Here's a look at some good stuff from the business blogs this week, starting with key Carnivals. I'm pointing you to posts on racial discrimination at work, short-termism and its evils, the case against hourly billing, HR and a potential "seat at the table," and management rights.

Revenue River hosts the latest edition of Carnival of the Capitalists.

Three Star Leadership (hey, that's me!) hosts the most recent Carnival of Human Resources.

From Race in the Workplace: What to Do If You’re Experiencing Racial Discrimination at Work
"Think twice before reporting racial discrimination to your company’s human resources department. Why? Because it’s not always the most effective strategy. Read on for a step-by-step guide on what to do if you believe your supervisor is discriminating against you because of your race."

Wally's Comment: This is the best post or article I have seen on this subject. The advice is solid, practical, grounded in reality and well presented. It's worth clipping and saving.

From Fortify Your Oasis: Short-Termism Part 2
"My take on yet-another-financial-scandal played out in a publicly quoted corporation? It's very simple - we need a new model folks. We need a new model, cos the Top Gun, A-type-personalities-with-rabies on Wall Street whose sole concern seems to be faster-than-instantaneous gratification are measuring, and will continue to measure things in a way that are causing companies to ... how can I put this? Stray ... somewhat."

From Gruntled Employees: Hourly billing: Presumed Unethical
"If I bill by the hour, and a task takes me longer to complete, that's good for me (more money) and bad for my client (more time before satisfaction). That's why my firm has completely abandoned hourly billing — we've billed exactly 0.0 hours in 2007. Once a law firm has done the analysis and has learned how hourly billing is bad for its clients, how can it not be unethical to continue the practice?"

From All Things Workplace: HR: More Implementation, Less Strategy, More Success
"You're in HR. You want respect. You want respect from all levels of management. You want (gulp, argh): "A seat at the table!" If so, first do some of the grocery shopping, set the table, help cook the meal, and wash the dishes. I think you'll find a place card with your name on it--written in permanent ink. But here's my cheesy rhetorical question of the day: Is that the message HR people are hearing from the profession?"

From HR Thoughts: Collaboration Does Not Equal Pushover
"Management rights. We have them. We give them away. We have got to stop doing that. We must be able to recognize a management right when we see it and when asked to give it away, we need to respond appropriately. When we take an action protected by 7106 (a) and the Union's response is, "No, you can't do it," a proper and correct response is, 'Your request is not an appropriate arrangement.'"

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