Has agile management’s moment arrived?
Businessam Staff
August 8, 2017
When IBM recently announced that it was rethinking its work-at-home program for thousands of its employees, the main take-away for workers nationally was what it meant for them. After all, as IBM goes so do many other companies. Working at home was an idea IBM pioneered in the 1980s, and it was the thin end of […]
Why economists must go beyond the numbers
Businessam StaffAugust 8, 2017
When economists are trying to understand the economics of growth, they usually go by the numbers. Yet, not only don’t the numbers always add up, they also lack the dimension and context needed to solve some of the world’s most perplexing problems. That is the view of Morton Schapiro, an economist who is also president of […]
Why impact investing needs to go mainstream
Businessam StaffAugust 8, 2017
Durreen Shahnaz started her career with Morgan Stanley in 1989 and was the first Bangladeshi woman investment banker on Wall Street. After stints with various organizations including the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Shahnaz went on to set up Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world’s first social stock exchange, in 2009 in Singapore. So far, […]
The future of Artificial Intelligence: Why the hype has outrun reality
Businessam StaffJuly 24, 2017
TECHNOLOGY Robots that serve dinner, self-driving cars and drone-taxis could be fun and hugely profitable. But don’t hold your breath. They are likely much further off than the hype suggests. A panel of experts at the recent 2017 Wharton Global Forum in Hong Kong outlined their views on the future for artificial intelligence (AI), robots, […]
How silent meditation helped me succeed at work
Businessam StaffJuly 24, 2017
LEADERSHIP In this opinion piece, Payal Sheth, a global marketing manager at the Boston Consulting Group, explains how an ancient meditation technique helped change the way she thinks and engages with people. Yes, you read that right. Silent meditation. One might ask: Isn’t it obvious that you are almost always silent when you mediate? […]
What digital disruptors can teach traditional retailers
Businessam StaffJuly 13, 2017
MARKETING The big retail shakeout of 2017 is battering traditional chains of all stripes: Payless has filed for bankruptcy and is closing about 400 stores; Michael Kors, Ann Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess, The Limited and Staples are all shutting locations; and department stores ranging from Sears to Macy’s and J.C. Penney are pulling the […]
What money managers miss in currency carry trades
Businessam StaffJuly 13, 2017
FINANCE A common trading strategy is the currency carry trade — borrowing in the currency of a country with a low interest rate and using the funds to invest in the currency of another nation with a higher interest rate, then profiting from the difference. For example, one popular carry trade is borrowing funds in […]
Why some companies need more tortoises, not hares
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
MANAGEMENT The New Yorker staff writer Malcolm Gladwell has a colleague whom he characterizes as a “neurotic tortoise.” That may not sound like a good thing to be. But according to Gladwell, a neurotic tortoise may be exactly whom we want to hire in certain jobs and professions. Named one of the world’s 100 […]
The retirement problem: What will you do with all that time?
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
MANAGEMENT You’re excited about retirement, right? You’ve worked hard for, what, four or five decades now? You’re due. No more early alarm. No more meetings. No more deadlines. No more office politics. Can you believe it? It’s just you — out on the links; puttering in the garden; taking care of your grand kids. […]
Taking the reins: How one CEO transformed his consulting firm
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
LEADERSHIP Not many of today’s CEOs can say they’ve spent nearly their entire career at their firm, but Boston Consulting Group’s Rich Lesser has. February marked his 30-year anniversary with BCG. Lesser took the helm in 2013 of the Big Three strategy consulting firm, now with 85 offices in 48 countries. For a corporate […]