The course for tomorrow's business leaders refreshed and updated.
ARTICLES & LESSONS
It is time to treat Wall Street like Main Street
5 Mar 10
Thirty years ago economists came up with the idea of pay-for-performance, what we now know as bonuses, to motivate employees to work harder and make better decisions. But the financial collapse of the last two years and the role of huge bankers’ bonuses in their decisions is now a subject of much debate. Two American economists, George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton’s, have come up with another way to motivate employees. The idea, and the title of their new book, is ‘Identity Economics’. They state that it is far better if employees are motivated by the urge to ‘do a good job’ because they think that is the right thing to do.
The kids are alright but they need help
5 Mar 10
When people reach 65, the common retirement age in many western countries, are they then no longer useful employees? Recent studies show that having a mix of age groups in the workforce can actually increase levels of customer satisfaction and business performance.
Grids to harness power of electric cars
5 Mar 10
V2G, which stands for ‘vehicle to grid’, is a new concept for electric cars recently announced at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego. Because electric cars store a lot of electricity, they can return some of this electricity to the electricity grid when they are parked and so help to balance out fluctuations in supply and demand. If one million electric cars – the number estimated to be sold in the US in the next 5 years – used V2G technology, it would provide a reserve supply of several gigawatts, reducing the need for power station construction.
