Business & Finance

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 13 apr 2015

Entrepreneurs are always seeking new ways to leverage their position in the market to stay competitive and successful. Competitive advantage is not an easy thing to achieve for entrepreneurs. Here are few ways that entrepreneurs can gain competitive edge - (1) Positioning is better than prospecting. (2) Plans fail, movements don't. (3) Stand on the shoulder of giants. (4) Become a people developer. (5) Create raving fans and advocates. Read on...

Entrepreneur: 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Gain a Competitive Advantage
Author: Peter Voogd

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 apr 2015

Adoption and implementation of business-IT strategies with emerging technologies like big data, cloud, social business and mobility, is a continuous long-term process. It involves multiple streams of projects with complexity and uncertainty. In such an environment CIO's will be challenged to manage a continuous process of incremental development. Jyoti Lalchandani, group vice president and regional managing director at IDC Middle East, Africa and Turkey, explains the approach of 'Failure Management' that IDC utilizes for project management. According to him, 'Businesses rushing to embrace emerging technology solutions may fail more often than not to extract full value from individual projects, but in the long run they will reap enormous value as long as they persist and stay focused on their strategic goals.' Failure management doesn't consider failure as an absolute end result but as a range of project outcomes. Some outcomes might lead to project termination but in other situations it would require some alterations and tweaking to get favourable results and returns on tech investments. Evaluation process is a must at key stages of project lifecycle. The stages are called 'value checkpoints' as they measure the business value return in addition to standard performance metrics. When projects are failing, there are three options for organizations, called 'Rule of Three' by IDC - (1) Stay the course (2) Kill the project or (3) Find a way to change the project's trajectory. Although most project planning methodologies focus on (1) & (2), but it is important to consider all three options and answer all questions to determine the optimum course of action. Read on...

Gulf Times: Manage failure to secure strategic advantage
Author: Jyoti Lalchandani

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 03 apr 2015

Marketing strategy need to be communicated, accepted and implemented by the whole team to get the expected results. Oftentimes it is observed that a good plan and strategy fails due to lack of understanding and support by the members of the team. John Rampton, president of Adogy, provides three innovative techniques to bring the team on the same page regarding the marketing plan - (1) Make it a Game: Allen Graves, a content marketing strategist, suggests making the marketing strategy a game. The idea is based on Joe Pulizzi's 'Epic Content Marketing'. Make four small teams and a team is constitued with 4-5 members who don't generally work together and use a 10-step process to create strategy (i-Decide on a single product to market; ii-Research & document general audiences, buyer personas etc; iii-Define goals of the conent; iv-Detail the buying process and engagement cycles; v-Define the conent niche; vi-Develop a content mission statement; vii-Create a comprehensive content marketing plan; viii-Build a content calender to include at least 12 pieces of content; ix-Develop a strategy to market each piece of content; x-Define key performance indicators and how goals will be measured). Finally team answers the 10-steps in a PowerPoint presentation. (2) Implement an Internal Communication Plan: According to Kris Prendergast, a communication expert, 'Internal communication is the strategic process of gaining employee support for external branding efforts and marketing campaigns.' This can be achieved within the organization by internal newsletter or blog; internal social network; sales conferences and marketing conferences; team building/training events; and digital interactive capabilities. (3) Hold a Strategy Planning Day: John Jantsch, author of 'Duct Tape Marketing', suggests scheduling a strategy planning day, preferably on an offsite location and including a facilitator for the session. Brainstorming sessions would include a team leader, who assembles his own team & resources, and creates a framework and plan based on key themes like objectives, results, constraints, goals, projects and tactics. Read on...

Forbes: 3 Tips To Take Marketing Strategy to Whole Team
Author: John Rampton

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 01 apr 2015

For long-term success and continuous growth of their businesses, corporate leaders focus on innovation, performance excellence and risk management as their priority agenda. Their innovation strategy includes 10 types of innovation - product, service, platform, structure, process, business model, network, channel, customer engagement and brand. According to Andy Boynton, Bill Fischer and William Bole, co-authors of 'The Idea Hunter', as a long-term success mantra, corporate innovators need to cultivate habits of curiosity, deliberate observation, diverse information seeking and engagement with other creative people. Peter Sims, author and entrepreneur, explains 'In addition to idea flow, enterprise innovators need to nurture habits of taking 'little bets' via creative play, prototyping, learning and pivoting.' Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton M. Christensen, co-authors of 'The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators', suggest 'At an individual and organisational level, corporate innovation calls for skills in questioning, observing, networking, experimenting and making associations. Gerald Tellis, Director of the Centre for Global Innovation at University of Southern California, says 'In an increasingly competitive and globalised economy, it is only 'unrelenting innovation' that can help companies sustain a long term advantage.' According to Madanmohan Rao, research director at YourStory Media, large corporations can seek innovative ideas and creative solutions by partnering and collaborating with entrepreneurial startups in variety of ways. This will help them save time, money and effort that goes into in-house innovation. He provides 15 tips and suggestions for big organizations to tap startup innovation - (1) Acquisition (2) Accelerators (3) Calls to Collaboration (4) Hackathons and Hackdays (5) Startup Competitions (6) Conferences and Local Meetups (7) Startup Hotspot Visits (8) Customer Engagement Models (9) Thought Leadership Via Startup Media (10) Special Interest Groups (11) Startup Networks (12) Entrepreneurship Networks (13) Incubators (14) R&D Grants to Entrepreneur-focused Universities (15) Entrepreneurs in Residence. Read on...

YourStory: 15 innovation tips - how large corporations can successfully engage with startups
Author: Madanmohan Rao

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 01 apr 2015

Journalism is undergoing transformation due to innovative use of latest technologies. Journalism students view technology as an essential element of today's reporting and broadcasting. Here are some perspectives of students on technologies that they utilize and have potential to encourage innovation in journalism - (1) Alex Lucke, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Using journalism education and tech background to develop a mobile app 'a Pandora station' for travellers that gives social-based recommendations for concerts and other activities. (2) Fernando Hurtado, University of Southern California's Annenberg Media Center: Mini-broadcasts that simulate the live coverage experience; Social media broadcasts. (3) Daniel Wheaton, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Use of overhead drones for filming and coverage. (4) Anne Li, Northwestern University's Knight Lab: Uses live Google spreadsheets as a powerful content management system through Tarbell, a site authoring tool. (5) Sam Hart and Alex Duner, Northwestern University: Utilize interactive plug-and-chug tools and templates that editors can use to quickly generate quizzes, flowcharts etc to tell innovative stories. (6) Tony Papousek, University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Computer engineering student-turned-journalist, uses open source programming languages like Ruby, Python and R to build scraping tools and apps. He is inspired by story bots, algorithms that zip through massive databases of articles and churn out thousands of stories in seconds, without a single reporter. (7) Anna-Catherine Brigida, Reporter at Intersections South L.A. & graduate of University of Southern California's Annenberg Media Center: Wearable filming through augmented reality glasses like Google Glass and GoPro for reporting and storytelling. These tools make for storytelling experiences with perspective. (8) Jessica Oliveira, University of Southern California's Annenberg School: Mobile presence is important with smartphone and tablet app, and responsive website to reach large audience. (9) Jasmine Lee, New York University's Studio20: Streamlined collaborative communication using team-based apps. Task management app Trello, integrated with Slack, a team chatting app, that can also be used with collaborative tools like Google Drive, GitHub etc, for innovative workflow and purposeful collaboration. Read on...

American Journalism Review: How Tech-Savvy Journalism Students View Innovation
Author: Aysha Khan

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 mar 2015

Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform and disrupt various industries like healthcare, infrastructure management, transportation, utility etc. Recent report by Verizon estimates that by 2025, organizations that extensively use IoT technologies in their products and operations will be upto 10% more profitable. According to Arun Kundu, Director of Professional Services at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, manufacturing sector will be hugely impacted by IoT. He says, 'IoT is creating opportunities to capture and interpret data leading to new services, avoiding commoditisation. And of course, manufacturers are always looking for ways to streamline processes and increase efficiency. IoT-enabled asset tracking not only provides manufacturers with better control of their logistics, but using the data can also enable them to offer their customers near real-time tracking of shipments, an appealing differentiator.' He further adds, 'The factory of the future will be more capital efficient and flexible. Updates from product design teams will be introduced more quickly, and customisations incorporated more easily. Schedules will reflect changes in demand within hours, not days. Managers will be able to see what stock and raw materials are on hand, and exactly where they are, from their tablet.' Remote monitoring of the conditions of the equipment and visualize indicator's of imminent failure, and production-line monitoring and automation leading to predictive maintenance are some other uses of IoT that Mr. Kundu mentions. Read on...

Business Standard: Internet of Things can have massive impact on manufacturing
Author: Rakesh Rao

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 mar 2015

Office environment with meetings, conferences and discussions that involve face to face interactions with fellow employees and clients is a norm for businesses. But in today's technology-enabled, round-the-clock business operations, situations arise where workers have to perform and manage their projects and job duties remotely. Remote project management requires experience and specific skills to get work done effectively and efficiently. Following are some tips for project managers who need to work out of office - (1) Be organized (2) Use a collaborative tool (3) Seek personal connection with team members (4) Over communicate (5) Keep senior management and customer informed. Read on...

CIO: 5 tips for remote project managers
Author: Brad Egeland

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 mar 2015

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 'With reduced demand for production workers, total US manufacturing employment dropped from approximately 19 million in 1980 to 11.5 million in 2010. Most of manufacturing job losses were in the section of the workforce without a high school diploma.' The recent report 'Making Value for America' by National Academy of Engineering (NAE), points out the changing face of US manufacturing and the challenges faced by the human resources employed in manufacturing. The report suggests need of collaborative approach between government, companies and educators to strengthen workforce training programs and enhance innovation and productivity. Manufacturing is to be considered an important component of the value chain and businesses that focus on the entire system of product and service delivery help make value for their customers and are less likely to be disrupted by new technologies or increased competition from emerging economies around the world. According to the report, 'While technological advances offer companies new ways to understand customers' needs and in turn increase demand for their products, automation and streamlined operations are likely to supplant an increasing number of workers in a variety of occupations.' Nicholas Donofrio, chair of the committee that conducted the study, says 'Advancing skills and creating skilled jobs are the best bet to aid the workforce that has been left behind by changes in manufacturing and the broader economy.' Read on...

Engineering.com: National Academy of Engineering - U.S. Must Take Action to Strengthen Manufacturing Innovation, Productivity, and Workforce Training
Author: James Anderton

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 mar 2015

According to Jim Manias, VP of Advanced Systems Concepts, 'In a world of application diversity, business processes must cross boundaries between various solutions and technologies. As a result, workload automation solutions have stepped to the forefront as the next step in the evolution of job scheduling. As data flow increases, processing volumes grow and the infrastructure becomes more complex, IT is increasingly relying on workload automation to automate and standardize file/data transfers, workflows, applications, and processes.' He suggests following tips for IT departments on what they can automate - (1) Provision Dynamic Virtual/Cloud Systems (2) Streamline Development and Operations (3) Self-Service Automation (4) Improve Big Data Analytics (5) On-Board and Off-Board Customers and Employees (6) Preventing Service-Level Agreement Breaches (7) Automate FTP/SFTP/FTPS (8) Automate Help Desk and Support Procedures (9) Streamline Reporting (10) Enhance Security and Compliance (11) Real-Time Calculations (12) Script Lifecycle Management. Read on...

CIO Insight: 12 Things Enterprises Don't Know They Can Automate
Author: Karen A. Frenkel

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 mar 2015

'Synthetic Biology' is an interdisciplinary and emerging area of research in biology. SyntheticBiology.org defines it as - (a) the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems and (b) the re-design of existing natural biological systems for useful purposes. 'Synbio' as it is often termed as, involves writing genetic code and inserting it into simple organisms to change their function. Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks sells custom-crafted organisms - mostly yeasts, baceteria and algae and they make synthetic scents that might be used in sprays and perfumes in future. Ginkgo was mostly funded initially by US government agencies. Jason Kelly, co-founder of Ginkgo, says 'Their belief was that the United States should be on the leading edge of creating tools to program cells - sort of like creating the base elements of the early Internet.' According to Professor Pamela Silver of Harvard Medical School, 'Synbio industry is going to grow quickly, especially in Boston.' Tom Knight, another founder of Ginkgo, explains 'Engineering biology has been an artisanal craft. You did things at a small scale, manually. We're moving into an age when we can start automating a lot of the processes and take advantage of economies of scale.' Read on...

The Boston Globe: Manufacturing's cutting edge - custom organisms
Author: Scott Kirsner

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