by Holly McCarthy I love to play racquetball, and if I’m allowed to blow my own trumpet a little, I’m pretty good at it. But I don’t know how I would perform in a team sport, because it’s a different ball game altogether – if even one member does not pull their weight, it’s a losing proposition. It’s easy to improve productivity in an individual, but when it comes to … Continue reading
Via Forbes by John Tamny Banking giant JPMorgan Chase announced Feb. 23 that it would be cutting its quarterly dividend by 87% to a nickel per share. At face level, this sounds bad, but the savings will speed the process by which it repays TARP funds in order to avoid problematic government oversight; plus, the extra capital cushion puts the firm in a better position to make acquisitions of flagging … Continue reading
Via REUTERS By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. business productivity plunged at the end of last year despite massive job cuts, which show little sign of abating as the 14-month recession deepens, data showed on Thursday. With job losses mounting, households came under increased pressure and one in eight homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments or slipped into foreclosure as the year drew to a close. While the Labor … Continue reading
Via The Chosun Ilbo Korea’s productivity grew more slowly in the 2000s. The Knowledge Economy Ministry and the Korea Productivity Center on Thursday said analysis of the productivity increase rates of major countries between 1981 and 2005 shows that Korea’s total factor productivity increased by 0.12 percent between 2001 and 2005. That is a mere third of 0.39 percent in 1981-2000. Total factor productivity is an index that accounts for … Continue reading
Via The New York Times By FARHAD MANJOO SINCE e-mail became a fixture in our professional and personal lives, many academic researchers have investigated the complex mix of feelings brought on by the technology. We feel guilty about being late in responding, about our in-boxes being disorganized, about the tens of thousands of unread messages that we’re sure we’ll never get to. What is it about e-mail that consumes us … Continue reading
Via The Complete Lawyer By Diane Costigan With the downturn in the economy, many lawyers have some extra time on their hands. What a perfect opportunity to work on establishing stellar time management practices that will help increase productivity when it is back to business as usual. Although the suggestions in this article are simple, they are not always easy to implement. In fact, many are challenging because they often … Continue reading
Via Daily Finance by Bruce Watson As millions of Americans stay home from work today, analysts are already trying to calculate the overall economic cost of a few inches of snow. The trouble is, even the most apparently straightforward calculations use assumptions that can be hard to justify. The most common method for calculating the economic cost of snow day is to divide the predicted productivity of that day by … Continue reading
IF ONLY ALL COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD WERE AS FAR THINKING AS THIS ONE, PERHAPS WE WOULD NOT BE IN THE FISCAL CRISIS WE ARE AROUND THE WORLD. Bob Jacobson, APS Chairman
Via The New York Times By JOE SHARKEY WILLIAM A. ALLEN III has deplaned, returned the rental car and unpacked the suitcase he always kept ready to roll at home in Raleigh, N.C. Mr. Allen, business traveler extraordinaire, is off the road. “I don’t want to do it anymore. I’m going to be 61 in April, and I’ve had it,” he said. Mr. Allen is a consultant who often flew … Continue reading
Via The Wall Street Journal By JOHN BALDONI In a December appearance on “Meet The Press,” Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm identified a critical trait our leaders need now: Confidence. Leaders, she said, “need to be evoking this: ‘We’re going to be all right. In fact, we’re going to be magnificent.’” She hit the nail on the head. Never is this truer than now, when economic uncertainty has caused a massive … Continue reading