Top News
Being young on Wall Street once meant having it all: style, smarts and too much money to spend wisely. Now, twenty-somethings in the finance industry are losing both cash and cachet. Three years after the global financial crisis nearly brought Wall Street firms to the brink, the nation’s largest banks are again struggling. As profits wane, layoffs have claimed thousands of jobs and those still employed have watched their compensation shrink. (New York Times)
Visit http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/wall-st-layoffs-take-heavy-toll-on-younger-workers to view the full article online. For the not-so-super debt reduction supercommittee, failure is clearly an option. As the blame-gaming bipartisan congressional committee stumbled toward collapse Monday, washing out on even the most basic show of common purpose, the "what happens next" scenarios began to take shape. (NPR)
Visit http://www.npr.org/2011/11/21/142602820/with-no-super-deal-whats-next-in-deficit-debate to view the full article online. Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether. (AP)
Visit http://news.yahoo.com/bad-economy-means-another-scaled-back-thanksgiving-191430580.html to view the full article online. Career
This time of year, the only turkey around should be the one you’re carving. If you’re starting a new job, here are 10 sure-fire ways to serve your own head on a platter. (U.S. News and World Report)
Visit http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/11/22/10-faux-pas-to-avoid-when-starting-a-new-job to view the full article online. There have been some recent indications that 2012 might be a year in which raises and salary increases are actually possible. If so, it’s important that employees are prepared to ask when the time is right. (Washington Post)
Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/career-coach-how-to-negotiate-for-a-raise/2011/11/16/gIQAoST1eN_story.html to view the full article online. Diversity in the Workplace
Women now graduate from college in greater numbers than men and enter the work force at similar rates. Yet at every career stage, men are more likely to advance than women. (Wall Street Journal)
Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203699404577042192498214290.html to view the full article online. International
A title in this bestselling genre on avoiding toil, "Bonjour Paresse" ("Hello Laziness") by Corinne Maier, an economist, explained how she got away with doing nothing at EDF, another utility. In fact studies suggest that the problem with French employees is less that they are work-shy, than that they are poorly managed. (The Economist)
Visit http://www.economist.com/node/21538733 to view the full article online. A fascinating Jad Mouawad article confirms what I’d anecdotally suspected, international first class accommodations on airlines are getting more lavish. This is in stark contrast to the generally deteriorating quality of the domestic air travel business. (National Review)
Visit http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/283745/thoughts-airline-luxury-and-inequality-reihan-salam to view the full article online. Education
The MBA has traditionally been known as a general management degree, but that’s starting to change as students look to get an edge in a more competitive job market. Increasingly, students are pushing aside the bread-and-butter MBA degree in favor of one with a unique specialization, like aviation or football. Some of the more recent programs to hit the management education world include a new Wine MBA introduced by Sonoma State University in California and an MBA degree with an energy focus offered by the University of Oklahoma’s Price College of Business. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
Visit http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111118/mba-programs-find-their-niche/ to view the full article online. The growing lure of life as an entrepreneur means MBA courses are shifting to include modules on creating a start-up. The Tomorrow's MBA study, an annual report commissioned by the Association of Business Schools, which represents the UK's business schools and management colleges, reported on the trend for the first time this summer. (The Guardian)
Visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/nov/14/mba-entrepreneurs-start-up-skills to view the full article online. NBMBAA
Sponsored by Xerox Canada Ltd., two (2) scholarships of $5,000.00 each are offered to students enrolled in a course of study leading to a master’s degree in Business Administration. In addition, scholarship recipients will be offered and must complete an one 4-month internship employment during their period of study.
Visit http://gradblog.schulich.yorku.ca/2011/11/16/xerox-canada-ltd-scholarships-nbmbaa/ to view the full article online. Technology
Netflix dropped a double bomb late Monday: The company now expects to lose money for all of 2012, and it is looking to raise cash in a secondary offering of its stock. (CNN/Money)
Visit http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/technology/netflix_unprofitable/index.htm?iid=Lead to view the full article online. Beware the wrath of the Facebook crank. Several major retailers are simply ignoring customer service complaints via social networks, at their own peril. (Fortune)
Visit http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/22/facebook-complaints-companies-are-asleep-at-the-wheel/?iid=SF_F_River to view the full article online. Entrepreneurship
Everyone wants their own mobile application. In the last year, I have heard this consistently. In fact, mobile analytics firm Distimo claims 91 of the top 100 brands have their own mobile app (up from 51 just 18 months ago). On the surface this sounds great, right? (Harvard Business Review)
Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/building_a_mobile_app_is_not_a.html?cm_sp=most_widget-_-default-_-Building%20a%20Mobile%20App%20Is%20Not%20a%20Mobile%20Strategy to view the full article online. Erica Zidel knew trying to raise funds for her startup would be a full-time job. She worried that chasing after capital would distract her from building the best product she could. So, rather than sweat the investment game, she has spent two years holding down a day job while bootstrapping her new company on the side. (Entrepreneur)
Visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220733 to view the full article online. The Economy
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau released its new "supplemental poverty measure," which takes into account not just cash income, but also expenses in major categories like child and medical care, as well as income from tax breaks and non-cash benefits like food stamps. The new measure also adjusts for the fact that it's more expensive to live in certain parts of the country than in others. The goal is to better understand both who is poor and the success or failure of anti-poverty efforts. (Time)
Visit http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2011/11/21/americas-poor-why-a-new-measure-shows-more-people-are-living-in-poverty-than-we-thought/ to view the full article online. Normally the big day is "Black Friday", so named because the day after the holiday is when retailers supposedly move into the black and become profitable. Some stores, it seems, cannot wait that long and are going nocturnal. They are rolling out their special offers at midnight on the Thursday or earlier in the evening. (The Economist)
Visit http://www.economist.com/node/21538756 to view the full article online. Personal Finance
The Occupy Wall Street movement has directed much of its anger at giant banks, which are no strangers to customer complaints. Some of those who have been burned by high fees in recent years are now satisfying their banking needs with a giant retailer instead, as Wal-Mart surges into the financial sector with a pre-paid, reloadable debit card called the MoneyCard. (NPR)
Visit http://www.npr.org/2011/11/22/142599130/wal-mart-lures-bank-customers-frustrated-by-fees to view the full article online. How should I invest my savings long term? The question has become almost a national obsession over the past three decades as defined contribution plans – 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, the various IRAs – have become the mainstay pension for American workers and families. (Kiplinger's)
Visit http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/practical-economics/archives/your-job-should-drive-your-savings-plan.html to view the full article online. Corporate America
Steve Jobs’s widow may never find a better moment to sell her late husband’s $6.78 billion of Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. stock. (Bloomberg)
Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/buffett-beating-gains-cue-jobs-heirs-to-sell-apple-disney-tech.html# to view the full article online. Human beings can experience 34,000 different emotional states. But our research shows that in an average working week, most CEOs experience just one dozen emotions across work and home life. Those twelve emotions are mostly negative: Being overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, disappointed, and fearful. (CNN International)
Visit http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/22/opinion/ceos-rekindle-dreams/index.html to view the full article online. Government
Many small business owners will tell you that regulatory concerns hamper their plans to hire and expand. But according to a new survey, where they really run into difficulty is pinpointing exactly which regulations are responsible for their problems. (Washington Post)
Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-small-business/post/small-businesses-fail-to-pinpoint-regulation-concerns/2011/11/21/gIQAiRxxkN_blog.html to view the full article online. President Barack Obama will challenge the U.S. Congress to preserve an expiring payroll tax cut on Tuesday as he travels to New Hampshire to seize the initiative in the wake of a collapsed effort to reduce the nation's budget deficit. (CNBC)
Visit http://www.cnbc.com/id/45398675 to view the full article online. Leadership
We all know the saying "If you want something done, give it to a busy person." It’s sound advice – but it’s also a dangerous habit unless you step back occasionally to see what impact it might be having on the busy person’s experience at work. For most managers, having a "go to" person is a great asset, but make sure you don’t overdo it by going to the same person again and again. (Fast Company)
Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/1796334/helping-your-employees-find-their-flow to view the full article online. Any job seeker knows from experience how much first impressions matter. In fact, they probably matter too much. A single interview, after all, rarely uncovers enough information to determine whether someone would be a good employee. To compensate for this shortcoming, many entrepreneurs follow the adage to hire slowly, fire fast. But hiring too slowly can be just as counterproductive. (Inc.)
Visit http://www.inc.com/magazine/201111/are-you-overthinking-your-hires.html to view the full article online. Lifestyle
From toys to tablet computers, which items will be steals on Black Friday and which ones are worth waiting for until the holidays are over. (CNN/Money)
Visit http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1110/gallery.black_friday/index.html to view the full article online. |