Uber looks to create travel ‘superapp’ by adding planes, trains and rental cars

            Uber is driving ahead with its plan to become a travel “superapp”. The San Francisco-headquartered firm announced Wednesday that it is adding trains, buses, planes and car rentals to its U.K. app this year. The move is part of a pilot that could be expanded to other countries at a later date if it goes well.
While Uber won’t provide these travel services itself, it will allow users to book them through its app following software integrations...

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Navigating the Cultural Minefield of E-Mail Salutations

  Most of us work within a shared business culture where we understand the language cues. Those of us who work across cultures, however, experience the minefield of communicating with people in other countries using our own cultural shorthand. Surprisingly, this applies even to the simple act of signing off an e-mail. A recent article in BBC News discussed the perils of signing an e-mail "regards" or "sincerely" when sending it to an acquaintance in another country. An American would find...

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How to create connections at work in the age of isolation

  If you are feeling isolated at work, even in the midst of a busy office, you are not alone. A recent survey of more than 2,000 managers and employees found that employees depend on technology to communicate with their colleagues. The methods are led by e-mail (45 percent) and followed by text messaging (15 percent) and instant messaging (12 percent). Of those who cited e-mail, more than 40 percent said "they felt lonely always or often, were not engaged and had a high need...

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US Startups Optimistic Business Conditions will Improve

  In its recently released Startup Outlook Report, Silicon Valley Bank shared the results of its survey of 1,400 founders and executives of global startups. The survey found these entrepreneurs upbeat about their business prospects. "The 2019 report series finds that despite economic and political uncertainty across the globe, startups are generally optimistic about their business opportunities, and they plan to raise capital and expand their workforces this year," concluded the report authors. Among the survey respondents were over...

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Nike Opens Nike NYC House of Innovation

  NIKE, Inc. opened its new Nike House of Innovation on November 15. Nike NYC, as it is called, is a 68,000 sq. ft., six-level, cross-category premium Nike store, with a 650 Fifth Ave. address. Nike NYC is "the pinnacle expression of modern retail, representing the best of Nike global product, experiences and sport innovation," according to their press release. Powered by digital commerce data and inspired by Nike’s newest retail concept, Nike Live, the ground floor features the new Nike Speed...

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Artificial Intelligence: The Robots Are Now Hiring

Artificial Intelligence Hiring Tools HUB Consulting Nearly all Fortune 500 companies now use some form of automation in their hiring process, as noted in this Wall Street Journal article. From robot avatars interviewing job candidates to computers weeding out potential employees by scanning keywords in resumes, these companies are looking at AI tools to help. And more and more companies are using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to assess possible employees. This...

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Generation X — not millennials — is changing the nature of work

jobs, iot

The generation that is quickly occupying the majority of business leadership roles is one that's grown up playing video games, spends the most time shopping online, and uses social media more habitually than any other generation. If you were thinking it's millennials, that's probably because they've dominated the media's focus for the past decade. But it's actually Generation X, which covers those born between 1965 and 1981 by our...

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The Economics of the Office: Why Do We Still Commute?

commute economics

Over the last year, many companies have ended their liberal work-from-home policies. Firms like IBM, Honeywell, and Aetna joined a long list of others that have deemed it more profitable to force employees to commute to the city and work in a central office than give them the flexibility to work where they want. It wasn't supposed to be this way—at least according to Norman Macrae.   In 1975, when...

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Professional Freelancing within the Gig Economy

Discussing the drought of IT skills in today's economy can be an intriguing and alarming conversation. Even with the abundance of post-secondary tech-specialized education programs that are now being offered, along with  the market's awareness increasing for the value that is provided by full-time equivalent specialists (FTEs), the gap is still quite significant. In fact, according to Bloomberg reports, approximately 45% of today's small businesses are unable to find qualified applicants to fill their job vacancies within the technology...

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