Cisco and Microsoft: Handmaidens of Government Surveillance?

Eighteen months after Google pulled its search engine out of China to avoid censorship, Microsoft's Bing still censors searches there. And now Cisco Systems and others are working on a government project in the city of Chongqing, for example, building what will be the biggest police surveillance system in the world. What is right, making concessions to do business in a fast-growing and lucrative market, or foregoing profits in the quest to "do no evil"?

Can (or Should) Tim Cook Replace Steve Jobs?

The day after Steve Jobs resigned as CEO, Apple stocks dropped as much as 7%. Though shares have recovered since, concerns persist whether Jobs' long-time adviser and successor Tim Cook can step into his larger-than-life shoes, despite (or because?) Cook's reassurances that "Apple is not going to change." Can Cook replace Jobs? (Or, for that matter, would he want to?)

What Do Leaders Do All Day?

What do top executives actually do all day? Where do they invest their energies, how do they communicate, what are their roles, their key challenges? A new doctoral dissertation from the School of Management at Leipzig affords a rare glimpse behind the scenes. It is not a pretty picture. Most leaders fail to invest enough time in standing in the future.

Is Workplace Loyalty Dead?

Have the realities of a fast-paced economy—multiple careers, high mobility, freelancing, shortening of contracts, automation and outsourcing—killed off loyalty in the workplace? Or are the bonds between employers and employees just as strong as ever? And if loyalty is waning, what can company leaders do to strengthen their people's allegiance?

Prince Philip: Appalling or Amusing?

Most leaders avoid political incorrectness like the plague, and when they do commit a blunder, they bend over backward to apologize. Not so Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (also known as "Duke of Hazard"), who is famous (or infamous) for saying the very things nobody dares say and offending people at every turn. Is Queen Elizabeth's husband rude, or refreshing, or both?

IBM at 100: What Is the Secret Sauce?

IBM is 100 years old now, in the same year it passes $100 billion in sales. The company that started in 1911 as a merger of four companies named Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. boasts robust profits, products, and services, and its stock market value surpassed Google's. What is the secret of the company's staying power and ability to reinvent itself?

Does Power Turn Men Into Sexual Predators?

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Lord Acton used to say. Were Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnold Schwarzenegger (and now Anthony Weiner) seduced by their powerful and patriarchal positions? Or were they predators long before they had their power perks?

Anthony Weiner Quits: "Pervert" or Private Matter?

After weeks of hand-wringing and denials that he would quit, U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) resigned today over his lewd online exchanges with women constituents. Should Weiner be punished for being a "pervert" as some have put it? Or is his private behavior a matter between him and his wife Huma Abedin, since he has done nothing to break the law?

Doctors vs. Nurses: Communicate or Die

Some 200,000 patients are estimated to die each year because doctors dress down or intimidate nurses, nurses don't speak up, and hospital teams communicate badly, if at all. It's a drastic case of "Communicate or Die." What can be done to improve matters?

Bob Dylan at 70: Is He a Leader?

Bob Dylan is 70. Though his fans' main birthday gifts seem to be scoldings and criticisms, all agree that few people had more innovative influence on 20th-century music. One of the drivers of Dylan's reluctant leadership was the pursuit of what he called his "way home": the holy grail of being truly yourself.