While newer products keep getting developed, they will not be scalable or business-worthy unless they fall into the hands of the right product managers. Thus, product managers are high in demand now, at a time when business innovation and the subsequent product development is high. A few skills have been identified which they must possess in order to succeed. The first thing that product managers need to realize is that the skills that took them to the position in the first place, need not be enough to succeed here. Interpersonal relationships, team management, impacting transitions and talent management have been seen as some skills they must possess now at this stage. A challenge they often face is they aren’t always empowered with any formal authority. This is why they need to lead through sheer dint of influence. Product managers also need good negotiation skills. For navigating through such diverse challenges, they need to possess a flexible outlook to work. Critical relationships will need to be forged at the right place andused at opportune moments.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/career/the-three-skills-product-managers-need-to-succeed-8271

Uploaded Date:05 November 2018

Not long back, it was possible for the top brands to collaborate with the giant retailers to ensure a near stranglehold in their respective industries. But now this is reducing thanks to the presence of fleet-footed digital upstarts who are cutting into the shares of these leading brands, by altogether bypassing the retailers. The Dollar Shave’s impact on P&G’s Gillette brand is one such example. The likes of Uber, Airbnb and Facebook have set the trend for the digital age where platforms are leading businesses rather than owners of physical products or content. These companies have taken advantage of social media to tune up their digital marketing strategies and take on many of the legacy companies. A recent study was conducted by the Euromonitor International titled Digital Consumer Industry Insights Survey to gauge what companies feel about the ongoing digitization and its impacts till 2040. Most respondents feel that improving the customer journey will remain of paramount importance. For this customer insights will need to be acquired using business analytics. Remote monitoring and predictive maintenance will increasingly be used by manufacturing firms. The subscription modelwill also gain further in adoption rates.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelleevans1/2018/10/22/what-it-will-take-to-be-competitive-in-2040/#3a0ddc9c1735

Uploaded Date:31st October 2018

Incumbent brands that are industry leaders are increasingly facing disruption from some insurgent competitor. However, there are ways in which legacy companies can prepare themselves so they may maintain their position and even grow. Management consulting giant Bain & Company has identified 80 brands in the US alone that may be categorized as insurgent. These are those brands which experienced a ten times category growth and have revenues in excess of 25 million dollars. None of these companies are aged 25 or more. There are also other companies not yet so big, but growing in numbers. A lot of those getting disrupted meanwhile are ones which have large scale, but not growing at scale. These are typically part of large conglomerates, focused on the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) segment. In the categories present, these insurgents make up as yet a mere 2% of the market, but 255 of the growth, soon to be 30%. They all seem to have authentic product offerings backed up by compelling founder stories. Blogging is a key part of the digital marketing strategies these upstarts have adopted. For premium products there is now a much bigger audience than ever before. For legacy brands to survive and prosper there are a few key things to address. To start with, the brand needs to be memorable to be easily visible among shoppers. The coverage must be broad. Specific focus needs to be driven towards its business and operating models.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/how-to-think-and-act-like-an-insurgent-brand-in-the-age-of-assistance/

Uploaded Date:28 October 2018

In the book Thinking, Fast and Slow, overconfidence has rightly been identified as the biggest culprit for several of the biggest tragedies in recent memory such as the Chernobyl disaster and the Titanic sinking. Overconfidence is equally bad in the business world as stated by the Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman. So, a study was conducted by some academics on how to curb overconfidence, while promoting calibration. It emerged during this study that people who factor in unknown evidence find greater calibration between their accuracy in knowledge and their confidence levels. Considering the unknown factors and thus playing devil’s advocate lowered the overconfidence levels by8 percent during this business research. Confidence reduces only when the assumptions made are misplaced. Calibrating rather than second-guessing themselves ensures confidence levels do not dip away unnecessarily.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/marketing/how-managers-can-curb-overconfidence-10036

Uploaded Date:27 October 2018

The shareholder value maximization principle that most businesses follow is increasingly coming under pressure from academicians and company leaders. Instead a purpose-driven, long-term approach with a view to maximizing benefits to all stakeholders is being vouched for now. To cater to various constituents of any company, the Flywheel philosophy has been adopted. It has three key constituents- customers, suppliers and team members. Three things to keep in mind are- performance, purpose and caring. Trust-based partnerships need to be forged along the way. The traditional transactional model here is giving way to a partnership model. Now the value creation is based on mutual interest rather than for self-interest alone. The time frame encompasses the short, medium and long term. Stakeholder relationships are now executed via a relational approach instead of an impersonal one. Value creation is through collaboration and not unilaterally by one side alone. Genuinely impactful practices lead trust being forged to perform, care and deliver purpose. It requires partnering with employees through proactive engagement. Communication with the top leadership has to be frequent to hone a partnership culture. Wellness programmes and reverse mentoring are innovative management training methods that can have theright impacts. Customers and suppliers also need to be part of the loop for decision-making.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Flywheel-Philosophy?gko=2a0c6

Uploaded Date:23 October 2018

The federal corporate income tax rate has been slashed from 35% to 21%, marking an unprecedented reduction. This should act as a sop to several companies that were looking to outsource any part of their operations abroad. As per business research conducted by PwC, 14% of companies have expanded their geographic reach while 30% are likely to effect changes by next year. Digitization is making all such changes now possible. 23% of top executives surveyed have confirmed that their organizations have invested in digital tools such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). 54% have confirmed that they will use a substantial part of their annual savings towards such technologies next year. Where the present focus of companies till 2020 ought to be factor costs, scale effects and tech-focused factories, by 2025 the business environment will see a radical alteration. It will then involve agility, sustainability, innovative production setups and green footprints. Taxes are the 4^th most important factor in sire selection after labour costs, infrastructure and proximity to customers. This new ruling must help US-based businesses. These tax savings are likely to be ploughed into research and development activities.

Source:https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/fit-for-growth/tax-reform-business-update/advantage-footprint.html

Uploaded Date:27 September 2018

The work of procurement has now largely become digital. This is a positive development as procurement has gone away from being a mere operational support, to a central strategic requirement. The right procurement methods can go a long way in fostering business innovations across the organization. Procurement can help achieve the organization’s strategic objectives in several ways such as by improving overall efficiency and effectiveness. Automated and agile operations using robots and AI can help make this a reality. It promotes frictionless collaboration across functional teams. A study was conducted by Bain and Company to understand what parts of digital procurement are most crucial to businesses. These are – inventory management systems, contract life cycle, spend analysis, supplier quality management and multi-domain master data management. Besides inventory management, e-voicing and demand forecasting had the highest adoption rates. In addition, recovery audit and transport optimization saw the highest satisfaction rates. Another must to ensure the proper digital procurement systems, is to have clean and high-quality data warehousing, so it becomes easier to use. The operating model must be based on agile methods. There must be the right digital entrepreneurial talent within the firm.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/digital-procurement-the-benefits-go-far-beyond-efficiency/

Uploaded Date:27 September 2018