Unsold The paired, unsold-stock issue in clothes & shoe retailers’ plans to reopen: how much damaged/seasonal stock to write-off, while making space to sell full-price goods & new items for autumn. Work out amount of stock in shops/stockrooms, how much & where to shift discarded stuff to protect the brand, how the supply chain is doing,…
Category: U
Unplanned An unplanned, lasting benefit of lockdown: a crash course in communications technologyA rapid, mass computer literacy & skills reboot for all ages, everywhere. The world’s human capital has increased exponentially & there’s no going back. Control + Alt + Delete. Waah! Guessed the Word? Series 57 (2/8) pic:…
Unexpected Coronavirus: When the unexpected happens – plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. “The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope lives on. And the dream will never die” – Ted Kennedy Guessed the Word? Series 55 (5/7) pic: rodrigo rodriguez
Upside-down cake Pineapple upside-down cake: shows how to solve a problem by viewing it as an opportunity. Can’t bake in an oven? Use a frying pan on stove-top. No fresh fruit? Use canned. Too dated to work now? This retro classic has comeback & now has a National Day on 20 April. Flip things over…
Unravel Outlook 2020: global supply chains will unravel. Trade wars, tariffs, Brexit & new populist governments will unwind world manufacturing & service links. Those connections had increased cooperation & lowered costs through economies of scale. Breaking up is hard to do, will slow innovation & raise costs for consumers. Unhappy bunny Guessed the Word? …
Unclog What unclogs congestion? Local & national drives to re-move vehicles. Improve public transport + reduce demand (telework, adjust work hours) + smarter road use = better quality of life, national productivity & global competitiveness. Traffic calming – one way won’t work everywhere. Start moving Guessed the Word? Series 49 (1/7) …
Unisex clothes “His ‘n’ hers” unisex clothes gaining popularity. As our cultural lives become more gender-fluid, clothes are following suit. Sporty, tonal separates & relaxed tailoring look good on both sexes. Women are the main beneficiaries of better cuts, cleaner lines & more comfort. Another plus: Unisex clothes don’t date, so are more sustainable Guessed…
Unmanned By weaponising unmanned aerial vehicles, pilots can endanger lives without risking their own. Consider & counter the downsides of new tech early. Drones must prove they can fly safely beyond line of sight, over human populations and at night. Defences? Licences, nets, lasers, projectiles, electromagnetic pulses, jamming radio signals & suicide drones Guessed the…
Utility Utilities were dull but safe investments with regular dividends & little volatility. Butrenewable energy (wind, solar), energy-efficiency advances (smarter homes) & climate change (wildfires) have sparked a change. Now the safe utility firms are those who own only poles & wires Guessed the Word? Series 41 (2/9) …
Urban More than 1/2 the world’s population now lives in urban areas. Will rise to 2/3rds by 2050. But cities won’t achieve their economic potential unless they solve air pollution, navigation, housing shortage & noise. In city-life utopia, robots sit in traffic, rents are low & electric motor whirrs are the loudest sound Guessed the Word?…