A CEO’s reputation is a key part of a company’s success. Few would disagree with that. But how about specifics? Weber Shandwick conducted new research with KRC Research, The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, among more than 1,750 executives in 19 markets worldwide. We sought out the perspectives of those closest to the CEO, those in the best position to judge. (Harvard Business Review)

What's the one thing almost all entrepreneurs want? Maybe some dream of great PR, others additional funding, yet others of that elusive perfect hire. But all these business owners would probably agree on one thing--having a few more hours in the day would come in really, really handy. (Inc.)

President Barack Obama and a long list of luminaries will descend this weekend on this city for the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the violent civil-rights clash that helped usher in the 1965 Voting Rights Act. For resident and civic leader Jerria Martin, that means not only commemorating those who devoted their lives to enfranchising African-Americans, "but also continuing the work of justice and unity," she said. "I hope the world will look at Selma and see that there is hope." (The Wall Street Journal)

General Electric, the American global conglomerate, is seeking MBA candidates to become its future commercial leaders. It opened in October its Experienced Commercial Leadership Development program – the main route by which MBA students enter its different business areas – and has a raft of remaining openings. (BusinessBecause)

When was the last time you saw a job listing for a Producer? Twenty years ago, it was one of the top jobs the newly incorporated Yahoo hired. (Producers were the folks who built web pages, before we had more automated technologies for creating what you see in websites today.) What about listings for PBX technicians or COBOL coders? Seen any of those lately? Here's a cold, hard truth: Many of yesterday's jobs don't exist today, and many of today's jobs won't exist tomorrow. (Inc.)

Can you do your best work amid constant, unpredictable change? How about the occasional panic? Small businesses (those with 499 or fewer employees) account for over 80% of new hires in the U.S. right now. A big company background won’t necessarily get in your way. After all, plenty of entrepreneurs came from huge organizations themselves. (Fortune)

AT&T hosted Black Enterprise’s Women of Power Session 13, dedicated to teaching attendees how to use social media to advance one’s brand. The panel, "Mobilizing You," featured tech-savvy ladies who are at the top of their game when it comes to using everything from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Linked In. (Black Enterprise)

The European Central Bank has raised this year's eurozone growth forecast to 1.5%, up from 1% previously. It also said it would start its quantitative easing programme, first announced in January, next week. Bank boss Mario Draghi said economic growth in the eurozone would strengthen slowly to reach 2.1% by 2017. (BBC News)

China set a lower economic growth target for this year and promised to open more industries to foreign investors as it tries to make its slowing, state-dominated economy more productive. The growth target of about 7 percent, down from last year’s 7.5 percent, is in line with efforts to create a "moderately prosperous society," said Premier Li Keqiang in a report Thursday to China’s ceremonial national legislature. (Time)

Some M.B.A. programs have a new extracurricular offering for international students: lessons in American-style networking. Large numbers of international students help U.S. business schools maintain healthy revenue and fill classrooms, but administrators at some schools worry that cultural differences have put those students at a disadvantage when it comes to landing prime jobs and internships. (The Wall Street Journal)

Far and away, the nation’s science, math, technology, and Ivy League colleges produce the highest-earning graduates, according to PayScale.com salary data released today. The average grad of math- and science-heavy colleges such as Harvey Mudd, CalTech, and the Georgia Institute of Technology out-earned grads of any other type of college, netting $677,000 more in earnings over 20 years than someone who didn’t attend college at all (minus the cost of attending the college). (Money Magazine)

There’s still a business case for business-school rankings, depending on where a school falls in the pecking order. At a time when elite M.B.A. programs thrive and lower-tier programs struggle to attract applicants, some deans say a high ranking can help them reach new prospective applicants or appease status-conscious donors. Other schools say they don’t mind the laurels, but don’t perceive them as affecting drawing power among prospective students. (The Wall Street Journal)

As a valued supporter of the National Black MBA Association’s legacy, we invite you to join us on Friday, June 12, as we celebrate 45 years of creating economic, educational and employment opportunities for Blacks in the business world. Plan now to attend this extraordinary event. Discounted tickets are available until March 31, so don't delay!

As another person steps forward in the trial involving Reddit CEO Ellen Pao and her former employer, prominent VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, concerns about the treatment of women in the venture capital world have reached a crescendo. One of those voices belongs to Freada Kapor Klein, a partner at venture capital firm Kapor Capital, who says she's been mistreated and seen inappropriate things happen to women in the industry. "That’s what being a woman in business has meant in the last few decades," she says. (Fast Company)

The digital revolution in financial services like payments is opening up more channels for postgraduate employment, as big banks embrace innovation. As they face stiff competition from digital payments providers like Apple Pay and PayPal, banks are turning to mobile, video and even social media. Barclays, American Express and HSBC have all bolstered their recruitment in digital banking. (BusinessBecause)

In today’s entrepreneurship model, women who start companies in their forties to fifties are a fast-growing group. And this invites a whole new set of challenges, because most people still think successful companies are started by men in their twenties. (Fast Company)

"You can’t sell sameness." This is one of my favorite quotes by former Coca-Cola marketing executive Sergio Zyman. Although Zyman has had his fair share of both successes and failures in the marketplace, you can’t deny that this quote holds a lot of merit. You know how it goes: An innovative company develops a marvelous new product or service, which becomes highly visible and eventually profitable. Others start seeing dollar signs and decide to jump in on this cash cow. Before you know it, there are a lot of competitors coming out of the woodwork – seemingly all at once – all vying for the same customer dollars. (Black Enterprise)

The time-honored pattern of American economic cycles is that recessions are worse for black workers, and recoveries are worse for black workers, too. As this recovery gains momentum, and the labor market starts to look more normal, a new report offers a reminder that black workers once again are lagging behind. (The New York Times)

The percentage of money U.S. consumers spend on health care rose in 2014 for the third straight year to another record high, according to one government measure. Some 20.6% of total consumer spending in 2014 was devoted to health care, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, annual figures from the Commerce Department report on personal expenditures show. That’s up from 20.4% in 2013. (MarketWatch)

Here is something every non-rich American family should know: The odds are that you will run out of money in retirement. On average, a typical working family in the anteroom of retirement – headed by somebody 55 to 64 years old – has only about $104,000 in retirement savings, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. That’s not nearly enough. And the situation will only grow worse. (The New York Times)

Excruciatingly long holds on the Internal Revenue Service’s help line this year mean that taxpayers need to find better ways to get their questions answered. The problems start with the fact that the IRS has cut nearly 12,000 positions as its budget has fallen by an inflation-adjusted 17% since 2010. (Money Magazine)

Eight of the biggest U.S. technology companies added a combined $69 billion to their stockpiled offshore profits over the past year, even as some corporations in other industries felt pressure to bring cash back home. Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and five other tech firms now account for more than a fifth of the $2.10 trillion in profits that U.S. companies are holding overseas, according to a Bloomberg News review of the securities filings of 304 corporations. (Bloomberg)

Airlines have stopped adding fuel surcharges. Now they call them "carrier-imposed charges." The wording change avoids regulations that required airlines to tie fuel surcharges to the actual cost of fuel and explain to passengers how the surcharges were calculated. Airlines have been making the edit since a 2012 Transportation Department crackdown on use of the "fuel surcharge" term to push the price of tickets higher without having to increase the base fare. (The Wall Street Journal)

There's been a lot of hubbub about the effort tech whiz Tony Hsieh and his crack team of acolytes have put into revitalizing downtown Las Vegas. In case you missed it, Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, in January 2012 announced that he was putting $350 million into the Downtown Project, which would fund new businesses in an economically depressed part of the city seven miles north of the Las Vegas Strip. He also wanted to create a tech hub in a city better known for gambling and tourism, which some journalists dubbed the newest "techtopia." (The Atlantic)

No matter how successful a coaching session feels while it’s underway, if it doesn’t lead to change after it’s over, it hasn’t been effective. Unfortunately, too many managers don’t adequately follow through and thereby squander the important time they’ve invested in coaching. You can make the process more effective by adopting these practices after every session. (Harvard Business Review)

Leadership practice within global firms has changed dramatically over the last five years, according to a report by global consultancy Wolff Olins. The 2015 report is based on interviews with 43 global chief executives (CEOs) across North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. In addition, more than 40 employees in their 20s were interviewed as part of the research. The findings revealed that leaders need to do what is typically considered ‘impossible’ and they need to do it fast. (Forbes)

Last year, Apple and Facebook both announced that they would cover egg freezing as a benefit for female employees. If you’re a woman who is considering postponing parenthood, this perk might be enticing, but the majority of parents want something different – something a lot less advanced and a lot less expensive. They want flexibility. (Fast Company)

The reasons for the slow death of cooking in this country are many, but a few stand out. For one, women, who traditionally have carried the brunt of the cooking load, are working more, and therefore spending less time at home cooking. In 2008, women spent 66 minutes per day cooking, almost 50 minutes fewer than in the 1960s, when they spent upwards of 112 minutes on average. (The Washington Post)