Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

Ready to grow your company through global expansion? Smart strategy, according to Emergent Research's Steve King. "Almost three quarters of global GDP growth over the next 10 years is expected to come from emerging market countries. How can you not participate in that growth? But the road to profitable subsidiaries can be bumpy, cautions SAP's Mike Morel. "Subsidiaries have been the stepchildren of the corporate world, always a second priority. If corporate organizations can put a strategy in place that brings all the pieces together, you are going to get one plus one equals three. This is the home run that everyone is looking for." Our panelists will explore key considerations, including the rewards of reduced labor costs and tax havens vs. risks of losing your organizational identity, and the costs of opening a subsidiary vs. dismantling one. Pour a cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought on Subsidiaries: Smart Game-Changer or Global-Size Headache?

Whether you're a start-up or a seasoned company, you're facing the hard facts of today's customer experience: it's a perpetual-motion target and it's your new competitive battleground. Given these challenges – plus your tight time and tighter budgets – how can you slide the sensitive customer satisfaction needle in the right direction to motivate your employees and satisfy your executives? Tune in for 10 Quick Wins you can implement now and see benefits in the near-term – really! CRM experts Reza Soudagar, Vinay Iyer and Dr. Volker G. Hildebrand will share nuggets of wisdom from chapter 10 of their book, "The Customer Experience Edge: Technology and Techniques for Delivering an Enduring, Profitable, and Positive Experience for Your Customers". Pour a cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought as we present Ten On-Ramps to the Customer Experience Freeway.

According to Jen McClure at Thomson Reuters, "In just a few short years, social media has evolved from being considered a fad, to a disruptive force, to a powerful new set of business tools that are being incorporated into every function of organizations as they strive to become 'social businesses.'" Yes, social media has changed the voices of customers and the media – whenever they're happy or not so happy with you – from a whisper to a shout. That means your brand value can soar or stumble at the click of a Tweet. Like it or not, you'd better be ready to seize the golden opportunities and manage the pitfalls, all in right-time. If you're not taking this paradigm shift seriously, tune in for our experts' priceless advice as they name-drop social business blunder examples from Sears, Netflix, Dominos, BP, Gap and other iconic brands. Pour a cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought on Avoiding Social Media Blunders: Don't Let This Happen to Your Company!

With social media and smartphones fueling consumers' expectations and enabling them to impact your brand, the customer experience is now your competitive battleground. Everyone has a customer experience horror story. What's the buzz about your company? Are you prepared to put customers at the center of your thinking to transform them into your best advocates? Meet Reza Soudagar, Vinay Iyer and Dr. Volker G. Hildebrand, authors of The Customer Experience Edge: Technology and Techniques for Delivering an Enduring, Profitable, and Positive Experience for Your Customers. Based on market research, case studies and statistics, they will explain how to combine strategy, leadership, organizational change, and technology to develop highly valued products and services, transform your customers into loyal evangelists, and convert emotionally-bonded customers into profits. Pour a cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought on The Customer Experience as Competitive Game-Changer.

There's a global financial crisis, and struggling companies are reducing staff, or worse, shuttering doors. If you're out of a job, you'd be out of your mind to consider starting a business today. Right? Not true, says small business expert Susan Wilson Solovic. "We are entering a new era in which the majority of Americans will either own a small business or work for one....While it may seem counterintuitive, a recessionary climate can actually be an ideal time to start a business." Need proof? Hyatt Corporation, Burger King, FedEx, MTV, CNN and HP started small in down economies. And college dropout Bill Gates started Microsoft in a sluggish economy, eking out just $16,000 in revenue his first year. Whether you're a big biz seeking to contain costs, a small biz in need of advice, or just have an "I wanna be my own boss" gleam in your eye, pour a cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought on the Era of the Entrepreneur: Small Business as the New Economic Game-Changer.

Your holiday gifts may already be unwrapped, but we've got more surprises for you. Ten former guests will predict the exciting game-changer technologies that could transform, disrupt and shake up your business status quo in 2012. Their conversation may spark ideas on better ways to run your company – or start a new one – and move you in amazing new directions. Since our October debut, you've heard business leaders, analysts, influencers and authors discuss diverse game-changing trends – Consumerization of IT, Big Data, In-memory Computing, Cloud Computing, Social Business, Information Governance, Real-time Data Analytics, Customer Relationship Management, and many flavors of Mobility. Listen on-demand in our Episode Directory. Will 2012 bring more of the same, or entirely new approaches to growing and competing in the intensely dynamic global marketplace? Pour a cup of Joe, Earl, OJ or even Dom, and join us for a special menu of food for thought here at the game-changers' table.

Some things never change. "The customer is always right", a slogan associated with Marshall Field's department store in the late 19th century, and attributed earlier to French hotelier César Ritz, holds true today. Consider this: You do everything right – deliver the right merchandise at the right price, right terms and guarantees, at the right time and place – yet some customers loudly declare they'll never buy from you again. Why? Perhaps a delivery person who doesn't work for your company, or anything else beyond your control, left a bad taste about your brand and spoiled what you thought was a perfect transaction. Want to avoid this 'last mile' mishap? It's all about CRM – Customer Relationship Management. Tune in to hear how the CRM system of the future will be smart, dynamic and personalized enough to help you score a better grade on your customer report card. Pour a fresh cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought as we explore the world of CRM today and tomorrow.

In our unwired world of business, millions of mobile devices connect the boardroom to the shop floor to the consumer across the entire supply chain. These laptops, tablet and smart phones – which aren't tied down by a power cord and data cable – empower employees at every level and the companies that employ them. If you're still on the outside peering into the window of today's game-changing mobility, this show is for you. Meet Carolyn Fitton, co-author of Enterprise Mobility for Dummies, the guide to application development and deployment, management and security for all the devices on your network. Carolyn and our panel of mobility experts will explore the basics your management and IT teams need to select the right technologies for your company, including mobile hardware, mobile applications, and the tools to manage it all. Pour yourself a fresh cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought as we explore the world of Enterprise Mobility. Tweet your questions to #SAPRadio.

Imagine such fast access to all of your data - even field-fresh information less than a minute old - that when you ask a question, you get an informed answer in milliseconds! Not minutes, hours or days like you'd get from spreadsheets on different computers. Milliseconds. Essentially "real-time". Now think of the powerful intelligence this would give you in response to "I want it now" customers and do-or-die business decisions. You'd have immediate and deeper insights about sales, customers and pipeline from any source. Guess what? Organizations that already harness automated analytics are able to take a scientific, predictive approach to decision making. And if they're your competitors, watch out because they're winning, even in this tough economy. Pour yourself a fresh cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought as we explore the world of real-time analytics. BTW: Tweet questions for our experts to #SAPRadio.

Whoosh! That's the sound of data flying in and out of your company. Information today is indeed king. But if you're not governing data flow and handling with solid policies and processes, you're missing the boat on maximizing information business value and minimizing risk exposure. If this is on your perpetual to-do list or if tentative rules are scattered around the company, listen up! Today we explore the burgeoning world of Information Governance (IG): how bringing together the right people, processes, policies, and technology can deliver consistent, trusted information across your organization. Whether you're small, midsize or a large enterprise, hear how to empower your users to own and manage data as a strategic asset, and guarantee data quality throughout its lifecycle. Pour a fresh cup of Joe, Earl or OJ and join us for food for thought as we travel the road to true Information Governance. Tweet your questions for our experts to #SAPRadio before or during the program.