These CEOs Have Some Unexpected Hobbies: Stickers, Anyone? Corporate Bosses Unwind by Designing Fireworks, Playing With Toy Trains and Crafting Hunting Knives

These CEOs Have Some Unexpected Hobbies: Stickers, Anyone?

Corporate Bosses Unwind by Designing Fireworks, Playing With Toy Trains and Crafting Hunting Knives

JOANN S. LUBLIN

June 12, 2014 10:30 p.m. ET

On average, American chief executives work more than 50 hours a week, according to a recent study co-led by Harvard Business School. For the rest of the time, they have hobbies.

Larry Ellison, the billionaire leader of Oracle Corp. ORCL -1.32% , races yachts.Jim Hagedorn, chief of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. SMG -3.21% , occasionally flies around in his World War II P-51 Mustang. But that doesn’t even begin to cover the array of activities bosses pursue to relax from their high-octane jobs. Read more of this post

Silicon Valley’s Welch Vows Nationwide Fight on Tenure

Silicon Valley’s Welch Vows Nationwide Fight on Tenure

Read more of this post

A Growth Zealot’s Guide to Commercial Transformation

A Growth Zealot’s Guide to Commercial Transformation

A new e-book from BCG on Winning with Growth

MAY 02, 2014

The Go-to-Market Revolution THIS E-BOOK

This e-book is part of BCG’s Winning with Growth initiative, which aims to support transformational company growth through multiple disciplines.

A Growth Zealot’s Guide to Commercial Transformation sets the stage for companies to trigger new and untapped growth by exploiting the “Go-to-Market Revolution” hidden in their existing marketing, sales, pricing, and other commercial functions. At little cost or risk, companies can create short-term revenue growth that simultaneously funds long-term profit as well as the development of new strategic capabilities. Read more of this post

The Go-to-Market Revolution: Igniting Growth with Marketing, Sales, and Pricing

The Go-to-Market Revolution: Igniting Growth with Marketing, Sales, and Pricing

by Rich Hutchinson

MAY 02, 2014

Whether you ask a company’s CEO or its investors, they’ll likely identify revenue growth as the single biggest driver of corporate profit and shareholder value.

Over the long term, revenue growth powers 75 percent of total shareholder return (TSR) for the upper-quartile value creators of the S&P 500. Even in the short term, growth accounts for nearly a third of TSR for these outperformers—double the boost from improving margins or cash flow. A growing business also empowers employees, attracts top talent, and helps fund expansion, transformation, and more growth. Read more of this post

The future of language: English against the machine

The future of language: Johnson: English against the machine

Jun 11th 2014, 15:38 by R.L.G. | DUBLIN

LAST week’s column looked at how machine translation (MT) has—and has not—improved. Free services like Bing and Google Translate can give quick-and-dirty, mostly-correct translations for tourists and the curious most of the time. For professional uses, machine-translated material must be post-edited for both accuracy and style. With restricted subject matter, MT systems can be trained to choose the best translations for words with multiple meanings. This is why (for example) the European Commission uses MT extensively. The legalistic language of the European Union may be impenetrable to outsiders, but the narrow range of bureaucratic language makes translating it much easier.  Read more of this post

The Complete History And Evolution Of The Modern Stock Market [CHART]

The Complete History And Evolution Of The Modern Stock Market [CHART]

MAMTA BADKAR MARKETS  JUN. 12, 2014, 3:33 AM

In 1792, 24 stockbrokers and merchants signed the Buttonwood agreement on Wall Street, agreeing to trade on a commission basis. But the very first scrip (acknowledgment of debt) exchanged hands on Wall Street in 1674, according to Phil Mackintosh, the head of trading Credit Suisse.

The stock market has come a long way from the early days. “Many of the seemingly ‘modern’ issues in today’s markets – including latency, fragmentation and regulation – have in fact been affecting the evolution of the market for many decades,” writes Mackintosh.

This chart from Credit Suisse offers a timeline of the key market, regulatory, and technological events in the U.S. stock market. (h/t JC Parets at All Start Charts) Read more of this post

The football disaster that conquered the world of sport; Fifa has been a stunning success in spite of flaws that have been exposed as never before

June 11, 2014 6:27 pm

The football disaster that conquered the world of sport

ByJohn GapperAuthor alerts

Fifa has been a stunning success in spite of flaws that have been exposed as never before

Welcome to the World Cup in Brazil, brought to you by Fifa, a corporate governance disaster that is also one of the most successful multinational enterprises on earth.

The contrast between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s cronyism, managerial entrenchment and corruption, and its achievement in spreading the British version of football around the world (leaving the US game in the dust), is striking. It demonstrates that Fifa has enormous strengths as well as egregious weaknesses. Read more of this post

Does Tenure Protect Bad Teachers or Good Schools?

UPDATED JUNE 11, 2014 6:40 PM

Does Tenure Protect Bad Teachers or Good Schools?

INTRODUCTION

Teacher tenure laws deprive public school students of their right to an education by making it difficult to remove bad teachers, a California judge ruled on Tuesday. The case, Vergara v. California, pressed by parents backed by a Silicon Valley millionaire, David Welch, is expected to be the first of many around the country to take on tenure.

Do tenure’s job protections prevent bad teachers from being fired or do they provide for greater stability for low-paid faculty? Read more of this post

Avoiding Stupidity is Easier than Seeking Brilliance

Avoiding Stupidity is Easier than Seeking Brilliance

June 11, 2014 by Shane Parrish

Simon Ramo, a scientist and statistician, wrote a fascinating little book that few people have bothered to read: Extraordinary Tennis Ordinary Players.

The book isn’t fascinating because I love tennis. I don’t. In the book Ramo identifies the crucial difference between a Winner’s Game and a Loser’s Game.

Ramo believed that tennis could be subdivided into two games: the professionals and the rest of us.

Players in both games play by the same rules and scoring. They play on the same court. Sometimes they share the same equipment. In short the basic elements of the game are the same. Sometimes amateurs believe they are professionals but professionals never believe they are amateurs. But the games are fundamentally different, which is Ramo’s key insight. Read more of this post

‘My 7 shortcuts to a successful start-up’ – the entrepreneur’s view

‘My 7 shortcuts to a successful start-up’ – the entrepreneur’s view

Entrepreneur Josephine Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s, has just launched her fourth start up. From questioning your idea to getting obsessed with the detail, she shares the secrets of getting a new business up and running from scratch

By Josephine Fairley

4:02PM BST 09 Jun 2014

I’ve just emerged, bllnking into the light, after the launch of what is now my fourth start-up, The Perfume Society. And as an entrepreneur, I now realise that there are lessons common to every start-up I’ve been involved in (Green & Black’s, Judges Bakery, and a nine-room well-being centre in my home town of Hastings, before this), which probably apply to every single new business. I think they’re worth sharing. Because at the time, you believe you’re never going to come up for air, get it all done, and actually launch. And as start-up activity is on the rise in the UK, here’s what I’ve learned from the experience/s to help you take the plunge. Read more of this post

In a crisis, don’t bank on groupthink for a way out; Thrice during the Cold War, decisions by a single leader turn out to be the correct ones

PUBLISHED JUNE 12, 2014

In a crisis, don’t bank on groupthink for a way out

Thrice during the Cold War, decisions by a single leader turn out to be the correct ones

HARISH MEHTA

Playing a key role: Mr Lee (right) with Mr Deng in September 1988. Mr Lee, on a visit to Beijing in November 1980, had told the Chinese leader that in order for Asean diplomacy at the UN to be credible, Asean must not be seen to be restoring Pol Pot to Cambodia. – SPH FILE PHOTO Read more of this post

Key genes for Spanish flu pandemic exist in nature

Key genes for Spanish flu pandemic exist in nature

Thursday, Jun 12, 2014
AFP

WASHINGTON – Bird flu viruses circulating in nature contain eight genes key to potentially recreate a pathogen similar to that which caused the 1918 deadly Spanish flu pandemic, a study published on Wednesday said.

An international team of virologists identified the key genetic components – similar to those in the virus behind the 1918 pandemic – in influenza viruses in wild ducks. Read more of this post

How to Make a Great Local TV Commercial; The Key Is To Embrace The Limitations Of Small Budgets And Not Try To Imitate Slick National Campaigns

How to Make a Great Local TV Commercial

The Key Is To Embrace The Limitations Of Small Budgets And Not Try To Imitate Slick National Campaigns

ALINA DIZIK

May 24, 2014

Local commercials can come across as cheap, amateurish and downright goofy.

But those are their good points.

Big national brands can spend a lot of money on commercials that are almost as entertaining as the shows they interrupt—big casts, continuing story lines and stellar production values. Read more of this post

Impact Investing: Judith Rodin Takes On the Naysayers

Impact Investing: Judith Rodin Takes On the Naysayers

Jun 09, 2014

Seven years ago, a group of investors met at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center to discuss what they had learned from a relatively new form of investing. The term “impact investing” emerged from this meeting. Since then, the impact investing industry has grown to attract a range of investors who want to achieve two goals through their investments: financial returns and social or environmental impact. Some impact investors invest directly into social enterprises; others choose to invest in funds or social impact bonds. A range of products has surfaced to meet the demand, and new infrastructure for measuring financial and social impact results have been developed.

In their new book published by Wharton Digital Press, The Power of Impact Investing: Putting Markets to Work for Profit and Global Good co-authors Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and past president of the University of Pennsylvania, and Margot Brandenburg say that impact investing is no longer only for high-wealth investors. They offer guidance on how any investor can get started with their first impact investment.

In this interview for Knowledge@Wharton, Jacob Gray, senior director of theWharton Social Impact Initiative, speaks with Rodin about what impact investing is, how it compares to traditional investing and philanthropy and what’s next for the field. Rodin also responds to the naysayers. Read more of this post

Can Envy Be a Virtue? Taming the Green-eyed Monster at Work

Can Envy Be a Virtue? Taming the Green-eyed Monster at Work

Jun 10, 2014

The writer Gore Vidal once described “envy” as “the central fact of American life.” And the workplace, he might have added.

Among the seven deadly sins – which also include wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust and gluttony – envy has been labeled the most joyless, widespread and destructive.

Yet this emotion – loosely defined as resentment of an advantage that another person has, often coupled with a desire to take that advantage and/or harm the person who possesses it — is also the hardest to pin down, at least within organizations. That’s because in surveys and questionnaires, according to researchers, employees generally refuse to acknowledge that they are envious of their colleagues. As Maurice Schweitzer, Wharton professor of operations and information management, notes: “Envy is an emotion we don’t feel comfortable expressing. A person might tell you that he or she is feeling sad today, but it’s less appropriate to tell our colleagues we are feeling envious. So what happens is that people fail to appreciate how pervasive envy is.”   Read more of this post

The silver lining on multiple directorships?

The silver lining on multiple directorships

Thursday, Jun 12, 2014

Lee Kin Wai

The Straits Times

It is generally believed to be detrimental for a company if its board directors hold several other board positions elsewhere.

The idea is that a director is less likely to be able to effectively oversee a firm if he is too busy with similar responsibilities for many other organisations. Read more of this post

Here’s What It Will Take To Be A CEO In 2040

Here’s What It Will Take To Be A CEO In 2040

DRAKE BAER STRATEGY  JUN. 11, 2014, 2:55 AM

Coming soon?

The term “chief executive officer” has been around since about 1917, when the modern business management system was first established.

A new article from PwC’s strategy+business traces the evolution of the role over the past century — and looks ahead to 2040. To save you some time, we’ve distilled the insights of authors Ken Favaro, Per-Ola Karlsson andGary L. Neilson into a few takeaways, but it’s worth a full read.  Read more of this post

How To Work 80-Hour Weeks And Not Burn Out

How To Work 80-Hour Weeks And Not Burn Out​

MAGGIE ZHANG STRATEGY  JUN. 11, 2014, 10:55 AM

Have you ever wondered how Wall Street professionals and management consultants somehow work 80-hour weeks without ever seeming to need a break?

In a recent Quora thread, “How do people work 80-100 hours a week and not get burnt out?”, users shared their best tips for balancing a hectic workweek with the rest of their lives. Read more of this post

35 Etiquette Tips For Doing Business Around The World

35 Etiquette Tips For Doing Business Around The World

EMMIE MARTIN STRATEGY  JUN. 11, 2014, 1:35 PM

Picking up a sandwich with your hands during a business lunch in New York wouldn’t be a big deal. But in Rio de Janeiro, it could signify considerable disrespect.

That’s because what’s considered “proper etiquette” or “good manners” varies greatly form country to country — and as a professional traveling overseas for work, if you don’t take the time to familiarize yourself with local social customs, you may appear rude and naïve, and you even run the risk of offending those you’re doing business with.

Though specific social protocol sometimes differs between cities and regions, learning general cultural customs from different countries will help ensure that you’re polite and professional wherever your travels take you.

Sources for founders’ secret-sauce ideas; Anne Wood got the idea for the Teletubby look after seeing astronauts in a museum display of space exhibits

Last updated: June 10, 2014 4:24 pm

Sources for founders’ secret-sauce ideas

Eureka moment: Anne Wood got the idea for the Teletubby look after seeing astronauts in a museum display of space exhibits

How does an entrepreneur get inspiration? The challenge is not to come up with just one idea but the next one and the next to take a business forward, whether for another product, a new market or an adjustment to a basic service. We asked entrepreneurs to share their sources of new thinking. Read more of this post

Three events that shaped our world: If there is one lesson from the past 100 years it is that we are doomed to co-operate

June 10, 2014 7:13 pm

Three events that shaped our world

By Martin Wolf

If there is one lesson from the past 100 years it is that we are doomed to co-operate

This year is the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war, the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the 25th anniversaries of the collapse of the Soviet empire and the savage crackdown around Tiananmen Square. One hundred years ago, Europe’s fragile order fell apart. Seventy years ago, the democracies launched an assault on totalitarian Europe. Twenty-five years ago, Europe became whole and free, while China chose market economics and the party state. We have now lived for a quarter of a century in an era of global capitalism. But the political and economic pressures of such an era are also increasingly evident. Read more of this post

Top 50 Financial Advisor Blogs And Bloggers

Top 50 Financial Advisor Blogs And Bloggers

The rankings for this list of the top 50 financial advisor blogs and bloggers are determined using website metrics measured by Moz Analytics, including page authority, external links to the blog, and total links. (See here for the exact scoring formula.) Blogs must operate on a standalone advisor-controlled domain or subdomain to be considered (i.e., blogs published solely on a larger multi-blog platform will not be considered).

To be eligible, advisors must actually be registered as such, either through an SEC- or state-registered RIA, or as a registered representative of a broker-dealer. Advisor registration status details and blog data updates are powered by BrightScope. Blog data (and advisor rankings) are updated at the end of every month.

To have your blog considered for this list, be certain to find and claim your AdvisorPage profile and submit your blog information via BrightScope.  Read more of this post

The Inner Workings of a Quant Contrarian Strategy; Finance professor Wesley Gray discusses his upcoming actively managed value ETF

The Inner Workings of a Quant Contrarian Strategy

Finance professor Wesley Gray discusses his upcoming actively managed value ETF.

By Samuel Lee | 06-10-14 | 06:00 AM | Email Article

A version of this article was published in the April 2014 issue of Morningstar ETFInvestor. Download a complimentary copy here.

Wesley Gray is the finance professor turned quant behind the upcoming ValueShares U.S. Large Cap exchange-traded fund. He cowrote with Tobias Carlisle Quantitative Value, a lucid, entertaining, yet meaty guide to the construction of an automated stock-picking strategy. Gray’s upcoming exchange-traded fund will implement a version of the strategy laid out in the book. Read more of this post

Is Tai Chi the New Yoga?

Is Tai Chi the New Yoga?

Confessions of an arm wafter.

By Simon Doonan

Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Felix Green/Eye Ubiquitous/Getty Images

Suddenly last summer I became a bona fide alter kocker. I adopted the ultimate signifier of senior citizenship. No, I did not start jamming fistfuls of purloined Sweet’N Low sachets into my man-bag. And, no, I did not embark on an extreme couponing rampage. It’s worse than that. I took up tai chi. Read more of this post

Al Gore on Steve Jobs: “the experience of failure really caused him to dig deep”

Al Gore on Steve Jobs: “the experience of failure really caused him to dig deep”

BY JAMES ROBINSON 
ON JUNE 10, 2014

“I never knew him to smell bad,” laughed Vice-President Al Gore on stage at Southland this morning, reflecting on his decades-long friendship with the late Steve Jobs and the supposed image of Jobs as a shoeless, shower-avoiding young entrepreneur in the late 1970s.

As Gore relayed, he and Jobs first met after the release of the Apple II in 1976. The tax system was not friendly to computer companies at the time, and Jobs came to meet with Gore when he was a new congressman from Tennessee. Gore ended up co-sponsoring a bill to put Apple II computers in schools and, as Vice President in the Clinton White House, Gore was reported to have the only Mac computer in the administration. Read more of this post

Chobani’s Science Lesson: A controversial message on yogurt lids has people talking about anti-science sentiment in America, and the power of social media to change it.

Chobani’s Science Lesson

By ANNA NORTH

JUNE 10, 2014 11:37 AM 4 Comments

The Greek yogurt company Chobani raised hackles last week with a message under some of its lids that read, “Nature got us to 100 calories, not scientists. #howmatters.” The company has apologized, but some scientists say the controversy suggests something bigger about anti-science sentiment in America. Read more of this post

Writing can be an artificial arena where we mash the world into a shape we can stand to look at

Controlling the Narrative

By TIM KREIDER

JUNE 9, 2014 8:20 PM 31 Comments

Draft is a series about the art and craft of writing.

I used to be a polemicist. I was an editorial cartoonist, and wrote what I called “artist’s statements” to accompany my cartoons each week, which over the two terms of the George W. Bush administration lengthened and sharpened from rants into something more like essays. I became practiced at using language as a weapon. My role models were hilarious, elegant and brutal humorists from Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken through Hunter S. Thompson and Matt Taibbi, who raised American invective to an art form. This is a fine and honorable tradition when practiced with a certain amour-propre and panache, but in the last couple of decades it’s become our dominant mode of public discourse, degraded by hacks and amateurs who ape its cruelty but are rhetorically illiterate and tone-deaf to humor. They’re just parroting talking points with profanity. Read more of this post

Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, in Reddit Q&A

Hi, I’m Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. Looking forward to your questions.(self.investing)

submitted 26 days ago by aliceschroederThe Snowball

I was fortunate to have spent 10 years getting to know Warren Buffett by spending days and weeks with him. I could ask him anything and you can ask me anything as well. Some of you may want to know why he chose me. In his words, he likes the way I think, he likes the way I write. Spending thousands of hours with Warren was like getting a Ph.D., or maybe more than one. Before writing The Snowball, I was an analyst at several firms on Wall Street, a regulator, a CPA, and now I invest, and serve on corporate boards. From auditor to board member I’ve seen the sausage factory. My motto is: do whatever will teach you the most. Read more of this post

Corporate attempts at innovation are overwhelmingly dying on the vine

Corporate attempts at innovation are overwhelmingly dying on the vine

By Matt McFarland Updated: June 4 at 8:46 am

The lion’s share of corporate innovation projects are not making it to the market, according to a survey from Fahrenheit 212.

The innovation consulting firm asked 100 chief innovation officers from multinational corporations what percentage of their innovation projects make it to market. Forty-five percent of respondents said fewer than 10 percent of their projects did. Twenty-one percent of those surveyed said between 10 and 25 percent of their projects made it to market. Read more of this post