3:08pm

Bangladesh and the clothes on our backs

In the month since the collapse, resolve to prevent a repetition has faded

May 15, 2013

A moderate pedant’s grammar manifesto

Children need to learn grammar to teach them the language for work

May 8, 2013

Companies must cut through big data hype

Managers can learn far more from contacting and talking to lost customers

May 1, 2013

Grammar is a vital tool for any executive

Knowledge of how the language is put together helps with getting your point across

Apr 24, 2013

Why hasty pundits got it wrong on Boston

The bombing illustrates that everything people say on day one of a crisis is usually wrong

Apr 17, 2013

Authorities must get tough on bad science

The real damage comes when a homeopath dissuades people from seeking medical treatment

Apr 10, 2013

Expat life succeeds if the kids are all right

Failure of spouse or family to adjust is the top cause of unsuccessful relocations

From SPECIAL REPORTS Apr 9, 2013

The 50 ideas that shaped business today

Help us put a spotlight on the 50 ideas that have shaped the way we now do business

Apr 3, 2013

It is not a crime to greenlight a new verb

English has been creating verbs for centuries. What we should ask is: are they useful?

Mar 20, 2013

Should you correct colleagues’ grammar?

Semi-literate correspondence to customers can damage a business

Mar 13, 2013

Open web courses are massively overhyped

The Mooc innovation misses an important social point and is in many ways too good to be true

Mar 6, 2013

You need to take risks to learn a language

The notion that the teacher can do all the work is nonsense – learning another tongue requires effort

Feb 27, 2013

Yahoo sets the trend with home work ban

Where might the technology group’s counter-intuitive move to make staff work in an office lead?

Feb 20, 2013

Consumers forget crises, regulators don’t

Businesses are learning that if they don’t put their house in order others will

Feb 13, 2013

Why do employees become nasty?

When staff show disdain for customers – or patients – you can be sure their managers do too

Feb 6, 2013

Companies must gauge social shifts

Businesses can reap rewards if they recognise the pace of change

Jan 23, 2013

CEOs can learn from Obama’s oratory

The US president offers lessons for business speakers who fail to get the message across

Jan 16, 2013

Sound of silence is yet another sales tool

Refuges of tranquillity are under siege as peace and quiet becomes an increasingly rare commodity

Jan 9, 2013

Thank America for saving our language

For all the grumbling, the similarities in the way we speak have had their benefits

From LIFE & ARTS Dec 21, 2012

The guardians of English

Three new histories of language and of dictionaries spell out the resistance to linguistic change

ABOUT MICHAEL

Michael Skapinker Michael Skapinker's column on Business and Society appears on Thursdays. An assistant editor and editor of the FT’s special reports, he was born in South Africa and educated at Witwatersrand and Cambridge universities. He began his journalistic career in Greece and joined the FT in London in 1986.

He received the Work Foundation Members’ Award for his contribution to the understanding of working life and was named Columnist of the Year at the 2008 WorkWorld Media Awards and Business Commentator of the Year at the 2012 Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards.

E-mail Michael Skapinker
Enter job search