SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The California Labor Commission sided this month with an Uber driver who argued that she should be classified as an employee of the company, not an independent contractor.

The Office of Executive Education at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business has launched the Interagency Excellence Series; an open-enrollment program specifically for government employees. The next three-day workshop will be held August 25-27, 2015 and focus on business analytics. As organizations are facing more complex data and analysis challenges, they are also finding that equipping executives to lead such teams is challenging. Participants will learn how to use big data and business analytics to drive results within their agencies.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- If India models China, it can similarly affect the global economy. India aims to increase its manufacturing contribution to its GDP from 17 percent to 25 percent within the next decade. The initiative, dubbed “Make India,” is the “only way India can create highly productive jobs for the 10 million-plus youngsters who join the country's labor force each year and the much larger number of farmers who need to move from working the soil to working on the factory floor,” says Anil K.

The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is excited to announce some faculty-favorite books in the "12th Annual Top-10 Summer Reading List for Business Leaders" for 2015, as recommended by members of its faculty and administrators. If you're heading off to business school as an undergrad/MBA or you are already climbing up the corporate ladder, these books will keep you up-to-date on current trends.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The fifth anniversary of the landmark Dodd-Frank legislation, Congress's response to the financial crisis of 2007-08, arrives next month, prompting reflections on whether it has done what the Democratic-controlled Congress that passed it intended: Increase transparency and accountability in the banking system and — most importantly — reduce the likelihood of another crisis.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Canadian National Railway recently announced a $16 million upgrade to its refrigerated cargo handling capacity to keep pace with increasing demand from producers of chilled or frozen foods.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Doctors have many concerns about online crowdsourced ratings, which are intended to make patients better-informed consumers of health care, but this is a big one: They worry that complainers will be the most outspoken contributors to rating sites, skewing scores and resulting in a kind of heckler's veto.

Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, is nominated for Thinkers50, the world's 50 most influential living management thinkers.  Vote for him now at www.thinkers50.com. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The Senate-adopted bill giving President Obama “fast track” authority to conclude a free trade agreement with Asian nations remains in the balance despite earlier projections of House passage this week, Politico reports.  Economist

The Center for Leadership, Innovation, and Change at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted a workshop featuring Janet Ioli, Lead Executive Coach for Northrup Grumman and President of The Mana Group for a workshop focused on building credibility as a leader. Ioli has over 25 years of experience as an executive coach and organizational development consultant for Fortune 200 companies and is author of “The Cure: Remedies for the 5 Ailments that Plague Organizations.”