FREEDOM IS NOT FREE - A DEPARTURE

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Dear Readers:

Click on http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com/2009/01/freedom-is-not-free.html. Happy Chinese New Year.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. We'll return to our regularly-scheduled program soon.



KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

A NEW RESOURCE: WIPO

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Dear Friends:

A new resource has been added to our collection of links at THE GLOBAL FUTURIST. It is the website for the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The website is located at http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en. It is a fascinating resource to keep you up to date with the amazing strides being made in the cerebrotonic and vastly mysterious world of Intellectual Property.

Please click on the link and let me know what you think (a trite rhyme, which I assure you was accidental).

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

A NEW RESOURCE: MONEY MORNING

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Dear Friends:

THE GLOBAL FUTURIST has now added a daily RSS feed from MONEY MORNING.

They feature some excellent up-to-the-minute articles concerning domestic and international governmental economic policies, future implications for various business sectors, investment strategies and a wealth of additional valuable information. I have found the articles to be of excellent quality and high utility. Their website is at http://www.moneymorning.com/.

You can save some time and simply scroll down to the bottom of this page (the footer section) to view their live RSS feed, right here on this site.

Enjoy the feed, the articles and the insights. Please be at liberty to let me know what you think.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

THE RECONFIGURATION OF THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE

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Dear Friends and Fellow Futurists:

Greetings, one and all, and please accept my sincere best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and productive 2009...a year filled with learning, barrier-breaking, renewed self-confidence and self-reliance...a year filled with new friendships and mutually-productive and enjoyable business relationships.

I also offer you a brief reminder to take some time, as frequently as possible, to review the links to other sites of interest which I have placed on this blog for your information and enjoyment. There is a great deal of intense thought (as well as progress!) going on in virtually every quarter of futurism, from Artificial Intelligence to Medicine. My fellow writers and visionaries have been keeping extraordinarily busy -- invest some clicking activity in seeing what they have been doing.

Now, to my subject:

The current economic environment is forcing the issue of a reconfiguration of the conventional corporate structure. Blindly downsizing (a common, instinctual reaction to an anticipated decline in demand) is simply not the answer. As discussed in previous posts, "cutting costs" which are unproductive is a prudent tactic, but the tendency is to cut productive costs (e.g., those which are necessary to sustain the business and to generate revenues) as part of the bargain. In a season of economic panic, business owners and executives, in reacting to the various pressures which crush them, tend to attempt to do a microsurgeon's job with a machete -- blindfolded. A great percentage of these life-saving operations are ultimately terminal.

Every business entity has revenue-producing components and revenue-consuming components, just as every business has fixed cost components and variable cost components. The word "component" is really the key. Businesses are very much like multicellular creatures, and each component is a cell. Each cost is a component of the business.

To restructure business, an increasing number of visionary business leaders are going to start evaluating their businesses component by component, instead of as "take it or leave it" creations which are mired in traditions and policies that may have become obsolete, irrelevant or destructive.

The new methodology will be to break each business up into its multiple essential components, and to evaluate each individual one carefully. After this analysis is complete, some components will be kept, some modified, and some eliminated. Then, the business will be re-synthesized as a functioning whole. This is akin to the notion of "zero-based budgeting" and requires intellectualism rather than barbarianism. It requires precision and care. It requires a new, smarter, more scientific than reactive mindset. In brutally direct terms, it may permit you to let your full-time corporate administrator go (who currently costs you, with all benefits and employment-related expenses, $65,000.00 per year, and who is only being utilized one day per week on average) with a part-time consultant who costs $1,500.00 per month, or $18,000.00 per year, for a savings of $47,000.00 per year. Multiply this savings by a vast number of defined positions and the savings can mean the difference between profitability and extinction.

A business viewed as a multicellular organism can be restructured with a minimum of trial and error required. Every individual component can be evaluated in order to make subtle and surgical improvements rather than sweeping changes which might have unintended negative effects. Every business is modular, and modules can be eliminated, refitted or replaced as required. In fact, the rise of outsourcing, offshoring and subcontracting during this past decade gives further evidence to support this fact.

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If you had hired a full-time employee in 2006 (in the United States, and on the average), you would not only be paying for that individual's salary, but you would also be paying taxes, compliance costs, healthcare, pension, and other benefits equal to roughly 33% of that employee's base compensation. If you chose to terminate that employee, you might have been socked with legal fees. If you didn't hire your personnel along the legally mandated "equal opportunity" employment racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, and other "lifestyle" guidelines, you would have been socked with legal costs and regulatory action. The larger your company, the less choice you were permitted to exercise in terms of hiring based upon merit, and the less flexibility you had with respect to terminating poorly-performing employees.

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In this new and challenging (a euphemism for "crappy") economy, you actually have some options. Ironically, a number of them actually provide benefits to your home country's economy.

When reviewing each module, determine 1) if it is necessary; 2) how much of it - in terms of person/hours per week - you will truly need; and, 3) if it can be addressed by contactors or consultants who are technically proficient enough to minimize any investment in on-the-job training and supervision. After having done this, you will be able to make serious budget and personnel cuts, and convert many of your fixed costs into either lower fixed costs, or into variable costs.

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If you are moved by patriotism, you can retain consultants (as non-employees) to cover those modules which do not require full-time employees. You have flexibility in the tasks that you can assign to them, and flexibility in both the hours purchased and the length of the contract. If you are, for example, a U.S.-based organization, you can retain the limited services of U.S.-domiciled consultants. You needn't outsource overseas. You are, in effect, replanting the seeds of full employment where you have had to cut jobs. And, your business can continue to survive and thrive with a lower fixed cost profile and greatly enhanced operating flexibility.

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There are a number of services which provide listing opportunities for freelance consultants, and/or employers looking for specific skills to apply toward specific projects. These services, like guru.com, freelancers.com, and others do have some shortcomings, but if you invest the time searching and interviewing, you may ultimately fill all of your modules. The drawbacks are the time required, the likelihood of a poor "match" and that there is no ongoing feedback, support or quality assurance mechanism. Many of these services tend to be project-oriented, instead of function-oriented. They are not optimized toward replacing a full-time employee with a limited-time contractor on an ongoing basis.

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A better approach, in my opinion, is the one taken by Bruce Newman of The Productivity Institute, LLC. (http://www.prodinst.com/) . His firm (which he calls "PI") actually maintains a stable of consultants in a variety of specialties, including, but not limited to, IT, administration, CRM, accounting, telephony and a host of others which relate to marketing, advertising, public relations, and other non-computer specialties. PI rates the consultants in each class using an ongoing rating algorithm and continuous quality control monitoring system, and provides client organizations with a short list of five rated consulting firms in any given modular specialization. This eliminates time, trial and error, and cost. What is every bit as important, is that PI will constantly communicate with each client organization for feedback on the consultant placed there. Consultants pay to be rated and listed, and client companies pay a minimal fee in order to keep PI "on tap." The advantage here is that once PI has developed a clear understanding of what its clients truly require (not only technically, but in terms of interpersonal, corporate culture and qualitative factors), it can be an even more potent resource for supporting the client company's ongoing needs.

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In every case, the victors who will triumph through the economic upheaval currently taking place, are those who are willing to look at their companies as multicellular, modular organisms, and to reconfigure their structures and policies to accommodate this new paradigm.

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Faithfully,

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Douglas Castle

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KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...

TOOLS FOR 2009

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Dear Friends:

Visit these sites, and make each on a favorite to visit every day: Invest a bit of time to transform every aspect of your life for the better!

THE INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS WEBSITE (http://www.internalenergyplus.com/) - For self-help, personal growth and professional success tools superior to any others in the marketplace. You have to visit!

BRAINTENANCE: MINDBUILDERS (http://braintenance.blogspot.com) - Build your intelligence, sharpen your senses and increase the quality and length of your life. You receive a quiz daily (with answers the following day) to keep you razor sharp.

THE INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS FORUM (http://theinternalenergyplusforum.blogspot.com/) - Learn the latest about developments and modalities in IEP.

THE NATIONAL NETWORKER (http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/) - Expand your contacts, relationships and possibilities for friendship and business during the new year! Get a subscription for their free NEWSLETTER, too.

CASTLE's BLOG (http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com/) - Receive an interesting thought or idea every day. Stimulate your mind, initiate productive conversations with colleagues, and have fun. this will also feed my insatiable ego and lust for recognition.

My best for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Douglas Castle

IMITATE, INNOVATE OR PERISH

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Dear Friends:

Here is a brief statement about the economy at present which I feel needs not only to be said, but repeated. This is a re-post of a brief which I published today at DOUGLAS CASTLE, my eponymous (I love this word, and almost never get to use it) blog.

In this difficult economy, survivalists must either imitate the resilience and success of others, or they must innovate and find new ways to either package or bundle existing things. Where there is no new production, and where there are no incentives to research, develop, or build, the entrepreneurs among us must pursue inventive marketing of what is already in the technological inventory.

Packaging, positioning and differentiation through servicing are the new keys to prospering through the worldwide economic depression.

Sadly, or happily, these are things that money cannot readily buy.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

TACTICS AND STRATEGIES - Today until 2012

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Dear Friends:

Two postings ago, I spoke of some of the many hardships that the declining global economy will be visiting upon us during the course of the worsening global recession (which I would never call a "depression," as this latter term has become Politically Incorrect). Yet, as doors to conventional employment and credit markets are being decimated by the frightened people in charge, opportunities are coming to light. I would like to discuss these here. Grinning, and head-nodding are not only permitted, but strongly encouraged.

Here are the ways to think, the places to be and the things to do:

• You probably should never trust a man having the last name "Madoff" with your money... and although every U.S. defense lawyer would immediately jump out at me and say, "according to the American System Of Justice (all rise!), he [Bernard Madoff] is 'presumed innocent until proven guilty'," my bet would be with "any person, at any time, is as guilty as the government wants him to be." To wit: former New York judge Sol Wachler (who, himself, was snared by the FBI while dressing up as a cowboy and stalking his one-time mistress) once said, "A good prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich," and the U.S. Government's conviction rate stands in excess of 98% as I write this. Similarly: do not lend money to a fellow whose name is "Skip"...be very cautious before dating someone whose last name is "Loveless"...and never throw a pair of shoes at another person who is protected by the U.S. Secret Service. As a side note, throwing a pair of used gym socks is cheaper, just as offensive across a broad spectrum of cultures, and might make you famous. This ends the humorous portion of this article;

• Understand the difference between Tactics and Strategies -- Strategies are the longer- term plans you make for achieving your ultimate goals and objectives, in accordance with your ambitions, desires and inclinations. A strategic plan maight cover a span of time from several months to an entire lifetime, but its destination is where you want to be. Tactics are short-term initiatives for dealing with the impediments, complications and situations which you encounter along the path to achieving your goals and objectives. They often involve palliative measures, adjustments in timing, a slight detour from the map -- but they are merely immediate accommodations, and should never keep your ultimate focus from your goals and objectives. The simplest analogy is in a situation where you are planning to go to a supermarket, and your ordinary route is blocked off by Police Crime Scene Investigators, a fallen tree, a picket line of anti-government protestors, an oily chemical spill, or an inoperative traffic light; while you will navigate a new route (the tactic), you will still be heading for the supermarket (the strategy to appease your hungry children who are suffering from Taco-Bell Gastritis). Don't lose sight of strategy when engaged in a tactical maneuver;

• Renegotiate your mortage and other personal debts with institutional lenders -- while they are generally as heartless as they are headless, they would rather have a performing loan (or even a loan settled at a discount) than a defaulted or non-performing loan. They are today's 'bad guys' and have certain suble regulatory imperatives which are making them more receptive. Be proactive and scare them a bit. They want to keep your loan in good standing, even if their tactic du jour is to restructure or modify your repayment schedule. They will be more cooperative if you are very explicit with them about 1) the dire economic consequences with which you are faced, 2) with your knowledge that they are doing this for many other borrowers, and with the fact that 3) it is a "win win" proposition for them [trite but effective]. By the way, don't waste time with those aggressively-marketed consumer credit management companies...negotiate with each credit card company yourself;

• If you must pay Inland Revenue, Internal Revenue, or any tax authority, try to pay by postal money order instead of by check. This may help to forestall or even prevent any levy and seizure of your bank account. I would add that if you are a U.S. citizen, or any party subject to U.S. taxes, pay timely and treat the tax authorities as a high-priority creditor. They have virtually unlimited rights and access to anything you own or earn, and they can tack on interest, penalties and other charges at will. You are outgunned - render unto Caesar before he sends his soldiers after you;

• If you are in a technical business or trade, focus your assets, marketing and efforts on repair and maintenance -- While people cannot afford new autos, homes and other large-ticket items, they are increasingly compelled to care for and maintain what they already have. Don't sell a new box -- sell the servicing and upgrading of the old, but salvagable one;

• Businesses which conduct e-commerce via internet are much better choices for investment and promotion than geographically-anchored businesses which people must drive to in order to procure products. This is the era of the online entrepreneur. Consumer purchases will be declining, but an increasing percentage of them will relate to a) repairs and maintenance, and b) online purchases;

• Identity theft, as well as crime, in general, will be increasing. When purchasing online, use a PayPal account instead of a credit card account. Further, if you are an online merchant, you might consider using PayPal as your principal merchant services provider for this reason;

• In business, try to keep your payment obligations in U.S. Dollars, and your billings, borrowings and receivables in Euros to the greatest extent possible;

• If you have an investible portfolio, you might consider keeping some of your holdings in gold, Euros, international Euro-denominated instruments, and very inexpensive multiunit housing properties (non publicly traded) which are producing current income, and which you do not have to borrow money to purchase. In investing, now is not a good time to leverage up and buy on any type of margin. Invest for asset preservation and current return. The notion of the "hot tip for quick gain" is for pathological gamblers and imbeciles;

• Develop your networking and relationship-building resources, as well as your team skills -- partnerships offer diversification of abilities, revenue sources and moral support in difficult economic times;

• If you are in corporate middle management, start thinking like an entrepreneur and building an independent business. You might also start to circulate a winning resume with a captivating cover letter (see the SELF-HELP, PERSONAL GROWTH AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS Sections at either HUMANITAS MAXIMUS or IEP in order to get some superb resources) -- your corporate days may be numbered;

• The fields associated with self-help, counseling, religion, astrology will be growing -- Pay serious attention to them, and get into them if you have the inclination, skills and energy. A world of people is desperate for reason, restoration of hope and faith, and information to help them to deal with a difficult time and a very uncertain future. Help these people in earnest, and profit by it.

I wish you, each and all, a wonderful holiday season, a resurgence of self-confidence, a growth in faith, and a renewal in person-to-person communications and socializing.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

NOTE: THE NATIONAL NETWORKER WILL BE INAUGURATING A NEW PRESS RELEASE, PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE IN JANUARY. IT IS THE BEST INVESTMENT ANY SMALL, OR UP-AND-COMING INTERNET-BASED BUSINESS CAN MAKE. IT PRODUCES MAJOR RESULTS FOR MINIMUM DOLLARS. LEARN MORE...

KEYWORDS, TERMS AND ORGANIZATIONS:

globalism, CFR, NGO, UN, WTO, IMF, central bank, outsourcing, offshoring, capital markets, import, export, international trade, strategic alliances, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, social networking, banking, finance, trade, ventures, business, securities, stock exchanges, indexes, futurism, trends, citizen ambassadorship, enterprise, capitalism, international politics, commodities, prime rate, LIBOR, foreign currencies, foreign exchange, blogs, blogging, bloggers, aol, google, yahoo, msn, AP, news, media alerts, world government, world governments, international affairs, treaties, tariffs, trade restrictions, marketing, advertising, business development, arbitrage, obtaining capital, promotion, publicity, EU, NATO, military affairs, government regulation, trade restrictions, liquidity crisis, business opportunities, web-based businesses, communication, communications, technology, intelligence, embassies, consulates, business resources, Douglas Castle,The Internationalist Page, The Global Futurist, international politics, elections, time management, cyberspace, AI, energy, industry, productivity, Mixx, Digg, Technorati, Sphere, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, advertising, economics, strategy, management, cooperation, widgets, blidgets, links, incoterms, CCH, UCC, freight forwarding, custom house brokers, diversity, employment, culture, micro-loans, technological convergence, trends, financial planning, FOREX, futures, stock index, inflation, recession, sub-contracting, Department of Commerce, CIOF, the next generation, amnesty, humanitarianism, foreign aid, philanthropy, charity, LinkedIn, singularity, transportation, IT, intelligence, complexity theory, energy sources, shortages, climatic change, pop-culture, survivalism, mergers and acquisitions...