Nearly three years after Congress ordered public companies to reveal their chief executive officer-to-worker pay ratios under the Dodd-Frank law, the numbers still aren’t public. The provision was included to deter excessive compensation schemes that, in the words of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), "were part of the fuel that led to the financial collapse." Since then, the requirement has been parked at the Securities and Exchange Commission, which must develop a rule on how to calculate and report the ratio. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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In what kinds of situations are you most effective? What factors strengthen – or undermine – your motivation? People answer these questions in very different ways, and that’s the challenge at the heart of good management – whether you’re managing your own performance or someone else’s. One-size-fits-all principles don’t work. The strategies that help you excel may not help your colleagues or your direct reports; what works for your boss or your mentor doesn’t always work for you. Personality matters. (Harvard Business Review)
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Companies aren't leaving serendipity to chance. Firms are thinking up new ways to encourage interactions among employees who normally don't work with each other. The hope is that these casual face-to-face chats among people with different skills might spark new ideas, lead to new solutions or at the least, increase workplace camaraderie. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Just a reminder that registration is open now. Early bird discounts are only available through June 28, so register now for first choice at sessions and hotels and to save big. Members save even more, so join or renew to get the best benefit. Don't miss five days of cutting edge education, networking and career opportunities in one of America's dynamically growing business environments!
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Let's say you believed deeply in the importance of sleep health, and you wanted to start a movement to change people's attitudes and behavior. Maybe, like Arianna Huffington, it's a personal crisis that convinces you. Or maybe it's a key piece of research or two that opens your eyes, as it were, to the dangers of too little sleep. (Harvard Business Review)
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1. Eliminate one ego commitment. We all do things that have more to do with ego than results. Maybe you serve on a committee because you like how it looks on your CV. Maybe you teach at a local college because you like the words "adjunct professor." (Inc.)
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Sallie Krawcheck, for years one of the most high-profile women in financial services, announced Wednesday that she has invested in 85 Broads and will take over as business leader for the women's network. Janet Hanson, the former Goldman Sachs executive who founded 85 Broads in 1997, will retain a stake and become chairman emeritus. (American Banker)
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Kent Kedl knew he had big problems last year when he took the helm of the Asia practice of London-based management consulting firm Control Risks. In his first six months, Kedl sat in his Shanghai office and listened to the same story at least four times from top managers: A competitor offered to hire them away for three times their salary. (Fortune)
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he recession across the economy of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro extended into its sixth quarter – longer than the calamitous slump that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-9. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said Wednesday that nine of the 17 eurozone countries are in recession, with France a notable addition to the list. Overall, the euro region’s economy contracted 0.2 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months. (The Washington Post)
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Business schools are responding to a surge in demand for education that equips students to become social entrepreneurs. But the structure of those organisations that are "doing good" is changing rapidly and these changes have implications not only for schools’ positions in rankings tables but also for how students will fund their business education. (Financial Times)
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See the demoralizing report released this week by Stephen Burd of the New America Foundation on the state of financial aid in higher ed. It documents the obscene prices some of the poorest undergraduates are asked to pay at hundreds of educational institutions across the country, even as these same schools lavish discounts on the children of wealthier families in order to lure them onto campus. (The Atlantic)
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"What it Takes: Insights on Paving the Way to Career and Business Success" – Watch the Google+ Hangout Session With NBMBAA's Jesse Tyson

Earlier this week, NBMBAA Interim President & CEO Jesse Tyson joined Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chairman, The RLJ Companies and Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET); Erika Irish Brown, SVP, Global Human Resources, Bank of America; Towanna Freeman, Creator, Black Life Coaches Network; and Yvonne Bynoe, Founder, SoulfulAffluence.com for a Google+ Hangout session titled: "What it Takes: Insights on Paving the Way to Career and Business Success."
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The National Black MBA Association provides financial support to students pursuing careers in business, academia and related professions. Since inception, more than $5 million have been awarded to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students. Our mission is to identify and increase the pool of Black talent for business, public, private and non-profit sectors. The program is supported by donations from our corporate and educational partners and members. Scholarship awards range from $1,000 to $20,000 however award amounts are contingent upon funding for the current year. The application period runs from May 15 to June 30.
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here's a popular myth that Apple's iPad and other tablets are simply media-consumption devices, unsuitable for productivity applications. That's just not so, and this week I tested a variety of office suites for the iPad for mini-reviews of their capabilities. In fact, I wrote and edited this entire column on an iPad using the most popular paid iPad app, the $10 Pages word processor by Apple. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Owning stuff is so 2008. Unless you use Adobe software. Taking a cue from music platforms sites such as Spotify, Adobe Systems is now offering its software solely by subscription, rather than sales. Most notably, Photoshop now costs $20 a month, rather than $650, its recent shelf price. Those who bought the program recently will get a discounted rate. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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If you're one of the growing millions using Google+ for work or play, there was some news today from Google's I/O developer's conference that you might find useful. The search giant said it is rolling out more than 40 different changes to Google+ as part of a major redesign. (Entrepreneur)
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BLACK ENTERPRISE will hold its 2013 Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide Insurance on Wednesday, May 15 through Saturday, May 18 at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. An annual highlight of the conference is the presentation of the nation's top award for African American business achievement, the Arthur G. Gaston Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, the A.G. Gaston Award will be presented to RLJ Companies Chairman, BET Founder and America's first black billionaire Robert L. Johnson at the BE 100s Dinner and Awards Gala, to be hosted by The Ohio State University and Limited Brands on Friday, May 17, at the convention center. (PR Newswire)
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According to an early and frequently quoted aerodynamic model, bumblebees cannot possibly fly. Of course, any entomologist or gardener knows that the fuzzy insects make it into the air with great success; the model simply had it wrong. As with bees, so it is with business. Researchers have long held the conceit that innovative entrepreneurship is impossible. "They assert that ‘entrepreneurs can’t do anything new in the economy,’" says Daniel Spulber, a professor of management and strategy at the Kellogg School. (Inc.)
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Worries over immigrants potentially taking jobs from native-born Americans run high in parts of the nation, but some U.S. cities are taking a different view: Wooing immigrants can reverse long-term declines in population. (The Wall Street Journal)
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As U.S. stocks soar to new highs, economists argue the rally makes people feel richer. And when they think they're wealthier, the theory is that they'll spend more on everything from homes to cars and clothing. The problem with that idea is fewer and fewer Americans actually have any stake in stocks. (CNN/Money)
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New wrinkles. Pressure to procreate. And what have you checked off your bucket list lately? Turning 30 can be stressful, even before thinking about personal financial goals and how to achieve them. Adults 34 and younger grade themselves worse than any other age group in their personal finance knowledge, with 48% giving themselves a C or lower, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. (USA Today)
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Truckin' & Stylin'. Shooting Stars. Timeless Elders. Based on where you live, how much money you make and where you shop, you may be classified into one of these categories by one of the country's largest data brokers. Using its massive database filled with personal data on shoppers and their buying behaviors, data giant Acxiom places each of the U.S. households it tracks into one of 70 categories, ranging from the wealthiest – dubbed "Summit Estates" – to the bottom of the income spectrum – or "Resilient Renters." Yahoo! Finance)
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Nearly every facet of corporate life has gone digital. But many public-company boards remain stuck in analog mode. That has started to change. Boards worried about their scant digital expertise are scrambling to recruit newcomers who can advise management on strategies for mobile devices, social media and data analytics. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Reed Hastings has emerged from hiding. Well, maybe not hiding — he was still posting on Facebook and talking to the occasional magazine writer. But by his previous standards, the Netflix co-founder and CEO had been laying uncharacteristically low in the almost two years since the Great Qwikster Fiasco. It took a clear recovery from the company's missteps, as evidenced by a blowout earnings report last month, to convince the Netflix PR team (and/or Hastings himself) that it was time to unleash him. (Harvard Business Review)
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As the economy improves, the federal budget deficit is growing dramatically smaller. The Congressional Budget Office has its estimates from just a few months ago, knocking off $200 billion in red ink for the current fiscal year. Some temporary factors are being cited for the projected improvement. (NPR)
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Everyone likes money. Ask people who say they don’t care about money if they’ve ever turned down a raise. Wait for the awkward pause. But money is funny, too. However much it can motivate people to work harder and better, it also has curious – and sometimes counterproductive – effects on their performance. (The Washington Post)
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With graduation season upon us, it's important to remember that as a manager you must often be a teacher too. A major part of your role is instruction – which means that you need to pay attention to the massive disruption going on in higher education and what it means for company learning. The most visible part of educational disruption is the proliferation of online learning through MOOCs, or massive, open, online courses. (Harvard Business Review)
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The next time you see a father out shopping with his kids, you might need to check your assumptions. "I'll get the, 'Oh, look, it's a dad! That's so sweet!' "says Jonathan Heisey-Grove, a stay-at-home father of two young boys in Alexandria, Va., who is pretty sure the other person assumes he's just giving Mom a break for the day. In fact, he's part of a growing number of fathers who are minding the kids full time while their wives support the family and who say societal expectations are not keeping up with their reality. (NPR)
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Changing the way your genes express themselves, coaxing you to actually understand yourself, and finally letting you really relax: Meditation is well worth getting familiar with. (Fast Company)
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