The Insight Story

How are Brands Breaking Through the Digital Clutter to Increase Customer Retention

The future and survival of marketing are all dependent on emerging technologies and trends. And as a business, it is vital to keep pace with the latest trends in the long run.   Today, more and more businesses are joining the race to become tougher and stand firm in huge competition. While the playing field is getting flooded by the second, there is a constant hustle with a plethora of competing brands, content, and aggressive attempts to attract as well as retain customers. The new advancements in technology are further driving business and also bringing in new challenges.  With the customer constantly hooked onto their phone or laptop, online traffic has surged, and along with it has the frequency at which consumer scrolls across different social media platforms. And there are many ways to reach the customers or catch their attention. A recent study highlighted that personalized experience helps in driving 48% of customers to spend more.   So how can a brand exactly personalize for the billions of prospective customers while standing out from the digital clutter and driving sales?  Read more: Top Customer Retention Strategies for Businesses in 2023  Breaking Through the Digital Clutter   Businesses are integrating a lot of clever ways to break through the digital clutter in the marketplace. The key here is to explore unique ways to promote products and services without offending consumers. The digital landscape is much more fragmented than in the past. With more choices for branding and advertising, businesses need to implement strategies that will attract the customer's attention, hold their interest, and build awareness.   Incorporating adept strategies has become an intangible part of any business, as it helps drive more sales and wields power over the minds of customers. This elusive and proliferous digital clutter is making online living overwhelming for all. Digital clutter, such as overflowing inboxes or endless product recommendations, can cause great damage to a brand's social image.  For a brand, it is vital that the customers do not want to cut and run but linger in digital places. Marketing teams are crafting such places and removing digital clutter from their customers’ pathways to retain those customers and tell a clear brand story.     However, to remove clutter, they are also facing some ever-present pressure, which involves creating more content and maintaining a strong presence across the many digital platforms their audience frequents.  Read more: Equal Prize Money for All Cricketers: Cricket Leads the Way as Changemaker  Connecting With the Customers    For a brand, digital clutter does not always have to be a necessary evil. They can explore ways to connect deeply with the customers, enhance their experience, and engage with them over the long term. Let's explore some effective strategies to break through the noise.   1. Harnessing the Power of Direct Mail  In today's digital era, online advertisements and email campaigns are saturating the virtual landscape. To stand out, businesses are turning to direct mail to cut through the clutter and reach their target audiences. The Direct Mail report highlighted that 74% of marketers acknowledge that direct mail helps in delivering superior ROI compared to any other digital channel. This impact can be further amplified by innovative approaches tailored to meet individual client requirements. It helps add a unique charm that establishes a personal connection.  In the midst of this overwhelming noise, such tangible experiences help create a special significance. Direct mail also assists with building brand trust. The tangible nature of the information helps boost the brand's credibility over digital sources. It allows for inventive engagement, thereby captivating audiences and increasing brand trust. 2. Choosing Video Content for a Smoother Delivery  One of the most significant sources of clutter online is content. While content marketing is great at filling the digital seconds with stories and insights, it can sometimes lead to clutter that can become overwhelming for the customers.   Video is a single source of multiple pieces of information that offers an engaging viewing experience. They are a great way to reassure customers about a brand's authenticity. Videos can both capture behind-the-scenes content and more polished promotional pieces, offering the viewer a tangible sense of personality and credibility.  Read more: Anatomy of Consumer Data: How is it driving Changes in Decisions for Businesses?  3. Integrating Influencer Marketing for a Human Touch Digital clutter takes the form of digital objects, including electronic documents and online content. But with influencers, the online content does not have to be stored, read, or filed. Customers can watch and directly interact with them. Influencer marketing helps attract new customers as it introduces the brand to different audiences and sheds new light on it through a different voice and perspective. Working with influencers can also help existing customers stay around and engage more deeply. They also provide a human guide to the content that can oftentimes feel overwhelming and cluttered.   4. Focusing on Customer Retention   One of the critical components of any marketing strategy is customer retention. Many times, businesses need to take a step back from their growth-at-all-costs strategies and realign them with customer retention plans to maintain long-term sales and profitability. While retention is less vulnerable than acquisition, it costs five times more to attract and win a new customer than to keep current ones.  Leveraging customer data analytics across the entire buyer journey, along with marketing and sales efforts, is the key to retaining the existing customer base. Marketing teams should regularly share customer insights, starting from the first point of contact all the way to post-purchase follow-ups. This information helps uncover insights into a customer's past browsing habits as well as their shopping behavior to identify pain points and areas that can be improved. By regularly communicating with the customer service department, the marketing teams can further benefit from cross-functional collaboration.  Read more: Data and Analytics Strategy: Must-Have Crucial Elements for Decision Making  Final Thoughts  Selective retention is part of a business strategy that can be achieved by incorporating strong advertising messages and associated images for the customers to remember. To be effective, brands need to focus on consumers who are most likely to use their products. They can be targeted either by age, gender, income, certain personality traits, or lifestyles.   Catching the customer's attention is the key driver in making a marketer’s efforts useful. For customers to not get bored with businesses’ outdated marketing methods, it is critical for marketing teams to adopt trending marketing strategies to transform the business and break the bonds in the digital industry to stand tall. Creating personalized strategies that appeal to the target audience, such as including content key benefits consumers can gain and repeat those messages often through different media platforms, can make it easy to recognize the message without it being overwhelming.  While digital clutter seems unavoidable, it is just a part of the deal. By aligning marketing strategies, sharing customer insights, and aligning them with business goals, sales and marketing teams can help businesses navigate through the clutter and present a stronger image.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leader in Market research, SG Analytics enables organizations to achieve actionable insights into products, technology, customers, competition, and the marketplace to make insight-driven decisions. Contact us today if you are an enterprise looking to make critical data-driven decisions to prompt accelerated growth and breakthrough performance.          

Transforming Education with The Power of Generative AI

Today, educational institutions are buried under the growing weight of data privacy and the ethical minefield that generative artificial intelligence is bringing along.  The fixation on potential downsides is leading educational institutions to search for transformative tools that will help bridge the gap. From fostering creativity to solving complex problems, generative AI is the new potential tool in the modern academic toolbox. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as the new transformative force across industries. It captures the imagination of innovators, from creating realistic images to generating human-like results.  Generative AI is set to impact the role of educators in numerous ways - from driving personalized learning to creating adaptive assessments and educational content for overall development. By automating some of the tasks, generative AI is enabling educators to free up their time and focus on more high-level tasks. Generative AI is also making educators more effective by providing them with timely feedback and creating interactive learning experiences driven by creativity and innovation. Looking ahead, generative AI is set to play a pivotal role in career guidance by revolutionizing the career guidance experience for students.     Read more: Tech-Driven Education: Using Edtech for Effective and Engaging Teaching  Impact of Generative AI on Edtech  Generative AI systems generate new content like written text, images, or videos. This technology offers immense potential to create personalized learning materials, generate simulated environments for immersive learning experiences, and develop interactive educational content. However, the use of generative AI in education raises ethical concerns about the authenticity as well as the accuracy of the generated scope. This mechanism helps in ensuring the credibility and reliability of the educational materials generated by generative AI.  With more and more generative AI-backed tools stepping onto the academic stage, they are creating new opportunities for the education industry to enhance its interdisciplinary learning, which is blurring disciplinary boundaries and fostering the co-creation of new knowledge. It is giving rise to the next generation of complex problem-solvers by assisting novel trainers and illuminating the benefits of harnessing technology.  Generative AI tools are helping to tackle complex problem-solving, thus revolutionizing the landscape. Let's find out how.  Providing Access to Extensive Knowledge  Generative AI tools are empowering students with real-time access to knowledge databases across numerous academic disciplines. These generative AI tools are synthesizing information from diverse fields, thereby transforming complex ideas into accessible components. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are serving as interdisciplinary libraries for students, thus offering insights into topics of their interest. They can navigate this complex topic easily with AI summarizing and answering their questions in real-time.  Read more: Data Analytic Trends are Reshaping the EdTech Industry. How?  Fostering a Sense of Creativity  The ability of, for example, Claude to spark creativity is a game-changer. In brainstorming sessions, it acts as a collaborative muse, ushering students to explore myriad viewpoints and concoct solutions that transcend disciplinary boundaries. It engenders an atmosphere of open-mindedness, prompting students to think beyond the proverbial box and challenge the status quo. For example, consider a team of architecture and computer science students exploring smart city designs. Claude could suggest they explore urban psychology theories. Inspired, they conceptualize a city plan that adapts in real-time to human behavior.  Enhancing Communications  In the field of interdisciplinary work, effective communication is responsible for a make-or-break situation. This is where generative AI emerges as a communication coach, assisting students to skillfully articulate their ideas and fostering a deeper understanding. By envisioning topics, students can collaborate and draft dedicated outcomes. Generative AI tools like Bing are further helping to bridge the terminology gap. These platforms help ensure that both students and educational institutes can work in unity and contribute meaningfully to the learning process by breaking down language barriers.  Read more: TikTok Scrolling has Shortened the Attention Span of Students: How Can EdTech Help Solve the Crisis?  Boosting Critical Thinking  Generative AI tools, along with advanced data analytical plugins, are enabling students as well as educational institutions to tap into new data insights through analytics. It helps in examining complex problems and offers interdisciplinary connections. It prompts students to identify and ask novel questions, thereby expanding their understanding of the problems and enhancing their critical thinking. For students working on history, artificial intelligence, or other topics, they can find outcomes depending on different variables. Generative AI could further assist in identifying overlooked correlations, like the links between economic systems and historical data contexts. The insights generated from the machine learning algorithms could guide the students with their research, taking it in an entirely new direction.  Improve Learning Efficiency  The era of generative AI is ushering educational institutions into a period of significant advancements and opportunities. Generative AI holds immense potential to improve learning efficiency by offering customized educational support to students and automating essential tasks. Through a proactive approach, institutions are addressing and establishing comprehensive guidelines to safeguard the interests of their students. However, the growing application of generative AI, chatbots, and analytics is further shedding light on the ethical implications, language proficiency issues, and privacy concerns tied to the use of AI. With research and professional development programs, they are cultivating a sense of trust, fostering collaborations, and navigating the evolving landscape to create transformative educational environments that align with ethical standards.  Read more: Big Data and its Impact: How Can Businesses Make the Most of It  Final Thoughts  The growing prominence of AI and its generative AI cousins at the forefront has also led to a growing public concern about the role of artificial intelligence in everyday operations. To understand and harness the full potential of these tools, educational institutes need to revolutionize how they teach. And with the education landscape continuing to evolve, it is becoming more essential for educators to embrace the possibilities offered by generative AI. It holds the potential to be a powerful tool for enhancing student learning.   The emerging era of generative AI is presenting edtech industry with both opportunities and challenges. Applying generative AI, analytics, and personalized learning experiences assists in improving learning efficiency, providing customized support, and automating administrative tasks. However, this implementation of AI must be guided by ethical principles and consideration of the potential data security risks and limitations. Educators, parents, and policymakers must engage in the decision-making processes to ensure responsible and equitable use of AI in education.  Generative AI tools are assisting teachers in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. They are using the tools to assess and identify the existing knowledge gaps and provide guidance for further investigations on the impact of social media or lack of cybersecurity angle. It also suggests relevant cybersecurity areas of concern to enhance the depth and scope of their work. However, it is vital to use this technology in an ethical way.   By addressing the ethical concerns and privacy issues associated with AI, educational institutes should incorporate frameworks and foster an environment of trust in AI technologies to maximize the benefits of AI. While generative AI promises immense potential, ethical considerations still remain paramount to strike a perfect balance between generative AI-driven automation and the human touch.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leading enterprise in Data Analytics, SG Analytics focuses on leveraging data management, analytics, and data science to help businesses across industries discover new insights and craft tailored growth strategies. Contact us today to make critical data-driven decisions, prompting accelerated business expansion and breakthrough performance.   

Top Customer Retention Strategies for Businesses in 2023

For businesses, it is critical to not only obtain new customers but also to retain existing ones. Despite this, customer retention gets ignored in favor of plans geared toward new shoppers. While building a wide network works well for new clients, businesses also need to incorporate strategies for customer retention strategies that will work well for them.  What is Customer Retention?  Customer retention involves customers who deliberately pay for the products or services of a specific business more than once over a duration of time. A single loyal customer often makes several purchases in a year, ultimately making them more influential than other shoppers who buy once and never. Organizations can rely on the business of a retained customer more than a new one by making the happiness and loyalty of their existing buyers a priority.   Read more: Anatomy of Consumer Data: How is it driving Changes in Decisions for Businesses?  Why is Customer Retention Important?  For a business to become a major brand and reach the forefront of its industry, it needs to rely almost exclusively on the one-time purchase of customers in passing. After all, studies have highlighted that returning customers spend almost 67% more overtime than first-time customers.  Successfully retained customers symbolizes a meeting or exceeding expectations to an impressive degree. Customer retention is important as it helps build a strong foundation for ever-increasing earnings and enables a business to boost its brand recognition and authority. It is equally essential for building strategies to keep the company in business.  Loyal customers become their brand advocates, recommending their products or services to family, friends, and even others. For a business to thrive, it must be able to retain its customers and give them reasons to come back. It is a known fact that retaining existing customers is more cost-efficient than attracting new ones. Research has also shown that increasing the customer retention rate by almost 5% can lead to an increase of 25% to 95% in profits.  Three Rs of Customer Satisfaction  The three important Rs of customer satisfaction are critical indicators of success for an organization. Retention, related sales, and referrals help in laying the foundation for retention and growth. By monitoring and measuring the key factors, an organization can track its progress to meet customer needs and expectations.  Read more: Data Trust Can Be a Competitive Advantage: How?  Companies can easily lose track of how to increase customer satisfaction while retaining and adding new customers. They can either choose to spend time and money to gain new customers or work towards building customer loyalty. However, this mistake can cost them a lot of money in the long term.  For an organization, every customer presents a critical opportunity to grow their business. The key to successful customer retention and growth is to ensure customer satisfaction and that the business is also working to grow for the needs of its existing customers. Every new customer is helping a business to grow while retaining their current customer base.  Building a Customer Retention Strategy   A good customer retention strategy begins by identifying and understanding the customers as well as the product data in the sales funnel - from acquisition to retention. By connecting perspectives and data points from their media, customer relationship management platform, retail, and other analytics, organizations can paint a full picture of their customer behavior.  Analyzing the core acquisition analytics and customer interactions will further help in understanding how new customers are converting and which gateway products and services they are interested in purchasing. Organizations can optimize their acquisition effectiveness by using their top-of-funnel advertising creative and targeting based on the collected data.  Today, understanding how customer lifetime value is growing has become more critical than ever. This enables businesses to evaluate their permissible customer acquisition costs. With macroeconomic factors changing, brands with sound business models are not only planning for short-term timelines of growth but also incorporating measures for customer retention programs that offer a proven return on investment.  Effective Customer Retention Strategies for Growth  Creating a positive first impression with customers is critical, meaning, as a business, you have to ensure that your onboarding experience is impeccable. Customers are likely to remember any customer service issues during the initial onboarding process with a brand, such as their data not being handled correctly or not assigning a defined point of contact for a process. While a company can resolve these points of contention, it is likely to leave the customer with a negative impression.  Read more: How are Organizations Driving Innovation and Growth with More Women in Leadership?  1. Customer Trust is Everything  When it comes to building and increasing a client's trust in your business, a business needs to be aware of two things:  a) Do not assume that they trust you just because a customer buys from you.  b) Assigning dedicated time to establish and build trust.  81% of consumers believe that trust plays a momentous role in their choice to use certain services from a business. However, no business can deploy a universal strategy to gain and build customer trust overnight. They can cultivate the customer's firm belief in their products through honesty and integrity. Businesses, therefore, must offer their customers valuable services or solutions, as reliability is a critical component in developing trust.  2. Establishing a Customer Feedback Loop  Without feedback from customers, a business will not be able to notice its strengths and weaknesses. Businesses need to integrate a strategy for gathering consumer feedback in order to retain their customers. A customer feedback loop is often a useful tool. It offers businesses a method for collecting, evaluating, and disseminating client feedback.   a) Run surveys  b) Ask customers to rate the brand's services and provide vis detailed reviews.  After collecting this information, businesses can identify patterns in consumer behavior and other areas to improve their user experience.  3. Personalization is the Key  No two customers can have the exact same requirements and demands from a business. Businesses employing a cookie-cutter strategy can never satisfy their customers, who require goods and services customized to their needs or preferences. 78% of marketers believe that personalization is the key that holds an extremely strong impact and further helps in advancing client relationships.  4. Building Customer Loyalty Through Shared Values  Is your brand eco-friendly? Do you undertake measures to donate a portion of your earnings to a specific charity?  A company’s commitment to sustainability or social issues plays a critical role in customer retention. Customer loyalty increases when they identify and relate to a brand’s values. Not only should a company showcase its easily identifiable values, but it should also aim to share them with its customer base. This will help the customers to build a bond with the business and feel connected.  Read more: Trends 2023: Top Customer Experience (CX) Trends You Don't Want to Miss  Final Thoughts  In today's competitive business landscape, customer satisfaction and retention are emerging as essential components for the long-term success of any business. Brands prioritizing these factors will likely witness increased profitability, enhanced brand loyalty, and better customer advocacy. However, incorporating strategies to measure and improve customer satisfaction as well as retention rates can be a challenging task.  For businesses to succeed in this area, one effective step is to keep communication open with your customer base. This further helps in fostering a stronger relationship with them. Additionally, businesses can also track metrics, including customer churn rate, repeat purchase rate, and customer lifetime value, to gain further insights and take proactive measures to enhance the overall experience.   While some approaches may work better than others, it entirely depends on the type of strategy a business is developing and the right measures they are incorporating for customer retention. Whether building a profile or vastly overhauling your customer service, these steps are critical for improving customer experience as satisfied customers will come back, and dissatisfied customers may or may not.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leading enterprise in Customer Analytics, SG Analytics focuses on leveraging cutting-edge technologies and methods to provide cutting-edge customer analytics solutions and retain your customers by preventing churn-inducing customer behaviors. Contact us today to make critical data-driven decisions and develop more effective customer engagement initiatives, leading to happier customers.   About SG Analytics      SG Analytics is an industry-leading global insights and analytics firm providing data-centric research and contextual analytics services to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, across BFSI, Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Healthcare sectors. Established in 2007, SG Analytics is a Great Place to Work® (GPTW) certified company and has a team of over 1100 employees and has presence across the U.S.A, the U.K., Switzerland, Canada, and India.      Apart from being recognized by reputed firms such as Analytics India Magazine, Everest Group, and ISG, SG Analytics has been recently awarded as the top ESG consultancy of the year 2022 and Idea Awards 2023 by Entrepreneur India in the “Best Use of Data” category. 

Tech-Driven Education: Using Edtech for Effective and Engaging Teaching

The education sector has been viewed as ripe for innovation and disruption for the past two decades. But despite all of the expected potential, edtech has evolved incrementally and added on top of the standard learning and teaching practices.   The rapidly evolving job landscape is further demanding continuous skill development. This has paved the way for skill-based learning platforms to offer focused courses, enabling individuals to acquire niche skills. The market value of the global edtech market was estimated at $106.46 billion in 2021. From 2022 to 2030, the market is expected to grow by 16.5% and expand 2.5 times from 2019 to 2025.  Technology is radically transforming the edtech sector with the emergence of edtech-driven learning platforms presenting innovative solutions to make learning interactive and experiential. AI combined with current well-validated digital educational technologies is creating new disruption opportunities.  But how is AI reshaping the education sector, and how are new startups positioning themselves to enter the edtech market? Let's find out.  Read more: Data Analytic Trends are Reshaping the EdTech Industry. How?  What’s Driving Growth in Edtech?   Technology is transforming the education industry, equipping them to tackle the challenges head-on and explore exciting possibilities that lie ahead. Industry has been exploring new and innovative ways of learning, and one of the most promising solutions to emerge is the integration of tech into education.   A significant part of investments is made in education and upskilling. With the world changing, learners need to learn new skills to keep their jobs or find better ones. A critical contributor to edtech’s fast growth is the growing number of mobile devices, allowing people to study and even work from anywhere and anytime. This has given momentum to edtech development. Millions of students have started learning online, and new forms of remote education have started to emerge in the blink of an eye.   From remote learning to personalized teaching, technology solutions have the potential to present effective learning experiences tailored to suit industry changes.  AI-Generated Teaching Modules  With the integration of AI technology into the industry, a new learning assistant has emerged that seamlessly takes over a lesson or course from a human teacher. This technology provides students with personalized instruction and feedback based on their learning needs. AI-generated teaching modules help students practice their curriculum at their own pace from the comfort of their own homes.  Web-Based Conferencing Tools   This technology presents learners with fully synchronous and web-based teaching, which has the potential to be more effective than hybrid teaching. With enhanced visibility and interactivity, educators can deliver virtual sessions with ease. Organizations are integrating web-conferencing tools, enabling educators to schedule and host virtual classes, webinars, and meetings directly within the environment.  Read more: 2023 Forecast: How are Emerging Data Analytics Trends Shaping Edtech Globally?  360-Degree Student Assessment   360-degree student assessment provides a full view of student's academic, social, and behavioral interactions. With this view, educational institutions can offer personalized study plans to students that are more effective than traditional teaching methods. With personalized learning interventions, students can significantly improve their curriculum.   Zero-Trust and Effective Security Measures  Security is of utmost importance in the education industry. With sensitive data like student records and financial information at risk, it is critical to implement effective security measures. Cyberattacks in the edtech sector have been on the rise due to the transition toward remote learning and online education platforms. However, implementing zero-trust security measures has led to significantly minimizing the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches.  The Ongoing Transformation of Education  Today, the focus is not just on integrating technology for sake, but rather, it is being put to the right use to gain insights, support educators and learners, and enhance learning. And that’s the reason why edtech-driven solutions are playing a vital role in education today. Edtech provides learners with engaging, interactive, and personalized learning experiences for their students and improves their own productivity and professional development.   The changing dynamics and the transformation of education through technology have witnessed phenomenal development in recent years.   Personalized adaptive learning is no longer a luxury for learners and institutions but a necessity. It is aimed at ensuring that every learner is at the right level and at the right pace, and in a way that resonates with them. Personalized adaptive learning is paving a new way, enabling young learners with the skills and creativity required to navigate 21st-century challenges.   Experiential learning is also becoming a critical facet of modern education. It presents a transformative approach that outperforms traditional learning methods.    Read more: TikTok Scrolling has Shortened the Attention Span of Students: How Can EdTech Help Solve the Crisis?  Technology is more than just a tool to enhance education. Its impact transcends conventional boundaries and aligns with the understanding of the learners. With far-reaching effects, edtech innovations are presenting more evolved and unique solutions. It reflects the changing landscape of education where data availability and high-quality questions intersect to build a learning environment enriched by technology.   What’s Next for Edtech?    In the digital era, one-size-fits-all education no longer suffices the needs of learners. Personalized AI-powered educational platforms are emerging as the next big opportunity for change. AI-powered platforms are assisting educational institutions and educators to assess their learning styles, preferences, and progress by delivering a curriculum that caters to the learner's unique interests and capabilities.   With the edtech sector continuing to rise, industry experts are exploring new opportunities, including online courses with augmented or extended reality.  Innovations are further driving growth. Online courses integrate gamification to keep the students’ attention and maintain their motivation. While keeping up with new technological advancements, another significant challenge learners are facing is data privacy. To trust their online course providers, educators need to guarantee the security of data collection, processing, and storage.    There is a huge potential for edtech, and with the market set to skyrocket in the coming years, the next boom will benefit businesses from researching the developing markets, learning about their audience, and trying to build local multicultural teams.  Read more: Top Data Analytics Certification Programs to Explore in 2023     Staying Ahead of the Learning Curve   Edtech solutions are changing the way educational institutions facilitate education as well as the quality of learning. They are now able to create a better learning environment by fostering better interactivity and connectivity while ensuring that learners feel motivated and engaged.    The next generation of education is expected to provide a digital learning environment. With technology enhancing learning, institutions are combining technology with excellent teaching practices to create a transformative educational experience. By keeping up with the innovations, educational institutions can inspire students to learn, create, and strive for better.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leading enterprise in Edtech, SG Analytics focuses on leveraging data management, analytics, and data science to help businesses in EdTech and other industries discover new insights and craft tailored growth strategies. Contact us today to make critical data-driven decisions, prompting accelerated business expansion and breakthrough performance.     About SG Analytics      SG Analytics is an industry-leading global insights and analytics firm providing data-centric research and contextual analytics services to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, across BFSI, Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Healthcare sectors. Established in 2007, SG Analytics is a Great Place to Work® (GPTW) certified company and has a team of over 1100 employees and has presence across the U.S.A., the U.K., Switzerland, Canada, and India.      Apart from being recognized by reputed firms such as Analytics India Magazine, Everest Group, and ISG, SG Analytics has been recently awarded as the top ESG consultancy of the year 2022 and Idea Awards 2023 by Entrepreneur India in the “Best Use of Data” category.   

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

In 2024, organizations across the globe will face new regulatory reporting requirements to increase the transparency of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) impact and progress. CSRD (EU 2022/2464) entered into force in January 2023, replacing the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).  For organizations either based in the EU or which have subsidiaries within the region, this path is crucial now. CSRD aims to increase authenticity in ESG reports and bring transparency to sustainability information published.   What is CSRD?  CSRD stands for Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, approved by the European Commission, which replaces the EU’s NFRD and will mandate organizations to follow detailed ESG reporting measures. While the measure was adopted in the EU, it is not just EU-based companies that will be affected. As per recent estimates, at least 10,000 companies outside the EU must adhere to the CSRD rules; roughly 33% are estimated to be in the United States, 13% are Canadian, and 11% are British.  Read more: ESG Investing Practices, Responsible Strategies, Progress, and Challenges: An Ultimate Guide  Which companies must comply with CSRD?   Companies already included under the NFRD, large organizations, and special interest firms will be impacted first, with the FY 2024 reports by 2025.  Between 2026 and 2029, all large and listed European companies must also comply.  All listed companies + large companies which meet 2/3 of the below requirements fall under the scope:   Balance sheet total: > €20 million ($21 million)  Net revenue: > €40 million ($42 million)  > 250 average number of employees during the FY  What is the CSRD timeline?  The timeline for reporting and enforcement is divided into the following phases.  FY 2024 for companies already subjected to the NFRD (reports to be published in 2025).   FY 2025 for other non-listed, large companies above the thresholds (>250 employees, turnover of at least €40 million ($42 million) or a balance sheet total of at least €20 million ($21 million)) that are not presently subject to the NFRD (reports to be published in 2026).   FY 2026 for listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).   FY 2028 for non-European companies. This applies to all companies listed in the EU that have a net turnover of €150 million (roughly $163 million) in the EU and have at least one subsidiary in the European Union.    Read more: Coldplay's Sustainability Scorecard: How the Band's Sustainability Report is Striking the Right Chords?  What kind of ESG data does the CSRD require companies to report?  The reports must follow the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), drafted and adopted by the EU under the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).    Highlights of the CSRD 1. Applicability The CSRD extends reporting obligations to a broader range of companies, including large and listed companies and introduces requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that meet certain thresholds.   2. Reporting Elements The CSRD introduces a set of mandatory reporting elements that companies are required to disclose in their annual sustainability reports, which include information related to environmental performance, social aspects (such as employee matters and human rights), governance practices, and business models. These are to be published in a specific section of the Management Report or a separate Sustainability Report for consideration.  3. Reporting format The CSRD emphasizes the use of digital and structured reporting formats, which enable standardized and machine-readable reporting.   4. Assurance:  To improve the reliability of the information, the CSRD introduces requirements for external assurance or verification of sustainability reports by qualified auditors or assurance providers. Limited assurance and this will move towards reasonable assurance after six years from the adoption of CSRD.  5. Oversight of competent authorities and Enforcement The CSRD emphasizes public oversight and the role of national competent authorities in ensuring compliance with reporting obligations.   Read more: iRecycle, iReduce, iRevolutionize: Apple Introduces their First Carbon Neutral Products  6. Interrelationship with International Standards The CSRD seeks to align with international sustainability reporting standards and frameworks, such as those developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).  7. Timeline:  The CSRD is proposed to be implemented in phases, with larger companies required to comply first, and this would vary based on the size and nature of the companies.   8. Benefits The CSRD is expected to enhance transparency, comparability, and reliability of sustainability information provided by companies to benefit stakeholders, including investors, consumers, employees, and regulators, and contribute to a more sustainable and resilient economy.  About SG Analytics SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. Apart from being recognized by reputed firms such as Analytics India Magazine, Everest Group, and ISG, SG Analytics has been recently awarded as the top ESG consultancy of the year 2022 and Idea Awards 2023 by Entrepreneur India in the “Best Use of Data” category. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leader in ESG Services, SG Analytics offers bespoke sustainability consulting services and research support for informed decision-making. Contact us today if you are in search of an efficient ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) integration and management solution provider to boost your sustainable performance.        

iRecycle, iReduce, iRevolutionize: Apple Introduces their First Carbon Neutral Products

In the Apple Event 2023, the brand unveiled the new Apple Watch lineup as well as the major progress they are making toward achieving the ambitious Apple 2030 climate goal. The event witnesses the announcement of Apple's first-ever carbon-neutral products in the all-new Apple Watch lineup.  Innovations in design and clean energy will help dramatically reduce product emissions by over 75 percent for each carbon-neutral Apple Watch. This milestone is being deemed as a major step undertaken by the company on its journey toward achieving the ambitious Apple 2030 goal to make every product carbon neutral, along with the entire global supply chain and the lifetime use of every Apple device.  As part of the company’s broader environmental efforts and Apple 2030, they have ended the use of leather across all of their product lines and announced their first entirely fiber-based packaging for the new Apple Watch lineup. The company has also introduced a new tool called Grid Forecast that will help inform users when their power grid has cleaner energy available. This will assist the user in deciding when to use electricity.  With a longstanding and proven commitment to lead the fight against climate change, Apple is focusing on renewable energy and low-carbon design that will help drive industry-leading emissions reductions.  Read more: The Brainpower Behind Chandrayaan-3: Data Analytics & AI Take the Lead  Designing Carbon Neutral Products by 2030  Apple voiced its strategy regarding the adoption of a clear and rigorous approach to product decarbonization. This will prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions from three major sources across their product life cycle:   electricity  materials  supply chain/transportation  After steeply cutting down on product emissions, the company will apply high-quality carbon credits from nature-based projects for emissions that cannot yet be avoided or reduced.  Apple's carbon-neutral Watch model fits the following strict criteria set by the company to achieve the goal:   100% clean electricity for manufacturing and use  30% recycled or renewable material by weight  50% of shipping without the help of air transportation  These combined efforts will help the company to achieve at least a 75% reduction in product emissions for every model. They will use high-quality carbon credits to manage the small amount of remaining emissions, thus resulting in a carbon-neutral product footprint.   All manufacturing for the carbon-neutral Apple Watch is powered by 100% clean electricity through investments and sourcing by Apple as well as its suppliers. Additionally, every supplier for these models has also committed to 100% renewable electricity for all of their production by the end of the decade. Apple has pledged to work with manufacturing partners across the globe to advocate for sustainable policies that support the wider deployment of clean energy solutions.  Read more: Sustainable Finance: How Companies are Going Green by Integrating Sustainability Strategies?  Innovation and Tech: Investing in Solutions for Carbon Removal  Carbon removal is crucial for addressing climate change and achieving global climate goals. Apple is defining these high-quality credits as those from real, measurable, and quantified projects. They are also integrating systems in place to avoid double-counting as well as to ensure permanence.   After executing steep reductions in product emissions, Apple is now planning to cover the residual emissions with the integration of high-quality carbon credits from nature-based projects that will assist in removing carbon from the atmosphere.  Apple has pioneered the use of key recycled materials in its products with the integration of world-class product engineering, supply chain expertise, and comprehensive design qualifications. The new product range is built on these achievements.  To further reduce its impact on the planet, the company is also planning to end the use of leather across all its product lines. The leather will be replaced with a new textile named FineWoven - a durable twill made from 68% post-consumer recycled content. FineWoven will help in providing a subtle luster and a soft and suede-like feel.  They are also working towards designing new AirPods Pro and iPhones with numerous materials and features that will help minimize their impact on the environment, like the use of 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets as well as 100% recycled gold to plate multiple printed circuit boards. The brand has also worked on redesigning its packaging to get rid of the outer plastic wrap.   At the same time, almost 90% of the packaging is manufactured using fiber-based materials, thus bringing them a step closer to their sustainable goal of removing plastic from all packaging entirely by 2025.  Read more: The Purpose of Data: Harnessing the Power of Data for Growth  Reducing Emissions Throughout the Supply Chain  In the event, the company unveiled its focus on reducing emissions throughout its supply chain. With the measures being undertaken for the manufacturing and shipping of every carbon-neutral Apple Watch, when combined, the company would witness a drastic 75% reduction in their product emissions.  Transporting the brand's products globally makes up about 9% of Apple’s comprehensive carbon footprint. Across the product lines, more than 90% of suppliers have joined and committed to the use of 100% renewable electricity for all production.  The company is now planning to shift more product volume to shipping methods that are less carbon-intensive than air transport. For their carbon-neutral watch models, along with watches and bands, Apple will ship at least 50% of the combined weight using non-air modes. This will help in cutting down on their total transportation emissions by nearly half. Further, the packaging of all Series 9 watches and SE models will be redesigned for compactness, offering a smaller shape that will allow for 25% more devices per shipment.  At the same time, Apple is dedicated to supporting broader efforts by decarbonizing shipping industries. The company has claimed to support analysis to identify pathways for producing sustainable aviation fuels. They are also seeking out technical innovations, along with the usage of alternative fuels and EVs, and are selecting vendors that propose low-carbon options to further drive decarbonization in the industry.  Read more: Coldplay's Sustainability Scorecard: How the Band's Sustainability Report is Striking the Right Chords?  The Way Forward to 2030  Apple Event 2023 introduced its first carbon-neutral product range that will follow environmental standards. The results stem from years of significant work and innovation across the enterprise and global supply chain. They also illustrate their latest step on this sustainable journey that began over a decade ago.  In an event in 2020, Apple showcased its goal to achieve carbon neutrality for global corporate operations. Apple 2030 presents a bold strategy from the organization to be carbon neutral through its entire value chain by 2030.  Apple is planning to center on an aggressive 75% reduction in overall carbon emissions. By cutting down on activities that lead to carbon generation and significantly increasing the use of renewable energy across the company’s corporate operations and supply chain, the brand plans on designing products with recycled and renewable materials. Since 2015, the company has been able to reduce its total emissions by over 45% while growing its revenue by over 65% in the same period.  Apple is now determined to accelerate its efforts by decarbonizing the value chain to reduce emissions — from the electricity utilized for manufacturing and charging the devices to materials and transportation.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leader in ESG Services, SG Analytics offers bespoke sustainability consulting services and research support for informed decision-making. Contact us today if you are in search of an efficient ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) integration and management solution provider to boost your sustainable performance.       About SG Analytics      SG Analytics is an industry-leading global insights and analytics firm providing data-centric research and contextual analytics services to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, across BFSI, Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Healthcare sectors. Established in 2007, SG Analytics is a Great Place to Work® (GPTW) certified company and has a team of over 1100 employees and has presence across the U.S.A, the U.K., Switzerland, Canada, and India.     Apart from being recognized by reputed firms such as Analytics India Magazine, Everest Group, and ISG, SG Analytics has been recently awarded as the top ESG consultancy of the year 2022 and Idea Awards 2023 by Entrepreneur India in the “Best Use of Data” category.

Why is Healthcare Data Quality Critical in the Age of AI

Data quality is subjective for effective healthcare data analytics. It affects the accuracy, reliability, and validity of the information derived from the data. Poor data quality can lead to incorrect diagnoses, ineffective treatments, and increased risks for patients and providers. Therefore, identifying and resolving critical data quality issues are fundamental for healthcare managers looking to leverage data analytics for enhancing healthcare outcomes and performance.   Quality Data is the Key   The first step to identifying critical data quality issues is to determine what data quality implies for specific contexts and goals. Data quality can be assessed depending on dimensions like accuracy, completeness, consistency, relevance, and integrity. Depending on the type and purpose of the data analysis, some dimensions can be more important than others.   The growing number of innovations in healthcare are enabling doctors to systematically provide better care to patients. While doctors learn from the experience of other doctors, we, as patients, are aware that healthcare is complex and not always efficient. Individual doctors learn from treating their patients, but rarely that information is further used to improve the care delivered by other doctors.  But if healthcare is not using routine care to learn, what data are doctors utilizing to make critical decisions?  Read more: Navigating Digital Disruption and Innovation in Healthcare  Primarily, healthcare uses a defined approach. Randomized trials are set up over a span of several years; results are analyzed and used to work their way into clinical practice slowly. While it is possible to identify whether a treatment is safe and effective, there isn’t enough information to compare treatment options and discover which treatment works best.   In short, while the captured information in such trials is good, it is not sufficient. There is not enough data for tailored therapy or rapid learning within healthcare.   Data Quality in Healthcare   Data quality in healthcare helps in defining the cost paid for medical services. With the growing rise in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and data visualization tools, the significance of data quality in healthcare cannot be understated.   In the healthcare industry, data quality indicates the data collected by a medical organization that meets the following characteristics:  Accuracy: Data is considered accurate only when every detail entry of the information is correct and properly presented.   Completeness: Completeness implies that all information collected by the provider is documented and easily accessible.  Relevance: The relevance factor is met when the data is collected to be used in the medical setting as well as for medical purposes.  Legality: This indicates that the data collection, processing, storage, and use process complies with all legal requirements and standards.  Consistency: Data can be deemed consistent only when it is constantly updated and reflects the current state of the patient’s health as well as medical interventions.   Accessibility: The accessibility criterion is met when medical staff have full access to the details they require and can use to undertake their responsibilities.  Read more: How are Organizations Creating and Cultivating a Data-Driven Culture?  In a nutshell, the quality of data accumulated from various solutions is likely to impact decision-making processes on individual as well as global levels. If the collected data lacks any of the above-mentioned attributes or if the data quality is poor, it means that the use of such faulty data can lead to negative consequences for patients, hospitals, and researchers.     Technology and Innovation in Healthcare   Healthcare as an industry is starting to learn from real-world care. While the infrastructure has always been in place, the recent confluence of data - electronic health records, technology such as artificial intelligence, and computing power has led to the creation of an environment where a learning health system is possible and anticipated.  What healthcare learns from everyday care can be transformed into data. These learnings further help in supporting a better understanding of the unique characteristics of every human being. It aids in the recognition of how unique characteristics influence the effectiveness of available treatment options, along with offering tailored care to the individual.  The speed of adoption of IT solutions in healthcare is incredibly fast. This has led to the creation of plenty of trends that are constantly changing and creating continuous progress as well as improvement. However, these tendencies are likely to affect data quality management in the near future.    However, learning the wrong lesson from bad data is not just a problem but a serious issue of concern. The industry makes decisions based on these recommendations. This can cause serious damage to patients, and their confidence in the validity of evidence can be shaken.  Read more: Data Trust Can Be a Competitive Advantage: How?  Here, the lesson is clear: If the healthcare sector is going to learn from routine care, they must protect patients by ensuring sufficiently high data quality to explain the recommendations.  New IT solutions are assisting with the collection and processing of high-quality healthcare data that has led to critical advancements in healthcare data management. Aligning the insights with its mandate will help protect the patients. In the process, they can define the data-quality standard sufficient for their use along with real-world evidence. This standard can encourage key decision-makers, including doctors, insurance firms, and regulators, to decide whether real-world evidence is sufficiently credible to influence the standard procedures in healthcare.   Operating with quality data develops the ability of healthcare providers to predict results and avoid situations that may lead to poor patient outcomes. It also helps in improving hospital management and staff administration. The quality of data standards will further help in measuring accuracy, completeness, and traceability.  Read more: Big Data and its Impact: How Can Businesses Make the Most of It  In Conclusion  Today, relatively few treatment decisions are guided by real-world evidence in a learning healthcare system. Every treatment decision is influenced by previous practice. Without a critical emphasis on accuracy, completeness, and traceability, there will likely be a significant risk. Not all firms generating healthcare evidence employ high-quality data or measure data quality. And relying on evidence-based on poor-quality data can prove catastrophic.  But there is hope for a bright future for healthcare.  Healthcare institutions are employing modern technologies to learn from the most robust healthcare data. But, in such scenarios, data quality must be paramount.  This transition to a learning health system has become more critical than ever for the healthcare industry. The availability of electronic health data, computing power, and artificial intelligence (AI) will be transformative. However, it is equally vital for healthcare industry professionals to learn to distinguish high-quality data from low-quality data and ensure they learn the right lessons.   The payoff will be better, safer, and more efficient care for us all.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leader in the Healthcare domain, SG Analytics is assisting healthcare companies to leverage the power of information. Contact us today if you are in search of efficient Healthcare solutions to make sound business decisions.     About SG Analytics      SG Analytics is an industry-leading global insights and analytics firm providing data-centric research and contextual analytics services to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, across BFSI, Technology, Media & Entertainment, and Healthcare sectors. Established in 2007, SG Analytics is a Great Place to Work® (GPTW) certified company and has a team of over 1100 employees and has presence across the U.S.A, the U.K., Switzerland, Canada, and India.     Apart from being recognized by reputed firms such as Analytics India Magazine, Everest Group, and ISG, SG Analytics has been recently awarded as the top ESG consultancy of the year 2022 and Idea Awards 2023 by Entrepreneur India in the “Best Use of Data” category. 

The Newest Competitive Edge: Fostering A Strong and Sustainable Company Culture

In today's fragile economic conditions and a world filled with uncertainty, certain companies are growing faster than others.   While the technologies these companies choose to operate their businesses on the matter, other factors that equally contribute to the cause include driving innovations for more profitable and sustainable business outcomes, capital that guarantees acceleration, and the right resources to hire more talented and committed employees.  However, business leaders are feeling internal and external pressure to deliver on their corporate sustainability strategies. And these kinds of organizational shifts cannot happen without a culture change.  With sustainability emerging as the new safety, organizations need to do something about it. By following the best way to persuade the board to take sustainability seriously, organizations can construct a financial business case. This would imply associating sustainable actions with profits, futureproofing the organization, and highlighting the connection between ESG ratings and investment capital.  The bottom line here is - that if organizations fail to become more sustainable, they will be worth less money to investors, thereby making them less attractive for people to work for and with.  Read more: Coldplay's Sustainability Scorecard: How the Band's Sustainability Report is Striking the Right Chords?  Building a Sustainable Company Culture  In today’s globalized world, sustainability is increasingly becoming an integral part of business. Reputation management, employment branding, and cost savings - many reasons have led to organizations embracing sustainability in their operations.  To balance their financial, social, and environmental risks, as well as opportunities in the long term, organizations are now working to develop a sustainability strategy.    A sustainability strategy involves reviewing a company’s purpose and mission and moving from a stakeholder-first mindset to a collaborative and nature-centered worldview that fosters value creation. It incorporates beliefs, ideologies, and processes that make up an organization.    Creating a sustainable company culture is good for the environment and your business performance, employee engagement, and customer loyalty. However, sustainability cannot be achieved overnight or by following a checklist. It requires a strategic framework that aligns with the company's vision, values, and actions, along with the needs and expectations of the stakeholders. Industry leaders must engage and nurture those they work with to build a sustainable future for all.   Convincing the Workforce  Designing a sustainability strategy is one thing, but creating a sustainability culture is another. To succeed, the two must walk together in unison. But change does not happen easily. The onus lies on the leaders to find functional ways of making sustainability integral to the structure as well as operation. It is critical for leadership to set a transformation agenda and initiate an actionable framework for growth.  Read more: ESG Investing Practices, Responsible Strategies, Progress, and Challenges: An Ultimate Guide  Steps leaders can undertake to help people shift to more sustainable practices:  Making a business case: Rather than focusing on the short-term impact, leaders should focus on the long-term repercussions of failure. They should examine how the organization can be affected in terms of reputation, ability to attract new talent and customers, and, ultimately, how their actions will affect the future of the planet.  Measuring their sustainability maturity: By undertaking a sustainability culture assessment, organizations can understand how people across their organization perceive leadership’s commitment as well as their role in fulfilling the company’s sustainability pledge.  Establishing a stream of transparent communication: Authentic commitment and transparent communication from senior leaders are critical for sustainability promises and, ultimately, the company’s sustainability success.  Addressing employee concerns: Senior leadership should be aware of the underlying concerns across departments. To succeed, organizations need to establish a shared vision and path forward in a culture where concerns can be listened to and acted on.  Fostering a culture of leadership across the organization: Recruiting passionate individuals from across the business as sustainability evangelists will help in communicating the organization’s goals and drive a new way for senior management.  Setting sustainability targets: From the boardroom to entry-level employees, everyone should be aware of their part in the sustainability agenda.    Sustainability extends beyond the work environment. To build a sustainable culture, organizations must also put their trust in the next generation of leaders and empower them to grow and mature by learning from both success and failure.  Read more: Sustainable Finance: How Companies are Going Green by Integrating Sustainability Strategies?  Company culture is not about an individual; it is about many. Leaders need to be conscious about being deliberate and staying relevant by engaging with the next generation while seeking future leaders to share the attributes that will help sustain the company’s culture.  Connecting With the Leaders of Tomorrow  A culture of sustainability is one where organizational members have shared beliefs about balancing economic efficiency along with social fairness and environmental impacts. A sustainable culture also helps guide the members' decisions by setting and reinforcing expectations about what should be done, thereby cultivating a sense of identity.  Engaging with the next generation of leaders should be a top consideration for CEOs. Company leadership should understand how Gen Z impacts board priorities like digital transformation, ESG, and CEO succession planning. To understand the requirements of this influential generation, leaders will have to strive to work to identify the critical components that they bring to the table. Having regular meetings with interns and weekly coffee-with-the-boss discussions, industry leaders can identify what matters to team members.  Organizations with an efficient sustainability culture are striving to sustain a healthy environment and enhance the lives of others while operating successfully over the long term.  Read more: SFDR: Understanding EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation  Building a Sustainable Work Culture  Different industries, sectors, and business models inevitably have diverse goals, perspectives, and definitions of sustainability. And there is no escaping the fact that leaders need to establish the culture. If their goal is to adopt sustainability as a value, there are undoubtedly lessons to be learned and ways to incorporate best-in-class safety cultures and practices. Sustainability today has become a must-do, as the price of failure is not one any of the organizations are willing to pay.  However, building a lasting sustainable culture requires leaders to reflect on the priorities of those who will sustain it. A company's commitment to people, prosperity, and the planet begins at its founding and aligns with an increasing expectation among customers and next-gen leaders.  Today, the new generation of employees has high expectations for their employers and for businesses. They continue to believe that business leaders have a vital role to play when it comes to addressing social and environmental issues. To achieve greater sustainability, industry leaders must instill the right guidance and strong talent in place, as well as ensure that the culture they have built will continue long after they depart.  SG Analytics, recognized by the Financial Times as one of APAC's fastest-growing firms, is a prominent insights and analytics company specializing in data-centric research and contextual analytics. Operating globally across the US, UK, Poland, Switzerland, and India, we expertly guide data from inception to transform it into invaluable insights using our knowledge-driven ecosystem, results-focused solutions, and advanced technology platform. Our distinguished clientele, including Fortune 500 giants, attests to our mastery of harnessing data with purpose, merging content and context to overcome business challenges. With our Brand Promise of "Life's Possible," we consistently deliver enduring value, ensuring the utmost client delight.   A leader in ESG Services, SG Analytics offers bespoke sustainability consulting services and research support for informed decision-making. Contact us today if you are in search of an efficient ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) integration and management solution provider to boost your sustainable performance.  

Big Data and its Impact: How Can Businesses Make the Most of It

A buzzword that has been around for quite some time, big data is here to stay. The amount of data being generated every day is growing exponentially, and it is time for businesses to employ new frameworks to make sense of this information.  The ongoing process of digital transformation has placed data at the center of organizational operations in both public and private sectors. Big data analytics is enabling businesses to take advantage of this accumulated information for more informed decisions about their operations, products, and services. Many factors are at play, such as the rise of the cloud and the growing use of sensors, devices, and systems that together make up the Internet of Things (IoT).   Big data assists businesses in analyzing large data sets and uncovering patterns, trends, and associations for making predictions or decisions about future activities. It involves machine learning techniques like clustering and classification algorithms to extract valuable insights from unstructured or semi-structured data sources.   Read more: The Purpose of Data: Harnessing the Power of Data for Growth  Use of Data Analytics for Businesses  The term big data analytics has been used by many enterprises, business intelligence (BI) vendors, and publications to describe a near-endless range of data functions.   How businesses use data analytics varies considerably by sector, business size, as well as access to resources. Business data analytics instances include financial services companies employing big data analytics to analyze their spending patterns to detect and prevent fraud. Human resource departments leverage data analytics for better decision-making as well as to measure employee performance.   Organizations are sitting on high-volume data sets collected from a wide range of sources. As a result, big data analytics is now emerging as a requirement for operating in today’s constantly evolving competitive landscape. Without a comprehensive data strategy, organizations will have a lot of trouble making sense of all the collected information and may risk falling behind their competitors. Additionally, data analytics is used to unlock commercial value from an organization's heterogeneous collection of data sources.   The Use of Data Analytics to Deliver Significant Gains  Cost reduction: With big data technologies, organizations can store large data sets in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Additionally, real-time data analytics assists them in identifying and fixing inefficiencies, incorporating feedback, and streamlining processes to work faster and increase profits.   Better decision-making: Big data’s primary value originates from its ability to promote smarter and faster decision-making. Businesses can analyze a ton of information in real time to make strategic decisions.  Improved solutions: Big data analytic applications allow organizations to come up with new and improved solutions. This benefits their ability to identify customer needs and incorporate changes as new data insights are uncovered. Analytics allows them to avoid guesswork with product development and enables them to give customers exactly what they want.  Read more: Data Analytic Trends are Reshaping the EdTech Industry. How?  Making the Most Out of Big Data   With the big data analytics tools market growing, organizations are investing in big data strategies to manage the endless possible data points. However, it can be overwhelming. It is, therefore, important for organizations to consider the following before implementing big data solutions.   Having an experienced big data team in place: Establishing a team of skilled data experts in data collection, analytics, and strategy is critical in building an ideal big data approach that results in positive returns. This data team should include individuals who have an understanding of modern analytic methodologies, are able to manipulate data sets, and are experienced consultants with overarching business goals.   Identifying data goals: Having the right data goals is crucial for successfully implementing a big data strategy. The data analytics framework must align with the organizational end goals.  Capturing the right data: Once business goals have been set, the next step for organizations is to understand the data. Identifying, capturing, and tracking the right data is deemed critical in the entire big data analytics process. The use of wrong data sets can result in catastrophic consequences that lead the entire company in the wrong direction.  Read more: How is the Media and Entertainment Industry Leveraging Big Data Analytics for Disruptive Growth?  Business Strategies and Big Data Analytics  When combined with traditional analytics techniques, big data can enable businesses to generate deeper insights on how to run their organization efficiently. This will further help in determining-  How many employees are required at different times of the year,  How much inventory should be ordered for every product line,   and which advertising campaigns can help in generating the most effective sales.   Big data analytics is a powerful tool assisting businesses to design an effective business strategy. It generates valuable insights and helps make better decisions. It can also assist in identifying problems, optimizing processes, predicting future trends, and making informed decisions.   Some of the ways in which big data analytics can be employed to build a strong business strategy include:  Identifying the underlying problems: With big data analytics, businesses can identify underlying issues with sales figures or customer satisfaction levels and come up with solutions. This will further help in saving time and money on unnecessary initiatives.   Optimizing operations and processes: The best way to enhance the approach of data processing is by identifying how well it works to make changes accordingly. Big data analytics offers businesses the right insights into how well their teams are performing and which procedures require improvement to gain maximum efficiency.   Predicting upcoming market trends: Big data analytics enables businesses to predict future market trends depending on current behavior patterns, thereby enabling them to avoid any losses due to unforeseen circumstances.   Identify potential risks: Big data analytics assists in identifying potential risks and areas that are likely to be affected by such risks, thus preparing for them accordingly. With big data analytics, businesses can identify potential threats before they become real.   Evaluating new opportunities: Big data analytics enables businesses to identify opportunities that can often go unnoticed by traditional methods like surveys. With the collected information, they can make better decisions and plans.  Read more: How are Organizations Creating and Cultivating a Data-Driven Culture?  In Conclusion   Today, data plays a critical role in identifying and understanding valuable insights about target demographics and customer preferences.   Businesses are creating new data via every interaction with technology. It is, therefore, important for them to learn about their behavior, personalities, and life events. And with growing data sets, the impact of big data is further expanding. New and cost-effective technologies are constantly emerging and facilitating businesses with seamless implementation of big data solutions.   Over time, businesses have witnessed exponential growth in data availability. And this is also challenging their operation to make sense of the data lakes. Effectively tapping into the accumulated data is crucial for businesses to thrive. However, the good news is that analytical tools and methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated to ease this burden of acquiring immediate and meaningful insights from the data for enhanced decision-making and strategy development.    However, to leverage this effectively, businesses must organize and visualize data correctly. Big data analytics tools will provide meaningful insights and help companies with product improvements, strategies, and marketing campaigns to cater to target customers.  With a presence in New York, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Toronto, London, Zurich, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, SG Analytics, a pioneer in Research and Analytics, offers tailor-made services to enterprises worldwide.         A leader in Data Solutions, SG Analytics focuses on leveraging data management and analytics, and data science to help businesses discover new insights and build strategies for business growth. Contact us today if you are looking to make critical data-driven decisions to prompt accelerated growth and breakthrough performance.