strategy+business

In this Inside the Mind of the CEO interview, Uday Kotak, chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank, talks to s+b about the impact of the pandemic in India, how digitization is changing banking, and the imperative to meet customers’ evolving needs while still prioritizing risk management.

In the COVID-19 shutdowns, one-third of youth around the world lost access to learning. The pandemic has revealed and exacerbated a troubling digital divide. Creating access to digital tools and skills will ensure a more equitable future and address skills gaps in the global workforce. A new report from PwC and UNICEF reveals key steps to take to address this complex challenge.

From 2011 to 2017, Boston College sociology professor Juliet Schor and her research team studied the emergence and development of the sharing economy. In After the Gig, she reports on the ways that it has — and has not — lived up to its initial promise to gig workers, especially those who rely on it.

Marketers spend more than $100 billion on influencers, but how can they ensure they are getting value from their investment? New research describes the nuances in the market and acts as a guide to help companies pick the right influencers in a crowded market.

Google’s decision to phase out third-party cookies will usher in a new digital economy.

The NBA’s bubble provides an example of how the spread of COVID-19 can be controlled by tracking data from digital health devices.

In Recommendation Engines, Michael Schrage, visiting fellow at the MIT Sloan School of Management and s+b contributor, offers readers a more expansive view of recommenders, as well as their effects on human behavior and potential for abuse. The book is an eye-opener for readers who find the ubiquitous “what people like you bought” suggestions of online merchants faintly intrusive and only occasionally useful.

James Surowiecki writes that this year’s best business books on technology and innovation describe, and even celebrate, the messiness and uncertainty inherent in the process of discovering breakthroughs and bringing them to market. The most compelling among them, Stefan H. Thomke’s Experimentation Works, describes how embracing a culture of running tests can achieve high-velocity incremental change.

Think of the BXT approach as like getting in shape: You hone skills; build better experiences; and adopt smarter, more effective business strategies. The payback is increased flexibility, discipline, clarity, and stamina.

Regulatory authorities such as the U.S. Department of Justice expect businesses to use sophisticated analytics in their compliance programs that prove they have stress tested their third-party suppliers. If businesses are caught breaking laws, the fines are steep. Companies that can harness the latest technology will have a competitive edge.