China Is So Big

Even with the forecasted slowing of the world economy, China and parts of the Middle East are expected to continue growing during 2009, and they will impact certain world markets, primarily because of China’s huge scale. We found some statistics recently, generated by Deutsche Bank, that predict China’s commodities demand for next year. We felt it would be “smart” for you to know about them. China’s expected global share of demand for selected commodities in 2009:

Aluminum 98%
Iron Ore 82%
Oil 80%
Steel 75%
Copper 61%
Corn 45%
Nickel 42%
Soybeans 40%

Going Green In New York City

New York City’s mayor for the past eight years, Michael Bloomberg, in 2007 rolled out PlaNYC, a detailed series of proposals aimed at reducing the city’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% by the year 2030. The plan calls for the city to plant one million trees, convert all of its taxis to less-polluting hybrid vehicles and retrofit city buildings to make them more energy efficient. Environmentalists call this plan one of the most comprehensive efforts in the world. SmartMoves applauds this effort and hopes other major cities around the globe will learn from PlaNYC and adopt appropriate measures to reduce their pollution impacts as well.

Philanthropy – Paul Newman Style

On 26 September, Paul Newman, the globally acclaimed film actor passed away. But it seems the truly lasting impact of the man goes far beyond his iconic acting talent. His creation of Newman’s Own brand of food products, since its inception, has donated 100% of its after tax profits to philanthropic projects world-wide, totaling more than $250 Million (U.S.) to date. From helping children with life threatening diseases, to improving the safety of drinking water, he used his popularity and celebrity status to help fund important social projects and address community needs around the world. He also helped found the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) that now includes over 150 major corporations and 175 Chief Executive Officers, responsible for over $10 billion of annual corporate philanthropic gifting. We hope all global business leaders will follow Mr. Newman’s example, and continue to re-invest in their communities through philanthropic action…because this is, of course, a SmartMove!

Ubuntu

We like the South African concept of UBUNTU – “A person is a person through another person… I can’t be all I can be unless you are all that you can be.” Most things we do in life are inevitably in collaboration with others. The importance of selflessness, unity, and teamwork has stood the test of time throughout human history. When the team is elevated, the individual is elevated. Our blog itself is founded upon and committed to this concept because we fundamentally believe it is, indeed, a SmartMove.

The Green Revolution

We especially like the smart context offered by an Austrian advocate of how to think about “going green” in all things we do on the planet Earth:
“Why just target sustainability – we should focus on replenishment instead. Always think of the next generation of people who follow us… the children, and their children.”

We also note from the Wall Street Journal (Aug 11):
25% of the USA’s largest publicly held (Fortune 500) companies now have committees from their Boards of Directors overseeing environmental issues, compared with just 10% five years ago. Such committees make sure company executives effectively manage conservation efforts, new environmentally friendly ventures (like wind power), and compliance with environmental regulations.
We hope many more companies, both large and small, see this as a SmartMove trend around the world. Everyone and every institution will benefit.

Creating Sustaining Wealth in Enterprises – The Case AGAINST Shareholder Activists

“Shareholder activism can raise the stock price of a particular company, to benefit particular shareholders, in the short run. But it lowers the value of the stock market as a whole, for average investors, in the long run.

This is because the shareholder activists use their ownership position to pressure boards of directors into strategies they claim ‘unlock shareholder value,’ and then dump their stock as soon as the stock price rises.”

Often they leave behind a company that is over-leveraged, depleted of cash, and unable to invest for future, longer term growth. The result is stagnation or worse, loss of jobs, and at times ultimate failure of the enterprise.

(Quoted excerpts from the Wall Street Journal)

China’s Confucion Heritage Matches Old – School Business Guru

Peter Drucker, the Austrian-born management scholar who spent most of his career practicing in the United States, and died at age 95 in 2005, is making a huge comeback in China. Now considered “old-school” in Western economies, the Chinese are embracing many of his practices. In the past few years, 14 Drucker academies have been established in major cities, where his writings form the central part of the curriculum. The intention is to teach management essentials needed to support China’s booming economy. Last year alone, 6,000 Chinese managers graduated from these academies. (Wall Street Journal)

We particularly like Mr. Drucker’s “Timeless Advice”:

· The essential activities of business are innovation and marketing; It’s a mistake to fixate on profits.
· Good management should make work productive and the worker effective.

· Set objectives. Set separate ones for each crucial area of the business.

· Take social responsibility seriously. An enterprise exists only as long as society believes it does a necessary and useful job.

· Quality is what the customer wants, not what’s expensive and hard to do.

· Knowledge workers in modern organizations may manage no one, yet their decisions’ impact can be comparable to what executives do.