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Employee Recognition: Why It’s So Important and How to Do It

Chart Your Course

The Harvard Business Review published the results of a study that followed employees of a Chinese call center called Ctrip. Half of the workers telecommuted for nine months while the rest remained in the call center. These are the businesses that will be left behind and lose good employees in the process.

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Morning Advantage: The Most Important Stories of 2013

Harvard Business Review

And the bottom dropped out of the Indian outsourcing industry, which contracted as much as 80% while the Indian firm Aegis outsourced its call center — to Dallas. All of which points to a 2013 that looks nothing like 2012. FINANCING THAT VACATION HOME IN VANUATU. A Rip-Roaring Trade in Corporate Secrecy (The Guardian).

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Rethinking the Bank Branch in a Digital World

Harvard Business Review

More US bank branches closed in 2013 than ever before. Branches in the US accounted for roughly three-quarters of primary new account openings in 2013. More than 85% of retail banking transactions are now digital. The bank branch is “going south,” mobile-banking entrepreneur Brett King said to CNBC.

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How Companies Are Benefiting from “Lite” Artificial Intelligence

Harvard Business Review

.” When the company upgraded its commercial insurance line for small businesses a few years ago, the agents jammed internal call centers with questions about how the policies worked and how to set sales quotes. The cost of simply expanding the call centers was prohibitive.

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How Local Governments Are Using Technology to Serve Citizens Better

Harvard Business Review

They offer subscription opportunities at call centers, customer service touchpoints, and community events, or on their social media accounts. Online and offline efforts have to mesh. Successful government organizations use both offline and online touchpoints to build a digital audience.

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A Working from Home Experiment Shows High Performers Like It Better

Harvard Business Review

Marissa Mayer’s move to ban working from home at Yahoo in 2013 caused a media firestorm over the costs and benefits of this rapidly growing practice. Ctrip decided to run a nine-month experiment with its airfare and hotel divisions in the firm’s Shanghai headquarters call center.

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Using IoT Data to Understand How Your Products Perform

Harvard Business Review

The call center logs customer complaints. HP outfitted its printers in 2013 with wireless sensors that monitor ink levels and automatically trigger reorders before customers run out. Once you accept that, it becomes a lot easier to understand what you need to do to get value from IoT.