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The top 10 biggest data breaches of 2020

Daniel Markuson Science & Technology

Last year, hackers were as active as never before, taking advantage of users’ vulnerabilities and the economic disruption amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Risk Based Security report, 2,953 breaches were publicly reported in the first three quarters of 2020 alone, bringing the number of exposed records to a staggering 36 billion. Out of the enormous number of data breaches that happened in 2020, experts picked the top 10 biggest leaks in terms of the data volume. The list includes leaky databases that were not necessarily breached per se but exposed sensitive data to the public.

Types of disability insurance businesses need to know about

Shawn Spencer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Disability insurance for business owners can be relatively in-depth, as there are many different types of coverage available to meet the many needs. The best way for you to understand your options is based on the size of your business. A small business owner is going to have different needs than a larger business.

Seattle, Salt Lake City, Boston top list of best cities for construction

Justin Gitelman Construction & Building Materials

With high business failure rates, long payment delays, safety risks, and complex regulatory requirements, U.S. construction companies operate in a challenging environment. But every city is not created equally; location makes a big difference in a construction company’s opportunity for success. In a review of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, Levelset compared cities on a variety of construction-related factors, including starts, employment, safety, salaries, weather, and lien security. Ten cities won top honors as the best places for construction businesses and laborers.

Why rules of order should guide and not rule

Bill Pawlucy and Benjamin Colvin Association Management

Rules of order are essential to any governing body. They give structure and guidance where other governing documents may fall short. That does not mean we should put them on a pedestal and reference them for every action taken. Nor should they be referenced every time a motion needs to be made or hinder forward progress in this age of technology. In speaking with a new director of a large nonprofit board, he told me about how nervous he was about his new role and making a great first impression at his first board meeting.

Businesses plan for the future despite a tremendously difficult 2020

Sumit De Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The year behind us was tremendously difficult. The obstacles we faced because of COVID-19 left most of us on edge, exhausted, and seeking solutions to unprecedented problems. The only obvious benefit of the pandemic is that it happened when it did, not 10, five, or even three years ago. Because of ongoing digital transformation across the globe, most economies were able to respond. Businesses stripped of their ability to operate face-to-face jumped online. Some of these efforts were smoother than others, but most soon navigated through the clumsiness and established streamlined remote-based operational processes.

Boost from beyond: Business advice from a corporate intuitive

Lark Gould Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Chicago-based corporate thought-leader and intuitive Dr. Therese Rowley has spent time at the top of the corporate ladder as management consultant and strategic planner for some of the biggest companies in the U.S., including Kearney Inc. and AT&T. Armed with an MBA and Ph.D. among other degrees and certifications from prestigious institutions, she now uses her learned skills and inborn talents to coach business leaders, CEOs and entrepreneurs as they seem to break through barriers seen and unseen toward remarkable success. I sat down with Dr. Rowley on the eve of this new year to find out what 2021 may have in store as well as what we can learn from the troubling times we are currently experiencing.

CES 2021 highlights the federal force behind a new era in technology

Lark Gould Civil & Government

Managing an upward trajectory and positive environment that fosters the strength of U.S. technology companies is a topic that played large at CES this year. The world’s largest consumer technology exchange ended last week after it successfully executed the entire event online for the first time in its history. To offer an incoming U.S. government perspective on the current state of tech was CES CEO Gary Shapiro, who sat down with Brian Deese, President-elect Biden's pick to direct the National Economic Council (NEC), for a discussion of what may be ahead in leadership.

10 simple reasons companies keep failing at strategic execution

Dan Bruder Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Whenever I hear strategy being discussed, someone invariably says that strategies fail because of poor execution. Other times, people say that execution is more important than strategy. But you could also argue that working hard and efficiently on something that is not part of an overarching plan does not create the best outcomes. If you Google the phrase, "strategies fail because of…," the top answer is "poor implementation." In their book "The Balanced Scorecard," authors David Norton and Robert Kaplan note that 90% of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully. If 90% of strategic planning fails, is it the plan or the execution of the plan that is poor?

Governance: Plain and simple

Robert C. Harris Association Management

Defining governance can be difficult. It is a broad concept with many influences. Volunteers are more familiar with management practices than they are with governance. Some organizations provide a hefty leadership manual to describe the board’s role. Others reduce it to a couple of pages with a dozen or so directives; for instance, the board is expected to raise funds, the board must adopt a budget, meetings are held monthly, etc. Hats off to the organization that can describe governance in a few sentences. Keeping it simple may avoid drifting from governance to management.

Study: How job seekers’ social media profiles affect employability

Linchi Kwok Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Social media plays an increasingly important role in recruitment and employee selection. Recruiters are tempted to check on job candidates’ social media profiles (SMPs) because SMPs could reveal more dynamic information about the candidates than resumes alone. By checking the candidates’ SMPs, recruiters can discover their real personalities, which cannot be easily achieved even through job interviews. Meanwhile, hiring managers can also assess job candidates’ social capital based on the size and the composition of their social networks.

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