Geoffrey Kent, the CEO of Abercombie & Kent recently faced condemnation from a reader for his supposed hypocrisy when dealing with the planet’s problems. He wrote a piece about traveling and conservation but the reader feels that there is instead too much travel these days and people must rather focus on understanding their own communities and preserving the environment. Luxury tourism with which Kent is associated, is getting tarnished by claims of environmental degradation due to excesses such as the use of caviar as an item of consumption. However, Kent feels that tourism is the best way of protecting the environment. African countries such as Kenya and Zambia must protect their wildlife the way for example Saudi Arabia protects its oil. Wildlife must be top priority for generation of travel jobs and national income in these countries of Africa. 

MYOB the Australian tax and accounting services firm, has claimed that it has sourced ideas from various sources to enable its business innovations. Its innovations are such that even blue collared professionals such as gardeners are getting massive practical benefits out of this. It has been involved in acquisitions and partnerships of late. It has tied up with Kounta systems and taken over Ace Payroll with the primary intention of breaking into the New Zealand market. Even its primary tax product Xero has been boosted by its alignment with Dropbox. 

The DC region is now getting a facelift with tourism as a top priority among industries. Washington DC attracted around twenty million visitors in 2014 including domestic and international ones. More than seventy five thousand people are engaged in tourism jobs in the region which also generates a tax income of about three fourths of a billion dollars in tax revenues. Majority of international visitors arrived from China, UK, India, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Italy and Brazil.   

Talent management has become so critical that organizations are putting increased focus on retaining the best employees and reducing attrition rates. As per market research by Halogen and Cranfield University, about a third of organizations polled are set to introduce a talent strategy over the next couple of years. This will include increased emphasis on corporate training rather than on hiring fresh talent to plug gaps caused when employees leave. Succession planning is another area previously ignored but gaining ground among organizations these days. These trends were common across the English speaking world including the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 

With the present trend of co-creation and collaboration not showing signs of abating, key catalysts have been identified using business research to show how the same can be applied to human resources andtalent management. HR service may best be improved by applying timely communication and use of videos. Also constant feedback must be encouraged. Greater presence on the social circuit is needed for recruitment and enhancing organization’s brand value. Email dependence must be reduced and the response time on social media must be quickest possible. Instead of a traditional hierarchical structure, firms must shift to networks. Relationships must be developed for long term benefits and connectors within the industry must be engaged with especially on public forums. The employees’ full profile must be understood using 360 degree perspective. Corporate training must be provided specifically on social learning. Also mentor- peer networks must be fostered. 

The New Zealand Tourism Board has been felicitated as the top one by Virtuoso which is a US luxury travel network. The board has been commended for its high level of engagement with customers and other stakeholders. Virtuoso has now inked an agreement with the board where the latter will providemanagement training to employees at the former to better publicize New Zealand’s luxury offerings. New Zealanders themselves currently make up the top visitors to Australia but this is set to change with newer arrivals from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland soaring year on year. More than a million are expected to visit Australia this year from that region. 

As per management consulting giant- BCG- certain habits exist among top managers. The corporate strategy they set includes exact measurable targets as per the ’80-20’ rule. This makes them believe that four-fifths of impacts arise from a fifth of causes. Bureaucracy is kept to a minimum. There is constant interaction with their team members. They are good at talent management and set duties based on individual characteristics of employees. Change is a constant and desirable ones are implemented at rapid pace.