The upcoming IHRSA event in San Diego will feature Chip Heath, author, with his brother Dan, of Made to Stick and their newest book Switch. Heath is a great speaker and his books are even more enjoyable. His latest book is an interesting forray into how change occurs. It involves an elephant, a rider and the path. This is a very topical speaker for IHRSA and the industry as changing is something every industry, and most of all fitness and wellness, needs to be quite on top of. Hats off to IHRSA leadership for having Heath at the event. See the book review below.
The majority of our energy systems rely on a highly centralized structure; creating tremendous inefficiencies from the loss of power along the grid. A decentralized approach would increase efficiency greatly but the technologies for this type of solution have not emerged.
The potential for both achieving reductions in pollution relating to our inefficient power supply and distribution systems while delivering greater effiency more economically holds out great hope for our future. In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that's inexpensive and clean. Watch the 60 minutes story to learn more.
The game is changing. The convergence of rapid advancements in technology, shifting demographic trends and global ism are creating new methods of achieving great outcomes. Professor and author C. K. Prahalad explores how G.E. took a local innovation, designed to help those in the poorest and most remote villages in India and China, and turned it into a global, game-changing product. In his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, he argues that this is no anomaly, but rather the future of innovation. Watch !
Watch Google's Eric Schmidt in this compelling video interview reflect on the coming transformation of strategy, competition, business models, and management. Are you preparing for the future ?
A recent report by Gartner, commissioned by Salesforce.com, addresses important trends in customer service as the social web continues to impact how individuals and organizations interface. You can get a copy of the report for FREE here.
The implications of new technologies and how people are relating via social media have significant implications. Businesses that get their hands around how to really benefit from this change will have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference by delivering support in new and exciting ways.
A few key finds and recommendations from the study are as follows:
• Expectations for social CRM (tapping into social networks to improve marketing, sales and service processes) will dramatically exceed the measurable benefits. • For much of the world, Facebook will – or already has – become the dominant social networking site. Marketeers and customer service managers will need to take this into consideration when planning social networking projects, while monitoring for shifts in user sentiment. • A new generation of Internet Protocol (IP)-based contact center solutions with preintegrated IP interaction recording platforms will be far more effective and less expensive than previous platforms. • Consumer willingness to perform all possible customer service functions themselves (self- service) will be universal by 2011. Recommendations • Vice presidents of customer service or customer experience should be sure to measure the consistency and effectiveness of customer interactions across all touchpoints from the customer’s point of view. • The popularity of social networking sites means that the service organization cannot expect the customer to come to the corporate website only, but must work on ways to reach out to the customer at these destinations as well. • When developing a long-term strategic road map for contact center infrastructure, include call recording as part of this single-vendor solution.
Learn more about Social CRM and salesforce.com's in the video below.
