How “carry forward” could boost your savings tax-efficiently

The generous tax relief available on pensions makes them a great choice for retirement saving. You usually benefit from an immediate 20% boost to your savings when you make a contribution – meaning a £1,000 contribution only “costs” you £800. If you’re a higher- or additional-rate taxpayer then further relief…

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Can China Avoid Japanification?

As growth decelerates in China and the economy slips into deflation, there are fears that the country may be heading towards a situation reminiscent of Japan in the early 1990s, a quagmire that could take decades to shake off. The question on everyone’s minds is whether Beijing will make the…

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NLRB Narrows Past Practice Defense for Employer Unilateral Action During Bargaining

On August 30, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released two decisions that will make it more difficult for employers to implement past practices during a break in bargaining or at an impasse, opening the door for unions to hold employers hostage by dragging out collective bargaining. Quick Hits…

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“Deepfake” social media scams – Here’s how to protect yourself

In a study from MoneyAge, 35% of people said that they trusted financial advice from Martin Lewis over their friends and family or their own research. However, you may need to be careful about turning to the presenter for help after recent reports from Good Morning Britain of a “deepfake”…

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How to beat bad science

Bad science is a big problem for society, says guest Jonathan Osborne, an expert in science education, but we don’t have to surrender to it. Beating bad science requires young people to learn three skills, Osborne says. First is an ability to size up conflicts of interest. Second, to evaluate…

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Directors’ conflicts of interest

Under Section 177 of the Companies Act 2006 any director who is in any way, directly or indirectly, interested in a proposed transaction or arrangement with a company, has a duty to declare the nature and extent of that interest to the other directors (unless it cannot reasonably be regarded…

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The Potency of Shortcuts in Decision-Making

  How do CEOs make good decisions? At a time when senior leaders have access to more data and sophisticated analytics tools than ever before, the central challenge of making good decisions about hiring, product development, and resource allocation is increasingly not a lack of information. Rather, it is knowing…

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Thriving After Failing: How to Turn Your Setbacks Into Triumphs

Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson experienced her first big-stakes professional failure when she was just starting out in her academic career, some 30 years ago, after a decade working in engineering and consulting. Little did she know at the time, but that mortifying defeat would open the door to…

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US climate deniers have no faith in universities

Based on a survey of thousands of U.S. voters, co-authors Cambridge Zero Fellow and Assistant Professor Ramit Debnath, Professor R. Michael Alvarez and Mr. Danny Ebanks from Caltech, found that Americans who expressed negative and distrustful opinions about universities and academics were also the most likely to believe climate change…

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The answer to solving financial crime lies in data

Financial institutions are engaged in a constant battle to fight money laundering, bribery, fraud, terrorist financing and corruption and adhere to sanctions levied against countries and individuals. And financial crime takes a massive toll – it puts global financial systems at risk, it negatively impacts economic growth and causes massive…

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Closing loopholes or creating a noose?

Anything but casual… In the first of our series examining the Closing Loopholes Bill introduced into Parliament yesterday, we look at the new measures for casual employment. The Orwellian title of the Closing Loopholes Bill foreshadows its intentions: casual employment is double-plus-ungood. Premised on the doublethink notion that casual employment…

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E-invoicing solutions – optimize your invoicing process to drive competitive advantage

Mahalakshmi Ramakrishnan - Leveraging proven AI-driven accounts payables solutions from an experienced service provider can help you implement a best-in-class e-invoicing tool that delivers improved compliance, accuracy, efficiency, cost saving, and sustainability. In recent years, e-invoicing has gained increasing importance as organizations look to reduce invoice processing costs and cycle…

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Cyber-national security: The importance of National Security Investment Reviews and regulations

Today, the nations of the world have integrated so much so that digital technology is both apparent in every man-made structure and beamed across the globe wirelessly, and invisibly, by satellites and other devices. All these interconnections present a tremendous opportunity, but also a pathway for bad actors. Cyber threats…

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BarbAIrians at the Gate: The Financial Opportunity of AI

“Teldar Paper, Mr. Cromwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents, each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can’t figure it out. One thing I do know is that our paper company…

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New ‘droplet battery’ could pave the way for miniature bio-integrated devices

Small bio-integrated devices that can interact with and stimulate cells could have important therapeutic applications, including the delivery of targeted drug therapies and the acceleration of wound healing. However, such devices all need a power source to operate. To date, there has been no efficient means to provide power at…

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Canadian corporate beneficial ownership registry requirements

In March 2023, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne tabled legislative amendments regarding the creation of a Canadian corporate beneficial ownership registry. The proposed amendments, which recently passed the second reading in the House of Commons,1 apply to entities incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the CBCA). Non-compliance with the proposed…

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Dive into intelligent cameras for Teams Rooms

When you join a meeting in Microsoft Teams, what do you expect to see when you have participants in a shared, physical space? Today, most cameras in Microsoft Teams Rooms show a view of the whole room, what we have become accustomed to as the “default” for meetings. If you’re…

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Assess your ways of working

This article explores the impact of internal “ways of working”. Specifically, how the intangible elements within daily interactions, decision-making, and workflow structures are pivotal for business growth, beyond just a solid reporting structure. Drawing reference to ‘open working styles’, we provide you with a tool to use as a reflective…

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A Four-Day School Week? Costs and Benefits

For a town of barely 13,000 people, Athens, Texas, is not shy about putting itself on the map. It calls itself the black-eyed pea capital of the world. It claims the hamburger was born in a little café on its courthouse square. And its school district proudly proclaims itself the…

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Procurement in the Age of Automation

The authors have been studying procurement and automation for two decades.i Mary Lacity has conducted more than 50 case studies on enterprise use of automation technologies. Remko Van Hoek and Lacity have been studying early adopters of procurement technologies for three years, including companies using e-auctions, artificial intelligence, and other…

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Debating Vivek Ramaswamy

As the great illusionist Harry Houdini once said, “The secret of showmanship consists not of what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do.” Entrepreneurial huckster Vivek Ramaswamy has graduated from being the court jester of corporate governance to now becoming a serious contender for the GOP…

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Who is really responsible for autonomous vehicles?

The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved petitions from two taxi companies, Waymo and Cruise, to operate paid robo-taxi services around the clock in San Francisco. The first-of-its-kind move has been widely seen as a major step forward for fully autonomous vehicles and a springboard for similar driverless car rollouts…

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Beyond the Classroom: Our approach to blended learning

In a world where digital transformation and Agile methodologies are not just buzzwords but essential frameworks, the way we approach professional development and learning must evolve. Blended learning—once a novel concept—is now a strategic asset for organisations committed to staying at the forefront of educational technology and innovation. It combines…

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Counterfeit Shares & Market Manipulation in the Public Markets

There has been an abundance of discussion regarding “counterfeit shares” flooding the public markets amongst retail investors for quite some time now. The average retail investor understands that this kind of activity is detrimental to companies for obvious reasons such as shareholder dilution and sinking share prices due to increased…

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Generative AI at Mastercard: Governance Takes Center Stage

If you saw the action-adventure movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, you might have had the same reaction we did. Impressive and exciting? No doubt — that’s one reason why it won seven Academy Awards. A portent of the future? Perhaps — as scientists explore the idea of a multiverse,…

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The role of natural gas to a cleaner, more reliable power

Across the United States, renewable energy sources are impacting natural gas generation. The growth of renewables in the grid, compounded by the increased electrification of energy demand, will expose the grid to the risks of an intermittent renewables supply to meet growing power demand. As a result, in the coming…

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Material science fueling leaps forward

Innovation in material science has shaped the world and civilisation as we know it, from the first use of concrete-like material around 8000 years ago to the development of a new alternative material for effective thermal management in advanced wearable electronics just this year. Scientists are constantly looking for new…

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What Can Other Companies Learn from Patagonia’s Model?

Q: In 2012, you and Yvon Chouinard co-authored The Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 40 Years. Now, you have released The Future of the Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 50 Years. Why the new book?   So much of what is going on in…

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Samsung Electronics Unveils Industry’s Highest-Capacity DDR5 DRAM, Ideal for the AI Era

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has developed the industry’s first and highest-capacity 32-gigabit (Gb) DDR5 DRAM1 using 12 nanometer (nm)-class process technology. This achievement comes after Samsung began mass production of its 12nm-class 16Gb DDR5 DRAM in May 2023. It solidifies Samsung’s leadership in…

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Change is a team sport – so every player needs to own it. Here’s how to get everyone involved.

Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, said that change is natural and constant. Nowhere is this adage more alive than in the business world; the entrepreneur’s origin story is built on change. Recently, Frontier Airlines enacted a change by removing its customer service phone number. This leaves customers to find solutions through digital channels.…

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Complying With Hazing Prevention, Training, and Reporting Requirements

University athletic administrators all across the country are welcoming back their athletes for the 2023–2024 athletic season. Athletes and coaches alike will meet with compliance administrators for a refresher on National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bylaws, nutritionists to discuss proper nutrition, and even media relations staff to discuss media obligations.…

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What Applies to Switzerland, Also Applies to Avenir Suisse

At the beginning of this month, hundreds of August 1 speeches were held in festive marquees with the smell of bratwurst in the air. And as every year, the infamous reports on the nation’s well-being generally unfolded in three clearly defined acts: Act One, the country has been extremely successful…

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Google Cloud and NVIDIA Take Collaboration to the Next Level

As generative AI and large language models (LLMs) continue to drive innovations, compute requirements for training and inference have grown at an astonishing pace. To meet that need, Google Cloud today announced the general availability of its new A3 instances, powered by NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs. These GPUs bring…

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Intercultural Communication in Organizations

Intercultural communication is like a bridge that helps people from different backgrounds talk to and understand each other. It’s not just about language, but also about how we express ourselves. Take me, for example—I’m from the Philippines, working at Civility Partners, a US company, and reporting to Catherine, my American…

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An unexpected payoff from trading stocks

For some economists, the answer to world peace is simple: Promote more trade. In the 18th century, French philosopher Charles Montesquieu described commerce as “a cure for the most destructive prejudices.” Buyers and sellers may both profit, the argument goes, but in order to do so, each party must trust…

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