Business innovation is an ongoing process and any company which halts this, is doomed towards eventual demise. Sony is one example of an organization which has fallen behind due to this reason. In the 1990s it failed to upgrade its iconic Walkman product in fruitful manner. In fact collaboration within the organization became a problem as different departments were involved in standalone products which could not be integrated with each other. Also information silos never formed at Sony. Apple and Google at around the same time captured their market with their disruptions.  

Corporate training programmes need to be aligned with the sector and work culture of respective organizations. For some organizations, face to face learning is more effective while for others, online sessions work better. Greater engagement occurs when managers encourage team members to learn on the job. Online modules have their own set of challenges as monitoring becomes difficult. For customer facing frontline managers, there cannot be any better method than experiential learning. Learning and development plans must thus be made keeping in view such points.

Amazon is often derided for its apparent image of being a not so good employer. Yet there are number of things that can be gleaned if one analyzes the workplace culture existent at the Seattle based e-commerce giant. The value system which individual employees possess must be brought out to the workplace as well. The workplace culture must be aligned among all the employees at the firm and not just set from the very top as part of corporate strategy. Work-life balance often goes for a toss in customer-centric firms such as Amazon but there are ways to solve the same such as time flexibility and work autonomy.

Technology has already made sweeping changes to the travel and tourism industry but further business innovation is at play. When make-my-trip started aggregating tour packages, it was considered revolutionary but now services are much more end-to-end. Number of travelers are now looking at customized packages rather than destination hopping and travel portals are aligning with these interest areas. Their communication with final customers has also improved drastically. They are now marketing travel packages based around niche choice areas such as photography, road trips or hallmark events. 

E-learning is one of the methods which can truly boost management training programmes at organizations. It enables the learning and development to be customized as per specific employee category requirements. It helps in talent recruitment. Once recruited, employees can best avail information about global trends and inculcate them into business practices. Online learning is also most cost effective a tool. It enables global reach. Also staff engagement can be maximized as all members are executing the same based around convenience.

Employee retention and talent management have emerged as issues of vast importance to the present workplace. Business research has thrown us four strategies which are set to boost the same. The task must on everyone’s priority list within the firm. Access to information sources must be made available to all employees. This will also improve the transparency levels within the firm. The leadership of the organization must also encourage a sense of inquisitiveness among the employees at the firm. Importantly, personal and professional time need to be coordinated often to derive best possible results.

Tourism consulting provided by AAT Kings has found out that due to the recent dip in the Australian dollar, many nationals are looking to alter their travel itineraries. While around 5% have already made changes another tenth are expected to do so soon. Destinations closer to home are now being preferred. Thus New Zealand has continued its surge as popular choice of travel. A number of potential travelers to the USA are now being attracted to Asia where prices are cheaper. Also other are looking at cheaper accommodation options.