In the library you will find news, information and guides from Spectrum. Also our Board Chair Report, based on Spectrum’s research of the views and experiences of board chairs, investors and CEOs in fast growth, privately held businesses.
We have also included published information from other organisations which we found to be particularly interesting and relevant, and that we hope you enjoy reading.
Internet-enabled devices are so common, and so vulnerable, that hackers recently broke into a casino through its fish tank. The tank had internet-connected sensors measuring its temperature and cleanliness. The hackers got into the fish tank’s sensors and then to the computer used to control them, and from there to other parts of the casino’s network. The intruders were able to copy 10 gigabytes of data to somewhere in Finland.
2018 is poised to be the year when our consciousness about our relationship with technology hits a tipping point. And, in turn, that’s going to make 2018 the year of the great reckoning– the year in which we’re forced to decide what we want from technology and what irreducible parts of our humanity we want to safeguard and protect.
Nearly a decade ago, CEOs surveyed by McKinsey stressed the importance of talent strategy to their organizations. But they also voiced misgivings about HR’s ability to manage the talent process strategically and deliver maximum value to the business.
Ever since Amazon spent $13.7 billion on Whole Foods last June, theories have been swirling as to why the world’s biggest e-commerce firm would get into the old-time business of selling groceries in stores.
Staying ahead in the accelerating artificial intelligence race require executives to make nimble, informed decisions about where and how to employ AI in their business.
Despite highly publicised handwringing over geopolitical uncertainty, corporate misbehaviour, and the job-killing potential of artificial intelligence, PwC’s 21st CEO Survey reveals surprising faith and optimism among chief executives in the economic and business environment worldwide, at least over the next 12 months.
“Hire a chief innovation officer.” “Change the culture.” “Look outside your industry.” There’s no shortage of advice about how companies can become more innovative. The catch is that most of that advice is based on anecdotal evidence. But there’s one step companies can take that does have some data behind it.
In business, some categories rumble along for years, with everybody playing the same game, driving down costs, responding to customer needs and making the numbers. And then something changes. A market epiphany happens. And all the rules go out the window as new meanings arrive.
Awareness of the business case for inclusion and diversity is on the rise. McKinsey’s latest research reinforces the link between diversity and company financial performance—and suggests how organisations can craft better inclusion strategies for a competitive edge.
A wave of innovations points towards new business models and ways of doing business, though anxieties around talent and the “techlash” run below the surface.
CFOs are under the gun. They need to manage the growing burden of regulatory controls while being proactive advisors to the business and ensuring a focus on the bottom line.
Spectrum is the exclusive UK representative of Glasford International Coöperatief U.A., a Dutch registered retained global executive search group, headquartered in Amsterdam.
Peter Waine, Chairman of the Spectrum Advisory Board (and Co-founder, Hanson Green), has been asked to chair the plenary session on “The Business Case for Good Corporate Governance” at the IoD London Global Convention this week.
“There’s no team without trust,” says Paul Santagata, Head of Industry at Google. He knows the results of the tech giant’s massive two-year study on team performance, which revealed that the highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety, the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake. Studies show that psychological safety allows for moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off — just the types of behavior that lead to market breakthroughs.
As digital transformation disrupts the workplace, one factor more than any other will determine which companies turn digital to their advantage. That critical element is people: the talented employees who are able to use existing digital technologies and adapt to evolving methods and new approaches.
At companies of almost all sizes, across all sectors, boards are undergoing a profound transformation. Largely as a result of intensifying shareholder intolerance of mediocre or poor corporate performance, the ceremonial boards of the past are being replaced by active boards that are more demanding of managers and more intrusive in their affairs.
GP Bullhound, the technology investment bank, has published its latest market report on the Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) space, examining the public company landscape, M&A, private placement and IPO trends in the first half year of 2017.
There’s not many tech firms where the star player on the team is its art director, but such is the case with reassuringly named London-based edtech startup Mrs Wordsmith, whose cast includes Craig Kellman, the award-winning artist behind a vast cast of characters including those from Dreamworks’ blockbusters Madagascar and Hotel Transylvania.