THE ENTERPRISE--SHORT TAKES
A SERIES OF "SHORT TAKES" MIGHT BE A GOOD WAY TO CLOSE OUT A VERY DIFFICULT YEAR.
MARKET SHARE: This is a measure of how well a company does, not a "goal" in itself. If the company competes well, serves customers well, provides good value, etc., it usually gains market share. Just like scoring touchdowns in football leads to scoring points on the scoreboard. NOT vice versa.
CHINA LEADS GLOBAL RECOVERY?: Exactly how the Chinese have managed it, that country is rebounding ahead of most of the developed world. The decline in exports has slowed to almost none, and is poised for a growth surge next year. China's imports are up and it is once again gaining momentum. This will only be sustainable if its largest customer--the USA--has a consumer recovery. China is also warning the USA about its debt, its deficits and its dollar. We may be China's largest customer; but it is out largest lender.
WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND: New trend: "going vertical"--Sun buys Oracle; GM buys back part of Delphi. Translation: a return to vertical integration as a strategy after several decades of "dis-integration" turned into "disintegration." Too much of either way, vertical or horizontal are probably both wrong, and vary situation by situation. Beware "dogmatic" positions.
TALKING THE TALK VS. WALKING THE TALK: There were a few glimmers of hope: Obama's first part of his Nobel prize acceptance speech sounded how a US President should sound. He also made some good points in his Afghanistan speech up until he got to the "pull out date" part. The idea of communicating that the US involvement and funding is not "open ended" is a good idea. Setting a date simply tells the Taliban how to manage things: Go underground for a little over a year, let the US declare "victory" and then "leave," pulling out most or all of its troops (as allies bail out even faster). Then, when that is done (say late fall of 2011 or early spring of 2012, retake control of Afghanistan.
I-ECTOMY: Obama's speeches need an I-ectomy--the surgical removal of the frequent and repetitive use of "I did this, I studied this," etc. Example: 15 I's in three sentences of the speech on the Afghanistan "surge."
OPRAH & CHICAGO: Us troops aren't the only ones pulling out in 2011. Oprah is too--from Chicago. After proclaiming her love for Chicago as "the most fabulous city in the world," and Chicago was called "the world's first great black metropolis, and Oprah is its symbol." She's moving (to CA), ending her daytime talk show in 2011. Reasons: cold weather, oppressive unions with extravagant work rules, high taxes, regulatory morass, etc. (Not her words, but those of others.)
BYE BYE TRADE SHOWS: Anyone who's done a trade show in Chicago or NYC knows that the unions have a death grip on labor and charge mind-boggling rates to do mundane work--or the shut down a show completely until the 'blackmail" is paid. Chicago and New York are losing these shows to places like Orlando and Atlanta--another example of how unions drive jobs away.
JUST THE FACTS: If only government officials, politicians and our President would tell the unvarnished truth and give us "just the facts" (a line from the old TV series Dragnet) we'd all be better off--and in the long run--so would they. They get so tangled up making their lies and half-truths hold up, that the truth gets completely lost in a blizzard of spin, lies, mis-speaks, etc.
BRIBERY: That's the only suitable word for the way money is handed about in huge sums to legislators and their constituents, cloaked in names like "Stimulus Packages." It happens in states too, but Washington is where it is rampant and ridiculous.
STOP BREATHING: Is now illegal according to the EPA, since exhalation contains CO2, classified by the EPA as a dangerous pollutant. What agency rules when another agency is a dangerous pollutant? Now will you please quit exhaling that dangerous pollutant?
BURIED ON P.2: The AP report that says the latest Health Bills will indeed increase costs, and that the Medicare savings are unrealistic. In fact, the Medicare program, which is proven to be unfundable long term, is not the "model" for new government programs. If it doesn't work now, do more of it--right? Congress is frantically working to find a "reform bill" it can pass. Perhaps the result will be watered down enough to not do too much harm. It will, however create who new layers and functions of bureaucracy--and that is not good.
TOYOTA RECALLS: Toyota recalls millions of cars whose gas pedal and floor mats get tangled up causing unwanted acceleration (drive by wire exacerbates this). Toyota recalls 100,000 Tundra pickups whose frames are rusting out. etc. etc. Even might Toyota makes mistakes. The bigger they get, the harder they fall.
WASTE: Nancy Pelosi's air travel to and from her California home every week costs far more than the CEOs she criticizes earn in salary. Check it out. $60,000 per trip, $480,000 per month. (It is allegedly to be able to make non-stop flights from DC to CA for "security reasons." What crap that is.)
UNIONS: Unions that demand NLRB favoritism on voting, or the EFCA, will get exactly what they deserve. The jobs for their members will flee the USA. Thus Union officials actually harm their members instead of helping them.
JOBS I: Do not expect a rollicking recovery. America is over retailed; commercial and residential property is overbuilt and over mortgaged; plant capacity is underutilized and the government is passing more regulations, more taxes and doing more harm to business than ever. Expect a slow, spotty recovery.
JOBS II: Jobs summit meetings attended by non-business representatives will simply make more government jobs, and do more harm to private sector jobs. Obama's own Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christine Romer and her husband did the study and wrote the paper proving this several years ago. Check it out.
JOB OPENINGS & NEW HIRES FALL: While the unemployment percent improved slightly last month the jobs picture did not. There are about six people looking for every job that is open. The number of new hires continues to hit new lows. Only 19% of CEOs expected their payrolls to increase over the next six months. The technical end to the recession doesn't feel very good right now.
HOAX: Al Gore is a phony, a huckster and deserves none of the adulation he has received. His scientific back up is manipulated and inaccurate. Real scientists who are not driven by money and political power say so. The others rig the results to support their lucrative grants.
ILLOGIC: None of the logical approaches to solving problems with health care, jobs and fiscal stimulus will be adopted since they all fail the political patronage, and power-broker agenda tests. Only those that fit the political motives of the incumbents in power are acceptable whether they work or not.
BANK REGULATIONS: When the Glass-Steagall act was repealed about a decade ago, the last barrier between banks and speculative investment houses went away. Clinton & Congress did away with it. That wasn't the only problem, just one is series. Now regulators are licking their chops at the chance to really hammer the financial "bandits." Overcompensation always happens when someone goes too far.
SARBOX: This legislation, Sarbanes-Oxley was passed after the wave of dot-com and tel-com fraud. Its purpose may have been noble, but, like all laws passed by legislators with little or no business acumen, it over does some things and under does others. Wouldn't it make sense to have some business people involved meaningfully in these laws--before they are passed.
BUYING MORE, SPENDING LESS: That is the Christmas shopping season in summary. Results will be weak comp store sales (measured in $$) and poor profits for retailers. 1Q of 2010 will be no fun at all. 2Q only marginally better as the government (once again) throws money (it doesn't have) at the problem. Who pays? In the long run, us, the taxpayers.
DEATH OF AN ICON IN RETAIL: Sol Price, founder of Price Club, the first warehouse club in 1976, and pioneer of several other retailing chains/formats (e.g., Fed-mart) passed away at age 93. His retailing creativity spawned a form of retailing that spread rapidly in both the US and many countries abroad.
WHAT HAPPENED TO PLAY: Do today's kids even know how to play together? What kind of adults will be be raising when every activity has to be organized, monitored, and scored. But wait, there can be no "losers" so scores mean nothing (but in the real world, as adults, they'll learn otherwise.) Free form play is virtually gone. Walking or biking to school is too--too dangerous. So we create a generation of video game, text messaging, iPod listening, car pooling dweebs. Good for America? I think not. Kids need to re-learn how to play--together--so they can grow into adults that will remember how.
THAT'S IT--CHRISTMAS IS COMING, SO IS A NEW YEAR
Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah, etc.) and a very Happy New Year--one in which things start to really turn around in our economy, in our government, and in our hearts--JOY & PEACE.
ALL THE BEST,
John
-----------------------------------------------------------
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
A SERIES OF "SHORT TAKES" MIGHT BE A GOOD WAY TO CLOSE OUT A VERY DIFFICULT YEAR.
MARKET SHARE: This is a measure of how well a company does, not a "goal" in itself. If the company competes well, serves customers well, provides good value, etc., it usually gains market share. Just like scoring touchdowns in football leads to scoring points on the scoreboard. NOT vice versa.
CHINA LEADS GLOBAL RECOVERY?: Exactly how the Chinese have managed it, that country is rebounding ahead of most of the developed world. The decline in exports has slowed to almost none, and is poised for a growth surge next year. China's imports are up and it is once again gaining momentum. This will only be sustainable if its largest customer--the USA--has a consumer recovery. China is also warning the USA about its debt, its deficits and its dollar. We may be China's largest customer; but it is out largest lender.
WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND: New trend: "going vertical"--Sun buys Oracle; GM buys back part of Delphi. Translation: a return to vertical integration as a strategy after several decades of "dis-integration" turned into "disintegration." Too much of either way, vertical or horizontal are probably both wrong, and vary situation by situation. Beware "dogmatic" positions.
TALKING THE TALK VS. WALKING THE TALK: There were a few glimmers of hope: Obama's first part of his Nobel prize acceptance speech sounded how a US President should sound. He also made some good points in his Afghanistan speech up until he got to the "pull out date" part. The idea of communicating that the US involvement and funding is not "open ended" is a good idea. Setting a date simply tells the Taliban how to manage things: Go underground for a little over a year, let the US declare "victory" and then "leave," pulling out most or all of its troops (as allies bail out even faster). Then, when that is done (say late fall of 2011 or early spring of 2012, retake control of Afghanistan.
I-ECTOMY: Obama's speeches need an I-ectomy--the surgical removal of the frequent and repetitive use of "I did this, I studied this," etc. Example: 15 I's in three sentences of the speech on the Afghanistan "surge."
OPRAH & CHICAGO: Us troops aren't the only ones pulling out in 2011. Oprah is too--from Chicago. After proclaiming her love for Chicago as "the most fabulous city in the world," and Chicago was called "the world's first great black metropolis, and Oprah is its symbol." She's moving (to CA), ending her daytime talk show in 2011. Reasons: cold weather, oppressive unions with extravagant work rules, high taxes, regulatory morass, etc. (Not her words, but those of others.)
BYE BYE TRADE SHOWS: Anyone who's done a trade show in Chicago or NYC knows that the unions have a death grip on labor and charge mind-boggling rates to do mundane work--or the shut down a show completely until the 'blackmail" is paid. Chicago and New York are losing these shows to places like Orlando and Atlanta--another example of how unions drive jobs away.
JUST THE FACTS: If only government officials, politicians and our President would tell the unvarnished truth and give us "just the facts" (a line from the old TV series Dragnet) we'd all be better off--and in the long run--so would they. They get so tangled up making their lies and half-truths hold up, that the truth gets completely lost in a blizzard of spin, lies, mis-speaks, etc.
BRIBERY: That's the only suitable word for the way money is handed about in huge sums to legislators and their constituents, cloaked in names like "Stimulus Packages." It happens in states too, but Washington is where it is rampant and ridiculous.
STOP BREATHING: Is now illegal according to the EPA, since exhalation contains CO2, classified by the EPA as a dangerous pollutant. What agency rules when another agency is a dangerous pollutant? Now will you please quit exhaling that dangerous pollutant?
BURIED ON P.2: The AP report that says the latest Health Bills will indeed increase costs, and that the Medicare savings are unrealistic. In fact, the Medicare program, which is proven to be unfundable long term, is not the "model" for new government programs. If it doesn't work now, do more of it--right? Congress is frantically working to find a "reform bill" it can pass. Perhaps the result will be watered down enough to not do too much harm. It will, however create who new layers and functions of bureaucracy--and that is not good.
TOYOTA RECALLS: Toyota recalls millions of cars whose gas pedal and floor mats get tangled up causing unwanted acceleration (drive by wire exacerbates this). Toyota recalls 100,000 Tundra pickups whose frames are rusting out. etc. etc. Even might Toyota makes mistakes. The bigger they get, the harder they fall.
WASTE: Nancy Pelosi's air travel to and from her California home every week costs far more than the CEOs she criticizes earn in salary. Check it out. $60,000 per trip, $480,000 per month. (It is allegedly to be able to make non-stop flights from DC to CA for "security reasons." What crap that is.)
UNIONS: Unions that demand NLRB favoritism on voting, or the EFCA, will get exactly what they deserve. The jobs for their members will flee the USA. Thus Union officials actually harm their members instead of helping them.
JOBS I: Do not expect a rollicking recovery. America is over retailed; commercial and residential property is overbuilt and over mortgaged; plant capacity is underutilized and the government is passing more regulations, more taxes and doing more harm to business than ever. Expect a slow, spotty recovery.
JOBS II: Jobs summit meetings attended by non-business representatives will simply make more government jobs, and do more harm to private sector jobs. Obama's own Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christine Romer and her husband did the study and wrote the paper proving this several years ago. Check it out.
JOB OPENINGS & NEW HIRES FALL: While the unemployment percent improved slightly last month the jobs picture did not. There are about six people looking for every job that is open. The number of new hires continues to hit new lows. Only 19% of CEOs expected their payrolls to increase over the next six months. The technical end to the recession doesn't feel very good right now.
HOAX: Al Gore is a phony, a huckster and deserves none of the adulation he has received. His scientific back up is manipulated and inaccurate. Real scientists who are not driven by money and political power say so. The others rig the results to support their lucrative grants.
ILLOGIC: None of the logical approaches to solving problems with health care, jobs and fiscal stimulus will be adopted since they all fail the political patronage, and power-broker agenda tests. Only those that fit the political motives of the incumbents in power are acceptable whether they work or not.
BANK REGULATIONS: When the Glass-Steagall act was repealed about a decade ago, the last barrier between banks and speculative investment houses went away. Clinton & Congress did away with it. That wasn't the only problem, just one is series. Now regulators are licking their chops at the chance to really hammer the financial "bandits." Overcompensation always happens when someone goes too far.
SARBOX: This legislation, Sarbanes-Oxley was passed after the wave of dot-com and tel-com fraud. Its purpose may have been noble, but, like all laws passed by legislators with little or no business acumen, it over does some things and under does others. Wouldn't it make sense to have some business people involved meaningfully in these laws--before they are passed.
BUYING MORE, SPENDING LESS: That is the Christmas shopping season in summary. Results will be weak comp store sales (measured in $$) and poor profits for retailers. 1Q of 2010 will be no fun at all. 2Q only marginally better as the government (once again) throws money (it doesn't have) at the problem. Who pays? In the long run, us, the taxpayers.
DEATH OF AN ICON IN RETAIL: Sol Price, founder of Price Club, the first warehouse club in 1976, and pioneer of several other retailing chains/formats (e.g., Fed-mart) passed away at age 93. His retailing creativity spawned a form of retailing that spread rapidly in both the US and many countries abroad.
WHAT HAPPENED TO PLAY: Do today's kids even know how to play together? What kind of adults will be be raising when every activity has to be organized, monitored, and scored. But wait, there can be no "losers" so scores mean nothing (but in the real world, as adults, they'll learn otherwise.) Free form play is virtually gone. Walking or biking to school is too--too dangerous. So we create a generation of video game, text messaging, iPod listening, car pooling dweebs. Good for America? I think not. Kids need to re-learn how to play--together--so they can grow into adults that will remember how.
THAT'S IT--CHRISTMAS IS COMING, SO IS A NEW YEAR
Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas (and Happy Hanukkah, etc.) and a very Happy New Year--one in which things start to really turn around in our economy, in our government, and in our hearts--JOY & PEACE.
ALL THE BEST,
John
-----------------------------------------------------------
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
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