Pointing to two unrelated studies, Scott Adams blogs the ironic conclusion that CEOs are underpaid. In one study, researchers found that happiness makes people successful. And in another study sad workers were found to be the most productive. "So it follows…that grossly overpaying a CEO makes good sense. It allows the CEO to be happy, which increases his odds of success, which is good for the stockholders. And best of all, overpaying a CEO makes the workers sad, which makes them more productive, which is also good for the stockholders."
Chinese company Suntech Power Holdings, is the "third largest producer of solar cells in the world and one of the fastest growing" and they're now in discussions with three different US states about building a US factory that would employ up to 1,000 people. US companies may be sending manufacturing overseas to take advantage of the cheap labor, but clean tech is bringing some of these kind of jobs back to the states. Why? Weight. Solar panels and green roofing materials weigh a lot, and that increases shipping costs. And by building in the US, Suntech can "compete in what many believe will be the largest solar market in the future."
Techmeme is a great service I use all the time to track stories making the rounds on technology press and blogs. But Erick Schonfeld wonders if the site has met its nemesis with the launch of Blogrunner by the New York Times this week. Blogrunner, acquired by the Times last year, is now linked through various parts of nytimes.com allowing you to click for more headlines around the web. Unlike Techmeme or Google News they are using a combination of both web crawlers and human editors to rank the posts they link to. I don't know if it would replace my Techmeme habit, but I'm intrigued. It's certainly a nice addition to the New York Times.
Hulu is a new venture in beta between News Corp. and NBC Universal and the reviews look good. Hulu, like Joost, let's you watch TV shows and movies online with occasional ads without the mess of having to illegally download or pay for anything. Angela Natividad likes Hulu so much, she's calling it a Joost killer, saying "It's all the convenience of Joost with better shows, better ads and no software downloads." Natividad sends "congrats to a couple of old-timers for stealing the limelight from the new kid on the block [Joost] and actually improving the value proposition (for the most part). How often do you see that happen?" Whether it's Hulu, Joost or YouTube - TV is changing forever.
Consumer generated content may be all the rage, but one company, electronics maker Bang & Olufsen, doesn't pay one bit of attention to consumers. Hey, they don't even listen to engineers. BusinessWeek says they're a "throwback to an earlier time when CEOs worked closely with gifted designers to differentiate their products in the marketplace." This "business-by-genius" method is scattershot and "fragile." Sometimes it works, other times? Not so much. If you have the (considerable) cash, their CD players are works of art. But B&O’s BeoSound 2, was meant to compete against the iPod. Priced at $460, it holds just 50 songs and has no screen. Ooops.
The band Radiohead has offered their new album "In Rainbows" exclusively online for an optional fee and they aren't the only ones experimenting with new business models. 5-year-old music magazine Paste has adopted a "pay-what-you-want model for its yearly subscriptions for the next two weeks, with minimum payments starting at $1." The usual price is $19.95 per year for 11 issues and 11 CD samplers. When asked why they're trying it, the company president replied that it's "a great way for us to know how much our product means to people." The music biz is at the tipping point. Rock on.
Fewer than four out of 100 Africans currently use the internet, and broadband penetration is below 1 percent, but by 2012 the goal is to drive dramatic change. The World Bank, the World Health Organization and United Nations, as well as companies like Intel and Microsoft are supporting an initiative called Connect Africa, aimed at getting one third of Africa's citizens on broadband. Africa now has the highest growth in mobile use globally - twice the global average over the past three years and for the first time, economic indicators for the continent are positive. Positive momentum is building.
Goodwill has "launched a campaign to recast itself as a source of vintage and high-end fashion in an attempt to expand its customer base to young, professional women." The Washington DC chapter of the Goodwill is leading the effort. They've hired blogger Em Hall to blog great tips about stylish items found in the stores. They've even uploaded a video of Goodwill's annual fund-raiser fashion show to YouTube. While the "average shopper is a 35- to 49-year-old woman with a household income of less than $70,000," Goodwill is hoping to attract more affluent shoppers who are after vintage or designer items. Goodwill was founded to educate and employ people who are disadvantaged or have disabilities. Get your fashion and do good too.
This morning we enjoyed our breakfast with the knowledge that the Red Sox are world champions. And for most of us, cold cereal was what we munched on as we read the headlines and watched the recaps. A new study shows that while the brands may differ over time, what your Grandmother served your Mom and Dad as kids is the same thing you eat now. Cold cereal has topped the list for breakfast, and it has for more than 20 years. The study may seem simple, but for food and beverage marketers it has strong implications. The patterns established in your childhood are the key to keeping you as a customer for life. As for the Sox? So good, so good.
