Social media is such an integral part of digital marketing, that it is inducing brands to adapt their strategies accordingly. Surprisingly, returns for corporate promotions on Facebook have actually reduced. This is because while Facebook was started to connect friends, with brands and corporations being added later, the algorithm has also developed in a way that user feedback is given higher ratings than paid promotions. Trendy content is getting greater views on social media due to the constant syndications using smart phones. The content could involve videos, pictures, polls or even posts. When Twitter was initially launched, due to the space constraint, users posted more but with less value but now the trend has reversed to fewer in number, but more qualitative posts. This trend reflects on Twitter as well as newer platforms such as Instagram. Similarly, exchanges between users are also shorter and faster. Reactions to posts or other content has moved away from conventional ones to customized versions such as using Emojis for sad or angry. Click-bait style articles used to dominate social media feeds, but now they are dying as there has been a deliberate crackdown on quite a bit of that. Now meatier content is preferred by users.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/08/11/6-social-media-trends-that-are-forcing-brands-to-adapt-quickly/#64e24c0a7ff2

The new rules of Customer Engagement

The rise of social media and online shopping has meant that companies can now engage with customer on a more regular yet slightly transformed manner. It presents great opportunity to conduct digital marketing, but improper use of the medium has its pitfalls. Thus a few methods have been gauged which if followed properly can lead to good results for the company in terms of customer engagement. First of all, in the digital age, customer engagement is not a one-off incident but a series of steps involving building trust through a combination of social media as well as traditional channels. It is no longer restricted to periodic interventions, but can happen at any moment on any device. This entire process is driven by customers. Thus tracking customer conversations provide vital business intelligence. Researchhas proven that nearly three-fourths of Americans are ready to spend more money on firms which provide good customer service. So all customer engagement activities must ultimately be measurable through tangible metrics. This engagement must bring some value to both the marketers and customers.

Source:http://www.inc.com/wendy-lea/new-rules-of-customer-engagement.html

How machine learning will force marketing to evolve (whether we like it or not)

Source:https://blog.kissmetrics.com/machine-learning-will-force-marketing-to-evolve

How to hold onto the fleeting app user

Source:http://marketingland.com/keep-fleeting-app-user-186994

What is brand management?

Source:https://www.searchenginejournal.com/manage-a-brand/163942/

The top 7 online marketing trends dominating 2016

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/08/04/the-top-7-online-marketing-trends-dominating-2016/#67eae0e8582e

The bar for digital experience is rising in exponential times

Source:http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-bar-for-digital-experience-is-rising-in-exponential-times/

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6 Predictions for how IoT will affect Online Marketing and SEO

The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to ring in major effects on digital marketing. First of all, search will evolve majorly into conversations using IoT based devices such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. Organic searches as a result may fall though this may not be a negative trend as it first appears. Instead of optimizing websites one will need to be located by IoT streams. As unthinkable as it may appear, Google will no longer be dominant on the search side as loads of IoT players will emerge to cut through slices of the search engine cake. This will further impact on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) which will either transform or be cut out from the chain altogether. Content will get personalized instead of the mass media of present times. A type known as residential marketing will increase in scope. This is because residential properties will now have IoT devices that will integrate the entire marketing process but also ensure that each residence may receive customized content depending upon search and usage patterns.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/08/27/6-predictions-for-how-iot-tech-will-affect-online-marketing-and-seo/#d3f49f8c5afb

How to turn the Internet of Things (IoT) into a Business Advantage

The Internet of Things (IoT) has moved beyond the realm if IT geeks and has entered the domain of business professionals. It is the latter that has managed to scale the technology in order to utilize it for business advantage. IoT can be a massive business innovation when applied to the right fields by either cutting costs or increasing efficiency. Smart city solutions for example are leveraging the technology to improve timely water supply and repair physical damage to infrastructure by sourcing the right professionals at the right time. The over ROI of IoT gives holistic benefits as proven by study conducted by AT&T that because of such benefits, eighty percent of shipping firms expect to implement such systems over the next two years. Security risks are enormous as massive amounts of data gets used and further generated. This data can be used by competitors to capture critical business intelligence about the company or worse can lead to physical security risks. That is why several layers of controls have already been devised and being implemented which will make it impossible for criminals to get any foothold.

Source:http://www.itproportal.com/2016/07/16/iot-business-advantage/

How IoT primes a new Smart Product Economy

Cloud based technologies are combining to give the word smart a whole new meaning. The Internet of Things (IoT) has the ability to connect homes, phones, cars or even food product jars. The Economist Intelligence Unit has conducted business research on more than two hundred global products to discuss with business leaders on how best to leverage the smart economy. The pharmacy industry for example can have smart tags attached to medicines by which the tubes themselves warn the users on expiry dates and can even remind them about consuming them on time. Fitness bands tracking personal wellness has already made inroads. Source:http://www.cso.com.au/mediareleases/25215/how-iot-primes-a-new-smart-product-economy/

Why the Internet of Things will drive a Knowledge Revolution

The Internet of Things (IoT) is opening up possibilities never thought of previously by connecting seemingly disparate objects. The sciences of artificial intelligence and robotics are being used to further increase the benefits derived out of IoT. While IBM’s Watson is considered a super computer, AI has created ‘Adam’ who is one of the quickest virtual assistants imaginable. Over the next decade more than fifty to two hundred million new internet users will emerge. This is generating enormous amount of data. This data is further getting processed to gauge vital business intelligence for organizations to make informed decisions. The level of knowledge and content now available to people is exponentially greater than previous generations and it is is going to grow stronger due to the proliferation of the IoT. Source:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-internet-things-drive-knowledge-revolution-david-evans

Who will control the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things has already made inroads into all major business processes. Due to its heavy influence, business has now increasingly come under the influence of technology. Marketing research recently concluded by the Forbes Technology Council has drawn up a list of ways in which this shift will impact businesses. It may end up as just another facet of business. IT is getting increasingly critical to management tasks and IoT’s influence is already being felt. Business innovation will further get the stimulus if coordination between IT and management increases. IoT will form part of this innovation cycle. For such reasons the role of organizations; IT department is changing rapidly. Some however feel that technology is just one part of business. Others feel that these days technology projects are never in isolation but part of business projects. Technology development too has become more inclusive in nature as such ventures require the human touch for connecting with final users. IT security needs to be beefed up as that is an essential ingredient of present times and a cause for concern if not identified correctly.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2016/06/03/who-will-control-the-internet-of-things/#1fe7b5ba5cc3

IoT and Brand Management

There has been much hype about the Internet of Things (IoT) but not much of that has been substantiated by actual effect at work. In short the IoT is about a network of cost effective, low power microprocessors strewn across the board. A lot of the IoT boom has been driven by leveraging crowd-funding but the actual benefits to large segments of population will only arrive once the big brands get interested. Big brands have turfs to protect and thus are cautious before getting into any new line of work. Only such big brands however can scale businessinnovations so that they can be accessible to common consumers and not just by industrial houses. IoT will bring major challenges in the near future as growth will trigger lots of irrelevant players and applications. Eventually only the useful applications will survive from the clutter of noise that will surely engulf once IoT gets scalable.

Source: http://www.iotjournal.com/articles/view?14177

How the Internet of Things could affect Marketing

The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to ring in major changes in the coming years. By the year 2020 it is expected that over thirty billion devices will be inter-connected with the IoT. Everything can be controlled using it including the temperature inside the room and grocery list for the refrigerator. For marketers this provides enormous chunk of Big Data which can be used to provide localized solutions to customers. Beyond just large chunks, the data will be smarter as it will be specific to needs.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/marketing/internet-things-affect-marketing-01459653#KSpvMWlRAUfzDCCW.97

Internet of Things 2016 Trends: Leveraging Actionable Insights

2015 was the year when the organizations that have invested on the Internet of Things started seeing their investments pay dividends. In 2016, the trend suggests this is further going to get better. As per management consulting firm McKinsey, manufacturing units are getting smarter. Labour efficiency levels have gone up several notches due to use of RFID tags attached to devices. Similarly, logistics have become much more efficient, with the port city of Hamburg in Germany being the best example where redundancies have reduced as a result of extensive use of cloud based technologies developed by SAP and Deutsche Telekom. There has been little doubt that wearable technologies like Apple Watch have improved human health by mapping minute observations that weren’t possible earlier. New business models are being forged by using IoT based technologies on traditional industries.

The 7 Cs of the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) also includes an array of 7 Cs. The first C is Consumption as IoT involves ingestion of data across IT structures. Then there is Connection which aims at connectivity around devices to develop business intelligence. It is however important to enable Conversion from raw data to content that is useful for readers. A sense of Cognition is needed to make sense out of the enormous chunks of data. Centralization is a critical element that is emerging in to IoT as data sources of the same are disparately located. Incidentally sometimes it is needed to Configure the data back into the system after evaluating so that the next chunk can be ever more meaningful. To manage such vast operations, Coordination is necessary. An eight C called Creativity has also been suggested.

How to solve Content Inventory problems by copying Retailers

Retail stores, factories and restaurants have long struggled with inventory. Either there is too much of it which means market assessment has not been right or less of it which hurts sales and customer servicing. Storage costs, theft and weather fluctuations are just some of the factors they need to battle against. Online content does not quite have the same problem yet but it needs to learn from retailers. One of the principles of digital marketing is that content must be delivered to the right person at the right time. Content being merely creative does not provide any end results. An example can be cited of a firm which managed to dislodge its entire blog history. This removed at one go more than hundred articles of creative merit, yet the blog wasn’t serving its purpose. Now the firm is doing much better with fewer clicks on blog but more meaningful content.

Truths will flip your Brand

Business consulting provided by an online think-tank has identified marketing trends which ensure that brand images and valuations have altered. Marketing power has shifted away from the business to end customers. These customers in turn want products to provide some value. Brands are being associated with certain identities which they have forged. Also customers want a say in final purchasing decision. Individual buyers in turn influence the buying patterns of their friends and relatives, which in today’s cyber age is substantial. The behaviours create loyalties almost as strong as tribes which then battle for supremacy, though without the license to physically hurt. It is thus imperative for top brands to associate with the strongest of tribes. Eventually these groups may converge using technology. Branding must never be carried out on one channel alone, but must be distributed across platforms. Finally, brands must be flexible enough to target various segments and categories.

The big Change Management Lie

It is often wrongly contemplated that employees try to resist change, but the truth is that in majority of such cases the communication has not been explained properly. Employees resist those changes which they feel are a threat to themselves. To bridge this gap, a publication has developed a Change Planning Canvas which details methods to implement business innovations at operations. It includes more than fifty tools and individual licenses are available for educational, professional and commercial purposes. The employee must never get a sense of loss of purpose, control, mastery, clarity or attachment.

Don’t let frustration make you say the wrong Thing

In an office environment it is common to feel frustration. This can especially take place when colleagues make subtle yet negative remarks about us and it becomes difficult to control emotions. Yet it becomes necessary to avoid confrontation. Management consulting provided by writers at the Harvard Business Review have explained how this can be resolved by the proper use of meditation. The amount of time spent on the same depends on lifestyle which need not get disrupted at all. A few minutes for few days every week will generate positive results quite early.

6 Ways to transform your Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is in many ways the lifeblood of business and changes can never be implemented without this being in place. Thus some ways have been earmarked which can help transform the corporate culture for the better. A company must first of all be aware of what exactly it does and forge its identity likewise. Talent management must involve a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches. Not all solutions or best practices will emerge right away, many will develop over a matter of time through trial-and-error. Such practices must eventually be identified and incorporated for constant use. Engagement with customers and all other stakeholders such as employees, clients or even vendors is of paramount importance within the current circumstances. Closed environments are not conducive for developing new ideas. Similarly, such positive work cultures must be leveraged to generate and then implement business innovations. Most importantly, nothing must be hurried. Work must carry on with patience. Many projects or assignments will not be won at once but through sheer persistence.

Source:http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/6-ways-transform-corporate-culture/leadership-lessons/article/1408934

What the best Cross- cultural Managers have in Common

With work becoming globalized and more number of firms expanding overseas, there is a great requirement for managers who can work bets in this multi-cultural environment. Such managers can manage diverse teams in disparate markets. For them change is an opportunity rather than a hindrance. But firms are grappling with ways to attract such specialists. Conventional talent recruitment procedures may not work here. CVs may not tell the full story. Instead it is best to hire internally by speaking to individuals who have stayed certain part of their life abroad. These people must be asked about their experiences as this will give the company an idea whether they can cut it out abroad. In order to retain such talent over a period of time, it is essential to keep challenging them with newer assignments in different expat locations. Eventually these kind of cross-cultural managers can act as the bridge between the head office and various subsidiaries.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/06/what-the-best-cross-cultural-managers-have-in-common

9 Signs that your Organization lacks Diversity of Thought

Diversity is one of the essential tenets of modern day places. It leads to wide array of ideas being bounced of leading to business innovation. Certain signs have been identified which point out to a lack of clear cut diversity of thought within an organization. At such places leaders wish to control rather than motivate. The business overwhelms the individuals rather than the latter influencing the former. There has been a cultural demographic shift but that does not reflect at such firms. Also at such places there is a major disparity between the mission statement and the actual practices at the workplace. Older work practices do not get challenged in these environments. Crucially, departments work in silos and do not collaborate with others for achieving common organizational goals. Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2016/08/22/9-signs-that-your-organization-lacks-diversity-of-thought/#570069c76a13

How Cognitive Empathy in Marketing revolutionizes your Brand Relationships

Budding entrepreneurs are often asked to try and emulate business leaders such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page or Richard Branson in order to be successful. This is an ambiguous statement generally as it is difficult to grasp where exactly to start. However, there is one trait the three and many others of that level possess and that is empathy. The capacity to be able to relate others’ thoughts or feelings is termed as empathy. It can be of three types. Affective empathy is where one person is able to connect to the emotional state of the other. Compassionate empathy is what induces action to benefit others. Cognitive empathy is the third type which combines the first two. It involves connecting with the other, but also being able to think strategically for that person. For business leaders, it is most essential to master cognitive empathy. It is important to listen and learn from others’ point of view. Digital marketing provides us ideal platform to listen to customer viewpoints so that we can strategize marketing plans accordingly. Company policies and value systems must be built around customer experiences. Social media must be tapped to establish valuable one-to-one interactions. The customer must not feel alienated from the company and the latter must invoke the personal touch using phone calls, emails and social media. Source:http://www.business.com/sales-and-marketing/how-cognitive-empathy-in-marketing-revolutionizes-your-brand-relationships/

Not your grandfather’s corporate training: 5 trends changing workforce learning

Source:https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-08-19-not-your-grandfather-s-corporate-training-5-trends-changing-workforce-learning

The hidden curriculum of work

Source:http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-Hidden-Curriculum-of-Work

How employee-focused innovation drives prosperous retail environments

Source:http://sociable.co/technology/retail-innovation-tech-employees/

How company culture drives digital transformation and business adaptability

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/08/09/how-company-culture-drives-digital-transformation-and-business-adaptability/#5c387cf41347

IBM’s HR leaders on how a culture of innovation can boost employee engagement

Source:http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/ibm-canadas-hr-head-on-how-a-culture-of-innovation-can-boost-employee-engagement/76515

The seven characteristics of successful company cultures

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/the-seven-characteristics_b_11339884

4 Things you need to know about Engagement

With employee engagement rising in importance across organizations, some trends have been chronicled which all management professionals ought to know. As per business research conducted by ORC International, it has been found out that engagement has been steadily rising and is now valued at a level of 63%. This percentage though differs from region to region with the Asia-Pacific region scoring a robust 68% and Europe doing much worse. Within the former region, India scores a high of 81% but Japan and Hong Kong are even below average Europe levels. Also this engagement is different for varying groups. Senior employees have a fifth greater engagement to others. Similarly, those involved directly with customers do better on this count than back-end operators. Even millennials tend to do better than Baby Boomers. Engagement is good for the actual business performances, as the survey found out that companies doing badly in this count were twice as like to get employees report as ‘sick’ compared to the star performers.

Source:http://www.humanresourcesonline.net/4-things-need-know-engagement/

4 Ways to Calculate Employment Engagement ROI

Engagement with employees is a crucial business matter these days. Contrary to popular perception, it is not an intangible benefit, as metrics exist to measure the ROI of employee engagement strategies. The first such metric is increasing productivity. Absenteeism must reduce post such management training sessions, as employees must be better hooked to their jobs. Learning and development trends must show acceleration both during such sessions as well as beyond them as effects must last. Post such activities, organizations must be able to track effective business intelligence on reasons for attrition and how to rectify the same. Gamification can be one very effective tool to enhance employee engagement.

How Company Culture drives Digital Transformation and Business Adaptability

The culture of a company is like the litmus test to gauge whether the organization can undergo digital transformation or not. A slow decision making process with a top-down communication flow is not conducive to digital transformation. Gone are the days where all decisions had to flow top-down, instead modern organizations have more democratic work structures. The fear factor must not be dominant in firms looking to enter the digital age. In firms which cannot, members of the C-suite often show a shocking inability to show value. Such companies veer away from the bigger aims of the corporate strategy and instead focus on singular aspects in what is known as tunnel vision. Certain tactics have been suggested to rectify these errors. Infighting over positions at the C-suite need to be eliminated right away. Employees must be provided certain level of freedom at work instead of being controlled by fear. The company must be flexible enough to take value ideas and feedback from the external world. Most importantly, all decision making must be spread right across the organization.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/08/09/how-company-culture-drives-digital-transformation-and-business-adaptability/#40429f9e1347

The Seven characteristics of successful Company Cultures

Company culture is very important to eventual business success. Some features of a successful company culture have been tabulated together in a study conducted. First of all, the employees of the company must be driven towards a common purpose. Corporate communication must be effective and consistent across the organization. There must be a process of constant feedback. In the present world, it is important to embrace diversity within the work team. A successful company culture will even lead to effective teamwork among the employees across departments. A sense of loyalty will be reflected with proper employee engagement. Corporate training programmes must lead to growth and development of the employees. This involves position based, financial and professional growth. Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/the-seven-characteristics_b_11339884

Can you really power an organization with love?

Some of the great thinkers of modern human history have spoken about the centrality of love to our lives. Yet, workplaces seem devoid of this work. Thus a team within the Harvard Business Review set out to explore important tenets of love that augur well at the workplace. First of all the word – love – must not be used, but instead compassion, kindness or respect are better appreciated at such formal environments. Love is the glue that binds other departments such as finance, marketing or corporate strategy. Compassion can also lead to victorious sports teams such as Saracens in Rugby or the Seattle Seahawks in Football. The expressions of love are contagious and move freely from organization to employee and then to external suppliers and the society at large. Love is more readily accepted and openly spoken of in founder-led or family businesses than large impersonal corporations. An exception to the latter is the military. It must be understood that love at the workplace exists side by side with business operations but needs to be better noticed as Whole Foods and Southwest Airlines have successfully done.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/08/can-you-really-power-an-organization-with-love

Implementing best HR practices makes FedEx a great place to work

Source: http://www.humanresourcesonline.net/77-candidates-prefer-human-interaction-searching-jobs/

Culture series: how 3 companies built their corporate cultures

Source:http://www.talentmgt.com/2016/06/19/culture-series-how-3-companies-built-their-corporate-cultures/

Why corporate structure needs to change in the age of big data

Source:http://www.information-age.com/it-management/strategy-and-innovation/123461642/why-corporate-structure-needs-change-age-big-data

The key to improving your company culture with social media marketing

Source:http://www.cio.com/article/3086157/internet/the-key-to-improving-your-company-culture-with-social-media-marketing.html

LinkedIn’s billionaire founder Reid Hoffman shares advice on how to build a stronger network

Source: http://www.businessinsider.in/LinkedIns-billionaire-founder-Reid-Hoffman-shares-advice-on-how-to-build-a-stronger-network/articleshow/52512072.cms

The connection between Employee Trust and Financial Performance

Contrary to popular belief, building trust in an organization is not a soft skill but a core business requirement. Though business research conducted by Trust Across America, it has been understood that two-thirds of companies listed in the Fortune 500 list consider building employee or customer trust of paramount importance to their work. Trust building is a skill which can be mastered using three methods. First of all the company must declare its true intent. That intent is like a company sales pitch. In addition, genuine respect must be shown towards people who have performed credibly. Of course words alone cannot get the work done, the company has to actually deliver.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/07/the-connection-between-employee-trust-and-financial-performance

Why you can’t ignore Culture in your Recruiting Process

For organizations growing at rapid pace, talent recruitment is amongst the most important tasks ahead for them. A study conducted by the Harvard Business School estimates that a toxic worker ends up leaking the recruiting company of US$ 12,500 in a year. ERE Media claims even higher amounts are lost in replacing these failed recruits. Recruitment today has moved beyond the company short listing candidates. Instead, power of negotiation lies firmly with employees. These losses can thus be mitigated using certain steps. The responsibility of recruitment must not lie solely with the HR team but must be a shared task. Proper investment of time and money must be made to ensure recruitment processes are well in place. The actual recruiters must be provided with adequate resources to evaluate candidate skills and experience. Beyond recruitment, the company must ensure that attrition is stopped. This can be smoothed out by investing on boarding and management training programmes. Finally, the recruiters need to evaluate whether the candidates can fit in to the company culture. The aspirant’s own value system must match the organization’s.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2016/07/18/how-important-is-your-recruiting-process-to-your-culture/#284bc5baf43b

How your Corporate Culture can strengthen your Marketing Efforts

Corporate culture has long been known as a bedrock for any organization to have a good recruitment and talent management trends but now it has been understood that beyond that, it is also invaluable in marketing efforts. As per a study conducted, three-fifths of potential customers want to know about the work culture before signing up for a product as they feel that only good workplaces can deliver equally good product or service value. This is especially true for younger people. Organizations which have cracked a good culture must not just mention it on the website but go beyond by recording videos or podcasts of the same and broadcasting them to people. Starbucks is one company that has successfully done this. This kind of corporate culture will not develop overnight but will need to be nurtured over a period of time. It is the little things that can often seal a deal rather than core values. Clients are often more interested in the daily work routine than any bombastic corporate strategy document can ascertain.

Source:http://www.business2community.com/marketing/corporate-culture-can-strengthen-marketing-efforts-01593364

Ten Signs your Company has a Culture Problem

Some signs exist which clearly point out to a company’s culture having problems. The first such sign is when a good period is defined as when no problems took place, all deadlines were met and the top management was satisfied. At such places, policies and procedures exist for everything. Corporate training for managers at such firms focuses on best practices in the industry but not on new innovative techniques. This training is mainly focused on supervision rather than coaching or inspiration. A corporate strategy exists with detailed plans ad forecasts, but individual employees are not passionate about the goals as there is no glue holding all together. Top managers often threaten others on job security. These employees are in fact measured and rated against each other on every parameter. Micromanagement is done over small matters such as punctuality or dress code. Employees quitting is a regular affair and no discussion takes place on the matter. Even the HR department joins in by only discussing hard topics such as policies, rules, benefits and compensation rather than soft matters such as work-life balance.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/07/08/ten-signs-your-company-has-a-culture-problem/#14c44f933d24

Samsung to abolish rigid Corporate Culture

In a bid to bolster business innovation, Samsung has dedicated to creating a different corporate structure to function almost like a startup. The traditional hierarchical set – up is to be replaced by a different one which pays greater emphasis on productivity rather than structure. Samsung’s biggest advantage has always been manufacturing efficiency that has resulted in the Korean company being the world’s leader in smartphones, memory chips and televisions. Such efficiency requires hierarchies to be respected. This in addition to Korea’s Confucian culture has meant that Samsung has never ventured out to a more egalitarian corporate set up which it is not implementing. The earlier model of 7 levels is to be cut short to 4. Fewer internal meetings must now take place, and if at all then a maximum time limit of an hour has been capped.

Source: http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=207977

Assessing and Changing Culture

Corporate culture is one of the most overlooked aspects of any business. Once this gets faulty, the entire business is bound to suffer. The organization cannot adjust to customer requirements on such occasions. The culture involves the corporate strategy and its adherence. It also tracks the organization’s relations with employees, vendors, customers, shareholders and other prominent stakeholders. The leadership style is another important sub-component within organization culture. Work culture models may differ from place to place. From the father-founder types to manager-entrepreneur types, changes galore but ultimately work needs to succeed and employees need to feel engaged.

Source:http://www.cstoredecisions.com/2016/06/17/assessing-changing-culture/

How failure leads to disruptive Success

Contrary to popular thought, failures are actually essential to eventual business success. Business innovation is something that succeeds only once license to take risk is accorded. Market research conducted proves that over ninety percent of startups actually fail. And that is a reason it is a wise idea to start a few companies together so that statistically the risk of failure is reduced. The country of Israel punches well above its weight on the innovation scales, but in fact most of its innovators are former failed entrepreneurs. Their failures allowed them to toughen up, learn from their mistakes and get on with their next project instead of grimacing about what went wrong. Source:http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/03/21/how-failure-leads-to-disruptive-success/

The Do’s and Don’ts of running an Ideation Program

Ideations programmes have now become essential ingredients of corporate training sessions. Certain points have been identified that must by all means be followed while others must certainly be removed. Ideas must be tracked constantly from participants. However, generating ideas is not enough, some follow up response is needed. The right ideas must then be applauded. Care must be taken to ensure that appreciation of certain ideas does not stem the flow from those whose plans got rejected. Business leaders in the organization must be involved as support but their presence must never get overwhelming so that newer members hesitate while proposing ideas. Patience is a virtue during such sessions as the moment of eureka may not arrive instantly. Just to arrive at that point, excessive brainstorming must be avoided at all costs.

Source:http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/03/23/the-dos-and-donts-of-running-atn-ideation-program/

Samsung Electronics initiates makeover in Corporate Culture to become more Inventive and Agile

In spite of being a global giant, Samsung has restructured its organizational structure to reflect a sort of startup environment where agile business innovation is encouraged. The hierarchical set up is to be eased out to afford quicker decision making. The ideation process is also to be speeded up where anyone with a good idea may put forward a proposal on top of the idea box irrespective of designation. Also meetings are to be reduced and reports simplified. Flexibility in work timings are also expected on completion of eighty years of the South Korean conglomerate’s existence.

Source:http://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?sc=30800021&year=2016&no=224054

Ten Corporate Practices that kill Trust

Management consulting publication Forbes has identified ten practices which destroy the trust factor in organizations. Forced or stack ranking programmes are harmful towards employee morale as they pit employees against one another. Bell Curve is possibly even more hurtful as only a fifth of employees are shown in positive light whereas others are disregarded. Fear based attendance policies must be consigned to the bin as a relic of past practices. Management by the numbers is simply number crunching and not a part of management. Progressive discipline is nothing but a method of punishments only sans rewards. The three sixty degree feedback sounds good on paper but in effect does not serve the purposes. Ultimately employees need to be dealt with in a way one would treat vendors.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/03/16/ten-corporate-practices-that-kill-trust/#1998d0ce1e24

The five different types of Big Data

A highly respected publication has identified five different classifications of data. The best known one is Big Data which is an amalgamation of vast chunks of predictive analytics, data curation and visualization. The next set known as Fast Data helps marketers gauge people’s moods and delivers coupons from retailers depending on geographic tracking. In Japan for example, it is also being used for reducing accidents near rail tracks. Marketing research conducted by Gartner claims that four-fifths of all data is unstructured and not easily accessible thus known as Dark Data. Lost Data refers to information that is actually not lost but is not easily available due to operational considerations. The decision has to be taken with very limited data available in such cases. New Data meanwhile is something that is not yet within our grasp but research firms are developing towards. For example, in Israel a firm is trying to develop an algorithm to identify source of all water leaks.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2016/03/11/the-five-different-types-of-big-data/#513aa4ab1c5d

Creating a Corporate Culture for Design Thinking

In order to enable a culture that promotes design thinking certain steps have been recognized that corporates must undertake. The leadership of the organization must be geared towards ensuring that hurdles in creating business innovations are eliminated. Dedicated infrastructure is needed which will allow designers to play with their art forms in productive ways. Similarly a support system must exist to aid the core team of design thinkers. Importantly the design thinking that the company wants to inculcate must be in-line with the overall corporate strategy. These changes to the culture need to be introduced gradually. Aspects from the existing culture that aren’t in line with the new thinking, need to be scrapped. The design thinking must agree to how the market is projected to move. Source: http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2015/08/24/creating-a-corporate-culture-for-design-thinking/

Who’s the boss of Workplace Culture? HR, Managers, and Employees disagree, says new Workforce Institute Study

As per business research conducted recently by the Workforce Institute, it has emerged that there is no clear winner in the stakes to identify who defines workplace culture. The HR, managers and employees all disagree on certain points. Employees feel that it is they who dictate the workplace culture. This trend is especially strong among millennials. HR and managers though feel otherwise. Worryingly, a significant chunk of respondents feel that culture is arbitrary and not defined by any one segment in particular. Employees cite pay, work-life balance and collaboration levels with colleagues as the most important considerations which matter at workplace. HR though cites employee benefits and leadership shown by management as top attributes required. High level of stress was found out to be generally something which killed workplace culture. Due to technology and job – shifting trends among newer recruits, pressure at work has taken on a different shape. Glassdoor which is an employer review forum has created pressures on the companies to develop a positive workplace culture.

Source:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160309005799/en/Who%E2%80%99s-Boss-Workplace-Culture-HR-Managers-Employees

Don’t blow up HR, appreciate and evolve It

It has become fashionable to criticize HR yet some management thinkers fee that instead of criticizing, it is time to evolve the art. Age old philosophies need to be replaced by cutting edge practices. HR is now tracking business analytics to serve organizational requirements better. Also HR has moved beyond the traditional role to incorporate strategic business goals as well. Ultimately, the organizational scorecard will reflect on the effectiveness of the HR as well. HR is also focusing a lot on talent management now with team work and individual competencies mapped. Corporate governance is another role that HR has taken up with diligence of late. Source: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/features/1152773/dave-ulrich-dont-blow-up-hr-appreciate-and-evolve-it

How to create a Corporate Culture when your Teams are Remote

It is a major challenge for organizations and especially talent management teams to create a sense of professional work culture when a substantial proportion of employees are working remotely. This concept does not appeal to everyone but for many this flexibility allows them to work on creative assignments. For full time regular employees, the touch, feel and constant interaction of the workplace is important. They attend employee events and network with one another. Virtual employees though must not feel isolated as this concept is gaining credence across the business world.

Source:-http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/31/how-to-create-a-corporate-culture-when-your-teams-are-remote/

Managing during Transformation

Talent management is a particularly precarious task during transition phase for organizations. A lot of managers in order to impose transformation, put in extra loopholes into processes. However the idea of change is now to increase complexities but rather to improve processes. Recruitment of new people and retention of valuable employees attains critical importance during such times. Succession planning also becomes important at such times. Not all employees will be able to survive this period of changes. New processes and technologies will limit some positions, eventually even rendering certain spots are irrelevant. Thus only those who will adapt to new streams of thoughts can succeed this transformation.

Source: http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/7441-managing-during-transformation

How Corporate Culture impacts the Employee Experience

Management thinkers are unsure of what exactly comprises good employment practices which will attract employees to want to work rather than just having to turn up to office. It is not about only about providing benefits but also involves employee engagement practices. The work culture must ideally involve a sense of creativity to develop business innovation. In fact whenever business leaders are asked about the reasons for employee satisfaction, more than pay or benefits it is the culture part that gets highlighted as being key.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/12/10/how-corporate-culture-impacts-the-employee-experience/

Investments in HR Technology focused on improving User Experience and Business Alignment

The extensive usage of technology is no longer restricted to marketing or finance disciplines anymore. Hr functions are increasingly reliant on Cloud based technologies. Business intelligence deciphered by the Information Services Group (ISG) has found that nearly three-fourths of respondents have either already implemented or are in process of shifting their HR operations to appropriate SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platforms. Beyond cost saving, these initiatives are enabling HR to become part of the over business strategy. Also as a trend larger firms with more than ten thousand employees have been found to involve business analytics almost twice in comparison to smaller firms. HR service delivery models are also as a result altering.

Source:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investments-in-hr-technology-focused-on-improving-user-experience-and-business-alignment-isg-survey-finds-300192359.html

Why Culture eats Strategy for lunch at Chick-fil-A

An oft remarked cliché on how corporate strategy is trumped by organizational culture actually works at restaurant chain Chick-fil-A. The founder of this chain was devoutly religious and Christian values play an important role in the outlook. Also, the organization has this very transparent work culture where keeping employees satisfied is one of the primary tasks. Instead of recruiting employees, the philosophy is to let people choose Chick-fil-A as their place of work. New recruits are first of all given a tour of the work culture before any business goals or targets are explained. This leads to high commitment levels among employees.

Connecting the new distributed Workforce

Due to concepts such as space and time sharing businesses can now be active round the clock across the globe. A number of people are working remotely thousands of miles away from the actual arena of action. This is of particular importance to accounting as unlike several other routine operations, outsourcing of this work requires greater understanding of actual technicalities. It is nearly impossible for a person working remotely to gauge the exact procedures unless well versed with the subject matter. And so specific accounting tools and software suites need to be developed in order to aid the modern day CFO. Increasing amount of predictive analytics and Big Data are being used to come to conclusions. While a lot of this is making our work easier, we need to be extra careful with sensitive data.

Building a Design driven Culture

The basic human value of empathy has been sieved out of business operations over generations of such practices. However, beyond speaking to customers as simply business targets, a dash of human touch may instead land organizations with buyers for life. Some basic essentials have been identified of such design driven cultures. At the heart of it, one has to understand the customer and grasp his / her needs. Organization wide empathy is the next task. Design of work processes must be aligned with the overall corporate strategy but it has to be formulated with real time analysis. A braided design model starts with an overall frame, with a prototype to co- create in a team. Actions taken must be verifiable immediately. Some hindrances known as walls occur to such ideals. One of them is the customer journey and experience wall which tracks buyer personas and research insights. There is the technology wall which can be cracked using cutting edge data structures and architecture maps. Team planning may occasionally be a hindrance but with proper timelines and task planning can be addressed easily. Business operations can become a serious threat for which internal processes must be strong to avert.

Rethinking Culture and Strategy

Famous management thinker Peter Drucker had once remarked something to the effect that organizational culture was more important than corporate strategy. His quote gets cited frequently, unfortunately very often by those who do not really comprehend the matter. While fun, flexible or inclusive work cultures are desirable, ultimately no businesses can exist unless there is a certain product or service the company provides that is needed in the market. Employees too gain a sense of perspective as well as pride when they see their organizations performing well. Also it is ultimately business strategies that are formulated first before the company culture is etched out around the product. So while company culture is a crucial cog, it must not be used to undermine the business strategy.

Retooling the Manager’s Role

Business consulting giant Accenture has concluded a study on how to remodel managers’ toolkit in order to suit today’s digital needs. Teams must these days be led horizontally rather than on a traditional top-down vertical model. Instead of getting work done using formal authority, modern managers ensure collaboration across the organization. This is also closely related to the concept of agile organizations where employees work according to existing needs and demands rather than a water-tight departmentalization. In present times, it is also imperative that organizations tap into crowd-sourcing methods. Due to digitization, everyone has an opinion and it is important to understand market needs. Social media is a very effective tool to extract crowd-sourced data.

Building integrity into Corporate Culture requires Dedication

Developing an upright corporate culture in any organization requires painstaking effort. Victorian Finance and Industrial Scientific are two such organizations which have succeeded in this quest. Finger pointing when employees make mistakes is a complete no at such places. The corporate strategy is outlined to employees on day 1 itself and integrity is built into it. It is pronounced in bold letters to seek as well as speak the truth. Employees must not hesitate before speaking out what they feel is right. Executing such practices at work places with more than a hundred employees requires genuine dedication.

Take a Feminine approach to Corporate Culture or Die

Even though we are well into 2016, many organizations still have very archaic work patterns. They still focus on sales and meeting deadlines forgetting to instead rectify the corporate culture. It has indeed been suggested from certain quarters that a more progressive, rather feminine culture would suit organizations better in the coming years. A prominent idea to have emerged is to allow more flexible work hours rather than the grueling fixed schedule based around putting in long hours. Corporate training programmes must also focus on aspects of overall well being such as nutrition and fitness in addition to business aspects such as networking and negotiating. Also beyond work, companies must strive to provide employees with support groups based around mutual interests where one can socialize beyond work hours.

Corporate Culture, the secret ‘sauce’ of Success

It is quite easy for organizations to measure metrics such as productivity, income, expenditure or staff turnover. However, it is not possible for organizations to conduct business analysis on something such as corporate culture. That is the hidden, uncontrollable factor that is often understood to be the dividing point between success or failure of a firm. Organizational culture is the product of small habits, actions and choices afflicting the entire firm from top to bottom. Companies are often guilty of falling under the Pygmalion Effect where someone is accorded higher expectations, leading to a belief in that person actually doing well. Long work weeks often sap the creativity and analytical skills away from people who need it most in today’s work environment. Thus it is imperative that firms do something to repair corporate culture.

More CMOs are having to step up to improve Corporate Culture

CMOs across organizations have realized that companies’ perceived image impacts buying behaviours. A top management focused business research conducted by Egon Zehnder proves that 60% of respondents feel that their corporate culture uplifts the brand. On the corollary, a fifth of them felt that it ended up undermining the brand. This is particularly an important topic to consider during mergers and acquisitions. Recently SunGard got acquired by FIS and this raises the question of how to integrate within the work culture, a whopping thirteen thousand employees. Also the marketplace is indeed extremely transparent today and thus it is imperative that the right brand image is communicated to the world.

Five signs you’re in denial about your broken Corporate Culture

Management consulting publication Forbes has identified five signs that clearly exhibit a broken corporate culture and the fact that the organization is not acknowledging the same. The first such sign is that a lot of data is gathered yet hardly any meaningful business analytics is conducted using the same. The HR team often bears the brunt in such organizations as instead of evaluating mistakes to rectify them, a blame game culture pervades. Cultural problems in work exist, but efforts are put to brush the same away rather than finding a solution. For each of the failures, the senior management tends to blame the team members. Also, short term solutions are devised which do not really address the issues head on.

Culture: Borrowing from the Best

Each year some organization breaks new ground on HR policies and perfect implementation. This year it is the turn of Netflix. They have embarked upon an extremely liberal employee leave policy as well as a twelve month parental leave. As part of organizations’ talent management efforts however, the basics must never be ignored. Grocery or petrol discounts, movie tickets and health insurance retain their paramount importance. Employees’ expectations must be made clear, well aligned with the overall corporate strategy. They must be accorded engaging profiles alluding to respective positions. Mobile phones and tablets can come in very handy for such engagement exercises.

Firms grapple with Workplace Culture

Most recruiters today claim that aspirants’ culture is as important as the skills the person possesses. However, as per market research conducted by the Human Capital Media Advisory Group across 134 organizations, less than half of practitioners could guarantee that their firms hired keeping in mind cultural fit. Also the corporate strategy must be communicable to all including new recruits so that they may inculcate the mission and vision statements. In order to enhance team building, firms use variety of techniques such as file sharing, instant messaging or group calendars. Social networking, company blogs and video sharing are fast emerging as tools to build workplace culture.

5 Ways to close the Strategy to Execution Gap

The Harvard Business Review has suggested ways to bridge the gap between the corporate strategy on paper and its actual executing. Organizations such as PepsiCo, Apple, Haier and Amazon have done this extremely well. First of all, these organizations must agree to a certain identity which it will follow across the board. An honest attempt must be made to execute the strategy on an everyday basis. The company culture must be put to use at the workplace. Cutting down costs may not seem a very glamorous idea, however in the long run, it does work. Finally, firms must look towards the future of the industry and shape their own futures at own terms rather than being reactionary.

Don’t turn your sales team loose without a Strategy

Sales must be seen as a process, yet firms often in the rush to increase numbers allot discounts without heed to long term plans. To avoid this slapdash nature, some firms have developed a Strategic Deal Profile which provides guidelines and parameters which the sales force can use during direct dealings with customers. Alphatech is one such company which has bridged the gap by creating this proper long term corporate strategy to drive sales in concerted manner. Firstly they identified good customers who would be loyal to the firm. The sales processes and incentives were then streamlined across the organization. Crucially, the strategic deal profile was to be followed which included- a common language used by sales representatives, the attachment of value to each product and pricing policies. Discounts can only be fixed within the process and not ad-hoc.

How to change the 8 bad business habits before they break your Company

Certain undesirable habits have been identified which in the long run destroy organizations. The first of them is poor communication skills within the firm and with the external world. An effective CRM must be built to tackle this problem if it exists. Talent recruitment is a major failing for many organizations, thus firms must be clear about the kind of requirements they have. Keeping track of inventory is essential and thus inventory management systems must be embraced. Also the top management needs to be in touch with team finance as not doing so has may have severe repercussions. Data must be protected at all costs and leaking of the same will lead to rivals gaining undue business intelligence. Firms must also be careful to offer products which have market value and relevance. A bad habit afflicting several organizations is a lack of flexibility towards annual plans. Finally a point often ignored, but crucially sound health habits can have positive impacts on employees at the workplace.

10 Ways how Digital Leaders outperform their Competition

Management consulting giant PwC has identified ten ways in which digital leaders can defeat their industry rivals. The CEO needs to take ownership of this aspect and encourage the entire firm to digitize rapidly. An effective digital based corporate strategy must be set by the top management before plunging in. This must include a timeline based roadmap. The team working towards this digitization drive must be continuously engaged. Strategy based ideas must be circulated and shared across the work team. External experts must occasionally be roped in to provide unbiased industry views. Data based business analysis must be conducted frequently to assess the existing and predicted trends. This measurement has to be conducted consistently. To achieve all this cyber security has to be given top importance.

The Value of Culture Shock in your Multicultural Marketing Strategy

Culture shock is often associated with the feeling of disorientation at experiencing something one is not overtly familiar with. As part of the marketing strategy in today’s multicultural work environment, it is essential that organizations understand other cultures and incorporate in their respective strategies. Cultural norms may be separate for different regions and one such example is the usage of phrases invoking apology or gratitude. In the USA, an explicit ‘thank you’ is necessary to imply politeness whereas in a more high-context culture such as that of Spain, non-verbal gestures are given high weightage. As part of any organization’s marketing corporate strategy, it must also be understood that one’s preferred mode of communication need not always be ideal. A written agreement is binding in the USA, but may not be in the UAE, while verbal agreements are considered sacrosanct in Japan.

How work will change when most of us live to 100

Life expectancy at birth has been increasingly constantly over the past few decades and now there are more than seventy thousand people in the USA alone and substantially more globally mainly in the developed part of it. A staggering number of people are expected to live up to longer than one hundred amongst those born over the last decade. Such changes lead to newer challenges and opportunities. With people living longer, they need to work out ways to save money the best or work till a much longer stage of life. If seventy is the new sixty, then millennials need to be prepared to work till their late seventies or else the government will have to bear a massive burden. In addition, constant business innovations mean that older technologies or lines of work are getting redundant and people will need to go for skills upgrade at the middle stage of life.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/06/how-work-will-change-when-most-of-us-live-to-100

Why Technologists should think like Biologists

We tend to think of ourselves as very rational beings and our technologies as all powerful, yet a lot of the latter are just kluges, improvisations on older methods. The world of technology is actually quite messy and thus professionals in that field have a lot to learn from biologists. One such way is to inculcate errors as part of corporate training so that one can learn from past errors or unexpected events. Netflix has created this platform called Chaos Monkey that on purpose shuts down systems so that when such an accident actually takes, place its engineers are well placed to rectify the problem. Like biologists, technologists must also use evolutionary thinking to understand processes as a lot of events are as a result of past happenings. In order to learn holistically, biologists start with small steps. They will chronicle the interactions within a specie or between a few of them before charting out the overall evolutionary or ecosystem dynamics. Similarly, technologists must also focus on intricate details before designing major objects.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-technologists-should-think-like-biologists

4 ways in which technology is transforming business

A study conducted by the Forbes publication has identified 4 ways in which business processes are getting altered by making use of technology. In MBA institutes, students are taught to think linear in step by step pattern, yet in the real world technology changes exponentially and the present world is fraught with number of S-curves which imply overnight change in trends. In earlier times, industrial giants used to be insulated from market forces due to their scale of operations but that is no more the case. While giants such as US Steel, Kodak and Xerox have either faltered or suffered in business, unicorns such as Facebook and Google have overnight become giants. Business models would in earlier times be embedded as a sacrosanct part of corporate strategy but now these keep transforming so frequently that managers need to be on the look-out for key changes constantly. Ultimately, it is the executive level on the ground which is the face of the company and their dealings build or hamper the company image. The top management no longer has control over operations in a knowledge economy, so it is best to train the executive level to produce results as best as possible.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/#44ee22e11514

The glory of a market economy is how quickly it destroys industries

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/06/17/the-glory-of-a-market-economy-is-how-quickly-it-destroys-industries/#2a0674186b0a

A new Facebook chatbot could help you find your next job

Source– http://digiday.com/brands/new-facebook-chatbot-help-find-next-job/

Reimagining the workday

Source: http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/05/19/reimagining-the-workday/

Network Revolution: Creating value through Platforms, People and Technology

The Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Klaus Schwab recently spoke about an upcoming fourth industrial revolution. He spoke about how this one is unique in comparison with the others previously recorded. A few organizations had the foresight to develop business innovations which have disrupted the way we work. World leaders, educators and economists are gearing up towards this change where all investors, customers and talent are flooding towards the digital landscape. Four kinds of businesses have been identified. Asset builders are those such as Ford, Exxon, Walmart and Boeing that create physical capital. Then there are service providers like Accenture and JP Morgan Chase that deliver value through human capital. Technology creators such as Oracle, Pfizer and Microsoft generate ideas through intellectual capital. And finally there are network orchestrators that use their network capital to deliver value via collaboration. This list includes the likes of Uber, eBay, Trip Advisor and Visa. While the highways in the USA took nearly half a trillion US dollars to build over thirty five years, Facebook achieved more than a billion followers in barely a few years. Sales growth, return on assets, gross profit margin and price to revenue multiplier all show quicker scale growths in the final category as that grows fastest.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-network-revolution-creating-value-through-platforms-people-and-digital-technology/

The race for Tech Talent isn’t a Marathon, it’s a Sprint

Talent recruitment for the IT and technology industry is facing several challenges. Solutions that worked yesterday no longer seem to be viable today. The world of management especially marketing has undergone enormous change with technology increasingly influencing business. Thus the business world is vying for the same limited pool of talent as is the IT industry. Digitization is changing the face of academics even with IT companies consulting universities on marketing curriculum. Until this circle is fully completed, students graduating from campuses will continue to lack practical orientation. Solution providers are also seeing change as several operations once outsourced are now being included back in house at companies. This business research conducted by Accenture clearly reveals that companies are in a rush in order to grab the best of technology talent but this gap will need to be filled quickly. Source:http://www.cio.com/article/3050657/careers-staffing/the-race-for-tech-talent-isn-t-a-marathon-it-s-a-sprint.html

How Marketers are dealing with the growth of Tech

Technology is increasingly playing greater role in business functions especially the marketing aspects. To deal with such wholesale changes, the role of the CIO has been elevated to strategy level. Business consulting giant PwC has conducted a market study with the aim to understand the usage of technology to actual revenue generation. It concluded that maximum new functions created under this domain were part of content strategy followed by digital transformation and then mobile based platforms. Indeed majority of marketers polled have affirmatively answered that social media and customer experiences were linked with each other and are essential parameters of business plans. The greater degree of coordination between CMOs and CIOs is now essential.

Source:http://www.emarketer.com/article.aspx?R=1013715&RewroteTitle=1

The 4 Stages of better technology Adoption

A management consulting forums has divided the evolution of technology’s role in business into four stages. At the first stage is the paper reliant business where technology hardly plays any role at all. Technology comes as aid in some processes at the next phase where piece-by-piece some operations are automated. Then business move towards the phase where many operations are literally paperless and technology is used across the board. At the concluding stage, one finds business that are industry leaders within their respective domains plus they are continuously growing.

Source:http://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/4-stages-better-technology-adoption-01495149#cf2Ih9sz7efTD3CQ.97wo

20 Basic life skills that are dying out as the Digital Age leaves us dependent on Tech

Due to excessive digitization some basic life skills are dying out. We are instead using their digital variations. People cannot properly read maps these days. They can’t use the compass. People would rather type than hand-write something. They prefer not looking up for information from books, rather simply use online searches for the same. That even includes information on relatively simple stuff like baking bread. The imperial system of feet, inches, pounds or ounces is now a fading memory. Even tougher is converting them to the metric system. Instead people now need to worry about online privacy settings for fear of leaking business intelligence to competitors. This has enabled online banking to flourish. Even job searches have become reliant on online modes.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/20-basic-life-skills-dying-6214224

21 Disruptive Trends in Technology & Society

Technologies that have disrupted society have been identified in a study. First of all there is Slack that has revolutionized communication within organizations rendering emails as less relevant now. User generated content is replacing the expert opinions written from the ivory tower, thus democratizing content. The startup culture has gained credence with 2015 heralding what may be termed as the age of entrepreneurship. The Paris Summit on the Environment did bring some progress in terms of countries accepting joint responsibilities. Powerful algorithms in use now mean that business intelligence is capturing enormous amount of information about each one of us. This is also being aided by the use of wearable technologies. Artificial Intelligence or machine learning is also increasingly becoming mainstream. MOOCs is facilitating Executive MBA programmes to flourish. Open source tools are gaining popularity and Cloud based computing is increasingly being used by technology platforms. We are getting increasingly conscious of cyber security and privacy. Apps are fuelling what can be termed as technology addiction. Customers are making use of digital wallets and mobile payment services to complete transactions. And then there is video which is making inroads hooking customers more readily.

Source: http://bestthenews.com/article/21-disruptive-trends-technology-society-2015-sun-12132015-1857.html

‘People first’ wins in Digital Economy

Business consulting giant Accenture has undergone a study to understand technology trends that have been fuelled thanks mainly to the ‘people first’ approach common for the digital economy today. Automation is increasingly becoming a part of work especially marketing efforts utilizing capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), augmented reality and robotics. Workforce is now in a more liquid state with flexible schedules commonplace. Certain business models are being devised to cater around specific platforms. Then there is the concept of predictive disruption which leverages capacities from across industries to predict next wave of business trends and act accordingly. And of course the ‘people’ first approach’ also provides organizations with what is known as digital trust. It enables improved digital ethics and better cyber security.

The as-a-service Economy is Untapped

The ‘as-a-service’ business model is one where various capabilities in an enterprise are merged using cloud based technologies. Accenture which is a management consulting leader, says that certain business are reaping benefits of this model by reducing costs substantially while at the same time improving servicing levels. Deutsche Bank has implemented this business innovation in their procurement process while Rio Tinto has diversified its information systems using this model. As number firms have gaps in their existing talent pools, they can utilize the cloud based resources to deliver results on certain procedures. Services can be accessed more quickly using ‘plug-in’ methods to reduce time lag from months to weeks, maybe even days.

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