Follow the link. I can't repeat it the way it is stated.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/knox.asp
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
My Linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Desperate Times?
Some would say these are desparate times in which we live. So my question is this. Is the sky falling or are people just getting caught being stupid? I personally think that it is more the later with a little of the former sprinkled in. Allow me to explain.
First realize that I am not an economist just an everyday guy who pays attention to the world that surrounds him. Most of the time. For those business owners who were just getting started in the late 90's and early 00's history kind of repeated itself. Once again we got caught thinking that we could run wide open forever. So what did we do... hire more staff... build mre buildings......borrow more money. Life was good. Or so we thought.
A wise man, by the name of Edward Graetz, told me along time ago about his business philosphy. PAY CASH! don't build anything you can't pay for. I used to think that those were the "old days". But, he built a multi-million dollar business from a blacksmith shop. He had every right to tell me his opinion. And he did on a regular basis. For you see he was my wifes grandfather. A man who lived through the depression, built his business, held 16 patents in his life time and forgot more about business than I will ever know.
So once again my question is....desparate times? People managed to make a way for themselves in prior times of economic hard ship so what makes this different. I personally think it is because of our unwillingness to admit that our elders know more than we would wish to give them credit for. Our education helps to change our thought process not make us more intelligent. The main differnce now is the speed with which we do things now because of technology.
Right now people, myself included, need to put our shoulder to the mill sone and get things done. No complaining, jst do what needs to be done in order to provide for our families. Whatever that is "Just do it!" I won't apologize for the rambling I just think we need to quit whining about how bad things are and be thankful for what we have. We suffer at a higher level than most!
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
My Linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
First realize that I am not an economist just an everyday guy who pays attention to the world that surrounds him. Most of the time. For those business owners who were just getting started in the late 90's and early 00's history kind of repeated itself. Once again we got caught thinking that we could run wide open forever. So what did we do... hire more staff... build mre buildings......borrow more money. Life was good. Or so we thought.
A wise man, by the name of Edward Graetz, told me along time ago about his business philosphy. PAY CASH! don't build anything you can't pay for. I used to think that those were the "old days". But, he built a multi-million dollar business from a blacksmith shop. He had every right to tell me his opinion. And he did on a regular basis. For you see he was my wifes grandfather. A man who lived through the depression, built his business, held 16 patents in his life time and forgot more about business than I will ever know.
So once again my question is....desparate times? People managed to make a way for themselves in prior times of economic hard ship so what makes this different. I personally think it is because of our unwillingness to admit that our elders know more than we would wish to give them credit for. Our education helps to change our thought process not make us more intelligent. The main differnce now is the speed with which we do things now because of technology.
Right now people, myself included, need to put our shoulder to the mill sone and get things done. No complaining, jst do what needs to be done in order to provide for our families. Whatever that is "Just do it!" I won't apologize for the rambling I just think we need to quit whining about how bad things are and be thankful for what we have. We suffer at a higher level than most!
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
My Linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Monday, March 2, 2009
Current TImes
I have been thinking about this for a while. Not sure why but I have. The economic times we are in right now seem pretty dire. Jobless rate are up, value of the dollar is questionable, and suddenly everyone is looking for a new way to do business. Why is that?
I believe in part the new business models are created because alto of business people got caught with both hands in the cookie jar. In other words they were being really greedy. Greed makes people do stupid things. Why is it that whena company goes public common sense flies out the window? What the board of directors thinks becomes more important than “good” business practice or even outright honesty. I don’t get it! The people running these businesses are supposed to be very intelligent. So when intelect prevails does common sense lose? It appears that way. Or at the very least the people are protecting thier position as opposed to doing thier fiduciary responsibility.
Is cash really king? I had a friend forward an article where ther is somone saying that you can be profiable for long period of time with negative cashflow. I don’t get it! Whay would you even consider something like this. It’s almost like committing suicide. “the easy way to not have to face the problems you created”. It’s like the saying….”if you do not learn from history you are destined to repeat it”. Our grandparents faught thier way back to economic prosperity through hard work. Thier desire for our parents was for them to not have to work so hard so then a college education became the standard. We then became “sooo” smart that we could learn nothing from our uneducated parents. Then as we entered college an ”MBA” was the thing. “the next step in the evolution”. Once again we thought we had nothing to learn from our parents. Do you see where I am going with this? Once again, in order to rebuild our economy we must roll up our sleeves like our grandparents, set a course for where we want to go and work towards it.
Hard work never killed anyone! like the saying goes if it does not kill you it makes you stronger. Sometimes ther is just no easy way
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
I believe in part the new business models are created because alto of business people got caught with both hands in the cookie jar. In other words they were being really greedy. Greed makes people do stupid things. Why is it that whena company goes public common sense flies out the window? What the board of directors thinks becomes more important than “good” business practice or even outright honesty. I don’t get it! The people running these businesses are supposed to be very intelligent. So when intelect prevails does common sense lose? It appears that way. Or at the very least the people are protecting thier position as opposed to doing thier fiduciary responsibility.
Is cash really king? I had a friend forward an article where ther is somone saying that you can be profiable for long period of time with negative cashflow. I don’t get it! Whay would you even consider something like this. It’s almost like committing suicide. “the easy way to not have to face the problems you created”. It’s like the saying….”if you do not learn from history you are destined to repeat it”. Our grandparents faught thier way back to economic prosperity through hard work. Thier desire for our parents was for them to not have to work so hard so then a college education became the standard. We then became “sooo” smart that we could learn nothing from our uneducated parents. Then as we entered college an ”MBA” was the thing. “the next step in the evolution”. Once again we thought we had nothing to learn from our parents. Do you see where I am going with this? Once again, in order to rebuild our economy we must roll up our sleeves like our grandparents, set a course for where we want to go and work towards it.
Hard work never killed anyone! like the saying goes if it does not kill you it makes you stronger. Sometimes ther is just no easy way
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Why do people do the things they do?
I really hope you can help me answer this question. It has been bugging me for a while. A long while actually. I get the fact that people are creatures of habit. But, the definition of insanity is doing things the same and expecting different results. So, why is it so hard for people or us to ask for help when we know we need it? Are you afraid you will be embarassed? What is rolling around in that brain that makes you not want to admit you don’t know something?
Sometimes it is job presurvation. People say they know stuff but go in over thier head just to climb the ladder. Maybe, just maybe it is because you are afraid you will get kicked off the ladder al together. BUt look at it this way. it will relieve the stress of hiding your lack of knowledge.
THe sign of a good leader is not the you know everything. A good leader knows thier flaws and brings people along side of them to fill the gaps. If not individuals then outside companies. So do yourself a favor and admit your weakness and bring it to light and it won’t be such a big deal.
My Company: www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Sometimes it is job presurvation. People say they know stuff but go in over thier head just to climb the ladder. Maybe, just maybe it is because you are afraid you will get kicked off the ladder al together. BUt look at it this way. it will relieve the stress of hiding your lack of knowledge.
THe sign of a good leader is not the you know everything. A good leader knows thier flaws and brings people along side of them to fill the gaps. If not individuals then outside companies. So do yourself a favor and admit your weakness and bring it to light and it won’t be such a big deal.
My Company: www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Getting Things Done and a Lot of Questions
A Wise man once told me “if you wnat to get things done, you have to measure it.” Is that true? Have we wondered so far from our parents work ethic that the only way our employers can be assured things get done is to put performance measures on us? So if we measure and use positive reinforcement does that make measurement better? As opposed to not so good if negative reinforcement were used.
I tend to try to put a positive spin on most everyting. So, what if we were incentified? Would that work? Would that help us to work smarter or harder? You knowwhat I mean, the better I do the more money I make? I think yes! Most people in this life will work harder or smarter if they can better themselves. Therefore measures must be used as tools for improvement and quality and not as a club.
So as business owners are we using measurement as a good thing or a bad thing? Do we share the results? Should we? What is gained from sharing measured results? Today I’m kind of like the kid who always asks why. Let me know what you think.
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
my linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
I tend to try to put a positive spin on most everyting. So, what if we were incentified? Would that work? Would that help us to work smarter or harder? You knowwhat I mean, the better I do the more money I make? I think yes! Most people in this life will work harder or smarter if they can better themselves. Therefore measures must be used as tools for improvement and quality and not as a club.
So as business owners are we using measurement as a good thing or a bad thing? Do we share the results? Should we? What is gained from sharing measured results? Today I’m kind of like the kid who always asks why. Let me know what you think.
My company:
www.theromgroup.com
my linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Capacity
Here is a response from Rob Verheyden to the question “Out of curriosity can you offer some ways firms might cut capacity beyond the typical reductions in the workforce? “
The only time that cutting capacity is justified is when a company is truly on the ropes in terms of cash flow, when it really is a matter of survival. Admittedly, that is pretty much the case these days, though in past downturns, it was done purely to manage the #’s - to pad the bottom line.
A well-managed company, however, should have sufficient resources to treat this as an opportunity. Ideally, management should take advantage of this excess capacity as an opportunity to:
Take equipment out of service to perform a major overhaul, upgrade or even to replace it.
Implement training programs for the labor force.
If necessary, implement initiatives to bring about culture change - I know this sounds vague, but it is imperative that the philosophic, intellectual and bureaucratic inertia be dealt with in a company that must change to survive.
Visit customers, visit vendors and examine the supply chain in great detail. If people have time to worry about excess capacity, then they have time to talk and tour each other’s facilities. This is an excellent time to develop stronger relationships.
Examine the company’s processes and emphasize continuous improvement programs.
After all, if you can’t afford to do these things now, when you have the time, then the only alternative is to do so when you are busy and your people more harried than receptive. I recall a study from the late 80’s or early 90’s that pointed out that companies which go through these cycles of layoffs incur heavy training and quality costs during the ensuing upturn and inevitably lose ground to their more progressive competitors each time.
OK, so now that I’ve described the ‘big picture’, I should probably answer your question as it was posed. First, we should recognize that cutting excess capacity is really just another term for cost cutting. One of my accounting prof’s taught us to perform a differential analysis when comparing two or more alternatives and he made it very clear that we should remember two things - always include the intangible / non-quantifiable factors, and only the AVOIDABLE cash flows count.
That’s the rub, in this case the company only benefits to the extent that it can avoid cash outflows and many of the costs that we are familiar with simply do not represent avoidable cash flows. Salary and wages are avoidable (unless you dealt with the UAW), but depreciation is not. If you cut the headcount significantly, then you cut the cash outflows significantly. No wonder it’s so popular.
The fact is, we don’t really want to cut capacity, we just want to stop paying for it! This is probably one of the factors that drives decisions to outsource. The company can sell, close or spin off a portion of the operation, then buy only what is needed from a vendor without cutting productive capacity at all. This works, as long as you aren’t outsourcing the company’s core competencies - that would be slow death.
Following a similar course, the company can push more responsibility down to the vendors. This can be as complex as looking to them to handle more of the engineering, or it might be something as straight forward as implementing a vendor managed inventory system. Ironically, to the extent that such moves would open up floor space, they could actually allow the company to make inexpensive, incremental increases in capacity.
Finally, implementation of lean manufacturing principles, value stream analysis, continuous improvement, etc. can have a huge impact upon the cost of everything from headcount to inventory investment and energy consumption. Again, while creating the opportunity to increase capacity, rather than cut it.
Thanks Rob
My Company:
www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
The only time that cutting capacity is justified is when a company is truly on the ropes in terms of cash flow, when it really is a matter of survival. Admittedly, that is pretty much the case these days, though in past downturns, it was done purely to manage the #’s - to pad the bottom line.
A well-managed company, however, should have sufficient resources to treat this as an opportunity. Ideally, management should take advantage of this excess capacity as an opportunity to:
Take equipment out of service to perform a major overhaul, upgrade or even to replace it.
Implement training programs for the labor force.
If necessary, implement initiatives to bring about culture change - I know this sounds vague, but it is imperative that the philosophic, intellectual and bureaucratic inertia be dealt with in a company that must change to survive.
Visit customers, visit vendors and examine the supply chain in great detail. If people have time to worry about excess capacity, then they have time to talk and tour each other’s facilities. This is an excellent time to develop stronger relationships.
Examine the company’s processes and emphasize continuous improvement programs.
After all, if you can’t afford to do these things now, when you have the time, then the only alternative is to do so when you are busy and your people more harried than receptive. I recall a study from the late 80’s or early 90’s that pointed out that companies which go through these cycles of layoffs incur heavy training and quality costs during the ensuing upturn and inevitably lose ground to their more progressive competitors each time.
OK, so now that I’ve described the ‘big picture’, I should probably answer your question as it was posed. First, we should recognize that cutting excess capacity is really just another term for cost cutting. One of my accounting prof’s taught us to perform a differential analysis when comparing two or more alternatives and he made it very clear that we should remember two things - always include the intangible / non-quantifiable factors, and only the AVOIDABLE cash flows count.
That’s the rub, in this case the company only benefits to the extent that it can avoid cash outflows and many of the costs that we are familiar with simply do not represent avoidable cash flows. Salary and wages are avoidable (unless you dealt with the UAW), but depreciation is not. If you cut the headcount significantly, then you cut the cash outflows significantly. No wonder it’s so popular.
The fact is, we don’t really want to cut capacity, we just want to stop paying for it! This is probably one of the factors that drives decisions to outsource. The company can sell, close or spin off a portion of the operation, then buy only what is needed from a vendor without cutting productive capacity at all. This works, as long as you aren’t outsourcing the company’s core competencies - that would be slow death.
Following a similar course, the company can push more responsibility down to the vendors. This can be as complex as looking to them to handle more of the engineering, or it might be something as straight forward as implementing a vendor managed inventory system. Ironically, to the extent that such moves would open up floor space, they could actually allow the company to make inexpensive, incremental increases in capacity.
Finally, implementation of lean manufacturing principles, value stream analysis, continuous improvement, etc. can have a huge impact upon the cost of everything from headcount to inventory investment and energy consumption. Again, while creating the opportunity to increase capacity, rather than cut it.
Thanks Rob
My Company:
www.theromgroup.com
My linkedin profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/autenjim
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