Top News
So grave, so menacing, so unstoppable has the euro crisis become that even rescue talk only fuels ever-rising panic. Investors have sniffed out that Europe’s leaders seem unwilling ever to do enough. Yet unless politicians act fast to persuade the world that their desire to preserve the euro is greater than the markets’ ability to bet against it, the single currency faces ruin. (The Economist)
Visit http://www.economist.com/node/21529049 to view the full article online. Here's a startling figure: The typical white family has 20 times the wealth of the median black family. That's the largest gap in 25 years. The recession widened the racial wealth gap, but experts say it's also due to deeply ingrained differences in things such as inheritance, home ownership, taxes and even expectations. (NPR)
Visit http://www.npr.org/2011/09/15/140428359/making-it-in-the-u-s-more-than-just-hard-work to view the full article online. For all of their futuristic and forward thinking, recent articles miss a very important point – the recognition and acknowledgment that work and life are now one and the same. You can no longer accurately predict the future of one, without also imaging the future of the other. (Fast Company)
Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/1780181/why-we-need-to-imagine-the-future-of-work-and-life to view the full article online. Career
In Tiffany Spaulding’s 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry, she’s worked for three companies, two of which no longer exist, and relocated to four states. Now 39 and living in Brookfield, Connecticut, she hasn’t had a promotion in five years and says she sees no chance to advance, stuck behind a wall of baby boomers. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Visit http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-15/generation-x-stymied-by-baby-boomers-refusing-to-give-up-jobs.html to view the full article online. Hiring is strong for supply-chain managers and salaries are rising. No surprise that it's an increasingly popular MBA option. (Business Week)
Visit http://www.businessweek.com/business-schools/supply-chain-management-the-next-big-thing-09122011.html to view the full article online. International
Western multinationals such as Xerox and GE are embracing polycentric innovation by sourcing more R&D capabilities from emerging markets such as India and China and integrating them into a synergistic global innovation network. In recent years, Indian firms such as Dr Reddy's have also started globalizing their R&D footprint by moving into Western markets. (Harvard Business Review)
Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/09/indian_firms_plug_into_the_glo.html to view the full article online. UBS said on Thursday that a rogue trader in its investment bank had lost $2 billion, delivering a fresh blow to the beleaguered Swiss bank. The police in London have arrested a European equities trader, Kweku Adoboli, in connection with the case, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly. (New York Times)
Visit http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/ubs-reports-2-billion-loss-to-rogue-trader/?ref=business to view the full article online. Education
Thinking of applying to business school? Now may be a good time. Applications for two-year, full-time M.B.A. programs that start this fall dropped an average of 9.9% from a year earlier, according to new data from the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the Graduate Management Admission Test. The decline marks the third year in a row that applications have fallen. (Wall Street Journal)
Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903532804576566611053380594.html?mod=WSJ_Careers_CareerJournal_4 to view the full article online. Now that you spent months arguing over the benefits of doing an MBA with your parents, colleagues, and partners, you should ask yourself if you really came up with your reasoning, or was it planted in your brain? (Financial Post)
Visit http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/10/inside-the-mba-deconstructing-the-mba-brand/ to view the full article online. NBMBAA
It's almost here and there's still time to attend. Register for the NBMBAA 33rd Annual Conference and Exposition, October 4-8 in Atlanta, GA and take advantage of the unparalleled education, career and networking opportunities of this can't-miss event.
Visit http://www.nbmbaaconference2011.org to view the full article online. Technology
One reason Apple's iPad continues to dominate the tablet market after 17 months may be that all the main competitors look like imitations but don't deliver as good an experience. They are typically flat slabs, like the iPad, priced about the same or more, but with many fewer apps, shorter battery life, usually greater weight and thickness and a weaker ecosystem for music, video, books and magazines. (Wall Street Journal)
Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576570684217745772.html to view the full article online. Netflix is losing more than it expected from the backlash over its recent price hike. The company is revising its third-quarter projected U.S. subscriber numbers downward from 25 million to 24 million, according to a letter to shareholders on Thursday. (Wired)
Visit http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/09/netflix-jump-too-soon/ to view the full article online. Entrepreneurship
Some half of small businesses never reopen after a data Armageddon. So why do less than half of small firms have plans if disaster strikes? (Inc.)
Visit http://www.inc.com/news/articles/201109/small-businesses-unprepared-for-data-disaster.html to view the full article online. When you select a pricing strategy ‐ that is, decide how you wish to price your products or services ‐ what is your goal? The first answer that comes to mind may be to maximize profits, but that isn't a good enough answer. (Entrepreneur)
Visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220211 to view the full article online. The Economy
The cost of living in the U.S. climbed more than forecast and unemployment claims rose, battering the confidence of Americans squeezed by stagnant wages and rising prices of food, housing and energy. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Visit http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-15/u-s-economy-consumer-prices-jobless-claims-exceed-forecasts.html to view the full article online. Personal Finance
Of the 1.4 billion credit card solicitations mailed in the first quarter of this year, 80% were for cards with rewards programs, according to Mintel, a market-research firm. Issuers are even dangling cash bonuses to entice you to sign up or use their cards. Kiplinger's
Visit http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/best-rewards-credit-cards/1.html to view the full article online. Bloomberg.com asked notable entrepreneurs, including panelists at Bloomberg Link's 2011 Empowered Entrepreneur conference in New York, what they do in their professional or personal lives to cut costs. (Bloomberg)
Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/money-gallery/2011-09-14/entrepreneurs-money-saving-tips.html to view the full article online. Professional Development
The University of Virginia Darden School of Business welcomed students from as far afield as India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Russia for the inaugural residency of its new Global MBA for Executives program. (MarketWatch)
Visit http://www.marketwatch.com/story/darden-school-welcomes-first-global-mba-for-executives-class-2011-09-09 to view the full article online. Providing advanced education for managers and advisors responsible for the assets, resources and offices of affluent families and individuals, the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University announced that the first offering for a Certificate in Financial Management for the Family Office will be this October. (MarketWatch)
Visit http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pepperdine-university-and-lido-consulting-introduces-certificate-in-financial-management-for-the-family-office-2011-09-07 to view the full article online. Corporate America
For anyone who lives in a city or an apartment, receiving a UPS package is a major hassle that could involve you taking an entire day off work. Up until now, you weren’t told what time your package would arrive and – after three missed deliveries by UPS – your package would be returned to the warehouse for collection. (SmartMoney)
Visit http://blogs.smartmoney.com/paydirt/2011/09/14/ups-cuts-delivery-window-to-2-hours-for-40-a-year/ to view the full article online. Online sellers face mounting pressure across the country to collect sales taxes across the country. Brick-and-mortar retailers and state governments all complain, and that’s not likely to stop. So if you like to buy online and don’t like paying taxes, better do your clicking soon. (Forbes)
Visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2011/09/12/how-amazons-california-tax-romp-will-impact-us-all/ to view the full article online. Government
The U.S. Postal Service, struggling to cut costs and conserve cash, said Thursday it wants to end overnight delivery of letters and postcards and will study about 250 processing sites for possible closure. (Fox Business)
Visit http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/09/15/usps-wants-to-halt-overnight-delivery/?test=MM to view the full article online. President Obama anticipated Republican resistance to his jobs program, but he is now meeting increasing pushback from his own party. Many Congressional Democrats, smarting from the fallout over the 2009 stimulus bill, say there is little chance they will be able to support the bill as a single entity, citing an array of elements they cannot abide. (New York Times)
Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/us/politics/democrats-in-congress-balking-at-obamas-jobs-bill.html to view the full article online. Leadership
History shows that the road to technological innovation is long and winding, but lessons from successes and failures with other emerging technologies offer managers a helpful guide. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
Visit http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/2011-summer/52411/innovating-in-uncertain-markets-10-lessons-for-green-technologies/ to view the full article online. Lifestyle
Here is an amazing glimpse into the dark side of the force that is Hollywood economics. The actor who played Darth Vader still has not received residuals from the 1983 film "Return of the Jedi" because the movie, which ranks 15th in U.S. box office history, still has no technical profits to distribute. (The Atlantic)
Visit http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/how-hollywood-accounting-can-make-a-450-million-movie-unprofitable/245134/ to view the full article online. |