Evening Bamboo Insight: 23 Jul 2014

Evening Bamboo Insight: 23 Jul 2014

Macro

1. Investors to Directors, ‘Can We Talk?’ Boards have long shunned speaking with investors for several reasons, including concern about accidentally disclosing sensitive information

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/21/investors-to-directors-can-we-talk/?ref=business

2. Cash Crops With Dividends: Financiers Transforming Strawberries Into Securities; With its steady income stream, farmland is proving to be a ripe offering for sophisticated investors

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/21/cash-crops-with-dividends-financiers-transforming-strawberries-into-securities/?ref=business

3. How Low Can Volatility Go? Why Tranquility Keeps Traders Awake at Night

http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Popups/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleID=3363708

4. “Hide No Harm” Bill Goes After Top Executives; Could new legislation help law enforcement successfully prosecute a company’s highest executives for corporate misdeeds?

http://ww2.cfo.com/fraud/2014/07/hide-harm-bill-goes-top-executives

5. FASB Mulling a Revamped Income Statement

http://ww2.cfo.com/gaap-ifrs/2014/07/fasb-mulling-revamped-income-statement

Asia Pacific

1. Empowering elderly people key to Japan’s growth: ADB think tank chief

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/21/business/economy-business/empowering-elderly-people-key-to-japans-growth-adb-think-tank-chief/#.U84Mw_mSxqU

2. (China) – More autonomy for China’s top graft watchdog: Duowei

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140722000079&cid=1101

3. (HK) – Next Media/Apple Daily and former Giordano boss and China pariah Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has close links with Burma’s political and military leaders, hobnobbing with its president during a June 2013 trip with a former US defense secretary

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=147610&sid=42661669&con_type=3

4. (HK) – Beleaguered MTR Corp chief executive Jay Walder will step down a year before his contract expires – over the two-year delay of the high- speed rail link to Guangzhou. MTRC risked ‘indigestion’ with five projects at once

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=147559&sid=42655779&con_type=1&d_str=20140721&fc=1

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=147425&sid=42633001&con_type=3&d_str=20140717&fc=7

5. (HK/China) – Shares of China Packaging Group (0572) plunged 39 percent after the company was informed that its major shareholder, Able Success Asia, would no longer be able to exercise its voting right

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=147506&sid=42641304&con_type=1&d_str=20140718&fc=8

6. (India) – Sanitation in India: The final frontier; Fixing dreadful sanitation in India requires not just building lavatories but also changing habits

http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21607837-fixing-dreadful-sanitation-india-requires-not-just-building-lavatories-also-changing#sthash.r0fjEZLT.dpbs

7. (India) – India to investigate corruption in healthcare after TV sting operation

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/us-india-corruption-idUSKBN0FR0KP20140722

8. (China/Tech) – China has more people going online with a mobile device than a PC

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/21/us-china-internet-idUSKBN0FQ0UL20140721

9. (Isia) – Battered by election, Indonesia’s new president faces party clash

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/us-indonesia-election-party-insight-idUSKBN0FR2EU20140722

10. (China) – China’s secretive military cracks open door for glimpse inside

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/22/us-china-defence-idUSKBN0FR0KH20140722

11. (Japan) – Once again, Japan’s baby boomers are asking: What am I?

http://news.asiaone.com/print/news/asia/once-again-japans-baby-boomers-are-asking-what-am-i

12. (India) – Modi’s Ganges clean-up plan may sink amid tough challenge

http://news.asiaone.com/print/news/asia/modis-ganges-clean-plan-may-sink-amid-tough-challenge

Life

1. In an emotional farewell email to colleagues, co-founder Wayne Hsieh criticized Asus’s management style, saying the company’s leaders do not use people based on their abilities but on their personal relationships with them

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140721000124&cid=1602

2. Successful R&D management

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2992342

3. Hello Kitty designer defends cat as brand turns 40

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/412623.htm

4. Australian invents ‘world’s smallest washing machine’; Australian inventor hopes his ‘travel size washing machine’ will help revolutionise the camping and trekking industry

http://www.theage.com.au/small-business/entrepreneur/australian-invents-worlds-smallest-washing-machine-20140702-3b8qv.html

5. In new comics, paintings and popular books, depictions of Hindu deities are being reimagined

http://online.wsj.com/articles/in-india-hindu-gods-get-a-muscular-makeover-1405996202

6. Why Power in the Workplace Makes People Feel They Control Time; Positions of Authority Create a Sense of Control Over the Clock, Studies Find

http://online.wsj.com/articles/why-power-and-status-in-the-workplace-make-people-feel-they-control-time-1405984403?mod=WSJ_hp_Asia_EditorsPicks

7. In the late 1800s, William Lever was looking at the slums in London and his mission statement is to make cleanliness commonplace. He believed that the humble bar of soap could have a major social impact by being a force for good

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/reinventing-the-chief-marketing-officer-an-interview-with-unilever-cmo-keith-weed/

8. Hointer: How a mathematician got micro-robots to sell you jeans

http://www.theage.com.au/business/retail/hointer-how-a-mathematician-got-microrobots-to-sell-you-jeans-20140722-zvqel.html

9. Why the human resources department must go

http://www.brw.com.au/p/leadership/why_the_human_resources_department_QN8cMWKajxMWn0yNHhyaQK

10. Rob Arnott turned the world of passive index investing upside down; Funds running Arnott’s models manage almost $200 billion dollars

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-07-21/masters-in-business-rob-arnott

11. 7 Ways You Can Easily Increase Your Willpower

http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/07/willpower/

12. 9 Tricks For Waking Up Earlier

http://www.businessinsider.sg/how-to-wake-up-earlier-2014-7/#.U84VtvmSxqU

13. Does Your Company Keep Its Promises? Despite best intentions, many businesses struggle with “commitment drift.”

http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00267?tid=27782251&pg=all

14. How to Re-Discover Your Motivation

http://www.fastcompany.com/3033268/hit-the-ground-running/how-to-re-discover-your-motivation

15. Why You Lead Determines How Well You Lead

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/why-you-lead-determines-how-well-you-lead/

16. Engagement the only way to transcend fear

http://www.todayonline.com/print/707476

17. Do-It-Yourself Leadership Training in China

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/do-it-yourself-leadership-training-in-china

TMT

1. Finland cashes in on cold by luring data storage firms

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/412852.htm

2. (Tech/Media) – Netflix, Growing, Envisions Expansion Abroad

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/business/media/netflix-says-it-topped-50-million-subscribers.html?ref=business&_r=0

3. Using The Computer to Predict Tech Startup Success; Correlation Ventures trusts only a computer to figure out which tech startups to bet on next. So far it appears to be working

http://forbesindia.com/printcontent/38248

4. (China/Tech) – Alibaba Says It Relies on Markets, Not Connections, To Drive Its Business

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/21/alibaba-says-it-relies-on-markets-not-connections

5. Corporate computing: Big Blue Apple; A novel alliance may reshape mobile computing for companies

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21607858-novel-alliance-may-reshape-mobile-computing-companies-big-blue-apple

6. Little things that mean a lot: Businesses should aim for lots of small wins from “big data”, that add up to something big

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21607816-businesses-should-aim-lots-small-wins-big-data-add-up-something-big-little

Consumer

1. Fashion: A better business model; Inditex has become the world’s largest fashion retailer. But how long can its dizzying expansion last?

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/a7008958-f2f3-11e3-a3f8-00144feabdc0.html#slide0

Healthcare

1. Probiotics might help lower blood pressure

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/21/us-probiotics-blood-pressure-idUSKBN0FQ20M20140721

2. Probiotic Logic vs. Gut Feelings; Like all over-the-counter dietary supplements, probiotics undergo no premarket screening for safety, effectiveness or even truth in packaging

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/21/probiotic-logic-vs-gut-feelings/?ref=health

3. Low-cost fertility treatment: In vitro fertilisation, once seen as miraculous, is now mainstream in rich countries. Soon it may be cheap enough to help infertile people in poor places, too

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21607881-vitro-fertilisation-once-seen-miraculous-now-mainstream-rich-countries-soon#sthash.Xs0WKqIX.dpbs

4. Tests for Alzheimer’s are improving. Treatment is still some way off

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21607761-tests-alzheimers-are-improving-treatment-still-some-way-recherche-du

5. A new home for orphans: Shire’s focus on rare-disease treatments may prove a long-term advantage

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21607859-shires-focus-rare-disease-treatments-may-prove-long-term-advantage-new-home-orphans

Investing Process

1. Research – Agency Theory in Practice: a Qualitative Study of Hedge Fund Activism in Japan

2. Research – Large Shareholders, Shareholder Proposals, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Japan

3. Research – Politically Connected Firms and Earnings Informativeness in the Controlling versus Minority Shareholders Context: European Evidence

4. Equities’ great survivors and the value of compounding

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ad4c8714-f85a-11e3-815f-00144feabdc0.html

5. Research – How Many Patents Does it Take to Signal Innovation Quality?

Morning Bamboo Insight: 23 Jul 2014

Morning Bamboo Insight: 23 Jul 2014

Macro

1. (Macro/Tech) – Will The UK Become The World’s Leading Urban Innovation Lab?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2014/07/18/why-the-uk-believes-it-can-become-the-worlds-leading-urban-innovation-lab/print/

2. A horrible, ugly, stressful process’: The five-year legacy of Canada’s auto bailout

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/07/19/a-horrible-ugly-stressful-process-the-five-year-legacy-of-canadas-auto-bailout/

3. A corporate malaise is afflicting the West; Today’s moguls prefer safe takeovers and downsizing to ambitious risk-taking

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/10973878/A-corporate-malaise-is-afflicting-the-West.html

4. Indesit sale could be wake up call for Italy to support family businesses

http://www.campdenfb.com/article/indesit-sale-could-be-wake-call-italy-support-family-businesses

5. How Russian Hackers Stole the Nasdaq

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-17/how-russian-hackers-stole-the-nasdaq

6. Imminent collapse of gigantic fraud Herbalife

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2014/07/21/1903382/imminent-collapse-of-gigantic-fraud-promised-by-short-seller/

7. Putinism Thrives on Dirty Money; Western leaders ignored Putin’s bad behavior as long as Russian money flowed in. Flight 17 changes all that

http://online.wsj.com/articles/oliver-bullough-putinism-thrives-on-dirty-money-1405984666

8. Money Manager Foiled by Bad Bets: Balestra Capital’s James Melcher, Like Many ‘Macro Traders,’ Is Feeling the Pain This Year

http://online.wsj.com/articles/money-manager-foiled-by-bad-bets-1405988086

Asia Pacific

1. (Korea/Tech) – Korea’s Entrepreneurs Garner Global Validation As Local ‘Startup’ Valuations Soar Into The Billions

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alanmcglade/2014/07/18/koreas-entrepreneurs-garner-global-validation-as-local-startup-valuations-soar-into-the-billions/print/

2. (China) – Expired meat scandal rocks fast food chains across China

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20140721000120&cid=1103

3. (Korea/Tech) – Seoul to crack down on Uber rides; Seoul may start its own ride-sharing app

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2992353

4. (Isia) – Tactical brains behind Prabowo campaign

http://news.asiaone.com/print/news/asia/tactical-brains-behind-prabowo-campaign

5. (Asean) – Rolls-Royces and rags mix on Phnom Penh’s streets

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c5379066-0e59-11e4-b1c4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz38AxO7Peo

6. (Isia) – Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto wants a two-week delay in announcing the result of the election to allow investigations into allegations of mass cheating

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/prabowo-wants-two-week/1276296.html

7. (Spore) – Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) proposed a set of regulations for investments linked to land banks, gold and other physical assets to boost investor protection – following several scams that have left retail investors high and dry

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/top-stories/regulator-plans-new-rules-shield-investors-20140722

8. (Isia/Msia) – Jitters over Indonesia’s proposed banking bill; Malaysian ownership of Indonesian banks came under the spotlight again following a proposed bill that compels foreign banks to trim their interests to 40%.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/07/22/Jitters-over-Indonesias-proposed-banking-bill

9. (Isia) – In Indonesia’s Battle With Bootleg Goods, a Very Genuine Economic Toll

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/indonesias-battle-bootleg-goods-genuine-economic-toll/

10. (Isia) – In Golkar, a Party Gravitating Toward Jokowi

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/golkar-party-gravitating-toward-jokowi/

11. (Isia) – Basuki Admits Jakarta Smart Card Not Effective

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jakarta/basuki-admits-jakarta-smart-card-effective/

12. (Msia) – Najib’s Megabank Seen Challenging HSBC in Sukuk

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/najibs-megabank-seen-challenging-hsbc-sukuk/

Life

1. New Video Games Teach Caring And Compassion

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanshapiro/2014/07/19/new-video-games-teach-caring-and-compassion/print/

2. Is Bigger Better? “There is not enough time to debate what are best practices. A company needs to get consistent before they can determine what is best.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/loracecere/2014/07/18/is-bigger-better/print/

3. 5 Questions To Help You Define Your Leadership Brand

http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/07/18/5-questions-to-help-you-define-your-leadership-brand/print/

4. Patterns: How To Predict The Next Big Thing In Business

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/07/16/pattern-recognition-how-to-predict-the-next-big-thing-in-business/print/

5. What Rockers Can Teach Entrepreneurs

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthblatt/2014/07/17/what-rockers-can-teach-entrepreneurs/print/

6. Four Success Strategies From Failed Business Models

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchfree/2014/07/21/four-success-strategies-from-failed-business-models/print/

7. The Fastest Way To Life Success: Vulnerability

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lawtonursrey/2014/07/20/the-fastest-way-to-life-success-vulnerability/print/

8. Podium Power: 7 Steps To A Rock Solid Speech

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2014/07/18/podium-power-7-steps-to-a-rock-solid-speech/print/

9. How Do You Recognize A Great Entrepreneur?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddhixon/2014/07/18/how-to-recognize-a-great-entrepreneur/print/

10. The CEO Pivot Puzzle; Product definition is a challenge for any startup. But it’s significantly harder for a company that is in an evolving market

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenrosenbaum/2014/07/17/the-ceo-pivot-puzzle/print/

1. Michael Dirda: A Science Fiction Reading List

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2014/07/20/michael-dirda-a-science-fiction-reading-list/print/

12. Keep Time and Emotion from Killing a Negotiation

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/keep-time-and-emotion-from-killing-a-negotiation/

13. Resentment, Jealousy, Feuds: A Look at Intel’s Founding Team

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/resentment-jealousy-feuds-a-look-at-intels-founding-team/

14. The Industrial Revolution That Never Was; the creation of large-scale factories nearly began not in England, but in Great Britain’s American colonies, 250 years ago. The American version failed miserably

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/the-industrial-revolution-that-never-was/

15. Don’t Sell a Product, Sell a Whole New Way of Thinking; Innovators change the lens through which we see the world; Mental models are how the brain makes sense of the vast amount of information to be processed every moment of every day

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/dont-sell-a-product-sell-a-whole-new-way-of-thinking/

16. You Can’t Be a Great Manager If You’re Not a Good Coach

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/you-cant-be-a-great-manager-if-youre-not-a-good-coach/

17. True leaders are absorbed in something much bigger than self. “One of the signals that a person is in wu-wei is that the person has de, translated as ‘virtue’, ‘power’, or ‘charismatic power.'”

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/07/lead-without-trying-so-hard/

18. The one trait successful leaders share; An active coper quickly recovers from setbacks, opens up to the people around her and is aware of her own motivations, strengths and shortcomings

http://fortune.com/2014/07/17/successful-leadership-traits/

19. The art of predicting business risks: Why non-experts do it better

http://fortune.com/2014/07/15/the-art-of-predicting-business-risks-why-non-experts-do-it-better/

20. The Problem With Founders; Starting a business may be hard, but scaling a business is where all the value of a company gets built

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/20/the-problem-with-founders/

21. Norberto Odebrecht, the man who turned his father’s small engineering firm into a construction empire, has died at the age of 93 in his hometown of Salvador, Brazil

http://www.campdenfb.com/article/odebrecht-founder-dies-brazil-aged-93

22. When familial ties force a young next-gen into leadership

http://www.campdenfb.com/article/when-familial-ties-force-young-next-gen-leadership

23. The Secret History Behind The Science Of Stress

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/07/07/325946892/the-secret-history-behind-the-science-of-stress

24. Why the Myers-Briggs test is totally meaningless

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

25. Innovation: Australia can learn some (very) small things from Switzerland

http://www.brw.com.au/p/business/innovation_australia_can_learn_some_6qVXAeLT6kotdrwmqegFvM

TMT

1. When Amazon Acts Like A Start-up: Why Amazon Has Entered The Ebook Subscription Market

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2014/07/18/when-amazon-acts-like-a-start-up-why-amazon-has-entered-the-ebook-subscription-market/print/

2. (Macro/Tech) – Will The UK Become The World’s Leading Urban Innovation Lab?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2014/07/18/why-the-uk-believes-it-can-become-the-worlds-leading-urban-innovation-lab/print/

3. Selling apps, television shows, e-books, music and games through Google Play is becoming a big business for the tech giant. In five years, Google Play has gone from an upstart marketplace for mobile phone apps to a mammoth media hub

http://fortune.com/2014/07/18/the-rise-of-google-play/

4. Illiquid Till Exit: Is the golden era of secondary share sales over for startups?

http://fortune.com/2014/07/21/illiquid-till-exit-golden-era-secondary-share-sales-over-startups/

5. Xiaomi vs Huawei: The showdown of Chinese smartphone brands

http://e27.co/xiaomi-vs-huawei-the-showdown-of-chinese-smart-phone-brands-20140716/

6. (China/Tech) – Alibaba Has Big Hopes for New Big Data Processing Servic

http://english.caixin.com/2014-07-17/100705224.html

7. At EMC, Marriage Requires Investment; EMC’s marriage to VMware has stood the test of time so far. But outside pressure will put the tech giant on the spot to justify the continued relationship

http://online.wsj.com/articles/heard-on-the-street-at-emc-marriage-requires-investment-1405971209

Consumer

1. Tesco has forgotten what it was good at – and Aldi and Lidl have taken advantage; Britain’s biggest retailer has lost connection with customers and focus on price

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/tsco/10979808/Tesco-has-forgotten-what-it-was-good-at-and-Aldi-and-Lidl-have-taken-advantage.html

2. Cheap at sea, pricey on the plate: The voodoo of lobster economics

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/my-travels-with-larry/article19557387/

Investing Process

1. Sino-Forest CFO fined $700,000 and banned from boards in settlement with Ontario Securities Commission

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/07/21/sino-forest-cfo-fined-700000-and-banned-from-boards-in-settlement-with-ontario-securities-commission/

2. GMO 2Q14 Letter: Free Lunches and the Food Truck Revolution

http://www.gmo.com/websitecontent/GMO_QtlyLetter_2Q14.pdf

Books

1. Books – Trying Not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity

http://www.amazon.com/Trying-Not-Try-Science-Spontaneity/dp/product-description/0770437613/