Euros are being drained out of Greek banks at the rate of up to $1 billion a day this week. In the wake of the country's election turmoil, depositors are nervous about the heightened possibility of a Greek exit from the euro. If that were to happen, euros left in Greek banks could be worth much less than euros outside the country. (NPR)
Learn More...

 

As the Bo Xilai and Chen Guangcheng episodes show, politics in China can be brutal. For the Chinese Communist Party, an enduring social compact with its people is still a long way off. When it comes to economic management, though, the assumption is that China’s authoritarian leaders are streets ahead, since they have to deliver prosperity to remain in power. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

The downside of social media is the same as the downside to collaborative culture and open offices: Interruptions. Lots of interruptions. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
Learn More...

 

Facebook's initial public offering is shaping up to be one of the largest in history. This morning the company told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was expanding its offering ... again. (NPR)
Learn More...

 

When it comes time for a meeting, co-workers can be deadly. Discussions get hijacked. Bad ideas fall like blunt objects. Long-winded colleagues consume all available oxygen, killing good ideas by asphyxiation. (Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

Whether you are stepping up to the plate to face a 95 mph fastball or making a sales presentation, confidence can make or break your performance. Your body language and your physical presentation have a lot to do with your overall success. (Inc.)
Learn More...

 

Even in a tough job market, 23% of recent college graduates wouldn't take a post where they couldn't make or take personal phone calls, and 20% would reject a place that didn't let them check personal email, according to a new study from staffing firm Adecco Group North America. (Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

Pity Karolos Papoulias. The 82-year-old president of Greece has spent over a week trying to persuade the country’s fractious political leaders to form a government after a general election on May 6th failed to produce a clear winner. Mr Papoulias, a soft-spoken former foreign minister, handed out mandates to various party leaders, none of whom could deliver, and made a three-day effort of his own, before finally giving up yesterday. (The Economist)
Learn More...

 

The idea that an infusion of hope can make a big difference to the lives of wretchedly poor people sounds like something dreamed up by a well-meaning activist or a tub-thumping politician. Yet this was the central thrust of a lecture at Harvard University on May 3rd by Esther Duflo, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology known for her data-driven analysis of poverty. (The Economist)
Learn More...

 

On a blustery day in February 2009, a group of nine deans and faculty members from U.S. and European business schools huddled together in a conference room in McLean, Va., at the Graduate Management Admission Council’s headquarters. They were there to discuss what would be some of the most radical changes to the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) in the exam’s nearly 60-year history. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

Last month, at Harvard Business School, the co-president of the school’s student follies show was disciplined because empty containers of alcoholic beverages were found on campus after the show — in violation of school policy. The crackdown by HBS administrators closely followed a report of a sexual assault that "involved unwanted groping" of a female student by one of her section mates at an off-campus venue. (Poets & Quants)
Learn More...

 

If Lynn Beatty’s father had not been a prominent surgeon – and her mother a "dutiful" housewife, who was more like a caregiver – she may not have grown up to become strategic client director at General Electric Healthcare, where she is responsible for marketing and sales of the company’s health-related products and services. (Los Angeles Wave)
Learn More...

 

The agenda of the local chapter of the National Black MBA Association is singular: economic empowerment through education. But its application through community outreach is wide-ranging, from mentoring high school students to business networking to supporting entrepreneurial ventures. (Buffalo News)
Learn More...

 

Registration will open in the coming weeks, so start making your plans now to join us in Indianapolis Sept. 25-29. Registering early gives you access to discounted rates, the best hotel options and first pick of key educational sessions. Stay tuned for more information!

 

Broadcast television executives came to New York this week, as they do every year, to talk up their new TV shows in front of advertisers. This year, they are having to talk about yet another technology trying to tear them down. (The New York Times)
Learn More...

 

Google+ is a lonely place. At least according to a new study that paints the social networking site as a virtual tumbleweed town. Using information culled from the public timelines of 40,000 randomly selected members, data analysis firm RJMetrics found that the Google+ population, which currently numbers 170 million, is largely disengaged, with user activity rapidly decaying – at least when it comes to public posts. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

It takes chutzpah to decide that Apple’s products need a little something extra. And it takes guts, a flair for design and a willingness to put the kids’ college money on the line to turn that something extra into a million-dollar-plus business. (Kiplinger)
Learn More...

 

About 2,000 years before Clayton Christensen coined "disruption" or Renee Mauborgne the "blue ocean," Chinese strategists passed down a fable about a peasant who stole a sheep. The fable defines a strategic pattern that many have labeled since: a pattern at the heart of history’s most significant companies, social movements, and civilizations. Richard Branson gets it. Mohandas Gandhi got it. And if you understand the pattern, you too can just walk away with the prize, while your competition looks on unable to react. (Fast Company)
Learn More...

 

What if every person who wanted a job had one? The entire United States may never be able to reach a 0% unemployment rate. But on a smaller scale, it's not entirely unheard of. Simply put, 0% unemployment can occur when everyone who is looking for a job has one. It can happen in niche markets when there are more openings than there are workers to fill them. (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

The so-called Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. While you may already know that, you may not fully understand what's in store for you and your family. Here's what to expect. (SmartMoney)
Learn More...

 

Identity thieves generally pretend to be real people, create some false accounts, and spend like there's no tomorrow. The rich and famous, on the other hand, already spend that way and are pleased to maintain their true identities. Yet they're increasingly falsifying accounts of their own lives. (Bloomberg)
Learn More...

 

The trading losses suffered by JPMorgan Chase have surged in recent days, surpassing the bank’s initial $2 billion estimate by at least $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the losses. (The New York Times)
Learn More...

 

In Facebook's video IPO roadshow, Sheryl Sandberg, the company's chief operating officer, delivers a powerful line intended to impress potential investors: "In the United States, every day on Facebook is like the season-finale of American Idol -- the most popular show on television – times two." It's an impactful boast, but as it turns out, Sandberg is playing it pretty safe. (Fortune)
Learn More...

 

The higher up in the organization you get, the less likely you'll receive constructive feedback on your ideas, performance, or strategy. No one wants to offend the boss, right? But without input, your development will suffer, you may become isolated, and you're likely to miss out on hearing some great ideas. So, what can you do to get people to tell you what you may not want to hear? (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...

 

In the wake of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson's departure amid controversy over his padded resume, the question remains: why did he do it? Whether Thompson embellished his bio with a college major he didn't earn, or simply signed his name to a document that someone else falsified, the lie cost him a flourishing career. (Fortune)
Learn More...

 

After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States. Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday. (The New York Times)
Learn More...