1 China 2013
growth likely at 7.6% (Straits Times) China’s economic growth is likely to come in at 7.6
percent this year, down slightly from 7.7 percent in 2012, the official Xinhua
news agency quoted a report from the country’s Cabinet as saying.
The forecast
was made in a mid-term evaluation report on the implementation of the 12th
five-year plan to 2015, according to Xinhua.
2 Magic words
in the workplace (Ronald Alsop on BBC) To repair damaged relationships with employees, these executives
decided to say two of the toughest words for many bosses to utter: “I’m sorry.”
Such mea culpas seem to be more common these days, partly because of the
growing likelihood of a public uproar on social media when companies slip up.
Whatever the motivating factor, contrition is good for more than just the soul.
Apologies can help restore a manager’s credibility after a damaging error, and
they also can inspire greater trust in management at a time when many workers
are feeling disillusioned with employers.
Honesty clearly
is the cornerstone of trust, and that includes owning up to mistakes and
apologising. Some respondents to a UK study said they would admire leaders if
only they admitted their mistakes. Beyond engendering trust, acknowledging an
error and making amends can encourage greater openness throughout an
organisation. “When leaders admit mistakes, its shows they’re human and
vulnerable, and it makes it safe for others to talk about their mistakes, too,”
said Dennis Reina, president of the Reina Trust Building Institute, a
consulting firm based in Stowe, Vermont.
How common are
apologies from bosses? It depends on whom you ask. Many employees believe
managers don’t take responsibility for their screw-ups and don’t express
regret. Only 19% of employees said their managers often or always apologise.
But managers have quite different perceptions of their behaviour: 87% said they
often or always say they’re sorry. But some managers said they don’t apologise
because they don’t want to look weak or incompetent.
Employers
shouldn’t expect apologies to work magic in every situation. They may not be
very beneficial when office relationships were already badly strained before
the mistake occurred. “If the management enjoys high levels of trust from
workers, then apologising is a good idea and more likely to be believed” and
lead to forgiveness, said Jin Li, an assistant professor of management and
strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, who
has studied trust issues in the workplace.
3 The common
man’s rule in Delhi (The Wall Street Journal) On Tuesday, the upstart Aam Aadmi, or
Common Man, Party unveiled the team that would lead the Indian capital, a
seven-member cabinet with Arvind Kejriwal, the anticorruption campaigner-turned
politician, at its helm. Mr. Kejriwal, 45, will swear in as New Delhi’s chief
minister this week, one of the youngest to do so in the history of Indian
politics. The Aam Aadmi Party, of which Mr. Kejriwal is founder, thrashed
political bigwigs to place second in state polls earlier this month, securing
28 out of 70 assembly seats.
Here’s how Indian
newspapers responded to AAP’s decision to form a government in New Delhi:
Headlined “Transformational politics,” an editorial in The Hindu described the
AAP’s political debut as one “without a parallel in Indian electoral history.”
The people’s mandate to the party, it said, reflected “popular yearning for
change from the models of governance on offer today.”
“AAP had
little choice but to take the plunge,” an editorial in The Times of India read.
“Having transformed itself from a public movement to a mainstream political
party, it could hardly make a virtue of sitting in the opposition,” it added.
Still, it cautioned that the party “must choose its battles carefully.”
The Hindustan Times said in an editorial, “Given the manner in which the
AAP has attacked all political parties, accusing them of betraying the trust of
the people, it will have to deliver on its promises double quick once it takes
over the government. Therein lies the rub”.
In an editorial
headlined “Chief Minister Kejriwal,” the Indian Express noted that AAP’s tenure
will be far from a smooth ride. “The task of governance, it will find, is not
about pleasing everyone all the time, but of weighing competing claims, making
choices and taking responsibility for them,” the piece said. But “whichever way
it goes, by choosing to take the plunge, the AAP has enriched the possibilities
of this democratic moment,” the piece concluded.
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