Galileo's Improvements to the Telescope
Contrary to what many people think, Galileo did not invent the telescope. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, the Italian physicist and mathematician improves on an existing spyglass design to create a more powerful one -- a refracting telescope that he then used to study the night sky. Run time 01:50.
The quest for authenticity
After writing books on business and leadership for years, Manfred Kets de Vries has turned his attention to four of the main tenets of life, which have a profound impact on each of us.
Planting the seeds of success in the desert: Lipton's tea factory in Dubai
For many people, tea manufacturing conjures up images of tea pickers in Asia or Africa, with tea leaves being plucked at plantations and brought to a nearby factory for processing. Unilever's decision to build a tea factory in the desert of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is therefore not what one would expect to see, especially as it involves a major multinational company.
Improving organisations through performance feedback
Performance feedback plays an important role in indicating when a firm needs to change its management strategy. It doesn’t, however, indicate just what this new strategy should be, and firms do not always respond appropriately, says Henrich Greve, INSEAD Professor of Entrepreneurship and Organisational Behaviour.
Cross-cultural negotiations: Avoiding the pitfalls
When entering into negotiations, we should always take into account cultural factors such as the educational or religious background of the person sitting across the table, but, says INSEAD professor Horacio Falcao, many people both underestimate and overestimate the cross-cultural aspects.
Greek inventions and discoveries part 1
The western civilization is based on the Greeks. The Greek inventions changed the world and set the foundations of the modern world.(Amateur video with many good slides and text.) No narration.
Run time 05:02
Foreign firms eye China’s rural markets
Foreign multinationals are setting their sights on China’s countryside, enticed by strong economic growth and favourable government regulations, says Andrew Cainey, Managing Director for Greater China at management consultancy Booz & Company.
Foreign companies that started their businesses in China’s tier one and tier two cities “see the need and the opportunity to move down and meet the rest of the demand in China, which is growing so rapidly”, says Cainey, who has been based i
Combating malaria: How an oil company is helping to tackle the problem
For Marathon Oil Corporation, its project to tackle malaria on an island off Equatorial Guinea is paying off. It reckons that for every dollar invested, the economic return is around four dollars.
Innovative and responsible leadership: Taking a long-term perspective
How can sustainability issues become part of everyday business decisions and should business leaders, especially from family-controlled firms, be looking to take a longer term view rather than get caught up in the 'obsession' with quarterly results?
Islamic microfinance gains popularity in war-torn Afghanistan
After spending several years in Iran as a refugee struggling to make a living, Shooperi Sharif never imagined that one day she would have a business of her very own. Last year, the 34-year old mother of three took out an Islamic microfinance loan to expand her business -- it was an Islamic loan as she's one of thousands of Afghans who refuse to take interest-bearing loans.
Energy technologies: some forecasts for the next decade
Affordable energy that is clean and consistent, delivered in a single system at a fraction of the price that people are paying today – 4.5 pence (US$0.07) per kilowatt hour (kWh) to be precise – isn’t that too good to be true? John Banham, Chairman of Johnson Matthey, doesn’t think so because these are the very benefits from fuel cells which are already powering homes and buildings in the US today. And it often comes from an unlikely source – methane gas from human waste.
Healthcare: at the crossroads
Healthcare reform today is being avidly discussed in political, social, medical and business circles around the world. In developing countries, the billions of dollars spent on containing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases such as TB and malaria, are beginning to show some positive results. In Europe, the cost of government-sponsored healthcare is having a negative impact on GDP, while in the US, the Obama Administration is embarking on the country’s most ambitious attempt at p
"The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression"
James Mann is author in residence at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and the author of Rise of the Vulcans, About Face, and Beijing Jeep. He was previously the Los Angles Times Beijing bureau chief. In his new book, The China Fantasy, Mann explores two scenarios popular among the policy elite. The "Soothi
“Baltimore Drowning: A Slavic Microhistory of Global Proportions"
This talk by Keith Brown of Brown University was the keynote address of "Rethinking Crossroads: Macedonia in Global Context." The conference assembled both young and established scholars whose social-scientifically and humanistically informed work speaks to the contemporary realities of the Republic of Macedonia as they continue to be reshaped by actors and p
"Militarization of U.S. Foreign Relations with Latin America: Prospects for Change"
A panel discussion with: Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director of the Latin America Working Group; Joy Olson, Executive Director of the Washington Office on Latin America; Adam Isacson, Senior Associate at the Center for International Policy. From the Latin American Briefing Series. Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Internati
"Q&A with Director Hitomi Kamanaka"
A discussion with the director of the film Rokkashomura Rhapsody: A Plutonium Plant Comes to Northern Japan. Part of the Japan at Chicago Lecture Series: Celebrating Protest. Sponsored by the Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies, the Human Rights Program, the Center for International Studies, the Committee on Cinema and Med
"U.S.-Cuban Academic Relations Part II: Roundtable Discussion on U.S.-Cuban Academic Exchange"
Introduction: Alan Kolata, University of Chicago. Discussants: Stephan Palmie, University of Chicago; Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, University of Chicago; Shannon Dawdy, University of Chicago; Laurie Frederik, University of Chicago; Paul Ryer, University of Chicago.
U.S. and Cuban scholars involved in academic, scientific, and cultural research face
"Session 3 (Futures) - History Textbooks and the Profession: Comparing National Controversies in a G
A symposium panel featuring the following papers: "School Textbooks as Collective Memory and Social Design: Some Thoughts on Developing a World Consciousness" — Hanna Schissler (Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany); "Historical Reconciliation: A Tool for Conflict Resolution" — Elazar Barkan
"Japanese Education and Society in Crisis"
A talk by Yoshifumi Tawara, Secretary General of the Children and Textbooks Japan Network 21. Part of the Japan at Chicago Lecture Series: Celebrating Protest. Sponsored by the Japan Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies, the Human Rights Program, and the Center for International Studies.Author(s):
"United States Government Perspective Global Energy Security"
Introduction by Robert Zimmer, President, University of Chicago; Keynote Address by The Honorable Alan S. Hegburg, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Energy Policy.
Session 1 of the conference "Petroleum: Prospects and Politics." Sponsored by the Chicago Society. Co-sponsored by the Student Government of the University of Chicago, The Graduate Scho
