While engaging a coaching client in matters commerce, a divergent dialogue opened up around shades of truth and divulging information.

This allowed for two different forms of experience I’ve had to then verge and become a vital lesson.

The facts leading up to this exchange are less important to the many readers of this post, certainly less so than the results might be if they simply carry the words with them for future reference, and deployment.

So, without context I’ll offer up:

I’d not recommend seeking answers until you hear what you think you want. Some times truth and light present their own opportunities.

And,

I like the saying: “When a door slams in your face, look for a window of opportunity to spring open”.

I may have made that up. I really don’t know. But, I believe it’s true, really, because I’ve lived the example, many times.

Let’s be part of the solution, not the problem.

Brian Patrick Cork

Observations of the redoubtable Michael Hunter:

1.   Social Media is currently overhyped – checked blogs and articles from a year ago until today and tracked the delta – dialogue will dissipate some and then level off

2.   Social media is not going away – consolidation will take place over the next few years – winners and losers become evident – new social media environments created based on current knowledge curve

3.   Social media professionalizes – it will become the driver of much branding and marketing strategy because it’s at the front edge of the reaction/discussion and because tracking/predictive tools will become more robust

4.   Enterprise adoption wins out over project based applications over time in medium sized and large corporations – technology allows consolidation of information from multiple points of entry (customer touch points) – more and more positive ROI evidence – Compendian type products allow information to be acted upon quickly as market dynamics change

5.   Learning curve and enterprise integration give significant advantage to early adopters over the next 3 – 5 years

6.   Biggest current challenge – dedicated resources – with the exception of a few companies that “get it” – right now it’s a part time job – amatures vs professionals

Brian Patrick Cork

Michael Hunter shares the following article: Why It’s Time to Do Away with the Brand Manager with some additional notes.

Model under consideration: Social Gastronomy – www.socialgastronomy.com.

If this article is correct, and the momentum continues, it would indicate a full capitulation to social media marketing as not only an adjunct to traditional brand management and marketing but it’s ascendancy as the driver.  I think this will take less time than pundits think. This is extremely important to SG as the SG model clears the path to full enterprise adoption of social media integration.  (HWI’s Value Delivery Alignment Model.)

While B2C will lead this charge B2B will not be far behind, especially with companies whose primary customers are B2C (target marketing and segmentation).

Please also note the emphasis on number crunching and predictive analytics as a more important tool for “Brand Advocates”. I have been suggesting this for some time.

Driving social media into the “DNA” of companies and organizing around customers means full cross-functional adeptness at utilizing social media inputs in everything from spending decisions to process restructure.  People who now seem remote from the epicenter of social media marketing now must understand it’s implications especially in customer facing functions like “customer no service” and “sometimes available technical support”.  Even the billing department will have to recognize that they are part of the product because they are part of the customer experience and therefore will have to listen to the social media buzz.

Conclusion: SG’s enterprise positioning vs. social media project competitors becomes ever more differentiating.  Matt Rosenhaft’s conceptualization skills are genius, if we can further harden up the performance metrics SG will have no peer. SG University and Certification also become more prominent as the tool for driving understanding, adoption and action into non-marketing/branding functions of the business.

There are implications for Agencies as well.

By Formula13 | Atlanta, GA October 12, 2009 01:38:48 pm:

I think this is the “new normal” that companies are going to start following as they try to operate leaner. Big agencies could start feeling a bit of a pinch and the small to medium agencies will become more relevant to these big brands. Finding the best suited partner could become more difficult – similar to finding the right mix of pitchers for your bullpen.

This should provide some compelling evidence in converting opportunities currently in the SG pipeline.

Brian Patrick Cork

Going to work may never be the same again.

What is now being referred to as: “The 2nd Great Recession” has reshaped the American workplace and work force in ways that will last years, if not longer.

The work force is graying as college graduates can’t find jobs, young workers get laid off and older workers delay retirement. People in white-collar jobs are feeling increasingly vulnerable to economic downturns, an insecurity that blue-collar workers have known for years.

The average American worker, across all economic levels and disciplines will need employment through age seventy – the age of sixty as a retirement target is no longer the standard.

Perhaps the most enduring change is the permanent loss of millions of jobs across the manufacturing, services and retail sectors.

For textile factories and service sector employers like customer service call centers, the next wave of significant job creation will occur abroad, where labor is cheaper. That trend was under way before the recession and will accelerate, according to labor economists. Americans who would have held these jobs will have to retrain themselves for other jobs, such as assembling microchips and medical devices.

For retailers, growth will be limited by more cautious consumer spending, in part because the days of easy credit are over (except for large companies). That means fewer retail clerks milling about stores around the holidays, and fewer merchandise buyers, and other staff jobs at headquarters.

“We’re in a very deep jobs crisis, and we’re not coming out of it any time soon,” says William George, professor of management at Harvard Business School. “It’s too glib to say that jobs are a lagging indicator”  - however, that hiring will return to normal once the economy does, he says.

The national unemployment rate, now 8.3 percent, is forecast to rise above 10 percent before the end of the year and isn’t expected to return to a “normal” level, which is typically near 5 percent until 2014. “Although it should always be noted that most layoff and unemployment figures are related to blue collar workforce. Similar statistics for white collar workers is actually quite rare”, says Brian Patrick Cork of Atlanta-based brian cork Human Capital.

Of course, layoffs aren’t the only thing transforming the workplace.

The need to cut costs deeply and quickly has forced businesses to get creative – not just go the easy route of layoffs. “It’s the central responsibility of managers these days”, says Alec Levenson, a research specialist with the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California.

Through furloughs, fewer shifts and other cutbacks, employers have reduced the average work week to a near-record low of 33.1 hours.

Another trend is the hiring of consultants for what used to be salaried positions. “The reduction of accounting burdens represented by benefits alone is wildly significant” , adds Cork.

About 400 workers at Nebraska meatpacker Premium Protein Products were told this week they will remain on unpaid furloughs for at least another two weeks, having been on unpaid leave since June. States also have joined in, with Utah State University asking employees to take a furlough next summer after taking a weeklong furlough last spring.

Reducing hours of all workers instead of eliminating jobs of a few is a strategy that had slowly been gaining favor in recent years because it saved companies money in several ways: It reduced the need for severance packages, as well as the cost to rehire and train these new workers once the economy rebounded.

“The practice became much more widespread during last year’s financial crisis and is likely to be repeated in future recessions”, says Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

However, workers aren’t necessarily complaining.

Bonnie Gerard, a business developer with the Knowledge Institute consulting firm in Exeter, N.H., has seen her work week cut from five days to four. That’s made it harder to keep up with paying bills. But it beats losing the job. And, she acknowledges, it’s made her more efficient.

“It keeps you more focused on the days you’re here,” she says. “You’ve still got the same goals, whether you’re here four days or five days, and you’ve got to do the work.”

“No matter how creative companies get at cost-cutting, or how strong the recovery is, millions of jobs will never come back“, George, the Harvard professor, says.

Over the past year, the U.S. non-farm payroll has shrunk to about 131 million people, a decline of more than 5.8 million auto workers, stock brokers, bankers, landscapers, carpenters, truckers, journalists, mechanics, cooks, maids and more. More than 1.6 million manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the last 12 months, along with 1 million construction jobs and 435,000 financial sector jobs.

In low-skilled manufacturing, the U.S. can’t compete with countries like China, India or Mexico where labor costs are a fraction of those here. Likewise, cost pressures will continue to push information technology jobs overseas.

American workers will need to be retrained in the coming years to have a shot at the jobs that will be created. George says these jobs will require specialized knowledge, such as how to install energy-saving systems in buildings.

Community colleges and vocational schools that train people for such jobs could become as important as four-year universities.

Plenty of today’s unemployed could benefit from such training.

“There are a lot of good people who are really stuck,’‘ says John Challenger, chief executive of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “They’ve been out of work for a long time, and that’s made it all the harder for them to compete because they have to explain why they have not been chosen.”

A record 4.98 million people had been out of work 27 weeks or longer in April, in part because this recession, which would appear to have started in December 2007, has stretched longer than any since World War II.

That has forced a record number of people into part-time work. People forced to work part-time jobs because they can’t get full-time positions has jumped 54 percent from a year ago to 9 million.

For those who still have a full-time job, flexibility is key.

At a factory that makes foundry equipment in suburban Birmingham, teams that once did specific jobs – welding, grinding castings, fitting parts, assembling machines – have had to learn multiple skills.

The shop, which once had 150 workers, now employs only 30.

“The ones we have now have to do it all,’‘ foreman Gerry Peoples says. That includes sweeping the floors since the janitors were laid off. “This is probably going to linger for years,” says Peoples, who has survived two rounds of cuts and is down to a 32-hour work week.

About 40 percent of workers are now over 55 or older, the highest level since it was 40.8 percent in 1961, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this summer. More workers are delaying retirement for economic and personal reasons, locking up jobs that are sought by younger workers entering the work force.

Years ago, Jerry Bannister, 67, anticipated a more leisurely routine at his age. He oversees 10 maintenance workers at the Mays Chapel Ridge retirement community and has no plan to quit soon. He took the job seven years ago, after working 38 years at a Bethlehem Steel plant.

His Social Security and retirement benefits might be enough to live on, but he couldn’t quit without making big changes to his lifestyle, such as cutting out vacations and golf.

“When I get to a point where I say, ‘You know, I’m as old as the residents,’ then it’s time to step down,” Bannister says.

Fewer workers these days feel as confident as Bannister does about controlling their destiny.

“Job security has diminished after every recession since the 1970s”, says David Lipsky, professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

As workers fought to get their jobs back, unions dropped long-held contract provisions like cost-of-living adjustments and job-security clauses, he says. That contributed to declining union membership, further weakening workers’ bargaining position with employers.

Among white-collar workers, job security began to disappear in the recession of the early 1990s as technology allowed jobs to be shipped abroad. It may be gone now.

Over the past year, the unemployment rate jumped 64 percent for managers and professionals like lawyers, doctors and fund managers. That compares with a 56 percent increase in overall unemployment, according to Labor Department data.

Among people with a bachelor’s degree or higher, the unemployment rate is still low at 4.7 percent, but it’s up from 2.7 percent a year ago.

For some younger white-collar workers, job insecurity is so high that just hanging on has replaced asking for a raise or a promotion.

Rusty Meador, 35, a development manager at Plantation Building Corp., a construction company in Wilmington, N.C., walks past empty desks daily. He once worked in the office as a general manager and had a team of project leaders who reported to him from the field. Now he’s back on job sites, doing the work of laid-off colleagues – without a word of complaint. Even if the economy turns around, the memory of this recession will stick with him.

“You’re so grateful to have a job,’‘ he says.

Heather Penman, Researcher at brian cork Human Capital

Kudos

Professor’s Study Accepted for Presentation in Chicago

RU management professor Iain Clelland’s study, “Entrepreneurs as Parallel Processors: An Examination of a Cognitive Model of New Venture Opportunity Evaluation,” has been accepted for presentation as an Interactive Paper at the 2009 Academy of Management Meeting in Chicago. Clelland co-wrote the paper with Jeong-Nam Kim of Purdue University and Seung Bai Bach of California State University, Sacramento.

A History and origins of modern private equity

With few exceptions, private equity in the first half of the 20th century was the domain of wealthy individuals and families. The Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Rockefellers and Warburgs were notable investors in private companies in the first half of the century. In 1938, Laurance S. Rockefeller helped finance the creation of both Eastern Air Lines and Douglas Aircraft and the Rockefeller family had vast holdings in a variety of companies. Eric M. Warburg founded E.M. Warburg & Co. in 1938, which would ultimately become Warburg Pincus, with investments in both leveraged buyouts and venture capital.

Before World War II, venture capital investments (originally known as “development capital”) were primarily the domain of wealthy individuals and families. It was not until after World War II that what is considered today to be true private equity investments began to emerge marked by the founding of the first two venture capital firms in 1946: American Research and Development Corporation. (ARDC) and J.H. Whitney & Company.

ARDC was founded by Georges Doriot, the “father of venture capitalism” (former dean of Harvard Business School), with Ralph Flanders and Karl Compton (former president of MIT), to encourage private sector investments in businesses run by soldiers who were returning from World War II. ARDC’s significance was primarily that it was the first institutional private equity investment firm that raised capital from sources other than wealthy families although it had several notable investment successes as well.ARDC is credited with the first major venture capital success story when its 1957 investment of $70,000 in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) would be valued at over $355 million after the company’s initial public offering in 1968 (representing a return of over 1200 times on its investment and an annualized rate of return of 101%). Former employees of ARDC went on and established several prominent venture capital firms including Greylock Partners (founded in 1965 by Charlie Waite and Bill Elfers) and Morgan, Holland Ventures, the predecessor of Flagship Ventures (founded in 1982 by James Morgan).ARDC continued investing until 1971 with the retirement of Doriot. In 1972, Doriot merged ARDC withTextron after having invested in over 150 companies.

J.H. Whitney & Company was founded by John Hay Whitney and his partner Benno Schmidt. Whitney had been investing since the 1930s, founding Pioneer Pictures in 1933 and acquiring a 15% interest in Technicolor Corporation with his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. By far Whitney’s most famous investment was in Florida Foods Corporation. The company developed an innovative method for delivering nutrition to American soldiers, which later came to be known as Minute Maid orange juice and was sold to The Coca-Cola Company in 1960. J.H. Whitney & Company continues to make investments in leveraged buyout transactions and raised $750 million for its sixth institutional private equity fund in 2005.

Look for Venture Capital Basics: Part III of V here next week.

Brian Patrick Cork

This article and introduction was forwarded to me by Dr. Iain Clelland at Radford University:

Folks,

From a tip passed on by our NRV SunTrust-sponsored 2007 Entrepreneurial Summit Keynote Speaker, Michael Simmons, I wanted to make you aware of this recent report from The Economist Magazine. It describes the tremendous trend in and importance of global entrepreneurship.  I have attached PDF files of some sections for selective reading/sharing (2-6 pages each) or you can read the entire report online at:

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13216025

Some excerpts from the report:

“IN DECEMBER last year, three weeks after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and in the midst of the worst global recession since the 1930s, 1,700 bright-eyed Indians gathered in a hotel in Bangalore for a conference on entrepreneurship. They mobbed business heroes such as Azim Premji, who transformed Wipro from a vegetable-oil company into a software giant, and Nandan Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, another software giant. They also engaged in a frenzy of networking. The conference was so popular that the organisers had to erect a huge tent to take the overflow. The aspiring entrepreneurs did not just want to strike it rich; they wanted to play their part in forging a new India. Speaker after speaker praised entrepreneurship as a powerful force for doing good as well as doing well.”

[...]

“The globalisation of entrepreneurship is raising the competitive stakes for everyone, particularly in the rich world. Entrepreneurs can now come from almost anywhere, including once-closed economies such as India and China. And many of them can reach global markets from the day they open their doors, thanks to the falling cost of communications.”

“THE rise of the entrepreneur, which has been gathering speed over the past 30 years, is not just about economics. It also reflects profound changes in attitudes to everything from individual careers to the social contract. It signals the birth of an entrepreneurial society.”

“ VICTOR HUGO once remarked: “You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.” Today entrepreneurship is such an idea… The triumph of entrepreneurship is driven by profound technological change… Another reason for entrepreneurship becoming mainstream is that the social contract between big companies and their employees has been broken… Yet another reason for the mainstreaming of entrepreneurship is that so many institutions have given it their support…The world’s governments are now competing to see who can create the most pro-business environment. In 2003 the World Bank began to publish an annual report called Doing Business, rating countries for their business-friendliness by measuring things like business regulations, property rights and access to credit…Robert Litan, of the Kauffman Foundation, suggests that the World Bank may have done more good by compiling Doing Business than by lending much of the money that it has.”

“Entrepreneurialism has become cool.”

Enjoy,

Iain Clelland, Ph.D.

It’s a bit unusual for me to offer more than one post on a given day.

It’s drizzling today.

I don’t like rain (even though Atlanta desperately needs it) unless I can run in it. Rain makes me melancholy. And, drops in barometric pressure apparently conspire with other elements to give me migraines. Also, drizzling is just so pathetic. I prefer a torrent of rain! Or, just no rain. Why else might be the point of such inclement weather other than to really piss me off because we probably can’t have soccer practice (I don’t care for Bermuda grass – and, don’t get me started there). Soccer was meant to be played under any conditions. Just not in Atlanta – or where Bermuda grass, and poor soil conditions and highly suspect roots, prevail (what an incredible metaphor for shallow things).

Such dizzying ruminations aside, I am feeling surprisingly bouyant in this late morning (even if the word bouyant is creating some consternation with me and spell check).

One of my business coaching clients, Sanders McConnell, has only just left my offices. We are both pretty excited. We had a great break through – call it an epiphany, with regards to his evolving business model. The pieces snapped into place on this overcast morning that suddenly feels so bright and full of promise.

NOTE: The inestimable PJ Bain must be running late himself today for our appointment. Possibly due to the rain. However, the extra times is allowing for this impromptu post – and, it feels great. And, I shall look forward to seeing PJ because he, himself is such a terrific example of truth and light.

I have the coolest job in the world. All I have to do is hang out with my friends all day and help them make better decisions.

God gave the world the Beautiful Game of soccer. And, He has given me experience, and discernment, and opportunities to use them for good.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of private equity capital typically provided to early-stage, high-potential, growthcompanies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares in the invested company.

Venture capital typically comes from institutional investors and high net worth individuals and is pooled together by dedicated investment firms.

So… A venture capitalist is a person or investment firm that makes venture investments, and these venture capitalists are expected to bring managerial and technical expertise as well as capital to their investments. A venture capital fund refers to a pooled investment vehicle (often an LP or LLC) that primarily invests the financial capital of third-party investors in enterprises that are too risky for the standard capital markets or bank loans.

Venture capital is most attractive for new companies with limited operating history that are too small to raise capital in the public markets and are too immature to secure a bank loan or complete a debt offering. In exchange for the high risk that venture capitalists assume by investing in smaller and less mature companies, venture capitalists usually get significant control over company decisions, in addition to a significant portion of the company’s ownership (and consequently value).

Look for Venture Capital Basics: Part II of V here next week.

Brian Patrick Cork

Talk about mis-tweeting people.

Sorry.

One of our analysts brought to my attention a recent exchange on Twitter. It’s a painful lesson in how NOT to use Twitter in this tough, or any, economy.

So… A  job applicant tweeted the following:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

This tweet apparently caught the attention of Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco (both clients). To which he apparently responded:

Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

I am advised that the person who dissed the Cisco offer quickly took their Twitter account private. However, Twitter search retained the record.

Another example of mis-tweeting (I made that up):

Remember a couple months ago when the PR guy’s tweet about Memphis came back to bite him? Be careful with what you post on Twitter, and social media in general.

Be part of the solution – and, not the problem.

Brian Patrick Cork