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Surfing What some at least of your employees waste your money doing if
current research is accurate. You might wish to take a lesson from a World
War II catchphrase and ask: “Is your access really necessary?”

T

Teleworker The current in-word for what used to be called a “home-
worker” or “telecommuter”. The internet with its capability for almost
instant communication at minimal cost enhances the opportunities to
make teleworking work. The need to reduce costs and enable a work/home
balance may provide greater impetus as employers seek ways to avoid
building the monument to bankruptcy known as corporate HQ.

Tertiary brand A product made by an obscure manufacturer that is
designed to sell entirely on the basis of price to capture sales from well-
known brands and the retailer’s “own label”.

Third generation idiot A twenty-five-year-old business postgraduate
whose studies have been under the direction of a thirty-year-old postgrad-
uate lecturer reporting to a thirty-five-year-old postgraduate professor, not
one of whom has ever held down a real job in the real world. It is easy to
spot a TGI in the workplace. They wave their hands a good deal when they
talk (which is most of the time), and compare every situation to an ancient
case study: “Wow, this is just like Polaroid France –1971’!”

Time to market The time taken to get a new product into the market-
place. Hamel and Prahalad recommend that a new product should be avail-
able to buyers as quickly as possible even if it means that necessary
refinements and design improvements lead to a large number of models in
quick succession (cf. Toshiba and their early range of laptop computers). It
is equally arguable, however, that the product or service ought to reach all
customers, including early adopters in a condition that delivers satisfac-
tion. Failure to do so often leads to the second to market winning greater
market share in a shorter total time.

Time taken to deliver goods or services to the online customer including
any time required to answer requests for information.

Turnover Annual sales revenues. By dividing turnover by the invest-
ment capital and multiplying the result by the net profit percentage you
can get a good rule of thumb assessment of how well capital is being
applied.

The rate at which any resource of the company turns over whether labour
or capital. The combination of e-commerce and a total commitment to
retaining the worthwhile customer should play a major role in reducing
the turnover of labour while accelerating the turnover of capital as meas-
ured in Return on Capital Employed and Return on Working Capital and

Glossary (and soapbox) 243