Business & Finance

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 aug 2016

The interactions and engagement of brands with their audience and customers now happens in real-time, thanks to social media and technological innovations. But the similar engagement with employees and worker is far off, and happens only through annual performance reviews or employee surveys. Michael Papay, Co-founder and CEO of Waggl, explains, 'Even organizations that really care about personal development typically run a 360-degree feedback process only every 3-5?...Most business and HR leaders agree that traditional methods of listening to and engaging with employees, while full of positive intent, have had little impact on driving business health, let alone business strategy. Yet, despite this shift in attitude, most organizations are still relying primarily on the annual survey to communicate with employees.' Waggl conducted a survey on its platform obtaining response from 575 people (business leaders, HR leaders and consultants) - 98% were positive about listening to employees and incorporating their ideas is critical to an organization's success; Only 38% were positive about hearing from employees once a year (via an annual survey) gives organizations the timely insights they need to be successful. Following were the response (526 answers, 7550 votes) about top human capital/people priority for 2016 - (1) Encouraging/engendering a growth/ownership mindset, we call it leadership at all levels. (2) Leadership development throughout the field, with a strong emphasis on personal accountability. (3) Agility, collaboration and trust. (4) Finding the right talent who are innovative and can take the organizations to the next level. (5) Influencing the company culture to have more authentic, people oriented people managers and reward and promote those who are successfully engaging their people, not the ones that get the best results but do not show the right leadership behaviors. Read on...

Business 2 Community: The Importance of Developing a People Strategy that Supports Your Business Strategy
Author: Michael Papay

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 26 aug 2016

Businesses work in ever changing environment and they have to effectively adapt to it for survival and success. Continuous learning and knowledge seeking approach can help owners and employees safeguard their business's future. Nowadays, with technology-enabled knowledge and learning available all the time online, they don't even have to leave their work and can get it whenever they have time. Flexibility and accessability are the strengths of online education. Currently, with a number of online initiatives by many education providers, the range of learning modules available in a number of diverse fields have multiplied. The choice is in the hands of the learner and acquiring new skills is just a click or tap away. Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) provide courses on various topics of business, management, technology etc, and students can submit coursework, receive feedback and marks, and participate in duscussion forums with mentors and peers. Synchronised teaching allow students and teachers to connect and communicate in real-time from different locations. MOOCs have made massive progress since 2008, when they were first launched. Many traditional education providers have MOOCs as part of their online strategy. MOOCs incorporate various elements like forums, social networks, blogs, videos and written materials as part of their learning environment. With continuing advancements in communication technologies, MOOCs will also improve and transformation will also happen in their business model. Latest concept under research in online education is MiRTLEs (Mixed Reality Teaching and Learning Environments). The emphasis here is to enable students to virtually join a lecture through webcam. As the research in online education continues, there will always be availability of better learning environments that fulfil the needs of business owners and their employees. Read on...

Tech.co: 2 Ways Technology Revolutionized Online Education
Author: Marcelo Brahimllari

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 25 aug 2016

Entrepreneurs thrive in regions and countries that have developed better and facilitating entrepreneurial ecosystem than others. According to Alberta's Center for Innovation Studies, Canada has the second-highest level of entrepreneurial activity in the world. Andrea Stairs, Managing Director of eBay Canada, provide five traits of successful online entrepreneurs shared by winners of eBay Canada's 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award - (1) They are strategic. They map out their growth. A recent BDC survey of Canadian entrepreneurs found that successful businesses are much more likely (71%) to have a strategic plan than less successful companies (46%). (2) They think globally from the outset. (3) They focus on niches to differentiate themselves from the competition. (4) They are passionate and resourceful. (5) They are resilient. They learn from failure and pivot in the face of obstacles. Read on...

Huffington Post: 5 Traits Of Successful Online Entrepreneurs
Author: Andrea Stairs

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 18 aug 2016

According to WordStream.com, 'Marketing analytics is the practice of measuring, managing and analyzing marketing performance to maximize its effectiveness and optimize return on investment (ROI). Understanding marketing analytics allows marketers to be more efficient at their jobs and minimize wasted web marketing dollars. Beyond the obvious sales and lead generation applications, marketing analytics can offer profound insights into customer preferences and trends. Despite these compelling benefits, a majority of organizations fail to ever realize the promises of marketing analytics.' It is imperative for marketers to overcome analytics related challenges and bring customers closer to the brands and serve each one of them in the best possible way. Ensuring better data quality, effective knowledge and skills to analyze data, focus and clarity of goals, collaborative approach and creativity, will provide what marketing analytics promises. In KPMG's 2016 Global CEO Outlook, 84% of CEO's indicated their concern about the quality of the data they use to make decisions. Moreover, Forrester Research noted that 58% of the work in a business intelligence initiative is spent on trying to find the right data and integrate it for analysis. Openprise released a study on marketing data management, noting barriers to data management success included - Poor data use/accessibility (54%); Poor data quality (44%); Poor database integration (37%). Study by Ascend found similar challenges to data-driven marketing, listing integrating data across platforms and enriching data quality and completeness as the top two challenges. Finding the right data and analyzing it properly and gain valuable insights is the key to effective data-driven marketing. This requires specialized knowledge and expertise for marketers. eMarketer points to an IAB study that found that 34.8% noted a lack of internal experience at the functional and operational level as a major obstacle to deploying and deriving value from data-driven marketing. Moreover, collaborative approach and focus are other critical factors required to get maximum results. Amar Doshi, VP of Product at 6sense, says, 'Marketing can't operate in a silo if the enterprise wants to be successful at data-driven marketing. It takes a team that includes resources across the organization to work together.' He adds, 'Marketers are also trying to do too much and, as a result, not doing anything well.' The key is to agree on performance goals and metrics. CMO Solution Guide suggests to always be testing and measuring. But in all these processes and focus, importance of creativity should never be forgotten. Robert Glazer, founder and managing director of Acceleration Partners, says, 'Marketing needs to do both, but too often it's choosing the data over creative. Focusing on creative doesn't mean ignoring data. In fact, data plays an important role in directing creative. Incorporating both data and creativity means maintaining a balance between insight-driven ideas and compelling execution. Smart marketers bring their creative team and data geeks together.' Read on...

diginomica: Why do marketers struggle to do analytics well?
Author: Barb Mosher Zinck

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 04 aug 2016

According to Wikipedia, 'Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) became popular in 1960s and is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and national and international norms.' While BusinessDictionary.com defines CSR as 'A company's sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates. Companies express this citizenship - (1) Through their waste and pollution reduction processes. (2) By contributing educational and social programs. (3) By earning adequate returns on the employed resources.' According to a Global CSR Study conducted by Cone Communications/Ebiquity, 91% of global consumers expect companies to do more than make a profit but also operate responsibly to address social and environmental issues. From integrating a social mission into cross-departmental activities to engaging in sustainability practices, there are myriad ways in which organizations can adopt both a good business and commerce-driven model. A new report from PSFK Labs, 'Impact Debrief', explores how brands can innovate around this decades-old concept of CSR to elevate their social impact and influence. The study provides 5 key ingredients for creating social innovation - (1) Identify And Unite Around A Relevant Social Problem. (2) Promote Cross-Functional Integration. (3) Incentivize And Empower Employees. (4) Create Value By Maximizing Sustainability Efforts. (5) Deliver Transparency. Read on...

PSFK: The 5 Fundamentals For Corporate Social Innovation
Author: NA

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 jul 2016

Packaging is an important component of product handling, logistics, advertising, marketing and selling. There are variety of materials that are currently in use for packaging. Environmental challenges arise due to the waste generated through discarded packagings. The packaging industry is exploring better materials that can reduce environmental footprint. In spite of scientific breakthroughs in developing new packaging materials, there are issues related to their performance and price, inhibiting their mass adoption and usage. Bryan Shova, packaging designer and industrial design director at Kaleidoscope, explains sustainability aspects of packaging. He says, 'I dream of the day when material science and manufacturing can deliver on the promise of zero environmental impact, high performance, premium finish and low costs.' He explains, 'The viability of true sustainability is a complex economic challenge, and the ugly truth is that few consumers, brand owners or municipalities are willing to pay the premium price for cutting-edge sustainable packaging solutions. True solutions will come through "systems thinking" that requires the material supplier, manufacturer, retailer, consumer and the municipality to share in the premium costs and labor required to design, collect and recycle packaged materials.' He provides 10 principles for designing sustainable packaging - (1) Start with commodity materials that are commonly recycled. (2) Design the package from a single material. (3) Focus on the product-to-package ratio. (4) Design for assembly at the point of manufacture. (5) Avoid gluing and laminations. (6) Design for distribution. (7) Eliminate secondary and tertiary packaging when possible. (8) Design for disassembly. (9) Clearly mark the materials on the packaging components. (10) Use Lifecycle Assessment. Read on...

Packaging Digest: 10 ways to design sustainable packaging with intent
Author: Bryan Shova

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 17 jul 2016

In today's highly competitive and fast paced world of business, innovation can be a differentiating factor and a source of strategic advantage. It can help businesses to stay ahead on the success curve. Risk-taking is an important component of innovative thought process and activity. Val DiFebo, CEO of Deutsch New York, suggests three ways to encourage employees to take risks and build an innovation seeking organization - (1) Explore Unchartered Territory: Encourage risk-taking by rewarding and applauding new ideas and by listening and building when teams want to do things that don't exist. Explore the uncharted territory strategically and patiently. (2) Support the Ideas: Provide support financially and practically. But budget carefully for risks involved. Be realistic when evaluating returns on these investments. Encourage employees to take calculated risks. (3) Be Passionate: It takes courage and passion to introduce new idea. Ask employees to bring ideas they are passionate about. Asking people to be a bit vulnerable encourages risk-taking and can be tremendously rewarding, as well as provide an element of team bonding. Accepting failures of the past and learning from them minimizes the risk of repeating them in future. A smart risk is well thought out and demonstrates that employees have looked at other options and genuinely believe that the risk is worth the gain. Read on...

Fortune: The One Thing Every Company Gets Wrong About Innovation
Author: Val DiFebo

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 jun 2016

E-Commerce strategy once was a source of competitive advantage and differentiating factor in business. But now it is an essential strategy for businesses to connect and engage with their customers and, market and sell their products and services online. AJ Agrawal, Founder and CEO of Alumnify, suggests 4 affordable marketing strategies to boost e-commerce efforts and stand out from the competition - (1) Start Testing More On Facebook: Utilize split testing or A/B testing to evaluate advertising effectiveness and save cost. Continue the process until best results are achieved. One tactic you can implement in your testing is to prequalify leads. (2) Use The Right Influencers: Word of mouth generates twice the number of sales as paid advertising. Invest in reputation marketing and word of mouth marketing. Use the right and relevant influencers. (3) Invest In Your Email Marketing Campaign: 44% of customers click on promotional emails and then make a purchase. Build email list and invest in email marketing campaign. Finally get a group of brand ambassadors from the list and initiate word of mouth marketing through them. (4) Retargeting In The Right Style: Use retargeting to highlight and establish that unique selling point to convince them to buy and not go to competitors. Use data analytics to understand customer behavior. Segment your adds based on user interactions with site. Keep testing advertising effectiveness until best results are achieved. Continuous testing of marketing strategies and improving upon them will help in differentiating from competitors and attract customers. Read on...

Forbes: 4 Marketing Strategies To Take eCommerce To The Next Level
Author: AJ Agrawal

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 27 jun 2016

Women are more prominently visible in some professions, but not in all. According to the International Interior Design Association, 69% of the 87,000 design practitioners in the United States are women. But the dismal stat is that, only 25% of firm leaders are female. Although Zaha Hadid, Odile Decq and Jennifer Siegal have reached the top and inspired other women to walk in their footsteps, but there are challenges that women face to get there. Here are views of the four creatives that have worked hard to be leaders in design and architecture - (1) Nicole Hollis, Principal and Creative Director of NICOLEHOLLIS: CHALLENGES - 'Working on construction sites can occasionally be challenging...Also, getting out of my office and working together on site, rather than via email or phone, generates a lot of mutual respect.' OPPORTUNITIES - 'I believe that women have the same opportunities as men. Often having quiet determination and hanging in there during the tough times can be more of a factor than gender.' (2) Lisa Bottom, Design Principal at Gensler San Francisco: CHALLENGES - 'I learned early on that my proclivity for hard work would serve me well. I had to work harder than most of the men and ensure that all my delivered product was the best I could produce.' OPPORTUNITIES - 'The Co-CEO of Gensler, Diane Hoskins, is a woman. Our most recent Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Gensler, Robin Klehr-Avia, is a woman, and the Managing Directors of many of the Gensler offices are women. Gender is no longer the determining factor for success in a design career.' (3) Anne Fougeron, Principal of Fougeron Architecture: CHALLENGES - The challenge is to convince people that you are as capable as your male colleagues. There seems to be an underlying assumption that men understand and know more about construction than women!' OPPORTUNITIES - 'I think women are primed to take over and be the new emerging voice in the field of architecture...We must remember to always ask for what is rightfully ours.' (4) Kendall Wilkinson, Principal of Kendall Wilkinson Design: CHALLENGES - I never thought about being less or more because of my gender, I always knew that I had something to bring to any table, regardless of the audience.' OPPORTUNITIES - 'Doors are opening in so many areas related to design now. More and more, you are seeing women in construction be it electricians, project managers, or even general contractors...our industry is undergoing disruption which I think will lead to interesting new paths for both women and men.' Read on...

7x7: 4 Creative Women Taking the Lead in Design & Architecture
Author: Anna Volpicelli

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 23 jun 2016

According to the survey by U.S. Trust (a subsidiary of Bank of America), of 684 high net worth (HNW) individuals, all with investable assets of US$ 3 million or more, there is increasing interest and activity in social impact investing, particularly among women, Millennials and Gen Xers. The survey also found the 7 out of 10 HNW Americans have more confidence in the private sector to solve social and environmental problems than the public or nonprofit sector. Moreover, another 6 in 10 believe that private capital invested in social and public programs can produce superior outcomes, all while ownership and interest in impact investing climb. Jackie VanderBrug, Managing Director of U.S. Trust, says, 'Understanding how and why individuals make impact investments is an increasingly important component of nonprofit management. I think that nonprofit executives that look at impact investing as a trend to be welcomed and embraced are going to be the ones ahead of the curve. Impact investing is not going away. It's fundamentally changing how investments are being made by individuals and fund managers. Understanding that and what it means to your donor base, constituency and board members is an important part of a nonprofit executive's job.' The survey report also finds that, environmental protection and sustainability is the issue that matters most to HNW investors, followed by healthcare equality and access; disease prevention, treatment and cure; access to education; and assistance for veterans. Ms. VanderBrug further adds, 'This is not about confusing philanthropy. Our clients are extremely philanthropic and we don't think that that should stop. My experience is that most individuals who are interested in impact investing are also very philanthropic. They understand that all sectors of the economy need to work.' Read on...

The NonProfit Times: Big Donors Losing Faith In Charity To Solve Problems
Author: Andy Segedin

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