Early bird registration discounts have been extended for the NBMBAA® 34th Annual Conference & Exposition, September 25-29 in Indianapolis! Visit the Conference website for our new Pre-Conference Planning Guide and get all the information on why Conference is for you, what you get for your registration, costs, hotels, programs and more! TOMORROW is the last day to take advantage of early registration discounts – and for a chance to win an iPad 2, sponsored by FedEx.
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With Election Day drawing closer, each presidential candidate is pushing harder to make the case that he would be a better leader for the economy. And voters are listening to the pitches. A recent Washington Post-ABC poll showed that nearly 3 in 4 Americans say the candidate's approach to the economy will be a "major factor" in deciding between President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney. (NPR)
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This is not the situation Ben S. Bernanke wanted to be in. When he took the stage for his annual address in Jackson Hole, Wyo., four years ago, the Federal Reserve chairman had a broad arsenal of weapons that he would soon use to rescue the U.S. financial system from collapse. (Washington Post)
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Do you hate it when people complain? It turns out there's a good reason: Listening to too much complaining is bad for your brain in multiple ways, according to Trevor Blake, a serial entrepreneur and author of Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life. In the book, he describes how neuroscientists have learned to measure brain activity when faced with various stimuli, including a long gripe session. (Inc.)
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Moving abroad used to be considered a surefire way to move up the corporate ladder, but it’s no longer that simple. A new report suggests that merely taking a work assignment abroad doesn’t do much to improve creativity or propel employees along the path to career success. What does lead to a career boost is actively integrating one’s home culture with that of the adopted overseas home, say three researchers from Tel Aviv University, Insead and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. (Wall Street Journal)
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Simply put, punching a time clock makes no sense for professionals. Their contribution is not the time they spend on their work but the value they create through their knowledge. Of course, senior executives can and should take aggressive steps to shift their organization's focus away from hours worked, towards results produced. For instance, they could reform billing practices and institute flextime arrangements for employees. (CNN)
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Every day in Mumbai, some 5,000 deliverymen called dabba wallahs hand deliver 200,000 hot meals to doorsteps across the city. It's an intricate network that requires precise timing and numerous handoffs from courier to courier. The century-old service is a staple for the city's office workers. (See how it works in this video.) But as the city has changed, so too has the service. (NPR)
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Dutch rightist firebrand Geert Wilders rose to power and gained an international profile with his attacks on Islam over the past decade. But with leftist parties surging ahead of next month's Dutch elections and his own party divided, Mr. Wilders has adopted a new strategy to boost his electoral prospects: attacking the European Union and calling for the Netherlands to pull out of the 27-member bloc. (Wall Street Journal)
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Natasha Pecor just finished her first year in the MBA program at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. But after interning this summer at Freestyle Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm that finances early-stage startups, the 27-year-old may not pursue a second year. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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In my last article, I proposed that you could alleviate stress, improve your health and energy level, and cultivate competencies that I contend will give you a leadership advantage in the 21st century by practicing meditation. In this installment of this three-part series, I’ll discuss how meditation can significantly boost your cognitive/intellectual performance. (Poets & Quants)
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Join the Indy Chapter for an amazing welcome event as they Showcase Indy, Wednesday, September 26, following the Welcome Reception at the 34th Annual Conference. Kick off your event with an night of networking with friends and colleagues at the Indiana History Center. Tickets are required and space is limited, so click the link below to secure yours today!
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The dust has yet to settle on Apple's patent lawsuit victory Friday over electronics rival Samsung. Samsung has said it will ask the court to overturn the verdict, which would award Apple more than $1 billion in damages. But if that's unsuccessful, Samsung will likely appeal. (NPR)
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On June 6, Larry Ellison – CEO of Oracle, one of the largest and most advanced computer technology corporations in the world--tweeted for the very first time. In doing so, he joined a club that remains surprisingly elite. Among CEOs of the world’s Fortune 500 companies, a mere 20 have Twitter accounts. Ellison, by the way, hasn’t tweeted since. (Fast Company)
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There are a growing number of efforts to help women and minorities become entrepreneurs and get funding for their start-ups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. San Francisco accelerator NewME, which focuses on women, African-American and Latino entrepreneurs, is expanding through meet-up groups in the U.S. and abroad. Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and some Silicon Valley investors are speaking out at conferences about the issue, sponsoring incubators that promote diversity and funding companies run by Latinos and African-Americans. (Wall Street Journal)
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Adrissha Wimberly readily admits that not every entrepreneur needs an MBA to succeed. But for her, business school was a perfect incubator: That's where she met Charisse Conanan – and it's where the two of them drew on the rich resources of academia to begin developing their idea for paycheck management software. Ms. Conanan had come to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business from Wall Street with the beginnings of an idea: She wanted to offer young professionals an easy-to-use financial planning program. (Crain's Chicago Business)
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Standing outside the Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-Op in Little Falls, Minn., there's not a lot going on. The pungent smell of fermentation that typically hangs in the air here is absent. And trucks piled high with corn are nowhere to be seen. (NPR)
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Not for the first time, the recent behaviour of financial markets has been at odds with economic fundamentals. The living has been easy on American and European stock exchanges this summer, despite plenty of gloomy data. Investors may have been placing too much faith in the capacity of central banks to counteract economic weakness. (The Economist)
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Danny Sullivan dreams of gardening and spending time with his grandchildren, but that's just a fantasy. Retirement is out of his reach, at least for the foreseeable future. The 62-year-old founder of a small catering company spends his days helping stock bars with beer and ice, wooing potential new clients and juggling the 20 to 30 different events his firm handles daily. (Wall Street Journal)
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The impulse to pay off your mortgage more quickly than you need to is understandable, especially these days. Interest rates are near historic lows, so it’s possible to replace a 30-year mortgage with a 15-year loan and still afford the monthly payments. Or, if you’ve already refinanced at a dirt cheap rate, you can take those savings and pay down your principal faster. (Washington Post)
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Every vacationer hopes for ideal weather, but travelers heading to the Caribbean and Mexico this time of year – peak hurricane season – may find that travel operators' weather guarantees don't provide quite the protective umbrella they expect. (SmartMoney)
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Networking is a necessary part of the MBA job hunt and may be the single most important factor in determining whether applicants get interviews. While applicants have to prove themselves to snag the job, they need to know the right people to get their foot in the door in the first place. Then they need people to advocate for them and eventually mentor them. First, however, they must meet these people and win them over. (Bloomberg//Businessweek)
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Top executives from global megabanks are usually very careful about how they defend both the continued existence, at current scale, of their organizations and the implicit subsidies they receive. They are willing to appear on television shows – and did so earlier this summer, pushing back against Sanford I. Weill, the former chief executive of Citigroup, after he said big banks should be broken up. (The New York Times)
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The company’s revenues are growing at 9 percent a year, with a projected $8.2 billion in revenue in 2012, according to research firm SNL Kagan. Head count has doubled in the last seven years to 7,000 employees worldwide. ESPN earns one out of every four dollars earned by cable stations in America. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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With thousands of Republicans gathered here to officially anoint Mitt Romney as President Obama’s challenger in November, the GOP put on a concerted effort this week to showcase diversity in the party. On the first full day of convention business, Republicans on Tuesday gave prime speaking slots to two African-Americans: Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman whose party switch drew fire from the Congressional Black Caucus this week; and Utah congressional hopeful Mia Love, a Mormon who now serves as mayor in the small town of Saratoga Springs. (Los Angeles Wave)
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Do natural disasters hurt or help the economy? Hurricane Irene, which briefly terrorized the East Coast last summer before fizzling, spurred a series of articles speculating on the potential stimulative impact of a hurricane on a depressed economy. Hurricane Isaac, currently battering the Gulf Coast, doesn’t seem to have had the same impact on economists. (Slate)
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Your success – and fulfillment – as a manager is neatly encased in one bite-size nugget. Be who you are, just flex your style to manage others. Flexing your style means being versatile in how you lead, communicate, and motivate. A tough approach propels one employee; mild-mannered encouragement inspires another. Being flexible requires proficiency in a range of techniques, to draw upon as needed. (Fast Company)
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First he spoke about the importance of inspiration. Then he talked about the power of passion. Then he discussed the value of vision. Then I almost fell asleep.vI was sitting in on a class and the professor was describing the traits of a great leader. I certainly didn't disagree with his list: Vision, passion, inspiration, dedication, fairness, accountability... each are important traits of a great leader. Still, I realized I would retain very little of what he said. Platitudes are hard to remember, much less put into practice. (Inc.)
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We already know the facts: Our country is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Few American adults exercise enough, and that poor lifestyle choice is getting handed down to our children, who are getting fat at record levels. And all that obesity is affecting our health, causing heart disease, diabetes, and untold other health consequences. But what if the effects aren’t only mental? (Fast Company)
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