Great Leaders Work in Cubicles

Accessibility and Openness is a culture promoted by Open Plan Office Layout.

Great leaders are working as part of the team in a open plan workstation type environment rather than the traditional glass enclosed corner offices as emphasized in this article by Steve Tobak:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg runs the city much like the namesake company he founded, using a bullpen where everyone sits together in a large open room like a Wall Street trading floor. He presumably learned the practice as a trader at Salomon Brothers. It’s designed to promote accountability and accessibility.

Meg Whitman, who recently won the republican nomination for governor of California, grew eBay from a young startup to an Internet giant from an eight-by-eight foot cubicle. But the practice of moving top executives out of the corner office and into cubicles probably began with Intel CEO Andy Grove.

In a 2001 speech, Carlene Ellis, Intel’s former vice president of human resources, credits the company’s much copied corporate culture with Grove’s fervent belief that everyone be treated the same:

The Andy Grove I know is a leader who is open, honest, and direct. Andy has nurtured an egalitarian culture at Intel. A lot of people talk about it; he does it. There are no executive perks at Intel; no executive dining rooms, no executive washrooms, no special places to park. And we all work in a company where Andy Grove’s cubicle – which I think is about eight-by-nine – is just like everybody else’s.

That open environment that everybody jokes about – it is the essence of that open environment that allows people to communicate directly and solve problems in a collaborative fashion.

In fact, Intel’s model has been replicated at dozens of successful companies in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Source: http://blogs.bnet.com/ceo/?p=4821&tag=nl.e713

BAFCO is ISO 9001:2008 Certified

Congratulations to BAFCO Team!!

We got the official certificate from Bureau Veritas today for our ISO 9001:2008 upgrade.

This ISO certification upgrade is yet another step in ensuring that our products and services consistently meet and exceed the expectations of our customers. Quality has been a cornerstone of BAFCO since its inception in 1991 and this certification reinforces our dedication and commitment to provide our customers with state-of-the-art, high-quality products and fitout services. The BAFCO team takes great pride in achieving this significant credential, as it reinforces our company’s quality system as being among the best-of-class.

To be certified to this ISO standard, companies must implement a quality management system embracing all of the activities within the company. These include staff training, meeting customer expectations, designing and developing products, purchasing materials and services, and delivering products and services. Certification to ISO 9001:2008 reinforces to our customers, through an independent third-party such as Bureau Veritas, that BAFCO operates a quality management system in accordance with the strict ISO standard. While BAFCO has always made the quality of its products and meeting customer expectations a priority, we welcomed the opportunity that ISO certification presented to benchmark our internal processes versus the industry’s best practices. This caused us to improve and upgrade many aspects of our business methodology in handling all aspects of the customer experience. Continuously improving not only the product offering but the entire customer experience is key to driving lasting sustainable growth for our company worldwide. Earning the ISO 9001:2008 certification assures our customers of the commitment we have to serving them with excellence. This major milestone is critical to BAFCO because our customers correctly view ISO 9001:2008 certification as a way of ensuring the quality and reliability of our products in the global marketplace.

About ISO 9000:

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. ISO 9001:2008 certification recognizes organizations that link business objectives with operating effectiveness. Companies that achieve certification to ISO 9001:2008 have demonstrated effective implementation of documentation and records management, senior management’s commitment to their customers, and a continued willingness to improve quality of their products. For more information, please visit http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm

UAE Paperless Day on June 3

Healthy Snacks for Work or Travel

To keep your metabolism going strong and to prevent overeating, it’s important to have a healthy snack around every three to four hours. If you are at home, it’s fairly easy, but what about at work or in between client meetings between Deira and Dubai Media City.

Here are some ideas for portable healthy snacks, to keep you healthy and productive:

In Your Car:
* Almonds (unsalted preferably)
* Animal crackers
* Fruit snacks
* Graham crackers
* Mixed nuts

Your Desk Drawer at the Office:
* Canned fruit
* Fruit (apples has the longest life span)
* Instant oatmeal
* Canned shakes (e.g. Carnation Instant Breakfast, Slim-Fast)
* Microwave soup cups (broth-based and low sodium preferably)
* Peanut butter and whole grain crackers

In the Mini-Fridge at the Office:
* Egg (hard-boiled ahead of time)
* Low-fat or non-fat yogurt
* Single serving orange juice bottles
* Single serving tomato juice cans
* Sliced veggies and reduced-fat salad dressing

In Your Handbag or Backpack:
* Baked or reduced-fat potato chips in a zipper bag
* Baked tortilla chips in a zipper bag
* Cereal (low sugar preferably) in a zipper bag
* Cereal bar
* Granola bar
* Mixed nuts in a zipper bag
* Popcorn (preferably air-popped) in a zipper bag
* Pretzels in a zipper bag
* Raisin mini boxes

If you have other proven healthy snacks, please do share them in our comments.

Recycled Boat Racing Competition on Nov 13

Whatever Float Your Boat AD in Gulf News

We will never forget our great experience in participating in the first “Whatever Floats your Boat Competition“ last year in Dubai Festival City, Marina Area.

It is unfortunate that due to schedule constraints we was not able to join this year, however we are encouraging all our blog visitors to support IGY Marinas and Dubai Festival City for this cost worthy event on 13th November 2009, 2PM onwards.

How to Choose Office Furniture based on Affordability & Sustainability

1. Plan Carefully what office furniture is the perfect fit for your companies requirements.

Today there are many furniture options available to business owners that are both sustainable and affordable. The key to achieving both is like many business decisions – careful planning.

Most companies primary goal when purchasing furniture is to maximize the investment the have already made in office space and personnel. The next step is to establish your priorities. Do you want an environment that:

• Projects your corporate image
• Is adaptable to current and future technology
• Maximizes the performance and well-being of your personnel

All of the above? Some of the above? Or do you have additional priorities? Be sure to communicate these objectives early in the conversations with your furniture consultant.

2. Think long term.

The most sustainable furniture, from a resource perspective, is that which can be “re-purposed” as your company changes.

• The modular concept of workstations has now expanded to include desks, storage, reception and conference areas. At this year’s NeoCon in Canada and Chicago, USA, most major manufacturers showcased casegood lines that allowed for pieces to be reconfigured as needs changed.
• Choose colors and designs that are timeless. Then, instead of replacing entire areas, you can update with splashes of accent color.
• During the planning stage, think of your walls as another piece of movable furniture. As the needs of the workplace have changed, many companies are now tearing down drywall and rebuilding to create more collaborative areas. Or worse yet, companies are not creating the spaces they need because of the cost to tear down and re-build. Moveable walls, now available at many price points, increase the flexibility and efficiency of your company and save money over the lifecycle of your space.

3. Ask for products that are GreenGuard Certfied or can demonstrate other third party certifications, which verify that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable indoor air quality pollutant guidelines and standards. No more “new furniture” smell!

• GreenGuard Certification has been available since 2002 and most major manufacturers of systems furniture and task chairs have been awarded this certification for many of their lines. Many casegoods manufactures have changed, or are in the process of changing, their processes and finishes to be compliant.
• You can still choose custom fabrics – just be sure to ask your furniture consultant to check their certification.

4. Check Recycled Content.

This information is available from most major manufacturers. If this is important to you, have your furniture consultant request the information on your behalf.

5. Don’t buy what you don’t need. This may seem obvious, but many times there are options that will never be used – think of gizmos on task chairs. Sometimes more is not better, especially if it leads to waste.
So, like any other major business decision, plan ahead and you CAN have a work place that is attractive, sustainable and affordable.
For more information about chosing the right office furniture, contact Gilbert Griño, BAFCO
+971 4 3350045 or at www.bafco.com

Top Ten Energy Savings tips for the Office

Below is our own adaptation for the Top Ten Energy Savings tips for the office (adapted from Heroesoftheuae.ae)

1. IT’S COOL TO BE A LITTLE WARMER!
   Once you’ve adjusted your AC to the temperature you want, turn it back up just 2-3 degrees. You’ll hardly know the difference, but it will make a difference to your consumption. Also remember to turn it off when you leave your home. That 2 degree difference can save you around AED 245* a year!
2. DON’T STAND BY, SWITCH OFF AND UNPLUG!
   If you leave your computer on standby overnight, it uses almost as much electricity as it does when it’s switched on. Remember to turn it off and unplug! You can also switch off the monitors, printers, fax machine or copiers during breaks or when you are leaving your desk.
3. BE BRIGHT! SAVE MONEY!
   Energy saving lightbulbs are much more efficient than the traditional version and last up to 10 times longer. Next time you need to replace a bulb, take the energy saving option. You can save a very worthwhile AED 806* by making this switch.
4. ESSENTIAL LIGHTING!
   We have plenty of sun here in the Middle East. Allow proper outdoor lighting to illuminate the office. Turn off non essential and decorative lighting specially in unoccupied areas. Use task lighting to directly illuminate work areas instead for brighter area lighting.
5. GET YOUR RATINGS RIGHT! LOOK FOR ENERGY STAR!
   Most office appliances these days have an energy-efficiency rating. If you’re buying one, choose the one that’s the most energy efficient and ask the supplier if they have this information. When purchasing PCs, monitors, printers, fax machines and copers, consider ENERGY STAR models that “power down” after a period of inactivity. If appropriate, use laptop computers – they consume 90% less energy than desktop computers.
6. GOING OUT? TURN IT OFF!
   Get into the simple habit of switching lights off whenever you leave a room.
   

7. DETECT THE MOTION IN THE OFFICE!
   Install motion detectors or dimmers to control lighting in frequently unoccupied areas, such as restrooms.Rewire restroom fans to operate with the lights.
8. AUTOMATE LIGHTING SIGNAGES
   Install time clocks or photoelectric cells to control exterior lighting, advertising sign lighting and some interior lighting.
   

9. KEEP COOL AND INSTALL BLINDS!
   It is not only enhance the design of your office but adding blinds, solar screens or shades to your office actually helps in cooling down the office.
   

10. SAY NO TO EXPENSIVE EXTENSIONS!
    If you have an extension lead connected to a wall point and it’s switched on, you’re needless wasting power. Switch off and – better still – unplug it!

8 Successful Products launched during previous recessions

Economic downturns aren’t only about damage. Throughout recent history, opportunistic companies have taken advantage of downturns to launch brands that enjoyed success for decades to come. Using timing and ingenuity, these successful brands turned downturns into windfalls.

iPod
Apple launched one of its flagship products during the 2001 recession.

Steve Jobs unveiled the iPod in October 2001, when the country was still reeling from the September 11 attacks. It’s now one of the decade’s biggest success stories. By 2005, Apple owned more than a quarter of the worldwide mp3 market. In April 2007, Apple announced it had sold 100 million iPods. Apple is on fire, thanks to its penchant to innovate in all kinds of economic climates.

Rice Krispies
More than 75 years later, Kellogg’s Great Depression-era brand remains a hit.

When the Great Depression hit, Post cereal cut back heavily on ads in order to conserve money. Kellogg, Post’s main competitor, did the opposite. The company poured money into ad campaigns, creating a new cereal called Rice Krispies. Snap, Crackle, and Pop helped boost Post’s profits by about 30% by 1933, according to the New Yorker’s James Surowiecki. Kellogg remains on top to this day.

Plymouth
Chrysler overtook Ford as the country’s second-biggest automaker in 1933, thanks to Plymouth cars.

Plymouth, launched as a separate brand 1929, was Chrysler’s first foray into the low-priced market. The cars’ crowd-pleasing features, which included hydraulic shock absorbers, helped it become one of the Great Depression’s only successful car brands.

FedEx
Federal Express launched just six months before the 1973 oil crisis, establishing a brand new industry amidst economic turmoil.

FedEx began with 14 small planes at the Memphis International Airport. Founder Frederick W. Smith hoped to address a market need for 1-2 day package and freight delivery, which at the time was very difficult. His plan worked. By 1975, the company became the number one carrier of high-priority goods and set a new standard for the industry it established, according to FedEx’s website. Today, the company’s couriers log about 2.5 million miles a day through seven global operating companies.

Healthy Choice
ConAgra’s low sodium, lowfat frozen meals became a hit during the early 1990s recession.

Former ConAgra CEO Mike Harper had a rather auspicious heart attack in 1989. He came up with Healthy Choice, a new line of frozen meals for health-conscious consumers, after reevaluating his own eating habits. The brand launched just in time for the 1989-92 recession. Sales reached $350 million, with 10% market share, in under three years, according to this BNet article. Today, Healthy Choice is successful enough to have Julia Dreyfuss as a spokesperson.

Miracle Whip
Kraft’s cheaper version of mayonnaise become an instant hit during the Great Depression.

Max Crossett must be rolling in his grave. The Illinois state-based inventor of Crossett’s X-tra Fine Salad Dressing sold brand rights to Kraft in 1931 for $300. Kraft rebranded the stuff as Miracle Whip, then sold it as a cheap mayonnaise alternative. It became the nation’s bestselling dressing in only six months, writes the New Yorker’s Surowiecki.

* Washington updated to Salem, Illinois.

Hyundai
By providing the best warranties and guarantees in the industry, Hyundai is becoming a prominent US auto brand.

Previously plagued by quality issues, Hyundai righted its reputation by providing a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty, previously unheard of in the auto industry. In 2008, it created the popular Hyundai Assurance program, which lets customers return their cars if they lose their jobs. The plan worked. The January, Hyundai’s US sales were up 14% compared to last year, according to Knowledge@Wharton. Between January-April of this year, its market share rose 0.7%. Not bad for an industry where double-digit declines have become commonplace.

Penguin Publishing
Quality books for cheap: A business model that endures.

In 1935, publisher Allen Lane came up with the idea to sell good books for rock-bottom prices. Penguin Publishing was the result. Lane made sure that his cheap, quality books found their way not only to bookshops, but to general stores, corner stores, and railways as well.

Before Penguin, paperback books contained gaudy, unliterary content. With his new model, Lane changed the game. Less than a year after launch, Penguin had printed one million paperbacks. Today, Penguin publishes globally through owner Pearson PLC, a London-based media conglomerate.

Humanscale Sells One-Millionth Freedom Chair

Humanscale announces it has sold one million Freedom chairs by legendary designer Niels Diffrient. Thanks to revolutionary design and broad appeal, Freedom has become one of the best-selling high-performance task chairs in the world since it was first available to the market in 2001. Freedom’s emphasis on simplicity—and Diffrient’s belief that form flows from function—delivers unmatched functionality and ease of use, while its distinctive exoskeletal frame has made it one of the most widely recognizable, and influential, task chair designs in the world.

Freedom’s impact on the task seating category—and ergonomics as a whole—has been far-reaching. Widely considered the gold standard for task chairs, its influence is reflected in both new seating design and sustainability efforts within the industry.

At the time of Freedom’s launch, Humanscale was a $44 million company—a very small player in the contract furniture industry—and notably, one that had never before sold a chair. Behind eight-plus years of Freedom sales, however, Humanscale topped $200 million in 2008 and is recognized as the undisputed leader in office ergonomics.

The Freedom chair was the first task chair to prioritize simplicity over the ever-growing number of manual controls seen on other high-end task chairs. Its self-adjusting, weight-sensitive recline changed the way people thought about task seating and Freedom continues to be one of the simplest task seating solutions available today.

Freedom’s resume includes a laundry list of other “firsts” for task seating:

• First task chair to offer self-adjusting recline
• First and only task chair with synchronously adjustable arm supports
• First and only task chair with self-adjusting headrest
• First task chair to feature a gel seat cushion
• First task chair to feature an exoskeletal design

Ahead of the curve for environmental sustainability, Freedom featured an eco-friendly design before “going green” became de rigueur. Its user-centered design allowed for the removal of a significant number of parts, such as the tension recline mechanism found on other task chairs. Its predominant use of 100% recycled and recyclable aluminum and overall recycled content of 62% minimizes the use of virgin materials. In addition, aluminum’s high (and growing) scrap value creates an incentive for Freedom to actually be recycled when the time comes. Its innovative, modular design extends the useful life of the chair by easily facilitating cushion upgrades and in-field repairs. And at 35 pounds, Freedom is among the lightest task chairs on the market.

In addition to receiving 10 international design awards over the years, Freedom has found its way into the annals of pop culture. Freedom made its big screen debut in the 2001 film Antitrust starring Tim Robbins and Ryan Phillippe. Since then, by set designer request, it has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures and will be seen in six more this year. It has also been featured in 20 primetime television series such as 24, House, Boston Legal, CSI: Miami, Medium, and Ugly Betty, among many others.

For more information about Humanscale and its ergonomic solutions, visit www.humanscale.com or call 800-400-0625.

About Humanscale

Humanscale is the premier designer and manufacturer of ergonomic tools for a more comfortable workplace. Our innovative seating, monitor arms, lighting, keyboard supports, and other ergonomic solutions are designed to improve the health, efficiency and quality of work life.

Humanscale products are based on the belief that when design solves a functional problem as simply and elegantly as possible, the resulting form will be honest and timeless. This philosophy has served us well: Humanscale was the only contract furniture manufacturer named among I.D. Magazine’s top ten “enterprises that help push design forward” along with other design-driven companies including Nike and BMW. And our Liberty chair was the only task seating solution featured in the 2007 National Design Triennial at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Liberty joined the Apple iPod and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet, among others, as one of the most important design innovations in America.

Environmental Statement

Humanscale is committed to environmental sustainability and continually strives to design, engineer and manufacture products that:

• Weigh less, requiring less raw material
• Use fewer parts and manufacturing processes
• Contain a high percentage of recycled content
• Contain a high percentage of recyclable content

Humanscale is also a proud supporter of World Wildlife Fund, and our founder and CEO, Robert King, has served on WWF’s National Council since 1999.

Helium, the new high end sofa from Spain

SHETUG reveals “HELIUM”, a large dimension high end sofa program

Our partner from Spain, Shetug has recently released “Helium” sofa set.

HELIUM is a sofa set with very generous dimensions fit for interior areas which need a modern and luxurious image.

This set has been designed by the Danish designer “Henrik Soerig” who is building an important name on the international scene with designs for top brands such as Bang & Olufsen and Swarovski.

The main drivers in the development of this sofa set have been a minimalist look, a light and modern image and a sophisticated design. Furthermore the combination of a low height and an optimal backrest inclination makes the seating experience very pleasant.

This set presents 3 different sofa sizes and it is a product which matches perfectly for hotels, offices and big waiting areas.

This sofa set is available in BAFCO on project basis.