“Buddhist wisdom helps to broaden and shape my vision”; Last December, Poman Lo took over as vice chairperson and managing director of the Regal group’s 11 five-star hotels in Hong Kong and in the mainland

Growth with harmony
Imogene Wong and Janis Cheung 
Monday, March 17, 2014
Poman Lo Po-man has never been daddy’s rich little girl despite being born with a silver spoon in her mouth. As an industrious student she passed all her exams with flying colors. Read more of this post

(Flight MH370) What is Malaysia hiding, Beijing ponders

(Flight MH370) What is Malaysia hiding, Beijing ponders
(4 mins ago)
Malaysia drew further criticism from China over conflicting information on the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 today. State media and social media users voiced increasing scepticism as the search entered its 10th day.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday announced that the disappearance may have been a “deliberate act” and that the Boeing 777 flew for several hours after leaving its intended flight path, AFP reports. Read more of this post

Superannuation ‘merger zone’ sucks in tiddlers; Industry and government funds face pressure to merge as reforms squeeze smaller funds

Superannuation ‘merger zone’ sucks in tiddlers

March 17, 2014

Georgia Wilkins

Australia’s industry and government superannuation funds are facing growing pressure to merge, as greater competition and government reforms put pressure on smaller funds. Read more of this post

Fund managers shifting money away from new media stocks such as Seek, Carsales.com and REA Group with rapid share growth pushing valuations too high

Stay away from new media stocks, say fund managers

March 17, 2014 – 2:14PM

Max Mason

Fund managers are shifting money away from new media stocks such as Seek, Carsales.com and REA Group with rapid share growth pushing valuations too high for comfort. Read more of this post

‘Smart manufacturing’: Australian company Aquaterro to produce US defence force technology

‘Smart manufacturing’: Australian company to produce US defence force technology

March 17, 2014 – 10:18AM

Jared Lynch

A glimmer of hope is shining in Australia’s ambition to become a world leader in ‘smart manufacturing’, with a Melbourne company winning approval from US military leaders to produce defence force technology. Read more of this post

How America’s low-wage workers are struggling to join the middle class

How America’s low-wage workers are struggling to join the middle class

Josh Boak, Associated Press | March 15, 2014 7:30 AM ET
WASHINGTON — For years, many Americans followed a simple career path: Land an entry-level job. Accept a modest wage. Gain skills. Leave eventually for a better-paying job. Read more of this post

In doubling yuan trading band, China aggravates foreign investor concerns

In doubling yuan trading band, China aggravates foreign investor concerns

6:51pm EDT

By Pete Sweeney

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The Chinese central bank’s decision to relax its grip on the yuan has been welcomed as a sign of financial liberalization, but it is aggravating concerns among foreign executives and investors about their exposure to China in the near term. Read more of this post

25 Books That Will Blow Your Mind

25 Books That Will Blow Your Mind

PAIGE COOPERSTEIN THE LIFE  MAR. 16, 2014, 8:37 PM

Sometimes a book is so good, it not only sticks with you long after you put it down, but it alters the way you view the world going forward. Read more of this post

This Is What Bill Gates Thinks When People Say: ‘You Should Feel Guilty About Being So Wealthy’; “Well, it’s not that I have money, if I’m supposed to feel guilty [about something], it’s my consumption.”

This Is What Bill Gates Thinks When People Say: ‘You Should Feel Guilty About Being So Wealthy’

JULIE BORT TECH  MAR. 15, 2014, 11:57 PM

Bill Gates has been the richest man in the world for the better part of two decades, andhe’s getting richer all the time.

People tell him that he should feel guilty about it, he said in an interview with the American Enterprise Institute on Thursday. Read more of this post

Companies look to teenage girls for product ideas

Companies look to teenage girls for product ideas

KYODO

MAR 15, 2014

Teenage girls around the country, often regarded as trendsetters with a strong word-of-mouth network, are increasingly becoming a reliable source of ideas for developing and marketing products in the corporate world. Read more of this post

The word for good, 良い (yoi, also read ryō), is often written using only hiragana. However, sticking with the kanji opens the door to many words, since 良 can be used as a descriptive prefix to indicate that anything is good

Good and bad, for better or worse

BY MARK SCHREIBER

SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES

MAR 16, 2014

One approach to acquiring new vocabulary that I’ve always found effective is to seek out the 反対語 (hantai-go, antonyms) of words. To prove my point, how about looking at words that relate to “good” and “bad,” which are about as opposite as you can get. Read more of this post

Dissecting the ‘Korea discount’

2014-03-03 17:12

Dissecting the ‘Korea discount’

By Andrew Salmon
Ah, the ups and downs of a journalist’s life. Having been a hack for over a decade, I have experienced more than a few of the downs. Sources agree to speak ― then change their minds.   Read more of this post

Does Korea have global talent?

2014-03-16 13:26

Does Korea have global talent?

Lee Dong-geun
Last month, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and 11 foreign chambers of commerce in Korea co-hosted the sixth-annual Global Career Forum. Read more of this post

Start-Ups Aim to Conquer Space Market; Planet Labs, a San Francisco aerospace start-up, is launching 100 of its small satellites into orbit this year where they will image the Earth every single day

Start-Ups Aim to Conquer Space Market

By QUENTIN HARDY and NICK BILTONMARCH 16, 2014

Planet Labs, a San Francisco aerospace start-up, is launching 100 of its small satellites into orbit this year where they will image the Earth every single day. Read more of this post

Supermarket shareholders braced for margins to hit historic lows

Supermarket shareholders braced for margins to hit historic lows

Investors call for Tesco to aggressively cut prices after market share hits 10-year low

Morrisons is to invest £1bn in prices over the next three years, with Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s expected to respond Photo: ALAMY

By Graham Ruddick

9:30PM GMT 15 Mar 2014

The biggest institutional investors in Britain’s supermarkets are bracing themselves for profit margins to hit historic lows after struggling Morrisons declared a price war to try to halt a decline in sales. Read more of this post

Want to crack China’s cereal market? Try Weetabix with green-tea tang; Now it is majority-owned by a Chinese food giant, the UK’s second-largest cereal maker has a very special export opportunity

Want to crack China’s cereal market? Try Weetabix with green-tea tang

Now it is majority-owned by a Chinese food giant, the UK’s second-largest cereal maker has a very special export opportunity

image001-11

Bear facts: Weetabix boss Giles Turrell wants to modify the iconic cereal’s flavour for the Chinese market, along with Alpen

By Louise Armitstead

7:30PM GMT 16 Mar 2014

Who would try to sell Weetabix to the Chinese? To a nation whose preferred breakfast is hot, savoury and usually includes rice, a couple of milk-sodden, wheaty lumps all the way from Kettering might scarcely seem appetising. Read more of this post

Bankers’ pay has become bit of a Ponzi scheme, claims Ed Balls

Bankers’ pay has become bit of a Ponzi scheme, claims Ed Balls

Shadow chancellor echoes business secretary, saying most top executives and bankers would do the work for half the money

Andrew Sparrow, political correspondent

The Guardian, Sunday 16 March 2014 16.52 GMT

Pay for bankers and top executives has become “a bit of a Ponzi scheme” and most of them would do the work for half the money, Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has said. Read more of this post

India Muslims on tenterhooks over election; Muslims made up just 13 per cent of India’s 1.2bn people as of 2001 – the most recent year for which official data are publicly available

March 16, 2014 10:05 pm

India Muslims on tenterhooks over election

By Amy Kazmin in Bhopal, India

In Bhopal’s Darul Uloom – or House of Knowledge – madrassa, a school offering secular and religious education in an elegant, 127-year-old mosque, the teachers are increasingly apprehensive about the outcome of India’s forthcoming parliamentary election. Read more of this post

Humbled financiers reassess their culture

March 16, 2014 9:07 pm

Humbled financiers reassess their culture

By Patrick Jenkins

Geoff Taylor has been round the block. He used to monitor the production line risks facing sportswear group Nike and jeans maker Levi Strauss – checking the solidity of trainer soles and the sturdiness of denim seams. Read more of this post

Companies adapt to local African markets; “Some of our customers try to put black mascara on their lips – they don’t know what it’s for”; Samsung recently brought out extra-loud stereos to appeal to Nigerian consumers

March 16, 2014 1:33 pm

Companies adapt to local African markets

By Katrina Manson in Nairobi

While big companies are beginning to tailor their marketing messages – increasingly choosing local models, languages, music and food to reach target audiences – some are also beginning to adapt their products to the tastes of local African markets. Read more of this post

Why gaining from value investing is hard

March 16, 2014 2:34 pm

Why gaining from value investing is hard

By John Authers

In the financial context, the word ‘value’ sets off emotions

Values in common parlance elude definition. Equally decent people can hold contrasting values with deep fervour. In the financial context, the word “value” sets off emotions that are almost as deep. Read more of this post

Small proves beautiful at boutique banks

Last updated: March 16, 2014 2:22 pm

Small proves beautiful at boutique banks

By Ed Hammond in New York and Daniel Schäfer in London

On an August evening in 2012, Jim Mooney and Mike Fries gathered for an informal dinner at the Hamptons house of Aryeh Bourkoff, the Wall Street dealmaker. Mr Bourkoff, who had launched his own investment bank LionTree a month earlier, had chosen his guests carefully. Read more of this post

‘Big Data @Work’ by Thomas H Davenport

March 5, 2014 4:15 pm

‘Big Data @Work’ by Thomas H Davenport

By Hannah Kuchler

Like bacteria, big data is lurking in the stomachs of cows. Some farmers are using sensors and software to analyse it and predict when a cow is getting ill.

Just like customers, cows do not always speak out when something is wrong. But companies can use data to predict potential risks and opportunities in cows and customers alike. Read more of this post

My top tip: ignore everyone else’s top tips; Pieces of advice are positioning statements that tell the world about the values the issuer holds

March 16, 2014 1:27 pm

My top tip: ignore everyone else’s top tips

By Lucy Kellaway

Pieces of advice are positioning statements that tell the world about the values the issuer holds

Last week I got an email from a young reader asking me to pass on the wisest piece of advice that I’d ever been given. Read more of this post

Giving 100% effort is too much; When ‘good enough’ really is good enough

WORKING SMARTER

March 16, 2014 1:32 pm

Giving 100% effort is too much

By Rhymer Rigby

Conventional business wisdom is big on perfection. We are constantly exhorted to give 100 per cent – or even a mathematically impossible 110 per cent. But is this really the absolute virtue it is held up to be? Or is there a case to be made for doing a “good enough” job most of the time? Read more of this post

How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More and Love What You Do

How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More and Love What You Do Paperback

by Graham Allcott (Author)

image001-6

An accessible guide to staying cool, calm and collected, getting more done, and learning to love your job again.

Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Icon Books (September 9, 2014)

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘[Allcott] has distilled the wisdom of hundreds of business seminars into this handy little book to help us get organised, de-clutter our minds and desks and become altogether calmer, happier and more productive … this book makes for a well-rounded manual to sharpen up your work methods.’ — Claudia Sunderhauf Waterstones.com ‘All the tips and techniques you need to stay calm, get through your tasks, make the most of your time and stop procrastinating. It’s fun, easy to follow and practical – and may just be the kick up the bottom you need!’ Closer Read more of this post

Cameron’s Britain has lost America’s respect; The “special relationship” has been compromised by one side that is no longer sure of who it is

Last updated: March 16, 2014 6:02 pm

Cameron’s Britain has lost America’s respect

By Edward Luce

The “special relationship” has been compromised by one side that is no longer sure of who it is

Dean Acheson remarked in the 1950s that Britain lost an empire and had not yet found a role. For the next half-century it found a niche as America’s global lieutenant – harnessing its influence in Washington to punch above its weight elsewhere. Events in Crimea over the past three weeks have underlined how fast even that is fading. Once America’s “go-to” ally, the UK is not even third on today’s priority list. When it comes to handling Vladimir Putin, Germany, France and even Poland rank ahead of David Cameron’s government in Washington. Read more of this post

Megawati’s Brilliant Move May Turn Out to Be Double-Edged Sword for Candidate Jokowi

Megawati’s Brilliant Move May Turn Out to Be Double-Edged Sword for Candidate Jokowi

By Johannes Nugroho on 05:58 pm Mar 16, 2014

Megawati Soekarnoputri has finally announced that her party Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle will be nominating the popular governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi, as presidential candidate. Lauded by many as having put aside her own ambition to run for the job, Megawati has indeed made a cornerstone decision that will please many within and outside the party known as PDI-P. However, its timing and circumstances may be a two-edged sword for Jokowi himself. Read more of this post

Indonesian Stocks Enter Bull Market on Jokowi Presidential Bid

Indonesian Stocks Enter Bull Market on Jokowi Presidential Bid

By Yudith Ho & Harry Suhartono on 06:15 pm Mar 14, 2014

Jakarta. Indonesia’s benchmark stock index entered a bull market, the rupiah reversed losses and bonds rallied as Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo was nominated as a presidential candidate. Read more of this post

India lays down the law on financial management

Updated: Monday March 17, 2014 MYT 8:31:18 AM

India lays down the law on financial management

BY YAP LENG KUEN

THE spate of resignations at India’s financial institutions indicates the government’s seriousness in ensuring that top management either perform or perish. Read more of this post