Introduction
Explore cutting-edge findings from Harvard that align with Rakuten Group’s ethos of global expansion balanced with local insights, innovation through diversity, and meticulous customer focus — delving into the demand for sizable reskilling programs and the advantages of leveraging partnerships for diverse, effective talent development.
Insights
The Crowdless Future? How Generative AI is Shaping the Future of Human Crowdsourcing
By: Léonard Boussioux, Jacqueline N. Lane, Miaomiao Zhang, Vladimir Jacimovic, and Karim R. Lakhani
Leverage AI for Rapid and Cost-Effective Solutions
The research shows that AI can generate a high volume of solutions (730 solutions in under 2 hours at $0.037 per solution) rapidly and cheaply. As Rakuten is a tech-driven company, integrating AI like GPT-4 into your business strategy could help generate innovative solutions at a fraction of the time and cost.
Combine Human and AI Strengths
While AI solutions were rated higher on value and feasibility, human solutions were rated higher on novelty. This suggests that a combined approach leveraging both human creativity and AI efficiency could yield the best results. Consider implementing a strategy that integrates AI technology with human input to maximize the novelty, value, and feasibility of business solutions.
Using GPT for Market Research
By: James Brand, Ayelet Israeli, and Donald Ngwe
The study shows that GPT-3 can be a cost-effective tool for understanding consumer preferences, with its responses exhibiting patterns consistent with economic theory and empirical evidence on consumer behavior. This could be a game-changer for Rakuten, as it could significantly reduce the costs and time associated with traditional market research methods.
The study also provides guidelines for querying GPT-3 effectively, such as randomizing response order options to mitigate order bias and carefully phrasing prompts. Implementing these techniques could enhance the accuracy of the insights derived from GPT-3, leading to more effective business strategies for Rakuten.
While GPT-3 shows promise, it’s important to be aware of its limitations, such as sensitivity to prompt wording and structure, and the potential for incorrect responses. Rakuten should consider these factors when integrating GPT-3 into its market research processes.
The study suggests that future improvements in LLMs could further enhance their ability to infer consumer behavior. Rakuten should stay abreast of these developments to continually optimize its use of these tools.
LLM’s as Simulated Economic Agents: What Can We Learn from Homo Silicus?
By: John J. Horton
Leverage LLMs for Business Strategy
As Rakuten Group is a global leader in internet services, consider leveraging large language models (LLMs) like GPT-3 for simulating economic scenarios. This could be particularly useful in testing new business strategies or marketing campaigns before their actual implementation. The article suggests that LLMs can generate human-like responses and provide valuable insights at a low cost, making them a cost-effective tool for strategic planning.
Invest in AI Research and Development
Given the promising results of using LLMs in economic simulations, it might be beneficial for Rakuten to invest more in AI research and development. The experiments with GPT-3 in the article replicated results from classic behavioral economics papers, indicating the potential of these models in understanding and predicting consumer behavior. This could be a game-changer for Rakuten’s e-commerce platforms and other consumer-facing services.
Detecting Routines: Applications to Ridesharing CRM
By: Ryan Dew, Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer, and Nachum Sicherman
Implement the Bayesian nonparametric model
The article introduces a new statistical model that can estimate individual-level routines from transaction timing data. This model can be highly beneficial for Rakuten, given its diverse portfolio of services. By understanding the routines of your customers, you can better predict their future usage, reduce churn, and increase resilience to service failures.
Focus on ‘when’ rather than ‘where’
The research found that focusing on ‘when’ customers transact is more predictive than ‘where’ they transact. This insight could be crucial for Rakuten’s customer relationship management strategy. By focusing on the timing of transactions, you can better understand your customers’ routines and tailor your services to meet their needs at the right time.
Mapping Organizational-Level Networks Using Individual-Level Connections: Evidence from Online Professional Networks
By: Shelley Li, Frank Nagle, and Aner Zhou
Invest in Employee Networking
The study reveals that a firm’s position in the employee network significantly impacts its value and innovation. Encourage Rakuten employees at all levels to actively network and build connections within and outside the industry. This could be facilitated through professional networking platforms like LinkedIn or through networking events and collaborations.
Prioritize R&D and Innovation
The positive relationship between a firm’s centrality in the network and its value is stronger when firms have higher R&D spending. This suggests that innovation is a key link between centrality and value. Therefore, Rakuten should continue to invest in R&D and foster an environment that encourages innovation.
The Benefits of Revealing Race: Evidence from Minority-owned Local Businesses
By: Abhay Aneja, Michael Luca and Oren Reshef
The paper highlights the role of platform design in supporting minority-owned firms. As the CEO of Rakuten, consider implementing features that allow users to identify and support minority-owned businesses on your platform. The study shows that such features can increase customer engagement and business performance by 50-100%.
Target Progressive Groups
The study found larger effects in more politically liberal and less racially biased areas, suggesting support from progressive groups. This indicates that progressive groups could be a key demographic for Rakuten to target in its marketing and user engagement strategies.
Tech For All Lab Explores Innovation in Women’s Health
By: Rem Koning and Noa Ben Haim
The article highlights the significant gaps in women’s health, particularly in areas like menopause and endometriosis, which affect a large percentage of women but have been historically underserved. As a leader in e-commerce and technology, Rakuten could consider investing in startups or initiatives that leverage technology to address these gaps, potentially creating new market opportunities.
The article emphasizes the importance of diversity in innovation, noting that women inventors tend to focus more on women’s health issues. Rakuten could further promote diversity and inclusion within its own organization, encouraging a wider range of ideas and solutions that cater to different demographics. This could also enhance Rakuten’s reputation as a socially responsible company.
HBR: How AI Will Accelerate the Circular Economy
By: Shirley Lu and George Serafeim
Embrace the Circular Economy
The article highlights the potential of a circular economy, which could create trillions of dollars in value. As the CEO of Rakuten, you could consider integrating circular economy principles into your business model. This could involve increasing product utilization, improving material efficiency, and using more recycled materials.
Leverage AI and Digital Tools
The article emphasizes the role of AI and digital tools in accelerating the shift towards a circular economy. Rakuten, being a technology-driven company, could leverage its technological capabilities to drive sustainability efforts. This could involve using AI to improve material efficiency or using digital tools to trace the lifecycle of products and facilitate recycling.
The article suggests that sustainability-focused funds could bridge the gap between traditional venture capital and private equity, supporting the adoption and scaling of circular solutions. As a leader in the e-commerce industry, Rakuten could consider investing in such funds or even establishing its own to support startups developing circular solutions.
The Hidden Benefits of Giving Back to Open Source Software
By: Frank Nagle, Kristen Senz
Encourage Open Source Contribution
The research shows that companies that allow their employees to contribute to open source software on company time can boost the company’s productivity by as much as 100 percent, compared to competitors who do not contribute. Encouraging your software developers at Rakuten to contribute to open source projects could therefore significantly enhance productivity and innovation.
Leverage Learning by Contributing
The study suggests that contributing to open source projects provides employees with valuable insights and knowledge, which can be a source of competitive advantage. As a tech-driven company, Rakuten could benefit from this “learning by contributing” approach, not only improving the skills of your developers but also enhancing the company’s technological capabilities.
HBR: Reskilling in the Age of AI
By: Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic, and Raffaella Sadun
Invest in Reskilling
The article highlights that new automation technologies are predicted to eliminate 14% of the world’s jobs and radically transform another 32% within 15 to 20 years. This indicates a significant need for reskilling. As the CEO of Rakuten Group, you should consider investing in large-scale reskilling programs to prepare your workforce for the future.
Leverage Partnerships
The article suggests that reskilling takes place in an ecosystem where governments, industry, academia, and NGOs have roles to play. As such, Rakuten Group could benefit from partnering with educational institutions, nonprofits, and other companies to conduct joint training efforts and reach diverse talent. This could help to mitigate the challenges of reskilling and ensure a more diverse and skilled workforce.
In Summary
Latest Harvard research underscores the pressing need for reskilling and collaboration; insights that may resonate well with your ethos of ‘glocal’ approach. The imminent workforce transformation underlined by automation technologies offers a critical opportunity for Rakuten to invest in large-scale reskilling while forming strategic global partnerships to enhance skill diversity, ultimately augmenting its customer-centric business model.