Business Model

Looking to business is nothing new in education. Turn-of-the-century school reformers promoted the prevailing corporate governance models of their day: centralization, professionalization and scientific management--using management techniques to discover the "one best way." That quest for efficiency produced today's problems, notably the rigid bureaucratic structure of school systems.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Pinterest has begun offering businesses tools that help measure the number of visitors it sends their way, another step on the path to broadening its appeal with brands and making money. The free product, called Pinterest Web Analytics, gives businesses insight into how people interact with their content on Pinterest. The popular online bulletin board lets you collect and share images from around the Web by "pinning" them to virtual boards. It was the 28 th most visited website among U.S. Internet users in January with about 30 million unique visitors, according to research firm ComScore.

The business The company sells weight-loss, nutrition, hair- and skin-care products in more than 80 countries, utilizing independent distributors who profit from their own sales and sales from others they recruit into the business. Its top-selling product is cookies and cream flavor Formula 1, a high-protein, meal-replacement shake mix. Herbalife does very little mainstream advertising and does not sell products in retail stores. Instead it relies on a network of independent distributors who recruit customers, counsel them about nutrition and fitness and sell them products.

The May immigration raid at Agriprocessors Inc.'s Iowa plant, which resulted in the arrest of 389 illegal immigrants, continues to have abundant negative fallout for the company and its workers. Yet, although the raid garnered national headlines, of more significance to workers everywhere is the ongoing struggle of Agriprocessors' New York employees to organize and the company's effort to thwart them. Three years ago, employees at the meat processing company's Brooklyn distribution center voted to unionize, but Agriprocessors would not honor the vote.

Since the housing market peaked in 2006, the nation has suffered through nearly half a decade of financial and economic hell. It's past time for the politicians to do what they should have done in the first place. That is, protect the nation's priceless assets: the rule of law and free markets. Instead, the pols are protecting the worthless assets of zombie banks that do not know how to be banks. Two years ago, many of the nation's largest banks should have failed ? because their business model failed.

In a verdant Westside sanctuary--a world away from the rocky soil of South-Central Los Angeles--Dennis Fomond tills land that will yield basil, peppers, string beans and other crops. Fomond, 26, is an O.G.--not an original gangster but one of half a dozen "original gardeners" who planted a seed in a weed-choked lot behind Crenshaw High School after the 1992 riots and helped launch Food From the 'Hood.

In spring 2011, Groupon Inc. was said to be worth as much as $25 billion — an amazing valuation for a company that still isn't 4 years old. Today, the daily deals pioneer is no longer the same tech darling. Groupon has kept growing, but an onslaught of criticism about its business model has come at a real price. The Chicago company that was worth $13 billion when it went public in November now has a market capitalization of $3 billion. Groupon's stock is down nearly 80% year to date.

This book, author Suzanne McGee explains from the outset, is an attempt to analyze how the recent financial crisis was able to happen — rather than an account of what happened, like many other books that have emerged in the last couple of years. Does she succeed? Only partly. The book from Random House, "Chasing Goldman Sachs: How the Masters of the Universe Melted Wall Street Down ... And Why They'll Take Us to the Brink Again," has many entertaining anecdotes and some insightful analysis.

I had to laugh out loud when I read the quote from a Wayne State University copyright law professor defending Napster-type technology. ("Universal, EMI Sue Napster Investor," April 23). She belittled those music copyright holders who dared to resist threats to their intellectual property for "discouraging people from investing in businesses that challenge the business models of the entrenched market leaders in the entertainment industry." Oh, I see. If I invent cutting-edge technology that lets me drive a new car off some dealer's lot one night, I'm merely "challenging his business model."

SAN FRANCISCO - Pinterest is the one looking to get pinned this holiday season. The popular social networking site that lets you collect and share images from around the Web by pinning them to virtual boards is looking to broaden its appeal with consumers and brands with a major marketing push. On Tuesday, Pinterest launched "30 Days of Pinspiration," holiday themed boards filled with an assortment of tips from an eclectic mix of celebrities, businesses and others. Among the contributors are chef Paula Deen and Jordan Ferney, creator of the party and lifestyle blog Oh Happy Day, as well as the NBA, the U.S. Marine Corps and Starbucks.