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Showing posts from July, 2014

GDP Improves 4% in Second Quarter

The winter chill has thawed and the economy has rebounded 4% in the second quarter surpassing the governments expectations by 3%. In a spat of heightened economic activity improvement marks a continued trend of increasing economic gain after one of the nation’s worst recessions. The numbers provide some relief for those worried about the previous quarter’s retraction. “ Today’s advance estimate of real GDP is a positive signal that our economy is continuing its steady rebound ,” stated U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. She also highlighted that it is necessary to continue work to ensure the rebound is long lasting.  The plan is to encourage “ more companies to export, increase foreign direct investment in the United States, strengthen regional manufacturing and economic development hubs, ensure workers have the skills to find jobs businesses need to fill, and unleash more of our data, all of which helps businesses grow and create American jobs .” The numbers a

Moving to More Difficult Concepts in Management Education

Management education focuses on the development of business gurus that seek to run companies for greater expansion and profit. These programs often talk about management skills, people skills, business skills, finance, and many other primary functions of a manager. A paper by Waddock & Lozano (2013) helps us think beyond primary knowledge and into concepts like reflective practices that develop awareness, systems thinking, and ethical values.  Reflection is a process of understanding oneself in a context of events. Those who are reflective think about the business, its impact, and themselves and can understand events. This understanding leads to better management practices in the future.  Students that develop reflective thinking are more thoughtful about how business practices impact others around them. Without reflection decisions can be limited and self-interested and such thinking has led to major calamity not only for businesses but also stakeholders.  A hig

Trash isn’t Sunken Treasure-Keeping the Ocean Clean

The ocean is a precious resource that shouldn’t be wasted on poor habits.  For those living on the coast and in the coastal lifestyle you know how important the ocean is to your way of life and the recreational activities you enjoy. Sailing, surfboarding, diving, snorkeling, and kayaking are just some of the fun activities in the San Diego area.  Pollution and waste damage the environment for everyone and with a little care our beaches can be cleaned and improved. Last weekend I decided to take my snorkel and Nexus phone to La Jolla Cove in an attempt to see some of the ocean wildlife. Paddling along the ocean top and diving for interesting objects on the bottom I came across a lady’s sandal. A fairly expensive one at that so I’m sure she didn’t intentionally part with it! I didn't know Nemo was doing retail? It didn’t take much to clean up the mishap. I just dived down, grabbed it and came back up to the surface, swam near the shore and flung it onto the beach th

Call for Papers: 3rd International Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business

December 14 th , 2014 Location: Kota Bharu, Malaysia ISEB 2014 is organized to catalyze the knowledge sharing and the exchanging of innovative ideas on entrepreneurship and business internationally. The seminar will especially encourage and facilitate experts and scholars to present their empirical findings and best practice outcomes related to entrepreneurship, and at the end, gain important inputs for the improvement and development of current and new strategies. This seminar will be also the main platform for any participants to build constructive network and collaborative research and development worldwide. Web address: http://fkp.umk.edu.my/ ISEB2014/