The next wave: Using AI to build better marketing campaigns

As the digital revolution keeps on turning, cutting-edge companies are looking to artificial intelligence to spur the next wave of change. This specialized technology holds great promise for those willing to employ it, but it also comes with challenges. Consumers are familiar with AI in the form of Google’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri or IBM’s Watson. […]

Unearthing the wisdom in finance

The world of banking and finance has earned more than a little opprobrium in recent years. Some of the black marks: The pumped-up subprime loan and layered derivatives mortgage crisis, which led to the Great Recession; the false, “robo” signed affidavits that led to people losing their homes through illegal foreclosures; the LIBOR and foreign exchange […]

Has agile management’s moment arrived?

  When IBM recently announced that it was rethinking its work-at-home program for thousands of its employees, the main take-away for workers nationally was what it meant for them. After all, as IBM goes so do many other companies. Working at home was an idea IBM pioneered in the 1980s, and it was the thin end of […]

Why economists must go beyond the numbers

When economists are trying to understand the economics of growth, they usually go by the numbers. Yet, not only don’t the numbers always add up, they also lack the dimension and context needed to solve some of the world’s most perplexing problems. That is the view of Morton Schapiro, an economist who is also president of […]

Why impact investing needs to go mainstream

  Durreen Shahnaz started her career with Morgan Stanley in 1989 and was the first Bangladeshi woman investment banker on Wall Street. After stints with various organizations including the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Shahnaz went on to set up Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world’s first social stock exchange, in 2009 in Singapore. So far, […]

The future of Artificial Intelligence: Why the hype has outrun reality

TECHNOLOGY Robots that serve dinner, self-driving cars and drone-taxis could be fun and hugely profitable. But don’t hold your breath. They are likely much further off than the hype suggests. A panel of experts at the recent 2017 Wharton Global Forum in Hong Kong outlined their views on the future for artificial intelligence (AI), robots, […]

How silent meditation helped me succeed at work

LEADERSHIP In this opinion piece, Payal Sheth, a global marketing manager at the Boston Consulting Group, explains how an ancient meditation technique helped change the way she thinks and engages with people.   Yes, you read that right. Silent meditation. One might ask: Isn’t it obvious that you are almost always silent when you mediate? […]

What digital disruptors can teach traditional retailers

MARKETING The big retail shakeout of 2017 is battering traditional chains of all stripes: Payless has filed for bankruptcy and is closing about 400 stores; Michael Kors, Ann Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess, The Limited and Staples are all shutting locations; and department stores ranging from Sears to Macy’s and J.C. Penney are pulling the […]

What money managers miss in currency carry trades

FINANCE A common trading strategy is the currency carry trade — borrowing in the currency of a country with a low interest rate and using the funds to invest in the currency of another nation with a higher interest rate, then profiting from the difference. For example, one popular carry trade is borrowing funds in […]

Why some companies need more tortoises, not hares

MANAGEMENT   The New Yorker staff writer Malcolm Gladwell has a colleague whom he characterizes as a “neurotic tortoise.” That may not sound like a good thing to be. But according to Gladwell, a neurotic tortoise may be exactly whom we want to hire in certain jobs and professions. Named one of the world’s 100 […]