Scaremongers are using the term “retail apocalypse”. In truth it is simply a renaissance. The US economy is now steadily strong, leading to a consistent demand. Thus, a study was conducted by Deloitte Insights who used their superior business analytics capabilities to see through the vast quantities of data captured. A massive retail bifurcation is currently on. The high-income consumers own about ninety-three percent of all stocks. The lower income consumers on the other end, have barely received a seven percent capital gain over the last decade. The overall growth across channels though is pretty high. While price-conscious retailers have barely grown, the premium segment has leapfrogged way higher.

Source:https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/multimedia/infographics/future-of-retail-renaissance-apocalypse.html

Uploaded Date:24 July 2018

Most countries around the world are grappling with the lack of growth in productivity. The developed western economies are generally slowing down with growth rates much lower than even a decade back. A vicious cycle meanwhile has emerged at several developing ones due to low revenue growth. Most policy makers’ drafts on raising productivity levels have two major shortcomings. One is that they are often abstract and theoretical. Secondly, they are often guilty of only exploring a single angle, so lack a holistic focus. BCG has thus developed a framework that looks at three levels- individual, company and the national level. This BCG Productivity Framework has outlined ten key drivers to improve labour productivity. At the individual level skill upgrades need to be taken up. Companies need to be acutely aware of the capital in hand and the domain knowledge requirements so it can plan its talent recruitment strategies accordingly. Technology needs to be aligned to the workforce structure and adequate research needs to be professed. At the national level, infrastructure, economic diversity and sound labour regulations are of utmost importance. Universal education needs to be provided to its population.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/industries/public-sector/how-governments-can-boost-labor-productivity.aspx?linkId=53948338&redir=true

Uploaded Date:24 July 2018

China is set to change the world of business and consumption over the next ten years in remarkable ways. It will also reflect on the way China will change itself. Thus, a study was conducted by Bain that gas now identified ten key trends that will be shaped by China. The first one of them will be the dominance of the middle-class in consumption patterns, with more than 180 million joining it from the previously lower classes. Newer business opportunities will emerge as a result of the ageing population as 22% of the people in the country are likely to be above 60 years of age by 2027. Children born in the 1990s or 2000s have received greater financial support from their families than earlier ones, so will be less cautious with their spend while being a significant portion of the population soon. Urbanization will continue to rise, but this time the spread will be across the country, away from traditional densely-populated settlements. The cost of long-distance travel of people or logistics will reduce due to super-fast trains and drones. With millennials increasingly in charge, the sharing economy will further spread wings. Retailers will further take digital marketing to a new level by making use of widgets to further align customer journey with data in hand. Personalization will be another key weapon. Data warehousing will be akin to oil reserves, as it will determine several business opportunities. As with the mass use of data, cybersecurity risks will also proliferate. Consumption patterns will now have two models to emulate. One being the western one based around extravagant spending, and the other Chinese with focus on preserving the traditional order.

Source:http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/consumption-in-china-ten-trends-for-the-next-ten-years.aspx

Uploaded Date:24 July 2018

Rivalry has been a significant part of competition, be it any form. It has existed in business, music, sports, national pride as well as in other spheres. Each rivalry has in turn led to enhanced performances from the participants with the clear aim of defeating the other, bringing the best out of each. In spite of such clearly anecdotal evidence, there has been very little serious research done on this aspect of business. That is why a recent business research paper was submitted by professors from the University of New York in association with a few other to study the impact of rivalries. For a start, the National Football League (NFL) was taken up as an example. It was soon realized that in the NFL, rivalries induced increased experimentation. Elsewhere too, the urge to experiment and create something new rose higher when promotions were involved, especially against close competitor.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-we-take-more-risks-when-we-compete-against-rivals?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_activesubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00563&deliveryName=DM10080

Uploaded Date:21 July 2018

Companies are nowadays failing faster than ever before. Taking a cue from famous Roman philosopher Seneca, institutions are indeed flourishing slowly but failing fast. Kodak for instance filed for bankruptcy six years after it hit sales peak in 2005. Much like biological ecosystems, businesses too are complex adaptive systems. Like species benefiting from each other, companies too are inter-dependent on the overall ecosystem. Similarly, ecosystems too face challenges such as depleting food stocks. Disruptors, new technologies and negative feedback loops facilitate similar function. Companies often fall back on strategic and innovative growth due to their focus on short-term financial gains or an adherence towards historic metrices rather than future-looking ones. To learn some lessons from biology, businesses must anticipate resource exhaustion. Small and big measures must be mixed to ensure max results. One must embrace evolution as that is the best approach towards business innovation. Computer science too teaches a few lessons such as constant search but with a broad start being beneficial and embracing randomness. A well-thought-out strategy needs to be followed towards talent recruitment to ensure that the right capabilities are acquired. A sense of dynamism needs to be in place, and a balanced set of measuring metrics be sued.

Source:https://bcghendersoninstitute.com/leaping-before-the-platform-burns-the-increasing-necessity-of-preemptive-innovation-7e476253c387

Uploaded Date:20 July 2018

The consumer goods industry is going through something of an identity shift at present. After decades of steady growth, 2012 was the year when a number of industry leaders started slowing down. In fact, as per a study conducted by Bain, between 2012 and 2016, a staggering 85% of consumer goods companies had lost money. There exist several key reasons for this decline, beginning with a stagnation in the previously booming developing world countries such as China, India, Mexico, Russia and Brazil. China in particular has seen the market reduce by three-fifths from the 2012 high. Another reason was the high frequency of M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) activity, leading to consolidation o the market by a few top players alone. Some categories in particular have been hit very badly by market disruption. Only two-fifths of FMCG categories saw volume growth greater than population growth this decade. The rise of local incumbents has been the final coffin for many. This has led to increased pressure on the market leaders. Companies will thus need to adapt alongside business innovations in the retail formats. Developing markets are now increasingly unpredictable, but still the key source for growth. Data warehousing and its subsequent management is proving now to be the key differentiator between companies. The cost base thus needs to be realigned to match consumers’ growth expectations. The innovation machine too will need to be pepped up so disengaged consumers may be brought back into the field.

Source:http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/overcoming-the-existential-crisis-in-consumer-goods.aspx

Uploaded Date:20 July 2018

Management consulting giant BCG has come out with its 20^th annual Value Creators rankings. Unlike several others, BCG takes in a more holistic approach by measuring the TSR (Total Shareholder Return) as it gauges the genuine bottom line of the company. Technology and media companies dominate the rankings this year. With 9 out of the top 10 and another 4 in the next 10. Aerospace, defense and healthcare firms are next in line with 5 of the top 20 places. Large-cap pharma is struggling by comparison. Mining, metals, utilities and oil continue their downward slide due to macroeconomic pressures. The interactive format in which BCG has presented its data this year in the form of a chart, means that viewers can now not only see who are the performers but also the methodology in achieving the same.

Source:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/interactive-value-creators-rankings-20th-anniversary-edition.aspx

Uploaded Date:18 July 2018