The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Transformation Economy by THRESHOLD

This Friday, Ron and Ed will profile Ludwig von Mises, an economist, author, and one of the founders of the "neo-Austrian school" of economics. Mises told his future wife: "If you want a rich man, don't marry me. I am not interested in earning money. I am writing about money, but will never have much of my own." The focus of our conversation will be around the works published in the free eBook entitled, The Essential Ludwig von Mises, published by the Foundation for Economic Education, along with some of his other writings. Don't miss this conversation about one of the most fascinating economists of the 21st century.

There are only three pricing strategies: Skim, penetration and neutral. Price can be an effective way to compete for some companies. Think of Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, Costco, Dell Computers, or Timex watches, all use a penetration pricing strategy. All of these companies have used price as an effective competitive differentiation and have relentlessly driven out needless costs from their operations, passing the savings on to its customers. On the opposite side of the spectrum there is Apple, BMW, Bose, Disney, FedEx, Godiva, Gucci, Lexus, and Nordstrom, all of which command premium prices: a skim pricing strategy. In the middle are companies such as, Buick, Seiko watches, Sony, and Toyota, where price places a more neutral role. Far more consideration should be given to which of the three generic pricing strategies will guide a firm's pricing. Ed and Ron will examine them to gain an understanding of which strategy is appropriate given the realities of the marketplace.

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do "Free-Rider Friday." Most of our shows are "topic" driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be "event" driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either will bring up. If you'd like to call-in during the live show, the listener line is: 866-472-5790. You can also participate on Twitter at #ASKTSOE, @asktsoe, or email us at asktsoe@verasage.com.

Do you know anyone who was motivated going into, or coming out of, their annual performance appraisal? Most organizations and employees are dissatisfied with the performance appraisal process, so it remains a curiosity why this methodology continues to exist. Performance appraisals don't improve performance and they don't drive careers; they are an incidental effect of other dynamic systems. In essence, appraisals are the paper-shuffling ritual that sanctifies decisions already made. Ed and Ron will discuss several companies that have ditched this anachronistic practice for processes that actually improve performance.

Ron and Ed are thrilled to be interviewing Gary and Jim Boomer, the father/son team at the head of Boomer Consulting. Both are recognized as among the most influential people in the accounting profession. L. Gary Boomer is the Visionary & Strategist of Boomer Consulting, Inc., an organization that provides consulting services and peer communities to leading accounting firms. BCI's vision is to make you more successful and future ready. The areas of focus are: Planning, People and Processes with technology as the accelerator. Jim Boomer is the CEO at Boomer Consulting, Inc. He is a;so the director of the Boomer Technology Circles, The Producer Circle, The CIO Advantage and an expert on managing technology within an accounting firm. He also serves as a strategic planning and technology consultant and firm adviser to CPA firms across the country.

Ed and I will discuss some of our favorite guests and memorable show topics from 2016, along with our selection of best books that we read during the year. We'll also comment on the notable people who we lost in 2016 as well as some other topics.

The last Friday of every month Ed and Ron will do "Free-Rider Friday." Most of our shows are "topic" driven, where we dive deep into one subject. Free-Rider Fridays are designed to be "event" driven, whatever issues are in the news that we (or you) find worthy of commentary. In economics, free riding means reaping the benefits from the actions of others and consequently refusing to bear the full costs of those actions. This means Ed and Ron will free ride off of the news, and each other, with no advanced knowledge of the events either will bring up. If you'd like to call-in during the live show, the listener line is: 866-472-5790. You can also participate on Twitter at #ASKTSOE, @asktsoe, or email us at asktsoe@verasage.com.

Ron and Ed are honored to have Kirk Bowman as a Guest this week. Kirk began his journey to value pricing as a naysayer, but like many converts, he has now become a leading voice in the value pricing movement. Kirk founded and is the Visionary of Value for both MightyData and Art of Value. The latter is one of the top rated podcasts on value and pricing. More information on both Kirk and his podcast is available at http://artofvalue.com.

This episode will be dedicated to the possibility that all organizations can create and execute meaningful strategic plans. Creating a well defined strategy is hard work and not for everyone, as it requires us to begin to say no to stuff we usually say yes to. Rona and Ed will have a dialogue about the MOASQ - mother of all strategy questions. They will explore the difference between budgeting and strategy and perhaps take a crack at developing a few questions to get you started on your plan for 2017.