The Business Week 50

I thought that the article was interesting and provided a unique look at what companies are performing well and how they had to be creative in to do so. The author mentions that many of the companies had to change the rules of engagement in their industries to perform well. In Business Week’s ranking of the 50 best performing companies, they found that innovation was powerful magazine of success of the companies. Foust mentions that “a common trait among companies on the list is that they pay for performance. The salaries they offer may be stingy but the incentives are generous.” He concludes the article by talking about how companies who are at “risk of seeing their franchisees disrupted by upstart rivals”. He talks about how many of these “challenged companies have a history of rising to the occasion and may prove that they can be innovative and disruptive players again.”

This Article can be found in the April 6, 2009 issues of Business Week

Written by Dean Foust
Reviewed by Chris Postma

Article Review: Jobs Are the New Assets

"People are realizing their job is their source of financial stability, that they have to live within the means of their job." David Ellison



I agree with Ellison's opinion because a person wouldn't be able to pay their bills if they didn't have a job. Therefore people live off of their job because that is how they get their money. Also housing and stocks were the things we paid attention to, things that gave us confidence in to be good American consumers. It's true what the article mentions. We were so confident about housing and stocks and at the same time the percentage of their income people were saving dropped down until the power of credit cards and other debts went down.



This article can be found in the March 23, 2009 issue of Time Magazine.



Article by Barbara Kivat

Review by Jahaira Zepeda

Blackboard Releases iPhone Application

From The Chronicle's Wired Campus Section

Article Review: How to Become an Authentic Speaker

I found that this article was very well written and interesting. It made several good points about being an authentic speaker. Morgan points out that rehearsed gestures make a speaker seem insincere and inauthentic. The author says that preparation for a speaking is important but the traditional approach is flawed because it involves specific coaching on body language. This is because we normally make gestures before we speak the words related to them but rehearsed gestures occur after we speak the related words and the audience unconsciously picks up on this difference. The author concludes that an authentic speaker should keep a set of four intents to keep in mind to make a speech more authentic. These intents are: intent to be open with your audience, intent to connect with your audience, intent to be passionate about your topic, and intent to listen to your audience.

The article can be found in the November 2008 issue of Harvard Business review

Written by Nick Morgan
Reviewed by Chris Postma

Debating A Ceiling on Credit Card Fees

By V. Dion HaynesWashington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 25, 2009; Page D01

The Blog title entry leads to the full article.

Gibbs Outlines the Bank Rescue Plan - Video

From the Washington Post.com

Gibbs outlines the bank rescue plan on this video, followed by Obama's remarks that the plan will work. Find the clips through the title of this Blog entry.

Article Review: Gen Y in the Workforce

I thought that this was a very interesting well written and informative article. The scenario presented in the article and the commentaries raised a number of good points. One such point is that there needs to be good communication between bosses and employees of different generations. The article also suggests that both generations need to respect each other and to not dismiss what each other says and thinks out of hand. Another point the article makes is that bosses need to give adequate feedback to their workers especially the younger ones. The commentators differ in their suggestions but mostly agree on the above points. One commentator suggests that the fault lies with both generations and that corrective action must come from the older generation. Another commentator suggests that both generations need make changes to create a smoother running workplace. The third commentator suggests that the younger generation is primarily at fault for issues in the workplace. The commentator believes that it is the younger generation that needs to shape up more than the older one.

This Article can be found in the February 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review
Reviewed by Chris Postma
Written by Tamara J.Erickson

Record Library Use - 214 Library Visitors on March 18, 2009

The Library counted 214 visitors with 9 re-entrants on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. We enjoyed a busy Library today.

Trivia: Our average daily gate count for 2008 was 129 users per day.

Article Review: Encouraging Collaboration

How to Encourage Collaboration in the OR by Jo Shapiro, M.D., is beautifully and clearly written, and very useful across the disciplines and workplace settings.

She discusses temporarily flattening hierarchy and mentions the advantages of debriefing as a teaching tool.

Favorite Point:
"Unless prompted and encouraged, some team members may hold on to information, or not give it to the right person, because of the hierarchical cultural barriers to speaking out. ...if you do not explicitly welcome input, you probably won't get it. And, if the team leader doesn't mean it-if he or she really doesn't want input from other people and is saying she does proforma-that quickly becomes known and renders the words ineffective." - Jo Shapiro, MD

You can link to the entire article by clicking the title of this blog posting.


Reviewed By: M. Samuel, College Librarian

A Madoff Victim Map

Thanks to Karl Simons for recommending this site!

U.S. Professors of the Year - 2009 Call

You can nominate a professor for a U.S. Professor of the Year award.

Please nominate a talented professor for this award. The deadline is April 17, 2009.
Direct any questions to: Pam Russell, Director of Communications (202)478-5680 or email her at russell@case.org

Making Sense of the Stock Market's Wild Ride - BusinessWeek Online

101 Facts on the Status of Working Women

The Library is on Twitter

Follow the Library on Twitter for brief updates. All you have to do is create a username and password at Twitter.com. You can also find tweets from the Library on the Blog.


Other Libraries Using Twitter
http://lis5313.ci.fsu.edu/wiki/index.php/Twittering_Libraries#Libraries_Using_Twitter

For Faculty With Stage Fright

Ms. Mentor, from Chronicle Careers, gives a little Oral Communications coaching for faculty.

Billionaire Women We Admire

Remember, it is Women's History Month!
In Pictures, Billionaire Women We Admire is from the NPR.org website.
Follow the Blog title link to view the slideshow.

Google Executive to Take Over AOL

From the Washington Post.com March 13, 2009

How to Twitter

Read this recent article (March 7, 2009) from the Wall Street Journal by clicking the title link of this blog entry. The act of "twittering" is a cross between IMing and posting items on Facebook.

To read the October 27, 2008 WSJ article Twitter Goes Mainstream, follow the link below.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122461906719455335.html

The One Minute Lecture: A Success at Community Colleges

The One Minute Lecture

Ingredients
Microphone
Web Camera

Time
60 Seconds

The title of this entry leads to the article at The Chronicle's Information Technology Section (March 6, 2009) A "How To Create" guide is included.

University of Southern California Seeks New Students for Inaugural Online MAT Program

The first cohort of students will begin in June 2009.

Sample Courses
The Framing Experience
Understanding the Social Context for Urban Schools
Application of Theories of Learning to Classroom Practice
Human Difference and Teaching Special Populations
Instruction for Limited English Proficient Students
Teaching English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies
Guided Practice*