Business uses for Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn

Web Worker Daily recently published a list of "62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business." Scroll down to the bottom of the article for links to articles on business of uses of YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to receive daily email updates from Web Worker Daily.

Rural India

About 700 million of India's 1.2 million inhabitants reside in rural India. The Wall Street Journal and the India Knowledge@Wharton people have put together an electronic collection of articles, video clips, working papers and other resources specific to understanding rural India.

(The collection is hosted at WSJ.com, where you will also find links to other WSJ resources for specific regions and/or countries, such as China, Asia, Russia, Europe, etc.)

New Business and Economics Books in the Library

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
July 29 – August 24, 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…

John Maynard Keynes / Paul Davidson.
HB103.K47 D37 2009

The myth of the rational market : a history of risk, reward, and delusion on Wall Street / Justin Fox.
HB3731 .F69 2009

Brazil as an economic superpower? : understanding Brazil's changing role in the global economy / Lael Brainard, Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, editors.
HC187 .B86584 2009

How Ukraine became a market economy and democracy / Anders Åslund.
HC340.19 .A85 2009

Wealth into power : the Communist Party's embrace of China's private sector / Bruce J. Dickson.
HC427.5 .D53 2008

China's rise : challenges and opportunities / C. Fred Bergsten ... [et al.].
HC427.95 .C4566 2008

Dead aid : why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa / Dambisa Moyo.
HC800 .M69 2009

The wall behind China's open door towards efficient intercultural management in China / Jeanne Boden.
HD58.7 .B63 2008

The business analyst's handbook / Howard Podeswa.
HD69.B87 P63 2009

The Wiley guide to project organization & project management competencies / edited by Peter W.G. Morris and Jeffrey K. Pinto.
HD69.P75 W5524 2007

India's global powerhouses : how they are taking on the world / Nirmalya Kumar ; with Pradipta K. Mohapatra, Suj Chandrasekhar.
HD2899 .K86 2009

Killing for coal : America's deadliest labor war / Thomas G. Andrews.
HD5325.M63 1913 C736 2008

Going down Jericho Road : the Memphis strike, Martin Luther King's last campaign / Michael K. Honey.
HD5325.S2572 1968 M465 2007

The woman behind the New Deal : the life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and his moral conscience / Kirstin Downey.
HD8073.P38 D69 2009

Food, Inc. : how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter, and poorer-- and what you can do about it / edited by Karl Weber.
HD9005 .F6582 2009

Squeezed : what you don't know about orange juice / Alissa Hamilton.
HD9348.5.O723 H35 2009

China safari : on the trail of Beijing's expansion in Africa / Serge Michel and Michel Beuret ; photographs by Paolo Woods ; translated by Raymond Valley.
HF1611.Z4 C65 2009

Passport to success : the essential guide to business culture and customs in America's largest trading partners / Jeanette S. Martin, Lillian H. Chaney.
HF5389 .M3753 2009

Longing and belonging : parents, children, and consumer culture / Allison J. Pugh.
HF5415.33.U6 C23 2009

Cheap : the high cost of discount culture / Ellen Ruppel Shell.
HF5429.215.U6 S54 2009

Feng shui your workspace for dummies / by Holly Ziegler and Jennifer Lawler.
HF5547.2 .Z54 2003

Creative accounting exposed / Ignacio de la Torre ; translated into English by Bartus Hamilton.
HF5681.B2 T6713 2009

World wide rave : creating triggers that get millions of people to spread your ideas and share your stories / David Meerman Scott.
HF5827.95 .S395 2009

The housing boom and bust / Thomas Sowell.
HG2040.25 .S69 2009

Entrepreneurial finance : finance and business strategies for the serious entrepreneur / Steven Rogers ; with Roza Makonnen.
HG4026 .R65 2009

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,
Marcy

The Chinese consumer meets IKEA

IKEA has been in China since 1999 but the Chinese experience inside the Swedish home furnishings retail is "unique." An article in the Los Angeles Times (8/25), "Beijing loves IKEA - but not for shopping," talks about the popularity of the store as a destination for daylong visits to take photos, nap, read books, and eat a few meals. The photos are entertaining! This is a great starting point for discussions about the Chinese consumer.

Business blogs

This posting on "Learn-gasm" (?!) is entitled, "100 Awesome Blogs for Your Business Education." The listed blogs include short annotations and are divided by category such as marketing, global business, human resources, women in business, green business, etc.

Following blogs through a blog reader such as bloglines is a great way to stay current on topics of interest.

New Business and Economics books in the USFSP Library

New BUSINESS and ECONOMICS books in the Poynter Library, USFSP
(in LC Call Number order, HB-HJ only)
June 19 – July 28, 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…

Principles of microeconomics / Robert H. Frank, Ben S. Bernanke.
HB172 .F72 2007

Principles of macro-economics / Robert H. Frank, Ben S. Bernanke ; with the assistance of Roger T. Kaufman.
HB172.5 .F69 2007

East Asia and the global economy : Japan's ascent, with implications for China's future /Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell.
HC462.9 .B852 2007

Minimum wages / David Neumark and William L. Wascher.
HD4918 .N432 2008

Bitter chocolate : investigating the dark side of the world's most seductive sweet / Carol Off.
HD9200.A2 O34 2007

Cities and cars : a handbook of best practices / edited by Roger L. Kemp.
HE355 .C53 2007

Whiff! : the revolution of scent communication in the information age / C. Russell Brumfield with James Goldney and Stephanie Gunning.
HF5415 .B78 2008

KFC in China : secret recipe for success / Warren K. Liu.
HF5429.235.C6 L58 2008

Sudden money : managing a financial windfall / Susan Bradley ; with Mary Martin.
HG179 .B713 2000

The value of money / Prabhat Patnaik.
HG220.A2 P38 2009

Insufficient funds : savings, assets, credit, and banking among low-income households / edited by Rebecca M. Blank and Michael S. Barr.
HG1601 .I67 2009

Risk arbitrage / Guy Wyser-Pratte.
HG6041 .W97 2009

Lottery wars : case studies in Bible Belt politics, 1986-2005 / Randy Bobbitt.
HG6126 .B63 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,
Marcy

Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator

In April of this year, Dow Jones introduced the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator, which "aims to gauge the health of the U.S. economy by weighing the balance of sentiment in articles published by 15 major American newspapers." The indicator analyzes the occurrences of words in those media using a mathematical algorithm. Dow Jones calculated the indicator back to the 1990s and publishes the most current monthly figure on the last business day of each month. According to Dow Jones:

"The ESI represents one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching examinations of media coverage as an economic indicator. The ESI’s back-testing to 1990 shows that the ESI clearly highlighted the risk that the U.S. economy was sliding into recession in 2001 and 2008 and suggests the indicator can help predict economic turning points as much as seven months in advance of other indicators."

The website for the Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator also includes recent press releases and comparisons to other economic indicators, such as the consumer confidence index from The Conference Board.

emerging markets - manufacturing

Global-production.com, a consulting firm based in Switzerland, is billed as a "key source of information and research on emerging economies as locations for global production." The web site offers a variety of resources centered around their services:

"The Global Production Scoreboard benchmarks emerging economies as locations for global production. It employs a set of indicators,combining state-of-the-art theory with insights from best-practice research. Listed in leading business information directories, the Scoreboard is today a widely used planning tool by manufacturing companies around the world.

For selected industries, we provide information and reports on the manufacturing competitiveness of emerging economies by product category.

Our research services support client organisations in the alignment of value activities with locations on a global basis."

The web site also provides links to additional resources for research on emerging markets and emerging economies.

Dual language search in Google

This search tool -- http://2lingual.com/ allows you to conduct a Google search in 2 languages on one screen, simultaneously. So, you can type in a search in English on the left while the right search box is translating and running the same search in Polish, Chinese, Hebrew, or one of about 35 other languages. Very nice!

GlobalEDGE - Hospitality and Travel Industry

GlobalEDGE from Michigan State University is a resource that I've highlighted in the past but it's worth repeating. The site also has a new look and feel.

The July GlobalEDGE newsletter is focused on the Hospitality and Travel Industry and includes news articles; an industry "risk description" from Coface; and a list of web-based resources for more information.

The newsletter also highlights featured resources such as the "Country Brand Index" and the online course modules which follow the book "A Basic Guide to Exporting" from the U.S. Commercial Service.

You can sign-up to receive the newsletter delivered via email each month. At the main GlobalEDGE web site, you can see more of their resources and also register for free value-added content.

Green labeling at Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart announced plans to develop a universal rating system for labeling the environmental sustainability of products, including all levels of production and distribution. The giant retailer is working with the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University and collecting data from its over 100,000 suppliers. The goal is to then have all retailers adopt the same system. The ambitious plan aims to inform consumers and, ultimately, compel the manufacture of more sustainable products. (NY Times, July 15, 2009)

Books on the financial crisis...

Emory University's Goizueta Business Library has witnessed more undergraduate and MBA students interested in reading books about the current financial crisis, outside of their required reading lists. "Reading the Economy: Books on the Current Financial Crisis" is a brief article in a recent issue of Knowledge@Emory that discusses this trend and highlights some recommended reading.

To locate related books in the USF catalog, search "financial crises" as a subject heading. Here are a few current titles in the USFSP library:

• House of cards : a tale of hubris and wretched excess on Wall Street / William D. Cohan (2009).
• Panic : the story of modern financial insanity / [edited by] Michael Lewis (2009).
• The return of depression economics and the crisis of 2008 / Paul Krugman (2009).
• The new paradigm for financial markets : the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means / George Soros (2008).
• The credit crunch : housing bubbles, globalisation and the worldwide economic crisis / Graham Turner (2008).
• The trillion dollar meltdown : easy money, high rollers, and the great credit crash / Charles R. Morris (2008).

Cause Marketing or Consumption Philanthropy or ?

The Stanford Social Innovation Review has an interesting, timely article "The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing":

"From pink ribbons to Product Red, cause marketing adroitly serves two masters, earning profits for corporations while raising funds for charities. Yet the short-term benefits of cause marketing—also known as consumption philanthropy—belie its long-term costs. These hidden costs include individualizing solutions to collective problems; replacing virtuous action with mindless buying; and hiding how markets create many social problems in the first place. Consumption philanthropy is therefore unsuited to create real social change."

The article, by Angela M. Eikenberry, assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, includes cited statistics, a list of references, and posted comments from readers.

The article was made available through Stanford knowledgebase, an email newsletter from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ethics for finance professionals at all levels

"Your Career, Our Economy: Stakes are High When Finance Professionals Let Ethics Slide":

Bernie Madoff, AIG, and Allen Stanford all supply grand-scale 'teachable moments' for discussions about ethics in business. However, ethical behavior applies to all levels of professionals, not just those at the top of financial organizations. That's one of the lessons that professor Marianne Jennings at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is trying to impart to her undergraduate business students.

Jennings is also the author of the book, "The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse: Understanding What Causes Moral Meltdowns in Organizations."

"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?"

"Why might some employees sabotage their companies?" -- according to a researcher at Singapore Management University, self-esteem plays a critical role. In a working paper entitled, "When does self-esteem relate to deviant behaviour? The role of contingencies of self-worth," researchers found that it is not simply the level of self-esteem, but also whether an employee's self-esteem is tied to being a competent employee.

"They suggest that if an individual’s self-esteem is contingent upon being a competent employee – what they refer to as having workplace-contingent self-esteem – then regardless of whether self-esteem is low or high, they will be less likely to engage in deviant behaviours."

Read the article summarizing the working paper in the Knowledge@SMU newsletter.

New economics database: RGE Monitor

The USF Libraries recently added a subscription to the economics database RGE Monitor:

"RGE Monitor, named one of the world's best economic resources by Business Week, The Economist, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, delivers global economic insights to the business and academic community. Founded in 2004 by a prestigious team of economic and political experts, RGE Monitor defines key economic and strategic debates and presents arguments on all sides. Content and analysis is delivered through a variety of channels. “Spotlight Issues” are identified and set in priority order, searchable by either importance or date. “Global Daily Digests” are available on the website, through email, or by a continuously updated RSS feeds. “Working Paper Series” highlights the most relevant publications from the economic experts from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)."

Note: Requires the creation of an account. Once established, your user name is your email address.

To locate this database, visit http://www.lib.usf.edu and click on "Databases by Title/Subject" to begin.

Adopting IFRS-International Financial Reporting Standards

"Why do some countries adopt the European Union (EU)-based International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) when others do not?"

A 48-page working paper, available through the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter and website, explores this question. Some of the conclusions include the following:

"There is evidence that more powerful countries are less likely to adopt IFRS, consistent with more powerful countries being less willing to surrender standard-setting authority to an international body. There is also evidence that the likelihood of IFRS adoption at first increases and then decreases in the quality of countries' domestic governance institutions, consistent with IFRS being adopted when governments are capable of timely decision making and when the opportunity and switching cost of domestic standards are relatively low. We do not find evidence that levels of and expected changes in foreign trade and investment flows in a country affect its adoption decision: thus, we cannot confirm that IFRS lowers information costs in more globalized economies. Consistent with the presence of network effects in IFRS adoption, we find that a country is more likely to adopt IFRS if its trade partners or countries within in its geographical region are IFRS adopters."

Advertising Age - 100 Leading National Advertisers, 2009 edition

Advertising Age recently released its annual "100 Leading National Advertisers" database and special issue, with facts and figures on U.S. ad spending. You can access the electronic version of this advertising research 'classic' here.

The Futurist: Ten Forces Driving Business Futures

An article in the July-August issue of The Futurist magazine by Michael Richarme, from the market research firm Decision Analyst Inc., identifies the top ten social trends of the next 20 years, with implications for business:
1) the emergence of China as the world's largest economic power;
2) global demographic and migration shifts;
3) energy and water shortages;
4) managing waste, reusing products;
5) falling education standards, less-skilled thought leaders;
6) brand relationships intensify;
7) instant gratification shopping;
8) on-demand media;
9) customization, personalization, and community experiences; and
10) youth rules.

The July-August issue of The Futurist has other articles of interest, including "The automation of invention," "Assessing global trends for 2025," and "A rendezvous with austerity: American consumers are about to learn new habits." The magazine (full-text, PDF) is available through the USF subscription to the Academic Search Premier database. You can search the magazine or database as needed, or set up an alert to have the table of contents delivered to your email inbox for each new issue.

FASB Codification

"On July 1, 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is instituting a major change in the way accounting standards are organized. On that date, the FASB Accounting Standards Codification™ (FASB Codification) will become the single official source of authoritative, nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP). After that date, only one level of authoritative U.S. GAAP will exist, other than guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). All other literature will be non-authoritative." (http://aaahq.org/FASB/Access.cfm)

Read about some of the changes here and here. And stay tuned for more information about access to FASB Codification for USF students and faculty.