"Location, location, location" might be retail's mantra, but it counts for professional services firms, as well. Technology and an increasingly mobile population may be removing some of the emphasis on location, however, some clients will always prefer dealing with local firms or local branches of regional and national firms. Location also plays a role in recruiting and retaining employees, not to mention opportunities for mergers and acquisitions.

Local governments across the country are trying to attract or retain professional firms to their communities, and are offering a variety of incentives including tax breaks and grants. The practice, however, is under scrutiny nationwide as communities struggle with tight budgets and increasing demands, particularly in rapidly growing communities. Civic groups and citizens in communities facing property tax increases or limited services are protesting such efforts in a variety of locations across the country.

For a closer look at how the issue of incentives is affecting accounting firms, see "Accounting Firms Receive Tax Breaks, Incentive Grants to Relocate", Click Here.

The world isn't flat, but it's getting there. That is, if you define flat as Thomas Friedman does as a "level, global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography or distance - or soon, even language."

The problem is that traditional business systems were not designed to meet this flatter business world where people and other resources are brought together for limited periods to accomplish specific goals before disbanding and moving to other projects. To assist organizations in understanding the flattening business environment, Tenrox has published "The Rise of the Project Workforce: Managing Projects and People in a Flat World", a whitepaper that reviews the market dynamics creating a flat world, explores the nature of work in a flat world, highlights why today's systems fall short and introduces the new breed of systems designed to manage people and projects in this new flat world.

To read this white paper and learn more about managing in a flat world, Click Here.

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