Business
The Smart Manager
The Digital Shift
… technology will radically disrupt HR in the near future. Indeed, it is already changing the way HR works and the role it plays and opening the door to a new type of “digital HR” function.1 The rise of digital and social media is changing the dynamics of HR and creating new ways of hiring, engaging, and retaining employees.
4 min |
July-August 2017
The Smart Manager
The Story Of Telling
“The best brands are built on great stories,”* this remark by Ian Rowden best captures the strategy of diligent brand building. Much more than attractive logos or the products themselves, what builds a brand is how successfully a story is woven around it. Brand marketers have to be good storytellers indeed.
8 min |
July-August 2017
The Smart Manager
Complexity Is Simpler Than You Think
Kay Kendall and Glenn Bodinson, authors of Leading the Malcolm Baldrige Way, shatter myths about excellence models such as Baldrige and EFQM.
6 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
Proponents of Isolation Never Become Victors
Multilateralism in the political and economic space has always led to frameworks that favor the mighty. WTO was no exception. With agriculture kept out of its purview, it could never become a truly fair and free trading system. China was the only large emerging economy that exploited relative openness in low-cost manufactured goods to take full advantage of the system. Other emerging economies could at best garner minor gains.
1 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
A History Lesson (From Year One) for Trump and the Brexit Crowd: Isolationism Has Never Worked!
Professor Stephane Garelli on growing isolationism.
3 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
A Win-Win Game
Business is not a sport where some stakeholder has to lose or fare badly for others to do well. Building an atmosphere of trust and transparency between all stakeholders will help companies retain them even during adverse times.
7 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
A Sustainable Model
With a total market value of $4.3 trillion and an employment base of at least 1.3 million direct employees and millions of others indirectly employed, platforms have become an important economic force.*Companies today are constantly looking for ways to build platforms—Infosys Ltd announced its plans of monetizing its platforms to make them a $2 billion business by March 2021. But are all platform businesses successful?
9 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
Custom Made
…three in four consumers said they receive too many emails from brands, and one-fifth said they could not handle the current volume…69 per cent have ‘unfollowed’ brands on social media, closed their accounts or cancelled subscriptions.*In these times, when the market is flooded with products and services, the most efficent way to engage customers is to offer them customized content. To achieve this, brands need to focus on observing the nuances of individual preferences.
5 min |
March/April 2017
The Smart Manager
A Fresh Start
Three experts reflect on their experience of pursuing a management development course and how it reshaped their journey.
3 min |
January/February 2017
The Smart Manager
Fighting The Trolls
The number of people who feel bad reviews have the power to make or break their business has risen from 17% (2014) to 21%. * However, most are struggling to find the right solution. Along with the benefits it provides, the internet also has a dark side. Today, it has become a cesspool of hatred where users openly abuse individuals or companies without any hint of shame or guilt. This culture of trolling has tarnished the brand image of several companies. It is time organizations anticipate such situations and design strategies to combat the menace.
5 min |
January/February 2017
The Smart Manager
Real Impact
As per the recent study, Reshaping Business with Artificial Intelligence, within the technology, media, and telecommunications industry, 72% of respondents expect large effects from AI in five years. It also reveals large gaps between today’s leaders — companies that already understand and have adopted AI — and laggards.* Adoption of AI is no longer an option for businesses.
3 min |
November-December 2017
The Smart Manager
Change Your Game
“When the environment changes dramatically, which it has and will continue to do as the fourth revolution unfolds, actions and thoughts need to adjust similarly. The leadership mind switch portrays a radical change to the way you think about your leadership behaviors and qualities. It is more than a shift to your mindset. It is a jolt to the way you think and act.” Debra Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford chalk out a game plan for becoming an effective future-proof leader.
5 min |
November-December 2017
The Smart Manager
What Are You Doing Wrong In Business?
The havoc incompetent managers can wreak is immeasurable. And incompetence and failure have costs: financial, organizational, and human. When a business fails, or when it suffers a serious setback, its entire mission is compromised. It can no longer serve its customers; it can no longer perform the social function for which it was created. In an interview with The Smart Manager, Morgen Witzel offers a peep into the seven sins of management detailed in his latest book Managing for Success, and tells us how managers can shape cultures that minimize failure.
9 min |
March-April 2016
The Smart Manager
Gender Neutral
Pratima Rao Gluckman, author of Nevertheless, She Persisted, talks about the challenges women face in their career in the technology field and busts the myth that ability is linked to gender.
5 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
Embrace The Highs And Lows
Gary Vaynerchuk, a bestselling author, quotes, “The skill sets it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, a successful marketer, or a relevant celebrity is a different skill set than you needed ten years ago, even though that was the skill set that mattered for decades.” In this age of rapid digitization, network marketers are required to keep up with technology, more so, social media. Building the right relationships or networking is critical as the connections created largely determine the opportunities available. Jennifer Turnage and Megan Sumrell, authors of Honey, You Got This! Technology Made Easy for Network Marketers make known the trending concept of network marketing and how working smarter and not harder is made possible with technology.
7 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
Bright Leaders, Right Opportunities
In an earlier interview with The Smart Manager, Rita McGrath, author of The End of Competitive Advantage, said, “In organizations, we always think the sins of commission are the ones that might be punished. In smart companies in the future, we are also going to think about sins of omission—not taking the appropriate chances or pursuing the appropriate opportunities for the future.” Consciously looking for opportunities and leveraging the best among them defines the path to survival in the long term.
5 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
Creative Core
A company’s most important asset isn’t raw materials, transportation systems, or political influence. It’s creative capital—simply put, an arsenal of creative thinkers whose ideas can be turned into valuable products and services. Creative employees pioneer new technologies, birth new industries, and power economic growth… If you want your company to succeed, these are the people you entrust it to. That much is certain. What’s less certain is how to manage for maximum creativity.* Creative management is a complex process, but mastering it is imperative for those who want to deliver true value.
5 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
How Can an Organisation Make Quick And Effective Decisions On Regular Basis
"The days of the ‘Great Man’ theory of Leadership—where one sole leader rules over the masses from their ivory tower, are long gone…But while co-leadership can be energizing and rewarding, if the relationship isn’t strong, the arrangement can easily become draining and frustrating.”* For co-leadership to be fruitful, it has to be a strong emotional partnership that rests on the foundation of commitment.
4 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
Blow With The Wind
A company’s response to change determines its chances of survival—as Jonathan MacDonald writes in his recent book, “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”
5 min |
September - October 2018
The Smart Manager
Equal Players
A 2018 Harvard Business Review article laments the lack of gender parity in the field of medicine in the US. It says, “for over 25 years, women have made up at least 40% of US medical students. This past year, more women than men were enrolled in US medical schools. Yet overall women make up only 34% of physicians in the US, and gender parity is still not reflected in medical leadership. Women account for only 18% of hospital CEOs and 16% of all deans and department chairs in the US—positions that typically direct the mission and control the resources at medical centers.”* This is a reality reflected in many professions across the globe. Even the most vocal advocates of gender parity inadvertently identify certain roles with certain genders. Sales is one such area, traditionally considered a male bastion.
6 min |
November - December 2018
The Smart Manager
Building Compassion
In their book, Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations, Monica C Worline and Jane E Dutton say that “compassion at work is neither a luxury nor an ideal. Organizations cannot afford the hidden costs to human capability that come from perpetuating suffering. In desperate need of new sources of adaptability, collaboration, innovation, quality, and engagement, workplaces must turn toward making compassion at work a reality.”* However, it should be kept in mind that there is no shortcut to building a compassionate culture and that the onus is on the leadership.
7 min |
November - December 2018
The Smart Manager
Soaked Knowledge
If approached as an exercise in listening and learning, powerful conversations with clients and customers can offer long-term lessons. A challenging client may seem like an obstacle but can also turn out to be someone who will motivate you to do quality work, by giving eye-opening ideas and concepts. A radical new way of engaging with clients and customers, the SPONGE process focuses on listening as a means to gain diverse, insightful perspectives.
9 min |
November - December 2018
The Smart Manager
The Biology Of Change
A hundred small ripples make a big wave. Likewise, several motivated employees can create a cumulative effect, and drive change and growth. However, even when fully aware of the benefits of employee engagement, many fail to fathom its biological depths. It is high time organizations catered to the demands of their ‘seeking’ systems and kept them more ‘alive’.
4 min |
November - December 2018
The Smart Manager
Building A Quality Culture
A strong company culture defined by its values, beliefs, and behaviors, has a profound impact on its products and services. More so in today’s VUCA world, where to stay relevant and maintain a competitive edge, it is critical for organizations to build a culture that focuses on quality. Suresh Lulla, author of Quality Fables, elucidates through significant examples how creating a culture of quality is imperative to driving success and productivity.
5 min |
July-August 2016
The Smart Manager
Customers For Life
The history of General Motors in India can be traced back to the 1920s, when it became the first automotive company to set up an assembly plant in the country. The relationship since then has not been as fruitful as GM would have hoped. GM’s flagship brand, Chevrolet, was introduced in India to build upon the success of the popular Opel marque. However, success has been fleeting at best—an issue that GM India is determined to rectify. It aims to do so by adopting a two-pronged approach: using customer feedback to influence product development, and delivering a superior sales-to-service experience.
4 min |
July-August 2016
The Smart Manager
Delivering Delight
The online ‘grocery ordering’ business in India has not taken off like some others such as apparel, electronics, etc. It is riddled with many challenges, some of them unique—the need for cold storage—to maintain the quality of perishable products such as fish and vegetables. However, things are now looking bright for this sector which is projected to grow by around 38%.1 India was the fifth largest market in Asia Pacific for online grocery retailing standing at $135mn in 2016.2 Many players are now operational in this space and are working on different business models. Grofers, a mobile and web application is setting the benchmark for service delivery and customer satisfaction. We speak to Albinder Dhindsa, Co-founder and CEO, Grofers to know more about their zest to make a mark in this category.
6 min |
May - June 2017
The Smart Manager
Is Your Thinking Flawed?
Robin Speculand, founder and CEO of Bridges Business Consultancy Int, dispels myths surrounding strategy execution.
5 min |
May - June 2017
The Smart Manager
Thinking That Matters
The Gartner Group identified thought leadership marketing as a major business trend that has rapidly become an established field in marketing and a basis of competitive differentiation when well-informed buyers see little perceived differences between solution providers.*Today, individuals and businesses need to embrace thought leadership—which is about coming up with new ways of thinking and reinventing—as a strategy for growth.
4 min |
May - June 2017
The Smart Manager
Greed Is Good
“[Brand desire]…is the passionate feeling for acquisition and experience of a product or service which is driven by a set of connected factors that are intrinsic and also extrinsic.” Nicholas Ind, co-author of Brand Desire: How to Create Consumer Involvement and Inspiration, discusses how more than ‘want’ or ‘need’, ‘desire’ entices consumers to brands. And how brands should cultivate desire to build a stronger connect and engagement.
5 min |
May - June 2017
The Smart Manager
Keep It Slim
Researchers Raaj Sah and Joseph Stieglitz argue that hierarchic style organizations produce problems like the rejection of good projects without reason. The greater the number of organizational decision-making layers, the greater the probability that a good project will be rejected that would have otherwise had a positive impact on the company’s growth.1 Are flat organizations then the ideal solution for a faster go-to market strategy?
3 min |