Small Business Survival - entreprenurial environment by state

The SBE (Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Council recently published the 13th annual Small Business Survival Index 2008: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation. The analysis looks at the entrepreneurial environment by state, ranking states on 34 factors such as personal income tax rates, property taxes, sales taxes, worker's compensation costs, crime rate, etc. South Dakota ranks as the friendliest policy environment for entrepreneurship; Washington, DC ranks as the least friendly. Florida ranks as very friendly for entrepreneurs at number four overall. The 44-page publication includes appendices with rankings and scores on each of the separate criteria.

IBISWorld macroeconomic briefing paper

IBISWorld recently released a 14-page macroeconomic briefing paper entitled "Economic Crisis: When will it End?". Forecasts from the report include the following:

• "The US economy will decline by 1.6% in 2009 and will not return to its normal course until 2011.
• Unemployment will continue to rise into the first quarter of 2010 and peak at 8.9%...."

IBISWorld is a business research and database provider to which USF subscribes. The company specializes in industry research reports. If you haven't taken a look at these reports, you can locate them from the main USF libraries page under the "databses by title/subject" link.

MBA entrepreneurs design baby incubator for poor nations

Stanford University magazine reports on a group of Stanford MBA students from the "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability" class who designed a non-electric incubator for underweight babies in poor nations. They formed a nonprofit organization, Embrace, which plans to sell the $25 incubator concept worldwide.

Read about their project and see photos of the design here.

Business etiquette and negotiation in China

Two working papers addressing Chinese negotiation and business etiquette were recently posted to the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter website: "Cultural Notes on Chinese Negotiating Behavior" and "Etiquette and Process Puzzles of Negotiating Business in China: A Questionnaire". Both papers are by HBS professor James K. Sebenius and research associate Cheng (Jason) Qian. The second paper includes a questionnaire with 36 multiple choice questions on doing business in China. The questions themselves offer important issues to consider: establishing first contact; setting priorities; meeting times; greetings; socializing; and contract disputes. (Unfortunately, no answers are provided!).

New Books in Business and Economics, USFSP, Dec 8, 2008-Jan 9, 2009

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USF-St Petersburg (in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
December 8, 2008 – January 9, 2009

The following new business and economics books are kept on the “New Books” cart on the first floor in the library for a few weeks, and then moved to the circulating collection on the second floor, unless checked out…

Suzhou : where the goods of all the provinces converge / Michael Marmé.
HC428.S8 M37 2005

State of the world : a Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society.
HC59 .S766 2007

From the slave trade to 'free' trade : how trade undermines democracy and justice in Africa / edited by Patrick Burnett and Firoze Manji.
HC800 .F765 2007

Low-carbon energy : a roadmap / Christopher Flavin ; Lisa Mastny, editor ; Amanda Chiu, Researcher.
HD9502.A2 F528 2008

Mineral commodity summaries.
HD9506.U6 M56

African land questions, agrarian transitions and the state : contradictions of neo-liberal land reforms / Sam Moyo.
HD966 .M69 2008

Writing your resumé / Simon Howard.
HF5383 .H69 1999

The world's business cultures and how to unlock them / Barry Tomalin and Mike Nicks.
HF5389 .T66 2007

Marketing ethics / George G. Brenkert.
HF5415 .B637 2008

The international monetary system, the IMF, and the G-20 : a great transformation in the making? / [edited by] Richard Samans, Marc Uzan and Augusto Lopez-Claros.
HG3881 .I5715 2007

A more complete list of new books at the Poynter Library can be found here.

Please let me know if there are any particular publications that you would like to see in the library collection. Thank you,

Novels in business education...

Reading novels in the business classroom has been promoted as way to better understand human behavior and explore business issues in a globalized society. For example, students at the Pace University business school in NYC read the novel "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri to explore immigration and adaptation to new cultures (BizEd, Nov/Dec 2007, p. 12).

I just read the novel, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and would highly recommend it for recreational reading or in the classroom. It's the story of self-proclaimed business entrepreneur Balram Halwai, born in the poorest "darkness" of India, and his rise to success. From the front cover: "Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger..." This book is a must-read for anyone doing business in India and a powerful story for those seeking to better understand poverty, morality, and the new globalized world cultures.

We have a copy of the book in our Recreational Reading collection (shelved by author) on the first floor of the USFSP library (PR9619.4 .A35 W47 2008).

Household products database

The "Household Products Database" from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is a useful database for both consumer and business information needs. The database includes health and safety information on household products such as cleaners, pesticides, home office, personal care, and automotive care. You can search or browse by product name, types of products, manufacturers, or ingredients. Direct links to the National Library of Medicine TOXNET database for toxicity information on specific ingredients is also provided.

So, if you need a list of products that contain "attapulgite"; or if you'd like to know if the Elmer's glue stick contains toxic ingredients, this database will answer those questions.

GAO report on financial regulatory system

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) recently released a 107-page report, "Financial Regulation: A Framework for Crafting and Assessing Proposals to Modernize the Outdated U.S. Financial Regulatory System" (GAO-09-216, January 08, 2009). The report is currently posted on the main page of the GAO web site, by date. Rather than provide specific recommendations for reform, the report outlines the issues that need to be addressed.

"....To help policymakers better understand existing problems with the financial regulatory system and craft and evaluate reform proposals, this report (1) describes the origins of the current financial regulatory system, (2) describes various market developments and changes that have created challenges for the current system, and (3) presents an evaluation framework that can be used by Congress and others to shape potential regulatory reform efforts. ..."

The report includes review comments from organizations such as the American Bankers Association, the Consumers Union, FDIC, and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

You can also subscribe to receive email alerts of new GAO reports and publications on a daily or monthly basis.

Madoff and the price of lost trust....

I think most of us were amazed by the reach and depth of the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme -- $50 billion (!) -- as well as the duration of the con.

The Knowledge@Wharton newsletter recently discussed the Madoff case with two Wharton professors. The podcast and transcript can be accessed here. The brief analysis includes a discussion of the influence principles at play, the failure of regulation, the need for diversification and transparency, and the loss of trust. Loss of trust has a price:

"....Trust is like lubrication. It makes transactions easier, faster, cheaper. It fuels the economy, so we can trade. And we've lost some of that trust. So now the costs are going to go up. There's more friction, as we have to do more due diligence. I think that's necessary. And clearly, it was necessary before this. So perhaps the silver lining is that we're going to get back to these basic principles of oversight and diversification."

The email newsletter, Knowledge@Wharton is a useful resource for staying current with trends in business research.