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When data transformation Creates Competitive Advantage

Data is one of the best sources of growth for businesses around the world. Data Analytics give precious insights into the daily operations of the companies. Analysis of data helps in coming up with an efficient way of working. It predicts market trends and risks simultaneously.

Data is the new ace in the business world. Many companies realized how practical data analysis is, and how significantly it affects the prospect of a business. The data transformation process makes data more organized. Both humans and computers will understand the transformed data, which will lead to better decision-making.

Some of the advantages of data are:

Decision- making

Data is the solid foundation behind the decision-making of many companies. It provides evidence and insights, which directly helps in the decision-making.

In many well-known companies, cutting-edge analytics process large amounts of external and internal data. The data is quickly analyzed to get the answers to the problem that a company is facing. The data produces valuable answers and insights to the business problem.

For example, if a team of people can not decipher the reason behind the fall of the profit of one of the products, then they can reach out to the solution of data analysis. The data will give them the answer like- due to overpricing of the product compared to other businesses, the product incurred the loss. So, insights like this are helpful. But one thing is Companies should standardize the access of data. Like the IT cell or data-analysts should not only access it, all the departments of the company should have the access so that they can make better decisions with it.

Data Personalized Content

The art of knowing what a customer or a buyer wants way before they even know that themselves means that a business can make their campaigns related to the market more personalized therefore making it better. A company can approach the process of data analysis to understand their customer and make a marketing approach that will attract a specific group of audience that they need for their business.

Some big companies have created a device. That will collect data on customer interaction and what they want to buy.

Data helps a company to analyze the effects of new products or services. And how they will help in the profit margin of the business.

Many theme parks use a device to interpret data on visitors’ behavior. So that they can create a more magical experience for people.

Development of product and services

Data analytics help enterprises understand their current business progress efficiently. It offers well-designed statistics that predict the future and provide knowledge on the recent market trends.

Data transformation services help in product analysis.

Product analysis is essential for companies because it gives a thorough knowledge of the performance of the product.

From discovering the best part of the product to why customers buy it, people can get every detail with data analysis. It backs up in the process of predictive analysis. Like if a company designs a product. How it will perform in the future market can be explored through the method of data analysis.

Another thing called data metrics is used by big banks too. The data metrics help to understand the client’s needs better. The banks use transactional data to spot whether a customer has paid twice for a financial service.

For example, if a person purchases travel insurance that is already there with a bank account. Then through data metrics, the bank understands the problem and informs that to the customer.

The process increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Cost reduction

Data is not only about the improvement of business or customer satisfaction. It is also about how a company can increase revenue and make additional profit.

Many companies use data to redefine the traditional methods.

Data also gathers information on a customer and their process of spending their money. This results in companies understanding how their business is performing compared to their competitors.

With data analysis, a business can come up with innovative ways of increasing its income.

Similarly, companies can make use of the GPS data from our smartphones through routing. It saves extra money for the company. GPS is not new though its new advanced features help businesses in saving both money and time.

Summing-up

As we saw, whatever the problem is, data is the solution for that.

With the usage of data transformation tools, any company can earn a large sum of profit. It offers enterprises the confidence with which they can defeat their rivals in the best way.

Everything is possible with data. Starting from targeting audiences, making strategies to improvise methods that are good for the business.

There is no limit to the value that data offers to organizations.

A company that will opt for data analysis will always enjoy its competitive advantage at the most.

Why the future of Data Analytics Is Prescriptive Analytics

Every company uses data analytics as a tool to get insights into their customer. Analytics became popular in the e-commerce sector for the benefits it provides to companies. That is why many big companies heavily invest in data analytics and insights to know more about their buyers.

As the trend of Artificial intelligence and machine learning, is expanding day by day, the method we use analytics also keeps on growing and changing with us.

Earlier, the businesses only focused on gathering descriptive data about the customers and the products. But now, the companies started to believe in both descriptive and predictive analytics to be more precise about a customer’s behavior.

So what exactly are descriptive and predictive analytics and prescriptive analysis?

Descriptive data analysis is the analysis of the data that provides thorough information about the things related to your company. It gathers information on stuff like sales reports of a month, marketing rates, web hit numbers. One of the main purposes of this analysis is to track the progress of a project initiated by a company.

On the other side, Predictive analytics is the data that offers information on the future progress of a company. It predicts what will happen in the future in your business. It understands more complex AI processes and machine learning. This factor helps predictive analytics to understand the algorithm of how well a product will perform and who will buy it. It also suggests effective marketing strategies that can gain profit for a product.

But this is not the end; we have another data analysis process called prescriptive analysis. This analysis is helpful for your company because it states all the better methods you can use to enhance the profit of a project. This data analysis not only describes what will happen in the future but also provide the solution and methods that can bring out a positive outcome. Prescriptive analysis is also becoming one of the best ways of analysis in the world of data.

Why Prescriptive Analytics is important

Each of these data analysis plays an essential role in the function of the data classification process for a company. We always do not need a complex algorithm running in our data. Sometimes, we just want to know the financial progress of our business or how much traffic our business websites are attracting.

For this reason, prescriptive analytics is becoming beneficial for companies. It improves the results and optimizes the overall performance of the project.

Benefits of Prescriptive Analysis:

Big data benefits

This mode of analysis has benefits, in which it makes a company aware of the new technologies or modern techniques that improve the utilization of resources. It gives us an insight into consumer behavior very well.

Companies use this method of data analysis to gain knowledge on the best social media engagement for better opportunities. The data analysis tells a business when is the best time to post content related to their project so that it gets the traffic it needs.

For front-line workers, prescriptive analysis suggests the best-personalized option, so that the business can improve its customer experience. It also enables industrial-scale data analysis to make it easier for a company to scale its internal decision process.

Companies use Prescriptive analysis:

This process of analysis is being used efficiently by many big companies.

Data enrichment companies saw a rise in the demand for prescriptive analysis among businesses now.

Many organizations use prescriptive analysis to produce engaging content that will be relevant and valuable to the readers. The more a business constructs relevant content, the more audience it gets. On top of that it through this analysis, a company understands its audience better.

It proficiently makes accurate business decisions for the project.

Future of big data for business

The future of prescriptive analytics will simplify analytical development for automated analytics.

The process does not need any human to decide for the business. It will generate automated decision-making for the company.

For example, if an enterprise needs marketing strategies for the best email they can send to a customer, automated analytics will provide that solution for them. The concept of prescriptive analysis is growing with time, and its usage will increase in the coming years.

Conclusion

The prescriptive analysis comes with many benefits, these benefits will expand the future of the online business in the best way. It is driving the future of big data analytics. The data transformation process became smoother with prescriptive data analysis.

Also, with this, the enterprises can avoid making any wrong decisions that will lead to the loss of the business. As it is the final tier in the modern data processing system.

The logic of business decisions will get evolve with prescriptive analysis.

A company needs this analysis in its big data strategy. It will help them to make business plans faster and better.

What is business intelligence? Transforming data into business insights

Business intelligence is a technology-driven process. The main work of this thing is analyzing the data and, after that, delivering all the actionable information. This process usually helps the executives, managers, and workers make good and informed business decisions. In the first part of the business intelligence process, all the organizations usually collect data from any internal data analytics or insights of the IT systems and other external sources available to them.

Hereafter that, they prepare this data for the file analysis process. After this process, they usually find and run a lot of queries that are present against the data. In this process, they also create data visualizations, all types of business intelligence dashboards, and reports to make the analytics results easily available to business users. They often use this data for operational decision-making as well as well strategic planning.

What is the goal of this process?

Here the ultimate goal of this business intelligence initiative is to get or take better business decisions that will be fruitful for the company. Here in this process, they also help the business organizations to increase their income or revenue. Here they also try to improve their operational efficiency, thereby using it to gain competitive advantages over all of the people who are their rivals in the business world. To achieve this goal, the business intelligence group generally integrates a good combination of analytics, data enrichment companies, data management, and all the reporting tools. Here they also try to find various possible methodologies that they can use to manage and then analyze all the data they have.

How do this business intelligence process work

Here it is a fact that a business intelligence architecture generally needs much more than just software. Here all the Business intelligence data is generally stored in a data warehouse. These are usually built for an entire organization. Here they can also be built for all the other smaller data marts that hold the subsets of big business organizations that hold the whole business or the individual departments or any business units. In this step, the data classification process is often used.

Here a big company usually has ties or has done deals with an enterprise data warehouse. In addition to that, they also store data on the data lakes, which are based on Hadoop clusters or other big data systems. Nowadays, these systems are increasingly used as repositories or landing pads for any business intelligence and analytics data. This process is especially used for log files, sensor data, text, and all the other unstructured and semistructured data types.

Importance of business intelligence data

Here the business intelligence data generally includes all the historical information and all types of real-time data that are generally gathered or collected from any source system. These are often generated on their own. This helps the business intelligence tools to support both strategic and all the tactical decision-making processes, which will be helpful for a company. Before they are used in any form, all the raw data collected from all the different source systems should always be integrated, consolidated, and then thoroughly cleansed by using all types of data integration and data quality management tools that are available nowadays. These are usually done to ensure that all the BI teams and business users using it are analyzing accurate and thereby consistent information.

All the steps that are involved in the BI process

Data preparation- in this step, the data sets are generally organized and then modeled for the analysis.

The analytical querying of a data

Here is the distribution of all the key performance indicators (KPIs) and all the other types of findings related to the business users.

The use of this information to help a person or a company to influence and drive business decisions.

Before, it was seen that the business intelligence tools were primarily used by all the IT professionals who ran queries for the companies. Here they produced dashboards and specific reports for all the different types of business users. Nowadays there it has been seen that their is change in this trend. Nowadays, all the business analysts, executives, and workers are using these business intelligence platforms themselves.

This has been made possible by developing all the self-service business intelligence and all the data discovery tools. 

Conclusion

It is being seen nowadays that all the Self-service business intelligence environments are helping all the business users query their data, create data visualizations. Then it also helps them design dashboards of their company on their own. This process uses all other forms of advanced analytics like data mining, predictive analytics, text mining, etc. It has also been seen in many cases nowadays. However, they have different types of advanced business intelligence projects and software, separate teams of data scientists are doing them, statisticians, etc., to get the perfect picture of a company’s situation.

Virtual Onboarding – A Basic Checklist

Virtual onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into the workforce. Due to the global COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, many companies had to freeze hiring temporarily. However, now that it’s clear that remote working is the “new normal,” it’s crucial for organizations to have clear onboarding strategies for their new remote recruits.

Here are some activities and steps that recruitment managers can take to meaningfully connect their new hires with other remote workers on the team –

Clear Details

One of the unfortunate hallmarks of remote working is confusion. Many long-term employees struggle to follow instructions or understand project demands while working over the Internet. It’s normal for employees new to the organization to find remote working highly confusing for the first few weeks.

That’s why it is crucial to share clear and well-defined details about the organization, their responsibilities, etc., before their first day at the job.

  • Share organizational charts clarifying important names and titles that the recruit needs to learn on the first day.
  • Encourage other team members to bond with the recruits and help them memorize basic facts about the company, their responsibilities, etc.
  • To ensure remote recruits don’t feel isolated, partner them with existing employees. Managers shouldn’t hand the full responsibility of onboarding to subordinates. But, they shouldn’t refrain from delegation either.
  • Ask recruits about how they feel about their new workspace and culture.

Announce the Recruits

One of the most effective ways of welcoming recruits over the Internet is by making announcements. Traditional office initiations and announcements are tools that companies have always used to make recruits feel welcome. Carrying out these processes on the Internet is more rigid but not impossible.

  • Compose and share messages about the recruitment on group channels (e.g., Telegram groups).
  • Involve the recruits in video conference meetings. Make sure all members of the workforce are present on this call to welcome them into the company,
  • Send company-wide emails sharing details about the recruits.
  • Ask the recruits team-building questions in video conference meetings.

Team bonding is much more challenging when you’re working remotely. But that doesn’t make it less important.

Encourage Feedback

Whatever onboarding methods managers use to announce the recruits, they should always be open to feedback. Remote work is intrinsically isolating. The risks of miscommunication and misunderstandings are ever-present. The last thing managers need a recruit who feels unfulfilled or not included in their first week at the job.

Role-Specific Training

One or two hiring managers should oversee this part of the virtual onboarding process. Role-specific training processes typically last for a couple of weeks. During this process, hiring managers must –

  • Clarify team structure and roles
  • Establish clear expectations, both short and long-term
  • Give the recruits access to useful job-specific tools and resources that other members of the workforce use.
  • Describe typical days at work.
  • Explain how KPIs are tracked in the organization.

Joining a new organization will always be intimidating. To create comfortable environments for recruits, hiring managers must follow these steps to create safe spaces for them to explore, socialize, and ask questions about their new roles.

What are the latest innovations in smartphone technology in 2022

Smartphones are on the evolving mode right now.The use of the latest technology is making them far better than the good-old modest devices. The tech giants like Apple, Samsung, One Plus, Xiaomi, and such other brands are working on new technologies to make smartphone way better.

Adding Artificial Intelligence into camera apps for better photos and games has changed everything. Other innovations like 95% body to screen ratio with small bezels, stereo speakers, foldable display, and many other technologies have given the brands an upper hand.

However, the innovation part doesn’t stop here. 2021 has just started and most companies have announced some of their new features that we can find this year in the latest smartphones.

Here is the list of the latest innovations that you will find among mobile brands around the globe –

  1. Android Instant

Google Play Store hasmade announcementaboutAndroid Instant,a running app which you don’t have to instal. Apple did it in 2020 and Google is also following the trend. These apps have a size of 5 to 10 MB so that you can instantly run them for short use. Once you are done using the app, the cache memory of the app will automatically go to trash. This option is available for those devices which have turned on their developer mode.

  1. Mobile Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence reduces plenty of work of the developers and helps in different aspects. Now, developers are adding AI to voice assistants like Google, Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and many more. With the AI, the voice assistant can understand the command without using an internet connection. The voice recognition software will be installed with a newly designed AI to learn from voice patterns and getting better.

  1. Better Security Features

In a survey, it is found that 30% to 40% of people don’t use payment apps on their smartphone because of security related risks. According to a survey in the USA, 56% of people find it risky to do mobile banking and they are afraid of data breaches. So, there are rumors that Google is working on a better security system for android devices to ensure top-tier security to users’ data and privacy with the latest apps. This option will surely make consumers’ life easy as making payment on the go is a luxury which everyone seeks.

  1. Augmented Reality

After the launch of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, most developers started working on Augmented reality as these devices have LiDAR scanners. These scanners help to track objects and measurements. Architects, designers, and many other professionals can get an advantage from this small sensor. Even, rumors claim that Samsung, One Plus, and Google is about to introduce a new form of LiDAR scanner in their new devices. The best part is, games can derive more advantage from this sensor when used with AI.

  1. Better Transportation Apps

Transportation apps are getting a new look this year as they are getting better technologies this time. Apps like Uber, Lyft, and many others will be the first ones to bring this change. You will not be able to book cabs using these app from your smartphone, you will also get a plethora of functionalities. The fun part is, Dating apps are not behind as they are also introducing advanced features in their apps. There are lots of things to check out this year.

Augmented Reality

If you have a creative mind that yearns to establish new characters in the real world, this feature will thrill you. Yes, augmented reality is no longer a climax-evoking twist from sci-fi novels. It is going to be a reality that you can use to create, to alter, or to transform.

Pokemon Go has given the world a quick glimpse of augmented reality. This feature is about to get a makeover. It gives you the rare ability to incorporate your world to the mobile world. You can steal a moment from the real world and create a world of your own on your mobile app. Pokemon Go has brought a massive profile to the app builders. With $1.2 billion revenue, it is no wonder Pokemon Go has become the torch bearer for the other mobile manufacturers. You can expect more augmented reality-based phones in the future.

The Final Verdict

Fast charging technology is probably the biggest hardware change that you can find among most smartphone. All the tech-giants are focused on bringing a new battery type that charges at a faster rate and doesn’t cause any heating issues. There will be many smartphone models to offer 120W charging. Even, the best mobile is also offering some of the features like fast charging, AI photography, augmented reality games, and much more.

Why do we need more digital leader in the insurance industry?

The insurance industry is working on digital process optimalisation. They are learning a lot: how can we develop new business models and special new service models, to support the needs of clients and to achieve the „heart of customers“.

For this purpose they use a design thinking approach, analyzing trends and using business model canvas. But they shouldn‘t learn only methods, but also how new technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things or predictive analytics work. This combination is very important to be „fit for the future“, to be a digital leader!

Because the digital leaders will be the winner and as you know „the winner takes it all“!  I think, most of our challenges are coming from the complexity of digital transformation and the complexity of the insurance branche. How should we start? Should we start with processes, products, organization, clients or employees? Should we cooperate with a startup or should we be a startup, as digital insurer or should we found a venture and invest in startups? I realized, there are so many questions and also so many ideas developing step by step the digital insurance DNA for the next generation. As you know, today, to develop a digital approach, to change your legacy system, to develop your culture and organization, to „teach“ your clients to use your apps. It takes time to see the results and appropriate profits. If you invest into the future, you need enough resources (time, money, quality) to develop a long term perspective. The insurance industry is only on the starting point of this transformation journey.

I`ve prepared an „insurance landscape“ about the status of startups and insurance companies/corporate ventures from the perspective, whether they are cooperation or competition.

Our exponentional developing business life required a exponentional learning developing.

The insurance world was very closed world. From closed value chain from developing new insurance products, through sale the product and in case of damage regular the claims.

But the technology is supporting us to do our process more efficient, quick, to develop more customer convenience. Our InTa – Insury Talent Network supports young (re)insurance professionals & brokers to understand the new insurance innovation world and act like a “Champion“.

The insurance industry has the power to do the right things in the right direction with understanding the customers, education talents, develop the right vision, strategy and company culture, use the most important technology. If your „Innovation House“ ready is, you can do your job with passion and enthusiasm every day. Are you ready to understand and create a great insurance industry together?!

Author: Erika Krizsan | Managing Director | Insurance Factory Innovation Store /Austria

www.inta-network.com | www.insurance-factory.eu

Kaleem & Madeeha: They revolutionised the South Australian businesses

 “Taking a deep dive into the numbers is a not-so-secret passion for Kaleem and Madeeha, while finding their real joy in creating opportunities for the migrants. They are not just Business Partners but a lifelong companion”

The fearless couple, who revolutionised the South Australian Industry. Meet Kaleem Ulah and Madeeha Usman, the young entrepreneurs of Adelaide. When Usman, was offered her first role as an external auditor in PWC, within 20 days of her arrival in Australia, she was mentoring students of her age. The job was a well sought position, overseeing the external audits for a global organisation. While Kaleem, a well-trained engineer, found his passion in numbers. Being recognised by the official Institute of Public Accountants for his extraordinary vigilance and passion for accounting. Kaleem is known to be the support system for many SMEs. They are taking the accounting industry by storm. And, if you are visiting Adelaide, you are sure to be recommended by many!

This is the story of two most enigmatic leaders, who share the same vision but believe in bringing a different approach to the table and giving back to the community.

Going into Business…

In April 2016, Mr Ulah and Mrs Usman decided to start their own accounting firm. Every night, they would sit in their garage and brainstorm. Kaleem was quite popularly known by his Australian friends as Kaleem ‘Kal’. And one night, when Usman was trying to scribble and brainstorm, she was struck by an idea – And it was The Kalculators.

The Kalculators in two short years was supporting variety of entities – factory workers to multimillion – dollar turnover businesses such as pharmacies, retail stores, construction companies and service providers.

“Many of my clients are high net worth individuals, which we define as anyone with over $5 million in liquid financial assets. These clients are often either retired or run successful businesses including franchises, and managing stock portfolios and estates

When asked Usman, about the vision she brings,

“Everything we do, and the success we have, is due to our root vision of treating customers with transparency and equality”

While, Kaleem’s home-made tax form, was hitting a speedy road to success. Madeeha’s business vision towards creating a sustainable firm became the backbone of the organisation.

“I remember back in the day a client asked me why I was using my own Word printout. Everyone else was using computers and there I was with my piece of paper. But clients liked my resourcefulness, and years later my very first clients are still with me,” reveals Mr Ulah.

Two short years later, Madeeha and Kaleem were managing 10 offices throughout Adelaide and over 10,000 clients.

The couple owes their success to the fellow migrants. And believe, a leader must give back to the society to create a stronger root for the generations to come.

Kaleem and Madeeha have helped countless newcomers adjust to life in Australia.

“Most of my clients have migrated from other countries. They don’t know any accountants and they don’t know enough about the local laws. So, they need someone who can teach them and who can speak their own language,” says Mr Ulah.

“My wife and I thought, ‘we have the resources, we have everything, so let’s go and offer international students the opportunity to learn how to do tax returns’,” he explains.

“International students spend a lot of money on their studies, but finding employment for them, is very hard. The reason is that students are learning the theory, but lacking the practical experience,” says Mr Ulah.

“we have hired a professional trainer who trains the international students on how to use software and how to execute tax returns in real time. They also observe our accountants while they are on the job. Slowly we bring them to a professional level.”

“Once they complete it, we offer the dedicated ones a job in one of my offices,” he says.

So, eager to grow with their community, the couple allows international students to develop practical experience with the aim of easing their integration into the Australian workforce.

Madeeha, who is known to be the philanthropist by some, mentors for many, and Tax Lady by her team. Mentors students at the Oxford University, who are working towards their PHD dr.

Being recognised as one of the most powerful women in the accounting industry, Madeeha was honoured as an Ausmumpreneur in 2021. Usman encourages and supports young mothers to create a life of their own dreams.

Madeeha’s mentoring was a compelling one, she always conveyed the inspirational thought

– “If you fail don’t lose hope because as the wise saying goes, we can’t change the direction of the wind but we can certainly adjust the sales”

Yet being one of the most influential women in business, you can’t just dismiss Madeeha as an accountant. She is also the author of her recently launched book, “The Women Changing The World” – A story of her life and other powerful women, who choose to lead life the harder way – to set an example for women, who are still doubting their abilities to build themselves.  

As per Madeeha, “This book is not only for women, but to inspire daughters, and sons, for the generations to come”

“Getting to the top at the expense of another woman is not a sustainable way to get ahead, and, most importantly, doesn’t help our case. The only way that women will be seen as equal in business is by making sure that there are more women accomplishing what they deserve in the workforce, and that takes encouragement”

“This book is not just stories, but real life journeys, relatable role models – where women in Australia are changing the world through entrepreneurialism, education, conscious living, advocacy and innovation”.

“Game Changers”

Madeeha and Kaleem both used their positions to encourage the young migrants to pursue their dream. As a result, The Kalculators earned recognition for “Diversity Inclusion” in 2021.

Employing over 100 young individuals from various cultural backgrounds. They believed opportunity is inclusive to all.

Also, being recognised as a finalist by Xero, a multimillion cloud accounting organisation. The Kalculators was recently recognised for its “Consulting service” and as a “Boutique firm” of 2021.

Creating ability through disability

Working with the clients in disability, they realised the provided service level suffered for the vulnerable. Even with the proper funding, many individuals with disabilities were unable to create an independent lives for themselves.

This is when, Care Assure was born…

Madeeha and Kaleem founded Care Assure –  a disability housing and support provider in South Australia.

As the directors of Care Assure, we are not about making money; the role requires empathy and value creation. And working towards value creation is not easy, it is about constant quality assurance, to ensure your clients are being treated with care and respect.

Providing disability accommodations all over South Australia, Care Assure is recognised for the seamless service experience it provides.

Wielding Soft Power  

As directors, it’s about more than the sales you do or the money you create; your clients are your centric value. In the current times of uncertainity, as organisations we must be sustainable, realistic and exercise quality control. The day you start working through hierarchy and consider yourself as a boss! You start to lose your ground as a leader.

Management should value transparency and respect. Not just profits or expenditures! Provide your team with the right resources and respect them for their own individuality. You will end up having a team of passionate individuals exceeding expectations.

Manisha Karmarkar: Breaking Glass Ceilings in the Field of Medicine

Meet Dr. Manisha Karmarkar, COO, Ruby Hall Clinic. Having joined the hospital as an anesthetist, she rose to the ranks and held a number of key positions. While she continued to be enjoy clinical work, the leadership team quickly noticed her intellect and emotional ability to get tangible results. Although she leads the hospital from the front, she hasn’t forgotten her roots. She is a practicing anesthetist and even continues her education in the form of degrees from esteemed educational institutions across the globe.

Since Manisha never planned her role as COO, she considers herself as an ‘accidental COO’. The first time she got attracted to healthcare leadership was when she was offered to head the Anaesthesiology Department and OT services at the hospital. Although she had theoretical knowledge due to her MBA in Healthcare Management, its practical knowledge and the belief senior management had in her that propelled Manisha forward. She also says, “I believe that nothing substitutes for hard work and talent. You can’t skate your way to the top and break glass ceilings.”

Achieving Excellence in Hospital Care

Manisha says, “Ruby Hall Clinic has a history of keeping at the heart of its operations. As an 850-bedded multidisciplinary institute with three hospitals in Pune, we have constantly moved towards a true culture of achieving excellence in-hospital care.” The hospital’s nine NABH and NABL quality accreditations and certifications in medicine as well as its cGreen OT certifications are proof of this very notion. As one of the forerunners in being bestowed with such accreditations, Manisha and her team’s focus on high-quality patient care speaks volumes in itself.

Additionally, Ruby Hall’s super-specialist doctors have a proven track record of excellence. Going beyond reputation and word of mouth, the hospital’s tertiary care services are known to have an excellent rate of results. When it comes to investing in the latest technology or even promoting organ donation in the country, Ruby Hall Clinic has the first-mover advantage further strengthening its position in the healthcare market. Take for instance the fact that it has been the first to perform pioneering robotic surgeries in the city and this number has now crossed more than 300. Or even the fact that Ruby Hall has a cutting-edge cancer care facility and an all-women managed breast care clinic among many other initiatives.

The Pandemic Changed Many Things

Manisha took the reins in the capacity of the COO at Ruby Hall Clinic right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although she feels it was a big challenge, she was willing to tackle it head-on. Manisha believes that coronavirus upended life for one and all and as a leader, she continued to do everything in her capability to keep her patients and employees safe while quickly adapting to changes in the industry. Be it technologically advanced equipment, adopting AI and machine learning, or pivoting tactics and strategies – the pandemic brought about changes she never imagined. As a leader, Manisha had to display business acumen, healthcare expertise, and forward-thinking all at once. Sure, there may have been challenging days but what mattered is that she took it all in her stride and worked to make a difference when it mattered the most.

Providing Unparalleled Healthcare Experience is the Target

Professionally, Manisha’s goals at the hospital focus on providing unsurpassed quality, unique technology, and an unparalleled healthcare experience. She and her team are working hard to build a more integrated system to achieve better health, better care, and more joy for those providing care as well. By harnessing technology, the entire team of Ruby Hall Clinic is looking to create the kind of experience around accessible healthcare that is valuable for people, allows them to achieve health goals they set for themselves, and to do it in a way that is affordable to them. And that is what Manisha Karmarkar is most excited about.

As a hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic has begun to expedite its expansion strategy by focusing on the rapidly growing demand for innovative and comprehensive solutions to support the digital transformation of the healthcare ecosystem, be it automation, artificial intelligence (AI), or the Internet of Things (IoT).“To be specific, the hospital has already incorporated a new EMR system, a successful Lab App actively uses robotics in surgeries, invested in world-class advanced equipment such as the Varian Ethos for cancer care, a hybridcath lab, and a neuronavigation system amongst others,” she says. Ruby Hall Clinic’s purpose is simple: to build a digitally enabled healthcare ecosystem where it actively collaborates across the continuum of care to improve each patient’s health outcomes.

Suggestions for Young Entrepreneurs

When asked for suggestions, Manisha Karmarkar says, “Be authentic, be genuine and be fearless. Not everyone will like your true colors, but people will appreciate your honesty anyway. But showing your true colors means showing your vulnerabilities, too. Let people know what gives you strength, what are your weaknesses, but make sure to turn them into strengths later on.” 

She also adds, “No woman has risen to a leadership position without taking a few risks. It’s normal to feel hesitant about what you don’t know and what isn’t familiar. But don’t let that fear restrict you from pursuing a great idea or goal. Be fearless in the attempt of doing something new or challenging!”

Company Name: Ruby Hall Clinic

Management: Dr. Manisha Karmarkar, COO

Quote:“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

URL : rubyhall.com

Sonica Aron: Changing Peoples’ Lives for Better

Coming from a family of doctors. The youngest of three siblings, no one in Sonica Aron’s family has studied or practiced business management. So, this was a completely new world for Sonica. From having medical discussions at the dinner table as a child to today where she and her family talk about social justice, gender expression, awareness about disabilities, and inclusion.

Sonica is an HR professional with more than 2 decades of experience. She has completed her graduation from XLRI Jamshedpur, which is also one of the sought-after institutes for studying Human Resources in India. While working at PepsiCo, Sonica was exposed to diverse roles and geographies. She worked in sales and sales HR. She worked in a factory. She also worked in a city as well as in remote areas. This experience helped her realize, how diverse people viewed women workforce, worked with, and dealt with them.

Sonica later went on and gathered experience from companies like ICI paints, Philips, Vodafone, and Roche diagnostics. While she was heading the HR department for Philips Consumer Lifestyle Business in India, she decided to take a different path and reshape her career.

So, come February 2013, Sonica Aron founded Marching Sheep with the vision of making a tangible difference to peoples’ lives and careers.

During her 2 decades-long career as an HR professional, Sonica has seen the narrative of Diversity Equity and Inclusion evolve. Once there was a time when the best organizations were not aware of Vishakha guidelines to now where organizations are not only working seriously towards increasing women participation in the workforce but there are organizations that are looking at other dimensions of diversity like Persons with Disabilities, LGBTQIA+ community as well.

Sonica also believes a lot of organizations have moved ahead of ‘token’ efforts like standalone sessions and are approaching the issue with serious intent and are taking a holistic approach- through inclusive policies, processes, driving mindset change, inclusive leadership, communication, and decision making.

Making a Tangible Difference in Peoples’ Lives

As a consulting organization, Marching Sheep had to evolve with the evolving times. During the pandemic, the company had conducted extensive industry engagement and came up with interventions that were specific to clients’ needs in turbulent times.

The organization has also observed the evolving role of HR as strategic partners in business recovery, continuity, and growth. So, Marching Sheep has curated an action learning-based strategic HR business partnering certification, and in partnership with FICCI Quality Forum, has been successfully running programs that have been attended by HR professionals from different companies.

In order to stay true to its vision of making a tangible difference in peoples’ lives and careers, Marching Sheep needs to stay in touch with its client organizations and people. So, the organization also carries out various non-commercial campaigns including, Marching with Pride, where the company engaged with people from the LGBTQIA+ community to understand their lives and what would take it to make organizations inclusive for them. Another Campaign was 21 Marching, where they met with 21 persons with disabilities to help spread awareness about the 21 disabilities covered under the RPWD act 2016.

Marching Sheep provides four main services, which are;

  • Diversity & Inclusion Strategies and Interventions: The organization truly believes that inclusive organizations are much more productive and Marching Sheep partners with client organisations to arrive at their inclusion and diversity charters and strategy through a diversity diagnostic, chart out executable plans, and also partner with the execution, drive mindset change, and culture building.  
  • Human Resource Consulting: Organizations need their HR strategy, policies, and processes to enable employees to deliver on the business strategy and goals. Marching Sheep works closely with its client organizations in order to streamline the vision, mission, values, behavioural frameworks, policies, practices, HR strategy, and socialization, and drive communication, internal Leadership, managerial capability to enable the same.
  • Bespoke learning interventions: Sonica believes that the world has significantly changed during the last two years of the pandemic. As the socio-economic fabric is slowly evolving, the competencies needed to succeed at work are also changing. Marching Sheep work with clients in order to enable individual contributors, managers, and leaders to succeed by building the right competencies. The organization curates each intervention to drive the right behaviours through the facilitation of insights, reflection, and practice.
  • Health and Wellness Portfolio: Marching Sheep believes, wellness nowadays includes emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. While things like insurance can take care of the physical part, a massive awareness and life-skill building are needed to handle issues like stress, burnout, and anxiety. The best part is, Marching Sheep enables all the individuals to become emotionally resilient by identifying their stress triggers, their own stress responses, and coping mechanisms and hence more productive, personally, and professionally. According to Sonica, the company does this with programs curated after research, and with the help of clinical psychologists.

The Inception Story

Before founding Marching Sheep in 2013, Sonica used to be on the other side, as an HR Head. However, her biggest issue with that was, they would engage a consultant, carry out an intervention, and incur costs yet there would be no tangible change post the event. So, she along with the team drew the blueprint of Marching Sheep on how they would approach each assignment, and what they would achieve at the end of the assignment. For her, leaving a tangible impact is extremely critical.

The second factor was that she was already the head of HR position by 2012, and it was the time for Sonica to evaluate her next steps for herself, in her context. With her husband’s career growing parallelly, two young kids, and three sets of aging parents and grandparents, Sonica was seeking a career path, where she could contribute, and get the satisfaction of making a difference on her terms.

Marching Sheep has clients across various industries. The organization has worked with different global MNCs, and Indian Conglomerates, funded start-ups, emerging organizations, and large giants. It has worked in sectors like FMCG, FMCD, manufacturing, power, and infrastructure, BPO/KPO, IT and ITeS, Financial sectors.

As a company, Marching Sheep has also successfully built relationships with clients based on the Quality of its delivery. Sonica and her team always deliver what they commit and on time. The Marching Sheep team spends quite a lot of time understanding customer pain points and offering a solution that will eventually solve the real issue.

Tackling Challenges

Sonica Aron faced many challenges while founding Marching Sheep. The challenges included things like statutory requirements that are associated while having her setup. Some decisions like whether it should be an LLP, LLC, or a company or a proprietorship were to be made. Making her website from scratch was a big challenge, being bootstrapped. She was in a vicious cycle, to hire a team member or to make revenues to reach a certain level. Sonica Aron was doing everything from BD to delivery to invoicing to client management to paying taxes herself. Doing Business development did not come naturally to Sonica.

She was quite hesitant about singing her own praises as a consultant, but that was needed. She took her time to learn this art. Then came the issue of managing cash flows. Slowly and steadily she learned, she hired and grew. Soon the client base grew, and revenue also got stabilized. However, challenges like demonetization, implementation of GST, and the pandemic came and destabilized the industry.

Every time the industry got destabilized and the client’s focus shifted from HR interventions to business continuity. Therefore, Sonica Aron and her team had to evolve each time in order to meet the client’s need to stay relevant, which eventually taught the firm flexibility and adaptability.

Future Roadmap

Marching Sheep is already a leading D&I firm in India. So, it would like to make its mark globally. The organization has started acquiring international clients from 2021 and now it is planning to press the accelerator pedal this year.

Sonica Aron also added, “We have gone from strength to strength in the last 8 years. From being a one-woman army to today being a strong team of passionate HR professionals, with clients, mentors, allies across industries and globe.”

She also considers herself lucky to forge strong partnerships with the clients who have trusted the company and given them repeated work, partners like FICCI, and transformance forums who helped the company carry its message and passion on building inclusive workplaces, and an inclusive world.

Company Name: Marching Sheep

Management: Sonica Aron, founder

URL: marchingsheep.com

Quote: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain.

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