Commentary

CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Business Leaders and Decision Makers take heed!

Many employers take the lead from the public service over many HR initiatives in Singapore. One of the most significant would be the 13th month bonus, otherwise known as the Annual Wage Supplement (AWS).

The sad passing of Steve Jobs Without doubt Steve Jobs rates as one of the most talented and creative geniuses of all time. His vision and ability to understand the trajectory of technology, and moreover his passion in bringing his vision to the market with unheard of simplicity and design beauty almost beggars belief. The sad lost to his loved ones and extended family that includes all Apple devotees cannot be understated. But his passing poses a more general question that needs to be explored! The big question Despite a number of years of warning of the failing health, reportedly, on announcement of his resignation from Apple the company share price still fell some 5.2%. Indeed so sensitive was this issue that prior to the announcement trading in Apple shares was suspended on the US stock market. No doubt Steve Jobs was a wonderful visionary, innovator and entrepreneur, but a company so dependent on the skill of a single individual is a company that perhaps has failed to properly embed innovation and opportunity capture skills into its business. So whose job is it? It’s the task of the chief of a company to set the agenda and provide leadership. It’s the job of the staff to do the work in implementing the strategy and plans laid out before them. No business should be too reliant on the skills of a single individual. Precisely the same can be said of innovation. Any organisation wishing to embrace change or innovation initiative needs to involve its entire staff to get the benefit of their combined knowledge and insights. Further, it is often the lower level staff that has the real and often unharvested insights into the business. For example, imagine if you wished to take a “big stick” to an airline to innovate its offering to bring new value and new ways of doing business to its customers. Would you speak with the pilots and top management or instead the passengers check in staff, the ticket sales staff, the refuelers and the baggage handlers. The answer is obvious, but have you ever asked the question. What about the Customers? How could we forget the customers!

A look around on the bus or the train in the morning reveals just how attached to our mobile phones Singaporeans are. It also looks as though everyone has a smartphone. That’s not surprising – Singapore has long been known as a country full of early adopters, and the appetite for mobile phones here, while limited in number (because of our small size) has not abated – Singaporeans are still looking for the latest, greatest mobile phone. These days, that tends to be a smartphone, something with an advanced operating system (OS), equipped with a decent camera, a powerful processor and substantial amounts of memory so that it can handle a multitude of tasks, from simple scheduling to media playback.

Are your Executives working below their pay grade?

Over 29,000 new companies were formed in Singapore in 2010, the highest number in the past 10 years. It is perhaps a sign Singapore entrepreneurs are confident about local and regionaleconomic prospects, despite uncertainty in international markets. At the recent G20 meeting in Cannes, France, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted Asia’s emergence as a growth region while the Euro-zone and United Statescontinue to work through their economic challenges. The PM however, was clear to highlight Singapore’s significant trade and investment reliance on developed markets, despite their uncertainties. So are there opportunities for Singapore startups and SME’s in developed economies, despite the downturn? The good news amidst this gloom is thatone developed economy has remainedeconomicallyresilientwhile experiencing a renaissance in its entrepreneurial environment– and Singaporean firms could benefit immensely. The Canadian Opportunity for Singapore Entrepreneurs Despite the economic difficulties of its largest trading partner, the United, States, Canada was named the top entrepreneurial hotbed amongst all G20 countries in a McKinsey & Company study released for the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit,which commenced November 1st in Nice. The report cited Canada’s protective and fluid environment for entrepreneurs, high quality of education, lack of taxes and regulatory burdens, and opportunities for collaboration as the main reasons. The United States were ranked 2nd in the study. The study also cited Canada’s strong culture of entrepreneurship, which respondents ranked third behind only India and China, as being particularly welcoming to developing ideas and concepts. This, combined with the stable business and regulatory environment Singapore entrepreneurs find familiar, could make Canada an excellent partner for new venture expansion. Canada also emerged from the global financial crisis relatively unscathed compared to most Western economies. There were three major reasons: its strongbanking institutions, commitment to free trade and open markets, and generally successful federal and provincial economic stimulus programs. Examples of Emerging Opportunities The economic stimulus programs helped spur Canada’s already thriving research environment, resulting in increased technological developments and startup foundations. These startups have proven technology and are hungry for international partnerships to further commercialize their knowledge. At the recently concluded Singapore International Energy Week, clean technologies from numerous Canadian companies were on display. Many Canadian firms are still in the early stages of exploring the Asian market with technologies that have succeeded in other economies. Many are actively seeking regional partnerships – partnerships that could easily be taken by Singaporean firms looking to expand internationally. In partnering with Canadian researchers, Singaporean entrepreneurs in technology can also open new avenues for the continued development of Singapore’s top notch tech and innovation infrastructure. With Canada’s world leading research,Singaporean firms could also be supporting national development through the inflow of high quality technology transfer. For example, the Southwest Ontario region of Canada, traditionally Canada’s Manufacturing Heartland, is being increasingly recognized as a hub of world leading research. Known for bordering the world’s busiest trade frontier with the United States (the Windsor-Detroit crossing), the region is also home to a large number of world class research Universities, include the University of Western Ontario and University of Waterloo. Involved in research around healthcare, ICT’s and clean energy technologies, there are numerous opportunities for technology transfer from this, and other, Canadian regions. The world famous BlackBerry is one example of research at the University of Waterloo that was commercialized for success. Leveraging the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Finally, Singaporean business owners are now used to being on the doorstep to Asia and leveraging growth opportunities in the region. Likewise, Canada, in addition to its own strengths as anindependent economy, is on the doorstep of the world’s largest economy, the United States. Despite the downturn, the American bilateral trade relationship with Canada’s remains the world’s largest.NAFTA links 450 million people producing over US$17 trillion in goods and services. Singaporean startups can easily be a part of this economic model. A company can, for example, create a headquarters in entrepreneur-friendly Canada,while leveraging NAFTA to access American and Mexican markets. So while Asia provides great opportunities for Singapore’s growing entrepreneurial sector, and continues to be a light amidst the darkness of international economic uncertainty, there are still opportunities available in the developed economies of the West. A bit of research intoCanada may yield some greatopportunities for Singaporean firms and investors. 

Nothing beats than having a place to call your own, this has been an entrenched Asian mindset, especially in the context of land scarce cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo, where having a place is a luxury but ironically, also an essential. Additionally, having a home is very much desirable in these cities as the society’s pace have been fairly fast in these places, adding on to the stress where working professionals are very much hopeful of having a place to connect with oneself at the end of the day and to re-charge for the following day’s requirements.

Business is all about growth. If you don’t believe me, read any of the great economists, from Karl Marx to J.M Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter or Milton Friedman. Whether they are monetarists or political theorists, whether they concentrate on demand or supply, they all end up believing in some kind of business cycle.

In our global community, talented people are making more connections and career moves than ever before. Technology advancements are removing barriers to working across borders, and those with transferable skills can choose from multiple avenues of work. More than ever, people view their skills as a tradable asset, as their prime competitive advantage and the key to unlocking their future potential.

Many CEOs and CFOs have told me that the return-on-investment (ROI) of branding can’t be measured. I don’t blame them because the consulting industry has come up with complicated measures of branding success or nothing at all. Branding ROI can actually be measured but that requires you to first understand what a brand is.

Innovation is about finding better ways of doing - What?

What do you look for in an airport? Speed in and out, relaxation, convenience, F&B and shopping outlets, wi-fi….butterflies, forests, cinemas, massage oh sorry the last few are just in Singapore.

I confess…I am an Angry Birds addict. For the benefit of readers who have not experienced this phenomenon, Angry Birds is a puzzle video game, in which players have to throw angry birds on pigs that have stolen the birds’ eggs. Since its launch in December 2009, over 12 million copies have been downloaded from the Apple App Store, making it the number one paid app in over 50 stores from Moldova to Singapore. More compelling is the fact that the total number of hours consumed by Angry Birds players worldwide is roughly 200 million minutes a day, which translates into 1.2 billion hours a year.

Cloud computing is here and SMEs in Singapore need to embrace it. The transition to public or private clouds is gaining pace as companies in Singapore realize the potential for transforming business capabilities and driving new innovative services. Cloud computing in Singapore is expected to grow 43 per cent over the next five years, exceeding the forecast of 29 per cent in the region.

Since 2010, South-East Asia has consolidated its position as an important contributor to the global downstream market with Petronas’ recent announcement of its plan to build the new RAPID facility in Malaysia one further example of the region’s growing importance.

Despite global uncertainty our latest Hays Quarterly Report for the October-December quarter shows there are still a number of areas actively hiring as companies pursue aggressive growth and expansion plans. The market continues to remain active following ongoing investment by the government and private investors in a number of key sectors including oil and gas, pharmaceutical, R&D, banking and financial services and tourism.