April 2017

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 25th, 2017 Globally, the retail sector as we know it is evolving. Many stores are shutting down while others are opening. Most of the changes happening in this sector emanate from retailers keenly focused on the changing needs of the customers. The retail sector despite having seasoned customer loyalty programs has customers willing to switch at an instant. Many customers are on the lookout for the newest and most innovative retail experience. The switching cost from one retailer to another is nil making a switch painless. Retailers can longer hope that the customers that have traditionally shopped in their stores will continue to do so. Innovation and especially the use of technology have been at the core of the changes experienced in the sector today. In the USA for example, Amazon the e-commerce giant is at the center of creating the future of retail. Customers never thought…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 18th, 2017 I have worked in the airline industry and I have been a United Airlines passenger. One of the biggest headaches that ground staff have to deal with is that of an overbooked flight. Overbooking and eventually bumping off passengers is common in airlines. Overbooking aims at maximizing profits by catering for the no shows or late comers. However, sometimes more passengers than the flight capacity show up on time. During my first month in the industry, I recall we had a series of overbooked flights that resulted to over 50 passengers that could not travel. It was a tough experience but I can promise you we never dragged any passenger out of a Kenya Airways (KQ) aircraft. In the last few days, United Airlines (UA) has caused uproar and this is not the first and most likely not the last time that the airline makes…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 11th, 2017 The future for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya and across the globe in bright. Currently, there is a buzz around entrepreneurship. Many conferences, expos and initiatives targeting entrepreneurs and SMEs are happening left right and center. In addition, smart graduates are leaving universities and starting companies or choosing to work in SMEs. The profile of SMEs has been gradually rising. Though there seems to be no universal definition of an SME, it is easy to identify one. Different countries use different indicators. The number of employees and the annual turnover are the most common indicators that a firm is an SME. The International Finance Corporation for example considers any independent, non-subsidiary firm with less than 250 employees to fall in this category. The European Union considers those with less than 250 employee or less than 50M Euros in annual turnover as SMEs and…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 4th, 2017 Research is widely used in business. Smart companies obtain different kinds of data and analyze it in order to make informed decisions. Some business leaders that I have interacted with here in Kenya are quite familiar with research. They recognize its benefits and are therefore making good use of it. However, many others in business are unaware of the benefits that their businesses could get from carrying out research or using readily available data at their disposal. This is despite the fact that research is one of the areas that most college graduates have gone through during their school years. There are different kinds of business research. Most of the data obtained during research may be from secondary sources or primary data may be collected directly using techniques such as surveys. Financial information, customer or consumer feedback, industry data, competitor data and data regarding a…