Recent Articles
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Will the lodging industry’s supply growth outpace demand?
Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe COVID-19 vaccination rate is climbing steadily in the U.S. At its current rate, three in four people, or 75% of eligible residents, will be vaccinated by June. Businesses are reopening. The U.S. economy is now operating at 88% of its pre-pandemic level, with hope for continuous improvement. According to STR, a world-leading provider for data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for hotels, the U.S. lodging industry reported the highest demand and occupancy levels since the pandemic began for the week ending April 10. Furthermore, the U.S. opened 220 properties, or 26,057 rooms, in the first quarter of 2021.
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Why the success of earned value management hinges on repeatable processes
Manny Abela Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementProject teams working for national science labs, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense rely on a project management approach known as earned value management (EVM) to deliver initiatives on time and on budget. Too many projects, however, face hefty delays in reporting and certification and struggle to onboard new team members due to the extraordinarily complex methods used to deploy EVM — methods that vary with each project. Instead of creating fully custom EVM processes for each project, organizations should standardize EVM and establish repeatable processes that can be used across all projects.
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How the changes in Amazon’s affiliate program impact businesses
Domingo Karsten MarketingAmazon’s affiliate program was first launched to the general public in 1996, making it among the first programs of its kind. Since then, the program has grown to become an important revenue channel for Amazon and millions of marketers, with affiliates promoting more than 350 million products yearly. As with all affiliate programs, the Amazon Associates program has gone through many changes through the years. In 2020, the company announced a set of updates that affected a lot of businesses. In this piece, I’ll discuss what these changes are and the best way to adapt.
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Survey: Employee incentives don’t align with their preferences
Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIt’s important for employers to show appreciation for their workers. However, a recent survey reveals that many organizations are missing the mark in terms of incentives and rewards. Blackhawk’s "Employee Appreciation Survey" reveals that 80% of employees believe that it is important for employers to celebrate workplace accomplishments, anniversaries, and achievements and 86% of employees want their employer to express appreciation for their personal contributions. "The biggest mistake employers are making today is in not offering rewards and incentives to their employees," says Betty Weinkle, director of partnerships at Blackhawk Network.
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How AI is affecting commercial real estate now and what to expect in near…
Stewart Dunlop Science & TechnologyArtificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that is currently transforming almost all industries, from the IT sector and marketing to agriculture and everything in between. Commercial real estate is not an exception.
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How to achieve customer service excellence with social listening
Victorio Duran III MarketingBusinesses are using social media as part of their marketing strategy more and more, helping build brand awareness and boost sales. Leveraging your social channels has become even more critical as it seems working from home is here to stay. Customers crave engagement and interaction. Since most of our shopping is now done online, you must create a customer experience (CX) that’s personalized and connects to users. Take it a step further and amp up engagement by incorporating social media customer support into your strategy with social listening.
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What’s the BIG Idea? Episode 2: Steve Jurash on leading through crisis
Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIn this video, Hank Boyer visits with Steve Jurash, president of the 5,000-plus member Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia (MAP). MAP represents several hundred thousand manufacturing employees. In March 2020, Jurash led MAP through an incredibly challenging period of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, an event that brought manufacturing everywhere to a sudden halt. With several hundred thousand employees' lives affected by his decision-making, Jurash faced one of his most challenging periods of leadership. He shares more than 20 best practices effective leaders use to navigate during periods of crisis.
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How companies can accommodate working parents during the pandemic
Indiana Lee Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementOur current pandemic has caused shifts in many industries. One of the most prevalent is the necessity to move to remote operations. It’s worth acknowledging that working from home can be the ideal scenario for many employees. However, it has not been entirely positive for all employees. Parents who work from home have been faced with additional challenges. Let’s take a look at a few of the key areas where human resources professionals can best assist parents in this situation and influence the positive direction of remote operations.
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How and where to invest in Africa: The next investment frontier
Brian Wallace Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe world is changing — innovation is everywhere around the globe, and it’s time to set our sights on a new land of opportunity — Africa. Chances are, you attribute tech unicorns to Silicon Valley, but consider that Africa is on the financial rise. In the year 2019 alone, the five fastest-growing economies in the world were in Africa (Ghana, South Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Cote d'Ivoire) — and were expanding at a rate of more than double the worldwide average.
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Bridging the gap between school safety and emotional wellness during a…
Lynn Scott and Kiera Anderson EducationThe National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments defines emotional safety as experiences in which one feels safe to express emotions, confidence to take risks, and feels challenged and excited to try something new. They conclude emotionally safe learning environments can be achieved by making social-emotional learning (SEL) an essential part of education. Emotional and physical safety allows the brain to be in a prepared state to learn. Now more than ever, schools have an indispensable obligation to seize the opportunity, evaluate past practices, and adopt new methods to bridge the gap between physical safety and emotional wellness.