Strictly Business

A new business chamber is forming in Tennessee — the TN Christian Chamber of Commerce. Its mission: to support the economic and spiritual growth of its members by providing networking, professional and spiritual development and community-building opportunities to affect change and make an impact for Jesus Christ in the marketplace.

Last month, I attended the “Faith in the Boardroom” kick-off event, featuring Apprentice Finalist Roxanne Wilson, and was encouraged by the presence of several local business leaders determined to live out their faith in their professions. Roxanne and Celeste LaReau, Executive Director for the TN Christian Chamber of Commerce, shared powerful testimonies that both challenged and inspired.

The TN Christian Chamber of Commerce has a few upcoming events scheduled, including a full-day seminar developed by “The One Minute Manager” and “Lead Like Jesus” author Ken Blanchard that will take place on August 1st at Belmont University. You may e-mail Celeste (celeste@tennesseechristianchamber.org) for more information.

Posted by Jocelyn Gutekunst at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Authored by Jeremy Smith, MBA Candidate] As consumers, do we really have a choice when it comes to where and what we purchase? While most businesses have many competitors, there are quite a few that don’t. In many different business sectors, competition seems to be shrinking as large players grow and dominate the field.

A good example is the retail marketplace. Competition is high when it comes clothing retailers or restaurants. If you are looking for a place to buy some new shoes or a dinner for the evening, the choices are abundant. There are many cases where this isn’t true. Retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, Kroger and Publix, Lowes and Home Depot, Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million, and Best Buy and Circuit City may compete with each other, but not usually with anyone else. There are exceptions to this rule as retail giant Wal-Mart carries just about everything. However, they specialize in nothing. In addition, the competing products are usually of a lower quality.

For example, if I need to buy a kitchen sink on a Sunday afternoon, I basically have two options, Lowes or Home Depot. If I need a popular book to read, Books-a-Million or Barnes and Noble are my two choices. Other small local or online retailers are available, but sometimes the consumer needs something right away or it might want “to touch” the product to feel comfortable with it. These companies have essentially created local oligopolies and compete only with each other. As a result, the big-box stores who used to offer big savings are now only marginally cheaper than their local predecessors.

A bigger question might be what happens next? In many of cases, one player within each pair is starting to outshine the other. In the fourth quarter of 2007, Best Buy, the No. 1 consumer electronics retailer, posted an 18.5 percent jump in sales while Circuit City lost money. Lowes is continuing to gain substantial ground on Home Depot, and Barnes and Noble is the only national book retailer doing well financially. Will the market eventually support only a single competitor in each such space?

Wal-Mart has already gained this position in several small geographic areas and they are using this position to increase profits. In my hometown of Fayetteville, TN, Wal-Mart is the only major retailer. Grocery stores like Food Lion and Bi-Lo have left town. The market is too small for the addition of a store like Target and the prices reflect this lack of competition. Every item in the Fayetteville store is more expensive than the same item in the Murfreesboro Wal-Mart. Are the fates of larger markets the same? In retail, the rule is to grow or fail. However, should one company win, it is the consumer who would suffer.

--Jeremy Smith, MBA Candidate

Posted by Joe Alexander at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Authored by Dr. Susan Williams, Professor of Management] Doug Stone, author of Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Really Matters (Difficult Conversations) counsels us to “get things out into the open” and have those difficult conversations we’ve been putting off – the roommate who won’t clean up her share of the apartment, the employee who interrupts at every opportunity, or the person who plays loud music after midnight. He asserts that the fallout from people not having these conversations is evident all around us – failed management, poor employee morale, even horrific events like the Challenger disaster.

In his recent presentation at the Executive Learning Networks, part of the Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University, Stone counseled participants to quiet “the voice in the head” and think about the other person’s point of view. Most of these failed conversations are based on our internal voice saying, “I’m right and you’re wrong.” He asked us to inquire of ourselves, for example, “I wonder why she’s doing that?” Assume you don’t know the other person’s motivation and don’t ascribe blame to them. Then you can look for solutions instead of blaming.

Getting clear with yourself about how you feel about certain behaviors is part of preparing for the difficult conversation. Ask yourself why this particular conversation is hard for you. Is it because you have made some assumptions about motivation, or because similar conversations have not gone well in the past?

The three parts of difficult conversations are: “what happened” which deals with the facts of the dialog; a “feelings” discussion that addresses the parties’ emotions; and an “identity” conversation that deals with how this discussion affects our perception of who we believe we are.

Bottom line, inquiring is more important than telling. Stone said, “It is hard to convince someone he is wrong if he feels he hasn’t been heard, so inquiring, actively listening, and really hearing are keys to addressing the issue.” Recognize that difficult conversations are a part of our lives. Search for solutions, not blame.

Posted by Joe Alexander at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Contributed by Joe Scarlett, retired Chairman of the Board of Directors, Tractor Supply Company and founder, Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont University] The recent tainted meat scandal in California further demonstrates why uncompromising ethics in business is the only path to long term business success. One-hundred forty-three million pounds of meat were recalled all because of a lapse of ethics. Who wins in this mess? Absolutely no one. Was it avoidable? Certainly.

Since so many of the senior executives of Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, etc. were exposed and subsequently jailed, you would think that every businessperson in America would have learned the importance of maintaining a high level of integrity in business practices. It is a real shame that some still have not seen the light and grasped the obvious. High standards, honesty, and ethical leadership all pay off in the long run, and the opposite is simply a path to ultimate failure. Wake up business leaders!

In February Westland/Hallmark Meat of Chino California issued a recall for 143 million pounds of beef – six times larger than any previous recall. The company slaughtered cattle that could not walk and failed to notify an inspector, which is a clear violation. Cattle that cannot walk have a higher risk of mad cow disease and bacterial contamination. What were they thinking? Where is the leadership?

Federal inspectors did not identify the problem nor did the company report the problem from its own control processes. A video provided by the Humane Society showed employees attempting to get sick cattle to stand up using forklifts, electric cattle prods and high pressure water hoses. And now speculation suggests that the plant will close. Owners will lose their investment, executives will lose their salaries and perks and the workers will all be unemployed. The only good news in the story, if there is any good news, is that there have been no reports of illness or meat contamination.

Employees clearly violated the rules, so you have to ask a few questions. Were the rules posted, communicated and discussed? Was there a clear path to discuss and report dilemmas and violations? Did the employees believe that the company strived to operate with a high degree of integrity in all aspects of its operations? The obvious conclusion is that the answers to some or all of these questions is no.

The ethical and moral direction in any organization must be set by the CEO and the senior executive leadership. When that direction is set according to high standards and then communicated effectively and repetitively, the organization invariably lives by those standards. We follow our leaders; when they set the right direction, we follow; when they set the wrong direction, or more commonly no direction, we wander into “no man's land.”

Leadership in business is everything. We follow with pride and confidence when our leaders set a clear path that embraces high ethical standards. Workers at every level deserve the right to work for leaders who demonstrate business and personal integrity. -Joe Scarlett, March 2008

Posted by Joe Alexander at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RealtyTrac, a firm that keeps up with residential property in foreclosure, reported in January that the number of mortgage foreclosures is increasing faster in some states than the number of new homes sold. Reports are that there were 153,745 initial foreclosure notices sent out in the United States, which was almost half the total sales figure of newly built single family homes and existing homes and condominiums over the same time frame.

Of course in some states, California and Nevada, the percentage of homes affected is far worse than others (e.g., Vermont and West Virginia). The map to the left is based on May 2007 numbers. Therein is a major concern; nationwide homeowners should be mindful of the insidious effects that foreclosures and the rising inventories of homes for sale will have on home prices—and household wealth.

Foreclosures not only cause dislocation for the homeowners being forced out of their homes, but also represent an increased supply of homes for buyers and additional competition for other sellers. Homes in foreclosure or those that are about to be foreclosed force sellers to accept lower prices since they are in no position to wait for better offers. Those sales can help to push prices lower for everyone.

The “wealth effect” which has powered consumer spending during the housing boom is likely to further deteriorate as home equity declines as home prices fall. The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that for the first time in record-keeping dating back to 1945, home equity was below 50% for the last nine months of 2007. The newly issued number highlights the problems that millions of Americans are having keeping their homes, as their mortgage rates adjust upward and their property values decline.

Posted by Patrick Raines at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most of us enjoy reading recipes for success. The topic of failure tends to be far less popular. And yet, in business we say "If you're not occasionally failing at something, you're probably setting your sights for success way too low." I like Soichiro Honda's quote. Here's a business legend who set very high expectations for himself and his automobile company. Yet he viewed failure in the context of it simply being a necessary means to achieving an outstanding end.

Over the years, I've also grown to appreciate the comparison of two of history's outstanding major league baseball players, Lou Brock and Max Carey. In 1922, Carey played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and stole 51 bases while only being caught twice. That's an unbelievable success rate of 96%! Yet, far more of us recognize the name Lou Brock, a St. Louis Cardinal who for many years was the major league career leader in stolen bases with a total of 938 successes. Almost unnoticed in the recordbooks, though, is the fact that Brock was thrown out a total of 307 times in his career. That's a far less impressive career success rate of 76%. Still pretty good, but less than Carey-like. Yet, Brock's the guy people still talk about, not Carey.

What got me thinking again about this whole failure to success sequencing was a post earlier this week by Michael Hyatt, President & CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Hyatt offers some great reminders that ultimately what determines whether past failures lead to future successes depends more on our individual responses to failure (i.e., how you respond to failure when it happens). Worth reading.

By the way, as I'm sitting here on the couch wrapping up this post, Michael Dyson (yes, the vacuum cleaner guy) was just on TV bragging about how his latest vacuum wonder product was the result of 5,000 earlier prototypes, or as he put it, 5,000 failures. I think these folks are onto something.

Posted by Joe Alexander at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Couldn't pass up this opportunity to congratulate all of those individuals who work with our Belmont undergraduate business students. BusinessWeek Magazine just released their list of Top 100 Undergraduate Business Schools for 2008, and Belmont has made the list for the first time ever. Wharton again topped the national rankings, but Belmont appeared at No. 89, which was good for the highest ranking of any Tennessee b-school. The program was also in some pretty good company, finishing just between the University of Arkansas (No. 88) and Louisiana State University (No. 90). The full story will appear in the March 10 edition, scheduled to be on newsstands this coming Monday. The full story and supporting analysis can be found at: http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/undergrad_bschool/

Posted by Joe Alexander at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's oft been said that "You can't fight city hall"--a reference, no doubt, to the collective angst of all those past local residents who felt wronged by their municipal leaders but felt powerless to do anything about it.

Don't you wish more city leaders had chosen the path of Coral Springs (FL) leadership?! C.S. is the 13th largest municipality in the State of Florida and late this past year they became the first municipality to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the U.S. President. Back in the early 1990s, city leaders decided there was a better way to run city hall than the traditional stereotypical approach. So they began making strategic decisions based on a total quality management framework designed around performance targets like resident and business satisfaction, stakeholder partnerships, and overall continuous improvement.

After several years of implementing that strategy, their results began to speak for themselves. Last year, for example, 95% of residents indicated that the city had met or exceeded their expectations for quality of service delivered. Furthermore, 99% of resident businesses would now recommend the city to others as a "place to run a business." And these results are only two of the myriad of world-class levels being achieved by city management on an ongoing basis.

Thankfully, a big part of the Baldrige philosophy is for winners to share their recipes for success with others. If you're an existing (or aspiring) city leader, I'd urge you to take a look at the Coral Springs story and how they run their city hall (http://www.coralsprings.org/baldrige/BaldrigeApplication07.pdf). Your citizens (and voters) will be greatful for any best practices you identify that can be implemented locally. If you find these ideas of interest, check with our good friends over at the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (www.tncpe.org).

TNCPE has a wonderful set of resources in place specifically designed to help community leaders improve the quality of life for their residents.

Posted by Joe Alexander at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After browsing through a bookstore several months ago, I made the declaration that no matter where technology takes us, “I still love books.” There is just something about the smell of a fresh book, the sense of accomplishment you feel while watching your bookmark move deeper into the pages, the ability to share the experience by passing a favorite story along to a friend. You can browse shelves of your collection and be reminded of inspirational lessons and adventures gone by. There is just something special about a book.

Thus, you can see why I have nicknamed Amazon’s Kindle as iPod’s ugly stepsister.

Amazon appears to be capitalizing on the same digital appeal that makes Apple so successful — innovation, value and convenience. For book publishers, it’s another revenue stream that will allow them to keep producing the material we want to read. I will admit all of this is good business, even if the product is not for me.

People are certainly buying in. According to its Wikipedia entry, the Kindle sold out within six hours of its November launch, and Amazon.com is still having trouble keeping them in stock (even at the $400 premium). Sony’s version appears to be on back order as well.

It’s not on my Christmas list, though. I would rather escape with a book that I can still read despite the sun’s glare. Technology, hands off my books. Who’s with me?

Posted by Jocelyn Gutekunst at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)