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Masters of finance

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, the investment bank that is part of the Dresdner bank group, is linking up with Carnegie Mellon University in the United States to offer selected employees the chance to gain a Masters degree in computational finance via interactive video. The programme, which began on May 18, involves 20 students from the information technology and global markets departments in London "joining" a class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at various times over two years. The bank believes it will benefit through having a group of employees with an advanced degree and an unusual combination of skills, and by being able to attract well-qualified recruits in the future.

It's good to communicate

Guidance on the internal political system - sometimes thought to be the most problematic of office situations - will be among the topics covered by a workshop on strategic communication being held by the Communication Academy on June 18 and 19. The academy, a two-year-old joint venture between TMP Communication Consulting and Watson Wyatt Communication Consulting, will be running the workshop in Warwick and will also instruct delegates in such areas as reviewing a communication programme, constructing communication strategies and planning communication activities.

Creative accountants

Accountants, it seems, are more similar to their counterparts in other professions than was previously thought. According to research by accountancy recruitment specialists David Chorley Associates, the vast majority do not change jobs for more money. Instead, they move to gain improved job satisfaction, better prospects and fresh challenges - much the same factors claimed by other groups that have been surveyed in the past.

Gurus' guiding light

Are you confused by management jargon and nonplussed about why the likes of Charles Handy and Gary Hamel (who?) are held in such great awe? Then, Carol Kennedy's updated book, Guide to the Management Gurus, could be just the thing for you. Subtitled Shortcuts to the Ideas of Leading Management Thinkers, the pounds 10 paperback from Random House provides brief guides to the personalities and concepts that shape the way business is conducted in the modern world. So now you'll know exactly who to blame.