Recently a conference was held on digital disruption. Ironically it was organized by some of the big players in the industry, who are more likely to get disrupted by others than doing so themselves. Contrary to the usual perception of industry incumbents being too slow to innovate, they are often too quick to market business innovations. A prime example of this is that Kodak in its Brazilian headquarters at Sao Paulo devised an image sharing platform using the internet long before Instagram was launched. Similarly, DEC and Data General were the giants of the then-disruptive minicomputer market back from the 19060s. They quickly pounced on the impending PC market in the 1980s. Problem with these companies and Kodak was not a lack of innovation, nut their processes being entrenched in their traditional models. They had a success-bias, implying that their earlier success had blinded them to the nuances of newer business models.

Source:https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-you-dont-understand-disruption?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=stripes&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=02112018

Uploaded Date:19 February 2018

A study was recently conducted jointly by SAP, Shift Thinking and Siegel + Gale to understand what makes brands click in the ongoing digital age, as opposed to an earlier generation. It was found out that traditional brands try to position their brands in the minds of the customers, while digital natives positioned their brands in their lives. The former focused on selling, the latter on usage patterns post purchase. A clear example of distinction is between a departmental store and Sephora or Ulta. The former would want to somehow convince the customers to buy the product, while a Sephora would demonstrate to them how to use the same. Customers looked up to legacy brands with awe, but the digital ones as more useful to them. Examples of this dichotomy can be observed in the pairs such as Dollar Shave versus Gillette, Red Bull versus Coca-Cola, Venmo versus American Express or Visa, and Tesla versus BMW. Legacy brands marketed through traditional means, while newer ones are making use of digital marketing techniques. Another example may be cited of the difference between the kind of data Hilton would track as opposed to the upstart Airbnb. For Hilton, the content in the advertising was important, while for Airbnb the crucial bit of business intelligence to be tracked was what customers said after using. While this study mainly focused on the B2C segment, the trends are largely similar even in the B2B space.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/02/the-most-successful-brands-focus-on-users-not-buyers?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert&referral=00563&spMailingID=18978506&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=1200462949&spReportId=MTIwMDQ2Mjk0OQS2

Uploaded Date:17 February 2018

The CEO of Volkswagen’s Spanish unit recently spoke about how leadership involves the unlearning of management principles, but instead to become more human. This particularly true now as the workforce gets primarily comprised of millennials. For this generation, a paycheck, benefits and bonuses do not inspire much. Instead they also crave meaning, connectedness and happiness. While most leaders rate themselves, as competent, it is their subordinates who will the main judges. The results of a recent survey by Forbes gives a shocking result that up to two-thirds of employees would be happy to leave their jobs if it meant that their bosses got fired. Another survey by marketing research giant Gallup has found out that over four-fifths of professionals find their leaders as uninspiring. A McKinsey study quotes that productivity goes up substantially when employees are motivated. A subtle movement is taking place across the board of companies such as Accenture, Microsoft, Starbucks, LinkedIn and Marriott on a more human approach towards leadership. To start off, a personal hands-on approach is needed. Leaders need to be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses before they can guide others. Being selfless and compassionate are two other qualities now being stressed upon.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/01/why-do-so-many-managers-forget-theyre-human-beings?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_weekly&utm_campaign=weeklyhotlist&referral=00202&spMailingID=18962244&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=1200305500&spReportId=MTIwMDMwNTUwMAS2

Uploaded Date:17 February 2018

While most aspire to reach top management positions, only few manage to do it, and some do it faster than others. Twenty-four years is the average time span needed since the first job to reach the CEO slot. The usual understanding is that CEOs must have done their MBA from some elite business school, followed by a top-notch campus placement from which they rise up the ladder, carefully avoiding slippery ropes along the way. Business research was conducted titled the ‘CEO Genome Project’ to gauge the reasons for success of the CEO “sprinters”, or those who reached the top quicker than the usual twenty-four-year span. Three instances seemed common to them, the first being that they all had stints at smaller companies. Another is that they made sudden upward jumps. So, they grasped the opportunities provided to them. Contrary to the usual narrative, most sprinted up because at some stage they inherited a broken team, and helped troubleshoot it out. The true leadership skills emerge from such situations.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-fastest-path-to-the-ceo-job-according-to-a-10-year-study?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_weekly&utm_campaign=weeklyhotlist&referral=00202&spMailingID=18962244&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=1200305500&spReportId=MTIwMDMwNTUwMAS2

Uploaded Date:17 February 2018

A major retail pharmacy recently dug into a research conducted to gauge the factors that lead to organizational effectiveness. Three major secrets have been uncovered. The first is about frontline workers being given increased levels of autonomy. This helps gauge authentic business intelligence as these are the people interacting with customers on a regular basis. This leads to increased levels of collaboration, positivity and interaction with the final customers. Customer ratings and individual attention paid naturally increases. Another successful tactic is to explain the significance of the everyday work to the team members. Neuroscience explains this method as a schema which are thought patterns that help shape experiences. Providing greater recognition and related rewards is a key tenet in talent management. The best of its practitioners have the pride-building style of work.

Source:https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00271?gko=d819d&sf181283161=1

Uploaded Date:14 February 2018

At a time in history, marked by stupendous advances in technology, a number of jobs and subsequent lifestyle is set to be altered by the year 2030. As per research done by management consulting giant McKinsey, about half of the present jobs can be automated. This is especially true for jobs on the junior levels. Around three-hundred and seventy-five million people will need to adopt newer patterns and make shifts in their occupational category. In about three-fifths of presently known occupations, a third of the tasks are expected to get automated. Certain jobs are fewest in fear of being disrupted by automation. This includes healthcare providers, IT specialists, educators especially in growing markets, builders, creative artists, manual labourers in unpredictable environments and professionals such as scientists, engineers, analysts and accountants. Ageing populations in developed countries will also give rise to occupational changes. Agriculture, manufacturing and mining are expected to suffer in terms of number of people they will now be able to employ. While a country like India could grow taking advantage of its demographic dividend, others like Japan could see it shrink. Fellow developing countries like China and Mexico will see greater automation than India due to higher average wage rates existing. Developed nations like USA and Germany though could see significant worker displacement.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/future-of-organizations-and-work/what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages

Uploaded Date:08 February 2018

A great business idea is only worth how well it is executed. To cite an example, Steve Jobs was greeted with a lot of skepticism upon launching the first iPhone back in 2007. Many thought its excess features would distract customers away from its main purpose of making phone calls. The rest as they say is history. Where Xerox could not see the potential of Alto, Jobs identified it and went ahead and developed his Macintosh. Another example is that of Fabio Rosati, who quit Capgemini’s highly lucrative management consulting vertical in 2001, to venture to a startup named Elance. The company’s vendor management services were facing stiff competition from giants such as Oracle and SAP. SO, he shifted the focus to managing freelance contracts. The platform specialized as a talent recruitment hub for all kinds of freelancers and after its merger with arch-rival O Desk, it took on the name Upwork, which today is the market leader. Jim Allisson too persevered before finally receiving funding for his idea from Medarex to make it big. Ideas will only get validation once executed going forward.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2017/12/04/heres-whats-wrong-with-your-great-idea/

Uploaded Date:06 February 2018