Commentary

Traditional marketing theory tells us we can gain a competitive edge by adjusting one or more of the four Ps: Product, Price, Place or Promotion. The only problem is, your competitors use the same four Ps to create a competitive edge against you!

As a business coach, trainer and consultant, I am often asked by bosses if there are really time-tested ways to manage people.

It says a lot about the enhanced status of the entrepreneur that one of the best-selling books of 2011 was the biography of the recently deceased Steve Jobs.

‘The notion of contracting has changed in Singapore in recent years.

This will so get me into trouble. But the Singapore brand needs everybody’s help.

Today’s telco landscape has become a lot more challenging, presenting new players to the game and more demanding end-users.

Before the advent of cloud computing, firms were running on-premise software, where operations were slow due to the complexity in managing data and the process of manually transferring data between various systems or people.

To help successfully grow your career, it’s important to use a range of career tools and resources. Networking with colleagues, as well as professionals outside of your workplace is an effective way to build professional relationships.

In this series of 10 short essays, I will provide ten easy rules for you to adopt to instill innovation at the core of your company in Singapore or the rest of Asia. These rules are bold and will surely contravene inherited teachings and convictions.

In the movie, The Pursuit of Happiness, we see this moving scene where Will Smith, together with his son, had to spend the night locked-up and sleeping in a public toilet.

In 1992, Singapore signed its first free trade agreement (FTA), the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme with its ASEAN neighbors. Twenty years and 18 FTAs later, it is an appropriate time to reflect on how these FTAs have affected Singapore’s economy.

The disposable age, as we know it, gathered momentum in the 1950’s and 1960’s along with the rise of convenience as a lifestyle benefit, with TV dinners, disposable diapers, disposable cutlery, plates, and just about anything that could be used once and thrown away rather than reused became desirable for the sake of convenience.

If you think you are equipped with all the skills that are required for the workplace today, think again. There are thousands of new graduates each year with the same set of qualifications or better.

Business is more mobile than ever before. To make the most of opportunities, businesses must be flexible about where and with whom they do business.

Uncertain markets force big decisions on businesses. When there’s pressure to maintain cashflow and customers, firms often have to take bold steps to achieve greater efficiency or competitiveness. However, with the changes wrought by technology and globalisation, many traditional strategies for weathering storms no longer work. Some of the common beliefs held by companies about the best way forward may instead damage their prospects. Here are five common mistakes to avoid: 1. “I will concentrate on what I know, and focus on existing markets” When times are hard, there’s a temptation to stick to tried and tested basics. However, one lesson of successful companies like Google is that businesses must continuously innovate and iterate. The fact that something worked last month does not guarantee future success. Innovation can mean developing new products or services, but also new markets. Recent research found that in most countries of the world, companies with international markets are performing better, in terms of revenue and profit growth, than those that only operate domestically.[1]

Think of great leaders and we often think of strong people who are highly visible or great orators or action figures. Some might recall Russell Crowe in the opening scene of Gladiator… “On my command, unleash hell! ”