Insights

Leadership Viewpoint and Ideas for Business from innovative leaders to help organizations grow, innovate and optimize their performance in many areas including HR, Marketing, Sales and Operations.

Leadership Viewpoint and ideas

This section on Leadership Viewpoint and ideas is where innovative leaders share a view point on challenges and opportunities faced by their peers. Contact Arcus to participate in this series of leadership interviews. Read more.

Manage Better Series:

• Manage Better: People
• Manage Better: Change
• Manage Better: Strategy

Featured research

• Biosimilars: A Strategic Opportunity for Pharma Executives
• Change Management in Healthcare
• The Accessible Canada Act is now open for review.
• Mandatory Regulatory filings can be complex time consuming tasks.
• Measure outcomes. Not tasks. An Arcus survey of 2615 knowledge workers.
• Reducing hallway healthcare with OHTs- a lack of beds for alternative levels of care (ALC). 
• Supporting teams when uncertainty Is High- four strategies to help their direct reports .
• Fastest growing consulting needs for clients.
• Hybrid work models are evolving- over half of employers are considering workforce reductions.
• Workplace Experiences and the importance of customization.
• Women in the workplace – flexibility is a top desied benefit.
• AI consulting Services is a growth need for organizations.

View from the Top. Interviews with leaders on how to manage your biggest challenges. Learn from their experience and tap into their wisdom. Read more>

Arcus Insight. Analysis of business events and implications and lessons for leaders. Read more. 

Top ten consumer trends. Consumer trends can vary depending on factors such as geographic location, socioeconomic status, cultural influences, and technological advancements. Details.

Leading Through Change

Management advice from the greatest minds

Change and Leadership workshops and retreats. Are you looking to inspire and motivate your teams with best practices in change management, strategic planning and leadership? Arcus offers a curated series of Change and Leadership workshops and retreats for clients. Read more.

Top challenges in healthcare in 2024 in Canada. Here are the top areas identified by 1,378 senior healthcare executives in an Arcus survey. Read more.

Trends in AI: Trends and developments in the field of AI change often as the landscape is dynamic and continually evolving. Several trends were shaping the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Please note that the field evolves rapidly, and there might be new developments since then. Here are some key trends that were prominent. Read more.

The Accessible Canada Act is now open for review. The changes to the Act may go beyond just physical characteristics but may include attitudes. The Accessible Canada Act draft is now officially open for review by the public. Read more.

Warren Buffett’s legendary speech at the University of Georgia. Warren Buffett’s legendary speech at the University of Georgia. This speech is a great piece on business, investing and life lessons. Here are some points: 1. Don’t work for your Resume – Work for someone you admire. Not to upgrade your resume. Focus on learning on the job! Read more.

Workplace, Teams, & Culture Series: Measure outcomes. Not tasks. An Arcus survey of 2615 knowledge workers indicates that 95% of these workers want flexibility in when they work. Interestingly, those who have the choice, have 44% higher productive scores than those who not. Those who have some flexibility in their work location also score higher (12%). Multiple surveys of employees by Arcus indicates that most workers say they are more productive working from home and on their own schedule, but are they really? Arcus research indicates that there needs to be a shift from intense measurement of productivity of knowledge workers to a focus on measuring outcomes. Read more.

Supporting teams when uncertainty Is High. It is important for managers to develop strategies to help their direct reports feel reassured and empowered, even when their work environment is uncertain and they feel control is limited. An Arcus survey of 240 Canadian managers titled “Managing during times of uncertainty” indicates that one of the most disconcerting events is an impending organizational redesign. The team is likely to feel anxious as there will be a lot of concerns about the future. Read more.

Simplify your Strategy. Why is it that great strategies end up having no impact on an organization? The usual answer is we had a great strategy but a lazy execution. In most cases when a company fails to execute its strategies, the strategy itself is a large part of the problem. Read more.

Associations – Delivering value to members. What’s changed at associations with Covid? The definition of value for membership has changed significantly in the past six months since COVID. What has changed? Read more.

Arcus unveils its breakthrough technology list. A review of 10 inspiring scientific and technological trends that have the potential to change the way we live our lives in dramatic ways. Here is why these technology breakthroughs were selected, why they are exciting – and the importance of ethical frameworks for these breakthroughs in the near future. Read more

Trends and Projections 

Innovative leaders share a view point on challenges and opportunities faced by their peers. Read more about telecom, health, hospitality, finance, retail and luxury trend projections. Contact Arcus to participate in this series of leadership interviews. Learn more about our research and strategy consulting services.

Telecom trends in Canada.  The future of mobile communications, pathways to economic and societal benefits of new 5G technologies will be important topics over the next decade. Price is a key driver of accelerated adoption of new technologies. Read more.

Top ten business needs. The trends identified by Arcus are based on an analysis of the dynamic interplay of technological innovation, societal shifts, environmental concerns, and economic forces shaping the current landscape. Adapting to these trends requires agility, innovation, and a deep understanding of evolving consumer preferences and market dynamics. Details.

The New Science of Human Capital. The need for quality of talent where it makes the most difference in an organization is critical. This is a two-step process. First you need to determine where talent has the biggest impact and where talent has the biggest impact and second you need to figure out how to improve the quantity or the quality of that talent so first things first how do we determine where changes and talent practices in the organization would potentially have the biggest effect. Read more.

Employee benefits – Best Creative Ideas. Looking for new ways to appreciate, reward, and attract employees with creative benefits? Here are over a hundred ideas. These ideas a relevant for all budgets and sizes of organizations and provide a simplified approach to Benefits planning to increase employee satisfaction. Read more.

Amazon’s business philosophy. Jeff Bezos is one of the most successful business men in the world. Below are three core philosophies that Amazon uses to build their business: Read more.

Doug Conant- Former President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company. Arcus Innovation Leaders Series: How business leaders use innovative approaches to shape their strategies. What does it take to innovate? Arcus Consulting Group has launched a major initiative to explore growth and innovation as key elements of corporate and business unit strategy. Read more.

Gender Equity Trends in the Workplace in Canada. Arcus surveyed 455 senior management executives at Canadian public, private and non-profit organizations last month and found that companies with greater gender equality in leadership outperform the stocks of companies with low gender equality and the overall market. Read more.

Management Advice from Great Minds. Stories and words of wisdom to inspire: Arcus surveyed 455 senior executives to learn more about how they run their businesses and how they keep people motivated. This monthly management wisdom series of the Arcus View from the Top and Arcus Innovation Roadmap provides executives with ideas and insights on how they can improve their personal and organization’s performance. Read more.

Healthcare Trends and the Future of Healthcare. Forecasting the future of healthcare and health policy is an imperfect science. Health care is a personal issue that has become wholly public–as the debate over reforming healthcare systems in most countries makes painfully clear. But what’s often lost in the debates about the issue is a clear vision about how medicine could work in the future. Read more.

Financial Services Trends and Outlook. Convenience and Security will drive change this year in the Financial Services sector.  FinTech startups and large technology firms such as Apple and Google will accelerate the evolution of  transaction processes. Read more.

Trends in fundraising and non-profit management. More restricted funding, consolidation of giving and rapid growth in employee-matching programs. Arcus interviewed 85 Chairs of non-profit boards and CEOs to identify the top trends in fundraising and management of non-profit organizations. Read more.

Key trends – global hospitality business. Strategic implications of emerging hotel trends. The importance of embracing a lifestyle, the Latest Amenities for a “wow” factor: A Hypoallergenic Room, Yield Management – a Lesson from Airline Pricing, No frills offering – Holiday Inn Express Strategy. Read more

Trends in Corporate Sustainability Strategies to address Climate Change. Out of the bag thinking on climate change: What is the impact of recyclable shopping bags when environmentally friendly packaging isn’t part of the agenda in retail? It seems marketing is being used to change consumer opinion instead of a new pipeline of environmentally friendly products…Read more

Are Wearables the next big technology trend at a tipping point? Penetration levels of “wearables” and other smart devices are accelerating, thanks to the proliferation of the number of applications. Read more

Retail Trends and Predictions. Economic headwinds, “feel good” shopping, Omnichannel and vendor integration, upgrades in stores, service and marketing. Read more.

Change Management Ideas for Business. Solve your toughest problems: Working with experts, Arcus has identified questions and selected insights that will get you the answers to your business problems. Read more.

CMC-MAS Program: Access up to 40 hours of business management advice at no cost. Please email CMC-IRAP for additional information. More >

Trying to grow your business more profitably? Get best practices and tips for achieving growth and efficiency – even in a tough economy. More >

Managing meetings. Six simple rules for leaders to manage meetings. Large meetings waste valuable time & energy. They discourage debate. People are more guarded than open and there’s not enough time for everyone to contribute. Read more>

Craft Breweries- opportunities. An interview with Mr. Josh Hayter, President, Spearhead Brewing Company in Kingston, Ontario. The culture of beer is changing in Canada as per capita consumption drops. Beer Canada statistics show beer sales fell 4% in 2019, the most significant drop since Prohibition. The shift towards flavour over volume is an advantage for craft brewers as they have the capacity to provide a broader diversity of taste to satisfy consumers. Read more.

Service coverage

The variety, breadth, and depth of the projects where Arcus can be a resource are made unique by each client’s specific needs. By providing a very small sample of projects we’ve completed, we can help you understand how and when to use our services. Visit the links below to find out more about a specific problem or opportunity you would like to address.

• Growth and Strategy
• Human Resources
• Transformational Change
• Non-Profit Sector

Below is a sample of the range of services that Arcus has provided to clients.

• A survey of 2,350 consumers and 1,320 business leaders for feedback on sustainability trends
• Architecting a multi-year change strategy for a Fortune 500 company
• Mentoring a CEO on organizational change
• Excellence transformation of a leading B2B services company
• Creating a new sales deployment model for a healthcare company
• Developing a position evaluation and compensation model for a professional medical association   
• Improving services to customer segments by deepening their understanding of customer attitudes

“Arcus manages to consistently deliver tangible results on market research and strategy projects. They combine deep business expertise, powerful research capabilities, and innovative thinking to deliver substantial value.”

– Vice President, Nikon

Media Coverage

Arcus has been quoted extensively in media on a range of topics and can offer research studies, insights and ideas. Here are some examples from the Globe and Mail, CTV, Global TV and others.

• Nordstrom countdown to opening begins – Toronto Star
• No lineups outside stores in five years – BNN
• Black Friday retail, marketing, and cross-border shopping trends  – BNN
• Does global expansion need a local flavour? – Globe and Mail
• Art of the Pitch – Protect company’s interests when approaching giants – Globe and Mail
• Off-the-shelf technology or a custom design?  – Globe and Mail