Monthly Archives: June 2014

How to promote investment in job/market creation

Keep Learning, ,

I just finished an interesting and thought provoking article (hopefully you still have an active HBR account) in the June, 2014 Harvard Business Review.  Written by Christensen and van Bever, the article, The Capitalist’s Dilemma, starts out addressing the question why companies are not investing in ways that create jobs and open new markets.  It ends up concluding that the traditional MBA-based company soundness analysis focused on ratios like ROA, IRR, NPV, etc. are based on the now incorrect assumption that capital is scarce.  Scarce? These days, it is practically free! Combined with the domination of “tourist” shareholders (those who invest in the short term as opposed to the long term – a description that even applies to pension fund investors these days), the reliance on these traditional estimates of return drives firms to spend money to increase their efficiency or performance, usually eliminating jobs, while investing in opening new markets, with its increases in risk and assets, is typically viewed as less financially attractive than simply sitting on retained capital and doing nothing.  Capital is cheap, the authors argue, we should use it, not hoard it.

They also ask the question what we happen if we develop metrics for measuring investments in resources that are truly scarce – like making good people better.  How about time? How do we measure the value of time as a scare resource?  The focus on short term performance has created an abundance of short term capital that is not doing its job to help ensure future success and development.

Any thoughts/ideas on what we can do in our own lives and firms to reflect this change of perspective and corresponding motivation to put capital to use to build a stronger enterprise, not just a set of assets in some overseas company so our ratios appear better?

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OK- someone has to break-in the What’s Up Category…

What's up

So, a big “what’s up in my life” is that today I signed an offer letter for a new position at work. Starting 1Jul, I’ll be the  Associate Director of Development at our observatory.  It’s a pretty good position that gets me more strategically involved in both the division I’m working in now, and as a directorate member, in the observatory as a whole, so I’m really looking forward to it. On the other hand, none of the last 4 people in this position (all of whom I’ve worked with in my 7 years here) are still working for us.  That makes me the 5th person in this position in 7 years, so I figure that means by the end of 2015 or so, I’ll be on to something else.  Any suggestions? 😉

On a serious note, I really credit this program and all of you for helping me get this position and feel comfortable with both negotiating for it and filling it.  You’ve all taught me a lot and learning from your and your experiences has really helped me refine my own thoughts and approaches to management and leadership at work. So, I am quite sincere in saying you all share some of the credit in me getting this position -although when I mess it up in a year and a half, that’ll be all on me! 🙂

What’s up with everyone else?

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Company Branding: Do you have a company brand specification sheet?

Help!,

Today I requested a quote from a new printing company.  They asked me to supply PMS color specs and logo fonts for the printing job .  I realize that big companies spend a lot of time and money coming up with a Company Brand Specification Document….
Do you have one for your company?

What simple version works for you?

Do you have a template that you can share?

You know how I feel about Wal-Mart, however I include a link containing a sample of their lengthy detailed brand image specification from 2011.  It is too detailed for Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co. but it does give me ideas.

Thanks for your help if you have suggestions or templates.