This weekend, The New York Times published a series of articles detailing the less-than-successful adoption of increased transparency requirements in driving tangible executive compensation reforms. As companies were required to shed more light on executive compensation policy, shareholders believed that top pay packages would reflect the fact that boards would now have to publicly justify their decisions. Thus far, they have not. And no one should be surprised that C-Suite salaries continue to grow. Even when ... Read More

Though online video may be best known for dancing cats, Obama Girl and the kid who sings the Numa Numa song, people would be remiss to think that the Video web is a place only for teenagers--there are valuable nuggets out there for professional audiences, too, and more and more every day. No more is this apparent than in the case of a video collection that has been making the rounds through the legal profession--LawProse.org's ... Read More

A few weeks ago, in attempting to answer a question that has baffled political philosophers for centuries, The Christian Science Monitor asked: "Is Democracy the Natural State of Mankind?" On one side of the debate is Thomas Jefferson’s vision of an enlightened people with whom freedom can be entrusted. On the other side is Alexander Hamilton, for whom the devils of human nature trump self-government. As one of the last bastions of populist democracy in American ... Read More

When it comes to diversity initiatives within law firms, a recent study by Novations Group pinpoints several areas for improvement. Novations Vice President Fred Smith gave a succinct overview of the issue when he said, "The best diversity training has moved far beyond the one-dimensional, feel-good event and today needs to be held to the same rigorous standards as other corporate training. Anything less cheats participants, wastes resources and undermines diversity efforts." Smith is absolutely correct. No ... Read More

In late March, global investment banking analysis provider Dealogic released new data about sovereign wealth funds' investments in U.S. and European financial institutions. According to this data, investments by global sovereign funds hit a record-setting $48.5 billion in 2007, and already stood at $24.4 billion by the end of February 2008. Beyond the staggering numbers, there are a few other interesting information points. First, the announcement shows Singapore in the lead, with transactions accounting for ... Read More

In late March, the New York Times Magazine took a look at the growing role of the Internet in spreading rumors. Recalling the persistent rumor about Barack Obama being a Muslim, the story examined how the Web is making it easier for misinformation and urban legend not only to spread, but to stick. Urban legends and outrageous rumors, of course, have always been a vexing problem for crisis managers--just ask the marketing managers at Sara Lee ... Read More