The Prosumer Report

Prosumers blur the lines between "Professional" and "Consumer", making very little distinction between their work and home lives. As they bring their personal values and interests into the business world, they will fundamentally change the way deals are done, decisions are made, and products are brought to market. We seek to chronicle their rise.

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"Innovation from the Edges": SAP to Begin Actively Recruiting People With Autism

Today, SAP announced that it will begin actively recruiting employees with autism, describing this group of people as having a "strong attention to detail and an ability to identify mistakes"—an important skill for highly technical programming jobs. 

After a successful pilot programs in India and Ireland, SAP will expand the program in the US, Canada and Germany. 

Further, SAP sees people with autism as a new fount of innovation and creativity that will help advance the technology companies of the future:

"We share a common belief that innovation comes from the edges," said Luisa Delgado, an SAP director who added that the company valued the ability of many autistic people to "think differently and spark innovation."

Read more at Financial Times and Washington Post. 

Read a fascinating New York Times article about Specialisterne, the Danish social enterprise consultancy that helps find employment for people with autism, and is consulting with SAP on its efforts. 

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Reuters TV accompanies SAP Co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe on his busy day at the CeBit technology conference in Hannover, Germany earlier in March. 

"I see [the role of] the CEO as an enabler for people to be successful. And that's a level of generosity."

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Bill McDermott Talks Shop with Next Generation of Leaders at Duke University

"To lead, you need to be a person who wants to help others."

-Bill McDermott

SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott spoke before future leaders at Duke University's Fuqua School on Tuesday, January 29 as part of the business school's distinguished speaker series.

Afterward, he was interviewed by the Duke Chronicle student newspaper.  McDermott discussed his leadership philosophy, the importance of "the generosity gene," and how SAP's "customer first" mentality empowers businesses to run like never before. 

Read the full interview.

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Vishal talks Healthcare and Banking and how SAP is improving lives:

"It takes 30 days to process genome data. 30 days is too long for a cancer patient. We should be able to understand the patterns of the genome while you are in the hospital with the doctor in a few minutes."

"Financial transactions are a basic human need. 80% of Indians don't have a bank account. We have been working [with Digital Identity For All Indians] so that a person can ask for a $10 loan on a small phone and get an answer in seconds. That is powerful. That empowers people."

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SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott talks with CNBC's Jim Cramer about Big Data, Ariba, the NFL and how SAP HANA is helping companies win.

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Small Business Saturday, Not So Small Anymore

In just 3 years, Small Business Saturday has grown into an impactful, nationwide event. 

This past Saturday was the third annual Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday held after Thanksgiving with the goal of driving more business into smaller and locally owned businesses. 

In 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Kenneth Chenault, CEO of American Express officially designated the Saturday after Thanksgiving as ‘Small Business Saturday.’ During the holiday season, the nationwide initiative urges customers to spend their precious dollars at small and local businesses in their communities.

With backing from the government and almost 100,000 consumers registered, in the three years since its inception, Small Business Saturday has already had a hugely positive impact on small businesses around the country. 

By shopping at a small business, consumers can help to keep smaller and local companies alive. In today’s rocky economic times, small businesses are creating much-needed jobs and positively contributing to their local communities. 

This year, 66% (up from 47% last year) of consumers planned to shop at a small business this past Saturday. While exact figures have not appeared yet, anecdotal feedback suggests that the day was a success for many smaller retailers nationwide. 

Learn more about at American Express’s Small Business Saturday site.

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Prosumer Video: Tim Jahnigen's One World Futbol Project

"For Children, Play is the Most Healing Therapy"

The One World Futbol Project has created a virtually indestructible street soccer ball to allow kids to play on any surface without fear of a flat ball. He is a prime example of an entrepreneur taking cues from his knowledge and experience to create a technologically sophisticated product that elegantly solves a simple problem while creating lasting happiness and play in underdeveloped parts of the world. 

Watch Jahnigen's TED Talk: "Keeping the Spirit of Play Alive"

Learn more about the One World Futbol Project. 

[Video via NYTimes.com]

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Cisco Buys Cloud Networking Start-up Meraki for $1.2 Billion

As the 9-to-5 office gives way to the 24/7 blackberry, business leaders of the next generation will rely on technology to bridge the gap between the virtual and the physical workspace. Cisco's $1.2 billion cash acquisition of Meraki - a cloud provider that makes remote networking possible - is evidence of this growing business and consumer trend.

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Bill McDermott @ SAPPHIRE NOW Madrid 2012: Who is the Consumer of Today

"The power has gone from the enterprise and big companies to consumers. We are no longer in a B2B world. We are in a B2BC world."

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Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEO, SAP talks about Ariba

"With Arriba we open a new chapter of processes between companies. We create new opportunities for companies to team up around the entire value chain."

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Giants Add Technology to Their Training Staff

Read more here.

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Listen, Then Respond

Thanks to its sustainable business model and strategic new initiatives, professional community LinkedIn has emerged as a social networking leader. Among its many new focus points, LinkedIn has invested in the development of its branded professional groups. While many have seen success, none have experienced such exponential growth as Citi’s Connect Professional Women’s Network. With twice the engagement of any other group and 50 percent of members visiting at least weekly, Citi’s group has over 70,000 people… and has only existed for 6 months. Citi initially started the branded community to serve as a discussion board and area for members to post relevant articles. Additionally, the group is a branding opportunity for Citi and an inside look at the mindsets of their female customers. With dozens of professional Women’s networks on LinkedIn, why is Citi’s so successful? Marketing leaders from Citi attribute the success to their listen-and-respond model. First, they listen to what members want to discuss and then, they create content and discussion topics centered around those topics. It the past, posts that receive the most engagement focus on emotionally charged topics including bullying and the ongoing ‘can women have it all?’ argument. Citi’s branded community has become a leader because its topic choices are user generated. In a world where social media has made it possible for anyone to be a writer, photographer and op-ed journalist, the networks that are thriving are using a ‘pull’ model and letting consumers do the talking. Furthermore, the success of emotionally sensitive topics demonstrates that even in the midst of professionally geared social networks, Prosumer’s participation is still value-driven. Branded communities, on LinkedIn and elsewhere, can emulate Citi’s success by remembering and following two key principles: 1.    Listen, then respond Citi has been able to choose successful topics because they listen. Instead of projecting their own messaging and hoping for responses, Citi lets users call the shots. In return, they are able to interact members of one of their most valuable target markets in a sheltered community where users feel safe. In addition to posting discussion topics, Citi also runs ads along the discussion board and facilitates sponsored polls. 2.    Feelings drive behavior – even on professional networks Although LinkedIn is typically used for functionality rather than entertainment, the success of groups like Citi’s show that feelings still drive behavior. Brands can tap into this by curating conversations that center around the issues that truly matter most to their target market. In every facet of their lives -- even their professional networking, prosumers are being their whole selves. They are making decisions based on who they are as a person, their values and the things that mean most to them. 

Brands that are effective on professional networks are the ones that tap into this and provide individuals with outlets for their emotion, values and creativity.

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"I did what I know best and asked for my medical records so that I could share them with as many people as possible"

A Radical Approach To Finding A Cure

"When you become officially sick, doctors stop talking to you and start talking about medical records. They are speaking about you, but you don't understand anything about it," he said.

So Salvatore took his frustration and did something about it - he hacked open his medical records and published them on line - creating Open Source Cure the first crowdsourcing diagnosis platform.

With his engineering background, Salvatore was able to change the format, but it wasn't an easy process. He had to compress images, download software and write some code. "I could do it, but not many would have been able to," he said.

Within days of launching, the site was inundated with responses. Now, more than 60 neurologists, neurosurgeons and radiologists are collaborating virtually on his case.

The Italian government, after hearing about Open Source Cure, is now considering ways to open up patient medical records.

Getting Ready For The Future of Medicine 

As electronic medical records become default, the opportunity for collaboration is going to increase. Many see crowdsourcing as the next step in medicine.

This will require software that is open source and technology that can partner with various ecosystems.

For people like Salvatore, the change cannot come soon enough. "[This is an] opportunity to understand how to use technology, science and human goodwill in a collaborative way...It is just good that a large amount of people are taking into account the possibility that there are other ways to do things," he said.

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Half the Sky

While American women may still be trying to shatter the ‘glass ceiling’, abroad all they see is sky. After coming out of Maoist socialism, China had huge new moneymaking opportunities open to all. Gender mattered less than ambition and leadership.

He Yongzhi, female entrepreneur and self-made billionaire, pays tribute to equality of women in China. “I think this shows that in China, now more than ever, rewards come to those who have a good idea and work for it.”

The differing role of women in business abroad is something to consider in global markets.

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Prosumer Profile: Sam McCracken

  Name, Title: Sam McCracken, General Manager Native American Business

Company: Nike

His Story: Sam grew up on a Sioux-Assiniboine tribe reservation in Montana, starting his career at Nike in a distribution warehouse. He worked his way up to a management position, went on to lead Nike's Native American Employee Network, and wrote a business plan focused on how the company could build relationships with 250 Indian tribes.

Sam's personal passion is improving the health of the Indian community and is a firm believer in how the power of sports can transform a person and a community. In 2007, he helped launched the Air Native N7, Nike's first shoe designed to meet the foot shape and width needs of Native Americans, and to help promote physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates.

His importance: Sam is part of a new breed of Intrapeneurs - those who bring their full passions unafraid to share who they are and what they care about. When given the right opportunities Intrapeneurs can drive real change and innovation within the walls of their organization.

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Triple Bottom Lines: People, Planet, Profit

Prosumers are part of a rising generation of business leaders recalibrating the traditional view of profit to include Triple Bottom Lines: People, Planet, and Profit.

A Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to business means evaluating a company's performance not only on its quarterly earnings (profit) but its impact on the community (people) and environment (planet) in which it operates.

Prosumers are the quintessential business leaders of 'triple bottom line' companies ranging from startups to Fortune 1000 companies. 

They include people like Adam Lowry, Co-Founder and Chief Greenskeeper of Method Products which offsets the carbon footprint of its company and its suppliers; David Gilboa, Co-Founder of Warby Parker whose eyewear company sent 85,000 pairs of glasses to people around the world who needed them but couldn't afford them; and longtime sustainability champion Yvon Chouinard, co-founder of Patagonia which commits 1% of its sales to environmental groups each year.

While it may be tempting to label TBL companies as those selling green or eco-friendly products, the belief that corporations should contribute to social and environmental progress is shared by leaders across industries.

According to a recent study by Deloitte, 7 out of 10 business leaders believe the success of a business should not be measured on profit alone. More than half, believe that business has the potential to solve the world's biggest challenges, more so than the government, NGOs or charities.

Prosumers are part of a rising generation of business leaders that blend the distinction between profit and progress, believing that companies should no longer have to make a choice between improving the global status quo and growing their business.

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Prosumer Profile: Manoj Bhargava

A son in a wealthy Indian family that had to reinvent itself after immigrating to Philadelphia in the late 1960s, Bhargava understood the rewards of hard, diligent work. One of his first ventures at age 17 was to buy a Chevy dumptruck to clear out debris from demolitions in rough Philadelphia neighborhoods. Although he encountered enormous rats and regular gun violence throughout the summer, he turned a profit on his project--and moved on to the next one. 

After a short stint at Princeton, spending his twenties traveling between ashrams in his native India and a successful career in the plastics industry, Bhargava the serial entrepreneur hit the jackpot in the early 2000s. After trying an invigorating energy drink at a natural foods trade show, he realized that there was big market potential for small, portable energy drinks. 5 Hour Energy was born—and it now has over $1 billion in retail sales and 90% of the energy shot market. 

Although Bhargava could live comfortably on his wealth, his entrepreneurial spirit persists in the form of new, forward-thinking ventures. He has put close to $100 million behind Stage 2 Innovations, a Detroit-based tech venture fund that is working on vital technologies like water desalination, hydroponic farming, and clean hydraulic automotive engines. To lead this project, Bhargava reached across industries to partner with former Chrysler Group CEO Tom LaSorda. The hydraulic engine they are working on could increase fuel efficiency by 60%; the hydroponic farming techniques could transform agriculture in drought-prone areas in the Middle East and Africa. 

Bhargava is an exemplary modern entrepreneur: scaling up his ideas from company to company and using his wealth to enable "big dream" projects that help improve our world. 

Read the full February 2012 profile of Manoj Bhargava in Forbes.