The Science of Team Building l Is the Grass Really Greener? l Marketing Matters l Raising the Stakes
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Putting Values First New leadership book proves that values and success are not mutually exclusive.
Stepping into the Boardroom Are senior managers being discouraged from stepping into the boardroom by the increased risk of personal liability?
Paying the Price We hear from Claudio Cassanmagnago, Head of VAT at cost management consultancy, LowendalmasaĂŻ, about the VAT difficulties facing international businesses.
May 2015
The Calm Before the Storm: UK investors urged to invest overseas following Conservative Party’s resounding win.
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Editor’s Note Welcome to the May edition of Corporate Vision. Kicking off this issue, we witness the calm before the storm as UK investors are urged to invest overseas following the Conservatives’ resounding general election victory. We find out if the grass is really greener, as research by Emolument.com reveals, for the first time, how individual companies pay their employees, in a move designed to enable people to make more informed career decisions. Also in this issue, we delve into Harry Kraemer’s new book on leadership that proves that values and success are not mutually exclusive and we chat with Anna Bird, Research Director at CEB, to address why we need to realise that effective marketing and PR is integral to great company performance. We also hear about why it is time for policymakers to help shadow banking emerge from the darkness and take a closer look at how and why employee ownership is becoming the fastest growing form of business ownership in the UK. And, of course, we have all the usual news and comment from around the corporate world. We hope you enjoy this issue. See you next month!
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Contents 6 News and CEO Profiles The Calm Before the Storm Most Desirable Market in Europe Outlining Agendas Featurespace Alan Clarke Jason Trost Eve B端chner Darren Redmayne
19 Industry Insight Is the Grass Really Greener? Stepping Into the Boardroom Calling All Non Graduates Putting Values First
31 Strategy The Science of Team Building Marketing Matters Digital Mission
39 Money Paying the Price Out of the Dark and Into the Light
45 SME Security Solutions Raising the Stakes
News
The Calm Before the Storm! UK investors urged to invest overseas following Conservative Party’s resounding win by thinking more globally about the issues involved. ‘Now is the time to think more globally’. This is the message to investors of UK assets by the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations, following early predictions of the Conservatives’ effective majority. deVere Group’s founder and chief executive, Nigel Green, also urges the Tories to be bolder with taxation policy and to leave pensions alone. Mr Green comments: “I suspect David Cameron’s slender majority in the Commons outcome will be met with an immediate sigh of relief by investors. “However, this might be the calm before the storm.” He continues: “The prospect of an in-out referendum of Britain’s EU membership has gone from risk to a reality. Since this is likely to take place in several years’ time, this could lead to numerous years of ongoing uncertainty – something the markets are allergic to – and, in response, investors need to take precautions against a fall in the value of UK assets. “They can do this by increasing their exposure to overseas investments. “With many UK investors lacking geographical diversification, favouring a home bias, this should be a wake-up call to start a much-needed rebalancing to
increase their exposure to international stocks, bonds and maybe property. Now is certainly the time to think more globally.” Be bold on tax Mr Green affirms: “I would urge the PM and his colleagues to be bolder with taxation policy. “Cutting income tax, as has been promised, is a step in the right direction as hardworking people will get to keep more of their money to provide for their families. It reduces a barrier to aspiration. “Similarly, it must now keep its pledge on inheritance tax – which was meant to only ever be paid by the wealthiest in our society and which has been pulling more and more of the already ‘Squeezed Middle’ into its net. “IHT is universally regarded as one of the most despised taxes as it is, essentially, a form of double taxation, and passing on a decent legacy to our loved ones is a very human instinct. “However, in an increasingly globalised world, more must now be done to remain tax competitive in the world of business. This is perhaps particularly true within the financial services sector. The government must be aware of a real and present threat of endless current and proposed fiscal raids. After eight
6 Corporate Vision May 2015
increases in four years of the bank levy introduced by George Osborne, the bank bashing must end.” Stop tinkering with pensions On pensions, Nigel Green, deVere Group’s CEO says: “It can be expected that there will be a temptation by the newly elected MPs to ‘review’ the pension’s landscape. As contributions are subsidised by taxpayers, politicians think that they have an inherent right to continually tinker with pensions. “This must not happen. Pensions must now be left alone. More changes will do more harm than good as it could add further layers of complexities and further impede the appetite for saving. “In short, if pensions once again become a political football, the move could undermine what should be a relatively simple concept: saving for one’s retirement. This would affect both individuals’ retirement ambitions and the country’s long-term, sustainable economic growth. “In the last five years, savers, retirees and the pension industry have seen mammoth changes to the state pension, public sector pensions and company pensions, with the recently rolled out pension reforms capping off a monumental amount of change.”
News
Smarkets reaches £1billion milestone in just one year World business leaders select UK as the second most desirable country in the world for businesses to expand into. Leading online betting exchange Smarkets, has reached the one billion pound traded milestone. An epic response to the Cheltenham Festival and record-breaking interest in the Grand National continues the momentum of 2014 into the conclusion of the football calendar. Cheltenham saw trading volume grow by 320% year-on-year, whereas the response to the Grand National smashed the company’s one-day record for GBP volume traded, recording a revenue increase of 359%! Overall, both events saw a tremendous demand this year. The next-generation betting exchange, Smarkets is disrupting the way that odds are set and bets are placed. Smarkets has simplified the exchange experience using the best technology, enabling the company to offer an order of magnitude better odds. The firm’s commission structure of a flat 2% of net profits is also drastically lower than other online competitors. Smarkets’ revenue has snowballed in the last year and after celebrating trading £500 million in March 2014, it has seen this total double, less than a year later. A testament to the service and its team, Smarkets has proved the potential of applying financial trading principles to the online sports world. Their goal was to make a difference by developing an online platform focused on honest, transparent, user-centred trading. Smarkets offers trading opportunities on all major sports and niche markets such as politics and current affairs. Its markets have been used to predict the outcomes of major events, including elections, awards ceremonies and sporting fixtures, as prices are considered a valuable indication of the collated knowledge of all traders in the market. If a price decreases, the event outcome is considered to be more likely to occur. Smarkets regards this as the “wisdom of crowds.”
Jason Trost, Founder and CEO of Smarkets, says: “I believe that our growth has proven that there is room for a challenger brand and more in the market. Combining transparency, together with integrity and excellent odds, is a truly compelling proposition for any customer. During our performance at Cheltenham and the Grand National, we’ve seen an 80% increase in new registrations, and the word is getting out that we’re a sure bet for the market, something that thousands of other loyal customers have known about for some time now.” Smarkets offers the best odds with the lowest commission. Traditional high street bookmakers can charge up to 16% in hidden fees and online services still leave room for improvement with up to 10% fees. Smarkets’ margins are an industry low of 2%. Compounded with more investment in market liquidity and a stable reliable service, Smarkets is set to revolutionise the market as we know it.
The selling patterns during the Grand National were a great example of the value and accuracy of these predictions. Ahead of the race there was heavy backing for hot favourite Shutthefrontdoor. But in an incredible fluctuation, this drastically shifted and the odds for the horse lost around half their value by the time the race started. The wisdom of the crowds indicated that Tony McCoy wouldn’t be the winner and they were right!
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News
British Prime Minister, David Cameron
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News
Outlining Agendas Prime Minister, David Cameron, claims the Tories are the “real party for working people” as they prepare to draft a Queen’s Speech.
David Cameron is due to meet his new Cabinet for the first time as his Government starts putting together legislation which will be a test of his authority. The Prime Minister will tell his newly appointed ministers they should aim to “give everyone in the UK the chance to make the most of their life”. He will also outline plans to create two million jobs, to help people with childcare, to reform welfare and to provide more apprenticeships.
Downing Street said it will include the introduction of a legal duty to tell Parliament what progress has been made in the areas of achieving full employment and providing three million new apprenticeships. The speech will also include a bill to cap benefits at £23,000 and a new scheme that will see young people with no work experience required to take part in training or work placements or have their benefits removed. A Bill increasing free childcare for three and four-yearolds to 30 hours a week will also be prioritised by the
It follows the completion of his Cabinet earlier this month, with many of those who had previously been Secretaries of State in the last government staying in place. The Tory leader told his first Conservative-only team: “Every decision we take, every policy we pursue, every programme we initiate, never forget: we’re here to give everyone in our country the chance to make the most of their life. “I call it being the real party for working people: giving everyone in our country the chance to get on, with the dignity of a job, the pride of a pay-cheque, a home of their own and the security and peace of mind that comes from being able to support a family.” Top of Mr Cameron’s agenda is the referendum on Britain’s EU membership, which he has promised by the end of 2017, and negotiating a better to deal for Britain. He has put Chancellor, George Osborne, in charge of negotiations. Speaking in Brussels, Mr Osborne said: “I don’t think anyone is in any doubt we will hold that referendum on British membership of the EU, having conducted these negotiations. “We go into the negotiations aiming to be constructive and engaged but also resolute and firm, and no one should underestimate our determination to succeed for the working people of Britain.” The first Queen’s Speech, which sets out the new Government’s priorities, will be part of the State Opening of Parliament on 27 May.
May 2015 Corporate Vision 9
new Government, as will plans to introduce tax-free child care for every child. Mr Cameron will have to get the legislation through the House of Commons with a majority of 10 - the smallest Government majority at the start of a Parliament since 1974. Many of the most senior Cabinet figures remain in post, with Theresa May staying on as Home Secretary, Philip Hammond as Foreign Secretary, and Michael Fallon as Defence Secretary.
News
Featurespace CEO, Martina King
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News
Featurespace
We speak to Martina King, CEO at Featurespace, to gain more information about the business and its approaches. Featurespace is pioneering a new machine learning approach to analyse and predict the behaviour of people in commercial and social environments. It can be used in a wide variety of applications, but is currently focused on preventing fraud, managing risk and demonstrating compliance in Financial Services, Insurance and Gaming. Martina King, CEO, told us more about its fast-rising success. Featurespace’s solution puts each one of our client’s customers at the centre of deep behavioural understanding, using predictive analytics to enable informed decisions around business risk and operational processes, at both a global and an individual customer level. Featurespace recently closed an investment round of £3m, with investors including Imperial Innovations, NESTA, Dr Mike Lynch, Robert Sansom, Andrew Hodson and Cambridge Angels. Featurespace has c 21 customers and grew revenue by 350% and bookings by over 700% in FY2014. The company was formed in 2005 as a university-based consultancy by David Excell (CTO) and Cambridge Professor Bill Fitzgerald, who was Head of the Applied Statistics and Signal Processing Department. In 2008, Betfair PLC approached us to provide a fraud solution fit for monitoring gaming customers on modern devices, which would not inconvenience perfectly acceptable customers. We delivered 50% reduction in manual fraud reviews and 77% reduction in false positives, enabling Betfair to reduce the cost of fraud and accept more good business. Since then the core ARIC™ software engine (Adaptive, Real-time, Individual, Change-identification) has been developed into four products: ARIC Fraud Manager, ARIC Responsible Gambling, ARIC Accept, ARIC Churn Protector, which are scalable and can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. Managing Fraud, Risk and Compliance Organisations can identify and predict the typical patterns of behaviour of each customer to manage fraud, risk and compliance using our Adaptive Behavioural Analytics approach, which combines machine learning with Bayesian maths principles to spot subtle changes in data. Providing solutions in:
analysts required to manually write rules and deal with disgruntled customers – has led the Financial Services sector to us. Featurespace’s machine learning approach detects anomalies in real-time, so organisations do not need to second-guess where the next fraudulent attack is coming from, or from which device. Featurespace is the first company to identify fraud as the attack occurs, enabling our clients to shift from writing rules after the attack has occurred, to blocking fraud as it takes place. Our system can assess risk from both “in-session” online behavioural data and transactional data. This approach also recognises legitimate customer behaviour, reducing the number of false positives to accept more genuine transactions, maximising revenue and improving customer experience. Our modern, adaptive, real-time approach was identified as unique by VocaLink’s Zapp who chose us to provide their fraud solution for their new mobile payment platform. ARIC Fraud Manager will be processing mobile payments for over 23m customers, returning a fraud score instantaneously. Insurance In the Insurance sector, our approach is being used to identify quote application manipulation, reduce manual claims investigations and spot ghost broking rings. We recently enabled a major UK insurer to detect 5x more fraud at application stage, and reduce claims investigations by 31%. In addition, by understanding each individual customer, organisations can optimise communications, ensuring their books are correctly underwritten and detecting propensity to switch brand or identifying upsell opportunities Gaming Our heartland sector is Gaming, where we have been identifying financial crime and meeting responsible gambling challenges. By understanding and monitoring each individual player in real-time, Featurespace’s machine learning approach enables gaming organisations to spot financial crime (such as fraud and money laundering) and check the health of all their players to minimise the risk of harmful play. Our advanced
Financial Services Knowing where the next fraud attack is going to come from has been an impossible task as legacy rulesbased systems can only deal with known types of fraud. The rules systems are famous for categorising legitimate customers as fraud attacks and consequently blocking them. Fraud rules degrade over time. This issue – along with the large number of
May 2015 Corporate Vision 11
predictive analytics were recently chosen by the Responsible Gambling Trust to provide the analysis into researching gambling behaviour on FOBT machines. We have also been asked to distinguish harmful from non-harmful play in online environments. Our ARIC Responsible Gambling solution is being implemented by organisations committed to social responsibility. We focus on a flexible, client-centric approach and our system is already implemented, tried, tested, and working globally for a number of highly innovative organisations, who are determined to find the best route to protect and serve their customers. Featurespace’s expert team is based in Cambridge and London, combining talent from global top-tier universities with a wealth of experience in Data Science, Engineering, and Financial Services. Featurespace hosts a regular Cinema Club to recruit new talent, featuring exclusive private screenings of popular technology-related films, most recently Ex Machina. Martina King, Featurespace CEO, joined the company in 2012. Former Managing Director of augmented reality company Aurasma, Martina King has an extensive career in media technology, including leadership roles at Yahoo! Europe and Capital Radio. She is non-executive director of Cineworld and Debenhams. Since joining Featurespace she has aligned the strategic direction and corporate vision for the company, achieving a team-effort of 350% revenue growth in FY2014 and in excess of 700% increase in bookings. Featurespace’s Chairman is Gordon Hurst. Gordon joined Featurespace following 27 years as an Executive Board Director of Capita PLC. Today, Capita has a market capitalisation of c £7.5 billion, employs over 65,000 employees, and spans numerous markets and sectors.
CEO Profile
Alan Clarke Alan Clarke is the CEO at Homestay.com, an online booking platform for travel accommodation. Homestays allow guests to book a room in a local person’s home on a nightly, weekly or monthly basis for a fee. In all of our homestays there is a host present during the stay, enhancing the guest’s travel experience through their hospitality and local knowledge. Travel is all about people. Homestay accommodation connects guests with live-in hosts who open their homes to travelers. Our hosts, in over 140 countries, turn a location into a culture, time into experience and strangers into friends. Alan Clarke (34) has a decade of e-commerce management experience for both listed and privately held technology companies. Prior to his role with Homestay.com, Alan was Head of Games at online gaming company, PaddyPower.com, in Dublin and also held roles at Yahoo! in San Francisco and McKinsey & Company in London. He has travelled to nearly 40 countries and stayed in all types of accommodation, from hotels and hostels to yurts in Outer Mongolia, enjoying countless local experiences along the way. Homestay.com Overview
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•
Homestay.com represents the natural evolution of the ‘shared economy’ market – Homestay. com is about the ‘shared experience’. With homestays, the host is always present.
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Launched in July 2013, they already have 30,000 hosts in over 140 countries. Over 100,000 nights have been booked to date.
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Homestay.com has enjoyed 25 times YoY growth in revenues, 15 times YoY growth in hosts and 10 times YoY growth in site traffic.
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The size of the prize is massive – the homestay market, worldwide, is estimated to be worth $10 billion.
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The Business is venture backed by Delta Partners and it was co-founded by Tom Kennedy. He founded Hostelworld.com and sold it to Hellman Friedman for $340 million in 2009.
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Homestay.com is about to explode, and launch a number of innovative new tools to make the website better, and more profitable.
CEO Profile
Jason Trost Jason Trost is the CEO and founder of London-based Smarkets, a stand for integrity by providing a superior online investment platform that facilitates honest, user-centered trading in regard to sports, politics and current events.
Jason Trost is the CEO and founder of London-based Smarkets, a leading online betting exchange. As a trading platform, Smarkets facilitates peer-to-peer trading on sporting, political and entertainment events in a fast and secure environment. In less than four years, Jason has grown Smarkets into a successful company that has seen more than £1 billion traded on the exchange. Jason is a pioneer in the field of betting platform technology. While most bookmakers and exchanges outsource technical services, Smarkets has an in-house team of engineers who have built the product from the ground up. Smarkets is disrupting the way that odds are set and bets are placed. Smarkets has simplified the exchange experience using the best technology, enabling the company to offer an order of magnitude better odds. The firm’s commission structure of a flat 2% of net profits is also drastically lower than other online competitors. Prior to entering the betting industry, Jason built his career as an Equities Trader at Great Point Capital in Chicago. Capitalising on his trading know-how, he subsequently joined UBS’s Global Asset Management Division in New York as Application Developer. His academic record includes a degree in Computer Science from Northwestern University, USA. Originally from the United States, Jason has been actively involved in the business and technology sectors in Europe. He currently acts as an advisor to other technology start-ups and young entrepreneurs in the London-area with the Entrepreneurs First Program and has spoken at Google Campus, Cambridge, UCL and Oxford University. Jason’s expertise in the arenas of software engineering, finance and business are a rare combination in the gaming industry, making Jason’s opinions and input well sought after. Smarkets is Jason’s second successful enterprise. He previously founded internet company Descipher, a consumer medical website, which he sold to Ativa Medical Corporation based in Minnesota.
Jason Trost, CEO, Smarkets
May 2015 Corporate Vision 13
CEO Profile
Eve B端chner, Founder and CEO of refund.me
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CEO Profile
Eve Büchner Eve Büchner, Founder and CEO of Refund.me
Until 2010 Eve Büchner was a successful host and anchor for various television programs. She has also been engaged as an entrepreneur since 2007. Managing both family and business, she lives with her three sons in Potsdam, Germany, and Palo Alto, CA. In 2012 she founded refund.me, a globally operating service provider which enforces passenger rights against airlines in cases of delays, cancellations, re-routings or missed connecting flights. The company headquarter is located in Potsdam, Germany. In 2014 she established the US Delaware Corporation, refund.me Group, Inc., the sole owner of refund. me GmbH. Eve has legal ownership of all refund.me intellectual property rights (IPR), software licenses and essential monitoring contracts. refund.me is backed by initial funding of $5m in angel investment and is currently in its first funding round (Series A). In 2011 Eve founded the venture capital firm, quantumReality Ltd. The company provides seed investments and supports start ups in the fields of e-commerce, e-strategy, software development and IPR in the form of patents. Before this, at the onset of her entrepreneurial career in 2007, she founded switch.me, a business model that interactively connects television to the Internet. Eve Büchner is already fine-tuning her next business idea, which will be her fourth company: Remote Feelings, a bracelet that transmits the heartbeat of a loved one and creates a feeling of closeness over large distances. Lecture topics and areas of expertise • Digital entrepreneurship • Development of disruptive business models • Work and family balance • Start-up with a global market • App-supported legal enforcement • Career change • Cloud-based work How would you gauge your work life balance since becoming a mother? The great thing about running a company that is almost completely cloud-based is that it allows all staff – not just me – to have a relatively flexible work schedule. Each person is able to plan around their private life, whether they’re an early bird or a night owl. In the end it’s the results that count. This doesn’t hold true for all areas of the business, but for most.
In my case the flexible work schedule allows me to take my two sons to school in the morning, and to pick them up later in the day. From 4:00pm my time is devoted to my boys. Since October 2013 I’ve planned my schedule around my youngest son, because I wanted to each lunch with him and take him on walks. Now that he’s one year old, he goes to kindergarten. After four months I was back at my desk or flying to meetings, often taking him along. From 9:00pm, when my children are asleep, I’m back at my computer communicating with colleagues in other time zones. It’s of enormous benefit to work with an exceptional and professional team. And of course, to have a wonderful partner in life. Have you adapted your private and professional life to successfully fill both roles? Of course. The first step to being successful as a working mother is to pinpoint top priorities and specific efficiencies for oneself, one’s family and the job. I asked myself questions such as: what are the key factors holding my family together? How do I set up my team most effectively? What is the most efficient way to communicate? How can I integrate my sons’ lives into my work demands? They, too, profit from this flexibility. Often, my one year old is under my desk playing. My four year old plays with Legos. The oldest, my nine year old, does his homework. They’re growing up with the fact that they have a working mom. It will surely have an influence on them. My own mother is my idol. She frequently took us to the office where she was managing a mid-sized company. Passions in life: I have over 10 years of experience running start ups, building up companies and selecting and setting up a talented team of coworkers. I have good eye for talent, an intuition for good ideas and have a passion for helping skilled people and brilliant ideas blossom. I manage my companies with respect and appreciation for my coworkers and I always aspire to improve society and make the world a better place. I believe people should work in order to live, not the other way around. This is why I’ve set up companies with international teams, where harmonious and respectful cooperation takes center stage. This is also why I believe in a management approach that allows for flexible work schedules and cloud-based working from anywhere on the globe, and one that provides
May 2015 Corporate Vision 15
rewarding salaries. I make sure my projects are profitable to my staff and in line with their own goals, to ensure that we grow as team. What advice would you give to women seeking to combine and balance their family and work lives? It is crucial to set priorities. They should carefully consider what is most important to their private and professional life, and what they can then do to strike a balance between both worlds. In order to react calmly and rationally to unforeseen circumstances it’s important to be flexible in all life situations. Being flexible helps more easily adapt to changes. Creating small highlights from time to time helps keep it together. This could be a morning jog around the lake or simply taking half an hour out of the day to come down a little. If at all possible they should create the conditions for a flexible work schedule, so that they can react to any eventualities in their private life. What advice would you give to women who want to take the leap to being self-employed? A good dose of courage goes a long way in realizing one’s ideas! Yet I advise others not to try and tackle all steps at once. Having a professional partner with similar goals for setting up a company is of tremendous assistance. Goals are much more quickly met with everyone rowing in the same direction. Setbacks and missteps are part of the game. The important thing is learning from such instances and doing things better the second time around. The ability to adapt to constant change is crucial to success as the path never leads in a straight direction and seeming detours often result in valuable experience gained. ‑One should never allow oneself to be pushed aside or put down, since critical voices are to be found everywhere! Being able to clearly distinguish destructive from constructive criticism is a necessity, since a lot of criticism does not stem from bad intentions.
CEO Profile
Darren Redmayne We spoke to Darren Redmayne, the UK CEO & Managing Director of investment bank Lincoln International to learn more about his experiences and acheivements.
Darren Redmayne joined Lincoln International in January 2008 from Close Brothers to found its London office. Within four months, the office completed its first transaction, advising Sovereign Capital on its acquisition of World Class Learning, a group of international schools based in the USA and Middle-East. In its first year of operation the London office advised on six transactions including the sale of some noncore building products assets for building materials specialist, CRH plc. With Lehman Brothers collapsing in the second half of 2008 and the credit-crunch taking hold, growing an M&A-focused investment bank in arguably the world’s most competitive financial market became even tougher. Darren steered the office through the financial storm by diversifying its services to include M&A, debt advisory and pensions advisory. This range of services enabled the office to continue to grow and invest through the downturn where other M&A-only firms struggled. This multi-service strategy has seen the UK operations of Lincoln International successfully increase revenues each and every year since its launch in 2008. The London office now comprises over 40 professionals and senior advisers across its three business lines and last year moved into new offices in Orion House in Covent Garden. Similarly on an international level, Lincoln International has continued to grow, developing its range of investment banking services and expanding its global presence to 16 offices in 14 countries spread across the Americas, Asia and Europe. The firm’s services now include debt advisory, capital raising, restructuring advice, fairness opinions, valuations and pension advisory services alongside its global M&A advisory capability.
firm also established the Lincoln Pensions brand for its specialist UK pensions advisory operation, enabling that business to better communicate its offering to clients. The global firm is now in the top three investment banks globally advising sellers of mid-market businesses. In London, Lincoln International also had a record year and made some notable appointments including Phil McCreanor, joining from Livingstone Partners, to further help grow M&A and Matt Harrison, from EY, to help develop its pensions advisory business, Lincoln Pensions. As UK CEO, Darren provides leadership to the London office, advises on selected M&A transactions and heads its specialist Lincoln Pensions. Most recently, Darren led the advice to uSwitch, the UK’s #1 price comparison website in the home services sector (energy and communications), which has announced its sale to Zoopla Property Group Plc for up to £190m. He also advises a number of high-profile pension schemes including, Mirror Group Newspapers and Siemens. A graduate of Cambridge University, Darren attended Maidstone Grammar School and spent his early career at Touche Ross (now Deloitte) in its restructuring group. Married with two daughters, he lived in the United States for two years while working for Close Brothers before returning to live in Kent.
In 2014, Lincoln International had a record year advising on over 140 transactions. During that time, the
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CEO Profile
Darren Redmayne, CEO & Managing Director of Lincoln International
May 2015 Corporate Vision 17
Industry Insight 20 Is the Grass Really Greener? New research by Emolument.com reveals for the first time how individual companies pay their employees, enabling people to make more informed career decisions.
22 Stepping Into the Boardroom Are senior managers being discouraged from stepping into the boardroom by the increased risk of personal liability?
24 Calling All Non Graduates CareerCast Identifies Top Jobs for Those Without a Four-Year College Degree
26 Putting Values first New leadership book proves that values and success are not mutually exclusive.
Industry Insight: Is the Grass Really Greener?
Is the Grass Really Greener? New research by Emolument.com reveals, for the first time, how individual companies pay their employees, enabling people to make more informed career decisions.
When it comes to attracting the best talent to an organisation, industry-leading brands often have an advantage in establishing themselves as a desirable place to work. However, until now individuals have never been able to see beyond the surface of an organisation to understand the pay structure and demographics they might expect if they were to pursue a career with the company. A ground breaking new service from salary benchmarking site Emolument. com has just been launched to change this and reveal for the first time how much specific employers pay for various job roles, specialisms and experience levels, highlighting some eye-opening trends. The statistics have been compiled from data submitted anonymously by over 45,000 individuals in order to access their own tailored salary benchmarking report for free. The new Employer service allows candidates to investigate companies and find out, for example, if Ernst & Young pay senior professionals more than Accenture, if Google values an MBA or whether a move to L’Oreal really is worth it in the long term, empowering them to make more informed decisions and manage their own career more effectively.
graphs. All data submitted is completely anonymous, so employers and employees would never be able to identify individuals. CEO of Emolument.com, Thomas Drewry said: “Until now, choosing whether to apply for a job has always been based on very short-term information like advertised salary and job description, but these are big life decisions and people need to understand the long term implications for their career. By offering a greater degree of transparency, this information empowers people to make more informed decisions on whether a move to a competitor or even a similar role in a completely different industry might give their career the boost it needs.�
While statistics show average level of remuneration for employees across roles and functions within an organisation, each individual using Emolument.com can access their own personalised salary benchmarking report, with the ability to drill down into the detailed information that interests them and use the intuitive platform to generate easy to understand
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Industry Insight: Is the Grass Really Greener?
May 2015 Corporate Vision 21
Industry Insight: Stepping Into the Boardroom
Stepping Into the Boardroom We hear from Edward Craft, Corporate partner and associate, Shveta Nehra at Wedlake Bell LLP, about why senior managers are being discouraged from stepping into the boardroom by the increased risk of personal liability.
The aftermath of the financial crisis led to an understandable focus on the behaviours of those whose conduct can precipitate systemic risks in our financial system and economy: senior managers within banks, building societies and PRA-designated investment firms. Managers have often claimed that additional protections and structures risk forcing significant parts of our banking sector away from the City of London. The issue of remuneration has been highly visible with the EU cap on bankers’ bonuses, greater pressure for disclosure, claw back, deferred entitlement and a binding vote on remuneration policy (applicable beyond the banks) but perhaps remuneration should not be the most important driver of change. There has been less focus on whether the greater potential liability (or at least greater focussed lens through which it is examined) will discourage persons to take on senior positions in financial institutions and enter the board room. Sir David Walker published his final recommendations on the governance of banks in 2009, during what were the darkest days of the economic downturn. There was broad acceptance that, because banks, building societies and other financial institutions pose greater systemic risk with an ability to cause harm to businesses and consumers across society they are different to the general cohort of companies and require some special treatment. Therefore, it would be appropriate for the behavioural framework for the banks and other financial institutions to be subject to certain stricter modes governance. The Senior Managers Regime for Banks The UK financial services regulators are seeking to improve individual responsibility and accountability in the banking sector. This is a laudable objective and all should benefit from: •
An improved approval regime for those whose behaviour and decisions have the potential to cause serious harm (essentially enhanced due diligence on suitability); and
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New rules on remuneration to strengthen the alignment between long-term risk and reward in the banking sector.
The Parliamentary Commission for Banking Standards reported in the summer of 2013 under the title “Changing Banking for Good” which then led to the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013. New offences were created, including an offence of making decisions causing a financial institution to fail. Provision was made for new rules from the financial services regulators which are intended to emphasise the manner in which senior managers of banks must exercise their statutory duties. One objective is to make it easier for individuals to be held to account by companies, shareholders and regulators. Actions to hold directors to account are notoriously difficult to bring and, at least in the banking sector, the risk of such claims against directors should increase, thereby focusing the mind of the individuals concerned. Four elements: Senior Managers Regime, Certification Regime, Conduct Rules and Remuneration •
A new Senior Managers Regime is proposed which will clarify the lines of responsibility at the top of banks, enhance the regulators’ ability to hold senior individuals in banks to account and require banks to regularly vet their senior managers for fitness and propriety.
•
An enhanced due diligence Certification Regime requires firms to report to the PRA on the fitness and propriety of staff in positions where the decisions they make could pose significant harm.
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New Conduct Rules set out the high-level principles of behavior for bank employees.
•
Finally, in relation to Remuneration there is an objective of more effective alignment between risk and reward over the longer term (i.e. a
22 Corporate Vision May 2015
Industry Insight: Stepping Into the Boardroom
number of years reflective of a business cycle) by requiring firms to defer payment of bonuses for a minimum of five to seven years depending on seniority, with a phased approach to vesting and an enhanced claw back regime under rules which came into force on 1 January 2015. What might the “fit and proper test” mean? The Senior Managers Regime seems to be mandating many behaviors which would normally be considered part of good HR practice, prudent due diligence and risk management. It is somewhat surprising that it is even considered necessary. Such a review should form a key item on the agenda of our financial services regulators, every nominations committee, every audit and risk committee and, indeed, every board. It is absolutely necessary to appraise on a regular basis the effectiveness of the team under each senior manager. The new “fit and proper” test only reflects what should have been done at all times in all businesses and, certainly, in banks at all times since we were hit by the violent economic headwinds of the financial crisis. The material difference seems to be that the relevant authorised persons must regularly submit a verified return to the PRA confirming that this is the case, essentially confirming to the regulators that appropriate development and performance appraisal has been carried out. There is a risk that regulated entities, their senior managers and the regulators themselves may draw too much comfort from this process and place insufficient focus on the substance. The reporting should provide the regulations with greater information to ask further, informed and insightful, questions. If this does not happen, the new regime will have failed. A more far-reaching regime Even whilst the Senior Manager Regime is bedding in HM Treasury is consulting on whether it should be widened in scope to capture UK branches of overseas firms. However, it is notable that senior managers in UK branches of overseas firms would not be caught by the new criminal offence relating to a decision causing a financial institution to fail contained. Insufficient evidence of discouragement Whilst rumblings have been heard, there is as yet no substantive evidence of banks, building societies and other PRA-designated investment firms facing difficulties in the filling of senior management positions. There is a powerful argument that these changes represent little substantive change to the responsibilities of those directors and might, indeed, assist all by placing the duties in a sharper focus. Whilst comments have been made suggesting that greater regulations/prescription will drive away talent from the UK, there is insufficient evidence as to date of this to form any clear conclusion. Banks still seem able to fill senior management posts. The challenges faced by small building societies and other investment firms are more a factor of size and the need for capital adequacy and liquidity. The sector will continue to consolidate and, if as a conclusion, risk appetite is tempered and attitudes are more sustainable, that cannot be a bad thing for our economy.
May 2015 Corporate Vision 23
Industry Insight: Calling All Non Graduates
Calling All Non Graduates! CareerCast Identifies Top Jobs for Those Without a Degree, proving that it is not the end of the road for those of us who do not attend university.
Not earning a degree may be a roadblock to landing many jobs, but there are proven alternative routes for moving beyond those obstacles and finding a successful career, according to a new CareerCast report on the best jobs without a degree.
Technological advances make building a network easier than just a decade ago. Tapping into social media and targeted job sites, such as the CareerCast PartTime Network, offer contract opportunities to connect with potential clients.
The rule of the workforce clearly states that the alternative to accruing that debt typically is worse: workers with a college degree will make 84% more in her or his lifetime than their counterparts without a degree, reports a Georgetown University study.
Technology plays another key role in the marketplace for job seekers without a degree: the rising demand for IT professionals means more opportunities, including for those with just a high-school diploma. Some of the other great jobs available to those without a degree require some specialized education, but not a full four years. Some states require certification to become a skincare specialist, dental hygienist or personal trainer, for example, while trade crafts such as electrician and carpenter demand either advanced training or apprenticeships. Unofficial apprenticeships also are invaluable for job seekers without a college degree.
CareerCast.com, created by Adicio, is a job search portal that offers extensive local, niche and national job listings from across North America; job-hunting, career-management and HR-focused editorial content; and videos and blogs; and provides recruiters with the ability to post jobs directly to more than 800 niche career sites. CareerCast.com also compiles the Jobs Rated Report (www.jobsrated.com), where 200 jobs across North America are ranked based on detailed analysis of specific careers factors. The Jobs Rated Report has been published for 25 years. “Starting a career without a degree may be unconventional, but succeeding in the workplace without one is far from impossible,” says Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast. “An entrepreneurial spirit and specialized training can help overcome the lack of a four-year degree.” Working pro bono and taking on contract work are good ways to build a portfolio and compensate for not having a degree. A willingness to get outside of their comfort zone is definitely an asset for those seeking a great job without a college degree.
24 Corporate Vision May 2015
Industry Insight: Calling All Non Graduates
Below are CareerCast’s best jobs without a college degree in 2015: ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Annual Median Salary: $35,330 Projected Hiring Outlook by 2022: 12% APPLIANCE REPAIRER Annual Median Salary: $43,640 Projected Hiring Outlook: 21% BOOKKEEPER Annual Median Salary: $35,170 Projected Hiring Outlook: 11% CARPENTER Annual Median Salary: $39,940 Projected Hiring Outlook: 24% COMPUTER SERVICE TECHNICIAN Annual Median Salary: $48,900 Projected Hiring Outlook: 17% DENTAL HYGIENIST Annual Median Salary: $70,210 Projected Hiring Outlook: 33% ELECTRICIAN Annual Median Salary: $49,840 Projected Hiring Outlook: 20% MEDICAL RECORDS TECHNICIAN Annual Median Salary: $34,160 Projected Hiring Outlook: 22% MULTIMEDIA ARTIST Annual Median Salary: $61,370 Projected Hiring Outlook: 6% PARALEGAL ASSISTANT Annual Median Salary: $46,990 Projected Hiring Outlook: 17% PERSONAL TRAINER Annual Median Salary: $31,720 Projected Hiring Outlook: 13% REGISTERED NURSE Annual Median Salary: $65,470 Projected Hiring Outlook: 19% RESPIRATORY THERAPIST Annual Median Salary: $55,870 Projected Hiring Outlook: 19% SKINCARE SPECIALIST Annual Median Salary: $28,640 Projected Hiring Outlook: 40% WEB DEVELOPER Annual Median Salary: $62,500 Projected Hiring Outlook: 20%
May 2015 Corporate Vision 25
Industry Insight: Putting Values First
Putting Values First New book about leadership proves that values and success are not mutually exclusive, through a guide that puts the principles of value based leadership into action.
This new book offers a guide for putting the principles of values-based leadership into action. Written by Harry M. Kraemer, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners, it offers a rallying cry for employees to stay grounded in who they are and what they stand for. Drawing on his experience as the former CEO and chairman of Baxter International, the author identifies the essential traits of a great leader and outlines how people can put these into practice to achieve “5 bests” for the benefit of themselves, their organization and society: • Best Self: Realise who you are meant to become, developing better self-knowledge and a deeper understanding that in order to influence people, you need to relate to them first. • Best Team: All team members understand and appreciate what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and how that fits with and fulfills the goals and objectives of the organization. • Best Partner: The organization and its suppliers forge a partnership in order to enhance the customer experience. Each party understands what the organization is trying to do and why, as it provides products and/or services. • Best Investment: Everyone in the organization focuses on generating a return for the owners (whether stockholders, debt holders, a foundation, or other stakeholders) through positive and meaningful actions that support the mission, vision, and values of the organization.
• Best Citizen: From the C-suite to the most junior levels of the organization, everyone is focused not only on success, but also significance, through social responsibility and making a difference in the world, beyond the organization and its people. Becoming the Best uses powerful case studies from Campbell’s Soup, Ernst & Young, Fieldglass and more to help illustrate a key message Kraemer has for readers – that values-based leadership applies to those in entrepreneurial start-ups or global corporations, regardless of their industry or origin. Put quite simply, it should be the foundation for any leader or organization. Becoming the Best: Build a World Class Organisation through Values-Based Leadership by Harry M. Kraemer . The need and desire to become the best through values-based leadership have never been stronger or more critical. Organizations today—large or small, public or private—are confronted with ethical issues, which may result from changes in regulations or uncertainty around where the legal, moral, and ethnical boundaries lie. Large, global organizations face the challenges of operating within a varied tapestry of multiple markets, regions, and countries with unique legal systems and regulations. Even smaller organizations focused on a single market or region must navigate a competitive landscape marked by grey areas that are open to interpretation. Within these complexities, and given the serious consequences of making an error in judgment, values-based leadership is the only way to operate. When a problem arises, it is crucial that individuals at all levels of the organization adopt a values-based leadership approach. That means they are
26 Corporate Vision May 2015
committed to doing the right thing at all times—and doing the best they can do. Values-based leadership is more than just a way to respond when a dilemma, problem, or crisis arises. It is a way of thinking, acting, and operating at every level of the organization. We cannot merely look at the world and complain about a lack of leadership in general or values-based leadership in particular. We must be change agents within our organizations, communities, and society at large. The values we embrace must be visible to others by our actions, decisions, and how we interact with and treat others. As I have seen in my own life and career, and in those of many others I have worked with, individuals and organizations can be not only financially successful and also a force for good. People at every level and with any job title, from the newest team members to the CEO, can and should become values-based leaders. Whether someone is the CEO of a company that employs 100,000 people or an entry-level person who just graduated from college, values-based leadership begins with one’s ability to understand one’s self. Self-knowledge and self-awareness must come first, before someone is able to relate to and influence others in positive and meaningful ways. Fortunately, values-based leaders have an invaluable tool at the ready: self-reflection, which is the core principle of values-based leadership. Whenever I address a group, the questions I’m asked most frequently relate to self-reflection and, specifically, how to practice it. People from college students to CEOs want to become more self-reflective in their daily lives. They know intuitively that by gaining greater self-knowledge, they will
Industry Insight: Putting Values First
May 2015 Corporate Vision 27
Industry Insight: Putting Values First
be better able to lead themselves first, which will then enable them to be more effective in leading others. The benefits of self-reflection are realized through regular (ideally daily) practice, using questions such as: What did I say I would do today? What am I proud of, and not proud of? How did I lead others and follow others? If I had today to do over again, what would I change? If I am fortunate to have tomorrow, given what I’ve learned today, how will I act? Self-reflection may be practiced at the end of the day, or be incorporated into any personal time for introspection, such as taking a walk, going for a jog, or sitting quietly for 15 or 20 minutes. Having practiced self-reflection for all of my adult life, including as CEO of Baxter International, a global health-care company with 50,000 team members (I prefer this term over employees), I can attest to the positive results of engaging in this discipline. Conceptually, values-based leadership is founded on the four principles of self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility. On a personal level, these principles become the basis of intentional actions and deep commitments that enable each person at every level of an organization to bring his or her best self to work. At an organizational level, these four principles, when applied, enable the creation of a values-based organization. There are five key areas that define what it means to be a values-based leader and build a world-class organization:
that support the mission, vision, and values of the organization. As a best investment, an enterprise also commits to developing its greatest asset— the talented team members at every level of the organization. The “hard numbers” of best investment are also the proof points that values-based leadership truly does elevate performance over the long term. 5. Best Citizen: From the C-suite to the most junior levels of the organization, everyone is focused not only on success, but also significance, through social responsibility and making a difference in the world, beyond the organization and its people. Beyond philanthropy for charity’s sake, best citizenship embraces a broader purpose in what we think of as social responsibility. Each of these bests connects to the others in a holistic structure that elevates the organization, its people, and its purpose. Guided by self-reflection, informed by a balance of perspectives, and defined by both true self-confidence and genuine humility, values-based leaders at every level make a difference in their organizations. Their values become the basis of their actions and interactions, as they become their best selves. This starts the movement forward in a deliberate process, from best self to best team, best partner, best investment, and best citizen. It is both revolutionary and evolutionary— and it starts with anyone who desires to become a values-based leader.
1. Best Self: You actualize who you are meant to become with fuller self-knowledge and a deeper understanding that in order to positively influence and lead people, you first need to relate to them. 2. Best Team: All team members understand and appreciate what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and how that fits with and fulfils the goals and objectives of the organization. 3. Best Partner: The organization and its vendors and suppliers forge a partnership in order to enhance the customer experience. Each party understands what the organization is trying to do and why, as it provides products and/or services. 4. Best Investment: Everyone in the organization focuses on generating a return for the owners (whether stockholders, debt holders, a foundation, or other stakeholders) through positive and meaningful actions
28 Corporate Vision May 2015
Industry Insight: Putting Values First
May 2015 Corporate Vision 29
Strategy 32 The Science of Team Building Tom Marsden, CEO of people analytics company Saberr, discusses why being in the right team is critical to maintaining employee wellbeing, and how companies can apply this science to their own teams.
34 Marketing Matters We hear from Anna Bird, research director in CEB’s Marketing & Communications practice about why she feels that the world needs to realise that effective marketing and PR is integral to great company performance.
36 Digital Mission Connexient MediNav(TM) Digital Wayfinding and Patient Experience Solution to Be Deployed at National Institutes of Health
Strategy: The Science of Team Building
The Science of Team Building Tom Marsden, CEO of people analytics company Saberr, discusses why being in the right team is critical to maintaining employee wellbeing, and how companies can apply this science to their own teams.
Relationships are the real motivator at work It might be surprising that for many, money is not the key motivator in life or even at work. Studies show that one’s social fabric is the real key to achieving happiness. Richard Layard, a leading economist from the London School of Economics, has written a book entitled ‘Happiness’, which challenges traditional assumptions about the real motivations in life. He concludes that the happiness of a country is measured not by a nation’s wealth, but by the quality of life experienced by its inhabitants - the two don’t necessarily correspond, indicating that people would be better off prioritising their relationships over their earnings. The same trend was apparent in the workplace. Professor John Helliwell from the University of British Columbia concluded that trust was one of the most highly regarded values at work. Staggeringly, the research found that a one tenth increase in trust in management is equivalent to more than a one third increase in income. In his book, ‘Drive’, Dan Pink also challenges the ‘carrot and stick’ approach to workplace motivation. Individuals are motivated by an innate need to direct our own lives (autonomy) to learn and create new things (mastery), and to do better by ourselves and our world
(purpose). He adds that a key part of autonomy is deciding the people we work with - our team. Despite this fast growing evidence that happy, productive individuals work within happy, productive teams, teams are often the forgotten force when it comes to maintaining employee well-being. What can we do about this? Become active: how to manage your team design Managers can become more thoughtful about team design. It’s becoming possible to be more scientific in designing compatible teams. Focus not just on skills but on personality and values. Up until now, managers have been too passive in team design. Judgments about whether an external hire will be compatible with his/her team-members are still being driven entirely by the gut. Even internal team formation with known parties is very reactive and unscientific. There’s not enough thought going into intelligent, compatible team design. The increasingly available data around team compatibility provides an important perspective to get team design right. Investing the time, applying good judgement and leveraging data will help build a happy and successful teams. These are the engine rooms of great organisations.
32 Corporate Vision May 2015
Strategy: The Science of Team Building
Blur the boundaries between work and socialising at work In a list of 19 daily activities surveyed in Richard Layard’s 2003 study, working ranks as the second least enjoyable activity (with a ‘happiness index’ score of 2.7) despite the average 6.9 hours per day spent in the workplace. Socialising at work ranks significantly higher (3.8).* How can this distinction be blurred?
Tom Marsden, CEO of Saberr
An interesting case study was carried out by MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory, in which they advised bosses at a call centre to change internal timetables to allow all workers to take breaks at the same time. The increased opportunities for socialising meant that average call-handling time fell by 20% for low-performing teams and 8% across the company, thus increasing the company’s productivity. As a result of implementing this change across all 10 branches of the company, the manager forecasted $15 million per year in productivity increases. There are also certain group dynamics that characterise high-performing teams; these include energy, creativity and shared commitment to surpass other teams. Gensler’s US workplace survey indicates that 67% of respondents felt they were more efficient when working closely alongside co-workers, while only 50% of workers believe that their current workplace design encourages innovation and creativity. It’s time we started to engineer our workplace and work schedules to encourage networking and collaboration. The resulting effect will be an increase in well-being and performance.
Consider the skills of a good leader “Strip leaders of the traditional tools of power and rely on facts to make decisions”. So says Laszlo Bock, Head of People Operations at Google in his recent book ‘Work Rules’. Evidence shows that the way the boss behaves in a company can have a huge impact on its employees’ well-being. Sadly, often the impact is negative. According to Layard’s research, the average happiness spent interacting with co-workers (2.6) quite significantly surpasses the average happiness spent interacting with one’s boss (2.0).* How can leaders narrow this gap? A few steps. Connect the right employees with the right managers. Encourage managers to lead without exercising brute authority - great managers often listen a lot more then they talk. Managers need to be a part of the team they represent - first amongst equals. The evidence speaks for itself. The more research that goes into developing our knowledge of the science behind well-being, the more proof that emerges: the happiness of our employees is dependent on the network around them at work. There is great opportunity for companies to capitalise on the dynamics of their teams. To do this successfully, data - applied in so many other aspects of a corporate strategy - should also be applied to the teams that make up a company. Additionally, it is up to the individuals to invest in their own happiness and success, which means finding a suitable team in which to flourish.
May 2015 Corporate Vision 33
Strategy:Marketing Matters
34 Corporate Vision May 2015
Strategy: Marketing Matters
Marketing Matters We hear from Anna Bird, research director in CEB’s Marketing & Communications practice, about why she feels that the world needs to realise that effective marketing and PR is integral to great company performance.
These days, major corporations around the world need to realise that effective marketing and PR is integral to great company performance. Businesses must monitor this effectiveness by implementing efficient, appropriate evaluation methods. Using the right metrics enables business leaders to perceive where marketing and PR are adding real value, and contribute the most to business objectives. CEB, the global member-based advisory company, has found that Marketing & PR must avoid the lure of “volumetrics” – metrics that are easy to measure, for example views or tweets, as opposed to ones that matter most to business objectives. For PR teams, traditional “soft” measures like reputation are also giving way to harder business objectives. CEB recommends that both functions “reverse engineer” their key performance indicators (KPIs) instead of starting with what’s measureable and trying to force a (perhaps dubious) link to business objectives. Our research shows that leading organisations start with a set of critical business objectives, identify the customer behaviours mostly likely to drive those objectives, and determine the best proxies/indicators of those behaviours. For example, if an organisation aims to boost sales, it may know that web traffic is one of the key drivers of sales and can thus measure marketing/ PR efforts on website click-throughs. In absence of perfect data, proxies like this are invaluable. Many marketers now use programmatic media buying to automate evaluation of ad effectiveness. Instead of assessing impact after a campaign finishes and waiting for the next campaign to capitalise
on learnings, automated buying uses a continuous feedback loop. The system tracks responses to each individual ad (e.g., clicks, purchase) to optimize the total mix of ads. For example, the system might automatically buy more ads in particularly effective media channels or regions, while cutting less successful ones. The most sophisticated brands are now starting to use automated buying to optimise the message itself, as well as its placement. There’s a huge risk of getting distracted by easy-tomeasure “volumetrics” (e.g., clicks, likes, tweets etc.). Many social media teams chase “likes” all year and can’t demonstrate any actual business impact. It’s still incredibly hard to isolate the impact of a single ad view on purchase, despite the promise of better accuracy to come. Increasingly, marketers’ aim is to drive efficiency through hyper-targeting, i.e., reaching consumers exactly where and when they want to buy with a relevant message. But this involves hidden costs. Imagine tailoring messages to 15 distinct segments for 20 offers with versions for both desktop and mobile – it quickly becomes overwhelming. Our research shows that even when marketers outsource content creation, they can still spend weeks simply approving all the ad versions. Other marketers question whether one-toone personalisation is really worth it. One marketer in particular told CEB they recently created 600+ versions of a message, but found that only a dozen or so had more than a handful of clicks. At CEB we wonder if hyper-targeting is over-hyped.
May 2015 Corporate Vision 35
CEB warns marketers not to give up on scale too quickly. We recommend this best-practice approach to digital scale – “ride the wave” of natural consumer conversations instead of trying to create new topics of interest around your brand. To avoid jumping on every trend, leading brands start by clarifying their core values and then looking for trending conversation topics that relate to those values. By tapping into these values “hot spots” – and ignoring all other trends – marketers can build the brand at scale and low cost.
Strategy: Digital Mission
Digital Mission Connexient MediNavTM Digital Wayfinding and Patient Experience Solution to Be Deployed at National Institutes of Health.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the leading supporter of biomedical research in the world. NIH is comprised of 27 institutes, centres and divisions and is an agency of the U.S, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Clinical Centre Complex (CCC) is defined as the Warren Grant Magnuson Building (Building 10), the Ambulatory Care Research Facility (ACRF) and the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Centre (CRC). The mission of the NIH is to uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone, to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behaviour of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. The NIH accomplishes that mission by conducting research in its own laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions; helping in the training of research investigators; and fostering communication of biomedical information. Mark Green, CEO of Connexient, the leading provider of Enterprise Indoor Mapping, Navigation and Indoor Location-based Services has announced that the National Institutes of Health has selected Connexient’s MediNavTM Digital Wayfinding and Patient Experience solution for its Clinical Centre Complex on the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD. The Centre consists of 3.5 million square feet of mixed occupancy space in three congruent buildings on the NIH campus and is comprised of a clinical, laboratory, and administrative space with 240 inpatient beds, 82 day-hospital stations and 15 outpatient clinics and more than 5,000 rooms. MediNavTM features a native application for iPhone and Android smartphones, which provides patients and visitors with compelling Indoor Maps, Turnby-Turn directions, Physician Lookups, and Location-based Content. This is complemented by an allscreens Digital Wayfinding solution for arriving visitors
and patients encompassing Web, Mobile Web, Kiosks and Digital Signage. Mark Green, the CEO of Connexient, said: “We are honoured and excited to be selected by the National Institutes of Health for this important project. This will be the largest deployment of Indoor Navigation and Enterprise Location-based Services to date for Connexient – and to our knowledge at any site in the United States. The NIH has a clear vision to leverage our capabilities to not only solve immediate Patient and Visitor Experience pain points, but push forward on addressing a broad range of challenges in Enterprise operations.” MediNav™ for Healthcare MediNav™ is a comprehensive multi-channel Patient Experience Solution for Hospitals and Healthcare Networks focused on key areas of need. •
Digital Wayfinding: Helping patients, visitors and staff get to where they are going with an intuitive Google-like navigation experience.
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Patient Communications: Providing a convenient, one-touch directory and HIPAA-compliant communication tool that is in the patient’s pocket and on their coffee table.
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Hospital and Health Content and Information: Enabling Hospitals and Healthcare Networks to deliver targeted, relevant and useful content and information.
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Location Analytics. Rich location-based tracking, reporting and analytics.
Unlike many Wayfinding solutions, MediNav™ provides one integrated solution and consistent UI across Mobile, Web, Kiosks and Digital Signage to ensure that patients and visitors can access vital information any time and anywhere.
36 Corporate Vision May 2015
Strategy: Digital Mission
May 2015 Corporate Vision 37
Tonucci & Partners Tonucci & Partners is an international law firm with offices in Rome, Milan, Padua, Florence, Bucharest and Tirana. Tonucci & Partners is one of the largest Italian independent firms. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Rome, the firm’s operations and practices are international. Tonucci & Partners’s six offices in Italy, Romania and Albania ensure that domestic and foreign clients have access to prompt, reliable and customized legal services for their Italian and Eastern European activities. Additionally, we have consolidated working relationships with leading foreign global law firms with offices in the most important markets in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Through this network Tonucci & Partners’s clients have direct access to local market expertise on a truly global basis. Tonucci & Partners’ work focuses on complex cross-border and multi-jurisdictional transactions and litigation. We have significant experience in corporate and financial transactions; civil, criminal and administrative litigation; public tenders and procurements; telecommunications and information technology; EU and antitrust matters; employment; and tax. Tonucci & Partners has also acted as legal advisor in major privatizations in the banking and telecommunication industries in Italy and abroad. Our client base includes domestic and foreign corporations active in a wide range of industries, financial institutions, governmental entities and individuals requiring personal legal services. Tonucci & Partners’ lawyers include professionals admitted to practice in Italy, Romania, Albania, England and Wales and New York. Several of our lawyers have received post-graduate legal education and training abroad and have previously worked for other leading international law firms, multinational corporations and financial institutions. The firm encourages the academic activities of its lawyers and many of them hold university teaching positions. Tonucci & Partners’ working languages are Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Romanian and Albanian. Tonucci & Partners’ geographic reach, the quality and experience of its lawyers and its diverse client base make it an ideal partner in finding legal solutions tailored to each client’s individual requirements. The firm’s mission is to look beyond the legal aspects and help clients meet the challenges of their continuously evolving businesses.
mail@tonucci.com
www.tonucci.com
Money 40 Paying the Price We hear from Claudio Cassanmagnago, Head of VAT at cost management consultancy, Lowendalmasa誰, about the VAT difficulties facing international businesses.
42 Out of the Dark and Into the Light We hear from Rhodri Preece, Head of Capital Markets Policy at EMEA at CFA Institute, about his views around why it is time for policymakers to help shadow banking emerge from the darkness.
Money: Paying the Price
Paying the Price We hear from Claudio Cassanmagnago, Head of VAT at cost management consultancy, Lowendalmasaï, about the VAT difficulties facing international businesses.
There are a raft of challenges for businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions, including differing VAT rules, changing deadlines and potential language barriers. Expanding into new territories is priority number one for most companies nowadays. Unfortunately, many companies don’t consider the different timings and procedures required to complete a VAT registration, which in turn can endanger the timely start of sales activities abroad. As well as obtaining the correct VAT registrations, companies must ensure they file the appropriate local VAT returns correctly and on time. It is also important that the VAT situation is constantly monitored as rules are subject to change. Back in January, EU legislation came into force affecting businesses involved with selling digital services. VAT is now charged in the country where products are bought instead of the country where they are sold. It is not difficult for businesses to fall foul of the rules and we would always encourage companies to seek advice at the earliest possible pragmatic stage. In this way, unnecessary costs, delays and stress will be avoided. Moreover, it ensures that businesses are free to focus on sales and growing their customer base at a critical point in their growth cycle. There is also a significant reputational risk to consider - companies can find themselves faced with hefty fines and public sanction if they are found guilty of non-compliance with VAT legislation. Indeed, since the financial crisis, governments have often turned to VAT as a way to raise funds to bolster public finances and as a result Treasury departments take a strong stance on the rules. Statistics published by HM Revenue and
Customs reveal that VAT is worth more than £100 billion a year to the Government. Overpaying VAT is another common problem that companies face. Lowendalmasaï research shows that unclaimed European VAT by British companies totals in excess of £13 billion. For example last month it was reported that administrators dealing with the collapse of MG Rover ten years ago are still trying to recover £56m in overpaid tax. According to the IMF, UK companies are paying between two to four billion pounds in unnecessary VAT fines. No business wants to pay more tax than they have to, particularly as it is often the largest cash outflow. One of the hidden costs to businesses using Shared Service Centres (SSC) can be wrongly posted or incorrectly claimed VAT. When businesses process invoices locally, the accounting function will have a good knowledge of the transactions being processed, and the correct corresponding VAT treatment. However, when these processes are centralised, local knowledge can be lost. This can lead to errors being made in the processing of a company’s transactions into their ERP systems. Experts can help review the input VAT ledgers of businesses to ensure the correct VAT treatment has been applied and identify potential VAT which need not have been paid. Although companies may look to perform these reviews in-house, due to the scale of the projects, it may not always be feasible. It is not just the identification, but also the additional investigation required to obtain supporting documentation that requires a time commitment. We have recently worked with an IT multi-national and identified over £900k of VAT they hadn’t claimed.
40 Corporate Vision May 2015
Money: Paying the Price
May 2015 Corporate Vision 41
Money: Out of the Dark and into the Light
Out of the Dark and into the Light We hear from Rhodri Preece, Head of Capital Markets Policy at EMEA at CFA Institute, about his views around why it is time for policymakers to help shadow banking emerge from the darkness.
The term “shadow banking” was first coined in 2007 to describe parts of the financial intermediation process conducted outside the commercial banking system. It encompasses all non-bank credit intermediation, and spans wholesale markets-based finance (such as certain types of investment funds and securitisation vehicles, as well as activities such as securities financing transactions) and alternative lending channels.
to channel capital to productive enterprises. But in order to put shadow banking on a sustainable footing, it is necessary to increase standardisation and simplification of issuance structures, as well as boosting transparency more generally, to support investor interests.
The negative connotations associated with the name stem from the role of complex, opaque and lightly regulated financing activities in the 2008 financial crisis. Shadow banking was thus seen as a source of systemic risk that required containment.
The scope of regulation surrounding markets-based finance is already quite broad. In the EU and the US, for example, regulation of investment funds marketed to retail investors is comprehensive, while new rules for money market funds have been established. In this context, the term “shadow banking” is somewhat misplaced. These are not necessarily unregulated activities.
Seven years later, the shadow banking debate has changed dramatically: with traditional bank lending constrained by more stringent regulatory capital and liquidity requirements, the focus on shadow banking has shifted from containing risks to enabling capital markets to revive economic growth.
There are other parts of the shadow banking system that are mostly unregulated, however, such as peerto-peer lending, microfinance companies, trust-based loan provision, and other alternative lending channels, and it is in this domain that risks to investor protection are most likely to emerge.
A new CFA Institute study on shadow banking suggests that non-bank credit in the form of markets-based finance can provide a potential solution to reviving the real economy by helping
The renewed interest in shadow banking coincides with the European Commission’s initiative to establish a Capital Markets Union (CMU). The objective of CMU is to tackle barriers to the flow of capital in Europe and to diversify sources of finance for companies. The initiative comes against a backdrop of weak growth and concomitantly accommodative central bank policies. With constrained bank lending, expanding the pool of capital available to European companies is arguably more important than ever. Shadow banking can play a pivotal role in unlocking capital markets, better connecting investors with the financing needs of the economy. To realise the potential benefits of shadow banking, policymakers must tackle product and market fragmentation within securitisation markets by incentivising more simplified, standardised issuance structures, as well as implementing a more robust framework regarding the use of collateral associated with securities financing. By doing so, shadow banking can support a variety of investor needs and enhance the efficient functioning of the financial system.
42 Corporate Vision May 2015
Money: Out of the Dark and into the Light
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in order to put shadow banking on a sustainable footing, it is necessary to increase standardisation and simplification of issuance structures, as well as boosting transparency more generally, to support investor interests
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May 2015 Corporate Vision 43
SME 46 Security Solutions New security seal gives consumers confidence that websites have been manually tested for most complex vulnerabilities in accordance with industry standards and best practices.
48 Raising the Stakes Attractions for Corporates of Employee Ownership.
SME: Security Solutions
46 Corporate Vision May 2015
SME: Security Solutions
Security Solutions High-Tech Bridge, a leading European information security company specialising in penetration testing, has launched ImmuniWeb® Security Seal to distinguish websites and web applications that have been manually penetration tested in accordance to the industry standards and best-practice.
ImmuniWeb Security Seal enables organisations to differentiate their websites from competitors by demonstrating that they are committed to protecting their visitors’ data security, integrity, and privacy by performing industry-recognised penetration testing and managed vulnerability scanning through ImmuniWeb®. High-Tech Bridge’s on demand web security assessment service ImmuniWeb combines PCI-compliant manual penetration testing with managed vulnerability scanning performed in parallel. The ImmuniWeb Security Seal confirms that website security and reliability has been thoroughly tested by experienced professionals for: •
OWASP Top-10 vulnerabilities;
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Complex web vulnerabilities that cannot be detected by automated scanning;
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SSL/TLS vulnerabilities and weaknesses that may affect privacy and confidentiality.
Marsel Nizamutdinov, Chief Research Officer at HighTech Bridge, says: “Many security seals existing today do not serve their main purpose - inspire trust and confidence. They mainly rely on inefficient automated vulnerability scanning that is incapable of detecting web security vulnerabilities and weaknesses in efficient and effective manner. ImmuniWeb Security Seal aims to change the situation by confirming that manual security testing has also been undertaken to detect many more vulnerabilities than traditional vulnerability scanning.” The ImmuniWeb service has recently been nominated for the prestigious Info Security Products Global Excellence award in two categories: ‘Best Security Service’ and ‘Vulnerability Assessment, Remediation and Management’ among with such market leaders as F5 Networks, Veracode and Tripwire.
May 2015 Corporate Vision 47
Frost & Sullivan has stated in a recent market research that “High-Tech Bridge offers the most complete hybrid-labelled offering available today, having realized the importance of a hybrid approach and having the SaaS model needed to facilitate integration of manual penetration testing expertise into its proprietary scanning technology.” Ilia Kolochenko, CEO of High-Tech Bridge and chief architect of ImmuniWeb, concluded: “Despite the fact that absolute security cannot exist, a security seal assuring that a website’s security was manually tested in compliance with the industry best-practices significantly increases a website’s trustworthiness. Currently available security seal offerings on the market do not offer any sort of reliable manual penetration testing, leaving website owners to deal with their security problems internally. To fulfill the gap we are proud to launch ImmuniWeb® Security Seal aimed to bring trust to web application security.” ImmuniWeb Security Seal will be available to all customers of ImmuniWeb SMB, Corporate, and Corporate Pro packages. The seal will not have an expiration date, as it will display the quarter and year of the last security assessment performed - this enables a company to decide how often they need to perform penetration testing, depending on their needs, web application size and complexity, and compliance requirements.
SME: Raising the Stakes
48 Corporate Vision May 2015
SME: Raising the Stakes
Raising the Stakes Corporates of all shapes and sizes and in a variety of sectors have been part of a business revolution in the past 18 months and there’s every reason to think that this trend will continue.
Employee ownership became the fastest growing form of business ownership in the UK in 2014, with the total number of employee-owned businesses rising by 9% during the year. Those businesses enjoyed a rise in productivity of 4.5% in the same period - a compelling fact at a time when the business economy otherwise remained fairly flat. The last Government recognised the potential of employee-owned businesses encouraging their growth by introducing significant tax reliefs making the sale of a company to an employee ownership trust (EOT) a very attractive proposition. The return post-Election of the same Chancellor of the Exchequer suggests there’ll be no tailing off in Government encouragement for employee ownership. The positives in employee ownership are easy to identify – individuals with a stake in the business are more committed to its success and that enthusiasm drives strong overall performance, continuing improvement and loyalty. But, for all of that, both employees and boards will have reservations about employee ownership. For employees uppermost among their concerns will be having money to “buy” shares and their direct financial exposure if performance dips and the company gets into difficulty. For executive boards concerns can centre on a loss of their control over the direction of the business, decision-making and day-to-day management. UK employee-owned com-
panies have managed both to address these concerns and turn their ownership structure to their advantage.
can run alongside a separate (income taxable) bonus plan to reward senior or key personnel, if desired.
The “pin-up” of employee ownership is the John Lewis Partnership – a highly successful retailer, driven by a strong management team whose staff share in the profits generated by success. John Lewis is run an employee ownership trust (EOT) and it this business form that may tick many boxes for boards and staff, underpinned by the attraction of the new tax reliefs.
For selling owners, any tax payable by UK taxpayers on the proceeds of the sale of all or a majority of shares in their company to an EOT is treated as CGT rather than dividend income tax and sellers can claim full relief against CGT.
Business owners who sell to an EOT are now exempted from capital gains tax (CGT). This is a major consideration for entrepreneur-inspired companies or family-owned businesses where the emotional investment in the character and style of the enterprise will feel personal. When the time comes to sell, putting the business into the hands of people who “own” the same values will be important. The EOT model gives all employees a stake in the business and a share in the benefits of strong performance. With the shares remaining in trust for employees for the long term, employees do not need to make a personal financial investment which answers the concern among employees of having little or no money to invest and who may be concerned about taking that kind of risk. A further advantage for employees of a company owned by an EOT is that they can be paid annual bonuses (if paid to all employees) free of income tax, a scheme which
May 2015 Corporate Vision 49
EOT structures may vary reflecting the differing interests of sellers and whether or not they have any continued involvement in the business. An EOT may be funded out of a company’s profits with full payment phased over a set period of time, if desired. The EOT becomes a company’s controlling shareholder but it does not run the company. The Directors remain responsible for decision-making at Board level. Management decisions continue to be the preserve of the management team, although on major questions this may sometimes be after consultation with the EOT. The EOT itself is run by its trustees typically made up of employee, Board and independent representatives. The trustees are duty bound to act in the interests of all employees.