Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2017 i The European Business Review

The physical constraints of distance and geography shape how we live, work, produce and consume. But advances in Extended Reality technologies promise to break the limits of distance and create new sources of value marked by an appeal to the imagination. In 2016 the world went crazy for the augmented-reality game Pokémon Go. In the same year, Alibaba, the world’s largest retailer, introduced Chinese consumers to its virtual-reality store, Buy+. More recently, Facebook announced that its Oculus Go VR headset will go on sale in 2018 at $199 – roughly 170 euros or 150 pounds – as part of the company’s goal of getting one billion people into the world of virtual reality. We label such technologies – augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and also mixed reality (MR) –…

There was a time when delivering “perfection” at a low price was like a business miracle that customers get a “high” from – but not anymore. In this article, Christopher Surdak elaborates on customers’ perception of quality and cheapness, the “four horsemen” which limit organisations from adapting to an evolved market, and the looming end of Six Sigma. The human body is an amazing machine. Our bodies are highly developed, remarkably complicated systems that produce complex outcomes from many complex inputs. With complexity comes errors, as the various parts of our bodies constantly struggle to maintain homeostasis in an ever-changing environment. For such complexity to work there always has to be some function that cleans up these errors. Some system has to compensate for our bodies’ over- or under-response to…

This has nothing to do with being boastful, but rather entails being clear and confident about your signature value add. Imagine you enter an interview for a job and an executive asks you: “What’s your superpower?” How would you respond? Your answer would require the insight to know how your differentiators contribute value to your prospective employer and fuel your passions at the same time. Knowing your superpower – something that is different about who you are and how you behave that has contributed to your success – is essential for your career journey and your organisation’s growth. Based on recent research by Lauren Noël and Christie Hunter Arscott, discover actions you can take to unleash your signature value add for the benefit of your company. In our conversations with…

There are a number of factors that have led some to claim that there is a groundswell of movement by companies to shutter Asia-based offshore operations in favour of recreating operations in Western headquarters locations. Today’s companies are global in nature and for many, this translates into a dynamic environment for designing their Supply Chains, in order to optimise the overall processes or relocating the industrial operations abroad (Offshoring) or re-thinking about how to bring them “back home” (Reshoring). Today’s companies are global in nature and as such, they’re exposed to uncertainty and volatility in marketplaces, where the only paradoxical certainty is represented by the unavoidable and continuous mutation of the conditions of the context they operate in. For many companies, this translates into a dynamic environment for designing their…

“A Star Alliance of software vendors and industry will give Europe a wealth creating platform fit for the 21 st  Century.” The pace of change in the digital era is too fast, and survival is the main objective. Software AG CEO Karl-Heinz Streibich shares a new business model for the 21 st  century, strategies we can learn from the foundation of ADAMOS, and the future of the software industy as it engages others more. Every great idea needs the right time and the right participants to come to full fruition. Every invention or innovation needs the right business, social or economic conditions if it is to make the full impact that its potential promises. Every ground breaking concept needs the right actors to bring it to life, the…

Machine meritocracy is here. In this article, the authors elaborate on questions of inclusivity, fairness, and governance. Will we survive as we are or is there a need for a new Magna Carta? We stand at a watershed moment for society’s vast, unknown digital future. A powerful technology, artificial intelligence (AI), has emerged from its own ashes, thanks largely to advances in neural networks modelled loosely on the human brain. AI can find patterns in massive unstructured data sets, improve performance as more data become available, identify objects quickly and accurately, and, make ever more and better recommendations and decision-making, while minimising interference from complicated, political humans. This raises major questions about the degree of human choice and inclusion for the decades to come. How will humans, across all levels…

Digital leaders understand that being relevant once is not enough. They must remain relevant and appealing, at the speed of the Internet - the speed at which their customers are moving. In this article, Prof. Stijn Viaene continues to shed light on the realities that executives and business leaders must face in the digital era. In an era where customers are moving at the speed of the Internet, how does a digital leader catch them? Digital leaders understand that being relevant once is not enough. They must remain relevant and appealing, at the speed of the Internet – the speed at which their customers are moving. They do this by deploying data capabilities broadly, effectively stapling themselves to their customer’s digital self. They bank on digital technologies to continuously monitor…

Where do you see your company many many many years from now? In this article, David De Cremer tells us the importance of passion, energy, company culture and more in cultivating organisational vitality. Where best to learn than from global telecom giant, Huawei. No company lasts forever! As in life, corporate funerals are no exception. Of course, an important challenge of any founder is to create long-term visions that enable long-term survival. To sustain a motivation to survive in the contemporary complex world requires a dynamic and collaborative organisational culture. A company unable to deal with the rapid changes, while not being able to question and reinvent itself will lack this drive to contribute to its longterm robustness. Given this economic reality, it is no surprise that current debates involve…

“What’s your worth?” might be one of the more difficult questions that women, particularly in the corporate world, need to face. In this article, Sally Helgesen elaborates on the importance of confidently articulating and claiming one’s value as a key skill for women particularly those in transition. The ability to strongly and persuasively articulate your potential value is a key skill for anyone in transition. This seems like an obvious point, but it’s a requirement women sometimes shy away from. In my thirty years of working with women leaders around the world, I’ve encountered a suprising number who routinely underplay their achievements. This has the effect of holding them back at various points in their careers, but the costs can be particularly high during transitions. Let’s first look at the…

Our study examined twenty multinational companies and their supply chain disclosure decisions. We found a number of principles that underpin their disclosure strategies: holistic understanding, supportive infrastructure, data requirement knowledge, essential information interpretation, strategic alignment, mitigating the information burden and communicating good news. Introduction Recurring corporate scandals from incorrectly labelled horsemeat, unsafe toys, illegal dumping, to exploitative work practices continue to keep the issue of supply chain disclosure to the fore as a key strategic concern. Here we take supply chain disclosure to mean the release of accurate, comprehensive and cogent information about the supply chain into the public domain. While improved supply chain disclosure is generally regarded as a positive development by most stakeholders, it can highlight a range of challenges for managers. As companies grapple with frequently conflicting…

Leading companies today are starting to think of sustainability as a tool for growing profitability, using frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a guide to future market opportunities. In this article, we outline three imperatives for leaders who want to thrive in tomorrow’s markets: think exponential, think open and think circular. “How much will it cost?” Even if these are not the first words out of a senior executive’s mouth when approached about a new sustainability initiative, it’s generally the first thought that crosses his/her mind. It’s an understandable response. Companies have long recognised the intangible benefits of sustainability activities – on brand or talent acquisition and retention, for example. These benefits do, in most instances, enhance profitability, but the relationship is indirect. The notion of sustainability…

Research indicates that female directors broaden board discussions, facilitate collaborative approaches to leadership, and increase attention towards stakeholders’ interests. There has been an increase in the number of women serving on boards. Today, everyone talks about “more” women in the boardroom. The more, the better? Probably, not always. In this article, the authors propose that there should be an “optimal” level of gender diversity in the board depending on organisational and company needs. Recent tracking of gender balance on corporate boards reflects that there has been an increase in the number of women serving on boards.1 Among Fortune 500 companies, about 20% of the directors are female, and one-third of new director positions have been filled by women.2 A number of European countries, including Norway, Germany, France, Belgium, Iceland, and…

What if, however, much of the urgency we perceive was actually “false urgency”? One of the most dreaded activities that executives have got to face is treading through an overwhelming amount of electronic messages. In this article, the author shares a new perspective that can get you through an email overwhelm, useful hacks to put into practice, and one message that needs to be your new mantra. Now, more than ever, we rely on technology as the primary form of business communication. In fact, in any given day the average business person has to content with at least 150 emails, 10 text messages, and a few dozen business-related social media and messenger alerts. In addition, busy managers can face the dilemma of a dozen or more unplanned inbound phone calls,…

Economic value is created when parties willingly enter into mutually beneficial transactions. Values integration in businesses keeps the highly competitive world humane. In this article, the authors elaborate not only the benefits of having a values based business approach but also how skillful utilisation of values can boost business and economic success. Ever since Edward Freeman published his path-breaking book “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach”,1 a vast body of research, both conceptual and empirical, has examined how managers should identify and engage with stakeholders to further the objectives of their organisations.2 Effective identification and engagement with stakeholders enable managers to create and capture value through a number of mechanisms such as innovativeness, risk management and reputation building. One stream of the stakeholder literature underscores the importance of ethical values in…