On this week’s episode, MT’s editorial team discusses the pros and cons of AI avatars and whether our consumption habits are hurting British business.

Swiss-based bank UBS is using AI to create avatars of its experts that will appear in video content for clients, in a move it claims will be a win for productivity. The technology, while not a new phenomenon, raises significant questions about AI’s potential impact on human connection and relationships in business. We discuss the pros and cons of using digital clones.

If the other outcomes of Trump’s manoeuvrings on US-China trade are still unclear, one thing he has achieved has been to thrust the issue of “de minimus” exemptions firmly into the spotlight. In April, the UK government announced it would be reviewing its own rule, which permits packages worth less than £135 to enter the country duty-free – a loophole that many credit with fuelling the rise of Chinese retailers such as Shein and Temu. As one Telegraph commentator wrote that UK homes have become “temporary staging posts for goods on their way to the landfill”, MT asked its readers: is the UK bingeing on cheap imports at the expense of British business? We bring you a flavour of the responses.

Links:

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/ai-avatars-future-business-communication/long-reads/article/1920337

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/bingeing-cheap-imports-expense-british-business/opinion-and-analysis/article/1918842

Credits:

Presenters: Antonia Garrett Peel and Éilis Cronin

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Any idea you can think of for a new product, I guarantee you that somewhere in the world there’s six other people thinking of the same thing.”

If those words from L.E.K. Consulting vice chair Stuart Jackson come as something of a reality check, consider also the challenges involved in achieving superior functionality to existing offerings, defining a market, and gaining those consumers’ trust. And that’s not to mention the incumbent channels, suppliers and even parts of your own organisation that will be “trying to find ways to preserve the current order of things”.

It’s little wonder then that the failure rate for new products is so high. Fortunately, however, there are steps you can take, as Jackson and co-author Ilya Trakhtenberg write in their new book Predictable Winners, to “systematically identify and retire risk at each step of the innovation journey”.

This week's guest on Leadership Lessons, Jackson offers listeners advice on doing just that. He also talks about the pitfalls of sticking to incremental innovation, the role of leadership mindset, and where to find the 'low-cost signals' that can offer clues as to what would-be customers really want.

*This episode was recorded on 22nd April.

Credits:

Producer: Inga Marsden

Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode, MT’s editorial team discusses whether businesses are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to cybercrime and some common traps that risk undermining your international expansion efforts.

It’s been a torrid time for Marks & Spencer as it continues to battle a cyberattack that according to one estimate is costing the retailer £43m a week. And it’s not the only one to fall victim. The Co-op has said it is now in the “recovery phase” after an attack forced it to take crucial systems offline, while the same group has also claimed responsibility for an attempted hack of high-end department store Harrods. Their plight is hardly unique, but are businesses facing up to the threat to their operations? We asked our audience.

Expanding overseas can require leaders to revert to a “start-up mentality” – at least that’s the argument of Tipalti president Rob Israch, who authored our second piece for this week. We bring you his tips for avoiding common pitfalls of international expansion, including what leaders typically get wrong about localisation and how to ensure your product, service and culture resonate with local customers and employees.

Links:

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/mt-asks-businesses-burying-heads-sand-cyber-crime/opinion-and-analysis/article/1916933

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/m-s-lessons-retailers-approach-crisis-communications/opinion-and-analysis/article/1917341

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/leaders-wrong-localisation/opinion-and-analysis/article/1916615

Credits:

Presenters: Antonia Garrett Peel and Éilis Cronin

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2019, the Center for Aging Better predicted that by 2025 there will be one million more people aged 50 and over, and 300,000 fewer people aged 30 and under, in the workplace, with one in three of the working age population aged 50 and over.

But as we creep towards to halfway point of 2025, was this prediction correct?

Lyndsey Simpson, founder of 55/Redefined, certainly thinks so. In fact, she says we've exceeded those levels.

In this week's episode, we discuss the UK's ageing population and its affect on the workplace. Simpson argues that many employees who reach retirement age don't feel ready to stop working - but modern workplaces still impose a mid-60s retirement age. Through her work at 55/Redefined, she has seen an influx of people over the retirement age return to the workplace - and believes business leaders who are quick to dismiss older workers are missing out on critical return on experience.

Credits:

Presenter: Éilis Cronin

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, we discuss whether businesses are backtracking on their environmental commitments and Boston Consulting Group’s tips for cutting supply chain costs.

Despite media reports of corporate backtracking on sustainability, the news on the ground is more complex. We discuss a piece by Paul Simpson, who argues that many companies are quietly advancing their environmental goals – not just because it’s the right thing for the planet, but because it’s good for business too.

Chief operating officers (COOs) are under increasing pressure to proactively manage supply chain costs amid global disruptions, but reactive strategies won’t deliver lasting value. We discuss a piece written by consultants from Boston Consulting Group, who put forward five ways in which COOs should approach cost-cutting initiatives to deliver sustainable efficiency.

Links:

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/whats-next-corporate-environmental-agenda/indepth/article/1915218

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/five-ways-coos-reduce-supply-chain-costs/opinion-and-analysis/article/1915092

Credits:

Presenters: Éilis Cronin and Antonia Garrett Peel

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We as humans can remember three things,” says Sheila Rohra, CEO of Hitachi Vantara. It is this rule of three, then, that is central to her formula for “staying focused”, as well as her approach to devising a strategy the whole company can “rally around”.

Rohra was appointed to her role in November 2023 after joining the data storage systems firm earlier in the year as chief strategy officer. As this week’s guest on Leadership Lessons, Rohra talks about how Hitachi Vantara is transforming its business, and the three-pronged strategy that is driving the company forward.

Maintaining focus is also a key imperative in the age of rapid AI adoption.

It’s crucial to keep a keen eye on the problem you were trying to solve with AI, says Rohra - and on whether you’re getting the ROI you were seeking. Otherwise, at a time when research suggests many organisations’ adoption of the tech is still being driven by short-term experimentation rather than long-term strategic planning, you risk overinvesting in the technology and causing “massive confusion, not to mention massive power consumption”.

From her first foothold in the high-tech industry, working on a production line assembling computers, Rohra has diversified her CV with roles spanning strategy, business operations and transformation.

Her first “significant” job focused on the latter was as chief transformation officer at data infrastructure company NetApp. This role taught her how much spearheading major organisational change initiatives is about “working with people, influencing”. With only five people on her direct team, the need to get wider employee buy-in and bring staff “along the journey” was immediately clear. “So that means listening, learning, providing a safe zone for conversations.”

This recognition of the integral role others play in achieving your objectives is also central to Rohra’s belief in the importance of staying “humble”. “It’s not because of my accomplishments alone [that I’m CEO],” she says. “It took support from my team, friends and family for me to get here. I did not accomplish this alone.”

Credits:

Producer: Inga Marsden

Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode of The Debrief, MT’s editorial team discusses Unilever’s recent CEO change and how to keep driving your business forward even in unfavourable market conditions.

The ousting of Hein Schumacher after little more than a year and a half in Unilever’s top job seemed to many to come as a bolt from the blue. “We are gobsmacked,” was how one analyst at RBC Capital summed up the reaction among colleagues. But even in the announcement the company put out about the change there were clues as to the frustrations that had precipitated such a move. We explore the board’s rationale, what the company’s new chief Fernando Fernandez brings to the table, and his priorities in the short and long term.

Companies that thrive, even when times are tough, “build resilience within their own internal economy”. That’s the contention at the heart of business scaling strategist John Mackin’s new piece for MT. We explain what this means and, against a backdrop of heightened economic uncertainty, bring you three tips on how to nonetheless continuously grow your business.

Credits:

Presenters: Éilis Cronin and Antonia Garrett Peel

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Links:

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/unilever-brought-new-boss-fast-track-its-turnaround-strategy-deliver-goods/indepth/article/1914508

https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/sluggish-economy-doesnt-mean-cant-continuously-grow-business-heres-how/opinion-and-analysis/article/1912440

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Business wins and losses are part of life for a media agency, but sometimes the losses can start to outpace the wins and – for whatever reason – negative momentum takes hold.

This was the difficult backdrop against which Kelly Parker and Katie Lee were appointed as Wavemaker UK CEO and COO respectively in 2022. In Parker’s words, the agency had had a “really bad year” in 2021, losing a “large number” of its top 10 clients. “I think it just lost its way as a business,” she says.

Three years on and Parker and Lee have steered the business back to double-digit growth, a turnaround they credit in part to their unconventional working relationship, which they conceptualise as ‘dual leadership’.

Recalling the challenging early days of that effort, Lee says: “I think because there were the two of us, it meant we could be making difficult decisions while at the same time building momentum and energy in the agency. I think if there had been one person, it would have had to feel negative…whereas having the two of us, we could both build and break at the same time.”

This week’s guests on Leadership Lessons, Parker and Lee explain why their ‘dual leadership’ approach continues to pay dividends, helping them to get the best out of their teams, make the most of their respective talents and elevate the work they produce for clients.

This episode was recorded in January 2025.

Credits:

Presenter: Antonia Garrett Peel

Producer: Inga Marsden

Artwork: David Robinson

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.