Your competition is no longer what it used to be. In this age of information at our fingertips, same-day delivery, and seamless payment options, customers now expect more from business than ever before. Companies must adapt to thrive.

Agile, the flexible way of working, has spread from software development to organizational change—for small startups and even large, traditional organizations. The Agile software methodology is iterative and collaborative; it ensures that small, autonomous groups work together to align with customer needs.

In our April 27, 2018, episode of QDL, we looked at the Global Brain and whether leaders really care about their employees.

“Why Tech Innovation Isn't the Answer Everyone Thinks It Is”

Is technology innovation the answer everyone thinks it is for firms that want to do more than just compete and instead create new markets and achieve rapid growth as the giants have?

Technology giant HP has developed and launched multi-jet fusion (MJF), an industrial-grade 3D printing technology that quickly and accurately produces functional prototypes and end-use parts for a variety of applications. Protolabs served as one of several test sites for this additive manufacturing process because of its experience in industrial 3D printing, and recently added HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 printers to its suite of manufacturing tools.

The rise of neuromarketing has already begun to provide companies and researchers with greater insight into consumer behavior than consumers themselves are capable of giving. Neuromarketing tools such as facial-affective recognition, eye tracking, and fMRI technology can illuminate the neurobiological responses that may underlie people’s likes and dislikes.

On the Apr. 20 episode of QDL, we brought you interviews on manufacturing’s digital transformation and the primacy of photogrammetry for large-volume, close-tolerance metrology, plus news about logistical efficiencies and worker motivations (or lack thereof). Here’s a closer look at the show:

Carrying your smartphone around everywhere has become a way of life. In doing so, you produce a surprising amount of data about your role in the economy—where you shop, work, travel, and generally hang out.

Thasos Group, founded at MIT in 2011, has developed a platform that leverages those data, in anonymized and aggregated form, to measure economies for industry and investors.

The great surprise for people with good ideas is the gap between how an idea feels in their minds and how it feels when they try to put the idea to work.