• The Obamas are good for business - a farmers market is set to open near the White House
• Merkel wins with Opel sale - it would seem that this earlier story I linked to got a bit ahead of itself. Having said that, a lot of details remain to be worked out, so maybe we have, too
• Wal-Mart has helped ruin the US - its values are shaping the economy and that’s not a good thing. In our review of The Retail Revolution, we suggested that much at the company had changed in recent years (Hat tip: The Browser)
• The sorry tale of Rover - maybe the workers shouldn’t have been so scared of Alchemy Partners after all

• ‘Ill’ pilots ground Jet Airways - hundreds of flights are cancelled at India’s second-biggest airline when hundreds of pilots in a labour dispute with the company resort to a “simulated a strike” by calling in sick
• How Brian Epstein made The Beatles famous - the business genius who turned the group into a global, commercial phenomenon - all before he was 32 years old
• Which checkout lane is fastest? - don’t know how definitive this is, but it’s a question that’s always vexed me and, evidently, many others too. I’m also glad that it has confirmed my suspicion that the express lane is a red herring (Hat tip: The Browser)
• Families are feeling stress of economic crisis - I knew it! My highlight of this study: increasing incivility at work (defined as “backstabbing”, “sucking up” and “politicking”) as people try to save their jobs. Ouch.

A few interesting stories I have seen in the past few days.

• John Moulton resigns from Alchemy Partners, the private equity group - many in the industry may not have liked that he was so outspoken but I actually think his ability to communicate openly did the industry a great service. Private equity has often been poorly understood for such and many in the wider public had little idea what it did. By having someone speak publicly about it, he humanised a big industry. But then, as a journalist, I suppose I would say that. NB: Do read his remarkably candid letter to investors.
• Ikea Beijing - more as theme park than store - My three-year old nephew loves Ikea. It’s his favourite place to hang out and eat (he loves the meatballs). Apparently, he’s not alone. At the company’s Beijing store, “thousands” go there for “fun” and, on occasion, even to catch a nap in one of the beds on display. (Hat tip: First Drafts, the blog for Prospect magazine)
• How Merkel’s attempt to save Opel went awry - interesting essay on the machinations behind Angela Merkel’s efforts to steer the sale of Opel. A tale of how domestic and international politics and business mix in troubled times - and why things don’t always go according to plan.
• Pedigree, the dog food maker, promotes dog adoption through a children’s book - Ad agency TBWA/London publishes a children’s book encouraging kids to be dog lovers. Aren’t there rules about marketing to children? And surely cute dogs do a better job of wanting kids to have them then a children’s book.
• The Washington Redskins sue a fan who goes bankrupt- Thought the headline was a bit sensationalist, but it is true that loyal sports fans always see themselves as more than mere consumers; they are part of a community which means they see their investment as more than financial (a topic I discussed in ‘Why Communities Matter’ a few weeks ago). In the era when sports is big business, is this a position that can be reconciled with reality? Or is it an illusion clubs are willing to encourage in order to keep fans on side?

A couple of stories on FT.com highlight some of the more difficult aspects of life in a downturn.

Our ongoing series “Trading places: Migration in a crisis” is a fascinating, if slightly depressing look, at how the downturn is affecting migrant workers for a number of different communities across the world: Japenese-Brazilians who are returning to Brazil after years in Japan; Mexican labourers who have lost their jobs in the US and are unable to remit money to their families; migrants in China’s Pearl River Delta who are being offered school places to stay; and for Nigeria, a “brain gain” as emigrants are coming home.

Another story that has been getting a lot of recent attention has been the decision by BT to rethink its graduate recruitment policies by no longer particpating in the annual “milk round” of UK university job fairs (see Stefan’s column in the post below). My colleague Andrew Hill offers the latest take on the debate by assessing the value of trainees (and, as he declares, he too is a former trainee, so he knows what he’s talking about).

What should the priorities for business be as the economic recovery takes hold? It is already clear what sort of recovery some people are looking forward to.

“Investment banking is back,” purred an analyst on the BBC last week. And how. Some remarkable profit figures have been announced in recent days, which will be followed in due course by some remarkable bonus payments. Meanwhile, stock markets seem to be pricing in a pretty vigorous recovery, carrying on where they had temporarily left off.

But how can this be? The thesaurus had been exhausted over the past couple of years as commentators ran out of words with which to describe the financial crisis. And behind all the hyperbolical language lay an obvious implication: “business as usual” was not going to be a sensible or an adequate approach as companies started to rebuild.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.

Ok, so we don’t actually have any sort of world exclusive with anyone from Google (although today’s news that Google is releasing an operating system is, in management terms, a huge story and it would be a great time to have an interview with the company) but I borrowed the headline from the cover of the August edition of Wired UK magazine. I added the exclamation mark at the end to show just how much better our “world exclusive” is.

It’s an odd claim given that Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has been interviewed a few times on FT.com, and that there doesn’t seem to be anything especially new in this piece. But any interview with the people (Wired also spoke to Sergey Brin) who are at the forefront of a technology revolution at one of the world’s most interesting companies is worth reading.

Continue reading "World exclusive interview with Google!"

Our story in today’s paper that Mars has launched Fling, a chocolate bar targeted at women (”Naughty, but not that naughty”) is part of that contant trend among consumer goods companies to change what they produce and how they market it. Consumers are changing and the company’s selling them products are trying to keep pace with how things are evolving.

One reason, of course, is the global downturn. And to get a sense of how significant an impact it is having, you should take a look at Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers nappies and Gillette razors. The company has decided to start making cheaper products.

Jenny Wiggins, our consumer industries correspondent, explains: Continue reading "Niche marketing takes it to another level"

Spring is a season for hope and renewal. All that stands between us and an end to gloom and doom are…the facts. But perhaps it is time to give optimism a try. Perhaps all the negativity is being overdone. Clearly, it can be self-fulfilling. Leaders should not be moping about, feeling sorry for themselves and spreading misery.

According to Peter Shaw, a partner at the coaching consultancy Praesta, when one chief executive asked his chairman what was the most important thing he should be doing at a time like this, his answer was: “Smile”.

Wishful thinking is no use. It is irresponsible. But there may be grounds for more positive thinking. Here are four reasons for managers to be cheerful.

The remainder of the article can be read here. Please post comments below.