It takes more than paying lip service to a few soft skills on a performance scorecard to get the job done.

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In his book "Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service and Safety, " Thomas wrote that in the 24 months before September 11, there were 30 documented cases of unruly passengers partially or completely entering the cockpit.

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More fundamentally, however, in recent years Giordano has changed its corporate culture to concentrate on such soft skills as inventory management, store layout, service and style.

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Google is currently soft-launching Gmail, a free e-mail service that offers one gigabyte of free storage.

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His Virgin Group began as a record label, and now sells everything from soft drinks to bridal gowns, and even runs a train service and mobile phone network.

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The British Crown Prosecution Service said it was a plot -- involving liquid explosives hidden in soft drink bottles -- that could have been pulled off.

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Marcus, I've got a soft spot for this guy, because his dad, Jeff, was the first Secret Service agent on my detail, almost two years ago.

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