Tag Archives: Reviews

Harvard Business Review – November/December 2024

November–December 2024

Harvard Business Review (October 22, 2024) – The latest issue features:

Why Employees Quit

New research points to some surprising answers. 

Summary.   

The so-called war for talent is still raging. But in that fight, employers continue to rely on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades. Why? Because they’ve been so focused on challenges such as poaching by industry rivals, competing in tight labor markets, and responding to relentless cost-cutting pressures that they haven’t addressed a more fundamental problem: the widespread failure to provide sustainable work experiences. To stick around and give their best, people need meaningful work, managers and colleagues who value and trust them, and opportunities to advance in their careers, the authors say. By supporting employees in their individual quests for progress while also meeting the organization’s needs, managers can create employee experiences that are mutually beneficial and sustaining.

Personalization Done Right

The five dimensions to consider—and how AI can help

Summary.   

More than 80% of respondents in a BCG survey of 5,000 global consumers say they want and expect personalized experiences. But two-thirds have experienced personalization that is inappropriate, inaccurate, or invasive. That’s because most companies lack a clear guidepost for what great personalization should look like.

Authors Mark Abraham and David C. Edelman remedy that in this article, which is adapted from Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI (Harvard Business Review Press, 2024). Drawing on decades of work consulting on the personalization efforts of hundreds of large companies, they have built the defining metric to quantify personalization maturity: the Personalization Index. It is a single score from 0 to 100 that measures how well companies deliver on the five promises they implicitly make to customers when they personalize an interaction.

The authors argue that personalization will be the most exciting and most profitable outcome of the emerging AI boom. They describe how companies can use AI to create and continually refine personalized experiences at scale—empowering customers to get what they want faster, cheaper, or more easily. And they show readers how to assess their own business’s index score.

Design Products That Won’t Become Obsolete

Best Books: ‘The Long History of the Future’

Wall Street Journal Books (October 21, 2024):

The Long History of the Future’ Review: Pipe Dreams and Progress – WSJ

We don’t have flying cars or Jetsons-like robots to cook our meals. What we have is better: constant incremental progress.

The Long History of the Future: Why Tomorrow’s Technology Still Isn’t Here By Nicole Kobie

A video flickers to life as Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” begins to sound. A long-haired man appears on screen. You might expect a jazz concert, but the man fiddles with a cabinet-like, camera-laden machine on wheels. As he steps away, a buzzer sounds, the machine slowly rolls forward, and the narrator announces its name: Shakey the Robot.

Preview: The New Yorker Magazine-October 28, 2024

The undersole of a mans shoe obscures a sight of skyscrapers in Manhattans financial district.

The New Yorker (October 14, 2024): The latest issue features Eric Drooker’s “Crushing Wealth” – The market’s movers and shake

The Tight-Knit World of Kamala Harris’s Sorority

A.K.A., the oldest Black sorority, expects excellence and complete discretion. How are members responding to their most famous sister’s Presidential campaign? By Jazmine Hughes

The U.S. Spies Who Sound the Alarm About Election Interference

A group of intelligence officials confers about when to alert the public to foreign meddling. By David D. Kirkpatrick

How Republican Billionaires Learned to Love Trump Again

The former President has been fighting to win back his wealthiest donors, while actively courting new ones—what do they expect to get in return? By Susan B. Glasser

Arts/Culture: Humanities Magazine – Fall 2024 Issue

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Humanities Magazine (@humanitiesmag) / X

Humanities Magazine (October 20, 2024): The Fall 2024 Issue features…

The Indelible Charm of Mary Cassatt

Painting of a woman washing her face in a basin

A major exhibition takes us inside the private, busy lives of women by Angelica Aboulhosn

The Atlas of Drowned Towns

Black-and-white photo of dog overlooking the confluence of the Snake and Powder rivers.

A new digital project looks at the forgotten history of America’s submerged communities by Anna Webb

Ideas: Wharton Magazine – Fall/Winter 2024 Issue

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Wharton Magazine (October 19, 2024): The latest issue features Fintech Titan…

SoFi CEO Anthony Noto WG99 Is Reshaping Finance for the Digital Age

Noto looks back at lessons learned across his career (including his time at the NFL and Twitter), examines the state of fintech today, and forecasts what’s needed for success amidst “profound change” that lies ahead in the financial-services sector.

Are Cities on the Verge of a Crisis or a Comeback?

Wharton faculty research suggests that how cities navigate the next few years could mean the difference between urban flight and a renaissance that outpaces the aughts.

READ DIGITAL ONLINE ISSUE HERE

The New York Times Magazine-October 20, 2024

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (October 19, 2024): The latest issue features Undocumented labor quietly props up much of the American economy — nowhere more than on dairy farms. What would a crackdown mean for milk?

Undocumented labor quietly props up much of the American economy — nowhere more than on dairy farms.

How Tech Billionaires Became the G.O.P.’s New Donor Class

Elon Musk and a group of Silicon Valley allies have built a shadow campaign to put Donald Trump back in office.

The University of Michigan Doubled Down on D.E.I. What Went Wrong?

A decade and a quarter of a billion dollars later, students and faculty are more frustrated than ever.

By Nicholas Confessore

Arts & Culture: The New Criterion -November 2024

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The New Criterion – The November 2024 issue features

The profundity of evil by Douglas Murray

Emily Dickinson at the post office by William Logan

Pevsner revised by Simon Heffer

“The Power Broker” in perspective by Myron Magnet

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine-October 21, 2024

Barron's | Financial and Investment News

BARRON’S MAGAZINE (October 19, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Millennial Divide’….

Millennials Aren’t Falling Behind After All. This Data Reveals the Generation’s Deeper Problem.

Millennials might be doing better than their predecessors—but they also might be the most economically divided generation that America has ever seen.

Immigration Is a Top Issue for Voters—and Companies Like Amazon

Immigration Is a Top Issue for Voters—and Companies Like Amazon

Voters will soon decide if they want Trump or Harris to handle the immigration crisis. The consequences for corporate America and the economy run deep.

8 Other Dividend Stocks Beyond the Usual Suspects

8 Other Dividend Stocks Beyond the Usual Suspects

With utilities, pipelines, and REITs fully priced and at times dividend-light, yield-hungry investors should consider alternatives like Pfizer and Chevron.

Immigration Is a Top Issue for Voters—and Companies Like Amazon

Immigration Is a Top Issue for Voters—and Companies Like Amazon

Voters will soon decide if they want Trump or Harris to handle the immigration crisis. The consequences for corporate America and the economy run deep.Long read

8 Other Dividend Stocks Beyond the Usual Suspects

8 Other Dividend Stocks Beyond the Usual Suspects

With utilities, pipelines, and REITs fully priced and at times dividend-light, yield-hungry investors should consider alternatives like Pfizer and Chevron.Long read

Take the Win: Rebalance Your Portfolio Before Markets Get Bumpy

Take the Win: Rebalance Your Portfolio Before Markets Get Bumpy

The bull market may be nearing a peak after a stellar two-year run. Rebalancing into these areas could help you avoid losses.

Politics: The New Republic Magazine – November 2024

The Magazine

The New Republic (October 18, 2024): The latest issue features ‘America is So Ready for Kamala Harris’ – How she rose to the occasion…

America Is So Ready for Kamala Harris

This is no ordinary campaign, but it is exactly the campaign we needed at this extraordinary historic juncture.

What “Mass Deportation” Would Mean for the Economy

Donald Trump has pledged to remove all undocumented immigrants from the U.S.—but such a policy could have a slew of unintended consequences.

Research Preview: Science Magazine-October 18, 2024

Science issue cover

Science Magazine – October 17, 2024: The new issue features ‘The Stakes for Science’ – What the next president could mean for research…

Most meteorites traced to three space crackups

Young asteroid families seed more than 70% of extraterrestrial rocks found on the planet

Why does COVID-19 vaccine protection quickly wane?

New insights on cells behind long-lived antibody production could spur better vaccines

Are implantable, living pharmacies within reach?

Cell-based drug factories could produce therapies on demand inside patients