In a matter of days, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely issue a decision affecting nearly one-fifth of the nation's economy. Here's what you need to know. (Inc.)
Learn More...

 

A small but growing number of companies are encouraging their staff to take time off from their BlackBerrys and smartphones or reduce their dependence on email. (Fortune)
Learn More...

 

The perennial conviction that those who work hard and play by the rules will be rewarded with a more comfortable present and a stronger future for their children faces assault from just about every direction. That great enemy of democratic capitalism, economic inequality, is real and growing. (Time)
Learn More...

 

The proliferation of cooking shows, blogs, celebrity chefs, and their inevitable diabetes drug endorsements proves that everything is better wrapped in bacon. But cooking also taps into something more primal: it's one of the last jobs that still does what most of us don't – make things. (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...

 

Our impact on the world depends on our ability manage urgency. Right now, I'm not doing so well. On my flight racing over to Honduras, my mind is wandering: What should I do first? Write a blog post? Prep for next week's workshop? Watch a movie? I'm in a state of paralysis, which John Kotter, the Harvard Business School guru of change leadership calls "false urgency," and I like to call "destructive urgency." (Fast Company)
Learn More...

 

Your co-workers are judging you. Beneath a veneer of professional collegiality, they’re taking note of the mess on your desk, how loudly you chew, even your word choices. (MarketWatch)
Learn More...

 

When Caren Berg told colleagues at a recent staff meeting, "There's new people you should meet," her boss Don Silver broke in, says Ms. Berg, a senior vice president at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., marketing and crisis-communications company. (Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

A system is only as strong as its weakest point. Reinforcing one link in the chain exposes the vulnerability of the next. The euro zone is now so fragile in so many places that if the single currency is not to break apart, Europe must set about redesigning the system as a whole. The European summit on June 28th and 29th is a test of whether the euro zone’s leaders will be capable of that. (The Economist)
Learn More...

 

There are many glaring risks about Italy's current debt situation and its dire growth outlook. But the biggest reason to worry about Italy is that it's too big to fail. (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

The value of the MBA, in terms of the starting salaries of graduates, hasn’t lately served as a ringing endorsement for the degree. According to a report last month by the Graduate Management Admission Council, which publishes the GMAT B-school entrance test, median starting salaries have been more or less stuck at $90,000 since 2008. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

By now everyone living in the world of MBAs knows that the summer internship is really a two-month interview to determine if the candidate fits in well at the company and merits a full-time job offer. "If a student completes the internship without (a) acquiring new skills, (b) developing a list of new contacts and professional relationships and mentors, it was time wasted," writes Vicki Lynn, senior vice president for client talent strategy and employer branding at Universum U.S.A. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

Registration and housing is now open for the 34th Annual NBMBAA Conference & Exposition, September 25-29 in Indianapolis. Take advantage of early bird discounts and first choice on sessions and hotels by registering today!
Register Now
Visit the 2012 Conference Site

 

When searching for a job or seeking new talent, sometimes it's a handshake and a smile that matters. At the sixth annual career expo held Thursday by the Westchester Greater Connecticut Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, making that personal connection between the potential job-seekers and the recruiting companies was the driving force behind the event. (Stamford Advocate)
Learn More...

 

On June 18, Microsoft beckoned 200 or so members of the media to a grimy, industrial part of Hollywood for what it described as a can’t-miss affair. Dutiful reporters met at the appointed hour – 3:30 p.m. – at a film and art studio Microsoft had rented out and emptied for the day. While beads of sweat formed on the foreheads of the people waiting to get in, aspiring actresses walked by in tight jeans and high heels on their way to a T-Mobile commercial casting call at the building next door. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

So how many times have you had to type in a password today? And did you remember them all? If you’re like the average Internet user, you probably have at least two dozen online accounts that require a password. And no, it’s not wise for you to have the same password for every account or let your browser remember your pass codes for you. (Los Angeles Times)
Learn More...

 

Pebble, a watch that displays messages from the wearer’s iPhone, may not be a record-holder for long. The $10.3m raised last month from 68,929 people after Pebble’s inventors posted a pitch on Kickstarter, a "crowdfunding" website, dwarfed the previous high of $3.3m set in March by Double Fine Adventure, a video game (see chart 1). Until February, no project had raised $1m. Now seven have. (The Economist)
Learn More...

 

Crunching the numbers on the economic downtown, Black Americans have lost significantly more than white Americans, to the point where whites are now 22 times wealthier than their Black counterparts. Minorities lost roughly 60% of their wealth as a result of the Great Recession while whites lost only 23%. (Video) (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

Millions of economically pressed Americans cushioned themselves against the recession by doubling up in houses and apartments, according to a Census Bureau report released Wednesday. The number of adults sharing households with family members or other individuals jumped 11.4 percent between 2007 and 2010, the report said. (Washington Post)
Learn More...

 

Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli's most recent book – Why Good People Can't Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It – has inspired a reaction from just about every group with a stake in today's workforce: employers, employees, recruiters, academics and media commentators. (Knowledge @ Wharton)
Learn More...

 

Record-low interest rates are useless to the millions of borrowers with less-than-perfect credit scores. They end up paying a high premium when applying for everything from credit cards to home mortgages. (SmartMoney)
Learn More...

 

Like many tech companies, Valve Corp., a videogame maker in Bellevue, Wash., boasts high-end espresso, free massages and laundry service at its offices. One thing it doesn't have: bosses. (Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

In a conversation with David Kiron, executive editor of Innovation Hubs at MIT Sloan Management Review, Schick talks about how, as part of the big picture of creating collaboration capabilities, IBM thinks about what kinds of things companies can do to create go-to forums, the incentives that make people participate and the value – both financial and creative – that social tools bring to a workplace. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
Learn More...

 

Last week, the Obama administration reignited the immigration debate with a modest effort to accomplish some of the goals of the DREAM legislation that’s languished in Congress for over a year. But while the administration’s decision to suspend deportations of certain young illegal immigrants is a huge deal for the people directly impacted, his order affects a very small number of people. (Slate)
Learn More...

 

More than 3.1 million young Americans now have health insurance, thanks in part to a provision in the health care reform law that allows parents to add dependents up to age 26 to their insurance plans. (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

Kim Williams, chief operating officer at the NFL Network, is used to a fast-paced, international lifestyle. After attending high school in Italy and earning a BA in Asian Studies from Connecticut College and an MBA from Thunderbird, she parlayed her global business experience into finance and operations positions at some of the most recognized companies in the world. (Bloombger/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

Looking to attract and retain the talent required to take your company out of start-up phase and onto the next level? Be open to change. (Time)
Learn More...

 

Jake Sanders knows it is healthy to get up from his desk during the workday. But a quick stroll around the block isn't terribly practical in Tempe, Ariz., where summer temperatures regularly top 120 degrees. Now, the 31-year-old data analyst at American Traffic Solutions Inc. and his co-worker do two miles a day on an indoor track that wends around the offices and break room right on his floor. (Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

J.D. Power and Associates has put out its 2012 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS), and besides Lexus, Jaguar, Porsche, Cadillac and Honda taking the top spots in the annual list, the real story is the level of consumer dissatisfaction with the latest technology fitted to their vehicles. (Wired)
Learn More...