Academic research related articles.

Soft Skills essential for Tourism professionals

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This week from Innova Institute de La Salle - URL we have been working on creating a list with the soft skills (or soft skills) necessary for professionals in the tourism industry.

This research is part of a whole series of articles that we are writing about how Covid-19 has affected companies and society.

Last week we mentioned the hard skills that tourism professionals need to overcome the crisis caused by the Covid-19. In this post I presented this article and my participation in a round table organized by UNWTO to help the tourism sector: Hard Skills essential for Tourism professionals.

Let's go to soft skills ...

soft-skills

The original article is not yet published on our blog, but some magazines and newspapers have echoed it and have published it in whole or in part. Here I include some of these publications:

In the magazine El Economista: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

In News and Diaries, they cite the article in The Economist: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

In Today's Economy they have also published the article: The key soft skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

I hope the article is also of interest to you.

Keep in touch

A hug

Montse.

Hard Skills that tourism professionals need

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A couple of weeks ago, from the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL We were analyzing what were the hard skills (or hard skills) in English, that tourism professionals needed to get out of the crisis caused by the Covid-19.

This is the infographic with which we illustrate the article that you can find on the blog of the Innova Institute.

Hard skills tourism

You can read the full article here:

Hard skills for the tourism industry

Following our research, we also participated in a round table organized by the World Tourism Organization.

You can watch the video here:

And several online publications are citing the research and the article.

Economy Today: The key hard skills of tourism professionals for PostCOVID-19

We are now working on an article on soft skills. I share it with the one that has it.

ICT engineers are also the heroes in this crisis

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Last week from Innova Institute From La Salle-URL we were collecting “adventures” of ICT engineers in which it is shown as part of the well-deserved recognition of health personnel, there is another group that also deserves special recognition, the group made up of all those who are making it possible for us to work from home, to maintain telecommunications infrastructures and to ensure that networks are fast and secure.

In the article we have interviewed 9 people who explain their particular way of the cross to keep the infrastructure of their companies or organizations running.

On our blog at the moment, we have only published the article in English, but some digital newspapers and magazines have already echoed it.

Full article in English: Nine adventures

I attach here the first to publish it and as the week progresses I will publish the rest links.

In Today's Economy: Nine adventures in which ICT engineers have been essential during the COVID-19 crisis

Keep in touch

A hug

Montse.

COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

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From the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL we continue, as every week, analyzing different aspects with which COVID-19 is transforming companies and their environment. This week we reflect on whether it is really leading to the digital transformation of companies or if they are simply adapting to circumstances and everything will return to normal when the pandemic passes.

The areas that we have analyzed are the following:

  1. Education: The digital transformation in education responds to a process of media literacy adapting to the ways of learning and accessing the knowledge of new generations.
  2. Financial services: Financial services as they are known today are going to change, adapting to more digital models.
  3. Telecommuting for companies and workers: There is a clear difference between what telework is and what thousands of companies around the world have put into emergency practice to continue operating during the COVID-19 period.
  4. Ergonomics in teleworking: It is still unknown when the alarm state will end for COVID-19. For this reason, companies must propose to their workers to adapt their temporary work offices at home, in order to be able to work ergonomically in search of business results.
  5. Government online: Being the ultimate goal of a Government to ensure the general welfare of its entire population, it is difficult to imagine this task without real contact between its protagonists.
  6. Culture and tourism: Both tourism and culture have taken advantage of COVID-19 to maintain contact with users through the networks. Many institutions have understood that their value proposition at this time should be to entertain people in confinement, especially children, and a large part have offered online services aimed at entertaining and entertaining.
  7. SMEs - Commerce: Business development sees digital transformation as a way to improve its results by optimizing its processes and facilitating its management, which is reflected in profits, growth and advantages over those that do not make these investments.

The original article with each section well explained and reflected on whether it is adaptation or transformation has not yet been published on our blog, but some magazines have already echoed it. You can find it in the following publications:

Tic and SMEs: COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

Granada Companies: COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

Today's Economy: What will be the organizations response to COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation?

In the digital publication Contact Center Hub, they have made a summary with the section dedicated to telework: Teleworking before COVID-19: Digital adaptation or digital transformation? and they also quote us in another article Is teleworking here to stay?.

I hope this information is useful to you and that you also reflect on whether the changes they have implemented in your working life during these weeks have transformed you or you will return to your normal life when all this has happened.

If you want to leave your opinion, do not be shy ... under these lines you have the comments section, I will be happy to have a conversation about it.

A hug

Montse.

10 ideas to undertake in sustainable sectors

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Continuing with the publications that we carry out from the Entrepreneurship Research group of the Innova Institute de La Salle-URL, this week we have been working to discover areas related to sustainability, in which there are possibilities of successful entrepreneurship. We have addressed this issue because we think that after the Covid-19 (what is already called the PostCovid-19) sustainability will be a much more considered feature in business models than it has been until now.

The areas in which we think there are opportunities are the following:

1. Agriculture and food industry: The world hiatus caused by Covid-19 is supplying a small truce that is allowing a regeneration of the planet. Environmental awareness has grown, consumption of resources is more responsible, there has been a notable improvement in environmental quality, and people have realized that protecting the environment contributes to a healthier and more balanced life.

2. Sustainable urban mobility: The high concentration of people in the means of transport and its improvable health conditions have made urban mobility one of the main sources of infection, increasing the risk of contracting the virus by between 4% and 6%. Consequently, the authorities and administrations of many countries have been forced to minimize its use and consider developing sustainable ventures in this sector.

3. The circular economy: The European Commission has just published the Action Plan for the Circular Economy. Proposed policies include increased product durability, the right to repair electronic devices, reduced use of plastics, and more accurate eco-labeling, among others. Following this path, the Innova Institute predicts that undertaking on issues related to the circular economy is a good opportunity for the PostCovid-19 scenario.

4. Integrated and efficient water management: Water scarcity already affects globally. What was once a problem for developing countries is now also a problem for developed countries. Water is not an infinite resource, but it is used as if it were. For this reason, the need for a comprehensive water treatment has been evident throughout its generation, use and recovery cycle. Despite everything, in 2030 there will still be 60% of the countries in the world that will not carry out this necessary comprehensive treatment system.

5. Logistics and supply chain: The companies that have provided a fast, safe and reliable service during Covid-19, and are also committed to sustainability, are those that will be strengthened after the pandemic and will generate confidence in customers in the PostCovid-19 era. These companies focus on innovation and quality, acting locally, but under collaborative logistics management models with other companies in the network. Thus, they meet the needs of small batches, with fast service and ensuring quality and traceability in the process.

6. Fashion, the second most polluting industry: El coronavirus ha provocado un enorme parón generalizado en la industria de la moda, ya sea por el cierre de tiendas o fábricas para proteger a sus trabajadores, por volcarse voluntariamente en la producción de prendas para uso médico o porque su producción dependía mayoritariamente de China o Italia. La moda, que produce más del 10% del total de emisiones de CO² en el planeta, es la segunda industria que más agua consume. Los plásticos han reemplazado a las fibras naturales y el poliéster se usa en el 60% de la producción, generando de dos a tres veces más carbono que el algodón sin degradarse en el océano. Greenpeace indica que el lavado de las prendas arroja al mar el equivalente a 50 billones de fragmentos en microfibras.

7. Replacing oil derivatives: La fundación Ellena MacArthur señala en un estudio que el 40% del empaquetado de plástico acaba en basureros, un tercio en el océano y solo un 14% se recicla. Esto dibuja un escenario crítico. Por eso, la búsqueda de sustitución de biopolímeros y la implementación de estrategias 100% funcionales para el reciclaje es una necesidad para la industria. La startup Oimo, ubicada en La Salle Technova, el parque de innovación de La Salle-URL, se dedica al diseño de nuevos materiales ecológicos en España y Reino Unido. Con la voluntad de reducir los 14 millones de toneladas de plástico que terminan en el océano, ha desarrollado un material soluble al agua como alternativa al packaging de plástico. En este sentido, el Innova Institute considera que el emprendimiento sostenible en empaquetados alternativos al plástico saldrá reforzado en el PostCovid-19.

8. Energy efficiency: The Covid-19 crisis has revealed that transformative changes are possible overnight. In terms of energy, it is demonstrated that there is no reason not to phase out fossil fuels and deploy renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. It is in line with this concept that the European Union has developed a series of proposals to lead the economy towards energy savings.

9. Telecommunications technology: During the confinement of the Covid-19, the traffic on online platforms that allow the organization of meetings, the development of virtual classes and the establishment of communications and conversations has increased considerably. Some of them were already known —such as Zoom, Hangout and Whereby— and others have taken the opportunity to make themselves known or to implement complementary services.

10. The built space: El Covid-19 ha promovido el desarrollo del teletrabajo, pero también ha evidenciado que esta opción tiene condiciones mínimas para su desarrollo. La experiencia previa permite reconocer los modelos de economía colaborativa asociados a estas propuestas como oficinas compartidas, los garajes compartidos y los lugares de cowork. La fuerza de estos movimientos ha llevado a que empresas de comunicación como ETB, Movistar y Mapfre Seguros hayan presentado a sus usuarios espacios de coworking. Sin embargo, se deben asegurar condiciones mínimas para optimizar los resultados, tanto la separación de ambientes entre la familia y el trabajo, facilitar la innovación al interactuar con empresas del mismo sector, la transferencia del conocimiento o al generar alianzas y complementos cuando se dan espacios con empresas de diferentes sectores.

The original article with all the sections well explained you can read it here: The Innova Institute analyzes how sustainable entrepreneurship could be for the PostCovid-19 era

I hope this information is helpful to you and allows you to reflect on the need for sustainability in future ventures.

Keep in touch.

Montse.

Changes in the business models of Cultural companies

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From the Innova Institute de La Salle - URL this week we have been working on the analysis of how companies in the Cultural sector are adapting different components of their business models because of the Covid-19.

We have found adaptations of their models in the value proposition, in the ways of distributing their products or services, in the selection of their target audience and other more components. Unfortunately we have not found many changes and adaptations in the income section. Even so, the research carried out is interesting and I think it will give of itself for a not so informative and more scientific article.

The article has been well received by the press and it has been published directly in several magazines, and it has been referenced in others.

You can read it here:

Audiovisual panorama: Nine keys on the adaptation of business models of cultural companies by COVID-19

Entrepreneurs Magazine: How to adapt your business model if you are a cultural company

Today's Economy: Nine keys on the adaptation of business models of cultural companies by COVID-19

Senior Manager: Nine keys to adapting the business models of cultural companies due to the coronavirus

If you are interested in Marketing for Cultural Industries, you may also be interested in an article that I wrote on February 18, 2020 about growth strategies and about the help to create strategic plans of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat.

You will find the article here: Cultural Marketing - Digital Marketing for Cultural companies in 2020

I hope this information from you is useful.

The next article that we will prepare from the Research Institute is about the forced digitization of companies ... it is titled something like "Adaptation or digitization", when we have it finished, I share it through the blog and social networks.

Keep in touch.

Hope it all goes well for you

A hug

Montse.

How to move from selling products to selling solutions

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In the changing environment in which we live today, companies need to innovate with all the resources available to them. One of these resources is the Business Model (the system by which a company creates value, offers that value to a specific target audience and collects the value in the form of income). Innovating in the Business Model is a capacity of companies called Business Model Innovation (BMI). The objective of the BMI is to disrupt the market by creating a model that gives the company a competitive advantage.

When what the company wants is not to disrupt, but to survive a disruption from a competitor, that process is called Business Model Adaptation (BMA) and consists of changing the current model to adapt to the new environment.

One of these changes in the business model that many companies are carrying out in order to survive in the current environment is to move from selling products to selling solutions. This type of Business Models in English are called Outcome-Based Business Models... in Spanish it is difficult to give it a name that conveys what it really is ... so we call it Business Models Based on Selling Solutions instead of products. The ultimate goal is to increase turnover and maintain a closer relationship with your current customers (get captive customers).

Examples of "How to sell products to sell solutions"

B2B example (business to business): the example of a book is that of Xerox and how it goes from selling photocopiers to selling the service of charging for photocopies, from the machines that companies rent for a small price and install in their offices. But it is also the change that Amazon made in the early 2000s… it went from being a book store to a comprehensive solution for writers, and then for all kinds of companies.

Example B2C (from business to consumer): we are a veterinary clinic and we have gone from selling single consultations to a flat monthly fee for animals that require special treatments. Another example related to animals… we sell cat food and we know that every two months our customers will buy a 5 kg bag of feed. We offer them an annual flat rate and automatically send them every two months the feed for their cat so they don't have to worry about shopping. We can do it at a slight discount to motivate customers. In the tourism sector, the change has already taken place years ago… products are not sold, experiences are sold.

What exactly is the change from “selling products to selling solutions”:

Stopping selling products to sell solutions is not easy to do, so when a company succeeds, usually someone writes a case. Well, today I was reading one of these cases, and I found it interesting to share how they did it, in case it can serve as an inspiration to any of the readers of this blog. Here is a little summary:

From the supplier's point of view: This goes from a model based on making money selling a product, carrying out its maintenance and selling spare parts, to earning money depending on whether or not your product achieves the results that the client wants. The product, maintenance and spare parts become expenses. Revenue will depend on the feasibility of the solution.

From the customer's point of view: This one becomes dependent on a provider with whom you are going to have an almost dependent relationship, it will be very difficult to change providers. Your business model and that of the supplier must be aligned.

How the change is made

The change requires three phases:

Phase 1 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Definition of the new value proposition: in this phase we must identify the opportunities in the creation of value with our clients. We must look for opportunities that are win-win (win-win) and evaluate the potential benefits that it could bring for our company. We also have to determine which products are going to become services and how this fits into our client's strategy. Being a good listener to customers and clearly understanding what they need to fix is ​​a key success factor. The feedback from our commercial department will be decisive in this phase. You have to listen carefully to the customer and to our commercials.

Phase 2 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Description of how customer service will be provided. This phase has two well differentiated key processes:

  • The design of the service: design of the value architecture, design of all the processes and the adaptation of the products that are going to be converted into services.
  • Customer relationship design: risk analysis, design of performance measurement indicators (KPIs, by Key Performance Indicators) and the creation of the contracts that will govern the relationship with the client.

Phase 3 of: "How to go from selling products to selling solutions"

Execution of the service and control of the final result: This is the phase in which the solution is installed for the client and all processes are refined to explore opportunities for improvement. Also in this phase it is necessary to train our sales team to effectively sell solutions. Likewise, during this phase the control mechanisms are implemented and it is analyzed if the distribution of value between us and the client is fair (if the relationship with the client is really win-win).

I hope this summary was interesting and inspiring to you.
If you want more information about "How to move from selling products to selling solutionsHere are some links that may interest you:

Keep in touch!

A hug

Montse.

Download the Practical Guide to Twitter for Business

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Here is the second of the guides company in which we are working from the Research Institute 3isic.

This time, the guide is dedicated to Twitter and how to make the most of the enterprise level.

A primera vista las empresas pueden pensar que Twitter es una herramienta muy limitada para la comunicación corporativa debido a los 140 caracteres, pero precisament esta es una de sus ventajas, no da pié a escribir sin sentidos y la gente va directo al grano. También es cierto que el Twitter que teníamos hace 5 años prácticamente ha desaparecido y ahora es más un medio de comunicación que una red social… de hecho, Twitter solicitó a principios del 2016 que tanto Google Play com el Apple Store cambiaran la categoría de esta herramienta y estuviera junto a los otros medios de comunicación.

What sense then has Twitter and why so much talk about this tool? How we can utilitzar at company level? What are the key success factors for corporate communication in Twitter?

In this guide we answer some of these questions and certainly you will help to create the online strategy in this network.

Basic Guide for Business TWITTER

I hope you find it useful

We're going talking

Montse.

Find out what has been the most searched on Google in 2012

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In late December Google released its Google Zeitgeist 2012. In this list you will see more searches have been made in Spain, sorted by subject.

Of these there is something to learn. I particularly like to see related searches "how to do... ". These searches give me ideas to create content or to redirect my projects.

This year for example, I see that among the top searches of this type is:

  • “how to make cupcakes”
  • “how to make pancakes”
  • “how to bechamel”

... For nothing ... to continue my recipe blog :-) (www.cuinadecasa.com)

But I see that the most sought is a "How it works Twitter"... Perhaps this search deserves an article ... (and I will think this weekend)

I have already talked about this marketing technique on other occasions, is the Content Marketing and it consists of creating content in order to attract visitors to our website. Obviously they must be related to ours (this is why I go in the recipe to make bechamel in the cooking blog and not on marketing), but ultimately is to stick with what content is the basis of Márqueting :

  • We define what kind of target audience we are headed.
  • Knowing what interests them and what not.
  • If we can cover you analyze any of your needs with our services (or if we can adapt one to cover your needs)
  • Run the service.
  • Then dedicate ourselves to retain and develop customer.

For all this, Google publishes the list each year can be of much use. So here is the link again: Google Zeitgeist 2012

I hope you will inspire.

The influence of age on the implementation of an electronic commerce

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In the analysis of the factors influencing the implementation and development of e-commerce companies, we find that there empirical evidence that there is a relationship between personal characteristics of managers of enterprises and the successful adoption of such tools.

This is precisely what I'm looking at right now as part of my PhD. To this end, I examine the most relevant articles in this research area and make my own fieldwork. I'm focusing on all the features, but especially in the age, since there are many researchers who have identified a correlation between the age of management and electronic commerce.

This is where I need your help!

If I want to write a quality article with good research, hard data and validating or refuting previous research and my hypothesis, I need to own empirical data.

To do this, I have prepared an online survey of directors of Catalan companies who practice some form of electronic commerce. Understanding e-commerce in its broad definition of the term: any transaction initiated on the internet. That is, almost any company today.

The survey is hanging here:

Survey on the characteristics of managers.

I will be most grateful if stuffed. It will not take more than 2 minutes and the questions are very simple and anonymous.

Por si te puede ser de utilidad: la encuesta la he realizado con Survey Monkey. Una herramienta que permite realizar encuestas online. Tiene una versión gratuita y una de pago. La que verás clicando en el enlace anterior es la de pago, que permite incluir el logo de la empresa, tener varias encuestas a la vez y en general gestionar toda la información que necesito para el doctorado. Ambas versiones disponen de aplicación para Facebook que permiten incorporar la encuesta en tu perfil (es lo que yo haré esta tarde).

Create the survey is not difficult but there are many types of question, so it is first necessary to take the time to go see all the possibilities of the tool. It also goes well see the examples that they themselves propose. They have multilingual version.

Well that's it. Again, I ask for your help if you work or you worked for a company based in Catalonia. Please make this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/57WC9JC and share the link with people who think you can also participate.

A big hug.