The great thing about the weather folks is that they are able to predict sunshine better than oil folks can predict oil and gas. And Google's investment of $280 million in residential solar with Solar City seems to be a great move and a new opportunity for those in the roofing related installation business whoContinue reading “New opportunity for roofers as Google invests $280 million in residential solar”
Category Archives: Inspiration
What has Oprah’s last show got to do with B2B/Supply Chain Relationships? : Validation
Humor aside, one has to give it to Oprah: 25 years, over 4000 shows, millions of fans for a black woman who would have been at the maximum a “school teacher in a segregated school”(by her own words today) has a huge message for business. Oprah said that every one of her thousands of guests over 25 years had only one need. That was a need to be heard,understood and where possible appreciated or validated. This need irrespective of whether they were weak or strong, rich or poor.
Jack Welch GE’s 4 E and one P curve
Update and Caution: August 10, 2022: We are both elated and worried about the wild popularity of this post. Serious questions are being raised about Jack Welch’s style, as depicted in this post. See recent criticism by David Gelles in “The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy.” Some GE managers who worked during Welch’s time seem to agree though ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli is still a steadfast supporter of Jack Welch’s leadership style. Welch was widely considered the manager of the century. The Jack Welch century was the 20th Century. Do check out what seems to be working in leadership in 2022.: Leadership Style 2022: Jack Welch or Satya Nadella?
To evaluate managers GE started a system of differentiating managers on performance but were hard pressed to identify the characteristics that differentiated managers on the “Vitality” curve which is essentially a “grading” curve or graph for managers. The word “vitality” is confusing because it refers more to being vital or essential to the organization rather than being “vital” in the “having high energy” sense. In fact,”Energy” is one of the 4 E’s but let’s go over the 4 E’s of GE leadership briefly:
Who is the “customer” in education?- well the next link in the supply chain…
The employment situation in the US is not getting better, particularly for young people out of college.And this brings us to the "Who is the "customer"in education?" question. It is certainly not the student as the authors suggest and the simple answer from this blog's pont of view is the next link in the supplyContinue reading “Who is the “customer” in education?- well the next link in the supply chain…”
End of Osama Bin Laden great endorsement for American spirit
Scenes of crowds of mostly young people cheering outside the White House even before President Obama’s address should assure the world about the spirit of America. This spirit was hugely evident, despite the massive deficit, unemployment, and concerns about future American economic competitiveness. Truly the killing of Osama Bin Laden is a great endorsement ofContinue reading “End of Osama Bin Laden great endorsement for American spirit”
How did Lowe’s at Raleigh NC save customers from the tornado? Store manager as ship captain
At a DIY store like Lowe's or Home Depot all customers see themselves and others as experts of some sort. So as the tornado is at the front door and Lowe's managers are trying to get everyone to the rear of the store and safety, a customer yells that "this is no tornado" and peopleContinue reading “How did Lowe’s at Raleigh NC save customers from the tornado? Store manager as ship captain”
Learning fortitude from the Japanese and the iodized salt rush
The world truly bows to the Japanese for their fortitude in crisis. Have you seen [ Note: This post from March 22, 2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 31, 2021] of:
Supply chain bottleneck for world auto as every car uses some Japanese electronics
The world auto supply chain has become so integrated (March 18, 2011) that you are likely to find the same parts suppliers supplying to all auto plants. There was a time when Ford would frown at suppliers supplying to GM let alone Toyota. Today the world is a far different place , with suppliers supplying to everyone in their industry. In fact , you can be sure that suppliers who recently started supplying to the rejuvenated GM had to provide good references from other customers like Ford and Toyota.
[Note: This post from March 18,2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]
Innovation needs a “challenge vs. threat” organization culture
Today (March 16, 2011) Karim Kassam (then of Carnegie Mellon University and in 2021 at Jacksonville Jaguars) talked about challenge vs threat and measuring stress in the lab through blood pressure , heart rate etc. at the Yale SOM -Behavioral Marketing -Eli Seminar Series. This got me thinking about the organizational culture you need to allow innovation. But first let’s differentiate between what we see as a challenge vs. threat.
[Note: This post from March 16, 2011 was updated and reformatted on May 31, 2021]
Japan Earthquake: heartbreaking images -seismologists, structural engineers and nuclear power industry worldwide to learn
// <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_setAccount&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;, &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;UA-857684-6&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_trackPageview&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;); ga.type = &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;text/javascript&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; ga.async = true; ga.src = (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; == document.location.protocol ? &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https://ssl&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; : &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;http://www&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;) + &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;.google-analytics.com/ga.js&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Continue reading “Japan Earthquake: heartbreaking images -seismologists, structural engineers and nuclear power industry worldwide to learn”