A huge 'tolerable' in the package-delivery truck business is the outcome of their stop-and-start operations. Fumes, energy inefficiency and attendant environmental damage all have traditionally been tolerated because there was no viable alternative. Federal Express has seen the opportunity to eliminate these tolerables by implementing hybrid technology. The technology uses an emission-free electric battery instead of gasoline or diesel fuel. What's interesting here is that electric batteries in traditional trucking are not at this stage useful because they don't allow the vehicle to accelerate quickly.
In package delivery, however, what's needed instead is relatively slow-speed operations. Moreover, the hybrids allow the energy created in applying the brakes to even more electric power that can be used in the next cycle. According to an article in Fortune (July 25, 2005) a typical FedEx truck makes 100 stops a day and travels 1,500 miles per month. The trucks using the new system are reported to gain 42% to 56% better mileage, and to dramatically reduce exhaust emissions, a big deal in urban environments. The opportunity is huge -- Fortune reports that between 120,000 and 140,000 trucks are produced every year in North America alone, let alone the rest of the world where emissions are an even bigger issue than in the States.
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- Posted Admin on August 11, 2005
A most interesting article in the Harvard Management Update (Lauren Keller Johnson - Stamp Out Budget Shenanigans, Harvard Management Update August 2005) outlines some good practices to help address common games people play at budget time. Citing Richard Steele, a partner in Marakon Associates, they recommend four practices that can help make the budgeting process more realistic and strategic. I thought these were quite interesting, and essential in an era in which it is really hard for more senior people to know what is going on at an operating level.
First practice: Create decision support units that can offer an alternative to proposed budgets. This means that someone other than the manager whose personal good fortune is linked to achieving the budget is looking at the numbers as well.
Second practice: Use the very common 360 degree feedback process to include peer questions about the managers' behavior at budget time. By asking peers what they think, the questions can reveal behavioral tendencies to under-promise, demand too much or be unrealistic.
Third practice: Include customers in budget reviews. This means asking questions such as how many customers have you lost this year? How many need to be acquired to replace them? How many to grow? This will get the debate beyond the numbers to the strategic issues.
Fourth practice: Establish consistent checklists and standards for budget-planning meetings - including questions about execution, strategy and investments.
Food for thought as we enter into the second half of the year.
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- Posted Admin on August 11, 2005
So along the 'don't call us' theme, here is an example of a waste of money. The ad appears in the August 2005 issue of Inc, on what would be page 39. "Don't Call Us." it boldly begins, followed by the phrases "when a technology performs flawlessly and is simple to use, it soon becomes something you don't need to think about, won't need to think about. Fortunately for your business, XOptionsFlex is exactly that kind of "no need to call" technology".
What they don't tell you is what technology they are selling! I gather after scrutinizing the ad that it is some kind of telephone service provider. But what a name - XOptions Flex???
Don't lose the irony in this one - this company, along with others, is trying to simultaneously sell you a telephone service (I think) while the main thrust of their ad is about not making calls.
Oh well, maybe times have changed but when I went to business school Marketing 101 taught us that you need to tell customers what you are selling before they'll be prepared to buy.
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- Posted Admin on August 08, 2005
Is it a coincidence that in a recent edition of INC magazine that within a few pages the phrase "don't call us" came up over and over?
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- Posted Admin on August 08, 2005
The Wall Street Journal's 'personal technology' column (August 4, 2005) compares Apple's new "Mighty Mouse" with Microsoft's new entry, the Wireless Optical Mouse 5000. Much to the evident surprise of the reviewer (Walter S. Mossberg), the Apple product came out wanting in terms of usability. While the Microsoft product allows easy access to both left and right clicking and web page scrolling, the Apple product makes these characteristics subservient to a slick design. Moreover, Apple has been beaten to the punch by a key feature of the Microsoft mouse, namely that it can temporarily magnify any portion of the screen that the viewer is working with.
In an age in which more of us (unfortunately) are finding teensy tiny little type to be increasingly hard to work with, a simple little innovation like that has the potential to be real 'exciter' feature. Imagine not having to reach for your glasses every time you want to check email or search the web!
As Mossberg says, 'stop the presses: Microsoft has beaten Apple on hardware design, at least in this one case'. He can be reached at
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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- Posted Admin on August 08, 2005
