Author: Adam Gazzaley & Larry Rosen

Author: Arun Sundararajan

Author: David Sax

Author: Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Comments: Lynda Gratton, together with her colleague from the London Business School, continues her exploration of the future of work with this essay on the challenges and intelligent choices that all of us, of any age, need to make in order to turn greater life expectancy into a gift and not a curse. We need to move away from the three-stage approach to our working lives: education, followed by work, and then retirement since life expectancy is rising, final-salary pensions are vanishing and an increasing number of people are juggling multiple careers.

Author: Robert Gordon

Author: David Crystal

Author: Adam Grant

Publisher: Viking

Comments: Adam Grant from Wharton School, addresses the challenge of improving the world, from the perspective of becoming original: choosing to champion novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battle conformity, and buck outdated traditions. How can we originate new ideas, policies, and practices without risking it all? He tells surprising stories from different areas of life which explore how to recognise a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act and manage fear and doubt. He looks at how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children, and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent. Specific examples inlude Apple, the CIA, Finance and TV.

Author: Alan Lewis and Dan McKone

Author: Sydney Finkelstein

Author: Emma McClendon

Author: Joshua Cooper Ramo

Author: Alan Treadgold and Jonathan Reynolds

Author: Joshua Gans

Author: Vijay Govindarajan

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Comments:Probably one of the classics in management theory about innovation, The Three Box Solution develops Harvard Professor Govindarajan’s idea that, in order to innovate, companies need to create a separate innovation team; nevertheless linked to the core business; and evaluated not in terms of financial metrics but in terms of its ability to test assumptions about the future. Box 1 is about managing the present. It is about competing for the present through incremental measures and is about closing the performance gap. Boxes 2 and 3 are about selectively forgetting the past and creating the future. They are therefore about competing for the future by responding to weak and non-linear signals to develop new business models and new customers. This is about closing the possibility gap. Each of the two areas must benefit from separate resources which need to be ring-fenced so that, when times get tough, the creation of the future is not jeopardised.

watch him

See also The Day after Tomorrow: how to survive in times of radical innovation by Peter Hinssen

and Dealing with Darwin: how great companies innovate at every stage of their evolution by Geoffrey A. Moore

Author: Klaus Schwab

Attracting and engaging tomorrow's consumers How can retailers create winning customer experiences in a digital age?

Organisational change and leadership

The consumer is constantly transforming and you must keep up. How can you build innovation from within? How can you build a more agile organisation that can keep pace with the change ?

Customer experience

From technology to the people who sell your products, making your customer (your guest) feel special has never been more important. What strategies fly or fail? Who is winning and why?

Disruption and innovation

Who is doing what differently and why does it work? From young entrepreneurs making waves in retail and related industries, to established brands revising their business and customer engagement models – the Congress is dedicated to shaking up your thinking.

Engaging with your consumer

How do you talk to your customer across marketing, advertising and social media? How should you be?

International expansion

Conquering the world is no easy feat, but it can be easier. What can be learned from the battles won and lost by retailers around the globe who continue to expand?

New markets (and old)

Iran and parts of Asia and Africa hold exciting retail potential, while the way the BRICs need to be approached is changing. Get to grips with the entry challenges and opportunities in these markets.

Future-gazing: What’s next?

From the way consumers will shop, to mobile use and shifting demographics – what is on the horizon for retail?

Author: Afdhel Aziz & Bobby Jones

Publisher: Regan Arts

Comments:We have been talking for a long time about the new marketing model. This book is a contribution to that debate. Millennials and Gen Z no longer trust advertising. While they still insist on cutting-edge products, they demand increased social responsibility from their brands. Brands have always had to be cool. Now they also need to be good. The authors, both from marketing, use a provocative and street-wise style to critique conventional marketing to advocate creating a new model in which great marketing optimises life. They use insights and interviews with Zappos, Citibank, The Honest Company, as well as Lady Gaga, Pharell and Justin Bieber. The latest manifestation of conscious capitalism.

Author: Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind

Author: Catherine J. Turco

Author: Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson

Agenda

• Agenda

Theme 2015

Asia Fast Forward

This year's APRCE has adopted the theme "ASIA FAST FORWARD" to highlight the region's growing strength as an economic community. Everything is converging in Asia as the fastest growing economic region in the world. The pace and scale of change in our part of the world have been staggering and the global business community is looking at Asia more than ever, for investment opportunities and future business expansion.

According to the United Nations, the Asia Pacific region accounts for 60% of the world's population with an estimated 4 billion people, making it a top destination for global retail chains. Asia continues to serve as the main driver of retail growth in the world as countries' economies develop and grow robustly. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, retail sales volume in Asia Pacific is forecasted to grow 6% in 2013 and will maintain this upward momentum until 2016 with an estimated market worth of US$11.8 Trillion. Furthermore, in the recent Nielsen Global Consumer Survey, Asia Pacific leads in global consumer confidence for the last quarter of 2013. It is the only region in the world that has gained in consumer confidence, increasing four points from the same period last 2012. With a growing critical mass of population in Asia Pacific, it is no doubt that the region warrants long-term investments and tailored market strategies.

There is no better time to be in Asia than NOW!

Roundtables

• Big Data in the Retail Environment
• Customer Engagement and Loyalty
• Design Best Practices
• Merchandising to Mobile and Social
• Omnichannel Fulfillment
• Web Influenced Retail

Digital Tactics That Work

This year's Summit includes plenty of tactically focused programs led by specialists :

• Digital Retail Boot Camp is an intense day of tactical training on the fundamentals of e-commerce
• Roundtables : various topics with small groups of digital retail trendsetters
• Doctor Is In: One-on-One Website Critiques

New Ideas That Inspire

• Keynote Sessions
• Exhibitor BIG !deas

Plans That Succeed

Breakout Sessions are tactical, comprehensive, and presented by industry experts, and will help turn those big ideas into reality. Sessions are broken out into six tracks:

• Channel Convergence– examine changing customer expectations/experiences; new omnichannel organizational paradigms and success measures; new models for fulfillment and delivery; and the omnichannel roadmap – planning and prioritizing for market
• Conversion and Acquisition – explore website design and usability tips, tools and techniques for video and chat, as well as online marketing tips and tactics such as email, organic search, and paid search
• Digital Technology (NEW!) – focus on digital transformation, or the use of new digital technologies such as social, mobile, analytics or embedded devices, to enable major business improvements and foster competitiveness by enhancing customer experience, streamlining operations or creating new business models
• Dynamic Marketing – learn insights about advertising through social channels, best practices in personalization and attribution, and customer lifetime value strategies
• Inspiration and Innovation – discover fresh concepts and new business models that leverage digital capabilities to turn retailing on its head
• Mobile First – understand the pros and cons of specific mobile tactics; how shoppers are using different channels and devices; and mobile-specific 1:1 marketing capabilities like geo-targeting, mobile wallets and beacons