Author: chase

Article: How Virtual Can Your Company Go?

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Eweek blogger Don Sears has a post up compiling some information about the quest for the completely officeless company. In it, he talks about PerkettPR, a company that has existed virtually for over 10 years, and mentions some points from a ZDNet article on the subject. I’m more personally interested in his take on the situation, which comes later in the post:

You can create the right communication environment to do many of the daily tasks virtually, but it can be very difficult to replicate the in-person, physical workplace.

Having flexibility with commuting and saving energy are concerns for companies, but they will depend on the culture your leadership wants to promote and the needs of your business. Many managers want to have their key talent close by in an office or cubicle and it’s not something taken lightly, especially in a tighter economy. If there are sunk monthly costs for office space, you can guarantee that the chief financial officer is going to want to see people in chairs.

This ties in to some of my more recent posts about telework and telecommuting in general. While I appreciate the idea that companies will be resistant to going virtual, I don’t think it will be long before a lot more companies realize that, for the prize of outfitting a home office with essential supplies, almost any company can transfer large portions of their workforce to the digital arena.

How to make telecommuting a win for employers & workers

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch has an interesting article up about teleworking at the potential benefits to employers.

In it, they showcase the Virginia Department of Taxation, who recently made a move to digitize their offices by sending certain employees home kitted out for telework.

The move saved them over $130,000 annually in rent, utilities, and other costs, though it is not without its up-front caveats:

There is an initial outlay of money. Your company will have to outfit teleworkers with whatever is needed to perform their job at home, for example:

A personal computer, a laptop and docking station, a business phone line, shredder, fax, printer, copier, Internet service and office supplies. Also, it has to assure that its computer system has “layer after layer” of security and the ability to apply patches to protect from viruses, Bowen said.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of the work-from home model, and it’s nice to see companies embracing it as well. I feel that with the right gear, there’s nothing you can’t do from home that you could do in an office.

Obviously it’s not the ideal solution for every company, but in these tough economic times, it seems like a move more should consider before resorting to layoffs (or, heaven forbid, buying fewer office supplies.)

Humor: Staples Forced to Cut Staples To Save Money

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The Huffington Post has a satirical article that lampoons some of the ridiculous measures companies are taking to cut costs in this struggling economy. One of the highlights of this “memo” from Staples has to do with cutting, well, staples:

Staples: They may seem like an insignificant cost, but fears about the stability of the dollar mean the cost of durable items, like metals, has skyrocketed, pushing the average price per 1000 staples from $.79 to $.84.

Instead of throwing money away like that, we encourage you to use paper-folding techniques (for a demonstration, please visit Ted in accounting; he’s a whiz at origami!) that will make you wonder why you ever used staples in the first place! To that end, we will be collecting office-owned staplers at the end of the week for resale.

Alternately, you’re welcome to remove and attempt to reuse staples from documents stapled before this change goes into effect, but the management would like to remind you that blood traces are not acceptable on finished reports.

Check out the humorous article and try to keep a straight face. It really does a great job of showcasing how desperate some companies are getting these days. Remember, before you cut out pens from your budget, try looking into a cheap alternative to the big-box boys. (I know, I know, it’s a humor article, but the point stands!)

Article: Office Depot Litigation Roundup

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Wow. I have been outclassed by the San Jose Mercury News. In a new article, they have summarized the last several months’ worth of Office Depot shenanigans in one tidy package. It’s all there: whistle-blower David Sherwin, from way back in April, the most recent allegations by Earl Ante about OD asking him to falsify records, and all the various state-wide suits being brought to court.

They even talk to our good pals at NOPA, who repeat their line (that they pitched at the President) about sole-source contracting being a recipe for disaster.

I gotta say, it feels really cool to see an article with all this nuance and realize I’ve got a blog post somewhere around here about it from when it happened. Go go independent journalism!

If you’ve somehow missed all this Office Depot hullabaloo, check out the full Mercury News article for a recap, or filter this blog by “Big Box News” for in-depth analysis.

Blurb: OfficeMax Posts Q2 Loss Right Alongside Office Depot

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From the Daily Herald:

Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. announced sales declined about 16.5 percent in the second quarter that ended June 27.

Total sales were $1,657.9 million in the second quarter of 2009. The office supply giant also reported a net loss available to OfficeMax common shareholders of $17.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share.

Almost 18 million? Not quite as bad as Office Depot’s $82 million loss, but hey. We’re just happy to see bad business returning bad results.

Big Box News: Ex-Office Depot Worker Says Company Asked Him to Falsify Records

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According to the website Inside the Bay Area (a division of the Oakland Tribune), a Fremont man, claiming he lost his job at Office Depot because he refused to falsify data that showed the company overcharged the city of Berkeley hundreds of thousands of dollars, is suing the office-supply giant in federal court.

Earl Ante, a former Office Depot salesman, seeks unspecified damages for lost wages, benefits, mental distress and punitive damages. He filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco about the same time the owner of a rival office-supply store in Hercules used purchasing records she obtained through a public records request to show Berkeley officials that Office Depot overcharged the city $289,000 from early 2007 to early 2009.

Berkeley officials conducted their own investigation of the city’s contract with Office Depot and came to the same conclusion. Office Depot paid back the city in April.

Three cheers for whistle-blowers, I say. This is just the latest in a string of Office Depot horror stories, but at least this one has a quasi-happy ending: the man didn’t do it. It’s despicable that Office Depot would not only overcharge their government customers, but also that they would ask someone to lie about it on paper. Not that OD asking employees to lie is anything new, but this is a pretty desperate move from a company that’s already facing allegations of misconduct in over five states.

I want to be clear: when OnTimeSupplies.com started this blog, we didn’t set out to specifically trash Office Depot every week. They just keep feeding me material.

Secret to Cheap School Supplies: wait.

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Over at user-generated content site The Examiner, they have posited an interesting conundrum: what happens when you buy TOO MANY school supplies?

The theory goes like this: you have a general list of things you think your child may need, and you buy enough of them for everyone before the first day of class.

Maybe you see a good deal at your local big-box store and, fearing the worst, snatch it up while you can. Now you feel you’re geared up for school, and this happens:

Picture yourself running out buying four notebooks here, five folders there, not to mention the six 2” ring binders that you had to get because you couldn’t resist the sale sign. All, only to find that after the first day of school, Mrs. Douglass only allows 1” ring binders. Mr. Pryor requires a 3” ring binder for science class and science labs. Now, Mrs. Rogers is simple. She only wants loose-leaf paper in a 3 Prong, 2 Pocket, $0.49 folder. What a waste.

Sure, it makes sense to buy pens, notebooks, and other simple items ahead of time. But don’t get caught up in all the back-to-school craziness, sending your kid off to their first day weighed down with a hundred and one awesome supplies that will end up going to waste while you scramble to buy the “right” ones.

Instead, try this: kit your kid out with a simple loadout: notebook, pens, pencils, simple folders. This will give them the ability to store any materials they are given, while writing down what supplies they still need. Then, find a reliable web distributor of office supplies who just so happens to offer next-day shipping, and boom. Your shopping is done, you have exactly what you need, no fuss, no muss.

Blurb: Office Depot Reports Record Q2 Losses

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From RTTNews.com:

Tuesday, office supplies retailer Office Depot Inc. (ODP: News ) reported a wider net loss in its second quarter, hurt by higher charges as well as double-digit sales fall in all regions. On an adjusted basis, the Boca Raton, Florida- based company slipped to a wider-than-expected loss, and top line, with a 22% decline, missed Street view. North American Retail Division’s comparable store sales in the quarter decreased 18%.

Second-quarter net loss was $82.864 million, compared to last year’s net loss of $2.629 million.

Now we sit back and wait for them to blame the economic downturn or sluggish Back-to-School sales, even though certain other companies that aren’t lying all the freaking time are doing just fine.

Developer Sues VistaPrint and OfficeMax

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A developer of automated Web-to-print workflows, ColorQuick, Pennsauken, NJ, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Vistaprint and OfficeMax, according to graphic arts online. ColorQuick claims that the automated print processes used by VistaPrint and OfficeMax’s ImPress digital print services use a process similar to ColorQuick’s patented process. The suit wants OMAX and VistaPrint to stop using the process, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

While it’s certainly no shocker to me that OfficeMax may be engaged in shady dealings, it’s a bit disheartening to hear this about VistaPrint. For a long time VistaPrint was where I got my business cards, because they would offer free samples (with their logo on the back) for the price of shipping. Of course, much later I found out how easy it is to make your own business cards, but the fact remains that they offered a pretty helpful service. I hope the lawsuit works out in everyone’s favor, and VP gets to keep doing what they’re doing, somehow.

21 Office Supplies Too Awesome to Exist

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A lighter note from Cracked.com: readers were tasked to use Photoshop to create office supplies that were simply to awesome to be contained upon this mere mortal plane. The results are stellar, though a word of warning: there is some harsh language and Cracked’s usual brand of juvenile humor. So if you’re not offended by toilets, curse words, or things that are hilarious, check out the contest there.