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Displaying 1-50 of 331 results
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How robust is your climate governance?
- Article
- 01 Nov 2024
- Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan
This article identifies eight hallmarks of meaningful climate oversight — and the challenges associated with each. It is based on interviews with 20 directors who hold leadership positions on the boards of S&P 500 companies.
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Data management trends: privacy, security and AI
- Article
- 29 Jul 2024
- Gary L Boomer
This article discusses the importance of data management for accountancy firms, focusing on the trends of privacy, security, and artificial intelligence (AI). It highlights the challenges posed by cyberthreats and regulatory requirements, emphasizing the need to prioritize privacy and security measures. The article suggests strategies such as data encryption, cybersecurity measures, and staff training to enhance data management. It also recommends leveraging AI tools for automation, predictive analytics, and data visualization. The article concludes with a three-step action plan, including ass...
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AI in retail: Cutting-edge solutions for modern challenges
- Article
- 16 Jul 2024
- Shelby Hiter
In today's hyper-competitive retail landscape, retailers are increasingly using AI to gain advantage. AI can enhance retail operations in a growing number of ways including boosting customer engagement, improving sales and marketing strategies, optimising inventory management, streamlining supply chains and providing advanced data analytics and insights. A range of AI tools and technologies for retailers are explored with examples of how leading brands are using AI.
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AI at the crossroads: Revamping board structures for effective governance.
- Article
- 01 Apr 2024
- Tom Petro
The article focuses on the dilemma faced by corporate boards regarding the oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, questioning which committee is best suited for governing AI's multifaceted risks. The author explores potential contenders for this role, including the risk management committee, a dedicated AI governance committee, and the technology committee, each offering unique expertise and perspectives tailored to the challenges posed by AI governance.
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Half empty, or half full?
- Article
- 01 Apr 2024
- Daniel hood
The article provides an overview of the current state of the accounting profession, offering perspectives from senior leaders of top accounting firms. These leaders acknowledge that the profession is facing both challenges and opportunities. They discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of technological advancements and the shortage of accountants. Despite these challenges, firm leaders believe that overcoming them will lead to success. They also emphasize the positive economic environment and the chance to provide more valuable services and embrace innovation. Some leaders even suggest re...
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Noted leader underscores the necessity of evolution
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- 01 Feb 2024
An interview with Tabitha Scott, who has over 20 years of experience leading corporate innovation and sustainability initiatives. She shares her insights on business evolution and innovation, including the best way to run innovation programs to gather ideas from employees.
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Securing brand trust and reputation in an era of political polarisation and AI-driven disinformation
- Article
- 26 Jan 2024
- Wasim Khaled
An in-depth consideration of how brands may manage the reputational risks arising from the convergence of two major sociotechnical forces — the rise of ideological polarisation and the emergence of generative AI capable of creating convincing hoax content.
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Embracing neurodiversity in accounting and finance
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- 01 Jan 2024
- Anthony Pacilio
Neurodivergent employees can foster a culture of innovation,
problem solving, and different perspectives. Anthony Pacilio gives advice on how employers in accounting and finance can attract and retain neurodivergent employees.
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Drive your innovation with improved decision-making
- Article
- 01 Dec 2023
- Linda A.Hill, Taran Swan, Emily Tedards
Despite their embrace of agile methods, many firms striving to innovate are struggling to produce breakthrough ideas. A key culprit, according to the authors, is an outdated, inefficient approach to decision-making. To align their decision-making processes with agile approaches, businesses need to include diverse points of view, clarify decision rights and encourage constructive conflict in the pursuit of a better experience for the end customer. The article suggests best practices for these interventions, drawing on the story of the transformation at Pfizer’s Global Clinical Supply, which pl...
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When innovation and trust are at odds
- Article
- 01 Dec 2023
- Robert Hurley
Speeding an innovative new product to market can have serious consequences, says Robert Hurley. Consider the Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play, which has lost consumer trust for the company after being linked to 32 infant deaths. According to the article, a risky type of manic innovation happens when a company fails to create a balance between growth and risk management, with staff concerned about safety and long-term reputation marginalized.
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Opinion pieces: On data and models: Is more always better?
- Article
- 01 Dec 2023
- Thomas C.Wilson
Thomas C. Wilson is an honorary professor of applied risk in insurance at Ludwig Maximilians University, and Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Ayudhya Pcl., Thailand. In this article he argues that more data and more sophisticated models are not always a universal panacea and may lead to bad business outcomes if not managed appropriately. He summarises the evolving business cases for increasing data and models in the risk management domain, giving examples of risks which are introduced or exacerbated by the use of more data and more complex models.
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Use your network to achieve innovation
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
- Bill McEvily, Anne ter Wal
Why do so many big companies get poor returns on all the money they invest in innovation? A large body of research suggests that it’s because their managers tend to think novel ideas are “deviant” and resist them. As a result such ideas get watered down to make them less threatening - or get squashed altogether. The solution, the authors’ studies show, is to inspire, support, and protect innovation by tapping into your networks. They explain three practices which are especially useful.
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Unexpected interruptions bring unexpected creativity boost
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
- Eben Harrell
Long work interruptions are usually seen as detrimental, causing losses in productivity as operations grind to a halt. But when a fire at a supplier’s factory forced a temporary shutdown at the plant of a large European manufacturer of consumer goods, researchers Tim Schweisfurth and Anne Greul found a surprising upside: the idleness led to an outpouring of ideas for improvements. Their findings suggest that unanticipated interruptions can actually enhance innovation and creativity.
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Generating risk: New exposures from ChatGPT and other AI tools
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- 01 Nov 2023
- Corey McReynolds
The article focuses on the growing integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT into company workflows, with many employees already using them without clear policies. Topics discussed include the widespread use of ChatGPT by staff, potential risks such as data security concerns, and the need for organizations to develop customized policies, education, and awareness to effectively manage the use of generative AI tools.
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Leading remote or hybrid teams
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
- David J.Elrod
Leaders need to take special care to communicate effectively with remote or hybrid team members, says David J.Elrod. The article runs
through useful methods of communication and emphasises the need to provide clarity on strategic plans and priorities and give regular feedback.
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Reimagine how you recruit and train managers
- Article
- 01 Nov 2023
Traditionally companies focus on skill and development programs to help prepare their managers, but a Gartner study suggests that a fundamental shift in the managerial pipeline is crucial. The study recommends a better selection process, where employees can nominate themselves for managerial roles, preventing biases and diversifying the pipeline. Training programs should prepare aspiring managers for the complexities of the role, focusing on issues like pay equity, remote work and redundancies.
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At the crossroads: generative AI and corporate risk management
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- 12 Oct 2023
- Peter Buell Hirsch
This study aims to identify the risks to corporate reputation presented by deepfakes and how to manage them. While deepfakes have been the subject of intense interest, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first attempt to look at the problem from the perspective of corporate enterprise risk.
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How to Steer Clear of Groupthink
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- 01 Oct 2023
- Jennifer Mueller, Sarah Harvey, Alec Levenson
This brief article outlines three methods for avoiding groupthink and encouraging innovation and creativity in teams.
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Strategic storytelling: How to amplify your impact and drive better risk management discussions
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- 01 Oct 2023
- John P.Angkaw
The article underscores the transformation of risk professionals into trusted strategic business partners. As part of this shift, the author believes risk professionals need to expand their skillset to communicating complex information well to a diverse set of stakeholders. He outlines a strategic storytelling framework that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of any risk professional, detailing a range of potential engagement scenarios.
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Innovative processes in finance and accounting
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- 01 Oct 2023
- Vineet Jain
Adopting innovative technologies can lead to streamlined processes, real-time insights, and increased focus on strategic planning, says Vineet Jain CA. The article looks at innovation in the record-to-report (R2R), accounts payable and procure-to-pay processes and the potential for automated tools to assist with these tasks. Finally, important challenges associated with AI and other innovative technologies and skill sets which forward-thinking finance and accounting professionals should develop are covered.
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Navigating AI: a pragmatic guide for corporate boards
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- 01 Oct 2023
- Chris Smith
The article focuses on how the exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI) across various sectors is compelling boards to redefine their roles in providing oversight and guidance on AI strategy and risk management. It emphasizes the importance of a human-centred approach to AI, aligning strategic decisions with an organization's mission and values, addressing ethical dilemmas, intellectual property concerns, and privacy challenges.
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Innovation baskets: A new path to strategic innovation
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- 01 Sep 2023
- Christoph Loch, Stelios Kavadias, Haijian Si
Companies typically treat their innovation projects as a portfolio, aiming for a mix of projects that collectively meet their strategic objectives. The problem, say the authors, is that portfolio objectives have become standardized, and innovation projects are often only weakly related to a company’s distinctive strategy. Here they introduce a new tool to help leaders better align their innovation investments. Their strategic innovation tool kit has two elements: a strategy summary framework and an innovation basket.
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A company reinvents itself in sign of hope for Japan
- Article
- 24 Aug 2023
- Winnie Hsu, Sano Hideyuki
The huge conglomerate Hitachi became a symbol of corporate Japan's slide toward mediocrity when it got into difficulties during the global financial crisis and posted the biggest loss ever by a Japanese manufacturer. Yet the company has since undergone a turnaround, revamping its strategy to focus on growth and making its board more international and independent.
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How generative AI can expand human innovation and creativity
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- 01 Jul 2023
- Tojin T.Eapen, Daniel J.Finkenstadt, Josh Folk, Lokesh Venkataswamy
Five ways in which generative artificial intelligence (AI) can assist organisations by amplifying the creativity of employees to help them generate and identify innovative ideas - and build on the quality of raw ideas. The article is illustrated with images of potential product ideas created using prompts in Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, two popular AI text-to-image tools.
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A business continuity plan for leading a Ukrainian start-up during a year of war
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- 01 Jul 2023
- Roman Rodomansky
A Ukrainian software development company co-founder shares lessons learnt around the importance of scenario planning, flexibility, decision-making, and guiding customers and employees through uncertainty.
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The right tool for the right job
- Article
- 01 Jul 2023
- Costas Markides, Anita McGahan
A review of the available innovation tools to develop ideas, nurture inspiration and creativity, and set innovation in motion. Tools covered include familiar concepts such as brainstorming and the Kano model, as well as lesser-mentioned tools, such as VUCA, innovation portfolio and transient advantage.
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Human creativity can be augmented by generative AI
- Article
- 01 Jul 2023
- Tojin Eapen, Daniel J Finkenstadt etc
There is tremendous apprehension about the potential of generative AI—technologies that can create new content such as text, images, and video—to replace people in many jobs. But one of the biggest opportunities generative AI offers is to augment human creativity and overcome the challenges of democratizing innovation. In the past two decades, companies have used crowdsourcing and idea competitions to involve outsiders in the innovation process. But many businesses have struggled to capitalize on these contributions. They’ve lacked an efficient way to evaluate the ideas, for instance, or to sy...
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Winning the innovation game in emerging markets
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- 07 Jun 2023
- Manuel Hensmans
This paper aims to provide advanced market managers in Europe, the USA or Japan with a long-term framework to prepare for and seize emerging market innovation opportunities. It is based on eight years of studying emerging market innovation opportunities, how to prepare for them and how to seize them.
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Innovation without disruption
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- 01 May 2023
- Chan W.Kim, Renée Mauborgne
Disruption is a fashionable phrase in business. But companies don't have to disrupt to innovate, the authors argue. They suggest ways to create new markets for growth without destroying existing companies or jobs.
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Inc. Best Workplaces 2023
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- 01 May 2023
- Bill Saporito
Business magazine Inc.'s list of the best US companies to work for in 2023. Some of the most popular companies focus on employee wellness - particularly mental well-being and work-life balance. They have found ways to extend their culture without busting the budget; for example setting up a meditation room or offering a quarterly 'mental health day'.
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How to create a stakeholder strategy
- Article
- 01 May 2023
- Darrell Rigby, Zach First, Dunigan O'Keefe
Companies have recently come to recognize the limitations of the view that they must create value only for shareholders, with many CEOs pledging to lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders. Discusses how firms can use data to help develop a clear description of their purpose, establish criteria for evaluating progress toward it, set priorities among stakeholders and start measuring value creation for each group.
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Resiliency and strategic risk management: Protecting strategic value includes a mix of metrics, cybersecurity, reputational risk management, and more
- Article
- 01 May 2023
- Mark L.Frigo, Dennis H.Chookaszian
The authors discuss how CFOs and boards can support strategic resiliency and risk management skills as core competencies for creating and protecting long-term value. In a conversation together, they look at tools for long-term value creation, cybersecurity and resiliency, strategic resiliency and risk assessment, reputation risk, skills for business leaders, strategic life-cycle analysis and lessons on resiliency from bank failures.
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Startups stung by UK delay in awarding tax credits to innovators
- Article
- 13 Apr 2023
- Aisha S Gani
Some UK startup businesses have been waiting upwards of six months to receive research and development tax credits from HMRC, forcing some to take out loans to plug the gap in funds. The Fintech trade body Innovate Finance said it has member firms worried about lengthy delays that make it difficult to predict their cash flows. HMRC has acknowledged that it had extended processing times.
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Is risk management redundant?
- Article
- 01 Apr 2023
- Marinus De Pooter
Marinus de Pooter takes a look at the risk management industry and its potential downsides. He argues that finding a new perspective on dealing with uncertainty could
better support the goals of companies when trying to future-proof. Finance professionals should be thinking about risk management in terms of success as an organizational unit, function or project.
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Developing an entrepreneurial small business strategic plan
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- 01 Mar 2023
- Hakan Butuner
Feature explaining how to use shortened Systematic Strategic Planning (SSP), a tool particularly suitable for developing strategic plans for SMEs. The article uses a case study of an entrepreneurial new business to demonstrate how the first four steps of a shortened SSP strategic plan can be applied.
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Supporting intelligent treasury
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Gilly Wright
With a possible economic slowdown looming, treasurers are keeping an especially close eye on their cash. Deloitte’s Global Treasury Survey 2022 found liquidity risk management was the top mandate for treasurers. Corporate treasurers are also investigating the promises of data insight from application programming interfaces (APIs), which bring new functionalities and convenience.
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Managing interest rate risk with FASB’s new hedging flexibility
- Article
- 01 Mar 2023
- Mark D.Mishler
Find out how to apply FASB’s updated hedge accounting guidance, which more closely aligns a company’s financial reporting with the results of its risk management strategy. The update also simplified fair-value hedge accounting for investments in debt securities.
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Nurturing the UK's innovation ecosystem
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- 07 Feb 2023
- Sebastian Klovig Skelton
Andrew Roughan, CEO of technology innovation hub Plexal, discusses how tech startups collaborate with the UK government to transform public services, the barriers to entry, and how the process can be improved.
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How CFOs can better manage: Strategy execution
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- 01 Feb 2023
- Seth Elliott
Best practices in business strategy execution can help CFOs balance their traditional role of oversight and control with their emerging role as a catalyst for growth. Seth Elliott discusses using the objectives and key results (OKR) framework to track progress and organize goals. includes figures: 'The four faces of the CFO' and 'The quarterly OKR cycle'.
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Business resilience through demand planning
- Article
- 01 Feb 2023
- Bill Koefoed
Finance professionals can help their organizations weather uncertain market conditions by becoming proficient in demand planning, says Bill Koefoed. The article explains the basics of demand planning and includes the table 'Checks to evaluate your demand planning process'.
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Design thinking for innovation
- Article
- 01 Feb 2023
- Kristine Brands
How management accountants can apply the 'design thinking' approach to innovation to achieve a competitive edge. According to IDEO's Tim Brown, this human-centred approach can be used to integrate people's needs, technology, and business success factors to achieve innovation. The article applies design thinking to the example of a company needing to integrate its basic cost accounting system with its general ledger and other departmental functions.
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Innovation-driven culture
- Article
- 01 Jan 2023
- Mark L.Frigo, Terry E.Groff, Hans Laessoe, Darren Snellgrove
Developing a culture that prioritizes innovation is the key to creating long-term sustainable value, say the authors. They use three companies as case studies - Reading Bakery Systems, Johnson & Johnson, and the LEGO Group. Former leaders from the companies share insights on developing an innovation-driven culture.
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Expand your pricing strategy
- Article
- 01 Jan 2023
- Rafi Mohammed
Pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed recommends that companies should re-examine not just their prices but their pricing strategy - looking for different ways to charge customers. Looking at models used by other industries can offer inspiration for pricing innovations, such as offering to rent a product that's typically bought, or selling a service by the hour instead of by the day. By adding new pricing options, you increase the odds that customers will find one tailored to their needs.
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AI and digital discrimination
- Article
- 01 Dec 2022
- Arif Perdana, W Eric Lee
The article points out that management accountants and other financial professionals can minimize artificial intelligence (AI) discrimination by contributing to responsible AI practices and risk mitigation. Topics covered include the role of data in AI, examples of apparent biased automated decision-making system and the ethical challenges concerning biases in automated decision making. It also cites how to promote responsible AI practices and the importance of data governance and curation.
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The ideas that inspire us
- Article
- 01 Nov 2022
- Roz Brewer, Stephane Bancel, Anish Shah
Harvard Business Review asked eight current and former CEOs from some of the world’s top companies to describe the innovative ideas that have propelled their own careers and organizations. Two themes emerge: first, the need for constant innovation and out-of-the-box thinking as markets become more dynamic; second, the importance of purpose and a vision that encompasses all stakeholders.
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Improving business resilience
- Article
- 01 Oct 2022
- Raef Lawson, Daniel Smith
Part of a management accountant’s job is to help guide the company through challenging economic times. Data analytics can help. The article recommends using the Altman Z-score for analysis and gives advice on developing more creative forecasting models to help cope with significant economic shocks. Includes tables 'Leading and lagging factors to use in forecasting' and 'Three models for forecasting EBIT'.
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Armanino LLP advises businesses on planning for recession
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- 08 Sep 2022
- Michael Cohn
Advice from business consulting firm Armanino on how to reduce costs without making desperately needed employees redundant. The firm advises clients to look at internal metrics such as cash flow, revenue per employee, average days to close new business and accounts receivable payments.
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The next generation of industry changers
- Article
- 01 Sep 2022
- Nate Hopper, Britta Lokting, Kim Kavin
Interviews with fifteen innovative company founders in sectors including real estate, financial software solutions and data labelling.
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Strategy making in uncertain times
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- 01 Sep 2022
- Mark Gottfredson, Michael Mankins
Most companies have stuck with conventional techniques for strategy-making. In this article the authors describe what it takes to produce great results during economic uncertainty, and propose a practical model for strategy development that they have seen work at several leading companies.
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Rethinking risk management: Anticipating emerging risks means reshaping the board
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- 01 Sep 2022
- Glenn David, Chandrosekor Venkatoromon
Anticipating emerging risks means reshaping the board, say the authors. They recommend changes boards should consider to enhance their risk management approach and better help their companies navigate emerging risks. These include separating the Chair and CEO roles and consider providing directors with a travel allowance to visit company locations, in order to better understand the business.
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