Skip to main content

Grace Segran

Biography

Grace Segran is a writer and editor at INSEAD

View full profile

Latest posts

Sort by

Leadership & Organisations

Dream your way to success

It’s not all about business plans and spreadsheets and getting to the next goal. The picture of real success is at least partly in your mind.

Leadership & Organisations

Islamic feminism: Unbinding the ties

Can you be liberal, feminist and Muslim at the same time? Malaysian activist Marina Mahathir says “Yes.”

Leadership & Organisations

Are rankings worthwhile?

The ranking of companies and business leaders has become something of a cottage industry in recent years. But what do they tell us about anything? Quite a bit, it turns out. You just have to learn to read between the numbers.

Career

Banking on Russia’s future

‘Russian management’ may seem like a conflict in terms to some cynics in the business world, but a new programme for the region’s largest bank created by INSEAD and the Moscow-based New Economic School is changing all that.

Economics & Finance

What’s wrong with banking regulation today?

Indebtedness is both a consumer and a financial industry problem. Regulatory bodies think more banking regulations will fix the problem. INSEAD Professor of Banking and Finance Jean Dermine is not so sure.

Strategy

Bumpy roads in the sky

Rapid economic growth and an increasing demand for travel should make it easy to make money in the airline business in India. But it’s not. One private company explains how it’s navigating through the clouds.

Leadership & Organisations

Can we stop businesses from behaving badly?

Stakeholders often have conflicting interests, at least in the short run. How do you trade off their welfare and still “do the right thing”?

Strategy

The business of making dreams come true

What is it about train travel that evokes a sense of romance and nostalgia, and what is the mystique and allure of trains? Who better to ask than the chief executive of the Orient-Express, the iconic hotel on wheels and arguably the ultimate train ride?

Responsibility

Hope at the bottom of the pyramid

In Brazil, one very active social entrepreneur uses technology to cross more than just the digital divide between rich and poor.
2 comments

Economics & Finance

Dangers on the horizon for China

Grain, oil and finance present a triple threat to China’s future. David Daoikui Li tells Knowledge what China can do about it.

Entrepreneurship

Renault-Nissan: Building with BRICs

Carlos Ghosn is spending more than a billion US Dollars to get a better foothold in Brazil.

Strategy

Want a successful merger?

Companies frequently cite synergies as a motivation for mergers. However, research shows many related mergers do produce increased cash flows and new products.

Economics & Finance

Sub-prime mortgages and segregation

Sub-prime mortgages were supposed to put an end to segregated neighbourhoods by allowing affordable housing to more people. But a new study shows that better access to mortgages leads to more - not less - racial segregation.

Entrepreneurship

Individual capitalism

At a time when business and industry are going through mega-changes and Wall Street capitalism comes under fire, the energy and innovation of the entrepreneur are more important than ever, says the founder and CEO of Ariadne Capital.

Marketing

Is food marketing making us fat?

Grace Segran

Are we to blame for the obesity epidemic? Or the people who sell the food to us? New research shows that packaging and position, not just advertising, are at least part of the problem.

Economics & Finance

Bridging the gulf

Grace Segran

GCC nations have attempted to modernise and standardise their legal frameworks in the past 30 years to encourage foreign investment in this rapidly growing region. But how much investment can be expected when foreigners can’t own their businesses outright and business debts are secured by a cheque?

Entrepreneurship

Is there a place for entrepreneurs in the Arab world?

Where does the new breed of Emirati entrepreneurs fit in to a landscape dominated by multinationals and big family-owned Arab businesses?

Leadership & Organisations

Too few good women: Why are boards still male domains?

New corporate governance strictures are making way for women on corporate boards. But how to find suitable candidates? And what do women really add to the board room?

Strategy

Can your business plan survive this stress test?

The road to success is littered with the wreckage of strategies gone awry. Here is a six-step stress test for your strategy.

Economics & Finance

Gallup polls take stock of the Muslim world

As the winds of change sweep the Arab world, the world is also beginning to view the region and Muslims in a different way. Gallup polls show that more than 80 percent of the American public said that they sympathised with the protests in Egypt.

Economics & Finance

Real estate in the UAE: from speculation to solid value?

When the flashy Emirate of Dubai asked for a six-month moratorium on its debt obligations just over a year ago, the world trembled. In reality, the problems of Dubai had been well-known in the region for over a year: unfinished developments, redundancies with expatriates returning to their home countries and the collapse of the property market.

Strategy

Streamlining costs and statistics pay off

When the economy is in a tailspin, companies look for ways to trim costs as well as to grow. Grace Segran in London discovered the truth in bar codes and forecasting.

Strategy

Keeping spirits up in a downturn

Grace Segran reports from London on the current state of the spirits industry.

Entrepreneurship

Western economies need to adapt

No longer content to be cost and talent arbitrage destinations, emerging markets are becoming hotbeds of innovation, says SD Shibulal, co-founder of Infosys Technologies, one of India's leading IT firms

Leadership & Organisations

Women social entrepreneurs driven by impact rather than scal

Many women are turning to social entrepreneurship because they tend to work more with their hearts, says American serial social entrepreneur and Ashoka Fellow Christina Jordan.

Leadership & Organisations

Narrowing the gender gap in Malaysia

A look at how policy and advocacy initiatives have helped narrow the gender gap in Malaysia.

Leadership & Organisations

Gender discrimination in India: a reality check

Despite the positive developments for women in India -- increased visibility in the public sphere, presence of women in the labour force across international borders and lower fertility rates--gender discrimination not only persists but also has seen little decline.
4 comments

Entrepreneurship

Venture creation: a new form of entrepreneurship?

INSEAD alum Fabian Hansmann (MBA '06D) has taken a novel approach to entrepreneurship. His organisation identifies opportunities and builds a team, but then matches business ideas and opportunities with aspiring entrepreneurs and also tries to raise funding.
1 comment

Economics & Finance

Getting back to basics in a world of luxury

As China's middle class expands, does consumption behaviour change? According to Sir David Tang, founder of Shanghai Tang, consumption behaviour doesn't shift with economic development; it is only perceived to do so.

Economics & Finance

Exploring the consequences

While China and India dominate headlines for their growth potential, there's opportunities brewing in other geographies. Grace Segran reports from The Economist’s Emerging Markets Summit in London.

Responsibility

Energy security: a picture of uncertainty

Uncertainty surrounds the security and sustainability of energy supplies in the UK from 2015 onwards, with energy prices rising – in some cases – to uncomfortably high levels. “Gas would be a very important bridge to take us to the Elysian fields of a much cleaner energy scene of onshore and offshore wind, renewables, and an expectation of a very large chunk of nuclear,” says Alistair Buchanan, Chief Executive of Ofgem (the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets), speaking at The Economist’s recent UK Energy Summit.

Economics & Finance

Sustainable practices: engaging consumers and suppliers

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is one firm that knows very well that its environmental and economic impact extends well beyond its factory gates. This starts with the ingredients it needs for its products to the natural resources required to make the packaging, "extending all the way to the people who buy and consume our drinks and handle the packaging," says CCE Europe's Communications Director, Shanna Wendt (YMP Sep '05).

Responsibility

Businesses increasingly face water risks

The world will face a 40 per cent shortfall in water supplies by 2030. The good news is that if we are smart, we can meet the challenge successfully. But this can only happen through co-operation between industry, governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communities, SABMiller’s head of sustainable development, Andy Wales, told INSEAD Knowledge on the sidelines of the LBC’s (London Business Conference) ‘Corporate Water Scarcity Risk Management Conference’ held recently.

Responsibility

Social enterprises: an attractive career choice for women?

Women are far more likely to be in positions of leadership in social enterprises than in the traditional small and medium business sector. That was one of the main findings of research by the UK Social Enterprise Coalition based on a survey. Some 26 per cent of social enterprises could be described as 'women-led', almost twice as many as for small businesses for which the figure was 14 per cent.

Responsibility

Sustainability: Public policy

When it comes to the notion of a sustainable low carbon economy, governments around the world may like the concept but are either reluctant or incapable of developing the means to make it reality, says Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future. It has to be done through the markets, through various instruments and market mechanisms -- but the markets cannot do it unaided. It is public policy that will shape the markets, which in turn could deliver a low carbon future.

Responsibility

A new sustainability playing field

In 2006, Brendan May, then managing director of Planet 2050, Weber Shandwick's corporate responsibility and sustainability practice, received an email message: “Hi. Can you look into getting some CSR -- how much does it cost, what does it involve?” Forwarded by a friend, it came from someone in a small American company who had read something about CSR on the plane. “Can you help?” his friend asked. May said he didn’t think he could, because “this is a state of mind. This is not something you can get out and buy or outsource what should be a whole way of doing business .... something that has to be woven into the core DNA of your business. That’s not how you do sustainability.”

Responsibility

Creative finance: funding the future of social enterprise

Ten years ago, it was not fashionable for social enterprises to take loans. Even if they wanted to, nobody would lend them money.

Responsibility

Climate change and business: the momentum stalls

While climate change has been in the headlines in recent months due to the Copenhagen talks and concerns about alleged data manipulation, businesses don’t appear to be making much headway in terms of carbon reduction. That’s according to a new EIU study due out later this month, which will reveal that net gains by businesses have been close to zero since last year.

Responsibility

Copenhagen: what should investors be demanding?

The outcome of the Copenhagen climate conference may have disappointed some business leaders and may not be the ‘Global Deal’ that many, including the UK’s Carbon Trust, had been hoping for, but it is being touted as another small step forward in the long process towards reducing carbon emissions.

Entrepreneurship

The internet entrepreneur: ‘made, not born’

The internet has changed the way we live. Many of us now get our news online rather than from newspapers, fans connect with their favourite bands on music social networks rather than try to catch them after a concert, and we can get attractive high-street deals from the comfort of our home.

Responsibility

Mapping out the challenges for social innovation research

Social entrepreneurs and enterprises may have limited resources but they’re resourceful and are capable of tackling failed markets, as well as intractable ‘wicked’ problems. But the key question, according to Pamela Hartigan, Director of Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Said Business School, Oxford University, is how far can social innovation help forge a new global order that is more sustainable, responsible, and humane than what has gone before?

Entrepreneurship

Sula Vineyards: India’s case for wine

When foreign sommeliers come to India, they come with very low expectations. After all, India is better known for its cotton industry than wine production. However that is now changing.
1 comment

Responsibility

A helping hand

Kancheepuram, some 80 kilometres south-west of Chennai, is well known for its 500-year-old heavyweight silk sari tradition. But chances were that its ornate, intricate pieces were woven by children between the age of five and 13, working 12 to 16 hours a day and bonded to a master weaver until their parents’ debt was paid in full.

Entrepreneurship

Social media analysis: a new way of listening

Social networking is a fast-growing online trend that is changing the media landscape, particularly in the way in which consumers and companies interact with each other. These sites enable community participation and include blogs, discussion forums, social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as consumer review sites. No editor is required, which means the content is not controlled and publishing costs are always near zero.

Responsibility

Transferring Wall Street skills to the social sector

Born to Indian parents in Texas, Deval Sanghavi lived the American dream. After graduating from college with two business administration degrees, he went to work at Morgan Stanley’s strategic finance department at its headquarters in New York City.

Economics & Finance

Aviation facing strong headwinds, reshapes industry

Falling demand, collapsing yields, low consumer confidence and fears of a pandemic have thrust the aviation industry into survival mode. Airlines are expected to post losses of US$9 billion this year, with an unprecedented drop in revenue of 15 per cent, that will see industry revenues shrink by US$80 billion to US$448 billion.

Economics & Finance

The changing social landscape of Malaysia

Like many societies, Malaysia is in a period of transition from one generation to a new one and with that comes many issues. After 51 years of independence, the question of who they are as a nation is one that plays a lot on people's minds these days.

Strategy

Exploring new terrain

iXiGO.com has the rare combination of a passionate team with an idea that is not only innovative but also timely. The travel search engine was launched in a market where Indian online travel agents had received more than 100 million US dollars in venture funding.

Economics & Finance

Consolidation in turbulent times

Lufthansa carried a total of 70.5 million passengers last year and was ranked number one by IATA (International Air Transport Association) for having carried the most number of passengers on international scheduled routes, leaving number two Air France lagging some 20 per cent behind.

Responsibility

Social entrepreneurs find silver lining in economic downturn

Social enterprises are not immune to the effects of the economic downturn. Jop Blom, a social entrepreneur based in Amsterdam, says as companies turn their attention to survival, they are focusing on reducing costs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects are cut as these are not regarded as a priority during these times.

Responsibility

Extending a hand to businesses wanting to make a difference

Ever played Mikado or ‘pick-up-sticks’? It’s a game that requires skill, strategic planning and a steady hand. Serra Titiz decided to call her company 'Mikado' because it's an unusual name name in Turkey, but mostly because that's what her company is there for: to provide skills, strategy and a steady hand to businesses which want to make an impact in society.

Entrepreneurship

The promise of India

The day before she was to launch her new company, Maya Hari found that she was expecting her first baby. She decided to put the launch on hold. Two years later, in August 2008, Stylkist was set up, but this came just days before Lehman Brothers went under and the financial meltdown began.

Responsibility

Putting the squeeze on sustainability spending

In an economic downturn, budgets get cut – whether they be for training, travel, marketing or PR activities. But these cuts go well beyond the normal discretionary items. Where companies had recently started spending money to promote and enhance their sustainability, they are now refocusing their attention on cost-cutting instead.

Responsibility

A hive of social activity

Behind the doors at no. 84 rue de Jemmapes along St Martin’s Canal in Paris, social entrepreneurs are busy working on their own and with one another to find ‘innovative solutions’ aimed at bringing about change in society.