The traditional silo culture exists not only within organizations but also cross-industry. This “brain drain” or knowledge loss is worth a staggering US$ 47 million each year according to business intelligence provided by the Panopto Workplace Knowledge and Productivity Report. The same report in fact highlights that knowledge workers on average lose more than five hours each week, simply waiting for the right information to pour in. It further states that 42% of overall work knowledge is only confined to unique employees. This means that if these guys leave, more than two-fifths of the work will overnight stall. That is why job-hopping has become so common. Digital communication can also get derailed due to the presence of outdated or inefficient platforms being used. Another report by Randstad US confirms that companies that use the right technological systems and have undergone successful digital transformation find talent recruitment and retention much easier. Feedback emerges over time about the right employee engagement.

Source:https://www.hrdive.com/news/inefficient-knowledge-sharing-costs-large-us-businesses-47m-a-year/527892/

Uploaded Date:10 August 2018

In a new book titled Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought, the writer Andrew Lo has come up with a very interesting theory on financial market behaviour. He is himself a Finance Professor from the prestigious MIT Sloan where he mainly teaches MBA students. He believes that financial markets mimic living organisms in how they behave. Traditional market hypothesis relies on an efficient analysis of the numbers available. But this business analysis is flawed mainly due to the fact that individuals under even the slightest of tremors start behaving in a more emotional approach. Most investors would rather indulge in stocks listed on index funds which afford low growth but stability. Moreover, investors do not need to research heavily for investing in these. Economists who have understood the impact of human behaviour on financial performance are few, as this field has been dominated by people from physics and mathematics background. These are people attuned to believing in rationality and efficiency. Mathematical models are also rather easier to impress as they make predictive calculations. There is a dire need for reengineering of such models as people generally are not rational about money, but emotional. The theories of evolution must thus be taken as handy to understand the real pattern of the financial markets.

Source:http://mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom/articles/why-financial-markets-behave-like-living-organisms/?utm_source=mitsloantwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=adaptivemarkets

Uploaded Date:09 August 2018

Lies have been used as negotiation tactics from the very beginning. Sometimes people recognize the lies that others use. Most often though, people are unable to decipher the same. Over years of evolution, human beings have realized that the costs of getting it wrong may lead to social ostracism, so most choose to simply believe in others’ truth. Business research was conducted by professors from different universities to understand this. To this effect, the representatives from the universities of UC Berkeley and Minnesota even penned a paper titled Can ordinary people detect deception after all?They realized that a lot of verbal cues that respondents depended on for the detection were in fact incorrect. Another study by professors from various Australian universities confirmed that most evaluated the others on the dimensions of identity, integrity, benevolence and deterrence. While definitely, telling lies is not advocated, but often one’s own truthfulness can be misinterpreted as simplicity, making the other lie on purpose.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/the-truth-about-lies-in-negotiations-9826

Uploaded Date:09 August 2018

The insurance industry is one that has been slow to adapt to 21^st century approaches especially in the areas of organizational structure and talent management. This is because here unlike in other industries growth is measured on decadal not yearly or quarterly basis. So, a lot of textbook moves when applied are not working out leading to the need for a different strategic response. They must bear in mind that corporate strategy equals company structure. Rapid response is now needed to the external pressures exerted built up over the years. According to a study by PwC’s strategy analysis wing, there exist three kinds of responses to such changes around. One is anticipating them beforehand as MetLife did. Another is those who know the structural changes needed but are yet to execute this. The third is those who have only made minor changes and have compromised on the rest. Effective partnerships or acquisitions could be one of the methods to effect real change. One could even expand into newer product lines or geographical areas. Of course, many resort to simply cost-cutting measures to effect this change.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Insurance-Industry-Needs-an-Intervention?gko=edb5b&sf192099572=1

Uploaded Date:28 July 2018

Business transformation is a hot topic on the lips of several leaders worldwide, yet scant attention is being paid to its actual attention. And even fewer are getting it correct. Management consulting giant Bain did a study to understand this and affirmed that only a tiny twelve percent of those surveyed got this correct. This study revealed that more than two-thirds of companies settled for mere dilution of value, leading to mediocre results. Another fifth failed outright with less than a fifty percent success ratio of transformations planned. One of the major causes for the failed transformation efforts was weak management of internal risks. Investing early not only financially but also emotionally pays off. But leaders need to have a detailed plan to master the nitty-gritties or the inside game. So while few companies are really getting it correct, at least now there is a proven benchmark to go for.

Source:http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/soul-searching-true-transformations-start-within.aspx

Uploaded Date:28 July 2018

The effects of digital marketing on sales is well-established with individual buyers. But now it is proving to be equally important a medium in the B2B sphere. Buyers these days- individual or industrial- are not dependent on sales teams to strut information but are well-prepared thanks to the internet. B2B companies need to transform their customer engagement, data usage, talent management and skill upgrade methodologies. A study has been conducted by BCG to look into this matter through a paper titled “How digital leaders are transforming B2B marketing”. The buyer’s expectations are already shaped through experiences with B2C leaders like Netflix, Amazon and Apple. To ensure the marketing-sales engine may be propped up, B2B players must start off by investing in customer digital data usage. Then, this data need be integrated across marketing and sales functions. The performance needs to be measured through the entire customer journey. Organizational silos must be done away with as far as possible. Certain marketing operations can even be outsourced to external experts. Finally, as an organizational differentiator, one could invest in team talent and culture.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2018/building-an-integrated-marketing-sales-engine-b2b.aspx?linkId=54431359&redir=true

Uploaded Date:26 July 2018

The last few years have experienced an unprecedented dip in productivity growth in the advanced economies. This is due to the collision of three factors. Those three are- the waning of high productivity increases in the early 1990s, the financial crisis about a decade back and digitization. While the first two were outright crises, the third one is one that presents opportunities for growth in the future but not yet properly exploited. This is due to incumbents cannibalizing each other, and the costs to scale up meaning that only the winners have taken all. Job growth has growth but labour productivity has stalled in the developed economies of Western Europe and North America. The McKinsey Global Institute gathered micro data on the individual countries. Its micro patterns have provided business intelligence that suggests growth rates could recover to two percent or more. If one studies individual sectors, one can clearly discern that utilities has seen the steepest decline while tourism has remained stagnant. Others such as automotive, retail, finance and tech have all experienced decline.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/meeting-societys-expectations/solving-the-productivity-puzzle

Uploaded Date:26 July 2018