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• People Power and Stock Performance (Part 1) - Editor, 21 February 2008 - No Comments yet

Do not choose to move to Somerville in Texas. The town has a 60% higher cancer and birth defect rate than any other place in the United States. It makes no sense to hold on to stocks of the rail road which burns toxic materials in this area, because town folks have taken the company to court. It is even more significant, from a stock investment perspective, that the public has approached Warren Buffet. He owns most of the railroad stock. The town folk expect him to provide relief from the poisons this company releases in to the town air. Communities, especially Aleutians and farm labor, have lived with pollution for decades, so the Somerville movement seems to be new.

• People Power and Stock Performance (Part 2) - Editor, 21 February 2008 - No Comments yet

People Power and Stock Performance (Part 1)

Let us sound a note of caution. Every stock market is full of investment opportunities that are ‘greener than thou’. They promise electricity from waste, zero pollution, and even ageless living! Many of these stocks represent enormous risks in terms of retirement financial planning. Some extreme activists are willing to forsake social security in order to protect the environment, but why not copy Al Gore and make big bucks out of the movement as well? Do not fall for every alternative stock that meets your eye. How can you know which green business stocks will make money? Here are some leads to give your thinking cells a shove:

• Process Not Personality Builds Durable Stock Value (Part 1) - Editor, 18 February 2008 - No Comments yet

Top stock picks cannot rely on personalities. Ford, Watson, and Suzuki, are iconic names of the business world, but the organization structures and power transition conventions of Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Shell, protect stock investment interests best. People who have owned stocks of Apple or Yahoo may rejoice at the returns of founders to stabilize floundering ships, but the orderly succession at Microsoft must account for an achievement that even European detractors would not criticize. The best leaders plan for their own redundancies, and like Caesar never allow peaks of triumph to let them forget that empires must try and survive individuals.

• Process Not Personality Builds Durable Stock Value (Part 2) - Editor, 18 February 2008 - No Comments yet

Process Not Personality Builds Durable Stock Value (Part 1)

Reading Between Stock News Lines

Stock information is a minefield! Executives provide news of significant external developments, but how can the stock market know about what happens in the engine rooms of corporations? We have compiled the following list of signs that a company is process driven. You are welcome to challenge our notions, and add concepts of organization from your own business experiences.

• What the Making of a Singapore Girl Can Tell the Stock Market (Part 1) - Editor, 17 February 2008 - No Comments yet

American Apparel has an iconic founder, but Singapore Airlines has an unending stream of polite and caring cabin crew. It is remarkable how close the real experience of travel by this airline can be to the dreamy advertisements of smiling and slim women! The Singapore Girl has remained youthful and up-to-date for over two decades. Have you ever met people unhappy with the service on flights of this airline? It cannot be merely an Asian hospitality gig because India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines all have airlines. Most western airlines have Asian staff on flights to and from the Orient. How does Singapore Airlines stand apart by such a wide service margin?

• What the Making of a Singapore Girl Can Tell the Stock Market (Part 2) - Editor, 17 February 2008 - No Comments yet

What the Making of a Singapore Girl Can Tell the Stock Market (Part 1)

How Training Adds to Stock Value

Training in Singapore Airlines is a continuous process, but the first round, when one joins, last all of four months. Basic principles are taught in class-room formats, before trainees get to work in realistic mock set-ups. Finally, they work on real flights under the watchful eyes of trainers and seniors. Faculty is an eye-opening mix of full-timers, third-party specialists, and senior operating crew. Appraisal is stringent so that only the fully capable can graduate. The scope of training is very broad, ranging from wine literacy to being able to handle severe emergencies in the air. The process is substantially repeated every time the airline gets new aircraft. Safety training is refreshed each year even for old aircraft and veteran crew members.

• Pricing Strategies That Appease Customers and Stock Investors Simultaneously (Part 1) - Editor, 16 February 2008 - No Comments yet

How do you justify a Gross Margin loss? Some elements of expense are beyond management control. A US product that uses semiconductors made in Europe has to cost more in 2008 than during the previous year. Who should bell the depreciated dollar cat? Unilever is a prominent example of a major corporation which has opened 2008 by confessing that sales have grown faster than profits. We have published an article earlier entitled “Price Competition is the Principal Stock Value Destroyer”. This piece is a sort of counter-point. We want to examine cases in which stock investor interests are best met through selling price increases.

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