Sessions
Positioning of Asset Management Companies in Today's Competitive Global Markets
P/E Investments is an asset management company located in Boston. The firm specializes in currency management and provides currency management solutions to clients globally. Over time, the company has been successful in overcoming the competition by regularly repositions itself in the market. The presentation will outline some of the critical developments which has allowed the firm to grow and become a leader it its field.
Opportunities in Asia for Monetization of Online Video Content
Eugene has helped his business take advantage of the explosive growth of online video creation and consumption in the emerging markets of Asia by applying the proven business models developed in the United States. Just 5 years ago most people in Asia didn't know they could make money on YouTube and now Collab Asia works with over 1400 amateur and professional content creators monetize their video content, including everything from Instagram viral videos to Kpop music videos.
Strategizing the Toy Business Through Entertainment Licensing Partnerships
From Toy Story, to Jurassic World, to up-and-coming YouTube influencers, entertainment-based toys play a crucial role in bringing competitiveness to toy companies that are facing multiple challenges today. Rita will discuss some of these challenges in the toy industry and how strategic licensing/entertainment partnerships help companies to continue to stride and succeed.
Collaboration and Going Global (Again)
Richard will share his observations how the needs of Ultra Net-worth clients have changed. Specifically as many firms have chosen not to integrate their Global Wealth Management practices. He will further share his thoughts and views how collaboration, sharing best practices and ideas have helped to find differentiated solutions for the sophisticated Ultra High Net-worth client by going Global again.
Machine Learning
Global E-Commerce Examples of American Firms E-Exporting to Asian Markets
Global e-commerce continues to grow at a rapid clip with consumers worldwide embracing the convenience, selection, and quality of products and services available through online platforms. This growth is most notable in Asia where homegrown channels such as Tmall, JD.com, Kaole, Coupang, and Rakutan continue to dominate sales by catering to market preferences. These markets have embraced mobile device sales at rates far above their Western counterparts as consumers in these markets prefer or only access the internet through mobile devices creating a unique selling environment. With low credit/debit card penetration in China this environment has spurred the growth of a variety of local mobile payment services, such as Alipay and Wechat Pay that have revolutionized the consumer experience online and offline. These payment services have even supplanted cash with street merchants, taxi drivers and convenience stores. Many Asian markets also feature a robust cross border e-commerce infrastructure, allowing consumers to directly purchase products from around the globe with a seamless consumer experience virtually identical to buying domestic brands. Mini-cases of American firms e-exporting to Asian markets will be discussed.
Blanton’s Bourbon: Challenges of Marketing a Premium Bourbon
Bourbon has been enjoyed for centuries, but single barrel bourbon only dates back to 1984, when the owners of the Ancient Age Distillery set out to create a premium quality bourbon. In the process, they revolutionized the “super premium” category of bourbon by creating the world’s first single barrel bourbon. Masahito Kikumoto will discuss the key challenges that he had to overcome to market this new type of “super premium” bourbon.
Solving the Japanese Leadership Talent Crisis
Given the super-aging society scenario, there is no way around the business challenges Japan faces today without going international. In order to navigate a roadmap for transformation, some Japanese corporations are finally hiring at the top level to reinvent themselves and be more relevant in terms of global competition. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to this but there exist some common behaviors of successful leaders who perform sustainably.
The Global Goals as a Business Imperative
George will talk about the Global Goals, how they represent the aspirations of the emerging middle class, and the unprecedented opportunity for business to align its strategies to the Goals for future growth. On the issue of emerging middle class, George will talk about trying to capture the youth – Millennials and Gen Z – that will rise to become the middle class, predominantly located in emerging economies (given the aging populations of the North). On the goals themselves, implementation is a national responsibility. Business can profit in two main ways – building products and services that help meet the goals, and – more importantly – aligning their own strategies to the Goals as a means to stay relevant to their future clients, improve sustainability and de-risk their business activities.
Entrepreneurship: Failure, Failure, Failure, SUCESSS—It's All in the Process—Not the Goal
Peter will talk about his own journey in entrepreneurship and venture capital management, the many failures and successes in his businesses, the mental and physical challenges working in an entrepreneurial environment and the career opportunities in entrepreneurship.
5 + 6 = 7: Challenges I Overcame in Entrepreneurship
5 years in the making during a 6-year management consulting career since graduating from IBEAR 7 years ago.
Social E-Commerce — China Blood Bath
A new battle is going on in China. A new social e-commerce business model, Pinduoduo, has became the 3rd largest E-commerce platform in China, which has been a strong competitor to Alibaba (1st) and JD.com (2nd). The primary challenge in this battle is acquiring new customers, improving profit margin and change management within the company.
Network or Bust! Staying Relevant in a Fast-Changing and Highly Competitive Job Market
In a world where the only thing that’s constant is change, disruption (the good stuff) has brought many a mighty corporation or industry down to its knees. Mid-career professionals are forced to think out of the box and adopt ingenious methods in a highly competitive and digital-first job market. We will discuss how networking can become the most important weapon in a jobseeker’s arsenal under such circumstances.
For folks that have typically worked in large corporations and are looking to transitioning into a startup, this discussion will throw light on skill sets that are portable and what to expect when working at a startup. Besides, in an AI-driven and “everything-as-a-service” marketplace, how can a mid-career professional remain current and adapt to an ever changing landscape? We will discuss a few counter-intuitive methods that seem to work well.
The Global State of Digital Transformations — Excerpts from Ab-Initio 2019 (The World's Largest Survey on Digital Transformations)
FROM PROTOTYPE to PRODUCTION - Navigating the Pitfalls of Taking a Manufactured Product to Market
This talk will give an overview of the product development process and the most common errors creators make — whether a start-up or a Fortune 500 company — in taking a physical product from a concept to the end-user. Though most examples will be from the consumer electronics world, this information can apply to anything from consumer packaged goods (from power bars to cannabis) to industrial technology, or even a digital product.
Fintech Disruptors - Bank Friend or Foe?
Traditional banks of all sizes are increasingly leveraging technology in how they deliver banking services. But, should banks fear the next generation of challenger banks and intermediaries on the horizon? Or, should banks find ways to partner and share the win? This presentation aims to highlight the ever evolving relationship between banks and fintechs and opportunities for success.
Finding Growth in a Commoditized NetworkingMarket
A fast internet is built on content distribution networks (CDN), yet the market is mature and customers are price sensitive. The market is made up of household names, like Akamai, and newer entrants, like Fastly, who are operating at a loss. How are these technology companies differentiating themselves and where are they finding growth despite pricing pressure?
Innovation for Media Content Creation and Its Importance for the Creation of Marketing Strategies
Marlon Quintero has developed an education initiative, InnovationMCC, to train creators of content around the world in how to implement innovation in their day-to-day creative process.
What every IBEAR Student and Alumnus Should Know About Job Search…From the Vantage Point of an IBEAR Alumnus Who Co-Owns a Retained Executive Search Firm
After an introduction of George's blended professional background industry/consulting/search) and the focus of his retained search firm, he will provide some salient points job seekers—both IBEAR students and alumni—should bear in mind, such as networking, resume tips, and the different types of search firms and how to work with them. Most importantly, George prefers to spend more time providing his professional insights in response to audience questions to make this portion of the session more valuable for everyone.
The Innovation Dilemma
The concept of “Innovate or Die” was born in the tech world but has since proliferated through all business verticals. Innovation is oxygen for startup organizations, but for mature companies innovation can be truly challenging. We have evidence of the innovation challenges from the past two decades where category leaders like Toys ‘r Us, Blockbuster Entertainment and Polaroid have imploded for lack of innovation. Stewart will host a discussion on the inherent challenges and required conditions to create a sustainable innovation oriented culture.
Why “Managed Lanes Systems” are the Solution for Sprawled Cities
Cities are growing (population and span) to a point that makes them non-operational. If we take into account that in the next 12 years the world will add a billion to its population, and all of this will be in urban areas, we are at the edge of a “mobility cliff” for cities like Los Angeles. Carlos Ugarte’s presentation will discuss what American cities are doing to manage this dilemma by contrasting two cases: Dallas Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
How to Make an Impactful Investment?
Indonesia’s underserved infrastructure provides opportunities for lucrative yet socially impactful investments. As a leading investment company in Indonesia, Saratoga aims to contribute in improving the country’s infrastructure. In this session, Indra will share some insights on Saratoga’s recent toll road project. The project successfully delivered values for both shareholders and the community.
Enabling Entrepreneurial Dreams - Singapore and the Asia-Pacific Region
James Wong will be presenting on the topic of entrepreneurship, of both the opportunities and the challenges. He will present three different case studies, breaking down situations in regards to different sized companies. The first case discusses a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) examining an entrepreneur and independent consultant, providing consulting services under an incorporated company. The second case (SME) will discuss an entrepreneur, representing a Japanese cosmetics company venturing into Singapore. The third case, relating to a multinational corporation (MNC), discusses an established Dutch brewery selling to Asia through Singapore.
Visa Leading the Way in Digital Transformation
Patrick Yoon will give an overview of Visa - profile, capabilities and strategy moving forward. As Visa enters the new digital world with 5G, Visa expects new industries such as IoT, automous driving, etc will drive next phase of economic development and job creation and Asia is in the epicenter of this transformation. Visa is shifting from a traditional payments to truly digital commerce company helping banks, big techs, fintechs and merchants to come together to create much better user experience and embedding payment chips / credentials in both offline and online world to drive much secure, and efficient payment experience for all participants.
Managing Millennial Talent in Today's China
China's millennials were born under the one-child policy, bringing with them different characteristics that are changing the way how businesses are managed. Many small and medium business like Soton are influencing their young employees by understanding their needs, and changing their understanding of life values. This will provide managers with a glimpse of how management is changing in China today.