Industry news

In an uncertain economy, executives’ first instinct might be to cut costs and shore up established holdings. A better way is to build new businesses.

Many leaders are bracing for a rough economic ride—they’re girding their companies against a series of acute global risks. In addition to geopolitical instability, volatile commodity markets, and rising inflation, they anticipate continued waves of global health crises, more frequent and severe climate hazards, and major shifts in consumer and industrial demand. These developments, they feel, could put long-term pressure on their business models—thus heightening the need for resilience.1

Read more on McKinsey here.

In times of disruption and great uncertainty, most organizations tend to protect what they have and wait for a return to “normal.” That’s a high-risk strategy today because we may be on the cusp of a new era. Structural supply-chain issues, rising interest rates, and sustainability challenges are just a few conditions that have become the new norm and hold critical implications for business models. Amid this much change, merely trying to manage costs and raise productivity is unlikely to overcome the growth challenge that seven out of eight organizations face today. Instead, companies need to find emerging pockets of growth that can help them secure long-term success.

Read more on McKinsey here.

The global supply chain is more stressed than it’s ever been, and with fears of a looming recession looming large, it’s likely to get worse. To weather it and mitigate further damage, buyers and suppliers need to abandon their old ways of operating, and build more collaborative relationships that are rooted in trust. 

The buyer-supplier foundation is shaky and needs to be rebuilt. For decades, contracting models have been adversarial and power based, with the balance shifting toward buyers. Rather than seeing suppliers as partners to help drive innovation, competitive advantage and business growth, buyers have typically viewed them as a source of cost savings.

This model needs to change. The key to securing supply in one of tightest markets the world has ever seen isn’t squeezing suppliers for discounts. As revealed in 3 Ways to Build Trust with Your Suppliers, a study conducted by the Haslem School of Business at the University of Tennessee and sponsored by SAP, it involves building and increasing trust. 

Read more on Supply Chain Brain here.

Staff at the Milton Keynes University Hospital have been working with the Academy of Robotics to trial an automated delivery robot or ‘Helper Bot’ (named 'Milton' by staff) which aims to relieve the significant workload faced by NHS workers.

The trial began with the Helper Bot navigating itself from A to B within the hospital in late November and will continue with trials in 2023 where it will be delivering medicines on specific routes to assist hospital staff. ‘Milton’ can navigate around obstacles such as people, wheelchairs and beds inside a hospital. The trial will initially focus on tackling challenges with delays to care caused by increased demand on logistical activities such as the movement of medicines, specimens, and clinical supplies around the hospital.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

UK-based business process outsourcer (BPO) Parseq has acquired The Tall Group, a secure print, payment, and online solutions provider and merged operations with offshore IT services provider Column Software Solutions as owner Parabellum Investments looks to scale the business.

Parseq is a UK BPO with a 40+ year history that often goes ‘under the radar’ when we look at the sector. The integration of India-based Column provides access to much needed offshore technology capabilities so vital as the sector migrates towards digital business process services. The merger follows hot on the heels of the acquisition of the Tall Group earlier this month, which boosts the firm’s scale to more than 520 staff across 12 locations in the UK, Bulgaria and India. The Tall Group operates from three sites in Runcorn, Hinckley and Lisburn and counts UK banks and other blue chips among its clients.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

UK start-up Peppy has secured a sizeable $45m Series B funding round to support the rapid expansion of its B2B2C gender-based healthcare platform to the US.

Founded in 2018 with a focus on menopause support as an employee benefit, Peppy has grown revenue tenfold since its $10m Series A raise 18 months ago. It now has over 250 enterprise clients, including the likes of Natwest and Accenture, and has expanded into other areas of women’s health, men’s health and early parenthood support. 

Its digital platform connects employees to healthcare professionals via messaging and video calls, offering personalised care and one-to-one support from ‘human health experts’.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

In what is the latest news in the viral sensation that is AI chatbot ChatGPT, creator OpenAI has announced it is beginning to think about how to monetise the tool, and is planning on exploring the option of a premium ‘Professional’ version, which would provide unlimited availability, no throttling and no daily limit.

This is currently being advertised via a waitlist link published on the company’s Discord server, and is initially asking users a series of question including ‘the most valuable thing’ people use ChatGPT for, and various questions regarding what price users feel would make the tool either too expensive, or a bargain. After answering the short questionnaire, you can then register interest to be involved in the paid trial.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

London – 12^th January, 2023 – Webhelp, a leading global customer experience and business solutions provider, today announces it has expanded its leadership team further with the appointment of Samantha Williams as MD, Client Solutions.

Samantha, who has considerable experience in driving large transnational deals across the CXAAS & SAAS, BPO industry, has worked with many UK and global organisations, so is well placed to deliver a new perspective and innovative customer experience solutions, in line with Webhelps’ growth strategy.

Jonathan Shawcross, Webhelp’s Chief Growth Officer said; “I am delighted to welcome Samantha to Webhelp.  This is a key appointment for us as we extend our team and ability to invest in our digital transformation capabilities and CX consulting for our clients to create value driven end to end customer journeys.”

Webhelp experienced very strong client growth in 2022, globally on boarding over 240 new logo clients, and welcoming more than 25,000 game-changers to the business. In line with increased demand, it continued to bolster its Webhelp Anywhere proposition, which combines best shoring with remote, hybrid and on-site operations and tech-enabled capabilities to deliver flexible and tailored solutions.  

This year, Webhelp will continue its strategic growth, expanding further into new and current key locations, as well as investments in people, technology, and innovation.

About Webhelp

Webhelp designs, delivers, and optimises unforgettable human experiences for today’s digital world – creating game-changing customer journeys. From sales to service, content moderation to credit management, Webhelp is an end-to-end partner across all B2C and B2B customer journeys. Its over 110,000 passionate employees across more than 55 countries thrive on making a difference for the world’s most exciting brands. Webhelp is currently owned by its management and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (Euronext: GBLB), a leading global investment holding, as of November 2019.

For more information on Webhelp, visit https://webhelp.com/  

US – Customer experience (CX) businesses Sprinklr and Sitel Group have partnered to combine software and digital CX services.

Headquartered in New York, Sprinklr offers a CX management platform that allows companies to manage how customers experience their brands via external channels, including social media.

Miami-based Sitel Group offers digital and voice-based CX tools and services.

Through the global partnership, the companies aim to create a set of digital services, including social listening and engagement tools, social media strategy and design.

Read more on Research Live here.

What is Greenwashing? How does Greenwashing relate to procurement? What can be done to fight against it?

Greenwashing is the practice of making false or misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product, service, or company. It’s often used to make a company or product appear more environmentally friendly than it really is, in order to appeal to consumers who are concerned about the environment.

Read more on Procurement Magazine here.