Marketers have long benchmarked their budgets against their peers’ spending. But it’s time to seek better metrics than the average budget. In his 2015 book The End of Average, Todd Rose warns against “averagarians” designing systems based on the mean or judging success in terms of the deviation from the…
Last Monday, November 13th was World Kindness Day. As an organization that is focused on building positive and healthy work environments, being kind doesn’t just make us feel warm and fuzzy; it actually helps us achieve awesome results, especially as we’re growing. Think about it: a simple “thank you,” “please,”…
Consistent daily patterns of exercise and rest can synchronise the local body clocks associated with joints and spine with the brain clock, potentially helping individuals to maintain skeletal health, improve athletic performance and avoid injury, research by University of Manchester scientists has argued. Though the study, published in Nature Communications…
To write your girlfriend a poem, GPT-4, an artificial intelligence system, requires orders of magnitude more energy than your brain does. That’s because AI doesn’t really function like the brain. Rather, it runs like all other computer software by flooding microchips with huge quantities of binary signals, in the form…
Western values are admired around the world, according to the landmark poll of 21 countries, but many nations no longer feel they have to be aligned to just one major power or bloc according to the poll. It reveals countries no longer want to be exclusively tied to a US…
The IMF in collaboration with University of Oxford researchers today [15 Nov] launched 'PortWatch', a new online portal a platform to monitor and simulate trade disruptions due to climate extremes and other shocks. Using satellite-based vessel data and big data analytics, the platform will help policymakers, analysts, and other public…
From the start-up hubs in Copenhagen through the industrial strongholds of Antwerp to the thriving metropolis of Hamburg, European entrepreneurs in the SME segment face a relentless challenge: adapting to sudden societal and economic shifts. And for the past years, this is what they have been doing continuously. But how…
As part of its recent Net Neutrality Review, the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is adopting a more pragmatic approach to zero-rating – the practice of excluding certain content from users’ data usage limits. Graham Johnson considers the implications and whether other regulators are likely to follow Ofcom’s lead. ‘Zero-rating’ became…
Underwriting Understood vbois November 9, 2023
Lessons from a lifetime career of branding excellence - David Martin has been leading businesses through brand evolution for more than four decades, and much of this experience has focused on mergers and acquisitions. At a time when the vast majority of mergers do not fulfil their potential, David shares…
As a finance specialist, Harvard Business School Professor Lauren Cohen works to understand the dynamics that make businesses thrive. In his recent research on family companies, he has found one common thread among successful firms: They actively support their employees’ mental health. One of Cohen’s recent case studies spotlights Zak…
Financial literacy is skill which many parents and grandparents are keen to nurture in their children and grandchildren. With social media now a key route for young people to access information – including researching money and finance – it’s helpful to look at the role it can play. Stuart McCulloch,…
As many charity trustees may be aware, the week of 13 -17 November 2023 is the Charities Regulatory Authority’s “Charity Trustees’ Week” with an increased focus on the roles and responsibilities of charity trustees. With that in mind, in this briefing we are flagging a few key areas that charity…
Despite today’s constantly evolving economic environment, many organisations continue to operate the same way as they have been doing for hundreds of years. Our consultants have seen this “business as usual” approach cause a variety of business challenges across strategy and vision, organisational structure, and working methods. So what is…
The Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy initiative explores the growing use of artificial intelligence in the business landscape. The exploration looks specifically at how AI is affecting the development and execution of strategy in organizations. As an associate professor at Harvard Business School and cofounder of the Customer Intelligence Lab…
PLANO, Texas (October 31, 2023)―Today, Lexus announced a new collaboration with acclaimed Dutch solar designer Marjan van Aubel to create a vibrant, sun-powered installation within the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) sculpture garden. Inspired by the new and advanced LF-ZC Lexus Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Concept car and…
Overturning the decision of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court held that on the facts of the case, the delivery drivers were properly categorised by Revenue as employees and not as independent contractors as was contended for by Domino’s Pizza. Mutuality of Obligation – Not a Defining Feature of…
More people than ever are in a job or are looking for one – labour force participation in the euro area is at an all-time high. This week, The ECB Blog looks at who the new workers are and discusses changes in labour force demographics over the last two decades.…
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of race-based affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, universities have been grappling with their admissions protocols and law firms and other private sector entities have been facing lawsuits over pipeline and DEI programs. Stanford Law Professor Ralph Richard Banks…
Historically, it’s been tough to quantify the success of events, presentations, and speeches. We’ve long known that the spoken word is a powerful tool for influence and action, but how do you measure that power? When many organizations flipped from in-person to virtual and hybrid meetings and events, presentation analytics…
On May 16 of 2023, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, did something that no tech CEO had ever done before. He implored the US government to regulate his industry. One member seemed to speak for the rest in saying "The time for self-regulation is over. It's time we legislate…
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan delivered a sharp warning to the technology industry in a speech at Stanford on Thursday: Antitrust enforcers are watching what you do in the race to profit from artificial intelligence. “Much is uncertain about what the future of this technology will look like,” said…
With the increasing availability of health information, there has been a rise in demand for at-home diagnostics companies that enable individuals to test their own samples and receive results without visiting a healthcare provider. This raises concerns about the data and privacy of consumer health information. At-home diagnostics testing handles highly…
It’s been an eventful year in the world of generative music. In April, the first viral AI cover dropped: ghostwriter’s “Heart on My Sleeve,” which woke up the music world to the fact that AI content could not only exist, but could be good. Soon after, Google unveiled MusicLM, a…
UK regulators set out their approach to innovation in payments, money and money-like instruments. This paper explains how UK authorities’ current and proposed regulatory regimes will interact and it should be read in conjunction with the respective discussion papers from the Bank and FCA as well as PRA’s letter to bank Chief Executive Officers.
For the first time in a while, I recently delivered a short, in-person talk, entitled “Lessons Learned from Becoming a Product-led Organisation.” The contents comprised an introduction into what it means to be Product-led, why we should aspire to be more Product-led, selecting a starting point and 5 key learnings…
The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) was passed by the Council of the European Union in 2015, and widely implemented in 2017. The regulation ushered the banking industry to the Open Banking era of seamless data exchange. The implications of this regulation were not restricted to only Europe. We witnessed…
Seeking a programming gig? Wear glasses and keep your laptop in frame if you want your profile picture to attract recruiters on hiring platforms. A new study finds freelancers are more likely to land work when they “look the part” for a particular job. But, as companies increasingly tap into…
Dr Lord, a senior researcher in food system economics with Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute, found nearly 75% of the hidden costs were associated with poor dietary patterns that lead to obesity and lifestyle diseases – which, in turn, will lead to near-term and long-term productivity losses. This was particularly stark…
The researchers analysed 246 recordings of doctor-patient conversations and found that subtle aspects of communication, like word choice and tone of voice, influenced patient outcomes and suggests training providers on compassionate communication could aid weight loss efforts. The research comes at a time when obesity treatment guidelines encourage doctors to…
Pensions are likely to form the foundation of your retirement planning – helping ensure financial freedom through your later years. But what happens to your pension pot when you die. Jack Lear, UK Financial Planning Manager, looks at what to be aware of. Most of us carefully save into pensions…
When Mark DesJardine was working on his Ph.D., in 2015, he studied a few of the organizations that certify lumber harvested from responsibly managed forests. As he dug into the details, he noticed a troubling pattern. A CFA charterholder, Tuck professor Mark DesJardine teaches the MBA elective Social Entrepreneurship. He…
Making cross-border payments cheaper, faster, and easily accessible would bring huge benefits to businesses and households alike, especially in emerging markets and developing economies. By Fabio Panetta In recent decades, the world has witnessed a remarkable surge in cross-border payments, driven by the globalisation of trade, capital and migration flows.…
Licensees, exchanges, and other market participants should prepare to comply with the listing, disclosure, capital, and other requirements that the new law imposes. By Jenny Cieplak, Nima Mohebbi, Parag Patel, Stephen P. Wink, Ian Irlander, Adam Zuckerman, Luca Marquard, and Deric Behar On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom…
One of the most common pricing questions we get from late-stage SaaS companies is: should we switch to a usage-based pricing model (also known as consumption-based pricing)? Often, these companies have an existing subscription model, and usage-based pricing sounds like it would further align their incentives with their customers’. After…
What is an Intercreditor agreement? An Intercreditor agreement outlines the rights and obligations of multiple creditors when lending to the same borrower. These are often referred to interchangeably as Deeds of Priority, however, an intercreditor agreement tends to be a more complex document which does not merely order the priority…
During the pandemic many people put more money aside than usual. So what is happening with these additional funds? The ECB Blog looks at which households built up excess savings and how they are using the money. By Niccolò Battistini and Johannes Gareis Being forced to stay home during the…
Imagine you’re a consultant and you notice a few eyebrow-raising behaviors, such as a colleague who misuses a client’s meal stipend or an executive who screams inappropriately at his staff. Should you step in and speak up? For consultants, especially those starting out, the tug of war of values and…
What does it mean to "encrypt" information? And how does an organization know whether its existing encryption protocols are sufficient? The Protection of Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) imposes an obligation on businesses to use security safeguards to protect personal information in a manner appropriate to the sensitivity…
Every successful team depends on its members to contribute effectively and work together cohesively. As a manager or team leader, it is important to make sure that your team is working effectively and efficiently. Every team should have people who do their job that lives up to the company’s standards…