The Stevie Awards has issued a call for entries for the 2020 (7th annual) Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the only business awards program to recognize innovation in business throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region. 

The early-bird entry deadline is November 27. The final entry deadline is February 6, 2020, but late entries will be accepted through March 4 with the payment of a late fee. Complete entry details are available at http://Asia.StevieAwards.com.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are open to all organizations in 29 nations of the Asia-Pacific region: Large and small, for-profit and non-profit, public and private.

The awards focus on recognizing innovation in all its forms, wherever it is achieved in the workplace. Entries will be accepted in eight languages – Chinese, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Thai and Vietnamese - in the following awards category groups:

• Web Site, App, Annual Report & Other Publications, & Live Event Awards Categories
• Management Awards Categories
• Company / Organization Awards Categories
• Corporate Communications & Public Relations Awards Categories
• Customer Service Awards Categories
• Human Resources Awards Categories
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product & Product Management Awards Categories
• Technology Awards Categories

New awards categories introduced for 2020 include Video Awards Categories such as Award for Innovation in Branded Entertainment Videos, Award for Innovation in Cause-related Videos, Award for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Videos, Award for Innovation in Lifestyle Videos and more.

Asia-Pacific Stevie Award winners will be announced on April 8. Winners will be celebrated and presented their awards during a gala banquet on May 29 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Scores of professionals from throughout the region will participate in the judging process to determine the Stevie winners.

Some of the Asia-Pacific region’s most innovative organizations have won Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards in the past five years including ABS-CBN Corporation, Cisco Systems, Delta Air Lines, Dentsu, DHL Express International (Thailand) Ltd., Freelancer.com, Globe Telecom, Hong Kong Tourism Board, KEB HANA Bank, KEPCO, KT, Maras Group, MSLGROUP China, Ooredoo, PT Petrokimia Gresik, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Singapore Power, Sony, Strategic Public Relations Group Limited, Telkom Indonesia, VNPT Vinaphone Corporation, Viettel, Xiaomi, and more.

The Stevie Award trophies, made by the company that makes the Emmy and other major international awards, are among the world's most coveted prizes. The name Stevie is taken from the name Stephen, which is derived from the Greek for "crowned."

Interested in receiving a 2020 Asia-Pacific Stevie Award?

With health care expenditures in the United States totaling $3.5 trillion, or nearly $11,000 per person, telemedicine continues to be a source of hope for the industry. By enabling physicians to examine patients remotely, virtual medicine platforms are increasingly viewed by practitioners and insurers as a way to bend the cost curve, and according to Global Market Insights, the telemedicine market isn’t going anywhere. Rather, it’s expected to reach $130.5 billion by 2025.

Some are currently seeing the same potential when it comes to remote clinical trials. A 2018 study by Johns Hopkins University found the average cost of a new drug trial was $19 million but could be many times higher for certain medicines. Lessening the need for in-person follow-ups could help reduce those outlays.

Electronically assisted trials have another potential upside too. They make it more likely for patients to stay in the program, thus reducing the time needed to evaluate new drugs. Additionally, participants don’t have to travel as often, they can receive reminders about when to take medications, and they can get instant support if they suffer adverse effects.

One of the companies betting on this new approach is Scottsdale, Arizona, United States–based VirTrial. In 2018, the firm introduced a platform that allows for audio and video calls between the research team—comprised of clinical research coordinators (CRCs), principal investigators (PIs), and physicians—and the trial participants. The program also supports e-mail and text messaging, enabling the CRCs to send reminders about drug usage, as well as supporting materials.

The idea came to VirTrial CEO Mark Hanley when he was serving on the board of a telehealth company and realized the same technology could be tweaked to support the clinical trial process. 

“The clinical research industry is in a state of growth and evolution,” says Hanley. “Most research professionals agree the recruitment and engagement process needs to change in order to increase the percentage of successful trial outcomes and to speed the introduction of new medications to market.”

The pioneering patient management program of VirTrial is already garnering a lot of attention, both inside and outside the pharmaceutical industry. It recently snagged three Gold Stevie® Awards in the Health & Pharmaceuticals category (Service, Cloud Application/Service, and Healthcare Technology Solution). In what turned out to be a busy night at the 17th Annual American Business Awards®, the company also took home the People’s Choice Stevie® Award for Health & Pharmaceuticals.

The End of Inpatient Visits?

For Hanley, virtual platforms allow research sites to offer better patient engagement and higher retention rates throughout the clinical trial.

“Continual in-person visits to a research site can be difficult for patients, and those patients often can’t continue through the course of an entire trial because of the commitment required,” he says. “By offering virtual trials and enabling patients to comply with the required schedule via video from their homes or workplaces, it makes it much easier for them to complete the trial, thus reducing delays in the study.”

Unlike some remote medicine platforms that have entered the market, however, VirTrial doesn’t see remote capabilities as completely replacing in-person visits. Hanley says his company’s goal is to handle about 25 percent to 40 percent of visits, with the rest being performed face to face at clinical research sites.

“Having firsthand experience with more than ten thousand trials, the management team at VirTrial strongly believes in the intrinsic value of direct human interaction and advocates that in-person visits are necessary in certain cases,” says Hanley.

The company asserts that, practically speaking, less than 1 percent of trials could be done exclusively through virtual follow-ups. Therefore, VirTrial is positioning itself as a more realistic solution when it comes to operating a large-scale clinical trial.

Whether the pharmaceutical industry embraces this hybrid model is only one of the company’s hurdles going forward, though. VirTrial is also trying to stay ahead of the curve from a technological standpoint so research organizations can see the value of its solution over that of competitors.

VirTrial is currently working to develop functionality into its platform that allows for integration with Fitbit bands, Apple Watches, and other smart devices that can track health-related information, such as sleep patterns and cardiac function. No matter how much data those wearables can capture, though, Hanley sees them as supporting, rather than replacing, in-person visits.

“The evolution of clinical trials must incorporate technology to reduce patient burden and to increase site efficiencies, and it must also continue to leverage the value of direct human-to-human connections,” he says.

VirTrial recently won three Gold Stevie Awards in the New Product & Service Categories—one for Health & Pharmaceuticals - Service; one for Cloud Application/Service - Business Technology; and one for Healthcare Technology Solution - Business Technology—in The 17th annual American Business Awards®. They also won a People's Choice Stevie Award for Favorite New Products for Healthcare or Pharmaceutical Product or Service.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

Steady job gains and a slowly declining unemployment rate are good news for American workers across a range of industries. However, for employers—especially those trying to fill positions in high-demand fields—the shrinking labor pool is making it tougher than ever to find qualified candidates.

Tech companies, in particular, are feeling the talent crunch. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for information-based jobs hit a paltry 2.7 percent in June, compared to 3.8 percent for the entire economy.

What happens when tech companies try to expand their workforces when most professionals are already employed? Often, recruiters turn to one of the newer tools in the field of talent acquisition: big data.

With most prospects already placed in jobs, headhunters are increasingly turning their attention to passive candidates—those who aren’t necessarily looking for new gigs. After a decade-long economic expansion, many job listings are no longer generating thick stacks of résumés.

For a lot of tech recruiters, the solution is to scour everything from social media platforms to software development sites looking for individuals with the right skill sets. According to one industry survey, more than 40 percent of companies are now using big data to identify candidates. Some are even going a step further, using the predictive capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to screen for new prospects in far less time than a human could.

Are Human Recruiters Here to Stay?

That shift, however, begs a question. Will technology replace the human component when it comes to looking for talent in high-demand fields? While some recruiters see AI as a threat, the majority view big data and AI as tools that assist rather than replace recruiters. For example, a survey last year by the website Dice found 55 percent of recruiters believe automating more time-consuming tasks is to their benefit.

Among the firms espousing this hybrid approach is New York City, New York, U.S.–based Andiamo, which provides technology and sales staffing to companies in the United States and Canada. Alongside its recruitment team, the company employs a group of data analysts to mine vast amounts of data from sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, GitHub, and Stack Overflow to understand the talent pool and to reach out to the professionals who represent the best fit for its clients.

With a staff of 70, Andiamo helps fill contract and permanent job openings for developers, engineers, designers, architects, and project managers with experience working on innovative technologies. Andiamo won a Gold StevieⓇ Award for Best House Organ (for a General Audience) at The 2019 American Business Awards®.

By using software to sort through vast amounts of data at the front end of the candidate search, Andiamo claims it’s able to provide clients—including big names like Amazon, Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs, TripAdvisor, and Mastercard—with the top 2 percent of the available candidates. By using research and analytics, it’s able to speed up the recruitment process as well; Andiamo notes its average submission-to-hire time frame is only 14 days.

Technology has its limitations, though. Steps like understanding the client’s needs and vetting candidates to see why they want a new job remain vital components in the process—and they're the ones that still require a human element. Andiamo believes its ability to use the best of both worlds will only help expand its market share as recruiters jostle for tech clients.

“As the tech market grows, recruiting agencies constantly battle for limited space and attention among top firms and start-ups,” says Brian Schuppel, the company’s head of marketing. “In order to stay ahead of the curve, it’s up to us to continue to deliver a rock-star product along with intellectual, statistical content that is relevant, useful, and digestible.”

With the economy continuing to add jobs, Schuppel sees the competition for talent getting even hotter in the near future.

“In the next few years, we expect the tech market to continue to be aggressively competitive,” he says. “We expect top tech firms and start-ups to keep trying to attract and retain the nation’s most elite technologists and the most sought-after tech stacks to overcome their rivals and to lead the market.”

Andiamo recently won two Gold Stevie Awards in the Publication awards category—one for the Best House Organ and one for Best White Paper or Research Report in the Business Services industry—in The 17th annual American Business Awards®.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

The 16th Annual International Business Awards®, the world's top honors for achievement in the workplace, will be presented this Saturday, October 19 at the Andaz Vienna am Belvedere Hotel in Vienna, Austria.  More than 450 executives from organizations in more than 30 nations will attend to celebrate the presentation of the 2019 Stevie® Awards.

More than 4,000 nominations were submitted to the 2019 IBAs by organizations in more than 70 nations.  The nominations were reviewed and rated by more than 200 professionals worldwide on 12 juries.  Their average scores determined the winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevies.

Entries for the 2020 edition of the IBAs will open in February.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at Saturday's IBA gala in Vienna.

4C1H of Employee Experience, Istanbul, Turkey
A Data Pro, Sofia, Bulgaria
A1 Hrvatska, Zagreb, Croatia
ACTO, Toronto, ON, Canada
Aksigorta, Istanbul, Turkey
Aktif Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Al Jazeera Media Network, Doha, Qatar
ALFEMO FURNITURE, Izmir, Turkey
Alternatif Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Amanda Fisher - The Cash Flow Queen, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Amway, Ada, MI, USA
Anexa, Mexico City, Mexico
Angkas, Manila, Philippines
ARIIX, Bountiful, UT, USA
Arts Council Korea, Seoul, South Korea
Arvato CRM Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
ASDA'A BCW, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ATREVIA, Madrid, Spain
AvivaSA / ATOS, Istanbul, Turkey
AXA Sigorta, Istanbul, Turkey
Ayala Corporation, Manila, Philippines
Bahrain National Gas Company, Riffa, Bahrain
Bahwan Cybertek, Chennai, India
Bej Events, Istanbul, Turkey
Better2Know, Lancaster, United Kingdom
Bilkom, Istanbul, Turkey
Binary Digital Advertising Inc., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines
Bizim Toptan, Istanbul, Turkey
Blacklane, Berlin, Germany
BlueJeans-Networks San Jose, CA, USA
Borusan Holding, Istanbul, Turkey
Brains For Rent, Mexico City, Mexico
Central de Informação / Vodafone, Oporto, Portugal
Ceyhinz Link International Inc, Irving, TX, USA
Chongqing IFS/Chengu IFS, Shanghai, China
Chubb, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Cisco Systems Inc, San Jose, CA, USA
Cisco Systems, Bangalore, India
Dani Communications, South, South Korea
davero dialog GmbH, Erlangen, Germany
David Tye Brand & Marketing Communications, Bristol, United Kingdom
Dell Technologies - APJC ICSS, Bangalore, India
Dell Technologies Ltd., Bangalore, India
Deutsche Telekom Services Europe GmbH, Cologne, Germany
DHL Express, Muttenz, Switzerland
DIGITALLICA, Istanbul, Turkey
Diligent Corporation, New York, NY, USA
DP World Yarimca, Turkey
Dubai Economy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai Health Authority / Dubai Thalassemia Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ECi Software Solutions, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Egyptian Cement, Cairo, Egypt
Elita Gida, Adana, Turkey
Empire Eagle Food Co., Ltd., Taichung, Taiwan
Events DC, Washington, DC, USA
FedEx Express, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Fortinet, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited, Pune, India
Garanti BBVA Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
GBKSOFT, Kiev, Ukraine
GHESA Water & Art, Madrid, Spain
Glass of Learning, Toronto, ON, Canada
Global PEO Services (GPS), San Jose, CA, USA
Globe Telecom, Taguig City, Philippines
GSK, Istanbul, Turkey
HANAROADCOM w/ Kosha, Seoul, South Korea
HELLENIC PETROLEUM SA, Athens, Greece
HeyMo® The Experience Design Company, Istanbul, Turkey
IBM, Armonk, NY, USA
IDO, Istanbul, Turkey
ING Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
Involvement Packaging Ltd, Manchester, United Kingdom
Isbank, Istanbul, Turkey
Jasmine Norris Photography, Lafayette, IN, USA
Kannaway, San Diego, CA, USA
KC Inner Bella Cosmetics, Seoul, South Korea
KCDC, Seoul, South Korea
KCI, San Antonio, TX, USA
KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Company (KNF), Seoul, South Korea
Kira Systems, Toronto, ON, Canada
KÖNIGSKLASSE, München, Bayern, Germany
KT KBN, Seoul, South Korea
LAW Creative, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Life Insurance Philanthropy Foundation/KPR, Seoul, South Korea
LifeVantage Corporation, Sandy, UT, USA
Limage Media Group, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Link4Media UG, Urbar, Germany
LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain
Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD, USA
Lora DiCarlo, Portland, OR, USA
Lotte Corporation, Seoul, South Korea
Maan Program, Ministry of Interior, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Manatee Holdings, Courtenay, BC, Canada
MARCO de Comunicación, Madrid, Spain
MarketsandMarkets, Pune, India
Mastercard, EMEA
Maynilad Water Services, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines
Megaworld Corporation, Taguig City, Philippines
Meli Studio Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
MERALCO, Pasig, Philippines
Mercedes Benz Türk, Istanbul, Turkey
Microhealth, LLC, Vienna, VA, USA
Migros Ticaret A.S., Istanbul, Turkey
Ministry Of Infrastructure Development, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ministry Of State For Federal National Council Affairs, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
mobile.de GmbH, Europarc-Dreilinden, Germany
Modis, Sofia, Bulgaria
MorrisCookies Science & Development OÜ, Kuusalu vald, Estonia
Mosaicoelearning, Ragusa, Italia
Mphasis Communications, New York, NY, USA
NIIMASH Ltd, Smolensk, Russia
NJMPF, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
NMC Healthcare, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Notice Media, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Oncuemedia, Inc., Pasig City, Philippines
Pan American Energy, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paradigm Design Group, Houston, TX, USA
Pasaz Tesco Company, Warsaw, Poland
passcon GmbH, Hamburg, Germany
Pegasus Airlines, Istanbul, Turkey
PRecious Communications, Singapore
PT ANGKASA PURA II (PERSERO), Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Pembangkitan Jawa - Bali (PJB), Surabaya, Indonesia
PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Petrokimia Gresik, Gresik, Indonesia
PT PGN LNG, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT PGN Permata, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Bontang Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia
Qulix Systems, Minsk, Belarus
Resolute Forest Products, Montreal, QC, Canada
RICO'S LECHON, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
RTB House, Warsaw, Poland
Sanoma Media Netherlands B.V., Hoofddorp, Netherlands
SBI Card and Payments Services Private Limited, Mumbai, India
SeaLand Americas- A Maersk Company, Miramar, FL, USA
Sharjah Finance Department, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
SHELL Philippines - GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc, Metro Manila, Philippines
Sleepm Global Inc., Markham, ON, Canada
SM SUPERMALLS/SM PRIME HOLDINGS INC., Makati City, Philippines
Smart Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
SolarWinds, Cork, Ireland
Solv by Concentrix, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Soohyun, Seoul, South Korea
Strategic Public Relations Group, Hong Kong
Super Star Group (SSG), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Swiss Post Solutions Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City
Switching-Time, Shanghai, China
Synchrotron Light Research Institute, Nakhonratchasima, Thailand
Taiwan External Trade Development Council, Taipei, Taiwan
TANAP Natural Gas Transmission Company, Ankara, Turkey
Tele2, Vilnius, Lithuania
Tesco Poland, Warsaw, Poland
Testa Communications, Warsaw, Poland
TH Food Chain Join Stock Company, Nghe An, Vietnam
Thai Life Insurance Plc., Bangkok, Thailand
The H Creative for The-H, BGFRetail, KoROAD , Gyeonggi Urban, Goyang City, South Korea
The Zone Creative, Seoul, South Korea
Total Oil Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish Aerospace, Ankara, Turkey
Ulled Asociados C.R.P. S.A, Barcelona, Spain
Umbrella IT, Taganrog, Russia
Valor Global, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Viettel Group, Hanoi, Vietnam
Viettel Post Join Stock Corporation, Hanoi, Vietnam
VNPT VinaPhone Corporation, Hanoi, Vietnam
WNS Holdings (P) Ltd., Mumbai, India
XtremeLabs LLC, Redmond, WA, USA
ZEEP Medical, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ziraat Participation Bank, Istanbul, Turkey
ZOOM International, Franklin, TN, USA

Walk through virtually any major city in the United States, and you’ll likely find coworking spaces. In these environments, budding entrepreneurs are not only able to work but to bounce their ideas off like-minded professionals.

When young business leaders enter any of eight U.S.-based OnePiece Work locations, however, they find more than just physical spaces for collaboration. They also get access to an array of resources that help them plug in to some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.

At OnePiece, members attend speaking events with global business leaders, as well as tap in to a network of partner companies in Asia and Europe, getting help with everything from business development and market research to recruiting and product localization.

“We’re a truly cross-border coworking platform, and we held over 100 events last year with lots of investors, Fortune 500 companies, academic leaders, and entrepreneurs from across the globe,” says Yue Xiong, the marketing director at OnePiece.

Launched in 2017, OnePiece has hosted more than 200 multicultural events with over 30,000 international visitors, including representatives from giants like Alibaba, Mitsubishi, Seiko, Cheetah Mobile, and Samsung. It has also brought in several high-profile leaders in the public sector, such as Hirofumi Yoshimura, the governor of Osaka, Japan, and representatives from the United Nations.

“Our mission is to provide the best support to the next generation of start-ups with our cross-border advantages,” says Xiong.

“We Accept and Respect Differences”

In 2016, Vickey Li, a young commercial real estate developer, opened the first OnePiece Work location in San Jose, California, United States. The space was intended as a boutique coworking area, and the hope was to provide a friendly environment to business customers.

However, when Li met Wei Guo, a Forbes 30 under 30 investor who has supported more than 300 companies to date, the venture took a sharper focus on the technology industry. The partners soon moved OnePiece headquarters to the heart of the tech world, San Francisco, California, United States.

In just three years, OnePiece, the 2019 Gold StevieⓇ Award winner for “Entrepreneur of the Year” in the real estate category, expanded into seven more tech markets on the U.S. Pacific Coast. It plans to open its first Chinese-based workspace in Shenzhen. Those locations house nearly 250 companies from over 30 industries, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, consumer goods, fintech, education, social networking, and gaming.

From the beginning, the OnePiece founders—each backed by significant international business experience—made international growth a key point of differentiation from other tech incubators.

“We trust our members’ crazy ideas and help them expand to broader markets,” Xiong says.

Given the potential sales opportunities in Asia, it’s not hard to see the appeal. Despite a slowdown in recent years, China’s economy, for example, continues to grow at a more than 6 percent clip. For a country with nearly 1.4 billion people, that means a lot more consumers will see their spending power grow in the decades ahead.

Xiong says the emphasis on global business opportunities also ensures there’s a lively exchange of viewpoints and experiences, which brings value to young companies.

“We accept and respect differences,” adds Xiong, “and because of these differences, we’ve built a cross-border community that helps us stand out.”

OnePiece Work recently won two Stevie Awards—a Gold Stevie in the Entrepreneur of the Year category in the Real Estate industry and a Bronze Stevie in the Startup of the Year in the Business Services industry—in the 17th annual American Business Awards®.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

World’s Top Honors for Women Professionals to Be Presented in New York on November 15, with Second Edition of Women|Future Conference

Finalists were announced today in the 16th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world’s top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run.

This year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists will be announced at an awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Friday, November 15. More than 600 women and their guests from around the world are expected to attend the presentations, which will be broadcast live on Livestream.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business event will be complemented by the two-day educational and networking event, the Women|Future Conference, also at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on November 14-15.  Tickets for both the conference and the awards dinner are now on sale.

More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year by organizations and individuals in 25 nations, for consideration in more than 90 categories including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Startup of the Year, Women Helping Women and Women-Run Workplace of the Year.  

Among the many extraordinary organizations and women who have been recognized as Finalists, the following organizations stand out as those with five or more Finalist nominations: 8X8 to Educate, Tallai, QLD, Australia; B Floral, New York, NY, USA; DHL Express, worldwide; Glass of Learning, Toronto, ON, Canada; Harman International, Stamford, CT, USA; Jeunesse Global, Lake Mary, FL, USA; Oceans 2 Earth Volunteers, Kenmore East, QLD, Australia; Sleepm Global, Inc., Markham, ON, Canada; Tavuun Welfare Association, Karachi, Pakistan; and Turkish Airlines, Istanbul, Turkey.

Nominations were submitted by organizations in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/Women for a complete list of Finalists by category.

Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals around the world, organized in seven juries.

HCL America is a sponsor of the 2019 Stevie Awards for Women in Business

Interested in receiving a Stevie Award in 2020?

As the world becomes more reliant on real-time computing, businesses are realizing it’s more imperative than ever to have high-quality performance and near-zero latency. To that end, according to Gartner, Inc., by 2022, it’s projected about 50 percent of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside of traditional data centers or the cloud, which is up from less than 10 percent in 2018.

QOS Networks is one company actively working toward that projection. The company’s mission is to architect strategic network solutions that enable distributed enterprises to connect in an expanding world, allowing clients to achieve improved experiences.

“We strive to deliver best-in-breed solutions mixed with fanatical customer support,” says Stefanie Whittington, the vice president of marketing.

Pairing Talent with Technology

QOS has a team of passionate individuals who always aim to innovate and to identify the best fit for each customer in order to create pathways and products that revolutionize the way people do business.

“We do what we do because, at the end of the day, when a customer sees answers to problems, it's a gratifying experience,” says Whittington.

According to Whittington, even though the company deals in a cutting-edge industry, traditional values are still key, and it’s the people of the QOS team that comprise the heart of the business.

“Culture and people definitely top the list. Without spending time and effort to drive the company culture toward something inclusive, inspiring, and satisfying, our customers would never feel the reciprocal dedication. Our team is the core of the business, and when it comes to people, it's immeasurably important to strive for the best.”

The company ensures these cultural values are ingrained from the day a new employee steps foot in the office.

New Possibilities, New Challenges

According to many industry experts, 5G connectivity is going to significantly change the way business is done, and some service providers are already beginning to implement the technology, even though it’s still only trickling into the market. These new advances in enterprise and customer technologies require careful implementation into a constantly evolving world, which requires a team that has its eye on the bigger picture.

“The advancement of 5G in the market is a fun development to watch,” says Whittington. “As this new wave of connectivity comes into the marketplace, it has reaching implications for both consumers and businesses.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is another potential game changer—and not only for problem management or tactical edge management. Whittington believes AI is going to become an increasingly significant force as technology in this field advances.

QOS aims to analyze the data from these new advances, pare it down, and use it to deliver a better client experience. How long until this process is completely viable, though? While an educated guess can be made, one thing remains clear: QOS wants to get more practical use out of emerging technologies so they can truly benefit the user, but this can only happen when the right team approaches the problem with the right values.

Prioritizing everything from weekly all-hands meetings in order to share successes and goals to company inclusion events, such as lunch clubs and news briefs, it’s clear the entire business operates with a deliberate focus on its people.

QOS Networks recently won a Bronze Stevie Award in the Fastest Growing Company of the Year category in the industry of Telecommunications at the 17th annual American Business Awards®.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

Anyone who has attended a corporate function can probably relate to this situation: It’s time to sit down to the food portion, and it’s an array of dry sandwiches, lifeless sausage rolls, and gritty instant coffee. Everyone accepts this fate, though, because that’s what a meal is at a business event.

In recent years, however, those within the food industry looked at that model and saw a better way to approach office catering. That included Order-In, which is based in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Namely, this company and others like it strove to offer a blend of traditional customer service and an innovative integration of forward-thinking technology.

“Order-In takes care of all office catering, kitchen supplies, and corporate event needs for offices across Australia,” says Joo Dean, head of marketing at Order-In, “but we make office catering easier through an online ordering platform.”

Riding the Success of the Food Delivery Model

When Jonathan Rowley launched Order-In in 2000, ordering food online was still in its early days. However, with the growing popularity of personal food-delivery services, such as Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats in the United States and Menulog and Foodora in Australia, people became increasingly comfortable with the business model and began seeking that convenience and flexibility in the corporate world as well.

“At Order-In, it’s our aim to continually improve Australia’s corporate catering industry by better utilizing technology,” says Dean. “Using these technical innovations, we want to make the catering process easier, more reliable, and more flexible in order to meet the changing needs of modern businesses.”

For their work in the food-technology industry, the company recently earned two Silver Stevie® Awards: one in the category of Excellence in Innovation in Business Product & Service Industries and another in the Innovation in Corporate Websites category in the 2019 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

Tapping Technology to Encourage Diversity and Sustainability

By making technology an integral part of the online business catering model, companies can offer greater ease and flexibility to their corporate clients, but the people behind these companies are also better positioned to operate in ways that align with contemporary professional ideologies.

“By putting everything in an online platform, which inherently removes many barriers, it allows us to build long-term relationships with our suppliers and to support local businesses, including Australian farmers,” says Dean. “We make a conscious effort to actively encourage and to include diverse, multicultural Aboriginal and not-for-profit catering suppliers into our platform, and those suppliers benefit because we offer a way to reach more customers.

“We can even work with charities and create partnerships that are in tune with our business values,” Dean continues.

In addition to promoting diversity, the online platform also allows customers and partners to make eco-conscious food choices.

“We recently implemented a sustainability rating system in October 2018 for all our caterers, which means our customers can make more informed choices about ordering sustainable catering.”

The synergy technology doesn’t just benefit the end user, though. It also improves the supplier experience, with many companies encouraging their suppliers to order biodegradable catering boxes, napkins, and cutlery.

Order-In and a myriad of other online food platforms demonstrate that technology can truly do more within the culinary industry than increase convenience for the customer; it’s also a means to help people make healthier, more sustainable food choices.

Order-In received two Silver Stevie Awards: one in the category of Excellence in Innovation in Business Product & Service Industries and another in the Innovation in Corporate Websites category in the 2019 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

Interested in winning a Stevie Award in 2020?

RAK Chamber-sponsored Program to Recognize Innovation in the Workplace in 17 MENA Nations

The Stevie Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has opened entries for the 2020 (first annual) Middle East Stevie Awards, the first business awards program to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards® and International Business Awards®, which receive more than 12,000 nominations each year between all Stevie Awards programs.

The Middle East Stevie Awards are open to all organizations in 17 nations in the Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

All individuals and organizations — public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small — may submit any number of nominations to any number of the categories, free of charge. Complete nomination details are available at http://MENA.StevieAwards.com.

Nominations that are awarded a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie Award by the jury will be assessed a winners fee, the payment will unlock a number of benefits for the winner, including the right to claim the win, a Stevie Awards trophy, the right to use winners’ marks in promotions, and the right to receive the trophy on stage during a gala awards event in Ras Al Khaimah.

Nominations may be submitted online through two entry deadlines: November 6 and December 4, 2019. Any winners’ fees that might be payable for nominations submitted through the November 6 deadline will be discounted by $30.

Judging for the competition will be conducted by more than 100 professionals around the world. Those interested in participating on a jury may apply at http://MENA.StevieAwards.com. Stevie Awards competitions are esteemed for the rigor of their judging process and the experience and diversity of the jurors. More than 1,000 professionals around the world participate on Stevie Awards juries each year.

Winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Awards in the competition will be announced on January 8, 2020 and celebrated during a gala event in RAK on February 8, 2020.

The Stevie Awards trophies, designed by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, are among the world's most coveted prizes.

Nominations will be accepted and judged in Arabic and English, in more than 100 categories across the following category groups:

• Web Site, App, Annual Report & Other Publications, & Live Event Awards Categories
• Management Awards Categories
• Company / Organization Awards Categories
• Corporate Communications & Public Relations Awards Categories
• Customer Service Awards Categories
• Human Resources Awards Categories
• Marketing Awards Categories
• New Product & Product Management Awards Categories
• Technology Awards Categories

Interested in receiving a 2020 Middle East Stevie Award?

IBM Corporation, Toyota Turkey, and the Advisor Group Among Top Winners

Winners in the 2019 Stevie® Awards for Great Employers, an international competition, were announced on Friday, September 20 during a gala event in New York City. The awards recognize the world’s best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work. A complete list of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/HR. 

A diverse group of organizations and individuals around the world are among those recognized. The organization that won the Grand Stevie Award for Most Honored Organization of the Year is IBM Corporation worldwide with nine Gold, seven Silver, and seven Bronze Stevie Awards wins totaling 51.5 points.  Organization of the Year goes to the organization with the most award points, with each Gold Stevie win counting for three points, each Silver Stevie win for two points, and each Bronze Stevie for one-and-a-half points.

The Grand Stevie Award for the Highest-Rated Nomination of the Year goes to Toyota Turkey Marketing and Sales Inc.

Leading winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevies include the Advisor Group of Phoenix, AZ USA with 10 Gold, five Silver, and one Bronze Stevie in a variety of categories. ej4 of St. Louis, MO USA won five Gold, two Silver, and five Bronze Stevies.

More than 600 nominations from organizations from 24 nations were evaluated in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 60 professionals worldwide, acting as judges. Stevie Award winners in the 35 Employer of the Year categories were determined by a unique blending of the ratings of professionals and the votes of the general public.

The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize achievement in many facets of the workplace. Categories include:

• Employer of the Year
• HR Achievements
• HR Individual Awards
• HR Team Categories
• Solution Provider Awards
• More than 60 New Product & Service Categories

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes eight of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards® and American Business Awards®, and the new Middle East Stevie Awards.

Entries for the 2019 Stevie Awards for Great Employers will open in March. The entry kit will be available then at www.StevieAwards.com/HR.

Interested in receiving a Stevie Award in 2020?