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Gauging the Impact of Obamacare on SMEs

The signature legislative achievement of President Obama’s tenure, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), was born without a single Republican vote in Congress and nurtured to fruition by the Supreme Court of the United States. The impact on small and medium size business will force many CEOs to make difficult choices.

Honeywell CEO David Cote Named 2013 CEO of the Year

Chief Executive Magazine Names Honeywell CEO David Cote 2013 CEO of the Year

Chief Executive magazine today announced that David Cote, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell has been named “2013 CEO of the Year,” an honor bestowed upon an outstanding corporate leader, nominated and selected by a group of his peers.

Bad Apple or Good Apple in the Tax Avoidance Bushel?

Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, ahead of a high-profile congressional hearing accused Apple of seeking “the Holy Grail of tax avoidance” by creating “offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere.” Apple, the Cupertino, CA giant. recently “took a bite” out of its corporate tax liabilities and caused a public outcry. But the ethical issues raised by such a move do not begin or end with them alone, observed Crown CEO Chuck Bentley in the Washington Post, in a piece titled “Apple’s tax ethics: Unpatriotic or Shrewdness in Action.”

CEO Confidence Index Falls 3.5% in May 2013

The CEO Confidence Index fell 3.5% in May 2013 to 5.86 out of a possible 10.

Small-Business Owner Roller Coaster Continues

After March’s disappointing drop in small-business confidence, April’s Small Business Optimism index of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), rose 2.6 points to 92.1, just above the recovery average of 90.7. Yet pessimism abounds within the sector, as still far more of those surveyed expect business conditions to be worse in six months than those who think they will be better. Most cite taxes. regulations and weak sales as their chief challenges going forward.

Companies Turn to New CEOs

In an exhaustive 2012 study of Chief Executives, “Time for New CEOs,” Booz & Co. management consultants, reports the highest number of planned CEO successions at the world’s largest 2,500 public companies in the history of the study and finds that companies often seek familiarity in new CEOs. It also asserts that the “global CEO” is more myth than reality.

More Firms Say Competitors Seek to Hire Away Their Talent

There has been a sharp increase in companies reporting that competitors are trying to recruit their top people, according to a global survey released by Right Management, the talent and career management unit within ManpowerGroup. Nearly two out of three employers now complain that other companies seek to hire away their organization’s leaders compared with just 42% last year.

President Launches Competition for Three New Manufacturing Innovation Institutes

The Obama Administration is launching competitions to create three new manufacturing innovation institutes with a Federal commitment of $200 million across five Federal agencies—Defense, Energy, Commerce, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. To build off the initial success of a pilot institute headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio, the President announced in the State of the Union that his Administration would move forward and launch three new manufacturing innovation institutes this year. The President will continue to call on Congress to act on his proposal for a one-time $1 billion investment to create a network of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes across the country.

Is College Worth the Candle

Is a college degree worth it? Isabel Sawhill, co-director for the Center on Children and Families and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, says it is not for everyone. According to the center’s newly-released study, the value of a college degree can vary dramatically, depending on factors such as field of study, type of college, graduation rate and future occupation. Given the growing skills gap experienced by many companies at the entry level it may be time for business leaders to weigh-in.