Human Capital Briefs

Whistle-blowing reveals not just acute misdeeds, but chronic and longstanding patterns of misconduct. For example, Edward Snowden’s bombshell release of more than 200,000 documents revealed questionable government surveillance programs that existed for years.

Men who take time off from work to care for their children live longer than other men, sociologist Scott Coltrane writes in The Atlantic. According to a study in Sweden, fathers who took paternity leave in 1978 and 1979 had a 16% decreased death risk by 2001.

On January 17, Dennis Kozlowski will be released on parole by the State of New York after serving an 8 1/3 year sentence in the state’s tough prison system. Kozlowski is the former CEO of Tyco International.

In the years since Zappos was founded, we’ve had to make some big decisions. One of the most significant came in early 2004 when we decided to relocate from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Our biggest problem then was customer service—specifically, finding the right employees to staff our call center.

One can naturally debate any system that seeks to crown the world’s most innovative companies. Boston Consulting Group’s list, which relies heavily on surveys asking senior executives to name the companies they perceive to be innovative, risks succumbing to the halo effect.

From presidents to hip-hop producers to poets, the last page of every issue of Harvard Business Review is always an interview with someone who has succeeded outside the traditional corporate world. Here, some of our favorite lessons from the class of 2013.

Not only are individual companies and industries battling for talent, but countries are, too. In the global competition for top talent, emigration of highly skilled workers —brain drain — can result in an especially pernicious drag on the source nations’ talent pools. Many countries are susceptible to flights of talent and experience its deleterious effects.

It is now official. Girls like cars. And car companies know how to be driven by women. The appointment of Mary Barra as CEO-to-be of General Motors is a signal to car-lovers everywhere that the company is serious about its products and vehicle innovation.

It’s a dilemma that faces family businesses all too frequently. We saw it recently when we worked with a $4 billion global manufacturing business in Hong Kong. The company was managed by the founder, who turned it over to his son when he retired.