Shareholder value as an excuse to dodge taxes?

At first glance, you would think that the CEOs of taxophobic U.S. corporations and our less-than-stellar leaders in Washington have nothing in common. But you'd be wrong. What they share is a lack of shame and an excess of narrow thinking, says FORTUNE. Read more here.

Crafting powerful strategies, the McKinsey way

The essence of strategy is making wise choices about where and how to compete. In this series, McKinsey examines the dynamics of crafting powerful strategies and mobilizing resources to make them happen. The leading strategy consulting firm explains how strategic thought has evolved and where it is headed. Read the series at McKinsey.

How EU leaders can reinstate democracy and a debt- free Europe

Perhaps the main reason for the current economic crisis is that bankers, starting first in the US with its arrogant  and greedy capitalism, took  control  also in Europe of the real power and decision making from the society and the politicians, establishing the financial tyranny of  our times. As a result, the social construct  of Europe , its welfare system and living standards  all collapsed .

How society could take again control and EU leaders to reinstating democracy, justice and equality in Europe?

The answer is very simple : bankers and all financial transactions should be subject to a fair VAT tax for all their business. If a 10% VAT is applied as a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT),  all the debt of the EU will be erased  from the revenues of this  tax in just 12 months!!

Look in three simple calculations how this works, based on analysis and data provide by the Costas Kataras Organisation (www.costaskataras.org )

# EU GDP : 13 trillions

# Financial Transactions (FT) in EU: 700% of EU GDP or 100 trillions 

# 100 trillions in FT   X 10% VAT = 10 trillions

 The EU total debt is  at 85% of  GDP or 10 trillions and could be erased in almost one year !!

When a small farmer in Catalonia and a souvlaki restaurant in Crete pays VAT at 15% to 25%  levels, its  only fair for the bankers to pay their share . Besides, as studies suggest, this creates a more  equal and healthier society, for the long term  benefit of all. Including arrogant bankers and greedy hedge funds managers.

( The possible argument that financial transactions are “investments” and not products/ services has been further weakened  after the economic crisis,  and it is not even  worthy of a detailed analysis and debate.)

A New Era of Leadership in the Best Global Brands 2013

Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, publishes Best Global Brands on an annual basis, identifying and examining the top 100 most valuable global brands. With Apple claiming the top position this year, Google jumps to #2 and Coca-Cola, the brand that held the #1 position for 13 consecutive years, moves to #3. This year, the total value of all 100 Best Global Brands is USD $1.5 trillion -- an 8.4 percent record increase over the total value of the 100 Best Global Brands in 2012.

In addition to identifying the top 100 most valuable global brands, this year’s Best Global Brands report also examines the evolving role of leadership as it relates to brands. Interbrand contends that leadership must now be shared. CEOs, CMOs and consumers all have the power to drive the value of the brands they manage or admire.

“In today's global and social media-obsessed marketplace, brand leaders recognize the need to be highly collaborative,” notes Frampton from Interbrand. “The top 100 most valuable global brands are unlocking their value by participating, listening, learning, and sharing – and not just with leaders from within their organization, but with consumers too. Brands that learn to think differently about the role they play in consumers’ lives – and how to fulfill that role – have an opportunity to change the world in ways they never imagined.”

Max Keiser: We live in the age of "financial tyranny", orchestrated by the " banksters"

Some call Max Keiser a 'traitor' but America's most outrageous political pundit is about to become the most widely watched newscaster on the planet. His most popular outlet is The Keiser Report, on Russia Today (RT), and its international viewing figures, as Keiser (not a man plagued by self-doubt) isn't slow to point out, are huge. I am pro-capitalism and I am pro-free market, he says. But what you have now is not capitalism. It is a state- controlled, command and control, centralised politburo. The must read interview in The Independent, here. 

Creative for Good:How to make easier public service campaigns

The goal of the initiative, called Creative for Good, is to make it easier to produce effective public service advertising campaigns on issues like health, education and the environment. Creative for Good is being introduced by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with two partners: the Advertising Council, the nonprofit organization that oversees the creation, production and distribution of public service campaigns in the United States, and Ketchum, a public relations and marketing communications agency that is part of the Omnicom Group. See more here .

Building A Futureproof Brand? What You’ll Need In 2013.

(By Marc Stoiber). I help clients build futureproof brands, so a predictions article seems a natural fit. And because collaboration with my network of global experts is part of building those brands, I’m blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants when looking ahead.

So without further ado, let’s launch right into it.  My futureproof brand 2013 predictions (with a little help from my very talented friends).

1. The Implosion Of ‘Greed Is Good’ Brands

I leaned on my friend John Marshall Roberts for this one. John is a best-selling author, behavioral scientist and founder of Worldview Thinking. When I asked him to polish the crystal ball he told me “The individualistic worldview, focused solely on profit, is continuing to decay. Obama’s re-election gave it another kick – expect continued collapse of this worldview, and the brands it represents, in 2013.”

But will we suddenly be inundated with brands that put the humanistic worldview first? Not necessarily. “There is going to be a rise of companies that succeed against all status quo wisdom” Roberts says. Think Tom’s Shoes, with its ‘buy one give one’ philosophy. Or Zappos, selling insane service to build a shoe business…   Read the full article here .  

Banks: The Epitome of Social Irresponsibility

Financial crisis, casino gambling, outsized bonuses, rate fixing, now money laundering, etc, etc . In the last six years, the public's opinion of the banking industry has dropped by over 60 points. No wonder then that even the Wall Street Journal is beginning to call for the largest banks to be broken up. See more here .

Corporate sustainability lost some of its sexiness in 2012 ?

It was an odd year for green business, and it began with some mixed signals about how far companies were coming on sustainability. A GreenBiz report indicated that progress had slowed or even regressed, but MIT and BCG also declared that sustainability had reached a "tipping point" with more companies putting sustainability "on the management agenda." A very interesting article at HBR, here .

Is there anyone like Nassim Taleb?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost thinkers of our time, reveals how to thrive in an uncertain world in his new book Antifragile .
Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, and rumors or riots intensify when someone tries to repress them, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish.
Antifragile complements The Black Swan by celebrating systems that gain from disorder, trading away short-term predictability and micro-rationality for long-term success exploiting macro-unpredictability. It's a bold attitude, amply supported by argument and example from many fields. If anything, it is more outrageous and iconoclastic than The Black Swan. It is Taleb's most important book to date, as it closes the circle. On one level, the universe (at least as perceived by humans) is ruled by disorder, but on another level, the crucial elements are those that gain from disorder as eventually these are fitter for survival than any element, however strong, that requires order.
If you have read any of Taleb's other books, Antifragile is the best next one to read. If you have not read any,  start with Fooled by Randomness .
According to The Telegraph, “ Antifragile has annoyed fans of Taleb’s earlier works because, in turning away from statistics, his thought has become baggier, bombastic and often preposterous. Nevertheless, his work exerts a strange pull. Taleb’s aim is both quixotic and ambitious: he wants to overleap the limits of epistemology and return to the founding drama of Ancient Greek philosophy. Taleb is incisive when he writes about the original Greek philosophers and their medieval Arab followers. Plato’s Republic begins with an attack on merchants and money lenders collectively known as krematistes: the moneymakers. Plato is the perfect example of a top-down, authoritarian state-planner and his attack on the riff-raff in trade is a decisive moment in philosophy. Taleb re-energises the debate by taking the moneymaker’s part. In his heart, he remains a barrow-boy challenging the philosopher kings in the same way that, as an options trader, he once took on the academic economists. His story is similar to many other members of the statistics revolution.” See review here . And the HBR text here .

10 trends that will shape consumer behavior in 2013 and their implications for MarCom people

JWT recently released the eighth annual forecast of key trends that will shape or significantly impact consumer mindset and behavior in the near future. No need to elaborate why such trends have considerable impact in the MarCom strategy of every company in our times.

In this year’s report, new technology continues to take center stage, as we see major shifts tied to warp-speed developments in mobile, social and data technologies. Many of our trends reflect how businesses are driving, leveraging or counteracting technology’s omnipresence in our lives, and how consumers are responding to its pull. However, what should be noticed in the 2013 report, is the fact that MarCom people are for the first time pay attention  on happiness and  well-being and how businesses are addressing it for marketing and real good purpose. Happiness  was a favorite  theme in the book  ‘Nice’ Capitalism four years ago ( you can also download for free ) and a popular topic of many posts in this blog. See more about the ten trends, here . For  stories about the new breed of superior brand species, ie Nice Brands, follow us also in Twitter .

Τώρα είναι πολύ αργά Κύριε Στίγκλιτζ...

To τελευταίο βιβλίο του νομπελίστα οικονομολόγου Τζόζεφ Στίγκλιτζ, («Το τίμημα της ανισότητας», εκδ. Παπαδόπουλος, 2012) που παρουσιάστηκε στις 4/12/2012 στην Ελλάδα, κρούει των κώδωνα του κινδύνου για τις εντεινόμενο χάσμα των εισοδημάτων στον δυτικό κόσμο. Στις σελίδες της ελληνικής έκδοσης η ανάλυσή του για την «καταστροφική επίδραση της ανισότητας στο δημοκρατικό πολίτευμα», εστιάζει κυρίως στις ΗΠΑ. Αποτυχημένος οικονομολόγος, αφού δεν προέβλεψε την κρίση, αποτυχημένος σύμβουλος αποτυχημένου Πρωθυπουργού, τώρα ανακάλυψε ότι η πηγή του κακού και της Αμερικανογεννημένης κρίσης είναι.. οι ανισότητες στη κοινωνία! Δεν ρίχνει μια ματιά στο βιβλίο ενός Έλληνα που την προέβλεψε πριν ξεσπάσει το 2008 και ανέφερε ως μοναδικό λόγω τις ανισότητες? Ας το διαβάσει τώρα εδω.

Τhe relationship between a politician’s salary and the effectiveness of the government they are running

 With all the scandal surrounding the salaries of MPs and the misuse of government coffers, particularly in Greece, this type of data are very revealing.

Designed by Ryan Bowman at http://www.shakeupmedia.com/, this interactive graphical tool displays the relationship between a politician’s salary and the effectiveness of the government they are running. This effectiveness is represented by a so-called Good Governance Metric, calculated by taking The Democracy Index (DCI) published by The Economist, the UN’s Human Development Index (HDI) and the Perception of Corruption Index (PCI) by NGO Transparency International.

The larger the angle from the dot representing the country to the thick yellow line, the worse the governance.  Some of the countries positioning may surprise you, others surely won’t.  Obviously this is not an exact science, but nonetheless, it’s an interesting and effective way to present such data. Data from this analysis have been used in my top in popularity article  in Greek, that appeared in BHMA newspaper on 20/02/2010. You can see the full article here. You can interact with the data in the above picture  here.