Monthly Archive for December, 2010

From Yojana Shara, University World News

Innovation and knowledge are fast becoming new measures of international economic growth competitiveness with universities at the core. But measuring ‘knowledge capital’ or the more intangible intellectual capital as a contributor to national prosperity is still a new field. In a new book a Swedish academic has ranked nations in terms of intellectual capital, and Finland, Sweden and Switzerland came out on top.

Potential for future competitiveness is increasingly based on aspects of the knowledge economy but other conditions must also be met for a country to become richer, according to Leif Edvinsson of the University of Lund in Sweden, who has just released a book National Intellectual Capital: A comparison of 40 countries* which ranks countries according to how well knowledge and human capital translates into economic development and prosperity.

He believes investing in intellectual capital can ensure not just economic growth but quality growth that can be sustained. “A country may be wealthy today, but what about tomorrow? Knowledge and human capital must be sustainable,” Edvinsson told University World News.

“Intellectual capital is much more about quality of education and human experience than the number of people in higher education,” Edvinsson said. In his view universities are important “not as mass education, but as training for the human brain – universities are the back office rather than the front office of innovation and development,” he said.

So simply building more universities and getting more students into higher education will not create intellectual capital unless the economy can provide graduates with relevant jobs, or the environment to set up innovative companies. Intellectual wealth, according to the World Bank, can improve people’s lives as well as give them higher income.

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From Elenaq Berton in The Wall Street Journal:

First impressions count. This is the message Swiss bank UBS AG is sending its Swiss retail banking staff with a 43-page code dispensing advice on how to impress customers with a polished appearance.

Echoing rules applied at Swiss boarding schools, UBS’s guidelines go beyond a list of dress “dos” and “don’ts” by providing hygiene and grooming tips often dotted with aphorisms worthy of fashion and beauty magazines.

The move is part of a test UBS is carrying out in Switzerland across five pilot branches. It follows a recent advertising campaign aimed at re-establishing confidence in the Swiss bank’s brand and mending relations with clients.

As if taking a cue from style manuals, which often stress the importance of well-cut basic outfits in neutral colors, the bank expects its retail banking staff to wear suits in dark grey, black or navy blue, since these colors “symbolize competence, formalism and sobriety.”

Short skirts are off limits for female staff, who are told the ideal length should reach the middle of the knee. Showy accessories and trendy spectacles are a no-no. The document isn’t short of handy grooming tips.

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