The Federal Reserve launched a new campaign to stimulate the economy Thursday that it said would continue until its help was no longer needed or its efforts became counterproductive, opening a fresh chapter in its five-year-old response to the financial crisis. (The New York Times)
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The iPhone 5 made its full, first public appearance yesterday, despite the array of leaks in the months running up to Wednesday's media event. The new smartphone has boosted the confidence of some consumers that Apple 'still has it,' while Apple's share price didn't exactly act too favorably during and after the event as it remained vastly flat. That said, the incremental internal hardware updates were overshadowed by the new design, which even then didn't come as much of a surprise for many. (ZDNet)
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The NBMBAA® 34th Annual Conference & Exposition is less than two weeks away, 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! But time is running out, so don't delay!
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It's one of the diciest challenges of office politics, one that invades the cubicle farm and executive suite alike: How to deal with workplace whiners. While it's often best to walk away, that can be difficult in today's team-based workplace, where many people work closely in groups. (Wall Street Journal)
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Getting from college to a paycheck is a big worry for young adults; in 2011, only 18% of college grads had job offers by the end of April before graduation, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. That’s lending new appeal to a century-old college program long disdained by elite schools as "vocational education" – the co-op plan. (Wall Street Journal)
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The emerging leaders and rising entrepreneurs on whom I place my bets have one thing in common besides a promising idea: a lot of charisma. "Paul Lee" (not his real name) is particularly adept at attracting people to his visions and engendering trust. A tireless networker because of his great interest in people, he can spend thirty minutes on a commuter plane and disembark with new friends. He approaches potential investors and also top figures in sports and entertainment based on sheer charm and willingness to do personal things for them, like get tickets to a game for the kids or make introductions, immediately on his mobile. (Harvard Business Review)
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More American female executives are taking seats in Europe's boardrooms, in part because companies there face mandates to add women directors. While most European companies are focusing their board recruiting efforts on European women, many of them also are seeking candidates who can help them expand their American contacts and sales. (Wall Street Journal)
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When history books trace the evolution of the euro crisis, September 2012 will mark the beginning of a new chapter. Recent days have seen decisive moves from Europe’s notoriously incremental policymaking machinery. On September 12th Germany’s constitutional court backed the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro zone’s permanent rescue fund, removing the last big hurdle to its launch. (The Economist)
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Europe is failing its youth, and none more than its ethnic and religious minorities. As Europe slides back into recession, young graduates from the Class of 2012 across Europe are returning from their summer holidays and finding that even their hard-won university diplomas are no protection against rising continent-wide unemployment. (Washington Post)
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The intractable issues that led to the teachers' strike in Chicago are being argued about in states and school districts across the country. The past decade has been a time of enormous ferment in education policy, with numerous new ideas and approaches being promoted by everyone from conservative think tanks to the well-heeled Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Obama administration officials. (NPR)
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As I walked through Kellogg’s halls last week, I heard various sounds coming from the classrooms I passed. Yes, school had started and our newest MBA students were knee-deep in orientation week, practicing for one of our annual traditions: the section cheering competition. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Americans like to think of our country as a place where anybody, no matter how poor they're born, can make something of themselves with enough hard work. But as far as rich nations go, the United States scores pretty wretchedly on measures of "economic mobility" – how likely children are to be wealthier than their parents – falling below countries such as Denmark, Austrlia, Spain, France, and Norway, among others. (The Atlantic)
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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 St. Louis Chapter of the National Black MBA Association recently participated in the The Leaders of Tomorrow National Business Case Competition at the Emory Goizueta Business School in Atlanta. (St. Louis American)
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Did you hear that? That anguished wail yesterday at around 10 a.m. Pacific? That was the point-and-shoot camera industry. Yesterday’s Apple event highlighted the ever-quickening pace that the smartphone industry is taking casual photography, and the ramifications are significant for camera makers – and more for some than others. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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It's the moment wireless carriers have been dreaming of: Apple finally brought 4G capabilities to the iPhone, enabling phone companies to begin dismantling their aging 3G networks. The iPhone 5, which Apple unveiled Wednesday, will be the first iPhone to support a 4G wireless technology called Long Term Evolution, or LTE. Even though carriers have spent billions upgrading to 4G, and many high-end smartphones and tablets (including the iPad) currently support LTE networks, 4G device sales have lagged. (CNN/Money)
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Business owners start businesses for a variety of reasons. A few do it to make a lot of money, but a vast majority do it for other reasons. Some have an idea they believe the world needs. Some have a social mission in mind. And some just can’t work for anyone else (I include myself in that group). Whatever the motivation, at the end of the day, it all comes down to creating value, whether it’s business value or personal value. Surprisingly, though, not enough business owners think about this. (The New York Times)
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Many sellers are afraid to ask potential customers whether they're going to buy. The reason is simple: They're secretly worried the answer will be no, and that all their hard work developing the opportunity will turn out to be wasted. After all, if you don't close the deal, you can continue to enjoy the pleasant fantasy of winning the business. (Inc.)
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What people think is going to happen to the economy has a huge influence over what actually happens. If you can change peoples' expectations, you can change the world. The Federal Reserve knows this. (NPR)
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As workers return to the office routine after their summer vacations this year, they are feeling more secure about the jobs they are returning to, but not feeling so swell about the size of their paychecks, according to a new survey. Just 4% of respondents in a survey by Harris Interactive ranked fear of being fired or laid off as their primary workplace worry. (Fortune)
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What do Honda, Haymarket Exhibitions, and your plumber have in common? Bartering. Business bartering is big, and it's happening at every level. The International Reciprocal Trade Association reports that in 2011 over 400,000 companies worldwide used bartering to earn an estimated $12 billion on unwanted or underused assets. (Harvard Business Review)
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Shoppers may finally be able to toss out the dozens of barely punched buy-10-get-1-free cards in their wallets – all without giving up on earning the free coffee, frozen yogurt or other goodies from their favorite local businesses. (SmartMoney)
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What makes more sense today – to rent or to buy? And where to do it? Looking at real-estate website Trulia's "Summer 2012 Rent vs. Buy" report, released Thursday, it's clear that owning a house, when taxes and other transaction and opportunity costs are included, is actually considerably cheaper than renting one in most U.S. metros. (The Atlantic)
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Apple’s iPhone 5, available for pre-order on Sept. 14 and on sale Sept. 21, has a starting price of $199 for a 16GB model and a two-year contract via AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. As part of the launch, Apple dropped the price of the older iPhone 4S to $99 for a 16GB model and a new two-year contract with a carrier. (MarketWatch)
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A new research paper, titled Lifelong Education and Labor Market Needs, suggests that continuing education increases both employee income and corporate productivity. A third party research firm surveyed employers across North America to get their viewpoints on continuing education and professional development. The results showed that 96% of employers said continuing education improves job performance and 87% said it has a positive impact on pay scale, with many citing a direct correlation, especially in the healthcare field.
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More than 500 new Ross Full-time MBA students were faced with a first task that wasn't going to be easy. In a challenge designed to welcome students to the school and impart lessons from the Ross Leadership Initiative (RLI), they were given seven days to create a new for-profit business to add social and economic value to the city of Detroit. (University of Michigan)
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As Facebook owners freaked out by the weak share price already know, there’s really nothing they can do to make Zuckerberg do anything about it. That’s because, as I noted when Facebook first filed its IPO paperwork, the company’s corporate governance structure is unusual. Specifically, there is no governance structure to speak of. An absolute majority of voting power is controlled by Zuckerberg personally, and there’s no requirement for members of the board of directors to be "outsiders" to the company. (Slate)
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As vice president for sustainability at Kraft Foods, Chris McGrath has been pivotal at guiding the company’s sustainability efforts. With its global reach and massive market shares, the company is setting new standards on how to source through sustainable agriculture and keep packaging out of landfills. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
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To hear the two candidates tell it, the U.S. presidential election offers a dramatic choice on the economy: Vote for me, each says, if you want a robust recovery; pick my opponent, and we'll plunge back into recession. But regardless of who wins, important economic factors will remain facts of life. Millions of American homeowners are "underwater," owing more than their homes are worth and weakening the consumer demand that is key to the economy. Employers, even if they are flush with money, won't hire more workers until they need them – when demand rises or appears ready to. (Knowledge@ Wharton)
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Competing theories of progress in Ohio, waged 250 miles apart at the same moment, illustrate what may be the most important and confounding dynamic in this election. While most of the debate nationally still revolves around why the economy remains so pathetic, there are several pivotal states – Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Virginia – where things are slowly turning around. In these states, the real issue may not be who deserves blame for economic ruin but rather who deserves credit for a rebound, and what really causes jobs to come back after they’ve been lost. (The New York Times)
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Even in this sluggish job market, your best people always have other offers. Here's how to entice them to stick around. (Fortune)
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Eighteen months ago, a massive earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan. The tsunami it unleashed caused devastating damage whose effects are still being felt. But it could have been even worse. Instead, a mere three seconds after the earthquake struck, a sophisticated early warning system kicked in. The system then triggered a series of messages via TV and cell phone warning about the impending tsunami that came about nine minutes later – which, as a Time magazine reporter noted, "can be just enough time to take cover, drive a car to the side of the road, step back from getting on an elevator or stop medical surgery." (Harvard Business Review)
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Throughout the 1990s, David Risher helped make high-tech history. As an early executive at Microsoft, he managed the company’s database products and led development of the first version of its investment-planning software. He then left for an e-commerce startup called Amazon, much to the displeasure of Bill Gates. Working alongside Jeff Bezos for the next five years, Risher ran Amazon’s booming retail business and watched the company take its first few steps into the world of digital reading. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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The taste of soda may be sweet, but the potential consequences of those empty calories – obesity, diabetes, higher mortality and skyrocketing health care costs – are not. In response, many states and cities in recent years have proposed taxes or other initiatives intended to reduce consumption of sodas and other sweetened drinks. (Knowledge@Wharton)
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