How innovators, investors, managers and policymakers can come together to make change.
Michael Lenox
| Fast Company
Aaron Chatterji
| Fast Company
Can business save the Earth? The answer depends on a broad system of forces – forces that generate new inventions, successfully commercialize new products out of these inventions, provide capital to support commercialization and scaling and provide value to a wide number of customers. Each of these forces is driven by the idiosyncratic ingenuity and […]
The future of the physical store isn’t about purchases. It’s about events, experiences and brand associations.
Claire McCamley
| University of Huddersfield
Rarely a week goes by without news of a household high street name shutting up shop or closing stores. The rise of online shopping, or e-commerce, is widely blamed for the demise of traditional retail. Yet people are spending more money than ever – just not on the high street. In many ways, the offering […]
Additive manufacturing will forever shift the concept of supply and demand, moving businesses and consumers from a mindset of “best fit” to “my fit.”
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, allows us to imagine a world where we can make whatever we want whenever we want it. Long-hyped but not yet fully realized, the technology has the power to discard the old model of production, ushering in a new age of personalization that turns the notion of supply and demand […]
Ants – yes, ants – can teach us a thing or two about how blockchain could revolutionize supply chains.
Larry Gee
| San Jose State University
In early 2013, a number of grocery stores in the UK were hit with a major incident when horse meat was found in beef burgers. To compound the problem, many of the grocery chains could not instantly point to the exact source but had to launch lengthy investigations to track back through processing plants and […]
Public and private stakeholders must work together to establish a technology framework that unleashes global trade's potential.
Ziyang Fan
| World Economic Forum
International trade has dominated the global headlines recently. Much of the discussions have been focused on the threat of a trade war, the tit-for-tat tariffs and the health of the global trade order. While extremely important, these conversations are missing a brighter side of international trade – how innovative technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution […]
With the right approach, our biggest critics can become our greatest champions.
Tasha Eurich
| Harvard Business Review
Feedback, as they say, is a gift. Negative feedback, in particular, can be valuable because it allows us to monitor our performance and alerts us to important changes we need to make. But processing and acting on negative feedback is not always easy, and there’s comparatively little guidance on how to navigate the hard feedback […]
A healthcare product’s journey is equally as important as its destination.
Each year, Global Business Reports publishes its report on the state of the biopharmaceutical industry based on interviews with more than 100 authoritative thought leaders. These include industry associations, logistics experts, academic institutions, research organizations, consultants and analysts. As part of the report, UPS’s Dirk van Peteghem shared his insights on supply chain challenges and […]
Leaders who can inspire people to design a better future for all of us should be front and center in the AI evolution.
News and predictions about artificial intelligence (AI) are everywhere. Technology forecasts span the gamut from AI ushering in world peace to machines triggering the demise of humanity. Amid these predictions, the terms automation and autonomy are used interchangeably. Governments and businesses alike are funding AI projects that resemble the plots of Hollywood science fiction films. And the […]
Leaders must evolve from gatekeepers of knowledge to facilitators of learning.
At a time when workplace transformation is accelerating, building skills for the future can feel like an impossible task. Keeping up with what we need to know right now consumes our time and attention, and who can even predict which new technologies and tools we’ll need to adopt? The answer isn’t to give up, of […]
This entrepreneur is harnessing the power of plants to address a chronically overlooked health hazard.
Paolo Ganis
| Laboratori Fabrici
If necessity is the mother of invention, then it’s fitting that eco-entrepreneurs like Paolo Ganis would partner with Mother Nature herself to create environmentally friendly products. Paolo and his Italian company, Laboratori Fabrici, are helping consumers fight dangerous indoor air pollution using nature’s greatest defense against toxins – plants. Paolo and his team created Clairy, […]
With some notable policy fixes, Latin America’s largest economy will drive business growth across the region. Here’s how your company can ride Brazil’s e-commerce wave.
From the outside, Brazil’s fast-growing e-commerce market looks like a huge opportunity for retailers. Simply put, Brazilians have embraced online shopping with their well-known zest and inimitability. Even as the country’s economy – the largest in Latin America and the second-largest in the hemisphere after the United States – has struggled to recover from its […]
Contentment at work isn't about happiness gimmicks. It's largely about how bosses treat their people.
Cary Cooper
| University of Manchester
Ivan Robertson
| University of Manchester
When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the role of “Jolly Good Fellow,” his career – and the entire culture of Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn. Meng, a cheerful employee valued for his motivational qualities, went from developing mobile search tools to spreading happiness across the organization. Happiness became his […]
Here’s when and why you might be overdoing it – and what to do instead.
Anett Grant
| Fast Company
Several years ago, someone sent me a Fortune 100 executive for coaching. His main problem? “He talks too much.” I was curious to see what that would look like. So when I met with him, I asked a question that required some elaboration. He ended up rambling for 45 minutes nonstop. I was exhausted. When […]
You might have a great idea or results to share, but if you don’t deliver your message with confidence, it will fall on deaf ears.
Carmine Gallo
| Harvard Business Review
When you are presenting or speaking in front of an audience, you’re being judged on your confidence and competence, not just your content, and the way you appear and sound matters. A study on CEOs giving IPO presentations found that even hardened financial advisers judge a leader’s “competence and trustworthiness” within as little as 30 […]
Sustainability is not just some nice-to-have byproduct of innovation – it's the goal.
Fred Krupp
| Environmental Defense Fund
In any era, the hard work of environmental progress requires the best available tools. Today those tools include technological innovations that are giving corporations and NGOs alike new capabilities and supercharging the partnerships between them. Sensors, data analytics, machine learning and blockchain are just some of the breakthroughs driving business growth as well as environmental […]
The growth of ASEAN is directly tied to the growth of trade in the region.
The growth of e-commerce has brought both opportunities and challenges to Southeast Asia. Though a powerful enabler for ASEAN’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who today can instantaneously reach new markets, e-commerce has also created new challenges. Left unaddressed, these threaten the long-term viability of cross-border e-commerce. Overcoming barriers in Asia According to the Organization of […]
An entrepreneur's quest to build fire extinguishers that are functional — and beautiful.
In France, most homeowners don’t own a fire extinguisher, and if they do, they stow it away in a cabinet or closet. The safety item that should be perhaps most accessible is often the most difficult to find. French fire safety expert Rodolphe Gimenez wants to change that. “Fires are the second cause of mortality […]
Rising consumer demand is forcing companies to rethink their last-mile delivery supply chains.
The United Nations is projecting the number of so-called megacities of more than 10 million inhabitants to rise well above 40 by 2030. About two-thirds of the global population is expected to reside in cities by 2050. In the retail sector, the battle over future consumer markets is largely a battle over who excels at […]
Whether you put on your cap and gown last week — or last century — these honest answers can give you some insight and guidance.
“If you don’t know what you want to do with the rest of your life, you’re not a failure. Give yourself time and get yourself experience to figure things out.” — Angela Duckworth (TED Talk: Grit — the power of passion and persistence) “Although I think I already knew this back when I graduated from […]
Now is the time to commit to sustainable-design practices that will rebuild the world’s infrastructure with climate resilience at the forefront.
Natural disasters are a part of human existence — ever since the inhabitants of Pompeii were victims of Vesuvius, Homo sapiens have been dying unnecessarily due to the extremes of Mother Nature. Yet today, extreme weather events are even more calamitous, increasing in both frequency and cost. In 2017 alone, the United States experienced 15 natural disasters that each […]
Here are three cities that adhere to today’s demanding environmental policy.
Bob Cappadona
| Veolia North America
Recycling initiatives are nothing new, but companies that depend on efficient hazardous waste management should be keen to the infrastructure that is operating right now and dedicated to those who need to know how to achieve zero waste. At Veolia, this applies to numerous spaces: household materials, the automotive industry, and electronics that don’t have […]
Studying and tasting Italian wine was once just a hobby for Luigi Cattaneo, an information technology veteran of 25 years. But when Cattaneo realized that he could transform his passion for fine wine into a successful omni-channel business, he and his friends created the wine bar and e-commerce site Bibentes.
A few years ago, Luigi Cattaneo was frustrated with his career in IT. He had handled projects involving B2B and B2C, direct and indirect sales, brand and product management, and more. Over the years, he had worked with a diverse range of people at several companies. But, says Cattaneo, “The products were starting to feel […]
There’s a daily tug of war between long-term brand building and short-term sales goals – brands must be relevant, useful and entertaining.
Antonis Kocheilas
| Harvard Business Review
Here’s a truth: Many in the marketing industry today don’t really understand brands. Today, when there’s more of everything – more channels, more choice, more speed, more confusion – it’s fair to ask: What is a brand? To answer this question, we have to think about what has changed during the last decade. The emergence of the […]
Deploy a focused team, and get out of the way.
Amanda Setili
| Setili & Associates
No doubt about it: We live in a rapidly changing world. Disruptive technologies, shifting customer behaviors and emerging business models are shaking up nearly every industry. If you are going to survive and succeed amid this change, you need to move in a fast and adaptable way. Yes … even if you’re a huge global […]
Bringing trust and transparency to the world of foreign donations presents a strong case for blockchain technology.
Simon Moss
| Global Citizen
“I don’t know why you’d bother giving money to help people overseas. It’s just wasted and taken by corrupt dictators.” I must have heard this comment (masquerading as a question) hundreds of times as I’ve spoken to audiences about the opportunities and challenges of ending extreme poverty by 2030. As a co-founder of Global Citizen, […]
Developing nations need solutions that provide a bridge toward tomorrow’s opportunities.
Patrick Greene
| University of Waterloo
If the old adage is true and necessity is the mother of invention, then ingenuity must surely be the father. Globally, 1.2 billion people live without access to electricity. Within this decade, the global off-grid solar energy market has grown complex and dynamic. [Photo: Power Africa/USAID] Initially, it was marked by low levels of activity […]
A business owner with entrepreneurship in his blood puts a modern twist on his family’s craft.
Mike Smith
| Smith & Sons
Small business owner Mike Smith is passionate about the power of solar. The co-founder of Smith & Sons started his general contracting business with his father in the 1980s, when the two began rehabbing homes in low-income neighborhoods on the banks of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. His company now provides off-grid clean energy […]
Here's a blueprint for how cities can welcome the bicycle – and all the positive outcomes that a bike-centric city brings.
Mikael Colville-Andersen rides his bike everywhere in Copenhagen, but he would never introduce himself as a cyclist. “I’m just one of the 400,000 people riding a bike in this city because it makes our daily lives more effective,” he says. The founder of Copenhagenize, a design studio that specializes in bike infrastructure, as well as several […]
These books can provide wisdom and inspiration for the next generation of women leaders.
Here are the books that profoundly influenced women from our speaker community, and they’re just as wonderfully diverse as TED itself. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë When I read this book for the first time as a deeply odd fifth-grader (or, as Jane says, “poor, plain and little”), it felt like grasping onto a life […]
The start-up environment in the Middle East is positioning the region as an economic force for years to come.
Kelly Ommundsen
| World Economic Forum
Khaled Kteily
| World Economic Forum
The Middle East is facing rising geopolitical tensions, the world’s highest youth unemployment and a shift away from oil-based economies. In this context, the success of its startups could well determine the whole region’s success. Already, the Middle East’s only unicorn, a ride-hailing app called Careem, has created more than 500,000 jobs. It is now […]
