Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the Chicago area for four days. His stops included a very formal dinner with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Walter Payton Prep School, and suburban Woodridge (a town even native son Barack Obama has not visited). Big deals were made – the Chinese agreeing to purchase Midwestern soybeans for $1.8 billion…. Read more »
Posts By: wmu_admin
Getting Google-y About Change
Google is a business run by committee. At least it was. Now Larry Page replaces Eric Schmidt. The triumvirate of Page, Schmidt, and innovator Sergey Brin sometimes held the company back because they could not agree. Page has the opportunity to move Google forward if by no other means than offering a more comfortable (and… Read more »
You Said What?
A new industry is emerging from the world of high tech – reputation management companies. With the rise of online customer review websites and prominence of instant communication technologies like Twitter, companies are finding the need to manage how and what kind of information is disseminated. Reputation management companies are helping companies protect their information… Read more »
If At First You Don’t Succeed . . .
Research from the University of British Columbia suggests that initial entrepreneurial success leads to future success. Peter Gustavson certainly hopes this is true. The entrepreneur spent nearly two decades developing Custom House Currency before selling to Western Union. Now he is partnering with another entrepreneur, Marv Holland, to take his company to a new level… Read more »
A Marathon Split
Marathon Oil, with operations throughout the United States and Canada, will soon be two companies. The move has been in the works for nearly two years, but low oil and gas prices kept the company from making it until now. Marathon Petroleum will be responsible for refining operations. Marathon Oil will focus exploration and production…. Read more »
Green Politics
Newly-appointed Environment Minister Peter Kent is promoting a position advanced by Calgary author Ezra Levant. That position holds that Canada’s oil sands oil is “ethically superior” to oil sold by countries with repressive regimes and are known to support terrorism. The argument is a “better than” response to critics that claim oil sands oil production… Read more »
Is There An App For That?
The nature of business today – shrinking workforces and increasing responsibilities – makes it difficult for employees to focus. Mobile technologies add to the distraction. Once attention has been diverted from a task, it can take as long as 20 minutes to get restarted. The article offers a couple of simple suggestions to help retain… Read more »
Will the “Golden Voice” Be a Golden Opportunity?
Barely a week into January and it is already the human interest story of 2011. A homeless man in Columbus, Ohio is discovered by a videographer for the local newspaper. After capturing the man’s voice on video and posting it to the paper’s website, it goes viral. Ted Williams becomes more popular on the internet… Read more »
