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Full-Text Articles in Business
Twitter: High On Celebrity Gossip, Low On News Discussion, Knowledge@Smu
Twitter: High On Celebrity Gossip, Low On News Discussion, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
The news media are going through their most robust transformation since the dawn of the printing press, in large part due to the Internet and message sharing services like Twitter. As news agencies gear up to find out how they can make use of social media, businesses have also wondered how tapping on this new phenomenon can help them increase their customer reach. The first step to doing it is to understand the information sharing habits of these users.
Creativity Meets Cash: An Unlikely Pair?, Knowledge@Smu
Creativity Meets Cash: An Unlikely Pair?, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
There has long been a perception that creativity and money are somewhat opposed to one another. Profitable artists are sometimes seen as sell-outs while risk-averse corporations are seldom regarded as centres of creativity. Yet, for survival, businesses need to be creative and the creative-types need to eat. In the book, Brainfruit: Turning creativity into cash from East to West, authors Hugh Mason and SMU associate professor Mark Chong provide a slew of practical ideas for anyone aspiring to build or understand the business of creativity.
Knowledge As A Driver Of Growth And Development In Asia, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge As A Driver Of Growth And Development In Asia, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Many Asian economies are in the process of transitioning from an industrial-led growth model to a more knowledge-based one. While some have seen greater success than others, several challenges have arisen in recent years, in particular, with rapid advancements in information-communications technology. These changes are discussed in 'Beyond the Knowledge Trap: Developing Asia's Knowledge-based Economies', a book that presents a range of studies to show how Asian countries are adapting and addressing some of the new issues brought about by changes within a more complex and globalised environment.
The Central Role Of Information Systems In Managing Crises, Knowledge@Smu
The Central Role Of Information Systems In Managing Crises, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Important decisions should be taken with the best information available. Such an axiom may not apply, however, in large-scale emergency situations where officials would find themselves in a bind, unable to access accurate data yet faced with huge responsibilities to be effective at work. These complexities led a team of researchers, including SMU's associate professor of accounting, Gary Pan, to examine how information systems may facilitate management and coordination work at times of crises.
Business Strategies For Emerging Markets: Agility, Size And Taste, Knowledge@Smu
Business Strategies For Emerging Markets: Agility, Size And Taste, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Success in a new emerging market depends on many factors, such as market size, its purchasing power, and competition. Marketing strategies are critical for success too. While many companies have traditionally opted to localise their brands, a group of speakers at SMU's Centre for Emerging Markets believe that businesses need to be far more agile in differentiating themselves for local customers – especially as markets become increasingly global and homogenous.
Cloud Computing: Low Cost High-Rise Living For Small And Medium Businesses, Knowledge@Smu
Cloud Computing: Low Cost High-Rise Living For Small And Medium Businesses, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
The proposition that one can cut costs whilst increasing operation efficiencies should be music to the ears for all business owners. Yet, many are adopting a wait-and-see approach to cloud computing - a scalable information technology service that supports a wide range of computing needs, and at the same time, minimises the burdens of IT ownership, maintenance and management. Speaking at a UOB-SMU Entrepreneurship Alliance Centre seminar, IT services entrepreneur Moonshi Mohsenruddin offered tips and pointers on how businesses may harness the power and efficiencies of operating on the cloud.
Measuring Social Networks For Real-Time Competitive Advantage, Knowledge@Smu
Measuring Social Networks For Real-Time Competitive Advantage, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Social networks offer up a goldmine of information. Save for privacy concerns, it has never before been easier for researchers to understand the needs and wants of their subjects or to examine links between the likes and dislikes of connected individuals. Going beyond the report of human quirks over the internet, however, web 2.0 data has practical uses too, especially for professionals in finance and marketing. At the 3rd International Conference on Social Informatics, hosted by SMU's School of Information Systems, academics discussed the hurdles and real-world benefits of data mining.
Avoiding Road Bumps: Four Reliable Wheels For Biomedical Start-Ups, Knowledge@Smu
Avoiding Road Bumps: Four Reliable Wheels For Biomedical Start-Ups, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Starting up a business in the biomedical industry is much like driving a car. According to Ting Choon Meng, a doctor and chief executive officer of HealthStats Singapore, there are four main 'wheels' that the entreprenuers must learn to operate. And just as in a real car, all four wheels must run in unison, or the business will not advance according to plan.
Risky Ventures With Possibly No Returns: The Allure Of The "Wonderful But Weird World Of Biotechnology", Knowledge@Smu
Risky Ventures With Possibly No Returns: The Allure Of The "Wonderful But Weird World Of Biotechnology", Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Entrepreneurs in the biotech industry require large risk thresholds. For one, the business of research is an expensive one, the results of which may not necessarily translate to commercial viability. Investors with the foresight and patience for such long-term, high-risk ventures are also hard to come by. At a talk organised by SMU's Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Dr. Steven Fang, founder of CordLife, shared insights on what 'biotechopreneurship' entails.
An Entrepreneur’S Voyage, With The Five Rs As His Guide, Knowledge@Smu
An Entrepreneur’S Voyage, With The Five Rs As His Guide, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Behind the glamour of the booming marine industry, are the various supporting players like ship chandlers and maintenance service providers that help keep the vessels well-oiled and their crews well fed. In a recent talk organised by SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Danny Lien, founder of Amos International, shares how he run this business based on relationship, reputation, resilience, realism and recreation.
The Business Of Art, The Art Of Business, Knowledge@Smu
The Business Of Art, The Art Of Business, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Fuelled by her life-long passion for the arts, Krisstel Martin chucked aside her degree in finance and banking to open an art gallery. At a recent talk organised by SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Martin, owner of a gallery named after herself, shares the intricacies of dealing with prospective buyers, the joys of dealing with artists, and the passion and satisfaction of immersing herself in a business that she loves.
The Indian Dream: How Former Subjects Of The Licence Raj Overcome Odds On The Path To Successful Entrepreneurship, Knowledge@Smu
The Indian Dream: How Former Subjects Of The Licence Raj Overcome Odds On The Path To Successful Entrepreneurship, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Not many Asian parents will pull their child from school to help out in the family business. AVS Raju, owner of Indian construction company, Nagarjuna, did just that. Speaking at a recent Wee Kim Wee Centre talk at SMU, author Peter Church shared Raju's story, along with that of several other successful Indian entrepreneurs who are making their fortunes in areas such as textile, hotels, and airlines – amid a backdrop of poverty, hardship and red tape.
From Information Technology To Ice-Cream: One Man's Entrepreneurial Quest For Happiness, Knowledge@Smu
From Information Technology To Ice-Cream: One Man's Entrepreneurial Quest For Happiness, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Medal-winning fencer Wong Toon King is not some swash-buckling corporate hot shot, slashing and hacking at business rivals. Rather, the former government scholar turned serial entrepreneur believes that the important ingredients to building businesses include not just good ideas, but also a knack of identifying trends and a good sense of timing. Most importantly, entrepreneurs need to be happy at what they are doing – even if it means scooping and serving Ben & Jerry's ice-cream every day, said the founder of The Happy People Co., local franchisee of the popular brand of ice-cream.
Friendships, Trust And Advertisers: The Art Of Mining Social Networks, Knowledge@Smu
Friendships, Trust And Advertisers: The Art Of Mining Social Networks, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
The exponential growth of social networking sites over the past few years has not escaped the attention of business and government leaders, many of whom are now scrambling to uncover how best to exploit social interactions online for monetary or political gains. However, before any benefit can be realised and reaped, patterns in the relationships between users on these networks need to be analysed and understood; and to do that, there is a need to first unearth and organise data. Academics and industry practitioners exchanged their findings at a recent School of Information Systems workshop.
Amazon's Clout: World's Largest Online Retailer Joins The Cloud Computing Camp, Knowledge@Smu
Amazon's Clout: World's Largest Online Retailer Joins The Cloud Computing Camp, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Many organisations invest heavily in information technology, acquiring the best IT equipment, backup for the best IT equipment, and hiring highly skilled and reputable IT consultants and vendors. While a great IT infrastructure will be critical to business success, its escalating costs have become somewhat prohibitive, thanks, in part, to a vicious lock-in cycle that handcuffs organisations to heavy machines. Enter cloud computing – a new paradigm in IT management that slashes capital expenditure and operating costs. Amazon.com, which runs the world's largest online retail store on a cloud, believes that cloud computing is the way forward for the connected …
Keys To Better Capitalism And Human Welfare: Entrepreneurship, Knowledge@Smu
Keys To Better Capitalism And Human Welfare: Entrepreneurship, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
The word “entrepreneurship”, despite its universal prevalence today, was a relatively new term that entered common lexicon only a few decades ago. Yet, there is no denying the role that entrepreneurs play in creating wealth, not merely for themselves, but also opportunities and welfare for large swathes of the populace, benefitting the overall economy. At a recent talk, Carl J. Schramm, president and CEO of the Kaufmann Foundation, reinforces the case for entrepreneurship and debunks some common views on who “entrepreneurs” are.
Redefining The Library In The Age Of Google And Wikipedia, Knowledge@Smu
Redefining The Library In The Age Of Google And Wikipedia, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
There used to be a time where people would visit the library and shuffle between books in search for information. Back then, successful library vists hinged considerably on luck – if the book is available; if it can be located in the spot that corresponds to its call number; and if, once found, the book actually contained information relevant to what one might be looking for. Today, Google can tell us if a book is available at our library. Better yet, it can throw up thousands of search results to our query, thus saving us a trip to the library.
Developing An Advanced High-Tech Entrepreneurial Habitat, Knowledge@Smu
Developing An Advanced High-Tech Entrepreneurial Habitat, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Technology, in and of itself, cannot transform ideas to profits. According to William Miller, a professor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, having the technology that the market wants is only part of the game. To be successful, technology requires other necessary conditions to be in place – an ecosystem of talent, money, trade, education, art, even lawyers – to grow and flourish. The challenge, however, is in getting the hardware-software combination right.
From Imitators To Inventors: China’S Changing Innovation Landscape, Knowledge@Smu
From Imitators To Inventors: China’S Changing Innovation Landscape, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Long derided as an economic entity happier to copy than to invent, the number of patents filed and assigned in China has been growing at 13% annually in the two decades to 2006, with a total of 1.1 million patents awarded. Private enterprises, after a slow start, are now leading the charge in securing an ever bigger number of patents, especially after 2001. Individuals, meanwhile, are the second most prolific group. What causes this surge in patent applications? What are some of the issues involved? SMU management professor Kenneth Huang details findings from a recent study.
Right Up Our Valley: Why Singapore Ought To Quit Copying Silicon Valley, Knowledge@Smu
Right Up Our Valley: Why Singapore Ought To Quit Copying Silicon Valley, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
For a small piece of land with no natural resources to offer, Singapore's economy relies a lot on its strategic geographical location, human talents, as well as a penchant for wanting to be the global, and if not, regional 'hub' for commerce, arts and sciences. Where technology is concerned, the one to beat is Silicon Valley. A tall order, perhaps, but the draw is unmistakably alluring. On its own, the Valley boasts a GDP of US$100 billion, generating more wealth per person than anywhere else in the USA. Not content with just salivating over that piece of the pie, Singapore …
Bringing Ideas To Life: Tapping On Design's Strategic Value, Knowledge@Smu
Bringing Ideas To Life: Tapping On Design's Strategic Value, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Before Apple can wow its legions of devotees and win over new ones with its latest offerings, it needs a group of industrial designers to work their magic first. Highly integral to a product’s success yet often falling below the radar screen as a profession, industrial design involves a unique combination of factors – from studying market trends and human behaviour to conjuring new product categories. But what does it take for organisations to cultivate industrial design as a key competency?
Entrepreneurs Share Their Formula For Success: Failure, Knowledge@Smu
Entrepreneurs Share Their Formula For Success: Failure, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Entrepreneurship is so often associated with risk-taking that in safety-seeking Singapore, it would be quite natural to assume a rather weak spirit of enterprise. Such an assumption, of course, would only be partly true. After all, successful entrepreneurs need to possess more than just an appetite for risk; they need to be skilled at harvesting talent, tapping on their networks and navigating around business environments. Can such successes be taught? Panellists at a recent forum seem to think so – but only to a limited extent. They draw distinctions between formulaic prescriptions and advice, saying that while there are no …
Successful Technopreneurship 2.0: Beyond Buzzwords And Technology, Knowledge@Smu
Successful Technopreneurship 2.0: Beyond Buzzwords And Technology, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
If entrepreneurship requires true grit, then technopreneurship – a new-age term that describes entrepreneurship in technology sectors – is quite likely the ultimate test, given the highly dynamic nature of technological innovation and its dependency on a host of external factors. Would the iPhone have succeeded without the App store? Could the Blu-Ray have taken off without the backing of major Hollywood studios? Will people buy GPS systems without maps? Such are considerations that technopreneurs have little influence over, but must always bear in mind because technology, in and of itself, bears little meaning for end-consumers.
Think Setting Up A Business Is Easy? Think Again!, Knowledge@Smu
Think Setting Up A Business Is Easy? Think Again!, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Entrepreneurship stories are like fairytales. The rags-to-riches stories of college dropouts turned successful multimillionaires provide many an overworked and underappreciated employee with idealism and inspiration: to ditch a life of conventions and to pursue one's passions. But don't be naïve, says Wong Hoong An, chief evangelist officer of the popular local food website, HungryGoWhere.com. There are too many questions to consider, such as 'Can you live with a pittance of a salary for years?' and 'Do you relish change, instability and volatility?'
From Post-Its To Face-Bras: How 3m Puts Innovation Into Practice, Knowledge@Smu
From Post-Its To Face-Bras: How 3m Puts Innovation Into Practice, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Most people are familiar with the genesis of the Post-it, 3M's signature yellow sticky pad: an accidental outcome that followed the discovery of a non-permanent adhesive. While innovations as such might be viewed as a fluke – an invention that occurred by chance – it is helpful to note that certain environments and conditions can render an organisation more 'accident'-prone. Geoff Nicholson, the "father" of 3M's line of Post-it Note products and an advocate of "risky business" behaviours, shared his insights and observations at SMU recently.
What Do Egyptian Tomb Raiders And Martial-Arts-Loving Entrepreneurs Have In Common?, Knowledge@Smu
What Do Egyptian Tomb Raiders And Martial-Arts-Loving Entrepreneurs Have In Common?, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Some ancient Egyptians make stuffed animals to accompany their dead in their after-life, others raid the tombs for these animals to sell for a profit. For Chatri Trisiripisal, a 38-year-old self made millionaire, besides making his money running hedge funds and property investments, he also does so holding martial arts classes. According to Trisiripisal, chasing such entrepreneurial dreams requires one to be “crazy” sometimes. What are the other attributes that a bidding entrepreneur should have?
The Idea Of Creativity, The Creativity Behind An Idea, Knowledge@Smu
The Idea Of Creativity, The Creativity Behind An Idea, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Many people believe that creativity is important to their line of work – from salespeople to accountants, lawyers to administrators – but few people seem to believe that they have what it takes to be creative. Even fewer people think that their employers are helping them to be creative. What lies behind the mystical creativity holy grail that makes it so elusive yet incredibly seductive? Creativity expert Fredrik Härén provides some insights into how we think about creativity and what makes companies like Google, Apple and Pixar tick.
Doing More With Mobile Networks: More Users, More Uses?, Knowledge@Smu
Doing More With Mobile Networks: More Users, More Uses?, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
With so many mobile devices entering the market, from hand phones to laptops and now, iPads and Kindles, it is no wonder that more and more people are jumping on board the mobile bandwagon. However, are today's mobile networks designed to serve and connect a fast expanding number of users? It makes sense that when too many users enter a network, that network will become congested and connectivity will be compromised – or will it? According to SMU information systems assistant professor Kyriakos Mouratidis, "spatial optimisation" of existing connection points within a network may break new grounds in enhancing the …
Big Blue’S Next Big Act: Smarter Technology For A Smarter Planet, Knowledge@Smu
Big Blue’S Next Big Act: Smarter Technology For A Smarter Planet, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
Everything seems to be going digital – our television sets, phones, the ways in which we communicate with each other, perform transactions or apply for permits – all in the name of pristine pictures, crystal clear sounds, paperless administration and fast, unencumbered access to data – all important features of the good life, for sure. But are we necessarily better off? We could be, given that "digitalisation" allows us to see and do things differently; to be more intelligent than we have ever been before, says IT giant IBM. And it is this belief that underscores the company's worldwide "Smarter …
In Support Of A Cashless Future, Researchers Recreate A Cash-Like Experience, Knowledge@Smu
In Support Of A Cashless Future, Researchers Recreate A Cash-Like Experience, Knowledge@Smu
Knowledge@SMU
The mobile phone is piece of technology so loved, that some have referred to it as a “phantom limb”. To personalise and get the most out of this “limb”, people have been known to spend lots of time and money, decorating their precious phones with screen protectors, fancy ringtones, wallpapers, themes and ‘apps’. Many have even been caught fiddling with this device while driving! With a national mobile penetration rate of close to 140 percent (which suggests some people may have more “limbs” than others), it seems only natural to fantasise about incorporating the mobile phone into other favourite pastimes, …