Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
The Uber economy looks a lot like the pre-industrial economy
Maybe Uber isn’t that innovative after all. A new study from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), finds that the “gig” economy model popularized by Uber has a lot in common with the economies of poor countries today, as well as the US and Europe before the Industrial Revolution. Uber and Read More...
The eight technologies every entrepreneur should know about
Entrepreneurs need little convincing that technology is important, rapidly evolving, and likely to have a profound impact on their businesses. But keeping track of developments, and knowing where to focus one’s attention, is anything but straightforward. Analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers Read More...
Meat processor Tyson Foods invests in plant-based protein maker
Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat processor, took a 5 percent stake in plant-based protein maker Beyond Meat amid growing pressure on food companies to reduce environmental and health risks by changing the way they source protein. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Manhattan Beach, Read More...
Airbnb and Uber make up just a sliver of independent workforce
Gig work is sweeping advanced economies, but workers on digital platforms like Airbnb and Uber make up just a small share of the independent labor force. About 27 percent of America's working-age population engages in independent work, according to a McKinsey Global Institute survey, and the share Read More...
Buddhist monks teach meditation to 170,000 participants at Salesforce conference
The impact of meditation on health and happiness is well documented. And the time that meditation was frowned upon in business is long gone. Still, it has a big impact when Salesforce invites 23 Buddhist monks to teach the 170,000 participants of its massive annual conference how to reduce stress. Read More...
Can we design an on-demand economy that will work for everyone?
On weekends, LaNeisha, a 33-year-old in San Francisco, borrows a friend's car to drive for Uber. When she discovered that she could rent out her closet for $290 through a startup called Roost, she turned it into a storage unit. She finds other gigs on Craiglist. For LaNeisha, who struggled to find Read More...
Is jazz school the next great innovation incubator?
Two musicians stood before the audience, each watching the other’s eyes. With a nod of the head their performance began. They moved effortlessly through their cues, gesturing subtly to indicate who had the lead and who should follow. In less than five minutes, an audience journey that began Read More...
Electric car revolution brightens outlook for a medley of metals
Electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf may look no different from the standard family runaround. But the new materials that go into them could revolutionize the market for metals used in the industry, opening up a new field for commodities investors. "We identified electric vehicles as an area where Read More...
Solving climate change with beer from Patagonia’s food startup
Yvon Chouinard, the short, bluff, fatalistic founder of Patagonia, the company renowned for its pricey parkas, fuzzy fleeces, and exhortations to buy fewer of them, sits in a cafeteria-style Chinese restaurant in Jackson, Wyo. He scratches a clam from its shell, forks it into his mouth, chews, Read More...
Green business awards celebrate community efforts
The daily news is full of constant and dismal descriptions of the effects of climate change on the earth. Floods inundating whole communities. Hurricanes pounding shorelines. Firestorms raging out of control. Drought and images of puckered farmland. It’s a welcome change to learn about Read More...