Articles

Approaches to Developing Leadership Skills in Frontline Supervisors and Managers September 6, 2023 Developing leadership skills in frontline supervisors and managers holds immense organizational possibilities and opportunities, and organizations that succeed in this area are more likely to cultivate a friendly and inclusive work culture for the entire organization. Our Customer Service Peer Group meeting on August 10th discussed this topic in-depth, where participants learned how to explore the power of developing leadership skills in frontline supervisors for organizational success and enhanced team performance. The meeting was led by UWEBC's Customer Service Practice Director Matthew Cone, with featured presentations from jIQ People Solutions, Northwestern Mutual, and Mason Companies.

Leveraging Sustainability in Tech to Drive Efficiency and Cost Savings August 2, 2023 In a rapidly evolving world driven by technology, the IT sector plays a central role in transforming how we live and work. However, as we witness unprecedented advancements leading to increased efficiency, we must also address the sustainability challenges arising in parallel. Sustainable IT practices are vital to reducing the carbon footprint, generating cost savings, and enhancing overall efficiency. By adopting eco-friendly measures, companies can contribute to a cleaner environment and achieve significant economic benefits. Our July IT Peer Group Meeting, led by UWEBC's Information Technology Practice Director Heidi Rozmiarek, explored how Trane and KMPG are leveraging sustainability in the tech industry to drive efficiency and cost savings while contributing to a greener future.

The Rise of Storytelling: How to Captivate Your Audience and Build Your Brand July 5, 2023 In today's digital age, where attention spans are shrinking and competition for audience engagement is fierce, businesses and brands are turning to video storytelling as a powerful tool to captivate their target audience and build a strong brand presence. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, which often focus on product features or promotional messages, video storytelling takes a more holistic approach by creating narratives that evoke emotions, spark curiosity, and resonate with the audience's values and aspirations.

Automating Customer Service Processes June 7, 2023 As companies strive to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the customer experience, the prevalence of process automation in customer care teams continues to grow in today's business environment. Companies must combine automation with human expertise and empathy to provide a superior customer experience that meets the needs and expectations of all their customers. Our Customer Service Peer Group meeting on May 18th discussed this topic in-depth, led by UWEBC's Customer Service Practice Director Matthew Cone, with featured presentations from Brian Hagel of Kohl's about Contact Center Automation and Nick Carpenter of Esker about Order Management examples and more.

Supply Chain Manager to Leader: Upskilling, Re-skilling and Retention May 3, 2023 In today's fast-paced and ever-changing market, upskilling, re-skilling, and retention have become critical factors in workforce development and talent management. As we see constant technological advancements and automation redefine industries and job roles, the need for organizations and employees to adapt and flourish has become more important than ever. Our Supply Chain Peer Group meeting on April 18th discussed this topic in-depth, where participants heard field experts share their thoughts on priorities and approaches to this upcoming necessity.

Hybrid Work is Here to Stay: Focus on Future of Work, Culture, and Inclusion April 5, 2023 Our Human Resources Executives Group meeting on March 10th was a hands-on learning experience where we heard from field experts on how to make a difference in the future of work. We explored experts' predictions on hybrid work and the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic on work culture. We also discussed how we might integrate the future of hybrid work with the needs of workplace culture, inclusion, and employee flexibility.

ChatGPT Workshop – A Hands-On Exploration for Marketers to Harness the Power of Generative AI March 1, 2023 In today’s fast-paced business world, adopting cutting-edge technologies can give you a significant competitive advantage. One such revolutionary technology is ChatGPT, a language model designed by OpenAI that is able to understand and generate human-like text. While our programming does not typically take on topics of bleeding-edge technology, the capabilities of generative AI have crossed the chasm with incredible capabilities with game-changing potential for many industries and applications, not the least of which is marketing. Our Marketing Peer Group meeting on February 9th was a hands-on demonstration of tips and tricks to harness the power of ChatGPT for three marketing use cases: segmenting audiences, brand positioning, and new product/service research.

Learn and Apply Essential XM Principles to Help Your Business Thrive February 1, 2023 On January 9th, the UWEBC kicked off its newest Boot Camp, elevating the discipline of Experience Management. We did this in partnership with Qualtrics XM Institute, a unit that operates within Qualtrics to offer tools and resources that help people design, deliver, and mature Experience Management (XM) programs. Greg Chase, XM Catalyst and head of the XM Pro network, led participants through the fundamentals of XM, drawing upon his depth of experiences to ground the learnings through real-world examples.

A Look Around the Corner: IT Trends for 2023 January 4, 2023 Our December 8, 2022, Information Technology peer group meeting discussed the key technology trends that will impact your strategic ambitions in the year ahead. More specifically, the participants heard from highly qualified speakers on technology trends, how to bridge the gap between remote and hybrid work, and the importance of AI and Automation to optimize business operations.

Transportation Industry Update: Capacity, Pricing and Sustainability December 7, 2022 There is a lot of uncertainty lately for Logistics professionals when it comes to forecasting the cost of moving freight and how to best optimize your network. During the November 3rd UWEBC Logistics and Distribution Peer Group meeting, business professionals gathered to learn from UWEBC member company Schneider, what industry analysts are seeing in the transportation industry as we head into 2023 and share insights and trends with other UWEBC members.

The Secret to Agile Marketing November 2, 2022 We know that in today’s world, customers are constantly changing shopping patterns, accompanied by an explosion of customer touchpoints and fast-changing competitive and technological dynamics, which have led to an increased emphasis on Agile Marketing. During the October 18th UWEBC Marketing Peer Group meeting, business professionals gathered to discuss a roadmap for the successful integration of Agile in marketing.

Strategies and Practices for Improving Retention of Customer Care Talents September 7, 2022 Our August 25th Customer Service Peer Group meeting discussed the very important topic of how to improve retention of customer care talent. More specifically, the group eagerly dove deeper into interactive presentations and conversations discussing how to help strengthen the bond between your team and your organization, making it easy for your best team members to find fulfillment in the work they do.

Supply Chain Analytics August 3, 2022 Our July 14th IT and Supply Chain peer group meeting discussed the prevalent topic of Supply Chain Analytics. More specifically, the group learned how to aggregate and use data analytics. Participants heard from highly qualified speakers on how to use analytics in a beneficial way to help optimize supply chain performance.

Intelligent Hiring: How to Recruit and Adapt in the Era of the Open World Workforce July 6, 2022 Our June 17th Human Resources Special Interest Group meeting discussed the topic of intelligent hiring. More specifically, how to recruit and adapt in the era of the open-world workforce. Participants heard from knowledgeable speakers on how forward-thinking companies are adapting to new recruiting realities.

Upskilling Your Supply Chain Team to Solve Tomorrow's Problems June 1, 2022 Our May 17th Logistics and Distribution Peer Group meeting discussed priorities and different approaches to help leaders upskill their teams, which can be used in supply chain management as well as other areas across the company. Skills have become “the new talent currency” across all industries. Now more than ever, organizations of all sizes are seeing a need to improve and refine the skills of their workforce in order to keep up with the rapid pace of change.

Member Perspectives on Improving Website UX May 4, 2022 The UWEBC Marketing Peer Group’s first in-person event in two years focused on a hot topic for our members – improving website user experience (UX). The confluence of increased website traffic in response to the Pandemic and the frenetic pace of new software introductions has made UX design a critical aspect of differentiation. The April 28th meeting explored how several members are advancing their efforts to deliver world class website experiences.

Digital Self-Service: How do We Get There? April 6, 2022 Although many companies are now embracing a more digital self-service approach, this process is rarely a smooth sailing one and many corporate giants have reported struggling during their own transition period. On March 10th, UWEBC’s Customer Service Peer Group meeting addressed these different challenges and the ways in which companies can continuously improve their self-service capabilities.

Conflict: Obstruction or Fuel to Agile Process? March 2, 2022 We have long viewed conflicts as a barrier to success. However, instead of viewing it in a negative light, could conflict be the source of fuel for agile progress? On February 22nd, participants of our Agile IT Special Interest Group discussed and reflected on this question, diving into their own conflict management experiences. With years of experience as an agile practitioner, Results Improvement Coach Joel Foner led this meeting with many thought-provoking questions and insightful perspectives on managing conflicts.

Supply Chain Resilience: Approaches to Balancing Cost vs Flow February 2, 2022 Our January 20th Supply Chain Management Peer Group meeting addressed various ways for balancing cost vs flow and the tradeoffs to consider during this period of change and recovery. Cost, time, and quality are all important to consider, especially because strength in one may require a compromise in another. A company must make key tradeoffs to balance the three in a way that’s optimal for meeting the company’s needs.

A Look Around the Corner: IT Trends for 2022 January 5, 2022 In the December 6 Information Technology Peer Group Meeting, participants captured a glimpse of the upcoming year in technology trends, enabling the propulsion of businesses to new heights in 2022. Whether it be accelerating growth, sculpting change or engineering trust, 2022 is sure to be an innovative year for our member companies. This event was also our second this year that had both an in-person and virtual aspect, catering to the needs of each participant.

Building and Maintaining a Composable E-Commerce Platform October 6, 2021The September 22nd IT Peer Group Web Meeting began with two simple questions: what is composable e-commerce and why should we use it? The first presentation of the morning had Trent Dudei (Software Development Manager at Sentry Insurance) talk about how Sentry leverages a composable architecture to accelerate personalization for both employees and consumers.

Managing Remote Customer Care Teams September 1, 2021Since the Covid-19 pandemic’s beginning in 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of remote work. In the August 19th Customer Service Peer Group web meeting, we discussed both the benefits and challenges of remote customer care, as well as what the future holds for remote work in this field.

Selling the C-Suite: How Trade Compliance Communicates its Value to the Broader Company August 4, 2021Learning how to communicate the strategic value of your trade compliance group with executives at your organization is a unique and complicated task to undertake. In the July 13th Trade Compliance Special Interest Group Web Meeting, we discussed ways to ease this task using leadership sponsors, clear communication, and quantifiable metrics, all to emphasize the importance of trade compliance.

IT Talent, Culture, and the Future of Work July 7, 2021A term coined “The Great Exhaustion” by the McKinsey Report tells us just how burnt out employees are and depicts the high anxiety they are experiencing as we round a monumental corner in the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the June 15th Information Technology Peer Group Web Meeting, we discussed how to combat this exhaustion and the future of remote work through covering strategies to navigate this unique transitional moment.

Emerging from the Pandemic: Innovating through Disruptions June 2, 2021What might be the longer-term shifts that come out of COVID, that we as leaders should consider? In our Product Management Special Interest Group on May 5, 2021, we answered that question and more, discussing the opportunities for innovation that have come out of the pandemic.

Meet Doug Barton: UWEBC's New Director April 30, 2020Doug Barton has joined our team in the newly created position of UWEBC Director. With more than 30 years of experience, Doug brings a diverse background working with and leading values-rich companies, including senior leadership positions at UBIX.AI and IBM. Doug's latest work focused on helping leaders understand the strategic implications of digital technologies and how to leverage them to serve customers with efficiency and precision.

Getting to Know the UWEBC's New Marketing Practice Director, Chris Murray November 1, 2018After working for 20 years in digital marketing, Chris Murray has joined the UW E-Business Consortium as the Marketing Practice Director. Chris' experience includes helping global brands from across industries learn about and leverage marketing strategies and tools. Most recently, he consulted on cloud marketing software at Salesforce, ExactTarget, Sailthru and Appirio with a wide-ranging client list that included Fidelity, Best Buy, Groupon and Bissell.

Setting Off on New Adventures: Alfonso Gutierrez Retires From UWEBC, RFID Lab and IoT Center July 5, 2017After more than 15 years, five positions, and countless projects and papers, Alfonso Gutierrez retired from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on June 30. Alfonso’s roles with the UW-Madison have been as varied as his interests.

A Fond Farewell: Thanks to Sandra Bradley, the UWEBC's Marketing Practice Director November 28, 2016After 10 years of innovative leadership, Sandra Bradley, the UWEBC’s Marketing Practice Director, is leaving the consortium December 29. Sandra has been on the forefront of many of the consortium’s advancements. From live webcasting meetings to testing Open Space break-out sessions, Sandra has embraced new technologies and methods for peer-to-peer learning. Sandra said her time with the UWEBC has helped to hone her appreciation of collaborative learning, which she plans to continue to foster.

UWEBC Announces Two New Supply Chain Management Peer Groups November 3, 2016The UWEBC’s Supply Chain Management Peer Group is a dynamic, diverse group. With backgrounds that vary from sourcing and procurement to distribution and transportation, our members in this group have wide-ranging job responsibilities. In fact, many procurement professionals may never cross paths with logistics counterparts, although they all are called ‘supply chain management.’

Five Leading IT Trends: What's Important Now April 1, 20152015 has marked a shift to greater complexity, opportunities and risks in IT as organizations begin to collaboratively innovate to the next generation in online technologies. The following trends can help leaders embrace major shifts in IT and highlight IT strategies for leveraging a competitive advantage.

Engaging Customers on Facebook With Dark Posts December 1, 2014There are a dizzying array of social media channels, strategies and tactics for marketers. On Facebook alone, you can create, promote and boost posts, ads, pages, events and more. At the November 13 Web and Multichannel Marketing Peer Group meeting, UWEBC members discussed social media strategies that have worked well for them.

GPS and Mobile will be Key Strategies for Marketers in 2014 January 30, 2014Three phrases can summarize the strategies marketers should focus on in 2014, according to Todd LaBeau, Vice President of Digital for Lindsay, Stone & Briggs: embrace your place, change the future, and keep it short.

Training Agents for the Multichannel Contact Center January 30, 2014In today's hyper-connected and multichannel world, customers expect to have relevant and personal conversations through their channel of choice. In the past few years, many contact centers have added at least one new channel in their communication mix. With more channels and more complex customer interactions, hiring and training agents to meet the challenges of today’s contact center is difficult.

Optimizing Marketing's Influence on the Customer Journey November 22, 2013Natasha Moonka, Product Marketing Manager, adometry, discussed how to correctly attribute various customer events and their contribution to organizational growth and strategic objectives at the Web and Multichannel Marketing Peer Group meeting on November 7.

Major Shift Occuring in Contact Center Quality Monitoring November 22, 2013With the development of new technologies, call center quality monitoring (QM) is currently experiencing transformational changes, according to Bill Durr, Principal, Verint Systems. Durr discussed contact center quality monitoring during the UWEBC’s Customer Service Peer Group meeting on November 20, 2013.

Driving S&OP to the Bottom Line November 22, 2013Mitch Bourget, Principal, Accenture, discussed the common challenges of sales and operations planning (S&OP) and how to overcome them with a strategic approach that will ultimately impact the bottom line at the November 15 Supply Chain Management Peer Group meeting.

Security and the Cloud October 30, 2013The characteristics that make Cloud computing useful for an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are the same ones that can make Cloud security problematic. Kenneth G. Hartman, Security Architect for TDS Hosted & Managed Services, discussed Cloud computing characteristics and Cloud security challenges during the UWEBC's IT Peer Group meeting on October 30, 2013.

Six Ingredients of Better Marketing October 30, 2013Rand Fishkin, CEO and Co-Founder, Moz and co-author of The Art of SEO, presented six ingredients for better marketing at the UWEBC 15th annual Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference on October 1, 2013.

Branding for Remarkable Success October 2, 2013Tom Kalinske, former Mattel and Sega CEO and LeapFrog president, delved into the game-changing strategies that were fundamental in turning around world-renowned brands including Mattel, Sega, and Leap Frog in his opening keynote address at the UWEBC's 15th Annual Conference.

Using Predictable Changes to Create Competitive Advantage October 2, 2013Daniel Burrus, a world-renowned futurist on global trends and innovation, addressed the driving forces of predictable changes and how companies can develop game-changing strategies by capitalizing on emerging technological trends in his closing keynote address at the UWEBC's 15th Annual Conference.

UWEBC Annual Conference a Grand Success October 2, 2013The 15th annual Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference, hosted by the UW E-Business Consortium (UWEBC) on Oct. 1 at the Monona Terrace in Madison, was attended by more than 650 executives and senior managers from leading Wisconsin companies.

New Approaches to Sales Training August 23, 2013New sales training and coaching should provide market-ready messages and tools that marketers and salespeople can use to tell a compelling story, according to Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Corporate Visions, Inc.

Leverage Your Most Valuable Asset: Agent Engagement August 26, 2013Employee engagement thought leader and author of the game-changing book, "The Napkin, The Melon, & The Monkey," Barbara Burke discussed her approach for cultivating successful customer service centers at the August 22 Customer Service Peer Group meeting, "The Supervisor as Coach".

Managing Digital Teams for Success July 11, 2013In the UWEBC Web and Multichannel Marketing Peer Group meeting on July 11, Steve Duesbury, Solution Lead of Digital Strategy and Transformation at Acquity Group, detailed the central challenges of digital organization and solutions to maximize an organization's sales capacity online.

Most Common SEO Mistakes Marketers Make June 30, 2013Stephan Spencer, a search engine optimization consultant and author of “The Art of SEO" and “Google Power Search,” held an online workshop on the most common SEO mistakes marketers make during the UWEBC's Web and Multichannel Marketing Web Clinic on June 5, 2013.

Keys to Successful Employee Collaboration Intitiatives June 30, 2013UWEBC discussed the keys to the successful implementation of employee collaboration communications with Owens and Michael Waisbrot, Senior Manager, Managed Services, CDW. UWEBC member company CDW has recently been working on an initiative that they call “Cloud Collaboration.”

Lessons from a Successful SharePoint 2013 Upgrade June 5, 2013UWEBC member company, Skyline Technologies, addressed the useful enhancements and implementation strategies of SharePoint 2013, a major new release of the Microsoft enterprise document management and intranet/extranet portal platform that builds upon previous releases in 2007 and 2010.

Content Strategy for the Web May 31, 2013 Christina Halverson, CEO Brian Traffic, says "Brands need to care about content more than ever, because that is what drives their relationship with any of their customers or potential customers online."

Successful Contact Center Knowledge Management Turns Information into Actionable Insights April 25, 2013 Nina Patel, Director, Oracle, demonstrated how KM systems have the ability to incorporate customer information and recommendations to improve the content, usability, and overall quality of the contact center knowledge base during the UWEBC’s Customer Service Peer Group Meeting on April 16.

UWEBC Member, Greenheck Named Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year... Again! April 25, 2013UWEBC member company, Greenheck was recently selected as the 2012 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year. Greenheck, with corporate headquarters in Schofield, Wisconsin, is a global manufacturer of air movement and control equipment.

Increase Adoption to Cart: Amy Africa's Key Tips on Landing Page Optimization April 25, 2013 Amy Africa, world-renowned usability and e-commerce expert and CEO of Eight by Eight, gave key tips for maximizing Adoption to Cart (ATC) rates and desiging landing pages at the UWEBC Web and Multichannel Marketing Peer Group web clinic. 

Big Data: Releasing the Power of Data to Drive Businss Value March 20, 2013 Russ Lankenau, Solutions Architect, MapR Technologies, discussed how to add and capture value using an ever-growing amount of data and innovative data processing tools.

Consumer Expectations in a Multi-Device Mobile World March 14, 2013 Brain Klais, CEO, PureOxygen, discussed how consumers increasingly are using several different types of digital devices with more interactions in many different settings, during the UWEBC's WMM Peer Group meeting on March 14, 2013.

Mobile Web Development and Best Practices February 27, 2013Matthew David, Director of Strategy Mobile Solutions, Compuware, held an online workshop on mobile web best practices during the UWEBC's Web and Multichannel Marketing Web Clinic on Feb. 19, 2013.

Addressing Barriers to International Trade Compliance January 31, 2012Barbara Heil, International Compliance Manager, Johnson Controls, Inc. was the featured guest speaker at the UWEBC's joint Supply Chain Management and General Counsel Peer Group Meeting on January 28, 2013 where she disscussed the ongoing process of optimizing international trade compliance.

Planning for the Future of Digital Marketing December 28, 2012Mark Skroch Executive Group Director, Ogilvy and Ian Sohn, Executive Vice President, Director of Emerging Platforms & Partnerships, Ogilvy gave an overview of emerging technology trends in 2013 and their implications for marketers at the UWEBC's Web and Multichannel Marketing Peer Group Meeting on Dec. 6, 2012.

Connected CRM: Using Customer Data to Gain Competitive Advantage December 5, 2012Steve Kim was the featured guest speaker at the UWEBC's Web and Multi-Channel Marketing Peer Group Meeting on Nov. 8, 2012.

Mitigating Supply Chain Risks in an Unpredictable World November 1, 2012 Dr. David Simchi-Levi, a Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT, was a featured speaker at UWEBC Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference on October 4, 2012.

How Trek is Shifting from Silo to Social November 1, 2012Brent Leland, CIO Trek Bicycle Corporation, discussed how and where Enterprise Social Network (ESN) can add value as a featured speaker at UWEBC Business Best Practices & Emerging Technologies Conference on October 4, 2012.

Key Take-Aways from 2012 Conference Keynote: How to Succeed in Uncertain Times October 4, 2012Erica Gruen, marketer and digital media pioneer, delivered the plenary keynote address and received the UW E-Business Institute Distinguished Fellow Award at the 14th annual UWEBC Business Best Practices and Emerging Technologies Conference held Oct. in Madison, WI.

Ten Copyright Myths September 13, 2012 Melinda S. Giftos, an Attorney with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., discussed the best practices for use of online material as a featured guest speaker at UWEBC's E-Merchant Peer Group Meeting.

Reaching a Future of Choice by Leveraging Global Trends and Futuring: Insights from Renowned Futurist Sheryl Connelly August 31, 2012Connelly, a futurist from Ford Motor Company, speaking at the UWEBC Marketing Executives Retreat, says, “If you don’t take time to think about the future, you are almost guaranteed a future of constraint rather than a future of choice.”

Skyline Technologies — achieving speed and flexibility through "scrum" development methodology May 8, 2012Scrum is a development methodology for our age. Comprising a series of sprints and hand-offs between cross-functional teams and clients, it's geared for speed and flexibility. UWEBC member company Skyline Technologies are scrum experts, employing 25 Scrum Alliance-certified ScrumMasters.

UW-Madison professors make case for warehouse automation April 5, 2012UW-Madison Professor Raj Veeramani and Associate Professor Ananth Krishnamurthy presented "Strategic Implications and Business Case for Warehouse Automation" at the recent Supply Chain and Productivity Conference, hosted by the Food Marketing Institute and Grocery Manufacturers Association.

UWEBC member companies get free access to powerful supply chain benchmarking database December 6, 2011UWEBC members have acess to the Tompkins Supply Chain Benchmarking & Best Practices Database, a powerful tool ideally suited to help you identify gaps in your company's supply chain performance and establish improvement goals.

So you have web analytics ... now what? December 6, 2011We asked participants in our Web & Multichannel Marketing Peer Group to answer a few questions about SEO at their companies. Answers told the latest version of an old story: Gathering data is easy; taking action, not so much.

UWEBC member-company executive named CIO of year November 16, 2011Rick Roy, CUNA Mutual Group SVP and CIO, has been named the 2011 Chief Information Officer of the Year in the Enterprise category by the Wisconsin Chapter of the Society of Information Management (SIM) and the Business Journal of Milwaukee.

Who in your company will get the most value out of different UWEBC events and offerings? August 3, 2011We're frequently asked who should attend different UWEBC events or utilize different offerings. Here's a guide.

Five key takeaways from web clinic on SEO July 13, 2011 Sandra Bradley finds these five principles — culled from a UWEBC web clinic — especially important to doing good SEO.

Today's IT challenges offer great opportunities July 13, 2011Cavinda Caldera shares how his experience consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies will help UWEBC members solve their IT challenges.

UWEBC staff member wins prestigious UW Regents award June 7, 2011 Alfonso Gutierrez has been selected to receive the 2011 Regents Academic Staff Excellence Award, which recognizes and rewards outstanding academic staff members among the 26 UW System campuses.