October 2013

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 oct 2013

PASET (Partnership in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology) is created by World Bank to facilitate and promote collaboration, covering the whole spectrum of education (higher education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), research and innovation in applied sciences), between Sub-Saharan African countries, emerging nations (China, Korea, India and Brazil) and Japan. Recently a workshop was held in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, to formulate the nature of engagements between the partnering countries. Most emerging economies have already made investments in Africa and they are also assisting in the development and betterment of the local human resources. The workshop was intended to identify and formalize the engagement roadmap based on the expertise of the partner nations. The engagements proposed by African countries include following areas - faculty development; agricultural training and research; university-industry linkages; use of ICT; TVET instructors; infrastructural development. While the partner's side include expertise in the following specific fields - development in agriculture and training of TVET instructors from China; use of ICT education by Korea; institutional and industry collaboration by India; postgraduate training and research by Brazil. This World Bank facilitated partnership is expected to create unique mutually beneficial relationships between African and partner countries for better future. Read on...

University World News: PASET - A World Bank initiative for skills development
Author: Goolam Mohamedbhai

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 oct 2013

According to Professor Douglas McWilliams of Gresham College in UK, India will become the world's largest economy by 2048 by surpassing China which will displace US from the top slot in 2023. He points out that the pace of change in the Eastern economies is so fast that the population of these economies have not become used to prosperity and their employees still work more then their Western counterparts (Singapore - 2307 hours/year; Hong Kong - 2287 hrs/yr, UK - 1625 hrs/yr). Moreover Singapore's GDP is 30% higher then UK and Hong Kong's 50% higher. These figures indicates resurgence of the East and the West has to be prepared to compete with these economies and adapt to the new realities or there is a probability of stagnation and later on economic collapse. Read on...

The Telegraph: India 'will become world's biggest economy in less than 40 years'
Author: Emma Rowley

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 oct 2013

In today's fast paced, ever changing and highly competitive global business environment companies and organizations have to learn to adapt to new realities and leverage this adaptiveness for success. In her recent book 'The End of Competitive Advantage', Professor Rita Gunther McGrath of Columbia University points out the lack of relevance of traditional tools of strategy like 'five forces', 'core competencies' etc in the current business scenario. According to her these strategy tools focused primarily on gaining sustainable competitive advantage. In her book she proposes a concept of 'transient competitive advantage' that relies on gaining value out of short-lived opportunities with speed and decisiveness. Her concepts assists companies with - Continuous reconfiguration; Using resource allocation to promote deftness; Building on innovation proficiency; Leadership and mind-set; Personal meaning of transient advantage. Read on...

EurekAlert: Columbia Business School Professor Rita McGrath cites the end of competitive advantage in new book
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 oct 2013

With advancements in analytics technologies and availability of big data, marketers have valuable tools and information on various aspects of customer interaction with their businesses. This information can be used to get insights and generate ideas for delivering better products and services. Moreover it can provide an opportunity to experiment and validate ideas at faster pace (accelerated business innovation). All this is creating new principles and dynamics of market behavior and giving rise to a new science, 'Customer Science'. To better observe, analyze and understand customer behavior and apply it for the benefit of businesses and customers, requires talented and skilled pool of 'Customer Scientists'. These scientists may not all come from the traditional marketing fields and would need to be diverse in skills - analytical, cumputer literate, digital natives, creative and thoughtful at the same time factual and pragmatic. Moreover knowledge of all the principles and methods of the past for analyzing and understanding customers and obtaining learning lessons like outcome driven innovation, balanced scorecard, GOAL, Six Sigma etc are now being utilized by enterprises to obtain insights from customer data and this will finally evolve into a mature field of customer science in future. Read on...

Business 2 Community: Birth of the Customer Scientist
Author: Ian Tomlin

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 oct 2013

One of the most important attribute of the organizational leadership is to build and manage its culture. Since organizations and their environment are continuously changing and evolving, it is necessary that members of the organization embrace change and adapt to it. John Kispert, CEO of Spansion, provides guiding principles to manage change by making innovation an inherent part of the corporate culture - Be accountable to each other; Promote open communication and trust; Be decisive and take risks. Read on...

Bloomberg: Want to Innovate? It Starts With Your Corporate Culture
Author: John Kispert

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 oct 2013

'Design Fiction (DF)' is a design concept that envisions an imaginary future and builds objects around it. DF is part of the design process and designers often use fiction as a starting point to create their work. Author, Matthew Ward, who teaches design at Goldsmiths (University of London) suggests the use of DF in the design education and advocates that it should be a critical part of the curriculum. He proposes a preamble of a manifesto towards a design education that embraces and interrogates the role and importance of fiction in design - (1) All design is ideological (2) Fiction as a testing ground for reality (3) Re-inscribing behavior and responsibility (4) The decisions you make have consequences: prototype them in the stories you tell (5) Normalize to persuade (6) Make space for experimentation (7) Think through making (8) Things that work don't create interesting stories (9) Build from ideas to aesthetics (10) Things live in their interaction with their context (11) People are the protagonists in the production of reality (12) Craft the narrative (13) Don't mistake the training for a race (14) Understand what your fiction is doing in reality. Read on...

Medium: Design Fiction as Pedagogic Practice - Towards a fictionally biased design education
Author: Matthew Ward

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 oct 2013

Telecommuting (Working from home or other convenient location without coming to office) is an important aspect of the work dynamics in many industries particularly those that have intensive use of computers and connected devices to accomplish work responsibilites by their employees who mostly work individually. Although advances in collaborative technologies have even facilitated team-work where employees working from different location can work together to complete projects. But recent work policy initiatives by Hewlett-Packard and Yahoo, that are intended to discourage work-from-home, have brought telecommuting to the forefront of the human resources debate. Their argument is that telecommuting is affecting the corporate culture and making team work difficult. Author suggests that to understand and estimate the effects of telecommuting on their organization's culture, business leaders should ask themselves these questions - (1) What kind of culture is to be created? (2) What are the needs of the organization? (3) How to plan to make sure that work-from-home policy does not compromise communication? (4) How often is it necessary for employees to collaborate? (5) How will a work-from-home policy affect productivity? (6) How will the work-from-home productivity is to be measured? Read on...

Reuters: How to Protect Corporate Culture in a Telecommuting World
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 oct 2013

'Operational Excellence' is the management concept that focuses on the continuous improvement of the business processes towards achieving perfection and maximum efficiency. Business practices like Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), Scientific Management, 5S etc are all related to 'Operational Excellence'. According to the author, over the years it has shown that businesses that focused one sidedly on Operational Excellence, although successful in short-term, got impacted by 'Systemic Inertia' in the long-term. They ignored the unpredictable and changing nature of the business environment. To overcome this author suggests - Businesses should experiment in small way and accelerate failure while the losses are still manageable; Inculcate entrepreneurial attitude, focus on outputs also and learn to adapt to the changes and demands of the environment; Increase flexibility, that might look operationally inefficient in short-term, but have long-term benefits. Read on...

Innovation Excellence: The Evil Twin Of Operational Excellence
Author: Costas Papaikonomou

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 oct 2013

Leader's ability to plan and execute strategy is one of the most critical aspect of an organization that gives it direction and provides sense of purpose. It motivates people to work towards a common goal in the best possible way. Author shares the best what the senior leaders do while formulating and executing strategy - Clear understanding of the difference between strategy and tactics; Create a line of sight between vision and action; Don't allow means to overtake ends; Maintain a strong sense of customer or end user focus; Don't think outside the box, but destroy the box; Communicate strategy with oomph to make the powerful impact. Read on...

Forbes: How Strategic Are You?
Author: Scott Edinger

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 22 oct 2013

Creative destruction is an important business and economic phenomenon that happens in all industries where the new and the innovative displaces the old and makes it obsolete. Journalism is adapting and evolving itself to face the changes and disruption due to innovations in ways information is created, shared and disseminated. Author is optimistic that the current dynamics in the field of journalism and newspaper industry will not diminish its economic sustainability. The examples of what does and does not change in journalism are: Although internet creates disruptive business models for newspapers, magazines and books but a sizeable population still likes to read words from paper; Newspapers may not vanish completely but will remain as lower and less important news sharing medium; Internet will have wider range of topics and speedier response but newspapers, magazines etc will hold importance due to their attractive story telling and analysis aspects; Internet journalism is a form of evolution of traditional journalism; Video and mobile content is transformative but written word still holds its value both in internet and print with internet having advantage on the long-form writing as it has no space constraint; Print journalism is expanding and diversifying into various other media formats with multichannel news offerings; Journalism platform is evolving and adapting. Although there is decline in print but rise in online and mobile modes; Journalism has to continue to experiment, adapt, evolve and participate in the various social and technological changes to survive and remain relevant. Read on...

New Statesman: Journalism is going to survive this era of creative destruction
Author: George Brock

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 oct 2013

Organizations are a conceptual and social entities with a common purpose and a connection to their surrounding environment. They are defined by their culture and their interactions with the external environment. Organizations achieve lasting permanent behavioral change (learning) when the lessons taught become inherent part of the culture of the organization. People not only learn or are made to learn individually but actually share and disseminate their learning and the success that results from it. Essential element of organizational learning is exploring, learning and sharing with each other. And only by working together for a common goal they can serve the true purpose of the organization. Read on...

Henrietta Post: What is organizational learning?
Author: Stephen Balzac

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 19 oct 2013

The recent study conducted on 40 hospitals with innovative strategies in India by Prof. Vijay Govindarajan and Prof. Ravi Ramamurti of Harvard University, advocates emulation of low-costs and technology innovations happening in Indian hospitals. Considering that the global economic slowdown is affecting the healthcare delivery it is valuable to understand and apply these cost saving methods that are a result of constant experimentation, adaptation and necessity. Some of these methods include - shortening length of sutures to reduce waste by doctors; low cost manual small incision cataract surgery; reducing heal-time by performing angioplasties through the wrist rather than the groin; use of technology that allows a single cornea to be sliced and used for more than one transplant patient; mix of low-cost healthcare workers and highly focused specialists; surgeons performing more procedures annually as compared to US; use of beating-heart method of surgery without shutting down patient's heart during operation. Read on...

The Times of India: Emulate India's innovation in healthcare: Harvard study
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 19 oct 2013

Innovation is a catalyst for growth of organizations. They face business challenges while moving in a monotonous and business-as-usual mode. The article mentions 10 business challenges and innovative solutions to overcome them - (1) Turn customer insights into user-centered innovation (2) Validate ideas through design process (3) Monetize the interaction between user and technology (4) Anticipate emerging trends and create the future (5) Create innovative roadmap and orchestrate strategy (6) Turn brand promise into experiential innovation (7) Create implementation plan through innovation strategy (8) Prototype to identify sustainable business models around value offerings (9) Diversify and filling gaps in portfolio. (10) Expand existing and enter new markets through innovation. Read on...

Innovation Excellence: 10 Business Challenges in which Innovation is the Answer
Author: Jeffrey Tjendra

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 15 oct 2013

Social media's success as a communication tool during Arab Spring has initiated its use as a marketing tool for businesses in Middle-East countries. Companies are adopting various social media platforms to connect and interact with their current and potential customers. But the challenge is to manage the social media strategy correctly and efficiently as it has very powerful dynamics to share and propagate information. Businesses should tread with caution and care as mistakes can become a big public relations fiasco. In UAE few companies learnt it the hard way when they posted careless, insensitive and unprofessional comments leading to a negative and strong reaction from customers and public. Read on...

Gulf Business: Tough Lessons - How Not To Manage Social Media
Author: Aarti Nagraj

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 oct 2013

With global expansion of businesses and readily available social media tools to connect, interact and build relationships with customers and businesses across the world it has become necessary for organizations and businesses to have an international focused social media strategy at place. The challenge is to successfully manage multiple social media platforms for maximum value. The article recommends - Do a thorough website analytics to understand user statistics and know where the target audiences are located both physically and virtually; Before investing time and money in managing multiple accounts (country specific, language specific) ensure understanding of the user connection and interaction on your social media main account in the English language; To make user engagement more efficient and targeted post focused, specific and original content on your social media profiles; Be patient and persistent with your international social media strategy as it takes time to evolve and provide desired results. Read on...

Business 2 Community: How To Develop An International Social Media Campaign
Author: Sam Lowe

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 oct 2013

Students have natural entrepreneurial instincts and traits. While pursuing education they explore and participate in mini entrepreneurial activities. University education and environment can create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that hones and further these traits and skills and provide them with tools and opportunities to self-direct their education and experiment with their ideas. Educational institutions can become entrepreneurship facilitators by providing early stage services to entrepreneurial ideas of students and ensure that these ideas are prototyped and tested for commercial viability and business potential before letting student entrepreneurs fully venture into the market. Read on...

The Globe and Mail: Why students are natural entrepreneurs
Author: Zachary Strong

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 oct 2013

With the rise in the ageing population in many countries around the world expert suggests that it could be a good strategy to invest in stocks and funds that focus on the elderly theme, meaning companies that provide products and services to the elderly like pharmaceutical, healthcare, curuiseline operators etc. The expert also points out that a different view can also be applied by investing in stocks and funds in markets where ageing population is not an issue and higher young population remains like India. Read on...

The Telegraph: Four ideas for investing in the ageing population
Author: Richard Dyson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 oct 2013

Entrepreneurship could be worth a try for fresh graduates in the trough state of economy when the job opportunities are not lucrative. According to Professor Andy Klein of American University of Sharjah, a bad job market is actually a good scenario for budding entrepreneurs but they should be prepared for risks inherent in pursuing the venture and adverse consequences if it fails. He suggests that entrepreneurs should also consider bringing in experienced personnel to take advantage of their skills and expertise for their venture's success. A better developed entrepreneurial ecosystem can assist in mitigating the risks for student and fresh graduate entrepreneurs. Read on...

Gulf News: Entrepreneurship a viable career option for students
Author: Jerusha Sequeira

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 10 oct 2013

Financial experts believe that it is very difficult to pick a stock portfolio that can outperform the market. There has been numerous instances where expert and skilled stock market individuals competed to try and beat the market index but weren't able to. In a newspaper sponsored competition the kid with no knowledge of the stock market performed better than a stock expert and in another one even a cat outperformed all participants. According to Nobel Prize-winner economist William Sharpe of Stanford University, a typical actively managed dollar will underperform the market in direct proportion to the fees charged. Read on...

The Globe and Mail: Can you really beat the market from your laptop?
Author: Andrew Hallam

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 09 oct 2013

'Side-project entrepreneurship' is not a new concept but with spread of internet based technologies like social media etc it has the potential to transform the work dynamics of individuals. Side-project entrepreneurs pursue their personal projects and ventures alongside their full-time jobs. Balancing the work-load and been able to do justice to both responsibilities can be challenging. Article shares a side-project entrepreneur's views and experiences and how pursuing a start-up with a day job is a good proposition for those with entrepreneurial mind. He suggests - Experiment and act on the idea in free time; Explore your abilities and learn your limits; Build your autonomy in decision making; Enhance your creativity by involving yourself in innovative pursuits that will also be beneficial for the full-time work. Read on...

Geek Wire: Can you really beat the market from your laptop?
Author: Chet Kittleson

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 oct 2013

Hospitals everywhere are facing multiple challenges related to providing better and customized treatment to elderly, emergency medical care, shortages of skilled medical staff, lack of efficiencies in routine processes etc. A large portion of these challenges can be addressed by optimally implementing latest healthcare technologies and advancements. In the recently concluded International Medical Hospital Show 2013 in Japan, companies showcased healthcare technologies and systems that are transforming the various aspects of healthcare delivery and processes. Mobile integrated EMR (Electronic Medical Record) was one of the attraction of the show. The 380 companies that participated in the show were categorized into six zones - (1) Medical Instrument and Hospital Environment Equipment (2) Nursing (3) Medical Check-up and Health Care (4) Nursing Care and Rehabilitation (5) Institution Management and Services (6) Medical Information Systems. Read on...

Zee News: Now, get your medical records on smartphone, iPad
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 06 oct 2013

Prof. Enrique M. Soriano of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business in Philippines, explores the must-have entrepreneurial traits in individuals running their family businesses. He suggests - Know your business partners and suppliers and call them by their first names; Build strong relationships with family members by letting them know that you care; Make friends with similar business interests and goals; Consider your competitors as human beings and interact accordingly even if they don't further your business; Be persistent and consider failures as learning experiences; Manage creatively and support teamwork by understanding diverse nature of employees, family members, suppliers and customers; Imbibe meritocracy among family members while discussing the topic of family business continuity and succession planning; Ensure good planning and monitoring and consider family business as an intellectual property asset; Value your family business brand; Accept and support disagreements to maintain democratic style of functioning. Read on...

Sun Star: Most valued entrepreneurial traits in the family business
Author: Enrique M. Soriano

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 oct 2013

According to the recent survey conducted by Deloitte, a global consulting firm, corporate reputation and the resulting consequences of a reputation damaging instance or situation are the top strategic risks for the large companies. Almost 50% executives mentioned social media as the most important technological phenomena that has transformed reputation management. Executives consider social media as a tool that have lessened their power of control since the damaging news is shared easily and spreads faster to a larger audience. Recent instances of reputational crises among businesses and organizations has also increased the importance of reputational risks in the mind of the executives and has brought it at the top of their strategic focus. Read on...

FINANCIAL: Reputation surpasses economic and business model concerns as top strategic risk: Deloitte
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 oct 2013

A company is building on the research done by Dr. David Baltimore and his team at California Institute of Technology to engineer immune cells to cure diseases from inside. They have currently tested the process on mice. Challenge is to control and stabilize inner manufacturing to produce correct amount of cells for the right period of time depending on the treatment requirement. According to the company there is a possibility to recreate biochemical environment of youth. Read on...

New Scientist: Mini drug factory churns out drugs from inside bone
Author: Linda Geddes

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 oct 2013

Advancements in mobile communication technologies like mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, PDA's etc are creating new dynamics in the healthcare delivery processes. MOVINGLIFE project is the European Union's effort towards research and understanding of the issues related to Mobile eHealth that would benefit healthcare providers and consumers. The project developed roadmaps for technological research, implementation practice and policy support. The project also studied and assessed the best practices and standards in developed and developing countries and even consulted experts from Brazil and India. Read on...

CORDIS: New mobile health provision services that could change your life
Author: NA