Iran’s “Nuclear Box”

In the best traditions of a Persian epic, Tehran has long been able to play on the fear and curiosity of the great powers, leaving them in the dark about the true contents of its “box”. Against this background, all sorts of assumptions arise about whether Iran really needs nuclear…

Vines in a cold climate

  • Post category:The Fry Group - UK
  • Reading time:5 mins read

The rise of English wine over the past 30 years, is a remarkable story. Award-winning drinks expert Henry Jeffreys shares insights on England’s newfound prominence in the wine world and discusses his latest book, ‘Vines in a Cold Climate,’ which explores the pioneers behind this revolution. What first piqued your…

[Editorial] The Evolving Era of Home Appliances Meets AI and Software

Over the past century, home appliances have evolved to reduce the burden of household chores and add convenience to lives. The accelerated development of these appliances is marked by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that analyzes usage environments and executes optimal functions to significantly alleviate inconveniences associated with…

Managing carbon: A new role for the CFO

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:14 mins read

Carbon emissions are a global challenge, but the way each company responds to the risks and assesses new opportunities should be highly case specific. While compliance is critical, strategy should matter most of all. CFOs must ensure that their organizations meet customer priorities, adapt to regulatory changes, and develop an…

A Radical Rethink of HR

Human resources needs to rethink its role as an agent of management and become a passionate advocate for employees and their interests. Ashley Goodall October 10, 2024 Reading Time: 9 min  subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images For the human resources profession, this has been the best…

Employers in England, Scotland, and Wales Have New Obligation to Prevent Sexual Harassment

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Quick Hits The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published technical guidance for employers on 26 September 2024, after a short consultation on a draft version earlier this year. Alongside the full guidance, the EHRC produced the Employer 8-step guide: Preventing sexual harassment at work. Under the act, employers will…

LLMs are becoming a commodity—Now what?

  • Post category:Microsoft
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Whenever a compelling new AI model emerges, I like to put it through its paces. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with the preview of OpenAI o1 (formerly known as Strawberry), an astonishing new LLM that’s capable of solving complex and layered problems, especially in math, science, and coding. For businesses, o1 model…

Who Makes the Rules for the New Space Economy?

Q: What is space law right now and what developments can we anticipate? Space law is a very underdeveloped field of international law. That’s understandable because until recently, activities in space were quite limited and primarily state led. The boom in commercial space companies and the plans by a number…

The power of digital: Quantifying semiconductor fab performance

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:15 mins read

The need for semiconductors has exploded since 2010, and despite a recent downturn in 2023, the semiconductor industry is trending toward recovery and long-term growth to more than $1 trillion in revenue by 2030. Comparable to previous market cycles, some segments of the semiconductor industry have grown, while others have contracted.…

Podcast: How can leaders invest the time that AI gives back?

  • Post category:Microsoft
  • Reading time:20 mins read

[Music] MOLLY WOOD: Tomas, thanks so much for being on the show.  TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC: It’s a great pleasure. Thank you for having me.  MOLLY WOOD: So, you’re a psychologist, an educator, an executive, an author. I’d love to hear a little about your career path and how your interest in AI developed alongside…

Seven Keys to a Happy Retirement

  • Post category:INSEAD Knowledge
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Nicolas, a busy senior executive, really enjoyed working in the construction industry. He knew his company had a mandatory retirement age, but he didn’t give it much thought. He figured that retirement would give him more time to perfect his golf game and travel with his wife.On the day he…

Why leadership’s ‘Hands-Off’ approach to culture is costing you more than you think

  • Post category:Civility Partners
  • Reading time:6 mins read

Picture this: you’re actively working to foster a positive workplace culture, but managers and leaders are adopting a ‘hands-off’ approach. At first, it seems harmless, even convenient—but beneath the surface, it’s quietly wreaking havoc. Top talent? They’re slipping away unnoticed. And while you’re busy chasing other priorities, the very core…

The World Majority and Its Interests

The emergence, in 2022, of a large group of countries, which in the Russian foreign policy discourse is referred to as the “World Majority,” came as a most meaningful event in the modern-day international life. The World Majority countries refused to be part of the economic and other sanctions imposed…

How to Build Diverse Leadership Teams by Enlisting Stakeholders

Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Matt Herring/Ikon Images When decision makers include individuals from varied economic backgrounds, generations, genders, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and religions, everyone is better off — employees, customers, suppliers,…

Human Resources’ Role in Data Privacy and Cybersecurity, Part I: The Basics

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:7 mins read

AccessDefinition: The ability and means to communicate with or otherwise interact with a system, to use system resources to handle information, to gain knowledge of the information the system contains, or to control system components and functions.Air GapDefinition: To physically separate or isolate a system from other systems or networks…

How AI is poised to transform air travel, from reservations and check-in to baggage handling

  • Post category:Microsoft
  • Reading time:18 mins read

Introducing a new industry reference architecture for airlines and airports The aviation industry is entering a new era: airlines and airports worldwide are on the brink of transformation, driven by the power of generative AI. This powerful technology is creating new value at every stage of the aviation ecosystem, revolutionizing…

Cambridge joins forces with ARIA to fast-track radical new technologies to revolutionise brain health

The collaboration, which includes researchers from the University of Cambridge, aims to accelerate progress on new neuro-technologies, including miniaturised brain implants designed to treat depression, dementia, chronic pain, epilepsy and injuries to the nervous system.Neurological and mental health disorders will affect four in every five people in their lifetimes, and…

Cambridge joins forces with ARIA to build new micro-machines that could revolutionise brain health

The collaboration, which includes researchers from the University of Cambridge, aims to accelerate progress on new neuro-technologies, including miniaturised brain implants designed to treat depression, dementia, chronic pain, epilepsy and injuries to the nervous system.Neurological and mental health disorders will affect four in every five people in their lifetimes, and…

A revolution is transforming women’s sports. How retail brands keep pace.

  • Post category:Yonder Consulting
  • Reading time:7 mins read

In 2024, the sector will generate $1.28 billion in revenue; the data should be sounding alarm bells for brands. Women’s sports are breaking through age-old barriers. In the past few years, we’ve witnessed significant progress, notably highlighted by the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which saw women’s sports take centre stage. That momentum…

California Governor Signs Freelance Worker Protection Act

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:5 mins read

Quick Hits Contracts for freelance work of $250 or more must be in writing and contain certain specific information regarding services to be provided and dates for contract completion, among other things. Payment for freelance work must be made on time or within thirty days after the completion of the…

University of Cambridge alumni awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

In 2020, Hassabis and Jumper of Google DeepMind presented an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified.Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190…

Critical inputs from China: how vulnerable are European firms to supply shortages?

9 October 2024By Dennis Essers, Laura Lebastard, Michele Mancini, Ludovic Panon and Jacopo TiminiChina has been an important and reliable supplier of critical inputs for European industries for decades. But how vulnerable would our companies be if that suddenly stopped? The ECB Blog estimates the potential losses in value added…

Navigating a successful financial future

Whether you’re interested in setting clear financial goals, saving to buy a property or planning an enjoyable retirement, a positive side-effect of getting a solid plan in place is the impact it makes on your financial wellbeing. Strong financial wellbeing comes when you’ve built a good relationship with your money and have…

Uday Shankar on India’s media and entertainment evolution

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:22 mins read

Media executive and entrepreneur Uday Shankar has played a key role in the transformation of entertainment and media in India and the Asia–Pacific region over the past three decades. After getting his start in journalism, Shankar transitioned to the entertainment business in 2007 as CEO of Star India, part of…

C-Suite Hiring: Seven Mistakes Companies Still Make

Topics Leadership Talent Management Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Selecting the right candidate for an executive role ranks high on the list of the most consequential organizational decisions. But despite employing the common tools of due diligence when assessing whether someone will perform well in the role, most companies’…

Protecting democratic institutions from cyber threats

  • Post category:Microsoft
  • Reading time:10 mins read

Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) is disrupting the technical infrastructure used by a persistent Russian nation-state actor Microsoft Threat Intelligence tracks as Star Blizzard. Today, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed a civil action brought by Microsoft’s DCU, including its order authorizing Microsoft to seize…

Finding the Blueprint for Thriving Organizations

Q: What questions have guided your career? The question I began with was, “What drives inequality in society?” Early projects led me to believe that the way organizations structure themselves and manage their employment relationships has a significant impact on why some people get ahead and some people don’t. At…

World – Macro-economic Scenario 2024-2025: delicate balances

  • Post category:Credit Agricole
  • Reading time:7 mins read

In the US, while the foundations of recent growth, tenacious beyond expectations, are showing some cracks, there are reasons to hope that they will not become too deep. On the one hand, we can count on the positive effects of an earlier cycle of monetary easing and, on the other,…

University of Cambridge alumnus awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics

Hinton (King’s 1967) and Hopfield were awarded the prize “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.” Hinton, who is known as the ‘Godfather of AI’ is Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He is the 122nd member of the University…

Power forward: Five make-or-break truths about next-gen e-commerce

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:16 mins read

E-commerce is undergoing a fundamental change that is reshaping how customers buy and companies sell. While generative AI (gen AI) has grabbed the attention of executives over the past year, a quieter wave of technology-driven innovation is washing over almost every aspect of e-commerce. This technology infusion is powering a…

Ultra-powered MRI scans show damage to brain’s ‘control centre’ is behind long-lasting Covid-19 symptoms

Using ultra-high-resolution scanners that can see the living brain in fine detail, researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford were able to observe the damaging effects Covid-19 can have on the brain.The study team scanned the brains of 30 people who had been admitted to hospital with severe Covid-19…

How to Develop Continuous Learners

Leaders can help more employees upskill, reskill, and adapt to change by applying four key strategies. Wendy Tan and Joo-Seng Tan October 07, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Amid the ever-increasing frequency and complexity of job changes and career transitions people experience, the notion…

OSH Law Primer, Part X: Voluntary Safety and Health Self-Audits

  • Post category:Ogletree Deakins
  • Reading time:7 mins read

The first article in this series provided a general overview of the OSH Act and OSHA; the second article examined OSHA’s rulemaking process; the third article reviewed an employer’s duty to comply with standards; the fourth article discussed the general duty clause; the fifth article addressed OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements; the…

Election 2024: Why Demographics Won’t Predict the Next President

Pundits love a political horse race, parsing the latest polls to predict who might win an election. And in the final runup to the US presidential contest, these forecasts can influence markets and shape public opinion and policies.But as America heads to the polls in November, new research warns forecasters…

A new era of hotel ratings in the UK & Ireland?

  • Post category:Yonder Consulting
  • Reading time:6 mins read

For the first time ever, the Michelin guide has released its ‘keys’ for hotels in the UK & Ireland; part of its refresh for their hotel section. They see it as delivering the same level of recommendation for hotels, as it does for restaurants, with the keys equating to the…

What is a Target Operating Model?

  • Post category:Q5 Partners
  • Reading time:7 mins read

How to effectively design, implement, and evolve a Target Operating Model A Target Operating Model (TOM) serves as the blueprint for how an organisation should function to achieve its goals. This article explores key elements such as strategy, value chains, enterprise architecture, roles, culture, and performance. It provides practical insights…

How to embrace the CEO role: An interview with Daniel Vasella

  • Post category:McKinsey & Company
  • Reading time:17 mins read

Leadership is never easy—not for nothing did Shakespeare write, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” The job of leader may seem even more imposing these days given a range of micro- and macro- social, economic, and geopolitical forces. But amid the challenges, there is always the opportunity for…