background preloader

Biz/Tech

Facebook Twitter

Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption. The Revolution Inside AmEx's Nextpedition - Grant McCracken. By Grant McCracken | 9:33 AM February 6, 2012 American Express has launched a travel service call Nextpedition.

The Revolution Inside AmEx's Nextpedition - Grant McCracken

It’s interesting and a little odd. On a Nextpedition vacation, we don’t get an itinerary. We get a succession of surprises. AmEx doesn’t tell us where we’re going until the last minute. American travelers used to insist on full disclosure and perfect standardization. That consumer is long gone. What’s less clear is why the Nextpedition should be a succession of surprises rolling out in real time. It creates sense of anticipation. But still, why this value proposition? Standardizing production was the great objective of the second industrial revolution. Now it feels like we are on the verge of another revolution. We want our experience to play out as if directed by a gentle randomness, a filmic flicker of nexts.

The point of customization is to give us exactly what we want. This revolution augurs another world. This may require a new kind of manager. Landshare. Land_partnership_handbook. Tim Leberecht: 3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand. Good Deeds Can Boost Employee Productivity. Innovation is often tied to a new technological improvement or product, but innovative ideas can offer as much advantage for businesses as the latest gadget or forward-thinking product.

Good Deeds Can Boost Employee Productivity

Researchers at Wharton, Yale and Harvard Universities have found that encouraging employees to engage in altruistic activities can improve productivity and make them feel better about managing their busy schedules. Researchers asked employees to write a note to a sick child, and the results revealed that it gave the participants a sense of control and confidence in their ability to keep up with demanding workdays. This can in turn boost productivity. Conversely, longer breaks or less mentally-challenging tasks actually diminish employee confidence, leading workers to feel they have even less time to finish their work. Altruistic work need not diverge from company goals.

“Learn something more about your clients than the facts ‘relevant’ to their justice problem. Frog. Agheera Pulse (real-time logistics platform) C4BF. Frog: company video. Business. technology. design. The 'Minority Report' interface is a 'terrible idea' Mark Rolston holds the title of chief creative officer for Frog, the venerable design company responsible for the look of Sony Trinitron televisions in the seventies and Apple's minimalistic "Snow White" design language of the eighties.

The 'Minority Report' interface is a 'terrible idea'

In 1999, it was Mark who personally drove the creation of Dell.com to become the top-grossing e-commerce site in the world. Now, as a C-level executive with 18-years at Frog, Mark's responsible for driving the global creative vision for the 43-year old organization. More specifically, Mark's helping companies remove the "computer" from computing, making it a diffused and transparent part of our daily lives. Design is something we see every day thanks to the democratization of the art form.

How can a consumer differentiate between design and decoration? Good design is defined by a product's ability to address people's wants and needs. Will the recent Samsung v. "In terms of hardware design, that [Android handset] industry is stuck in a rut. " "Sigh... Cisco CGO Wim Elfrink: Why Cities Will Soon Be 'Smarter' Than We Are. Discover top finds from friends & tastemakers.