Table of contents: VOL. 152, NO. 11 - November 28, 2005
COVER STORY
Working 24/7 may seem good for companies, but it's often bad for the talent--and men finally agree. So businesses are hatching alternatives to the punishing, productivity-sapping norm. (more)

an appreciation

business life


At too many companies marketers never talk with human resources people. So customer service doesn't live up to promises. Here's how to turn things around. (more)



It's a new era, as the famed cognac house moves into American hands. (more)
dell's challenge
The powerhouse PC maker has hit A SUDDEN SPEED BUMP. Can the company get back on track? (more)
first

The economy may be cooling outside the Beltway. But things in Washington have never been better. (more)
A pandemic that isn't even here is driving my patients crazy. (more)



The hedge funds are buying Japan again. Should you? (more)
Nick Negroponte wants to give $100 laptops to poor kids around the globe. It's a noble goal, but is it feasible? (more)
The case for dumping the popular home-mortgage tax-deduction. (more)
It's wealthy, sunny, beautiful--and possibly the most dysfunctional big city in America. Can a new mayor fix it? (more)
The giant retailer isn't evil--just caught up in the global economy. (more)
Jennifer Emm, 35, Street Characters Inc., Calgary, Alberta (more)
get a life!
Working 24/7 may seem good for companies, but it's often bad for the talent--and men finally agree. So businesses are hatching alternatives to the punishing, productivity-sapping norm. (more)
innovation

The Xbox 360 kicks off the holidays in high definition. Plus, we pick the top games and gear from Nintendo, Sony, and more. (more)
Multiplayer games are taking off, and with them a vast and unexpected new market. People are trading imaginary things in imaginary worlds yet making real money. (more)
A former child actor builds a brokerage business, buying and selling assets that players earn in videogames. (more)
Shanda, China's hottest online-game company, is betting that it can become an entertainment giant. (more)
investing
The slumping giant needs to put more pep in its funds as it vies for a bigger share of the baby-boomers' billions. (more)
Financial assets are richly priced. That means returns are likely to be far worse than most people expect. (more)
Dental-supply companies are riding the aging baby-boomer wave, without pesky pricing problems and regulatory issues. (more)

The Treasury's I Bonds are paying 6.73%--for the next six months, anyway. (more)
The company has a strong pipeline and is tackling its product problems. (more)

media bubble
Why the long knives came out for Sony BMG boss Andy Lack. (more)
prozac backlash


retail revival
Federated CEO Terry Lundgren reckons he can save the great American department store from the scrapheap. His plan? Turn Macy's and Bloomingdale's into national brands. (more)
spitzer's next crusade
Spitzer cleaned up Wall Street, but is the little guy any better off? (more)
Wall Street hates him. Democrats love him. Eliot Spitzer's next crusade. (more)
sports management
Red Sox owner and hedge fund guru John Henry blamed himself when hotshot GM Theo Epstein quit. But letting Theo come back could be an even bigger blunder. (more)
washington

Everyone says the Supreme Court nominee is "pro-business." But what does that mean? In most areas of business law, his record is far more complex than the phrase suggests. (more)
There are big issues facing us as Ben Bernanke takes over for the great Greenspan. The trouble is, there's not a whole lot he can do about them. (more)
while you were out

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