■ Hiring and Firing
When CEOs get the boot
Congratulations! You have just been named chief executive. Here's a bit of advice: Don't unpack your bags. Not only is the imperial CEO a thing of the past, so, too, is the idea of the long-tenured chief executive, Strategy & Business says in its summer issue. Some 355 of the chiefs of the world's 2,500 largest companies -- that's 14 percent -- left office last year. Of that number, 111 of them "were forced from office for performance-related reasons or because of disagreements with their boards," according to the article's authors. "This is the highest level of forced resignations we have seen," they write. "It represents a 300 percent increase over 1995, the earliest year we benchmarked." The authors say that this turnover is "a natural response to today's difficult corporate environment -- continued pressure for investment returns, geopolitical uncertainties, expanded regulatory oversight and international talent wars - along with the perceived or real inability of many CEOs to deliver."
■ Promotions
Soup Nazi Inc
In one of the better-known Seinfeld episodes, New Yorkers groveled at the feet of the Soup Nazi, a man who, depending on his mood -- and your attitude -- might or might not serve you what was described as the world's best potage. The character was reportedly based on the soup purveyor Al Yeganeh. Chain Leader, a restaurant trade magazine, reports Yeganeh now has "teamed up with seasoned food industry executives to take his famous recipes beyond New York via The Original Soup Man concept." Yeganeh's image is on all the signs and he will serve as the company spokesman. "He will not permit any follow-up or personal questions from the media, with whom he only communicates via e-mail ... Yeganeh prohibits reporters and prospective franchises from using the `Soup Nazi' phrase that made him famous."
■ Office dating
Colleages with benefits
Apparently there is a lot more going on at the office than just meetings and memorandums. Some 58 percent of workers surveyed said they had had an office romance, according to an article in the current issue of Men's Health. And 19 percent of employees reported they had dated a boss or supervisor. That number would seem accurate since 19 percent of the people in the same survey said they had dated a subordinate. Nearly four out of 10 said their company had no official policy on office romances. Some 23 percent said they had had sex in the office.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique