Michelle Sammut

Apple has been announced as the 2012 World’s Most Admired Company (WMAC) by Fortune Magazine and Hay Group, with BHP Billiton ranking fourth in the mining industry.

Small businesses, especially those in retail and manufacturing, hold great concern over the impact the high Australian dollar will have on operations during the June quarter.

Thanks to recent flooding in New South Wales, many small businesses have been swept into unfortunate economic hardships. Help is at hand however, thanks to newly available government grants.

Julia Gillard has won this morning’s Labor leadership ballot 71 votes to 31, demonstrating she has the majority support of the Caucus. Kevin Rudd has confirmed he’ll move to the backbench and remain as Member for Griffith.

Close to nine out of ten customers in the Asia-Pacific region want businesses to deliver faster service without compromising on quality, and SMBs are being urged to act on this trend now.