Diary of an inquisitive mind

Is India Innovative?

S&P May Downgrade India's Credit Rating Compared to Other BRIC Nations | Business | TIME.com
Just a few weeks ago, global credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) released a study titled, “Will India be the first BRIC fallen angel?” The report suggests that India may become the firs... 0 0 Powered by socialditto

Is India Innovative?
Global credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) released a study titled, “Will India be the first BRIC fallen angel?” The report suggests that India may become the first “BRIC” country (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to lose its investment grade rating.

5 things remarkable bosses never do

2012-07-16T23:47:00.002-07:00

5 Things Remarkable Bosses Never Do | Business | TIME.com
I recently described what remarkable bosses do. A number of people emailed and asked, "That's a great list, but flip it around: What things should I not do?" Glad you asked. As a leader what you don't... 0 0 Powered by socialditto

5 Things Remarkable Bosses Never Do
As a leader what you don't do can sometimes make as much or even more impact than what you do.

5 qualities of remarkable bosses

2012-07-16T23:40:00.003-07:00

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses
Consistently do these five things and the results you want from your employees--and your business--will follow. 0 0 Powered by socialditto

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses
Consistently do these five things and the results you want from your employees--and your business--will follow.

What can we learn from Amazon business model

2012-07-16T23:36:00.003-07:00

Why +Amazon.com is arguably one of the most disruptive companies in the world? Amazon is a behemoth of ecommerce business. It is the 56th largest company in America by market capitalization. It is the 15th biggest retailer in America by revenue and by far the largest Internet retailer. But what is the secret of Amazon's success?

Back when mom-and-pop retailers ruled the land, one-on-one relationships between purveyors and customers were easy to foster. As chain stores began to dominate, however, this one-on-one relationship was lost. There was no way those running a national retail operation to understand their customers on such an individual basis. But Amazon changed that.

While brick and mortar stores are black boxes wherein customer behavior inside the store is effectively invisible to managers, Amazon is able to collect endlessly useful information about shoppers, and use it to sell more stuff by targeting customers through email and the website itself.

“Whenever a customer buys something from Amazon, or logs in without buying something, Amazon is collecting all kinds of information about that person. There’s a lot of data that can be mined about how they peruse the website, what they put in the cart, what they abandon, and how the customer actually goes about searching for a product.”, says Greg Girard, an analyst for IDC Retail Insights.

Will Amazon Take Over the World?
Amazon is poised to integrate itself in Americans lives in ways that no other company is capable 0 0 Powered by socialditto

Why Amazon.com is arguably one of the most disruptive companies in the world? Amazon is a behemoth of ecommerce business. It is the 56th largest company in America by market capitalization. It is the 15th biggest retailer in America by revenue and by far the largest Internet retailer. But what is the secret of Amazon's success?

Back when mom-and-pop retailers ruled the land, one-on-one relationships between purveyors and customers were easy to foster. As chain stores began to dominate, however, this one-on-one relationship was lost. There was no way those running a national retail operation to understand their customers on such an individual basis. But Amazon changed that.

While brick and mortar stores are black boxes wherein customer behavior inside the store is effectively invisible to managers, Amazon is able to collect endlessly useful information about shoppers, and use it to sell more stuff by targeting customers through email and the website itself.

“Whenever a customer buys something from Amazon, or logs in without buying something, Amazon is collecting all kinds of information about that person. There’s a lot of data that can be mined about how they peruse the website, what they put in the cart, what they abandon, and how the customer actually goes about searching for a product.”, says Greg Girard, an analyst for IDC Retail Insights.

Will Amazon Take Over the World?
Amazon is poised to integrate itself in Americans lives in ways that no other company is capable

Amazing Photos from the Space Shuttle Discovery

2012-07-16T23:34:00.001-07:00

Amazing Photos from the Space Shuttle Discovery - Photo Essays
After 39 missions totaling 365 days, 22 hrs., spent in space, Discovery touched down for the final time in March 2011 and will spend its retirement on display at a Smithsonian Institute annex. 0 0 Powered by socialditto

The Rich History of GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

2012-07-16T23:31:00.002-07:00

Baby Romney | The Rich History of GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney | Swampland | TIME.com
Willard Mitt Romney as an infant in an undated picture. Romney, the youngest son of George and Lenore Romney, was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947. 0 0 Powered by socialditto

The Rich History of GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney, the youngest son of George and Lenore Romney, was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947.

Retail stores that shutdown due to bad economy

2012-07-16T23:26:00.002-07:00

Photographer Brian Ulrich's picture of Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois is frightening. It has been empty for over 40 years.

Stores That Are No More - Photo Essays
Photographer Brian Ulrich's images explore the haunted shells of America's devastated retail landscape 0 0 Powered by socialditto

Photographer Brian Ulrich's picture of Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois is frightening. It has been empty for over 40 years.

Stores That Are No More - Photo Essays
Photographer Brian Ulrich's images explore the haunted shells of America's devastated retail landscape

How to invest in your employees while remaining profitable

2012-07-16T23:20:00.003-07:00

Zeynep Ton, assistant professor at MIT Sloan looks into the retailing’s vicious cycle of cutting costs, operational mistakes, and loss in profit. Her research has shown that by underinvesting in their employees, retailers are actually making their operations much more inefficient, and therefore much less profitable.

Highly successful retail chains such as QuikTrip convenience stores, Mercadona and Trader Joe’s supermarkets, and +Costco wholesale clubs not only invest heavily in store employees but also have the lowest prices in their industries, solid financial performance, and better customer service than their competitors.

They have demonstrated that, even in the lowest-price segment of retail, bad jobs are not a cost-driven necessity but a choice. And they have proven that the key to breaking the trade-off is a combination of investment in the workforce and operational practices that benefit employees, customers, and the company.

Why "Good Jobs" Are Good for Retailers
Idea in Brief. Retailers have long believed that the only way to compete on price is to offer workers low wages, poor benefits, constantly changing schedules, and little opportunity for advancement. B... 0 0 Powered by socialditto

Zeynep Ton, assistant professor at MIT Sloan looks into the retailing’s vicious cycle of cutting costs, operational mistakes, and loss in profit. Her research has shown that by underinvesting in their employees, retailers are actually making their operations much more inefficient, and therefore much less profitable.

Highly successful retail chains such as QuikTrip convenience stores, Mercadona and Trader Joe’s supermarkets, and Costco wholesale clubs not only invest heavily in store employees but also have the lowest prices in their industries, solid financial performance, and better customer service than their competitors.

They have demonstrated that, even in the lowest-price segment of retail, bad jobs are not a cost-driven necessity but a choice. And they have proven that the key to breaking the trade-off is a combination of investment in the workforce and operational practices that benefit employees, customers, and the company.

Why "Good Jobs" Are Good for Retailers
The US needs better jobs, not just more jobs. Service businesses including low-price retailers that currently don’t invest adequately in their workers could be part of the solution.

Future of Retail: Companies that profit by investing in employees

2012-07-16T23:11:00.004-07:00

What if the logic behind viewing retail labor as an expense to be cut, rather than as an asset to be invested in, is unsound? Zeynep Ton, a Professor of Operations Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, argues just that. Her research has shown that by underinvesting in their employees, retailers are actually making their operations much more inefficient, and therefore much less profitable.

After studying this topic for ten years, Ton has consistently found that companies that buck the status quo and invest heavily in their workforce actually are able to not only compete with their competitors on service but on price too.

Running a modern retail store is an incredibly complex task. The reason retailers Ton studied were able to spend much more on labor and still compete on price is that there are all sorts of efficiencies that become unlocked once you have a highly trained, highly motivated workforce.

While investing in human resources may have always been a good strategy, it is one that is more important now than ever for brick-and-mortar retailers. The headlong rise of e-commerce has put extreme pressure on retailers to become more efficient, and to justify their existence to customers. Those who want huge selection, low prices, and no service can find that online, without the hassle of leaving their living rooms.

The retail landscape is increasingly dominated by stores that have adapted to this new reality. Retail success stories like Lululemon and Apple have highly trained, engaging and engaged sales associates who offer a unique expertise that will motivate a shopper to eschew the convenience of the Internet shopping for a traditional brick-and mortar experience.

I hope +Best Buy is listening.

Future of Retail: Companies That Profit By Investing in Employees
Research has shown that by underinvesting in their employees, retailers are actually making their operations much more inefficient, and therefore much less profitable 0 0 Powered by socialditto