Demographics is Driving M & A Activity in Japan – and Maybe Other Places Too

Demographics drives a lot of things including Mergers and Acquisitions (M & A) activity. That is a lesson we are now learning from Japan, where there are apparently too few heirs to take over large companies as their boomer-aged Chief Executives head for retirement. This piece from the Financial Times looks at what is going […]

Too Close for Comfort? The Downside of Open Plan Offices

Collaboration, sharing ideas, boosting creativity, creating bonds – all of these are reasons that are typically given for having open plan workspaces. Sit next to your colleagues in an open plan office or cubicle, goes the reasoning, and productivity will rise. Not so, says new analysis by researchers at the University of Auckland in New […]

Why Twinkies are an Economic Indicator

Robots, joined by Gig Workers, are now making Twinkies, and they are doing such a good job that their parent company is going public.  That’s a powerful statement about today’s manufacturing and economy, never mind our nutritional preferences. Twinkies, those flaky, cream-filled snack cakes that are apparently beloved by many, have been a business news […]

The Megatrends are Shifting (so Watch Your Portfolio)

You might not have noticed it, what with one economic crisis and stock market meltdown after another grabbing your attention, but the last few decades have actually been great ones for investors. Thanks to a perfect storm of factors, investment returns for the period from 1985 to 2015 came in at well above the historical […]

Human Resources Needs to be More than a Threat (‘Do You Want to be Reported to HR?’)

What do you think of when someone says ‘HR?’. For a lot of people, the ‘Human Resources’ department of their company is the group that makes them fill out a lot of forms, takes a bunch of surveys, and handles the admin of filling positions. More ominously, ‘HR’ is who you call, or who you […]

‘Employee Engagement’ – Just Another HR Buzzword Right? Well, Maybe Not

‘Employee Engagement’ – you may want to brush that off as just another HR buzzword, but the truth is that unless your employees are engaged its doubtful you are getting the most from them. If you’re an employee you can confirm that actually: the less into your company you are, the less productive and into […]