Although MBA students might be tempted to kick back and relax over the holiday break, they cannot afford such a luxury in this competitive job market, say career placement advisers. "The job search can take months," says Cynthia Billington, associate director for MBA Career Education and Advising at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School. "Any time you stop the job search, it’s like starting over." (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/business-schools/making-the-most-of-the-holiday-job-hunt-12122011.html to view the full article online.

 

Chief executive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline. America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year, according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. The dramatic bounceback comes as the latest government figures show wages for the majority of Americans are failing to keep up with inflation. (The Guardian)

Visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/14/executive-pay-increase-america-ceos to view the full article online.

 

In an effort to stabilise the euro zone, France, Germany and 21 other countries have decided to draft their own treaty to impose more central control over national budgets. Britain and three others have decided to stay out. (The Economist)

Visit http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2011/12/britain-and-eu-summit to view the full article online.

 

You probably don’t want to admit it but you love distractions. In fact, just like monkeys, you get a shot of dopamine every time something pulls you in another direction. Why do you think you check your email so much? Want to be more productive and get your focus back? There are no secret tricks here... do one thing at a time. Stop multitasking—it’s just another form of distraction. (Inc.)

Visit http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/7-things-highly-productive-people-do.html to view the full article online.

 

Professional networks are by far the most important source of new job opportunities. Networks are critical to your career. But building a powerful network takes time. It takes effort. You must build it before you need it. (Harvard Business Review)

Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/lessons_from_successful_networkers.html to view the full article online.

 

It would be Europe’s worst nightmare: after weeks of rumors, the Greek prime minister announces late on a Saturday night that the country will abandon the euro currency and return to the drachma. (New York Times)

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/business/global/a-greek-what-if-draws-concern-dropping-the-euro.html?ref=business to view the full article online.

 

Something far less serene has played out in Grimsstadir in recent weeks: a battle over China's rising economic clout. A plan by Huang Nubo, the billionaire chairman of China's Zhongkun Investment Group, to build a $200 million tourist resort in the area has sparked one of Iceland's fiercest controversies since its banks imploded three years ago, helping catapult markets into a global financial crisis. (Time)

Visit http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2101883,00.html to view the full article online.

 

You may know that MBA applications at most schools have been down for two years running and that the cost of attending a two-year MBA program is nearly out of reach for many applicants. But what you may not know is that competition for the best and brightest students has never been more intense among the leading business schools.(Fortune)

Visit http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/12/12/mba-scholarship-arms-race/?iid=SF_F_River to view the full article online.

 

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, mainstream economists in academe were criticized for treading in ethically murky waters. The 2010 documentary Inside Job recounted how influential economists were being paid by the companies and governments that they were analyzing, but failing to disclose conflicts of interest publicly or in reports they produced. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Visit http://chronicle.com/article/Economists-Push-for-a-Broader/130094/ to view the full article online.

 

EBay Inc.'s PayPal business, aiming to challenge Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial.com in the market for online daily deals, plans to start offering coupons tailored to users’ buying habits and mobile-phone locations. (Bloomberg)

Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-14/ebay-s-paypal-counts-on-103-million-users-to-target-groupon-in-deals-tech.html to view the full article online.

 

I wrote about Google’s response to Apple’s Siri voice assistant several months ago and over the last couple weeks I received further details about the secret project. For starters it is codenamed Majel, which comes from Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, better known as the voice of the Federation Computer from Star Trek. (AndroidandMe.com)

Visit http://androidandme.com/2011/12/news/googles-response-to-siri-is-codenamed-majel-could-be-released-by-end-of-year/ to view the full article online.

 

In his inauguration speech, President Obama paid homage to entrepreneurs. The path to greatness, he rhapsodized, has been paved by "the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom." (Entrepreneur)

Visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/220748 to view the full article online.

 

Last week, Catherine Rampell posted a commentary on a new Gallup poll on the question of who is "rich" in America. The median threshold in the poll’s responses was that rich is $150,000 a year of income or a net worth of $1 million. (New York Times)

Visit http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/who-counts-as-rich-continued/?ref=business to view the full article online.

 

In 2008 the world dodged a second Depression by avoiding the mistakes that led to the first. But there are further lessons to be learned for both Europe and America. (The Economist)

Visit http://www.economist.com/node/21541388 to view the full article online.

 

Workers will go to great lengths to hold onto their jobs, according to a new survey. Worried about their professional future in the current economic climate, two-thirds of workers surveyed by staffing company Randstad US said they would make sacrifices such as working longer hours or losing vacation time to hold onto their current jobs. (Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204319004577086813796102808.html to view the full article online.

 

Here's the good news: You have more options than ever for paying your financial adviser. The bad news? It's even tougher to figure out if you're getting the best deal for your money. (Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204554204577024152103830414.html to view the full article online.

 

Moving out? Getting married? Having kids? Who can afford it anymore? Young Americans are delaying key adult milestones because of the sluggish economy. (CNN/Money)

Visit http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/economy/1112/gallery.economy-delayed-adulthood/?iid=HP_LN to view the full article online.

 

On Nov. 22, the Federal Communications Commission delivered bad news to AT&T (T). The commission had decided to subject the company’s planned merger with T-Mobile to an administrative hearing, a sign that it was prepared to block the deal because it might stifle competition. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/behind-atampts-epic-lobbying-failure-12082011.html to view the full article online.

 

Addictions are tough to break, yet Research in Motion seems to be doing whatever it can to help users cast aside their CrackBerrys once and for all. Consider just a few of the reasons the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry smartphone is ailing: an international outage in mid-October; the Playbook tablet, a weak answer to the iPad; and phones with web browsing that is both laughably low-quality and slow as molasses. (Fortune)

Visit http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/10/blackberrys-business-problem/ to view the full article online.

 

A tiny percentage of very wealthy Americans funded a relatively large chunk of the 2010 congressional midterm races, continuing a trend that has been growing for two decades, according to a new analysis of political contributions. (NPR)

Visit http://www.npr.org/2011/12/14/143730288/top-donors-make-up-one-quarter-of-campaign-donations to view the full article online.

 

Is there any value to joining LinkedIn? That's the debate happening over at Inc., where Marla Tabaka has written a thoughtful post about how to maximize your use of LinkedIn to in some cases find a job, but in most cases network with others. (Meanwhile, Fast Company got LinkedIn's SVP to serve up his top three career tips for novice networkers.) (Fast Company)

Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/1801059/social-platforms-are-not-vending-machines-finding-value-in-linkedin-or-any-other-social-netw to view the full article online.

 

Our interest is purely centered on working with teams that know how to support one another as they go about creating and launching industry-changing ideas. To achieve this kind of success, hire the following three types of people. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/management/three-types-of-people-to-hire-today-12132011.html to view the full article online.

 

At the office holiday party this year, do share an interesting tidbit with the chief of your company. But don't celebrate with too much drinking. Sounds obvious, right? Unfortunately, workers at holiday parties can stray from the professional image they'd prefer to project, as Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations and services at the University of Denver, knows all too well. (Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204903804577082763445765588.html to view the full article online.

 

Just because you left your holiday shopping to the last minute doesn’t mean you have to pay full price. These coupon and bargain-hunting Web sites may save you time and money at the mall. They may even save you from setting foot in the mall in the first place. (New York Times)

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/fashion/shopping-at-the-last-minute-no-worries-online.html to view the full article online.