Conmergence

The Future of Companies Report at Global Futures and Foresight

<ed.note>David Smith sent a pointer to a new GFF study:</ed.note>

We are living in a period of great economic and political volatility. There are new global players entering every field of commercial endeavour and the political power brokers across the globe are changing rapidly.

India, China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and a great many other countries are growing dramatically, creating new consumer societies and absorbing financial capital and human capital in their activities.

In the process new business models are emerging often being facilitated by the latest technologies.

Many of the issues facing our companies are common across the world. Even, the ability of the world to survive our economic activity is at stake.

Are we innovative enough to survive let alone thrive in this rapidly changing and risky environment.

Can we make the changes necessary to build our future?

This report will highlight some of the compelling drivers of change and offer questions for you to address in your own organisation to help you thrive.

Please download a copy. We hope it will help your business create a more secure future.

Our goal is to help organizations 'better prepare for the future'. So do feel free to call for our support.

Blogs a Radical Tool for Disability Community

<ed.note>A decade or so after the interweb becomes popular with the public it is discovered by "Big Advocacy". Let's see how long before they "discover" other centralizing data tools like community enabling content management, wikis and standardized financial metadata, taxonomies, etc. ( vs. "recommendations and principles" ) for NGO/NPO data interoperability purposes... A boy can dream. Of course, that's not to say that the corporate world "gets" this "meaningful data over a distributed, digital enterprise" approach, either. You oughtta ask yourself: "If it is true that 96% of firms fail within ten years, what are the 4 percent doing differently?"</ed.note>

AO2007: Innovation Summit @ Stanford [ was A02005 ]

<ed.note>Apparently I missed the 2006 archives but the videos for 2007 are available here. Also, Tony Perkins pointed out the very helpful entrepreneurship education site, http://edcorner.stanford.edu/

Also, Going Green is slated for Sept 10-12 at UC-Davis. I'll get to see if HP, IBM, or SUN ( not the first to do this here - kudos to Amit Kulkarni ) pick up on the geothermal heat exchange equipped data center approach I suggested via chat at AO2007. Oh, will the venture capital establishment ever discover me here on the "Innovation Plantation"? what more could they want? -- I've already got the dot commie domain name. ;-)</ed.note>

Google Virtual Pharmacy Benefits Management company???

<ed.note>I've been browsing the buzz about the announcement at Google's Blog ( nothing at Google's Health Advertising Blog ) and the speculation that Google will acquire an electronic medical record vendor/technology. To me, though, it has seemed for a while that Google wouldn't care how revolutionary the emr is as much as whether they can tie ad space to the health conditions described within the emrs so that folks will be able to voluntarily offer up deidentified phi in trade for the discounts provided by being a member of a virtual near real-time Pharmacy Benefits Management company. We'll wait and see...</ed.note>

The Era of the Inclusive Leader

By Chuck Lucier, Steven Wheeler, and Rolf Habbel, strategy+business

As turnover levels off, our annual CEO succession study shows chief executives and their boards adopting new survival strategies.

Welcome to the era of the inclusive chief executive officer — a very different species from the “imperial” CEOs who roamed the corporate landscape not so long ago. Whereas imperial CEOs answered only to themselves, the power of today’s CEO is not as absolute: Boards of directors are becoming more critical and more closely involved in setting strategy, and are far more likely to insist that CEOs deliver acceptable shareholder returns (as well as demonstrate ethical conduct). Indeed, the data indicates that boards are increasingly prepared to replace CEOs in anticipation of disappointing future performance, instead of merely as punishment for poor past performance. At the same time, large shareholders like hedge funds and private equity firms are taking a more active role in decisions that were once the sole purview of the CEO.

Paul Clenahan on BIRT: Introduction to the Eclipse Business Intelligence & Reporting Tools Project

Presentation here.

First North American useR!, Iowa State University, Ames, August 8-10, 2007

The first North American useR! will be held at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, August 8-10, 2007. It follows on from successful meetings in Vienna, Austria, in 2006 and 2004. The meeting brings users and developers of R together to describe and discuss the latest developments in R and R packages. All R users are invited to attend and we encourage attendees from all disciplines to come along.

How Long Before Michael Dell Hires Carly Fiorina?

<ed.note>Min Liu was cool enough to leave a post which speaks for itself:</ed.note>

Perhaps he might've asked already...

A fellow Stanford alum and I recently sat down with Carly for iinnovate, a podcast on entrepreneurship and innovation:

She speaks on a variety of topics, from her time in college to the innovation in companies right now:

Let us know what you think!

Min, on behalf of the iinnovate team.

Health Care's Retail Solution

by David Knott, Gary Ahlquist, and Rick Edmunds, strategy+business

New York, May 15, 2007 -- The time is finally ripe for a transformation of the health-care industry, from a wholesale into a true retail marketplace. New formats like "mini-clinics," new modes of payment, and increased transparency may make the difference that legislators alone cannot. A Booz Allen Hamilton survey of consumers and physicians shows what's needed to close the gap.

Dr. Thomas H. Davenport launches THE BUSINESS ANALYTICS CONCOURS

here.