MySpace is close to launching local versions of its site in Canada and Mexico as part of an aggressive international expansion, with South Korea and China believed to be next on its list.
The online social networking site, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has doubled the number of people it employs in six months to keep up with its rapid growth.
More at Financial Times
…IBM’s announcement of a new product called Lotus Connections. It wraps five social networking technologies up into one integrated package—similar to what Microsoft’s Office does for traditional desktop productivity software such as Word and Excel. And, if IBM handles this right, its package could rapidly spread the use of so-called Web 2.0 applications in the business world. “While social computing software is perceived as being at the fringe of most large businesses, it’s actually moving to the center fast—because it’s about how the next generation of employees communicate, and create and share ideas,” says Franks Gens, senior vice-president for research at tech market research IDC.
More at BusinessweekOnline
Whether you are scaling the world’s fourth-highest summit, running the world’s second-largest company, or trying to restore the tarnished reputation of a government-backed mortgage securities company, some leadership traits seem to be universal. These include, for example, a belief in teamwork and the ability to look beyond the moment to map a course for the future. In this section, Knowledge@Wharton reports on recent conversations with, or presentations by, a diverse group of leaders, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer; Thia Breen, president of Estee Lauder Americas; Richard Syron, CEO of Freddie Mac; Richard Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, and Rodrigo Jordan, chairman of Chile’s National Poverty Foundation and a world-class mountaineer.
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