Shot in the Dark
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? For many parents that’s not a question, it’s a conviction

Measles wreaked havoc in Europe this year with 26,000 cases and nine deaths. A public health official there says she blames the epidemic on ever-lower vaccination rates as more parents grow skeptical about the rumored side effects of some immunizations. Last year in California, 10 infants died in a pertussis outbreak (only one of the 10 had received a first dose [...]

Home Office
The pros of telecommuting outweigh the cons, for employees and their bosses

Fewer employees make it out of their pajamas and into an office these days, as the telecommuting trend resonates with many wanting to strike a balance between life and work. Not including the self-employed, 2 percent of Americans now consider home their primary place of work. The trend hasn’t caught on everywhere though; in the UAE, where traditional corporate culture prevails, few employees work from home, [...]

Service with a Smile
How customer service is evolving to satisfy a digitally savvy world

We all know what a bad customer-experience story can do to a brand. And in this economy, the hit can be especially damaging. A recent survey shows that consumers are split in how they prefer to engage with companies for service. So it makes sense that companies are working harder than ever to make customer satisfaction a top priority—in China, brands are adding an online component [...]

Sky-High Expectations
Teens want independence, and marketers want to figure out how to appeal to them minus exploitation

High school is tough, as the new documentary Race to Nowhere demonstrates. It chronicles the lives and stresses of modern-day teens trying to stay on top of grades while building résumés and getting into good colleges. And still, China creamed the U.S. in last year’s global standardized test PISA. A little psychology, however, reveals that test scores aren’t what truly motivate; it’s teens’ [...]

No Nukes
As the planet warms, more countries are recognizing the need for renewable resources—but which sources will they choose?

These days, our addiction to oil isn’t just hurting the environment—it’s hurting our wallets. And whichever side of the global warming debate politicians fall on, they do agree that we need new sources of energy. In New Jersey, which has renewable-sources-friendly legislation on the books, solar panels are popping up all over. The U.S. Midwest is getting a little greener, too: [...]

Gear-to-Gear Lending
Outdoor-product retailers expand as their market grows, while consumers seek more alternatives to buying

Despite the rising cost of raw materials, the U.S. outdoor-product industry has seen growth recently—overall sales rose 10.4 percent in April from the previous month. Popular outdoor-gear maker REI has differentiated itself from its competitors by announcing that its sales have increased more than its carbon footprint (i.e., it’s doing well by doing good). Retailers from Australia to the U.K. are expanding, while in the [...]

Suppressive Regimes
Free speech is losing its freedom and gaining a hefty prison sentence in authoritarian nations

Social networks were the linchpin of recent Arab revolutions—providing a platform for free speech and organization that is often hard to come by in authoritarian countries. Officials in some repressive countries have recognized the power and potential of social networks to catalyze change, and they aren’t happy. In Syria, a 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to five years in solitary confinement for expressing hopes [...]

E-Buy, Buy, Buy
E-commerce is growing in places such as China (market expansion monster, anyone?), and even Wal-Mart is exploring its e-options

Growing global force China, with its increasing population of folks with disposable incomes, is leading an expansion of online shopping across the planet. In fact, e-commerce is one of the key factors, along with social media, spurring the growth of the Internet in China. And though the Australian National Retail Association has put forth a statement that online shopping [...]

Just Fine, Then
Google is being hit with fines and lawsuits around the world, while Facebook tries to play it safe

Authorities in France recently levied a fine against Google for privacy breaches that occurred when the company’s Street View cars inadvertently picked up private data from users on Wi-Fi. Sure, the penalty (about $142,000) is a pittance to Google, but it’s the principle of the thing, really. And these little hits are adding up—to lots of nuisance for the search [...]

E-buys, E-sales
Though reports have e-commerce growth slow in Europe, the burgeoning China market makes the prospects of expansion e-riffic

The announcement that Warner Bros. is testing the waters of online movie rentals on Facebook took another turn recently, when it was reported that Warner is also trying out Facebook’s proprietary pay service, Facebook Credits. European e-commerce growth is sluggish, but China’s potential market is inspiring everyone, such as publishers—Hearst considers e-commerce a promising growth area, while Glamour magazine recently launched [...]