Auto news on Youtube Oct 4 2017

The potential of formal and informal data within emerging cities

is really about bringing to life the multimodal nature of public transport within those cities.

Collecting integrated transport data and then making it available

through an open API allows citizens of emerging cities to be able to

address their mobility challenges and build their own solutions.

For many people, this data represents different things...

So for a commuter, it represents being able to actually see the

full range of multimodal options that are available to you,

not just a subset of what are the formal and known options within a city.

In the last six months, we've mapped all 7 major metros in South Africa.

Once there's consistency in information, we then upload it to

our platform, where it's then publicly accessible.

The data we have in our platform is open to anyone to access.

To facilitate this access, we've got a developer portal.

You'll get direct contact with our support team

and we'll be able to guide you through that process.

For more infomation >> Public Transport Data Collection: Build Solutions on the WhereIsMyTransport Platform - Duration: 1:11.

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How to build a SWOT analysis matrix (Antonio Ghezzi) - Duration: 6:39.

SWOT is a framework to support the strategy formulation process at a Business level.

But how does the SWOT tool work?

To operationally apply it, we should build up the so called SWOT analysis matrix.

The SWOT matrix is a 2X2 table whose four cells report a list of the external opportunities

and threats a company is facing, as well as the strengths and weaknesses the company shows

compared to its competitors.

This matrix hence couples two different perspectives: the external one, which requires to consider

industry determinants and trends assessed from the point of view of the average competitor

in the business area; and the internal one, which takes the point of view of the specific

company and compares its distinctive characteristics with those of competitors.

Following these complementary perspectives, we should now fill these four cells: how to do so?

Os, Ts, Ss and Ws may result from a brainstorming activity, where managers or experts assess

the industry and the company according to their professional expertise, without any

specific template or guideline driving the process.

However, though this is a common approach due to its relative simplicity, it may also

end up being simplistic and overly unstructured, as in complex and kaleidoscopic business environments,

key elements may be simply forgotten or underestimated even by skilled executives.

So I propose the SWOT analysis matrix is not just filled in through brainstorming, but

each cell is fed by the application of structured strategy analysis models.

For instance, external strategy analysis could be informed by the Five Competitive Forces

model and the PEST Analysis.

While internal strategy analysis could be supported by the Value Chain model and the

Resource-based view of the company, which looks for its core resources and competencies.

These structured models deserve a detailed description, and will be covered in the next lectures.

Now that we know how to fill the matrix, how should we use it?

We should ask ourselves some wise questions that may reveal useful insights about the

strategic alternatives we have at hand, by mixing and matching strengths and weaknesses

with opportunities and threats.

The SWOT analysis is a critical step of the strategy formulation process since it is from

the combined external and internal perspectives that the business strategy of the company arises.

More specifically, by crossing external O-T with internal S-W, the company may understand,

for instance: what are its Strengths it may leverage to

exploit Opportunities; what are the Strengths it may use to defend

itself from a Threat; and what are the Weaknesses that do not allow

it to properly take advantage of an Opportunity, or maybe that amplify the negative effect of a Threat.

As a result, the SWOT analysis allows the company, and the decision maker, to formulate

a set of possible strategic alternatives or strategic decisions at a business strategy

level.

Exploiting an Opportunity with a Strength is indeed a strategic decision, since it is:

long term, it requires investments and resources, it is cross-functional and hardly reversible.

So the overall set of strategic decisions that will constitute a company's business

strategy basically emerges from the SWOT.

Let's build up a general example: a generic player operating in a given business

area may apply the SWOT analysis and come up with this result.

The Opportunities arising from the external environment are:

new markets emerging; demand increase;

and a new patent or license; while the threats are:

New restrictive regulations;

Aggressive national competitors;

Competition from emerging markets; and Substitute products.

Moving to the inside of the company, its Strengths lie in:

strong Brand awareness high Product Quality

high Perceived value customer Loyalty

Effective distribution and significant Scale

The company also has weaknesses compared to competitors, like:

- Limited geographical coverage - Little cash flow

- Lack of management leadership - Low flexibility and

- Low operations effectiveness.

By thoughtfully and creatively considering these elements, some strategic alternatives

to pursue may emerge, like: - Launch new products in new markets based on

high quality; - Strengthen the brand to protect the company's

offer from substitutes; or - Use perceived value to increase premium

price and make cash flows grow.

Some of these alternatives may be mutually exclusive, while others may be synergistic

and consistent with one another.

Managers have the task to properly formulate, select and balance these strategic alternatives

stemming from the SWOT analysis, which adds up to constitute their company's Business Strategy.

For more infomation >> How to build a SWOT analysis matrix (Antonio Ghezzi) - Duration: 6:39.

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Four Must Haves to Build a Blockchain Practice — Cognizant - Duration: 1:44.

First thing you should do is just send out a company-wide email to all of your

employees that just says if you're interested in blockchain, reply to this

email. And then see what kind of responses you get and... what I would

guess, is that there's gonna be all these people who work for you that come out of

the woodwork and say "I've been looking at blockchain for years, and I think it's

interesting" and they're already thinking about use cases that would be applicable

in their line of work. So one is send out that company-wide email and just

see who in the company is already thinking about this. Two: The people who

are likely to respond to that email are probably going to be younger people. The

millennial generation is very tech-forward. We were born with cell phones,

smart phones like glued to our hands and we're already thinking about FinTech and we've been

just more accustomed to that. So it's gonna be younger people that might have

some of the best ideas in your company, but they may be junior level employees.

So give them a safe place and give them a voice, empower them and give them the

opportunity to share their thoughts with you in the leadership of the company.

Three would be have a dedicated budget for your blockchain practice. Typically

these are organized under the CIO or the CTOs office. This should be a serious

effort. And then Four: In terms of setting up your blockchain practice and types of

employees and executives who are going to be a part of us, it should be across

the firm. So you can't just have technologists you need lawyers involved.

You need business development people involved. So it should include people

with an expertise from around the entire organization.