Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:37:58 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jay Whitehead :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Jay+Whitehead istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/disrespecting-workers-is-a-recipe-for-failure/13886/ Mon, 16 May 2005 00:00:00 EST In the next-to-last episode of the third season of "The Apprentice," Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts, there were only two women left standing. Kendra, a college-educated realtor, had three wins as a project manager to her credit. Tana, a street-smart cosmetics entrepreneur, had only two wins, but she left two children and a husband at home to chase her dream. Professor Trump treated us to plenty of drama and lessons to take to work while we wait for this week's "Apprentice" crowning. Both... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/perils-of-interview-interruptus/13519/ Mon, 9 May 2005 00:00:00 EST In the Final Three episode of "The Apprentice," we learned that for picking people, there is still no goofy game or calamitous contest quite as revealing as an interview. The three remaining contestants, college-graduate Kendra, Tana, and Craig, ran the grilling gantlet of four top executives: the chairman and CEO of pizza giant Domino's, David Brandon; QVC's president, Darlene Daggett; the chairman of Prudential Real Estate, Howard Lorber; and the chairman and CEO of Burger King, Greg... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/marketing-beats-rhinestones-hands-down/13137/ Mon, 2 May 2005 00:00:00 EST In the Final Four episode of "The Apprentice," shirts happened - Hanes T-shirts, that is. To celebrate the brand's 50 years of success, two famous artists - Burton Morris and Romero Britto - were assigned to each team to design a limited-edition T-shirt. At the outset, the playing field was as level as you get. Alex picked Tana to work with, which gave each team a male and a female, along with equal measures of "book smarts" and "street smarts." But despite the fair start, Net Worth had been... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/ask-the-customers-stupid/12747/ Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST The last episode of "The Apprentice" decided the Final Four in America's most-watched job interview. This challenge's winner — the team that designed the best office clutter-buster for Staples — would best reflect the office supply giant's slogan: "That was easy." But easy, as it turns out, was complicated for team NetWorth. In the 13th week of the contest, Net-Worth's duo of legal eagles, Alex and Bren, were battered and bruised from their last tough loss, but found strength in the strong... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/victory-goes-to-the-tireless/12390/ Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Trump-ologists say that in Donald Trump's world, nothing fails like losing, but in the boardroom of "The Apprentice," there is no excuse as bad as "I was snoozing." That brings us to the overriding theme in last week's contest: Victory goes to those who can function and thrive with the least sleep. Despite the two surviving members of NetWorth, Chris and Alex, choosing Bren to join them from the four members of Magna, they still could not pick up a win. With a streak of seven consecutive... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/networth-chokes-on-wearable-technology/12004/ Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST Americans routinely list public speaking as one of their great fears, higher on the list than spiders, snakes, or death by fire. Most of us are sympathetic to phobias, but not Professor Trump. On last week's episode of NBC's "The Apprentice," Mr. Trump loathed how Apprentice Angie fatally choked on her presentation of a new wearable technology line for American Eagle Outfitters. The two-part task began with the Magna and NetWorth teams getting a $5,000 Visa credit card to buy the newest techno... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/magna-pizza-business-makes-lots-of-dough/11610/ Mon, 4 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EST On last week's episode of NBC's "The Apprentice," before the pizza party could begin - with five Magna players facing three NetWorth teammates - Donald Trump evened the squads at four apiece with Alex moving to NetWorth. After that, the battle for pizza primacy could begin. Pizza, according to Professor Trump, is a $32 billion business, and he wanted to know which team could sell the most. So he had the two squads each invent a new Domino's pizza topping and hawk it hard from mobile restaurant... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/anatomy-of-a-do-it-yourself-firing/11232/ Mon, 28 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST The continuing set up of season three of "The Apprentice" - the book smart against the street smart - could not have been more appropriate than in last week's show involving the success story of Home Depot. With $70 billion in sales, this chain has revolutionized home renovations by becoming the leading do-it-yourself retailer. Last week, the teams on "The Apprentice" were asked to create and operate an in-store "Do It Yourself Clinic" at Home Depot featuring the product of their choice. The... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/recapping-lessons-of-the-apprentice/10866/ Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST From time to time, Donald Trump, as television's ultimate business professor, needs to pause for the cause. And the cause is worthy - it's a class called "Business Behavior 101" from the good professor who is the high-powered guru and central character of NBC's reality show "The Apprentice." For season three, we started with 18 potential Apprentices. And now it is down to nine, all in search of the ultimate prize - to become The Donald's Mini Me. Last week's episode of "The Apprentice" was the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/magna-team-hip-hops-its-way-to-the-top/10526/ Mon, 14 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST Watching the charity television auction episode of NBC's "The Apprentice" last week, we got ample evidence that in our celebrity-obsessed world, people will pay a lot to rub elbows with a little fame. And the more face time with a very famous face, the more people will pay. By episode eight, "The Apprentice" team head counts were even at five apiece, demonstrating that whether book smart, like the Magna team, or street smart, like NetWorth - the key is just to be smart. So Donald Trump engaged... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/networths-mini-golf-clowns-take-one-on-the-nose/10166/ Mon, 7 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EST Episode seven of NBC's reality show "The Apprentice" was a case of beauty and the beastly game of minigolf. NetWorth's Audrey, arguably the most photogenic Apprentice ever, led her team to defeat in a contest that featured the humblest of carnival games. And who would have predicted it? It was a challenge involving miniature golf that finally got the "book smart" Magna team on par again with the "street smart" NetWorth gang. After seven episodes, both teams now have 5 players left. And the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/writing-on-the-wall-in-networths-loss/9813/ Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST The college grads of Magna may have diplomas, but their self-esteem has sunk lower than a snake's belly. Fortunately, last week's task, because it required more analytical thinking than actual work, gave the "book smart" gang a glimmer of hope. Both teams, Magna and the "street smart" kids of NetWorth, were asked to create a giant graffiti-style ad for Sony Playstation 2's new GT4 video game, painted on the wall of a New York City building. Top Sony Playstation executives would choose the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/dove-commercial-double-whammy/9153/ Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST With the collegians of Magna having lost two episodes of "The Apprentice" in a row, the high school grads of NetWorth felt plenty confident going into episode four. But last week's task was so difficult that it truly leveled the playing field. Both teams were asked to take on a very tough assignment: make a 30-second television commercial for a new product - in this case, Dove Cool Moisture Body Wash. And for the first time in three seasons of Donald Trump's Apprentice search, both teams were... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/magna-gets-caught-in-a-nescafe-nightmare/8811/ Mon, 7 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST In last week's episode of "The Apprentice," Verna skipped her second cup of coffee because 10 minutes into the show she quit. Magna's weakest link just packed up and walked out. Her breakdown one task earlier was the foreshadowing of what was to come. And, even after "The Apprentice" teams were treated to a day of rest, Verna knew she was done. Stressed out by the thought of more sleepless nights and nutrition-challenged meals, Verna gave herself the Trump-A-Dump. Then it was 8 on 7.And by the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/networth-checks-into-the-heartbreak-hotel/8456/ Mon, 31 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST On the first episode of season three of NBC's "The Apprentice," we saw the best side of high-school-educated entrepreneurship when the NetWorth team beat their college graduate Magna rivals in the Burger King competition. But in episode two, we saw the flip side of the burger bunch. NetWorth gave us TrumpTV's ugliest-ever performance. The high schoolers lost badly, and behaved even worse. To be sure, the hotel renovation task was tough, inflicting even the winning Magna team with a... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/is-a-college-degree-worth-it/8096/ Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST Season three of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" already promises to give us more workplace knowledge than the wildly successful second season of the NBC reality show. Why? Because the brilliant story line - pitting street-smart entrepreneurial high school graduates against college thoroughbreds - makes all of us, no matter how sports-phobic, pick sides and start rooting. Imagine, a 9-on-9 made for television battle royale to decide whether a college education is worth it. This is a question all... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/far-reaching-impact-of-the-sopranos-on/7805/ Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST For the past few weeks, On The Job has been obsessed with the impact of cable television's hit shows such as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Sex And the City" have on our behavior, values, and vocabulary at work. For working New Yorkers, though, no single show rivals HBO's "The Sopranos" for sheer volume of material you can use at work. In New York, for one thing, you can use Sopranoisms and avoid sounding as strangely out-of-place as you would if you were in, say, Kansas City. For... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/workplace-gifts-from-carrie-bradshaw-co/7464/ Mon, 10 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST In the four weeks between the end of season two and the start of season three of "The Apprentice," the NBC reality show analyzed in my Trump-O-Nomics column, On The Job chronicles the cable television shows that have done the most to set trends for working Americans. Last week, it was the Fab Five from Bravo's "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" series, as they continue to fab up working stiffs like us. This week, it is HBO's "Sex and the City." And although SATC has run its course and now only... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/time-to-learn-queer-eye-workplace-style-rules/7107/ Mon, 3 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST One of television's hottest shows, Bravo's "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," is hosted by a group known as the "Fab Five." These five gay guys (or, politically correctly, members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender - or GLBT - community) have become bigger than Martha Stewart. They are, simply, today's standard of chic. And now, the Fab Five's super-awareness of the latest styles in fashion, food, grooming, culture, and design have come to your workplace. This column serves as fair... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/and-the-winner-is-the-ever-likeable-kelly-perdew/6551/ Mon, 20 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST It was a classic Donald Trump "You're Fired, You're Hired" theatrical moment that made for the climax of the final episode of season two of NBC's "The Apprentice." The winner was Kelly Perdew, the West Point Army Ranger/UCLA MBA and Law School graduate who beat out Jennifer Massey of Princeton and Harvard Law School. Jennifer had her moments, though, with a win/loss record of 6-8, but that still paled next to Kelly's 10-4 tally. Judging by the live Lincoln Center on-air audience poll by... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/from-final-four-to-terrific-two/6209/ Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST We saw in the semifinals of the second season of "The Apprentice" last week how Donald Trump shifted the game from a team sport to a test of individuals. Competing were Jennifer, Kelly, Kevin, and Sandy. The Donald switched from interviewing by contest to doing it the old-fashioned way by having executives grill each candidate, eyeball-to-eyeball. In classic Trump style, the Donald presented a panel of big-league corporate titans to do the dirty work: Alan "Ace" Greenberg, Chairman of the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/adventures-in-apprentice-candyland/5826/ Mon, 6 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST Last week on "The Apprentice," we were finally down to the Fab Five of season two of Donald Trump's NBC reality show. Back to profits, the two teams had to make the product and then sell it and whoever made the most money would be declared the winner and survivors of the episode. First, the teams had to manufacture a bushel of Mars candy bars with M &M's in them and get enough of the product through Mars' quality inspectors. Where they sold them and for how much was at each team's... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/trying-to-catch-lightning-in-a-new-bottle/5480/ Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST And then there were six. Last week on Donald Trump's NBC reality television show "The Apprentice," it was down to a half-dozen candidates with a very subjective assignment. Once again, moving away from profits, the winning teams would be decided by an opinion. Although both teams worked genuinely hard on the project, Mosaic lost and Mr. Trump reminded them that success has many fathers while failure is always an orphan. Project manager Andy, the 22-year Harvard debate champion, got the... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/levis-loss-leads-to-double-firing/5186/ Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode 11 of season two of Donald Trump's NBC reality TV show "The Apprentice," it was down to eight players. And, different from most weeks, this time the challenge would not be based on profits, but opinion. The teams were charged with creating an in-store catalog for the jeans giant Levi Strauss and the winners would be judged on innovation by Levi's president, Robert Hanson. The Wes-led Mosaic team came unzipped and got sacked by Kevin's Apex squad. Mosaic got out-shot, outthought, and... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/wedding-bell-boardroom-blues/4827/ Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode 10 of Donald Trump's NBC reality television show "The Apprentice," we saw the most lopsided victory in "Apprentice" history. Aside from that, this episode produced more business lessons in one show than ever before. Kelly's winning Mosaic team split $50,000 in merchandise from Graff Jewelers, while Chris led the losing Apex team back to the boardroom. Last week, Mr. Trump named Chris project manager after he complained about his team's bad chemistry. As predicted, Apex got left at... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/renovations-and-reputations/4447/ Mon, 8 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode nine of Donald Trump's NBC reality show "The Apprentice," The Donald had the teams renovate run-down houses while renovating their run-down reputations. Mr. Trump arranged for Rob and Jennifer C. to join Mosaic, and Bradford and Stacie J. to join Apex. Upon reuniting, Jennifer C. tackled Ivana with regrets about not getting Ivana fired. Then Stacie J. piled it on, saying Ivana misrepresented her by calling her crazy. Ultimately, the ranting was irrelevant to the finished task, but it... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/careers/mercy-firing-for-elizabeth/4080/ Mon, 1 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST In last week's Donald Trump NBC reality show, "The Apprentice," it was down to 11 players. And we saw the Donald do something we have never seen in two seasons: he said "You're Fired!" without the need for a two or three person high-drama return to the boardroom. Some might even term Trump's boardroom-free first as a mercy firing. Apex team leader Elizabeth was so incredibly bad that Mr. Trump sent her from the suite to the street without even giving her a chance to defend herself. In episode... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/dog-paddling-to-the-top/3874/ Wed, 27 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode seven of Donald Trump's NBC reality TV show "The Apprentice," it was down to 12 players. And we saw The Donald shuffle the deck with a corporate reorganization of mixed-sex teams. By the end of the contest, the newly integrated Apex had picked up its second victory in a row by tripling Mosaic's coyote-ugly performance in a down-and-dirty dog-grooming contest. Mosaic was led by the well-coifed but weak Wes, while Apex's project manager, Jennifer, was similarly well groomed but much... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/business-of-beauty/3499/ Wed, 20 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode six of season two of Donald Trump's NBC reality TV show "The Apprentice," it was down to 13 players, and we finally saw the women of Apex break their 0-for-4 losing streak in brilliant fashion. The men of Mosaic, led by the artistic but passive John, became runway road kill when the Marialed Apex team beat them handily in the create-an-overnight-fashion-line contest. Project Team leader John got the Trump-A-Dump for his inability to keep his eye on the ball and for his boardroom... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/right-price-right-people-are-key/3149/ Wed, 13 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EST It was another heated contest on Donald Trump's NBC reality TV show The Apprentice with ten dollars separating the winners from the losers. Once again, Mosaic took the prize leaving the women of Apex to battle it out in the Board Room. Led by Pamela, who Trump personally appointed as their Project Leader (after moving her from the all-male Mosaic team), the show was off to a suspenseful start. Would the women accept her? Would they follow her lead? Would they support her vision? Apparently not... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/toothpaste-promos-busted-budgets-and-the-boardroom/2431/ Wed, 29 Sep 2004 00:00:00 EST Last week on Donald Trump's NBC reality TV show "The Apprentice," it was down to 16 players, and Stacie J.'s trail of ill will finally drowned her. She got the Trump-A-Dump after it was determined that her crazy behavior in an earlier episode kept the team from relaxing or trusting her. And as the would-be apprentices climb the Fortune 500 ladder, trust is extremely important for team achievement. The contest was quick, rapid-fire. In the first quarter of the show, the words "A Penny Saved Is A... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/donald-trump-screams-for-ice-cream/2091/ Wed, 22 Sep 2004 00:00:00 EST In episode two of the second season of "The Apprentice," Donald Trump delivered hurricane-force corporate lessons, reminders that in the theater of business, like on the big screen, the drama can be breathtaking. In the greatest story twist in the history of the reality show, Trump fired a contestant for his performance in the boardroom rather than in the week's contest. Bradford, the firing-exempt leader of the previous week's winning team, got the Trump-A-Dump for making the impetuous... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/your-guide-to-trump-o-nomics-2/1480/ Thu, 9 Sep 2004 00:00:00 EST January through April, an average of 20.7 million people watched Season 1 of "The Apprentice" on NBC, and 40.1 million saw the April 15 finale, where Bill Rancic beat 15 others, becoming Donald Trump's apprentice. Instantly, "The Apprentice" became the best-ever how-to-succeed guide for Americans who work. And here in the Trump-O-Nomics column, legions of Trumpologists got expert work-style analysis of each week's episode. Season 2 of Trump-O-Nomics promises fhe same: weekly world-class... JAY WHITEHEAD http://www.nysun.com/business/newt-gingrichs-newest-battle-american-health-care/435/ Wed, 18 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EST Come meet the Newest Newt. We know Newt Gingrich as author of "The Contract With America." He led the first Republican sweep of the House in 40 years in 1994. After leaving Congress in 1999, Gingrich re-cast himself as a military historian with best-selling Civil War novels "Gettysburg," (St. Martin's Press, 2002) and "Grant Comes East," (St. Martin's Press, 2004). And now, Mr. Gingrich takes up arms in today's biggest business battle: the $1.6 trillion health care horror. "HMOs were all about...