Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of USD 260 billion in 2011, according to recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. This was up five per cent from the year before, and close to five times the total of the 2004 figure of USD 53.6 billion. Investment in solar was more than that in wind, and more US clean energy investment than Chinese.  

“The record investment figures for 2011 are particularly striking because they were achieved during a turbulent year for the world economy in general and for the clean energy sector in particular,” according to the report.  

Asked what is driving this growth, Gunnar Lundberg, Vice President of Vattenfall AB said: “The growth in renewable energy sources (RES) is driven solely by subsidies, since the cost of RES is much higher than today’s market prices for electricity.”  

A speaker at the upcoming marcus evans Strategic Nordic Energy Forum 2012, Lundberg believes that investments in RES will continue to be large at least until 2020, since a lot of investments and subsidies are necessary for EU member states to meet their RES targets.  

“Investments in RES accounted for 70 per cent of generation investments in 2011. This will continue as long as RES are subsidised, since with larger and larger volumes of RES the market price will go down or at least not be high enough to motivate commercial investments,” he added.  

As for what 2012 will bring for the Nordic energy industry, as the region prepares for the joint Swedish/Norwegian certificate system, Lundberg is waiting to see what it will result in: small scale hydro in Norway first or wind power in Sweden. He is also curious to find out whether the joint system will be seen as an example for Europe or just a strange Nordic experiment.  

With the recent EU oil embargo on Iran, to pressure Tehran over its nuclear programme, it might be the ideal time for European member states to consider alternative sources of oil, as well as renewable sources of energy.

Lundberg expects the embargo on Iran to raise the price of oil, but since oil and gas prices are increasingly uncorrelated, he does not believe that the impact on the electricity market will be important.  

The marcus evans Strategic Nordic Energy Forum 2012 will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, 5 – 7 March.   For more information, visit the event website

Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of USD 260 billion in 2011, according to recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance data. This was up 5 per cent from the year before, and close to five times the total of the 2004 figure of USD 53.6 billion. Investment in solar was more than that in wind, and more US clean energy investment than Chinese.  

“The record investment figures for 2011 are particularly striking because they were achieved during a turbulent year for the world economy in general and for the clean energy sector in particular,” according to the report.  

Asked what is driving this growth, Gunnar Lundberg, Vice President of Vattenfall AB said: “The growth in renewable energy sources (RES) is driven solely by subsidies, since the cost of RES is much higher than today’s market prices for electricity.”  

A speaker at the upcoming marcus evans Strategic Nordic Energy Forum 2012, Lundberg believes that investments in RES will continue to be large at least until 2020, since a lot of investments and subsidies are necessary for EU member states to meet their RES targets.  

“Investments in RES accounted for 70 per cent of generation investments in 2011. This will continue as long as RES are subsidised, since with larger and larger volumes of RES the market price will go down or at least not be high enough to motivate commercial investments,” he added.  

As for what 2012 will bring for the Nordic energy industry, as the region prepares for the joint Swedish/Norwegian certificate system, Lundberg is waiting to see what it will result in: small scale hydro in Norway first or wind power in Sweden. He is also curious to find out whether the joint system will be seen as an example for Europe or just a strange Nordic experiment.  

With the recent EU oil embargo on Iran, to pressure Tehran over its nuclear programme, it might be the ideal time for European member states to consider alternative sources of oil, as well as renewable sources of energy.

Lundberg expects the embargo on Iran to raise the price of oil, but since oil and gas prices are increasingly uncorrelated, he does not believe that the impact on the electricity market will be important.  

The marcus evans Strategic Nordic Energy Forum 2012 will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, 5 – 7 March.   For more information, visit the event website

Trade secrets were rated as the most important intellectual property (IP) in the recent 2011 Intellectual Property Survey Report, followed by trademarks and patents.  

The survey also found differences in how US and European companies value IP: “US companies value patents greater than their European counterparts. Trademarks, though, are much more highly valued in Europe than in the US.” Only 55 per cent of US companies in the survey believed that trademarks have a high or medium level of importance in protecting revenue, a contrast to the 80 per cent of European companies.  

“There are two elements to assess when considering whether a technical innovation can be kept as a trade secret and protected accordingly,” suggests a speaker at the upcoming marcus evans IP Law European Summit 2012.  

“First, is it worthwhile protecting it? Second, is it possible to keep it secret in view of the number of people who need access to it?”  

If the answer to both questions is positive, then keeping a technical innovation as a trade secret is the appropriate way. However, often one of the answers is a “No” for internal know-how, so spending extra resources for trade secret protection might not be the best way of protecting that piece of know-how.  

He added: “Although it is a case by case assessment, depending on the business and the industry the company is in, trade secrets are not typically the safest way of protecting IP. If the company has a strong consumer reach, trademarks play a more important role. For technology driven companies with less need of a consumer brand, patents or trade secrets would take the upper hand. It also depends on how a company is managing its value chain. If many aspects of the business are internalised and the company has few transactions with business partners, suppliers and customers requiring disclosure of IP, then a trade secret might be more appropriate.”  

He predicts a trend towards more formal protection of IP, such as patents, as the more interaction companies have with each other, the less feasible it is to protect technical innovations by trade secrets.  

“Trade secrets are less tangible and less easy to be evaluated by business partners,” he concluded. “I would assume that globalisation and having more players in the value chain will lead to a higher importance of registered IP rights, like patents.”  

The marcus evans IP Law European Summit 2012 will take place in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 23 – 24 April.  

For more information, visit the event website: www.iplawsummiteurope.com

New companies with a market capitalization under USD 1 billion will now be able to opt-out of regulations within section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act for the first ten years after going public. This option was previously available to companies under USD 75 million.  

Congressman Ben Quayle introduced the Startup Expansion and Investment Act to, “make it easier for emerging companies to access the capital necessary to expand and create jobs”. Quayle noted that removing one of the many regulatory hurdles that inhibit companies from going public would lead to more economic growth.  

“While I understand the delay in SOX compliance for smaller companies, I would encourage companies to prepare for SOX compliance in advance by reading the standards well and understanding the requirements,” said Roxana Santiago, Finance SOX Manager at Hospira, Inc., and a presenter at the upcoming marcus evans 22nd Edition SOX Compliance & Evolution to GRC Conference in Chicago, Illinois, November 15-16, 2011.  

“The standards do offer some flexibility and allow the opportunity to focus only on high risk areas that would detect and prevent material misstatements. Understanding the process for establishing thresholds for materiality would give the company a basis for identifying risks and documenting controls in those areas. Putting these actions into practice prior to actual compliance requirements gives executives a head start.”  

Minisa Becker Capozzoli, Senior Financial Analyst at Hospira, Inc. added: “The Standard proposes starting with the identification of the company’s risks that material misstatements will not be prevented or detected. A few categories of risk include complex accounting areas such as revenue recognition, tax and accounting estimates. In addition to these, companies need to assess other risks specific to their business, such as areas with highly manual intensive process, or poor systems support. Companies will need to look beyond the standard accounting risk categories and reflect upon their business, processes and systems to identify other financial risks.”  

“One of the great benefits of the SOX Act is it forces companies to be more pro-active by designing up-front preventive controls,” Alan Bedwell, Senior Financial Analyst at Hospira, Inc. highlighted. “It also forces companies to re-think and re-visit processes and controls, identify areas with existing gaps or too many controls and streamline processes, thereby becoming more efficient and productive. It offers Senior Management more transparency to the Financial Statements and holds accounting and finance professionals accountable through controls certification procedures.”  

Santiago added, “This is how companies reap the benefits of SOX programs and build integrity and accountability in internal financial reporting processes. Companies have always been required to have solid systems of internal financial reporting controls. The SOX Act simply forces companies to formally acknowledge this through documentation protocols.”  

One challenge with SOX compliance is cost. There are many ways to keep costs down. One way is by not doing more than the standard requires, according to Santiago. Initially SOX compliance was time consuming and manually intensive because many were doing a lot more than they needed to.  

“I would encourage small companies to focus on what is ‘truly’ needed and create the buy-in and awareness within the accounting and finance functions. While the external auditors will review management’s work and provide an independent opinion, they are not as close to the business and related risks as the company, and should be challenged where applicable,” Santiago concluded.  

Roxana Santiago, Minisa Becker Capozzoli and Alan Bedwell of Hospira, Inc. will be co-presenting at the marcus evans 22nd Edition SOX Compliance & Evolution to GRC Conference in Chicago, Illinois, November 15-16, 2011.  

For more information, visit the 22nd Edition SOX Compliance & Evolution to GRC website.

The ability to perform free-text searches of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) could soon be the norm, as a study recently verified natural language processing to be considerably better at identifying postoperative complications.  

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that natural language processing correctly identified 82% of acute renal failure cases compared with 38% for patient safety indicators.  

The cross-sectional study of 2974 patients undergoing inpatient surgical procedures was conducted at 6 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical centers between 1999 and 2006.  

Improving patient care and safety is an ongoing priority for CEOs of healthcare organizations. Many hospitals have implemented EMR systems, but patient safety remains a top concern. How to create a culture of quality will be one of the topics for discussion at the upcoming marcus evans National Healthcare CXO Summit Fall 2011.  

The study concluded: “Among patients undergoing inpatient surgical procedures at VA medical centers, natural language processing analysis of electronic medical records to identify postoperative complications had higher sensitivity and lower specificity compared with patient safety indicators based on discharge coding.”  

The marcus evans National Healthcare CXO Summit Fall 2011 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26.  

For more information, please visit: www.healthcare-summit.com

Ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games, The Irish World newspaper recently reported on why the Olympic Council of Ireland appointed the marcus evans THG Company as its official ticket reseller.  

According to the paper, Patrick Hickey, President of the Olympic Council of Ireland said: “We decided to go with one of the big international companies. We searched around the globe and discovered that the marcus evans group is the best known and the most professional.”  

THG specialises in sports ticketing services and corporate hospitality programmes at sporting events around the world, and is working with the Council to secure the best possible ticket allocation for London. THG is also organising the Irish House in London.  

Hickey added: “With such a large Irish community in the UK, public and corporate interest for attending the Games is projected to be very high.”  

To read The Irish World article “Hickey has high hopes for London 2012” click here (Fagan, Ciaran. “Hickey has high hopes for London 2012.” The Irish World 29 October 2011, Pg 54)

Idris Elba is a nominee for a Golden Globe award this week for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards will take place on Sunday 15 January 2012.  

In the BBC crime drama Luther, Ken McReddie Associates actor Idris Elba plays the role of Detective John Luther, a “near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions”.  

For his role in Luther, Idris Elba has won the NAACP Outstanding Actor award and also been nominated for a Golden Globe, EMMY and a Golden Satellite for the series’ first season.

At this year’s Golden Globes, Idris Elba will be up against Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), William Hurt (Too Big To Fail), Bill Nighy (Page Eight) and Dominic West (The Hour) in his category.  

Idris Elba is well known for his role in NBC’s drama The Wire, and has also starred in Rocknrolla, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency and the US version of the hit comedy series The Office. For his role in American Gangster, he has been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture.  

KMA is a marcus evans company.  

For more information on Ken McReddie Associates and Idris Elba, please visit the website: www.marcusevanskma.com

The latest report from PwC indicates a growing appetite for M&As in the energy sector. The deal value globally in the oil and gas sector has increased by 56 per cent from the previous quarter, to USD 74.1 billion in the third quarter of 2011, it reports.  

However, economic uncertainty is also taking its toll on this sector. The upsurge in deal values was largely attributed to one particular deal rather than a global trend.  

“We are going to see a slowdown in the number of deals in the energy sector,” Paul Nillesen, Partner and European Renewables leader at PwC NL expects. “There is a fundamental requirement for capacity and replacement of old assets, so we expect activity in this space. However, financing is likely to be the biggest constraint in the market going forward.” In addition, it is uncertain to what degree subsidy systems and tariff support schemes in some countries will be maintained, particularly around renewable sources of energy.  

Paul Nillesen, who will be attending the marcus evans Strategic M&A and Portfolio Management for the Energy Industry Conference added: “Getting access to capital today is harder. Therefore, companies that want to build an asset or raise capital need to have a good strategy and a very robust plan in place, and work with the right partners.”  

Difficulties are also presenting opportunities. Many companies are looking to take advantage of market conditions, by buying distressed assets and projects experiencing financing issues.  

As to what is continuing to drive M&A activity in the energy sector, Nillesen said: “There are a number of drivers. The demand for new capacity is growing. The existing fleet of assets are aging and need to be replaced. Many power stations in Europe are getting close to the end of their technical life. There is a shift from conventional to renewable sources, which require huge investments. The way the energy system is organised is changing. Also, the risks are getting larger in some of these projects so diversification of risk is becoming a major theme.”  

The marcus evans Strategic M&A and Portfolio Management for the Energy Industry Conference will take place in The Netherlands, 23-24 January 2012.  

A record number of consumers are going online for their shopping this holiday season, despite the economic uncertainty.  

Forrester Research expects holiday season online retail sales in the US to grow 15 per cent from last year, with November and December as the busiest time of the year.  

Similarly, more Australians are buying their presents online than ever before. The Australian eCommerce market is set to reach AUD 37 billion by 2013, up from AUD 27 billion in 2010. However, 44 per cent of this is expected to be spent overseas, with the price and variety of goods available from international retailers attracting Australian consumers.

“Success comes down to knowing your customers, how they prefer to engage with you and offering the right promotions,” according to Amanda Suefong, eCommerce Merchandising Manager ANZ at Lenovo Australia & NZ, and a speaker at the marcus evans New eCommerce Era Conference.  

To drive revenue and gain more market share, Suefong recommends that Australian companies take a look at their current online marketing strategy and pinpoint the tactics that are generating the highest ROI. They should see a good return on email marketing, especially if it is segmented and targeted, she adds. Retailers should also have an integrated search, mobile and social strategy in place together with clear sales targets that are reviewed frequently.  

“Consumers are becoming a lot more tech savvy and expecting a personalised experience. They expect retailers to understand and know what they want, and engage with them on multiple channels.”  

Companies are also becoming more savvy in getting to know their customers, but a lot more can be done. “There is so much data that online retailers can utilise to provide a better consumer experience. They have access to customer feedback through many channels. It is up to each individual company to mine that data and improve services across different channels. This is where some online retailers fail. Amazon is exceptional at understanding customers and providing the personalised service that consumers are starting to expect from all online retailers.”  

Suefong adds that a good search strategy, both organic and paid, can generate a good ROI. “Companies must identify what customers are typing into search engines that drives traffic to their websites and what keywords they are using on the company’s website internal search, in order to provide relevant content and matching products.”  

As more and more people choose to shop online, reaching consumers and maintaining their loyalty throughout the whole year will become critical to the success of many companies.  

The marcus evans New eCommerce Era Conference will take place in Sydney, Australia, 27 – 28 February 2012. For more information, please visit the event website by clicking here

Simon Clegg, former Team GB Chef de Mission and currently Chief Executive at Ipswich Town Football Club, was yesterday awarded an Honorary Doctorate from University Campus Suffolk (UCS).  

Simon led Team GB to its most successful Olympic Games for 100 years at Beijing in 2008 and the seven year campaign to persuade the government and Mayor of London to mount a bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.  

Professor Brendon Noble, Head of the School of Science, Technology and Health at UCS, said: “We are delighted to recognise Simon’s unique contribution to British sport with this award. Our Sports and Exercise Science, Science of Health Ageing and Regenerative Medicine courses are all related to Simon’s industry and we value his input. I know that our students will be inspired by his achievements and commitment in supporting some of our country’s best athletes achieve their full potential across British Skiing, the Olympic movement and now football.”  

Commenting on receipt of his honorary doctorate, Simon Clegg said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be recognised by this august academic institution. My career in sports management has been hugely rewarding in itself but I am extremely flattered to receive this award.”  

Simon’s career included the management of the British Biathlon team and Team GB athletes at 12 Olympic and Olympic Winter games, six of which were as Team GB’s Chef de Mission (overall team manager). He was Chief Executive of the European Youth Olympics in Bath in 1995, the largest multi-sport international youth event ever staged in the UK and was the British Olympic Association’s first Chief Executive from 1997 to 2008 before being appointed to a similar position at Ipswich Town Football Club in 2009.  

He was awarded an OBE in 2001 after leading the British team at the Sydney Olympics Games to its most successful performance since the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920 and subsequently a CBE in 2005 for his contribution to the British Olympic bid. In 2008 he was awarded the British Sports Journalists Association’s annual JL Manning award for the greatest contribution to British Sport off the field of play.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging will become more convenient in the US, as the nation’s largest drugstore chain announced plans to offer charging stations at about 800 locations by the end of the year.  

The marcus evans 2nd Annual Electric Vehicle and Intelligent Battery Applications forum attendees may want to follow how Walgreens’ initiative will impact the industry in the US and consider how European consumers could be encouraged to embrace EVs.  

“As more American embrace environmentally sustainable technologies, our convenient locations make us uniquely positioned to help address the concern around accessibility or ‘range confidence’”, said Mark Wagner, Walgreens President of Community Management and Operations.  

According to the official press release, the Department of Energy estimates that “Walgreens will make up as much as 40% of all public EV charging stations across the country”.  

With many retail chains across Europe, similar schemes would boost support for EVs on the continent.  

The marcus evans 2nd Annual Electric Vehicle and Intelligent Battery Applications took place in Vienna, Austria, 14-16 September.  

The conference offered insights into the main challenges related to high-power, fast charging stations and smart grid systems for the vehicle-to-grid connection interface to evaluate the best strategies and potential application to reduce costs and increase vehicle’s performance.  

For more information, please visit the website: 2nd Annual Electric Vehicle and Intelligent Battery Applications

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced that Singapore-incorporated banks would have to meet higher capital adequacy requirements than that of Basel III global capital standards.

It might interest marcus evans 2nd Annual Capital Allocation and Management Conference attendees that the changes will come into force on 1 January 2013, two years ahead of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s deadline.

The MAS press release stated that, “Singapore-incorporated banks are well-capitalised and in a strong position to meet MAS’ revised requirements… Capital requirements on Singapore-incorporated banks need to be set higher than the Basel III minimum requirements because each of the Singapore-incorporated banks is systemically-important in Singapore and has a substantial retail presence.”  

“While they remained strong throughout the global financial crisis, the higher capital requirements will further strengthen their ability to operate under stress conditions and will help protect depositors, reduce risks to the economy, as well as safeguard financial stability.”  

The press release details that the banks will be required to meet a minimum Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 6.5%, Tier 1 CAR of 8% and Total CAR of 10% from 1 January 2015. These standards are higher than the Basel III minimum requirements of 4.5%, 6% and 8% for CET1 CAR, Tier 1 CAR and Total CAR, respectively.  

Locally incorporated banks are expected to fulfil these obligations without any major difficulties.  

The marcus evans 2nd Annual Capital Allocation and Management took place 5-6 Sep 2011 in Singapore.

Offshore tax abuses are robbing the Treasury of $100 billion in lost revenue yearly, said Senator Carl Levin of Michigan.

It may be of interest to Tax Officers at the recent marcus evans Tax Officers Summit XII 2011, that Levin recently introduced legislation to “close offshore tax loopholes and strengthen offshore tax enforcement.”  

“People are sick and tired of tax dodgers using offshore trickery and abusive tax shelters to avoid paying their fair share. This bill offers powerful new tools to combat offshore and tax shelter abuses, raise revenues, and eliminate incentives to send US profits and jobs offshore,” Levin said in a press release. “Its provisions, which can help stop the $100 billion per year drain on the Treasury, will hopefully be part of any deficit reduction package this year, but should be passed in any event.”

The proposed measures will affect US corporations in many ways. Corporations with management and control located primarily in the US will not be able to claim status as foreign corporations, therefore will be subject to domestic taxes. US dollars that are “supposedly kept offshore by foreign subsidiaries of US Corporations but, in reality, are deposited into accounts physically located in the US,” will also be taxed.  

Another provision that may also affect Tax Officers is one where multinational companies may be required to provide basic information on a country-by-country basis in their filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This would “increase transparency and facilitate IRS inquiries into transfer pricing, foreign tax credits, and abusive offshore tax shelters”.

Senators Conrad, Bill Nelson, Sanders, Shaheen and Whitehouse are cosponsors, with many small businesses, labor and public interest groups, including the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition and the American Sustainable Business Council, also backing the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act.

The marcus evans Tax Officers Summit XII 2011 took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 10-12.

For more information, please visit: www.taxofficerssummit.com

Coming out of the economic downturn, the greatest challenge facing HR executives is adapting to the “new normal”, said Julie Staub, the Chairperson at the marcus evans HR Summit 2011.

“There has been a significant change in organizations worldwide, and our job is to help businesses respond and adapt to that. We have to be agile to ensure that our approach to talent is evolving to meet the needs of business today. This means operating in a leaner, more productive structure and capitalizing on the development of top talent,” commented Julie Staub, Vice President, Human Resources, AutoNation. 

Talented people are looking for growth and development opportunities in the workplace. HR has to identify such opportunities and help employees take their career to the next level.

“The demand for change is highand every organization must determine how it can re-engage the current workforce, especially as the market improves. As job opportunities become more prevalent, the challenge will be to drive engagement and retention in order for organizations to achieve their goals.”

“The outlook for HR is very positivebut, if we are not at the forefront of every issue, it will be a tough road ahead,” Staub concluded.

The marcus evans HR Summit 2011 will take place in Hollywood, Florida, October 17-18. The Summit includes presentations on retaining top talent, implementing a strategic, enterprise-wide performance management process and creating competitive advantage through HR planning.

For more information, please visit: www.humanresourcessummit.com

The much anticipated film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring KMA actress Joely Richardson, is to open across cinemas in the US and Canada on December 21 and in the UK on December 26.  

Joely Richardson stars alongside Daniel Craig, well known for his James Bond roles, and Rooney Mara and Christopher Plummer.  

The thriller, based on the international bestseller by Stieg Larsson, is directed by David Fincher of Seven and Fight Club, and an Academy Award nominee for Best Director for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  

Well known for her roles in NIP/TUCK, The Tudors, The Patriot and the recently released Anonymous, Joely Richardson has won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Series 2005 and been nominated for Golden Globes for Best Performance By An Actress In A Dramatic Television Series in 2004 and 2005.  

Joely Richardson will also return to the London stage in 2012, with The Lady from the Sea at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, February 23 to March 17, under the direction of Stephen Unwin.

KMA is a marcus evans company.

For more information on Ken McReddie Associates and Joely Richardson, please visit the website: www.marcusevanskma.com

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board’s selection of Christina Lagarde as its new Managing Director may be of interest to marcus evans Finance Conference and Summit attendees.

Lagarde’s 5-year term started on 5 July 2011, replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the top IMF post. She is the 11th person in this role.

A French national, Lagarde has been France’s Minister of Finance and Economy since 2007.

According to an IMF press release, “In 2009 Christine Lagarde was ranked the 17th most influential woman in the world by Forbes magazine, the 5th best European executive woman by The Wall Street Journal Europe, and became one of Time magazine’s top-100 world leaders. The Financial Times also named her European Finance Minister of 2009.”

The IMF is an organisation of 187 countries that works towards securing financial stability, facilitating international trade and setting up global monetary policies.

For more information, visit marcus evans Finance Summits and Conferences  

A recent survey on internal communication revealed that in 68 per cent of firms internal communications to employees takes place but is lacking in some areas. Only 18 per cent of participants indicated that it was comprehensive and complete, the OperationsInc and Performance-Solutions-Group, Inc. found.  

Since Pfizer launched the PfizerWorld platform in 2009 to connect the entire organization to a single platform, the biggest transformation was that, “Our messages are far more aligned across the enterprise than they ever were before,” said Bob Libbey, Senior Director, Global Colleague Communications.  

“This was a major goal of the PfizerWorld Super Site Project – to speak with what we call a ‘One Pfizer’ voice,” Libbey, a speaker at the upcoming marcus evans 7th Annual Internal Communications & Situational Messaging Conference added.  

The platform had more than 60 million hits and over five million article views last year. “This has raised both the overall awareness of the importance of internal communication and the profile of the function itself.”  

Also a speaker at the 7th Annual Internal Communications & Situational Messaging Conference, Elizabeth Golden, Vice President, External Affairs and Worldwide Communications, at Pfizer said: “Another major advance is that we are providing a more timely and steady flow of news and information to our colleagues. Prior to the creation of the platform, content was being posted to the old intranet site on a weekly basis. We knew that we had to move to daily publication, and that is what we did.”  

There are now 39 editions of the site: one for each of the company’s eight business units and for divisions and functions, regions, country organizations and locations all over the world, including sites in different languages. The platform is continually expanded and usage tracked. Mobile access was added in December 2010 and a social networking hub in February 2011 to bring together Twitter- and Facebook-type capabilities. Employees can also use the hub to filter their PfizerWorld news from among the platform’s many editions. The MyWorld hub now has approximately 30,000 users.  

“Knowing that our colleagues need tools and information to advocate for the company, we recently added a resource center that provides key business and policy information. This includes company talking points, FAQs and policy papers, to help them better educate and communicate on behalf of the company,” Golden went on to say.  

Every internal campaign now runs through PfizerWorld at some point. “The platform has helped us reach our colleagues with internal communications efforts across the board in a reliable, credible and easy-to-use way,” Libbey said. Since some employees are less likely to be online, such as those in manufacturing roles, the platform is complemented by an e-signage system.  

To ensure success in internal communications initiatives, it is important to know what employees want and to have a clear plan for mixing content they want with the content the business needs to get to them, Golden said. Having a reliable measurement system to track what is working and what might need adjustment is key.  

Golden concluded: “Be patient. It takes time to build credibility, change employee habits and to establish new ones. Building an audience takes time.”  

The marcus evans 7th Annual Internal Communications & Situational Messaging Conference will take place 29 November to 1 December 2011, at the Omni Park House, Boston, Massachusetts.  

For more information, visit the Internal Communications & Situational Messaging Conference website

That’s according to new research GFK’s Media Efficiency Panel (MEP). It found that online advertising actually achieves reach equal to press and outdoor advertising.

Online advertising is also on average more effective than offline as it delivers short-term ROI. The survey found that online has a return of 75p, press 66p and outdoor 53p with TV seeing an ROI of just 43p.

What’s more digital campaigns reach on average 33 per cent of the online population while press reaches just under 40 per cent and outdoor 30 per cent.

Marcus Evans presents marketing events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

The study which was published by Cancer Research UK, and published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that by 2030 there could be around 432,000 cancer cases a year, with male cancer’s rising by a staggering 55 per cent over the period.

The reason for this increase it says is down to the population aging. However, while the number of cancer cases is expected to increase the survival rate is also expected to get better.

However, the report does warn that the NHS risks being overwhelmed unless they start to take action now.
Marcus Evans presents business training events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of IP specialists Wick Hill Group, says that smartphone use has a lot of potential for businesses as staff can use them to work on the go.

However, he does warn that “a smartphone raises key security issues, which many organisations have not fully realised yet or, if they have, they may not have taken appropriate measures to ensure network safety.”

He warns that businesses now have to factor smartphones into their security policies so that they don’t become vulnerable to security threats. He also says that any smartphone use must be managed centrally.

Marcus Evans presents security events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts

The survey from Reabur.com, found that while one fifth of Brits love their job 31 per cent were unhappy in their current position, what’s more seven per cent said they hated their job.

When asked why they were unhappy in their job 29 per cent said it was because their role wasn’t challenging enough and 34 per cent said it was because they were bored.

However, it was not all bad news as 22 per cent say they love their current job and 12 per cent were impartial towards their current role.
Marcus Evans presents human resources conferences, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

The stats from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) show that while long-term sickness doesn’t affect SMEs that often when it does it can have a huge impact on the company.

The survey found that on the whole SMEs only experience 2.4 sick days per employee per year which is well below the national average of 7.7 days per employee per day.

However, in the past year sickness absence cost small businesses on average £1,500 while for nine per cent it cost more than £5,000. The FSB is now calling on the government to do more to help small businesses cover the costs of sickness.

Marcus Evans presents business training events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

The new survey from the CBI has found that sentiment has deteriorated sharply among UK manufacturers as they predict that the next few months will see a significant drop in activity.

They expect orders and output to fall over the next quarter while firms are also predicting a run-down in their stock holdings. In fact this fall in sentiment was the sharpest decline since April 2009.

Out of 446 manufacturers responding to the latest Quarterly Industrial Trends Survey 30 per cent believe that domestic orders rose in the three months to October while 25 per cent said that they had fallen.

Marcus Evans presents manufacturing events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

The statistics from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) found that there was a 5.2 per cent dip in the number of people applying to study law this year, when compared to a year before. In fact there was nearly 14,000 applicants for law courses at the 26 universities that supply figures to UCAS.

However, it wasn’t just law courses that suffered a drop in student numbers overall there was a nine per cent drop in the number of people applying to higher education courses; which is the biggest fall in more than 30 years.

Marcus Evans presents legal business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

Evy Hambro, managing director of BlackRock told The Age that ‘Australia has definitely dropped down the list relative to its historical position because of the uncertainty around the tax changes.’

In fact Mr Hambro says that the new taxes are ‘two new burdens that are having to be shouldered by resource companies’, adding that it could lead to unemployment and lost investment in the company.

However, despite growing pressure over the proposed mining tax, Australia’s PM Julia Gillard insists that the government will go ahead with the planned increase.

Marcus Evans presents mining business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

It says that medium-sized businesses despite representing just one per cent of businesses, they represent 16 per cent of all jobs and generate 22 per cent of the economic revenue.

In fact the CBI claim that the sector has the potential to inject between £20bn and £50bn into the economy by 2020.

In a report called Future Champions: unlocking growth in the UK’s medium-sized businesses, which uses new analysis conducted with the help of McKinsey & Company, it’s calling for a broader range of finance to be made available to MSBs as they can no longer solely relying on bank lending.

Marcus Evans presents corporate performance events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

Scotland’s energy minister Fergus Ewing has said that it’s now beyond doubt that there is almost as much North Sea oil and gas left as has already been extracted.

He added that oil and gas will be a key element of the Scottish Government’s bid to “re-establish Scottish independence”.

However, his comments go against a recent report from industry body Oil & Gas UK which said that there could be as little as 14 billion barrels left in the area. This means that at current extraction it could run out in 17 years.

Marcus Evans presents energy conferences, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

According to the ‘International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2011′ report, which was compiled by Elsevier and published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, research in the UK attracts more citations per pound spent in overall research and development than any other country.

In fact 14 per cent of the world’s most highly–cited articles were down to UK research.

What’s more according to the report, which was unveiled by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts at a Science Council lecture,  UK research talent is highly valued across the world.

Marcus Evans presents life science business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

The New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, says that the West End managed to see sales grow by over three per cent when the rest of the UK saw sales rise by just 0.3 per cent.

It claims that the rise in London is down to the autumn/winter lines coming into stores, inbound international shopper spend and the performance of the evening economy; while Oxford Street’s High Street fashion week initiative also helped boost sales.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.