Weekend Digest: The exploding phones, Hillary advance man, and huge Cubs fan edition
by October 15, 2016 9:19 am 171 views
TV PREVIEW
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Channel 7 in Central Arkansas and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.:
Media in Politics
The presidential race takes a dark, dark turn. New email leaks, alleged involvement of the Russians, allegations of sexual assault, and media conspiracies. Hadas Gold of Politico weighs in.
Talk Politics
Our political roundtable looks at the Presidential race and the Supreme Court rulings on medical marijuana, casinos and tort reform. Michael Cook and Richard Bearden talk politics.
Inside the Numbers
And on the business front: home sales, China, and consumer confidence. We’ll go inside the numbers for a closer look.
Tune in to Talk Business & Politics in Central Arkansas on KATV Channel 7, Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.
EXPLODING PHONES: WHAT HAPPENED?
Mashable says, “Exploding phones might have been inevitable with such high-stakes innovation.”
There’s nothing funny about Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones inexplicably exploding and torching cars and burning people. And it’s definitely not a joking matter when their replacements, which are supposed to come with safe batteries, are catching on fire (like on a plane) as well.
“Whatever the real reason is — a design flaw, defective batteries from a specific supplier, a process mistake — the Note7 is unsafe to own. Samsung’s permanent halting of Note7 production is basically the final nail in the coffin.”
Do you have one? Want to learn more? Click here for the full story.
DO MILLENNIALS PREFER WORKING FROM HOME MORE THAN OTHERS?
According to Forbes, “Working from home has become more common in many jobs that do not require physical presence in the workplace, but along with it has come a generational divide about whether it is as effective as office based work. Additionally, it’s created a point of challenge between some employees and their management.”
Remote work has been on the rise and will continue to soar as technology makes it easier and more efficient. Global Workplace Analytics reports that 50% of the US workforce holds a job compatible with at least partial teleworking and 80 to 90% of the workforce would like to work remote at least part time.
Is this for you or your staff? Find out at this link.
GETTING REORGS RIGHT
“Chances are you’ve experienced at least one and possibly several company reorganizations. Reorgs can be a great way to unlock value: Two-thirds of them deliver at least some performance improvement, and with change in the business environment accelerating, they are becoming more and more common,” reports Harvard Business Review.
At the same time, few reorgs are entirely successful. According to a McKinsey survey we conducted, more than 80% fail to deliver the hoped-for value in the time planned, and 10% cause real damage to the company. More important, they can be damned miserable experiences for employees. Research suggests that reorgs – and the uncertainty they provoke about the future – can cause greater stress and anxiety than layoffs, leading in about 60% of cases to noticeably reduced productivity. In our experience, this occurs because the leaders of reorgs don’t specify their objectives clearly enough, miss some of the key actions (for example, forgetting processes and people in their focus on reporting lines), or do things in the wrong order (such as choosing the way forward before assessing the strengths and weaknesses of what they already have). Yet the pitfalls they succumb to are common and entirely predictable.
So, what about your reorg? Click here to get your “Reorg Right.”
INFO ON THE LAWYER WHO WROTE A LETTER TO THE NYT FOR TRUMP
According to Business Insider, “On Wednesday the New York Times published the accounts of two women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by GOP Presidential candidate, Donald Trump.”
Shortly thereafter, the Trump campaign sent the NYT a cease and desist letter demanding the paper take down the story, claiming that it is defamatory.
The letter is signed by famed trial attorney Marc E. Kasowitz of the firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, and he’s got a fascinating history on Wall Street.
“One of the things Kasowitz is known for, is going after investors who have short positions – as in they are betting against – in company shares. In finance, that can either make you a hero or a whiner, depending on who you ask.”
So, who you gonna ask? Click here.
A VERY DANGEROUS MAN FOR FOR THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR WEEKS
Who might that be asks POLITICO?
In a conference call on Monday with Barrett, Blair, D’Antonio and O’Brien, the biographers were unanimous in their assessment of what we are seeing: They are not surprised. Trump is who they thought he was. This, they said, is not a show. It is not an act.
Full post at this link.
IN PHILLY SUBURBS, A DEEPLY NEGATIVE VIEW ON DONALD TRUMP
Philly.com reports, “Donald Trump’s poll numbers are sinking in Pennsylvania, and a new poll suggests why: The Republican presidential nominee is hugely unpopular in the vote-rich Philadelphia suburbs.”
The finding illustrates the tall task Trump faces in a state critical to his path to victory.
Get the story line here.
HANDLING COWS BY DAY AND EVER-GROWING CLINTON RALLIES BY NIGHT
Now wait a minute, What the…?
OK this could only be in Arkansas, right? Maybe DeQueen?
And when the hour arrived here for the main event, Hillary Clinton’s director of production — the one “in charge of how things look and feel” wherever the candidate appears in public — settled in to brief essential personnel.
Check out this profile of Arkansas politico Greg Hale at this link.
DYLAN WINS NOBEL PRIZE
Yes, that Dylan, namely Bob did. Are you kidding?
This morning Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm, Sweden, for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” according to a statement from the Swedish Academy.
We think this might be the best Nobel ever.
WHAT MAKES A PIECE OF ARTWORK VALUABLE?
“The auction house Sotheby’s revealed earlier this month that a painting purported to have been the work of 17th century Dutch artist Frans Hals is a fake. It sold for about $11 million. The controversy has called into question other paintings that came from the same source.”
And? Go here to Marketplace.
CUBS FAN
You know when your boss says, “Do Something. You’re a huge Cubs fan. Put it in there.”
Well, he thought I might come up with a 105-year hopeful answer.