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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about the continuing crisis in the financial markets, technology in the developing world, two articles on unconscious factors in financial decisions, what CEOs can learn from medical doctors, and how to measure HR performance so you can manage it.

Last week's newsletter was "The Gordon Jones Rules." As usual there were pointers to Web and Reading Resources, too.

From Business Week: Over the Limit
"Americans accustomed to cheap and easy money—and an economy geared to their free-spending ways—face a harsh new reality as banks raise rates and lower ceilings on credit cards."

Wally's Comment: This week's article on the mortgage/trust crisis looks at the effect on consumer debt, especially credit cards.

From the Economist: Of internet cafés and power cuts
"WITHIN a few months China will overtake America as the country with the world's largest number of internet users. Even when you factor in China's size and its astonishing rate of GDP growth, this will be a remarkable achievement for what remains a poor economy. For the past three years China has also been the world's largest exporter of information and communications technology (ICT). It already has the same number of mobile-phone users (500m) as the whole of Europe. China is by no means the only emerging economy in which new technology is being eagerly embraced. In frenetic Mumbai, everyone seems to be jabbering non-stop on their mobile phones: according to India's telecoms regulator, half of all urban dwellers have mobile- or fixed-telephone subscriptions and the number is growing by 8m a month. The India of internet cafés and internet tycoons produces more engineering graduates than America, makes software for racing cars and jet engines and is one of the top four pharmaceutical producers in the world. In a different manifestation of technological progress, the country's largest private enterprise, Tata, recently unveiled the “one lakh car”; priced at the equivalent of $2,500, it is the world's cheapest. Meanwhile, in Africa, people who live in mud huts use mobile phones to pay bills or to check fish prices and find the best market for their catch."

Wally's Comment: This article is a must-read if you think that India and China are on an unstoppable march to world domination.

From Time: Depressed? Don't Go to the Mall
"Next time you're down in the doldrums, you might want to avoid the mall. People who are sad tend to be willing to pay more for things — it's like going to the grocery store on an empty stomach — according to research into financial decision-making."

From the New York Times: Fast Driving May Lead to More Trading
"IF you get speeding tickets, watch out: The chances are good that you will also engage in possibly dangerous investing behavior, too. That is the implication of a new study that found that individuals who receive more speeding tickets tend to churn their portfolios. The study, “Sensation Seeking, Overconfidence and Trading Activity,” has been accepted for publication by The Journal of Finance. The authors are Mark S. Grinblatt, a finance professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Matti Keloharju, a finance professor at the Helsinki School of Economics."

Wally's Comment: Take these two articles together for a look at how our financial decision making is affected by other things. Then read the following about business decision making.

From Harvard Business Online: A Doctor’s Rx for CEO Decision Makers
"I recently asked business leaders in manufacturing, real estate, and banking how misdiagnoses in their industries are handled. I learned that formal decision-making reviews are rare. CEOs are seldom challenged by employees. Moreover, executives are still lauded for being rapid decision makers who rely on their own minds; they know little about innate susceptibility to cognitive biases. The format of clinical conferences, where the tools of cognitive science are used to air and dissect errors in physicians’ judgment, can become a part of every business enterprise. All managers, including the CEO, should be open to the kind of self-analysis that doctors now employ. Thinking errors in medicine can mean the death of a patient. Similar cognitive errors in a company can have profound implications for the future of the organization, its employees, and the CEO."

Wally's Comment: This is from a Harvard Business Review article by Dr. Jerome Grooperman, who is the author the excellent book, How Doctors Think. The big lesson for business decision makers is that we often value macho over good process and participation. The military and the medical profession have a history of "after-action" critiques and structured decision making that business could adapt to its benefit.

From Evidence Based Management: Evidence-Based Human Resources: The Next Generation of Human Capital Analytics
"In today’s knowledge economy human capital is no longer a means of competitiveness – it’s now the means of competitiveness. And now, ironically, after years of struggling for a strategic role, Human Resources executives are finding themselves increasingly responsible for – and held accountable for - driving business results. This new role serves as a mandate for Human Resources executives to make their case – to clearly demonstrate how human capital strategies impact the business. While this approach may appear obvious, it isn’t. According to research by The Conference Board, only 75% of companies measure anything in their HR departments while fewer than 25% indicate that they have anyone on their HR staff who can define, measure, and track HR metrics that are aligned to business strategies. A mere 12% indicated they use HR metrics to drive their company’s overall strategies."

Wally's Comment: If HR people really want to be part of the strategy discussion many of them will have to overcome their fear of numbers.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.