5 Signs your Corporate Culture is Doomed

While firms focus on their respective corporate strategy, there exist no solutions for a flawed work culture. Business research has delved into this topic and provided us with a list of indicators which point towards a non –functional work culture. There exists too much of a sense of hurry which induces short-termism in the organization. Cliques tend to form within the firm and free flow of communication is hindered. Empathy also seems to be removed from the management as members are no longer hands-on themselves. There seem to be more number of implementers at the firm rather than visionaries who can innovate and lead at times of need. Engagement within the firm as well as with the outside world reduces. 

3 Mistakes Firms make when Promoting Leaders

Succession planning is often not worked out well by organizations and this reflects when inadvertent mistakes are committed while promoting leaders from within. One of the mistakes is that successful leaders are often highlighted notwithstanding the mistakes they may have committed but got away due to a number of reasons. Thus while these leaders were successful they do not form a prototype for future ones to emulate. The tools used for talent management or verification of employees are often not accurate. A holistic study is rarely made, instead only some factors are taken into account while selecting personnel fit for promotion. Business research conducted also found out that Asian leaders are less likely to be engaging than their global counterparts.

Being a Servant Leader in the Age of Technology

In the present times, being a business leader involves much more than just bossing around. He / she needs a proper skill set to navigate the age of technology. The leader must not hesitate to voice his / her opinions. However, the team members must also feel empowered to make decisions which will have a bearing. The leader needs to have an orientation towards serving the customers or clients. The entire organization must eventually move in sync and the corporate strategy from top to bottom and along the network must be aligned together.

Tourism a growth Sector

Tourism is one the fastest growing sectors in the Republic of South Africa, at a time when various other occupations have slumped. Globally there exist about a quarter short of three hundred million tourism jobs. A tenth of GDP in this country derives from tourism. Foreign visitors contributed to a whopping three-sevenths of total tourism income. Many of these foreign tourists come from traditionally wealthy countries, but those from East Asia are making major impact with Indonesia being among the growth countries.

4 Steps to Innovation every Leader needs to Follow

In order to succeed at business innovation, certain steps have been recommended by a management consulting publication. The founders must possess inspiration from some source. The leader must be able to identify quick-fix solutions which can have broader on the organization. Until the leader is hands-on and is able to actually execute the plans, targets will never be achieved. Once a work culture and patterns sets in, the same must be repeated until it becomes a routine and part of the organizational DNA. 

Call to Regulate Travel Agencies

With tourism booming in Singapore, unique difficulties arise. Travel agencies and tour operators are mushrooming everywhere and while they create numerous travel jobs, they also cause instability in the market. With modest investment they can make millions of dollars at tourism exhibitions and fairs selling at major discounts. Number of these firms cannot go the distance and close rapidly and thus jeopardizing the travel plans of thousands of visitors from abroad. Yet this does not discourage and more such players rise from the ashes. There is a greater urgency to regulate such agencies and their activities so that they can serve the broader interests of the country and society.

Marketers Lagging in Customer Engagement via Digital, Multichannel Campaigns

Customer engagement is an art that most digital marketing firms still seem to be struggling with especially when they are targeting multi-channel campaigns. Firms themselves are not confident and this is reflected in market research conducted by IBM. Only a fifth felt confident about their work in this regards and nearly half were totally unsatisfied. Only five percent of those polled have precise digital content to engage customers but more than three-fifths have plans to boost the existent programmes. A major digital disruption is on the cards and thus marketers need to innovate basing cloud and mobile technologies at priority levels.

Australia’s Tourism sector looks set to boom as the Dollar Busts

The Australian dollar has weakened in relation to the American and this is having severe impacts in the country. While Aussies are traveling less abroad, the country is attracting numerous new tourists to the country and this is supporting a large number of families dependent on tourism jobs. Americans are among the travelers but it is Asian travelers especially from China who are boosting the local economies of various states. New South Wales and Queensland are the states which have gained the most.

Three simple decision making Tools

Decision making is an often complicated and bureaucratic process. Thus as per a business consulting publication, some tools exist which help make the process simpler. Sticky Dot Voting is best when one has to choose between various ideas or options. The similarly named, Sticky Dot Alternatives is an improvisation on the previous formula, but in this case certain alternatives have already been pinned down by other methods. The Matrix or Criteria Rating puts all ideas or solutions on a decision grid table to assess best choices.

Ten ways to Reduce your Failure Rate of Innovation

Business innovation often does not succeed and reasons for the same have been charted. A tactical rather than strategic mindset has often been blamed for the same. Habits cannot be changed and leaders often fear failures. Often customers reject our newer products or services thus putting the organization in a state of chaos. Some ways have been suggested post thorough business analysis to reduce this failure rate. Innovation thrives on momentum. Clear goals must be set for the same within a structured approach. While inventions may be the product of lonely forays, innovations are always group assignments. Innovation must never be the sole preserve of young mavericks but also experience hands. Innovations must also keep pace with the way the world is progressing. Customer validation is always required before any new product can be launched on a bigger scale.

7 Lessons from a Successful Corporate Social Responsibility Program 

CSR has been an oft derided term yet there have been numerous cases of successful execution. Some feedback can be tabled from those cases. The culture off doing good emanates from the very top of corporate strategy. Doing good actually starts at home and employees’ best interests must be considered first. Also employees must be allowed paid leave for involving in volunteering activities. They must drive the efforts. Even customers must be encouraged to participate in such activities. Also these evaluations must be annual in terms of frequency. Periodic feedback must be taken post such efforts. 

3 Strategies to Achieve Balance in your business and your Life 

Work-life balance is a paradigm most professionals today are struggling to maintain. Some methods have been suggested to achieve this. One must rise early in the morning with the sun. Also one must keep a personal calendar handy where important dates have been jotted down. Colleagues at work must be trusted to achieve certain targets. This necessitates substantial level of grooming and talent management of staff. Overall one must take care of oneself in health terms. 

Sustainable Travel working to improve 10 million Lives 

Skal International which is the world’s leading multi-discipline travel organization is promoting Sustainable Travel International’s campaign to promote environment friendly tourism thus generating travel jobs in the process. An MOU has been signed to formally declare the same. Skal possesses massive infrastructural as well as intellectual capital in this field and their commitment is a major step in the campaign for sustainable tourism. A specific Impact Monitoring System has been developed to analyze this movement. 

7 Free Internet Marketing tools that are too good not to Use 

Certain tools exist which are extremely effective in boosting firm’s digital marketing. On top of the list is smallpdf.com which compresses PDF files thus enabling the marketer to easily send larger attachments for customers. Hubspot’s Topic Generator tool is so advanced that on typing a few keywords in mind, it comes up with its own blog idea and post for the unfortified topic. Visme.co is an open source software which allows better visual presentations and info-graphics. WhatWPThemeIsthat.com as odd as the name is actually a pretty useful tool which provides the user with the list of plug-ins or themes on any website. Sameid.net generates business analysis with extensive usage of data. Builtwith.com allows for competitor report. Finally there is photopin.com which has a photo library from which compressed photos can be used across platforms. 

5 Ways to use what Consumers want to boost local SEO Strategy 

Business research has come up with some suggestions for boosting SEO tactics at local level. The best aspects of local businesses which the people value must be highlighted. Local businesses too must campaign among the people of the area to provide positive reviews. The website must be optimized separately for local level usage. In order to compete on price with large chains, promotional deals must be offered periodically. Digital marketing campaign must be run using emails to customers so that brand recall is easier for them. 

How Technology affects the Travel and Tourism Industry 

As per tourism consulting firms, technology affects the travel industry in many different ways. Most obviously, it generates enormous amount of information for potential travellers to lap up. Tour groups can be assembled using online forums. It leads to collaboration as different individuals contribute their own areas of skill to make travelling a better experience. The average traveller has not been empowered as he / she is able to do self-bookings rather than rely on third parties to carry out the same. Numerous tourism jobs have been created using latest technology. The brick-and-mortar segment is adapting to this altering scenario and coming up with their own business innovation in order to survive.  

10 Inbound Marketing Tactics to improve your Brand’s Image 

Certain tactics have been suggested by management consulting in order to derive best inbound marketing results for any brand’s benefit. Buyer personas and their point during the journey must be kept in mind. The website’s design and structure similarly reflects the brand’s sophistication or the lack of it. For business perspective, it is also essential that the content on the website be optimized to be searchable using SEM tactics. The marketing team must also be clear as to the value that the brand is adding to customers. Blogging must be a regular part of the brand’s outreach. The brand must also possess a healthy presence on social media. Emails must not be ignored as marketing research has proven this to be the most effective method. The way the company handles PR, is indicative of the brand positioning intended. Also a sense of customization for various demographics must be incorporated. Importantly, business analysis must be carried out using sophisticated data analytics. 

Turkey’s growing Medical Tourism Industry to grow even Faster 

Turkey is primed to be the leading medical tourism player in the world thus sustaining ever growing tourism jobs. Historically it lagged behind countries such as USA, UK, Israel or those from Europe, but now the trend is reversing. India has also emerged as a major player, but while hospitals in the country are top notch, the surrounding environment often depresses potential medical travellers as opposed to Turkey. While some negative prejudices still stand, Turkey is shedding most of them and attracting inbound travellers from across the developed world. 

5 Ways to put the “I” in Innovation & Change the World 

Business innovation has often been an individualist thing yet now is the time for the art to merge with overall company goals to derive best results. Business research has suggested some ways to achieve so. Innovation must be seen as a group target and everybody must have a role in the same. Also the economy must be considered as shared and thus shortfalls must be converted as opportunity for generating further creativity. Resources must be considered as common and this ideology is best suited to newly minted start-ups. In fact majority of problems can be converted into progress. The concept of social entrepreneur is fast catching up. This community of people are earning good money by performing tasks which benefit society overall. 

6 Ways to Involve Customers in your Product Innovation 

Due to the democratization of the world, customers have now emerged as key facilitators for business innovations in product category. Thus customers must be involved and business consulting has provided us with some advice in order to do so. Social listening must be started by tracking conversations of target audience. On certain forums, customers even provide feedback which lead to social product development. Dell and Starbucks are prominent examples of organizations to have done so. Communication with customers must be as open as possible. Periodic interviews and user experience tests must be conducted to gauge product evaluation by customer. Market trends are showing further signs of this co-creation process. Also this collaboration must not be restricted between the full time employees only but must also incorporate new ideas from external consultants or customers. 

11 Pieces of Data you Should be Collecting from your Customers 

In order to perform effective business analysis, specific data must be collected and not any mishmash. The net promoter score must be tracked. All contact records must be updated. User experience must also be digitally stored. The firm must get a grip on the process of purchasing and who makes the decision based on demographic profiling. Each customer can only have a set of decision making powers and those must be tracked. Equally, the organization must be aware of how the business got known to the buyer as this will enable focused digital marketing. Their buying behaviour must be tapped. The specific reasons for customers dropping out must be understood. Twitter followers must always be kept in mind. The firm must also keep a track of the actual location of purchase. Crucially, last sign-in dates must be recorded as this give an idea of the brand’s customer engagement. 

How my Hard Working Mom Taught me the Value of being Independent 

Marketing research has proved to us something which we always had a sense of. Parents and especially mothers are the first teachers in life for all people and professionals who succeed tend to have witnessed first-hand that work ethic at home first. Harvard Business School which is possibly the most prominent MBA institute in the world, did the survey and the study states clearly that when girls grow up seeing mothers work hard and yet balance the work-life balance, they themselves incorporate professional values. 

Singapore Hoteliers Paint Optimistic Look 

As per market research, the occupancy rate at Singapore’s hotels are set to take a minor hit in 2015, yet the local industry remains upbeat. The downturn is mainly due to reduced Chinese visitors and increase in online business attracting other forms of hospitality. The AEC conference this year is set to boost tourist numbers. The tourism board does not anticipate any major cuts in travel jobs. This sentiment is echoed by the private industry as well. 

Recruiting from a Global Talent Pool 

Talent in the USA is drying up and thus there is a major requirement for recruitment solutions to come from the rest of the world. Thus hiring agencies and talent management firms are scouring the planet for the best of minds. Certain professions have seen serious shortage in the USA such as engineers or MBAs with global exposure. The internet has aided in sourcing such candidates. Now not only are CVs analyzed but the candidate’s entire packaging is studied to fit the team. Getting work visas is not the easiest thing to do yet organizations are increasingly assisting in this part to aid their recruits from abroad. All this however is done only once local options are well and truly exhausted. 

10 Communication Secrets of Exceptional Leaders 

Management consulting has identified communication trademarks possessed by leaders which help them excel. They are in touch with their target audience. They gauge body language perfectly well. They possess integrity. Information they provide are authentic. A sense of authority oozes from their talks. Instead of addressing individuals at a time, they speak to entire group as if they were one unit. They have excellent ways to track information from all corners. When they commit mistakes, they are the first ones to admit. Feedback is something the constantly seek. Crucially, they are hands-on at work. 

E- Cigs in Checked Bags are Fire Risk 

The FAA of the USA has earmarked a new policy as per which e-cigarettes which are growing in popularity will no longer be permitted inside airline luggage. They pose the risk of fire and are thus considered a hazard. The world of tourism consulting feels that this is a positive move as safety of passengers must always be given top priority. Not just in the USA, but now this regulation is set to be followed in other parts of the globe as well.  

‘Free’ Windows 10 has 3 Massive Unanswered Questions 

Windows 10 has just been launched and it has been touted as being ‘free’ to upgrade. However, some experts believe that this is not the case due to three reasons that have been identified. The ‘lifetime’ of the upgrade is unknown as another version may come up shortly as a business innovation to displace this one. The support system during its lifecycle is not free and thus spirals up the overall cost. Meanwhile experts are also unsure about the ethicality of these updates which are forced upon consumers even if they do not wish for any upgrade. As is well known, upgrades often bring with them their set of bugs and viruses to infect the system rather than improve productivity. Thus there is a need for increased transparency. 

Paris Takes Pains to Reassure Tourists 

The tourism board representing the city of Paris has taken great pains to stress on safety as part of attracting inbound tourists. Due to sectarian clashes recently, tourism jobs have been hit hard, yet that is being downplayed by the authorities who insist all is normal. Jewish businesses in particular are being well protected. Certain tourists have even paid homage to the victims of recent clashes. French police can be found across the city though often in camouflage. 

10 Enterprise Trends Transforming India Inc. 

 business innovations are transforming the work patterns in India. First is business analysis using big data. Enterprises are being consumerized. Computing is now possible across devices and not only on stand-alone ones. Network function is getting virtualized. There is now greater focus than even on the customer experience especially via digital marketing. Security of data is now an area of top priority as enormous amount of information is now being transmitted digitally. Communication is getting streamlined across organizations suing cloud technology. Cloud platforms are seeing major rise in demand. Then there is the concept of Internet of Things (I-o-T) which is revolutionizing the way we work. Revenue opportunities are also now increasing due to integration with CAPEX and OPEX.   

5 Ways to Inject Creativity into every Single Job 

Business research has come up with certain procedures which enable creativity to be incorporated into regular jobs. One must volunteer for content development. Business innovation must be devised at departmental level to streamline workflow. Continuous learning by adding new skills or undergoing executive MBA must be part of the schedule. A vision board must be a part of each work station. Finally, each individual must take care of his / her personal brand and this will eventually reflect at workplace.