Business News

Oil prices are plunging amid concern a dispute among producers could lead a global economy weakened by COVID-19 to be awash in an oversupply of crude. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $11.44, or 25.3%, to $33.83 per barrel in electronic trading in London. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $10.77, or 26.1%, to $30.49. The dramatic losses follow a 10.1% drop for U.S. oil on Friday, which was its biggest loss in more than five years. Prices are falling as Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil-producing countries argue how much to cut production in order to prop up prices. The turmoil…
In february 2014 a strike on the London Underground offered management theorists a lesson in resilience and adaptation. Because the shutdown closed some but not all Tube lines, frustrated Londoners were forced to rethink their commutes to and from work. Researchers at Oxford and Cambridge universities subsequently found that around 5% of passengers stuck to their new itineraries even after normal service resumed. The long-term economic gains of one in 20 travellers adopting new and improved ways to get to work turned out to be greater than the short-term costs of the disruption. The global covid-19 outbreak presents a far…
'You don't get any extra points for the fact that something's very hard to do.' It's a weird hobby, I admit. But I've been going back and reading Warren Buffett'sold Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters. They're posted on the Berkshire Hathaway website (well, most of them). Combined, they run more than half a million words. I've found some shortcuts, of course. I ran the full text of Buffett's most recent letter through a word cloud generator. (The single word that appears most often was surprising.) There's another story worth sharing, however. It's about the simple difference Buffett found between the most…
Sunday, 08 March 2020 05:07

Leadership is the opposite of management

One of management guru Peter Drucker's final observations was that managers and leaders aren't the same thing. Peter Drucker not long before he died said something during an NPR interview that stuck with me. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something like: "there is too much emphasis today put on leadership; what is needed today is more emphasis on management." The remark struck me as odd because like most people, I thought the two concepts were basically interchangeable. Over the past 15 years, though, I've come to understand that while there are a few individuals who are…
Saturday, 07 March 2020 05:52

Oil plunges 10% after OPEC deal collapses

Oil prices plunged about 10% on Friday, after a proposal by major oil producers to cut output collapsed. The plan had been intended to keep oil prices steady despite the hit to demand as the coronavirus slows travel, manufacturing and global supply chains. However, Russia declined to participate, with talks ending with no new deal to restrain production. The result triggered some of the biggest one-day falls in prices in more than five years. Brent Crude suffered its biggest one-day loss since 2008, falling more than 9% to about $45.27 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate prices tumbled 10.1% to $41.28,…
Yomi Kazeem Nigeria’s economy is highly dependent on imports, despite the ambitious rhetoric and best efforts of successive governments. But imports carry a consistently high cost for businesses bringing in shipments to Africa’s most populous country. Thanks to decades of inefficiency, processes at Nigeria’s main port are hamstrung by excessive bureaucracy and corruption, driving up costs. Research shared with Quartz by SBM Intel, a Lagos-based geopolitics and economics intelligence firm, details just how pricey imports into Nigeria are compared to other key African ports. For its analysis, SBM tracked shipments coming into ports in Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana from…
Two men in gray jumpsuits brush glue onto rubber soles, while factory machines whir in the background. Elsewhere, women perched behind industrial sewing machines attach leather swatches to sturdy-looking men’s shoes. The production line could be anywhere in the world. But Bertram Dozie, the chief executive of the newly opened Bata Nigeria shoes plant, hopes this Abuja facility heralds a renaissance for Nigerian-made shoes. The factory, which opened in late 2019, can produce more than 500,000 shoes annually. It employs roughly 120 people. Bata Nigeria is a franchise tied to Bata, a historic shoe company based in Switzerland, and present…
The economic affects of the coronavirus have preceded the spread of the virus itself, with financial markets swinging wildly, companies closing offices or asking employees work from home in affected areas, and throttling air travel across the globe. Following is a brief look at how things are changing in the economy and the workplace today as the outbreak widens. AIR TRAVEL: An industry group says the spreading coronavirus could cost airlines as much as $113 billion in lost revenue. That figure, released Thursday, is four times the number released just two weeks ago by the The International Air Transport Association,…
Sales are at the epicenter of any and every business. If you’re a writer, you’re selling people on your words. If you’re a performer, you’re selling people on entertainment. If you’re looking for a new position, you’re selling a company on your value. If you’re a consultant, you’re selling people on your expertise. For any business to function, at some point, someone is being sold on something. As it turns out, there is actually a formula to generating higher volumes of business at faster rates. No matter where you work or for whom, these principles can help you get there.…
Sometimes, it's not what people say about your business that matters but how they say it. And then how you react. Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek. I've met quite a few Harvard graduates over the years. I've heard it said they can be a touch self-regarding. My own impression is that some, at least, can instinctively regard others with a casual disdain. No, of course I'm not specifically referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg here. He didn't graduate. A recent conversation with a Harvard graduate, however,…
December 20, 2024

Naira expected to weaken further, says CBN business survey

Nigerian businesses anticipate further depreciation of the naira through early 2025, despite maintaining overall optimism…
December 20, 2024

Atiku questions alleged hack of NBS website, says timing suspicious

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised concerns over the recent claim that the website…
December 22, 2024

How to know if your memory lapses are serious or not

The older I get, the more panicked I become when something slips my mind. Is…
December 21, 2024

‘Professional Back-Scratchers’ charge up to $130 per hour

The Scratcher Girls is an unconventional relaxation therapy studio that charges clients up to $130…
December 21, 2024

NAFDAC busts illegal rice repackaging operations in Nasarawa, Abuja

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has cracked down on…
December 22, 2024

Here’s the latest as Israel-Hamas war enters Day 443

Israel and Hamas appear close to a ceasefire deal. These are the sticking points Israel…
December 20, 2024

OpenAI launches voice and text access to ChatGPT through new phone service

OpenAI has introduced a novel way to interact with its popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence system…
December 17, 2024

Ademola Lookman named 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the year. These players won in other…

Ademola Lookman, the Super Eagles winger, was crowned the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the…

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