Business

The Integrity Advantage

Posted by beyond438 on Jun 20, 2008 in Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life | 0 comments

I recently finished reading a 100 page book entitled “The Integrity Advantage”. The authors, Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford, describes 10 characteristics that defines Integrity. They claim, and I agree, that how taking the High Road (Integrity) creates a competitive advantage in business. I encourage you to read and study this little book. Integrity, that I define as being honest in all our interactions with ourselves and others, is one of my company’s principles. I like this book’s broader definition of integrity.Gostick is the co-author of the recent book, The Levity Effect.How would you rate yourself on each of the following 10 integrity characteristics:

1. You know the little things count: Businesspeople lose their integrity a little bit at a time. To have the Integrity Advantage you do not lie or cheat on the small things.
2. You find the white (when others see gray): You do not make tough decisions alone. You ask questions, receive counsel and take a long-term view.
3. You mess up, you ‘fess up: Open and honest disclosure, e.g., Tylenol scare.
4. You create a culture of trust: You reinforce integrity through principles, controls and personal example and you reward those employees who display personal integrity in their actions. I think it is time for me to read, The Speed of Trust by Covey.
5. You keep your word: It’s walking the talk and setting the example.
6. You care about the greater good: What goes around comes around. “Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns.” — Ecclesiastes 11:1
7. You’re honest but modest: Sounds like what Jim Collins calls a level 5 leader. Humble, quiet leaders are also considerate and courteous. They do the little things that win friends and admirers. They: smile and greet coworkers every day, they reflect on how their decisions will affect others, they praise and recognize their employees and even their bosses, they control their tempers, and they allow others to be kind to them.
8. You act like you’re being watched: I once heard that the definition of character is what you do while your alone. Btw, if you are a leader you are being watched.
9. You hire integrity: Key business principle according to Jack Welch and Warren Buffet. “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”
10. You stay the course: You have ethical consistency and predictability. Your life demonstrates wholeness and harmony between your values and your actions.

Silver bullets and the Basics

Posted by beyond438 on Jun 11, 2008 in Business, Technology | 0 comments

I met Don Swann, former Deloitte partner and currently principle of Don Swann Consulting LLC, on a Brand Velocity project in Irving, Texas. Don is one of the most productive and smart project managers that I’ve had the pleasure to meet. After one discussion regarding the “Business of IT” Don mentioned that in 1989 he wrote an article on the topic of Silver Bullets. He sent it to me and although the context is manufacturing the truths that Don shared in this article still applies today. Usually technology projects fail because of the “Basics”. What do you think?

Here is the full text:

Mr SMS – Pieter de Villiers of Clickatell

Posted by beyond438 on Apr 30, 2008 in Business, Entrepreneurship, South Africa, Technology | 0 comments

Seems like Pieter de Villiers is a good name for South African success stories. There’s the rugby player, the hurdler, the business consultant, and the IT whiz. De Villiers (the whiz) is the CEO of Clickatell, the first (and leading) global high-speed service provider of bulk SMS messages. Its 8,000 customers can connect in over 200 countries. (Company motto: “Any Message, Anywhere”) Clickatell allows a business to communicate with its customers, suppliers and staff using a variety of formats (fax, land-line phone, pager, IP connected devices, and of course, cell phone) through a technology that is easy to use. Pieter and three other businessmen founded the company in 2000 in South Africa. Since 2006 Clickatell’s headquarters have been in Redwood Shores, Calif., but it has an office in Cape Town and in the United Kingdom. Clickatell just announced that it was selected by several leading health care organizations to improve communication with their patients. The organizations are using Clickatell to deliver critical information by cell phone. For example, in the United Kingdom a user can text “stop smoking” into their cell phone, then receive relevant information on kicking the habit. In the United States, a Georgia-based health care company is using Clickatell to help doctors and patients interact. Hospital discharge instructions, delivered by cell phone, can be more readily complied with. Other doctor’s orders can also be delivered by cell phone. Pieter started his career in 1997 in the optometry field and has sales, new business management and product development experience. In 1999 he was hired by Micrologix to identify Internet opportunities and to manage the organization’s ecommerce. Pieter also participates in several forums including Wireless Internet Caucus, GSM Association, and Open Mobile Alliance. Information on Pieter’s personal life isn’t readily available but you may get a chance to meet Pieter and the Clickatell group if you are attending the African Banking Technology Conference in Lagos, Nigeria May 7&8, or the NACHA Payments 2008, being held in Las Vegas May 18-21. Clickatell is participating in both events. Clickatell also powers the messaging for the world assembly of 140 parliaments.

The 2007 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index

Posted by beyond438 on Feb 18, 2008 in Business, South Africa | 1 comment

In my previous post I documented South Africa’s Ease of doing business rating. The A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index (GSLI) compares 50 global offshore locations and it contains very interesting information about different offshore and nearshore locations. You can download the pdf here.  Quoted from the A.T.Kearney website:

Findings in the 2007 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index reveal that the relative cost advantage of the leading offshore destinations has declined almost universally. Nearly every country in the Index, even those that fell in the rankings, improved their absolute scores, thus confirming that competition among low-cost countries is intensifying. Increasingly, simply maintaining current performance levels is no longer sufficient for countries that want to attract (and retain) the fast-growing remote services business. In addition, this year’s findings suggest that while the wage advantage of offshore locations will continue for 20 or more years, this advantage will diminish as demand for skilled workers increases in offshore locations around the globe.   

In 2007 South Africa is ranked # 31 (moving up a few places since 2005), behind Ghana, Lithuania and Pakistan. Here is the top ten:

1. India
2. China
3. Malaysia
4. Thailand
5. Brazil
6. Indonesia
7. Chile
8. Phillipines
9. Bulgaria
10. Mexico.

Interesting reading. I don’t think anyone uses this for real decision making.

It’s easier to do business in Saudi Arabia than in South Africa

Posted by beyond438 on Feb 15, 2008 in Business, South Africa | 0 comments

The World Bank has very interesting indicators regarding doing business in different countries. Use this interactive Google Map to slice and dice indicators like Starting a Business, Taxes, Dealing with licenses and much more.The top ten countries according to the World Bank regarding “Ease of Doing Business Rank” are:

1. Singapore
2. New Zealand
3. US
4. Hong Kong
5. Denmark
6. UK
7. Canada
8. Ireland
9. Australia
10. Iceland

…and South Africa is ranked 35 behind Saudi Arabia at number 23.Update 2/20/2008: I also found the World Economic Forum‘s Global Competiveness Report for 2007-2008. On this list South Africa is #44 and Saudi Arabia is number 35.What’s your view on this?

100 Ways to Succeed and Make Money

Posted by beyond438 on Feb 8, 2008 in Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership | 0 comments

Tom Peters is always interesting and unconventional. I found his 100 ways to succeed and make money and interesting read. It’s similar to Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” .Here are some of my favorites:

• Number #3: Write thank you notes.
• Number #4: Make the difficult call NOW!
• Number #6: Make today count — legacy. Similar to my principle of making each moment count.
• Number #14: Read (and act on) these 3 books. You’ll have to read the manifesto to find out.
• Number #17: He/She who has the Best Story wins!
• Number #23: Design means you.
• Number #29: Get the story! – everyone is important and has a story.
• Number #33: Out-read ’em.
• Number #47: Just drill – drill more wells than the next guy.

This is from the first 50 found on ChangeThis.com. I’ll list my favorites from the rest next…