Moments of Truth: ABC’s of Customer Care by JNPangilinan

Anyone who  walks  the streets of Japan, will notice how a street vendor, say, in Nagoya, will render exactly the same level of quality service as their counterpart chefs at plush Sushi restaurants in Ropponggi, Minato-Ku, or Teppanyaki-Yas in Kobe.

So much has been written about KAIZEN, Total Quality Management, Lean Operations, or Six Sigma and how to build quality into organizations. The quest to understand determinants of Service Quality particularly in business-to-business situations, nearly always leads to  Customer Care issues.. or wrong assumptions (and thus, decisions) about customer perceptions and preferences.

Which Vendor is easiest to work with? Who has the best quality contact person? Which vendor makes me feel better, more secure, more wise? Who looks most professional? I summarize some “findings” here by  coming up with a list. Here we go: The ABC’s of Quality in Customer Care.

A-llocate time and money for Customer Care

B-uild quality into people & processes

C-lean your bathrooms and receiving areas.
D-o it right the first time all the time.
E-xceed customer expectations
F-eedback of customers must drive Innovation.
G-et your facts straight before reacting.
H-elp Customers save time, money & energy.
I-nnovate on value, not just product.
J-ust Do it – help the customer solve problems.
K-eep your promises &commitments always.
L-earn what works for Customers & what doesn’t.
M-onitor determinants of Service Quality!
N-ever violate your values nor your customer’s.
O-ver-respond to Customer requests.
P-lan Quality improvements constantly
Q-uality is not expensive. Poor quality is.
R-eply to emails & return calls promptly!
S-ave money to add Value, by reducing Non-Value.
T-reat customers with courtesy, respect always
U-nderstand your Customer’s business inside out.
V-alue is equal to Customer benefits less costs.
W-in-win or no deal, is the best policy.
X-traordinary suppliers put in that “extra” effort.
Y-es. we can (do this)!
Z-ero Defects begin by eliminating the first Defect.

It is always a pleasure to witness that Japanese salesperson in Akihabara, or an oden vendor in the streets of Shibuya. Their fascination for excellence is awe-inspiring. Perhaps it is their Bushido warrior ancestry, or their Samurai DNA, but trust a typical Japanese worker to deliver consistently high levels of service quality, without hesitation. Simply put, quality customer care and service seem par for the Nihon-jin’s course.

Aristotle was alleged to have written, “Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” Humbly, we have a lot to learn from the Japanese. Caring for customers is not a requirement of the job, or a result of a set of “slogans” or Six Sigma campaigns. Customer care must be welded into an organization’s DNA, its culture, and turned into a collective habit; whether through environmental change, or recruitment, training or incentive schemes, regurgitation and mastery need to be fostered and supported.

 

Former Scandindavian Air CEO, Jan Carlsson referred to close encounters of employees with the customers, as “Moments of Truth” of companies. What we do during those moments – to care or not to care – spell the difference between excellence and mediocrity. Ultimately, in their every action and decision, people and systems, will either care for customers, or they will not.What do customers have to say about those “moments of truth” with you and your company?

 

Joseph Pangilinan jnpangilinan@arrowheads-inc.com is CEO of Arrowhead Consulting, Inc. and Professional lecturer of Strategic Management and International Business at the De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.

Demystifying JIT: It is Just-in-Time, not Just-in-Case.

 

Why should time be so complicated? Making FOCUS a habit ought to simplify things. Reminds me of an Ancient Buddhist saying that goes, “If you chase two rabbits, both are likely to escape.”

To create, transform, and deliver something of value – the kind that customers are willing to pay for — needs focused time, resources, energy, and close attention to detail.  This is especially crucial in Operations Management, defined  as “planning, organizing, staffing, and leading the activities of any business precisely relating to the creation, production and delivery of goods and services, through the transformation of inputs into outputs.” In its barest sense, Operations Management manages the company’s “value-fulfillment” system. If it fails to do that, it fails period. OM thus attempts to focus on value, and align organizational resources in order to synchronize the company’s perceptions of value with that of the customer,  i.e. business requirements must match customer, and deliver VALUE, within business constraints. What do we mean by value? Some call it quality products and services or benefits thereof. Some say buyer utility or satisfaction. Collectively, value might mean the combination of X-factors that customers are willing to pay for. OM, then, hopes to concoct how value can be delivered at a profit. All business functions need to support this overlying purpose.

Operations Managers have long discussed Just in Time, or JIT, as a clue to the most efficient value-delivering approach. JIT promises – if properly set up and executed – to dramatically reduce production or service lead times, boost up system throughput, and subsequently, slash fixed costs per unit, by managing operations leanly and efficiently.  Unfortunately, JIT is an elusive operations management philosophy that escapes most of us as to its essence and meaning. Very few souls understand it.  In a nutshell, JIT is about lean, synchronous manufacturing, in order to reduce inventory. By lowering the systemic need for in-process inventory (i.e. excess capacity stock), JIT literally frees the company’s time, energy, and money/resources — previously committed to producing inventory “just in case” it is needed. By releasing the system of ‘just in case’  inventory, resources are freed for productive, saleable goods and services, which actually add real value to real people’s lives.

What’s up with Inventory? Disclaimer: not all Inventory is bad. In fact, some are absolutely necessary. There is an evil kind of Inventory, however – i.e. the excess kind that is not yet needed, and/or, is “needed just in case people have nothing more to work on” or “just in case someone wants it”. Such excess inventory hides problems and gives a false sense that people are “working” when in fact they are just .. well.. fiddling with inventory. By reducing excess inventory to near zero, work flow will naturally stop when one or another “sub-process” encounters problems, quality defects and so forth. JIT mandates that the team immediately work on, discuss and find the root causes of the problem, say the problem of a recurrent defect, and initiate action to solve this problem permanently.  This is when new jigs are designed, new quality assurance procedures introduced, and new systemic policies are formulated.

JIT thus exposes real problems, that cause real delays in operations, real lead time bloaters, say, in manufacturing operations, or any part of the value chain thereof. In a sense, JIT allows teams  to “sacrifice” short term operation time for current throughput, to solve problems that will protect future multiple throughputs. Too much unnecessary inventory, gives operations managers the “illusion” that people are doing a lot of things everywhere, but in truth they are only working on the pieces or batches of product or jobs they are currently working on, nothing else.

JIT, a concept allegedly developed by Japanese Kenichi Ohmae, and first popularized by Toyota, stems from the idea that inventory, especially work-in-progress (WIP) inventory, is the “twin brother” of lead time.  It means that the more WIP a system  or organization allows to exist, the longer the average cycle time, or time each product, batch, job order — or in the case of service, each service order – moves within the business premises until it finally gets to the consumer.  For example, if a job shop furniture exporter’s factory and warehouses are full of parts and pieces of, say, 60 days worth of inventory of unfinished job orders, then if an order of 100 dining sets is placed by a hotel, then technically the company will need 60 days to deliver the unfinished WIP, first before starting the 100 dining set order.

JIT requires giving up your authorized safety net inventories located everywhere, and control supplies and inventory to levels that will just synchronize and support production, and importantly, to feed operations.  The main emphasis of JIT is to reduce inventory-related costs and waste, by eliminating “Just In Case” inventory.

JIT implementation requires Operations teams to take a very close look at every stage of production and inventory carrying points, per product or service stream. This exercise alone is useful in highlighting areas in need of improvement. Ultimately, the more efficient you are and the higher quality product you provide, the lower your costs, the faster your lead times, and so the more appealing you become to customers and clients.

Reduced Inventory means reduced warehouse and factory space requirements, security and handling costs, air conditioning or dehumidifying costs, packaging, labeling, interest expense (on sleeping inventory) and every othe rcost that comes with excess inventory.

JIT is synonymous with Lean Operations which clarifies what leaders, employees, suppliers, should pay attention to, to produce value, and that includes solving obstacles to the swift delivery of value.  JIT eliminates non-value adding activities that drive up costs and extend total delivery time.

With JIT, a company can focus on creating and delivering value – in the Customer’s persception –  rather than excess inventory, wasted materials and supplies, useless movement, unnecessary delays, and so much “noise” that customers are absolutely unwilling to pay for.

The only thing customers are willing to pay for is value, or the benefits and features that go with good (not poor quality) product, and this is exactly what the goal of Operations is… to transform the inputs of time, energy, people, and other resources into Value which the customer will pay for.   Lean operations gives the Operations manager an excellent basis for Operating strategy, which is to reconcile the firm’s resources to meet marketing requirements, to invest in the right strategic elements to increase the company’s long term capability to deliver value (say in differentiation) and/or to lower cost (in low cost strategy), and to organize systems to help employees execute whatever strategy is selected.

A saying goes that “the best time to have an inventory part ready for production, ready for the next step in production, and ready for delivery to a customer, is Just in time.” The same account goes that “manufacturers build inventory of both finished goods and raw materials Just in case!”

The time buffers of inventory that populate most production master schedules, give a false sense of security and are extremely expensive. First you tie a huge amount of cash to inventory costs, i.e. non-value-adding handling, storage, movement, security, pilferage, and all other. Inventory can be lost or damaged, and may deteriorate.

The presence of idle, non-moving stock – or orders authorized for production but are not yet needed – interfere with more critical ordered stock. Shipments get delayed, when countless stocks are produced! Worse, non-moving stock become obsolete so quickly in today’s world of nano-speed time-to-market product introductions. Warehouses, could instead be factories or showrooms or rented to someone else!   All of this means lost profit or lost opportunity (to make money).

When JIT is implemented, a company’s costs are lower. It has more cash. It is more reliable in its promises to customers. Its quality is improved, because people can concentrate and WIP does not hide it. IT gives a company a sustainable competitive edge. And best of all, in my opinion, you need not annoy clients by forcing them “fire sales” of old useless stock.

To execute JIT, you need to complete a jigsaw puzzle of elements. At the heart and sould of this, is the kanban , a Japanese shop-floor visual card system that ensures that a continuous supply of inventory or product are fed to the system “just-in-time”. Kanbans were designed to support the JIT philosophy.  For example, as the supply, say, of needed parts approaches a visual MINIMUM red mark, the supervisor then prepares a requisition for such parts, and so forth.

Next equally critical JIT needs KAIZEN, TQM, 6-Sigma and other continuous improvement systems, usually worked on by small-groups called Quality Circles or Lean Production Teams that work on problems precisely exposed by JIT, but not in a shallow way, but rather in a strategic, permanent way, because root causes are investigated. All techniques of process, product, and service improvement are employed; but in a methodical way, and prioritized on breaking one systemic constraint after another.

Obviously, JIT is not only meant for manufacturing or operations, but throughout the business/firm.  JIT requires that operations work beyond the business – e.g. it involves working with most institutions along the supply chain: suppliers, government, logistics, telco, IT firms and so forth, to synchronize the whole order-fulfillment system.

Finally, and most importantly, to execute JIT, Operations needs to work very closely with Marketing. All value must be consistent with the customer’s idea of value, and not just the company’s. JIT must closely monitor market behavior and history.  One problem is that when orders suddenly spike, the company needs to be very flexible and adjust quickly. Fortunately, if JIT is properly executed, the company is likely to have the money to solve whatever that positive problem is, to begin with.

 

LINKING OPERATIONS with Corporate and Marketing –

 

It is the task of Operations to reconcile both the demands of the consumer, that hopefully are consistent with Marketing requirements,  and the resources of the company, in terms of time, production capacity, staff, systems and methods, logistics and so forth. Marketing decides on the mixes of Product or Service, distribution outlets/ promises to customer in terms of price, lead time, payment terms. Marketing – through sales or accounts people develop the sales forecasts, and so they “decide” when they want the goods delivered and in what quantities, sizes, designs, shapes, features included and so forth.  Production needs to confer with Marketing all the time, with respect to lead time estimates. Status of orders, and actual delivery schedule commitments. Delivery instructions, packaging standards, mode of shipment, delivery address, communication, so many such details need to be coordinated.  Finally information on after-sales commitments, and customer feedback are important, for production, product development, and quality assurance people for example, to make necessary improvements,  or such appropriate responses to feedback.

Linking Operations with the Marketing and Corporate strategy cannot be over emphasized. Unless there is alignment between these three (3), and the rest of the company for that matter, a host of problems can be expected to happen, or recurring problems will not be solved (which means lost customers), but for the most part no new strategy can be properly executed, unless the parts that are tasked to execute it, are aligned.

Information asymmetry can cause delays, mistakes in strategy execution, or a host of many wrong, some even devastating, decisions.

Let me list down some questions an Operations manager needs to ask Marketing. Who is the target customer? What qualities are important to him? What products are the most in demand? What are his/her priorities/ recurring problems in terms of design, quality, lead time, supply chain logistics, delivery performance, packaging, distribution, or other operations issues?   What is the target customer’s perceptions of value? What products are in trend for the next few years? What might be phased out? There will be redundancy, miscommunication, and so many other wrong strategic decisions, if there is no linkage.

For corporate matters, OM has to work with Finance to approve new plant capital budgets (assuming layouts are done), new machines for process flow designs. Operations needs to work with HR to design the work and jobs, identify the right skills sets, personnel needs, prepare/approve job descriptions, performance evaluations, training requirements, and even negotiate with labor union leaders. OM also needs to work with Admin/Legal to understand legal requirements, say environmental bureau standards and maybe food or other standards for other industries.

To execute the linkage between Operations, Marketing, and Corporate strategy, I would recommend that a common Strategic Planning workshop be done. This begins with corporate Situational Assessment meetings first, prior to Business Unit or Department planning workshops.  As many key managers, assistant managers, the Board if possible, Finance, Marketing, HR, Operations, some key rank and file (especially tribal leaders and Union officers if they exist). This way we build a cadre of Strategy Advocates.

At this juncture – we assess the company’s internal (competitive strengths, weaknesses/exposures, performance history, in sales, finance, marketing, HR, operations) and external (opportunities, threats, future trends).  We look at Socio Demographic, Technology-Supply Chain trends Political-Legal and other key external environmental issues and concerns, mostly threats and opportunities are listed. Key issues must be highlighted by concensus. We then analyze the competitive or Industry environment, again looking for Opportunities. From here we build a SWOT matrix, and use other tools like Boston Consulting Group matrix, SPACE/IE GSM and other tools to match internal and external data detailing areas for the purpose of generating alternative strategies (corporate first, then later complementary business and departmental generic strategies). Some suggest we need to jointly decide on over-arching corporate and business strategies – such as Differentiation, or Low Cost, Focus, or Broad Market strategies.

Some think there is no trade off if we focus on reducing inventory and non-value-adding costs, and pour such savings towards differentiation strategies and tactics.  Powerful way to find the money for building competitive advantage.

We then agree on the frameworks (using critical success criteria) to decide which strategies to jointly commit to execute, and finally, most importantly, we must agree on what Implementing mechanisms to inject in the solution –including but not limited to – choosing leadership champions, setting preventive and contingency measures, staffing/ training, hiring and motivating, strategy-supportive systems, changing structure and layouts, allocation of operating funds, as well as addressing resistance to change

Finally, the team ought to be well led – as nothing happens without the leadership of champions — who will scout, select, coach, inspire, equip, and empower team players, leveraging on best practices, frameworks, and technologies –  including qualitative and quantitative methods and measures of success.  This JIT Lean Dreamland may only come to pass, if leaders are both competent and committed– mentally, emotionally, and psychologically – to build the team that matches this dream.

One of my favorite quotes is from renowned psychologist Carl Jeung and it goes this way, “When I dream alone, my dream remains a dream; but when we dream together, it is the beginning of reality.”

– Written by Joseph Pangilinan, CEO Arrowhead Consulting, for DLSU RVR Graduate School of Business, WCE in Operations Managment

Organizations vs. Individuals

“Everyone is a genius. But if we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, then it will live all its life thinking it is stupid.” Albert Einstein

Is it ethical to entice an employee to change his behavior for the organization’s interest? Is Organizational behavior a form of unethical manipulation or not?  This controversy stems from a common conflict between the temptation of organizational managers (1) to manipulate or control individual behavior to do what is “right” – both for the individual and the organization’s interests, OR (2) to allow individuals the freedom to act and to decide for themselves what he perceives to be right.

 

Leaders on the one hand may want to “manipulate or control” — or more acceptably, ” encourage, inspire, or motivate” — individual behavior, for several reasons, say to ensure that the final outcomes are good for the organization; or to ensure that plans are properly executed for example. Stakeholders are all expected to want to promote their best interests. This is why they get involved in a business in the first place.  So company managers give the carrot or the stick, rewards or reprimands,  to fulfill organizational goals, greater sales, lower costs, higher value added, and so forth.

 

On the other hand, some leaders are tempted to give individuals the freedom to act, to choose for themselves, according to what they think is best, and hopefully what will not violate their personal values and beliefs.  The intention behind this is to ensure “buy-in” or  participation, or volunteerism.  Volunteerism, in fact is the most powerful and most passionate forms of “motivators.”  It ensures higher commitment, fosters individual self discovery, and a host of other benefits.

 

There is no conflict, when it comes to the underlying needs in the “conflict” between leaders controlling indivdual behavior and letting go or giving freedom. The underlying needs of (1) the need of organizations for the final outcome   to be ultimately profitable, or of value to organizations, (2) then need of individual for the final outcomes to be for the long term interest or welfare of the individual.

 

To resolve this ethical dilemma, leaders must ensure that all engagements are win-win, or where outcomes of the engagements are genuinely GOOD for both the organizations and for the individual, and if I might add for all “stakeholders” as well.  Win-win or no deal. This is the only way towards genuine sustainability.

There are many alternative “win-win” resolutions around the above “ethical dilemma” or “conflict.”  In what possible ways perhaps, can we “encourage” employees to do what is good for the organization, in ways that eventually help them achieve their own individual goals?  The concept of “work-life-balance” for instance has proven to be a deep source of internal strength for organizations. A happy, balanced person is a productive person!  And a company that offers work-life balance, attracts the better and brighter people, which creates an upward spiral of good things.

 

Another  example of win-win  is  when mission-critical projects are assigned, deliberately to maximize the unique individual strengths of assigned employees. BOTH parties i.e. the individual who deploys personal talent and the organization that needs it.  Let a numbers guy do the budget. Let a design-conscious employee spearhead changes in office layout.  Allow a born-writer to be editor of the company blogsite or newsletter,  and so forth.

Well-meaning individuals and prudent organizational leaders, ultimately,  pursue the long term success of the organization itself,  setting goals for the interest not only of the business, but for the good of employees, as well, thereby improving health care benefits, upgrading competency, improving job design, training new skills, and so forth.  The deeper challenge is how to align these goals towards the same strategic ends, at the right time, triggering consonance and not dissonance, say, as in grabbing more shares of a shrinking pie.

Key is to match real individual talent (say, in hiring, placing or delegating), with real organizational needs that address core conflicts and root causes, solve real problems, or that  tap the best of available opportunities. Consider the uniqueness and strengths of individuals and match these with critical work requirements. This resolves the dilemma as it moves from win-lose, lose-win, to win-win. It is not unethical to do this.  In fact it would be imprudent to do otherwise.

 

Another example of win-win is to forge a more clear and shared understanding of the meaning of “value” for the organization.  The “right” thing to do is what adds – not diminishes – “value”. But what is “value”? Is it customer value, share-holder value, value added as in taxation, or is it value to an employee – i.e. his benefits and compensation? Ultimately the end-customer pays for everything in the value chain, and so it can be strongly argued that “value” – for the business-  is what the customer is willing pay for.  So if “value” is defined by the customer, is the customer always right?  By agreeing on unified definitions of VALUE, we can align actions of people with organizational goals. We can synchronize strategic plans with strategic execution.  We can limit our actions to what the customer is willing to pay for.

 

I dream of  less schizophrenic organizations, where inspired individuals pursue company  goals alongside their own individual dreams.  I dream of integrated organizations where strategic plans are aligned with implementing structures and systems are synchronized with jobs. I dream of  organizations that respect – and are therefore able to draw from – the  genius of even seemingly ordinary people.

 

Manipulation and coercion are for the lazy. There is absolutely no need for it, when people voluntarily commit time and resources and passion, to do what they want to do, because they are  cut out and created  to do that. This happens when common purposes and shared values are clear and  individual talents are aligned to them. This happens when structures, policies and systems empower, and do not disempower people from deploying themselves.

 

An organization is one of integrity when it clearly and  collectively defines VALUE, not just to shareholders or to employees, but  to customers and all stakeholders as well. Such is an organization of real sustainable power, that more meaningfully and convincingly  delivers value; the kind of value that blesses the world, and changes it for the better.

by Joseph Pangilinan, Sept. 26.2011

 

 

 

The “Devil’s Own” Cloud.

 

 

In looming evolution of role, where should CIOs stand on mobile, cloud? | Enterprise Innovation.

Excellent, relevant topic.

The question is whether or not to allow managers and employees to access the internet, a.k.a. the Cloud.

Albert Einstein was quoted. “Insanity is doing things over an over again, and expecting different results.”

The Chief Information Officer  — and in the case of a small enterprise, the  President, General Manager,  or  Owner himself — must resolve that dilemma today. Many have done so and now enjoy unprecedented breakthroughs. But I’d say more CIOs are afraid  to take the plunge. Some fears may be well founded. Others are totally NOT.

So should we allow the use of Cloud Computing for an enterprise’s legacy applications, or should we continue to build local or wide area network-based applications?

Sure, we do not want to lose control (this presumes that we are in control lol!). On the other,  we want to to maximize the value and the tremendous savings offered by the internet computing option.

Moreover, on the one hand, we sincerely want to increase our employees contribution to over-all company productivity (do we???), on the other hand we do not want to give our people so much freedom as to undermine the integrity, security of the company’s data; and we’d like to ensure the company’s long term well-being.

Some practical questions that might help us unlock good ideas.

1) Is there a way that the enterprise may enjoy the terrific  savings we know we can get from practical apps online, without getting people destructively distracted, or wandering into social media oblivion?

2) Is there any other way to allow employees to utilize  thousands of available, free,  enterprise applications offered on the cloud (the internet) – and yet stay protected from malwares, trojans, hackers and other security risks?   YES, CIOs know there is a way. And if they do not, then you are totally unsafe from these dangers TODAY.

3) Is there a way we can recover our humungous investments in legacy applications and infrastructure, AND still save money by allowing employees to take advantage of the more powerful, more robust, more user-friendly, more practical, and  more relevant Cloud applications?  I do not like this question at all.

4) Is there a way that the IT team, can continue to be “productive”  despite migration into Cloud computing?

5) Might we allow some people access to the Cloud, to  better understand how to maximize its value – the value of the useful parts of the internet — i.e. to research, pilot and launch enterprise solutions that actually add value and contribute to achieving our collective goals?

I would answer YES to most of  the above questions. YES, there are ways, but if we continue to junk the very idea of Cloud computing as the Devil’s Own, then we will never know now, will we?

The platform is burning. Take the plunge.

Joseph Pangilinan, FICD

Strategic Value Innovator

Awesome Clouds - captured in Palawan, the Philippines.

 

Seven (7) FREE Business Applications for SMEs

After blogging about Cloud Computing for several days now, it’s time to take a quick look at some of the FREE Resources available for use, even to Small and Medium enterprises today. Wikipedia is the quickest source of summarized evaluations as follows, and so don’t mind if I use this to help.

a. Google Books

Google Books is a service from Google where the company scans, converts into text using optical character recognition, and stores books in its digital database of around 15,000,000 titles as of the time of Wikipedia’s Google Books entry. Google then searches the full text of books to provide these to users who wish to see them.

Google has an agreement with some authors wherein you can actually read several pages of the books online, which is quite astonishing. For example, here is a page from the book “Beyond the Theory of Constraints” by W. A. Levinson.

In 2010 Google estimated that there are about 130 million unique books in the world (129,864,880 to be exact). On October 14, 2010 Google announced that the number of scanned books is just a little over 15 million.

b. Google Sketchup – 3D Modeling for Everyone

“SketchUp is the finest (and most innovative) tool available for anyone designing anything from coffee pots to skyscrapers.” – McCall & Associates

April 2006, Google announced Google SketchUp, a freely-downloadable version of SketchUp. The free version is not as capable as SketchUp Pro, but it includes integrated tools for uploading content to Google Earth and to the Google 3D Warehouse, a repository of models created in SketchUp. They have also added a new toolbox where you can walk, see things from a person’s point of view, labels for models, a look around tool, and an “any polygon” shape tool.

A screenshot of Google Sketchup 7.1 in Windows 7.
Developer(s)	Google
Type	3D computer graphics
License	Standard: Freeware Pro: Proprietary commercial software
Website	sketchup.google.com

SketchUp is a 3D modeling program or 3D computer graphics program, designed for architectural, civil, and mechanical engineers as well as filmmakers, game developers, and related professions. It also includes features to facilitate the placement of models in Google Earth. It is designed to be easier to use than other 3D CAD programs.[2]

A feature of SketchUp is the 3D Warehouse that lets SketchUp users search for models made by others and contribute models

c. 12manage.com

12manage.com is a community portal of management and executive resources open to member entrepreneurs, managers, and academic professionals in various fields or similar to an inter-active library or management encyclopedia, where visitors can learn, discover new, concise summaries,  expert tips, read reports and management papers, access news,  videos on specific methods. It is a practical for any and all of the close to 900,000 micro, small, and medium sized businesses.

Business Topics range from strategic management to functional operations with concise edited summaries which may be downloaded free of charge. An example of this is as follows:

Explanation of the 7-S Framework of McKinsey.

WHAT IS THE  7-S FRAMEWORK? DESCRIPTION

The 7-S Framework of McKinsey is a management model that describes 7 factors to organize a company in an holistic and effective way. Together these factors determine the way in which a corporation operates. Managers should take into account all seven of these factors, to be sure of successful implementation of a strategy. Large or small. They’re all interdependent, so if you fail to pay proper attention to one of them, this may effect all others as well. On top of that, the relative importance of each factor may vary over time.

ORIGIN OF THE 7-S FRAMEWORK. HISTORY

The 7-S Framework was first mentioned in “The Art Of Japanese Management” by Richard Pascaleand Anthony Athos in 1981. They had been investigating how Japanese industry had been so successful. At around the same time that Tom Peters and Robert Waterman were exploring what made a company excellent. The Seven S model was born at a meeting of these four authors in 1978. It appeared also in “In Search of Excellence” by Peters and Waterman, and was taken up as a basic tool by the global management consultancy company McKinsey. Since then it is known as their 7-S model.

THE MEANING OF THE 7 SS

Shared Values (also called Superordinate Goals). – The interconnecting center of McKinsey’s model is: Shared Values. What does the organization stands for and what it believes in. Central beliefs and attitudes. Compare: Strategic Intent Strategy – Plans for the allocation of a firms scarce resources, over time, to reach identified goals. Environment, competition, customers.
Structure – The way in which the organization’s units relate to each other: centralized, functional divisions (top-down); decentralized; a matrix, a network, a holding, etc.

Systems – The procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work should be done: financial systems; recruiting, promotion and performance appraisal systems; information systems.

Staff Numbers and types of personnel within the organization.

Style Cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave in achieving the organization’s goals.

Skills – Distinctive capabilities of personnel or of the organization as a whole. Compare: Core Competences.

STRENGTHS OF THE 7-S MODEL. BENEFITS

• Diagnostic tool for understanding organizations that are ineffective.
• Guides organizational change.
• Combines rational and hard elements with emotional and soft elements.
• Managers must act on all Ss in parallel and all Ss are interrelated.

Book: Ethan M. Rasiel, Paul N. Friga – The McKinsey Mind: Understanding and Implementing the Problem Solving Tools and Management Techniques –

d.         provenmodels.com

This site integrates various management models in business. From Porter 5-Forces model, Boston Consulting Group’s BCG Matrix, McKinsey’s 7S, and a host of other proven models, provenmodels.com is an absolute favorite, particularly for the benefit of Small and medium sized entrepreneurs who never had the benefit of a masters in business administration. You may search the site, by the author’s name, the book title, the model’s name, or if you wish, you could drill it down in greater depth.

Searches can be by topic as follows

change management

communication

culture & internationalisation

finance & accounting

information technology

innovation & risk

leadership & management

marketing & sales

org. design & development

personnel management

programme & project management

strategic management

technology & operations

Also, as a User-generated-(web 2.0) content strategy, professors and academicians are encouraged to post their research work online, as they would in official journals and publications. To illustrate:

cybernetics

Norbert Wiener

·       period: 1948

·       consulting role: change agent and consultant

·       consulting activity: design and analyse

·       topic: change management, technology & operations and org. design & development

view model

theory X & Y

Douglas McGregor

·       period: 1960

·       consulting role: coach, manager, trainer and change agent

·       consulting activity: design, reflect and analyse

·       topic: leadership & management, personnel management and change management

view model

blue ocean strategies

Renée A. Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim

·       period: 2005

·       consulting role: change agent, manager, trainer and consultant

·       consulting activity: design, implement and analyse

·       topic: change management, innovation & risk and strategic management

e.         1000ventures.com

One of my favorite sites for entrepreneurial innovation and  value creation ideals.

The first quote in this page says it all. “If you stop learning, you stop creating history and become history.” – Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder of Ten3 Business e-Coach

They claim to have pioneered such business concepts as: Life-Business Synergy, Leardership Management Synergy, Success 360 degrees, Venutrepreneur: 8×8 Winning Habits, 3 Strategies of Market leaders, 6Ws of Corporate Growth, East-West Synergy, Master of Business Synergies (I like  how this sounds), Start-up Ventures, Venture Financing Step By Step, and so many more ideas.

There is really no excuse for any would-be entrepreneur to say that one lacks experience or ideas knowledge or “connections’ to succeed and get ahead. This site 1000ventures.com carries a powerful array of business resources.

Too many in fact, because at the end of the day, in business, as in life, it’s not what you’ve got but how you use it.

The challenge is not in knowing what’s out there, but in leveraging the little talent we have, and focusing it on tapping the best of opportunities out there, one at a time, and sticking to it until it succeeds . Or learning from it fails and moving on again. That is what counts. That is personal strategy to succeeding and getting ahead.

e. dummies.com making everything easier

I’ve always liked the Dummies’ how-to series, and their mission to try to “make everything easier” and simpler, for ordinary people or “non-experts” so to speak. With all the books in their library over time, the public is at least certain they will find relevant content.

YouTube As a practical education site, Dummies.com is very similar to the powerful education sites  like howstuffworks.com, but wider in scope and different in approach.

No doubt Dummies.com possess in its arsenal enough written content/ material to be worthwhile browsing. Compared however to howstuffworks.com – which is owned by the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, OR National Geographic, which also owns its own TV Channel on HBO, Dummies.com pales in comparison due to lack of video.

Topics range widely – and wildly — from Computers and Software, Business and Careers, Consumer Electronics, Crafts and Hobbies, Education, Food and Drinks, Games, Home and Garden, Language, Health and Fitness, Music and Creative Arts, Personal Finance, Pets, Photography and video, Religion, Sports,  Travel and Tourism,  all the way to Yoga.

Offhand, therefore, it might be good strategy for Dummies to merge or collaborate with Discovery, or for this matter ABC or YouTube, to considering how much more important Video as a medium has become.

As I mentioned Dummies.com would be 100x more exciting and effective with real “video.”

f.  How Stuff Works

A Discovery Channel company howstuffworks.com is one of my son’s favorite website. The advantage it has over Dummies.com is that its VIDEO content is superior, considering the Dummies company began with publishing how to books

Discovery shares its own content – especially its extensive video library and database– to howstuffworks.com.  Topics range from Adventure, Animals, to Culture and Entertainment, Health, Home and Garden, Lifestyle, Science and Technology. They also share blogs, games, podcasts, how to tools, and other interesting freebies.

Sister websites include Animal Planet, Consumer Guide Auto, Consumer Guide Products, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health, HSW Brazil, HSW China , Investigation Discovery, Planet Green, Science Channel, Discovery Education, among others.

A practical use of this site is a source of practical videos to teach our children at home (home schooling becomes so much easier and more effective), at school, or training people in our own businesses, i.e. including educating ourselves.

As with many of the sites herein (dummies.com,1000ventures, et al) an entire semester of INFOMAN wouldn’t be enough to go through howstuffworks.com,  content, but it is important to know sites like these are there when we need them, as there is really no point reinventing the wheel so to speak.

Looks Great! Innovations in Infographics & Visual Merchandising

Infographic: Subway Map

1) 50 MOST STUNNING EXAMPLES OF DATA VISUALIZATION AND INFOGRAPHICS

Inspired by design, Richworks in India, put together this amazing collection of some of the best  examples of Data Visualization and Info-graphics in the Cloud. “A picture is worth a thousand words.. There is so much data in the world today that it has become impossible for us to analyze them with patience. Data as we perceive it, need not be boring, bland and cumbersome to remember.”

2) TOP 10 Best Flash Websites/ multi-media

a. Moodstream is a website by Getty Images that offers a mysterious brainstorming tool designed to help get the viewers’ creative juices flowing. By simply adjusting or tweaking the mood sliders, one can adjust a stream of images, footage, & audio that can help inspire creative direction.

b.  Monoface is a site that gives viewers a fun and simple Flash application that allows them to sculpt a Mr. Potato Head style face that contains hundreds of thousands of entertaining possibilities.
Mono, an advertising agency based in Minneapolis, lives by the motto that “simpler is better.”

3 | Waterlife Waterlife is a breath-taking multi-media preview of the documentary film Waterlife (same name), which offers visitors a wonderful preview of the lush cinematography and rich storytelling found only in the film.

BuySellAds is one of the benchmarks in good Data Visualization. Fascinating News letter.

Indeed, good data visuals, including videos, convey far more than what words are able to, and so it behooves leaders to make full use of them whether to teach, to inform, to motivate and inspire positive action.

Joseph

Are New Technologies Changing the Game of Business? On Cloud Computing, Web 2.0 and other Disruptive Technologies.

My son left this on my bed one evening.

 

For both techies and non-techies, like it or not, CLOUD COMPUTING and WEB 2.0 are today’s  so called Game Changers. But has the game  really changed?

With the advent of disruptive technologies of Web 2.0 (user generated content ) and all Cloud Computing technologies that allow this to happen today, the game of business seems to have changed dramatically. The success of social networking sites, Facebook and  Twitter, in particular, where these virtual communiites are given nearly everything FREE of charge,  is a testimony of this unstoppable force (still difficult at this point to decide what to call this force).

Erstwhile technology leaders, giants in businesses like IBM and lately even Microsoft are beginning to feel the pinch. The Business Model of box-pushing is dead. It is nearly as dead as the music CDs industry is anyway. The real value of these businesses  – after all – was never  in the boxes. Neither was it in the nice hardware,  the cool gadgets and so forth.

The real value is ALWAYS in  the software, or what was in them. The monster apps.  The search is on for monster apps.  And monster content. The photos, videos, the music  and the videos don’t really matter – except for the value they provide, maybe as status symbols or design statements, etc., etc., etc.

These new technologies are certainly changing the game on how these “needs” are to be delivered. Businesses that recognize the whys and wherefores of this unstoppable force – Cloud Computing about virtually everything – are the first to benefit from it.

This  phenomenon called Cloud Computing (or using applications directly from the Internet), and more specifically the burgeoning social network sites under the Web 2.0 platform (sites where user-generated content is made available free of charge), tens of thousands of personal, home, and business solutions or applications (apps as they call it nowadays) are now made available – for the most part free of charge – in what they call the “Cloud” or more popularly “the Internet.”  And literally, billions of users worldwide are buying, if not fueling, this phenomenon.

What is causing this unstoppable force?  For one, people are –no doubt – sick and tired of boxes being rammed down their throats costing us more than an arm and a leg. We search for Real Value. Real solutions to real problems. As an example I gave, we are tired of paying more for “upgrades’ for no apparent practical reason.  The only reason I want to upgrade is because I am afraid I won’t b able to read my friends’ files anymore and that is a no no…?    I am also tired of high-flying IT solution providers who take advantage of my ignorance and charge me outrageous amounts just because I don’t know what’s available for FREE out there and they do.

The rise of Cloud Computing or Web 2.0 developments, two of the biggest Game Changing technologies in recent years, may be explained by a number of trends and triggers. Let me see if I can list a few:

1)    The unlimited and free nature of the Cloud (the Internet/ Ethernet)

2)    Voice over Internet Protocol

3)    Phenomenal strides in Wide Area Network optimization

4)    Trends in Virtual Private Networks, other privacy and Security solutions

5)    Excess capacity in bandwidth, central processing power, and memory

6)    Other Trends in bandwidth optimization, data compression, information transfer and retrieval systems

7)    Other trends in decision support systems, expert systems and so forth

8)    Other Trends in open and closed source application development.

9)    Political- Legal Liberalization, Deregulation of Information, communications technologies and other trends in globalization

10)The shortage of real empathy for consumers.

Many other unstoppable “trends” and issues – like globalization itself, or the growth of business process outsourcing for example – might be explained by the above triggers in the business environment, among others. Some “emerging lifestyles” coined by Faith Popcorn, as early as the 80’s include:

1)    Cocooning, or the fact that people wish to be protected from noise, pollution and other harsh realities of urban living

2)    Fantasy Adventure- people are bored. They seek adventure, but would rather reduce the risks of adventure.

3)    Eve-olution. The realization that it is the women that make most of the purchasing decisions at home.

4)    99-Lives. The multiple roles of people in urban living, underscores how valuable and how limited their TIME is. This means let us not waste it.

5)    The rise of idealism, ethics and social responsibility.

Cloud computing and web 2.0 technologies such as FACEBOOK and TWITTER – have leveled the playing field for smaller players, but in the end, those able to captures the hearts and minds of people are the ones who will end up winning.

Facebook, Twitter, can be powerful for business, if used and mined properly. But like normal conversation, if we speak more than we listen, then the other side can get really bored or irritated. If we listen more, we can be very powerful communicators. I believe that this, among other considerations, is what it takes to succeed in the social media scene.

Twitter in particular, is simpler, and in this world where oceans of data and websites compete for your attention, SIMPLER is better. LESS is MORE. IT serves another function and it is not so much to express ones’ ideas, as it is, say to broadcast, to announce, or to inform.

In any case, well-thought-of, well-written tweets, or one liner status messages, like RSS feeds, or say, Breaking News Headlines, immediately invoke action and reaction; even attacks or counter-attacks; i.e. positive or negative reaction.

For business, I believe people know whether your are just pulling their legs, or  pitching or trying-to-impress them, or trying to get them ot buy something –and don’t we just despise those who do that?  We like those that add value to us We like those that are a blessing to us. We like those that address our day to day issues and struggles. We like those that respond to our needs. This is what it means to Add Value.

Sometimes well-intended and inspiring tweets, or status messages, lead to positive things: edification and integration. More often however, self-centered, un-thought-of tweets lead to confusion, if not the disdain of readers. They are only being polite by not removing you as a “Friend “

Amazing power, Twitter has. Usually, when I need to update myself on current events, say when I need to know who won an important game (with videos attached to boot) OR to find out updates during a typhoon, or flood, or during some national or global crisis or calamity, I visit Twitter. For this reason I am connected via twitter to CNN, ANC, the local networks, Bloomberg and so forth.

For business, IF anything, research, listen, or browse target audiences/ markets regularly – not to stalk, but to understand them and their needs, and use this information to deliver VALUE, as precisely as we can.

Ultimately, it is the message, not the medium. It is the solution, not the program. It is the  benefit, not the product. What do we get from it, that is VALUE. That is what we are willing to pay for.. although the medium – how it looks, how it feels, and how it works – may have a lot to do with whether we will pay for it, click it, or listen to/ view it , or not.

How are we able to use these gadgets and apps to benefit us, to heal us, to teach us, to solve our problems? How do we use them  to live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy?

What message? What benefits? Are we entertained by this status message? Do we feel better  from reading this content, OR does it just add  more noise and clutter into our already noisy and cluttered  lives? Does it teach us something? Does it make us laugh? Happy or Sad? Excited or Bored?  Does it inspire us or invoke compassio? Will it solve our toughest, most difficult questions?

What will compel people  to even consider this? That is the key question.

Today, the business model rests not in COST-PLUS products, but rather in capturing people’s imagination and compelling their attention . People will pay for – or volunteer to consider – what they perceive will add value to their lives.  The moment we compel  them to stay a few moments with us, THEN online advertising sponsors line up. Now everyone wants to join our bandwagons and “advocacies”.  Campaign contributors line up to give to the leaders in political races. Online donors will line up to finance the best causes. Even givers or  tithers in church line up to give to the best church organizations, that have  the best preachers or Online  podcasts.

Notwithstanding new disruptive technologies that can really help us, and we ought to leverage on, the real business model – where the money  comes from for example,  ironically has nothing to do with the technology or medium used.

Money will follow the organization that delivers the best value.  So, the key to succeeding in business today, given all these game changing , disruptive technologies, is simply to follow the same simple business philosophy: add value or be kicked out of the supply chain.

In short, find a need and fill it (at the very least, better than your rivals do). This is true for digital or brick-and-mortar businesses. For products or services. For local or imported products. We find the need and fill it, or we close shop, and move on to other ventures.

Let us commit to build businesses that will truly add value and bless others. This is what entrepreneurs are created to do. In a way, this is what on earth we are here for; this is how we are to be used mightily by our Creator.

“Mashable Startups”– Great Site for Start-Up Social Media Entrepreneurs

Mashable Executive Interview Start-up Entrepreneurs on YouTube

Bar none, Mashable  – Mashable | The Social Media Guide – is by far the best, most relevant

Mashable is the number one social media business site in the Cloud today.

Social Media-based entrepreneurial business site I’ve seen, particularly but not limited to technology enabled businesses.

One of my favorites segments is Mashable Startups – http://mashable.com/startups- which offers countless practical resources for FREE, say, to spark ideas, train on skills, share testimonies and experiences so we can learn from those who’ve done it.

Take this YouTube video for example Mashable Interviews Startups on YouTube. Mashable’s Johanne Rarayani (sounds like that) interviews several experienced start up entrepreneurs. Check out some excerpts of the interview:

The questions evolved around “How do you pitch, run and grow your own (startup) business? ” and “What does it take to run a business?” Experienced entrepreneurs had this to say:

-“Before you pitch a venture capitalist, make sure you already met them.. investors. Know them first. Know about them.”

-“You’ll want to get in front of your smartest friends and pitch, and have them say, “How do you get to that market size, I don’t get that?”

– “Be able to explain the business in a few minutes. The best slide shows rarely get opened.. within minutes we just close the laptop and we’re discussing, conversing about the idea.”

– “Build a great prototype. (Run successful demos) A track record of demos (or an installed base) is as vital as the business plan.In fact many don’t want really need to see the biz plans, if  the demo works.”

– “Schedule stuff or it doesn’t happen; what are we going to have to get down now, what are we going to do later?”

– “How to raise money?” Or maybe ask yourself, “Who trusts in you enough to put in money?”

– “How to wire your business?”.. Knowing what we know now about Cloud computing, given new technologies, how should we wire our business?

–  You have to have a great lawyer and a great accountant.

Now take a deep breath and listen of these sound and solid tips. Mistakes are necessary to learn, but it is also wise to listen to good advice from those who’ve “been there and done that”. Do not cower in fear  be believe the drumbeating of naysayers. But listen. Building any of these pointers into your execution, can save you years worth of trial and error efforts and costs;  tons of money in terms of losses from avoidable failure.

Risk is a function of ignorance, incompetence. Indeed foolishness is NOT looking before you leap. Even Jesus Christ himself  said, “ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.”

Joseph

http://newsonqueue.com/technology/introducing-the-mashable-startups-channel.php

Word Cloud: Crash Course on Cool Technologies; Learnings @ DLSU INFOMAN class of Prof. Benedict Avila

102-INFOMAN Making A Difference profavila@yahoo.com Web 2.0 Internet Apps Are You Living Out Your Destiny? User Generated ContentBlogsites Facebook uncommonsense101.wordpress.com Leadership “DON’T JUDGE TOO QUICKLY!” photography iPhone iTouch iPad Excel Expert Systems MS Office ERP funphotobox.com jnpangilinan.multiply.com WAN optimization Family Life IBM: hu u? Balsillie RIM Android SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY smart phone Online Apps Intelligence Agents kuliglig Bing prezi.com proshow.com Express Yourself steve jobs STRUMMS When Bill Gates Quit Microsoft Warren Buffet

Google Docs Powerpoint Google Ads monster apps howstuffworks.com jnpangilinan Yahoo! Answers Your Work Matters to God Google Apps WiFi management information systems SMARTBOOKS entrepreneurship

Benedict Avila keyboard shortcuts Social Responsibility & Ethics Business Resolving Conflict Love

Politics Church Freedom to Change Leave a comment Change Management Work Top 10 Whatever! shareware RIM Playbook Married Life Compassion Championing Entrepreneurship: Bridging the Economic Chasm Between the Rich and the Poor What is Love? Try this mind-blowing definition… LATEST TECHNOLOGY cloud computing Julian Assange wikileaks

Decision Support smart devices Keynote wordpress.com Blackberry LUGAW BUSINESS

bill gates Make A Difference CRM Artificial Intelligence MOBILITY

Google Translate FINAL EXAMS SME opportunities Word Cloud Google Sketchup Is Microsoft Dying? internet PayPal Amazon C3 SCM WIKIPEDIA Google Zeitgist FREEWARE

MARK ZUCKERBERG Time Man of the Year YouTube Use Technology and Bless the World

 

Word Clouds are a form of data visualization or infographics, which are actually interchangeable,  which mean various innovative ways of presenting data.

In this case, more than just a “presentations” of Words,  word clouds are actually inter-active tags because each word is connected to a link, or hypertext link, which connects the word to a location or website in somewhere in the Cloud, or the internet.

As part of the requirement for our Information Management class, INFOMAN-KGA, our professor Benedict Avila, asked us to prepare a Word Cloud for showing keywords we recall learning in class, and to post the same in our blogsite (which we also set up in his class, earlier in the term, by the way). So here it is, just click this link Infoman Word Cloud. If you cannot access it directly, please cut and past the following link:

https://uncommonsense101.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/my-word-cloud-for-dlsu-prof-avila%E2%80%99s-infoman-class/

but which I simply assigned to the phrase “Infoman Word Cloud” above.

One way to construct these cool word clouds is to type several words or phrases on whatever subject you choose, say in MS Word or better yet Powerpoint or Keynote. To make it interesting, use different fonts, colors and positions. You may also post a background. Then, you right click each word or phrase, and assign the appropriate hypertext link, as I did above.

The faster, more pragmatic way, is to Google “Word Cloud apps” or “Tag Cloud generators”, and download these – and there are so many of these downloadable for free – from the internet.

Thanks a lot!

 

JOSEPH

Are You Living Out Your Destiny?

“We seal our fate by the choices we make,” a popular soda (soft drink) commercial declared sometime in the 80’s.

The first thing that validates this concept in my mind is what Jesus Christ himself said, “What you sow, ye shall reap.” Another thought that comes to mind is the Hinduism concept of karma, which to some extent agrees with this system of cause-and-effect or past actions and reactions that impact on one’s future.

Ralph Waldo Emerson poetically expressed similar thought much later when he declared,

“Sow a thought and you reap an act; Sow an act and you reap a habit; Sow a habit and you reap character; Sow character and you reap a destiny.”

Emerson, an American lecturer, essayist, and poet in the mid 19^th century,  criticized popular religious and social beliefs during his time, especially what today, we call ‘fatalism”. He published dozens of essays and spoke in more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States on a variety of advocacies.

Some might still contradict Emerson’s teachings, say on transcendentalism, but I think few will argue that thoughts do breed action and that day-to-day “acts” — good, evil, or neutral – have rippling effects on what happens to us in the future.

Indeed the choices we make daily, our actions and decisions, the tapestry of “moves we make, steps we take, and vows we break” determine what we make of our lives.

Ultimately, this mosaic of little seeds planted or sowed do determine what kind of plant or tree of life we reap!

Here  my friends, in nurturing the small thoughts and actions that lead to big thoughts and actions, here lies the crux – the fulcrum – of INTEGRITY. World-renowned author Stephen Covey calls this, “Integrity at the moment of choice.”

Do we practice what we say we believe in? Or do we say we believe something but do the complete opposite?

Do we walk our talk? Do we really do what we say we ought to? Are we who we claim to be? Are we who we say we are?

Let us not therefore take our day-to-day choices lightly, because every single moment, everything we think or say or do, determines who we are, and in these, we practice who we will become.

As Christians, especially, we influence no one  when we are duplicitous, or when we do something else other than what is written as good.

As Christians, we believe in the sovereignty and omnipotence of God, but we also believe that He gave us free will — essentially to decide if we will act out of love, or out of some motivation other than love. And in this belief, what are we commanded to choose? According to Christ the entire law  – in other words, the entire bible – depends on the two greatest Commandments: “to love God above all things, and to love neighbor as self.”

Daily, in our thoughts, actions and decisions, we are free to live our faith, or not to live our faith. We are free to love or not to love. In every action or decision, we are FREE to obey or not to obey, to trust or not to trust God’s word, i.e. by obeying it or not obeying it.

This idea of free will remains a mystery to many, even to me, but I do believe that while God remains in total control  (and therefore deserves all my love and trust), he allows us to choose our actions, and every choice – both good and evil – have their consequences. I believe as God’s word says, “What you sow, you shall reap,” but likewise I believe “All things work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.”

I believe God has a plan for each of us, and it is for us to choose what is right, on a daily basis, so we prepare ourselves, for the good He has prepared in advance for us to do, all to complete His story, for His purpose, and honor, and glory.