Biz bits
By wire services
Published February 6, 2005
MOVE OVER, LEFT-BRAIN people; make way for right-brainers. Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the information age, but Wired magazine says the future belongs to the conceptual age, where artistry, empathy and emotion are more important. Author Daniel Pink says linear and analytical talents are no longer enough in "a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data and choked with choices." Says Pink: "The abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to right-hemisphere specialties: artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture and pursuing the transcendent."
SO YOU'RE ALMOST 65. Do yourself a favor, SmartMoney.com says, and don't ignore the Medicare handbook you receive in the mail as your birthday nears: It provides important information on how your health care coverage will change. Dump this in your "I'll deal with it later" pile of paperwork, SmartMoney says, and you could miss crucial deadlines, leaving yourself without comprehensive health insurance and ultimately paying much more for your health benefits than necessary.
BP OIL, INTEL computer chips, Kiwi shoe polish, Callaway Golf clubs - pick any product from any well-known brand, and chances are there's a counterfeit version, BusinessWeek says. "The World Customs Organization estimates counterfeiting accounts for 5 percent to 7 percent of global merchandise trade, equivalent to lost sales of as much as $512-billion last year, though experts say this is only a guess." Seizures of fakes by U.S. customs increased by 46 percent last year.
TWO OF EVERY FIVE new corporate chief executives last only a year-and-a-half on the job. That's too big a failure rate and signals that something is wrong, Harvard Business Review says. It reports that 55 percent of the CEOs who come into a company from outside are forced to resign, compared with 34 percent of insiders forced out. The problem is that many companies have no meaningful succession plans, and those that do are not happy with them, HBR says.
TECH INDUSTRY SALARIES continued to drop last year, falling 2.6 percent, but with a notable niche of gains. Jobs in the defense and government tech sectors saw a 2.9 percent increase, according to an annual salary survey of tech professionals by Dice Inc.
Compiled from Times wires and Web sites.