Directors’ Duties and Net Zero

A recent judgment in the UK has clarified some of the limits of challenges taken by shareholder NGOs. This litigation is part of a trend we are seeing across several jurisdictions in which the emissions reduction plans formulated by governments and corporates are challenged as being inadequate in a variety…

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Apple previews new features coming to Apple services this fall

  Users will be able to create Collaborative Playlists in Apple Music, browse offline maps and trails with Apple Maps, enjoy new experiences in Apple Podcasts, and much more Apple’s world-class services are an integral part of many millions of users’ everyday lives, from helping them discover new artists on Apple Music, to catching…

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5 tips on how to work as a Social Media Consultant in 2023

As the expectations have grown for businesses to have a solid social media presence, so has the demand for social media consultants. Do you have a passion for digital communication, a keen understanding of social media platforms, and a desire to help others get the most out of their online…

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Culture eats salary for breakfast

Shape the culture to attract and retain diverse talent Explore how organisational culture can become a key differentiator to attracting and retaining diverse talent. Turn hybrid working into an opportunity instead of a threat.  A record number of workers are walking away from their jobs. Businesses are facing an uphill…

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Ranking search results – Do’s and Don’ts under EU law

Ranking of search results: Do’s and Don’ts for Online Businesses under EU law Online platforms have become the go-to destinations for individuals seeking information, products, and services. In this context, search result rankings have become an essential feature, enabling users to easily search for products or compare different options. Think…

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Enterprise Investment Schemes: more popular than ever

Recent figures reveal that record funding has been raised through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). But what is EIS and should you build it into your own investment portfolio? Peter Webb, our Head of Tax Advisory, takes a look from a tax perspective. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) was introduced…

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Bring Moore’s Law to Climate Action

Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel and a towering figure of the early semiconductor business, died earlier this year at the age of 94. He leaves behind one of the more successful companies in history and, of course, his famous Moore’s law. He predicted in 1965 that the density of transistors…

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System Change for Health and Care

Healthcare has been revolutionised by technology. Robots are improving patient outcomes, speeding up surgery times and reducing costs. Seemingly every week, a new drug hits the news which promises to radically change patients’ chances. AI brings untold possibilities. The pace of change has never been faster. Far slower, however, has…

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Companies utilizing Influencer Marketing Strategy Best

As purchasing and shopping experiences become increasingly digital, the need for a strong digital marketing strategy is apparent perhaps now more than ever before. While influencer marketing has been around for decades, the industry has more than doubled since 2019. Not only is influencer marketing becoming a “trendy” strategy in…

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CEO excellence – Ken Frazier from Merck

As CEO of Merck, Ken Frazier gained the respect of his employees, shareholders, and the broader community not only through the company’s performance during his 11-year tenure but his handling of several tests of his leadership. Now Merck’s former executive chairman, he recently shared how his experience growing up during…

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What Your Brand Can Bring to Experiential Retail

In today’s digital age, customers are looking for unique experiences when it comes to shopping and retailers are finding it challenging to offer experiences that differentiate them from their competitors. This is where immersive experiences come in. Sure, technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have been around…

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Texas Instruments to expand manufacturing operations in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia and MELAKA, Malaysia, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (Nasdaq: TXN), today announced plans to expand its internal manufacturing footprint in Malaysia with two new assembly and test factories in Kuala Lumpur and Melaka. Together, these new investments will support TI’s plan to bring 90% of its assembly and test operations internal by 2030…

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Anti-Woke business Is Falling Flat

Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian write that the exchange-traded funds that boycott companies taking action on social issues are underperforming the market and struggling to find investors.   In commenting on Bob Iger’s defence of Disney’s values and brand in the face of threats from Florida Governor DeSantis,…

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NVIDIA and Hexagon Solutions Accelerating Industrial Digitalization

For industrial businesses to reach the next level of digitalization, they need to create accurate, virtual representations of their physical systems. NVIDIA is working with Hexagon, the Stockholm-based global leader in digital reality solutions combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies, to equip enterprises with the tools and solutions they need…

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Don’t Play That Funky Music (Might Be Harassing)

Eight individuals, which included seven women and one man, sued their former employer, S&S Activewear, L.L.C. (S&S), an apparel manufacturer, for sexual harassment under Title VII. The employees alleged that S&S permitted its managers and employees to routinely play “sexually graphic, violently misogynistic” music throughout its warehouse, which, in turn,…

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Latest Guidance on Employers’ Use of AI Tools

Recently, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) made clear that it intends to make discrimination caused by artificial intelligence (AI) tools an enforcement priority over the next four years. This enforcement priority follows the EEOC’s 2021 announcement of its Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative, which launched an agency-wide…

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How your Contact Center Can Get Started With Generative AI

The hottest topic in service today is generative AI, especially in the contact center. 84% of IT leaders we surveyed in a recent study say generative AI will help their organization better serve customers, and every day I speak with service leaders who are excited about the potential for generative…

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Accelerate Success in the Age of AI

In the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI, its true potential lies in how people use it. To succeed, organizations must adopt a human-centred strategy that thoughtfully integrates AI in the workforce. This approach connects people with new AI technology to address customer needs, reducing challenges and unlocking value quickly.…

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Big product and platform shift – how to get the transformation right

Many incumbent organizations across industries and sectors want to become more like tech companies: fast, agile, and dominant. They’re doing so to remain competitive at a time when B2B and B2C customers have high and rapidly changing expectations and digital disruptors are upending the business landscape. The key to making…

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Hydrogen – The Future of Automotive Fuel

Why hydrogen and how to implement it? This article explains why hydrogen is the best option for the future and lays out a basic approach for attaining a hydrogen economy. Underpinned by a global shift towards decarbonization, hydrogen is gaining significance as an energy vector, especially for high-emission sectors that…

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Beyond balancing the books for financial services

Is there more to FinOps than cost reduction for financial services organizations? Our FinOps experts share their perspectives from their firsthand experience. In recent years, the financial services sector has seen an increase in the pace of digitization. This is a reaction to the demands of the omnichannel customer and…

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Newly appointed Partners in Paris for forensic accounting

HKA, a leading global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness and litigation support services, announces today that Andrew Flower and Matthias Cazier-Darmois have joined the Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages (FACD)  practice, as Partners based in the firm’s Paris office. These two significant appointments further strengthen the firm’s…

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Ekhart Yoga – From passion to profession

“I’m eager to expand our platform into a worldwide one-stop yoga place”   Entrepreneurship was never a major ambition of one of the most popular yoga teachers worldwide on YouTube. But Esther Ekhart knows like no other just how a passion and a mission to make authentic yoga accessible to…

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Systems Leadership thought piece

At Q5, we constantly challenge ourselves to push the boundaries of what we can achieve with our clients – and with every breakthrough comes new learnings, that we bring back in-house and cross-pollinate across our clients. Our recent work on Systems Leadership has presented a new perspective on organisational design,…

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Nearshoring Common Questions Answered

1. What is nearshore software development? Nearshoring is a model of co-working and using different resources from an organization in a nearby country with lower average wages but highly qualified teams. Typical nearshoring locations in Europe are Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, among others. Outsourcing and co-working with organisations in…

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Bricks, clicks, and the retail landscape for 2023

From the pandemic to inflationary pressures, supply chain struggles, workforce shortages and the cost-of-living crisis, you name it, retailers worldwide have worked through it. Over the last three years, businesses have overcome diverse and unprecedented challenges with reactive, problem-solving attitudes. And while the industry we know and love is overdue…

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Limited resources leave school leaders with few options to manage poor behaviour

The findings are from a qualitative study which investigated why more school leaders are not exploring alternative approaches to behaviour management. It argues that resource limitations and other concerns have left teachers feeling trapped within the prevailing system of mounting punishments. Under this, more than a thousand students are excluded,…

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Business Not as Usual – Companies Stepping up in Crisis

In February 2023, two devastating earthquakes claimed more than 55,000 lives and affected over 10 million people in Turkey and Syria. Responding to this massive humanitarian crisis is everyone’s business – including private companies. Indeed, after the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, semiconductor technology company ASML matched employee donations made to Turkish NGO…

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Early Implications of Generative AI for Private Equity Investors

Generative AI solutions, e.g., Open.AI/Microsoft’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Meta’s LLaMA are a generational leap forward from previous AI tools. While previous generations remain highly effective for their specifically trained tasks, they are otherwise limited to “one-trick-ponies.” Generative AI tools are more versatile and adaptive and capable of performing a…

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The Week in Weed

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we check in on the move to put adult use on the ballot in Florida. We see that Maryland is working on regulations, as July 1 draws nearer. We…

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TOILETPAPER and Samsung – Not what you think

Good design isn’t just about looking good; it can merge form and function, transforming everyday objects into something truly exceptional. In line with this vision, Samsung and TOILETPAPER debuted a collection at Fuorisalone 2023 in April as part of Milan Fashion Week that aimed to redefine the essence of good…

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Build together: Rethinking solar project delivery

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) supports the growth of US renewables at an unprecedented pace. Solar, storage, and onshore wind capacity could reach more than 1,240 gigawatts (GW) over the next decade, growing 2.7 times faster than projected before the IRA took effect (Exhibit 1). The IRA…

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Governance in the Age of Technological Innovation

Today’s boards can no longer afford to solely prioritise shareholders and maintain an inward-focused approach to business. Instead, they need to consider stakeholders and the wider ecosystem that gives rise to complexities, challenges and also opportunities, said Sonia Tatar, executive director of the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre (ICGC) at the recent…

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Guidance on Outdoor Workers Exposed to Wildfire Smoke

Seyfarth Synopsis: As Canadian wildfire smoke spreads across the Northern United States, employers should review the CDC/NIOSH guidance on occupational exposure to wildfire smoke and implement effective measures to protect employees.  Canadian forests continue to burn, with about 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) burned at the time of this writing,…

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SCOTUS, Dog Poop Jokes, Infringement. Anything else?

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the Ninth Circuit’s opinion that a poop-themed dog toy should be protected as a parody under the First Amendment. SCOTUS ruled today in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products, Inc. that the right to free expression does not excuse “trademark law’s cardinal…

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A useful Guide for Investing in Digital Transformation

Everyone is interested in investing in digital transformation solutions. Leaders want to take their products and services online to provide a frictionless digital customer experience with the added benefit of improving their bottom line.This is the frontier of value creation for businesses, and it is much more than automating current processes behind the guise of digital transformation. The opportunities for digital transformation continue to expand as ground-breaking innovations like cloud technology and artificial intelligence create new options.In this guide, we explore the common misconceptions about digital transformation solutions, review the common pitfalls encountered when choosing a solution, define digital transformation strategy, and explain how to create a digital transformation roadmap.

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How to Use a Customer Journey Map to Measure Success

Does your organization actively measure and report on your customer experience (CX)? Or is your customer experience a vague catchphrase, like “This initiative is critical to the customer experience” or “We are a customer-driven organization?” No one can argue the validity of statements like that. But if you’re like many organizations, you rarely have the necessary tools to accurately analyze the customer journey to back up those customer experience statements with actual data. Historically, customer satisfaction (CSat) and net promoter scores (NPS) are the responsibility of the analytics team, measured every six months. So, how do teams typically collect information on the customer experience? The secret lies in purpose-driven CX with an actionable assessment tool. In this guide, we explore the need for a CX assessment tool, explain how to create a customer journey map, and explain how to measure points along the customer journey.

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Getting Access to the Fast Track for Career Equity

The Research The author conducted the research underlying this article while co-leading Mercer’s Workforce Sciences Institute.i The author analyzed the results of his research team's statistical analyses of three to five years of employee data for 20 large and midsize, mostly global, employers representing manufacturing and services companies in a…

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Are you a Scottish taxpayer? Then you should read this

If you spend time in Scotland, it’s useful to check whether you’re there enough to become a Scottish tax resident. And if you’re already a Scottish tax resident you might also need to be aware of the implications on your wealth. Peter Webb, our Head of Tax Advisory, takes a…

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