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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about the case for business, top-performing CEOs, the best manufacturing plants in the US, Ben Stein's dinner with Warren, and the future of the magazine.

From the Economist: The silence of Mammon
"HENRY HAZLITT, one of the great popularisers of free-market thinking, once said that good ideas have to be relearned in every generation. This is certainly true of good ideas about business. A generation ago Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan did an excellent job of making the case in favour of business. Today it looks as though the case needs to be made all over again."

Wally's Comment: We're in a business bashing cycle. And the business response is a lot like a boxer covering up and backing up as a more aggressive opponent wades in with punch after punch. It's not enough to point out that not every business person is an avaricious bully or that without profit there wouldn't be much progress in the world. The Economist calls for us to respond in ways that are more spirited, aggressive and effective.

From INSEAD: The 200 top-performing CEOs in the world
"Created by three INSEAD professors, the ranking is based on a global data set of some 2,000 CEOs of 48 nationalities and from companies in 33 countries. CEOs from companies in the S&P Global 1200 and S&P BRIC 40 lists since 1997 were measured on three metrics during their tenure: industry-adjusted total shareholder return (TSR); country-adjusted TSR; and change in market capitalisation. They were then ranked on each metric to form a combined rank. "

Wally's Comment: For Americans, the big insight from the list may be the number of top CEOs who aren't from the US. It wasn't that long ago that a list like this would have twenty of the top twenty-five places taken by US companies. No more. On this list just about half the top twenty-five are from the US.

From Industry Week: 2009 IW Best Plants Winners: Focused on Excellence
"One purpose behind IndustryWeek's annual salute to manufacturing excellence is to recognize plants that are on the leading edge of efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction, and create stimulating and rewarding work environments. Now in its 20th year, the 2009 IW Best Plants competition once again is demonstrating that manufacturing excellence continues to flourish across North America."

Wally's Comment: The rest of us can learn a lot from the manufacturers. It's true that we're becoming a knowledge economy. But it's also true that most of the good ideas about focus and process still start and get developed in manufacturing. That's just one reason why you'll enjoy browsing through this annual list of best manufacturing plants.

From Fortune: Ben Stein: My dinner with Warren
"Sunday, December 13, my pal Phil DeMuth and I flew into an unbelievably cold Omaha to meet and eat the next day with the maestro, Warren E. Buffett. The next day was even colder, but Warren greeted us in his trademark folksy manner at the door to Berkshire Hathaway's old fashioned, but solid, offices in downtown Omaha. I know that space is limited so I will get right to what went on."

Wally's Comment: What could be better than two of my favorite clear-eyed commentators having dinner and then having one of them write about it?

From the Toronto Globe and Mail: The Future of the Magazine
"With ad sales falling, editors are going digital, employing online applications that can increase revenue. But it's a tough fight against a free Internet."

Wally's Comment: This is an article to ponder. Gourmet is gone. Reader's Digest is different. And magazines like the Economist and the Harvard Business Review have quietly made themselves into something more than staid, print-only publications. Among the US newsweeklies, only Time has recently made a profit, mostly by cutting costs (read people). And, oh yes, an outfit called Printcasting promises that you (yes, you) can "start a new local magazine in just five minutes." You can't answer the question "What's the future of the magazine?" without asking: "What is a magazine, anyway?"

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.