Industrial Robots Have Boosted Productivity and Growth But...

Rather than simply worry about what might be or deny the possibility, it is curious that with all of contemporary society's knowledge and resources, leaders have not taken the obvious step: preparing for the possible eventuality. JL

Guy Michaels and George Graetz report in the London School of Economics:

Industrial robots make significant contributions to labour productivity and aggregate growth, and their use also increases wages and total factor productivity. While fears that robots destroy jobs at a large scale have not materialised, we find some evidence that robots reduce the employment of low and middle-skilled workers.

Wearable Technology Creeps Into the Workplace

The biggest challenge will be interpreting the data in a manner that optimizes beneficial outcomes without abusing  employee effectiveness, trust - and commitment. JL 

Olivia Solon reports in Bloomberg:

Wearables are not useful on their own. They have to be part of the move toward a system of intelligence, which combines big data, the cloud and analytics.

Ways In Which the US Economy Has Not Recovered Since 2008

Labor force participation, household income, home ownership, new business formation, child poverty, income inequality...There do seem to be a lot of them. JL

Daily Kos reports:

 If people were dropping out of the workforce because they were getting wealthy then we shouldn't care about this. But that is not the case. In contrast, the participation rate of older workers has dramatically increased.

Do As I Say: Why the Top Cloud Services Providers Don't Run All Their Own Data On The Cloud

Just because you are successfully selling a service to others doesn't mean it's perfect for you. But should it be? JL

Robert McMillan reports in the Wall Street Journal:

Amazon. doesn’t fully run in the cloud.The other top cloud providers— Google, Microsoft and International Business Machines  continue to keep certain functions on private servers. Their struggles are a microcosm of customers: Worries about reliability, security and risks inherent with change that have made it hard to move critical computing tasks to the public cloud.

You Say Cult: I Say Loyal Customer Base

Loyalty is a prized asset. But for it to work in the commercial context, the belief has to be as - or more - compelling than the benefit.

To successfully manage that attribute requires a unique competitive advantage - and comprehensive attention to detail. JL

Josh Barro reports in the New York Times:

What it sells is more than a workout. Devotees of the chain cite benefits from their engagement  that go well beyond the physical. “It’s sold convincingly and addictively as personal growth and therapeutic progress through fitness.”

Does Alibaba's Investment In Retailer Suning Signal the Limits of Digital Commerce and the Advantages of Convergence?

Alibaba wants to consolidate its dominant position - and China wants to protect millions of retail jobs. This could provide the base for a stronger global competitor. It will be interesting to see if the strategy - at scale - spreads. JL

Jon Russell reports in Tech Crunch:

Rather than taking on physical rivals that are weak where Alibaba is strong, it is joining forces to maximum the strengths of both sides. Given the sheer scale that companies like Suning enjoy in China, teaming up and expanding Alibaba’s touchpoints with consumers could unlock new potential. This alliance brings forth a new commerce model that integrates online and offline.

Is There Really A Shortage of Truckers? Or Do the Pay and Hours Just Suck?

Truck driving is the largest occupation category in most of the 50 United States. But low pay, long hours, no control over scheduling and the looming threat of automated trucks without drivers is forcing people out of the profession. The industry claims there is a shortage of drivers. But the reality is simple economics: the trucking companies just dont pay enough to attract the people they need. It's called supply and demand. JL

Cathy O'Neil reports in the Mathbabe:

When you make your workers lives worse, and you don’t compensate them with cash money to make up for it, you find your workers quitting. Either improve truckers’ work experiences or pay them more. There’s no worker shortage, there’s simply an unwillingness, on the employers’ side, to face up to the facts