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Warren Buffett: “Buy American. I am”

OK.
A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.
Read all about it >>

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David Letterman: The Comedian who Became an Anchor

As I mentioned earlier, it does seem like the comedians do a better job on serious issues.
In this case, David Letterman stands head and shoulders above our so-called news people like George Stephanopoulos, Tom Brokaw, Katie Couric, and Brian Williams.
Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Note: Letterman’s interview also turns out to be the first mainstream media mention of the Liddy-McCain connection. So who’s the real terrorist?

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Retail Strategy in a Downturn: Pay Your Vendors Fast (like T.J. Maxx)

In BusinessWeek:
Industry observers say that while those retailers can take 60 to 90 days or more to settle up, TJX typically pays within 30. These days, that’s a critical selling point both to vendors, who are more concerned about finding funds to buy raw materials and pay expenses, and to the financers who act as middlemen in many of the deals. It could give TJX—which also owns discounters Marshalls and HomeGoods—an added advantage in getting a wider selection of items.
Makes sense. Can’t sell something that’s not on the shelf, Drucker used to say…
Read the article here>>
There’s another very good reason to pay quickly: goodwill.
Your suppliers will take an extra step or two for you if they know they can count on you. This “trust” makes a giant difference in execution.
There’s a software company I know which used to delay its vendor payments as much as possible as part of its strategy. While it may have gained a few bucks in capital, it lost in terms of responsiveness. Big time. Vendors would move extremely slowly to deliver value. It was frustrating on both sides. And all because a few “brilliant” bean-counters thought they had found a way to squeeze a few more pennies into the corporate treasury.

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God is in the Process: The Legacy of Michael Hammer

I have to say I was shocked when I saw the news about Michael Hammer. He was just sixty. Goes to show you how precious every second is. It may be that they need to do some process re-engineering up in heaven. Maybe make it more customer friendly or something…

Down here on Earth, process re-engineering isn’t as fashionable as it used to be. And I wonder how many people got laid off because of Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution (Collins Business Essentials).

But Hammer was misunderstood. His ideas were abused by company executives and the management consulting industry. Today his ideas live on in the heads of IT nerds and companies like Zara.

Where do you (and your company) stand? Check out the maturity models he created:
1) for process maturity, and 2) for enterprise maturity.

Too bad we didn’t see the one on leadership maturity.

Here are some fun links:
– Put Processes First: Make High Performance Possible Michael Hammer
– Michael Hammer: A Tribute to the Guru of Operations Anand Raman
– Remembering Michael Hammer Tom Davenport

In the end, process matters. Even our buddy Drucker acknowledged that.
BTW, the other process guru who is still (very) alive and kicking isTom Davenport.

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Retail Strategy: Tips from Peter Drucker

One of the great things about the late Peter Drucker is that he can be summoned to solve just about any problem.
One of my clients is a web retailer. They’re having serious issues with “customer hesitancy.”
And of course the headlines are now full of bad news in retail.
So we had a long chat about customer hesitancy. What makes the customer hesitant? Is it really the news on TV? Is it the fact that they might be out of a job?
My first piece of advice to them was straight out of Drucker: Stop selling and start buying for the customer.
Are you buying for the customer? Really?
That line of reasoning led to these predictable questions: so exactly who is your customer? Are there segments you aren’t serving that you should? Are there segments you should stop wasting your time with?
We were able to go and look at their historic web-sales data (for the past two years down to the last two weeks) to find out who their customers really were. And surprise, there was no customer hesitancy there!
All they needed was to focus on the right segment. We changed the website to do just that.
Listen to good old (in this case a younger, “1.0 version”) Drucker:

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What Went Wrong

I’m still trying to understand what this economic meltdown is all about.
Here are a few good links:
When fortune frowned The Economist
Yes, It’s A Wreck, But We Can Fix It Newsweek
Financial crisis: World round-up BBC
Good Financial Information Matters More Than Ever Robert Schiller

Financial Leadership, the Missing Ingredient Rick Wartzman
Our Choice Nouriel Roubini
We Have the Tools to Manage the Crisis Paul Volcker
Good Policies Can Save the Economy Lee Ohanian
Fundamentalists versus Realists Paul Romer
The Stunning Collapse of Iceland Business Week
and here’s a “fun” look at another issue:
This stock collapse is petty when compared to the nature crunch Guardian Unlimited
Finally, here’s some humor: 5 financial crisis jokes from Marketplace >>
* 5. I went to buy a toaster, and it came with a bank.
* 4. Money talks. Trouble is, mine only knows one word: Goodbye.
* 3. How do you define optimism? A banker who irons five shirts on Sunday.
* 2. What’s the capital of Iceland? Answer: $3.50.
And the No. 1 financial crisis joke of the week is …
Q: What is the one thing Wall Street and the Olympics have in common?
A: Synchronized diving!

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What Works in a Downturn: Purpose-Branding or Cause-Marketing

Despite the downturn, there is evidence that consumers are interested in “purpose branding.”
That’s the spin from Procter & Gamble’s Jim Stengel who (surprise, surprise) is leaving P&G at the end of the month to join a “purpose branding” consultancy.
Back-up data: In a study released this month, 26% of consumers expect companies to give more support to causes and nonprofits in an economic downturn, while 52% expect companies to maintain existing programs. Another 79% of consumers said if price and quality were similar, they would switch to a brand associated with a good cause.
OK, I’ll buy it.
And if your company is looking to do some cause-related branding, here’s a cool green company you should team up with: The Solar Electric Light Fund >>

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Downturn 2008: Harvard Business Review’s Survival Guide

And now, a survival guide from HBR.
My favorite entries:
– Why Entrepreneurs Love a Downturn
– How to Market in a Recession
– Staying Green in a Tough Economic Climate
– Three Steps to Innovating in Struggling Industries
– America’s Addiction and the New Economics of Strategy
– Beyond the Banking Crisis: A Strategy Crisis
– Hard Times Demand Teamwork — Not an MVP
Non sequitur: What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick.

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What Obama Can Teach You About Your Business

This article really is a bit too skewed on the “social networking” side of things, but I do agree w/ what John Della Volpe is saying, that Obama’s “blue-ocean strategy” to get the youth involved (beginning with Iowa), and his brilliant use of technology and social networking to attract, engage, and involve people in the campaign has made all the difference.
But Obama can teach business a lot more than Web 2.0.
His decision-making is classic Peter Drucker. According to campaign adviser Susan Rice:
“He listens to various viewpoints. He elicits dissenting views. He weighs those rationally and pragmatically. But then he tends to make a relatively swift and clear decision.”
Which makes Obama an analytical decision-maker with a talent for delivering inspiring speeches.
Leadership 2.0 is what we call it.
ALSO:
McCain, on the other hand, is reckless. And his incompetent decision to choose a clearly incompetent Palin as his replacement is an insult to the office of the President and the American people. He just doesn’t have a clue!

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Leadership 2.0: Barack Obama versus John McCain

There’s an interesting interview with Ronald Heifetz about “the leader of the the future” in an old edition of Fast Company which made me think about the difference between Barack Obama and John McCain.
Here’s what made me sit up:
“Imagine the differences in behavior between leaders who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to follow the leader’s vision” and those who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to face its problems and to live into its opportunities.” That second idea — mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges — is what defines the new job of the leader.”
OK. There it is in black and white. The difference between Leadership 1.0 and 2.0. Sounds cheesy, but hey, it is reality.
Leadership 1.0: authoritarian, fear-driven, no dissent, command and control.
Leadership 2.0: participative, purpose-driven, dissent encouraged, guide and coach.
[I know, we could compile lists like this for days on end…]
But think about it. This is nothing more than McGregor’s old Theory X versus Theory Y.
God help this world if Theory X wins this time around!

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Piracy and Cannibalism: Do Digital Downloads Reduce Revenue?

economist_digitaldownloads.jpg
From The Economist:
In 2007 digital downloads accounted for 15% of global music sales compared with almost nothing in 2003. But the outlook for the music industry is worrying. Despite the growing market for digital downloads, music sales have declined over the past four years and are set to continue to dwindle, partly as a result of piracy.
BTW, does anyone really believe that Sarah Palin reads The Economist?

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Friedman versus Senge: The Race for the Green Business Bestseller

My opinion: Tom Friedman will win the bestseller race easily, but Peter Senge‘s book is more important. The good news? They’re both serious about business and sustainability.
Here’s Senge:

And here’s his book: The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals And Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World
Check out this interview with Senge>>
And this download>>
And here’s Friedman’s book pitch:

His book: Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America
His website>>
And finally, a little column from Friedman>>
Exxon, your days are numbered.

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Shoe Circus: Gates and Seinfeld take on Google, Apple – er, Goople

Here’s Crispin Porter & Bogusky’s attempt to “bring back” Microsoft:

It’s the first in a series of ads designed to fight Apple’s “Mac vs. PC” comedy show. Will $300 million do the job?
C’mon Microsoft! You can’t let Apple do this to you:

The scary thing is there’s so much more.
The way I see it this isn’t about Vista at all. It’s about the next wave of competition, about how Microsoft will compete against Goople – Google apps on Apple hardware!

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Leadership Assessment: What John McCain can learn from GE

Does anyone believe that a Fortune 500 company would pick Sarah Palin as their CEO?
When Jack Welch transformed GE, he introduced several new criteria for evaluating executive leadership and performance. His successor, Jeffrey Immelt went through an exhaustive succession planning (er, vetting) process to replace him.
Here’s a look at GE’s leadership assessment matrix. The key attributes are:
– Vision
– Customer / Quality Focus
– Integrity
– Accountability / Commitment
– Communication / Influence
– Shared Ownership / Boundaryless
– Team Builder / Empowerment
– Knowledge / Expertise / Intellect
– Initiative / Speed
– Global Mind-set
Not bad. Does your company look at leadership this way?
Here are the details:
Vision
– Has developed and communicated a clear, simple, customer-focused Vision / direction for the organization.
– Forward-thinking, stretches horizons, challenges imaginations.
– Inspires and energizes others to commit to Vision. Captures minds. Leads by example.
– As appropriate, updates Vision to reflect constant and accelerating change impacting the business.
Customer / Quality Focus
– Listens to customer and assigns the highest priority to customer satisfaction, including internal customers.
– Inspires and demonstrates a passion for excellence in every aspect of work.
– Strives to fulfill commitment to Quality in total product / service offering.
– Lives Customer Service and creates service mind-set throughout organization.
Integrity
– Maintains unequivocal commitment to honesty / truth in every facet of behavior.
– Follows through on commitments; assumes responsibility for own mistakes.
– Practices absolute conformance with company policies embodying GEI&PS commitment to ethical conduct.
– Actions and behaviors are consistent with words. Absolutely trusted by others.
Accountability / Commitment
– Sets and meets aggressive commitments to achieve business objectives.
– Demonstrates courage / self-confidence to stand up for the beliefs, ideas, – Fair and compassionate yet willing to make difficult decisions.
– Demonstrates uncompromising responsibility for preventing harm to the environment
Communication / Influence
– Communicates in open, candid, clear, complete, and consistent manner – invites response / dissent.
– Listens effectively and probes for new ideas.
– Uses facts and rational arguments to influence and persuade.
– Breaks down barriers and develops influential relationships across teams, functions, and layers.
Shared Ownership / Boundaryless
– Self-confidence to share information across traditional boundaries and be open to new ideas.
– Encourages / promotes shared ownership for Team Vision and goals.
– Trusts others; encourages risk taking and boundaryless behavior.
– Champions Work-Out as a vehicle for everyone to be heard. Open to ideas from anywhere.
Team Builder / Empowerment
– Selects talented people; provides coaching and feedback to develop team members to fullest potential.
– Delegates whole task; empowers team to maximize effectiveness. Is personally a Team Player.
– Recognizes and rewards achievement. Creates positive / enjoyable work environment.
– Fully utilizes diversity of team members (cultural, race, gender) to achieve business success.
Knowledge / Expertise / Intellect
– Possesses and readily shares functional / technical knowledge and expertise. Constant interest in learning.
– Demonstrates broad business knowledge / perspective with cross-functional / multicultural awareness.
– Makes good decisions with limited data. Applies intellect to the fullest.
– Quickly sorts relevant from irrelevant information, grasp essentials of complex issues and initiates action.
Initiative / Speed
– Creates real and positive change. Sees change as an Opportunity.
– Anticipates problems and initiates new and better ways of doing things.
– Hates / avoids / eliminates “bureaucracy” and strives for brevity, simplicity, clarity.
– Understands and uses speed as a competitive advantage.
Global Mind-set
– Demonstrates global awareness / sensitivity and is comfortable building diverse / global teams.
– Values and promotes full utilization of global and work force diversity.
– Considers the global consequences of every decision. Proactively seeks global knowledge.
– Treats everyone with dignity, trust, and respect.
So, how do you measure up?
To me this is another dimension on the Ram Charan / Ben Franklin leadership model I blogged about a while back.
And now, sit back and listen carefully:

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Is Nick Carr Making us Stupid?

John Hagel writes about Nick Carr’s talent for “stirring debate”:
the Internet is subtly molding our minds to favor brief snippets of information rather than the nuance and complexity that can only be communicated in much longer forms such as books.
Hagel’s point is:
“…snippets of information alone are deeply dangerous. They distract us with never-ending waves of surface events, spreading us ever thinner and obscuring the deeper structures and dynamics that ultimately are shaping these surface events. Those of us who stay only on the surface, swimming in a sea of snippets, will ultimately lose sight of land.
We need books, or whatever the digital long forms of content are that will replace the book, to help us penetrate the surface and explore the deeper structures and dynamics that make sense of the changes around us.”
I wanted tell Carr that it was TV that made us stupid before Google, but that we keep discovering new ways to demonstrate it. Every generation proves its stupidity in new and wondrous ways.
Now if we could just get the Republican presidential candidate to start reading a book or two, we might be onto something.

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Peter Drucker on Knowledge Productivity

I love stumbling upon old Peter Drucker interviews. The insights he throws out with just about every breath are astonishing.
Here he is on knowledge productivity:
“There has been no increase in the productivity of knowledge work. I began to teach on my twentieth birthday. November 19, 1929, I gave my first university lecture. There has been no improvement in the productivity of college faculty since. If anything, it has gone down, because of committee meetings.
My distinguished colleagues spend God only knows how much time in committee meetings, and there has never been a committee meeting that produced any results. President Roosevelt said, If I want to make absolutely sure that nothing gets done, I appoint a committee.”
Good to know that committees still rule the world of both corporate and government decision-making.

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Putin’s Bet

So why did Putin send the Russian army into Georgia?
Apparently this incursion has been some time in the planning. And despite the political reasons, I still feel there’s an oil game going on.
Putin’s rewrite of reality is something he’s adopted by watching the US administration’s actions in Iraq. If the US can invade a country like Iraq on false pretenses, why can’t we?
And again, there’s an oil connection as well.

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Andrew J. Bacevich on The Limits of Power


Andrew J. Bacevich — Professor of International Relations at Boston University, retired Army colonel, and West Point graduate — joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to encourage viewers to take a step back and connect the dots between U.S. foreign policy, consumerism, politics, and militarism.
Wake up, everybody.