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Below the Bottom Line
In the wake of Sept. 11, a lot of questions have been raised about the have/have-not dichotomy that contributes to terrorism. Here, some leading thinkers talk about whether corporations have the obligation-or even the ability-to level the global playing field.
Evolution Moves On
By Melissa Master
In these photos of the state of robotics around the world, journalists Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio explore what our cyborg friends are doing-and whether they're catching up to us.
A Bright Conflagration
By Anthony Liversidge
Since 1984, the annual Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) conference, run by Richard Saul Wurman, has been a haven of both wealth and creativity. Can the vitality of this intellectual circus continue under a new ringmaster?
All for One, but None for All?
By Michael Finley
Numerous top dogs extol the virtues of having their people work in teams, but few seem capable of it themselves. Can anything be done about it?
The Last Legacy of the Dotcom Era
By John Donahoe, Phil Schefter, and David Harding
Corporate venturing is a financing method that proved enormously successful in the heady days of the dotcom boom, but it is also useful for brick-and-mortar companies in a declining economy.
Outlook

• Seeing Around the Corner
  By Gail Fosler
  The economic fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks includes impediments to globalization, a decline in financial rewards, and reduced flexibility in the business environment.
• A Decided Lack of Confidence
  By Lynn Franco
  As consumer confidence remains a last hope for the declining U.S. economy, consumers have been exhorted to shop for Uncle Sam. But the man on the street is doubtful about the future.
• What Can We Do?
  A panel of experts addresses whether or not Corporate America can do anything to restore consumer confidence.

• Openers
  By A.J. Vogl
  Essential Questions
• Your Turn
• Press Box
  By Ellsworth Quarrels
  Our media watchdog asks how Bloomberg News has become a ubiquitous presence in the financial-news market.
• Adventures in Cyberspace
  By E.J. Heresniak
  Should government follow the example of private industry by compiling information on citizens the way that companies do on consumers?
• Dispatches From the Front
  By John Guaspari
  Waiting for the perfect moment to take action nearly guarantees that you'll miss an opportunity.
• Things to Come
  By Arnold Brown
  Today, the question is not how much risk is safe but, rather, how little damage is acceptable.
• Conference Board Research
  By John Radzin
  
• What do institutional investors really want?
  By Robert H. McGuckin and Bart van Ark
  A look at the growth of productivity overseas.
• In Review
  By Michael Schrage
  Nassim Nicholas Taleb wants you to ask yourself: Are you good, or are you lucky?
  By Richard J. Whalen
  Harold James makes a strong case for a backlash against globalization and a rise in nationalistic fervor.
• Manager's Tool Kit
  By Vadim Liberman
  How to simulate job stress for your potential employees; what to do with mysterious phone numbers; why you should shake up your mentoring system; and more.
• Sightings
  By Melissa Master
  Down to Earth

Soundings

• Sweet and Sour Sounds of Home
  By Diane K. Faulkner
• Oh, the Manager's Lot
  By Robert J. Samuelson
• You Can Take This to the Bank
  By Gerald Greenwald with Charles Madigan
• Thinking in Hypotheticals
  By Mark H. McCormack
• Questioning Authority: Denise Clark Pope
  By Phil Leggiere
• And more, from Ming-Jer Chen, Jon Housman, Matthew Budman, and John MacIntyre.