Business Technology

Business technology marches on....no, sorry, that sounds like something that's about to sell you a new meeting planner, doesn't it. Rather, the technology of business changes, by which I mean the technology of how we actually arrange a business.

Yes, business structure is just as much a technology as anything else is. For example:

The executives behind the Kaiser Chiefs and Primal Scream are backing a new website to allow people to buy a stake in the artist.

It could provide musicians with an alternative to large labels and give unsigned acts the chance...

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Internal strife at M&S

Marks & Spencer has suspended a whistle blower who revealed the retailer’s plans to cut redundancy terms for more than 60,000 staff. Unsurprisingly, Stuart Rose and his senior managers are facing an angry backlash from staff over the plans.

And it's not just M&S staff who are angry. Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union representing the whistle blower, told The Times: "Why do people at the bottom get the sack on the cheap while the top bosses get large payouts even when they leave having messed up?"  

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Mistakes such as these should disqualify the wealthy from pontificating about taxation or redistribution.

That is, of course a quote from Polly's new book. If we replace "weatlhy" (which Polly is of course but no matter) with "journalists" we have a handy stick with which to beat those who don't understand what is goin on around them but insist nevertheless to pontificate upon such matters. Like, umm, Polly:

(Incidentally, the US has a hefty exit tax, punishing companies that leave: why not here?)

That would be because we're members of the European Union dear. You know, this free movement of goods, labour and capital? It applies just as much to companies as...

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Social tradeoffs

At last, we have someone explaining this social mobility problem as it actually is.

First, they need to be clear which of the two fundamentally different versions of social mobility — absolute and relative — they are most concerned about. Absolute mobility defines how much better off we all are compared with our parents, telling us how a whole generation is doing compared with a previous one.

Relative mobility, however, concerns itself with a more problematic question: what are the chances of children from less privileged homes prospering in adult life compared with those from...

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Which way does the causation run?

Thought this was interesting:

Staff who have worked at the Priory for more than five years are currently entitled to six months off sick on full pay. Employees who have been there less than five years get half pay for the same period.

The Priory wants to reduce this to no pay for the first three days with a maximum of six weeks full pay - half pay for those who have been with the company less than three years.

But staff say that the same terms are standard for the NHS and...

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