The Knowledge to Decide

Spire Research and Consulting and ABL Consulting of Thailand co-organized an expert seminar on Building Operational Excellence through Go-To-Market (GTM) Optimization. The event was held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC) in Bangkok, Thailand on 19 August 2015. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Rajiv Seth, Senior Director (Go-To-Market Practice) of Spire Research and Consulting were honored to jointly address the seminar. The agenda focused on strategies that help deliver sustainable yet profitable growth in an increasingly volatile and challenging business environment. This can be achieved through Go-To-Market playbooks which help businesses optimize their profits. The seminar was attended by a group of over 30 senior executives from both large global firms and larger Thai companies. The ensuing discussion was lively and rich with insights. Discussants raised questions and opinions relating to supply chain management, sales force management

Service standards in Singapore are still not at par with some Asian counterparts. Can Singapore build a strong service culture? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on how Singapore can inculcate higher standards of service. Service standards begin with a strong foundation right from school. Ample opportunities to practice good service in school through role-playing games and competitions will help inculcate this culture. Perera opined that it is crucial that older students undergo at least one internship that involves a front-facing role. The objective of this should be to instil an ethic in humility – to serve customers with pride and not view it as humiliation. This standard should be reinforced in the workplace by business leaders who set a personal example. Business leaders should set aside time to serve customers directly, underscoring the importance of good servi

Shanghai is set to become the next hub for quality healthcare services as new hospitals collaborate with established industry players. Will Chinese medical tourists check in at home for medical treatment? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in the Asian version of Japan’s Nikkei newspaper. Home to a population of 23 million – where 53% of the population is middle class and above – the city of Shanghai continues to lure more foreign investors in the healthcare segment for the affluent. Raffles Medical Group, Singapore’s premium private healthcare provider, has set foot in Shanghai with its first overseas hospital, part of a wider trend of premium healthcare service providers setting up shop in the city. Perera highlighted that the growth in healthcare services has been fuelled by the government’s policy shift to allow more foreign ownership of hospitals. The intent behind this is perhaps to retain some of the 60,000 me

With 42.8 million cyber-attacks recorded in 2014, Cybercrime is becoming the key security issue facing companies. Initially, antiviruses were the main weapon of defense and hacking was unheard of. Businesses today are increasingly networked and vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Spire’s CEO Leon Perera delivered the keynote address to a cyber-security event co-organized by Juniper Networks and LGA Telecom to discuss cyber risks and how to mitigate them. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Spire Research and Consulting group, was privileged to deliver the keynote speech at the Executive Breakfast event organized by Juniper Networks and LGA Telecom Pte Ltd on 22 July 2015 in Singapore. In his presentation, he shared a brief overview on cybercrime and strategies businesses should adopt to mitigate risks. Perera mentioned that, cyber-threats can cause financial and reputational damages as well as shake employee confidence for a company. Significant cyber risks include Data

Nepal – one of the poorest countries in the world – had a rude awakening when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on 25 April 2015. The impact was tragic. Casualties continue to rise, with immense damage to infrastructure. Will the nation be able to pick up the shattered pieces of its economy? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. With the estimated cost of rehabilitation set to hit USD5 billion – a quarter of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD20 billion in 2014 – the economic impact of the earthquake is massive. According to United Nation’s data, 8 million people are directly in the line of fire. Both agriculture – with well over 70% of the population employed in this sector – and tourism have been badly afflicted. Perera opined that the disaster will also impact the nation’s ability to grow and transport fresh food – the agricultural sector alone accounts for 38% of GDP. Moreover,

Japanese women are increasingly pursuing professional aspirations but are being held back by rigid social norms that discourage mothers from working. However, as Japan realizes the important contribution that women can make to employment and innovation, social norms may be slowly changing. Is there a pathway to gender parity in Japan’s workplace? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his thoughts on Huffington Post, Japan – a globally acclaimed news portal. Only 10% of senior managerial positions are occupied by women, which is low when compared to comparable figures for the United States (42%) and France (38%). As in many other countries, women in Japan are often made to choose between their professional and personal lives in a way that men are not. Work-life balance is hard to sustain when they single-handedly take care of household responsibilities. Perera opined that Japan needs to overcome its societal norms about gender so as to b

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently took a policy leap by launching its own Quantitative Easing (QE) program – a bond purchasing policy to inject new money to revive the Eurozone’s economy. Will it work? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the top section on the effectiveness of the QE program. With the launch of the QE program, the ECB hopes to boost economic growth and check deflation. This will be achieved through the purchase of both government and private sector bonds worth €60 billion from March 2015 until September 2016. Perera commented that, while better than nothing, the ECB’s QE program is small in comparison with the scale of the problem facing Europe. It will most likely have to be increased and sustained for some time before any results are seen. Moreover, the ECB runs the risk of trading short-term quantity for long-term quality of growth. This is due to the reduced

Japan’s telecom giant SoftBank is eyeing opportunities to expand in South Asia. With its recent investment of USD627 million into Snapdeal – an Indian e-commerce firm – Softbank becomes its largest shareholder. It is one of the largest investments ever made by a single investor in an Indian e-commerce company. Flipkart, another Indian e-commerce player, has also received foreign investment. Does this mark the start of an investment spree? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights on the implications of these investments in Japan’s Diamond Magazine. Softbank is a Japanese internet and telco behemoth. It is listed under 33 industries classification on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Recent financial profits for Softbank’s Q2 2014 touched JPY560.7 billion in terms of net income. Softbank recently acquired the number three mobile service provider in the US – Sprint Corp – for USD21.6 billion. It has one third of shares in Chinese e-commerce g

Spire Research and Consulting’s CEO Leon Perera was privileged to deliver the first Opening Plenary address at CloudAsia 2014 held in Singapore on 29-30 October. He shared key insights from Spire’s study on Cloud computing usage in Singapore’s financial services industry (FSI) and recommended approaches to increase Public Cloud usage in the FSI. At the Opening Plenary of CloudAsia 2014, Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared that some Financial Institutions operating in Singapore were already using the private Cloud for non-core applications. However the study found that Financial Institutions were hesitant to further explore Public Cloud adoption for core applications involving production data. The study recommended approaches to increasing Cloud usage for core applications through the creation of prescriptive codes of conduct for FI-vendor contracting as well as security. The study concluded that an opportunity currently exists for a multi-stake-holder

West Africa’s Ebola outbreak is the largest in history, ravaging multiple countries. A glimmer of hope has emerged in the form of the experimental vaccines that are being rushed to the affected areas. Can the virus be contained and if so how? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views in The Business Times – Views from the Top on what Asia should be doing to maximize Ebola-preparedness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 13,268 Ebola cases have been reported in eight countries, resulting in 4,960 deaths so far. Perera commented that Ebola has so far gripped three West African countries namely Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Needless to say, the inter-country transport links for these countries are developed to such an extent that they help spread the virus. But these countries still lack healthcare systems to cope with an epidemic like this. At the same time, Ebola – unlike Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Experts have commented that the annual fires in Sumatra and haze pro https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/sustainable-palm-oil-production-remains-hazy/ blem can be reduced through concerted efforts on the ground. All stakeholders can play a part in adopting sustainable sourcing practices. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, gave his two cents on how palm oil companies can take the necessary measures to avoid such haze problems. As with previous years, there was much large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra during this time of the year. With the winds during the Southwest Monsoon, smoke and unhealthy particulates from the burning vegetation would inevitably head towards Singapore and Malaysia. As such, many palm oil and pulp companies were facing increasing pressure to put an end to such traditional slash-and-burn practice – a method to clear land cheaply. Hence, large companies should be responsible for educating and providing the

The haze from annual fires in Sumatra, which worsened disastrously in 2013, has focused regional and global attention on making palm oil production sustainable. Industry leaders are facing increasing pressure from governments and consumers to prove that their palm oil sourcing practices are sustainable. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views on how the palm oil industry was adapting to these new realities. Large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra remains an annual affair. The winds of the Southwest Monsoon circulate smoke and unhealthy particulates from the burning vegetation towards Singapore, Malaysia and many parts of Indonesia itself, such as Sumatra and the Riau islands. Aside from the public health problem it creates, the haze has drawn global attention to the environmental disaster of replacing rainforest with palm oil plantations in Sumatra and Kalimantan in an unsustainable way. Palm oil companies are facing increa

The banking landscape in Asia has seen more foreign banks expanding in the region. Most recently, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) – Australia’s third largest bank – was granted a subsidiary banking license to open 20 branches across Thailand; signaling the Thai government’s readiness to accept more foreign bank investment. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his view on Thailand as an investment banking location. ANZ reckoned that the size of Thailand’s economy, its importance as a regional manufacturing center, as well as its proximity to other South East Asian markets amounted to a positive long-term outlook for the country. Previously, Thailand had opened its doors to other foreign banks, including Japanese banks Mizuho, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Sumitomo-Mitsui, just to name a few. While mobile banking may become an important channel in future, ANZ and the other foreign banks in Thailand should continue to loo

Singapore Airlines (SIA) was recently revealed as the new title sponsor for the 2014 and 2015 Formula 1 (F1) Singapore Grand Prix, taking over from Singtel. Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, saw the F1 and SIA partnership as a good fit, given both brands’ appeal to the business community. Perera observed that since both brands share a similar target audience profile, there would be synergies in terms of brand-building. Both brands exert a strong appeal to the business community. Singapore Airlines is a strong performer in Business and First Class travel while the F1 is a major venue for business entertainment. He opined that as the flag carrier of Singapore, SIA can explore co-branded travel packages with fringe benefits for inbound visitors travelling to Singapore specifically for the F1 Grand Prix and the associated events. Perera shared that the improving economic environment in Europe and North America should boost the visitor number

As non-bank financial service activity expands in Asia, does the region need a more unified set of banking regulations? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, remarked that Asian banks and governments should be at the forefront of pushing for better global regulations on non-bank financial activities, rather than forming alternative regional standards. At stake is the delivery of financial services for Asia’s huge unbanked and under-banked population. Perera commented that unified banking regulations across the Asia-Pacific region should come via global multi-lateral platforms. Asian governments should work with each other to form an effective regional voice for improvements in global financial regulatory regimes. The implementation of the Basel I, Basel II and Base III standards after the global financial crisis had not been easy in Asia, due to various inconsistencies. Moreover, the Basel reforms were reportedly too Europe and US market centr

Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, was invited to share his views on sugar consumption trends on Channel NewsAsia – Money Mind. He observed that sugar consumption in Singapore will decline in the long term, akin to what has been seen in North America and Europe, thanks to rising health literacy and government health campaigns. Natural sweetener producers would need to work hard to find their niche in terms of taste, pricing and a fact-based health message. Sugar is now into its 4th year of global surplus production, primarily thanks to Brazil, Thailand and India. This has exerted downward pressure on prices. Sugar consumption is foreseen to grow below the growth rate of the global population in the next 5 to 10 years. High intensity natural sweetener is now a niche market that faces good growth prospects. However, there are regulatory hurdles facing the industry. What’s more, there is a lot to be done in educating and convincing consumers t

Singapore’s 2013 economic growth was revised upwards from 3.7% to 4.1%, thanks to a last-minute surge in manufacturing. Does this portend better times to come? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views on Singapore’s economic performance on Channel NewsAsia – Business Central . Perera commented that Singapore’s economic growth exceed expectations and this reflected an improving climate for exports, mainly driven by developed country growth. This would last into 2014 because of the on-going recovery in the US, improvements in Northern Europe, the momentum from Abe-nomics in Japan and a still-respectable showing from China. On the other hand, the domestic retail sector was losing some ground. Perera shared that this was partly due to a slowdown in tourist arrival and spending growth, as a result of slower growth in regional economies like China and India. In contrast, the wholesale market will see some forward momentum on the back

Singapore will mark its 50th anniversary of independence in 2015. In conjunction with the country’s upcoming Golden Jubilee, Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on what Singapore’s economy and society would look like in 2065. In the future, technology would have eliminated much of the manual labor that humans perform today. Robots will revolutionize work in the home, elder-care as well as the personal services industry. Commercial space flight will accelerate the growth of globalization and enhance innovation, thanks to people being able to meet face-to-face with far less time spent in travel. On the other hand, 3D printing coupled with big data analytics will revolutionize the traditional manufacturing model of economies of scale in favor of mass customization. In addition, stricter Green and ethics regulations will foster Greener, safer and fairer processes in the work