, on a personal and professional note, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to APS Executive Secretary and Associate Editor Donna Matura who earned her five-year necklace last year. Just as Donna is always there for the APS membership, so, too, she has been a trusty and reliable right hand for your grateful Chairman.

Thanks, Donna. 
Robert A. Jacobson, APS Chairman