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.
Women-led social enterprise designs unique modular and hygienic portable toilet
Jasmine Burton's SafiChoo toilet could make a huge impact on sanitation, health, and education in the developing world, thanks to empathic design. It might be hard to believe, but just the fact that you know where the nearest toilet is at any given moment, and that you have access to it, puts you Read More...
Neuroscientists explain why control freaks are ineffective leaders
The command-and-control approach is out of vogue, and, as it turns out, also detrimental to human nature. Whether you’re an IT manager locking down access and permissions to IT-business collaboration tools, or a micromanager who forces a process on her employees to get work done, you may be Read More...
Google announces largest purchase of renewable energy ever
Google just announced that it will buy 842 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar energy in the U.S., Sweden and Chile to power its data centers around the world. It's the largest purchase of renewable energy ever made by a non-utility company. By doing this, the company increases its overall renewable Read More...
The new hotel in Vienna, run by refugees
The Magdas Hotel sits in a quiet, leafy corner of Vienna. The sunny lobby is decorated with vintage bicycles and suitcases. The soundtrack is old-school R&B. Wolfram and Christiane von Pannwitz, a physician and an art restorer from Berlin, are checking in. It's Christiane's first time in Read More...
Monsanto pledges to be carbon neutral by 2021
Monsanto Co. plans to make its operations carbon neutral by 2021, in part by working with farmers who use its products to help them reduce carbon emissions, the company's CEO told The Associated Press. To be carbon neutral, Monsanto must reduce its net emission of climate-changing carbon to zero. Read More...
5 tips for marketing to conscious consumers
Conscious consumption is on the rise. People are seeking out ways to make better decisions about what to buy, and do-good brands are becoming household names -- TOMS, Warby Parker and Ten Thousand Villages, just to name a few. From donating product or a portion of sales to establishing fair wages Read More...
What bees and forests can teach you about successful leadership
An LGBTQ activist, a green business consultant, and a nun walk into a redwood forest... New take on an old joke, right? But it really happened. These three were just a few of a diverse set of participants who took part in the first-ever training linking social innovation and biomimicry. The Read More...
Pupils in Windsor could be taken to school by Uber to cut costs
Pupils in Windsor could be ferried to school in Uber cars in a bid to save the council money. Discussions between the Royal Borough and the private hire company are underway as the council looks to curb a projected overspend of £440,000, the Windsor Express reports. The cars would be used for home Read More...
Banks could be decimated at they approach an "Uber moment"
The former CEO of Barclays had grave words on the future of traditional banks this week, as he drew parallels with black taxis losing their fight against Uber. Banks are approaching an “Uber moment” with a looming threat that technology will replace high street branches, outshine their Read More...
Environment top of sustainability agenda for shoppers, survey shows
British consumers equate sustainability with environmental issues and believe the most important issues sustainability issues for firms to address are damage to Earth's land and climate, according to a new survey released this week by business consultancy Future Thinking. The survey - which Read More...