EIDSON & PARTNERS

An Alternative To Layoffs

Duncan Aviation, a premier US corporate jet maintenance company headquartered in Lincoln, NE, announced a reduction in hours and salaries - not a layoff - as a way to deal with the current business downturn.

The Lincoln Journal Star story from January 27th is followed by more than 40 comments, primarily comments by employees such as:

- "This seems like a reasonable solution, and a very honest business practice, ensuring the employees maintain a somewhat steady income and importantly, benefits. It is refreshing to see an approach other than cutting jobs."

- "At least the company is trying to do what is right, kudos for that. Better than some of the companies that just show employees the door."

- "High praise and many kudos to Duncan. I am proud to see a Company as Duncan take a huge step to keep their employees."

- "Kudos to Duncan for watching out for their employees!"

- "We would rather have the wage reduction and the 32-hour workweek as opposed to being unemployed with no benefits." (wife of a Duncan employee)

Everyone wins in this deal.

A Detailed View of the Inauguration

The link below shows the Inauguration of President Obama in unbelievable detail. The image is a 1474 megapixel photo of the inauguration built from more than 200 photos. The navigation tools allow you to zoom in on snoozing Justices and pick out details of tie pins.

Gigapan

A Turnaround Strategy That Worked

MacDonald's is one of two Dow Jones Industrial Average companies that posted a share price gain for 2008. This success is based on a comprehensive plan that began in 2003, when the company posted its first quarterly loss.

 Andrew Martin’s article in the today’s NYTimes details:

- A change in mission “from the world's best quick-service restaurant" to "our customers' favorite place and way to eat". The mission statement translated into every aspect of the business and is well articulated in the “I’m Loving It” ads.

- A change in investment strategy from expansion to a focus on improved sales per store

- A change in menu strategy that replaced supersizing with healthier options and all-white chicken.

- An addition of premium coffee products to compete with Starbucks and the new offerings from C stores.

- A renewed focus on cleanliness and service.

- And, a focus on updated facilities including drive-throughs. 60 percent of the profit passes through a window.

The genius of this turnaround is the customer focus of "being our customers' favorite place and way to eat".

What would happen in your business if you focused on being your customers' favorite.................?

Christmas Story

In what began in 1992 as one man's dream and a heartfelt gesture, Worcester Wreath Company initiated the Arlington National Cemetery project - donating over 5000 wreaths each year to adorn the headstones of our fallen veterans.

It begins with a hand-made wreath, but Worcester Wreath Company President Morrill Worcester is quick to remind everyone who will listen, that "it takes a lot of hands and a lot of hearts to make this happen each year. It is our way of giving something back, because without the sacrifices of our Veterans, and their families, we wouldn't be in a position to do any of this."

Reported by Wreaths Across America

Electric Vehicles & The Detroit Bailout

This week I  attended the Electric Drive Transportation Association's (EDTA) Conference & Exposition in DC.

Fuel cell, hybrid, battery and plug-in technologies were exhibited along with vehicles of every size. A few industrial electric vehicles slightly larger than golf carts were present along with Smith Electric Vehicle's 19,500 lb. GVW, all-electric, plug-in delivery truck. It's hard to imagine a vehicle the size of a UPS truck with zero emissions, virtually no noise and a range of 140 miles.

The breadth of the development effort in this space is impressive. In addition to the heavily reported Chevrolet Volt and Tesla's sports coupe, there are very advanced Mitsubishi and Nissan all-electric cars in development along with Miles Electric Vehicle's five-passenger car built on a chassis from China.

Better Place reported on their efforts to deploy electric recharging sites and pre-charged battery swap facilities that function as service stations for electric vehicles. Hawaii and several Bay Area communities have committed to the deployment of recharging facilities. Internationally, Israel, Denmark and Australia are moving forward with electric vehicle recharging facilities.

By recharging electric vehicles at off-peak hours, the carbon footprint and cost of vehicle operation are dramatically reduced versus internal combustion engines.

On December 2nd, EDTA hosted a Ride & Drive Event on 9th Street for conference participants to drive and ride in these vehicles. The irony is that the Drive & Ride took place just blocks from the Capitol -- as the Big Three automakers pleaded their case for a bailout, again, before Congress.

The Housing Crisis & An Uptick in First-Time Buyers

As the incoming Obama administration weighs the policy options for the economy and the housing crisis, the new team's economic advisers should study the recently released National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey of home buyers.

- As a percentage of all home buyers, first-time home buyers increased slightly through mid 2008.
- These buyers are younger, made larger down payments and plan to stay in their home much longer than the prior year's first-time buyers.

Focusing initiatives on first-time buyers might be the single most effective policy option:
1. First-time buyers have much more flexibility because they are not tied to an existing home obligation.
2. Real estate is the ultimate trade up market. By addressing the market at its base, this approach provides a long term benefit to the entire home market – helping to stabilize prices.
3. If we define the current economic crisis as a seriously over-leveraged economy, then this approach can be a small effort to help build equity in single family homes.

The fundamental of this approach is to leverage the market forces that can help. Nurturing first time buyers, who are NOT over-leveraged, could be the right policy at the the right.

Word for the day -- Recessionista

Business Week's Christopher Palmeri reports that the word recessionista is making a come back.

Wordspy.com defines recessionista as "a person who dresses stylishly on a tight budget."

Wordspy also notes that the number one term related to recessionista is conspicuous austerity -- "2. a lifestyle in which a person openly and deliberately uses goods and services that convey a lower socioeconomic status."

Palmeri notes year-to-date sales increases of 6% and 15% respectively for Salvation Army and Goodwill stores.

It is hard to believe that just four months ago (June), we were blogging about food and fuel price increases.

China & Food Policies

Today I heard Dr. Dave Weatherspoon, Dean, Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, explain China's food policy for dealing with the projected exponential growth in demand for food.

Professor Weatherspoon pointed out that:

- China's middle class totals 300,000,000 people and is growing rapidly.
- The economy is expected to continue its 8% annual growth.
- As incomes rise, the demand for more, higher value food per capita grows.
- In a county with land and water constraints and a food system build on small farms, the long term outlook is for China to be a significant net food importer.

So, how are Chinese policymakers planning for a future built on food imports?

The answer, in part, is to help African nations build their agricultural capacity and infrastructure by investing $25 billion in Africa's agriculture system over three years, offering 4000 agriculture-related scholarships per year and helping to build/rebuild infrastructure to support agriculture exports.

He told of a recent visit to Namibia, a nation of barely 1 million people. He reported that throughout the country there were crews of Chinese workers repairing roads - reported 40,000 workers.

He left the audience with the profound sense of how rapidly the worldwide food system is changing and how important our food policies really are.

Political Disconnect: Wall Street & Main Street

In the face of a chaotic Wall Street, Members of Congress have begun calling for measures to "insulate Main Street from Wall Street".

How disconnected from reality can anyone be?

The Investment Company Institute reports that more than $17.6 trillion are held in retirement funds and the largest component is the IRA category.

88 million individuals hold mutual funds -- including more than half of the 35-64 age group.

There is a sea change on Wall Street and we are all in this one together.

 

Our products do less... – intentionally

Over the past two weeks, I have tried 37signals.com's online contact management product called, Highrise.

I really appreciate the company's philosophy of, "creating elegant, thoughtful products that do just what you need and nothing you don't."

This product offers an interesting, affordable alternative to a custom-built database that is to be shared with a client.

How often do you see a software company, or any company, that unabashedly claims, "our products do less than the competition – intentionally".

Great product! Great product development philosophy!