Networking defined
What is in fact networking? Someone wrote somewhere that it was like work (in Dutch 'net werken' is a funny language juggle). Is that true? Wikipedia says in its simplest way, a social network is a map of specified ties, such as friendship, between the nodes being studied. Say joined points (or entities or things). These points and their connections can be both physical and abstract. Since we are dealing here indeed with people, the answer is already at hand: as diverse, unpredictable and volatile as people are: not one clear definition. As a result of 'survey' we handed out to the NOT ANOTHER visitors, we want to give, however, our own definition. It will clarify the set-up of the evenings, with which we manage 'expectations', and in case you are okay with the definition, you can join us - smile!
Here we go: We create a 'common ground' with our Storytellings. We attract 'entrepreneurial' people, people who want to stay up to date about what goes around in the market and in society, the inquisitive people if you like. The scope of the Storytelling varies per event. The nature of the topic attracts those who are keen to know more about that topic or have a background in it. You have an interest in common, and even though the guest list is quite diverse you have that as linking pin. Moreover we make sure that the venue has/creates a good atmosphere. That the evening is absolutely sociable and fun. Then, the getting acquainted is easily done!. Of course we provide a guest list and we will now and again introduce people to each other. As such, speed daten, badges and that type of ' forced sociability' is a no go. We believe that if you want something and are sincerely curious about others' (well)being, you'll find your way around.
The strength of our 'network' lies in meeting new people everytime, as the topics are diverse, the background of our community is diverse and the size of the mailing list is quite substantial. Do you want to meet the same people each time you join, well why don't you 'link' or 'friend' or whatever after the first time you met him/her, and ask around who joins too the next time, do forward our mailing and say ' hey, let's go together? Thus you create your own network, we are just a base - a good base that is!.
So, as quoted earlier, is it like work? No, we work enough hours, quality time is important! Okay, okay, it works, however, which we must admit after 2 years of organizing events!!!
All in all, it is the explanation of our name - NOT ANOTHER. So do not hesitate, experience it! You are welcome!
The Holidays - culturally appreciated gift giving
As our holiday gift to you, here's our CULTUREGUIDE on global gift-giving, a perennial December favorite:
Gift-giving can be a little tricky when giving gifts to international associates. Cultural differences can make a terrific gift at home into a terrible no-no abroad. With the holiday season soon upon us, here are some important cross-cultural gift-giving considerations when sending gifts to your international friends and business associates:
Style can be as important as substance: Sometimes the wrapping is as important as the gift. Color, style and design can carry different meanings in different countries. For example, both white and black in Asia is a color associated with funerals, while red means health and happiness, and gold signifies wealth and success. A gift presented in a white box is not appreciated in East Asia. Red or gold wrapping is much preferred, and in East Asia, no gift, no matter how small, should ever be presented unwrapped.
Such symbolism is very important in certain cultures. For example, clocks are not good gifts to give to your Chinese associates, no matter where they are, whether China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, or San Francisco. The word in Mandarin for clock is very similar to the word for death. Clocks are NOT appreciated. Avoid fine linen handkerchiefs in Korea: handkerchiefs, even of the finest quality, are symbols of sadness. In all Asian cultures, avoid cutlery, as well (such as penknives with corporate logos), for they represent the cutting of a relationship. In Korea, avoid pens with red ink: very bad luck! Additionally, the number FOUR in Chinese culture is also associated with death, so avoid giving gift items in a set of four.
Consider the country's traditions. Leather goods are not appropriate in India, where Hindu traditions hold the cow sacred; put those leather picture frames and attache cases away.
Fine brandy or wine, while appreciated in many cultures around the world, is generally a no-no in Muslim countries where Islam shuns alcohol. On the other hand, the Japanese are the world's largest consumer of brandy and Scotch, so a very fine bottle of either (or of the very American Jack Daniels whiskey) makes a very fine holiday gift in Japan.
In Japan, citrus fruits are highly prized and very expensive. A box of those well-packaged fancy fruits from Florida or California is a terrific idea: not only is it a special treat, but it can usually be parceled out to many, and in Japan, there are always many on the team. It is a good way to recognize the efforts of the whole office.
A wonderful gift to your Muslim associate (any follower of Islam, from the Arab Muslim world all the way to Malaysia and Indonesia) would be a fine, silver compass: no matter where in the world they may be, they can always locate Mecca and perform their daily prayers.
And finally, avoid sending coals to Newcastle: no wines to France or Italy, no beers to Germany, no chocolates to Belgium, etc.
How you present the gift is important. In Asia, for example, one does not typically open the gift in front of the giver. And in some countries, gifts should reflect the status of the recipient.
When you send greetings and gifts also carries special meaning. For example, always send a New Year's greeting card to Japan around December 12. It will arrive just in time to be held for delivery by the Post Office in Japan precisely on New Year's Day. To have your New Year's greeting delivered exactly on New Year's Day is a custom that is much appreciated in Japan.
If you are presenting flowers as a gift (perfect for a dinner invitation to someone's home), be sure to ALWAYS unwrap the flowers before presenting them to the hostess. Additionally, if you send flowers in Europe, be sure they are odd numbered, and remember, red roses are far too personal and never send chrysanthemums: they are used for funerals (no half-dozen roses or chrysanthemums, please).
Please avoid presenting gifts with the lefthand in many parts of the world (it is considered, for example, in Muslim cultures, to be the unclean hand); in Korea, you want to present a gift with the right hand, while the left hand supports the right hand at the elbow. It demonstrates great respect.
Generally, a gift that reflects your home country, and that is difficult to find in the recipient's country, is much appreciated. Picture coffee table books of America, for example, make fine gifts just about everywhere outside the USA. Europeans would much rather receive a small quantity of quality, than a large quantity of just-plain-good. Well-packaged uniquely American fare, such as maple syrup, or Southern barbecue sauce, is much appreciated.
What to buy? While brainstorming gift ideas for friends and business associates from around the world keep the following tip in mind. Most people love to receive gifts representative of the USA or your local region or city: a baseball cap from the local sports team, a jackket from the local well-known university, or a golf souvenir from the local golf course, are all appreciated. Native American handicrafts are always appreciated. Just make sure such gifts are authentic (no "Made in Taiwan, Japan, or PRC"-type labels on the bottom, please), and are of high-quality. Also, if your recipient has kids, anything for them that is difficult to get in their own country is an outstanding idea.
Sending a gift is always appreciated: sending the culturally appropriate gift will insure a positive memory that will endure long after the gift is gone. source: DEANFOSTERASSOCIATES.com
Year End Thank You
With yesterday's The Dinner we end a very successful 2010. A year filled with Stories worth telling, Interesting people, people who take a genuine interest in others, beautiful places, more than nice food&wine and more. All this made every single evening filled with little learning moments or call it inspiration. We will continue in 2011, thank you all for contributing
NOT ANOTHER on the radio
We were invited to www.6fm.nl to explain our Try before you Die dinner. George and I told the audience that we want to give our guests on December 10 a taste of what is real food and people can hand in their preferences and cook with the chefs. Why not seize the opportunity and ask for that one special, extreme course or for that vegetable that is long forgotten. Among the other guests were the all round band Sonny's Inc and the owners of the handmade suits of Tailors & Co. It was quite a relaxed experience with people full of passion for their product! That is what counts! Thanks to 6FM and Cato-Margo our host!
Here is the Podcast
what positive energy can do for corporates
Robert Quinn and coauthor Ryan Quinn (his son and assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business) combine experience with research to identify four mindsets that can elevate ourselves and the situations and people around us to greater heights of integrity, openness and achievement-to achieve the psychological equivalent of aerodynamic life. With a special focus on recent advances in the study of positive psychology and strength-based leadership and his groundbreaking work on organizational effectiveness, Robert Quinn illustrates this practical, scientific approach with compelling stories of real people being a positive influence in their environment. This is an inspiring presentation with transformative potential for change in business situations, home life and the wider community. Professor Quinn is the author of many books on leadership and change. His most recent book is Lift. Combining scientific research in positive psychology with powerful stories, Bob offers both inspiration and practical help in becoming a positive force in any situation-achieving the psychological equivalent of aerodynamic lift. Read also more about the Center for positive organizational Scholarship
Irrationals important to Change
Most change programs fail, but the odds of success can be greatly improved by taking into account these counterintuitive insights about how employees interpret their environment and choose to act. McKinsey's Emily Lawson and Colin Price provided a holistic perspective in "The psychology of change management,"1 which suggests that four basic conditions are necessary before employees will change their behavior: a) a compelling story, because employees must see the point of the change and agree with it; b) role modeling, because they must also see the CEO and colleagues they admire behaving in the new way; c) reinforcing mechanisms, because systems, processes, and incentives must be in line with the new behavior; and d) capability building, because employees must have the skills required to make the desired changes. Read more
Aspiring writers
Somewhere in the world right now, ten million souls are hunched over their keyboards writing novels. Ten million hopeful scribblers in their holes. Good Lord, I'm one of them. The figure is an invention, but backed up by rough math. A quarter of a million new novels are published annually across the globe, 100,000 of them in English. This represents, in turn, a quarter, maybe, of the manuscripts that agents try to hawk. Agents, as all writers know, take only a small proportion of the work they're sent, perhaps a tenth. Ten million scribes in search of a reader may not be so tall a tale. Read more
Beating the odds in market entry
The annals of business history report that for every successful market entry, about four fail. Inexperienced start-ups suffer some of these disappointments, but so do many sophisticated corporations and seasoned entrepreneurs who should know better. After all, industrial economists and strategists generally agree about what makes market entrants successful: factors such as timing, scale relative to the competition, and the ability to leverage complementary assets. An article from 2005, still valid? read more
Brand Is Culture, Culture Is Brand
The simple lesson behind the success of both small-fry Corner Bank and big-boy USAA: You can't be special, distinctive, and compelling in the marketplace unless you create something special, distinctive, and compelling in the workplace. How does your brand shape your culture? How does your culture bring your brand to life? read more
Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything
We've found, in our work with executives at dozens of organizations, that it's possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way we do a muscle: push past your comfort zone, and then rest. Will Durant*, commenting on Aristotle, pointed out that the philosopher had it exactly right 2000 years ago: "We are what we repeatedly do." By relying on highly specific practices, we've seen our clients dramatically improve skills ranging from empathy, to focus, to creativity, to summoning positive emotions, to deeply relaxing. There is something wonderfully empowering about this. It suggests we have remarkable capacity to influence our own outcomes. But that's also daunting. One of Ericsson's central findings is that practice is not only the most important ingredient in achieving excellence, but also the most difficult and the least intrinsically enjoyable. Is this true? Read and discuss!
Tribal Leadership
The concept we fail to describe in one word in English exists in one word - Ubuntu - in Southern Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu explains what it means: 'Africans have this thing called UBUNTU. It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging'. Read more about this concept and how it is present in our daily life or rather how it can be more prominent present: tribal leadership
Work and Play
A turn-around executive of a Norwegian (!) company identified de-motivated people as the main source of the problem. They came to work to get a paycheck and didn't care about results. He decided to change that. Blend work and play. He took away any rules and set long term goals for the firm. He then set his people free to execute. People spent half of their time shooting NURF guns and playing video games and the other half of their time working very hard. Because of the types of people he picked to stay and the environment he created, there was no longer a concept of work vs. play. These people treated work as play. It was as fun for them to shoot guns (play) as it was to debug security software (work).
Read more about how to manage in a different way at Management Exchange
Unlocking the elusive potential of social networks
There is much hype about social networks and their potential impact on marketing, so many companies are diligently establishing presences on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. Yet the true value of social networks remains unclear, and while common wisdom suggests that they should be tremendous enablers and amplifiers of word of mouth, few consumer companies have unlocked this potential. At Liberty Interactive, which comprises many specialty e-commerce companies, we wrestle daily with the question of how to realize the promise of social networks. Read more..@McKinsey Quartely.
Leão Holandês
This video presentation gives a perfect impression of a boat trip on the Leão Holandês, sailing the river Tejo/Tagus in Lisbon. Owned by two Dutchies, who make it a great experience! Suitable for business and pleasure. Have a look at their website for more info www.leaoholandes.com
OPEN SOURCE thinking! example in architecture
I watched the TEDtalk Open Source Architecture and apparently also a Dutch architect Jarrik Ouburg has contributed by designing a football field/school for South African children Football for all !!
Architecture for Humanity is a catalyst for innovation. They understand the value of sharing success stories and lessons learned-our own as well as those of others. To foster knowledge sharing and promote best practices, they developed the Open Architecture Network (www.openarchitecturenetwork.org). This groundbreaking on-line network empowers architects, designers, builders and their clients to share architectural plans and drawings-including CAD files. All plans are shared through an open-source model and can be freely downloaded by all.
This is a business model not only applicable to 'charity or disaster management', OPEN SOURCE is a business model of the FUTURE, whether you believe it or not. Think about it : )!
Word of Mouth Marketing
Consumers have always valued opinions expressed directly to them. Marketers may spend millions of dollars on elaborately conceived advertising campaigns, yet often what really makes up a consumer's mind is not only simple but also free: a word-of-mouth recommendation from a trusted source. Isn't this the way we will go forward in doing business? Although we should not need it, McKinsey quantified its results. Read more in this study by McKinsey.
one more airline rule: handbagage-fee
In its seemingly unending quest to tick off as many of its customers as often as possible, the airline industry has added another chapter: Spirit Air announced it will charge passengers for CARRY-ON bags. You get the first one on board for free, assuming it fits under the seat in front of you. The fee for the second will be as high as $45 if you just show up with it at the airport with your rolling bag thinking you can walk on the plane with it. The price is cheaper ($30) if you register it online or call ahead. The airline's explanation is simple: Bring less. Pay less. Deal with it.This is either brilliantly counterintuitive or flat out infuriating. Me, I'm with Spirit on this one. You? Here's why. Boarding an airliner today is no more difficult than trying to get to a seat on a crowded bus while a moving company simultaneously carts the contents of three apartment buildings through the same space. By trying to beat the current charges for checking their bags, people lug ridiculously large bags on board. Seemingly this works for the airlines because they need fewer personnel to handle (or lose) bags.The carry-on-everything approach sure doesn't work for me. It's infuriating: the overhead space often gets used up before you get to your seat, meaning that you've got to rush the gateway as soon as the flight is called to make sure you grab some. It's dangerous: you risk getting whacked by stuff being dragged past you by frazzled travelers or getting beaned when the overloaded overhead bins are opened. It's slow: how often have you waited as the last couple of passengers to board play seek-and-hide with their carry-ons. Don't you want to just throw them off the jet? Don't you hate it when it's you?By charging passengers for bringing second and third bags on board, Spirit will discourage the human camels. And that's great. It will make the flight just a little less aggravating. But it's also a defacto fare increase, since there are very few passengers who can travel with one bag, be it carry-on or not. Even minimalist pros generally need one bag for their work/laptops, one for clothing. Leisure travelers tend to bring way too much—particularly on their way back from vacations. Adults traveling with children are pack animals—they carry everything. They have to be to keep the kiddies moving, happy, and not otherwise wailing in aisle 8. So we're all going to have to pay up. "The real question is will other airlines follow, and will this actually be good for air travel?” asks George Hobica, president of the website Airfarewatchdog. “Planes will load faster if people don't bring carry-ons on board. The other question, says Hobica, is “when will more shoes drop?” Surely, pay toilets are on the horizon— credit cards accepted.source: Time: the curious capiltalistInternational Travelers Business Network
Via Linkedin international travellers with a business purpose can sign up for 'International Travellers Business Network - Cicerone'.Its aim is to visit local networks or business professionals when travelling and get introduced to the local heritage, culture, customs and businesses. The latter is why we called it 'Cicerone' .....Have a look at 'International Travellers Business Network - Cicerone'.
Join it and spread the word and use it!!! It is truly enriching
Seed Funding & Venture Philantrophy
Today I read on www.FD.nl a story about a lady whose new product design - at first sight being a nice product - has troubles attracting funding for going live. What is the reason? Of course the idea is the starting point, it must be excellent, there must be an audience until a certain time in the future and you can make a decent operating margin. I found two discriminating sources of capital in the internet, here they are.
Seed Funding, Seed funding is most often confused with startup capital, but they are two different things. It is provided to help a business develop an idea, create the first product, and market the product for the first time. Companies that typically qualify for seed funding are around a year old, and they have never created a product or service for commercial sale. http://www.businessfinance.com/seed-funding.htm. And the second on is called Creative Financing or Venture Philantrophy. Reading about it on this Blog http://www.sociaalondernemen.nu/wordpress/?p=4297 I remembered a story about a lady - a selfproclaimed Twitter Queen in Holland - that grow her business by using Social Media. Not only that happened but also she actually gathered a crowd and that is of multiple use. It takes a long breath to build a community and you, our idea or product or service needs to be excellent too, but if you are enthusiastic about your idea, then start using social medium and who knwos it is a diversifying thinkingpath around a search for capital!
SItes that Inspire us
Once every so and so we will let you know by which Blogs and Websites we get inspired!
See here the first few:
www.creativecommons.org
http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/
www.mashable.com
www.bidnetwork.org
www.wired.co.uk
Pay your taxes, speak some English and be nice about the country where you live
It is becoming both easier and more difficult to experience the thrill of being an outsider. In analogy of the Dutch blog on social media, in 'travelling' the same sort of transparancy seems to occur over time. Read this article by The Economist.
please listen to Innovators
On today: CNN had a conversation with an extraordinary man about an important topic: the former scientific brain of Microsoft, Nathan Myhrvold, offers a new approach to solving global warming. Have a look at Www.intellectualventures.com and http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2009/10/20/the-freakonomists-vs-the-world/
Wouldn't be surprised if there is a far more easy answer to this complex question. As soon as politics (ego's) ar at play, there is something not yet aligned. And this is a far too serious issue and maybe too complex for us to discuss among over 40 'heads'....time will tell
Copenhagen: Ideas on getting funds for change
On Thursday, George Soros, a philanthropist, proposed turning on a much bigger tap: he wants a new use of Special Drawing Rights, effectively the IMF's in-house gold-backed "currency", mainly held by the rich countries. The IMF extended an extra $153 billion to rich countries last year to help them with the financial crisis. Most of it was unused. Mr Soros wants rich countries to lend $100 billion-worth to poor ones, creating a "green fund" to jump-start mitigation. The IMF's gold reserves could pay the (small) interest amounts that poor countries would otherwise owe.
Read more in the economist and read the McKinsey article on our Dutch site!
What's the use of planning?
Although the big firm strategy consultants survive through times, do business survive with their advices? And who is resposible for what?
Strategy firms will most likely disclaim responsiblity for implementing their advices. And they are right as their strength lies within the design phase, in the business modelling.
However, even when you have implemented their advice, it does not stop there. Strategic planning is a dynamic process that should be revisited each year. As the outside world changes. Ofcourse your so called 'right to exist' stays the same - hopefully - for some years, the ways to get there might alter. There is nothing wrong with that.
More than enough reasons to internalize this as a routine process. Even so, majority of companies seem to have difficulties here. Most striking to me and probably sounding familiar are the two reasons why strategic planning is a bookshelve thing:
1. Making real choices is the most difficult part of the whole process: people tend to hang on to the known
2. People think it is a hughe project that is impossible to fit into daily operations as daily operations are so time consuming as the external market is so demanding
Do you feel here what I feel, a laugh coming up?
As for the first point: do they even have access to the unknown, aren't we as individuals very narrow minded and isn't it a fact that we can't possibly know everything?
And for the latter isn't that exaclty why you should spend time on the process year after year. Isn't having a close look at yourself and the market each year the one and only way of really knowing where you need to head off to and being busy with....?
Getting back to the consultants from the beginning. They are worth spending money on, if you know what profile you need. As they can help us with both major hurdles: they are our 'extended minds' and they are the ones that make the process more speedy as they can make sure we do not get lost in the bookshelves....
This all as we will be discussing business models December 10th at NOT ANOTHER's next event.
Further reading:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hmu/2009/03/four-fatal-flaws-of-strategic.html
www.managementteam.nl
www.managementhelp.org
www.hrfp.org
www.bain.com
Why not considering this and get in touch with a 'street-wise' consultancy firm! NOT ANOTHER knows several!
Art Globalization
WHEN nations grow richer, their citizens become more educated and have fewer children. Once they reach a certain level of affluence, they also start to buy art. Their first instinct is to seek out the traditional sort made in their own country. As they become more confident they often grow more adventurous as well, buying unfamiliar work from other countries and less traditional contemporary art produced at home that expands the boundaries of taste. Read more
Doing business in.....by the Economist.com
great videos with info on the main capitals across the world
the origin of SPAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
New law on 'sending newsletters'
Read this or google on an english version as there is also a mid way to approach this new 'world after 1 October'
http://www.webgenerator.nl/blog/anti-spam-wet-1-oktober-opnieuw-om-toestemming-vragen.html
How Small Businesses Win Big in Tough Economies
Blinded by mass layoffs and the financial follies of Fortune 500 companies, we have overlooked a smaller but more important transformation: the increasing importance of small businesses in our economic recovery. After all, small businesses employ more than half of our private sector workforce. And history, as well as the Small Business Administration, readily reminds us that the ability of small businesses to create jobs is a key factor in any resurgent prosperity.
That's all well and good, you might say, but what difference does any of this make when the media keeps bombarding us with reports that many small businesses are going bankrupt? Well, you can choose to wring your hands in frustration or you can look to the facts. For every small business failure, dozens more are actually thriving despite the economic panic.
What are these small businesses doing to outperform the economy? Consider the following strategic approaches:
Action. This is an entrepreneur's best weapon. Things happen fast these days and fluidity favors small businesses - you don't need to sort through the layers of bureaucracy that can slow down, or even cripple, larger companies. Small businesses can adapt to any circumstance quickly. As every thriving entrepreneur knows, speed breeds success.
Planning is important. Plans aren't. It's good to have a strategy in place, but don't succumb to analysis paralysis. With things changing almost hourly, can you afford to spend time following a bloated plan that was outdated almost as soon as it was completed? Spend your time with your ear to the ground and respond accordingly.
Innovative financing. There are a number of resources available to small businesses and innovative approaches that can have a positive impact on your bottom line. Diana Ransom touched on some of these tactics in a WSJ Smart Money column. She recommends offering upfront pricing, using seller financing, and switching from fixed to variable costs. She also recommends selectively discounting items. Although, I've gone on the record as saying discounting can damage your brand, the key word here is selective. Circumstances also come into play. If your business is based in a community that is particularly vulnerable economically (such as Detroit, let's say) or your target audience is responsive to discounts, then by all means try this approach.
Give the people what they want. People are staying home more and they're looking for value. Smart companies are tapping into that. For instance, Skinner Baking is giving people what they want: comfort food during hard times. And I'm willing to bet that the sales of that much maligned blanket with sleeves, the Snuggie, aren't going to do too badly this winter either, what with people staying home and turning down their thermostat.
Test, measure, refine, repeat. Small businesses have another added advantage these days that they didn't have in past recessions - social media and sophisticated online marketing tools. You can measure the success of your marketing and advertising and conduct all the market research you need in real-time with a click of the mouse. You can engage your customers online in a number of low-cost ways. And you can optimize your website so your customers can find you quickly and easily. Likewise, effective use of eCommerce capabilities can help keep you in the black with minimal overhead.
What tactics are you using to keep company performance up while the economy is down?
Jeffrey M. Stibel is an entrepreneur and brain scientist. He studied business and brain science at MIT Sloan and Brown University, where he was a brain and behavior fellow. Stibel has authored numerous academic and business articles on a variety of subjects and is the named inventor on the US patent for search engine interfaces. He is currently President of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) and serves on academic Boards for Tufts and Brown University, as well as the Board of Directors for a number of public and private companies.
How to Make the Classroom as Exciting as a Video Game
Children in the Northern Hemisphere are headed back to school this time of year. The great majority of them will go back to the traditional classroom, in which every student studies the same subjects in the same way at the same time. The fact that this approach doesn't work very well doesn't seem to hinder its popularity. We know that students are interested in different things, learn in different ways, and proceed at different paces. So why the "forced march" approach to education? read more
Open Street Map
very nice!
the week to come
FRANCE'S bank bosses will get a drubbing over pay in a meeting with the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on Tuesday August 25th. The French prime minister, François Fillon, told off senior bankers at the beginning of the month when it emerged that BNP Paribas, the country's biggest bank, had set aside €1 billion ($1.4 billion) for bonuses so far in 2009. France introduced rules in February to ensure that the structure of bankers' compensation does not encourage excessive risk-taking. French bankers may have complaints of their own for Mr Sarkozy. Many other countries have failed to implement similarly tough rules on bankers' pay and some foreign competitors are once again offering the type of multi-year guaranteed bonuses that are blamed for brewing trouble.
See article
The world economy has stopped shrinking. That’s the end of the good news
SO far the good news...
IT HAS been deep and nasty. But the worst global recession since the 1930s may be over. Led by China, Asia's emerging economies have revived fastest, with several expanding at annualised rates of more than 10% in the second quarter. A few big rich economies also returned to growth, albeit far more modestly, between April and June. Japan's output rose at an annualised pace of 3.7%, and both Germany and France notched up annualised growth rates of just over 1%. In America the housing market has shown signs of stabilising, the pace of job losses is slowing and the vast majority of forecasters expect output to expand between July and September. Most economies are still a lot smaller than they were a year ago. On a quarterly basis, though, they are turning the corner. read more
36 hours in Oslo
THE first thing anyone who knows Oslo says when you mention that you are headed there is, "It's really expensive." The second thing they say is, "No, I'm not kidding. It's really expensive." And, indeed, a visit to Oslo brings with it immediate sticker shock: a bottle of water costs the equivalent of $6, a small glass of beer will set you back $10 or more, and a bottle of wine at dinner can practically equal a month's mortgage payment back home. But you quickly, if grudgingly, accept the damage done to your wallet after a few hours strolling around this beguiling city - particularly in summer, when the sun's last rays still haven't faded by 11 p.m. and the locals, unshackled from the oppressiveness of the Scandinavian winter, seem to be in a nonstop party mode. read more
Ethics
Why Be an Ethical Company? They're Stronger and Last Longer
A focus on short-term profits to the exclusion of all else led to the current financial crisis. And guess what? Companies with the steadiest moral compasses have sailed through it
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2009/tc20090816_435499.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5