Summary: Jobless MBA's

The article "Jobless MBA's" discusses how the recent downturn in the economy has affected newly graduated MBA's. According to BusinessWeek, 16.5 % of job seeking students from the top 30 programs did not receive any offers by the time schools collected their final fall employment data three months after graduation. This is a major increase from the 5% of students who could not find jobs the previous year. Since most high paying finance jobs have dissappeared after the recession, most schools have directed students into other industries. Mark Brostoff, associate dean at Westin Career Center, believes students need to "recognize the value of other career paths" and look at other skill sets they possess in order to be successful in today's market. Many people don't forsee the job market picking up anytime soon, which means students will end up taking jobs they otherwise would not have considered or even return to industries that they came to graduate school to get out of. Some students will enjoy different fields of study, travel the globe or start their own businesses, but others will stick with their original plans even if it does take longer than expected. Graduates from this year's class will definitely take different paths to reach their ultimate career goal than any other class in history.

Essay: Myths That Undermine Decision Making

Most problems involved with group decision making do not have anything to do with psychological issues, but more with the myths about the teams themselves. The article discusses how decisions at the highest level are made in many different meetings, formal and informal. The article also discusses how different people in the organization carry different levels of decision making responsibilities. Finally, the article mentions that asking all employees to think like a CEO can be a huge mistake.

One myth that many people fall prey to is that a single team makes all of the major decisions for an organization. In reality, the decisions being made at the highest levels may only involve a handful of executives and not necessarily the entire executive team. However, this may lead to some confusion over the locus of control. Executive team members who are frequently presented with deals that have already been finalized may feel disempowered.

Another myth that many people believe is that the executive team is a body of equals. In organizations, different people carry much more weight and responsibility than others. The article compares this to the House of Representatives, where California has a bigger say than a smaller state, such as Rhode Island. Problems are created when members have differing views on what kind of advice they are being asked to give. The solution to this problem is simple. The CEO must make clear before the meeting where the group stands in the decision making process.

The third myth entails that all executive team members should adopt a CEO's perspective. However, asking everybody to "think like a CEO can be counterproductive". According to the article, organizations should not choose the generalist or functional perspective, but chose a model that best relates to the type of decision being made.

By reading this article, I learned that addressing these three decision making myths will greatly enhance an employee's ability to contribute to the organization. When an employee knows their role within the company, they will be able to fully participate in the decision making process.

Summary: Fed & Treasury Pitch Pay Rules, But Will They Work

The article "Fed & Treasury Pitch Pay Rules, But Will They Work?" focuses on new plans the Fed and the Treasury Department have put in place to manage high level executive's pay. The Fed's proposal requires the agency to tell the bank holding companies just how they plan on assessing their pay practices. This will ensure that bonuses and other incentives don't encourage bankers to take more risk and put banks in further jeopardy. However, the Fed's new plan does not contain any hard-and-fast rules because they figure every company is different and their pay practices should reflect that. The Treasury's new plan focuses mainly on the top echelon of the corporate hierarchy (top 5 executives and 20 other highest paid employees). Another element of the Treasury's plan centers on trading cash salary for stock and also replacing bonuses with restricted stock. This will encourage top executives to "shoot for the stars". In order to keep stock issued as a bonus, executives will have to stay with the company for three years and they won't be able to cash the stock until the government is paid back.

Summary: Beware the Bottlenecks

The article "Beware the Bottlenecks" points out potential problems that isolated shortages could lead to. The author explains how it is surprising and worrisome that there are shortages in a variety of items in the current economy, ranging from cars to lobster bait. These shortages may be a sign that the current recession is not as bad as once believed. As the economy continues to grow and demand grows at the same time, these shortages could drive prices up and force the Fed to raise rates before the recovery even starts. Economists believe that shortages are short-term problems that won't end up hurting the economy too much; however the bigger problem is deflation. Deflation is an economic contraction that causes falling prices, unemployment and bankruptcies. The central bank must now focus not only on deflation, but also capacity bottlenecks that lead to inflation.

Summary: Wal-Marts Painful Lessons

The article "Wal-Mart's Painful Lessons" explains how Wal-mart's future success depends on whether the company learns from past mistakes and how quickly it adapts to shifting trends in foreign markets. The article covers four foreign markets outside North America that Wal-Mart has tried gaining entry into and outlines the strategies the company plans on takingin order to do so. In Japan, Wal-Mart has made many changes, including closing 20 stores, removing in-store butchers and increasing the number of meals-to-go. However, the biggest change was making the transition from weekly specials to "everyday low proces". Progress has been slow, but baby steps are being taken towards improvement. Russia and India are two of the fastest growing retail markets in the world, but they are also regarded as the two most frustrating for foreign retailers. After five years, Wal-Mart has only one outlet in India and a 30 person development office in Russia. Recently, Wal-Mart joined with Bharti Enetrprises to open a cash-and-carry operation in northern India, catering to merchants and small businesses. However, with little experience and background in the type of merchandising and retailing done at Wal-Mart, employees have much to learn. While Wal-Mart plans to open 10 to 15 stores in Russia, it will probably start by acquiring a local retailer. In Chile, Wal-Mart has acquireed a 75% stake in a local company called D&S, which turned out to be a very smart move. Instead of entering the market alone, as many other companies have tried to do and failed, Wal-Mart has kept close ties to D&S over the last decade. They have increased D&S's expansion budget from $150 million to $250 million, most of which will go towards opening 70 new stores this year. On its way to taking over the world retail market, Wal-Mart must make sure it employs lessons learned from past mistakes into future plans.

Summary: A Smokestack Comeback

The article "A Smokestack Comeback" explains how the U.S. Manufacturing sector has shown signs of economic improvement in the stock market, however nothing is a sure bet as other data conflicts with this idea. While stocks classified as industrial rose 27% in the last three months, the U.S. Philadelphia Fed Index declined from 14.1 to 11.5 during September and October. Others will be looking at the earnings reports, who some believe give investors a better sense of whats going on. Developments overseas and the fact that manufacturing is jumping off a very low base are a couple of the reasons to be optimistic for the U.S.industry.

Essay: The Kinds of Employees You Want To Hire

The article "The Kinds of Employees You Want To Hire" explains the distinguishing features of employees that many companies want to hire. The type of employee who possesses a confident "core self evaluation" will be beneficial to a company. The article also explains that employees with high core self evaluations of themselves will continue to succeed in even the toughest environments. The article gives helpful ways to spot future superstar business leaders as well.

The trait that distinguishes great employees from average employees is "core self evaluation". This term refers to a person's belief in their own abilities. Its obvious that an employee who feels that they control the events in their lives ,rather than vice versa, will have a better chance to succeed in the business world. These employees will sell more products, give better customer service and will be more motivated than people who lack a high self-esteem. Ultimately, employees who have a higher self core evaluation will fare better in the long run, moving up the corporate ladder and earning better wages than employees who do not think highly of their abilities.

When challenging times set in is the point where the superstar employees are weeded out from the average employees. In these situations, confidence is a great virtue to have. Self-belief in one's abilities will allow a person to persevere through turbulent times when most others would quit. The article also points out that employees with a high "core self evaluation" experience less stress and have less trouble balancing work and personal life.

Ways of spotting highly confident employees are more obvious than one would think. One way is to identify people with an "I think I can" attitude. These people will be able to overcome challenges more easily than other people. Another way to spot a superstar employee is to identify people who take control of the situation and not wait for something to happen. Also, make sure the employee is emotionally stable. People who are not easily discouraged are less likely to fall prey to stress and burnout.

After reading this article, I learned that "can-do" attitudes are synonymous with success in the workplace. Having a positive attitude and confidence in my abilities will allow me to far exceed my colleagues. I need to take control of the situation and not wait for something to happen as most people do. Confidence in my own abilities is key to achieving any task in life.