In these most challenging economic times the prospects of funding IPOs is grim. In an article from the SF Chronicle, it was reported that for the first time since 1978, there were no venture-backed IPOs at all in the last quarter, and the pace has barely picked up since. Read more about it.
Want to take a glimpse into the most amazing private collection of books and artifacts? If so, it might be a personal library of Jay Walker, the founder of Priceline.com and Walker Digital. An incredible collection is taking about 3,600 sq. feet in Jay’s home. His home was specifically designed to accommodate his library which includes book collection with a special space taken by the first-editions and the vast assortment of artifacts representing several hundred years in the human history. To find out more, read the article, The Ultimate Library, in October issue of Wired magazine in Jackson Library periodicals section or online.
For those who follow our blog, a symposium of distinguished faculty convened yesterday at Stanford to discuss the current credit crisis. GSB Dean Robert Joss introduced the session, which included faculty from Law, Economics and the Business School. We are all concerned about the present situation, so take this opportunity to increase your awareness by watching a video of the symposium.
Guy Kawasaki's new book Reality Check is the object of an enthusiastic blog by GSB Professor Robert Sutton. After noting that this book serves as a good introduction to Kawasaki's distinct personality and style, Sutton remarks that he was so taken by the book that after opening it he read it cover to cover. Regarding Kawasaki as one of the best bloggers in the business space, Sutton commends his investigational style, how he asks the right questions and is able to turn a phrase, and suggests that reading the book -- mostly drawn from Kawasaki's blog -- is in itself more efficient than reading online, arguing that people read print text about 25% faster. Hmm, perhaps books aren't quite dead. We have tapped into Mr Kawasaki's blog from time to time here on the Jackson blog, and have usually found him both witty and timely, so we may be checking out his book when it is released later this month.
In today's social computing envrionment, anyone with Internet access and an opinion has the ability to either positively or negatively brand a product or service within a matter of minutes. The power of messaging and branding is in the hands of the consumer who builds his/her own audience and creates content on top of company content. Consumers are far more likely to listen to their peers (consumer-to-consumer or c-to-c) versus a corporate institution.
"We're quickly approaching a world where the ultimate marketing channel is becoming 'everyone-to-everyone else' or "e-to-e,' posing a whole new set of challenges for marketers" says John A. Greco, Jr., President-CEO of the Direct Marketing Association.
Reported in telligent White Paper, 2008
Jackson Library is now Twittering! If you would like to read our GSB Library Twitter, covering the newest developments and announcements at the library, become a follower at GSBLibrary.
Thoreau Center for Sustainability (Photo courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation)
I find it an ironic twist of fate that on the site of the ex-army post know as the Presidio, the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, a campus for nonprofits run by San Francisco's Tides nonprofit network now occupies part of the historic fort.
Thoreau is like a utopian community for its tenants, who get synergies with similar enterprises, below-market rate rents in a beautiful setting, and access to shared amenities, such as the conference rooms and educational programs, plus utilities, janitorial, maintenance, free parking, bike lockers and showers.
But more importantly, the Thoreau Center is an exemplar for other nonprofits that want to replicate its shared-space model to create their own stable homes.
Read more about it.
 GSB Alum Alvaro Fernandez tells us that the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) has just released a special report prepared by his firm, SharpBrains (link available only to current GSB community). It describes the growing use of computerized brain fitness tools offered to senior housing residents as part of comprehensive wellness initiatives, and provides an overview of the brain fitness field -- with 4 case studies that shed light on brain fitness centers in seniors housing communities. The report was the fruit of a meeting between Alvaro and the President of ASHA, facilitated by fellow GSB Alum Ryan Frederick. For those wishing to learn more, check out the description at the SharpBrains site. Alvaro himself will be at the NY Public Library on November 17 to speak on brain fitnesss as a professional development event for librarians.
We've all heard of the so-called French Paradox -- the observation that the French suffer a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite a diet rich in saturated fats. Research by Gorelik, Ligumsky, Kohe, and Kanner, four scientists at Hebrew University, goes at least partway in explaining the situation. They discovered that when our intestines digest fat in red meat, toxic chemicals are released that can cause cancer. But when you drink red wine with dinner, those chemicals are neutralized by antioxidants called polyphenols. So the next time you sit down with that thick New York Steak, do yourself a favor and pop open a bottle of red.
While in cosmetology school, hair stylist Najah Aziz participated in a class assignment to give free hair care to teenage girls at a juvenile-detention center. The experience left an impression that would inspire her to incorporate community-service work when she opens her own salon.
Ms. Aziz made good on her commitment later at her Like the River Salon in Atlanta where she offers free beauty services to homeless women every quarter.
Story at The Chronicle of Philanthropy, September 18, 2008
Puzzled by the recent flurry of developments on Wall Street? Feel like it's too much, too fast to digest? A GSB instructor just recommended a New York Times Freakonomics blog entry by economists Diamond and Kushyap to his MBA students. An interesting explanation of these potentially globe-shaking events ... as well as what it all means for you and me.
It was announced this week that the IMF would conduct a review of the US Financial System. The program is called the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) and is usually reserved for countries with devaluing currency or other major financial market issues. The IMF steps in to help them decide next steps and in some instances organizes loans. The Spiegel (a major German news magazine) explains a bit more about the process and what will be expected in an article entitled The Shrinking Influence of the US Federal Reserve.
There is an interesting profile of Sun Microsystems in the SF Chronicle that states in part that while Sun has been a Silicon Valley technological
innovator for the last 25 years, things are changing at the company. |
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"The stock is down almost 50 percent year-to-date," said financial analyst Bill Kreher with Edward Jones, as Sun shares closed at $9.39 Friday, up 3.6 percent. "But management credibility has taken a bit of a hit," Kreher said, adding that whether the Santa Clara company shines again or slowly dims "is more or less a coin toss." Read more about it. |
Business Week just released their list of Best Places to Launch a Career. Topping the list this year is Ernst and Young followed by 49 additional great companies. The results are compiled from a survey of career services directors at multiple colleges and universities.
The same issue of Business Week (Sept. 15, 2008) compiles a list of the top 50 businesses in Asia, topping the list is Siemens in India.
When training MBAs I often emphasize the fact that the internet is not always the most reliable place to get business information especially when it comes to their career or millions of dollars in assets for their company. Yesterday a perfect example of the impact the web is having on news and business came to light when Google, picked up an old story (undated) put out a few years ago about United filing for bankruptcy and released it as current news, which in turn was picked up by several news agencies. The result was that United shares dropped 75%. Learn more about this shocking news blip on the PBS News Hour site.
As the days of summer linger, you might want to catch up with some last-minute reading by the poolside this weekend. Some suggestions, from our 'Popular Books' rack : Nice Guys Can Get The Corner Office: Eight Strategies for Winning in Business Without Being a Jerk by Russ C. Edelman et al, offering encouragement and pointers to the more scrupulous who aspire to success, Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? by Jared Bernstein, which tries to answer your common questions about practical everyday economics, The eBay Billionaires' Club by Amy Joyner, interviews of eBay merchants who sell more than $1 billion of goods each year, explaining their keys to success, and From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession by Harvard Professor Rakesh Khurana, who asks whether the American business school has or has not fulfilled its role in the development of a professional managerial class.
Time to report the newest New Perspectives Quarterly (NPQ). The Summer 2008 issue is here, trumpeting a global historical shift in the locus of power. Titled 'The Rise of The Rest', the issue considers the new world order which is emerging in the wake of the triumph of the West, with China and India as key players in the ascendant. Articles and interviews are harvested from thought leaders from around the globe, including author Fareed Zakaria, Nobel laureates Kenzaburo Oe, Desmond Tutu and Orhan Pamuk, Tiananmen Square student leader Wang Dan, Prime Minister Samdong Rinpoche of Tibet's parliament-in-exile, political philosopher Francis Fukuyama, author Xialou Guo, and financier Michael Milken. Last but certainly not least, the GSB's own Nobel laureates Myron Scholes and Michael Spence. Scope it all out on the Jackson current periodicals display rack.
Last year the big news was that law schools are graduating more women than ever before. In the case of business schools women are still vastly outnumbered by men and a recent study has shown that, in contrast to their counterparts in law and medicine, women with MBAs are more likely to become stay at home moms. In the article MBA Moms Most Likely to Opt Out one of the reasons given is that doctors and lawyers often have flexible hours in contrast to the business world where there is less flexibility in terms of work/family life balance for women.
There are many perks to working at Google, and people want to know why Google provides so many. In this report, aired this weekend on the CBS Sunday Morning show, GSB Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer and the Google VP for People Operations (that’s Google lingo for HR or Personnel as my father still refers to it) speak about the motivation behind Google providing additional benefits to employees such as free laundry facilities, food and subsidized massages. You can either read about this report entitle Searching For The Best Place To Work? or view the program.
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