Features

Departments

Will We All Be Unemployed?
By Matthew Budman
With knowledge-worker jobs heading overseas along with manufacturing and service jobs, managers are worried, too--and should be. We asked leading-edge thinkers to envision the next economy and our place in it.

"Should Anything Happen to You, God Forbid"
By John Lee
Our author recalls the postwar glory days of the life-insurance salesman, when protecting the client's dear wife and precious children seemed like a divine calling.

Big Thinking
By A.J. Vogl
No one can accuse Peter Schwartz of being narrowly focused. Here, he discusses climate change, the population slowdown, the "long boom," migration patterns, America's hegemony, and the likelihood that Earth will be hit by an asteroid.

Outlook 2004

• When Good Isn't Good Enough
  By Gail Fosler
  The U.S. economy is set to boom in 2004, but we should be concerned about the gradual synchronization of global economies.
• Taking Global Brands to Japan
  By Karl Moore and Mark Smith
  The world's ultimate luxury market can be a tough one to crack. Some successful retailers offer their strategies.
• Play to Win, Not Play to Play
  By Jonathan Woetzel
  There are great financial rewards to be reaped in China, but they're not going to be won by dilettantes. Multinationals that hope to succeed had better be prepared to make a significant commitment.

Openers
By A.J. Vogl

Press Box
By Ellsworth Quarrels
The business press whips itself into a righteous frenzy over Dick Grasso's pay package--but there's more than a hint of jealousy under the outrage.

From the Board
By Melissa Master
Sophia A. Muirhead explains why "compassionate downsizing" is not an oxymoron; a recent survey of spending habits in affluent households reveals interesting priorities.

Adventures in Cyberspace
By E.J. Heresniak
There are some rules that you just don't break. The former AOL Time Warner broke them.

Dispatches From the Front
By John Guaspari
Focusing on your customers sounds like it should be a good thing, but it doesn't give the significant change in perspective you need.

The Irrational Universe
By Phyllis Gail Doloff
What happens when an HR professional becomes so jaded in her job that she puts her co-workers in mortal danger?

In Review
By Michael Schrage
The Naked Corporation calls for transparency without considering its consequences.
By Susan Webber
Two new books on Larry Ellison have a hard time getting out from under the weight of their authors' biases.

Sightings
By Vadim Liberman
"Buy My Bullets."

Soundings

Adventures in Toiletries - By Paco Underhill

Of Pies and Men - By Charles Wheelan

To Get Better Directors - By Scott C. Newquist with Max B. Russell

Lost in the Big Picture - By Kevin C. DeSouza, Tobin Hensgen, and Yukika Awazu

Questioning Authority: David Callahan - By Matthew Budman

And more, from Sidney Harman, Seth Godin, and Andy Borowitz.