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July 31, 2006
JCI Launches Blog
Congrats to Johnson Controls, Inc. for being one of only about 30 Fortune 500 companies to blog, according to Cymfony. And for taking on a tough discussion topic -- energy use. Check it out: YourEnergyForum.com. The blog's authors include a couple of JCI's own experts, as well as other industry thought leaders, such as energy consultant Barbara Haig. Full disclosure: we assisted with strategy, design and development.
Posted by Bob Brin at 9:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 28, 2006
Neutron Jack Neutralized?
Hiring a Jack Welch disciple has long been a de facto way to implement his time-worn rules for "winning." Now it seems to be popular to call those rules into question, as the good folks from Fortune do in this recent article.
Personally, I think they're on to something. Welch certainly knows how to run a company, but those who try to follow his rules without really understanding what's behind them create soul-less companies with low morale and short-term success at the expense of long-term sustainability. Here's a summary of Fortune's "New Rules."
Old: Big Dogs Own The Street
New: Agile is Best: Being Big Can Bite You
Comment: So many big companies fail to re-invest in innovation because they're busy paying off the investors
Old: Be #1 or #2 in Your Market
New: Find a Niche, Create Something New
Comment: Define your OWN market
Old: Shareholders Rule
New: Customer is King
Comment: Show me a company with strong long-term investment growth who doesn't take care of its customers
Old: Be Lean, Be Mean
New: Look Out, Not In
Comment: Cutting back without re-investing the savings is like going on a diet without exercising to build muscle
Old: Rank Your Players -- Go With the A's
New: Hire Passionate People
Comment: People who make mistakes while trying to do something new are infinitely better than people who never make mistakes.
Old: Hire a Charismatic CEO
New: Hire a Courageous CEO
Comment: The CEO with true vision is a rare jewel indeed.
Old: Admire My Might
New: Admire My Soul
Comment: Microsoft vs. Apple. Wal-Mart vs. Target. United vs. Southwest Airlines.
Posted by Matt Kucharski at 11:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 11, 2006
Viewer Beware
You know consumer-generated media have arrived when a local television station pulls B-roll from YouTube.com. But are there any ethical concerns over using consumer-generated video from a content-sharing site such as YouTube?
TV stations have been using viewer-generated video since the advent of the camcorder. In those instances, a physical handoff of video takes place. The video is screened and inserted into a story if it’s relevant.
Along comes YouTube and its ilk. It’s easy to download a video and pop it into a newscast. Now, producers can think of the Internet as a gigantic video library.
But what if that video was manipulated? In the tape-handoff scenario, there would be little or no time to edit a tape, much less have the talent to edit. In the YouTube example, there is ample opportunity to manipulate video before it’s posted on YouTube.
We trust that TV news producers are smart enough to know the viability of video clips. However, we question the merits of using such video with no way to confirm its legitimacy.
Posted by Rich Sharp at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 6, 2006
We Don't Need Your Stinkin' Secret Formula
Lots of coverage this morning of the recent FBI sting involving some Coca Cola employees trying to sell trade secrets to Pepsi. Nice to see that good old fashioned low-tech corporate espionage is alive and well.
Pepsi's getting major props for going straight to Coke with the information. The irony is that if execs at Pepsi would have entertained the offer or simply turned the spies away, they would have eventually ended up with egg on their faces. What looks on the surface like a bigtime altruistic move was actually a complete no-brainer. Doing the right thing was never so easy.
Incidentally, Pepsi's stock is up in after-hours trading while Coke's is down. I'm not big on one-to-one correlations, but one never knows...
Posted by Matt Kucharski at 7:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
