House Passes Resolution on Ukrainian Genocide, New York Times Gets Dressing Down
As a follow-up to my post on the forced Ukrainian famine by the USSR that starved over 5 million people, there have been the following developments:

1. U.S. House Passes Resolution - Resolution 356 passed 382-0 had the following points:
a. It denounces reporter Walter Duranty - and by extension the New York Times - for "knowingly and deliberately" falsifying reports of the famine
b. It points out that many (liberal) scholars in the west denied the existence of the famine until Soviet records were made in available which outlined the "premeditated nature of the famine and its harsh enforcement"
c. Points to a U.S. commission (there's always a commission), whose 1985 report concluded that "Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933."

Note that this passed on October 20, but my guess it wasn't published in your paper. It next goes to the Senate, which (surprisingly) has both my liberal senators as co-sponsers, among others. The Russian embassy is actively lobbying against it.

2. Study Commissioned by New York Times Blasts...the New York Times - Columbia University history professor Mark von Hagen, commissioned by the New York Times to study the Walter Duranty Pulitzer, concluded that the New York Times dispatches in 1931 by Walter Duranty showed "a serious lack of balance" (see, they were doing it even back then). The Times itself reported on this on October 23 (link requires registration)

In a subsequent interview with the Ukrainian Weekly, (full article here) the professor stated:

"The lack of balance and uncritical acceptance of the Soviet self-justification for its cruel and wasteful regime was a disservice to the American readers of The New York Times and the liberal values they subscribe to..."

(Replace Soviet with Iraqi and it would sound like today...)

The report was sent to the Pulizer Board, which is studying revoking the Pulizer for Duranty, who won the award in 1932 for his reporting from the Soviet Union.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:40 PM (Permalink)
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Justifying my Existence: Marketing 104 - Sales Support
There are several epic battles that endure the eons: good and evil, God and Satan, Marketing and Sales. This battle is also referred to as "Field versus Factory" and is seen in a lot of old business sayings:

Sales Saying: "The toughest sale is the Factory"

Marketing Saying: "I wish sales would work for us instead of the customer"

Part of this issue is that there really isn't a hard/fast line between the sales and marketing functions. The line is fluid and can move depending on industry, customer, design cycle, or even between products at a single customer. This chart is a general overview showing this dynamic:



The vast area in the middle between marketing and sales is what can create conflict, confusion, turf wars, you name it (note that the far right side is covered under business development). But the bottom line is this: sales support is an important component of the marketing function.

So, what tasks should one do in marketing to support sales?

1. Know your salesforce - that personal connection can go a long way to resolving conflict.

2. Support your salesforce - Salesperson wants a presentation? No prob. Free sample? Okay. They are the warriors on the front line, so don't pull a Black Hawk Down and deny them the weapons they need. Marketing also has the job of creating "collateral", which includes brochures, data books, or any other materials that a salesperson puts in a customer's hands. Don't be stingy on your collateral budget, since all salespeople want a reason to call/go see their customer ("I thought I would stop by and give you the newest brochure out of the factory").

3. Don't keep the salesforce in the dark - This is one of the biggest complaints of the field to the factory. I have been in situations where the field is selling an item at a customer the same day an announcement is made that obsoletes the product the salesperson is pitching. (You want to see some pissed off people, try this). If you want to have productive, happy salespeople, pull them in periodically and let them know what is going on - or ideally include them in your strategy formulation. Some companies don't like to do this since they want to sell off old inventory, want to sell what they have today, etc. This sort of thinking doesn't give the salesforce credit. If you communicate what you need (and incentivize them appropriately), these sorts of issues won't be a problem.

4. Drink Heavily - Okay, this is somewhat tongue in cheek, but has an element of truth in it. A lot of sales is conducted through entertaining and wining/dining your customer. This means great meals in great restaurants all over the country or even the world, but also means a lot of late nights of heavy drinking with your salesman and customer followed by business meetings with bad hangovers (yes, I have pitched to senior executives while wondering if I would heave in front of them).

This aspect is especially true in Japan, where business is NOT done at the meeting - it is done later at the "hostess clubs" and karioke bars. Rorschach has agreed to do a post at a later date on doing sales in Japan, and I think it should be pretty interesting, as well as funny.


Note: I skipped Marketing 103 - Branding - since there are books and books written on branding out there and I really have nothing to add to the discussion.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:30 AM (Permalink)
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Justifying my Existence: Marketing 102 - Business Development
Continuing my post on justifying my existence to my boss, the Imperial President, I am now going to explain the next area of what I do, business development.

Business Development, or "biz dev" requires an understanding your product, your market, your competitors, your suppliers, your customers and everything else you learned from doing your market analysis. Once you get an understanding of where your market is heading, you can figure out what types of activities will enhance your company, hurt your competitors, grow your customer base, cut costs, and all the other things that companies try to do to maximize profits. These activities might include joint development projects (even with competitors), investments in promising technologies, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and similar sorts of strategic business moves.

While it is important to understand what activities will benefit your company, the real key to business development is networking. For doing biz dev I have talked to venture capitalists, presidents of 5-person start-ups, VPs of major public corporations, analysts, you name it. Sometimes the job consists of coming up with a business concept and knowing who to call (in order to talk to the VP of one company I called someone I once worked with who once worked at that company, who connected me to another person, who got me the secretary's name of the man I needed to talk to). Other times, people call you and you have to be prepared to act (an analyst once called me once asking if I would be interested in buying one of my competitors' divisions. "Yes" is always a good response to this kind of question, even if you're not really interested, but the important thing is that the analyst knew to call me with the opportunity).

So networking is the key to business development. And as everyone knows, networking is the key to finding a new job. Therefore, Business Development is one of the best ways to land a new and better job!

It's true. Take a look at this post here where I called up the exec VP of a company for a joint business opportunity and the call ended with him asking for my resume. Once you get up to middle management, advancement to the next rung just isn't listed on Monster.com.

So, the bottom line: if at all possible work your way into Business Development to get your name out there and network your way up in the corporate ladder. It's one of the best ways to help yourself while you help your company.

Ex-colleague Rorschach worked in this area and could also add a few comments (hint, hint).

Update: Rorschach has left some great business tips and insight in the comment section, so go read it (maybe I can talk him into being a regular contributor?). I will be expanding on some of his points tomorrow with a section on sales.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:41 PM (Permalink)
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Democratic 5-Point Plan for Defeating Bush
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article outlining what they believe is the democratic strategy to win next year's election. The article is available on-line for a fee and in print for a buck, so I cannot copy it here, but here is a brief outline of their main points (and as a subscriber, I encourage everyone to buy a copy):

1. Iraq War - The democrats will do all they can to insure failure in Iraq and then pin it on Bush. A recent example is their hold-up of funds for Iraq reconstruction. The more soldiers killed and the more suicide bombings, the more they will cheer. Expect congressional stalling on any plans, money, etc. that have to do with Iraq.

2. The Economy - Since the economy is heading back and even job growth has started, they are going to concentrate on the "manufacturing sector", which is shedding jobs worldwide, not just in the U.S. Expect manufacturing and "outsourcing" to be major themes even as GDP grows at more than 4% next year.

3. Character - I spit up coffee when I read this one, but the "Bush Lies" meme is going to be pushed and going to be pushed hard.

4. Get out the (Liberal) Vote - As the article states: democrats believe "the key to 2004 success is mobilizing partisans more than persuading a diminishing pool of independents." You got that? They plan to campaign hard to the left and forget the middle. The overall plan is to hold the states Gore won in the last election and win just one of the close ones.

5. Fund Raising - The dems talk a game of campaign reform and then "maneuver around the new campaign-finance law by redirecting now-banned big donations...to a new set of groups that will coordinate attacks", as seen by the multimillion dollar donations from Soros to Moveon.

Will it work? I have my doubts, mainly since I believe in the above average intelligence of the typical American voter. But as we have seen in the past, sometimes this isn't always true.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:33 AM (Permalink)
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What Happens if Your Mother Discovers Your Blog?
As usual, the Onion nails it. Luckily for me, I am somewhat anonymous, and I don't put a lot of personal info up here - but there are plenty who do. And since Mom seems to be, how shall I put it, wandering closer to the center as she enters old age, it's probably best if she doesn't find mine (I keep telling her that personalizing soc. sec. won't effect her, and if it did *I* would support her).

On the other hand, Another Rice Grad had his father do a guest blog entry, and I notice that Earthly Passions has his father cruising the comment sections (it's a little disjointing to see someone comment about a blog entry and sign it "Dad").

Hat tip to Blogger, of all places, which linked the story on their log-in page for blog editing.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:59 AM (Permalink)
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Justifying my existence, or Marketing 101 - Market Analysis
Okay, continuing the post below, I will go into more details on each area of my job as a (window manager) marketing director.

The first area listed is Market Analysis, which consists of collecting and analyzing data - or more accurately, having a cube dweller actually collect the data and have it magically appear for analysis. A big portion of this job consists of sitting in front of the computer and visiting web sites, so it is a perfect way to hide the fact I am really blogging (clever, huh?).

Market analysis consists of collecting data from everything from the external economy to my customers' market segments. The post I did here is a perfect example. Another good analysis is a Porter Model (named after Harvard Professor Michael Porter) to understand the "five forces" impacting your market. Note that a "sixth force" - government regulation - should be considered for most industries, and should be a part of normal market intelligence.

Based on market data, Porter analysis and other tools, you can present a forecast for your company, its market share, competitive structure of the market, etc.

So you present your analysis, forecasting all sorts of good things to come to your company. Worried you're wrong? Well, don't be. Here are the key points to keep in mind for Market Analysis:

1. An organization values analysis over data collecting - in other words, if the company believes you are a good analyst, even if you're not, you're golden. Data collectors are interchangeable cogs. So move out of data collecting into analysis as soon as possible. How do you become a "great analyst"? That brings up the next point.

2. Analyses can be faked, but data cannot - You can fit data to any sort of analysis (economy is up means revenue will be rosy next year; economy is down is proof things will improve and bring rosy numbers next year). So your analysis can be anything. What should it be? That's the next point.

3. No one complains about a rosy forecast, but they do complain about bad ones - I once brought a forecast to a CEO that showed high competition, falling prices and probable consolidation in the market. The CEO said it was wrong and told me to do it again. I brought a rosy forecast showing that we would lead the market. CEO was happy, and I was deemed a good analyst. So NEVER worry that you're wrong. Why? That brings up the last point.

4. People double-check data, but they don't back-check analyses - The data has to be right, but if you forecast a rosy picture, two years later no one remembers or cares - they are worried about the forecast two years from now. Another case in point - the analysis I mentioned above where the CEO told me to redo it - three years later everything I originally forecast was correct - but it doesn't matter since that company I worked for is no longer around and that CEO is doing something else. The incorrect rosy picture is what kept me "in" with the CEO; the correct market forecast showing consolidation benefited no one, including me (there was no way to invest or buy/short stock based on my analysis).

So, the bottom line: if you analyze a rosy forecast, show it. If you forecast a horrible forecast, redo it to make it look positive. You will be judged a superior analyst and move up in the corporate world.

More sections to come tomorrow.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 6:04 PM (Permalink)
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Justifying my Existence
No, this is not a philosophical discussion like the ones they have at Heretical Ideas. This is a business imperative that all workers need to practice - making yourself invaluable to your organization, or at least seemingly invaluable to the organization.

So I was not surprised when the Imperial President called me into his chambers and asked me with a straight face: what is marketing? (I am not making this up folks, this really happened). Another way he could have asked this question is: what do you do all day? (and answering "trying to post at least two blog entries a day" would NOT be met with approval, although I am fairly sure he has no idea what a blog is).

So I will be giving a presentation to My Master on what I do, what I did in 2003 (besides starting a blog) and what my goals are for 2004. While I won't post my goals, I WILL post some material here on Marketing 101.

So the first slide here is an overview of my job responsibilities. Note that this does NOT cover everything that the marketing function handles as listed in textbook. This slide is what *I* do in this particular position in this particular company, but probably covers about 90% of marketing tasks:




In future posts this week I will go into more detail for each of these numbered boxes, expanding on what I do in these areas.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:29 AM (Permalink)
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Christmas Tunes Already?
I enjoy Christmas time - I enjoy the decorations, shopping for friends and family, the good mood most people are in, holiday parties and spiked eggnog. And by the time December rolls around, I even like the ubiquitous Christmas music playing in the stores and on the radio. All the decorations, music and lights take me back to Christmases past, of long-lost friends and loved ones who have passed away.

BUT, there is a time for Christmastime to start, and that's Thanksgiving weekend. I have generally come to accept Christmas decorations going up at stores as soon as the pumpkins come down, but at least the music doesn't start and the neighbors don't put up the lights until Thanksgiving.

So I was VERY disappointed this morning to be hearing Bing crooning away at White Christmas at...STARBUCKS of all places. I thought this chain wanted to be cool and hip, so was actually surprised - I usually hear my first Christmas music at some random grocery or drug store. I mean, this place usually has some eclectic selection of Jazz or something on and to hear Christmas music on NOVEMBER 12 is just annoying.

Since I don't think I can take a month and a half of Bing and company, I think I will be changing over to Diedrich for the next month.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:55 AM (Permalink)
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I'm in the Bear Flag League!
My "official" entry in the BFL was today, so my fellow members on the right (literally and figuratively) should be adding me to their rolls over the next few days.

I should take this opportunity to a) thank the group for adding me to the team and b) shill for the group by recommending that everyone buy BFL loot. I just got my t-shirt and mug in the mail and I tell you, they will make GREAT holiday gifts for that favorite liberal on your list.




posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:14 PM (Permalink)
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My 2004 Org Chart
The 2004 org chart for my organization has been released and I thought I would share it with my readers:



Since some of these characters come up from time to time from my personal business posts, I thought I would go over them here:

The Imperial President - Okay, this is all satire, but they REALLY call him that here. Aloof and separated during business hours, he is actually pretty nice in social settings, but just because he has a few drinks with you off-hours doesn't mean he won't use the Dark Force Death Grip on you in the next meeting.

Director Mike - Mike is in charge of sales and a nice guy - especially when he is drinking and gambling, two of his favorite past times (and one of mine is blogging, so I am not, like, judging or anything).

Master Yoda - He looks like Yoda, he sounds like Yoda and he dispenses advice like Yoda. What is he doing reporting to the Imperial President? Just counting down days until he retires. You can see that he has no "arrows" going out from him which is, in fact, the case - he has absolutely no power whatsoever.

Creative Accountant - You want to see magic? Real magic? Then you should see this guy pull out revenue increases each quarter.

Bob - Bob's down at the factory, which is somewhere else - I am not sure where. I think I met him once at a party.

So this is pretty much the management staff. We then have dozens of cube dwellers doing all sorts of menial tasks so managers like myself can spend time blogging. You will recall I have been advising some of them on how to rise out of the cage of cubes.

The sales staff ("the field") is typical of most sales staffs I have ever encountered. I think the picture says it all. And then there is the factory - that great big building where products are somehow produced, but no one is sure quite how, except maybe Bob.

You can see we have a typical corporate reporting structure with all sorts of cross linkages, multiple managers and cross purposes. I will refer back to this from time to time during some of my business posts...


posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:52 PM (Permalink)
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21 Questions to a Libertarian Think Tank Founder
There is a great interview posted over at Another Rice Grad with Clint Bollock, founder of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian think-tank.

Like Rice Grad I disagree with Bollock on the Iraq War (Bollock was against it and Libertarians in general were pretty split), but Bollock's main interest is school choice, an area I am interested in since all other methods of improving schools - mainly throwing money at them - have failed.

This posting is also a great example of how original content is becoming an important part of the blogosphere, taking away the traditional roles of magazines and newspapers.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:09 AM (Permalink)
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Carnival of the Capitalists
Bear Flag League member Accidental Jedi is hosting this week's Carnival - a collection of business and economic postings from throughout the blogosphere. Your humble servant Director Mitch made it for the second time with my posting on Emerging Markets.

Jedi did a good job of grouping these by topic, so go browse the areas that might interest you.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:42 AM (Permalink)
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Moveon - Supported by Communists and George Soros
From the Wall Street Journal online (story requires registration)

Billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis pledged to donate as much as $5 million in matching funds to a MoveOn.org ad campaign that criticizes Bush, giving the liberal online-activist organization a huge boost.

George Soros likes to talk about his family's flight from the Nazis. He now supports Islamofascism worldwide by taking up their side against the "oppressive Bush regime". He compares the U.S. to Nazi Germany and promises to spend millions of his dollars (gained from impoverishing third world countries through currency speculation) against policies that aim to keep terrorists and fascist principles from taking over more and more of the Middle East.

Does anyone find this ironic? A Jew chased out of Europe by the Nazis finds wealth and success in the U.S. and now wants to support a Communist organization in stopping the fight against worldwide Islamic fundamentalism.

Update: Opionion Journal also has a great piece on Soros and his purchase of the Democratic party. Like the Democrats, Soros sees America as "the gravest threat to world freedom" and now, through his money, has a lapdog with Howard Dean. Go read it.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 5:31 PM (Permalink)
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Genes Versus Personal Responsibility
I am honored that Outside the Beltway (OTB) made a whole blog entry out of a comment I made in one of his posts. I wrote in his comment section about obesity being diagnosed as a disease:

Just another move to take away personal responsibility. Overweight? It's a medical condition and a part of my genes. Smoke? It's an addiction and I can't stop. Homicidal maniac? I was born that way and it's not my fault.

Nothing anybody does is their own fault any more, is it?

He then builds on my comment with some good insight:

As we finish decoding the genome, we're sure to find that there is a genetic link to virtually every human trait imaginable. We're surely not going to simply excuse dangerous conduct because some people are less able to control themselves than others;

This is good, but then we diverge in our thinking. He continues:

...but we are likely to be forced to rethink the concept of punishment if it turns out that criminal behavior is essentially a birth defect

This is the danger that we are going to face as a society: disavowing personal responsibility since certain traits are "in our genes". By going this route we make oursevles no better than animals, slaves to our instincts. It totally goes against the Western notion of Mankind being more than his base instincts; of the triumph of the spirit over base desires.

In a humorous take on this topic, Scrappleface had a great posting which Clinton maybe should have used as his defense, stating that men "lusting" after other women is determined by the occurrence of a "Y" chromosome in the human genetic pattern...Why should a man have to stay devoted to one woman alone, when in his heart he hears the Siren song of the biological imperative?"

This gives me a free pass to have an affair with that cute accounts receivable clerk. I'm sure my wife will understand. After all, it's not my fault.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:10 PM (Permalink)
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Monday Personality Test: Between Austria and Chicago
Pejmanesque asks: Which school of economics do you belong to? He points you over to a Mises Institute economic quiz. This is NOT a cutsie quiz with some picture coming up at the end to post on your blog, but a bit of a serious - and long - quiz to find where you stand on economic theory.

Unlike Pejmanesque I took the short version (recommended if you're busy), but like him, I came up 70% Austrian school. Those answers not Austrian came out Chicago school.

For scoring, 100 makes you the perfect Austrian, 50 the perfect Chicagoan, 25 is Keynesian, and 0 is Howard Dean.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:43 PM (Permalink)
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Dean Calls for Saudi Troop Pullout
BURLINGTON, Vt. - Democratic front-runner Howard Dean has called for a full U.S. troop pull-out from Saudi Arabia after a weekend bombing killed 17 people at a compound housing mostly Arab foreigners in the Saudi capital.

When informed that U.S. troops pulled out of the country last April, Dean, governor of a state with fewer than 800,000 people and no foreign policy experience, pointed out that this is only a start. "Terrorism is a part of these people's culture, and who are we to judge their culture? We should allow these people to freely express themselves by blowing up and maiming others. Using U.S. troops to stop this expression is just a sign of our intolerance as a people and is why I would also pull our troops out of Iraq."

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:15 AM (Permalink)
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MBA Reunion - Good for Friendships, Not Networking
So I'm back from my MBA 10 year reunion this past weekend and had a good time. My biz school just added a new building, and the reunion consisted of a reception one evening in the new building, along with a tour (with the subtle message to please donate to help pay for this thing). A BBQ was held the next day before the big homecoming game (my MBA school is part of a larger university).

Unfortunately only about a third of the class showed up, despite the fact that probably 50% of the class is living within driving distance (four of us flew in). Those that were there included friends that I stay in contact with through calls and email and it was good to talk to them in person after not seeing them in a year or two (or three). I reconnected with a few people I was good friends with during school, but haven't seen or talked to in a decade, so that was good.

In answer to an email inquiry from one of my readers, this was not like a ten year high-school reunion, which everyone I know seems to have nightmares about (we actually talked about this at the MBA reunion, and as someone put it: a ten-year high school reunion just ends up ruining years of therapy). High school has a lot of emotional baggage, cliques and the like. My experience at biz school was that everyone was there to learn something, improve their career and get ahead and while cliques certainly existed, they were nothing like the hateful, polarizing ones in highschool (my experience at the 10 year high-school reunion was that those cliques STILL functioned, even after a decade). And since people taking their MBA ranged from their mid 20s to the early 40s, everyone acted like adults instead of kids.

While the reunion was good for seeing old friends, I wouldn't say it was good for "networking" for the following reasons:

1. Non-industry Specific - We had people there working in energy, government (lobbying as well as congressional aides), tech, medicine, banking, etc. While it is certainly interesting to hear about these industries, I just won't have a business need to call up the VP of an oil and gas exploration company since that is totally foreign to what I do or the industry I work in.

2. Regional Differences - I am on the Left Coast and most of the people there were not. So being in totally different industries and totally different parts of the country, I had nothing in common with a lot of people except we hold diplomas from the same university.

3. Different Business Models - The talk did turn to business deals, investment opportunities and the like. Those in tech talked about emerging markets (see below) and tech start-ups on the Left Coast , while those in energy talked about investing in 3-D seismic technology and drilling opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico. These two topics have nothing in common except money. The types of people, companies or venture capital that invest in each are different and how the investment done is totally different (I actually understand "third for a quarter", which is a common investment technique for oil and gas, but would bring blank stares at a tech venture capitalist).

So from a business point of view, it was a bit of a bust, but very worth it from a personal point of view. I am glad I went and will go to the 15 year - who knows what everyone will be doing in half a decade.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:29 AM (Permalink)
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