The fact that I feel that I can get up off the couch, apply myself to learning something new, and then personally benefit from the endeavor is what unlocks my discretionary productivity. A whole nation of likewise-minded individuals creates a thriving economy.

The 20th century taught us that this is the superior economic system.

Roses have thorns
But the opening act of the 21st century taught us that there is a catch to capitalism. Freedom to realize personal gain does not come without its own thorns. The excessive greed of corporate America as witnessed in the collapse of Enron, Bear Stearns, and others showed that a singular focus on financial gain unchecked by sound ethical principles can bring ruin.

Business school students and grads alike would do well to take careful notice. Our ability to avoid repeating these sins will affect the reputation of the MBA for the coming generation.

Thorns can be removed
I believe the answer lies not in hand-wringing over past abuses, nor even in creating a system of accounting oversight to catch future abuses, but rather in a renewed emphasis on what I will call the “currency of contribution”.

What is the “Currency of Contribution”?
The “currency of contribution” is the dividends that are realized as a result of putting the needs of others in society in the forefront. What if instead of focusing exclusively, or even primarily, on personal career advancement, business school students asked themselves the following, simple question:

“How can I learn something that will bring growth and prosperity for others?”

And I’m talking about honest growth that does not come at the expense of others. There’s no good “robbing Peter to pay Paul” when it comes to this type of currency. That’s easier said than done when helping one business often means hurting another.

In the next few posts, we will take a look at CLU MBA grads that are finding meaningful ways to make positive contributions with their newly acquired skills.

On the lookout for “Contribution Motivated” MBAs
As a hiring manager in the local area, I prefer that applicants have an MBA, without a doubt. I just don’t want it to come along with a spirit of entitlement. It’s refreshing to come across someone who wants to contribute first, and achieve second. They make good teammates. They come up with good ideas. They make things happen. I want them on my team because I want them to rub off on me to some degree.

But can a spirit of contribution really take the driver’s seat? Some may call this naïve, but I don’t think so. I’ve seen it work.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of author, a CLU graduate student.

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Thursday’s connection event was an unforgettable experience for every attendee. International business students had the opportunity to get connected with business pioneers in our community. The fact that Mr. Cussio is within the same age group as us, made the whole presentation more interesting. During the networking session, I was fortunately introduced by Dr. Apfelthaler to Mr. Pompan, the founder and Managing Director of an investment banking firm named Clear Capital Advisors that advises middle market and emerging growth companies.

The first speaker Mr. Brendon Cussio is the vice president of finance and marketing of a fast growing silicon recycling company: Solarsilicon Recycling Services, LLC. During his speech, Mr. Cussio presented us a vivid picture of his company’s development in this new merging market.

Like most companies with insightful view towards its future market, it is not technology innovation only, but also the innovative understanding of where the company should reach out. Under the support of national favorable policy, Chinese solar energy is booming its productivity in recent years. According to my research in local news agencies, Chinese solar energy was a top producer in 2009 . In China upcoming surplus capability became a problem in 2011 . Although this can pose as a disaster, to some this can be a great business opportunity.

Mr. Cussio’s revolutionary view of global supply gave us a peek on how innovation is important to this developing company. As a president in charge of marketing, he certainly knows in order to maintain his company’s leadership; it requires not only technology innovation, but also a creative view on globalizing its operation. Vast markets in solar energy give Brendon a perfect opportunity to recycle silicon materials to better advance his business. Therefore, Solarsilicon set up its supply chain in China, and he uses his nitch market strategy to become the first silicon recycling company in California.

In businesses today, individuals not only need a brilliant idea but also a lucrative financial backing. Unlike most of the big programs, commercial banks are not interested into small projects in this economy due to their limited return and uncertainty of profits. Fortunately, California State Loan gave Solarsilicon a breathing chance to unveil its invention. By millions of injected capital, the company was able to roll its business ahead. During its meeting in March, one of CPPCC’s controversial topics was, the establishment of a more liberal policy towards private capital investment. The lack of capital fluidity in the loan market is now a prevalent issue in global banking industry. On the other hand, private capitals have nowhere to invest due to strict laws on personal investing. In certain instances government loans become the appropriate option for some small business owners.

Mr. Cussio’s success would not have been possible without the commitment of his executive team. According to Mr. Cussio, it was impossible to start an innovative entity by himself. It is the team’s wisdom and critical decision making that keeps the company moving towards the right direction from the beginning. From my own personal experience, one of my close friends in college started a partnership with several investors upon graduation. Unfortunately, due to disagreements on various visions of the partnership, the computer retail store was not successful. Therefore, a joint view and contribution on a company’s developing direction is critical its growth.

The second speaker Mary Ann Rooney gave input on a Human Resource point of view on how to grow businesses. Her experience in the Small Business Development Center, tells the necessity of building up network in running a business. Under a lot of circumstances, people’s communication and information exchange create unexpected results. Besides networking, instead of focusing on the monetary, she stressed that it is people’s thinking of themselves and who do they really want to become determine what they will achieve on their business path. This target oriented strategy works when people is lack of object to reach out.

The last speaker Dr. Bruce Pompan is also school’s instructor of Merger and Acquisition class. He elaborated growth tips in more academic areas such as diversity, risk taking and return of investment. His explanation presented two aspects in diversity: the diversity of products, and diversifying customer base. Quite frankly, my humble understanding of this concept is the internal and external practice in diversity, which means creating profiting points and sharing lower risk on each of them. Talking about risk, one simple understanding in economy is the equivalent risk and profits. For that reason, being able to take considerable market risk is the precondition of, but not necessarily leads to considerable returns.

Every business opportunity is targeting on Return of Investment, and controllable financial loss. These two are basic drive for all profit entity runners. Using his academic study, Dr. Pompan gave a numerous expectation of a private entity’s reasonable growth rate at 25%. In another word, it is essential for a start up company to have a 30 – 40% increase during its first five critical years. This visualized target created a vivid picture to existing and future business runners in seats of a efficient business growing standard.

Talking with these business runners gave the business majored students a valuable place to reconnect with successors. What even more precious is young models like Brendon Cussio was graduated from our school, his worth learning career path opens our eyes on possible future growth. Meanwhile, students like us offered our immature but refreshing opinions, this thinking collision stimulated every attendee’s interests into the event. Thanks to Dr. Shane and Tommie Joe for organizing the meeting for local business runners and school students to connect to each other.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of author, a CLU student

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I’m sure that there are things to be added to this list, so this is to be continued…

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Often, the two words are used interchangeably, but the meaning, role, and functions of these two words could not be more different!

I believe the difference between the two words can be explained in a nut shell, “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day (manager).  If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime (leader).”

We often recall wonderful leaders that we’ve had in our lives.  Seldom, however, do we think of good managers.  When we think of a management expert, we think of someone who can focus and execute plans.  They KNOW their systems.  They put the right people in the right place doing the right jobs.  All good stuff!  Why then do so many people give “managers” a bad rap when considering them compared to leaders? The two are a symbiotic relationship.  A leader without management skills will usually stand around wondering where all his or her “followers” went.  A manager without good leadership skills will perpetually struggle to get his or her people to achieve their potential.

So, lets take a look at some comparisons between things “managers” do and things “leaders” do.

·      First the obvious:  Managers manage things while leaders lead people.

·      Managers point the way, while leaders encourage progress.

·      Managers tell you the “right” way to do things, while leaders encourage you to find YOUR way to do things effectively.

·      Managers do things the right way, while leaders do the right things.

·      Managers are quick to point out what you’re doing wrong, while leaders provide guidance on the right things.

·      Managers answer questions, leaders make you question yourself.

·      Managers identify problems while leaders develop solutions.

·      Managers execute against plans, leaders develop plans to be executed.

·      Managers reflect the company attitude while leaders help you develop a positive attitude.

·      Managers know their job (and yours), while leaders develop their career (and yours).

·      Managers will respond to new ideas with reasons they won’t work, or why they will not fit into an established process, while leaders ask “How can we make this work?”

Now, don’t get us wrong, there is a place for both leaders and managers in the business world.  In fact, the world of industry, society, and non-profit NEEDS both.  Leaders need managers.  Managers need leaders.  The organization that realizes the value in both and can merge these two types of “people builders” is the organization that is truly ready for their next big challenge.   So, next time you’re trying to decide whether you’re managing or leading your subordinates, ask yourself, “am I giving him a fish, or teaching him to fish.”

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Energy is contagious

When 2011 began, one of my most difficult resolutions was to be positive every day.  There was so much negativity and drama in the office that I simply wanted to start each day focusing on what was possible rather than what was not.  I felt the negativity of the organization was adversely impacting my ability to find joy in my job.  Focusing on the positive was one small way to improve my quality of life.

I believe that negativity propagates negativity.  Like any other infection, negativity can cause a defect within an individual or organization.  I had made the decision that I would not allow the negativity of those around me to impact my ability to see the glass as half full.  Every day, I tried to maintain my positive, happy-go-lucky attitude.  Most days, I made it to noon before I totally collapsed into negativity and despair.  What did I learn?

Energy is contagious.  As an individual within an organization, my energy, whether positive or negative, will impact those I interact with throughout the day.  If I keep to myself, my sphere of influence can be kept relatively small.  If I worked within a plastic bubble, it would be relatively easy to kept to myself and minimize the collateral damage a negative attitude could cause on projects, teams, or colleagues.

All leaders within an organization must be mindful of this fact—your energy is contagious.  You can bring an organization down just as easily as you can bring the organization up.  As leaders, your role is to motivate the individual to operate at the best possible level both for him or herself and for the organization as a whole.  Positive leadership is cyclical and feeds upon itself.  The more positive an individual’s interaction with his or her leader is, the more likely it is that individual will want to interact with his or her leader—which, in turn leads to more positive successes.  Negative interactions can result in lack of confidence, second-guessing actions and interactions, ‘why mes’ when things go wrong, and blaming up and down the “chain of command.”

The next time you’re having a bad day when you get to the office, stop and think to yourself, “what ripple effect will this attitude have on those I will come into contact with today?”

C. Beatrice

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In December, I suffered what turned out to be a minor injury. During an exercise with one of my volunteer groups, I was doing a training exercise that involved falling and allowing the members of the group to catch you. I had not (in hindsight!) fully trained my group, and when I was falling, I ended up falling into the hands of a single individual. He did his best to catch me, but was unable to do so (not his fault!), and as I fell I struck his knee with my throat.

That blow took my breath away, and made my voice increasingly hoarse. Since I only have one airway, I thought perhaps it would be best to get it checked out to make sure it wouldn’t swell shut during the night J. My local urgent care clinic looked briefly, and immediately referred me to a nearby emergency room, as they didn’t have the tools to check it out. The emergency room (where I went post-haste) was excellent – conducted a brief triage (but got no real information from the original clinic), assigned me to a bed in the ER, got me seen by a doc pretty quickly, and then scheduled for a CT scan. There was a PC in the room that the nurses, the phlebotomist (who inserted an IV line in my hand) and others used to record what had happened with me thus far.

When the doc came through (pretty quickly, I thought), he brought a scribe with him. Turned out she was a local college student, studying to be a nurse. Her task was to enter data on my case on behalf of the doctor – a nice compromise which allowed the doctor to focus on me and my case, and not pay attention to a laptop. I suspected that it made the doc’s time much more efficient.

Then things got interesting. They took me away to run a CT scan on my throat, and brought in a throat specialist to run a scope in and look at my vocal chords (the structure most likely to have been damaged). The CT scan was delivered electronically to my records, so the throat guy could review it. He arrived very promptly (all things considered, since they brought him in from home on a Sunday night), checked things out, and prescribed a medication to be given intravenously (good thing I had that IV in already).

Some time later, the original ER doc came by to check in on me. In the pre-digital era, that would have involved him looking at my paper chart to see what had happened with all of his orders, and what the other doc had found. But not this time! Turned out that he asked me for a recap of events – had I seen the throat specialist? What did he say? What did he prescribe?

Now I suspect that if I had been unconscious or less than fully functional, he might not have used that approach. But it struck me as odd, and perhaps indicative of an issue in the ER. Perhaps the process for the ER doc to access and review records online is cumbersome? Perhaps there’s not an easy way for the doc to review patient info while retaining the efficiency he got while using his scribe to record information?

And that, of course, led to questions. What could be done differently? Is there some way, other than a laptop, that an ER doc could use to efficiently access patient information? Was he trusting my report of the information to be complete and correct, or did he go back and review the actual records later? (I assume he did, but have no way of knowing for sure.) In a more holistic way, could the original clinic have put information online in a medical record that could have been accessed by the ER doc directly, to reduce the friction in getting me into the ER system?

Have you ever experienced medical care in a digital records (paperless) environment? Have you seen anomalies that surprised you? Have you seen the benefits of those online records? I’m interested in your experiences!

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Well, here goes. Novel had good radio publicity and endorsement of a talk-radio technology guru, and an endorsement from a family member who’d used them for years. So I called them to start the process – so far, so good. Got the modem in the mail a couple of days later – all still good. But then the fun begins. In short, after several hours on the phone with their tech support, who all seemed to honestly care and to sincerely try to help, NO ONE got it right until it was too late. Here are the details:

Novel’s web site, during the signup process, said very clearly “do not contact your current Internet Provider until your new service is working. Then you can call and cancel.” So I followed that rule, read the rest of the instructions with the modem (which said that service would be activated by midnight the night that it arrived), hooked everything up, and waited patiently.

But it didn’t work after midnight, so I called tech support. After politely going through the list of things they always want you to do (check the power, look at the lights, check to see if it’s plugged in to the DSL filter properly, …), I escalated to second-level support. Four calls and 2 hours on the phone w/ Tech Support yielded several claims that “we can’t share the line with your current provider” and “did you call them to turn their DSL service off?”

Of course, I didn’t make that call, since the instructions on the Novel signup page said not to, that Novel would do it.

On the near-final call to a third-level support person, Novel said that the old provider would have to come out to my home to do something in order to make it work. Novel tech support said the night before that Novel had not yet called the old provider to make this change; it appeared someone had dropped the ball. Then the message changed – I would have to call the old provider to turn off my Internet service.

Just when you think it can’t get weirder, it does …

Given all the trauma so far, I asked what, specifically, I should ask the old provider to do. Novel’s third-level support person asked me if I had my phone service with the same company. Since I did, he said, I’d have to ask them to turn off both phone and Internet service, wait for Novel to get Internet working, and then call the old provider to get my phone turned back on.

Conveniently, while I was on the verge of totally losing my temper, the line to Novel’s tech support dropped. They called back 30 minutes (!) later, but by that time I’d already called my old provider to ask them to send a new modem and turn things back on.

And then it gets weirder still!

The old provider says: “We’re sorry, but Novel called us on your behalf a few days ago to cancel your Internet service, so we have to start from scratch. It’ll take a few days, but we’ll open a new Internet contract for you.” Conveniently, this meant that I was treated by the old provider as a new customer, so I got both pricing and speed competitive with what Novel had promised.

Total time on the phone so far: Approximately 6 hours, AFTER the stated activation time provided by Novel.

While all this was going on, I found a tech support forum for all sorts of DSL providers. There, I happened across a direct access path to the general manager of Novel’s operations, so I dropped him a note with a more raw version of what’s above. He promptly connected me with the guy who turned out to be the last US-based tech support person for Novel – we’ll call him “Fred”. Fred clearly understood what had happened, called me on the phone to apologize, tried to make things right technically, and appreciated my sharing my insights with him.

Then we get to the financials! After trying four different methods (all recommended by Novel’s customer service staff) to cancel my relationship, they finally agreed to do so, but they couldn’t refund any of my money, and were going to charge me to restock the modem. Several laps around the stupid loop there led me back to the general manager, who assured me he’d take care of it, and, indeed, he did – Novel made my accounts whole, though they didn’t compensate me for the 6 hours of phone time, the cost to return the modem, or the cost to my mental health!

Now this isn’t a rant about offshoring – far to the contrary. Even as I was obviously frustrated, the folks I talked with clearly were sincere about trying to help, and never lost their cool. But they were also clearly new to their roles, and neither trained nor experienced with the products they were implementing, nor did they have a system that enabled them to see what was going on with my issues.

No one ever said “I see you just talked to Bob, and we’ll pick up where he left off.” Every call started with the first steps: Is the modem plugged in? What do the lights look like? Turn the modem off and back on again … This indicated to me that they had no continuity of service records, or didn’t know how to use them successfully. This problem could happen no matter whether the service operation is inside the company, or if it’s outsourced inside or outside the US.

Why am I writing about this? It’s a bit of a cautionary tale – good recommendations have to be current as well! My friends who recommended it: a) had implemented before the service and support were outsourced, b) almost never called tech support, and c) had started with this service, and weren’t trying to convert. So I was trying a scenario that was unproven, and perhaps had just been broken by their outsourcing moves.

I wish Novel all the best in resolving their issues – if they don’t, it’ll kill the company, and deservedly so!

Thoughts? Have you run into situations like this? I’d be curious to hear about it (without company names, please!)

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by Bill Watkins

We think bank charge off data are important, because banks can’t really participate in a vigorous recovery when charge offs are high:  Their capital is under pressure.  They are under regulatory pressure.  They are spending huge amounts of time managing existing assets instead of lending.

When banks don’t lend, small business doesn’t grow.  This is a problem because small business creates most new jobs.  Small business has other problems growing, but that’s another topic.

So, what has happened to the charge offs since 2008 Q4?

They kept rising, and almost reached $60 billion in late 2009.  Since then they have been falling, slowly, very slowly.  Finally, last quarter (2011 Q1) they finally fell almost $10 billion, falling below $40 billion for the first time since 2008’s fourth quarter.  This is good news, but they need to fall even more.  They need to be close to $10 billion before we can declare the financial sector fully recovered.

In the meantime, more and more banks are resuming lending.  Standards are tighter than pre-recession, and many borrower’s are still over leveraged, but movement is in the right direction.

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