General

Your company’s internal culture could very well make or break things. Though similar in many things and several ways, we are ultimately all of us equally very different beings. So that means that the individual ethos of everyone at a company should ideally be in harmony with everyone else. This will, in turn, define, direct and sustain the larger, collective company ethos.  Of course, this so-called company culture does not happen by sheer luck, or at least not often. Being able to work together in concert tends not to occur through serendipity; more often than not, the company, through its core purpose, goals, and objectives, can communicate its culture very lucidly.  Several companies go the extra mile and take exceedingly careful steps to ensure that their company is neither missed nor ill-communicated. These days, it is common to go through a work application and discover copious information centred around company culture. Progressively, we see that leaders strive to be more intentional, inclusive, and equitable in handling any (internal) conflict or confusion.  Even though the term “work culture“ may sound informal, it does stem from a place of purposeful design. Many leaders have realised the salient truth that they may have the best-skilled workers. Yet, if a professionally toxic atmosphere at work progresses, they can forget about being able to reach optimal levels of work output.  In short, and to conclude this anecdote, social cohesion that allows bosses and managers to reprimand in love and workers to receive this cordially is precisely what the doctor ordered for steady productivity and cultivating a strong sense of ownership in company goals or the cause for which a company exists! What is company culture? So now the big question is, what precisely is company culture? According to Built in: “Company culture can more simply be described as the shared ethos of an organization. It’s the way people feel about the work they do, the values they believe in, where they see the company going and what they’re doing to get it there. Collectively, these traits represent the personality — or culture — of an organization.“ Thriving businesses have grasped the significance of culture in a company and how it can increase profits, strengthen an equitable work environment, and boost employee morale. In addition, the global pandemic has dramatically influenced how companies conduct business today. Therefore, the need to capitalise on employees and fully embrace the need for culture in the workplace is quintessential to companies. As more experts embrace working remotely, businesses are working to create a conscientious work environment that not only pinpoints the value of culture but takes the needed step to implement strategies to lay out a sustainable culture. As we peruse this, we can begin to take retrospective notes on how we have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to what our company ethos has become. For example, do the people we work with feel a sense of togetherness or purpose in what they do? Have we created a space where our activities move beyond completing assignments and checking off boxes? Employers ought to realise that they usually have access to people for most of their day (spent at work); their core focus should be ensuring that they move past the formulaic nature of work to make it more inclusive and international.  This notion of cultivating an intentional and happy place that makes for good company culture is so essential that economists have gotten involved in analysing workplace productivity when employees are happy and feeling well purposed in their work. In 2021, a study was conducted by economists at the University of Warwick. It was so conclusive that it was published in the Journal of Labour Economics. The following is a synopsis of how the study went: “This is the first causal evidence using randomized trials and piece-rate working. The study, to be published in the Journal of Labour Economics, included four different experiments with more than 700 participants. During the experiments, some participants were either shown a comedy movie clip or treated to free chocolate, drinks, and fruit. Others were questioned about recent family tragedies, such as bereavement, to assess whether lower levels of happiness were later associated with lower levels of productivity”. Professor Oswald said: “Companies like Google have invested more in employee support and employee satisfaction has risen as a result. For Google, it rose by 37%, they know what they are talking about. Under scientifically controlled conditions, making workers happier pays off.” Dr. Sgroi added: “The driving force seems to be that happier workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at which they can work without sacrificing quality.” Dr. Proto said the research had implications for employers and promotion policies. He said: “We have shown that happier subjects are more productive, the same pattern appears in four different experiments. This research will provide some guidance for management in all kinds of organizations, they should strive to make their workplaces emotionally healthy for their workforce.” Why is company culture essential? If there were doubts concerning the correlation between work culture and productivity at work, this study featured above should accurately put it to rest.  In taking another look at some numbers concerning this topic, the company TeamStage states the following as the top company culture statistics they discovered in their study:  According to the Harvard Business Review, creating a positive and healthy company culture primarily rests on these six principles: They elaborate further in the following:  Foster social connections. A large number of empirical studies confirm that positive social connections at work produce highly desirable results. For example, people get sick less often, recover twice as fast from surgery, experience less depression, learn faster and remember longer, tolerate pain and discomfort better, display more mental acuity, and perform better on the job. Show empathy. As a boss, you have a considerable impact on your employees’ feelings. For example, a brain-imaging study found that when employees recalled a boss that had been unkind or un-empathic, they showed increased activation in areas of the brain associated with avoidance

International trade chiefly involves the activities related to the worldwide exchange of goods and services to satisfy consumer needs. The said activities include acquiring, managing, and developing financial, physical, and human resources.  International Retail has a broader scope. The Wiley Online Library breaks down International Retail as the following:  “International retail is the operation of retail outlets in more than one country. The internationalization of retailing activity has two dimensions: the firm (direct internationalization) and the market (indirect internationalization).  The internationalization of retailing formats and operational systems is not dependent on international retail firms. Indirect internationalization occurs when domestic retailers adopt international practices.  When firms engage in direct internationalization it is a market-serving activity; it is not a resource-seeking activity. International retailer activity is hosted by most global markets. Entry methods most commonly used are acquisition, organic growth, joint venture, and franchising. Since the 1980s, international retail activity has been characterized by the international expansion of firms that have retailing as their primary function. Earlier forms of international retail activity were often associated with other organizational characteristics where retailing was not the primary activity in the domestic market.” The advantages of international trade and retail Some disadvantages of international trade and retail So, what are some of the drawbacks? We know that when done efficiently and adequately, global supply chains can lower your production cost, affording you a real competitive advantage.  In a World Economic Forum Article, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) had the following to say on the effect on global food prices the war in Ukraine is having:  “You know, just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. I mean, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, a food and fuel price spike taking place. We were already hit. And I’m sure UNICEF and UNHCR the same thing.  We were already hit right before Ukraine crisis with a $42 million increase in operational costs. We were already billions of dollars short for Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, the Sahel, let me just go around the world. And then when you think it can’t get worse, here comes Ukraine. And the difficulty here is Ukraine grows enough food to feed 400 million people on planet Earth. So when the farmers on the battlefields aren’t planting or aren’t harvesting, what impact do you think that’s going to have?  Fifty per cent of our grain, for example, wheat, comes from Ukraine. And then when you put it in the global context of Russia and Ukraine together, not even to get into the fertiliser costs and fertiliser-based products, you’ve got a catastrophe knocking and looming on the door for the fall. That will be not a price issue but a supply issue – availability of food for people around the world. And that will be a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe.” Some statistics concurring the global market The statistics on global logistics have steadily been on the rise. We know that the numbers dropped from 6 in 2019 to 5.73 trillion euros during the onslaught of the COVID pandemic in 2020. From 2021 to 2022, the numbers rose to 5.99 (in 2021) and 6.28 (in 2022). The projections for 2023 and 2024 are 6.57 and 6.88, respectively.  The graph below better and fully illustrate these numbers:  The global retail logistics market is also rising and is expected to explode in the coming years. The global retail logistics market has been projected to reach a whopping 498.34 billion by 2028 alone.  The numbers and realities on this have been corroborated by Research and Markets (reputably the world’s largest market research store). Pertinent information on their website states the following:  “The global retail logistics market size is anticipated to reach USD 498.34 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 11.8% over the forecast period. The new last-mile delivery mechanisms in the retail e-commerce market coupled with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the supply chain are expected to drive market growth.  An IoT-based supply chain connects several technical devices via sensors installed on these devices and enables procuring the real-time information of numerous critical parameters such as filing rate and temperature… …Retail Logistics Market Report Highlights: Data on global segmentation of international retail and trade/e-commerce Traditionally, physical or store retail has been widely used worldwide, but increasingly, the omnichannel model, which seeks to integrate online and offline channels seamlessly, is quickly gaining ground! According to Statista, “in 2021, the global retail market generated sales of over 26 trillion U.S. dollars, with a forecast to reach over 30 trillion U.S. dollars by 2024.” Global retail sales are presently at 27.34 trillion USD. Physical retail store sales are presently at 19.86 trillion USD. And e-commerce retail sales are currently at 5.76 trillion USD, respectively.  Daniella Copolla made the following estimations in February 2022:  “Over the last few years, e-commerce has become an indispensable part of the global retail framework. Like many other industries, the retail landscape has undergone a substantial transformation following the advent of the internet, and thanks to the ongoing digitalization of modern life, consumers from virtually every country now profit from the perks of online transactions.  As internet access and adoption are rapidly increasing worldwide, the number of digital buyers keeps climbing every year. In 2020, over two billion people purchased goods or services online, and during the same year, e-retail sales surpassed 4.2 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide.” International Logistics and Retail have the solid potential for skyrocketing businesses that successfully incorporate the sector’s practices into their operations successfully and optimally. With this information provided above, we can confidently state that it is a growing market, despite the more recent global upheavals!  ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ References Wiley online library (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118785317.weom090144) How the Ukraine war is driving up food and energy prices for the world (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/ukraine-energy-and-food-radio-davos/) Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/943517/logistics-industry-global-cagr/) Research and Markets (https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5390555/global-retail-logistics-market-size-share-and) Statista (https://www.statista.com/topics/5922/retail-market-worldwide/#dossierKeyfigures) Statista (https://www.statista.com/topics/5922/retail-market-worldwide/#dossierKeyfigures) Copolla, Feb 23, 2022, Statista (https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/#dossierKeyfigures) ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ I hope you found this article insightful and enjoyable. Subscribe to the ‘Entrepreneur In You’ newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/d-hgCVPy.  I wish you a highly productive and successful week ahead!  ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ —- ♕ Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and

In this great big world of digitisation seemingly on steroids, and innovations springing up faster than mushrooms overnight after a good soft rain, it is more than easy to be considered out of fashion and outside of the spectrum of useful and technological applications.  Yet somehow, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data remains indispensable as it continues to be utilised alongside recent technology. With a name a tad bit too complex to commit to memory, they have come to be known under the more widespread regionally popular term, USSD!  In Africa, the technology retains a substantial amount of popularity and a high degree of utility within the continent. Across the pond, USSD, more widely referred to as short codes, is much less popular.  The world and the world of technology are constantly on a path of making everything digital; of course, all for improved efficiency and ultimately the betterment of the human race. But sometimes, just sometimes, going back to the things of old may be moving forward into something new. Especially when our part of the world is not moving at the same pace. Every time you use the keypad of your cell phone and you input a command that begins with a star (*), usually followed by a series of digits, e.g. 920, and then concluded with an octothorpe, or the hash, or pound (#), you have just performed a USSD interaction! Collectively, it should all look something like this: *920#.USSD has very fundamental applications that include functions such as ascertaining the balance or remainder of the minutes on your GSM cell phone. Cellfind, as a proper authority on this subject, defines some of those (basic) functionalities in the following way:  “…This text-driven technology allows users to interact directly from their cell phones by making a selection from a menu. Unlike SMS, USSD operates in real-time. This means it allows for two-way communication of information for as long as the communication line stays open. This makes queries and answers virtually instantaneous…USSD most commonly involves a query generated by a cell phone user (such as a balance enquiry). Once this request is sent, the USSD gateway forwards it to your USSD application. The application then responds to the request, and the process is repeated in reverse: the response goes back to the USSD gateway, which displays the content of that response on your phone screen. Responses are usually sent in an easily displayed format, containing a maximum of 182 alphanumeric characters. Messages sent over USSD are not defined by any universal standardisation, so each operator is free to use a format most suited to its customers.” (van Straten, 2018).  The examples above are presented in the somewhat raw form of the things that USSD can do and has achieved – we can bravely say it gained a good amount of popularity for its functionality and usability. An estimated 94 per cent of financial transactions are performed using USSD.  To that end, a truly worthy mention would be concerning the rocket-fact escalation and expansion of financial transactions in Ghana via USSD technology. The technology allowed for the roping in or otherwise, the financial inclusion of approximately 7.3 million out of some 30 million (as of 2018) Ghanaians who are unbanked and predominantly residing in rural or low-income communities.  CIPESA further illustrates this case of reaching the unbanked through the use of this technology in the following summary:  “Ghana is among the countries leading the drive to expand financial inclusion by leveraging digital solutions. Mobile penetration is 67% and internet access via mobile is 45%. The Bank of Ghana estimates that approximately 7.3 million of Ghana’s adult population is unbanked. As of 2018, there were 32 million registered mobile money accounts across the country’s three leading mobile money operators. These mobile money accounts are generally used for person-to-person and person-to-business transactions. Account holders can access savings, credit, investment products as well as make payments for goods and services via mobile phone” (Financial Inclusion in Africa in an Era of Internet Shutdowns, 2019).  On the topic of transactions, or more specifically, financial and digital transactions, the use of Blockchain technology has been on the rise in recent years. You might imagine or surmise that this spurge of innovation nearly immediately means that technologies of old such as USSD technology would be rendered redundant and quite curtly, dead! The plague of COVID-19 and the immediate need to send money to severely marginalised communities of a low-income nature (such as migrant settings, refugee camps, and other places of asylum) also arose. All at once, it became apparent that two persistent issues might stay and thwart that effort. Issue number one, low-income and impoverished communities hardly have access to the kinds of devices, internet, and electricity to reasonably access, learn, and practically use fancy technology payment systems.  Issue number two, the bulk of the people (consisting of people living below minimum wage, refugees, migrants, and other Persons of Concern) did not even have bank accounts to begin with, which means that even on the off chance that money was sent to them via the application of modern technology, how would they use it? How would they make it real by cashing it out?  The answer: they would not be able to. It would remain numbers on a screen or in an account, essentially as useless to them as a car battery with no car – innovative but sorely ill-timed! It appeared as though the one way to get the much-needed cash during the height of COVID-19, was to do it through mobile money. Mobile Money, also known as MoMo, has an exceedingly high user base in Ghana (approximately 40.9 million registered users).  According to The Conversation, mobile money in Ghana as achieve the following:  “A study by the World Bank indicates that mobile money services have a positive impact on poverty reduction. Poverty is not just about lack of money, but also about lack of access to formal financial systems. Mobile money services can enhance financial inclusion by providing access to savings, credit and insurance services.  In Ghana, mobile money services