Few small-business owners were prepared for the wrath of Hurricane Sandy. The storm and its tidal surge ravaged stores and restaurants, soaked inventory and stalled manufacturing throughout the New York region last week. (The New York Times)
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Much of Dodd-Frank and Obamacare have yet to go into effect long after becoming law. Sorry, Wall Street. With Obama's victory, it's now going to become reality. (Fortune)
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In less than two months’ time, unless a deal is struck, America will fall off a "fiscal cliff" that will, through a combination of automatic tax rises and spending cuts, subtract as much as 5% from GDP in a year. That would be a disaster for an economy growing at an annual rate of barely 2%. But behind this immediate crisis is the deeper one: America taxes itself like a small-state economy, and spends like a big-state one. Add in an ageing population, and it is going broke. Mr Obama will be pilloried by history if he does nothing to fix that, though the bond markets would probably punish him well before he left office. (The Economist)
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The notion of cheating at solitaire derives from the common experience of not having the right sequence of cards to win a hand of Solitaire – and simply pulling a useful card from elsewhere in the pile to continue playing. Technically, you’re breaking the rules, but doing so doesn’t much matter; it’s just a game and there’s only you playing. Too often, however, people do exactly the same thing in their careers, where it does matter – a lot. (Fast Company)
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With unemployment entrenched around 8 percent, with the dim outlines of a fiscal cliff looming closer, and with the business community unsettled by the presidential election, it’s understandable if more than a few people are feeling uncertain about job security. That said, there are practical steps you can take to help you keep your job in tight times. (Forbes)
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The only thing standing between a job and many job seekers is a skill that might be acquired with a minimal investment of time and little or no money. "Credentialing is everything in the job market today," says Eric Seleznow, state policy director for the National Skills Coalition in Washington, D.C. (Fox Business)
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Not long ago, I thought it was a bad idea to friend your boss on Facebook because of the possibility that revealing too much could hurt your progress at your current job, as well as any future opportunities. Lately, I’ve had a slight change of heart. (Time)
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Some of the biggest corporations in America say that having a diverse payroll helps boost sales, and they want the Supreme Court to keep that in mind as it considers this term’s affirmative-action case. The justices heard oral arguments on Oct. 10 that addressed whether the University of Texas may favor racial minorities in admissions. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Eight key governance thought leaders met to discuss and debate board diversity and what it will take to move the needle forward on U.S. boards. Diversity of thought will lead to diversity of ideas. (Board Member)
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If you're a coffee drinker, chances are the cup of java you drank this morning was made from beans that were produced or harvested by women. Women's handprints can be found at every point in coffee production. In fact, on family-owned coffee farms in Africa, about 70 percent of maintenance and harvesting work is done by women, according to an analysis by the International Trade Centre, but only rarely do women own the land or have financial control. (NPR)
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Greece’s coalition government, formed five months ago, never expected a honeymoon period. After a fractious vote on a new round of austerity measures in Parliament on Wednesday, it knows it is involved in a grim battle for survival. The three-party administration narrowly won the ballot, collecting just 153 of the 300 votes despite having 177 MPs ahead of the vote. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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The federal government’s Income-Based Repayment (IBR) program for federal student loans has been touted as a way for struggling borrowers to make affordable monthly loan payments based on their earnings. Yet the program, around since 2007, has not been popular with students. Despite rising levels of student debt, only 1.1 million borrowers are enrolled in the current program. The Obama administration is hoping that will soon change with its redesigned program, also known as the "Pay as You Earn" plan. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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As MBA recruiting disasters go, this one was epic. As top business schools throughout the U.S. continued making post-recession strides in MBA job placement this year, nearly one of every four graduates from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California – 23 percent – was unemployed three months after graduation, up from 9 percent for the Class of 2011. It’s the single worst showing in MBA career placement for any top-30 business school this year. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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The Houston Chapter of the National Black MBA Association offers annual scholarships to assist Houstonians as well as undergraduate business and MBA students attending a university in the greater Houston area. Over the years, the Houston chapter of the NBMBAA has awarded over $250,000 in scholarships to African American students. (Rolling Out)
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Preparing students for a future in business is the cornerstone of the National Black MBA Association Atlanta Chapter (NBMBAA). Outstanding students will be recognized and awarded more than $25,000 in scholarships for exceptional achievements at the NBMBAA 28th Anniversary Scholarship Luncheon, Friday, November 9. (Atlanta Daily World)
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Not long after I began writing about cybersecurity, I became a paranoid caricature of my former self. It’s hard to maintain peace of mind when hackers remind me every day, all day, just how easy it is to steal my personal data. (The New York Times)
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I’ve made a lot of computer blunders over the years. So please believe me when I offer this word of advice on installing Microsoft’s shiny new Windows 8 operating system: Don’t. Windows 8 is far from the disaster Vista was. But unless you have a very recent personal computer with a touch screen, there are few benefits – and some significant drawbacks in terms of learning curve and usability – to upgrading from Windows 7. (Bloomberg)
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The night before the end of Google’s Pwnium contest at the CanSecWest security conference this year in Vancouver, a tall teen dressed in khaki shorts, tube socks and sneakers was hunkered down on a hallway bench at the Sheraton hotel hacking away at his laptop. With a $60,000 cash prize on the line, the teen, who goes by the hacker handle "Pinkie Pie," was working hard to get his exploit for the Chrome browser stabilized before the close of the competition. (Wired)
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I wonder how many millions of small-business owners and entrepreneurs are sitting out there at this very moment, thinking about the money they need to finance their companies and ideas. The approach an owner chooses can make or break a business. It’s a decision that can change your life. The first question owners need to ask – and challenge themselves on – is how much money they really need. (The New York Times)
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More than a week after slamming into the East Coast, Hurricane Sandy is causing headaches in payroll. Companies largely excused worker absences immediately after the storm, which left millions without power and tens of thousands temporarily homeless. But as businesses around the region return to normal, managers are grappling with how much, and how long, to pay employees who cannot make it in to work. (Wall Street Journal)
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There's a big difference between raising tax rates and raising tax revenue. And the distinction may prove key in fiscal cliff negotiations between House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama over the next two months. Boehner on Wednesday laid out in public his opening gambit for that deal-making. (CNN/Money)
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Exports from the U.S. climbed to a record in September, contributing to an unexpected decline in the trade deficit that gave the world’s largest economy a boost at the end of the third quarter. The gap shrank 5.1 percent to $41.5 billion, the smallest since December 2010 and lower than any estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. (Bloomberg)
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Not long after four years in the Marine Corps, which included participation in Desert Storm, Jamar Bates started his own residential real estate and mortgage company in Atlanta. He built it up to 130 employees--and then the housing market collapsed. He eventually shuttered the business and, after three years' work in the Middle East, he came back to Atlanta and became a MassMutual agent in 2011. "My years in the real estate and mortgage industry were foundational," he says. (Wall Street Journal)
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President Obama, whom college kids overwhelmingly favored in Tuesday's election, vowed on the campaign trail to increase federal financial aid. But experts say a divided Congress could put those changes on hold – and lead to higher college costs for many families. (SmartMoney)
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Few industries have made such a one-sided bet as Wall Street did in opposing President Obama and supporting his Republican rival. The top five sources of contributions to Mr. Romney, a former top private equity executive, were big banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Wealthy financiers &ndash led by hedge fund investors – were the biggest group of givers to the main "super PAC" backing Mr. Romney, providing almost $33 million, and gave generously to outside groups in races around the country. (The New York Times)
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AIG, Verizon and Guardian Life Insurance are among the major corporate tenants still shut out of waterlogged New York offices, some of which may not open again for weeks – if not months. (Fortune)
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The merger of Random House and Penguin unquestionably represents an enormous change in the scale of publishing companies. It is a direct response to the power of the digital marketplace, but shifting ownership in the publishing industry is nothing new. It is worth rolling back time to consider how these two leading publishing companies came into being. (The Atlantic)
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The critical political message from President Obama's re-election victory Tuesday is that he cemented a new coalition of Democrats, led by the Latino vote, which threatens to reduce Republicans to an afterthought in future national elections. Yes, Mr. Obama won with the same group of voters – Hispanics, blacks, Asians, young people and educated women – that brought him to power in 2008. (Wall Street Journal)
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President Obama's re-election and the retention of a Democratic majority in the Senate means the likelihood of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act has receded. So what now? (NPR)
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Barack Obama is once again the president of the United States. The first thing he should do is pick his leadership team – carefully. "No other action will have a larger impact on his ability to meet the huge, immediate challenges facing the U.S.," says Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, the author of Great People Decisions. I interviewed Fernández-Aráoz and Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn about why the right group of advisers is important for the president and what pitfalls he should look out for when shuffling his cabinet. (Harvard Business Review)
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Engagement is a personal equation, and managers must play a role in helping each employee solve it. Your best managers already understand this. They’re not waiting for survey data to shape what they do. They don’t make engagement a once-a-year priority, distinct from what they do the rest of the time. They always manage their teams with an eye toward results and engagement. How do they do it? Dialogue. (Fast Company)
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Eight out of ten employees now gulp a quick lunch at their desks, says a new survey. But not taking a breather during the day, even for just a few minutes, is a recipe for burnout. (Fortune)
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Stylish choices for custom men’s clothes abound online. But for women? Not so much. A Boston startup brings a new approach to creating personalized garments that’s designed specifically for female shoppers. (Fast Company)
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Good news! Wal-Mart will help you work off that turkey dinner with even earlier Black Friday offers this year. Every year retailers move up the kick-off to bargain hunting in order to get a head start in the holiday market share game. And this year will not be any different. (CNBC)
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