BUSINESS

Nineteen pages of business news, views and opinions from across the destinations.

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
Albert Einstein reveals his secrets

ECONOMY
LACKING EXPERIENCE

More than 70% of senior management claim that bosses in the UK have little or no experience of how to deal with a downturn, according to a recent survey by virtual business school Pentacle. This statistic is made all the more worrying by the same survey’s claim that 69% of executives now believe the UK is heading into a recession.

The research also found that 71% of CEOs and board members surveyed believe the economy has boomed for so long that UK management lacks the experience of a less benign economic climate, prompting some to fear for the future of British business.

Professor Eddie Obeng, director of Pentacle, warned of the consequences of not having the necessary experience in place to deal with a recession. “After a long economic cycle with nearly 15 years of growth, most of those at the top of business today are used to vigorous expansion, ambitious projects and taking major risks, all with unwavering confidence. A strong economy has often protected them from the impact of bad decisions.”

BOOK
ALLAN LEIGHTON ON LEADERSHIP

OUT NOW, £8.99 (APPROX. €11)

With a career that has included senior positions at ASDA, lastminute.com, Bhs, BSkyB, Selfridges and Royal Mail Group, Allan Leighton has had plenty of business experience, and he draws on it for this book on the nature of leadership. He’s a persuasive and convincing writer, acknowledging, for example, that it’s not always possible to be a popular leader, and naming the mass redundancies at Royal Mail as an example of a difficult decision that he claims was handled well and with positive results.

He does pepper his pages with highlighted quotes that slip into cliché, however, and it’s hard to imagine any business leader being swayed by such wisdom as “Respect is something you give, not something you get” or “The most difficult thing to open is a closed mind”. Other selected quotes are more successful, and there’s no doubt that he has managed to pull some heavyweight business leaders into the book, drawing on the experiences of such luminaries as Philip Green, Rupert Murdoch and James Dyson. Open and enthusiastic in his anecdotes, it’s clear that Leighton loves his subject matter, which makes for a truly compelling read.

GADGET
POWER TRIP

Packing 96 hours of mobile phone standby, 40 hours of iPod usage or 48 hours of PDA power, the PowerMonkey Explorer is a convenient way to keep your gadgets running for longer when you’re on the road. The bundled, fold out solar panels allow you to take power directly from the sun, or if you’re travelling in the gloomier parts of Europe, you can plug the PowerMonkey directly into the mains to charge it up and give yourself a battery boost when you need it later on. Of course, you still need to remember to charge your backup, but with an LCD screen to show battery capacity and level of charge, there’s no excuse for being caught out.

www.powertraveller.com Costs £65 (approx. €82)