Market Watch

courtneyk via Getty Images Learning and development (L&D) teams are critical in helping organizations achieve their goals. The business suffers when employees don’t have the training and skills they need to do their jobs well. But L&D leaders sometimes struggle to show how their education initiatives impact the organization’s bottom line, especially when training doesn’t align with company goals in a way that mutually benefits the employee and the business. In 2023, L&D professionals must examine their operations from the inside out. One way they can do this and drive performance is by finding ways to partner with business unit leaders. Harnessing the true power of L&D Learning is critical in helping employees acquire new skills to keep up with the fast-paced changes in today’s world of work. Additionally, employees want to work at companies that invest in their development. Employers recognize this. Last year, employers spent an average of $1,207 on training per employee , up from $1,071 in 2021. Overall, U.S. training expenditures exceeded $100 billion for the first time in 2021-22, according to Training magazine data. When companies make those kinds of investments, they expect it to pay off. However, new data from Emergn, a global […]

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A chemical plant in Port Arthur, Texas. Access to state contracts, pensions focus of anti-ESG bills Model legislation targets ‘boycotts’ of fossil fuels, firearms Republican lawmakers in several statehouses are pushing to limit access to state contracts and pension funds for businesses with ESG investments and policies, forcing many firms to navigate a changing regulatory landscape. Bills proposed in roughly a dozen states this year would penalize companies for considering environmental, social, and governance factors—such as climate change or diversity issues—over financial returns. The activity adds to growing backlash against companies with ESG investment policies from doing business in states such as Texas and Florida, where GOP officials have launched high-profile battles against BlackRock Inc. and other asset managers. There are also anti-ESG proposals by Republicans in the US House. “It’s definitely come to a crescendo lately,” said Lance Dial, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, whose clients include asset managers, mutual fund managers, and pension fund managers. The state proposals are part of a larger political debate over ESG that includes disagreement over its overall definition and whether such factors align with a company’s fiduciary duties. Firms have been whipsawed between shareholders who have pressed them […]

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BENGALURU, Jan 30 – Indian chemicals and polymers maker SRF Ltd (SRFL.NS) reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Monday, driven by strong demand in its chemical business. The company’s consolidated profit rose about 1% to 5.11 billion Indian rupees ($62.70 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 4.92 billion rupees. Revenue for the Gurgaon-based conglomerate’s chemicals business grew 23% to 17.57 billion rupees on account of strong demand for certain key products such as fluorochemicals. The chemicals segment accounted for about 51% of the company’s overall revenue. SRF saw strong demand from overseas markets, higher capacity-utilisation of facilities and significant cost-savings across all product streams, the company said. Strength in the fluorochemicals business helped offset weakness in its packaging films business, which had to contend with a global demand slowdown and steep energy costs in Europe, it added. The company’s sale of products grew 1.7% to 33.69 billion rupees. SRF also approved three projects in the December quarter, including a capex project worth 5.95 billion rupees. Shares of the company closed up 2.9% at 2,194 rupees on Monday, ahead of the earnings. They fell 5.36% in 2022. ($1 = 81.5000 […]

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Business is better trusted than other institutions despite evidence to the contrary, such as accusations against Exxon Mobil that it knew — but hid — the dangers of climate change. You’d think that people would have learned their lesson after years of financial industry gimmickry, corporate tax avoidance and mistreatment of workers. You’d think they’d get wise when they see companies moving their business off shore and stashing profits overseas. Or when corporations engage in mass layoffs during tough times while paying exorbitant salaries and bonuses to top executives. Or when business interests fight against raising the minimum wage, try to keep out unions or fail to improve unsafe working conditions. But no. Despite the evidence before their eyes, most people around the world and in the United States still trust business to “do what is right” more than they trust other big institutional sectors. Nicholas Goldberg served 11 years as editor of the editorial page and is a former editor of the Op-Ed page and Sunday Opinion section. That’s the key finding in a report by the giant public relations firm Edelman, released earlier this month to coincide with the gathering of the world’s power brokers and tycoons […]

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zkolra/iStock/Getty Images Plus Neil Hare is the President and CEO of GVC Strategies, a former VP of Communications at the US Chamber of Commerce and a long-standing member of the Chamber’s Small Business Council. The views expressed here are his own. The recent GOP attacks on the business community, including its leading advocacy group the US Chamber of Commerce, arguably contributed to a poor showing in the 2022 midterms and is not the answer for success in the presidential and congressional elections in 2024. The main policy targets for these attacks include business endorsements of Democratic candidates in the midterms, “wokeness” in corporate strategy and support for free trade and immigration reform. Fear mongering on these topics has yielded positive results in rallying some of the GOP base, but most Americans take as much pride in our free enterprise system as they do in democracy and our military, so overall trashing it is a losing message. One key area for the GOP to flip the script is on meaningful immigration reform. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex), is attempting to introduce a bill that would empower the Homeland Security Secretary to unilaterally bar all undocumented migrants from entering the United States […]

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Small businesses in New Albany, Indiana, impacted by unprecedented dual effects of the road and bridge improvement projects, will soon be able to apply for no-interest loans through the New Albany Central Business District Loan Program, according to a news release. This loan fund may be used to help cover overhead and operational costs such as payroll, rent and utilities to assist these businesses in maintaining operations throughout these lengthy but necessary projects, the release said. The NACBDLP is a program of the ONE Fund, administered by One Southern Indiana and is intended to keep the affected small businesses viable so they can benefit from the public road and bridge investments. Eligible businesses must operate out of a brick-and-mortar location within the Central Business District of the City of New Albany as an in-person retail, restaurant or bar or personal services establishment. They must be able to show a current lease agreement, building loan agreement or building ownership. They must have 50 or fewer full-time employees, have been in business at least two years (or show monthly profit and loss statements and business growth), and have no federal or state liens nor any outstanding judgments. Loan applications will be […]

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Best-selling author, speaker, executive coach; peer advisory boards #ChampagneMoment www.ExactlyWhereYouWanttoBe.com . getty Business leaders are faced with challenging situations every single day. Some routine issues can be resolved with relatively few negative impacts on the company. However, from time to time, companies can face a major crisis that threatens their reputation and the survival of their business. Crises can come from a wide range of sources, including natural disasters that disrupt operations, financial issues that shake shareholder and investor confidence, cybersecurity breaches that leak sensitive data and product failures that are potentially dangerous to consumers. Whatever crises your business faces, business leaders need to understand how to address them quickly to minimize risk and impact on the company. 1. Identify the crisis and act quickly. It’s critical to identify a crisis early before the situation escalates. Building safeguards into your processes, such as establishing business KPIs , can help identify potential issues ahead. Many companies establish risk management teams to help support these efforts by developing monitoring and escalation practices. Many businesses are unprepared for a crisis. In fact, only 62% of companies reported having a crisis management plan . If you don’t have a crisis management plan or […]

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CEO, National Retail Solutions (NRS) . NRS POS, NRS DIGITAL MEDIA, NRS PAY, NRS FUNDING and NRS PETRO: Helping independent retailers succeed. getty Every business owner understands that to see their company grow and thrive, they must manage every aspect of it, and hindsight is 20/20. The same is true when planning your budget. In my experience as a founder and CEO, most business owners analyze the past year’s spending to plan ahead for the new year. They can examine and assess the past year’s sales and inventory statistics, supply chain challenges and marketing campaigns. Owners can also look at which inventory items sold the best, which stock supplies ran short, which issues came up in the store that required spending money to fix, and whether there were expenses that might need to be considered recurring for the upcoming year. If you pushed off upgrades or renovation projects from the prior year, you might need to include these in the following year’s budget as well. Here are my tips on preparing for and navigating some of these costs as you plan your budget. Staying Ahead Of Supply Chain Issues After decades of business owners being able to rely on […]

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Nikola launches hydrogen production brand Electric-truck maker Nikola is launching the HYLA brand, which will be the name of its hydrogen production and distribution business. Electric truck maker Nikola announces that it will become a vertically integrated company, selling hydrogen-powered electric heavy trucks, as well as building out a hydrogen fueling network and business under the HYLA brand. It’s a nifty piece of branding, combining the HY in hydrogen with the last two letters of the company’s name to create an easy-to-remember link between the two businesses. Nikola is named for electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla. "The HYLA brand represents Nikola’s hydrogen-focused energy business by supporting our fuel-cell electric vehicles and those of other OEMs," says Carey Mendes, president of Nikola’s energy business. Nikola has developed a hydrogen-powered FCEV Class 8 truck that has a range of 500 miles (805 km). The Nikola Tre FCEV, which has been in test phase with several haulers, including Anheuser-Busch, takes about 20 minutes to refuel, which is not that much longer than it takes to refill on diesel. Hydrogen for decades has been a pie-in-the-sky proposition, but its technology and distribution has been given a recent jolt from regulators and politicians in the […]

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Photo: ©INK DROP – STOCK.ADOBE.COM LONDON — Hein Schumacher has been named the new chief executive officer of Unilever PLC. He will replace Alan Jope on July 1. Mr. Schumacher is currently the CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina and a non-executive director of Unilever. Prior to joining FrieslandCampina in 2014 as chief financial officer, Mr. Schumacher worked for the H.J. Heinz Co. “Hein is a dynamic, values-driven business leader who has a diverse background of experiences and an excellent track record of delivery in the global consumer goods industry,” said Nils Anderson, chairman of Unilever’s board. “He has exceptional strategic capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and strong experience in both developed and developing markets.” Mr. Jope announced his intention to retire from Unilever in September 2022. He became CEO in 2019 and has spent much of his tenure as leader of the company reshaping its portfolio. Most recently the company sold some of its tea business to CVC Capital Partners for $4.7 billion . The company also has made investments in the market for plant-based foods. In 2018, Unilever acquired The Vegetarian Butcher and in 2020 set a goal of achieving $1 billion in the sales of plant-based dairy and meat […]

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