The Isreali boycott Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, Nayera Ahmed, a 19-year-old student in Cairo, has stopped hanging out at her local Starbucks. `Me and my friends, we used to go to Starbucks all the time, now it`s a shame if you`re seen at one of those,` Ahmed said. `It`s the least we can do. Why would I buy from these Western companies?` It`s a trend playing out in parts of the Middle East and even beyond. Many consumers, angry at the US and European response to the war in Gaza, are shunning big foreign brands. In several Gulf cities, locations run by Starbucks and McDonald`s are sitting largely empty; in some other stores, soda from regional rivals has replaced Pepsi and Coke.

The boycotts are a headache for US brands, who may see their profits take a hit. But as consumers turn to alternatives, some local rivals are finding their sales boosted.

(Adapted from `Starbucks, Coke Boycotts Over Gaza War Are Boosting Middle East Rivals,` by Salma El Wardany, Leen Al-Rashdan, Nicolas Parasie, and Daniela Sirtori-Cortina, published on January 26, 2024, by Bloomberg)Fighting against the algorithm An algorithmic system used by the Indian state of Haryana to determine eligibility for welfare benefits has caused numerous errors, including wrongly declaring citizens dead. The system, called the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) database, uses multiple government databases to determine eligibility for welfare schemes.

However, incorrect data entry and inaccurate predictions by the algorithm have led to thousands of citizens being wrongfully excluded from benefits such as old-age pensions, disability pensions, and subsidised food. Ram Chander and his wife Ompati, both 60, are residents of Chhichhrana village in Haryana. I have been continuously visiting the relevant officials since March 2022. They told me that the mistake had been corrected, but my status is still `dead`. I went to them and the cycle keeps on repeating, says Mr Chander. Despite public outcry and criticism, the state government continues to defend and expand the use of the PPP programme (Adapted from `In India, An Algorithm Declares Them Dead; They Have To Prove They`re Alive,` byKumar Sambhav and Tapasya and Divij Joshi, published on January 25, 2024, by Al Jazeera)Ideal post-partum care Some new mothers say that postpartum care centres, or joriwons, are the best part of childbirth in South Korea, where fewer people are deciding to have children because of high costs. The country may have the world`s lowest birthrate, but South Korea is also home to perhaps some of the world`s best postpartum care. At postpartum centres in Seoul, new moms are pampered for a few weeks after giving birth and treated to hotel-like accommodations. Staying at a joriwon can cost from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the length of stay, which is often 21 days, the amount of time needed for a woman`s body to heal after childbirth, according to Korean custom.

Now eight out of 10 South Korean mothers go to a joriwon after giving birth.

(Adapted from `For New Moms In Seoul, 3 Weeks Of Pampering And Sleep At A Joriwon,`by Lauretta Charlton, published on published on January 28, 2024, by The New York Times) Crafting OKRS The process of crafting objective and key results (OKR) begins with establishing objectives: significant, action-oriented, and inspirational goals that are strategically aligned with the organisation`s vision. Subsequently, these objectives are coupled with key results specific, measurable outcomes used to track and assess the achievement of the objectives. Key results ought to be quantifiable and ambitious yet attainable and should have a direct impact on the success of the objective. For example, if an organisational goal is to enhance customer satisfaction, the key results might include targets like reducing response times by 30pc and attaining a 90pc positive-feedback rate. Goals at the team or organisational level are usually established first. These overarching goals then guide the formulation of individual objectives and key results.

(Adapted from `From Vision to Reality: How OKRs Are Reshaping Team Goals in 2024,` by Benjamin Laker, published on January 25, 2024, by MIT Sloan Management Review)