Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2016 i The European Business Review

Days of Glory Past In the run up to the 12 May 2016 Anti Corruption Summit in the UK last week, the British premier let off a classic gaffe, describing Nigeria ‘as one of the most corrupt countries in the world’. The Queen’s gaffe came a day later, describing Chinese officials as ‘very rude’ during the Chinese Premier’s state visit last year. Of course everybody scrambled for cover and the media pondered what this could mean for China-UK relationship and Nigeria-UK relationship. The Mail, concluded, quite firmly that Nigeria’s reaction was nothing to worry about, because Nigeria depended on British Aid. Meaning, ‘we can say whatever we like about them, after all we keep them afloat’. China on the other hand is a different story: the fastest growing economy in…

Crowdfunding raises capital from the “crowd”, an ever-changing online audience of everyday people. Crowdfunding is a much-hyped tool for entrepreneurs to access capital anywhere in the world. While media and public perception have generally been positive, the data suggests high failure rates for crowdfunding campaigns. We analysed more than 80,000 Kickstarter projects and found surprising success factors for raising capital. We observed one artist-entrepreneur’s campaign to reveal the secrets behind the statistics. Online crowdfunding is fundamentally different from traditional entrepreneurial finance, but there are ways to make it work. “Most of the things that succeed in life are just because you are too stupid to realize that you have already lost the game and you show up anyways.” (Cory Cullinan, aka “Doctor Noize”) In 2014, more than 1,200 online crowd-funding…

 To win in the “war for talent”, companies can no longer rely on conventional recruitment methods that put emphasis on formal credentials. Action Learning, seems to be a rising trend that imparts knowledge and instills resourcefulness by immersing participants into the action of solving real-life real-time problems. Action Learning can become a talent sourcing solution of the future and help solve the puzzle of developing and managing talent. Becoming resourceful means making a lot of mistakes. It’s an inherently creative process of trying, messing things up, learning, and trying again. The promise of Action Learning programs In today’s environment of increasing global competition the challenge for companies is to source talent efficiently and flexibly, hiring the best people ready to tackle real-life challenges right from the get-go, whenever the demand…

Bezos’ ultimate vision is to create ‘the Everything Store’, a retail destination where people can buy everything they want, when they want, at the price they want. In just 20 years, Amazon has grown from an online startup focusing on selling books, to a devastating multi-platform, multi-industry technological disruptor, predicted to be worth $3 trillion by 2026. In his latest article, Sean Culey describes how the company is using its massive R&D fund to create a virtuous cycle of technological innovation that is outpacing Google, Facebook and Apple combined. Jeff Bezos’ goal of creating the “Everything Store” is nearing fruition, meaning that competitors – and nations – are now facing a relentless monopolistic giant, one that is aiming to control every aspect of the future global value chain. On February…

An important attribute has to be improved if it registers a poor level of satisfaction. Yet anybody investing heavily in an unimportant attribute with a low level of satisfaction is wasting money. Many companies draw the wrong conclusions from their customer surveys. There is a simple method that can provide a remedy, leading to better decisions. Ansgar Lindner,1 Chief Marketing Officer of a trading concern operating internationally was at a loss to understand his predicament. His team seemed to be doing everything right. It regularly asked the customers about their satisfaction, worked out where there was a need for optimisation and concentrated hard on working to improve poor results. Yet whereas customer satisfaction rose, customer loyalty and turnover per customer were both stagnant. Mistaken conclusions about moving from what is…

A key characteristic of wise leaders is that they are able to grasp the essence of things and decide what to do. As Ben Stein, an American writer, so nicely puts it: “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” Contemporary business develops at a rapid pace, with many uncertainties, internationally connected stakeholders, and little latitude to make mistakes. In such a dynamic environment companies need strong leadership to survive and build a long-term and sustainable reputation. But what does strong leadership mean? Looking at companies with a clearly visible and strong leader present, the ability to focus and pursue this focus with a strong determination seems to be a crucial element. Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple,…

The shift from one talent to multiple talents can take off pressure. You are no longer obsessed with the Holy Grail that might grant you eternal success. Rather, you have opportunities for value creation. In this article, Tijs Besieux discusses the four steps to overcoming the Holy Grail Syndrome, which could hinder an entrepreneur’s road to success. Because what makes entrepreneurs successful is their ability to combine several talents and passions into one unique and valuable vision. I want you to think about your favourite entrepreneur. What makes him or her so successful? At my university I coach students. “Matthew” is one of them. As the end of his work toward his master’s degree approaches, Matthew starts to actively think about the future. He participates in a highly competitive academic…