Business and Corporate

Covid-19 has touched multiple aspects of daily living and interactions. How can design research, design thinking, and user design help us navigate the many unprecedented challenges we’re faced with in this new normal? Co-organised by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre and the SMU Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, The Singapore Creator Awards 2021 webinar — Decoding User Designs in the New Normal, explored these issues, and more, earlier this year.

Raising funds, building a team, designing a breakthrough product, and taking that proof-of-concept to market are some of the many hurdles startup founders have to overcome in their nascent entrepreneurial journey. With such a daunting list of tasks to tackle, it comes as no surprise that building an independent board of directors is seldom a priority for multitasking bosses.

Last year, a group of SMU students and alumni started a ground-up initiative, the COVID-19 Taskforce for Non-Profits (now known as Thrive Social Consulting), to help future-proof non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Singapore.

The robots are coming. Indeed, in many cases, they are already here — tech-enabled automation has taken over many manual, routine tasks across industries including accounting, and that will continue to happen at an accelerating rate.

Investing in real estate has long been viewed as a safe bet, particularly in the growth regions of Asia. However, the disruptions caused by Covid-19 have seriously scuffed the property sector’s once-bulletproof sheen. The decline of brick-and-mortar retail space seems to have accelerated, as stores struggle to stay afloat during global lockdowns. Many offices remain under-utilised as work-from-home protocols persist. All over the world, uncertainty prevails over the prospects for commercial real estate.

The effects of COVID-19 have rippled through the social fabric of communities the world over. Businesses and investments, in particular, have been shaken by the economic uncertainty that arose from the pandemic, with several industries transformed by the exceptional events of the past year.

With dine-in capacities slashed due to social distancing measures and national borders worldwide closed to control the spread of Covid-19, there is no doubt that the food & beverage and tourism sectors are two of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Exposure to real-world problems, understanding different perspectives in decision-making, and learning how to communicate effectively through robust discussions — these are the key strengths of the case method, a longstanding staple of business education. SMU’s Centre for Management Practice (CMP) adds another value proposition to the mix — its cases offer an in-depth knowledge of organisations and business leaders operating in Asia.

The climate crisis grows more urgent by the second. By some expert accounts, we only have about a decade to halt the irreversible damage caused by climate change.

The growth of the gig economy is one of the many changes that have arisen due to the pervasive reach of new technologies over the past decade. Jobs such as the Grab driver and Foodpanda delivery person arose due to the launch of new digital platforms.