Friday, April 24, 2020
Business Intelligence and Analytics 61
1 Global CEOs see U-shaped recession due to coronavirus: survey
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-business-survey-idUSKCN22403M
Global business leaders are preparing for a drawn-out U-shaped recession due to the impact of coronavirus and many fear their companies won’t survive the pandemic, a survey of thousands of chief executives showed on Wednesday.
2 IHS slashes 2020 global light vehicle sales outlook on coronavirus hit
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ihs-auto-sales-idUSKCN2232CS
Data firm IHS Markit sharply lowered its 2020 forecast for global light vehicle sales on Tuesday and warned that the United States will take the biggest hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
IHS, which closely tracks automotive sales and production trends, said it expects global light vehicle sales to fall 22% to 70.3 million units in 2020, from prior estimates of a more than 12% drop.
3 Supply chain threatened with collapse, Woodmac warns
https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/237028/supply-chain-threatened-with-collapse-woodmac-warns/
The upstream supply chain “faces the very real threat of collapse”, a new report from Wood Mackenzie has warned, setting the industry on the path of another crisis as demand recovers.
Suppliers and equipment providers are still in the process of recovering the last downturn, from 2014-16. Operators have taken steps amid the current crisis to cut hard and fast, securing their own survival but putting new pressures on the supply chain.
4 How Swarm Intelligence Blends Global and Local Insight
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-swarm-intelligence-blends-global-and-local-insight/
Traders deciding on the next big market bet. A navigation app quickly mapping out a less-explored area. Fashion brands choosing the hottest color of the season. An airport managing flight delays.
What do these scenarios have in common? In each one, swarm intelligence blends global and local insight to improve how businesses make decisions.
5 Analytics, Risk and Managing the 21st Century Supply Chain
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/analytics-risk-21st-century-supply-chain/
The business of moving goods from their point of origin to their destination anywhere on Earth is no small task, and the risks seem to be growing. As the COVID-19 pandemic is making painfully clear, in this time of crisis, several challenges are associated with providing caregivers with basic tools and remedies, which we all take for granted.
6 Robots, AI, and the road to a fully autonomous construction industry
https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/23/robots-ai-and-the-road-to-a-fully-autonomous-construction-industry/
Built Robotics executives are fond of saying that their autonomous system for construction equipment, like dozers and excavators, might be further along than many autonomous vehicles. In fact, CEO Noah Ready-Campbell insists you’ll see autonomous vehicles in controlled industrial environments — like construction sites — before you see level 5 driverless cars on public roads. That may be in part because autonomous construction equipment often operates on privately owned land, while public roads face increased regulatory scrutiny.
7 Emerging Strategy Lessons from COVID-19
https://bcghendersoninstitute.com/emerging-strategy-lessons-from-covid-19-c1e5f9a7ba83
The COVID-19 crisis has posed a number of severe challenges for businesses, from reacting to the outbreak, preparing for a potential recession, anticipating an eventual rebound in demand and placing bets against the post-crisis landscape. But it also provides an opportunity for organizations to step back and assess their approach to strategy and their strategic capabilities. As the context in which businesses operate becomes more dynamic and unpredictable, driven by the pace of technological change and a high degree of interconnectedness, we should expect other shocks of a similar nature moving forward, whether the trigger comes from biological pathogens, cyberattacks, market crashes, or another sources. Some will be exogenous to the business world, but some will be endogenous.
8 Coronavirus: Industrial IoT in challenging times
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/advanced-electronics/our-insights/coronavirus-industrial-iot-in-challenging-times
Industrial companies expected 2020 to bring economic pressure from ongoing trade disputes, the aftermath of Brexit, automotive-industry challenges, and slowing demand in China. But none anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would throw the global economy, and their own operations, into an unprecedented crisis. As the coronavirus continues to spread, governments, healthcare authorities, and business leaders are focused on preserving lives and containing the pandemic. In parallel, they want to lessen the humanitarian toll by protecting the livelihoods of millions of workers who are now furloughed, unemployed, or in danger of losing their jobs.
9 Managing manufacturing organizations during coronavirus
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/managing-a-manufacturing-plant-through-the-coronavirus-crisis
Frontline manufacturing staff can’t take their work to the relative safety of their homes. Plant leaders are therefore looking for ways to operate through the immediate crisis—all while preparing for a potentially much longer period of heightened uncertainty regarding demand and supply, and a lasting need to maintain enhanced hygiene and physical distancing.
10 Here’s why you can’t find frozen fries, while U.S. farmers are sitting on tons of potatoes
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-french-fries-analy-idUSKCN2261AU
Shopper Lexie Mayewski is having a hard time finding frozen french fries in Washington, D.C.-area supermarkets in the wake of coronavirus-fueled stockpiling.
On the other side of the country, Washington state farmer Mike Pink is weighing whether to plow under 30 tons of potatoes worth millions of dollars that would have been turned into french fries for fast-food chains like McDonald’s Corp, Wendy’s Co and Chick-fil-A.
11 Coronavirus stockpiling drives best Nestle sales growth in years
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nestle-results-idUSKCN2260K7
Swiss food giant Nestle (NESN.S) reported its best quarterly sales growth in nearly five years on Friday as consumers stockpiled everything from Purina pet food to Nescafe coffee to frozen meals to prepare for coronavirus lockdowns.
Sales in North America and Europe were particularly strong in March, helping to drive an overall rise of 4.3% in the first three months of the year, the fastest quarterly growth in nearly five years and above analyst expectations for a 3% increase.
12 Plastic Really Is Fantastic, and So Are the People Working in this Industry
https://www.plasticstoday.com/medical/plastic-really-fantastic-and-so-are-people-working-industry/90050551362894
During the last few weeks, we have received a deluge of press releases from plastic processors telling us about the time and resources — both human and material — they are devoting to making PPEs and other plastic products for those on the front lines of this pandemic, as well as medical devices for patients. The stories you’ve sent us are overwhelming; unfortunately, we can’t report on each initiative, but we do want to thank each and every one of you for your generous efforts to aid this country.
13 A Customer Churn Analysis Checklist
https://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/a-customer-churn-analysis-checklist-02304399
It is critical to manage churn especially in this time of uncertainty As topline growth may be stagnant due to the crisis, it’s even more important to protect your core base and reduce churn.
Customer churn analysis can provide you and your teams with valuable insight into what drives your current churn rate and potential improvements. You need to understand what outcome / value your customers are trying to achieve from your products and services. You also need to measure them and track how you are doing against delivering on the outcome. If you don’t, they will churn.
14 5 Tips for Practicing Employee Engagement Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
https://www.business2community.com/human-resources/5-tips-for-practicing-employee-engagement-amidst-the-covid-19-pandemic-02300396
The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has bought the entire world to its knees. Not even a single country which also includes some of the world’s most powerful nations are able to cope up to this crisis. And with the present-day health-care system falling apart in our fight against this unseen adversary. The only option to safeguard human lives is now depended on maintaining proper hygiene and practising social distancing.
15 Complaining is Bad for Your Company, According to Science
https://www.business2community.com/strategy/complaining-is-bad-for-your-company-according-to-science-02304061
We’re all guilty of complaining from time-to-time. And, in some situations, that’s not a bad thing.
“Complaining allows us to achieve desired outcomes such as sympathy and attention,” says Robin Kowalski, a psychology professor at Clemson University. “The truth is, everybody does it.”
But, the constant complaining. No one wants to hear it. And, more importantly, it can damage you personally and professionally.
16 Training, support duties stand out in marketing technologists’ list of responsibilities
https://martechtoday.com/training-support-duties-stand-out-in-marketing-technologists-list-of-responsibilities-240605
If you asked more than 200 marketing technologists to list their primary responsibilities, you’d think “operating marketing technology products” would be a more popular response over “training staff.” But, that doesn’t appear to be the case according to our 2020 Career Survey findings.
According to the more than 250 marketing technologists we surveyed, 82 percent listed “training and supporting marketing staff on martech products” as part of their responsibilities, compared to the 77% who listed operating marketing tech products.
17 Free High-Quality Machine Learning & Data Science Books & Courses: Quarantine Edition
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/04/machine-learning-data-science-books-courses-quarantine.html
Do you have the luxury of being stuck at home right now? Due to COVID-19, many of us are relegated to being locked down, quarantined, sheltered in place, or the like for the time being. If you find yourself in this situation and are looking for free learning materials in the way of books and courses in order to take advantage and sharpen your data science and machine learning skills, this collection of articles I have previously written curating such things is for you. Altogether, you will find links to smaller collections of just such materials, totalling more than 100 high quality books and courses.
18 American quandary: how to secure weapons-grade minerals without China
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-rareearths-insight-idUSKCN2241KF
The United States wants to curb its reliance on China for specialized minerals used to make weapons and high-tech equipment, but it faces a Catch-22.
It only has one rare earths mine – and government scientists have been told not to work with it because of its Chinese ties.
19 Batteries: Powering The Fight Against Climate Change
https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/batteries-powering-the-fight-against-climate-change/
It’s been four years since the Paris Agreement was negotiated, yet global emissions have continued to rise each year. To achieve the agreed 2°C goal, global emissions need to peak as soon as possible and trend towards net-zero by 2070.
Major cities around the world have seen significant falls in greenhouse gasses in recent weeks as the coronavirus affects work, travel and industrial activity. As a consequence, many countries will unintentionally experience lower emissions this year.
