October 2015

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 oct 2015

The Office of the Chief Scientist of Australia (chiefscientist.gov.au) recently released a report, 'Boosting High-Impact Entrepreneurship in Australia', prepared by Colin Kinner (Director of Spike Innovation). The study highlights entrepreneurship as the key to a high-growth, innovation-led economy, able to capitalise on Australia's investment in research and skills. According to Ian Chubb, Australia's Chief Scientist, 'Knowledge is the foundation of the high-growth industries of the future - but it must be knowledge efficiently acquired, skilfully managed and creatively applied.' He considers that entrepreneurship can be taught. He says, 'To be a more innovative country we need to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset at every level of education - starting in schools, continuing in higher study and enduring throughout working lives.' The report finds that Australia has one of the highest rates of business creation in the world, but few startups have the capacity to grow beyond the local level. The report lists the following core skills that today's high-impact entrepreneurs need - (1) Business model innovation (2) Product development (3) Sales (4) Financial management (5) Legal management (6) Intellectual property management (7) Platform economics (8) Capital raising (9) Employee Share Ownership Plans (10) Building and managing teams (11) Managing rapid international growth. Read on...

Business Insider: The 11 core skills needed to be a high-impact entrepreneur, according to the chief scientist
Author: Chris Pash

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 oct 2015

According to recent research regarding consumer psychology by marketing professors Gina S. Mohr of Colorado State University, Margaret C. Campbell of the University of Colorado, and Peeter W. J. Verlegh of the University of Amsterdam, 'Consumers remember and like products better after seeing covert marketing, such as a product placement in a sitcom, but reminding them that product placement is "marketing" eliminates the effect.' Prof. Campbell, the lead invesigator of the study, comments 'Frankly, we were a bit surprised at the power of covert marketing across a variety of studies. Even though most US consumers know that marketers pay to surreptitiously get their brands in front of consumers, consumers are still influenced by covert marketing efforts.' Prof. Mohr adds, 'In the US there has been some reluctance to incorporate disclosures for fear that it may interfere with creative content. This research suggests that product placement disclosures need not occur at the time of product placement to be effective.' Researchers suggest that the study provides support for the idea that requiring disclosure after exposure to covert marketing would give information to consumers that helps them make better decisions. Read on...

domain-b: Consumers resist influence of covert marketing when paid placements are disclosed
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 oct 2015

User experience is one of the most critical factor to be considered while designing a product or service. Great designs make customers feel good, enjoy and above all fully utilize the desired functionality of the product or service for their benefit. Scott Sundvor, co-founder of 6SensorLabs, explains that there are generally two schools of thought in the product design process - 'Design-First' approach, that promotes the process of initially designing look and feel of the product and then make engineering fit that design, and the other is 'Engineering-First' approach, in which the engineering aspects of the product are considered first while the industrial design works under constraints of the engineering specifications e.g. hardware, components etc. Apple generally applies the design-first approach and gives substantial importance to the aesthetics of the product, and of course without compromising on the engineering. Mr. Sundvor suggests that startups and companies with relevantly less funds as compared to Apple can find success by following the engineering-first approach. They should focus on the utility of the product i.e. providing better usability and functionality. Hardware startups that pursue crowdfunding to generate capital often sell products with a different initial industrial design while ship something else. This generally happends due to lack of convergence of engineering and hardware aspects with the industrial design. In other cases it might happen that original industrial design was not manufacturable or the cost to manufacture it was too high. Startups and companies on low budget can avoid such problems by focusing first on making the product work and then create aesthetic aspects of industrial design around it. Engineering team and industrial design firm should work together closely. Product leader should be created within the product/engineering team to coordinate collaboration between the two and should gather feedback from all sources including user's perspective and engineering constraints. The selection of the right industrial firm could be a challenge and should be done by doing thorough research based on budgetary constraints, product requirements and the design firm's capabilities. Once the selection is made product/engineering team should pitch their product vision and specifications to the industrial design firm. The design firm should be convinced regarding the long-term viability of the product. To raise funds after this would depend on the high-quality prototype design that comes through a partnership with the design firm. Startups should be prepared to spend right amount of money to create this prototype and if they don't have much funds they should consider giving equity to the design firm. This is the critical stage of product development and startups shouldn't shy away from pulling all the strings to get a good design firm to work on their product vision and specifications. Read on...

ReadWrite: Which Came First - Product Utility Or Design?
Author: Scott Sundvor

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 oct 2015

According to Pew Internet Project's research on social networking, as of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. While as of September 2014, the usage statistics of popular social networking sites is - Facebook (71%); Twitter (23%); Instagram (26%); Pinterest (28%); LinkedIn (28%). Moreover research by Full Impact Studio found that social media has surpassed Google as Americans' 'number one daily activity'. All these stats point towards the relevance and importance of social media to reach people. Brands and businesses have to carefully carve out their marketing strategies on social media, and engage with their target audience accordingly. Social media can be utilized to gain subscribers, promote a service or sell a product, and helps build a business's social brand. Following are the five social media branding strategies for business suggested by Full Impact Studio's infographic - (1) Choose channels that best support your brand image: Facebook (For brand awareness and promotion. Biggest and most influential); Instagram (For heavily visual brands. Targets young adults); Pinterest (For Visual brands. To reach women); LinkedIn (To connect with corporate influencers and promote business-related content) (2) Provide exemplary customer service: Timely engage with customers and provide effective answers and solutions. (3) Don't forget about Google+: Still relevant considering that its part of Google ecosystem. Posted content's visibility on Google search. Connected to YouTube. Acts as free ad space for each post when searched on Google. (4) Deliver interesting and engaging content: Regularly update. Keep content fresh and relevant. Include articles, updates, audios, videos and visuals. (5) Get involved and make connections: Attract audience and build relationships through relevant engagement tactics like contests, giveaways or meaningful advocacy. Make them feel part of the community. Read on...

Business 2 Community: Infographic - 5 Social Media Branding Strategies for Business
Author: Deanna Zaucha

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 20 oct 2015

To transform cities into 'HUBs' of something requires deliberate collaborative efforts and partnerships between the people and government. There are numerous examples from US and around the world where residents, local businesses, city administration, civil society and governments have come together to create ideas and concepts, developed a concrete roadmap, and carefully executed strategy, that lead to the evolution of a city or region to become great at doing something and attract other people, businesses and investments that helped develop and grow its economy. They worked relentlessly as a team towards the shared vision and goal. Kansas City in United States is one such example where the city and its citizens built upon its strength and made it into a hub of 'Social Entrepreneurship.' Josh Schukman (Founder of Social Change Nations), explains five essential elements that helped transform Kansas City and how other cities can replicate and implement this model - (1) Capitalize on the strengths of area universities. (2) Rally local foundations. (3) The effort must be driven by the social entrepreneurs themselves. (4) Embrace the startup culture. (5) Remember this is a long term play. Read on...

Huffington Post: How to Make Your City a Hub For Social Entrepreneurship
Author: Josh Schukman

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 19 oct 2015

Business environment is consistently evolving due to shifts, both inside and outside the organization, in areas like technology, processes, customer behavior, regulations etc. To succeed in this ever changing environment businesses have to effectively manage change and consistently innovate. According to Andrew Blau of Deloitte and Touche LLP, 'We have seen four new features of the world that are game changers for business and innovation. These four truths are making what was once difficult, expensive, or complex now easy, cheap, and simple.' (1) Coordination and collaboration between individuals and teams has become better and easier, resulting in development of new processes and business models. (2) Improved financial services has made it easier to aggregate, organize, move and exchange money. (3) Improvements in making and manufacturing things, from small batch prototypes to mass production of complex objects. (4) Better access to learning and knowledge resources. These four drivers are leading to the increased pace of three V's of new business formation - volume, variety and velocity. Mr. Blau explains, 'New types of organizations are emerging - organizations that are established not over multiple generations, but that can emerge and grow to dominance within a decade. As we witness new companies developing at exponential rates, we are also seeing the accelerated pace at which long-established organizations stumble when faced with disruption...In short, a new generation of businesses is forming around these trends.' To better prepare and respond to the changes that are happening and uncertainties of the future, organizations have to develop a set of tools and systems, and safeguard themseleves from vulnerabilities of strategic risks that threaten to disrupt their busness models. This system should include people, processes and capabilitie to - Accelerate discovery; Scan ruthlessly; Confront biases; Prepare for surprise. Mr. Blau concludes, 'Strategic risks can destroy huge amounts of value very quickly, and they can threaten the existence of the institution or entire lines of business. Identifying these potential risks early can only be to an organization's advantage.' Read on...

Deloitte Perspectives: Truths and consequences - Four drivers of change that threaten business as usual
Author: Andrew Blau

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 oct 2015

According to a recent report by Commonwealth Fund, 'U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of Services, Prices, and Health in 13 Countries', based on data by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and other cross-national analyses, the US spent US$ 9086 per person on healthcare in 2013, which corresponds to 17.1% of GDP. This was about 50% more than the second highest spender (France-11.6% of GDP) and almost twice of what UK (8.8%) spent. In US if the patients are unable to pay their healthcare bills, it either becomes a bad debt for the patient or is written off as 'charity-care', adding up to US$ 57 billion in uncompensated care. To study and analyse this aspect of healthcare, researchers from Northwestern University - David Dranove, Craig Garthwaite, and Christopher Ody - argue that there is room for efficiency improvement in the charity-care system and the supply and demand for charity care are not geographically inclined. This means that hospitals that have more resources available for charity-care, ones mostly located in high-income areas, are not located in the places where people most need it, i.e. the low-income areas. To rectify this situation, researchers propose a 'floor-and-trade' system, in which all hospitals are required to provide some charity-care to low income patients. One of the researcher, Craig Garthwaite, comments 'As the Affordable Care Act has rearranged the flows of patients to hospitals and decreased the number of uninsured Americans, it's a good time to reconsider how hospitals commit themselves to serving their surrounding communities.' Read on...

The Atlantic: Who Pays Hospital Bills When Patients Can't?
Author: Bourree Lam

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 10 oct 2015

According to Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), 'Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return...The growing impact investment market provides capital to address the world's most pressing challenges in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, clean technology, microfinance, and affordable and accessible basic services including housing, healthcare, and education.' The recent report by Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 'Great Expectations: Mission Preservation and Financial Performance in Impact Investments', based on the evaluation of financial performance of 53 impact investing equity funds that include 557 individual investments, explores the two most important aspects of impact investing - financial returns and long-term impact. The study suggests that - in certain markets segments - investors might not need to expect lower returns as a tradeoff for social impact. According to authors of the report, Wharton finance professors David Musto and Chris Geczy, certain market segments of funds in the sample yield returns close to those of public market indices. Prof. Geczy explains, 'Our research fills a near-void of rigorous analysis of private investment and social impact outcomes and most importantly the link between the ideals of doing well and doing good. The study examines the tension between profits and purpose, also bringing to bear analyses characterizing relative performance as well as statistical certainty about the result. It represents an exciting initial advancement in our ongoing social impact research agenda.' Read on...

GlobeNewswire: New Wharton Research Shows "Doing Well While Doing Good" Is Viable Investment Strategy, Investors Seeking Social Impact Can Receive Comparable Returns
Author: Peter Winicov

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 oct 2015

Transformation in healthcare industry is increasing the demand for 'out of the box' executives and leaders that can adapt to the pace of change and at the same time bring in new ideas and innovate. These executives have diverse experiences in different industries. They can be from industries that are creating better and advance ways of doing business for example technology organizations that are influencing business processes and models in many industries. Recruiting for some select positions like CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers), CHROs (Chief Human Resources Officers), CIOs (Chief Information Officers) etc from mainstream healthcare can sometime stifle innovation as these executives may bring traditional set of experiences and perspectives from within the healthcare industry. Moreover healthcare industry is known for slow adoption of latest technologies and processes due to regulatory and systemic issues. Hence the leaders and executives from other industries have a better chance to drive innovation. But healthcare recruiters have to be cautious while seeking candidates from outside the traditional healthcare industry. Kimberly Smith (FACHE), managing partner of the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer, provides some basic rules they should apply while recruiting for such positions - (1) Know where the need of innovation is and in which area the person will have most impact. (2) Understand whether the new roles are required or current leadership framework needs modification or not. (3) Perform thorough research for sources from where the candidates can be recruited. (4) Clearly define the roles, responsibilities, demands, deliverables and expectations from the new hire. (5) Be specific in defining the competencies, skills and experiences that are saught in the change and innovaiton agent. (6) Be sure of the readiness and need for out of the box candidate. Have diverse set of candidates. Explore how the person can be onboarded before extending an offer. (7) Have a clear onboarding plan for this candidate. Make sure how the nontraditional hire would be smoothly integrated and assimilated into the organizational structure and culture. Ms. Smith concludes, 'The act of looking outside the box to recruit requires forethought, a comprehensive evaluation process and a commitment to helping the executive to adjust. Going outside the box doesn't mean that hiring diligence should go out the window - in fact, just the opposite.' Read on...

Executive Insight: Recruiting "Out of the Box" Healthcare Executives
Author: Kimberly Smith

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 05 oct 2015

Human resources component of organizations is getting transformed through technology-enabled innovations. There are a number of technological solutions that human resources practitioners are using in areas like workforce management, recruiting, learning management, performance management, analytics, compensation management, wellness, succession planning, collaboration, onboarding, workforce planning, talent management and mobile. According to March'15 survey by Human Capital Media Advisory Group, that polled 127 HR professionals at various levels in organizations of various sizes and industries mostly located in US (85%), a little more than half of talent and HR managers say that their companies have increased spending in HR technology as compared to last year. About 50% of the respondent said that HR systems provide data that helps them to make better talent management decisions. While most of the HR practitioners consider technology as useful but they also heavily scrutinize the technologies that are available and thoughtfully make decisions about which technologies should be considered for investment. Most popular and useful technologies - Mobile HR Software (38% already use, 26% plan to purchase); Talent Management Suite (37% already use, 24% plan to purchase); Workforce Planning (27% already use, 27% plan to purchase). Least popular technologies - Wellness Software (59% no plans to use, 14% already use); Succession Planning (56% no plan to use, 23% already use). The survey also points out that most HR managers (77%) agree that their staff has the skills and expertise to effectively use the HR technologies that are implemented in their organizations. Read on...

Talent Management: Firms Boost HR Tech Spending
Author: Elyse Samuels

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 03 oct 2015

Mainstream financial institutions are exploring to integrate potentially disruptive blockchain technology that is behind virtual cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Blockchain is a decentralized public and transparent ledger of all bitcoin transactions. While traditional banks work through a centralized electronic banking system. Now 13 of the leading global banks have joined a project to collaborate on the use of blockchain-based distributed ledger. R3, a New York-based innovations firm, is one of the leading project partner and seeks to establish a set of standards that banks can use. The project will research and experiment shared ledger solutions to meet banking requirements for security, reliability, performance, scalability and audit. Financial executives, Niall Cameron of HSBC, Satoshi Murabayashi of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Robert Sams of Clearmatics are positive about the project and its usefulness for the financial sector. Read on...

CNBC: How Wall Street is embracing bitcoin
Author: Matt Clinch