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Small business now has a sustainable edge and personal trust is a competitive advantage.
Small is the new big. Sustainable is the new growth.
Customers are now looking for people they can trust and for a CEO who picks up the phone when they ring.
If you have kids, you will understand the anxiety most parents get when the kids are constantly asking for money. And usually 
it is for all sorts of justifiable things that come up out of the blue. When the semester begins, when school excursions get scheduled, for extra pocket money and so on it goes. Yet somehow you manage to get through it.
For companies, like kids, we run a budget. But unlike kids, companies assign responsibility to managers to plan resources to deliver services demanded to meet the business plan. This money allocation process is called Budgeting and takes a serious amount of time in many organizations as they sort out the priorities.
Looking into how good ones do it, we find once business plans are set , budgeting is about figuring out what resources you need meet it.
With limited time available in the quest for productivity, we multi task. Or do we? If this is not true what is it that we do?
Multi-tasking I just learned it is a myth. Something you do when you drive home and then wonder who drove.
This week I found I was challenged as I juggled my priorities and my personal life. Having already reduced my to-do list to something sensible, it still looked foreboding.
To make it worse, the unforeseen political agenda in Thailand where I have been doing business this month has thrown normality into chaos. Plus, my daughter just announced she was arriving early to visit me this week from her India trip, before we then head home to Australia together next week .
So it was time to step up my skill in multi tasking. But before I did I decided to do some research on just what that was.
Being flexible to take advantage of opportunity is not one of the stronger attitudes of people. In the end we are creatures of habit which is what organizations rely on, to have us do our work.
But as the markets have been changing and work place thinking reassesses its investments, options for those willing to change are now considerable, especially for people with real skill now in demand.
As one of my colleagues said to me recently, “Having a job sure beats working.” What he meant was, those who avoid dole queues and the anxiety of the job search, are those who can adapt.
In organizations it is no different. Getting into different work may be as simple as using the skills we have another way. Using things like software as a service and cloud services for outsourcing to get results quickly are now reality. They are being used for such things as sales and supply chain management widely and now are starting to surface in previously hallowed areas like confidential business analytics. But even this is outside the square for so many people like Mr. Duck
But think about it. Even the outsource worker has caught on to how to work on a remote VPN access; And is also doing well in this new world, as many companies still struggle with an outdated mentality that will leave them behind, as others set up new tents .
Talented people and organization that are also smart enough to see the opportunity are going there and winning.
This reminds me of the good old story of Mr.Duck . It goes something like this.
GM CEO Fritz Henderson is quoted as saying "bankruptcy is probable but not preferred; experts say it won’t be smooth or fast."
That is the news just in about this Giant USA Automaker struggling for its very survival.
But what is the cause of all this and how do people feel about the bailout?
To get some insights into it that question, here is a response to a recent General Motors North America President Troy Clarke plea to GM employees and suppliers "to call legislators and ask for a bailout for U.S. automakers"
The response letter, widely circulated in mid-December 2008, was attributed to Gregory Knox, president of Knox Machinery of Franklin, Ohio. After I got this in my email I verified the authenticity with Snopes. According to Snopes.com Mr. Knox (or, at least, someone responding from his e-mail address) said"
“I’m real….. I came into my office 2 weeks ago and the first email I opened was a pathetic plea from Detroit…and my fingers just started flying across the keyboard..
The letter was a "spleen vent" which just quickly flowed out of me, and when I was finished I copied my mom and hit the send button…and she asked me if she could share it with her friends…and the rest is history"
As my colleague said too "it is worth reading". I will add no further comment and just let it it speak for itself.
Ralph Eastman
If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business. This B.C. Forbes quotation got me thinking..
The relevance of this in Corporate Finance is that they are responsible for investing money in their business to make money.
CFOs these days have to decide how to allocate money to different business units.
In Bangkok where I live and work, I’m a fan of the popular Thai-language discussion forum Pantip.com, Among the variety of discussions I am a contributing member in the Sinthorn Forum.
The trend there I notice now, is many are now asking where to invest. Thailand, like everywhere, has interest rates as low as 0.5% (Source: BOT), likewise of UK and US banks. In sympathy with the general global downturn, the Thai stock market Index also dived from 800+ to 400+ points through last year, so investors there are on the run.
Some Key steps in allocation in resources budgets are:
The steps seem easy, but of course we need to remember all of this has to be stored and kept in an auditable and accountable way. CFOs also would want to track things like comparisons between BU, which BU performs comparisons with last year’s performance, comparisons between original and revised budget for each BU. This sort of information was what many of our investor discussion groups were asking too, so it seems the process is not dissimilar
Thus, the infrastructure of Performance Management of your organization should allow you to muddle through transformation of budgets effectively. It should be able to show you where the sweet spots are, and of course the hot spots and where your investment is not performing. It should also be accountable and auditable that you can track and analyze your investment based on different metrics, yet being enough transparency to stake holders involved.
Finding where to invest, say 50K USD, is easy as bottom line is return on investment. We now have SAA Consensus and brokers for advice. Finding where you should invest in the company is more challenging. Or is it the same?
The rate of change is so incredible; it is hard to believe that China is becoming the world’s number one English speaking country. Mind blowing is the fact that for technical students starting a four year degree, half of what they lean will be out of date before their third year of study is completed. What about jobs? Did you know that the top 10 jobs in demand now did not exist in 2004?
I was prompted to search out this information and the video below after getting some feedback about Ralph Eastman’s question “Is reading replacing TV as a pastime” as he eluded to increasing internet readerships trends. I also noted a comment from subscribers. My research of course is so easy now isn’t it, with the internet which is now my constant tool of trade? And here are some of the facts I found in my digging. There are also some interesting tit bits to ponder.
No it is not a hand in Bridge or Gin Rummy. It is a legal term. Did you ever sign a contract with a Force Majeure clause in it?
This poorly understood clause is often glossed over or omitted when it should not be. The fact is, for many sales people, it is one of those "non clauses" about something that cannot be controlled or never likely to be exercised. But it is useful to understand how it may be used as it could save you or your company a lot of pain.
Basically, it is a get out of jail clause for liability from acts of god that may stop your ability to deliver on your contract
I looked it up in Wikipedia which defines it as a "common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties occurs.”
Penalties for failure to meet contract obligation can be severe. Imagine your factory is destroyed by a bush fire and customers coming to sue you for non delivery. If you are able to claim Force majeure you may be protected. Then having a Force Majeure clause in contracts makes sense.
Here is post by a fellow Linked In member of the eMarketing Association and senior manager at Verizon, Jim Anderson. In it he describes "Force Majeure: further and cites examples at Alcoa. Here is Jim’s Force Majeure Post.
For many of us managing risk, it is about understanding what we don’t know, as that usually catches us out. In this case, if you are not full bottle on force majeure, I would quietly recommend you consult with your legal department to see how it may impact you.
Once again another month passes and those of us left are still here. And it seems ages since recession ended, doesn’t it?.
We did a bunch of posts this month and our readership short thru the roof despite my suggestion to turn off. Clearly people have too much idle time. Or is reading replacing TV as a pastime.. I wonder?
I have seen the future and it doesn’t work“.- a great one liner by Canadian author and journalist Robert Fulford
We know we are being widely read because some folks are complaining we don’t spend enough time proof reading. We have noted that too and will take that seriously, especially now we know we are being taken seriously.
I know you have already read this but in case you missed then here is a list of our March posts
Check out how to get email updates >>
This month we saw one of our colleagues, yes another Wood, added a second book to the reading maize. Trevor Wood an Australian illustrator, has again dug deep into the realms of the living dead with his comic books about a zombie odd couple. In this he re-animates the dead with the comic “Sawbones”.
Wood, who teamed up with writer Jen Breach, who together have been publishing weekly comics for over two years with books also coming in multiple story format.
The two main characters, are rough and ready cowboy, Sheriff Sawyer and pompous English buffoon, Bones O’Brien, They get involved in comic adventures, with a focus firmly on slapstick. “The violence is implied,” Wood says. who adds “We put them in everyday situations instead of dealing with the situation normally, they eat your brains,”
In keeping with www.PerformanceeController.com policy of no direct plugs, even to ourselves, (what a silly idea that is) we cannot suggest you visit their website and order a book. Actually that is not true.The truth is if you dont get an order in quickly, you will most likely have to go on back-order and wait.
Sawbones Volume 2 and 1 are both available at comic stores and http://sawbonesonline.com/comic/
Lawyers know, or should know, that the photos, documents, videos and other similar files that they attach to emails, and send out into the cloud, contain metadata. This hidden data contains information about the attachments that may, or may not, be intended to remain confidential. Lawyers, especially, must be concerned about confidentiality of communications.
Do you have a Twitter account yet? If not you may get left behind as everyone else seems t have one.
But and for the life of me the value is still elusive as we are sending out and receiving loads of tweets to see what happens. But not so for many who just use it daily and for early adopter marketers who learning about this new channel for communication. They could be onto something here so I plan to follow this.
There is a lot more to come on Twitter I am sure as phenomena that is growing exponentially. The present Google acquisition rumors reflect Twitter’s importance as a social media and micro blogging service.
New entrant to the business blog world is Singaporean Vince Chew. Vince is a young IT veteran and business change consultant who packs a punch when it comes to contributing to others. Knowing Vince as we do in person, we know his new blog will be worth watching for sure. we have also added it to our blog roll.
Why not check check out his new Creative Management blog and take a look at his post Writing good reports for success
I was doing some research on marketing and awareness programs and I came across this titillating advertising, designed to get attention, as it asks you to Guess The Nationality!
Is it….American? Swiss? Spanish? French? Italian? Brazilian?
As you can see on the picture right .. the answer is Polish
Microsoft and TomTom announced they have reached a settlement in their respective patent suits.
As part of the deal, TomTom will pay Microsoft for coverage for the software maker’s mapping-related patents as well as the file management patents that Microsoft claimed were infringed by TomTom’s use of the Linux kernel. Microsoft will also get access to the TomTom patents that were cited in TomTom’s countersuit against Microsoft, although Microsoft won’t be making any payment to TomTom.
In a statement, the two companies said that the settlement provides TomTom patent coverage “in a manner that is fully compliant with TomTom’s obligations under the General Public Lucense Version 2.” As part of the agreement, TomTom will “remove from its products the functionality related to two file management systems patents,” over the next two years. The agreement protects TomTom’s customers under the patents during that time, the companies said.
In a recent Mashable.com post reported a Microsoft quote about Encarta closure
“Encarta has been a popular product around the world for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopedias and reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past.”
The post goes on to say Wikipedia boasts 2.7 million entries in English versus just 42,000 for Encarta.
This month, Ina Frieda a writer at CNet, has her attention focused on on Microsoft. In one article this month she talks about the Software giant coming under anti trust scrutiny in Russia. Talk about maturing, it was not long ago Russia was listed on Microsoft’s piracy board as one of the highest offending countries outside Indonesia. It is amazing how the wheel turns.
Anyway if you are interested in Microsoft check out Ina’s Recent posts from Beyond Binary
It is a well know that John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz wrote the original Dartmouth BASISC programming software that got Microsoft started. As the story goes Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the founders of Microsoft, then modified it and sold as their first product at Micro-Soft (that was the company’s name when it started business).
According to Sam Varghese at ITWire in his post last month he adds that everyone agrees the famous whine in 1976 saw Gates invent the term “software piracy.” He also outlines more about Gates view on the ling term benefits that will flow to Microsoft from China when they do start paying for software.
I for one have always been convinced that the 3 US dollars
price you pay for any software in Jakarta is a Cartel level rate agreed by vendors to propagate its software into this developing nation. In Thailand a common folk law view is the Pantip Plaza, is actually owned by Microsoft Pantip is the home of the 15 minute pirate copy burners.
Read more on How piracy benefits Microsoft>>
Singapore’s latest technology blueprint, called Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015), was announced in 2006. It is designed to help the nation achieve various economic and social benefits through more sophisticated and innovative use of infocomm technologies.
Through iN2015, Singapore is aiming for a two-fold rise in value driven by its infocomm industry to S$26 billion (US$17 billion) and a three-fold increase in infocomm export revenue to S$60 billion (US$39 billion). It is also targeting for this industry to create 80,000 new jobs.
Uma-Kataya, of The Dancing Feather Fashion fame, is in India buying and coordinating her designer ranges in productions for the summer releases this year. Nothing new there but as a student of India and the constant change in the fashion business, she noticed the consultants trend is very interesting.
India as a country has had an English speaking base for over 400 years and the richness of this and other languages makes for interesting influences on their cultures.
As India maturing commercially continues with its increasing economic importance, so does the Indian consultants influence in the world’s largest managements.
“Conventional wisdom in the US holds that consulting firms like McKinsey have nothing to fear from Indian firms. The reason is that Indian firms are most unlikely to win high-end strategy and board level consulting business, at the expense of the likes of McKinsey and Bain, because the cultural barriers are way too high.”?
That is a quote from this Indian journal which challenges this conventional wisdom as it goes on to ask “will companies like Wipro and Infosys work to help US and other developed nation firms change their culture”?
Check it out www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=6300
Yesterday with my colleague we headed for went for lunch near our office. As usual we ordered our food and then a drink which by habit is normally is a large ice coffee and a large coke.
Before we even start to order, the seller, knowing what we’ve order said “Sorry sir, we are out of large cups, will you accept a small one instead?” With no option we accepted and went back to our tables and talked about the customer service impact of this.
A similar case also happened a year ago when I remember going to a Dairy Queen shop for an ice-cream cone. “Sorry sir, we have no cones. We ran out a couple of days ago.” They also told me other stores in this area had the same problem.
Dairy Queen Thailand, a branded outlet chain of around 200 shops is owned and managed by Minor Food Group, who also distribute The Pizza Company. Sizzler, Burger King and Swensens
Minor were also a customer of ours some time back, so my 
concern sent me later to digging out my contacts there and I wrote them a letter to alert them to this flaw in their supply chain management.
I had estimated, based on my crude observation of traffic, the shop would potentially have lost sales of cone products, of around 8,000 Baht for the day. If all 200 shops had this problem, the daily loss would be 1.6 Million Baht ($50,000 USD/day). And if this continued, imagine the loss over an extended period.
By the end of the profit reporting period I’m sure some variances would start to appear and questions arise: Why the loss, will it happen again, and do they need how can we deal with it. I was also interested how their deployed reporting systems were now being used to alert then for early warring issues like this for timely corrective attention.
This may have been especially relevant in understanding the situations that were reported in the published management discussion and analysis of DQ’s sales growth some time back. This showed a decline back in soft server products in 2007 when sales of DQ showed an overall improvement”.
As for me, I’m just a customer who doesn’t seem to be happy when I don’t get my cones when I want them.
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Kitipan Kitbamroong is a Director of Sherwood Group Consulting based in Thailand and Technical Director Benox Co Ltd
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