Read, watch, listen
The metaverse, the internet’s next evolution, is upon us and it could revolutionise virtual learning. Plus, other valuable reads for finance professionals.
In Brief
- Did you know the CA Library offers services and on-demand resources to members at no charge?
- The titles featured here are available to download directly from the library catalogue along with technical and soft-skill ebooks, audiobooks, articles and online resources.
- Need help finding information? Take advantage of the complimentary research service and simply get in touch with the library team with your query.
The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything
Run time: 13 hrs 48 mins
Compared with writer and venture capitalist Matthew Ball, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg almost looks like a metaverse newbie. Ball, who has been writing about the metaverse for years, is involved with both the New York Stock Exchange-listed Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF and the Ball Multicoin Bitwise Metaverse Index Fund.
The metaverse is the next evolution of the internet, Ball says, and it’ll be worth US$6–13 trillion by 2030. It shouldn’t be mistaken for a huge gaming platform (although we’ll likely game within it). Instead, it’s going to transform how we learn, work, socialise, shop and play. Children will be able to attend virtual school, where their avatar will be interacting in real time with classmates and the teacher. You’ll be able to wear the virtual jacket you buy from Tencent to a metaverse work meeting.
There are already metaverse ‘tasters’. At John Hopkins University, training surgeons practise virtual operations; a virtual copy of Hong Kong Airport is used to test the impact of flight delays on passenger flow.
Ball’s definition of the metaverse is superb: “A massively scaled, interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds, which can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users – each with an individual sense of presence – while supporting continuity of data such as history, identity, communications, payments, entitlements and objects.”
He unpacks each of these elements, especially since many of them require significantly more computing power than we have now, and others need careful thought and regulation.
Ball believes the metaverse has the potential to be amazing. However, individuals, communities, businesses and governments must get onboard to shape it, or risk allowing big corporations to dictate the metaverse we end up with.
Pricing with Confidence: Ten Rules for Increasing Profits and Staying Ahead of Inflation
As authors Reed Holden and Jeet Mukherjee rightly point out, many of today’s B2B salespeople and procurement professionals have never had to negotiate pricing during a period of inflation like we’re experiencing now. With increasing costs, high market demand and fragile supply chains, it should be an ideal time for reliable businesses to lift their prices. However, some businesses still worry they’ll lose customers and market share if they propose an increase.
In their 10 rules, Holden and Mukherjee emphasise products should be priced fairly, based on their value to the customer. Then, the business’s C-suite, salespeople and negotiators need to understand what underpins the pricing and how the product compares with the competition, so they feel confident backing themselves and closing the deal.
Importantly, the business needs to have strategies to respond to customers who push back – and that strategy can’t be discounting. Instead, these customers should be willing to forgo some value element: whether that’s next-day delivery, preferential ordering, partial shipments, or something else.
There’s also a helpful look at the different motivations your customer or procurement person might have (such as purely price-driven or relationship-driven), and how to present your new pricing to them most effectively.
This is a valuable read for finance professionals who may be providing costings, models and strategic pricing advice, because it provides great insights into the sales process and where you can find the business’s give-gets, to sell goods for what’s fair.
Psychology of Financial Planning: The Practitioner’s Guide to Money and Behavior
It will come as no surprise to finance professionals that people may behave irrationally when it comes to money – acting in ways that prevent them from achieving their financial goals. It’s not enough to simply tell someone what they need to do with money: we have to understand the psychology at work.
Psychology of Financial Planning isn’t meant to turn financial planners into psychologists, but it does outline some of the common thinking and ‘money scripts’ that might be at play.
Understanding what may be driving how a client acts with money allows financial planners to anticipate problem areas and judge when to push, and when to back off. For example, a risk-averse client might need a conservative investment plan – and a reassuring email or call if the market dips.
The authors provide practical techniques, questions and responses you can use for more honest and productive client conversations around money. There’s also advice for planners working with couples, who may have differing approaches to money management and risk.
Also recommended
MrExcel 2022: Boosting Excel
Spreadsheet master and author of 65 books on the subject, Bill Jelen presents the latest top Excel tips, tricks and formulas. The sixth edition uncovers some little known methods and discusses Excel functions, pivot tables, reveals how to clean data with power query, and much more.
Mind Over Money: Why Understanding Your Money Behaviour Will Improve Your Financial Freedom
Australian economist and investor Evan Lucas – a regular guest on ABC TV and radio – explores how people can overcome their money habits and make better financial decisions by acknowledging learned behaviours.
Digital Asset Revolution: How Blockchain Is Decentralizing Finance and Disrupting Wall Street
This book examines digital assets and advises every aspect of the economy is changing, including how we move and store value, how we access credit, invest, trade, transact and insure against risk.
Coach Me! Your Personal Board of Directors: Leadership Advice From the World’s Greatest Coaches
A team of executive coaches draw on 52 business leaders’ experiences to explore leadership styles. They look into how they have transformed their organisation or themselves to achieve success.
Listen
Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament
Run time: 5 hrs, 32 mins
Spiritual teacher and bestselling writer Michael Singer explores how we can move beyond the thoughts, feelings and habits that keep us stuck and offers strategies to propel us towards a life of liberation, serenity, openness and self-knowledge.
The Prepared Leader: Emerge From Any Crisis More Resilient Than Before
Run time: 4 hrs
In no other time in recent history have leaders in every industry grappled with so many changes. Erika H James and Lynn Perry Wooten draw on decades of research to help leaders prepare for what lies ahead. They offer insights and tools for addressing and learning from crises, and identify the five phases of crisis management and what skills are most crucial.
CA Library
A wealth of information in a single location.
Did you know the CA Library offers services and on-demand resources to members at no charge?
The titles featured here are available to download directly from the library catalogue along with technical and soft-skill ebooks, audiobooks, articles and online resources.
Members can also access the online database that includes journals such as Harvard Business Review and newspapers including The Australian Financial Review.
Need help finding information? Take advantage of the complimentary research service and simply get in touch with the library team with your query.
