The rise and demise of GM’s Saturn

Not very long ago, on a cold, wintry day of January 1985 the top man at GM, Roger B. Smith, unveiled ‘Saturn’, the first new brand to come out of GM in almost seven decades. A stand-alone subsidiary of GM, Saturn had a promising birth and was touted as a ‘different’ type of a car. Having its own assembly plant, unique models and separate retailer network, Saturn operated independently from its parent company. It was a cut above the rest in using innovative technology and involving its employees in the decision making process. Conceived as a fighter brand to take on the Japanese brands, the small car of superior quality was the product of strong principles with a mission of being America’s panacea to Japan’s challenge. It reaffirmed the strength of American technology, ingenuity and productivity with the combination of advanced technology and latest approaches to management.

Though a revolutionary idea, Saturn wasn’t able to live up to the hype or the hopes of Roger Smith. The case of Saturn is definitely one for the books. Its marketing campaign fired up the public’s imagination and interest perfectly while the product was a miserable failure. Everything the company did was just another leaf out of the handbook of perfect PR. When the first lot of cars had a bad engine antifreeze, the company replaced the entire car instead of just the coolant much to the customer’s delight.

Besides clever marketing, Saturn’s biggest assets were its passionate employees and customer-centric approach which rewarded it with a quick victory. The victory was however short-lived as GM was reluctant to expand Saturn’s offerings for fear of cannibalization on the sales of its other divisions. For the existing models, Saturn’s engine had inferior motor mounts with the plastic dashboard panels giving it a cheap look and even the plastic-polymer doors, the so-called unique feature, failed to fit properly. Overall, the car neither had an identity nor a USP. To make things worse, Roger Smith was on a spending spree from throwing recall parties when vehicle problems were solved to hosting “homecoming” celebrations at plants. This saddled GM with high costs leading to increased doubts of Saturn’s survival among the leaders of GM.

Disaster struck further when Saturn’s sub-compact prices failed to cover the huge costs gobbled up by a dedicated plant with massive operating costs. The fact that the plant churned out cars that barely share any common parts with other GM brands did not seem to help at all. To top it all, at a time when buyers were snapping up minivans and SUVs, Saturn’s offerings were just limited to 3 small models for over a decade, thereby losing out on locking customers in. Just when GM was pondering over the decision of scrapping the car, the UAW visited one of Saturn’s production facility with its international contract, only to be rejected by the workers. As obvious as it seemed, the unique labor contract of the company was dissolved and GM had no choice but to part with the brand by dividing the production among other GM plants.

Automotive history has witnessed myriad failure stories of brands that were supposed to be world-class products but ended up biting the dust. One such underachiever brand was Vector which sprouted out of the aim of producing an American supercar but doomed due to cash flow issues, mismanagement and failing to keep up their insane promises. Sterling, Rover’s disguise into the American market, was another lost car of the 80s which most people haven’t even heard of. Their promise of delivering “Japanese reliability and refinement with traditional British luxury and class” couldn’t save them from continuous sales drop and combating competition from new Japan rivals. Few other epic automotive experimental failures which can be recalled in this scenario would include Chrysler’s TC by Maserati , Subaru SVX, Jaguar X-type, Lincoln blackwood, GMC Envoy XUV, Chevrolet SSR, Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Durango Hybrid/Chrysler Aspen Hybrid. While some were design disasters, the others just couldn’t perform.

The automobile industry is governed by various factors which include the technology advancements of the time, economic conditions and fluctuations of consumer needs. The latest automotive chip on the block are the electric cars which are set to revolutionize the entire industry. LeEco, a Chinese electronics company is taking serious steps to target Tesla, what with it investing $1.08 billion on developing its debut electric car. Tesla was the name which paved the way for an electronic vehicle era. Whether LeSEE, LeEco’s concept sedan, can surpass Tesla’s performance and give them a run for their money is only something that time will tell. If successful, these electric cars could be the game changers of this century to usher in an electric future. If not, it will fade away and claim its place as a bittersweet memory on the list of flops that the industry has had.

Can technology fail humanity?

Technology, a combination of two Greek words signifying ‘systematic treatment of art/craft/technique,’ is:

the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives..

Whether it was discovery of fire, building a shelter, invention of weapons – and in modern times – invention of Internet, microchips, etc., it has always been about inventing, discovering and using information, techniques and tools to induce or cause economic, scientific and social progress or improvement.

However, the progress that technology caused has neither been linear or impending or ubiquitous or even obvious. All Four Great Inventions of China happened before 12th century AD. But, on the other side, despite Hippocrates’ treatise (dating from 400 BC) that, contrary to the common ancient Greek belief that epilepsy was caused by offending moon goddess Selene, it had a cure in form of medicine and diet, 12th-14th century Christendom perceived epilepsy as the work of demons and evil spirits, and its cure was to pray to St. Valentine and other saints. And in many cases, progress of technology itself or its consequences have been a matter of pure chance or serendipity, whether it is penicillin, X-rays or 3M’s post-its.

So, ironic as it is, until recently, technology hasn’t been very systematic in its own progress, let alone its impact on society, economy and culture of nations. But it’s become a lot more systematic since the dawn of Information Age, last 60 or so years. Since microchips, computer networks and digital communication were invented (all in the US), the technology became more systematic in its own progress and it’s becoming more miniature, cheaper, faster and more ubiquitous than ever before in human history. Ubiquitous technology makes the world hyper-connected and digital. Whether it is our phones, thermostats, cars, washing machines, everything is becoming connected to everything. It is thus no coincidence that California (Silicon Valley + Hollywood) has recently become the 6th largest economy in the world, thanks to its beaconing technological and creative progress embodied in last 60 or so years.

Trump era has begun in January 2017, and he already did more to damage any potential technological and scientific progress coming from the US than any of his predecessors. From trying to unreasonably curb immigration from Muslim countries to terminating TPP to undoing progress in transitioning to clean energy and again focusing on coal to disempowering OSTP, Trump wraps his decisions with firebrand rhetoric and well-thought out psychological biases (anchoring bias is his favourite) around one message: MAGA. Hopes are turning to China as the next flag-bearer of technological progress.

Nowadays, even coffee-shops are hyper-connected, aiming to personalize our coffee-drinking experience. And thanks to its omnipresence and pervasiveness of Internet, wireless connections, telecommunications, etc., technology (smartphones, games, virtual worlds, 3D headsets, etc.) is becoming and end in itself. In countries and cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, digital and smartphone addiction is already a societal problem causing unintended deaths, lack of maturity, loss of educational productivity, marriage breakups, to cite but a few. In Singapore, where according to recent research, Millennials spend an average of 3.4h/day on their smartphones, government is now putting in place policies and organizations to tackle this psychological addiction.

However, even Bernie Sanders knows that technology cannot and should not be an end in itself or an addiction. Could Internet and technologies fail? Could Internet and thinking linked to it spell the end of capitalism? Could it cause societies, cultures and nations to fail?

Technology has proven to fail itself and us when it became an end in itself.

Only when it stays true to its nature and acts as an enabler, a platform for human endeavors is when technology will succeed. It can even end poverty or other problems and issues human race is facing..

How HR departments fail companies from inside and outside

Let’s start by analysing how HR departments sometimes “wrack havoc” on human resources of a company.

The infamous Fast Company article of 2005 “Why We Hate HR” is as discussed and relevant as before. It trashes HR people as dull-witted pen pushers, “The human-resources trade long ago proved itself, at best, a necessary evil — and at worst, a dark bureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change. HR is the corporate function with the greatest potential — the key driver, in theory, of business performance — and also the one that most consistently underdelivers.”

Opsss.

According to the same article, “a 2005 survey by consultancy Hay Group, just 40% of employees commended their companies for retaining high-quality workers. 41% agreed that performance evaluations were fair. 58% rated their job training as favorable…. Most telling, only about half of workers below the manager level believed their companies took a genuine interest in their well-being.” Only half of employees think HR cares about them?

HR staff are either perceived as harbingers of bad news or in “best case scenario” of doing a ‘useful’ activity, they are still a bureaucratic and legal bottleneck, usually slowing down operations and generating much negativity and pessimism among employees. Then I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that more and more companies observe more direct and stronger connections between employees and their managers as a result of eliminating the HR function. And one company – perhaps jaded from its previous HR department’s debilitating effect, hired one HR staff, but agreed on not calling her that – she goes without a title. Business is moving the other way, to reduce HR departments by outsourcing its paper-pushing functions; PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates it can shave 15 to 25 percent off your HR costs. These humans are simply not resourceful enough.

Wow. Can it get any worse for the HR staff?

In one very public scandal, BBC’s HR manager Lucy Adams “was accused of presiding over ‘corporate fraud and cronyism’ over huge pay-offs to former executives” add a further insult to injury. Some of most notorious HR strategies such as PTOs, PIPs and performance reviews may even destroy a company.

It thus seems that existence of many HR departments defeats their very raison d’être as far ‘internal’ (i.e. inside a company) activities and corporate goals are concerned.

What about an HR department’s ‘external’ role, that of scouting for the best and the brightest? Company’s strategy is its culture (created by its employees), and its culture is its strategy, which is of course true and goes to say how essential it is to find the right people who would not only have skills-experience match but more importantly have a cultural fit for the company. Zappos, Pixar, Cirque du Soleil and others successful companies attribute their success primarily to their people.

Yet, despite the known and accepted fact that many applicants forge and offer polished cover letters and CVs, HR departments – the bigger/more famous the company, the bigger number of applicants apply for the company – continue to commit two essential mistakes:

overly rely on data on CV/cover letter;
look for as close a “literal” (as opposed to “big picture“) match to the job vacancy as possible.

In most cases, the first mistake yields much redundant work (for and by HR departments), disappointment (when, once accepted, it turns out the candidate didn’t have either good enough/pre-requisite skills or experience or was not a cultural fit), or lose (employee being fired or resigning shortly after joining the company).

The second mistake, equally or even more widespread, not only causes all the same problems, but, more importantly, discards candidates with profiles that are wider or somewhat different from the vacancy scope. In the modern age in which present and future belong to generalists, HR departments’ tunnel vision – the same tunnel vision that discredits HR as a department unable to see the big picture (company’s vision) nor assess or understand well enough business vision as to deserve a decision-making power inside the company – turns off many a qualified generalists (i.e. multidisciplinary people) or candidates with a wide cross-section of skills and experiences, who would have otherwise been (significantly) useful and thrived within the company.

Thus the conjunction of the two above-mentioned mistakes and standard HR internal practices end up costing the HR not only their reputation, but in a longer run, dissuade companies from the idea of having a dedicated HR department. Or, as my generalist friend Arnold suggested, given how standard matching algorithms work in general, it ain’t no big stretch to imagine that if HR continues on its current path, it will inevitably lead to HR function being automated via a software program with one of standard programs specially designed for that purpose.

Lastly, erroneous hire usually ends up being a waste of monetary, time and emotional investment both for a company and an (erroneously hired) employee, all the while as HR department is being paid to ‘recruit’ talent.

Modern saga “The Fox and the Hedgehog”: generalists vs. specialists

About 2,700 years ago, Archilochus wrote that “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Taking that as a starting point, Isaiah Berlin’s 1953 essay “The Fox and the Hedgehog” contrasts hedgehogs that “relate everything to a single, central vision” with foxes who “pursue many ends connected … if at all, only in some de facto way.”

And so we have become a society of specialists with much heralded “learn more about your function, acquire ‘expert’ status, and you’ll go further in your career” considered the corporate Holy Grail. But is it?

The modern corporation has grown out of the Industrial Revolution (IR). The IR started in 1712 when an Englishman named Thomas Newcomen invented a steam-driven pump, to pump water out of a mine, so the English miners could get more coal to mine, rather than hauling buckets of water out of the mine. That was the dawn of the IR. It was all about productivity, more coal per man-hour; and then it became more steel per man-hour, more textiles per man-hour, etc.

The largest impact of the IR was the “socialization” of labor. Prior to the IR, people were largely self-sufficient, but the IR brought increased division of labor, and this division of labor brought specialisation, which brought increased productivity. This specialisation, though, decreased self-sufficiency and people became increasingly inter-dependent on one another, thus socialised more. Also, with the division of labor the individual needed only to know how to do a specific task and nothing more. Specialization also caused compartmentalization of responsibility and awareness. On a national level, it has allowed nations to become increasingly successful while the citizens become increasingly ignorant. Think an average American. You can be totally wrong about almost everything in life, but as long as you know how to do one thing good you can be a success, and in fact in a society such as this increased specialization becomes advantageous due to the extreme competition of our society. Environments with more competition breed more specialists.

But is the formula that ushered humanity in 20th century of rapid technological industrialisation and economic development still valid or as impactful in 21st century as it was for last 300 years? In our modern VUCA world, who (specialist OR generalists) have a better chance of not only surviving but thriving?

According to a number of independent research papers, employees most likely to come out on top of companies and becoming successful in long term are generalists—but not just because of their innate ability to adapt to new workplaces, job descriptions or cultural shifts. For example, according Carter Phipps (author of Evolutionaries) generalists (will) thrive in a culture where it’s becoming increasingly valuable to know “a little bit about a lot.” More than half of employees with specialist skills now consider their job to be mostly generalist despite the fact that they were employed for their niche skills, according to another survey. Among the survey respondents, 60% thought their boss was a good generalist, and transferable skills – such as people skills and leadership – are often associated with more senior roles.

We’ve become a society that’s data (from all various specialisation, industries and technologies) rich and meaning poor. A rise in specialists in all areas — science, math, history, psychology — has left us with huge amount of data/info/knowledge but how valuable is it without context? Context in a data-rich world can only be provided by generalists whose breadth of knowledge can serve as the link between various disciplines/contexts/frameworks.

A good generalist, David Christian gave his 2011 TED talk called “Big History” of the entire universe from the big bang to present in 18 mins, using principals of physics, chemistry, biology, information architecture and human psychology.

To conclude, it seems that specialisation is becoming less and less relevant due to 1) increasing, interconnected and overlapping data and information that permeates all aspects of our lives, 2) increasing VUCA-ness of social, political and economic situations of individuals and nations, 3) need to envision and derive from a bigger context or connect few contexts/disciplines/frameworks. All points seem to be better addressed by generalists.

Top 10 ways to manipulate people (Chomsky)

Noam Chomsky wrote the article entitled “top 10 ways to manipulate people.” Below is the reprint of this article.

1. The strategy of distraction

The primary element of social control is the strategy of distraction which is to divert public attention from important issues and changes determined by the political and economic elites, by the technique of flood or flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information.

Distraction strategy is also essential to prevent the public interest in the essential knowledge in the area of the science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and cybernetics.

“Maintaining public attention diverted away from the real social problems, captivated by matters of no real importance. Keep the public busy, busy, busy, no time to think, back to farm and other animals” (quote from text Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars).

2. Create problems, then offer solutions

This method is also called “problem -reaction- solution.”

It creates a problem, a “situation” referred to cause some reaction in the audience, so this is the principal of the steps that you want to accept.

For example: let it unfold and intensify urban violence, or arrange for bloody attacks in order that the public is the applicant’s security laws and policies to the detriment of freedom.

Or create an economic crisis to accept as a necessary evil retreat of social rights and the dismantling of public services.

3. The gradual strategy

Acceptance to an unacceptable degree, just apply it gradually, dropper, for consecutive years.

That is how they radically new socioeconomic conditions (neoliberalism) were imposed during the 1980s and 1990s:

• the minimal state
• privatization
• precariousness
• flexibility
• massive unemployment
• wages
• do not guarantee a decent income,

…so many changes that have brought about a revolution if they had been applied once.

4. The strategy of deferring

Another way to accept an unpopular decision is to present it as “painful and necessary”, gaining public acceptance, at the time for future application.

It is easier to accept that a future sacrifice of immediate slaughter.

• First, because the effort is not used immediately
• Then, because the public, masses, is always the tendency to expect naively that “everything will be better tomorrow” and that the sacrifice required may be avoided

This gives the public more time to get used to the idea of change and accept it with resignation when the time comes.

5. Go to the public as a little child

Most of the advertising to the general public uses speech, argument, people and particularly children’s intonation, often close to the weakness, as if the viewer were a little child or a mentally deficient.

The harder one tries to deceive the viewer look, the more it tends to adopt a tone infantilizing.

Why?

“If one goes to a person as if she had the age of 12 years or less, then, because of suggestion, she tends with a certain probability that a response or reaction also devoid of a critical sense as a person 12 years or younger.” (see Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars)

6. Use the emotional side more than the reflection

Making use of the emotional aspect is a classic technique for causing a short circuit on rational analysis, and finally to the critical sense of the individual.

Furthermore, the use of emotional register to open the door to the unconscious for implantation or grafting ideas , desires, fears and anxieties , compulsions, or induce behaviors …

7. Keep the public in ignorance and mediocrity

Making the public incapable of understanding the technologies and methods used to control and enslavement.

“The quality of education given to the lower social classes must be the poor and mediocre as possible so that the gap of ignorance it plans among the lower classes and upper classes is and remains impossible to attain for the lower classes.” (See Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars).

8. To encourage the public to be complacent with mediocrity

Promote the public to believe that the fact is fashionable to be stupid, vulgar and uneducated…

9. Self-blame Strengthen

To let individual blame for their misfortune, because of the failure of their intelligence, their abilities, or their efforts.

So, instead of rebelling against the economic system, the individual auto-devaluate and guilt himself, which creates a depression, one of whose effects is to inhibit its action.

And, without action, there is no revolution!

10. Getting to know the individuals better than they know themselves

Over the past 50 years, advances of accelerated science has generated a growing gap between public knowledge and those owned and operated by dominant elites.

Thanks to biology, neurobiology and applied psychology, the “system” has enjoyed a sophisticated understanding of human beings, both physically and psychologically.

The system has gotten better acquainted with the common man more than he knows himself.

This means that, in most cases, the system exerts greater control and great power over individuals, greater than that of individuals about themselves.

Stark Lessons From The Costa Concordia Disaster

This is a guest blog by Eve Baxton.

Nowadays, cruise ships are widely regarded to be one of the safest forms of travel, more so than both airplanes and automobiles. Like with all forms of travel however, when an unfortunate disaster does strike, it usually provides stark lessons for the future – prompting new safety procedures, policies and changes in law to avoid the same ever happening again.

Perhaps the most profound maritime example of this was in 1912 with the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Since the disaster, which claimed the lives of over 1,500 people, swift changes were made within Maritime law in regards to passenger safety; namely, providing enough lifeboats for all on-board. An obvious safety precaution it would seem, but human error can still find a way – as the sinking of the Costa Concordia earlier this year also demonstrated.

Around 9:45, on the evening of the 13^th of January, the Costa Concordia struck a rock just off the eastern shore of Islo Del Giglio, on the western coast of Italy, tearing a 50 metre gash on the left side of the hull. Parts of the engine room immediately began to flood and having lost power, the ship drifted back towards the shore of Giglio, where it grounded and began to sink on its starboard (right) side (otherwise known as ‘listing’) – eventually rendering the lifeboats on that side unusable. Instead of being evacuated within 30 minutes of the abandon ship announcement (as Maritime Law dictates) it took over six hours for all surviving passengers to make it off the ship, despite the close proximity to shore and calm sea. The disaster resulted in the deaths of thirty people, with another two missing and presumed dead.

Both the captain, Francesco Schettino, and Costa Cruises received heavy criticism for the disaster and loss of life which could’ve been avoided had multiple safety violations not been made and protocol been better adhered to. Like the Titanic, and other more recent maritime disasters (such as the MV Le Joola in 2002 and the MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in 2006, killing over 4000 and 900 people respectively) the sinking of the Concordia has prompted multiple changes in maritime law.

The Cause

The sinking was a direct result of the Concordia moving off its designated route, to within 150 metres close of the shore, in a manoeuver known as a ‘salute’ or ‘showboating’, a sail-by for promotional purposes. Most if not all cruise liners perform these manoeuvers, which by their nature have the potential to be dangerous, but are safe if they’re properly navigated. This one however was instead scheduled to take place a few days previous, but was cancelled due to bad weather. It was claimed by crew members that Schettino, deviated from a GPS navigated route past the shore in order to make this salute; which ultimately led to the Concordia’s collision.

Abandoning Ship

With too many of the hull compartments breached with water to keep the ship afloat (in such a way that mirrored the fate of the Titanic) and its sinking inevitable, fatalities still could’ve been avoided. After the initial impact and power had been lost, frightened passengers were told that there had been a power failure and not to worry. Once the extent of the situation was established, passengers were eventually told to get put on their life jackets and to go to their muster stations. However, illustrating the lack of direction and communication amongst the Concordia’s crew, a crew member was filmed telling passengers that all was well and to go back to their cabins, just 30 minutes before the abandon ship announcement was made. When it eventually was, the crew were reluctant to lower lifeboats, almost an hour before the ship began to list making them impossible to deploy thereafter. Consequently many passengers were left stranded on the ship, whilst some made it to shore on lifeboats, others being helped by locals, and others attempting to swim to shore. The captain broke protocol by leaving the ship whilst his passengers were still on-board. The evacuation efforts went on until 4:46 am.

The Changes in Law

Perhaps the most prominent change in maritime law prompted by the Costa Concordia is that all cruise liners must now hold safety drills for passengers before the ship even leaves the dock. Previously, it had to be held within the first 24 hours of setting sail. In the Costa Concordia’s case, this drill was held within the first 24 hours for new passengers, but of the 4,252 passengers, 696 people who boarded the ship at Civitavecchia had not been briefed on safety procedures, with the drill scheduled for the next day. This naturally caused a lot of confusion and panic when passengers were called to the muster stations.

Other procedures under review include the way in which crew take the muster. Amidst panic during an actual disaster, or during a routine drill which holidaying passengers may not take seriously (or pay attention to) the accuracy of calling out names and ticking off lists comes into question – especially on large cruise liners with thousands of passengers. Royal Caribbean Cruises have adopted a more effective method on two of their cruise ships. Both Oasis and Allure of the Seas (two of the largest cruise liners in the world) have a far more accurate method in which the crew scan passenger’s key cards, allowing them to determine who is present in a much swifter, less chaotic fashion. Another possible change is the addition of more life jackets in public areas. With the power cut on the Costa Concordia, dark conditions made it difficult for passengers to go back to their cabins to retrieve their life jackets, more so for recently boarded passengers unfamiliar with the ships layout. Royal Caribbean Cruises again have been quite innovative with their solutions, handing out lifejackets at the muster stations instead.

Countless other regulations, precautions and procedures are also being reviewed, with staff training also being reassessed. The nature of disasters such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia, or even the Titanic, are so often made up of one initial incident, mistake or otherwise, which doesn’t necessarily have to pose a threat to human life. What does pose a threat however is when the correct procedures are not adhered to, or are ineffective, causing more mistakes to be made and turning something preventable into a disaster. Maritime law has continued to push for the highest standards to protect everyone who goes on a cruise, with each (albeit statistically rare) disaster over the years shedding light on areas that need improvement; having a large impact on the safety regulations, precautions and procedures of today. These all serve to protect passengers, whatever the situation. And perhaps it’s because we learn so much from the past that a cruise ship still remains one of the safest ways to travel.

Don’t Fail Your Business – Avoid the Most Obvious Traps

This is a guest blog by Eve Baxton.

Owning a professional business is a huge responsibility. It involves all the potential risks and traps that are imaginable. According to a survey in 2009 by PrinceWaterHouseCoopers more than half of the enterprises suffered from the economical crimes. In most of the cases, small sized enterprises are the best prey to fall for potential traps around.

These dangers include employees or managers misrepresenting or manipulating the financial information, customers misusing the enterprise’s borrowing in criminal activities and contractors producing false bills. Along with that, other elements exist that perpetrate fraud against the enterprise by electronic means. This includes hacking, manipulating the telephone service and robbing customer’s confidential data, such as credit card numbers or usernames and passwords.

The ultimate quest that should be taken care of as soon as possible, to protect your business is identifying the sources of potential fails. That is not an easy task to take on, for a less experienced businessman. By just considering some basic and yet important things, the enterprise can be easily protected from potential frauds, however.

According to the statistics, the most common reasons for falling into these traps are the lack of experience, commitment, and, most significantly, management. Let’s take a look at the potential traps that most of the enterprises, no matter big or small, fall for.

The Innocent Employee Trap
According to the facts, most of the time insiders; employees, managers, or company’s officials, are the main reason for an enterprise to fall and fail. These employees “innocently” steal the assets of the company, and commit accounting frauds. Detecting such actions is vital; it requires a lot of methodologies and commitment to be employed, however.

The Clever Customer Trap
Another hazardous trap that most of the enterprises fall for is the clever customer trap. It has been found that many customers are using fake identities, stolen credit cards, or are filling out fake liability and injury claims to perpetrate the company. All these actions by “the sweet customers” only results in the enterprise’s money being taken away.
The Fake Return Scheme Trap
The most common victims of this type of frauds are retailers. It is the best scam for the clever customer to perpetrate against any enterprise. Most of the times, the customer brings back used merchandise that has not been bought from the same place and tries to return it and get new merchandise under the shelter of the fake return schemes.
The Greedy Contractor Trap
Most companies rely on outside service providers for its survival. Therefore, many of the enterprises fall for the greedy contractor trap. It is not uncommon for the contractor to bill more than the task he has done is worth, and more often even asks for the billing of a task that has not yet been completed. Strong policy, terms, and conditions should be presented to the contractors, before entrusting them with any task, to avoid these attempts, and leaving no room for the contractor to commit such frauds.

Protecting Your Professional Businesses

After viewing the potential traps, let’s take a look on the precautionary measures that an enterprise can take to avoid unnecessary fails; these important methodologies can fraudproof your business against its very own employees.

The Method of Anonymous Employee Reporting

Utilizing this method is one of the best methods for detecting the potential dishonesties that can occur within your business; compared to scheduled employee reporting, the violators’ opportunities to destroys any vital fraud traces are severely limited.

The Method Of Surprise Auditing

Along with the regular, scheduled internal audits, surprise auditing should also be performed in the enterprise, as it significantly increases the chances of detecting potential irregularities, thus making your company more protected.

The Method of External Auditing

Along with the above mentioned methods, this is also a significant tool to determine a potential fraud; it should be held at regular intervals.

Business Insurance – The Ultimate Protection

Along with all the above methodologies, the most important step in stabilizing an enterprise is business insurance. It plays an important role in the art of preventing the failures related to undetected frauds. Professional business insurance protects the business from many unexpected frauds, and it enables a recovery from what may seem as a catastrophic loss. Even when insuring your business, you should consider several key factors, however; for your business insurance to be viable for you, it needs to offer an equal protection for any business, regardless of its size, and to provide protection from all sources of frauds and failures. First thing that comes to mind is protection from theft. Theft is the most common and uncontrolled source of assets loss that occurs in most enterprises internally and externally, making insurance without theft protection almost useless. Protection from litigation is another important aspect; while unfounded law suits from wealthier competition are likely to turn out in your favor, the costs before you prove your innocence can cause your business to fail, so proper insurance has that covered. Protection from unwanted liabilities provides you with protection, when the assets, coming from your company, are used for any illegal activities, which is not a rare occasion with internal frauds and thefts.

It’s your responsibility to implement a fraud proof protection method, that suits best to your enterprise’s needs, properly. All it requires is some commitment and dedication towards the business; no matter how malicious the fraudster’s aims are, you can stop your company’s fail before it’s to late!

Personal (almost-fail) story: what climbing can teach about life and business

Let me start by stating the obvious: humans are irrational.

Let me give just one illustration of our irrationality. Climbing. Why do we climb? Some mountains have picturesque and pleasant landscapes, forests or flowery fields. Some happen to have spectacular views from top when weather conditions allow. Apart from those few – and they are in relative minority – serious mountain climbing (anything above 4,000m and even many lesser ones) implies significant effort and investment; rewards, i.e. the usual goals of reaching the top and view from the top, are usually less than what we expect.

How do I know? I climbed a number of peaks in European Alps including the highest one in mainland Europe, Mont-Blanc. And only few weeks ago, I came back from Tanzania, where I climbed Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro, consisting of three volcanic cones, is the highest mountain in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, rising 4,600 meters from base to summit. Of three volcanic cones, Kibo is active and can erupt again any time (most recent volcanic activity registered 200 years ago). Kibo’s peak, Uhuru (“freedom“ in Swahili), is the highest (5,895m) peak of Kilimanjaro. Climbing Kilimanjaro is easy and requires no technical climbing or mountaineering experience, the biggest challenge being body’s ability to acclimatize to its high altitude. Unsurprisingly, most fatalities are caused from improper acclimatization and altitude sickness rather than falls. Only an average of 70% of climbers ever make it to the top.

Many who climbed Kilimanjaro will tell you one thing if you ask them about the experience: the last day ascent to the peak is rough (by any of the routes) but quite unrewarding in terms of view as once you reach around 5,600m height, it almost flattens (at least via Coca-Cola route). For the remaining 300m or so, it feels like walking in a field with occasional boulders on the way. The only way you know you reached Uhuru is when you see a green plate that says you reached the top of Africa.

My guide Loi (who has nine years of experience climbing in Africa) and I started off almost the last ones from the Kibo base camp. Sunrise was still far off, and I didn’t feel much delight or happiness. I felt cold (temperature hovered between -15C and -20C), exhausted (our cook forgot to put with us food) but nonetheless satisfied.

So, why do we climb? To me – and to the alpinism greats such as Reinhold Messner – climbing is a way to create oneself, explore one’s boundaries and uncover ones hidden characteristics. This claim is not only valid for individuals but also companies (especially startups), as their activities and vision can easily be paralleled with a climb towards their own “peak.”

That last leg from the Kibo base camp (about 4,800m) to Uhuru peak (5,895m) is the most testing part of the trip for anyone. The ascent usually starts at midnight. Many don’t even make it out of the Kibo base camp as altitude sickness, nausea and headaches sent many aspiring climbers to toilettes and kept them huddled inside their sleeping bags. Once started, climbers face a steep (45⁰) slope of slippery pebbles and sand. Guides impose a snail-pace on climbers because of steepness of the slope, high altitude, low (between -5C and -10C at Kibo the base camp) temperature and whipping winds. The normal speed on that slope is about 500m/h (distance covered by walking up, not altitude). Trying to go faster usually results in panting, nausea and exhaustion, as 5000m is the altitude at which the density of oxygen is twice as less as at level 0, and it is impossible to breathe only with nose as the inhaled amount of oxygen is insufficient (either you breathe both with your mouth and nose or you can take tablets of Diamox which increase oxygen intake and circulation in bloodstream).

Despite the adapted snail-pace, Loi and I started overtaking many small groups. Normal practice was of walking for 15-20mins and taking a short break, allowing the body to acclimatize and rest. During the first three hours, we took only two short breaks, one when I had to take off a pullover which was making me sweat, and second when Loi needed to take a piss. We “raced,“ as one English climber described while he and his guide tried to keep up with us.

From the beginning, I was being drained of energy fast, not least because I was burning lot of energy breathing with my mouth and nose. Realizing I was loosing much energy, I tried to minimize all distractions that could result in further energy lose. Many climbers were constantly looking up or down, checking out how others were doing and spying for any potentially nice view, although it was dark and thus nothing much to see. One could also hear climbers talk to each other, as they were tightly lined up one behind another and walking up slowly. While talking wasn’t in itself a bad thing, it consumed energy. Loi and I neither looked around nor talked much before reaching the first milestone, Gelman’s point (about 5,600m).

That relatively short slot of slope between 4,800m and 5,600m was the most trying for me (and I guess for others as well). As I had too many layers of clothes on me from the start, I started sweating profusely barely 15mins into the ascent. Our first stop was when I had to take out a layer of clothing, already wet. The feeling of cold from inside never vanished, while I was struggling with my bleeding nose and dry mouth, inhaling as much air as possible. My eyes were set on the feet of Loi who was few centimeters ahead of me. Without realizing it, we overtook all other groups and our longest break – 10 minutes – was shortly before the Gelman’s point. I was utterly exhausted, and at this point had to have some hot water and energy food (cooks usually put Snickers, pieces of chocolate, peanuts or any other energy source and a thermos with hot water). Realizing that our cook forgot to put any provisions with us, Loi dug up four small cookies from his pocket. I had two. Exhaustion didn’t diminish because cookies didn’t help. Once we reached Gelman’s point, we realized we didn’t have much time before both of us became inexorably exhausted. We marched on. Our ascent became increasingly difficult as the temperature dropped even further, and winds became even stronger.

We had to stop every 10mins for a breath. When we reached the second milestone, Stella’s point (about 5,700m), I sat on a piece of rock and was ready to lay down there and then. By then, I stopped feeling cold – all I wanted was to put myself in a horizontal position and close my eyes. Loi realized that we had to move on, otherwise we would freeze to death on that altitude. With an enormous effort of will, we continued to march on. The whole ascent was turning into a rough test of my physical and mental stamina. I became so drained of energy that 15mins before we reached the summit, I dropped onto a piece of rock and was unable to move. Loi, realizing how difficult it became for me to continue moving, try to give me psychological boost, promising we had only 15mins to reach the summit. I had to force myself to stand up and walk. Last few hundred meters, to give myself more confidence, I started loudly saying to myself “Hayk you can make it; focus on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other and you will make it.“

About 15mins later, upon seeing a green plate a few dozen meters ahead, I asked Loi what it was. At that point I was already having hard time uttering words. Loi turned to me and responded, “we still have another 5mins.“ Luckily, he was joking – to me didn’t seem funny at all at that moment. He came up and hugged me congratulating and saying we did it. I slumped onto the pedestal on which the green plate was planted, claiming we were on top of Africa. I sat down with my back to it. Loi asked for my camera, which was in the pocket of one of my pants. I refused. He insisted – I again refused. I told him if I as much as unzipped my pants, exposing even a tiny bit of my body, I would freeze to death. He took my two hands in his hands, only realizing they were almost limp. He didn’t insist any further.

We promptly started the descent, without taking any pictures or getting a good view from the highest point in Africa. It was cold (between -15C and -20C) and dark (5am – sunrise came about 6am), and we had to make our way back despite a perceived impossibility of walking further. Shortly after we launched ourselves back to the base, I realized something. There was no one at the peak when we arrived. This meant that we were the first to arrive to the peak. This thought had a much-needed psychological effect on me. Although we started out late and didn’t revitalize our energy stock due to absence of food and hot water, we made it to the top and did so faster than anyone. This thought gave me much-needed force for the way down.

It was only after we passed Gelman’s point and found ourselves on the steep slope that Loi got me to take out my camera and take a shot of the two of us, still in darkness, dead-tired but happy. He was no less exhausted, but having climbed Kilimanjaro extensively during the last nine years, he was bearing it better than me, my last significant ascent (with some funny adventures on the way down) being 11 years ago on Mont-Blanc.

We made it safely back to the Kibo base, and I had a serious talk with our cook whom I told we almost didn’t make it because of his negligence. As we continued our descent from the Kibo base, we met many climbers on their way up who would ask for advise and tips. We invariably warned them about the last leg and necessity of having energy food and hot water.

Now back to companies. Their ”climb“ is interesting and usually more challenging at the beginning of their existence, or in what we call a “startup“ stage. It is at this stage that many companies create or find their core around which the later growth cristalizes. It is at this stage where many of startups stumble, fall and never recover. Startup stage of a company is thus essential, and it is important to understand how to ”climb” it in order to attain the stated goals and vision.

By an interesting coincidence, I happen to work with a visionary and ambitious startup called Jornal @Verdade. Founded in 2008 by a budding entrepreneur Erik Charas with a grand vision of changing the way information is created and shared and ultimate goal of changing the hearts and minds of Mozambicans, this news agency focuses on grassroots aspects of social and economic development. By having its main target group of readers amongst the most underprivileged and dispossessed, @Verdade offers information, education and aspiration to those who would otherwise go without.

Drawing parallels, equally applicable to individuals and startups, below is what I learnt – and advise others to apply – from both climbing and being exposed to startups in Africa:

When setting up for a journey or a goal, it is important to have an objective which is far and high but attainable;
Once the goal is set, break it into stages (and corresponding mini-objectives in each stage) and stay focused on mini-objectives in each stage;
After reaching each mini-objective, acclimatize yourself or, in other words, get used, to it before moving on – moving on too quickly might become harmful and counter-productive;
When setting up for a goal, know what to have (skills, equipment, etc.) and take with you for each specific part of the trip and leave behind what is NOT necessary;
Ask advise from those you meet along the way, and especially value advise from those who have already “made it“ (to the peak or reached a goal);
The ascent’s objective is its final destination or goal, but having fun and benefiting from the ascent itself (by attaining and rejoicing each mini-objective) is as, if not more, important at each stage than reaching the final destination.

In merely four years, @Verdade became the most read and known newspaper in Mozambique. And while it continues plunging upwards, it has still a long way to go. Its ascent is steep and it has all the currents (political, economic and social) lined up against it. It continues to move on and, at times, like any other human being or startup, needs an encouragement and support as it stumbles and falls. @Verdade’s strength resides in a strong belief of its staff in the value of what @Verdade set out to do and its resolve to achieve every stage of the set goals. It is this relentless drive towards its goals coupled with immeasurable attention and consideration it gives to its target group that will eventually result in realization of its vision.

I believe in @Verdade’s vision and I hope soon all Mozambicans join us in our belief, turning this country into a place they would like their children and grandchildren to grow up and live in.

Failures, confusions and uncertainties pop-up around us at one point or another in all aspects of our lives. They push ourselves towards our limits. They make us discover and re-create ourselves, whether in professional or personal pursuits. They makes our lives worth living.

Save Yourself From Auto-loan Frauds

This is a guest blog by Eve Baxton.

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In December 2011, nineteen suspects were arrested in New York. These suspects were part of two fraud auto loan schemes. They used straw buyers, with good credits, to purchase luxury cars like Mercedes and Porsche under these schemes. These cars were then rented out to criminals and were used for various crimes. The auto loan fraud, therefore, was found to be linked with serious crimes like the double homicide of two Nigerian nationals. The straw buyers were left with bad credit and were sued by various banks due to unpaid loans and parking tickets on cars, which only apparently belonged to them.

How Can You Avoid Such Scams?

If one wants to avoid an unfortunate fate, similar to that of the straw buyers above, while financing a car purchase, then one should undertake the necessary precautions. Opting for a credible car finance scheme is the most important precaution that must be taken. The reliable car finance scheme is simple and requires no deposit and no fees. A personal finance advisor is also assigned to enhance efficiency and to avoid troubles. Moreover, cars can be bought from any dealer under this scheme. Such a scheme is bound to prevent auto car frauds due to its simplicity and reliability.

Five Car Buying Mistakes People Make:

Not all car salesmen are deceiving. However, one is likely to run into fraudulent salesmen if thorough research is not done. It is easy to be misled by the loan schemes and the convincing power of the salesperson’s reasoning. Five big mistakes that result in a disastrous car purchase, are listed below:

Credit misinterpretation: Many car dealers classify their customers as ‘not eligible’ because of their poor credit score. The customers do not realize that this holds true only for those with unpaid bills or who make payments well after the due date and that their credit score is not that bad at all. The customers are, therefore, made to pay high interest rates which make car purchase greatly difficult and uneconomical.
One transaction: Many dealers compile the three transactions involved into one in order to make money. The customers, therefore, pay more than what the car is actually worth, when not paying attention to this trick.
Unending installments: Some car dealers attract customers by lowering the monthly installments. The customers do not realize that the dealer manages to stretch out the period of the installments by using such tricks. Rather than going with the price, they can pay for the car, customers make the big mistake of going with the payment they can make monthly. Such tricks lead to money making for the car dealers and great money loss for the buyers.
Changing the deal: Some car dealers give the following news to their customers: the financing fell through. The car dealers skillfully use this trick to change the deal and make the customer opt for a more expensive car. Customers who do not have their financing in their hands fall easily into this trap.
Additional funds applied to cars: Some car dealers are given cash incentives to sell certain car models. In some cases, the car dealer might apply such funds to the car. Customers who do not research such funding provided on the car they want to purchase, therefore, pay a higher price for the car.

Car dealers misrepresent information and are able to skillfully misguide uneducated buyers. Customers who are assertive are likely to find and identify the tricks involved. Everyone buying a car should know the car they want to buy and the financing alternatives they have. Not all car dealers are dishonest, but care must still be taken. Making mistakes like those stated above effectively lead to a big car financing failure.

Educated customers are those who perform a thorough research before heading out to the dealer. Make use of the extensive knowledge on the web and compile a list of car buying tips. This will certainly help.

Auto loan frauds have unfortunate consequences. They only lead to a never ending loan, a price which the car is not worth, and a high interest rate. One can do better by avoiding such fraudulent car financing schemes which only end in disaster, and opt for reliable and credible financing service, such as CarLoan4U.

Failure parallels between Mao Tse-Tung and Facebook

What do an alleged 70 million death of Chinese population in peacetime and an online social network boasting 955 million members have in common? While Mao’s life and work were considered inspirational at the time, so is modern phenomenon Facebook sweeping domains and redefining frontiers of science, culture and technology. And there are some parallels that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.

1) Put appearance and rhetoric of doing things for public good while in reality following his/its own agenda

Mao: Mao got into the Long March in 1934 not due to any ideological reasons. He was sick and was going to be left behind by Communist forces under the pursuit of Nationalists because of his activities undermining communist goals and his disobedience to orders from the Soviet Union. A combination of putting an appearance of a patriot fighting for the communist cause and a trickery of positioning himself at the point where the Communist army was to exit from, he managed to get himself picked up by the army, soon passing through a bridge, which bore him into the history.

Facebook: The most valuable asset on Internet is data. User data, to be more specific, as it can be used (in some cases sold) for conducting all kinds of research – it’s invaluable for any organization that has part or all of its customer base online. Facebook has been introducing number of usually unpopular privacy setting changes that, for most cases, used its member information for its own agenda. A telling sign is its recent change of replacing the word “privacy” with “data use.”

2) Decisions are taken unilaterally and without concern for those affected – and when it goes out of control, some measures are taken in guise of public appearances and apologies

Mao: Mao, in the framework of his “Great Leap Forward.” ordered the nation to make steel. He made a target of 10.7 million tons of steel (as the previous year’s output was 5.3 millon tons, Mao asked his metallurgy minister whether that could be doubled for current year. The “yes-man” obliged). Steel mills and related industries like coal mines were ordered to go flat out to speed up the production. Rules and common sense were cast aside. Equipment overworked to the point of breakdown. In first few months alone, 30,000 workers were killed in various accidents. Realizing, the existing mills wouldn’t be able to meet the target, Mao ordered the nation to build “backyard furnaces,” which some 90 million people were forced to build. To feed those furnaces, the nation was coerced into donating virtually every scrap of metal they had including farm tools and even kitchen utensils. By the end of 1958, the target of 10.7 million tons was reached, but only 40% of which was good steel (all produced by mills). Estimates put death toll of starvation and overwork during the Leap (which lasted 4 years) to about 38 million.

Facebook: Not only it has been playing with privacy settings of its members in order to gain and retain user information, Facebook has also been, rather quietly, granting access to all kinds of user information to 3rd party applications. As its business becomes more and more app-oriented – unsurprisingly so, as apps account for 30% of its revenues for the moment – Facebook has been making changes, that would grant a more seamless, easy access of user info to apps. Check this post for some details. With subtle design changes, it went, for example, from a two-button procedure of granting (or not) access to that of one-button. You click an invitation from a friend and, unbeknownst to you, end up giving access to the app to gain your information. Or that in old design Facebook explained what sort of information an app could use. No longer so. Facebook, considering much past opposition to measures less significant for usage of member information, unilaterally decided to introduce changes that would benefit its bottom line. And last but not least, “We’re going public for our employees and our investors,” as Zuckerberg wrote in his IPO letter. Translation: we don’t care about our customers/members – we go public so our employees get the share of our riches and our investors feel satisfied.

3) No care or thought about needs and aspirations of subjects/members

Mao: On Feb 27, 1957, Mao delivered a 4-hour speech to the rubber-stamp Supreme Council announcing that he was inviting criticism of the Communist Party. The Party, he said, needed to be accountable and ‘under supervision.’ He sounded reasonable criticizing Stalin for his ‘excessive’ purges, and giving the impression there wouldn’t be any of those in China. In this context he cited the adage, “Let the hundred flowers bloom.” Few guessed it was a trap setup to invite people to speak, so that he could use what they said as an excuse ti victimize them. His main target were intellectuals and educated, those mostly likely to speak out. Most of criticism never reached public. Instead, Mao drafted a secret circular in which he branded between 1% and 10% of ‘intellectuals’ (those who spoke out amounting to about 5 million) as ‘Rightists.’ Denunciations, labor camps and executions followed.

Facebook: Among other unilateral and unsolicited changes, Facebook decided to not only introduce its own email system, but silently replace members’ emails with its own @facebook.com email (only noticed by bloggers during a weekend). The step could have been well accepted, it Facebook took care of showing consideration of its members’ opinion or warned in advance. Backlash followed. Or its previous changes to News Feed, which ushered in a plethora of groups/videos with a theme “Change Facebook Back to Normal.” As an example, Facebook group and a video demonstrating how to change it to normal are still up.

4) Everything can be and is sacrificed for achievement of set goals – no morality or etiquete or qualms

Mao: In 1953, Mao proposed a program to industrialize China. His obsession was to enter the league with Soviet Union and the US in economic terms. At that time, he was told that the program could be completed in 10-15 years. In 1957, celebrating the 40th anniversary of October, Khrushchev presented a target of surpassing the US in 15 tears. Mao was inspired and claimed China could surpass the UK in 15 years. And as China was already getting nuclear other cutting-edge technological help and knowhow from Soviets, Mao was told in 1958 that his industrialization program could be completed in 5 years instead. He fancied he could achieve this in one big leap, calling it “Great Leap Forward.” It boiled down to excessive food production and extraction from the people. Mao was squeezing his nation to produce fantastic amounts of food (grain, rice, pork, etc), which was exported in exchange for technology. Food was also used as a raw material for the nuclear program. Grain, for example, was turned into pure alcohol and used in missile tests, each of which consumed about 10 million kg of grain. Mao thought to industrialize form within by ordering construction of irrigation systems (dams, reservoirs, canals). Starting in 1958 for over 4 years, about 100 million people were coerced into such projects, and as he wanted instant results his slogan was “”Survey, Design and Execute Simultaneously.” Results are not hard to guess.

Facebook: As Facebook moved ahead with its fresh design, it didn’t forget to, without asking opinions of members, make it easier to access the past activities with introduction of its Timeline. Timeline is conceived with ads, sponsored stories and marketing data gathering to be much easier, i.e. playing a hand for Facebook’s bottom line. Launched in September 2011, Facebook’s Timeline claimed to be the online book of members’ lives showing events on a yearly bases. Initially, Timeline was an optional feature. But once accepted, there was no going back, which suggested the imminent (and permanent) nature of the change. By the end of January 2012, not content with the fact that many of its members still preferred the older design – Sophos’ polls showed about 52% worried about and only 8% liked Timeline – Facebook simply stated that in a week time everyone will have a Timeline. A flurry of petitions, anti-Timeline groups and a lawsuit ensued.

Let me be clear. I am not a hater of Facebook. I have a special admiration for Mark Zuckerberg and for Facebook. I can’t however discount all the above developments nor the logic of how Facebook advances towards its claimed goals and objectives.

I only wish that Facebook becomes more open, transparent and forthcoming, and what’s more important, more considerate towards its ever-increasing member base. If not, then, as the saying goes, “the higher you climb, the further you fall.“

I bet many would hate to see Facebook fail/fall – as Mao fell.