Some of the steps taken are clearly effective management. Others are downright kooky. After ThirdAge laid off 35 people in June, this site catering to the over-55 set offered massages to raise the morale of the remaining employees. It's now trying to attract customers by beefing up services on its Web site. Now, instead of just the CFO and CEO checking on budgets daily, the entire management team gets budgets to watch for cost overruns.
Good partners are important as never before.
The Knot has put a new emphasis on working with international partners on such small details as helping its Brazilian joint venture partner come up with logos. Instead of providing financing as it would have done in the past, The Knot handles the technology and design. Dishing out options With their stocks down dramatically, CDNow and other companies are risking the ire of investors by repricing stock options for employees. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.