Jackson Library

Find out what are the top companies this year ranked by corporate governance and ethics, accountability to the community and environmentally consciousness from the eighth annual ranking put out by the Corporate Responsibility Officer (formerly Business Ethics) magazine in its Jan./Feb. 2007 issue. The CRO ranking is considered the third principal ranking following the Fortune magazine lists of the "Most Admired Companies" and the "Best Companies to Work for".

Ed Batista on his blog recounts the accomplishment of legendary librarian / mathematician S.R. Ranganathan, who in 1931 penned his famous 'Five Laws of Library Science', which Batista cites as gems of brilliance and brevity. Batista asks: "Could you condense your organization's entire purpose into five basic statements?" And he replies: "At the very least, this list is worth revisiting every time I'm working on a mission statement or a team charter or a set of ground rules. " As latter-day colleagues of Ranganathan, we couldn't agree more.

Are you really in control of your corporate image? Church of the Customer highlights the new book Citizen Marketers, which argues that a solitary citizen today with a broadband connection and inexpensive tools has a better chance than ever of influencing the public's perceptions of huge corporations. "Control is out of control. People are creating content about products and services whether companies like it or not. They are the new cultural influencers." Citizen Marketers examines the work of everyday people who build content on behalf of products, brands, and companies, and provides a framework for working with them.

In addition, on their PR page you will find impressive metrics on the growing power of social media. For example, by last July 50 million blogs had been created -- and their number was doubling each month. And by last year, MySpace had over 100 million registered members. 7,200 new blogs are being created every hour.

It's not your father's Internet any more. Opines the Wall Street Journal: "Drop everything and read this book."

GSB Professor Robert Flanagan has written a new book addressing global trade, migration and international capital flows, Globalization and Labor Conditions: Working Conditions and Worker Rights in a Global Economy. Flanagan, who holds the Konosuke Matsushita Chair of International Labor Economics and Policy Analysis at Stanford, presents evidence on how conditions have changed during late-20th century globalization, and how economic growth, international trade, migration and multinationals have influenced labor. Flanagan also reviews the historical effects of migration and its effect on wages, in light of today's concerns about border control. He argues that evidence suggests that nations open to international trade have superior labor conditions. Moreover, foreign direct investment mainly flows to countries with superior labor conditions, and working conditions in multinational companies are superior to employment conditions in host-country firms. This evidence does not support the view that increasing economic integration initiates a 'race to the bottom' that ends in sweatshop labor conditions.

Stanford Economics Professor John Pencavel writes, "Bob Flanagan ... provides an informed analysis and assessment that ought to be of real interest to all those who still have an open mind on this topic. This is by far the best book I know that aims to inform and enhance public discussion on the varied issues linked to globalization." Watch the video, and check out the book in Jackson Library.

As the blogoshere becomes increasingly crowded, it is difficult to find the best and brightest. Tod Anderlik, marketing and PR consultant (and fellow blogger) has waded into the mire with his Power 150. He has created a list ranking marketing blogs on the World Wide Web. What gives his list significance is that each ranking is arrived at via a proprietary multimetric algorithm of Todd’s own creation, combining Google page rank, the number of Bloglines subscribers, Technorati ranking -- and Todd’s own subjective opinion. The list is interesting, and you will be amazed (or dismayed) to discover how many good sites are out there that you do not know.

Each year MIT’s Technology Review highlights 10 Technologies they believe are up and coming. This year among the most exciting technologies are: nanotechnology, a peer-to-peer video network, tightly focused light, personalized medical monitors and more. The most exciting field seems to be nanotechnology -- the shrinking of technology has increased the practical application of devices in many areas such as renewable energy and medicine. Check out Stanford’s research on using a genetic light switch to help people who suffer from depression.

Bring out the cake, light the candles: The S&P 500 turned 50 this month ! Born March 4, 1957 as a benchmark to measure stock performance, it was comprised of 425 industrials, 15 rails and 60 utilities. It has since become the world's most highly watched measure of U.S. markets. In 1975 the first index mutual fund was offered to individual investors; later named the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, it tracks the S&P 500.

The S&P 500 is a market-value weighted index; each stock’s weight in the index is proportionate to its market value. It is calculated using a base-weighted aggregate methodology -- meaning the level of the index reflects the total market value of all component stocks relative to a particular base period. Total market value is determined by multiplying the price of the stock by the number of shares outstanding.

We are living in the Golden Age of Medical Innovation. Thus the title of the cover story in the March / April 2007 American magazine. Innovation in drugs and medical devices is forging ahead; new treatments address breast cancer, macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, prostate cancer and much more. This seeming progress is at odds with the popular notion that medical innovation and pharmaceutical progress are mired in the mud.

So says author John Calfee. He feels one reason innovations aren't more easily recognized is that these treatments often come from clinical trials of drugs already approved for something else, not blazing new products. Calfee argues "the usual methods for measuring progress in drug research simply do not work anymore"; industry critics nowadays insist on lauding only new drugs, ignoring 'me-too' drugs. "There are better ways to mark progress," Calfee says. Looking forward to even greater achievements, he cautions "Only unwise public policy can make the fire go out." Feeling healthier already? Read more about it in Jackson Library.

There is a trend of late for dining establishments such as TGI Fridays to advertise their smaller portions menu. Along with that smaller portion comes a lower price. Will this "new strategy" fly in the land of "super size"? Some consumers are saying that the resturant industry needs to address the size of the portions they sell to help combat the rising obesity rates. The strategy of serving consumers smaller servings has a lamentably unprofitable history. Read more about it in the New York Times.

'How Nonprofits Get Really Big' is the title of an article in the Spring 2007 Stanford Social Innovation Review. As the article points out, since 1970 more than 200,000 nonprofits have opened in the U.S., but only 144 of them have attained $50 million in annual revenue. The list includes AmeriCares Foundation, Elderhostel, The Trust for Public Land, Family Health International, Mercy Corps, and many more. How did they grow so big? Authors William Foster and Gail Fine describe the two main reasons, and in the process cite many fascinating examples.

Also in this issue: 'Learn to Love Lobbying'. GSB Professor David W. Brady and co-authors Fraser Nelson and Alana Conner Snibbe urge nonprofits to elbow their way to the Washington trough and start lobbying to change America for the better. Benign nonprofits cannot afford to stand by while less wholesome interests monopolize our Senators and Representatives. And as the authors say, who knows -- they may learn to love it !

Read more in Jackson Library ... or subscribe to the Review.

This is the name of an article by Stanford Professor Philip Zimbardo and Zeno Franco, PhD. Spinning off of the famous phrase of Hannah Arendt, the authors show how ordinary people surprise with heroic achievements. Guy Kawasaki on his blog notes the piece approvingly, and lists the 5 actions the authors insist must nurture a 'heroic imagination'.

Readers of our blog may recall our earlier piece (March 4) on the final lecture by Dr Zimbardo, a Stanford institution. This author attended that historic event. The auditorium was SRO, while "Dr Z" held forth with wit and humor -- or as much as was possible when discussing Abu Ghraib and a book titled The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Interested? Read more about Prof Zimbardo.

In recent years India has been a poster child for dramatic business expansion, but BusinessWeek magazine (March 19) raises major concerns in The Trouble With India. The piece begins by describing Hosur Road -- a prime access route to Electronics City, the office park in Bangalore -- as 'pure chaos'. Cars, trucks, lorries, buses, rickshaws, donkeys and cows contend for every inch of this crumbling, hole-filled road -- while pedestrians cower for their lives. India's high-tech business has driven the country's fast rate of economic growth, but the boom may rest on shaky foundations. The normal apparatus of a major industrial power -- highways, modern bridges, reliable power, clean water -- are sadly lacking. Economic losses from congestion alone run up to $6 billion a year, while the nation turns only 4% of its GDP into infrastructure (compared to China's 9%.) Will India be able to build a smooth highway to success?

On March 21st, the Wall Street Journal launched a new online discussion forum for students. Noted WSJ journalists will host discussions and answer the questions about topics and events important to students. The first forum led by WSJ economics writers David Wessel and Greg Ip is devoted to discussion of the Federal Reserve Bank's announcement regarding short-term interest rates. To learn more and to participate in forum visit The Student Discussion Forum.

Consumers and manufacturers seem ready to embrace "green" cars, but there's little consensus on the best technology to achieve optimal "greenness". With competing "green" technologies, the good news is that more hybrids will become available for consumers -- and prices will come down. According to a special report of BusinessWeek, in the next 20 months, at least 30 new hybrid models will hit the U.S. market, which will bring the total number to more than 40 models.

Check out Today's Greenest Cars at BusinessWeek.com.

With the advent of global warming the ski season for avid skiers looks like it might start getting slushy and mushy. Sports Illustrated in their March 15 issue have an article entitled Muddy Slopes which provides future estimates of the number of days lost in a ski season at several major ski resorts. The numbers are staggering, by the year 2050 some will have lost up to 48 days to the warmer climate. They also estimate as a whole that since 1970 up to 4% of winter snow cover has decreased in North America.

TimesSelect is now free to all registered univeristy students and faculty. It offers access to articles published in The New York Times since 1851 (retrieve up to 100 articles a month), as well as the work of 22 selected columnists of The NY Times and the International Herald Tribune. Other features include advance previews and tools for tracking news and organizing favorite news stories. To register for a personal TimesSelect subscription, go to
www.nytimes.com/university. You will need to use a .edu email address to sign up for free.

For unlimited access to articles, remember to check out the Library's New York Times subscription.

Want to toss your boss? For good reason? GSB Professor Bob Sutton ( The No Asshole Rule ) reports on his blog that Gawker is holding an Evil Boss Competition, focusing on bad NY bosses. If it applies, perhaps you should get your vote in and add your own comments to this growing catalog of horrors. Otherwise, watch from a distance -- and be grateful. Sutton cites it approvingly as part of the (growing?) movement to stigmatize the monsters among us and build a better workplace.

Two MBA alums have opened a new business in San Francisco and though you might think wealthy people have now paid to make their lifestyles de luxe in every possible way, two new entrepreneurs have found a niche making a very quotidian business, the men’s barbershop, upscale. Read about it.

Forbes magazine published its annual list of the wealthiest people in the world. Only the billionaires count. To give a scoop: the top twenty billionaires come from 11 countries; the US yields this year 44 more billionaires than last year, and the collective worth of 415 American billionaires is $1.36 trillion. And the richest man in the world … Bill Gates, of course. Google founders, Sergei Brin and Larry Page, are also doing very well by holding the ninth place. Check out the list and statistics, read the articles from the March 26th, 2007 issue located in the Reference Room (Who’s Who section) of Jackson Library.

Audencia Nantes School of Management opens its first overseas office in Shanghai, China. Partnering with Tongji University’s School of Economics and Management, the Audencia office will be based on Tongji’s campus, with the Chinese university in turn establishing its own office on the French school’s site.

Read the news story at Audencia Nantes, and Tongji University information in Wikipedia.

The news that the People’s Republic of China is probably going to pass a law on Friday protecting the private property of its citizens is mainly being covered by foreign press, very little of it has been mentioned in China’s press. The international community is waiting to see how the socialist market economy will be affected by the redefining of public and private property. It was February 35 years ago that Nixon made his famous trip to China opening relations with China. You can read more about the new laws about to be passed at Jurist.

Update on the votes taken by China's Parliament on private property.

The famous Swedish crisp-bread maker has seen U.S. sales rise 50% virtually overnight after Oprah Winfrey took out a Wasa cracker and made herself a sandwich, reports the Wall Street Journal (March 12.) She declared it 'crunchy' and 'yummy' during a segment with Bob Greene, exercise physiologist and Certified Personal Trainer. Oprah likes it -- and that’s all it took. Hey, I'll give it a try.

The parade of misbehaving members by corporate America (ENRON, WorldCom etc.) seems to be continuing. The trial of the century concerning Board of Directors mismanagement and corruption is getting underway today in Chicago. Former newspaper mogul Conrad Black, CEO of Hollinger International and the board are accused of stealing $80 million from the company which once owned the Chicago Sun-Times and London’s Daily Telegraph. The original charges were filed by the SEC November 2004. I’m sure the media will be all over this trial, since Black like Skilling and Lay like to show the fact that he had money. Read about the first day at trial.

Update: Conrad Black jailed for six years

The year 2006 was the start of the Japan - China 21st Century Exchange Program, which enables high school students from each country to visit the other, specifically promoting interaction among a younger generation that will determine the future relationship between these two nations. According to the March Japan Journal, more than 1,000 Chinese students will have visited Japan via the program by the end of March 2007 (200 Japanese students have correspondingly visited China.) Of course, apart from the program there are thousands of other students studying in each others' countries, though not part of this explicit effort to build bridges. Relations between the countries go far back; for example, the Kenzuishi (embassies to Sui Dynasty China) began exactly 1400 years ago, in 607 AD. Read more in the issue in Jackson Library.

Find Bar lore, Blogs, and Gold (IPO’s and the hard stuff) and much more in this month’s JacksonLine!

The mortgage market is hurting and the effects of all those mortgage loans given to cash-poor homebuyers is starting to rear it's ugly head. Homeowners are defaulting, mortgage lenders are closing their doors meanwhile prospective sellers are putting their homes up for sale in a real estste market that is relatively flat. The surprising thing is that home prices are not falling by much. People and companies involved in the real estate industry are hoping for a big spring thaw for the real estate market. Read more about it.

Guy Kawasaki is full of praise for Jessica Livingston's Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days. On his blog, Kawasaki pronounces it a gold mine of great stories and ideas about entrepreneurship. He notes that some tales are so amusing the book might well have been called Flounders at Work. For example, Ann Winblad (Open Systems), in a scene reminiscent of The Producers: "So I get in front of these 60 or 70 guys and these guys are probably all in their 50s and I’m in my 20s, and we had a 'blue light special,' where we said, 'If you give me a check today for $10,000, you can have unlimited rights to one of our modules.' …I went home with, I think, like 12 or 15 of these $10,000 checks in my purse."

The main points of the book, Kawasaki opines, are that entrepreneurship is about tactics, boldness, and pushing on despite limitations. As a blog photo reveals, his own copy of the book is already bristling with post-its for new ideas.

GSB Professor Bob Sutton on his blog revisits a pivotal interview in 2002 of GSB colleague and Intel legend Andy Grove. Clay Christensen ( Innovator's Dilemma ) was interviewing Grove at Harvard, and Sutton remarks that Grove's comments that day reinforce some of the fundamental points of the book he and colleague Jeff Pfeffer recently authored, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense. And apropos of Sutton's newest book The No Asshole Rule, he goes on to laud Grove's personal example as a leader eager to passionately debate product excellence -- not put down people.

GSB Professor Bob Sutton notes on his blog that colleague -- and co-author of Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense, Professor Jeff Pfeffer -- recently testified before Congress on the implications of evidence-based management for Federal personnel. In particular, Pfeffer brought into focus the challenges of implementing pay-for-performance systems, with which the Federal government is currently experimenting. Evidence-based management, a major focus of Pfeffer and Sutton's work together, is now part of U.S. History -- with a capital "H".

By 2015 the international currency of choice will be the Asian dollar, and the world's most popular movie will be a drama set in ancient China. So says Zhang Yue, ebullient Chinese multimillionaire industrialist and architect of "Broad Town", a city-within-a-city on the outskirts of metropolitan Changsha, China. Highlighted in The Atlantic magazine for March, Mr Zhang, head of Broad Air Conditioning, has created his own 'utopia', a model of tidiness and recycling complete with a Versailles-like palace, a pyramid, employee housing and an employee club. Singing company employees are regimented like an army, roused each day at 6 AM for physical training. Clearly this tycoon has more than money on his mind. After hanging with Zhang in his Broad Town, author James Fallows concludes, "China will bring more than mere commerce to the world." Read more in the issue in Jackson Library.

In the article from March issue of Business 2.0 magazine, GSB Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer asserts that the textbook image of a CEO doesn’t necessarily correspond to the real-life management styles of some very successful leaders. Not defending the “junkyard dog” style of management, the author argues that the emphasis in selecting the CEOs and the top management should be placed on the strengths of individuals which would benefit the certain business environments and where the persons’ flaws wouldn’t be damaging.

The first U.S. commercial property derivatives market is set to launch as four of the world's biggest banks team up to create a trading platform. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America were believed to be the lenders, reported Financial Times. Property is one of the few major asset classes without a developed derivatives market in the US, in spite of its size, estimated at $26,000bn.

Story at Ft.com.

According to a recent CNN Money report, a new series of low speed crash tests conducted by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spells bad news for your bumper -- and your bank account. Only 4 new midsize cars tested – Mitsubishi Galant, Toyota Camry, and Mazda 6 -- came away with damage of $1500 or less. All other midsize cars tested sustained damage in the 4,000 to 5,000 range. How fast were they driving, you may ask. 5 miles per hour. The car that sustained the least amount of damage was: the 1981 Ford Escort.

Happy at your job? Got perks? Like your colleagues? Fortune highlights The 100 Best Companies to Work For. You can look up the January 22 issue in Jackson, or read the Web version. Leading the pack? Google, where 11 on-site restaurants on the company campus are business as usual; employees sample Irish oatmeal at the Plymouth Rock Cafe, tapas at Cafe Pintxo, and roast quail at Cafe Seven. (Rumor says company heads mandated that no worker be more than 150 feet away from a food source.) And to work off the calories, 'Googlers' can climb, play beach volleyball, and swim -- without leaving the office. Other firms in the top 10 include Genentech, Whole Foods Market, Network Appliance and Boston Consulting. Highlight articles cover super-perks, top benefits, and diversity. Your firm not on the list? Find out how the other half lives.

An article in today's New York Times talks about a company LiveFuels created by a husband and wife team and they are betting their careers and personal fortunes that they can grow masses of the slimy organism and use its natural photosynthesis process to produce a plentiful supply of biofuel. Read the story.

In this years Berkshire Hathaway’s letter to shareholders Warren Buffett covers a lot of ground. He make suggestions on what to name your offspring and quotes Churchill and Ben Franklin. Buffett throws in a joke or two but also speaks of the environment and its effect on business as well as his philanthropic endeavors this year. He even gives a great overview, in plain English, of retroactive transactions accounting. You will also get Buffett’s take on executive compensation which he describes as “Ratchet, Ratchet, Bingo”! Read the letter.

In its January / February issue, Hispanic Business offers up its 16th Annual EOY (Entrepreneur Of The Year) Awards. More than 600 business leaders assembled in downtown Los Angeles to honor men and women who are upcoming leaders in the Hispanic community. Tony Rey, Jr of Rey Homes was 'Heavy Industry Winner'. Enrique Tessada also took top honors; his infrastructure solutions company, Tessada & Associates, ranks in the Hispanic Business 500, with revenues of $70 million. Other winners included Rainer "Ray" Gonzalez of Pacer Health Corporation, Capone De Leon of ManJon Studios, and Anthony Valdez of A. Val Construction Corporation.

Beijing is revving up for its 2008 Olympics. According to an Economist article, Olympic cities often experience an economic surge before the games, and China's capital is no exception. With 18 months to go before the opening ceremonies, Beijing's economy -- and China's as well -- is growing apace. Some government leaders are concerned that the pace is unnervingly fast, and that there could be an uncomfortable 'slump' down the road. Two Beijing academics recently concluded that the end of the Olympics would coincide with a cyclical downturn in China's economy. Will China get the gold medal for economic foresight? Wait and see.

Legendary Stanford Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo will deliver his final lecture on campus on March 7. A fixture on campus for decades, Zimbardo is most famous (infamous?) for his notorious "Stanford Prison Experiment" back in 1971, that scandalized many when it pushed beyond the limits of human decency and exposed some ugly truths about humanity. Professor Zimbardo will discuss his new book on the psychology of evil, the appropriately named Lucifer Effect.

The article in January 2007 issue of Fortune magazine is an essay based on the speech delivered by Bill Gates at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. Bill Gates was presented with the James C. Morgan Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic work. In his inspirational speech, Bill Gates gives an insight on what made him shift his attention and efforts to the philanthropy. Learn how Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation got started, how it’s evolving in Bill Gates own words, and find statistics on how 13,215 billion dollars of the Foundation money have been spent since its inception in 2000 through 2006.

GramIT is a small non-profit providing low-income villagers a chance to stay with their families in their native homes. In the village of Ethakota, in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, most of the villagers are subsistence farmers, barely making ends meet. According to BusinessWeek, when Gram-IT set up shop in this small village it had a profound impact on the village, slowing the debilitating migration of young adults to the crowded cities, and allowing them to keep both village and culture intact.

Have you taken the ARSE yet? That's the Asshole Rating Self-Exam. GSB Professor Bob Sutton reports on his blog that almost 40,000 people have taken the exam; over 60,000 have visited the test.

And, despite its name, it's quite painless.

Sutton also informs this author that his new book The No Asshole Rule is currently # 7 at Amazon.com.

Apparently not many adults -- or at least Mark Burnett -- would have us believe that to be the case. This new show is a ratings bonanza for Fox. "It's amazing how much you forget from grade school," says Mike Darnell, a Fox VP. "My understanding is that every (network) exec who played the game during the pitch meetings ended up with zero dollars at the end." According to CNN the show was seen by 26.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched series debut in Fox network history -- and the most popular debut of any series since 1998, according to Nielsen Media Research. No wonder I prefer Jeopardy; at least I know I can answer more than a 5th grader on that show.

Warren Buffett wants to see the proceeds from all Berkshire shares he owns at death to be used for philanthropic purposes quickly. ... "I've set this schedule because I want the money spent relatively promptly by people I know to be capable, vigorous, and motivated." He says that these managerial attributes sometimes wane when institutions - "particularly those exempt from market forces" - age. Story at CNNMoney.com.