January 2001

• Brain drain is brain gain (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  David Forman takes a fresh approach to entrepreneurial Australians moving to Silicon Valley. Are these people our latest exports, and will they come home to spread the wisdom they have gained?
• How angels are giving flight to the high tech boom (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman

  The rise and rise of the venture capitalist industry and how angel financiers are feeding its growth.

• Venture funding: is Australia going forward into the past? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  To participate in the high growth, knowledge-intensive industries which now drive economic prosperity around the world, Australia must encourage venture capital investment.
• Jac Nasser interview (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Ford's new head talks about the perils and opportunities of doing business on a global scale.
• An audience with the Ford Motor Company (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Perhaps in no other industry have the chill winds of re-engineering and the searing heat of competition been felt more deeply than in the automotive industry. Globalisation has simply changed forever the way motor vehicles are built and sold. In this Q & A, David Forman probes two senior executives of the Ford Motor Company - Martin Zimmerman, Executive Director, Government Relations and Corporate Economics, and Jim Cain, Finance News Manager - on how one of the world's great motor vehicle manufacturers is facing the task of keeping customers and attracting new ones.
• Ford takes aim at the future (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Ford's internal re-alignment is placing them to move swiftly into the information age.
• The "Industry of Industries" goes back to the future (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  How Ford's experimentation in the ways it manufactures and sells motor vehicles could change the industry forever.
• Ford dealerships: the worldwide plan swings into action (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  The recent arrival of Australian, Jac Nasser, to the helm of Ford, comes at a time when technology and savvy is making the customer more demanding than ever.
• Australia: on the boat or still standing on the dock? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Does Australia have the stomach to do what it takes to fully engage in the emerging knowledge-based industries?
• The David Blumberg interview (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Leading American venture capitalist and business consultant, David Blumberg, provides the answers on how to build a 'clever' country.
• Entrepreneurs; an overlooked element in industry policy (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  If entrepreneurs were mosquitoes, Silicon Valley would be the malaria capital of the world.
• Bandwidth: an industry policy issue (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  How long before Australia's lack of broad bandwidth becomes a big enough issue for Government intervention?
• An audience with Greg Papadopoulos (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Sun Microsystem's Chief Technology Officer talks with David Forman about the High Tech Revolution
• A future for our factories? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  How Australian manufacturers can swim against the off-shore tide
• Those who can, speak (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  We hear from two manufacturers who have reinvented themselves to become contractors to multiple clients.
• Sacred Cows and Silver Bullets: is big R&D attraction a misguided policy? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  As R&D investment by major companies overseas becomes increasingly globally "footloose", David Forman argues that the current emphasis on attracting R&D in Australia may be misguided.
• The view from the R&D coalface (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Before the boffins and propeller heads can enjoy the pleasure and the purity of discovering new knowledge, they have to cope with the grubby business of scraping together some funding. Some personal insights into how the giant corporate labs work, and some alternatives.
• Biotech: big business for Australia? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  In the US and parts of Europe, the biotech revolution has been taking place for some years. But what could it mean for the lives of ordinary Australians?
• The beginning of breakthroughs: do breakthroughs come from large or small business? (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  We know monopolies are motivated by money, and sometines that money gets spent on the pursuit of new knowledge. The question is, are the big guys better at breakthroughs than the small start-ups?
• E-markets and the virtual bazaar (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  How corporate giants are returning to consumers the power of choice.
• The Brian Gruber interview (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Brian Gruber is the managing director of G Media, and directing principal of Principals.com, a US-based network of marketing companies and consultancies. Mr Gruber worked in Australia in 1995-96 heading the marketing for the launch of Foxtel. In this interview with David Forman, Mr Gruber explains why, in today's information industries, having a killer idea or product is just the beginning of the journey to success.
• Post-mortem on the dot-coms (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | Michael Burns
  Michael Burns uncovers popular misconceptions of the dot-com phenomena, where business pedigree and first mover advantage usurped bricks and mortar industry experience. Drawing from WebVan.com's experience, three simple lessons have emerged, profitability, customers and an unique competitive advantage.
• Australia and the international Digital Divide (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Technological advances may turn Australia's geographic isolation from a digital divide into an opportunity for increased international competition.
• E-Business - as close as the phone (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Sun Microsystems Chief Executive and Chairman Scott McNealy holds a vision that Sun will be a guiding figure in the next information revolution - a revolution of invisible technology and holistic package solutions for consumers, suppliers and clients.
• Outsourcing and new ways of doing business (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  When buying-in the management talent, "leading edge" doesn't have to mean "bleeding edge".
• The frictionless economy (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Why Jac Nasser and the kitchen table entrepreneur face the same problems in the new economy
• The Bob McMullan interview (Interview)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  In the first of a series, David Forman interviews Federal Shadow Minister Bob McMullan on his views about the "knowledge nation".
• The information election: Labor stakes out its ground (Discussion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  According to David Forman, you can expect to hear a lot about the "knowledge nation" from the Labor Party over the next year. It's the successor to the "clever country" slogan of the past decade. How will the information economy affect the next election? Will the Internet be recognised as a platform for economic and social wellbeing?
• Australia's place in the new information economy (Opinion)
  Mon Jan 01 2001 | David Forman
  Australia has the potential to be the world's ideas factory - if only it would tool up.