Is There a Payoff from Top-Team Diversity - Essay Example

Five different Article Reviews on business related topics from five different readings from periodicals, newspapers, and/or journalsBarta, Thomas, Markus Kleiner and Tilo Neumann. "Is there a payoff from top-team diversity? ." McKinsey Quarterly (2012). Web.Barta, Thomas et al. in this article looks at the relationship between diversity in the top-level management and business performance. The authors assert that companies with a diversified top-level management in terms of skill, life experiences, and cultural backgrounds should perform better than their peers.

He says that this can be attributed to the broadened company’s strategic outlook. The assertions and findings in this article have some sort of evidence that Barta, Thomas et al. says were based on the analysis made on the Returns on Equity of top performing companies in UK, Germany, US, and France in the period between 2008 and 2012.Streitfeld, David. "Cut in E-Book Pricing by Amazon Is Set to Shake Rivals." The New York Times 11 April 2012. Web.This article by David Streitfeld analyses the implications of the US government decision of pursuing major book publishers on charges related to antitrust.

In addition, the author analyses the reaction of major publishers and looks at the step taken by Amazon, a major online e-book retailer of cutting the prices of its e-books. He discusses the reasons behind the suit as being due to the perceived deal between Apple, iPad manufactures and prominent book publishers such as Macmillan which he says was meant to counter the huge market share controlled by Amazon. The author seems to suggest that there is a collision between the government and Amazon as regards to the ongoing suit; however, he does not provide any sort of evidence to support his claim.

Wirz, Matt. "Buffet Feasts on Goldman Scraps." The Wallstreet Journal (2012). Web.This article by Matt Wirz reports on the “kill” made by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a Warren Buffet’s unit in the purchase of loans at about 60 cents on the dollar from Goldman and Sachs Group. According to the author, Goldman and Sachs Group bought the said loans from Lee Enterprises Inc., a newspaper publisher at about 80 cents on the dollar. The author asserts that the Goldman and Sachs loan traders unloaded those loans at a loss of about $ 13 million.

Apparently, Warren Buffet is seen to be feasting on the Goldman’s loan trader’s misfortune and is said to have unloaded the loans at about 82 cents a dollar making more than $13 million in the process. This article by Wirz is based on information from unconfirmed sources and thus its credibility is questionable.Hoover, Kent. "Intellectual property supports 40 million jobs in U.S. ." The Business Journals (2012). Web.This article looks at and analyses the finding of a report issued by the Commerce Department that suggests that over 40 million jobs in the US are supported by intellectual property.

It asserts that the firms in about 75 industries which range from computing and pharmaceutical industries also contribute over $5 trillion to the US GDP. Protection of (IPs) intellectual property rights goes a long way in encouraging business to invest in the next great idea which is very important in maintaining America’s competitiveness (Roberta Blank, Deputy Secretary of Commerce). Therefore, the government needs to continue and step up s efforts of protecting intellectual property rights since a healthy economy depends on adequate and proper enforcement of those rights (Tom Donohue, CEO, Chamber of Commerce, US).

The Associated Press. "Sony to Cut 10,000 Jobs, Turn Around TV Business." The New York Times 12 April 2012. Web.This article by the Associated Press reports on the resolution by the new CEO of Sony aimed at turning around the company’s fortunes and reviving it TV business that has since been going down due to the competition from Samsung and other TV manufacturers. It outlines the strategy by the new CEO of planning to reduce the company’s workforce by about 6 percent of its total global workforce.

According to the CEO, cutting down on operational and fixed costs will help revive Sony’s TV business.Works CitedBarta, Thomas, Markus Kleiner and Tilo Neumann. "Is there a payoff from top-team diversity? ." McKinsey Quarterly (2012). Web.Hoover, Kent. "Intellectual property supports 40 million jobs in U.S. ." The Business Journals (2012). Web.Streitfeld, David. "Cut in E-Book Pricing by Amazon Is Set to Shake Rivals." The New York Times 11 April 2012. Web.The Associated Press. "Sony to Cut 10,000 Jobs, Turn Around TV Business.

" The New York Times 12 April 2012. Web.Wirz, Matt. "Buffet Feasts on Goldman Scraps." The Wallstreet Journal (2012). Web.