I recently heard about friends partner who was made redundant.
Well tough times economically - not a huge shock. Indeed my wife is about to be made redundant!
However the ethics behind the two stories are what irks.
My friends partner worked for a food distribution company that had a unique product line. As the sales person for the company she negotiated what she thought was a great deal with a supermarket brand to supply the chain exclusively and not seek any other retailers and to fully implement the launch to the supermarket in terms of point of sale and staff training.
Well most sales people would take that. Job done.
The next move however was just shocking. The supermarket contacted the manufacturer itself and negotiated to cut out the distributor completely.
The small distributor had to close down and all the staff were made redundant.
Was that really necessary? Just so that a can of beans can be 2c cheaper?
What are the real knock on effects to those employees that are now out on the street?
Just more reasons to avoid the large supermarkets for me...
Holloween
The origins of Halloween are thought to date back to the Roman or even pre-Roman Celtic times.
Only in the later middle age did the concept of begging for food become common at the time of Halloween.
What are we teaching the children of today by letting them essentially go begging for sweets? The site of gangs of small children being guided by a reluctant Mum or Dad around suburbia for a Mars bar is a bit depressing.
Does it not just reinforce a sense of entitlement?
At least the kids get some exercise by walking around for the sweets - oh no cancel that they have just been driven up to the door...
Only in the later middle age did the concept of begging for food become common at the time of Halloween.
What are we teaching the children of today by letting them essentially go begging for sweets? The site of gangs of small children being guided by a reluctant Mum or Dad around suburbia for a Mars bar is a bit depressing.
Does it not just reinforce a sense of entitlement?
At least the kids get some exercise by walking around for the sweets - oh no cancel that they have just been driven up to the door...
Beaver!
Stephen Donald was cast aside due to one or two poor performances for the AB's.
The fact that he stuck around the set up and was happy and available for the RWC is one thing and provides a great lesson in ignoring the negativity that can surround your performance.
Equally the lesson must be that do you need a structured training plan for success?
Donald had been whitebaiting and drinking beers as his training and yet managed to turn up for the final, slot the winning penalty, make a few half breaks and kick for territory.
A great lesson on "off the cuff" and winging it!!
The fact that he stuck around the set up and was happy and available for the RWC is one thing and provides a great lesson in ignoring the negativity that can surround your performance.
Equally the lesson must be that do you need a structured training plan for success?
Donald had been whitebaiting and drinking beers as his training and yet managed to turn up for the final, slot the winning penalty, make a few half breaks and kick for territory.
A great lesson on "off the cuff" and winging it!!
The West Island.
There is a brilliant scene in the film "A Bridge Too Far" where the Germans arrive to accept the British surrender.
This is surely the mentality that NZ should adopt with Australia.
Frequently there is talk about a single currency (didn't that do well in EU) or worse NZ becoming the 9th Territory of Australia.
Wouldn't it be better if instead NZ's attitude was the same as in the video above.
We seem to manage it for a rugby test match and yet in business we kowtow all too quickly.
What can NZ'ers do from the grass roots to effect this change in mindset?
This is surely the mentality that NZ should adopt with Australia.
Frequently there is talk about a single currency (didn't that do well in EU) or worse NZ becoming the 9th Territory of Australia.
Wouldn't it be better if instead NZ's attitude was the same as in the video above.
We seem to manage it for a rugby test match and yet in business we kowtow all too quickly.
What can NZ'ers do from the grass roots to effect this change in mindset?
News?
What is going to be the future of the media.
At present we have it seems a fixed number of stories from a fairly fixed number of established companies that dominate the news for a fixed cycle until they are either not news worthy or the event/issue goes away.
We can then add to that the incredibly low standards of much reporting, often based on hearsay and rumour where each agency or media outlet scrambles to beat their rivals to the scoop (US news outlets the worst offenders, compounded by Facebook and Twitter which are used increasingly for tracking the trending and breaking news.
What hope is there then? How can we better use the current media or do we need a revolution in the way that new is presented?
What would it look like if instead of experts and commentators passing on their views we were merely presented with the facts?
At present we have it seems a fixed number of stories from a fairly fixed number of established companies that dominate the news for a fixed cycle until they are either not news worthy or the event/issue goes away.
We can then add to that the incredibly low standards of much reporting, often based on hearsay and rumour where each agency or media outlet scrambles to beat their rivals to the scoop (US news outlets the worst offenders, compounded by Facebook and Twitter which are used increasingly for tracking the trending and breaking news.
What hope is there then? How can we better use the current media or do we need a revolution in the way that new is presented?
What would it look like if instead of experts and commentators passing on their views we were merely presented with the facts?
The perfect job...
For most males it would have to be a mix of Mythbusters, Top Gear and the Crowd Goes Wild.
How the hell do I make that happen!!
How the hell do I make that happen!!
What can we learn from Welsh rugby?
- Strong management that has experience in the industry and is respected (Warren Gatland, Rob Howley, Sean Edwards)
- A magnificent leader who defines the motto serve to lead.
- No fear of failure and perhaps more importantly fear of the repurcussions of failure?
- Removing emotional baggage from decision making
- Management whilst providing some formulaic templates and a broad game-plan still allowing them to play their own game and make indiviual decisions (Mike Phillips' try)
- A team culture that promotes the above.
Au revoir Steve...but could his legacy have been greater?
Steve Jobs seems to have polarised many people in terms of their opinion of him and his legacy.
Undoubtedly he revolutionised the world of personal computing and the music industry.
At what cost however?
Although he always said it was never about the money (drawing a salary of only $1 a year) a MacBook Pro will set you back a couple of thousand in what ever currency you choose whilst those manufacturing the product were doing so for a pittance and often at extreme risk to their health and well being.
The cost of manufacturing an iPod can't be that high.
Would Steve's legacy have been better if rather than emancipating the developed masses from the shackles of Windows and IBM (who incidentally helped the Nazi Party create a super fast early computer system to track Jewish ancestry) he had instead paid a fair wage to those doing the work?
He talks in his Stanford address about the importance of not living someone else's life, emancipating ourselves to do what we love - not much chance of that in China.
Admittedly Apple isn't the only company but does this bring us back to the argument against share owning in a global corporation?
Undoubtedly he revolutionised the world of personal computing and the music industry.
At what cost however?
Although he always said it was never about the money (drawing a salary of only $1 a year) a MacBook Pro will set you back a couple of thousand in what ever currency you choose whilst those manufacturing the product were doing so for a pittance and often at extreme risk to their health and well being.
The cost of manufacturing an iPod can't be that high.
Would Steve's legacy have been better if rather than emancipating the developed masses from the shackles of Windows and IBM (who incidentally helped the Nazi Party create a super fast early computer system to track Jewish ancestry) he had instead paid a fair wage to those doing the work?
He talks in his Stanford address about the importance of not living someone else's life, emancipating ourselves to do what we love - not much chance of that in China.
Admittedly Apple isn't the only company but does this bring us back to the argument against share owning in a global corporation?
Australia the New USA?
It seems that Australians don't like the fact that a large number of Kiwi's are supporting any team other than Aussie.
More that just being sibling rivalry is there more substance to this?
Aussies are certainly better known for their can do attitude but is that now going to far and bordering on being boorish? It certainly can come across as that in business dealings with Australia.
It seems a shame that the ANZAC spirit isn't channeled more often and a more co-operative stance taken from Aussie rather than a rape and pillage.
As to the rugby it's all irrelevant anyway as Wales will be the Champions!
More that just being sibling rivalry is there more substance to this?
Aussies are certainly better known for their can do attitude but is that now going to far and bordering on being boorish? It certainly can come across as that in business dealings with Australia.
It seems a shame that the ANZAC spirit isn't channeled more often and a more co-operative stance taken from Aussie rather than a rape and pillage.
As to the rugby it's all irrelevant anyway as Wales will be the Champions!
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