ACTIVIST INVESTORS have some menacing tools of the trade. First comes the phone call, letting a boss know they have a new arrival on the share register. Then there is the slide deck, enumerating all the failings for which the boss is supposedly responsible. Sometimes the body language when predator and prey meet for the…
PROPERTY INSURERS price policies today but face payouts a year from now. That makes their profits hostage to inflation. As swathes of America’s economy have begun rapidly reopening for business in recent weeks, thanks to falling rates of covid-19 infections and rising ones of vaccination, William Berkley has been paying close attention to prices of…
A new study on remote workingTHE RETURN to the office is well under way, just as summer in the northern hemisphere begins. Pretty soon, people will be able to resume the habit of staring wistfully out of the window, hoping it will still be sunny at the weekend. As many workers embrace a hybrid pattern,…
Private-equity firms are neck-deep in dry powderListen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.BUYOUT SHOPS are neck-deep in dry powder. Earlier this year the world’s private-equity firms were sitting on $1.9trn in unspent capital. This month three of the biggest, Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman &…
People’s expectations and definition of trustworthiness are broadening for leaders, and it takes a lot to gain that trust. The author offers four research-based practices for leaders to master to earn and keep the trust of others. First, make your values clear, then make sure you’re living up to them. Second, treat others and their…
Everybody talks these days about the economic power of the younger generations in China—and for good reason. China’s under-40 population is a force to be reckoned with. But how do China’s younger generations compare to the younger generations in other countries? It’s not so easy to make comparisons—but in this article, Zak Dychtwald offers a…
During a crisis, it’s sometimes hard to pause. There is a natural predisposition to act—to want to help, to jump in and do everything one can. But it’s important to remember that we may end up doing more harm than good if we act too quickly, without first pausing to consider the objective rigor of…
While proponents of increasing the minimum wage have grown increasingly vocal in the U.S., new research suggests that raising the minimum wage can actually have a significant negative impact on the total compensation of hourly workers. Researchers analyzed a detailed dataset of wage and scheduling data for more than 5,000 employees at a single national…
June 09, 2021 AI hackers are coming, and it’s not just our computer networks at risk – our laws and regulations are also vulnerable. Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security technologist and fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how humans have always exploited loopholes in rule-based systems,…
June 09, 2021 How should organizations support employees who experience racist incidents in their personal lives and how can those kinds of experiences affect their work? In December 2020, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold and his teenage son, who are Black, were attacked by a white woman who falsely accused Harrold’s son of stealing her smartphone.…