The 5 Best Business Podcasts

Driving around all day one gets tired of listening to the radio and the CDs are pretty tired.  I really enjoy podcasts and here are (in my opinion) the best in the business.

The Hobson & Holtz Report is a weekly podcast that is absolutely mandatory in the field of PR and technology.  It is usually over an hour long but every minute is well worth the investment.

The HBR Ideacast normally goes for about ten minutes and it features an interview with someone from the Harvard Business Review magazine of that month. 

Mixergy is an absolute must watch / listen.  Andrew Warner interviews individuals with an extreme business streak in an intriguing fashion, getting through the usual fluff and uncovering some great insights.  Especially noteworthy is his series on businesses that have failed.

Everyone is a salesperson these days and The AdvancedSelling Podcast is a light-hearted look at how individuals can make the most of their inner merchant.

The Financial Times has a good podcast section, the pick of which is Listen to Lucy.  Lucy Kellaway delivers a five minute stab at the latest management decisions and fads and always brings a chuckle with her wit.

Book Review of "Pitch Invasion – Adidas, Puma and the Making of Modern Sport"

Well researched and written, I have reviewed Pitch Invasion by Barbara Smit from a managerial perspective.

Brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler were partners in Gebruder Dassler, a Herzogenaurach (Germany) specialist manufacturer of sports footwear. Famously falling out after WW2 and starting Adidas (Adi) and Puma (Rudi), the brothers fought hard for market share with each other and the world – utilizing very different management styles in the process.

Although giving a full history to the current day of the many and varied contests endured by Adidas and Puma, Pitch Invasion introduces the reader to the innovative thinking and entrepreneurship of Adi’s son, Horst Dassler. When aged merely 20, Horst was Adidas’ “man on the spot” for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and singlehandedly ensured that most of the track athletes wore the ‘Three Stripes’.

Groomed to take over the sporting behemoth that Adidas was quickly becoming, Horst tried to involve himself in more of the business than his father was comfortable with. As a result, his parents set him up in Adidas France by buying him a disused clothing factory and supplying him with a small amount of seed money. From here, Horst used all of his skills to develop Adidas into what we know today.

Although supposed to be merely a subsidiary of the German parent, Adidas France innovated like no other sporting goods manufacturer had before. It is clear that Horst understood the value of branding, utilizing the Adidas logo and developing lines of clothing, bags, footballs and swimwear that all capitalised on the perceived quality that Adidas enjoyed. Soon, the French son would be dictating terms to the German father as money exploded into the world sporting scene.

In DISC terms, Horst could be categorised as a ‘High D’. According to one of his senior managers, Alain Ronc “He just didn’t care about consultation, weighing problems and costs. He took bold decisions, then it was up to us to find the means to implement them.”
This high D behavioural characteristic is further backed by evidence that Horst was himself a workaholic, with single working stints lasting two days at a time.

Knowing how to get the best out of his employees was probably the key achievement of Horst’s behavioural style. No matter where on the Adidas France foodchain, Horst Dassler’s employees were all a part of the family. Horst infrequently called in favours with the local law enforcement when it was required (staff drink-driving charges) and even lent some staff money. These small gestures were more than enough to ensure staff loyalty for years afterwards, especially in a time when poaching was rife.

The top-down, dictatorial managerial style was common during this period in business and Adidas had a ‘Manufacturing Focus’. The strength of the brand was so good that distributors the world over wanted whatever Adidas made, with lead times stretching out to two years for most products. This obviously made product development and life-cycling key.

Horst’s firm style and ‘win at all costs’ mentality knew no bounds. After his cousin (Rudi’s son) at Puma reneged on a deal to stay clear of football great Pele, Horst did what it took to secure the contracts of the world’s best – in every sport and by any means.

In showing that innovative thinking requires more than being a futurist but coupling this with the ability to know how to exploit the weaknesses of your competitors, Pitch Invasion is compulsory reading for any aspiring manager looking to develop the thought processes of success. It is filled with anecdotes about how Horst went about building one of the world’s biggest brands, then rested on his laurels at exactly the wrong time.

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Allen Lane (25 May 2006)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0713998881
ISBN-13: 978-0713998887

National Manufacturing Week

I went in to Jeff’s Shed in Melbourne for National Manufacturing Week (NMW) on the Wednesday (May 25^th) during the day.  I have been to all of these since 1995 both as a visitor, an exhibitor (with Motion Industries – now CBC Motion) and also representing Binzel when my race team was sponsored by them and we had our car on display.  With all the excitement that builds up before the event, I walked away thinking I could describe my feelings in one word – “Meh...”

There was a lot of hype about the event for 2011, with all of the usual superlatives out in force. Numbers were up across the board, everyone was happy, etc.

Walking around the place, there wasn’t really a marked increase in foot traffic over previous years.  The usual big clans of university students swarmed around any stand with free stuff or girls in miniskirts and one only wonders what exhibitors did before plasmas and LCD TVs were on the scene.

This year NMW also became rather political, with visits to the Endeavour Awards from Tony Abbott and the event itself being frequented by state and federal ministers.  On the tip of everyone’s tongue – carbon tax.  That’s when the eyes glaze over.

On the geared motor front, SEW had the biggest stand, with Nord just around the corner with a smaller display.  Sumitomo had a minor stand out of the way.  SEW had partnered with a computer vehicle dynamics simulation mob who had hooked up a GP driving simulator to a whole heap of servo motors and was giving punters a go.  The SEW stand was probably best in show due to its interactivity.  Most exhibitors would do well to follow their lead (obviously, budget permitting).

With the investment demanded by these big trade shows, companies really need to convert enquiries into sales to make it all worthwhile.  Simply having a ‘presence’ isn’t enough to justify the spend.  I probably saw more customers (and suppliers) by walking around seeing everyone on the floor – and all it cost was the $10.00 car park at Crown!

All Torque Hits Twitter

Well, a natural progression of a blog is a twitter account, so All Torque now has one which I will be looking after.  Although twitter has been up and running for a few years, there are not very many accounts from those in the power transmission world, making us an early adopter for our industry.

One of the main problems that I'm already seeing is that having a twitter account opens up all of the pretend followers who inundate you with spam.  I'm going to follow them back until they get too annoying.

There also haven't been that many of All Torque's customers using twitter yet, but that's what being an early adopter is all about - being there when the early majority come on board.

Our feed is @alltorque1

Actually, it's a funny story; getting the @alltorque1 handle.  The main twitter names for All Torque have all been taken, mostly by cybersquatters who are not using them at all.  Business at its best?

4 Significant Challenges Facing the Mechanical Power Transmission Industry in 2011 and (How They Affect All Torque)

Interest rates - Driven higher by relatively high inflation

Interest rates and Australian monetary policy generally have seen the Australian dollar continue its upward surge, finding a new home above parity with the US dollar and over 70 Euro cents.  As with all facets of the Australian market, the power transmission industry is reliant upon both imports and exports.  Imports impact All Torque with our Bonfiglioli, Baldor, WEG, Comintec and Flender ranges, actually bringing the landed cost down across the board; whilst exports are a significant part of our customer income and directly affected by too high a local currency.

Our range of Reeves belt variators is also directly affected by the higher Australian dollar, with 90% of each unit manufactured in Australia utilising local sub-contractors (foundries, machine shops etc.).  Competitors can offer their fully imported belt variators dependent on the exchange rate of the time.

Continued erosion of manufacturing customer base

More and more Australian businesses are shifting manufacturing capacity to SE Asia and China for a lot of reasons.  Whilst natural and sustained growth is also on the horizon for at least the next generation, the ratio of Australian manufactured goods is only going to continue to decline.

Inability to recruit salespeople with industry knowledge

The mechanical power transmission industry is not the sexiest game in town and getting quality staff with a broad knowledge of the industry is getting harder all the time.  Whilst the average age of the active workforce continues to creep higher, so too does the average age in the PT industry overall.  Finding, training and maintaining quality staff is the key across all industries.

Reliance on strength of mining for continued growth

It used to be the sheep’s back that carried Australia.  No one will deny that Australia is now reliant upon the strength of the Western Australian and Queensland mining industries for future prosperity.  Issues with handling the two-speed economy are the biggest for any government of the day, but impact upon every business in Australia.