Employee turnover is an expensive process. Human resources experts estimate the cost of turnover to range between 93 percent and 200 percent of an exiting worker's annual salary, depending on the employee's skill level.

The withdrawal of Bill Gates from his full-time role in the Microsoft empire he created raises the specific question of how — and even whether — an icon can be replaced. Gates' move also highlights the general question of how best to handle management succession.

In our competitive culture "no risk, no reward" is an axiom. But is all risk the same? In their new paper, "Not All Risk Taking is Equal: Firm Performance and the Motivation for Executive Decisions," Nathan Washburn and co-authors studied the risk-taking behaviors of executives.

Service is the next frontier in the Chinese economy.

Are America's top CEOs living in a world apart from the rest of us? The average compensation package for a CEO of an S&P 500 company last year was $11.7 million — about 185 times greater than the average salary of a rank-and-file employee.

The structure of the modern workplace has made it such that friendships are being formed between employees and managers. For one thing, people are spending more time at the office than ever before, so it's natural that their social circles are being filled out with other people in the workplace.

As globalization moves into ever more culturally diverse locations, the question of business and culture – "the Lexus and the olive tree" in the lexicon of Thomas Friedman's bestseller of the same name — becomes increasingly germane.

Annual performance reviews can set stomachs to churning throughout the office, and with good reason. Tensions can run high if employees are put on the defensive by a supervisor who hasn't learned to conduct an evaluation effectively and with finesse.

It has long been the practice of business to employ lobbyists in an attempt to influence policy makers and regulators about such issues as environmental laws, trade policies and government spending programs.

What does it take to get a new venture up and running? Conventional wisdom suggests that the entrepreneurs should hit the pavement in high gear and then keep up the pace. Research shows, however, that speed alone is not a guarantee for success.