Confidence is not something you either have or you don't. Confidence is unfortunately for me, and probably for you, way more situational than absolute. Maybe you're confident in front of your team, but in front of potential investors... not so much. (Inc.)
Learn More...

 

Despite 11.3 million unemployed Americans, there are 3.9 million job openings in the U.S. right now, and 39% of businesses report having difficulty filling jobs, according to a 2013 Manpower survey. Wouldn’t it be nice if job hunters could be matched up with the available jobs? Of course, the 37% of the unemployed who have been out of work for six months or longer will always be harder to place, but there are other reasons it is proving difficult to make these matches. (Kiplinger's)
Learn More...

 

I did it. I went to a cocktail party where I didn't know anyone, and successfully chit-chatted for two hours. (Not to myself. I actually spoke with other people.) I have never been good at the kind of networking where you're supposed to walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with "connections." The very idea makes me cringe. (Inc.)
Learn More...

 

Janet Yellen, the woman the White House wants to run the Federal Reserve, has defended its stimulus efforts and vowed to continue them if confirmed. In her first appearance in front of Congress, she said the Fed's $85bn bond-buying programme was a "meaningful contribution to economic growth". (BBC News)
Learn More...

 

The idea that we can get it all done is the biggest myth in time management. There’s no way Brad can meaningfully go through all his email and there’s no way any of us are going to accomplish everything we want to get done. Face it: You’re a limited resource. Each day only has 24 hours and we can’t sustainably work through all of them. On the one hand, that’s depressing. On the other hand, acknowledging it can be tremendously empowering. (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...

 

Some people instantly make us feel important. Some people instantly make us feel special. Some people light up a room just by walking in. We can't always define it, but some people have it: They're naturally charismatic. Unfortunately, natural charisma quickly loses its impact. Familiarity breeds, well, familiarity. But some people are remarkably charismatic. (Inc.)
Learn More...

 

For young, highly educated workers who usually put in long hours, working 5 extra hours per week is linked to a 1% increase in annual wage growth, according to a study of thousands of U.S. workers by Dora Gicheva of the University of North Carolina. The finding holds only for those who work at least 48 hours per week; when hours are lower than that, there’s no correlation between additional work and wage growth. (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...

 

Kent Gardiner, chair of a prestigious Washington law firm, thought he and his fellow managers were doing everything right to promote women and people of color. Crowell & Moring hired roughly equal numbers of men and women out of law school. It had mentoring programs, women’s initiatives, a diversity council. It opened a child-care center and embraced part-time and flexible schedules. (The Washington Post)
Learn More...

 

The euro zone economy marked time in the third quarter of the year, growing just 0.1 percent from the second quarter, a report on Thursday showed, disappointing hopes that a full-fledged recovery was finally taking hold after five years of recession and stagnation. (The New York Times)
Learn More...

 

Faced with heartbreaking images of the typhoon-ravaged Philippines – the sea of corpses, communities reduced to rubble, mothers clutching their hungry children – the world is watching an epic tragedy unfold and looking for ways to help. The big question is how. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me., admissions officers are still talking about the high school senior who attended a campus information session last year for prospective students. Throughout the presentation, she apparently posted disparaging comments on Twitter about her fellow attendees, repeatedly using a common expletive. (The New York Times)
Learn More...

 

Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business has claimed the title of top part-time MBA program for 2013. This marks the first time that Tepper has held the top spot, after finishing third in 2011 and seventh in 2009. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University will host the tenth annual Minority MBA Student Case Competition, February 28 - March 2, 2014 in Cleveland, OH.  Online registration begins October 14, 2013 and ends January 3, 2014. To register, visit http://fisher.osu.edu/keybank.

KeyBank Foundation will supervise the selection of a contemporary and never-before-used case topic addressing business issues with varied implications at either a national or international level. Teams of three presenters are being invited from universities and colleges across the country to compete. Each team will benefit from the opportunity to develop important professional skills such as analyzing and responding quickly to often-complex business issues. Also, teams will have a chance to hone their communication and team-building talents while learning from the expertise of business executive judges and moderators.
Learn More...

 

Professionals of color can take advantage of unique scholarship opportunities through NBMBAA university partners such as the University of St. Thomas, the Simmons School of Management and Northeastern University.

University of St. Thomas MBA Outreach Scholarship
The University of St. Thomas offers up to 15 full-tuition, two-year scholarships for talented young professionals of color.

Scholarships are for full-time study at the University of St. Thomas, located at their vibrant downtown Minneapolis campus in close proximity to the corporate headquarters of several of the world's leading employers, including Target, General Mills, Best Buy, and U.S. Bank.
Details

Simmons School of Management/National Black MBA Association Scholarship
In partnership with the Simmons School of Management, this renewable scholarship offers up to full tuition for candidates who are National Black MBA Association members in good standing and admitted to Simmons’ Master of Business Administration program. Awards are made on the basis of academic, professional and/or personal merit.
Details

Northeastern University/National Black MBA Association MBA Scholarship
In partnership with Northeastern University, this merit-based scholarship covers up to full tuition to qualified candidates who are NBMBAA members and admitted to Northeastern’s Full-time MBA program. Awards are made on the basis of academic, professional and/or personal merit. This scholarship may be renewable.
Details

 

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to release a Galaxy smartphone next year with a display that wraps around the edges so users can read messages or monitor stocks while looking from an angle, according to two people familiar with the plans. (Bloomberg)
Learn More...

 

Digital scrapbooking site Pinterest is stepping into the spotlight in a big way. In recent months, the company has drawn attention through large funding efforts, high-level hires, and international expansion, but still has yet to reveal a proper revenue strategy. But the startup's recent actions signal not only that it is serious about growing its already impressive audience but also tackling that thorny monetization issue. (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

The sharing economy is powering a rise of new entrepreneurs who need a different kind of office space. Co-working spaces that foster certain communities, like Galvanize, in Denver, cater to that changing culture of work. When you walk into it — the first thing you'll see is a well-stocked bar. The second is a coffee shop. (NPR)
Learn More...

 

To create a business capable of blossoming for years, you'll have to prune it from time to time. Working with customers or offering products that can't achieve healthy profit margins can sap time and stifle growth, says Nat Wasserstein, managing director of Lindenwood Associates, which helps turn around small and midsize businesses. (Money)
Learn More...

 

In a speech in Frankfurt in October, Peter Praet, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, told a conference of economists something curiously obvious. "Individual households are heterogeneous in many respects," he said. "It is important to measure and analyze this heterogeneity because it can have important implications for aggregate figures." People are different, he meant, and we need to understand how to understand the economy. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

The reasons businesses are opening on Sundays – and opening for longer hours – are, not surprisingly, largely economic, says Jonathan Marek, a senior vice president at predictive analytics software firm Applied Predictive Technologies. For the postal service, which is expected to lose an estimated $6 billion this year, the Amazon deal likely represents a nice infusion of cash (neither Amazon nor the USPS would talk monetary details, but package delivery is often more profitable than first-class mail delivery). (MarketWatch)
Learn More...

 

Teenagers and college students can spend only so much time cooped up with their families on a holiday like Thanksgiving. This year, some retailers are betting that this target spending group dashes out the door after dinner, perhaps dodging dishwashing or other duties, and in all likelihood ditching their parents. Destination: the mall. (The New York Times)
Learn More...

 

Year-end tax planning should be easier this year than last. Thanks to the new law enacted in January, you won’t have to wait to see whether Congress will reinstate popular breaks that have expired. But don’t break out the bubbly just yet. If you’re a high-income taxpayer, there’s a good chance your taxes will go up in 2013, and that makes year-end planning more important than ever. (Kiplinger's)
Learn More...

 

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management has reclaimed the top position after a two-year absence in Bloomberg Businessweek’s biennial ranking of the best executive MBA programs. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

As companies compete to lure young, socially minded talent, they are stepping up their B game. More companies are touting the B Corp logo, a third-party seal of environmental and social credentials, to attract young job seekers who want an employer committed to both a social mission and the bottom line. As a result, the B Corp logo – a circumscribed B – has been popping up on everything from company websites to office signage to shopping bags, even as some question whether the designation means much. (The Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

Americans may be able to keep their individual insurance plans for one more year, under a fix offered by President Obama on Thursday to address a controversial provision of the Affordable Care Act. (CNN/Money)
Learn More...

 

The health insurance sign-up data released Wednesday afternoon by the Obama administration tell us a lot of things.They tell us how many people have selected an insurance plan through the new health care exchanges (106,185 Americans) and where they came from (79,391 in state marketplaces and 26,794 in the federally-run exchanges). (The Washington Post)
Learn More...

 

Paul Smith had 20 minutes to sell the CEO of Procter & Gamble, and his team of managers, on new market-research techniques for which Mr. Smith's department wanted funding. As associate director of P&G's market research, Mr. Smith had spent three weeks assembling a concise pitch with more than 30 PowerPoint slides. (The Wall Street Journal)
Learn More...

 

Much of my work as a coach involves helping people wrestle with an important decision. Some of these decisions feel particularly big because they involve selecting one option to the exclusion of all others when the cost of being "wrong" can be substantial: If I’m at a crossroads in my career, which path should I follow? If I’m considering job offers, which one should I accept? If I’m being asked to relocate, should I move to a new city or stay put? (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...

 

A town in eastern Canada had a problem with its municipal rubbish pickup. To complete their routes, workers were racking up overtime hours, at great cost to the town. So the city council came up with a solution: All rubbish collectors would be paid for eight hours of work, regardless of how long it took them to complete their task. If they were done quickly, they still got the full day’s pay. If they took longer, they got the same eight hours pay. (BBC News)
Learn More...

 

There are plenty of reasons why Americans eat the foods they do, but two of the most important factors in determining diets are income levels and education. An analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reinforces the notion that high earners with college degrees are more likely than other Americans to eat a healthy diet. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Learn More...

 

My generation – the Baby Boomers – are beginning to retire, particularly the very successful ones who can afford to retire earlier. They have stayed at work late, risen early, traveled more than they wanted when their children were young, survived under different bosses, ascended through the ranks, and attained ever increasing responsibilities. Now, many of them have decided to slow down, play more golf or tennis, volunteer, and travel for pleasure. But that’s mostly just the men. (Harvard Business Review)
Learn More...