More business travelers are headed to China

Going Places
Top destinations for growth in corporate travel spending in 2008:

1. China
2. UK
3. India
4. Mexico
5. France
6. Germany
7. Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico)
8. Canada
9. Japan
10. Brazil

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Source: National Business Travel Association (NBTA) survey of 215 travel buyers (details via CFO magazine, January 2008)

8 top business issues for ’08

No surprises here.  But it’s a nice restating of the obvious megatrends. From interviews with industry consultants at Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, here are eight business issues “that resonated across multiple industry sectors and could have a dramatic impact” this year:

• Globalization
• Convergence
• Environmental Sustainability
• Rising Energy & Health Care Costs
• Transparency
• Technology Use & Integration
• The 2008 Presidential Election
• Talent Management

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Source: “2008 Industry Outlook: A Look Around the Corner,” Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, January 2008
The full report, with analyses for various industries, is available here.

The price of rice is sky high

The global commodities boom that has lifted prices of everything from gasoline to gold is now elevating the price of rice — a staple food for half of the world — to its highest level in nearly 20 years. The ubiquitous grain is suffering from poor harvest and tight supplies, just as demand grows in places such as India and the Philippines. The price hikes are a boon to some farmers and investors, but the food-price inflation could widen the rift between the world’s haves and have-nots. — The Wall Street Journal (15 December 2007)

Labor shortage at hospital emergency rooms

Hospital emergency rooms across the U.S. are increasingly unable to find on-call specialists to treat seriously injured and ill patients. The shortage is most acute for neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and obstetrician/gynecologists. Causes: Fear of malpractice lawsuits; a reluctance to go without pay when seeing uninsured patients; unwillingness to disrupt their private lives and private practices. Some hospitals are paying certain specialists stipends to be on-call. Others use telemedicine as a workaround. — The Washington Post (21 December 2007)

Peripheral vision

Five things that caught my eye:

• After months of scandals, virtual banks in Second Life are being shut down.
• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to shift the target of its toy-safety enforcement efforts from manufacturers (which are mostly untouchable overseas now) to the retailers.
• Google reports that it processes over 20 petabytes of data per day.
• U.S. and Canadian antitrust agencies are investigating whether chocolate makers have colluded to fix prices, trying to offset higher dairy costs.
• iMantri is a new Web site that “seeks to match mentors up with mentees using a niche social network that focuses on goals and competencies.”