A Brief Overview of Accounting’s Evolution Accounting has always been central to business management, traditionally focused on recording and reporting financial transactions, providing essential compliance and monitoring capabilities. For much of its history, it was seen as a back-office function, holding valuable data without directly influencing collaboration or decision-making across the organisation. The first major transformation came with the rise of information technology (IT). Technological advancements and automation kicked off accounting's evolution, steering it from reliance on paper records toward becoming a robust data-driven discipline. These advancements improved accuracy, streamlined information, and reduced repetitive tasks, allowing finance professionals to shift their focus from routine processing to deeper analysis. This technological shift marked the beginning of accounting’s evolution from a passive…
Cultivating Cross-Cultural Talent: Learning from Lori and Caleb’s Global Internship Journey in Singapore For most students, a summer internship is a stepping stone to gain hands-on experience and build a resume. For Lori Olga Agbabian, a business student and Caleb Benjamin Kawano, a mathematics major student from the University of California, Berkeley, their six-week internship with Advenz in Singapore became something much more a rare chance to live and work in a region they had never set foot in before, to challenge their worldviews, and to grow professionally in ways that surprised even themselves. This was their first time in Asia. And what started as a professional internship quickly transformed into an experience of personal discovery, cross-cultural appreciation, and insights…
Why Rest Never Feels as Restful as We Expect If rest were simply the absence of work, most of us would feel better than we actually do. You might return from a two-week holiday spent “switching off” and doing very little, only to feel mentally foggy, restless, and already craving the next escape. Yet, after a demanding session of a challenging hobby such as mastering a complex musical piece or training for a marathon, you often feel an unexpected sense of calm, focus, and clarity. We live by a rigid binary: grinding through work, then collapsing into leisure to “refill our tank.” We’ve been taught to think about our energy like a battery: work drains us, leisure recharges us. When…
Why Post-Break Motivation is a Leadership Challenge Having to return to work after a long Christmas and New Year break is emotionally complex. Time away disrupts the usual cadence of work and we need space to ease back into professional demands. For many, the transition back to work feels like a shock to the system, blending tiredness, reflection, and a quiet unease about the year ahead. After the new year, many return with renewed personal intentions and rebalanced priorities, but the pressure to ‘start strong’ hits the moment they are back online. While calendars quickly fill up and inboxes are flooded, the emotional transition back into work often lags behind the operational one. For leaders, January can feel like a…
In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations face numerous challenges, particularly when it comes to attracting and developing top sales talent. In this two-article series, we uncover overlooked strategies to boost sales performance, examining the impact of technology, strategy, leadership, performance management, and other critical factors that drive business success. In a recent interview, Professor Frank Cespedes shared his expert insights on effectively managing the sales function to enhance business outcomes. This interview is divided into two articles. This is Article 1, where we begin by exploring Strategic Approaches to Sales and Sales Talent. We’ll delve into foundational strategies and best practices for building a high-performing sales team. Article 2 will follow in two weeks, focusing on the Leadership Role in…
