Youth unemployment, a sign of future problems?

Looking at youth unemployment figures across Europe, one can't help but to think that these must be signs for increasing future unrest. Not only will these unemployed youngsters find it very hard to reintegrate the labor market once times get better -even if most of them are very highly educated-, but more importantly the differences between European countries indicate a fundamental disparity among these countries and, hence, a failure of the European construction...  Mind you, I am in favor of the European Union, but the way it works now just seems inefficient if it leads to such unbalances ..

Strategic Market Intelligence, how to define your strategic direction based on your own research...

Do you think you need external companies to gather data about your market?
Do you think strategic market research is difficult and expensive?
Do you think market data is unambiguous and the conclusions crystal clear?

... well think again... here's some tips and tricks to perform market intelligence yourself, that still leads to valuable input for your strategic decisions:

Strategic market intelligence tips and myths voka april 2013 from Frederic De Meyer

Are consumers ready for the sharing economy?

It's so GenY, isn't it? Not wanting to 'own' stuff anymore, but paying for it only if and when you use it... it works for cars (even in my home country), for holiday resorts, for working space... could it work for clothes, for computers or for your garden? Well, why not... As a recent article in The Economist explains, there are plenty of very good reasons to prefer rental over ownership, and these reasons are not limited to GenY, to be honest...

The idea is not new neither. A library does nothing else than 'sharing' books (for a fee), to take just one example. Maybe -and that's just my thought- the renewal of the sharing trend is just a way to get back to our very fundamental instincts... at any rate, it is a trend bound for amplification...

The New Sharing Economy

8 new ways to compete in the new normal

8 new ways to compete in the new normal from Frederic De Meyer

How to use megatrend assessments in innovation workshops

How to turn knowledge on long-term (mega)trends into ideas for innovation in your company and/or industry? Here's some ideas on how to integrate them in innovation workshops:

Options for using megatrends in innovation workshops from Frederic De Meyer

The future according to Microsoft...

Some nice features in this video showing how Microsoft sees the future...:

Some nice examples of social entrepreneurs

Can you run a business without aiming to maximize profits? And in the meantime do good for society? Or better: making profit by doing good for society! Welcome in the world of social entrepreneurship...