About the Blog
The TSC Blog is written by employees of The Smart Cube on industry related topics and trends that affect your business. In it we express our views and opinions and invite you to share your thoughts on the topics covered here.Feeds/Syndicate
Choose your preferred method of syndication. All feeds are full-posts & ad-free. All feeds are protected under copyright and may not be redistributed without permission.
Full Feed (RSS)Archives
Categories
- Analytics
- Automotive
- Brand Management
- Brand Strategy
- Business Planning
- Business Strategy
- Commodity Management
- Corporate Restructuring
- Data Analytics
- Digital Marketing
- Distressed Investments
- Emerging Markets
- Finance
- Financial & Investment Services
- Financial Markets
- Forecasting
- Marketing
- Procurement
- Professional Services
- Social Media
- Stategic Sourcing
- Strategic Sourcing
- Strategy & Operations
- Supply Chain
- Uncategorized
Tags
analytics Automotive branding brand management brand strategy business leadership Business Planning business strategy China china competition china manufacturing Corporate Restructuring credit crunch Distressed Investments Emerging Markets Finance Financial Research Financial Services Forecasting fundamental research Green Growth Strategy Human Resources India outsourcing Investments Knowledge Process Outsourcing KPO Management Consulting Marketing Marketing Research and Analytics Mutual Funds Outsourcing Procurement Procurement Research research Social Media Strategy Strategy Research Supply Chain Supply Chain Management toy recall Uncategorized Value Investments Venture Capital Wall Street outsourcing
Category Archives: Forecasting
;The Outlook for the Brazilian Real
Recent oil discoveries, the hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, as well as improved sovereign ratings from credit agencies, have firmly placed Brazil as a ‘must-have’ investment in every emerging market focused portfolio. However, investor interest … Read More…
Understanding the Recent Growth in Food Prices
The last year has seen an all too familiar pattern of food price hikes, not dissimilar to what we experienced back in 2007-2008. The 2008 food price hikes were driven by several factors, including high oil prices and the increasing … Read More…
Africa – A Closer Look
Africa is a continent that evokes a wide range of perspectives, from the cultural to the political to the economic. In all of these different, yet interrelated ways, it is clearly a force to be reckoned with. Consider a few … Read More…
Delinquency Modeling Using Survival Analysis
For financial services organizations in the business of lending, understanding which customers should be granted a particular loan, and, importantly, how much, has been a central question that not just drives their profitability, but, as we have seen in the … Read More…
Precious Metals – The Outlook for Silver and Gold
“The ultimate asset bubble.” This is how George Soros described gold last year, even as his fund took sizable long positions in the precious metal. Why not take advantage of rising values (so long as the bubble doesn’t burst), particularly … Read More…
Nuclear Energy in Germany
Nuclear energy has been heralded by many as one of the most important solutions to the growing energy demands of the world, particularly given concerns regarding increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the rising price of oil. The popularity of nuclear … Read More…
Understanding the Concept of Market Basket Analysis
Retailing today is nothing if not a hypercompetitive industry. A complex & rapidly changing landscape, stiff competition, and ever more demanding customers are pushing progressive retailers to rethink how they operate. Their responses have included strategies of scale (consolidation, growth, … Read More…
4 Key Trends Influencing Automotive Procurement
Few industries today are as global, interrelated and complex as the automotive sector. (Fewer still have gone through the level of challenge and change that we have seen over the past several years.) As the automotive sector has emerged from … Read More…
Success in Mergers & Acquisitions
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity is par for the course in the corporate world these days. Over the last several decades, there has been a consistent increase in both the number and value of transactions taking place, not only in … Read More…
What’s Next for the Chinese Yuan?
On February 17th, in a significant announcement by Chinese authorities, plans to allow domestic trading of Yuan options against other currencies from April onwards were rolled out, with the fundamental aim of assisting Chinese exporters and importers hedge against currency … Read More…
The Key to Establishing Procurement’s Credibility within the Organization
The last two decades have seen a sea change in the Procurement function’s (and the Procurement executive’s) standing within the organization. No longer the proverbial ‘back water’ department, Procurement now occupies an important seat at the executive table—a development that … Read More…
China and its Influence on the Global Rare Earth Metals Market
“The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earth metals.” —Deng Xiaoping, Chinese President (1992) Take an even a cursory look at any major business media today and China’s influence in the minerals and metals commodity markets is inescapable. … Read More…
Four key challenges for supply chains in 2011 and beyond
These four challenges are highlighted in this article, along with a high level look into the types of informational tools and techniques that can be leveraged to help manage them effectively. If there is a truism in supply chains, it … Read More…
Copper – Primer & Outlook
Copper is regarded as the most valuable of primary base metals, barring nickel, even though it is not the largest base metal market in the world. Indeed, it is considered a barometer for the state of the economy, given its … Read More…
Iceland’s Volcanic Ash Cloud and its Impact on Global Trade: A Primer
The volcanic eruption in Iceland has led to a crisis not only for the European air transportation industry, in particular, – disrupting air travel and air cargo operations across northern Europe – but also global commerce overall. The eruption of … Read More…
Is There Any Value in Forecasts?
With most companies either in or rapidly approaching their business planning cycles, executives and analysts alike are hard at work trying to predict how the next fiscal year will unfold, making a range of decisions from where best to focus … Read More…
Tags analytics, business leadership, Business Planning, Business Process Outsourcing, business strategy, credit crunch, Finance, Financial Services, Forecasting, fundamental research, Growth Strategy, Investments, Knowledge Process Outsourcing, KPO, Management Consulting, Outsourcing, Procurement, research, Strategy, Supply Chain, Wall Street outsourcing Leave a comment