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Participants march with a banner with rainbow colours during the annual pride parade in Hong Kong, China, November 7, 2015. "Hong Kong has a real opportunity to take the lead here and give a clear message," said Gigi Chao, the vice chair of listed Hong Kong property firm Cheuk Nang Holdings and a prominent gay rights advocate in Asia. "WAKE UP"Business groups in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan have become increasingly vocal in making the case that Asia's leading economies must do more to encourage diversity. A poll this year by Kyodo news agency of just over 1,500 people showed that nearly 70 percent supported same-sex marriage. While corporates rarely lobby Asian governments directly on LGBTQ rights, activists say they show their support through sponsorship of LGBTQ events and Pride-themed marketing.

Persons: Bobby Yip, Janet Ledger, Jimmy Sham, Asia's, Gigi Chao, Chao, Kida, Kiyong Shim, Dyson, Nomura, Kathy Teo, Singapore's, they're, Teo, Revolut, Jessie Pang, Justin Fung, Xinghui, Hyonhee Shin, Hyunsu Yim, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Kong's, Community Business, Gay Games, Nang Holdings, Reuters, American Chamber of Commerce, Fortune, Kyodo, Liberal Democratic Party, EY, FINANCE, Rights Watch, Gallup, WeWork, Standard Chartered Bank ., Google, IBM, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, HONG KONG, TOKYO, Tokyo, Singapore, Asia, Taiwan, Nepal, India, South Korea, York, Japan, EY Japan, Korea, Seoul, Standard Chartered Bank . Singapore, Xinghui Kok

☆ China fines Mintz Group $1.5 million for 'unapproved' investigations
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —China has fined Mintz Group, an American corporate due diligence firm, about $1.5 million for allegedly conducting unapproved statistical work in the country, as it continues with a nationwide crackdown on consulting firms in the name of national security. The fine came to light months after authorities closed the firm’s Beijing office in March and detained five of its local employees. Mintz’s Beijing office had carried out “foreign-related statistical investigations” without seeking and obtaining approvals, which violated two Chinese regulations, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website dated July 14. The authorities imposed a fine totaling 10.69 million yuan ($1.49 million) on the company and ordered it to stop conducting such investigations in the country. Days after the raid occurred, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Mintz was suspected of “illegal business operations.”Since then, Chinese regulators launched a broader crackdown on consulting firms.

Persons: Mintz, Mintz didn’t, Capvision Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, China, Mintz Group, Beijing Municipal Bureau, Statistics, CNN, Wall Street, Bain & Company Locations: Hong Kong, American, Beijing, Shanghai, New York, United States, Washington, chipmaking, China

☆ AI is going to eliminate way more jobs than anyone realizes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Emil Skandul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

We didn't see the internet coming, but AI is within viewThe adoption of groundbreaking technology is often hard to predict. The World Economic Forum estimated 83 million jobs worldwide would be lost over the next five years because of AI, with 69 million jobs created — that leaves 14 million jobs that will cease to exist during that timeframe. In the US, the knowledge-worker class is estimated to be nearly 100 million workers, one out of three Americans. The small and large compounding effects of productivity growth across many industries are central to the growth trajectory and the long-run effects of AI. This is an alarmingly trivial amount for an economy of $25 trillion GDP and over 150 million workers.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Joseph Schumpeter, Bill Gates, David Letterman, Paul Krugman, Erik Brynjolfsson, —, Brynjolfsson, Robert Solow, Robert Gordon, provocatively, It's, Gordon, David Autor, Maria Flynn, Flynn, –, Georgia –, Emil Skandul, Tony Blair Organizations: McKinsey, Newsweek, Stanford University, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, Economic, International Labor Organization, Organization for Economic Co, Development, MIT, Congressional, Office, Department of Labor, Tony Blair Institute Locations: Washington, Singapore, New York, Georgia

☆ Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg on the advice she'd give her 20-year-old self: 'Speak up earlier'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There are a lot of things Sheryl Sandberg wishes she could tell her 20-year-old self. But she'd start with this: Don't be afraid to speak up at work. Sandberg left Meta in August 2022 after 14 years at the company. Sandberg's tech career didn't take off until 2001 when she joined Google as general manager of its business unit. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do's and don'ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

Persons: Sheryl Sandberg, Sandberg, Zuckerberg, didn't, Meta, We've, Warren Buffett, — Organizations: Meta, LeanIn.org, CNBC, Harvard University, World Bank, Harvard, McKinsey & Co, Google, Lean Locations: Airbnb

July 18 (Reuters) - Consultancy giant McKinsey said it had struck a partnership with artificial intelligence startup Cohere in an effort to provide AI solutions to its enterprise clients. We found Cohere to be one of the great solutions out there," Ben Ellencweig, senior partner at McKinsey, told Reuters in an interview. McKinsey said it was working with Cohere to build customized solutions to help improve customer engagement and workflow automation for clients. Cohere competes with OpenAI with a focus on generative AI solutions for enterprises. It also announced a partnership with Oracle, which will embed Cohere's generative AI technology in its products.

Persons: Ben Ellencweig, Cohere, Martin Kon, PwC, Bain, Krystal Hu, Himani Sarkar Organizations: Consultancy, McKinsey, Microsoft, Reuters, Google, Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce Ventures, Cohere, Accenture, Company, Deloitte, Thomson Locations: New York

Hong Kong CNN —China’s state security authorities raided multiple offices of international advisory firm Capvision, state media reported Monday, part of a broader crackdown on the consulting industry as Beijing tightens control over what it considers sensitive information related to national security. The consultancy firm, which is headquartered in Shanghai and New York, adds to a growing list of global consulting companies that have been ensnared in Beijing’s widening crackdown on what it perceives as national security risks. In the report, Capvision was singled out as a “leading company” in the industry. According to state security police, he downloaded 5,000 documents from his state-owned company’s internal network. The authorities said he had provided clients with six pieces of information that were classified as state secrets, CCTV said.

☆ The Metaverse, Zuckerber's Tech Obession, Is Officially Dead. ChatGPT Killed It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ed Zitron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The Metaverse, the once-buzzy technology that promised to allow users to hang out awkwardly in a disorientating video-game-like world, has died after being abandoned by the business world. After a much-heralded debut, the Metaverse became the obsession of the tech world and a quick hack to win over Wall Street investors. Once the tech industry turned to a new, more promising trend — generative AI — the fate of the Metaverse was sealed. But the short life and ignominious death of the Metaverse offers a glaring indictment of the tech industry that birthed it. Roblox, an online game platform that has existed since 2004, rode the Metaverse hype wave to an initial public offering and a $41 billion valuation.

☆ Consultancies are coming off a pandemic boom. Are they still worth hiring?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Management consultancies helped design vaccination programs during the pandemic and are currently providing advice on how to rescue one of the world’s biggest banks. The $230 billion management consulting industry is a broad church: it includes companies offering everything from project management expertise to designing new organizational structures. Many big firms — think EY and KPMG — also conduct audits and advise on their clients’ tax issues, though these services are generally seen as distinct from their consulting work. In The Big Con, published in February, prize-winning economist Mariana Mazzucato and her co-author Rosie Collington argue that management consultancies “infantilize” governments by keeping them dependent on their services. Nearly 80% of firms surveyed globally have told the think-tank that consultants’ work is either of high or very high quality, she noted.

☆ Tech companies including Adobe are taking a new look at a big industry debt issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Rachel Curry | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Adobe cloud business insightsDespite the drag of technical debt that the data suggests, some industry executives say it gets a bad reputation. In this sense, technical debt is a signal of iteration. Adobe head of strategic development for creative cloud partnerships Chris Duffey is looking to reshape technical debt. "I would offer to reframe technical debt as the value of insight gathering throughout the innovation creation process," Duffey said. Despite reduction of operational costs, legacy systems in the technical debt bucket are core operational functions that an organization can't just turn off.

☆ Investing in Space: Deloitte formalizes its space consulting business, with an eye on growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. The space industry keeps growing, and global consulting groups aren't ones to be left behind. This week saw Big 4 firm Deloitte formalize its space consulting services, even as other consulting giants like McKinsey, BCG and Bain compete for pieces of the space pie. Loubert breaks the space consulting opportunity into two areas: Space as a mission or business, and space as a growth opportunity. For more on consulting and space, I'll be sitting down on April 18 with McKinsey Senior Partner Ryan Brukardt at Space Symposium in Colorado.

☆ ChatGPT can help you write a standout CV in seconds, job experts say: It's 'the ultimate resume-writing cheat code'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The secret to writing the perfect resume could lie with ChatGPT. Since its launch in November, more jobseekers have tapped the viral AI-powered chatbot to help write cover letters, tweak resumes and draft responses to anticipated interview questions. Out of more than 1,000 current and recent jobseekers polled in a ResumeBuilder.com survey last month, nearly half (46%) reported using ChatGPT to write their resume or cover letter. 'All you need to do is proofread and edit'If you're building a resume from scratch, ChatGPT can help you build a customized template. "ChatGPT can give you clear recommendations for exactly how to do this … all you need to do is proofread and edit as needed."

☆ Fintech firms may struggle to find investor love in rebounding U.S. IPO market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Manya Saini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationMarch 8 (Reuters) - The once high-flying fintech startups looking to go public will have a hard time attracting investor attention, even though a freeze that has gripped the market for new listings is starting to thaw. "I don't think it would surprise anyone if they all sat out the 2023 IPO market," Kennedy added. In the IPO boom of 2021, 20 fintech companies raised a combined $10.93 billion, vastly overshadowing the $144 million that was raised by a lone offering in the following year, according to data from Dealogic. "The IPO market is not closed, but it's certainly more valuation and profitability focused," said David Ethridge, U.S. co-IPO leader at global consulting giant PwC. Reuters GraphicsLACKLUSTRE LISTINGSListed fintech companies have failed to largely live up to their shareholders' expectations as they have steadily booked losses, leading to a string of routs in their shares.

☆ Walmart to nearly double its U.S. health center locations in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Thursday it would open 28 new healthcare centers in the United States next year, including its first ones in Missouri and Arizona. By the end of 2024, the nation's largest retailer by revenue will have more than 75 Walmart Health centers across the United States, it said in a statement. Located inside Walmart Supercenters, the new Health centers will cover about 5,750 square feet and offer services including primary care, dental care, behavioral health, labs and X-ray, audiology and telehealth. The company operated 32 Walmart Health care centers at the end of 2022 and plans to open 17 more this year. Walmart will open the first of the new Health centers in the first quarter of 2024, and end the year with 10 locations in Dallas, eight in Houston, six in Phoenix and four in Kansas City, it said.

☆ US consumer confidence falls to lowest level since July
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —US consumer confidence fell in November as inflation and economic uncertainty continued to loom large and potentially dampen holiday shopping plans. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index measured 100.2 for the month, lower than the downwardly revised 102.2 in October. The index is at its lowest level since July, when it fell to 95.7 amid spiking gas prices and worsening inflation. “If we had a combination of higher prices and higher unemployment at the same time, I think we’d be seeing a very different consumer than what we see right now,” he said. While consumer confidence has fallen, it still remains relatively resilient; but it is unlikely to last, said Chris Rupkey, chief economist of FwdBonds LLC, in a note on Tuesday.

☆ Airbus may delay some 2023 jet deliveries -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A spokesperson for Airbus said it had no comment on deliveries ahead of its next monthly bulletin in early December. At least one engine maker is experiencing renewed pressure to shift more engines away from supporting aircraft production to a pool of spares for existing customers, the sources said. Currently some 129 Pratt-powered Airbus jets and 55 fitted with CFM's LEAP engines are parked, according to Ascend by Cirium's head of global consulting Rob Morris. At the same time, engine industry sources insist snags on their side of the fence are not solely to blame for delays. In July, Airbus said it would reach an interim production goal of 65 A320-family narrow-body jets a month in early 2024 instead of summer 2023.

☆ Top Wall Street analysts like these stocks amid the macro uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Tipranks.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The stock market is closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day, and it's set to close at 1 p.m. on Friday. Here are five stocks chosen by Wall Street's top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance. VMwareSoftware company VMware (VMW) is awaiting antitrust approval before it is acquired by Broadcom (AVGO). White ranks at the 657th position among a roster of more than 8,000 analysts on TipRanks. 956 among more than 8,000 analysts followed on TipRanks, Petusky has a success rate of 50% with his ratings.

☆ War in Ukraine and weather-related disasters have disrupted climate action. Here are 6 ways the private sector can mobilize sustainable transformation.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Bernhard Lorentz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

War in Ukraine and a slew of weather-related disasters have slowed government progress towards climate action. Here are six ways the private sector can mobilize sustainable transformation. The Ukraine conflict in particular has significantly disrupted decarbonization plans and brought into focus concerns around resilience and sovereignty when it comes to ongoing energy transition efforts. Innovate in line with the energy transition to build resilienceInnovation is at the heart of maintaining competitive edge as it replaces costly and inefficient processes with more effective ones. Bernhard Lorentz is the global consulting sustainability & climate strategy leader at Deloitte and the founding chair of the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress.

☆ Meet a 41-year-old who regretted quitting the same consulting job — twice — for more excitement and better pay. With a recession looming, he says he's staying put.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chris Downs, 41, returned to the same company twice after quitting in 2008 and 2021. In a recession, returning to one's old job might not be so easy. In 2008, Downs quit his job as an associate for the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Economic uncertainty is among the reasons Downs says he is "even less likely to leave" his job again. If he were on the job hunt now, he says he would probably prioritize job stability.

☆ These 15 people are shaping the office of the future, designing meeting pods, hologram calls, and buildings that actually make workers healthier
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

These 15 power players are just a handful of the people designing workplaces to balance productivity, interaction, and employee well-being through indoor-air-quality monitoring systems, building amenities, holographic meeting spaces, and more. AftershipCities like Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Raleigh, North Carolina, began offering business-relocation incentives during the pandemic to boost their workforces and help increase occupancy in office buildings. Room's office suite includes a phone booth, a meeting room, an open meeting room, and a focus room. Room also makes a soundproof meeting room that fits two people, a more open meeting booth, and a focus room designed for quiet concentration. "The future of office work needs to be guided by a new, genuine form of flexibility in which the work, not the workers themselves, become even more malleable," Petersen writes.

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