In the current economic environment, a lot of companies are cutting back costs wherever they can in hopes of boosting earnings, but entertainment giant Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is taking a different approach and spending in hopes of boosting its sales.

Disney is hoping that by completely revamping its retail stores that it will be able to lure in more customers, keep them longer, and encourage more sales. In order to make the best of their new marketing direction, they have enlisted the aid of one of the greatest (in my opinion) retail designers out there, Steve Jobs.

The following story came to me this week from a reader who's sentiments may be shared by a lot folks. If I am the last one on the planet to have seen it and it has been circulating around the web for a long time, please excuse my redundancy.

The story pokes fun at business bureaucracy, mismanagement, corporate fairness, employee relations and more. Finding this type of story more often in your in-box displays a kind of recession fatigue and growing cynicism.

A foreign company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the foreign company won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the foreign team had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised that too many people were steering the boat while not enough people were rowing.

The large number of responses we received to my story Home Depot management should stock shelves & help some customers tells me I touched an important subject in the minds of our readers. Almost all the comments supported my contention that the first step toward improvement of The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) must come from management creating a deeper dialog with employees, customers and shareholders. This means management must roll up their sleeves and get personally involved with customers and staff.

Not surprisingly Home Depot executive management had nothing to say and no comments were received from Home Depot, not even a public relations person. It would have been spectacular if there was a dialog. I have been a supporter of giving management time and have viewed the stock as a value proposition this year. I might change my mind if Home Depot does not radically improve the level of dialog. If any Home Depot Executives read this I hope they will add their voice. I think I will send this post to Home Depot and see what happens.

Meanwhile Home Depot also announced the sale of its HD supply to private equity group for $10.3 billion as well as a $22.5 billion Increase in its share buyback plan. This jump started the stock for a day or two, and maybe the reduction in the number of shares will have the desired effect in raising shareholder value, but if you get the cash from borrowing or by selling assets the value may be dubious since each share is part of a smaller company. Prettier picture, less substance.

Not happy! Not Happy! Not Happy!

No. I'm not happy to hear that Halliburton will move its headquarters to Dubai. The move that looks like it is: a) Financially motivated -- no problem with that. b) Strategically motivated -- no problem with that. c) Politically motivated -- BIG problem with that as it is completely UN-American!

Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) is moving its headquarters from Texas to Dubai for many reasons. The company can rationalize it to the world press, Wall Street and the three blind mice for all I care, but it still stinks to the high heavens! If every United States based company that made greater sales or profits overseas left, we would lose many companies.

But other companies don't leave -- why? Maybe because this is their home. Maybe because they feel some loyalty to their family, friends and neighbors. Maybe because this is a good place to do business. I just can't help but think companies that move to the Bahamas -- or now Dubai -- are looking for a safe haven more than a new headquarters.

It is a truism that if a company cannot beat its competitors on price or product, then it must beat them on processes. Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY) cannot gain much advantage over Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) on either price or product selection. So Best Buy has chosen to focus on businesses processes -- how it actually does what it does. Over the past year, Best But has gradually instituted a policy known as ROWE = Results-Only Work Environment. Employees at Best Buy's Minnesota headquarters are no longer required to adhere to a fixed work schedule. Many are not even required to show up at work. Despite misgivings from many managers who were afraid that "unleashed workers" would not be productive, they feared more that the corporation would find out that there is less of a need for managers in a post-geographic office. After some months of ROWE, Best Buy has found that employees involved in the program are 35% more productive, voluntary turnover is significantly down, and the potential savings on office space costs will help to pay for Best Buy's enhanced customer service programs.

ROWE is beginning to catch on in other large companies such as AT&T Inc. (NYSE:ATT), International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW). ROWE focuses on output and results, not on hours worked, not on managerial impressions, not on sucking up. Rather than measuring attendance, ROWE measures how much got done. But ROWE is not the only workplace initiative Best Buy is implementing. Unlike many large companies in which budgets are handed down from on-high to be routinely cursed at by front-line managers, Best Buy has begun soliciting collaboration from its 850 store managers in the budgeting process. Best Buy is trying to create accurate and relevant budgets by bridging the gap between what corporate wants and what operations knows. The timely flow of accurate information in both directions on the corporate food chain has shortened the budget planning cycle and laid the groundwork for rewarding managers who create actual value for the company.

A comparison between Best Buy -- whose stock closed on 2 March at $46.35, and which has enjoyed several splits these past 3 years -- and the stock of Circuit City Stores (NYSE:CC), still wallowing around in the $20 range, will give savvy investors reason to want to perform due diligence on Best Buy.

With the purchase of consumer Internet router and switch manufacturer Linksys in 2003, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) appeared to want to break into the consumer marketplace by offering a line of modern household Internet products. Not sure what overlying competitive strategy propelled the company, but so it was. Linksys routers, such as the popular WRT54G, are now emblazoned by the Cisco name and logo, although the design is still Linksys'.

Is Cisco wanting to become a household name like Motorola, Microsoft or Pepsi? Most likely -- but Cisco products aren't kept in the pocket (Motorola), in the pantry (Pepsi) or in front of you when working hours at the computer (Microsoft). That is, unless you have your Linksys router with the tiny Cisco label directly in front of you while typing up that Microsoft Word document.

What goal does Cisco have to be entrenched among the consumer populace? If it potentially spends hundreds of millions of dollars to brand itself for the consumer space -- like it is purported to be doing -- what will the payback be beyond having a brand that consumers know better? After all, most Cisco products are sold to IT departments and are tucked away in server closets, yes?

What does Cisco have to gain with becoming more well-known to the average joe? If you own Cisco stock, do you approve? Cisco sells more Internet-traffic equipment that anyone in the world, so perhaps Cisco is making this push just for overall branding purposes and to see if it can raise CSCO stock to where it may deserve to belong, price-wise.