To become an interesting CEO you can prove to be a rare wine specialist, go fishing or pepper witty comments about Merkel and the Eurocrisis. But do you tweet? Only 20 CEOs out of Fortune 500 companies do. And according to a McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report called The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies that is the best strategy. MGI has found out that 72 percent…
Students and politicians know it: a remarkable number of followers make a Twitter profile shine, look cooler or more credible. And not all of them need to be real. They can be purchased with a simple click: on average, 1,000 followers cost a mere $18. At some webs like BuyTwitterFollowers it costs $77 to buy 5,000 Twitter follower bots. Research Scientist at Barracuda Labs Jason Ding made an interesting study…
LONDON | Calls for further fiscal integration of the euro country members come extremely timely. Besides, they tackle the heart of the absurd problem that has been drowning since its foundation the common currency area a little bit deeper every day: utter disorganisation. The same goes for the banking union and budget authority. But these grand advances in the euro zone’s structures will need time and some effective communication strategy…
Several weeks ago we dedicated our summer series’ interview to talk about gamification as a productivity and staff engagement booster. But there are other techniques to make office life more interesting or compelling. Decent health plans, employee tuition reimbursement, work life balance and a good year end bonus are some of the top-tens for employees. For others, a young, modern philosophy is a must. That’s one of the reasons Google…
Esprit Holdings Limited on Tuesday announced the appointment of José Manuel Martínez Gutiérrez as its new group chief executive officer and executive director. Martínez will effectively be seating at his new desk by October 2012. The language used by Esprit to inform about the move spoke of the tall hopes the retail company has deposited on Martínez’ shoulders: “We are delighted that Mr. Martínez, a professional with a wealth of…
MADRID | The importance of being a central banker was starkly shown by the dramatic change in market mood following Thursday’s soothing statement by Draghi. His open commitment to support the euro skyrocketed share quotes and drove sharply lower Spanish and Italian risk premium. All of the sudden doomsday scaremongering vanished, an overwhelming wave of up-beat optimism taking its place. Draghi’s closing remarks that the ECB would keep to its mandate…
The pregnancy of Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s new chief executive seems to be relevant for some American media. Besides the hot buzz on her next challenge –Yahoo has a troubled history with its CEOs and Mayer, a former Google star with two degrees in Computer science, arrives to the company in a moment of deep restructuring-, many have taken the occasion to underline the fact that she is the 20th CEO…
How scared are investors of Spain’s debt? Very. So much so that judging by their behaviour, financial analysts in Madrid are increasingly adopting the language of their country’s politicians, if for different reasons. That is war out there for Spain’s sovereign paper, no one doubts. The Spanish debt has now been under extreme tension during a week and the pressure has pushed credit costs up whether it is for two…
By Cruz Sierra, in Valencia | valenciaplaza.com | Bad timing. It must feel at least challenging to become chairman of the employers' association Cierval in the region of Valencia. The autonomous government recently asked Madrid for help to face its debts, while Madrid itself negotiates in Brussels softer deficit targets and the conditions of a banking bailout for the country's financial industry. José Vicente González said in an interview with VP that…
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Can games change business? Many analysts insist that they can motivate employees, bring a sense of enjoyment into a company and make it more attractive to its customers. Games are powerful because they are fun. Former expert advisor for the FCC and Associate professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at The Wharton School, Kevin Werbach is a leading expert on the social implications of emerging Internet and communication technologies. He is also founder of technology analysis firm Supernova Group. In a context of crisis, he says, European companies should think of gamification as a tool to reduce their fear of failure and help to promote a culture of needed innovation. He talked to us at Wharton University campus in San Francisco.