Commentary
Virgin on Business: Pardon the Disruption
If youre not upsetting your own apple cart, somebody else may tip it over for you.
Being disruptive used to be a bad thing. Society frowned on those who would disrupt a classroom, a meeting, the steady flow of traffic, someones sleep. But that was then and this is now, an era in which being disruptive, at least in the business sense, is positively celebrated. Disruption has become synonymous with innovation,…
Editors Note: Playing the Trump Card
Beware the pitfalls of an America First approach to trade.
With multinationals like nike capable of moving production from one cheap source to another shifting production from Japan to China and now to Vietnam and with uber-efficient importers like Costco, Walmart and Amazon bringing goods straight from factory to consumer, the United States has become the bargain basement of the world. Meanwhile, U.S. exporters often…
Commentary: Out of the Shadows
Five tips on treating transgender employees with respect.
How many transgender people are employed in your business? Do you know how their coworkers are treating them? Surveys show that large numbers of transgender employees report having endured harassment or discrimination, or having hidden their identity at work to avoid insults or to protect their safety. What are you doing to ensure transgender employees…
Final Analysis: Would You Go to Work for Donald Trump?
Or would you rather end up on his enemies list?
Imagine getting a call inviting you to work for your country. Now imagine your new boss is Donald J. Trump. Would you move to Washington, D.C., to work for the president of the United States? For this president of the United States? From what we know through simple observation, Donald Trump suffers from chronic narcissism,…
Virgin on Business: Studies in Confusion
Determining the actual impact of a rising minimum wage isnt that easy.
If you printed out all the studies purporting to show higher minimum wages as a job destroyer or the opposite, youd have the raw materials for a duplicate Great Wall of China, if youre in the market for a knock-off tourist attraction. What you likely wouldnt have is a conclusion, either to the studies or…
Final Analysis: The Improbable Marriage
Alaskas union with Virgin America seems odd, but the outcome will ultimately be unsurprising.
Despite its origins in the rugged north country, Alaska Airlines is a button-down shirt and wingtips. As recently as five years ago, it distributed Bible verses with its in-flight meals. Virgin America, meanwhile, with a provenance linked to the flamboyant entrepreneur Richard Branson, is more T-shirt and flip-flops. Its aircraft have leather seats and 12…
Editor’s Note: Beware the Fire Dog
What the Chinese zodiac suggests about our new leader.
The end of January marks the Chinese New Year as well as the elevation of a volatile, capricious new leader to the highest office on the planet. Had we been more attuned to the finer points of Chinese astrology, we would have predicted the election-year peculiarities that produced this result. According to the Chinese zodiac,…
Virgin on Business: Winners & Losers
In the next Seattle city election, its pretty easy to predict wholl get the shaft.
However inadvertent and unintentional it was, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray provided some candid insight into policy formation in his administration when uttering what might have been the quote of the year, local politics division. Were actually making this up as we go along. The mayor was speaking specifically about the citys policies on the homeless,…
Three Predictions for the Coming Year on a New Arena, an Old Arena and the Mariners
Hey, it could happen!
As every first-year business student knows, a citys economy is not considered world class until said city has erected at least four shrines to professional sports and these shrines remain empty and unused most days of the year. Seattle is knocking on the door of world classiness because it already has KeyArena, Safeco Field and…
Editor’s Note: A Reason for Optimism
Donald Trump notwithstanding, 2017 in Seattle may be brighter than anticipated.
Its easy to be pessimistic about the outlook for 2017. After 90 months of growth, the economic expansion is aging and may not have much life left. Interest rates, which have fallen pretty steadily over the past 35 years, seem headed up again. If they reach anywhere near their 100-year average of 5 percent, that…
Looking for high investment returns? Consider investing in a family business.
Investors do not lack opportunities to deploy their capital, but being able to generate respectable returns is much more difficult. Part of the problem is finding unique investment opportunities with significant upside in a crowded market. The best option may be to put money to work in a privately-held company. But private companies pose challenges…
Virgin on Business: The (Un)real Estate Boom
Its coming, because this time is always the same as last time. Right?
The term see-through building described not an architectural design style but the leasing status of downtown Seattle office buildings in the early 1990s, the result of a surge of speculative construction spurred by all the demand for space that was expected to arrive and didnt. Its been a while since anyone used that figure of…
Commentary: Seattle Needs a Chief Resilience Officer
He or she would help the city prepare for crises.
For decades, scientists have been warning us about the big one the looming magnitude 9.0 earthquake that is expected to cause devastating damage to a substantial portion of the Pacific Northwest coast. While its uncertain exactly when this megaquake will hit, Seattle has recently taken major steps towards getting in front of the threat. Earlier…