Monthly Archive for April, 2010

Megatrends in Global Health Care

Published on April 27, 2010 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Powerful trends are at work — all around the world — forcing changes in how health care will be conceived and delivered in the decades ahead. The editors of Harvard Business Review have compiled a list of 12 megatrends that will dramatically change how we must think about the issue and some of the largely unrecognised consequences.

Megatrend 1: Innovation and demand soar in emerging economies
Megatrend 2: Personalised medicine and technological advances
Megatrend 3: Aging populations overwhelm the system
Megatrend 4: Rising costs
Megatrend 5: Global pandemics
Megatrend 6: Environmental challenges
Megatrend 7: Evidence-based medicine
Megatrend 8: Non-MDs providing care
Megatrend 9: Payers’ influence over treatment decisions
Megatrend 10: The growing role of philanthropy
Megatrend 11: Prevention is the next big business opportunity
Megatrend 12: Medical tourism

The Most Influential Women in Technology

Published on April 26, 2010 in High Tech & Media and Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Last year, Fast Company raised plenty of eyebrows by publishing a ranking on “Most Influential Women in Technology”. To compose an updated 2010 ranking it received an overwhelming number of nominees and fresh names proved that. Nonetheless, women in tech remain at a distinct disadvantage by almost any metric (average salary, top-management representation, etc). However, there is also plenty to celebrate and be inspired by. Fast Company categorised those woman into seven categories respectively:

  • The Executives
  • The Activists
  • The Media
  • The Entrepreneurs
  • The Evangelists
  • The Gamers
  • The Brainiacs

Also check out the list of “Most Influential Women in Web 2.0” published in 2008 by Fast Company.

21 Twitter Tips From Socially Savvy Companies

Published on April 24, 2010 in Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Adapted from his book Engage, Brian Solis presents his list of suggestions to help businesses learn how to engage customers on Twitter through the examples of those companies, from Dell to Zappos, already successfully building online communities. You can find the complete article here. A summary of the top 10 tips are listed below:

1 ) Special Offers
2 ) Ordering
3 ) Word of Mouth Marketing
4 ) Conversation Marketing
5 ) Customer Service
6 ) Focus Groups
7 ) Direct Sales
8 ) Business Development
9 ) Curation
10) Information Networks

Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs 2010

Published on April 20, 2010 in High Tech & Media and Social Media. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Software upstarts such as Playdom, Posterous, and Foursquare capitalize on Web users’ desire to make social networks more useful and fun.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s have surveyed the tech sector to identify a fresh crop of the most promising technology startups and the young people, age 30 and under, who are steering them. Seven of the 13 startups on this year’s list are building Web and mobile-device software that extend the capabilities of social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

It’s not surprising that many startups want to ride the coattails of popular social networks. The rapid ascent of traffic to social networking sites can draw lots of attention for startups that offer new tools or diversions to their members. “Facebook and Twitter have become platforms in the same way Microsoft’s Windows became a platform 20 years ago. The complete special report can be found here.

A New World Order in Innovation

Published on April 17, 2010 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For the first time since Bloomberg BusinessWeek began its annual Most Innovative Companies ranking in 2005, the majority of corporations in the Top 25 are based outside the U.S.

Respectively, 12 are from the US and 13 from outside US with notably companies from South-Korea. The reason: the new global leaders coming out of Asia. However, a bit worrisome are companies from Europe, the first company on the list is ranked 16.

Please find the complete list here. Also check out this HBS working knowledge article from 2005 on “The Rise of Innovation in Asia“.

A volcanic cloud over Wall Street

Published on April 16, 2010 in International Finance. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Is the most powerful and controversial firm on Wall Street about to get the comeuppance that so many think it deserves? Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street powerhouse, has been accused of defrauding investors by America’s financial regulator [Source].

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that Goldman failed to disclose conflicts of interest. The claims concern Goldman’s marketing of sub-prime mortgage investments just as the US housing market faltered [Source].

Goldman’s shares tumbled, dragging down stockmarkets worldwide [Source]. The charges against Goldman could have far wider consequences.

Investors Explore the Frontier Markets

Published on April 15, 2010 in Emerging Markets. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

This year the real action for risk-tolerant global investors is on the frontier.

The MSCI Barra Frontier Markets index tracks equities of 25 countries, including six in the Middle East that account for 55% of the index’s total market capitalization. Year-to-date as of Apr. 12, the Frontier Markets index was up 13.66% compared with a 4.09% gain by the BRIC countries (Brazil, India, China, and Russia) in aggregate and a 5.25% increase for the emerging markets overall.

The distinction between emerging and frontier markets mostly concerns size and how far along they are in developing legal and regulatory systems, critical elements for international investors [Source].

More on Frontier Markets van be found here:
Frontier Markets: To boldly go where few investors have gone before!

MSCI Frontier Markets Indices.

The world’s 10 most affordable islands (currently for sale)

Published on April 14, 2010 in Ranting and Raving. 0 Comments

Escaping to a private island is a childhood dream fed by stories such as Treasure Island and Swallows and Amazons. Surprisingly, many real islands are on the market, starting at well under £100,000 (€114,000). Here Times Money lists 10 affordable examples from around the world now on sale at Vladi Private Islands.

Google’s Next Search: A New China Strategy?

Published on April 12, 2010 in Emerging Markets and International Business. 1 Comment Tags: , .

It was probably only a matter of time before China and Google would find themselves in a major conflict. On the one hand, you have an authoritarian government that believes it has the right to censor information available to its citizens. On the other, you have a California-based Internet company committed to the free flow of information.

In mid-March, Google halted operation of its Internet search engine on the Chinese mainland and started directing users to its Hong Kong site, which is uncensored. Chinese officials retaliated on March 29 by blocking some of Google’s mobile Internet services. Knowledge@Wharton discussed the entire matter here.

Silicon Valley Gears Up for M&A

Published on April 4, 2010 in High Tech & Media and Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Silicon Valley companies looking to put their cash to work may drive a wave of mergers this year, bankers and venture capitalists say.

Companies are eager to make acquisitions because many of them have cut research budgets. Meaning many of them are not as able to fall back on their own ingenuity to fuel growth. More businesses are relying on acquisitions to find their next new product or service [Source].

Venture capitalists had their busiest quarter (2010Q1) in recent memory, with nine venture-backed companies going public and a record-breaking 111 companies changing hands in mergers and acquisitions according to a report released Thursday by Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (Source: Charts). Out of the 111 M&A deals, 81 took place in the information technology sector.