Why is common sense so uncommon?

“Business people would do well to remember some of the principles and values that have steered many long-standing and successful enterprises through the inevitable turbulence every company experiences,” wrote Paul Tsaparis, executive-in-residence at York University’s Schulich School of Business, in The Globe and Mail Feb. 21. “The landscape is littered with examples of companies that lost touch with their core businesses and values and have either failed or run into significant challenges. Nortel, Kodak and IBM are just a few names that come to mind.” Read full story.

Investors losing their taste for volatility
A shift is taking place in the investment industry as more people become concerned about preserving the wealth they have, rather than accumulating more….Moshe Milevsky, a finance professor at York University, calls the five years before and after retirement the “risk zone” for investments, reported the Edmonton Journal Feb. 22. His study showed that once you start withdrawing income in retirement, the sequence of returns in the first few years is crucial.Read full story.

Ian Delaney: Resource extraction to be more costly, difficult
In a speech on the state of the global mining industry, Ian Delaney, chairman of Sherritt International (S-T), stated in blunt terms that the world has entered an era of resource scarcity, in which most large-scale, high-grade deposits have already been identified by advanced technology, resulting in fewer and fewer major discoveries in recent years….Delaney was speaking to attendees of a day-long conference organized by students enrolled in the JD/MBA program at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business on Feb. 8 in downtown Toronto, reported the Northern Miner Feb. 21. Read full story.

Housing key in harm reduction strategies
Giving people a place to call home can reduce the harm they do to themselves and others, Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia scientist Dr. Bernadette Pauly told a gathering of York Region social service professionals. A guest of United Way York Region and York University’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit (KMb), Dr. Pauly detailed her housing first and harm reduction programs on Canada’s west coast, reported the Aurora Banner Feb. 21. Read full story.