Commentary
Virgin on Business: Were Only Human
Data capture and data analysis can only be as reliable as the people doing the capturing and the analyzing.
Data is king. (Or is it data are king? Darn those Latin-derived plural nouns.) Data will cure disease, make us safer, win elections, run businesses and government more efficiently and effectively, and simultaneously allow us to sell more stuff to more people who are making smarter, more informed decisions about what theyre buying. Data has…
Virgin on Business: Selling a Legacy
Will new ownership change McLendon Hardware?
It wasnt another episode of were losing all the old stuff that made this place different and special that prompted public consternation when Renton-based, family-owned retailer McLendon Hardware agreed to be acquired. McLendon Hardware has a 90-year legacy in the region, but its also very much a story of the moment. The company survived and…
Final Analysis: Battling Drug Abuse
Would you like your Harvoni prepared al dente?
If this journalism thing doesnt work out, I have a backup plan: helping the pharmaceutical industry come up with names for their new drugs. Im supremely confident I can devise something as good as maybe even better than Harvoni and Entresto. I know what youre thinking. Werent Harvoni and Entresto a vaudeville magic act? Or…
Editors Note: Home, Sweet Home?
Now isnt the time to emulate Berkeleys housing policies.
On a recent visit to Berkeley, where I attended the University of California in the late 1970s, I was struck by how little the city had changed. The neighborhoods are still lined with century-old houses. Still visible in the occasional garden amid a profusion of wild roses and sweet-smelling jasmine and wisteria are funky sculptures…
Editors Note: Toward Smart Urban Design
As Seattle grows more dense, its imperative that we do so intelligently.
During World War II, when accommodations were scarce, the house where Ive lived for the past 28 years was a flophouse for more than a dozen railroad workers. Beds were lined up six to a room. In the 60s and 70s, the house was home to a family with four daughters. My wife and I…
A Carbon Tax Makes Sense
For our environment, our economy and our state's budget.
Theres a growing bipartisan consensus that a carbon tax just makes sense. A group of national Republican leaders with the Climate Leadership Council, including James Baker and Hank Paulson, recently released a climate plan advocating for a carbon tax. Initiative 732, a carbon tax plan that went to Washington voters on last year’s ballot, was…
The Myth Many Professionals Believe About Leadership
Advice from Seattle U's Dr. Marilyn Gist on empathy, leadership styles and developing the "whole person."
Sponsored by Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics Business leaders today have to succeed in an environment that’s transparent, fast-paced and rapidly evolving. Whether it’s navigating an unexpected social media scandal, uniting a diverse workforce to build a strong, cohesive culture, or managing shareholder, customer and employee expectations, business leaders have to think…
Final Analysis: And Now for the (Fake) News
Stories we'd like to read on April Fool's Day.
Contrary to what the current presidential administration would have you believe, real journalists spend their time looking for the truth and reporting it fairly. So the opportunity to have some fun on the one day of the year when fake news is actually expected proves irresistible to some in the media. For instance, on April…
Commentary: Time to Get Smart
Exploiting artificial intelligence to turbocharge business.
Data permeate nearly every industry and corner of our lives. As businesses equip themselves with artificial intelligence (AI) to make sense of it all, experts predict the AI market will grow to $70 billion by 2020 and much of that growth will occur right here in Seattle. Here are two industries where AI has already…
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,…