Once wary of immigrants, Canadian town sends out global labor SOS

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, International Business, Leadership, Management.

Description: The town council’s once deep-seated fear over accommodating immigrants at the expense of its French-speaking Quebec identity has given way to a more pressing concern: a need for more families to help fill jobs, attend its schools and sustain its population. Herouxville now wants to be known for its inclusion. It’s considering measures like subsidized housing to lure more immigrants.

Source: Yahoo.Finance.com

Date: Oct 27, 2022

Link: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/once-wary-immigrants-canadian-town-100936730.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Why is population stability at the route of economic stability?
  • What are the consequences to business operations when population declines?
  • What do you think of the effort of the governments mentioned in this article to generate population growth?
  • What would you recommend?
    ​

SPOS #850 – Douglas Rushkoff On The Harmful Effects Of Technology On Our Future

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, International Business, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior, Strategy.

Description: Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #850. I’ve said it before… I will say it again: Douglas Rushkoff is – without a doubt – one of the smartest humans beings on this earth that I get to call a friend. Douglas is back with another compelling book about technology and how it could impact us (in a very negative way) if we don’t start making serious moves… right away. The new book is called, Survival of the Richest – Escape fantasies of the tech billionaires, and it goes well below the depth of bunkers that these tech billionaires have built to save themselves should everything sideways. In this book, Doug traces the origins of The Mindset in science and technology through its current expression in missions to Mars, island bunkers, AI futurism, and the metaverse. In a dozen urgent, electrifying chapters, he confronts tech utopianism, the datafication of all human interaction, and the exploitation of that data by corporations. Through fascinating characters — master programmers who want to remake the world from scratch as if redesigning a video game and bankers who return from Burning Man convinced that incentivized capitalism is the solution to environmental disasters — Doug explores why those with the most power to change our current trajectory have no interest in doing so. Named one of the world’s ten most influential intellectuals by MIT, Doug is an award-winning author, broadcaster, and documentarian who studies human autonomy in the digital age. He hosts the popular Team Human podcast, Rushkoff has written twenty books, including the bestsellers Team Human, Present Shock and Program or Be Programmed. He is also the person who made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like and The Merchants of Cool. Douglas coined such concepts as “viral media” and “social currency,” and has been a leading voice for applying digital media toward social and economic justice. He is a research fellow of the Institute for the Future, and founder of the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens, where he is a professor of media theory and digital economics. Let’s dig into the present and future of tech. Enjoy the conversation…

Source: SixPixels.com – podcast

Date: Oct 26 2022

Link: https://www.sixpixels.com/podcast/archives/spos-850-douglas-rushkoff-on-the-harmful-effects-of-technology-on-our-future/

Questions for discussion:

  • Summarize the key insights developed in the conversation with Douglas Rushkoff.
  • What do you think about these things and how they relate to business?

Apple Quietly Rolled Out a Change That Could Be the End of Facebook

Posted by & filed under Communication, Decision Making, International Business, Management, Strategy.

Description: Apple isn’t just coming for Facebook’s money, it’s coming for its business.

Source: INC.com

Date: Oct 27, 2022

Link: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/apple-quietly-rolled-out-a-change-that-could-be-end-of-facebook.html?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IncThisMorning-Oct%2026,%202022&leadId=261346&mkt_tok=NjEwLUxFRS04NzIAAAGHuDANPsXgpSh7DvX5FXGcVHzm_RyLSUzzo1GMOhx_ihLjxVqDuYCcWy0sJmhfyKYuCbqpclo0hn3hcyLM8sC9io0Oppj98rgzN4lSjw

Questions for discussion:

  • How will Apple revenue grow with this new requirement?
  • Do you think it is the end of Meta?
  • How can Meta and other apps counter this strategic move by Apple?

Make Leader Character Your Competitive Edge

Posted by & filed under Communication, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: Character is about a lot more than ethics — and fostering a culture where it is valued equally alongside competence can result in better decisions and better outcomes.

Source: SloanReview.MIT.edu

Date: Oct 19, 2022

Link: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/make-leader-character-your-competitive-edge/

Questions for discussion:

  • How does the report distinguish between character and competence?
  • Briefly, explain the leader character model.
  • What do you think of this discussion?

How to Fight Back Against the Inhumanity of Modern Work

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: “It is easy for me to imagine,” wrote Wendell Berry in his 2000 book, “Life Is a Miracle,” “that the next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines.” I quote this a lot because so many of our social problems spring from a resistance to the glorious yet limited state of being human. And increasingly our work and workplaces are shaped by this same inclination.

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: Oct 16, 2022

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/16/opinion/work-rest-sabbath.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the article say about modern work and how to deal with it?
  • What do you think about these points?
  • Is there a solution?
    ​

What The Office Of The Future Can Be

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: The other week, I wrote about the hesitancy to return to office. The fair question to ask is: So… now what do we do about it now?

​Source: SixPixels.com

Date: Oct 19, 2022

Link: https://www.sixpixels.com/articles/archives/what-the-office-of-the-future-can-be/

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the office of the future look like to you?
  • How should management and employees approach the discussions about their office?
    ​

Employers look for new ways to recruit as aging workers contribute to ongoing labour shortage

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior.

Description: More than 300,000 Canadians have already retired in 2022, Statistics Canada says

Source: CBC.ca – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2022

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/aging-workforce-labour-hiring-practices-1.6619256

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say is the reason for labour shortages?
  • How is Lee Valley Tools different in its hiring practices?
  • What else would you advise this firm do to deal with ongoing labour shortages?
    ​

Anti-Defamation League urges Adidas to sever ties with Ye’s Yeezy

Posted by & filed under Communication, Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, International Business, Leadership, Management, Strategy.

Description: The Anti-Defamation League is urging Adidas to sever ties with Ye, calling out his recent hateful comments in a letter to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted and Chairman Thomas Rabe. The rapper and designer, formerly known as Kanye West, has in recent weeks made several degrading remarks about Jewish people and targeted his business partners with public threats. In September, he parted ways with retailer Gap, and earlier this month, Adidas said it was reviewing its relationship with Ye.

Source: CNBC.com

Date: Oct 20, 2022

Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/20/anti-defamation-league-to-adidas-sever-ties-with-kanye-wests-yeezy.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Would severing ties with Ye likely affect Adidas sales?
  • How might it affect its brand and public image?
  • Do you think Adidas’ brand and public image would be affected if it did nothing after being called to public attention?
  • What would you advise management do?
  • How should investors view the stock, at this time?

Pfizer CEO: 2023 will be a ‘pivotal year’ as COVID-19 drug sales wane

Posted by & filed under Control, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, International Business, Leadership, Management, Strategy.

Description: Americans are moving on from COVID-19. Most public places, transit, and municipalities have gotten rid of mask mandates. Vaccine booster rates have plateaued, even with the introduction of a new “bivalent” shot targeting multiple variants, including Omicron.

Source: Yahoo.Finance.com – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2022

Link: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-ceo-2023-pivotal-year-as-covid-19-drug-sales-wane-195020896.html

Questions for discussion:

  • How is the company attempting to deal with expected decline in Covid vaccine sales?
  • Why would collaborations with other pharmas work well for Pfizer?
  • Would you be an investor is Pfizer today?

ESG investing ‘can make you a better business manager,’ professor says

Posted by & filed under Communication, Decision Making, Ethics & Social Responsibility, Leadership, Management, Strategy.

Description: Columbia Business School Professor of Professional Practice and Faculty Director Bruce M. Usher joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss ESG investing, developing new ESG products, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the opportunities and challenges in the era of climate change.

Source: Yahoo.Finance.com – video report

Date: Oct 12, 2022

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/esg-investing-better-business-manager-160548866.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What does the report say about how ESG investing can make for better managers?
  • Do you agree with this analysis?
    ​