Archives for February 2021

February
5, 2021

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The pandemic changes the way consumers behave in all aspects of their lives. As they took refuge in their homes, they adopted new digital services at a dizzying rate. In addition to the growing health and hygiene concerns, the economic recession and the related decline in consumption , the change in people’s lives is staggering.

1. At home

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

During the confinement, the house became a multi-universe. It is where various activities such as working, eating, playing and connecting with family and friends take place. Although general consumption decreases, the part allocated for the categories at home increases. Throughout the months of social isolation, the net intention of consumers to participate in a variety of activities at home changes, increasing cooking by 54%, home entertainment from 30% to 40%, and home entertainment by 22%. home improvement. The changes are similar around the world.

2. Shopping

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

In general, consumption will decrease. A 17% drop in private consumption is expected as a global average in the next two years, with a recovery to pre-crisis levels only for 2023-24. Purchases change in all categories. One syntax is more basic products and less luxury: “less cosmetics and more flour.” A strong preference for global A brands was detected. After years of growth, consumption outside the home almost disappeared and many stopped going to the stores altogether. In many markets, the rise of e-commerce equates to several years of growth in just a few months.

3. Work

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

For many workers, the office is now in the living room. For those who can still work during the pandemic, the work is largely remote and digital, with a sharp uptick in the use of digital collaboration tools. Zoom’s daily user base grew from 10 million people to 200 million in three months, and customers who pay team communication tools like Slack, for example, doubled. There is a high unemployment rate in the world.

4. Health and wellness

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

Public health and uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic became the main concerns for consumers during lockdown, with 68% saying they were very concerned. Here, too, digital plays a larger role as the use of electronic pharmacy and electronic medicine accelerates. Of consumers who had to cancel medical appointments during lockdown, 44% accessed telehealth options, and online searches for telemedicine increased more than ninefold.

5. Education and learning

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

Learning and study became virtual. The adoption of new tools was promoted. The user base for remote learning services grew 120%. The shift in learning from outside the home to indoors blurred the lines between learning and leisure.

6. Entertainment

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

Consumers are spending less money on their entertainment as the trend toward digital options accelerates. Game app downloads increased more than 30% while 45% of consumers report using more online streaming services at home. Popular out-of-home activities are trying to adapt to this new reality and Nascar and NBA launch product offerings online while cultural centers like the J. Paul Getty Museum create virtual tours, and streaming performances like the one in Metropolitan Opera.

7. Travel and mobility

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

Consumers are staying home in droves. Tourism takes place almost entirely on land. Air travel is down 90% overall. At the same time, there is an emerging preference to avoid public transportation and high-density transit hubs, lowering consumer demand on the go. While international travel could take years to recover to pre-crisis supply and demand levels, domestic travel could increase much sooner as consumers start their summer vacation.

8. Communication and information

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

In general, media consumption is increasing on almost all channels. 43% of consumers watch more television, 40% use more social networks and 28% listen to more radio. The online news reader increased 39%. What is not winning? Print media, where the ongoing decline slows with a 33% drop in readership.

In the new normal, nothing is uniform

^{Image: Despoistphotos.com}

While a new digital world is portending in general, the pace at which we reach the next normal, and the routes we take to get there, will not be uniform. The behavior changes are likely to continue for the next six to 24 months, with frequent starts, stops and restarts.

Whether the new behaviors fade or last in the next normal will depend on a series of factors, among which the experiences of the consumer, country, consumer segment and values stand out.

A) Consumer experience. How attractive and satisfying the consumer behaviors they displace are will determine how long they stay in the market. Even if they become permanent or not.

B) Country. Although the trends are similar across countries, their strength varies. In general, we see that four country archetypes emerge:

• Temporary setback. In China, the economic impact of COVID-19 is likely to be just one more bump in the road, so trends such as downward trade or declining discretionary spending will be less intense than elsewhere.
• A great impact. In developed countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, the economic impact is great. Similar to the Great Recession of 2008-09, we expect to see large long-term cuts in consumer discretionary spending and a significant number of operations will be reduced.
• Big shock , less digital adoption. In the developed countries of continental Europe, such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the economic impact will be as great as in the United Kingdom and the United States, leading to a decrease in discretionary spending. Furthermore, countries with companies that depend on foreign tourism revenue, such as high fashion stores in Paris or Rome, will suffer disproportionately.
• Digital acceleration. The impact on developing markets such as India and Brazil is less clear and will largely depend on how well these countries manage the crisis in the months to come. However, COVID-19 is very likely to accelerate the trend towards digital, albeit from a low base.

C) Consumer segment. Consumers generally adopt new behaviors but there are significant socioeconomic status and generational differences.

D) Values. Behaviors driven by personal values, such as sustainability or a desire for personal interaction, can vary in their long-term adoption rates between countries and regions, depending on local infrastructure and other conditions.

February
4, 2021

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

No matter how sustained it is, any business needs innovation. Sectors such as consumer electronics (entertainment and communication), for example, know that if it is not presented at least every six months, its permanence may be threatened.

And it applies to brands or companies of all types and sizes. Even the already consolidated SMEs require new ideas, or renew their products or services to stay in the minds of consumers, always eager for the new who, if they do not find it in your offer, will turn to the competition.

Antonio Ono, Vice President of Innovation and Analysis at Great Place to Work®, talks that there are different tools to know if innovation is present in your business.

Market studies, brainstorming (to evaluate the involvement of your people) or establishing a research and development department where those who devise an innovative product or service are concentrated, is common.

^{Image: Depositphotos.com}

But for it to work, you want to have an organizational culture that encourages innovation. From all levels and in all jobs. It does not matter who proposes it, or from what area, but that the proposal is there for everyone.

Kodak, as you may recall, had a very, very expensive time ignoring the engineer who came to propose to review the digital camera issue. The company’s organizational culture was not yet designed for innovation.

But innovation does not happen by spontaneous generation either.

Based on the Great Place to Work ® For All model, Antonio Ono states that it is more likely to occur when:

• You work closely with people.
• If the leader is open to listening.
• If humility is shown to attend to what someone, whoever it is, needs to share.

Otherwise, your collaborators will learn to be silent or will take their proposals to another place where they do want to pay attention to them.

Jump out of the frame

The first key is to break paradigms. Yes, those that you learned at work, in university classrooms and in the experience itself. When things are taken for granted, the mind conditions itself and sets itself up or pretexts that prevent it from seeing new horizons.

The second key is if you initially think that an idea is too primal, naive or silly, you are making the first mistake to attract innovation.

By underestimating the proposals of your people, you will end up with the confidence they may have to share them. Remember that trust is something that is built over time but, if not taken care of, it can be lost in minutes.

The third key is to formalize the practice so that your team presents ideas in the meetings by area, every so often, and listen carefully to what someone wants to say to you.

Antonio Ono ensures that the best proposals are born when you connect people from all areas, from all levels and hierarchies, not just from market research or senior management.

Salesperson can communicate to technology what they have heard from their customers about the product; parcel can suggest to logistics how to design a better delivery route and so on.

Be the promoter

It is not enough that you open a forum for everyone to contribute ideas. Your leadership skills must reach you to inspire people to participate, humbly thank and find ways to recognize your collaborators.

Innovation stays alive. So when your idea is giving good results is the warning that you should look for a new one.

Antonio Ono, from the research of the Great Place to Work® institute, describes the five barriers that arise for innovation in companies.

• Labor terrorism . It occurs in authoritarian organizations, where the focus is on numbers; people live in constant anxiety, with no incentive to propose.
• Gaps in purpose . If employees do not feel part of the company, the mission and the vision, they will practically feel excluded from the innovation.
• To demand disproportionately . If people do not have the necessary tools and resources to do their tasks, they will hardly want to participate in any innovation.
• Neglecting your managers. Area leaders drive innovation, but if they are overwhelmed by management, feel neglected or poorly supported, they will hardly be able to pay attention to innovation.
• Stagnant minds. When people feel that they no longer have the capacity to grow professionally, they stagnate, thus blocking any attempt to contribute new ideas.

Open a trusted channel with all your necessary leadership skills: acknowledge, collaborate, appreciate and be humble. Open the door to innovation.

February
3, 2021

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Would you introduce yourself to a client without bathing, without combing or with shoes in two different colors? The way you write your email is part of your extended image , just like your social networks, your car, your office or the background of your Zoom meeting. They say a lot about you, and make a favorable or unfavorable impression that can result in different attitudes and results.

Take the number 236 and then add nine zeros. It’s a gigantic number: 236,000’000,000. Two hundred thirty-six billion emails are sent every day around the world. The vast majority of these are business emails.

But not all emails are the same. Some are better than others – they are well written and serve their purpose effectively and elegantly.

How many emails do you write per day? How many do you get? Do you want to take your emails to the next level?

1. The “issue” matters

In most emails, we develop the content and only think about the “subject” or title of the email until the end. The amount of emails with definitely boring, generic or useless subjects is impressive.

The subject is the first thing the person receiving the email sees: it is what is in their inbox and what helps them decide whether to read that email in the moment, leave it for later or, outright, send it to the trash can.

Avoid generic titles like “hello” or “I hope this interests you.” Whether it’s for clients or partners, prefer a title that talks about content without being highly technical. Do not write either: “Subject: P 44518 11/21/2020”

Instead, write: “Subject: South grid budget, November 21, 2020”, or “Work plan, Madrid trip”, or “Promotions for printing, July 2021.”

Think short, clear, informative, and engaging. Don’t leave it to chance!

2. Greeting and farewell

E-mail is done digitally, but it is still, at its core, a message between two people, two human beings who like to be treated as such. The least we expect – and rightly so! – is a friendly and personalized greeting and farewell.

Avoid generic greetings, which “feel” forced or said in a hurry. Whenever you can, address the recipient by their first name, saving, if applicable, the protocols and titles: doctor, teacher, professor, etc.

The farewell, like the entrance, should set the human and cordial tone without abusing clichés and clichés. You can add some personal detail (“Say hello to Marcia, your wife”, or “I hope you are getting comfortable in Monterrey”) that generates a greater connection and greater trust.

Today’s networks are created and reinforced with each message. Take advantage of each email to connect with people; not just to convey information or get out of trouble.

3. Get to the point!

That said, emails are not made to convey huge amounts of information. Nobody wants to read an entire novel in their inbox, or on their cell phone between meetings!

Keep the content short and to the point, using dots or numbers to sort the ideas if necessary. An email should be no more than two or three paragraphs long. Five? Okay, but no more than that.

If there is more to include in the same shipment, I recommend you keep the content of the text short, and add a document with the complete information: it is easier to print, read and share. Everyone hates excessively long emails; especially if they are part of a longer chain.

Never (but never) try to resolve a problem, discussion or complex issue through emails. The written word can never encapsulate the details of a live conversation or, even more, a meeting. In the middle of an argument, written words are easily misunderstood, and in a complex project, the same will happen. Better pick up the phone, fix the problem, and finally send a short email with the agreements reached.

^{Everyone hates excessively long emails / Image: Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk via Unsplash}

4. Find the ideal shade

Remember: a written communication is a mechanical substitute for a real conversation, between two real people, with their real characteristics and circumstances. That is why there is no single correct shade, no single style. You would not talk the same with your boss as with a client, with a friend or with a colleague.

Are you talking about “you” or “you”? Do you greet him formally or with familiarity? Are you overly serious, or too casual? Try to imagine that you are in the same room, how would you do it then? Try to imagine what information he would need and find the best way to say it. And of course: say it well.

Bad spelling is bad business breath. No one will tell you, but trust me: everyone notices.

By the way: an email is not an SMS. An email does not admit misspellings or simplified language (at least, not in a business environment). Take care of your spelling and syntax: write correctly and completely and save the emojis and contractions for another time. Completely avoid WRITING WITH CAPITAL LETTERS and do not abuse the exclamation marks !!!!!!!!!!

5. Always reread your email

Oh, how much trouble we could avoid if people reread what they just wrote! Not only to correct the spelling or complete what is missing, but above all to understand if the message makes sense , that is, if it is clear and concise in all its points.

In important emails, I recommend that you read the email aloud , to “prune” the text and eliminate the too confusing, long or unnecessary parts. Sometimes, for the sake of looking “formal,” we overcomplicate things that may be simple.

Nine times out of ten, a new read before sending will help you find areas for improvement and (sure!) Embarrassing mistakes that would look terrible on your customer’s tray.

By last…

6. Don’t forget to attach the files!

It’s a bit … amateur , don’t you think?

February
1, 2021

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Turnitin is an online plagiarism prevention service that promotes academic integrity, efficient assessment and feedback, and supports the advancement of academic results in all subjects and educational levels.

The company was created in 1998, when four students from the University of California, Berkeley made an application in order to review work between students.

The students had to hand in their projects and they made comments to each other, but these young people discovered that their classmates loaned their work and copied it. To help end this situation, they launched this review instrument in 2000.

Today Turnitin is an ally in fostering original thinking and authentic learning by developing cutting-edge technology that enables institutions to discourage plagiarism, provide formative feedback, obtain comprehensive reports, and investigate academic misconduct. It currently serves more than 15,000 institutions around the world and is headquartered in Oakland, California, with international offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Korea, India, and throughout Latin America.

How does it work?

Turnitin uses state-of-the-art technology to do different activities, one is to check the coincidence and similarity between texts. “A piece of writing is taken and we review it against databases that the Internet has, which has published articles, scientific journals and works by other students. Similarly, we have additional technology to determine authorship, checking if they are the words and the student’s work itself, ”says Catalina Londoño, manager of Professional and Educational Services for Latin America of the company. They also have technology to evaluate student work.

Comprehensive and remote evaluation

Gradescope is Turnitin’s tool to lessen the burden on teachers. “It is a way to collect and review information and make it digital; after making a transparent and rapid evaluation of the students, then reviewing the performance of the students in those activities that we are evaluating them, ”says Londoño.

Gradescope strengthens the entire assessment process, works digitally and even with the help of artificial intelligence to group student responses. It also reduces evaluation time by up to 80% and offers advanced learning statistics. This means that the one who makes the evaluation is not the machine, but the teacher, but the former helps them to group the works. The use of dynamic rubrics for scoring and the flexibility of the tool promote transparent, rapid and quality evaluation.

The experience of teachers has been positive, as is the case of Rómulo Chumacero, associate professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chile, who shares how he uses the tools with his students.

“With the Turnitin similarity check, I can do a quick and rigorous check of the work submitted by students and compare it with databases of documents from all over the world,” Chimacero says in a statement.

“Gradescope has been the most pleasant surprise that I had in terms of digital tools. It is a tool that allows you to design and correct evaluations from a friendly platform. It allows always applying the same standards to the evaluations of all students, it is very flexible regarding the type of evaluation to be carried out and it is very easy for students to use ”, he adds.

^{Courtesy Turnitin}

Academic integrity

Originality was released in 2020 and uses similarity check technology. On this platform, students are allowed, through Draft Coach, to be able to self-manage and review the quality of their sources, their citation and referencing practices, to be able to observe the percentage of similarity of their works and to support their learning process, improving the habits of writing and cited.

With this tool, teachers have more time to ensure the quality of projects and academic integrity in their classes, by providing relevant and timely information that facilitates the identification of opportunities for dialogue and detection of faults of students who require more help.

Academic and educational trends

The interviewee points out that the pandemic accelerated digitization in the academic world. “We have seen changes in the way our clients have implemented their services in times of pandemic. We have seen changes in the way we use them, obviously we are forced to move to this virtual world. It seems that digital is a trend that will remain, until we feel comfortable to return to the classroom and the face-to-face world… We will probably end up in a hybrid and well-globalized model ”, explains the executive.

The great thinkers of the institutions in Latin America and worldwide can distinguish an opportunity to communicate and have the possibility to share courses between institutions. “Surely at some point a mix can be made and the idea is that integrity can also be guaranteed in these new virtual and eventually hybrid versions, which seems to be the trend from now on”, adds the expert.

The pursuit and promotion of academic integrity has three important components, Londoño says. The first has to do with institutional and governmental policies to promote the integrity of good practices, the second is the pedagogical tools, that of the teacher with the student in their daily work; and the third is the technology to mix these three elements so that the promotion of academic integrity is a complement among all the ingredients.

From Mexico to Latin America

Currently, the company has clients that include higher and higher education institutions, on average 15,000 globally and more than 34 million students worldwide. Turnitin supports institutions and empowers teachers to efficiently evaluate and safeguard institutional reputation.

Among the most prominent clients in Mexico are: Editorial UNAM, Metropolitan Autonomous University, University of Monterrey, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Anáhuac University, among other institutions.

The most important and largest Turnitin office in Latin America is in Mexico where they have a specific Latin American team that will serve the Mexican and Spanish market.