PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume I, Issue 15
11/14/01
Dear Subscriber:
This week began November 11th
with the annual celebration of Veteran’s Day and the remembrance of an
act of war -- the terrorist attacks two months ago. These events go
hand-in-hand and should be joined by the celebration of our economic freedom.
The US is the world’s greatest military power because of its economic power,
far greater now than when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (chief planner of Japan’s
attack on Pearl Harbor) stated, “I can’t imagine anything that would infuriate
the Americans more. I feel all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and
fill him with a terrible resolve.” This prophecy was fulfilled when American
manufacturing built thousands of ships, planes and armored vehicles in record
time and overwhelmed the production capacity of Germany and Japan.
As evidenced by events since
the weekend, the military phase of our war against terrorism is on track. The
economy is not doing as well. Although today’s report on consumer spending –
two-thirds of all economic activity – cites an increase of 7.1 percent in
October’s retail and food service sales, this is compared to an almost stagnant
September. Unfortunately, most economists say a recession -- two consecutive
quarters of falling economic output -- this year, is unavoidable.
The year 2001 began with a
projected eight percent increase for corporate technology expenditures over
2000. This gain has been reduced to just 2.5 percent. Based on a recent Gartner
survey, the expected rise for 2002 over 2001 is just 1.5 percent yet offers
hope for the troubled technology sector. This survey reports that the market
segments most likely to attract next year's technology spending are security,
data storage, Web-based applications and services, and handheld computers.
One of the most important
data reports is worker productivity. In the third quarter, although impacted by
major job reductions, this statistic posted its best performance in more than a
year by rising 2.7 percent compared to 2.2 percent the previous quarter. From
1973 to 1995, productivity averaged lackluster gains of just above one percent
per year; since 1995, increases have more than doubled.
We can watch a war in
distant lands and a new world-order unfold before us; we need to participate in
improving the economy that will make it possible for us to truly win this war.
We hope the following articles offer insight and ideas into what can be done
differently and is being done by others to increase the return on invested capital
and to enhance productivity.
We are making plans for
PlantSuccess 2002, scheduled for October 9-10, 2002, also at the Philadelphia
Airport Marriott. You will be learning more here and at www.PlantSuccess.com
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Current Links
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All of us are accustomed to
facing uncertainly, it is our job and we couldn’t survive without this ability.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, uncertainty has taken on a new meaning. In
response, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania proposes
scenario planning, “… a risk management technique originally developed by Royal
Dutch/Shell to deal with oil production and price shocks, scenario planning
involves imagining different versions of the future and mapping out strategic
responses should one or more of those versions become reality.”
Read the article, review the
scenarios -- from worst-case to grim to gray to best-case -- and consider the
strategies called for and Wharton’s symposium. Read on …
The
Key Is Using New Technologies, Not Producing Them
“Information and
communications technologies (ICT), creating barely a ripple 10 years ago, are
now driving a broad wave of productivity gains in the US, leaving Europe and
many other countries behind,” according to a new report from the Conference
Board.
The report continues,
"It is the use of ICT, not its production, that is the likely key to
future growth acceleration. Even though computer and communications equipment
have been readily available in a worldwide market for quite some time, it
appears that we are at the beginning, not the end, of the diffusion process,
even in the US. This suggests that the longer-run productivity gains and market
advantages are likely to be found in the creative use of information and
communications technologies. While the relative size of the information and
communications technology-using sectors is similar across countries, there are
substantial differences in the productivity growth resulting from investments
in information and communications technologies."
The results of this study
are important to users and providers of information technologies, read on …
Important
Wireless Technologies
New research from
VARBusiness reveals just how significant wireless penetration has become.
Today, 52 percent of solution providers say they support, deploy or service
wireless technology for customers compared to 32 percent just a year ago.
This article provides a
closer look at some of the products and innovations, including Wireless LANS,
Handheld Devices and Wireless Software, and is important to users and solution
providers, read on …
The New
Benchmarking--A Foundation for Strategic Change
Technology means a faster
rate of business change. Customers are demanding more personalized products,
and competitors with new business models are emerging from unexpected sources.
E-business has become an integral component, linking technology and business
strategy in new ways.
A new type of benchmarking
is needed that can do the following:
Go beyond the operational
indicators of performance to the critical technology and processes supporting
that performance
Provide the foundation for
technology-enabled strategic decisions about the direction of the business
The current Executive View
from AMR Research includes an interesting piece on The New Benchmarking that
encompasses technology and drives strategic change, read on …
This Newsletter generates a
substantial number of visits to our website, we welcome the interest and the
access to previous issues of the Newsletter which are available there. If you'd
like to share this newsletter with a colleague, just forward a copy. Subscriptions
and cancellations can be made by sending a request to Carl.Howk@PlantSuccess.com
Full links to Volume I, Issue 15 Newsletter articles:
2.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/whatshot.cfm
3.
http://www.conference-board.org/search/dpress.cfm?pressid=4669
4.
http://www.manufacturingsystems.com/midday/default.asp?ID=1100