Rarely has a technological innovation been so promising yet seemingly so difficult to understand as big data. Proponents of the technology envision a world in which companies have access to near-limitless points of data about their customers and their activities; information that until recently, could never have been quantifiable or utilized to make better decisions. Yet, businesses that are determined to harness this potential often find themselves hardly knowing where to begin.
In our special feature, we have assembled a thorough introduction to the technology by learning from leading experts who not only study big data from a technical perspective, but also how it can have a transformative effect on companies that are strategic in its adaption.
Also in this issue family business stories from Italy, Finland, the UK, Peru, Switzerland, Canada, and more.
Articles
Interview with Silvia Damiani, Guido Damiani, and Giorgio Damiani, Damiani, Italy
Valenza nestles in the hilly countryside of Piedmont, Italy. Known as the Italian Capital of Jewellery it is home to many star brands of the industry but few...
Interview with Peter Seligson, Chairman of Antti Ahlström Perilliset Oy.
What are the signs that an industry is in decline? When is it time to divest from underperforming products and holdings? How does one know that such a drastic decision...
Voice computing is the hottest trend in technology today. Companies from Apple to Amazon are fiercely competing to emerge victorious in the voice computing market, which many experts say is the future of computing; a world in which people...
Interview with Rebecca Falder and Jonathan Falder, 5th generation, HMG Paints.
Creating a successful family business is as challenging a task as one could hope to find. Creating one with a strong culture where family and non-family members alike have...
Family businesses are crucial to the welfare of economies around the world, contributing over 70% to global GDP. While they are pillars of growth and job creation, family enterprises all face the same challenge -how to prepare the next...
Interview with Prof. Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University
Every generation faces a technological trend or breakthrough that revolutionises business, even if we can’t always entirely predict how. In the...
Interview with Michael Haenlein, Professor of Marketing at ESCP Europe, Associate Dean of the ESCP Europe Executive PhD Program and Director of the ESCP Europe Research Center on Big Data.
The ways big data is impacting today’s business climate may...
Interview with Matt Toner, Founder, Playground, Canada
If one were to engage in a game of word association, the immediate response to Big Data would, in all likelihood, not be Playground. The former conjures up images of high tech devices...
Interview with Dr. Gah-Yi Ban, Assistant Professor of Management Science and Operation, London Business School
One of the greatest opportunities Big Data has brought businesses is the ability to find ways to optimise operations along the value chain. In fact,...
Interview with Professor Ratna Chinnam, Wayne State University
What is the ideal purpose of big data in today’s business environment? This is a question Ratna Chinnam has been exploring for more than a quarter century now. Dr. Chinnam is one...
Opening up a new location or expanding into a satellite office is hardly something that happens overnight, as evidenced by Amazon's continued quest to find a new site for what they dub "HQ2" somewhere in the United States. In a move...
Interview with Samuel Dyer, Founder and President D&C Group, Peru
Husband-and-wife team Samuel Dyer and Rosa Coriat were both born into entrepreneurial families. Samuel’s family moved from the country to Peru’s capital Lima when he was ten years old where...
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) made their first appearance in 2015 and raised over $6 billion for startups in 2017. Early figures suggest that these remarkable figures will be surpassed in 2018, leading many to ask what are ICOs, what’s...
Excellence and Emotion in Exclusive Timepieces
Zannetti is an artisanal luxury watch designer and producer that can trace its roots back to the early 1900s, when its founder, Carmine Zannetti, began crafting unique handmade legacy timepieces and jewellery for elite...
Interview with Andreas Kuster, CEO of Jakob’s Basler Leckerly, Switzerland
It can’t be easy taking on a new business where the product not only has a long and storied history but is also part of a nation’s cultural heritage. Just...
Whenever there is any form of disagreement, whether it’s at governance, business, or personal levels, good negotiations play a critical role in building bridges to arrive at a solution that is acceptable to all parties. The importance of good...
Interview with Chloe Read, Co-Founder of Newgate, UK
Jim and Chloe Read have been navigating the rocky road to entrepreneurial success for near to three decades now. The husband-and-wife team founded their business Newgate in their early twenties and in...
Interview with Dr. Pilar Marques, Chamber of Commerce Chair of Family Business, University of Girona, Spain
The Spanish academic community has long been a forerider in advocating the importance of the family business research field. One of these fervent advocates...
