MARCH 27, 2009

5 Forces Summary 3/27/09

This installment of the 5 Forces Summary covers recent news from discussions on a new global reserve currency to a non-traditional way adoption seekers are finding potential birth moms. Let us know your thoughts on these articles in the comment section and as always check out past summaries here.

• Globalization
  UN Panel Welcomes Debate Over New Global Reserve Currency from The Wall Street Journal
  The head of a United Nations expert panel discussing solutions to the financial crisis on Thursday welcomed the debate over a new global reserve currency and said it would be best managed by a brand new institution.
• Innovation
  Adoption seekers using YouTube, Facebook to find birth moms from CNN
  In the past, adoption advertising, which is allowed in at least 34 states, traditionally relied on costly newspaper and radio advertising as well as brochures, fliers and business cards. In the digital era, these media no longer have the reach they once did.
• Im(migration)
  Hispanics one-fifth of K-12 students from USA Today
  States such as Arizona, California and Nevada are seeing an influx of Hispanics due to immigration and higher birth rates. In 2007, more than 40% of all students in K-12 were minorities — Hispanics, blacks, Asian-Americans and others. That’s double the percentage three decades ago.
• Saturation
  At SXSW, attendees confront Twitter saturation from CNET
  Many people experienced an over-saturation of tweets during South by Southwest, a conference and festival event for entertainment and media industry professionals. The massive number of tweets tagged #sxsw eroded the value that Twitter offered at SXSW 2007 and SXSW 2008 for finding friends and great parties.
• Personalization
  The Daily Me from The New York Times
  Trends show newspapers folding and people getting their news online. Nicholas D. Kristof worries that people are only getting the news they want, not the news they need. He hypothesises that we don’t truly want good information — but rather information that confirms our prejudices.