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A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 23
Wired Top Stories22 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pm -
Paul Graham: Why Y Combinator Replaces The Traditional Corporation
Fast Company22 Feb 2012 | 11:35 amIf Y Combinator is the next PayPal Mafia, then Paul Graham is Silicon Valley's godfather. Graham is the cofounder of Y Combinator, the investment firm that plugs seed money ($18,000 on average) into early stage startups in exchange for mentorship and access to its ever-growing network of alumni. It's the latter benefit that's truly made Y Combinator a Valley powerhouse--YC's vast network of influential entrepreneurs that includes breakout Valley stars such as the founders of Dropbox and Airbnb. (We attempted to capture this network on our list of the Most Innovative Companies in Business with… -
Mobile Internet Users Will Soon Surpass PC Internet Users Globally
Market Insights21 Feb 2012 | 4:40 amBy Susan Huynh, Forecast Analyst Recently I published a forecast about mobile subscriptions and mobile subscribers (people) by region, worldwide. In 2012, more than half of the world's population -- around 4.3 billion people -- will own at least one mobile handset. In emerging markets, where the penetration of landline phone connections has been low, the adoption of mobile phones has soared over the past five years. Mobile handsets are able to provide a cheaper and more convenient means of telecommunications access. They are breaking down barriers to entry -- and have been received with… -
Flipping the Switch: Who Is Responsible for Getting Employees to Take a Break?
Knowledge@Wharton15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmIn the new world of work, 5:30 p.m. is far from the end of the day. Smartphones and laptop computers -- devices that ostensibly enable us to work faster, more efficiently and more flexibly -- have become 24/7 intravenous hookups to our jobs. Fearing employee burnout from being "always on," a number of firms have recently instituted initiatives requiring workers to take breaks and switch off their gadgets. But do such blanket policies really make a difference? Who is responsible for ensuring that employees maintain a healthy work/life balance? -
Slave Receipt, Caddy Lead $500 Million African American Museum
BusinessWeek.com -- Innovation21 Feb 2012 | 9:09 pmAn ordinary sales slip consigning a young woman to slavery is among the chilling items that will be displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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Wired Top Stories
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A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 23
22 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pmGoogle's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills. -
DataLocker Aims to Allow Personal Cloud at Work
22 Feb 2012 | 4:40 pmAppSense Labs today released a new product aimed at making free-wheeling consumer cloud practices such as synching of mobile devices more acceptable at work. But while Dropbox is popular and DataLocker is welcome for encypting mobile data, the bigger question facing IT soon will be what to do about iCloud on Macs and SkyDrive on Windows 8. -
Alleged Accomplice of Accused Cable-Modem Hacker Testifies Against Him
22 Feb 2012 | 4:37 pmThe alleged accomplice of an accused cable-modem hacker testified in court on Wednesday that the suspect taught him how to pirate cable service using hacked firmware and cloned Mac addresses. -
After Oracle Lawsuit, HP's Itanium Sales Take a Hit
22 Feb 2012 | 4:16 pmLooking at Hewlett-Packard?s financials, it?s easy to see see why the company around and sued Oracle last year after the database vendor decided to pull support for HP?s Itanium systems. -
Ex-Apple Man Streams Flash Onto the iPad
22 Feb 2012 | 4:13 pmOn Wednesday, OnLive unveiled a new version of OnLive Desktop -- a iPad application that lets users access a virtual Windows desktop and Windows applications housed on servers in the proverbial cloud -- and this new version includes a browser equipped with Adobe Flash. Famously, Apple doesn't allow the Flash player to run locally on the iPad, but OnLive is offering a way around the restriction.
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Fast Company
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Paul Graham: Why Y Combinator Replaces The Traditional Corporation
22 Feb 2012 | 11:35 amIf Y Combinator is the next PayPal Mafia, then Paul Graham is Silicon Valley's godfather. Graham is the cofounder of Y Combinator, the investment firm that plugs seed money ($18,000 on average) into early stage startups in exchange for mentorship and access to its ever-growing network of alumni. It's the latter benefit that's truly made Y Combinator a Valley powerhouse--YC's vast network of influential entrepreneurs that includes breakout Valley stars such as the founders of Dropbox and Airbnb. (We attempted to capture this network on our list of the Most Innovative Companies in Business with… -
Follow-Up: Google's Goggles Come Into Focus
22 Feb 2012 | 10:09 amGoogle's working on a new device, a pair of augmented reality glasses that've been all but confirmed by the New York Times. We looked at this idea a couple months back--now here's what's new.The New York Times isn't messing around with today's headline: "Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses By Year's End." Nick Bilton's convinced enough by info from his sources to really go for it. And the article's original pre-publish headline even borrows a little sci-fi iconography to spice things up: "Google to Sell Terminator-style Glasses..."That's more or less what we said back in December when we… -
How To Pitch A Startup In Three Minutes
22 Feb 2012 | 8:25 amh5.boxxytitle {font-family:impact;font-size:24px;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:normal;} .gradient {display:block;background-color: #ffde00; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left right, from(#bf9b6c), to(#ffde00)); background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -o-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); filter:… -
Brands Get Physical To Build Trust
22 Feb 2012 | 7:47 amFrom handshakes to hardware, intimate signals constantly affect us in life. As the world becomes increasingly digital, we are losing many sensory signals that once moved us. Here's what can companies do to reclaim these touching moments.I’m sure you’ve had the experience of reaching out to shake someone’s hand, only to be surprised by a palm so limp that it feels more like a dead fish than a warm welcome. What was your immediate impression of the person? How, then, did you reassess them? If you thought it indicative of a weak character, you’re onto something. Some years ago,… -
Google May Sell AR Glasses This Year, New Premium Ads Expected From Facebook, Apple Plans Second Enormous Data Center
22 Feb 2012 | 7:38 amBreaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.UK Govt. Calls For Innovation, Alternatives To GPS. There's a sore need to innovate in the navigation space and create GPS alternatives, a committee has warned. The way things are wired today, fluctuating space weather could easily knock out GPS systems crucial to everyone from the military to financial systems, leaving no back-up plan if such an event took place. --NS--Updated 10:30 a.m. ESTGoogle's Doodle commemorates 155 years since the birth of Heinrich Hertz, the first person to prove the existence of electromagnetic…
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Market Insights
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Mobile Internet Users Will Soon Surpass PC Internet Users Globally
21 Feb 2012 | 4:40 amBy Susan Huynh, Forecast Analyst Recently I published a forecast about mobile subscriptions and mobile subscribers (people) by region, worldwide. In 2012, more than half of the world's population -- around 4.3 billion people -- will own at least one mobile handset. In emerging markets, where the penetration of landline phone connections has been low, the adoption of mobile phones has soared over the past five years. Mobile handsets are able to provide a cheaper and more convenient means of telecommunications access. They are breaking down barriers to entry -- and have been received with… -
The Data Digest: Mobile Banking Uptake
17 Feb 2012 | 3:36 amThe New York Times recently published an article based on a Forrester report (Mobile Is The New Face Of Engagement) about the uptake of smartphones worldwide in the years to come. And for 2011 it was estimated that just under 500 million smartphones were shipped. Knowing the drivers behind the growth of smartphones gives businesses confidence in mobile technology investment -- even when uptake is currently still limited. In the US today, Consumer Technographics® data shows that mobile usage is still far from mature in many industries. Take the financial industry as an example: 21% of US… -
Showing Facebook Love On Valentine's Day
14 Feb 2012 | 10:20 amRecently, social media consultancy Sociagility published an infographic showing the top brand leaders and laggards in the social media space based on a study conducted in November 2011. The infographic ranks brands based on their proprietary PRINT index, which is based on popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach, and trust. The top brands include Google, Disney, Starbucks, Apple, and BlackBerry. I visited these brands on Facebook and found some similarities: They each have millions of fans, they have fun and interactive brand posts, and most are wishing their fans a happy… -
If Only We Had Done X (Lessons In Project Management)
8 Feb 2012 | 11:26 amHow many of you have managed consulting projects that didn't turn out as planned and left you saying, "If only we had done . . ." ? Have you ever wondered how many steps and criteria are involved in successful consulting projects? And do you know how to avoid project failures? In an upcoming research report, "Five Stages To Optimize The Research Process," Forrester will lay out the five key stages, 30-plus key steps, and 130-plus key criteria identified in successful consulting projects. Not all criteria are equal and required for every project, but miss some key criteria and project steps… -
The Data Digest: Profiling Digital Natives
3 Feb 2012 | 2:05 amAs part of our Demographic Overview series, we just published Digital Natives: A Demographic Overview; previously, we published research on digital dads and digital moms. For readers who haven't heard the term before, Digital Natives are the individuals currently ages 12 to 17, and they will soon become the most sophisticated consumers in the digital world. Forrester defines Digital Natives as "individuals who have grown up in the age of technology and cannot imagine a life without computers, cell phones, and social networking." With the increasing numbers of these Digital Natives, it is…
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Knowledge@Wharton
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Flipping the Switch: Who Is Responsible for Getting Employees to Take a Break?
15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmIn the new world of work, 5:30 p.m. is far from the end of the day. Smartphones and laptop computers -- devices that ostensibly enable us to work faster, more efficiently and more flexibly -- have become 24/7 intravenous hookups to our jobs. Fearing employee burnout from being "always on," a number of firms have recently instituted initiatives requiring workers to take breaks and switch off their gadgets. But do such blanket policies really make a difference? Who is responsible for ensuring that employees maintain a healthy work/life balance? -
Patients versus Profits at Johnson & Johnson: Has the Company Lost its Way?
15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmFor a corporate icon long held up as the gold standard in business ethics, Johnson & Johnson has suffered some stunning setbacks in recent years. Among the headaches: a seemingly endless string of product recalls, safety issues with the company's artificial hips, and lawsuits brought by numerous states over the marketing of its anti-psychotic medication. Critics wonder whether CEO William Weldon will be able to convince consumers and investors that J&J can regain its once stellar reputation. -
Why BCG's Hal Sirkin Is Bullish on the Future of American Manufacturing
15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmFor years, conventional wisdom has maintained that manufacturing in the U.S. is in terminal decline. But the tide is now turning, according to Hal Sirkin, a senior partner and managing director at the Boston Consulting Group. Rising wages and currency rates, among other factors, have dramatically narrowed the gap between manufacturing costs in China and the U.S., with the result that several U.S. companies are now "in-sourcing" manufacturing jobs back to America. Sirkin, who recently spoke at the White House about this research, discusses the implications for U.S. jobs and… -
Textbook Case: Apple and Others Strive to Be the Next Wave in Educational Publishing
15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmWhile the $4.5 billion textbook industry seems ready for disruption, the latest digital offerings from firms like Apple may not be enough to overthrow it -- yet. Apple's approach, which revolves around the company's ecosystem and devices, poses certain limitations for institutions and for students, experts say, and the proposed cost savings from not having to purchase more expensive physical books may not add up. Also, it's unclear whether more elaborate, enhanced textbooks with 3-D graphics and animation will catch on and eventually replace the printed word. -
Google's New Privacy Policy: When Consumers' Worlds Collide, the Company Stands to Profit
15 Feb 2012 | 12:29 pmOn March 1, Google plans to toss out more than 60 different privacy policies and consolidate its services under a single set of guidelines. The harmonization will remove separation between Google products, meaning that the company will be able to use data it collects from users in one area across all of its platforms. While this move has sparked concerns about privacy, Wharton experts note that it also makes business sense for Google, which is trying to compete in a tech sector where success often hinges on firms' ability to leverage and monetize the data trails consumers leave online.
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BusinessWeek.com -- Innovation
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Slave Receipt, Caddy Lead $500 Million African American Museum
21 Feb 2012 | 9:09 pmAn ordinary sales slip consigning a young woman to slavery is among the chilling items that will be displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. -
How to Get a Permit for Your Driverless Car
21 Feb 2012 | 9:36 amNevada is the first state to come up with rules for licensing driverless cars. They go into effect March 1 -
Stupid Corporate Moves
17 Feb 2012 | 9:47 amYou can blame only so much on the weather, economy, or software. Sometimes companies do the dumbest things -
How to Drink Your Coffee: There's an App for That
15 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pmA Penn State scientist has an app that keeps your caffeine level in the zone -
What Jeremy Lin Says About U.S. Competitiveness
14 Feb 2012 | 8:47 pmThe rise of the Knicks' phenom represents more than winning basketball games: hope for American innovation
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Fast Company
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Paul Graham: Why Y Combinator Replaces The Traditional Corporation
22 Feb 2012 | 11:35 amIf Y Combinator is the next PayPal Mafia, then Paul Graham is Silicon Valley's godfather. Graham is the cofounder of Y Combinator, the investment firm that plugs seed money ($18,000 on average) into early stage startups in exchange for mentorship and access to its ever-growing network of alumni. It's the latter benefit that's truly made Y Combinator a Valley powerhouse--YC's vast network of influential entrepreneurs that includes breakout Valley stars such as the founders of Dropbox and Airbnb. (We attempted to capture this network on our list of the Most Innovative Companies in Business with… -
Follow-Up: Google's Goggles Come Into Focus
22 Feb 2012 | 10:09 amGoogle's working on a new device, a pair of augmented reality glasses that've been all but confirmed by the New York Times. We looked at this idea a couple months back--now here's what's new.The New York Times isn't messing around with today's headline: "Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses By Year's End." Nick Bilton's convinced enough by info from his sources to really go for it. And the article's original pre-publish headline even borrows a little sci-fi iconography to spice things up: "Google to Sell Terminator-style Glasses..."That's more or less what we said back in December when we… -
How To Pitch A Startup In Three Minutes
22 Feb 2012 | 8:25 amh5.boxxytitle {font-family:impact;font-size:24px;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:normal;} .gradient {display:block;background-color: #ffde00; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left right, from(#bf9b6c), to(#ffde00)); background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: -o-linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); background-image: linear-gradient(left, #bf9b6c, #ffde00); filter:… -
Brands Get Physical To Build Trust
22 Feb 2012 | 7:47 amFrom handshakes to hardware, intimate signals constantly affect us in life. As the world becomes increasingly digital, we are losing many sensory signals that once moved us. Here's what can companies do to reclaim these touching moments.I’m sure you’ve had the experience of reaching out to shake someone’s hand, only to be surprised by a palm so limp that it feels more like a dead fish than a warm welcome. What was your immediate impression of the person? How, then, did you reassess them? If you thought it indicative of a weak character, you’re onto something. Some years ago,… -
Google May Sell AR Glasses This Year, New Premium Ads Expected From Facebook, Apple Plans Second Enormous Data Center
22 Feb 2012 | 7:38 amBreaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.UK Govt. Calls For Innovation, Alternatives To GPS. There's a sore need to innovate in the navigation space and create GPS alternatives, a committee has warned. The way things are wired today, fluctuating space weather could easily knock out GPS systems crucial to everyone from the military to financial systems, leaving no back-up plan if such an event took place. --NS--Updated 10:30 a.m. ESTGoogle's Doodle commemorates 155 years since the birth of Heinrich Hertz, the first person to prove the existence of electromagnetic…
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WSJ.com: US Business
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Deutsche Telekom Gloomy on 2012
22 Feb 2012 | 11:40 pmDeutsche Telekom said it expects operating profit to drop further after reporting more customer losses in the U.S. and as the tough economy in many parts of Europe continues to hurt the company. -
Dexia Posts 2011 Loss on Break-Up Costs
22 Feb 2012 | 11:22 pmDexia reported a $15.37 billion net loss for 2011, driven by a write-off of its Greek bond portfolio and costs linked to the break-up of the bank. -
Esprit Profit Falls 74%
22 Feb 2012 | 10:55 pmFashion retailer Esprit Holdings said its first-half net profit tumbled 74% from a year earlier, as it continues to struggle to rebuild its brand while facing head winds in its wholesale business and European operations. -
H-P Profit Falls 44% as Revenue Slips
22 Feb 2012 | 10:14 pmHewlett-Packard's fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 44% as sales in the company's personal computers business continued to fall. -
Web Firms to Adopt 'No Track' Button
22 Feb 2012 | 10:13 pmA coalition of Internet companies including Google has agreed to support a do-not-track button to be embedded in most Web browsers—a move that the industry had been resisting for more than a year.
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WSJ.com: Markets
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Asian Companies Rush to Borrow
22 Feb 2012 | 11:28 pmAsian companies are tapping bond markets at a record pace, worried that the euro-zone crisis may deepen and make it impossible for them to secure funds later in the year, say bankers who arrange borrowing. -
Europe Weighs on Asia Markets
22 Feb 2012 | 10:04 pmAsian stock markets were mostly lower amid concerns over European growth and uncertainty about implementing Greece's debt deal; Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.8%. -
SEC May Ticket Speeding Traders
22 Feb 2012 | 9:47 pmSEC Chairman Schapiro said she is worried about the role of high-frequency traders in the stock market and hinted at new policies aimed at curbing frenetic market activity. -
Investigators Probe a Rush at MF Global to Move Cash
22 Feb 2012 | 9:17 pmInvestigators probing the collapse of MF Global are scrutinizing two money transfers made during the securities firm's final days in an effort to uncover what happened to $1.6 billion in missing customer funds. -
Solar Turnaround Eclipsed by Subsidy Cuts
22 Feb 2012 | 6:06 pmAs earnings season for the solar-panel-manufacturing industry gets under way, things are off to a bumpy start.
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Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com
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Full coverage of the Arizona GOP debate - CNN
22 Feb 2012 | 4:11 pm -
AT&T CEO pay docked $2M for T-Mobile debacle
22 Feb 2012 | 4:09 pmWhat's the cost of a $4 billion gamble gone wrong? -
ROMNEY'S TAX-CUT PLAN
22 Feb 2012 | 4:09 pmIn a switch to a more aggressive tax plan, Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he now favors cutting marginal tax rates for individuals by 20%. -
Stocks end lower as market takes a breather
22 Feb 2012 | 1:33 pmU.S. stocks drifted lower Wednesday amid doubts over the latest bailout for Greece and concerns about global economic growth. -
PC slump kills HP and Dell's bottom lines
22 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pmMaybe HP wants to rethink that whole "we're not getting rid of the PC" decision?
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Reuters: Business News
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Buffett's Berkshire muscles into Thai reinsurance
22 Feb 2012 | 7:44 pmHONG KONG/BANGKOK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is pushing into the Thai reinsurance market and selling cover for higher rates, taking advantage of the retreat of competitors such as France's CCR after they suffered losses from last year's floods. -
HP profit plummets, CEO urges patience
22 Feb 2012 | 6:30 pmSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co's earnings fell nearly 44 percent and the world's No. 1 computer maker forecast a second-quarter profit below Wall Street estimates as it struggles with weak sales of PCs and printers. -
U.S. wants more talks on Japan bid to join Pacific trade group
22 Feb 2012 | 6:28 pmWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it was still considering whether to support Japan's bid to join talks on a trans-Pacific regional free trade agreement, three months after Tokyo announced interest in the negotiations. -
Greece pores over bailout laws amid protests
22 Feb 2012 | 5:17 pmATHENS (Reuters) - Trade unionists, communists and pensioners angry at punishing spending cuts in Greece marched through central Athens on Wednesday as lawmakers set to work on legislation needed to secure payment of a second bailout for the debt-laden country. -
G20 hopes for progress on EU debt crisis: Carstens
22 Feb 2012 | 2:39 pmMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Group of 20 policymakers are hoping for a signal this weekend that Europe will boost crisis funding, smoothing the way for a deal to increase International Monetary Fund resources, the head of Mexico's central bank said on Wednesday.
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Forbes - Business
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SciFi Book Club: Embassytown And The Drug Of Language
22 Feb 2012 | 11:27 pmThis entry in our SciFi book club goes through the end of Part 4 of the book Embassytown by China Mieville. Spoilers abound. Continue reading at your own risk. -
AdVoice: Should the U.S. Air Force Kill a 21,000 iPad Deployment Over a PDF Reader?
22 Feb 2012 | 10:11 pmThe Cold War ain't over. -
Who Won The Arizona Republican Presidential Debate On CNN?
22 Feb 2012 | 9:17 pmVideo The Arizona Republican debate proved to be a showdown between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. With campaign momentum and the eyes of the media and voters on him, Santorum was able to hold his own with Romney and at times came across as quite presidential. Romney had his usual steady performance but -
EU May Pay Price For New Clean Air Tax
22 Feb 2012 | 8:04 pmThe U.S., the big four emerging market countries, and 21 other nations all say they will use whatever trade means necessary to retaliate against the European Union for imposing a carbon tax on airlines flying into the region. -
China Mobile Internet Co To Invest In U.S.
22 Feb 2012 | 7:34 pmChina-based UC Mobile is coming to the U.S. in what may very well be the first China telecom related business to invest in the U.S.
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HBR.org
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How to Network with Executive Search Firms
22 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pmAs you grow in your career, it's important to grow your network with you. By the time they're 45 or 50, most executives will benefit if they have positive relationships with two or three quality search consultants. While I encourage these relationships, I'm certainly not saying you should always be looking for a new job. That's the path to failure. Most executives, however, will benefit if they occasionally are in touch with the market for people like them. At senior levels, search consultants are the closest thing to that kind of market. The right search consultant can be more than a source… -
Eco-Labeling: The Critical Questions to Ask
22 Feb 2012 | 12:23 pmWill we see the day when all products carry environmental labels with data on carbon emissions and other impacts? Recent news tells us a definitive...maybe. Within a couple days of each other, GM announced new eco-labels for some Chevy models, while UK mega-retailer Tesco pulled back from an important 4-year experiment in carbon labeling. The attempt to give corporate buyers and end consumers more sustainability data about the products they are purchasing has had a somewhat tortured history. The Tesco experience in particular highlights a few big questions about green data labeling. Tesco has… -
Social Means Freedom, for Better or for Worse
22 Feb 2012 | 11:58 amA Stanford Professor quit his job. But he doesn't plan to go to another prestigious university. Nope. He, like others, has discovered the power of teaching online; in his case, he reached 160,000 students in a single online course on artificial intelligence. This is more than a story of online learning or mass dissemination. It proves a point: What once required a badge and a title within a centralized organization no longer does. The implications for global education are huge, of course. And that would be interesting enough. But there are also implications for organizational design and… -
Introducing the New HBR iPad App
22 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amSome exciting news to share with the HBR community: The new HBR iPad app is now live in the iTunes app store. This launch is the realization of almost a year's worth of planning, proposing, modeling, designing, building, and general preparation. Senior Editor Scott Berinato and Assistant Product Marketing Director Kate Adams led dozens of people in the effort — in the building here and also with our partners at ScrollMotion. Needless to say, we're all pretty chuffed about it and wanted to let everyone know what they can find in the app. But first, a bit of background. Over the last two… -
Faced with Distraction, We Need Willpower
22 Feb 2012 | 10:24 amMustering willpower is a struggle for almost everyone — and it's getting harder. We, as individuals and as a society, lack self-control at precisely the time we need it most. Willpower is about more than resisting our bad habits. It's the mental discipline that allows us to cultivate good habits, make better decisions, and control our own behaviors — everything from dieting effectively to powering through difficult problems at work. It's a quality that can separate the most productive businesspeople from the least productive. And it's a trait that many of us lack. Surveys of more…
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Our Editors
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Introducing the New HBR iPad App
22 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amSome exciting news to share with the HBR community: The new HBR iPad app is now live in the iTunes app store. This launch is the realization of almost a year's worth of planning, proposing, modeling, designing, building, and general preparation. Senior Editor Scott Berinato and Assistant Product Marketing Director Kate Adams led dozens of people in the effort — in the building here and also with our partners at ScrollMotion. Needless to say, we're all pretty chuffed about it and wanted to let everyone know what they can find in the app. But first, a bit of background. Over the last two… -
Wanted: Idea Fusers
7 Feb 2012 | 6:40 amIt's become pretty much common knowledge that great innovation springs from the ability to pull two unlike things together to create a beautiful third. Steve Jobs famously shifted a paradigm when he fused calligraphy with technology to create the Mac's graphical user interface. Many great inventions fuse something very simple, cheap and widely accessible — say, a small piece of paper — with something expensive and complex — say, a medical laboratory test — to come up with a marvelous solution, such as George Whitesides' postage-stamp sized diagnostic tool. And though… -
HBR's Best Videos, Infographics, Podcasts, and Slideshows of 2011
29 Dec 2011 | 8:13 amAs you take some time to reflect, relax, and renew before the year to come, we offer you our most popular multimedia content from the year that was: podcasts, videos, slideshows, and infographics that we hope help you chart a successful course in 2012. First off, our most popular podcast this year was Justin Fox's interview with Bob Pozen, "Productivity Secrets of a Very Busy Man." Perhaps if I, too, were willing to eat the same bowl of cold cereal every morning — all in the name of simplifying and streamlining — I could be as prolifically perspicacious as the Harvard Business… -
Amazon Should Partner with Independent Bookstores
27 Dec 2011 | 11:48 amI didn't buy any gifts from Amazon this year. I, whose entire job basically depends on the Internet — including editing HBR Singles like this and this, both sold through Amazon — developed a moral and intellectual aversion to purchasing goods from this Internet stalwart. Here's what happened. My original plan this holiday shopping season was, as usual, to order a pile of books — and kitchen gizmos, and DVDs, and who knows what all — from the online giant. I'd re-up my Prime membership, have everything shipped directly, and be done with it less than an hour. Merry… -
The Euro Crisis: Was Cameron Right?
13 Dec 2011 | 7:52 amIn yet another effort to solve the euro crisis, France and Germany last week agreed on a stability pact that essentially offers increased bailout funds in return for even stronger fiscal austerity on the part of the major debtor countries of Europe. But the deal arguably necessitated changes to the Treaties governing the European Union and as such required assent from all 27 EU member countries, ten of which are not members of the euro zone but whose economies are nonetheless closely integrated with it. To get around this problem and to provide the markets with a united front of governments,…
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The Numbers Guy
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Mining Tweets for Public Opinion
10 Feb 2012 | 6:41 pmMy print column examines the efforts of opinion researchers to harness posts on Twitter, Facebook, blog comments and elsewhere to monitor public views. The field is drawing interest from pollsters who in recent years have struggled to find willing participants for their phone surveys, even as millions broadcast their views online. “Clearly there’s a huge amount of data and information being generated here,” said Phil Hastings, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Linguamatics, a Cambridge, U.K.-based company that analyzes social media. “It’s kind of… -
In Implant Controversy, Sure Numbers Are Scarce
3 Feb 2012 | 7:11 pmMy print column examines the fuzzy numbers behind the controversy over a French company’s implants, distributed around the world and found by French health authorities to pose a relatively large risk of rupture. Yet authorities in other countries, including the U.K., say there isn’t enough evidence to demonstrate a higher incidence of implant failure. Dominique Maraninchi, general director of France’s Agency for the Safety of Health Products, said the agency has gotten reports of rupture from the implants made by Poly Implant Protheses (PIP) at roughly double the rate of… -
The Crime That’s Counted
27 Jan 2012 | 6:19 pmMy print column examines the preferred benchmark crime of criminologists for tracking and comparing illegal and violent activity: homicide. It has its drawbacks, and vagaries, which I explore in the column, but remains more concrete than other crimes. “In general, the more serious the offense, the better the statistics,” said Anthony LaRose, criminologist at the University of Tampa. Homicide figures, said crime researcher Robert R. Friedmann, “are considered as close to reliable as one can get.” Friedmann, professor emeritus of criminal justice at Georgia State… -
Private Equity’s Job Record
20 Jan 2012 | 6:59 pmMy print column examines some numbers that may help shed light on the debate, central to the race for the Republican presidential nomination, about private equity’s impact on jobs. A recent academic study has added numbers to the discussion, showing the extent to which companies bought by private-equity firms accelerate both the creation and destruction of jobs, compared to similar companies that aren’t bought out. Though the study has been praised by some economists for improving on earlier ones, it has some limitations. Because of lag time in gathering statistics, and the need… -
Elections Change Rules, Face Unforeseen Consequences
13 Jan 2012 | 5:13 pmMy print column examines rule changes for this year’s voting for nominees for the Academy Award for best picture. The Academy must balance competing priorities in constructing its voting procedure, and this year it changed the rules to place more emphasis on first-place votes. Award analysts report that those, and in some cases second-place votes, will determine the nominees, which can number between five and 10. These competing priorities, and the many possible voting methods, make for a fertile area of mathematical study. Donald Saari, a mathematician at the University of California,…
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Inc.com
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Hiring a Leader? Vet How She Treats Subordinates
22 Feb 2012 | 6:30 pmWe all know senior-level employees who talk up to the boss, but down to staffers. Don't hire them.Sometimes you know in an instant that you are definitely not welcome. It happened to me not too long ago.Two employees to whom I was speaking stopped talking as soon as their boss entered the room. Judging by the looks on their faces they seemed like school kids caught playing hooky. The boss slipped into his chair at the head of the table and, aside from a weak perfunctory handshake with me, said little. It was clear he had other priorities and made no attempt to connect with me.Needless to say… -
Corporate Tax Overhaul: Will It Help Your Small Busimess?
22 Feb 2012 | 12:44 pmPresident Obama and the Treasury Department proposed a major overhaul to the corporate tax rate. Here's what it means for small business.President Obama and the Treasury Department today introduced a 23-page outline that seeks to overhaul the corporate tax code, which, in its present iteration, is an unwieldy legal document that hasn't been modified since the Regan administration. The plan seeks to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 28 percent, eliminate accounting loopholes, improve transparency, and simplify the document for small businesses."Our business tax system is not… -
Outsmart Your Competitors Every Time
22 Feb 2012 | 11:37 amHow to leveraged a low-cost structure into a strategic growth plan focused on low-risk, low-cost acquisitions.If you could get the jump on your competition, would you? Of course you would. By simply understanding your cost structure and comparing it to your competitors, you may be able to excel when others begin to fail. We recently worked with a client in global mining that was able to use this strategy to gain market share. Our work in helping the client evaluate profitable growth options involved an analysis of the company’s cost structure, which included four main steps:Understand… -
It Shouldn't Take a Genius to Understand You
22 Feb 2012 | 11:13 amSo, you're smart. But stop it already with the inflated vocabulary. To make the biggest impact, take a cue from the simplicity of Apple's branding and ditch the big words."I'm Bill Gates. Takes a genius to understand me." —Rapper Flo Rida in Good Feeling I hear that song on the radio and cringe. Flo Rida's lyrics suggest it's a good thing that it takes a genius to understand him—that complexity makes him, in fact, a genius. In reality, the opposite is true: It takes a genius to be able to communicate in a way that is understood by absolutely everyone and anyone. This inversion is… -
It’s Time to Shutter Your Facebook Shop
22 Feb 2012 | 10:57 amSo much for so-called f-commerce. Four reasons why Facebook users aren't buying.You'd think that Facebook would be a natural place for companies to sell their products and services. After all, the company claims far more than 800 million active users. But such big companies as Gamestop, J.C. Penney, Gap, and Nordstrom have all shut down their Facebook stores, according to Bloomberg.Gamestop says that customers had no reason to shop via Facebook rather than go to the company's own website. Gap's explanation was similar, while Nordstrom decided on a broader social media strategy. Wade Gerten,…
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Entrepreneur Update
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10 Hot Export Markets for Small Businesses
22 Feb 2012 | 7:02 amA look at a range of export opportunities, as well as challenges, for companies seeking growth beyond their home borders. -
Twitter 101: How to Join the Conversation (Video)
22 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amJason Falls, CEO of Social Media Explorer, shares tips for business owners looking to find their place on social network. -
Seven Ways to Keep Angry Customers (Like Me) Happy
22 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amWhen customer service goes wrong, I am irate. Here's how to keep angry customers like me from storming out of your real or virtual store, never to return. -
Twitter Makes Room for Your Ad Dollars
21 Feb 2012 | 9:46 amAdvertising on Twitter isn't without its challenges. Should you pay for promoted tweets? -
10 Little Known Social Media Tools You Should Be Using -- Now
21 Feb 2012 | 9:00 amWant to take your social media campaigns to the next level? These tools can help you get there.
