New students: Want a 15 minute overview of Jackson Library?
From 9/22/09-10/8/09 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1pm and 5pm, drop by the Information Desk in the library for the 15 minute overview, snacks and participate in the raffle for a gift certificate!
Gain fast familiarity with the GSB's library, containing one of the largest business collections in the world. Its resources are waiting for you to use. Remember, they're very expensive out in the corporate world, so take advantage now -- or you may regret you didn't, after you graduate.
For those of us who dig maps, NPR has posted a page with a map of the national electrical power grid. There are other components as well, including a map of principal power stations and wind power transmission lines. Check it out.
We are saddened to report the imminent demise of the Far Eastern Economic Review, a fixture in the periodical world since 1946. Its publisher, Dow Jones, announced it would cease publication as a result of declining readership and advertising revenues. The current issue on our Jackson magazine shelves includes articles on Beijing's private equity revolution, the Dalai Lama's Taiwan visit, the growing partnership of Christianity and human rights advocates in China, the future of relations with Afghanistan, and India's potential response to China's growth. Read it while you can.
You would think a $25 gift card, an emailed "thank you" and mention of one's good deeds on the company Intranet would make an employee feel valued. But a survey by OfficeTeam, a Menlo Park staffing company, revealed that although employees think a gift card is nice, face time is nicer. According to an article in Inc. Magazine, recognition by senior management is more highly coveted when it comes in the form of a personal acknowledgment. A handshake and a thank you, or a personal note written to the employee and mailed to his/her home, really hits the spot. So managers, remember to take time to personally thank your employees for a job well done -- and then send them a bonus.
Netflix realized that in order to keep customers and improve the Netflix experience they would have to provide movie suggestions that more closely matched what the user was borrowing. With that in mind Netflix offered a $1 million prize to anyone or any team that could bring about a 10% more accurate set of results. The winners of the prize were a multinational team made up of people in the field of computer science, electrical engineering and statistics, none of whom met in person. Read more about the contest and the big final face-off that happened.
Looking for journal articles? Need a quick overview of a high tech industry? Starting tomorrow (September 22) Jackson Library will be offering 15 minute introductions to resources available in the Library. Held twice a day (1 and 5 PM) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, this is a speedy way to learn what the Library has that can assist with your classwork. Free snacks will be available, and at each session there will be a raffle for a prize. Meet at the Library Information Desk. Take a little time now -- save a lot of time later !
Stanford Professor Bob Sutton has nothing but praise for the latest book by GSB Alum and UC Berkeley Professor Morten Hansen, Collaboration (readers of our blog may recall that we highlighted the book on August 7). Calling it "the best management book I've read on anything in a very long time", Sutton goes on to compare the book favorably to the Jim Collins bestseller Good to Great. Sutton argues that the book is heavily based on evidence, and contains the best chapter on hiring, breeding (and firing) people to create a collaborate workplace that he has ever read. He includes a link to a video clip of Hansen discussing the book.
What do Light Wedge, Ecobags, College Hunks Hauling Junk and James Ray International have in common? These Inc. 500 Companies saw sales skyrocket once they or their products appeared on Oprah's show. Success breeds success: once you have appeared on Oprah, other media outlets will notice your product. And of course you can add the all important tag line "as seen on Oprah" -- and watch the profits roll in. Read the “Oprah Effect” in Inc. Magazine.
The Summer NPQ ( New Perspectives Quarterly ) has arrived, with an emphasis on the dissension gripping the Islamic world. Articles include "The Essence of Islamist Resistance: A Different View Of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas", "Iran's Crisis of Legitimacy" and "A Global Convergence Against Globalization?" The usual stable of stars serve as contributors on a number of topics, including legendary M16 agent Alistair Crooke, Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, former Kabul CIA station chief Graham Fuller, current CIA Director Leon Panetta, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz, Myron Scholes, Gary Becker and Roger Myerson, commentator Arianna Huffington, Tiananmen uprising leader Wang Dan, 2008 Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Gustav le Clezio, and others. Scope it out on the current Jackson periodical stacks.
Sam L. Savage, Stanford professor, has written a new book titled The Flaw of Averages. Written for a business audience, this book "leavens the math with levity, even the occasional cartoon".
Read the recent interview in the San Jose Mercury and check out Savages's website.
GSB Alum Tom Peters on his blog enthuses on civility, a quality in short supply, and mentions some recently read books on the same. Peters mentions The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It, by Pearson and Porath, with a ringing endorsement by Warren Bennis. Two others are by E. M. Forni of Johns Hopkins University, Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct and The Civility Solution: What To Do When People Are Rude. Included in his reflections are apt quotes by past greats, such as Seneca's "Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness," or the famous admonition from the New Testament, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: For thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Is not our age ripe for such guidance? At least something to think about, next time one is awash in the rising tide of incivility.
Are traditional universities destined to find themselves marginalized, on the wrong side of tracks, alongside newspaper chains, record and video stores? According to David Wiley, professor at Brigham Young University, that is where universities will find themselves if they don’t innovate and adapt to changes around them. New web-savvy "edupunks" are working to transform higher education. The September issue of Fast Company highlights some very interesting experiments in cyber education. Should Harvard, Yale and Stanford stay the course, or embrace the edupunks?
Even the armaments industry has suffered under the economic downturn, however the U.S. production of arms has grown so much that it is now the leading supplier to the world as noted in a New York Times article. For years it was the Russians who were considered the leaders in arms sales. It is now estimated that up to 68.4 percent of the industry in global arms sales is dominated by the United States. The report outlining this was published by the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress.
The New York Times reports that even Warren Buffett has not had a good year in terms of his investments. On paper he lost an estimated $25 billion which cost him the world's richest man title to his friend Bill Gates.
But not to worry the article goes on to state, "And yet few people on or off Wall Street have capitalized on this crisis as deftly as Mr. Buffett. After counseling Washington to rescue the nation’s financial industry and publicly urging Americans to buy stocks as the markets reeled, in he swooped. Mr. Buffett positioned himself to profit from the market mayhem — as well as all those taxpayer-financed bailouts — and thus secure his legacy as one of the greatest investors of all time."
Read more about it.
The New York Times reports that even Warren Buffet has not had a good year in terms of his investments. On paper he lost an estimated $25 billion which cost him the world's richest man title to his friend Bill Gates.
But not to worry the article goes on to state, "And yet few people on or off Wall Street have capitalized on this crisis as deftly as Mr. Buffett. After counseling Washington to rescue the nation’s financial industry and publicly urging Americans to buy stocks as the markets reeled, in he swooped. Mr. Buffett positioned himself to profit from the market mayhem — as well as all those taxpayer-financed bailouts — and thus secure his legacy as one of the greatest investors of all time."
Read more about it.
If you are looking for an active holiday, I have a great suggestion for you. Go kayaking in San Juan Islands. The place is a kayaking paradise with terrific views, calm sea, lots of opportunities to observe the sea life and wild life, good campgrounds, and hiking trails. And if that’s what interests you, go on a trip with Anacortes Kayak Tours. Check their company’s website – it’s practical and helpful. And the most important is that every word of their promise is true. This company provides the top-of-the-line equipment, friendly, caring, and knowledgeable guides, and amazing gourmet food cooked in camping conditions. All the above is based on my personal experience of a five-day kayak trip which my husband and I took recently. And we are thinking of doing it again.
This month only, Ben & Jerry’s is renaming their Chubby Hubby ice cream Hubby Hubby to commemorate the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont. Ben & Jerry’s, which is headquartered in Vermont, also brought out a flavor during the month of January this year named “Yes Pecan!” a play on Obama’s campaign slogan of “Yes We Can!”
Animal Spirits is the title of a 2009 book written by George Akerlof and Robert Schiller and explores how animal spirits contribute to the performance of the macroeconomy. The term "Animal Spirits" is borrowed from the writings of John Maynard Keynes, who was a British economist and whose ideas have been a central influence on modern macroeconomics, both in theory and practice.
"Animal Spirits" is the term John Maynard Keynes used in his 1936 book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money to describe emotion or affect which influences human behavior and can be measured in terms of consumer confidence.
If you want some not so light reading we have a copy of Animal Spirits in our Jackson Library collection. (HB74.P8 A494 2009)
As of today Robocalls by companies are banned, but (yes there is always a but) if the calls come from political parties, charities, public service announcement or are requesting information such as a survey they are allowed to call. Outside the jurisdiction of the FTC are banks, insurers, and phone companies, they along with collection agencies can continue to use the service. So don’t expect that mechanical voice to be gone anytime soon. Due to complaints by the public the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) the agency which watches out for US consumers was able to put the law into place in August 2008 and goes into effect today.
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