Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
Jobs made Apple a $1 trillion company with a question that you should ask yourself
In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Few people gave Apple a chance to survive, let alone go on to become the world’s first publicly-traded company to hit $1 trillion in market value. In this video, Jobs speaks to a group of employees and he raises Read More...
Indian executives are using religion and spirituality to make ethical decisions
In India, the fastest growing major economy in the world, corporate social responsibility efforts are often inspired by religion and spirituality. Two business professors conducted a survey and found that virtues embedded within the various traditions of religion and spirituality in India Read More...
These 10 companies hire people to work from wherever they like
Increasingly, technology allows people to work out of the office. Almost half of the employees in the US are working remotely at least part of the time. The majority of remote jobs still require workers to live in specific regions or locations, but here are 10 companies that let you work remotely Read More...
7 ways that businesses can support refugees
I recently had the honor of co-hosting the first-ever TEDx event held at a refugee camp — it took place at Kenya’s Kakuma Camp, home to more than 186,000 people from 19 different countries. The 15 speakers and artists were a mix of current and former refugees as well as experts who study Read More...
This 13-year-old built a best-selling lemonade brand
Mikaila is 13. She started selling lemonade—based on a 1940s recipe from her great-grandmother in front of her family home when she was 4. Then she got stung by two bees in two weeks. Her parents advised her that rather than freaking out at the sight of every bee, she should do some research to Read More...
Michelin plans to replace oil with wood for more sustainable tires
Wooden tires? Today, 80 percent of the materials used to make car tires comes from oil. In an attempt to make tires more sustainable, Michelin will be introducing a new tire in 2020 wherein some of the oil components will be replaced by wood. The tire maker will incorporate elastomers from wood Read More...
Alphabet balloons will soon bring Internet access to remote regions of rural Kenya
Loon, a business of Alphabet, Google’s parent company is deploying a system of balloons to beam high-speed Internet access to cover rural areas in Kenya from next year onwards. Loon is partnering with Telkom Read More...
Four-day work week cuts stress and boosts commitment at New Zealand firm
An experiment at a New Zealand company shows that a four-day working week substantially increases the capacity of employees t0 manage their work-life balance. The 240 employees worked four eight hour days for two months and were paid for five. Academics studied the trial before, during and after Read More...
Amazon turns the trunk of your car into a mailbox
If you have the right vehicle, you live in one of 37 selected cities in the U.S, and you are an Amazon Prime member, the tech giant will deliver packages to the trunk of your car. The service follows an Amazon initiative last year of deliveries in people’s homes. The future of urban deliveries is Read More...
Starbucks and McDonald’s invite more competitors to work with them to rethink cups
Worldwide each year 600 billion cups are used for coffee and soft drinks. McDonald’s and Starbucks distribute a combined 4 percent of that amount. Their cups are technically recyclable but the infrastructure to make that happen rarely exists. That has to change. That’s why the two fast food Read More...