Commentary

Calvino loved the term consultant. Men with vague titles were drawn to zone life. Every grifter in S.E. ASsia was some kind of consultant’. Christopher Moore , Comfort Zone, 1995. Organizations employ consultants to do things that they can’t do themselves. Or things that they, either haven’t got the time or inclination to do themselves. Consultancy covers a wide range of activities. But for the purpose of this article, let me confine it to management consultancy. The origins of management consultancy are originally Anglo-American. Even today the term ‘management consultant’ remains synonymous with these two countries. In the Beginning. The first management consultants emerged during the 1890s in the US. Their role was to help manufacturing companies raise productivity. However, in those days, they were not called management consultants but industrial engineers.

In Singapore, it has been found that the focus of salespeople has been to master product knowledge above all else. This belief seems consistent with capable salespeople who are goal oriented and competitive but lack the competencies to break through the success barrier.

Facebook has gone through many major design changes throughout the recent months. First, we had to adjust our personal profile experience to the Facebook Timeline, which opened up more pictures and chronicled our lives faster and easier through images, video and content.

It’s not just in Singapore. But tape-recorded conversations find that roughly 80–90 spoken words each day in general — 0.5% to 0.7% of all words — are swear words, with usage varying from between 0% to 3.4%.

In an ever changing business landscape like Singapore, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are constantly on the lookout for business opportunities. The key questions are: how do you set yourself apart from your competitors and how can you craft that winning formula of creating a unique selling point that could bring you business success?

Many of our clients include both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) brands, sometimes described as corporate versus FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods). While much is made of the differences between these types of brands, they share a core objective: to create an emotional connection with the customer.

Global businesses and modern technology are fuelling an increase in remote working across Singapore, which could lead to greater employee satisfaction and lower operating costs.

Developers’ launches met with slower sales

British expats live and travel to some very exotic places in connection with work or leisure. Unfortunately some geographical locations in Asia are rife with incidents of kidnapping.

Leadership is a delicate skill that needs time to develop. An authentic leader prepares well over time, and understands the consequences of his or her actions.

In recent years, Singapore’s popular press has been all over the immigration debate - painting an entire gallery of pictures. Ageing workforces, a shrinking labour pool, jobs locals don’t want to do, the government’s view on economic growth, the public angst, overcrowding concerns and various ministers weighing in on topics ranging from infrastructure development, inflation, to transient talent. A nerve has been touched, and everyone has an opinion. Yet, the current debate is built on noticeably 20th century foundations - namely locational identity, fiscal considerations and protectionism.

As the war for talent for banking and finance specialist heats up, robust hiring practices become even more important – as companies with arduous recruitment processes will quickly lose top talent to competitors.

In 2005, when Affle was found, Anuj Khanna Sohum’s third company, dedicated to the use of mobile technology, it was getting clearer that mobile media will be a force to reckon with.

Even as architects all over the world conceptualised with new materials and innovative design solutions as media of creative expression , timber has long been a classic favourite. But how is timber used in homes and buildings today? Do we see it as an eco-friendly material or one that damages the environment because thousands of trees in forests have to be felled to make furniture, furnishings or building materials?

Forget the enduring stereotypical image of the grey suited company man with his Mitsubishi car, Mitsubishi wife and Mitsubishi job for life.

There has been rising interest of late for professionals in Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) methods and operational excellence, making them some of the most sought-after this year.