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Read our columns to stay up-to-date and learn how people and culture is the key to success in this rapid age of transformation.  Our experienced columnists are Global Business Leaders, Intercultural Experts, and Diversity and Inclusion specialists writing for websites like SSON, CFO.nl, CHRO.nl and other knowledge platforms. We regularly interview prominent CEO’s, CFO’s, CIO’s, CDO’s and CHRO’s, to share their vision and learnings.

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Why people and culture are the most important asset – an interview with Ritchy Drost, CFO VodafoneZiggo
29 May 2022

Why would a CFO, whose responsibility is financial and strategic, find people and culture so important? How does this add to the bottom line from a CFO perspective? This fascinated me. This curiosity led to an amazing meeting of minds with Ritchy Drost. Our conversations turned into a four-part interview, in

Innovation Types
26 October 2021

For the preparation of a culture workshop earlier this year, a client told me about a problem in his global team: “some of our team members have great ideas, but get criticism from other team members who say it’s too vague, not practical enough. And with that, ideas are off

21st century global skills #4: (Self) Management
7 July 2021

The effect of globalization and digitization is that our work is more complex and global. The speed of change is faster than ever. To stay ahead of competition, teams must communicate and collaborate more effectively, efficiently and inclusively across the globe. That is why Global Business Academy has created 8

21st century global skills #3: Effective Communication
24 June 2021

The effect of globalization and digitization is that our work is more complex and global. The speed of change is faster than ever. To stay ahead of competition, companies must communicate and collaborate more effectively, efficiently and inclusively across the globe. That is why Global Business Academy has created 8

21st century global skills #2: Remote Team Building
10 June 2021

The effect of globalization and digitization is that our work is more complex and global. The speed of change is faster than ever. To stay ahead of competition, companies must communicate and collaborate more effectively, efficiently and inclusively across the globe. That is why Global Business Academy has created 8

21st century global skills #1: Strategy and Planning
29 May 2021

The effect of globalization and digitization is that our work is more complex and global. The speed of change is faster than ever. To stay ahead of competition, teams must communicate and collaborate more effectively, efficiently and inclusively across the globe. That is why Global Business Academy has created 8

Transformation (Part 6): how NXP achieved a cultural overhaul
27 February 2021

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Missed Part 5 of the series? Read it here. In the previous article of this series, dissecting the journey at Dutch manufacturing company NXP to realise

Transformation (Part 5): 21st century intercultural skills
15 February 2021

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Missed Part 4 of the series? Read it here. In the previous article we outlined the complexities that service providers add to transformations. In this article

Transformation (Part 4): the challenge with service providers
29 January 2021

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Missed Part 3 of the series? Read it here. In the previous article of this series, we looked at the internal complexities of transformations: the ability

Transformation (Part 3): the crucial role of the CHRO
8 January 2021

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Missed Part 2 of the series? Read it here. In the last article, we looked at the crucial role of the CFO in driving transformation. In this

Transformation (Part 2): the crucial role of the CFO
15 December 2020

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Missed Part 1 of the series? Read it here. In the last article we examined that 70% of all global transformations miss their goals, and its impact

Transformation (Part 1): The Law of Evolution
1 December 2020

This column is co-written by Sebastiaan Laurijsse, Senior Director IT & Digital Transformation Manager at NXP and Ilse Kerling, Founder of Global Business Academy. Darwin’s evolution “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near,” said Jack Welch, years

The future is now (Part 3): Asia, embrace change!
10 November 2020

Missed Part 2 of the ‘Future Is Now’ series? View it here. Every day we see headlines about Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Blockchain (see the 2019 SSON Blockchain Market Report) and many more. Jobs are disappearing and we hear predictions that Gen Z will have four careers. But what does it all mean?

The future is now (Part 2): Thrive in a global environment
5 November 2020

In the Netherlands, we like to make jokes about our Belgian neighbours. Usually these jokes are about how Belgians are a little dumb, and the Belgian reply to that would be jokes about how the Dutch are tight – which is not so far from the truth. We are not

The future is now (Part 1): Asia, the new power
29 October 2020

In 20 years, Asia is predicted to top half the global GDP according to McKinsey. Yes, you read that right. Already, Asia represents a third of the global economy. For those born in the 50’s and 60’s, Asia was exotic, yet far away from being a super power. Then the

RPA (Part 3): The Case of Culture Mis-identity
13 May 2020

In this article, The Case of Culture Mis-identity, cultural differences are under the spotlight. In this case, they turned an RPA implementation that should have lasted 6 weeks into 13 months. Find out about warning signs that things are going wrong. “Hello hello…Holmes can you hear me…?” Watson shouted into

RPA (Part 2): The Adventure of the RPA Derailment
31 March 2020

A series co-written by Ankur Bansal, Director Strategy and Transformation at Deloitte and Ilse Kerling, Founder Global Business Academy. A continuation of: The Mystery of the Delayed RPA Caper... A week later, Holmes and Watson met up in the Mumbai Cigar Club, just before Watson was flying back to Amsterdam. “Hello

RPA (Part 1): The Mystery of the Delayed RPA Caper
26 February 2020

Holmes and Watson Unravel RPA Derailment A few weeks ago, Ankur Bansal, Director Strategy and Transformation at Deloitte and Ilse Kerling, Founder Global Business Academy – aka Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson – met up for lunch. Sherlock had just visited a client in India who had recently embarked on a RPA journey. As he entered

Why is Cross-cultural Communication the #3 Skillset of the Future?
22 October 2019

This month’s article is different than usual. Instead of interviews and analysis, I am sharing a true story, because it perfectly illustrates the cultural differences that Western and Asian teams need to overcome. The story takes place in Amsterdam, at the VU university. Three law students, two Dutch and one

The Costs, Reasons, Indicators and Solutions to Churn in India
1 August 2019

“I finally got my Indian peer up to speed and we’re working well together. But now he is leaving and I have to start all over again…” Churn is a big headache in India. The cost of attrition is 18 months’ salary and hiring externally hikes up salary costs by

The Hidden Cost of Non-alignment Between Global Teams and India
23 April 2019

The talk of the town at SSON’s flagship Shared Services and Outsourcing Week event in Orlando last month was RPA. Understandably so – the efficiencies it brings are incredible. Yet, for a cost-effective Global Business Support offering, India remains crucial – this will not change despite automation. Now that we

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