Category: Business Today

Finding Pockets of Growth in Sagging Economies


It’s time to think small when it comes to identifying growth areas in the global economy.  For the past 15 years, since coining the BRIC acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the world’s biggest emerging economies have been the focus for discussion on growth opportunities outside of western developed markets. However, with a slowdown in China and a credit downgrade for Brazil, it is getting harder to view the BRICs story as a simple, grand narrative of gilded opportunity for investors and businesses alike.

The ‘Safe Harbor’ Data Transfer Pact is Ruled Invalid


Earlier this month, US companies operating in Europe got some unwelcome news: the Data Transfer Pact between the European Union and the United States, more commonly known as “Safe Harbor,” is invalid.

For over 15 years, Safe Harbor had ensured that companies with EU operations could transfer online data about their employees and customers back to the United States despite stark differences between US and European privacy law.

Worker Pay: Transparency or Opacity?


Beyond work-life balance, the gender pay gap is the biggest concern of women in Australian workplaces, according to a new survey of 9,500 women in G20 countries.

Just 31% of the Australian women surveyed said they were confident they earned at least the same salary as a man doing the same job.

Breaking the UK’s Re-Offender Cycle could be a Matter of Degree


Re-offending rates among prisoners in the UK are sky high. Around 90% of those sentenced in England and Wales, have previous offences and the rates are, if anything, getting worse.

Signing on the Dotted Line, Often Many Times per Day


How many contracts did you enter into today? The answer may surprise you. Though the prevalence of contracts in the world of commerce is taken as a given, the importance of contracts in everyday life is often overlooked. The rules of contract law regulate almost everything individuals do – from buying a cup of coffee, to online shopping, to signing on to a phone plan.

Trademarking a Catch Phrase


Since the presidential candidate started wearing his red hat bearing the slogan, the product has become a must-have among his supporters. It comes in different colours for US$25 on official Trump-related websites.

Trump’s fans have, however, recently been offered alternative – and unauthorised – products. Replica versions of the hats bearing Trump’s slogan are selling for as little as US$4.99. So the tycoon-turned-politician has not waited long to protect his trademark and is currently going after the people behind these knock-offs.

AB InBev’s Persistence Pays Off


The two biggest beer producers in the world are set to merge after SABMiller accepted Anheuser-Busch InBev’s US$104 billion offer. The deal will create a brewer selling one in every third beer worldwide, with brands like Budweiser, Stella Artois, Grolsch, Miller, Corona, and Peroni under its umbrella.

As with all mergers and acquisitions, the idea is that by joining forces the new bigger-and-better company can implement economies of scale and scope, as well as increasing its market share – all resulting in greater profits. However, there are no guarantees.

Environmental Activism within the Modern Corporation


Clothing brand Patagonia gives 1% of its sales “to support environmental organisations around the world.” Carpet-maker Interface takes an “aggressive approach” to reach its goal to source 100% of its “energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.” Nudie Jeans meanwhile, repairs, reuses and recycles its denim products, as well as using organic cotton to produce them in the first place. So, what is going on?

Results Vary Among Surveys on the Number of Disabled in the Workforce


If you keep track of key measures of disability equality in the UK, you will know that the gap in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled working-age people has gone down over the past fifteen years.

Many experts have flagged this trend: Dame Carol Black in her influential 2008 review of health and work, DWP indicators 2009-2015 and a recent editorial in the British Medical Journal. It is because of a trend that the UK appears to be more successful than its neighbours in OECD comparisons in integrating disabled people into the workplace.

Australian Government Support of Innovation Needs a Broader View


The emphasis the Turnbull government is placing on innovation is very welcome. It is innovation, the successful application of new ideas, which will underpin our future competitiveness and productivity. However, in recasting the narrative of his “21st Century government” Turnbull must ensure the innovation focus is not too narrow.