We found that there were a lot of people talking about how to become a digital nomad or an individual freelancer but there were no conferences discussing how to build and scale a remote business. Our software companies TimeDoctor and Staff.com are both completely remote and we wanted to get the playbook to get to 100, 1000 or more employees; so we decided to start a conference on just that.

What is the key topic you will be addressing at the conference?

We will be going as in depth as humanly possible on how to build and scale remote teams. Shopify is discussing how they manage their remote support team of 1500+ reps all over the world. Doist and Help Scout will discuss asynchronous vs synchronous communication. We will have a panel on remote first friendly VC firms. How to legally hire remotely. How to build a design team, dev team remotely and a dozen other talks.

Can you tell us more about your firm Time Doctor?

TimeDoctor is a company focused on empowering people to work wherever and whenever they want, we build conferences like Running Remote and our Time Doctor software measures how productively remote employees work.

Do you encourage remote work culture at your firm? How efficient is it?

Yes we do, remote work is literally our only way of working and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Outside of the obvious cost savings the impact on employee happiness is so high that even if we had to pay more for talent we would still have a faster team.

What are the advantages behind enabling remote work for both employees and the organisation?

Organisations have the ability to save on costs and improve retention to employee happiness. Employees have increased freedom of movement and in a lot of cases better work life balance than their on premise counterparts.

What are your broad views on the future of remote work?

Last year approximately 2% of the US workforce was working full time remotely and almost 55% were working remotely some of the time. I believe that the corporate world is currently experimenting with remote work and in 20 years you’ll see the majority of the work force work remotely.

How supportive are organisations to remote workers?

It really depends on the organisation. It appears as if the tech industry has adopted remote work and the rest of the world is a few years behind but event at Running Remote we have fortune 1000 companies that are attending the conference trying to get their head around this new way to work which makes me very hopeful for the adoption of remote work.

From your standpoint, What is the kind of impact conferences such as Running Remote can have on the industry?

The goal of the conference is to build a playbook of best practices on building remote teams. We need a few more of these types of events to really enable remote work as the normal way to work. So at this point our impact is small but I’m hopeful our conference will inspire others to develop the movement.

The post A Movement to encourage remote work appeared first on International Finance.

What are the current top 5 challenges faced by CFOs today in the Middle East?

I believe that the current top 5 challenges faced by CFOs in the Middle East are:

1. How to constantly come up with business innovations, strategies, balance the need for efficiency with smart investments and pursue creative approach to partnerships that will unlock substantial value and free up cash within our business to increase our global competitiveness.

2. CFOs also need to challenge themselves and other key players in the business to keep abreast with the radical technological revolution and disruptive innovation to maintain cutting-edge advancements in running the business.

3. How CFOs play a critical role not only in ensuring finance and accounting functions but also perform a variety of roles in interfacing with other business players such as IT, HR, Procurement, Investments Controllers, etc.

4. CFOs, as key strategists, will be required to continually come up with ways on how to maximize use of our capital- both human and monetary to create added-value to the company. We are expected to be not just the accounting experts but also as communicators, leaders and partners who are involved in all aspects of the business to maximize profit and optimize cost and pursue business growth with adherence to the international regulatory and compliance framework and with the least risk exposure for a healthy business practice.

5. And to do all these with limited or tight resources/budget, is definitely a big challenge, as well.

What would the practical applications be to the aftermath of VAT implementation?

We need to be technically well-versed on the VAT implementation otherwise we could face some issues for filing wrong returns, which our companies can be penalized for.

Businesses should have a Taskforce or Implementation Committee led by the chief financial officer and Corporate Governance which have jurisdiction over all business departments, not just finance to oversee the VAT issues. Sales and Marketing, Human Resources, Procurement, and others will need to modify their systems to become VAT-compliant.

How can CFOs today take up the challenge to staying relevant in the digital age?

I believe that to learn selling skills would be an advantage for CFOs. Another crucial skill for CFO is to have strong understanding of technology and how to leverage it because it keeps on changing fast and we need to keep abreast with it to make us more functional and pro-active.

Aside from this, to go for international assignments and secondments are really good exposure to learn more technical and leadership skills and great depth and scope of business knowledge. CFOs need to be on the frontline to speak the language across the business so they are always informed and prepared which will help tremendously in enforcing their influencing and leadership skills and added-value to the company.

CFOs need to be effective interpreters. We need to be able to translate numbers into meaningful information and story so we can relay more effectively the key insights to all players to fuel sustainable growth in the organization.

How can CFOs and CEOs align further together with regards to the mission and organizations’ objectives?

In my experience, the role of CFOs nowadays has become more multi-faceted and demanding than before.

Previously, CFOs were only “accountants”, so to speak, who ensure that the organizations finances are in order and all accounting procedures are adhered to. Today, CFOs have taken a broader spectrum of responsibilities. We are now also expected to be:

• Key strategists and leaders helping the CEO and other executive teams in decision makings

• Effective communicators promoting results and convey business successes and growth both internally and externally

• Catalysts of Change ensuring we adapt to latest global business trends

• Business advisers, operators and partners ensuring that business run smoothly and according to the strategic direction and innovations the company would like to implement

CFOs should now be expert on Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) process including strategy and business planning and management reporting. We are also expected to cover the full spectrum of risk and associated risk management frameworks, processes and systems of internal controls, treasury functions and oversee and understand the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and accounting changes on existing and future models and metric. Likewise, CFOs must play the lead role in capital management which includes identifying and prioritizing investment opportunities and understanding the various financing options available.

What is your best advice for CFOs to guide their finance teams through times of uncertainty?

I would advise CFOs to continually learn leadership, technical, communication and influencing skills. They also need to constantly upgrade their technological know-how, to be more focused and engaged on people management, risk management, change management, project management and development of effective business strategy and innovation to be able to call themselves successful CFOs.

They also need to broaden and strengthen their networking with other CFOs and share experiences with them regarding their business involvement. Sharing of knowledge I believe is very important to know and understand the best practices and new trends in the business.

Rizwan Chowdhari, Chief Financial Officer, ADSB

What are the current top 5 challenges faced by CFOs today in the Middle East?

1. Uncertain macro conditions as a result of oil and political volatility

2. Attracting & retaining talented employees

3. Identifying and implementation of continuous improvement initiatives

4. Transforming traditional “accounting” organizations to “finance” organizations

5. Vision alignment of what is best for the Company between other members of the Senior Management Team, the Board and the Shareholders

What would the practical applications be to the aftermath of VAT implementation?

I think organizations in the Middle East at this point in time are just doing the bare minimum to comply with VAT regulations.  This is because certain aspects of the regulations are expected to change and there is still a level of unclarity and so called “grey areas” in the regulations.  Once these issues are all ironed out and all the countries in the Middle East are at the same level, we will only then truly be able to assess the practical applications

You will be presenting at the upcoming event. Which topic in the event (other than your own) interests you most? Why?

“Era of Digital Finance” – CFO’s and their organizations are yet to fully embrace this in the region.  This is the future in my opinion and the more we talk about it and share stories of success and learnings

How can CFOs today take up the challenge to staying relevant in the digital age?

Have the willingness to take a risk, try pilot projects and if successful then go for larger implementations

What are your views on the strategic approach  to transfer pricing?

I believe that having an effective internal transfer pricing in an organization is essential.  This increases accountability, enables decision makers to focus on the real issues at hand, which in turn should increase overall corporate performance

How can CFOs and CEOs align further together with regards to the mission and organizations’ objectives?

To me this alignment is of utmost important.  As a strategic partner to the CEO, the CFO should have a say in what the organization’s objectives should look like.  The CFO should have a seat at the table when these objectives are being discussed and finalized with the Board / Shareholders.  Once corporate objectives are finalized, it’s extremely important for an organization’s leaders to cascade the objectives to their individual teams so that everyone is working on the same page and as such the chance of success is higher.

What is your best advise for CFOs to guide their finance teams through times of uncertainty?

Don’t settle on just “how things are”.. be motivated and always look for opportunities to become better and be open to change… whether it be something as simple as taking an online course to upgrade a skillset or recommending a new way of doing something which in the long run will save time and effort for an organization

Marta Wronska, Former Head of Finance – Hala Group, Etihad Airways

What are the current top 5 challenges faced by CFOs today in the Middle East ?

Middle East is a very dynamic region and so the main challenges faced by the CFOs today relate to this dynamic. With the implementation of VAT many organizations face challenges such as technology changes to facilitate the VAT compliance, access to qualified resources who can drive the process internally but also building a general understanding of VAT concept across the organization.

Innovation is always one of the key focuses for the Middle East Companies and therefore in the era of global digitalization it is more than ever important to not only keep up to day with new technologies such as blockchain or AI but to stay ahead through continuous investment in innovation. At the same time, finding the right, balanced level of investment in R&D and innovation is one of the challenges faced by the CFOs these days.

More global challenge faced also by Middle East CFOs is managing the data – both in terms of GDPR compliance as well as being able to quickly and accurately use the big data capabilities developed in the recent years. With many Middle East companies investing heavily in technological capabilities to collect and store data – being able to use databases proficiently and leverage them for the daily business decisions is key to the modern CFOs.

Another global challenge faced by Middle East CFOs is the cybersecurity. Within the businesses where the reliance on technology is high, cybercrime and fraud preventive framework is the key focus. With the global cost of cybercrimes increasing almost 5% YoY, organisations must ensure they have complete framework for detection, prevention and mitigation of the cybercrimes.

Last but not least, careful observation of the global macroeconomic trends has always been high on the Middle East CFOs agenda but it is now of the utmost importance. With the domestic economies being very sensitive to the oil price fluctuations, it is no longer only oil and transport industry which are monitoring the trends regulary but any CFO operating in the Middle East markets.

What would the practical applications be to the aftermath of VAT implementation ?

VAT implementation in UAE was a very smooth process despite initial concerns whether the timeframes are too tight. The change is always challenging and building the tax awareness among the organization takes time but the authorities ensured that the filing process is straight forward.

You will be presenting at the upcoming event. Which topic in the event (other than your own) interests you most? Why?

I am especially looking forward to the “Chief Future Officer: Era of Digital Finance” session which will focus on the blockchain technology. Working with the Loyalty businesses under Etihad Aviation Group I have been watching the blockchain technology very closely and assessing it’s application to the loyalty business.

What are your views on the strategic approach  to transfer pricing?

Many multinational Middle East companies already adapted transfer pricing framework and developed internal policies but the big challenge is yet to come. Often, introduction of the transfer pricing is perceived as extra cost but if applied correctly it can benefit the organization by reducing tax burdens.

What is your best advise for CFOs to guide their finance teams through times of uncertainty?

A management guru Peter Drucker said  “Culture Eats strategy for Lunch” and I strongly believe in those words. In times of uncertainty the winning organizations are the ones whose teams stick together. Building strong corporate culture and creating bonds between team members is the key. Removing silos through open communication, feedback culture and reduced hierarchy structures is a good foundation for the strong teams.

These esteemed speakers among other industry experts will be present at the 10^th Annual MENA CFO Conference Dubai 2018. For more details, contact BernardineM@marcusevanskl.com or log on to http://www.marcusevans-conferences-middleeastern.com/marcusevans-conferences-event-details.asp?EventID=24454&SectorID=2#.W2wojCj-jIW

The post What Does It Take To Be A Good CFO? appeared first on International Finance.

The event will also enable investors to meet and greet startups as well as exchange ideas with each other about their strategies and market scenarios. Upcoming startups will be even be invited to deliver an eight-minute Launchpad pitch for the Best Blockchain Technology Award. Investors will weigh in on these business ideas to help the entrepreneurs of the future to build and expand business globally.

There will be an extensive exchange of information and knowledge across the event, through multiple keynote sessions and speeches, highlighting core ideas such as adoption of blockchain at the government level, future of tokenomics and its challenges, and scope for academic innovation. In addition, experts will also discuss regulation, policy, digital asset exchange and cybersecurity challenges.

One of the more interesting programmes of the two-day event is the Blockchain Project Launch. By showcasing the utility of artificial intelligence, IoT, virtual reality and mixed reality among others, these blockchain projects can be used across multiple sectors such as govtech, BFSI, logistics, supply chain, healthcare and public distribution.

International Finance is a media partner for the Korea Blockchain Summit. Tickets are priced at US$250 (Standard) and US$500 (VIP).

To register for the event, contact https://www.gbf.world/korea-attendee-form

For more details, log on to www.koreablockchainsummit.com

The post South Korea gears up for blockchain summit appeared first on International Finance.

The major topics to be discussed include mitigating risks of increasing cyberattacks in Sri Lanka’s financial services sector; minimizing the challenges of big data protection in banks and financial institutions; increasing the dependency and viability of cloud in banking services; identifying financial fraud and its implications on the financial sector; integrating social media in banking websites; educating the industry on the impact of blockchain in cybersecurity and revolutionizing financial organizations with blockchain.

The organizer believes attending this critical industry event carries key benefits such as discovery of new technology and solutions that can help businesses achieve optimum cyber-preparedness; learning about guidelines & legislations laid down by regulators and understanding the latest threat vectors affecting the financial sector.

International Finance is a media partner for the Cyber Security for Financial Services. For details visit: www.exploreexhibitions.com/cybersecurity or contact samantha@exploreexhibitions.com/ +91 7022871384

The post Cybersecurity for Srilanka’s financial services appeared first on International Finance.

Though the frenzy continues, industry leaders and experts are trying to consolidate the cryptosystem into a more secure, robust platform. But first, it has to make sense for the uninitiated and the prospect buyers to believe in the system and promote its value through purchase. For this reason, there are dialogue platforms such as Europe’s premier cryptocurrency and blockchain conference: The Crypto Summit 2018 was held in March in Zurich, Switzerland. This year’s Summit gathered global influencers, policy makers, investors and entrepreneurs, who have the ability to shape the future of crypto and share the right kind of industry knowledge.

In conversation with the founder of Smart Valor and a prominent figure in the Crypto Swiss Valley Olga Feldmeier discusses both sides of the cryptosystem and how it could positively reform the financial landscape.

What is the defining core of the Crypto Summit?

The purpose of the Crypto Summit is to assemble parties actively involved with the process, which includes the startups, opinion leaders, policy makers and politicians driving the legal side of the process. Switzerland has developed to be the hub for crypto in the recent years because of the government’s more liberal approach in terms of regulation, which also attracts a lot of companies in this space. This country is set to become one of the leaders of the blockchain revolution. And that’s why not having the conference in Switzerland won’t be an option.

Since I have been in this industry for last five years and of course, have a global network with people who work in this industry I have invited them all to come to Switzerland this time.

What are topics discussed at the event?

The topics largely extended to what needs to be done to establish Switzerland even more solidly as a global hub for blockchain technology—the kind of regulations and institutions we need to create here to become a profound leader in this space. The topic of focus is shaping the crypto together, which is the whole purpose of the dialogue.between stakeholders and significant others. It is also about how to conduct ICO and what it takes to succeed ICO. On the other hand, there are also technology topics such as centralising exchanges and security of assets.

Switzerland became home to one suit of all good ICO projects. Recently ICO guidelines was issued to understand how to approach them.

Can you name some of the keynote speakers at the event?

The keynote speakers for the event were Alex Tapscott, Vinny Lingham, Tim Draper, Charles Hoskinson and Kathleen Breitmann

Switzerland is becoming a global hub for crypto talent. How will the country position itself in the next 1-2 years?

If you create an appropriate regulatory framework, it allows the company to legitimately work and a lot of those companies will come here. They are building and creating all types of platforms, protocols and business models. For financial services specifically it means creation of new infrastructure and if the new infrastructure is created here, it becomes a great competitive advantage for such a small financial center as Switzerland.

The technologies that has been created also attract most of those businesses and can have a profound impact or influence on the competitiveness of the country.

What is it about Swiss finance culture that lends itself to digital currencies?

Switzerland for the last 200 years was in a very privileged capacity. It was all about wealth management for the rich people of the world, who brought their wealth here to protect it from corrupt regimes in their countries. Previously, ff you needed to open a bank account here in Switzerland, you need to bring five million or so. Now this is changing. Cryptocurrency such as bitcoin is democratised because anyone can purchase it from anywhere in the world and can be transferred to any address with no boundaries.

So what does it mean for us in Switzerland? It means a lot of companies like Smart Valor are building next generation platforms, which will be accessible to crypto currencies. This system used to be restricted only to the rich, and now it is available for everybody. And that is why we talk about democratization of access as well.

Earlier, you mentioned about Smart Valor. Can you tell us more about it?

The official name is Decentralised Marketplace for Tokenised Alternate Investment. In simple words, it is very similar to Amazon but for specialised investment products. They are specialised because they are issued in a form of token on the blockchain and it can represent any kind of physical value. It can be a diamond bitcoin, gold bitcoin or even a piece of art—like a Picasso bitcoin. In fact, it is a digital footprint of any asset that can be expressed as a token, and even ICO can be considered a form of tokenisation for participation of startups. At Smart Valor, we are the platform and we are the marketplace for those tokenised investments.

What was your motivation behind founding Smart Valor?

My background is in banking and I grew up in Ukraine. At one point in Ukraine, the complex financial conditions led to huge losses. If you have been through such an experience you will really understand how powerful cryptocurrency as a concept is. It is the first national currency independent of the government and a huge huge invention of our modern time. For me, ideologically it is this technology that can help us to literally re-invent money and provide freedom of access to so many people who have never had this before.

Previously, I joined a bitcoin firm Silicon Valley and helped them to get their regulatory framework complete in Switzerland. We were very successful, and had the potential do it all as there are no limits. We can even do more complicated stuff than bitcoin wallet and this is exactly what we do in this marketplace as tokenised investments.

Why is the cryptocurrency world such a male-dominated space?

I think it’s not so relevant to only cryptocurrency. Overall, in the startup or tech space, there are still very few women. It is also partially driven by the fact that venture capitalists are male-dominated companies. There are statistics which show findings that when a team is managed by a woman, the possibility of getting money from venture capitalists is significantly reduced to six percent. However, I see a change in this. If you go for ICO people don’t really care about the gender as long as you have a great idea and the funding will take place. This is why ICO is a great democratisation of funding for startups.

What do you expect the value of bitcoin will be in a year’s time from now?

In the next couple of years, I think the value of bitcoin will go up to hundred thousands. I’ve made some predictions before and they were way too conservative. I invested for the first time back in 2013 and in a very unlikely circumstance started my own company. Back then, I never saw that bitcoin could reach twenty thousand in five years. This is way too high from what I expected. In a year’s time, its value could realistically range somewhere between fifty to hundred thousand.

What do you think the true value of bitcoin is?

Today, diamond coins and gold coins are connected to the true value of gold. But bitcoin is more about trust and belief on this technology and protocol that will establish a potential to become the next generation of reserve currency—the digital gold. It all depends on people who believe its value is higher because its supply is limited. As of now, the supply is just one million, so the more number of people believe it is the alternative to dollar, the more people will invest in it and the prices will rise.

As more people learn about the technology in-depth, they will understand how huge it has become in ten years. Therefore, its crucial that people understand it, believe in it and will eventually buy it.

In the recent past we’ve been reading a lot about fluctuations and risks associated with crypto. So, what can be done to regulate them?

We don’t need to regulate cryptocurrencies. We need to regulate financial intermediaries and players active in this space such as exchanges and other entities that are dealing with cryptocurrencies including wallet providers and custodians. For example: it is very important to prevent cryptocurrency being used for money laundering and purchase of illegal goods. To have all the processes in place, we have KYC (know your customer) and anti-money laundering rules. So the same rules has to be followed by crypto exchanges. Additionally, we need to clean up and introduce more regulations.

Do you think Barclay’s agreement to provide US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase with access to the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme will encourage other banks to follow suit?

Yes, this will put more pressure on other banks to also position themselves as the leaders in digital currency field.

What are the differences between Bitcoin, Ripple and Ethereum?

The primary difference between the three are defined based on this: Bitcoin is considered digital gold, Ripple is a payment network and Ethereum is a platform for development of dapps using smart contracts.

Based on your extensive experience in the industry, which of the cryptocurrency do you think is most preferred as a form of investment?

BTC and ZCash are the chosen form of investment.

Bio

SMART VALOR was founded by Olga Feldmeier, a prominent figure in the Swiss Crypto Valley. Prior to SMART VALOR, Feldmeier was Commercial Managing Partner of Xapo, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin custodians, where she was responsible for establishing the company in Switzerland. Working in close collaboration with Swiss authorities and financial regulator, FINMA, Feldmeier established Xapo as the first cryptocurrency custodian to receive permission to operate in Switzerland as a financial intermediary, releasing it from the initially considered obligation to apply for the banking license.

Prior to Xapo, Feldmeier held several management positions in the financial services sector working for global brands such as Barclays Capital, UBS and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). To realize her vision, Feldmeier enlisted the support of a co-founding team, including Julien Bringer, a serial innovator with 50 US patents in cryptography and embedded security and former Head of Innovation at IDEMIA, a world leader in digital security and identification technologies.

The post Why cryptocurrency might lead to financial democratisation? appeared first on International Finance.

The successful completion and the overwhelming response that we had received for our previous editions, Explore Exhibitions & Conference is geared up for its 3^rd Annual Smart Tech BFSI Exchange which will be held from 9^th – 11^th May 2018 in Goa, India. Several dignitaries namely Mr. Dhiraj Nayyar, Officer on Special Duty, NITI Aayog, Government of India, Dr. Rajendran N, Chief Technology Officer, National Payments Corporation Of India, Mr. Sudin Baraokar, Head Of Innovations, State Bank Of India, Mr. Nabankur Sen – Advisor- Information Security, Bandhan Bank, Mr. Avneesh Pandey, General Manager – IT, Securities Exchange Board Of India, Mr. Jaspreet Bindra, Senior VP – Digital transformation, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Mr. Shashank Sathe, Group CTO, Bajaj Capital Ltd, Mr. Dheepak Rajoo, VP- Head Business Transformation, Bharati Axa General Insurance and many more will be part of deliberations.

This conference will act as an effective platform for sharing experiences, while networking with the key decision makers within the BFSI Industry and forging new business partnerships in a unique business- driven environment.

The keys issues of discussions evolve:

• Blockchain Technologies and Digitalization in BFSI

• Regulatory compliance in the Financial Sector

• Leveraging Insuretech for Market Disruption

• Introduction of AI, Machine Learning and Chatbots in FinTech

• Importance of Data Security with the Rise of Cloud Computing

• Addressing Security Challenges in the Rising FinTech landscape

• Understanding how Analytics is redefining Customer Experience in the Digital Era

The 2018 edition of the Smart Tech BFSI Exchange will once again combine a high-level conference, masterclasses, thinktanks, B2B Meetings and also some of the solution providers showcasing their most advanced operational, financial and technological solutions on the market. The event will provide an ideal opportunity for networking, on-site promotion, enhancing brand profile and pre-event promotional campaigning.

If you or your company has the solutions that cater to the above mentioned technologies, then exhibit your solutions at the most happening gathering of the year. Gain impactful brand visibility and media value with event promotions. Solution Providers will get opportunity to engage with key stakeholders of BFSI sector.

For detailed information, contact us at samantha@exploreexhibitions.com / +91 7022871384 / www.exploreexhibitions.com/bfsi
International Finance is the official media partner of the 3^rd Annual Smart Tech BFSI Exchange

The post Technology driving India’s BFSI sector appeared first on International Finance.

Together with planning, organizing, and directing, activities related to controlling belong to the key functions of management. Controlling is an essential activity because it enables managers to track an organisation’s progress towards the achievement of its objectives and to detect deviations from the intended course of action. Controlling has to be a continuous process that is embedded in each level of an organisation’s hierarchy. This includes the top-level of the organisation where strategic objectives are decided upon. In the strategic context, the choice of control metrics should be based on the specific strategic objectives contained in the strategic plan. These objectives are related to financial targets, the customer base, internal operations, and the organisation’s human capital.

Once you have defined your strategy as an organisation, how do you track and control your progress towards achieving your strategic objectives?

In order to be effective, strategic objectives have to be aligned with the organisation’s strategic vision and mission. Strategic objectives should be formulated so as to ensure that the organisation actually achieves its strategic vision and mission and does not stray from it. One of the key characteristics of any objective is that it is SMART (i.e. specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound). Strategic objectives are no exception. By making our strategic objectives SMART, we lay the foundation for the definition of the key performance indicators (KPIs), which, in turn, enable us to track our progress towards the achievement of our strategic vision and mission.

How do you overcome difficulties in getting insights on business performance management from the business units?

This is an interesting multi-layered issue and, in fact, the real crux of controlling. Three points come to mind: Firstly, the choice of metrics is essential and requires careful consideration. If a chosen metric does not allow a clear indication of whether progress is being made, it should probably not be used. Secondly, some may argue that not all progress is measurable and therefore not all objectives can be measurable in the sense of being SMART. While this may be true, experience has shown that there are enough alternative ways of looking at objectives to find a meaningful metric. Thirdly, there is the human element. Some managers prefer “soft KPIs” (e.g. encourage employee buy-in, give constructive feedback, and display empathy). While these KPIs certainly have their place, their value in the strategic context has to be weighed against their ability to assess progress towards the bottom line.

How do you deal with a certain level of resistance to certain metrics?

Dealing with resistance has much to do with achieving a common vision of the desired long-term outcomes and the corresponding need to make short- and medium-term adjustments. A common understanding of the opportunities and risks is of paramount importance. If we, as managers, fail to take advantage of the opportunities and to avert the risks, we are not doing our jobs as we should. Ultimately, managers are accountable for their contributions to the achievement of strategic outcomes. It is the very reason why they hold a given role. The willingness to use meaningful metrics starts at the top of the organisation and cascades down. The more determined the top-management is to measure its progress towards a strategic goal, and thus lead by example, the more willingness there is in the remainder of the organisation to follow accordingly. In the end, it is all about leadership.

What would you like to achieve by attending the 7th Business Performance Management Conference?

The themes addressed in this conference will undoubtedly be very stimulating and something to look forward to. I am particularly interested in hearing the views of other participants. Most of them come from business fields very different from my own and this profoundly adds to the diversity and therefore value of the event. Finally, I am also looking forward to networking and learning, because no matter how experienced we are, I believe that we can always learn from each other.

About Frank Danesy:

Frank Danesy is the chief controller and Senior Financial Officer of the Directorate of Operations at the European Space Agency (ESA). In this capacity, his responsibilities have included the oversight of the resource planning and utilisation of all of ESA’s manned space projects and mission operations including those related to the International Space Station, the Rosetta/Philae mission to the comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and the European Commission funded and directed Copernicus/Sentinel missions. Dr. Danesy began his career with the Armed Forces and over a period of more 25 years he has held a variety of prominent positions in academia and the aerospace sector. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as well as master’s degrees in Business Administration (BU), Space Studies and Strategic Intelligence. His doctorate is in Business Administration with a focus on conflict management and leadership (FUB). Equipped with a commercial pilot license and instrument rating, Frank Danesy is an avid land- and sea-plane pilot. In his leisure time he enjoys sports and playing the guitar.

The post Controlling key to management efficiency appeared first on International Finance.

Oman has witnessed significant development in terms of blockchain technology adoption and integration. However there are lot more to be done for unlocking the actual potential of blockchain and emerge as a leading digital economy. In a move to address and identify the potential of blockchain, Nispana Innovative Platforms & BPOS Global is organizing “Blockchain Oman 2018” on 2^nd and 3rd May, 2018 in Muscat, Oman. The conference is intended to provide a platform to the technology innovators and business administrators to collaborate on utilizing the product, process, and technologies through digital transformation.

The upcoming two days conference is under the patronage of His Excellency Abdullah Salim Al Salmi – Executive President of the Capital Market Authority, Oman and will feature great speakers including Dr. Salim bin Sultan Al Ruzaiqi – CEO, Information Technology Authority, Dr. Khalid MW Tahhan – CEO, Blockchain Solutions & Services LLC, Fabio Scacciavillani – Chief Strategy Officer, OMAN Investment Fund, Syed Faraz Ahmed – GM, Oman United Exchange, Brian Klein – Partner, Baker Marquart and many more. The two-day conference will provide the participants and representatives a networking platform. Gain an insight about the skills, framework and process of integrating the blockchain in the existing system. Don’t miss this opportunity to identify and evaluate the revamp required to regulate blockchain for transforming your digital assets.

International Finance is the media partner for Blockchain Oman, scheduled to be held at the Sheraton Oman Hotel, Muscat on 2^nd and 3^rd May, 2018

The post Oman to host blockchain conference next month appeared first on International Finance.