二○二二年三月二十六日，中國上海市疫情防控領導小組專家組成員吳凡在記者會上宣告：「上海不能封城……，上海在全國經濟社會發展中承載了重要功能。」 短短兩天之後，上海封城，至今未解……。 封城月餘，五月五日的中共中央政治局常委會上，面對外界種種質疑，中國國家主席習近平仍「不改其志」，表示上海疫情防控已取得「重大戰略成果」，更強調要毫不動搖堅持「動態清零」，「堅決與一切歪曲、懷疑、否定中國防疫政策的言行鬥爭。」 政策的瞬間劇變與強硬主導，是上海過去兩個多月的魔幻寫實，也是過去一整年中國經濟與社會的主旋律。 從去年初的互聯網巨頭遭重罰、年中對補教業的上市與資本化禁令，到九月突發的「能耗雙控」事件，乃至今年初多地的封城與封省，在在凸顯出過去這動盪的一年間，習近平那雙「看得見」的手，無時不刻在對中國產業與經濟發展下指導棋。 「簡單一句話，就是『國進民退』……。」長年觀察國際與兩岸產業趨勢發展的台新金控首席經濟學家李鎮宇認為，過去一年的中國經濟，就宛如一個高度可塑的「捏麵人」一般，在中國政府這雙超級巨掌下，正被以習近平為首的中共領導層，用改革開放以來罕見的力道與強度，重新「塑形」。…

曾經，iPhone第二大組裝廠、由童子賢所領軍的和碩，因為錯失白牌伺服器，這個為同業廣達創造一年3000億元營收、助緯創培育出千元股價小金雞「緯穎」的產業，而被批評「只守著蘋果」、「吃蘋果太補」。 現在，它卻在短短一年內，從鴻海、緯創、神達大舉挖角，打造一批人數超過兩百人、橫跨兩個事業群的團隊，全力對準白牌伺服器商機，晚對手12年出手的童子賢，這次，到底看到了什麼機會？ 今年以來，全球第二大電子代工廠和碩的關渡總部變得更熱鬧；有一群幾乎每個月不斷在「長大」的生力軍，近期在科技業界引發熱議。 這群人數超過一百人的工程師，其實在短短五個月前，是散落在鴻海、緯創、廣達、神達的伺服器事業工作，譬如：緯創旗下的緯穎、廣達旗下的雲達、神達旗下的神雲，以及鴻海旗下的工業富聯（FII）。 現在，這批百人部隊所隸屬的單位，是和碩在今年初成立、編號「十八」的事業群，內部簡稱BU18（第十八事業群）。該事業群的領導人，是從華碩時期就追隨和碩董事長童子賢近二十年的徐衍珍；而且，它在內部還有一支援軍。 童子賢的逆襲！ 一場他錯過12年的戰場 派「徐博」大將率百人大軍出擊…

一場企業主與小英總統的餐宴，揭製造業頭家們最迫切的「三缺」苦水！ 二月底，中午十二點，總統府三樓台灣虹廳，十八位產業界人士與總統的午宴低調展開。這是一場總統當主人，行政院長蘇貞昌、副院長沈榮津，經濟部長王美花也出席，要與在場企業家交流的午宴。 午宴中，包括總統府資政暨和大工業董事長沈國榮、中華民國工業區廠商聯合總會理事長暨苗成企業董事長賴博司、台灣機械工業公會理事長暨鳳記國際機械董事長魏燦文，以及台灣工具機暨零組件公會理事長、哈伯精密董事長許文憲等，多位製造業重要老闆們一一現身。 跟不上土地飆漲的速度 新北土城每坪百萬，中南部大多40萬起跳 企業主口中反映的，可不是水、電穩定供應的隱憂……，缺地、缺工、缺宿舍的「三缺」，成為頭家們晉見總統時的焦點話題。在他們眼中，這，才是當前台灣製造業必須迫切面對、甚至攸關未來投資態度的頭號大敵？…

每週五傍晚，呂嘉齡從台中開車到彰化來回一小時，進行一樁神祕交易，轎車後座放著四個鼓鼓的保冰袋，「好像在做什麼壞事，」她笑說。 袋子裡頭，其實是二十四罐玻璃瓶裝鮮奶。放棄直接進超市拿鮮奶的便利，為了減少使用一次性塑膠，呂嘉齡和朋友每週舟車勞頓，直接向牧場買鮮奶。即使每次都要拚命刷洗瓶子，還要高溫消毒，也樂此不疲。 這麼神祕的原因，是因為牧場二代低調，怕太多人來找。然而，牧場老闆的爸爸卻很高興，「因為他們小時候，就是這樣買鮮奶的，」呂嘉齡說。 聽起來或許極端，卻是呂嘉齡六年甘之如飴的日常。而她為了減用塑膠而改變的生活，也將是你我未來的生活樣貌。 全球氣候緊急狀態，為減緩地球升溫，各國與大企業紛紛宣布淨零目標。主導地球超過百年的黑色石化產業，正發生翻天覆地的綠色革命。早已習慣被石化產品環繞的人類食衣住行，需要新生活運動。（見79頁） 產業衝擊 不用石油的新世界 這是一場攸關人類文明的革命，因為石化產品早已滲透我們的生活。 從早上起床用的牙刷、身上穿的衣服、腳上踩的球鞋、臉上戴的口罩，到晚上就寢的被單與枕頭，就連維他命也有石化原料。（見表1） 這也是一場攸關人類生命與生計的革命。…

Q：本次榜單集中在半導體產業， 代表什麼現象？ 簡立峰（ 以下簡稱簡）：我在Google工作時，做了一個台灣長期投資調查，發現台灣的強項可能就是風險，例如芬蘭、韓國跟台灣很像，都有一個很強的產業，因為人口不多的國家，集中在一個產業十分重要，但會有風險。像韓國的風險就是過去幾年集中在三星，現在稍微多元化，例如內容產業的出現。台灣剛好倒過來，愈來愈集中，10年前做研究時，台灣電子業占國內生產毛額（GDP）的20％到30％，現在光台積電就占了20％，產業更集中。 這是風險也是機會，因為半導體與電子業，未來都是基礎產業，餅在變大當中。但像芬蘭，有陣子靠的是森林產業，電子化後就不需要砍樹（造紙）了，這衝擊較大。而台灣電子業未來面臨的是少子化問題，產業集中短期來看是好事，因為我們競爭力提升；但長期來看，就是攸關生存危機的大問題。 Q：這次榜單呈現漏斗型，占據名次較多的是半導體代工、 晶片設計， 但中下游進榜廠商少； 但行業結構是金字塔型， 完全相反。 這當中有哪些值得關注的點？ 陳來助（…

DOUG ATKIN and Bernie Madoff were engaged in a screaming match as two senior officials looked on in wonder at the Washington, D.C., office of the SEC. On this day in 1991, Ponzi schemer Madoff was there to defend a new practice he had pioneered. It was called “payment for order flow,” known on Wall Street as PFOF. Atkin, CEO of trailblazing electronic trading platform Instinet, believed that PFOF worked in direct conflict with his mission of getting the best possible prices for folks buying stocks. “Payment for order flow isn’t right! It should be outlawed!” Atkin yelled. Madoff shot back that PFOF added lots of liquidity to the markets. “I should be able to do whatever I want to get business!” Madoff barked. Three decades later PFOF is having another turn…

這是深謀遠慮的引擎室。要真正做到深謀遠慮： This is the engine room of long-term thinking. To become an effective long-term thinker: 1 使用正確的框架設定目標 USE THE RIGHT FRAMEWORK for goals 2 預留時間進行「實驗」 SET ASIDE TIME for "experimentation" 3 學習如何在「波段」中思考 LEARN HOW TO THINK IN "WAVES" 4聰明利用你的時間 GET SMART about leveraging your time 5建立面向未來的強大網絡 BUILD A STRONG NETWORK – future-based 要訣 1使用正確的框架設定目標 Tip 1USE THE RIGHT FRAMEWORK for goals 目前，社會和文化的預設選項是為了錢必須優化你的生活和職業生涯，因此你需要選擇利潤豐厚的職業生涯。這不是問題，但如果是為了「有趣」，你的生活看起來會是什麼模樣呢。問自己以下問題： At…

When Starbucks Corp. announced the abrupt departure of its second-in-command in January, Wall Street was unsettled by the news. Chief Operating Officer Rosalind Brewer, frequently cited as one of the most powerful women in business because of the company’s rapid digital expansion under her watch, would be leaving to lead pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. It was the second big shake-up that month: The chain’s finance chief had just announced his retirement, together prompting a test of Starbucks’s management bench that Gordon Haskett analysts initially called “disconcerting.” But losing Brewer wasn’t the seismic shock Wall Street had feared. In fact, it’s the kind of event Starbucks has come to expect. Corporate recruiters have increasingly descended on the company and its deep bench of diverse entrepreneurial talent when looking to build…

The trip Tim Warrillow took in 2004 was epic: He flew from London to Nairobi, then hopped a flight to Kigali, then another to Kamembe. From there, he persuaded a taxi driver to take him through rural Rwanda and across the Congolese border. Along the way, he paid off militias armed with rocket launchers and gangs wielding nail-studded boards. Almost 24 hours after leaving his home in west London, he got to his destination, a cinchona plantation in eastern Congo. What was he after? Tree bark. The bark from the cinchona tree contains quinine, the bitter chemical compound in tonic water that balances the citrus from lemons and limes. As interest in artisanal gin surged, Warrillow had dreamed of creating a lineup of premium mixers. He sought an opportunity to displace…

Erine joined the Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Global Inc. in 2020, she says, attracted by the opportunity to work for one of the world’s hottest tech companies. That July she had one of her first assignments in a small town—a client meeting that ended with a banquet, the food washed down with many bottles of red wine and the Chinese liquor called baijiu. That wasn’t unusual: Chinese business dinners often involve lots of alcohol, not unlike the boozy work meetings of 1960s New York featured in Mad Men. Erine, now 33, was the only woman at the table, and she says she felt obligated to join the heavy drinking and keep going when the party moved to another restaurant. The next thing she says she remembers is the client groping her…

The McDonald’s in Great Barrington, Mass., had hired extra employees to keep up with the flow of hungry customers from a marijuana shop nearby. What its managers didn’t realize, on a Saturday afternoon in December, was that the payment processing technology at the dispensary was misidentifying a purchase of pear-flavored THC chews as a withdrawal from an ATM—at the burger joint’s address. The dispensary, Theory Wellness, didn’t know about the wrong address either. But why did the purchase show up as a cash withdrawal? Theory’s payment machine, which looked to a customer a lot like a card reader at a coffee shop, was in fact running a so-called cashless ATM. Instead of spitting out $20 bills, the machines work with software that programs them to send signals down debit rails, where…

The base model feels less jerky and nervous, and through quick corners it subtly filters out ridges and random surface variations Not a boxer engine, nor a V6. Not a staggering power output. No highly advanced suspension. Yet despite the absence of things we usually treasure about Porsches, the base version of the facelifted Macan is probably the one to go for, because it best embodies that other thing we treasure about Porsches: it’s really good to drive. The new line-up consists of three models: the base Macan, with a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four making 261bhp; the S, with a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6, making 375bhp and priced from £53,300; and the GTS, with a 434bhp version of the V6, starting at £64,770. All gain some visual tweaks for a more aggressive look to…

將顧客置於所有績效指標的中心。強調你能管理和掌控的投入，以及能夠產生預期成果的活動。做好這件事，營收和股價等產出指標自然水到渠成。 Put the customer at the center of all performance metrics. Emphasize inputs you do manage and control, and activities which will yield the desired results. Do that well, and the output metrics like revenue and stock price will take care of themselves. 關鍵思惟 「企業時常關注錯誤的信號，或者缺乏洞察關鍵商業趨勢的能力，即使他們覺得自己完全被數據淹沒。真正重要的是關注『可控制的投入指標』，也就是你能直接控制的活動，這些最終將影響股價等產出指標。」 ──科林．布萊爾與比爾．卡爾 Key Thoughts "All too often, companies pay attention to the wrong…

Some file optimization and application removal programs on the Mac reach for the stars, trying to perform every possible task of optimization, file cleanup, operating system customization, and malware removal the developers can think of as part of an overarching package. Other apps have been more streamlined, seeking to perform fewer functions and executing them well. DaisyDisk, the brainchild of developers Taras Brizitsky (who programmed the original idea, interaction, and graphic design) and Oleg Krupnov (who now handles the code and technical support), as well as a large group of translators and contributors, belongs to the latter group. The application (version 4.20.3 reviewed here) focuses on locating file clusters, groups them by size, and offers a quick and easy means of dragging them to a delete icon and getting rid of…

Early January is when many investors give their portfolios a checkup, and this year a sting awaits from the bond market. While equity returns dazzled in 2021, “safe” government bonds registered their first negative return since 2013. Professional investors are of course accustomed to the idea that even so-called risk-free bonds lose money when interest rates rise—or are expected to rise. Those taking a diversified approach with their nest eggs are accustomed to think of Treasuries and high-quality bonds as conservative and safe investments that provide a consistent, if modest, positive return. Except the sanctuary of government bonds cracked last year, with the Bloomberg Treasury index providing a total return of –2.3%. A broader exposure to fixed income that includes debt from high-quality companies, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, lost…

每個成功交易者都有自己的風格，麥可的強項則是挑選基本面強勁的股票波段操作，輔以技術面與籌碼面決定進出，再透過多種投資工具調控部位。 運用現股、股票期貨、CBAS提高獲利並降低風險 麥可在2021年年底透過3種工具—現股、股票期貨（以下簡稱股期）、可轉換公司債資產交換（Convertible Bond Asset Swap，CBAS，詳見名詞解釋），看長做短，波段進出航空股，不到2個月賺進2,376萬元。 在股價表現不同階段，麥可會使用不同工具調控部位，如此可以降低風險又可提高獲利。 使用現金買進股票稱為持有現股，也就是1股100元，用10萬元買進1張（1,000股）的股票，這時候就是沒有使用槓桿，在股價未明的時候，使用現股等待風險較低。 使用股期，由於只需要13.5%的資金，資金買到滿，槓桿就是接近7.4倍。但若太早使用槓桿，方向錯誤時，風險也是跟著槓桿放大，因此，麥可通常會等到股價漲動的時候，方向確立，再透過高槓桿放大獲利。…

摘自THE GLOBE AND MAIL 去年春天，第一次封城初期，每天探視年邁母親的責任落在我的肩上。我不需要進辦公室工作又是獨居， 社交接觸更有限，所以能確保她的安全。 哥哥嫂嫂則負責每週幫母親採買食物（他們會把東西放在側門旁邊），以及每月一次的剪髮（她端坐在後院正中央那張老舊發灰的白色草坪椅上）。 母親今年88歲，獨居在退休後與父親一起搬入的家裡。 父親大約在12年前過世。他們即將迎來結婚半世紀的日子，他卻病倒了。 當然，我母親還算幸運，兩個兒子和三個孫兒都住在附近，我和哥哥也幸好能看望她，但是看望她時情形會是怎樣，我心裡也沒底。我和母親很早就體認到「彼此個性不合」，即使我已近花甲之年，我們之間仍然會因歧異而產生矛盾。她看重紀律與秩序，我則喜歡隨興而為。能言善辯是我們的共通之處， 但是彼此以言相對時，卻也如刀光劍影。 剛開始，我故意將探訪安排在她每天下午在衛星電視上觀看希臘遊戲節目的時段。用這種方式破冰果然管用：很快地，我們就一起支持同一位參賽者，或是評比各位主持人的魅力。 母親很驚嘆地發現，…

DRAPED IN MIST, THE LUSH, FORESTED LANDSCAPE OF NAGARAHOLE TIGER RESERVE IN INDIA’S SOUTHWESTERN KARNATAKA STATE LOOKS ENCHANTED. An elephant lumbers through the foliage, feeding on shrubs and leaves, its gigantic ears flapping as if to the beat of a metronome. Up ahead along the dirt road, bison-like gaur graze in a meadow, not so much as glancing in our direction. Guided by photographer Shaaz Jung, who has lived in a lodge in the forest for the past 12 years, we drive on, stopping by a herd of spotted deer. An iridescent blue kingfisher flits between the trees. As sunlight cuts through the haze, the tranquility is broken by the bark of a deer ringing out in the distance. It’s an alarm, warning that a predator lurks nearby. Calls like this are heard…

Wall Street doesn’t usually let moral dilemmas get in the way of making money. There’s almost always a bidder for whatever security is on offer, no matter how dodgy the issuer, how funky the structure, or how unpleasant the circumstances. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is no exception. Even before the missiles started raining down on Kyiv, the financial opportunists who prey on market dislocation were already hunting for bargains in Russian bonds. They had plenty to choose from. Almost all of Russia’s debt, both sovereign and corporate, remains open for trading under U.S. economic sanctions. And, because demand has collapsed, the yields on all that paper are now among the highest in the world. One government bond that matures in September 2023 was recently quoted at 48¢ on the…

The pandemic has tied a series of paralyzing knots in the global economy, but beyond the transportation delays and parts shortages lies a more enduring challenge for supply chains: climate change. Consider that last year alone saw Hurricane Ida, a typhoon near Chinese ports, the Texas freeze, British Columbia flooding, and freak December tornadoes across the U.S., and it’s clear that global trade is struggling to cope with much more than a health crisis. As temperatures creep higher, nature is likely to be a more frequent, intense, and random economic disrupter. An analysis of 405 extreme weather events over the past decade by Carbon Brief, a website in London devoted to climate science, shows that 70% were more likely to occur, or made more severe, because of global warming. “It’s not the…

It’s mid-August, and logistics manager RoxAnne Thomas’s phone won’t stop pinging. Her faucets, sinks, and toilets are waylaid near Shanghai, snagged in Vancouver, and buried under a pile of shipping containers in a rail yard outside Chicago. As U.S. transportation manager for Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC, a unit of Taiwan’s Globe Union Industrial Corp. that’s based in Woodridge, Ill., Thomas is trying to overcome the biggest shock wave to unsettle global trade since the dawn of container shipping almost seven decades ago. The pandemic has thrown the vital but usually humdrum world of logistics into a tailspin, spurring shortages of everything: masks and vaccine vials, semiconductors, plastic polymers, bicycles, and even baseball bobbleheads. For Thomas it’s complicated the shipment of about 10,000 20-foot containers of bathroom equipment she brings into the…

Imagine that you’re at an elevation of 28,000 feet (8,534 meters) on Mount Everest, trudging the final thousand feet to the top, and something goes horribly wrong: a whiteout disorients you, some crucial equipment fails, or a friend collapses. Nearby climbers leap into action, with only seconds to respond in the low-oxygen environment. The lesson for leaders? Preparation for that scenario would have occurred weeks earlier, down in oxygen-rich air, when the head of the expedition would have guided climbers through possible situations and trained them accordingly. Douglas Hicks, dean of Oxford College at Emory University, has used this Everest analogy in his introduction to leadership class since 1999. The scenario was originally part of his teaching on how leaders should approach extreme crises. But he recently realized that his trusty Himalayas…

以中餐本領深究西式菜系 做菜靠破釜沉舟的決心 外觀低調的L'Atelier parYao隱身樓房，沒有招牌，定位不在鬧區。主廚江曜宇站在開放式的廚房埋首張羅料理，沉穩的空間，氣氛燈稍暗，眾人的目光沿著光線落在他的身上暫歇，大廚一雙熾熱、躍躍欲試的眼神，叫饕客嘴裡動著，眼上卻不能輕易挪開視線。 江曜宇說：「我是衝動型的，當初決定去法國，人是先到了巴黎才開始找工作。」出國學西餐，初生之犢下機不過三天，沒貪玩的遊歷被海明威稱為「流動的饗宴」的城市，馬上就在米其林一星餐廳Frenchie找到工作。勇往直前的態度，讓他也曾擠進倫敦、瑞典的星級餐廳。「國外的工作經驗帶來不同的視野，讓我們回來再重新認識台灣，這是年輕主廚的優勢。」江曜宇言。 料理技巧 融會貫通中西餐 他回台掌廚做的雖是西式菜色，學廚歷程卻一路與中餐緊緊相繫。江曜宇說：「讀國小時，媽媽會給我錢去市場買菜，我會做炒青菜、煎魚， 也跟媽媽看美食節目。到了國中，跑去跟賣饅頭的老伯伯學山東麵食。」後續進入高雄餐旅大學國際廚藝系就讀，原是該把中餐推廣到國際，他卻反倒走進法國人的廚房，學習烹調技巧。…

今年以來，日圓匯率直直落，不僅對美元匯率創下六年半新低，日圓的「實質有效匯率」更已來到半世紀的低點。 日圓為何一路崩跌？「弱日圓」對全球金融市場將造成什麼影響？日股買點是否已然浮現？又，台灣一眾「哈日族」們，可以入場換匯撿便宜了嗎？對於上述種種疑問，本刊一一為您拆解。 「這樣換下來，差不多是我近一個月的台幣薪水，這些『憑空』多出來的錢，夠我搭四趟從東京到大阪來回的新幹線，或多住上八晚的五星級飯店……。」說話的，是年約三十歲左右，目前在台北出版業任職的小森。 小森的另一個身分是「哈日族」，月薪不到四萬新台幣的他，平均每年至少要赴日本「朝聖」四次，每年花在旅日的費用至少十二萬元。「疫情前，日圓匯率是一台幣兌三．六日圓，現在約四．三，假設，日圓繼續貶到四．六……，這樣（我每年）換匯，大概就可以省下台幣兩萬六千元左右。」小森在紙上試算著。 若以新冠疫情前飛日本的機票與住宿價格估算，「安排個關東地區四天三夜的單人行，兩萬六的預算綽綽有餘，還能多買一張東京迪士尼門票。」他興奮地說。…

台股最壞的狀況已經過去，第二季是找買點的絕佳時機。」國泰投信董事長張錫一再強調。 去年年底，張錫對本刊定調，二○二二年的台股將「先蹲後跳」、低點落在第一季，他當時固然無法預知今年第一季就殺入一隻「俄烏戰爭」的黑天鵝，但走到今天，大盤動向總是符合他的預判，尤其，在三月底上市櫃公司揭露去年整體財務數字之後，他更篤定相信，經過第一季的整理，台股已然蘊積了「後跳」的能量。 張錫的樂觀是「算」出來的，他分析，台灣上市櫃企業去年獲利逼近四．三兆元，以此估算，今年台股整體配息至少二．六兆元，平均現金殖利率超過五％，殖利率仍居全球之冠，以目前本益比僅十三至十四倍來看，台股下檔依舊有強大支撐。另方面，雖然美國面臨通膨壓力，但他認為，美國熱絡的就業市場仍能撐起零售市場的景氣，總體經濟數字料將不會太差。…

沒有物價穩定，就沒有持續性的充分就業……。升息，就是為了穩定物價。」三月十六日，美國聯準會主席鮑爾宣布最新的聯邦公開市場委員會（FOMC）決議：聯邦基金利率上調一碼（○．二五個百分點）。這是睽違近三年半之後、從二○一八年十二月以來的第一次，美國再度啟動「升息循環」。 隔日，在連續兩個月調高利率後，英國央行宣布再度升息，將政策利率上調一碼，至○．七五％。同一天，台灣的中央銀行也出乎市場意料，宣布與聯準會「同步等幅」升息一碼，這不僅是一一年七月以來首度升息，若論單次升息幅度，更是創下十五年之最。 美、英、台央行罕見「同時、同調」升息，要狠狠打擊的敵人，其實都是同一個……。 敵人是誰？在全長約五十五分鐘的聯準會記者會中，鮑爾一共說了五十八次「通膨」；在英國央行宣布升息後， 總裁貝利（Andrew Bailey）坦言：「通膨率可能在幾個月內衝到八％。」在台灣，「升息的箭頭，就是指向通膨。」央行總裁楊金龍說。 對於升息，無論美國或台灣，市場在第一時間都以「漲」聲回應。「朝著正確方向，聯準會跨出了重要的一大步！」美銀美林證券全球經濟研究主管哈里斯（Ethan…

Profile三井不動產株式會社（母公司） 成 立：1941年 資本額：340,162百萬日圓 董事長：菰田正信 主要業務： 辦公大樓、商業設施、飯店、住宅、物流等 Profile台灣三井不動產 成 立：2016年 資本額：36.76億元 董事長：下町一朗 主要業務： Outlet、LaLaport、飯店、住宅等 「全面六折！」「本館三折起！」類似的告示總是容易吸引消費者的目光；這裡不是百貨公司周年慶，因為一年三六五天，這個告示天天貼著，讓你買到手軟，這裡是Outlet（暢貨中心）。 但如果天真地以為Outlet只是一個販賣打折品的商場，那恐怕就太小看它了，打折、便宜只是其一，實際上，透過優惠折扣，吸引全家大小到此快樂地度過一天，才是Outlet的致勝祕笈。 當台灣整體百貨業的營運已經遇到天花板，自二○一九年之後，總營業額就在三五○○億元上下停滯不前，二一年甚至有可能面臨小幅衰退之際，另一種型態的賣場正在台灣悄悄蔓延，快速成長，那就是Outlet。 百貨業遇瓶頸業績衰退 Outlet快速竄升，激發「新消費力」…

“RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU THINK YOU’VE HAD A HARDER week than I’ve had.” It was Feb. 14, 2019, in the early afternoon, and for perhaps the first time in the 25-year history of Amazon.com Inc., Jeff Bezos was prepared to explain himself to his employees. Bezos was a master compartmentalizer; his ability to keep the intricate threads of his personal and professional lives separate was unrivaled. This talent had allowed him to build Amazon while also running a space company, Blue Origin LLC, and reviving the Washington Post—all while keeping his family life private. But those threads had gotten tangled. Bezos, a father of four, was the subject of tabloid stories in the National Enquirer about his relationship with a married former television host. Rather than doing what most billionaires do under…

Over a Zoom call from sunny Los Angeles, Donald Shoup—sporting a big white beard, a brown cardigan sweater, and a marketer’s telephone headset—was yelling at me. “Oh, how terrible, you have to move your car, so they can sweep the road. I think that’s just awful,” he said, with audible italics. “To overcome the base desires of people like you”—people like me?—“you have to give the money back to the neighborhood.” I’d made the mistake of griping to the bona fide king of parking reform that owning a car in New York City was annoying. Twice-weekly street sweeping forces a large group of people to fight for a small number of free curbside spots that they must then vacate frequently. It’s the rare game of musical chairs that requires insurance. And…

根據越南統計局最近一期統計調查資料顯示，2018 年越南賣場共計約8,660 家、超市共1,009 家、大小購物中心合計768 家、超過1,700 家便利商店，以及超過100 萬家傳統型態的小型或家庭式商店。目前越南大多數人口居住在農村地區，可支配所得和人口密度皆偏低，不利發展現代零售，造成在鄉村地區，傳統零售市場的銷售方式，如一人的小型雜貨店（柑仔店）持續扮演重要角色。 雖然目前傳統型態商店數量仍大於現代化的零售通路，但隨著經濟發展與生活水準的提高，現代化的通路仍將大幅擴展。此外，方興未艾的線上銷售，經過新冠病毒肺炎疫情影響，行情也看漲。 城市轉型 帶動現代零售通路蓬勃發展 越南主要的現代零售通路包括便利商店、賣場超市、商業中心、百貨／購物中心及專賣店等型態，除了越南本地Masan 等集團，亦吸引許多外資，如泰國Big C、日本AEON、南韓LOTTE 及馬來西亞Parkson 等集團加入角逐。 越南超市與購物中心主要分布於胡志明市、河內、義安、海防、北江、峴港、芹苴等省市，占比超過越南全國50％，成為當地消費零售市場的樞紐。2015 至2018 年，越南全國超市共計1,009…

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout has given drugmakers the kind of brand-name shorthand usually reserved for more mundane consumer products: People talk about getting Pfizer, Moderna, J&J, or Astra much as they might reach for a Kleenex or a Popsicle. And those companies have contracts to provide billions of doses, appearing to leave little room for other entrants. So why are dozens of hopefuls still working on shots? The answer is that while early leaders stand to book immense profits, the problem is big enough—and the continuing challenges daunting enough—to leave room for at least a few more companies. The offerings of two that got to the market quickly, AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson, have been linked to rare blood clots, slowing their rollout. The handling requirements and high cost of…

With coronavirus lockdowns, a real estate downturn, and surging oil prices stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Xi Jinping is turning to reliable allies to keep his ambitious economic growth target in reach: China’s more than 50 million construction workers. At Beijing’s behest, local governments have drawn up lists of thousands of “major projects” they’re under great pressure to see through. Planned investment this year amounts to at least 14.8 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion), according to a Bloomberg analysis. That’s more than double the new spending in the infrastructure package the U.S. Congress approved last year, which totals $1.1 trillion spread over five years. Much of the investment, like that in Washington’s plan, is slated for transportation, water, and digital infrastructure. But China already has more than twice as many miles…

At 90 years of age, Sofia Gubaidulina has honed her musical language amidst conflict. Since 2003, the profoundly religious, visionary, and visceral Russian composer has written three huge, prescient works that depict in musical terms a standoff between God and humankind. All receive their world premiere “live” recordings in this sensational-sounding, system-demanding outpouring from Andris Nelsons and the venerable orchestra that Felix Mendelssohn once led, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Gubaidulina, whom Nelsons appointed Gewandhaus’s composer-in-residence through 2022, has been working with the conductor since he and the Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered her Triple Concerto in 2017. Both the recording’s opening work—Gubaidulina’s third violin concerto, Dialogue: I and You—and its tour de force companion for huge orchestra, The Wrath of God, received inspiration from her oratorio, On Love and Hatred. According to the…

彼時盛夏，疫情肆虐，街上車少了。南台灣空氣燥熱，濡氣歪斜了道路景色，像有溼熱靈魂緩緩騷動。印度工程師尼爾瑪爾談到朋友蘿拉，折騰好久，終於可以回到她遠在薩爾瓦多的家鄉了。 二○ 二一年五月， 蘿拉騎著她的Gogoro電動機車去做指甲彩繪。台南永康區富強路是條隨處可見的雙線道，她在外線車道往目的地直行，一輛預拌混凝土車則在左側內線快車道行駛，朝同一個方向開。 然而，在接下來的路口，預拌車前方的小客車卻因準備左轉慢下來停等，因此預拌車司機向右變換了車道要繼續直行。但蘿拉正好就騎在預拌車換道的路上，於是，預拌車就像鋼鐵海嘯撲向她，後輪輾下⋯⋯。 她就這麼滅頂在他鄉的交通漩渦。修復師六月整理好她的身體，「親友發起活動募資兩萬多美元。她可以完整地回家了⋯⋯。」尼爾瑪爾嘆口氣。蘿拉其實不是孤例，交通風險像迷宮裡凶惡的陷阱，隨時、隨地，威脅所有台灣用路人。 十月，在淡水中正東路二段上，作家陳柔縉騎著單車準備回家。這條路的特色是三線轉五線道，右邊是往淡水的地下道，左邊則通往三芝。她原本騎在沿河建成的單車專用道上，但這條專用道沒有向三芝延伸，她要往三芝騎，就必須騎在慢車道。…

房地產是靠資產淨值產生現金流。因此，這個行業的目標是讓足夠的資產淨值為你工作，產生你追求的現金流。通常需要5 年或更長的時間，使用7個步驟的商業模式來達到這樣的階段： In real estate, equity produces cash flow. Therefore, the aim of the game is to get enough equity working for you to generate the level of cash flow you're after. It normally takes five years or longer to reach that stage using a 7-step business model: 要把房地產投資變成一項事業，你需要從以下問題開始： To turn real estate investing into a business, the question you need to start with is: 我每個月實際上需要產生多少被動收入才會安心？ How much money do I…

在第2 個小時的準備工作中，使用10頁的「終極故事模板」來製作強有力的提案。這是一個通用的故事模板，大致以英雄旅程為基礎，提供一個樂觀向前的提案。依循這套模板，就可以提出一份有創意、富原創性，而且最重要的是──有說服力的提案。 In the second hour of prep, use the ten-page "Ultimate Story Template" to craft a persuasive presentation. This is a universal story template, loosely based on the hero's journey, which will deliver an optimistic, forward-looking presentation. Follow this template to come up with a presentation that is creative, original, and above all persuasive. 關鍵思惟…

如果，今天科學家把你的大腦從頭顱中取出，放在一個充滿營養液的桶子裡維持大腦活性，再用電線與接頭取代所有神經纖維以維持感官功能。多數人應該無法想像、更別說忍受這樣的生活。但如果，接下來科學家會經由那些電線，向你的大腦發送極其擬真的電訊號：海灘景色的影像訊號透過模擬視網膜的電線傳送到你的視覺腦區，海浪拍打的聲音和夏日微風輕拂皮膚的觸感也從模擬各種感官電線傳遞過來，加上口中出現宛如喝下瑪格麗特調酒的味道，這樣的生活似乎比較沒那麼糟了吧？ 這個「桶中之腦」（brain in a vat）的假設性問題其實是由20世紀哲學家普特南（Hilary Putnam）所提出的一項想像實驗，重點不在於人們願不願意接受這樣的生活，而是當這件事真實發生，試想我們有任何線索能夠察覺眼前的夏日海灘原來是幻覺，而你我其實只是實驗室桶子裡的一顆大腦嗎？太空探索科技公司（SpaceX）和神經連結公司（Neuralink）的創辦人馬斯克（Elon Musk）就曾大膽推論，我們人類可能只是一堆程式碼，活在某種文明創造出的電腦虛擬世界裡。…

America is increasingly concerned about the possibility of war in the Taiwan Strait. It has good reason ON JUNE 29TH 1950 the uss Valley Forge, flagship of America’s Seventh Fleet, passed through the Taiwan Strait. A battle group defended her flanks, America’s first naval jets sat in her hangar, and a new vision of American-dominated Asian security unfurled in her wake. Only a few months before, America’s secretary of state, Dean Acheson, had declared that “The Asian peoples are on their own, and know it.” But on June 25th Stalinist North Korea launched an invasion of its southern neighbour, and a country confronting communism could no longer leave Asia alone. America would fight with South Korea. It was to join in that defence that the Valley Forge was steaming north from Subic…

IN APRIL, THE CIA’S TWITTER ACCOUNT REMINISCED ABOUT THE TIME THE United States supplied Afghan guerrillas with Stinger missiles. That was back in the go-go 1980s, when the U. S. national-security establishment was determined to ensure the Soviets, who had invaded Afghanistan, experienced “their own Vietnam.” By 1989, the CIA website crows, “the Soviet Union had concluded that the fight was not worth the cost and withdrew from the country.” The Soviets were in Afghanistan for ten years. The United States has been there for 20. When the U. S. invaded following the attacks of September 11, the Taliban was in control. As President Joe Biden announces plans to withdraw by September 11, 2021—an admission, witting or not, of the arbitrariness of it all—the Taliban rules large swaths of the country.…

Caracas once looked like a glimpse of Latin America’s future. When petrodollars flowed into Venezuela in the 1960s and ’70s, the nation’s capital experienced a building boom. Highways ringed the growing metropolis, which boasted a university suffused with public art and the region’s tallest skyscrapers. Big American cars prowled the streets, thanks to generous fuel subsidies, while world-class museums and theaters and state-managed housing complexes were built. But when Caracas turned 454 years old on July 25, it was less a cause for celebration and more of a reminder of the city’s reversal of fortune. A spate of economic crises ensued in the ’80s after oil prices crashed and the government accrued massive foreign debts, setting the stage for the election of President Hugo Chávez in 1998 and the socialist project known…

Less than two months ago, S7 Airlines was heralded as a Russian success story. Operating a modern fleet of Airbus SE and Boeing Co. planes, the carrier connected the country to western Europe, Central Asia, and even Thailand. A member of the Oneworld global aviation alliance that also includes British Airways and American Airlines, S7 boasted a solid safety record, paid its bills on time, and had a charismatic leader in Vladislav Filev—an amateur pilot who created the nation’s largest private carrier—to represent its growth ambitions. But following Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, Filev and the airline he built are left stuck between international sanctions that have prompted leasing firms to reclaim their aircraft and a Russian government determined to keep its aviation industry aloft. The airline, which once…

Tasting is both simple and highly complex. A child can do it (I’m not talking about wine, obviously), and yet it’s a vast subject whose intricacies could fill many books. So how do you go about getting the most out of your wine glass? I’ve talked to some of the world’s best tasters to discuss the tactics that they use when assessing, or just enjoying, a wine. Professional athletes are keenly aware of what affects their form. Wine tasters – especially those on the buying and writing side of the fence – are more likely to promote the myth of the infallible palate (theirs, naturally). Happily, that conversation is now changing as we learn more about our olfactory and taste systems. ➢ ‘The wine taster’s instrument is not only the nose but…

After years of unhappy reliance on Comcast Corp. and other carriers, Pleasant Grove, on Utah’s Wasatch Front, is turning to a new broadband option: a municipally owned company called Utopia Fiber. The choice follows a pandemic year that showed just how much households need fast, reliable internet connections for jobs, schooling, and medical care. To reach homes that lack good service, or have none at all, President Joe Biden has proposed funding networks such as Utopia Fiber that are run by cities and nonprofits. That’s not sitting well with Comcast, AT&T, Verizon Communications, and other dominant carriers, which don’t like the prospect of facing subsidized competitors. Pleasant Grove shows why established carriers might be vulnerable. With 38,000 residents, it’s nestled between the Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake Basin, just south…

高雄沿海，永安區。鬱鬱蔥蔥的綠色林木，兜攏起一座又一座化學儲槽和蒸餾塔。這是個異常整潔、日式風格的化學廠。 清新空氣中有蘭花隱隱飄香，八十三歲，總帶著溫溫微笑的勝一化工董事長孫靜源，站在儲槽前用台語大聲問訪客，「無鼻著啥物味乎（沒聞到什麼味道吧）？」 前方的槽車，裝的是半導體業所用的清洗劑、稀釋劑。 另一廠區（彰濱廠）則供應舉世最先進的半導體製程，五奈米部份生產程序所用的蝕刻液。 勝一，正是首家打進先進製程用蝕刻液的本土供應商。 孫靜源的叔叔，是早年著名的林業大王孫海。為了家族的三合板生意所需，日本早稻田大學畢業的孫靜源，在一九七○年代引進日商三菱的技術，創立勝一，生產合板用膠水。 隨後幾十年，勝一隨著台灣產業快速轉型，從木材膠水一路做到電子級溶劑，搭上台灣電子業大潮，並在近年打入台積供應鏈，與日商分庭抗禮。 勝一的五百多名員工當中，研發人員超過百名，甚至包括十名博士。 整齊、明亮的化學分析實驗室，全套無塵衣的員工，操作與台積實驗室相同、每台上千萬元的「感應耦合電漿質譜儀」（ICP–MS），可驗出兆分之一的污染與異常。…

過去半個月， 筆電、iPhone、安卓智慧手機遭「砍單」的新聞不斷，因為疫情而「熱」了兩年的消費性電子，反轉的信號似乎愈顯清晰，未來幾年，究竟哪種電子產品能接棒筆電與手機的熱潮，引發許多市場觀察者的討論與猜想。 其中，有一項電子產品，被不少法人認為，極可能是今、明兩年電子業的中流砥柱之一。 儘管，它的全球年產值僅兩千億元，相較於筆電的五兆元產值，其市場規模僅不到筆電的五％。然而，這個產值看似「小不拉嘰」的產品，卻在過去兩年引發了八件併購案，而併購的發動者，都是營收上千億元，甚至是上兆元的電子十哥，如台達電、華碩、友達、仁寶、佳世達等。 電子十哥依照由大至小市值排列，順序為鴻海、台達電、廣達、華碩、和碩、友達、仁寶、英業達、緯創、佳世達。 這個被電子十哥覬覦的產品，就是工業電腦（Industrial PC，IPC）。 友達砸37 億入股凌華華碩兩度出手，23億併購瑞傳 回顧近兩年的八起併購案之中，又以面板大廠友達入股凌華最為「大手筆」，前者總共祭出三十七億元入股後者；其次，則是筆電品牌華碩在十四個月內兩度出手，最終以總投資額二十三．三億元，併購振樺電旗下的瑞傳。…

我也不曉得救不救得活⋯⋯。」手持一根剛剛在堤岸邊拾起的漂流木，彰化縣環保聯盟總幹事施月英就這麼沿著海堤爬了下去；擔心她不慎失足，同行的彰化縣環保局公務員全緊張地盯著她。 海堤漲潮， 一如既往，一些海漂垃圾、冒泡的廢水隨著沿岸流湧入這個峽灣。這裡是彰化大城南段海堤，有兩隻小小的冬候鳥困在廢水中載浮載沉，施月英用廢塑膠棒艱難地把牠們勾回岸邊，然後用手捧著。 小鳥勉強發出微弱哀鳴，她用毛巾輕輕裹好牠們，「不曉得救不救得活，但至少，救了，就是個開始！」施月英像平時那樣爽朗地笑了起來。 救了，就是個開始！ 去年，《今周刊》走訪全台灣，對海洋廢棄物及海廢的產地進行了一次整體調查，大城南段海堤也在其中，二○一九年，綠色和平、荒野保護協會的「海岸廢棄物快篩報告」中，這段海堤被評選為第二髒的台灣海岸線，沿岸流不斷將來自中、日、韓以及台灣西部海岸的廢棄物捲進這個灣口。 這日並非每月大潮時刻，漲潮海水未淹沒整個海堤。國有財產署專員林建民剛好在現場，兩個外包淨灘廠商的阿姨則拿著簡單的道具，趁著潮間帶還無水，一件件將海廢拾起裝袋。再靠近海口一些則歸第四河川局管理，四河局外包的清潔人員，也在日頭下不斷撿拾垃圾。…

美國華盛頓大學理論物理學家帕奎特（Natalie Paquette）花費很多時間，思考如何增加一個維度。從小圓開始，散射到空間與時間中的每一個點，形成彎彎曲曲的維度，再繞回本身。接著把這些圓縮得越來越小，收緊環圈，直到出現奇怪的變化：這個維度看起來一點都不小，反而變得非常大，就像原本以為很小很近的東西，其實又大又遠。她說：「這是把空間方向縮小，但縮小到一定程度之後，又會出現巨大的空間方向。」 不只有帕奎特一人正在思考這個奇怪的因次遷變（dimensional transmutation）。越來越多採用各種方法研究不同領域的物理學家，不約而同地有了一個深刻想法：空間並非基本，甚至時間可能也不是。空間與時間或許是突現的（emergent），可能源自於自然界中更基本要素的結構和表現。在最基本的現實中，「何處」和「何時」這類問題或許根本沒有答案。帕奎特說：「可從物理學獲得許多線索，了解我們所知的空間與時間並不是基本的。」…

With the Chinese government oppressing Uighurs in Xinjiang, jailing democracy advocates in Hong Kong, and harassing Taiwan, gratitude isn’t something you’d think the U.S. owes it right now. But credit should go where it’s due. Americans should give their most threatening competitor their heartfelt appreciation—for fixing U.S. economic policy. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana, passed the Senate on June 8 by a 68-32 vote. It’s known as the “China bill” for good reason: It was inspired and made possible by Beijing. The legislation mimics aspects of the Chinese state-led economic model, with $250 billion to fund scientific research and support semiconductor manufacturing. Only China’s rise and hostile foreign policy, and the fear and concern they’re fomenting…

4月初，台灣爆發新一波嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎（COVID-19，簡稱新冠肺炎）疫情，發病時間更短、傳播力更高的新型冠狀病毒（SARS-CoV-2，簡稱新冠病毒）變異株Omicron讓確診病例數持續攀升，引發各界關注台灣的PCR核酸檢測量能是否足夠。 自從全球疫情蔓延以來，PCR（polymerase chain reaction，聚合酶連鎖反應）已經成為社會大眾朗朗上口的名詞，即便如今也普遍使用快篩試劑，但確診與否，仍是要做了PCR核酸檢測、通報衛福部疾管署確認了才算數。截至4月中旬，衛福部指定的COVID-19醫檢機構共有251家，PCR核酸檢測的每日檢驗量能超過19萬件。 瑞基海洋生物科技是2020 年台灣第一家取得衛福部專案製造授權的COVID-19 PCR系統商，市場佔有率高達35%。他們與病毒纏鬥兩年多，目睹病毒快速變異、強力傳播，今年初才完成交接的前、後任執行長張曉芬、鍾德豫日前接受《科學人》雜誌專訪，透露設計PCR檢測試劑與開發設備的種種心法，也預見未來核酸檢測的應用與市場方向。…

Conjured out of nothing and lived in by seemingly no one, China’s so-called ghost cities became the subject of Western media fascination a decade ago. Photos of these huge urban developments went viral online, presenting scenes of compelling weirdness: empty apartment towers stranded in a sea of mud; broad boulevards devoid of cars or people; over-the-top architectural showpieces with no apparent function. “In places called ghost cities you find massive, ambitious urbanizing projects that spark investment but don’t draw population all at once,” says Max Woodworth, an associate professor of geography at Ohio State University who’s written extensively on the topic. “The result is a landscape that appears very citylike but without much action in it.” China was underurbanized for many years, Woodworth says, and has raced to correct that. But…

As I only fight once or twice a year, I have to stay busy and active in the gyms. But because I took a loss in my last fight, there’s been a lot of reconstruction happening in my team. So I’ve approached training with more of a mental approach, looking at ways I can improve rather than just jumping back in the deep end from a physical point of view. I’m not happy about what happened previously [losing to Oleksandr Usyk] because that’s a competitor’s mindset. You have to be angry at losing; it’s not acceptable. So now it’s about driving forward. That’s why I love the Under Armour campaign quote: ‘The only way is through’. We watch the highlights and it’s good to show a lot of the wins, but…

As the tech industry has matured, people in Silicon Valley have become obsessed with developing ways to stop the human aging process. It started with really long bike rides and intermittent fasting, but some venture capitalists and startup employees have moved on to taking dozens of pills every morning, or injecting stem cells into their brain, or infusing their body with the blood of the young and virile. This brand of life-extension experimentation remains fringe, probably because it’s weird and there’s not a ton of evidence any of it works. But Celine Halioua has a plan to take the field mainstream, and it involves dogs. Her startup, Cellular Longevity Inc., is developing treatments that extend the life span of dogs while also making them more active in their later years. Should…

Hubert Palan signed on to Zoom from his home in Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 2 and prepared to address the 400 or so employees at his startup, Productboard Inc. As chief executive officer, he had big news: Productboard had just raised a new round of funding at a valuation of $1.7 billion. That meant the company could now officially call itself a unicorn—the term for a startup that investors deem worth $1 billion or more. Palan, a wide-smiling 43-year-old father of two from the Czech Republic, tried to make the video call a celebratory moment. “I was jumping around over Zoom,” he says. “I was like, ‘Yay!’ ” He took out a unicorn-shaped Christmas ornament, which he’d decorated with a small sticker of the Productboard logo and attached to a long…

南寶樹脂盤點碳足跡的一百天快打計畫 Profile 南寶樹脂 成 立：1963年 資本額：12億元 董事長：吳政賢 主要產品： 鞋膠、聚醋酸乙烯酯（白膠）、PU膠、熱融膠、光學膠、塗料 十二月，北風吹拂，剛過了胡麻盛產季的台南西港，農地休養生息。然而，在當地建廠近一甲子、以生產白膠聞名的南寶樹脂，上上下下正忙成一團。 這天， 該公司的生產、環安、資訊人員，齊聚南寶第一廠管理室，大夥視線聚焦在同一個電腦螢幕，不斷與他們請來的顧問交頭接耳、交換意見。 現場氛圍略顯緊繃，來自與時間賽跑的壓力。再過兩周，一套能計算廠區碳足跡、花費八十萬元的軟體，就要安裝在南寶旗下十一座廠。接著，最慢二○二二年三月底，他們就要盤點完這些工廠的碳足跡，然後逐一申請國際認證。 這個近一百天的大作戰，源自一個讓眾人跌破眼鏡的承諾：二一年六月，資本額僅十二億元的南寶，竟率台灣化工業之先，第一個承諾要在二○五○年達到碳中和，比規模大它八百倍的台塑集團、五百倍的遠東集團，都還來得快。 身處高碳排的化工業，南寶為何在客戶還未要求前，就作出多數同業還在觀望的承諾？這家三年前才上市的企業，到底在想什麼？ 複製24年前淘汰賽經驗…

要鼓勵員工一起來改變組織，你必須培養他們準備改變的態度。做好改變的準備有5 個步驟： To get people on board and motivated to change an organization, you have to develop a Change-Ready attitude in them. There are five steps to building Change-Readiness: 1 找出所有不容質疑的事 Round up all your sacred cows 2 培養一個準備改變的環境 Develop a Change-Ready environment 3 將抗拒變成準備就緒 Turn resistance into readiness 4 鼓勵員工改變 Motivate people to change 5 培養7 個準備改變的特質 Develop the seven personal Change-Ready traits 準備改變是一種態度： Change-Readiness is an attitude that is:…

The British and I have always had a complex relationship. Over the centuries, I’ve stood for empire-building and division, flown through war and peace, represented football hooliganism and royal pageantry, and adorned iconic designs as well as millions—maybe billions—of knickknacks and souvenirs. I was born in 1606, shortly after the merging of the crowns of England and Scotland, coming of age after the Acts of Union that formed Great Britain in 1707 and later added Ireland in 1801. By the 19th century I was everywhere our navy could sail, the potent symbol of the British Empire, combining the crosses of three patron saints: St. George of England, St. Andrew of Scotland, and St. Patrick of Ireland. My colors are as visible as ever now. The U.K. recently ordered that I should be…

For more than two decades, Airbus SE and Qatar Airways have been locked in a tumultuous relationship. The Gulf airline’s chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, has always relished a good fight, ridiculing the plane maker’s managers in public or refusing to take aircraft because of a perceived defect. Each time, Airbus endured the torment because the carrier is among its best customers, with billions of dollars’ worth of planes on order. Now the two are airing their grievances in public once again—only this time Airbus is fighting back. The companies are facing off in court in a highstakes showdown that’s being closely watched in the industry, because it stands to redefine the relationship between manufacturers and airlines. It all started with flaking paint on an Airbus A350 aircraft. The airline, the…

At least, that was the usual refrain. Not only did it never happen, but if anything the PC is in ruder health than it’s ever been. What’s more, the next 18 months or so are set to be even more special. A rapid-fire product assault is coming from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia, the likes of which we’ve never seen. Arguably it all started in 2014 when Lisa Su took over AMD and set about knocking PC hardware’s perennial underperformer into shape. AMD’s renaissance has forced Intel and Nvidia to up their game and PC enthusiasts are set to benefit. On the PC processor side, Intel will follow up the impressive Alder Lake architecture with Raptor Lake later this year. There’s a chance it might arrive less than a year after Alder…

SHANNON WAIT, a technician at a Google data center in South Carolina, never thought something as inconsequential as a water bottle could get her into trouble. But in January, she was suspended without pay for complaining on Facebook that Google wouldn’t replace her company-issued water bottle, which was missing its cap after it had loosened over time. The punishment came after she had also talked to managers about a delay in promised COVID-related hazard pay for herself and fellow contractors. But after posting about the water bottle, Wait was escorted from the data center floor to a conference call, during which she was accused of violating Google’s nondisclosure agreement. “I could do nothing but laugh, because there is nothing proprietary about a water bottle,” she says. After hearing about the incident,…

FOR THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, ONE OF THE FIRST SIGNS OF THE COVID-19 pandemic to come was a tragedy at a nursing home near Seattle. On Feb. 29, 2020, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Washington State announced the U.S. had its first outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Three people in the area had tested positive the day before; two of them were associated with Life Care Center of Kirkland, and officials expected more to follow soon. When asked what steps the nursing home could take to control the spread, Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, said he was working with the CDC to provide guidance, “but,” he acknowledged, “it is a very challenging environment, particularly with so many vulnerable patients,…

West Adams Boulevard runs east and west through central Los Angeles. To the north rise the skyscrapers of Mid-Wilshire, California’s new Wall Street, and the malls and mansions of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. To the south, such communities as Watts, Compton, and Inglewood line LA’s vast interior grid, composed largely of low-income Black and Latino neighborhoods with steel bars on the doors and windows. West Adams marked the northern curfew line during the Watts Rebellion in 1965 and still bears burn scars in empty lots from the 1992 Rodney King uprising. Today the neighborhood centered on the boulevard, also known as West Adams, is being rebuilt. One of the nation’s largest real estate firms, LA’s CIM Group, is testing the notion that a single developer can turn around a chronically underfunded…

Since the pandemic began, Kevin Liles has been running his New York record label, 300 Entertainment, from the patio by the swimming pool at his home in suburban Cresskill, N.J. Early one afternoon in January he’s there, smoking a cigar and conducting a staff meeting on Zoom. He doesn’t seem to notice that it’s started to snow. Sitting at a table near a blazing open-air fireplace, clad in a red hoodie and a green beanie with a pompom, Liles pelts his employees with questions about the performance of a potential hit, Play w/ me, by Bailey Bryan, a country singer turned edgy pop chanteuse. She’s scheduled to perform it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s YouTube channel. Liles wants his promotions people to flog the tune harder to keep…

Decades before he founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Morris Chang was present at the creation of modern Silicon Valley. He reminisced at an event this April about being at an industry conference with Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce in 1958, 10 years before they started Intel Corp. The three men attended sessions all day, let the beer flow at dinner, and sang at the top of their lungs all the way back to their hotel, according to Chang. “We felt favored by the gods,” he said. Moore and Noyce’s company went on to become one of Silicon Valley’s most legendary institutions before stumbling in recent years. It’s Chang’s TSMC that now seems like the blessed one, the result of his early embrace of an untested business model and deft execution that’s…