VLM Magazine: January 2008

Velocity Feature

BUSINESS

Nineteen pages of business news, views and opinions from across the destinations.

BUSINESS SHORTS

TOP JOBS

PHILIPS HAS BEEN VOTED THE EMPLOYER THAT MOST people in the Netherlands would like to work for, according to a survey carried out last year by Intelligence Group. It’s the third year in a row that the technology company has taken top spot, the long-standing success attributed partly to its size, and partly to the fact that it offers good opportunities for career development. Financial services provider Rabobank came in second place, followed by the Dutch police service, a surprising result given the ongoing salary conflict between police unions and the Dutch home affairs minister.

WORKAHOLICS

THE BRITISH ARE TRADITIONALLY CHARACTERISED BY their long working hours, but it seems they’re not happy with the status quo. Nine out of 10 surveyed recently said they wanted more free time, with 38% claiming to work over 60 hours a week. The survey was commissioned by realbuzz.com, a social networking site based on fitness and travel, so it’s not surprising that the results showed more Brits wanting to have healthy fun. Indeed, those favourite British hobbies of drinking and watching TV were strangely absent from the findings…

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

"If each of us hires people smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs."

David Ogilvy thinks big

BOOKS

THE BLACK SWAN

NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB, OUT 6 MARCH, £8.99 (APPROX. €12)

The ‘known unknown’ was made famous by Donald Rumsfeld in his analysis of “things we know we don’t know”, but the man responsible for conceiving the concept is Nassim Nicholas Taleb, an erudite writer on modern life. To him, a black swan is a highly improbable event that has a massive impact on the world, which we seek to rationalise later. His term comes from the fact that all swans were thought to be white until black ones were found in Australia, but his fascinating metaphor extends to Google, 9/11 and the stock market crash.

EDISON ON INNOVATION

ALAN AXELROD, OUT 5 MARCH, £13.99 (APPROX. €19)

Thomas Edison secured 1,093 patents between 1868 and 1931, including such cornerstones of modern life as the electric light bulb, electric power generation and the phonograph. Yet, says Alan Axelrod, Edison wasn’t a genius, he merely approached his work like one, learning from his mistakes and persevering until he succeeded. Axelrod encourages his readers to take a similar approach, but while he has an interesting take on creativity, his American English and upbeat tone can begin to feel a little wearing.

TOP 10

BUSINESS BOOKS

1. FREAKONOMICS

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Steve

2. THE DEFINITIVE BOOK OF BODY LANGUAGE

Allan and Barbara Pease

3. THE UNDERCOVER ECONOMIST

Tim Harford

4. THE REAL PRICE OF EVERYTHING

Michael Lewis

5. A MODERN GIRL’S GUIDE TO NETWORKING

Sarah Ivens