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November 20, 2012 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise Business Finance Today  Manufacturing returns but without blue-collar jobs Manufacturing is growing fast in the U.S. and other major economies but the nature of factory work has changed and the number of traditional factory jobs has decreased, according to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute. Worldwide manufacturing contributed to 37% of productivity growth between 1995 and 2005, but employment fell 24% in that period, the study found. The Washington Post/Wonkblog (11/19)       Retain chains seek to win back Internet buyers Major retailers are rolling out promotions to avoid losing holiday sales to "showrooming," when shoppers visit stores to look at merchandise, then buy online. IDC Retail Insights surveyed shoppers and found that 20% intend to "showroom" this year, double last year's percentage. The Washington Post (11/19), Forbes/Great Speculations blog (11/19)       Your Bottom Line  Data show a corporate-cash shift out of agency bonds in October Agency bonds lost favor with corporate cash managers in October, with managers scaling back their allocations to 16.1% of total cash balances, according to Clearwater Analytics. Corporate debt was up 0.7%, totaling 32.04% of cash. The Wall Street Journal/CFO Journal (tiered subscription model) (11/19)       Exec survey: Lower the tax rate and you can keep the incentives A lower tax rate is preferable to tax incentives for about 80% of business executives, a KPMG survey says. Executives said they would be most willing to give up accelerated depreciation, the manufacturing deduction and research and experimentation tax incentives in exchange for a lower corporate-tax rate. Accounting Today (11/19)       In the C-Suite  Does your company need a wheel of fortune? To keep his workers happy and engaged, Conductor CEO Seth Besmertnik holds regular meetings where workers are invited to spin a "Wheel of Fortune"-style wheel. The wheel can order workers to put on an impromptu talent show, take a day off, wear a crown around the office all day -- or have Besmertnik himself make an enraged face at them. "It lightens up the dialogue. As the company gets bigger, it helps everyone get to know people from other departments a little bit more," Besmertnik explains. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/17)       How to lead like a fairytale hero Fairytales present a vision of leaders as infallible heroes: farsighted, passionate, wise, generous and trustworthy. It's not always possible to live up to those ideals, writes Erika Andersen, but to be effective, leaders must at least try to embody them. "[W]e're still wired to accept as leaders only those who line up with our centuries-old map of leadership attributes," Andersen explains. Fast Company online (11/15)       On the Move  Julie Brown has been appointed CFO at Smith & Nephew. She is group finance vice president and interim CFO at AstraZeneca. Fox Business/Dow Jones Newswires (11/19)       Off the Charts  Matchmakers connect small farmers, suburban land owners Small farmers interested in leasing land in suburban areas are turning to matchmaker services to connect them with people who own such plots of land. These matchmakers are using tactics similar to what their counterparts in the online-dating world do, such as setting up meet-and-greet events. "When we started this program, we did sort of jokingly refer to it as 'eFarmony,' " Marilyn Anthony says. National Public Radio (text and audio)/The Salt blog (11/12)       SmartQuote  Business leaders understand the fiscal challenges of the United States and are increasingly recognizing that a hard stance on incentives with respect to corporate tax reform will not work." --Hank Gutman of KPMG, as quoted by Accounting Today       SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! 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