ECONOMIC REPORTS

Another Business Magazine Drops Into Crowded Market

RE there enough business publications for a CEO to read? Apparently not.

The New York-based management-consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton launched last week a new executive magazine called Strategy & Business. Within days, almost the entire print run of 45,000 copies was in executive hands.

Of course, a lot of those hands are attached to Booz-Allen clients. But the quarterly magazine is also available at newsstands ($9.50) and by subscription ($38).

Brian Dickie, president of Booz-Allen, says the magazine will try to provide corporate leaders with the latest in business thinking. And, what is the latest in business thinking? On the basis of a survey of CEOs and discussions with its major clients, Mr. Dickie says companies are shifting from pruning their companies to managing them for growth. He sees more of a shift toward marketing and new ideas, for example, and less emphasis on reengineering.

Some readers may think the magazine is a little like the Harvard Business Review (HBR). That's not a surprise. The editor is Joel Kurtzman, a former editor in chief of HBR and the publisher is Laurance Allen, also formerly of HBR. One article in the first edition is written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, another former editor of HBR and a professor at the Harvard Business School. Mr. Kurtzman, however, says the new publication will be more practical than HBR, which he views as too academic. Strategy & Business still has a way to go to catch-up to Harvard Business Review's circulation of about 250,000.

Alabama mayor opens Bible to boost economic development

THERE are about 12,000 economic development organizations around the nation. But, there may be only one that is using the Bible for its marketing slogan.

Last week, the mayor of Dothan, Ala., rolled out the new slogan ''Let's Go to Dothan'' (Genesis 37:17) when he met in New York with companies that might move to southeast Alabama.

Dothan is making the effort, says Jim Reichardt, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, because ''nothing was happening.'' Now that they have turned to the Bible, not to mention General Electric Co., Sony, and Michelin, they hope to get some higher paying jobs to the predominately rural area.

- Ron Scherer

Personal income, disposable income up in September

AMERICANS' personal income rose 0.4 percent in September, double the increase for consumer spending. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that incomes picked up last month after edging up just 0.1 percent in August, the weakest showing since May. The September gain was the biggest since a 0.6 percent advance in July.

Spending, meanwhile, rose just 0.2 percent last month after surging 0.8 percent in August, the largest gain since a 1.1 percent jump in May. Most of the August increase was due to car purchases.

The Commerce Department said disposable income - income after taxes - also rose 0.4 percent in September after advancing 0.1 percent in August.

- Associated Press