Highlights and Insights for Better Business Operations from WSJ's Journal House 2024

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The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) hosted its most recent Journal House in Singapore on September 17 and 18, 2024.

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Journal House events are designed to be a "home away from home" during other major events and conferences, providing a cozy and intimate setting for industry leaders worldwide to gather and discuss issues affecting the global economy.

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In this article, I’ll share some highlights about the Journal House Singapore event and key insights that impact our business operations.

Journal House - Singapore 2024

Journal House took place amidst events like TechSpo (the world’s largest technology expo), Asia Summit (an event bringing together political and business leaders to solve some of the world’s “most urgent challenges”), and the highly anticipated Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix race.

Conversations took place across two rooms. One room had an open floor plan to encourage networking. The other room was dedicated to the main event where participants (capped at 100 people) sat and faced a stage where 13 guest speakers participated in 1:1 interviews or panel discussions led by WSJ editors and reporters .

Both participants and speakers represented a broad range of industries including sustainability, finance, media, technology, professional services, law, risk, and compliance. Though there were many takeaways from the speakers, the following three insights apply to the business operations of organizations of all sizes.

1 - ESG

ESG (an acronym for Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a growing framework used to evaluate an organization’s commitment to sustainable and ethical operations. This framework is not exclusive to large or publicly traded organizations – even small businesses can (and should) challenge themselves to achieve operations that: ?

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·?????? Reduce energy consumption in making products or providing services,

·?????? Minimize waste through process improvement initiatives like Lean Six Sigma ,

·?????? Include diverse teams to encourage innovative solutions, and ?

·?????? Provide transparency through metrics.

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From emerging emissions regulations to generally accepted sustainability practices, it’s clear that there is a balancing act between the practicality of implementing ESG and the implications of non-compliance. It was particularly interesting learning how an organization like Formula 1 is balancing its need for speed with the clarion call for zero emissions .

2 - Data as a Catalyst for Growth

My operational radar went into overdrive when Raakhee Mirchandani interviewed Mark Billige and Jan Weiser , CEO and Managing Partner, APAC, respectively, of Simon-Kucher. Simon-Kucher is a global consultancy with a focus on helping its clients optimize their commercial strategies to achieve growth.

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This interview was timely as it came on the heels of the recent Growth Strategies season of the Business Infrastructure podcast . I’m fascinated by the intersection of marketing and operations especially when it comes to developing growth strategies and the metrics to measure and track the success of those strategies.

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That’s why I asked Mark and Jan about their tips for measuring customer satisfaction to improve both operational and financial outcomes. This was part of a larger discussion they began regarding the disparate nature of data collection and their desire for more data analysts to be trained on how to become more customer-centric in their data measuring, collection, and analysis practices.

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You can watch the full interview below:

3 - Geopolitics and The U.S. Presidential Election

As an American, it’s always interesting to hear the views, opinions, and interpretations of our politics from businesspeople in other countries. The upcoming U.S. Presidential Election in November 2024 was often front and center of many of the interviews and panel discussions during Journal House.

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The election's implications on the economies of emerging countries as well as those of developed nations became evident during the many one-on-one and group conversations I also had with other participants. Common themes included:

·?????? International Trade and the ability to conduct business across borders,

·?????? Import and export taxes on businesses with supply chains that involve America, and

·?????? War and the amount and extent of American aid.

Learn More ???

You can watch videos of each interview and panel discussion here . Discover more about Journal House and its Singaporean event on its website . If you found this information helpful, then subscribe to continue receiving strategies, tips, and tactics to enhance your company's operations.

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About the Author

Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. – an operations management firm specializing in increasing enterprise value for fast-growing small businesses. She’s a software inventor, a two-time Amazon bestselling author, and producer of a top 2% podcast .

Alicia also serves on the boards of three education-focused organizations and is an adjunct instructor of Lean Principles at Purdue University . She serves as the USA Chair of the G100’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. The Process Excellence Network recognized her as a Top 50 Thought Leader in Operational Excellence. A chemical engineer turned entrepreneur, she’s designed and optimized processes for small businesses, large enterprises, non-profits, and government organizations alike.