A stronger economy over poorer air quality? by Andrew Goodfellow

A good number of countries are slowly but surely showing signs of recovery following the global economic downturn. However, strong scientific evidence and increasingly crazy weather events are sending strong signals that we all must pursue routes to economic stability whilst reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. It is essential that big business improves their performance and that the people who sit in government provide more incentives for this to happen.

I’d like to think that the UK is pretty ‘climate responsible’ and that our stance is one of the more robust on the international stage, but what about the US and its administration’s seemingly maverick approach? Maybe they have other things on their mind? And how will the 25 global players on this list below react? Will anything be done or will it be a case of just doing the bare minimum to comply?

BLT’s Fantasy Football League is back!

BLT’s annual fantasy football league is back! As always, everyone is invited to create a team and show off your managerial skills. Can you beat your peers across the market and also all the BLTers over here?

The Premier League season starts again on Friday 11^th (I know – can you believe it?) and that’s the deadline to get your team entered in time for the opening round of games. After a see-saw battle last year which ran right up until the final games, we saw the value of getting your team in on time.

You can join here:  https://fantasy.premierleague.com
League name: BLT Fantasy Football League
League code: 1520352-384577

We’re looking forward to locking horns with you all once again.

This is ‘Yuan’ way to reach the overseas market – Baidu and PayPal in partnership – by Andrew Goodfellow

In an effort to catch fellow tech giants Alibaba and Tencent this deal between Baidu and PayPal will allow the firm to grow their payment coverage overseas and will no doubt see China’s Singles Day revenues rocket even further. I’m sure the average Chinese shopper would welcome the move away from being tied to mobile wallet payments in a country that isn’t that taken with our old ‘flexible friend’ the Credit card.

- Andrew

Viacom could be ready to throw some big bucks at Scripps in an all out cable war.

This huge deal with Scripps would create a $24.9 billion cable network and could push the firm further away from competing heavyweights Netflix and Amazon. Will Bob Bakish’s plan backfire or will it save the day for the likes of MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures? I hope this deal does go through because from a selfish point of view I hadn’t thought about the fallout If Nickelodeon goes down the pan….how will the kids remain entertained on a Saturday morning?

- Andrew Goodfellow

What can Women In Consulting learn from the BBC gender pay gap report? by Catriona Cookson

The publication of the BBC report last week created much debate around the earnings of its “top talent” ranging from the chuckling over “How can Gary Lineker be worth £1.8m to watch the football and ask Alan Shearer if he thought it was a valid claim for a penalty?” to the disbelief and anger of the omission from the list of two very talented and tenacious journalists Sarah Montague and Emily Maitlis, meaning they earned less than £150,000 per year.

Many companies throughout the UK will be gearing up to releasing their own gender pay gap findings and PwC (which has been very transparent in publishing their findings) has just released its latest figures:

http://www.consultancy.uk/news/13676/pwc-use-gender-pay-release-to-court-new-talent

showing their gender pay gap has reduced from 15% to 13.7 % since last year, and when adjusted for job level this shrinks to 2.9%.

However, the bonus figures released from PwC show that men take home 37.5% more in bonuses! From what I see, all new graduates into consulting earn the same and you can rest assured that all the consulting firms will be very diligent in ensuring their female consultants’ pay keeps pace with the men as they progress through the firm.

The new intake of young women into consulting ( and indeed their more experienced colleagues) may like to keep in mind the comments of Emily Maitlis – “Women sit there waiting for things to come to them and not realising that actually all the men are running off asking for them. You don’t get something because you sit politely and are well – behaved”

Could this contribute to the bonus variation? To all our Women in Consulting, I say …you’re worth it, you know you’re worth it and sometimes you just need to make sure you tell the person sitting in the Big Chair with the bonus pot, you’re worth it too!!!