For today’s industry incumbents, a word of caution would be suggested. The time period for staying on top in almost in any industry is shrinking by the day. Companies need to have the right organization structure and strategy to ensure they can sustain their leadership position. There are some that have gone down, and then bounced back up such as the likes of – Owens Corning, Delta Airline and General Motors. The rapid churn in technology is changing everything quicker than ever before. Data warehousing is now more essential than ever before as the information captured can then be processed to get the meaningful insights. There are three factors that all such futuristic companies need to be working one. One is to have a set company identity, by which it can be recognized. It must include a set of social connections and values. Capabilities too need to be honed accordingly. For this, the leadership model needs to be reworked and the management training programmes personalized. A sense of agility needs to be unleashed to this decision making. Speed and emergent strategy must be a part of this new outlook towards urgency.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/organizing-for-the-age-of-urgency

Uploaded Date:31st December 2018

There exist several metrics nowadays to measure the performance of any startup, but one metric above all in terms of importance has to be the NPS (Net Promoter Score). This is because startups are unlikely to have large marketing budgets, but a positive NPS creates a marketing pipeline by generating a positive word-of-mouth. Business intelligence supplied post a study done by Small Business Trends and Verizon, reaffirms that for 85% of small business owners, a positive word-of-mouth becomes the main source for driving sales. NPS calculation is simple as it simply minuses the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. A score of between zero and six is considered poor, seven and eight average, while nine and ten are positive scores. Amazon and Netflix, unsurprisingly lead their respective industries, as per inputs provided by Retently. Companies with higher NPS, tend to be better at customer retention as confirmed through the loyalty shown towards the iPhone. NPS scoring is often done on the basis of some survey questions. These may be fraught with self-selection biases, so it must never be considered the perfect method, as there isn’t any such. To curate the best practices in scoring NPSs, the right vendor or platform has to be identified first. During the research done, the sample size taken must be large enough to support or reject any hypothesis. The structure must be consistent throughout the business research being done. The NPS must also be able to track the changes wrought in between.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/why-meeting-customers-expectations-isnt-enough-9611

Uploaded Date:03 December 2018

Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne were the original creators of the blue ocean strategy, so have now penned down a book titled Blue Ocean Shift. This book has already been dubbed by the Apple i-Books as the best in the month within the business book section. Here they talk about the importance of nondisruptive creation being as much as the disruptive types. For this kind of non-disruptive business innovation two things are needed, starting with a proper roadmap. This needs to underline that instead of competing, one wants to shift to creation. Next, up the right people are needed, so talent recruitment has to be undergone likewise. An example has been mentioned in the book of a hotel chain which shifted towards a healthier lifestyle by using very less oil, but still managing to conjure up some French fries. Non- disruptive creation also refers to a kind of innovation where no existing businesses went out of work, but simply newer ones were created. Life coaching is one such prudent example, being the second fastest growing profession in the USA.

Source:https://knowledge.insead.edu/strategy/what-it-takes-to-shift-from-competing-to-creating-7246

Uploaded Date:03 December 2018

Amazon is on the verge of becoming the world’s first trillion-dollar company. It’s incredible success boils down to five key factors. The first is that innovation at Amazon is driven form the very top, mentioned as a key tenet at the corporate strategy itself. Instead of viewing merely physical products as assets, at Amazon it is ideas that are seen as such. Since business innovation is prided so much here, so risk-taking is encouraged and failure is accepted as long as one moves ahead with the next innovation. These innovations are driven by -data-backed and customer-centric ideas. Muddled thinking is a complete no here as idea have to be clear, risks taken and the learning incorporated into the next initiative.

https://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/11/16/how-does-amazon-do-it-five-critical-factors-that-explain-amazons-incredible-success/

Uploaded Date:27 November 2018

Healthcare is now a huge business, but a lot of the solutions provided are so costly, that most people are unable to afford it. That is why, there is a need to scale these business models for many to use. A new business model has been curated by Spark in collaboration with the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, where payments could be spread over several years, so that the burden does not fall at once. New financial instruments too must be explored as has been the case with the latest business innovation called Health Coin. It is tied with insurance schemes where insurers are incentivized to reimburse for preventive measures. Some players are even exploring annuity-based models.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/11/3-business-models-that-could-bring-million-dollar-cures-to-everyone?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=dailyalert_activesubs&utm_content=signinnudge&referral=00563&deliveryName=DM18593

Uploaded Date:26 November 2018

Some methods have been identified, following which, companies can fuel their corporate strategy into top gear. Firstly, all on board need to realize that the strategy cannot be an annual occurrence, but a constant journey. Instead of merely agreeing on all points, there must be debates on other alternatives. There must be cognizance on making the big moves up, rather than merely approving budgets. Budgets often cannot be kicked into action, thanks to a historically built inertia. This needs to be moved on to liquid resources. Performance reviews too need to be shifted away from a mere analysis of the numbers achieved to a holistic approach on work done. Strategy isn’t just about the long-term. Instead, it must induce all on board to take the first steps towards the final goal.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/eight-shifts-that-will-take-your-strategy-into-high-gear

Uploaded Date:23 November 2018

The Union- Tribune and Energageearlier known as Workplace Dynamics have together given the Spotlight Awards, recognizing twelve companies for their work in different areas of talent management. The Future Forward Award went to Tandem Diabetes Care while the Great Mentors Award was given to The Classical Academies. Booz Allen Hamilton won the Innovation Award and Mission Healthcare Services won the top gong in the Pursuing Purpose category. Mauzy Heating- Air and Solar, BB&T, Swinerton, Red Door Interactive, Guild Mortgage, The Ken Blanchard Companies, Teradata and Shop-core Properties shared the rest of the awards in the categories for Gettin’ it Done, Integrity, Top Down Awareness, Crystal Clear, Appreciation, Work Hard/Play Hard, Professional Development and Peak Incentives categories respectively.

Source:http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/sd-fi-top2018-spotlight-awards-20181111-story.html

Uploaded Date:17 November 2018

A recent survey conducted on the state of the pet foods industry clearly proves that no company is ever invincible. Management consulting giant Bain and Company conducted the Elements of Value survey on the industry. The results clearly show how Chewy which was founded in 2011 has proven to be a major competition to Amazon in terms of pet foods online retail. They outperform Amazon in six out of the eight categories surveyed. These were in terms of variety, quality, time save, cost reduction, effort reduction and simplification. There was a tie in hassle avoidance category while Amazon came top in the accessibility category. Chewy has captured the market primarily out of a belief among the customer base that the company understands pet owners better.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/chewy-takes-a-bite-out-of-amazon-snap-chart/

Uploaded Date:17 November 2018

Forbes’s annual 30 Under 30 list has been released covering different areas of business and society. The one of Venture Capitalists (VCs) focuses on those investors who are changing the face of investment. These people have been drawn from a diverse set of backgrounds, investment journeys and in size of their investments. The list has been topped by Adina Tecklu who along with HootanRashidifard run Canaan Partners and its Canaan Beta programme. They have been instrumental in spotting business innovations across industries but especially in tech. There are a total of 14 women in this list of 30, including Asian-American Priya Saiprasad who is a founding member of M12, which is Microsoft’s independent venture. Some other notable inclusions are Jeffrey Low, Vik Chawla, StepehenTrusheim, Blake Robbins, Teddy Citrin, Hayley Barna, Arlan Hamilton, Jeremy Liew, Alexis Ohanian, Nikhil Basu Trivedi, Sarah Guo and AnarghyaVardhana.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2018/11/13/30-under-30-venture-capital-2019/#5429dee5113c

Uploaded Date:17 November 2018

Several organizations are trying to transform towards agile organizations. Some trademarks naturally get associated with such firms. These organizations have a clear corporate strategy to begin with. This includes a vision and shared purpose plus actionable strategic guidance. The structure is generally flat with a network of empowered teams. The team members need to have hands-on understanding. The decision and learning cycles are rapid. The information to be disbursed is transparent. Accountability is wedded into the roles. The environment is open but with adequate virtual backup. The talent recruitment strategy is geared towards bringing in dynamic, passionate people. There is a role mobility within and the employees display an entrepreneurial drive. A cohesive community feeling gets honed in. Next-gen technology is used, but only after employees are well-versed with these.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-five-trademarks-of-agile-organizations

Uploaded Date:15 November 2018

Growth in business is no longer optional, but a factor in the very survival. The digital age has ushered in a paradigm where this growth takes place much more rapidly across multiple dimensions. Controlling costs is seen as no longer effective in driving up profits. Companies are now effectively driving this growth making use of advanced business analytics. Growth can broadly be defined under three broad dimensions which are through- investing, creating and performing. Zara tasted success investing heavily in the rapid-fashion segment. Adobe performed well by focusing on its Creative Cloud innovation. Capital One captures authentic business intelligence by tracking customer data. It then tailors its products according to these insights. The differentiators must be identified that will help companies to excel. An eye must be kept out for new products or services that will drive future growth.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/invest-create-perform

Uploaded Date:14 November 2018