Stuff: the whole story

A 20-minute video that will surely trigger a much-needed debate in your classroom.

The Corporation (2003) – a documentary film

The winner of several international prizes, The Corporation is a documentary film that is a good discussion tool for business students/professors and -one would hope- professionals.

It is based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan.

Part 1 (with a promotional introduction):

and Part 2:

An extraordinary visual tool: Gapminder

Choose between a number of indicators, select which countries you want to show and then see the development over time.

Watch this 20-minute presentation from its developer at the TED conference 2007:

Go to gapminder.org for more information and other databases.

Related posts:

Visual literacy

The guru of quantitative information display

Words and visuals: Why are you there?

HBS case on Wikipedia

can be found here.

Related post: Wikis in Plain English

Visual literacy

It is as necessary to effective business communication as computer literacy is to effective business practice.

References:

The Virtual Literacy website is an e-learning tutorial on visualization for communication, engineering and business. You also want to explore the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) website.

Resources:

You cannot afford not to use the Periodic Table of Visualization Methods and this accompanying resource that documents each of the methods from the Periodic Table.

Several thousand words not necessary

The 4th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

Real-world elevator pitches

A source of many “real-world” elevator pitches, such as the following:

clipped from advisorgarage.wordpress.com

buji is seeking both investors and certified fund-raising professionals in providing/securing a $3 million equity contribution to allow the company to extend its premier poison ivy product line into an expanded portfolio of active-body skin care products, focused on preventing common skin care conditions of active consumers. Market research, consumer trends and intuitive knowledge all reaffirm the business opportunity for establishing the first naturally-based active lifestyle skin care line in the mass market. The company, which was formed in July 2004 and has distribution at Rite Aid, REI and other accounts, is seeking its first equity capital raise. The company, which operates on an outsourcing platform, has been founder funded and financed and is seeking this infusion to expand its product line, grow distribution and fund marketing and operations.

Global integrity Report

Many of the world’s national governments have been plagued by charges of corruption and pervasive malfeasance over the past few decades. As a result, a number of international organizations have been created to provide information on corruption and governance trends for the policy community and the general public.

With funding from the World Bank, the Global Integrity organization produces the Global Integrity Report, which features a number of “integrity indicators”, which analyze openness, governance, and anti-corruption mechanisms for a wide range of countries. Visitors to their site can read the Report in its entirety here, and also browse through a number of media resources designed for journalists. Additionally, visitors can also learn more about the organization’s staff members and their various methodologies for compiling reports. (Internet Scout report)

Plain English is quite an achievement

You achieve plain English when you use the simplest, most straightforward way of expressing an idea. You can still choose interesting words. But you’ll avoid fancy ones that have everyday replacements meaning precisely the same thing.
– Bryan Garner on “Plain English”

And you will find several excellent tools at the plainlanguage.gov website.

How to recognize plagiarism

An excellent website at Indiana University at Bloomington with cases, examples, resources and a 10-question test.