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    When workplace bonuses backfire

    .css-1f0x4sl{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);font-family:var(–ds-type-system-serif);font-weight:400;font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);}.css-1f0x4sl del,.css-1f0x4sl s{-webkit-text-decoration:strikethrough;text-decoration:strikethrough;}.css-1f0x4sl strong,.css-1f0x4sl b{font-weight:700;}.css-1f0x4sl em,.css-1f0x4sl i{font-style:italic;}.css-1f0x4sl sup{font-feature-settings:’sups’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl sub{font-feature-settings:’subs’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl small,.css-1f0x4sl .small-caps{display:inline;font-size:inherit;font-variant:small-caps no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual;line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);text-transform:lowercase;}.css-1f0x4sl u,.css-1f0x4sl .underline{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:hover{color:var(–ds-color-chicago-30);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:focus{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);outline:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:active{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-caps=’initial’],.css-1f0x4sl .drop-cap{float:left;font-feature-settings:’ss08′ 1;font-size:3.5rem;height:3.25rem;line-height:1;margin:0.0625rem 0.2rem 0 0;text-transform:uppercase;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’],.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish{color:var(–ds-color-economist-red);}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’]::before,.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish::before{font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);content:’ ‘;}“If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes.” The late Charlie Munger was endlessly quotable, but this pearl of pith from the famed investor is one that every manager should remember. More

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    Can Mytheresa make luxury e-commerce a success?

    Not long ago, as consumers emerged from pandemic lockdowns, it seemed the moment for luxury e-commerce had arrived. Cashed-up shoppers, now accustomed to buying almost anything online, were hunting for new outfits to parade in. Online purchases of luxury goods hit €73bn ($80bn) globally in 2022, up from €33bn in 2019, outpacing the already rapid growth of in-store luxury sales, according to Bain, a consultancy (see chart). More

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    Ratan Tata, a consequential and beloved figure in Indian business

    Two things are often said of Ratan Tata, former head of the Tata Group, one of India’s mightiest conglomerates: he was a giant of Indian business, and among its most virtuous figures. For a society as fractious as India, the esteem in which he was held was remarkably wide. More

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    Big tech is bringing nuclear power back to life

    “Nuclear nightmare”, screamed the headline in Time magazine on April 9th 1979. One of the two reactors at a nuclear-power plant at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania had suffered an accident. The governor ordered an evacuation of all vulnerable people within five miles of the plant as radioactive gas escaped. More

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    Can Israel’s mighty tech industry withstand a wider war?

    Soon after Hamas attacked on October 7th last year, around a third of workers at Elsight, an Israeli maker of drone communications systems, were called up to fight in Gaza. A similar exodus took place across Israel’s mighty tech sector, which accounts for over half of the country’s exports, a fifth of GDP—and a fifth of the reservists in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). More

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    Transit vans are the key to Ford’s future

    It is hard to imagine a place where Jim Farley, boss of Ford, might feel more comfortable discussing his company’s future than at the wheel of one of his firm’s vehicles. Mr Farley, pictured, whose driving skills have been honed racing Ford Mustangs in his spare time, fields questions with the same assurance that he pilots a Transit van down a winding Austrian mountain road. The three-day road trip in late August, from Ford’s European headquarters in Germany to Italy, in a convoy of four Transits, was arranged by Mr Farley to assess in detail one of the firm’s best-selling vehicles as well as to meet dealers and customers along the way. More

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    Will America’s government try to break up Google?

    For years shareholders have paid little heed to the thunderbolts hurled at America’s west-coast technology giants by the trustbusting deities of Washington, DC. No longer. Despite expectations of solidly rising profits, the share price of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is wobbling (see chart). More

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    Workouts for the face are a growing business

    The FaceGym studio in central London looks more like a hair salon than a fitness studio. Customers recline on chairs while staff pummel their faces with squishy balls. They use their knuckles to “warm up” skin and muscles; give it a “cardio” session to improve circulation; and then a deep-tissue massage. Customers, who spend at least £100 ($133), say they leave with less puffy cheeks and more defined jaw lines. More