Productivity & Trade Briefs

In this year’s C-Suite Challenge survey, we asked 1,426 C-suite executives for their views on the Organization of the Future through 2025, including what skills will be needed to thrive in 2025 and beyond. The results outline a world of work where skill variety will become critical while organizations are reshaped by new business models.

The only way corporate mental health initiatives can be successful is if they are aligned with communication efforts. There are several functions of corporate communications that are necessary to consider when evaluating a company’s approach to mental health.

In 2009, the US labor market was the weakest since the Great Depression. In 2019, after a decade of strong hiring and the retirement of about 3 million baby boomers a year, the US economy is experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. Employers are experiencing historical difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers, especially in blue-collar and low-paid occupations. In the next 12 months, despite some slowing in economic growth, labor markets will get even tighter.

Apple supplier Foxconn’s initiative to produce high-end iPhones in India opens new doors for Apple to use India as an export hub, including to the U.S., and also gives Apple better access to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies—and mobile phone markets. Indian consumers have felt very optimistic economically, and technology is a popular category for spending disposable income, as data from the Conference Board Global Consumer Confidence Index shows.

This Q&A with Ralph Ward discusses the job of the corporate director from his perspective as a business media and corporate governance executive. He gives his views on such topics as who owns tone at the top and directors’ ideal characteristics.

What is needed is a radically new governance model aligned with the high-performance requirements of the current hyper-competitive business environment.

How does one of India's largest conglomerates, operating around the world, take care of citizens in its immediate community? The Aditya Birla Group has developed a model village in the neighborhood surrounding its Ultra Tech Cement Works Plant in Kotputli, providing vital facilities and infrastructure to residents, including education for women and children, a medical clinic, a farming program, and clean, fresh water.

Whatever the explanations for the short-termism thesis, the conclusion to be drawn from its lack of evidentiary basis is that quarterly capitalism is not the pervasive culprit that the “true believers” would have you believe.