It ranks among the least appealing but most important management duties: conducting tough talks with employees. Bosses are required to hold people accountable, let them know what's expected of them, and keep them informed even when the news isn't good.

Many of your customers have made the lifestyle choice to buy property in the country and move back to the land. And your dealership has successfully helped them buy and service the equipment they need to manage their property. But would you be able to lend a hand if they pulled up to your dealership with a baby goat in the backseat of their car?

Reps from across the country recently converged on the Marriot Hotel & Convention Center just outside Montgomery, Ala. for Bush Hog's 58th annual national sales meeting. This year's meeting had a slightly different flavor: Day one was a joint meeting with sales reps from sister company Rhino for product and sales training on the Quicke line of loaders.

How many times each month do you get asked for a donation of money, products or services? Plenty, I'm sure. And, I'm also sure you give gladly. What if that donation could do more? What if the steer you bought at the 4-H auction could lead to increased revenues or smarter, happier employees? One expert says it can -- and should.

New Coke. The Segway. Apple's Lisa computer. If you've ever felt bad about your small-business's flops, those big-business flops should cheer you up. But were these missteps really failures?

"Neighbor to Neighbor"? is more than just a marketing tagline for Faivre Implement, a John Deere dealership with two Wisconsin locations: Stevens Point and Westfield. It is the philosophy behind the dealership's ambitious communication initiative: Neighbors magazine.

Lending to small businesses in the United States sagged in March, supporting the view that economic growth is headed for a further slowdown in coming months.

In the twelve years since New Holland and Case merged to form CNH Global under the Fiat Industrial family, the New Holland brand has struggled to keep a foothold in some of the markets that it had once dominated in North America.

Related Topics: Managing OPEN Forum Message Affordably Build Your Brand FedEx Global Brand Management Director Monica Skipper shares a cost-effective way to build a bigger brand for your small business. Learn more Featured Response The customer may not always be right, but the Bruce Walker View all comments Just how pervasive is the cliche "the customer is always right" in business? Well, a quick Google search reveals more than 3 million matching Web pages containing that exact phrase. If you buy into the the "wisdom of the crowds," you're probably wondering why in the world only your business ended up with a lot of "wrong" customers.

All of the leaders we studied are inventors to some degree. They generate ideas or they strongly direct an invention process that is more than just innovation.