An Organization's Observable Artifacts Can Tell You About its Espoused and Enacted Values

All organizations have values and beliefs that tie them together into a single bounded rationality. Some companies may be more focused on industrial values while others have more interest in philanthropy. Values that are accepted by the organization as central to their mission often create artifacts. These artifacts can give deeper insight for executives into what an organization is and how it functions internally.

 Just like in the ancient world artifacts can tell you an awful lot about an organization and what values it holds dear. Becoming aware of an organization’s observable artifacts can also tell you about an organizations culture or how artifacts become part of the way in which people communicate.

Let’s think of two examples. The dove symbolizing peace and the anvil symbolizing work strength. The dove’s history was premodern and associated with fertility. The anvil symbolizes strength, earth, virtue and martyrdom.  They both have different values and when they are used they become artifacts of an organization with high symbolic meaning to the members.

As human beings we create all types of symbols that help us understand certain values and beliefs to keep us aligned to groups. Symbols are collective representation of our values in society. It hardly makes a difference if we are discussing a company, society or social group.

Knowing which values organizations pronounce as important through their espoused values helps to determine their official belief systems. Further analysis of their enacted values can shed light on unofficial culture of the organization. When the espoused values and enacted values are in alignment you have a highly motivated organization.

If you want to understand an organization from the inside and outside. We can look at its official communication and at its unofficial communication to gain greater insight. If people volunteer, then this is something that is important to the organization. If they use something like an anvil to represent aspects of their workplace then it is more focused on strength and building things (i.e. products).

Every organization has multiple artifacts that come to represent the beliefs of the society in which we work and life. The official ones tell us about explicit values while the unofficial ones tell you more about how the organization functions from the inside. Knowing the difference can help you understand organizational culture and how symbolism in marketing can be created for greater effect.

Availability of Financial and Non-Financial Information Impacts Investor Interest in Delta County Michigan

Municipalities in the post COVID world are struggling to find methods to improve revenue and weather the damaging effects of economic shut down. What many of these administrators don't see is a path through the fog by harnessing the power of economics and the capitalization of information. Throughout the pandemic we were able to see how investors maintained stock prices but much of the rest of the economy struggled. Stock stability is unlikely to continue unless new investments in businesses lead to stronger revenue returns. Helping businesses attract investors by providing the right kind of information for research and investment algorithms is helpful in creating an investment rich environment that benefits local and government stakeholders.

Information is a central need of any investment and economic decision matrix. With proper information and tools investors can be attracted invest in promising local businesses and business ideas. To gain their revenues businesses and municipalities must do their part to provide information in a way that is useful to larger institutional investors and the development of these businesses alike. The quality of that information will determine not only business and location selection but also return revenue which leads to other investments in the area.  

Research into the types of financial and non-financial data for investment leads to an interesting finding of an evaluation tool that better predicts investment match success.  The researchers state, "Compared with other decisions, financial investments should be more rational, and investors need to acquire immediate and accurate information for their investments (Shang, Chen & Chen, 2013).

The Formula has four major components that help investors make decisions.

Pre-Money: Money available (i) at the time of investment (t).

Non-Financial Data: Data on team composition, founding team size, management team, CEO qualifications, in-house experience, first reference customers, cooperating partners, patents and prototypes.

Financial: Cash and non cash assets, long term debt, R&D expenses, SG&A expenses and revenues.

Deal Characteristics: Investment monies from Venture Capitalists available, firm age, money available in the VC industry for 4 quarters, etc...

What the researchers found is that their valuation system did notably better than other valuation systems in successful investment match when compared to industry specific or total asset multiples models alone. Thus more information in this cases was better as long as that information is directly related to the potential health of the firm and whether or not it will succeed and grow in the market. Investors seek to minimize their risks through a better understanding of an organization will rely on proper data so making it available to them upfront will have an impact. In layman's term you need the proper bait to attract the big fish. 

The Need for "Good Data" in Investment Decisions

Financial data is helpful but so is non-financial data that helps to round out the decisions that venture capitalists need to make. In so doing, a firm takes into consideration the hard and often soft aspects of an organization as they relate to money and non-monetary considerations (i.e. team and skill). Creating this wider context is helpful in business investment and development. Having numbers, facts and figures is great but knowing how and who is running a company makes a big difference in success. That is why I have said for years EBITDA shouldn't be used as a sole metric for firm evaluation.

Organizations that want to attract investors and those that desire to invest need good data and information. Often they are left to research sources that pick and pull different pieces of data from various industry and company markers. That leaves them sort of guessing as to the meaning of this disjointed data. However, offering this information upfront may make a big difference in the overall ability of the organization to find a successful investment match. 

Governments can consider redesigning their websites, literature and offer opportunities to connect to investors by providing appropriate information through online forums and communities. Particularly helpful will be to used organizations like the DDA and others to encourage businesses to put an investors page on their website (or government website) to draw in investors to consider investing in the scalability of their businesses. That information should include the financial and the non-financial aspects that investors need to inquire directly with governmental and business stakeholders. 

From Previous Postings

I try and continue to integrate the knowledge to come up with a better plan for Delta County that can be scaled and used in other locations that have high unused potential. 

1. Online forums can connect government, business, and investors. 

2. Offering the right kind of data leads to more venture capital interest.

3. Using online investment forums can improve upon the amount of money being invested.

4. Attracting entrepreneurs with investment cash that want to purchase downtown business helps rejuvenate the downtown through the use of store fronts, improved reality values, and tourist base micro-manufacturing that leads to exports. 

5. Supporting entrepreneurs through packages, grants, low interest loans, a regulations/business liason, etc..

6. Focus on clusters that are likely to create the greatest innovation and growth. 

7. Capitalize on the areas natural strengths such as eco-tourism, shipping, deep sea port, area military installations, mining, etc.... to create clusters. 

8. Think about extended hub clusters that create secondary innovation and growth and lead to whole new industries. 

Sievers, S., Mokwa, C. & Keienbug, G (2013). The Relevance of Financial versus Non-Financial Information for the Valuation of Venture Capital-Backed Firms. European Accounting Review, 22 (3). 

Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. ( 1986 ),Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change , Springer-Verlag, New York, NY .

Shang, R., Chen, Y. & Chen, C. (2013) The social and objective value of information in virtual investment communities. Bradford, (37) 4. DOI:10.1108/OIR-06-2011-0087

Bi-Partisan Water Resource Development Act May be Win for Great Lakes Manufacturing and U.P. Communities

Our nation has been thinking of ways to develop and grow after the shut downs. We have spent a lot of time and money promoting policies that ultimately led to companies investing overseas. Our roads, waterways, and infrastructure need improvement. However, throwing money at something without thinking strategically at it is a waste of our financial resources. The Water Resource Development Act is well thought out legislation that could lead to a stronger export oriented infrastructure in a way that significantly impacts Great Lakes Manufacturing in general and the U.P. Communities in particular. 

Yoopers live and breath on the Great Lakes. Our very centralized fresh water peninsula is ideally suited to help regional manufacturers from places like Chicago, Milwaukee, Canada and Detroit maximize their export orientation. To do this means we need functioning waterways that allow vessels to carry resources and products out to the global world. They do this through clear and easy to navigate Great Lakes shipping. 

Despite our geographic advantages places like Delta County Michigan have not maximized their deep sea ports, spider webbed rail, centralized roads, and ideal location between multiple new military/civilian investments to grow economically. The county has an opportunity to encourage growth through developing a stronger plan on reaching out to government and business stakeholders to attract distribution interest. 

What would maximize growth in a state that has billions in budget shortfalls would be to increase revenue. That would mean Federal, State, Local and Industry leaders could conduct the proper analysis to determine if they can coordinate on building a stronger regional economy through bringing back manufacturing in the region. Our old infrastructure and knowledge is present but without capitalizing on it we are likely to let it slip through our fingers one more time. 

In this case, coordination at different levels and targeted investments could lead to maximum ROI in a way that helps further fill empty state coffers through increased long term regional and national tax revenue. 

The following was taken from an email press release....

Bergman Proposals Included in Water Resources Package, 

 Wins for First District Priorities

Washington - Yesterday, the House passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out water infrastructure activities for our Nation. Rep Jack Bergman issued the following statement:

"This legislation focuses on key concerns affecting the navigability as well as the preservation of our Great Lakes. From addressing the maintenance backlogs along our Great Lakes waterways to taking the next steps to stop Asian carp, this year’s WRDA bill is good news for the First District of Michigan and our entire Nation," said Rep. Bergman.

The WRDA bill included key legislation and priorities advocated for by Rep. Jack Bergman, including:

- Securing an increased amount of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund resources for the Great Lakes Navigation System, a waterway spanning the Great Lakes consisting hundreds of channels, breakwaters, jetties, harbors as well as the Macarthur and Poe locks;
- Authorizing the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project to stop the advancement of Asian Carp;
- Approval of the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study; and
- Expanding the study of ways to mitigate shoreline erosion and high water. 

In May, Rep. Bergman wrote a letter to Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves requesting "the inclusion of legislation to modify the existing Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) funding allocation for the Great Lakes Navigation System (GLNS)."

Rep. Bergman additionally noted, "The GLNS has unfunded backlogs of $320 million for maintenance of navigation structures (such as jetties and breakwaters) and $150 million for maintenance dredging. This requested legislative change is needed to ensure that these GLNS backlogs are reduced, not increased, as future HMTF resources are allocated."

The Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) offers an opportunity to solidify various marketing pieces into a single theme that runs throughout different communications channel. The central message leads to greater brand awareness and the raising of brand value to potential customers. Instead of a Hodge Podge marketing approach where advertising pieces are disjointed, IMC can create higher returns on marketing dollars through higher levels of customer interest.

Let's consider a disjointed marketing campaign where the central message is different for different demographics. The company's brand would be hard to focus, define and understand by consumers. Each time they see an advertisement it says something slightly different.

That doesn't mean all marketing pieces should be the same. The core message should build the essential value proposition of the brand while the contextual message should focus on the specific target audience the company seeks to reach.

Putting this in an example we may better be able to visualize how it works. The core message of a company may be we offer high quality product selections that support our customers needs. What the company offers could be guarantees, easy return policies, high quality product selections, strong customer support etc...

Thus each of the advertisements will focus on quality and customer satisfaction in each message regardless of its content and where it is run.  However, the contextual message will determine the images used, people in the advertisements, channel selection, the purchase method, and much more. 

Think of brand value as a central theme and contextual message based on the specific demographic the company is trying to reach. 1. Core message and 2. Contextual message

The use of IMC raises the value of the brand over the long run. As the company explores new advertisement methods and different types of campaigns the core message will continue to build brand value over time. This has benefits because customers who see the different messages also creates a deeper embedded image of the company as a while (i.e. GE or Costco is known for quality). Over time marketing campaigns should continue to receive higher returns through specific targeted marketing messages and higher brand awareness that spills over from one advertising exposure to another. 

GDP Plunges Significantly in Q2-A Need for Long Term Emergency Plans

It is suspected that Q2 was going to be a little of a wash. It was hoped toward the end we would see the numbers start to improve. That is a problem now that COVID is starting to make a resurgence. I was reading the historical declines in GDP in the article, "Second-quarter GDP plunged by worst-ever 32.9% amid virus-induced shutdown" by Jeff Cox and was somewhat awed by the 32.9% GDP drop. It strikes me that a little virus could stop all of us in our tracks and create such havoc on our economy. Maybe we should think of a future emergency plan to minimize spread and economic pain. 

They say that economics is an animal spirit. While we may have reduced consumer spending, government spending, and exports one might wonder how much is due to necessity and how much is due to our own fear. 

We know we have to shut some things down but the question of when and for how long is highly important. The virus was so novel we needed to just act on it without thinking through things because the information we had was ambiguous. 

That leaves us considering the possibilities of future plans. Sure we are going to experience significant change and gravitate more of our business online but we will likely need a more strategic plan by Congress and/or White House how to deal with these things in the future. 

No one knew what this virus was but we might want to consider future emergency plans based on what we learned here. Such a plan could have an impact on panic, animal spirits and help minimize future GDP plunges.

Fundamental questions like, How long do we shut down airports and travel when we first find a novel virus? Should we localize shutdowns quickly and keep as much of the economy going? Sine we know we can limp along with partial capacity businesses should we implement emergency operating requirements?

It is likely that in the near future we will need to think about have along term emergency plan. We should take what we learn hear and then apply it to future situations. Develop and draft a plan that will help us take emergency protocols that give use the most immediate options as well as provide a little time before making more concrete decisions. 

Cox, J. (July 39th, 2020). Second-quarter GDP plunged by worst-ever 32.9% amid virus-induced shutdown. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/us-gdp-q2-2020-first-reading.html

Standing Up to Bullies! Isolated Communities and "Culturally Homogeneous" Groups

Just because we grow older doesn't mean that bullies grow up and change with age. The same thinking patterns and dysfunctional mindset of inclusion and exclusion continue forward throughout their lives. When surrounded by friends that lack critical insight and exist in a self-validating group of friends there are few checks and balances to this behavior. Further, because such groups have few feedback loops they can become a menace others through the creation of "culturally homogeneous" communities. Without the capacity to self-monitor and reorient aggressive behaviors it is up to the legal system to ensure such behaviors don't continue on in a way that damages the community further.

The Problem with Dysfunctional Groups in Isolated Communities

Much of the literature revolves around child bullying and aggressive behavior in school. There is little literature in how people from an isolated communities who maintain extremely tight sports/friends groups grow up to be adult bullies. In most cases this trajectory is thwarted as people become exposed to the social and legal consequences of aggressive behavior. If they do not learn boundaries at home or in their communities people may move closer to criminal behavior as the concept of "normal" gets distorted. 

According to Resource Control Theory, bullies may utilize prosocial and/or coercive strategies to access social resources (Clark, et. al. 2020). In this case embarrassment over the discovery previous alleged misconduct and embezzled funds may have created one motivator while differences in the perceived racial/religious differences of the victims leads to a secondary social context. The motivators matched with lack of diverse exposure in an isolated community and inward validation a tight knit"clannish" group may be just some of the reasons why these behaviors occurred in this instance.

Language Indicated Racial and Religious Motivations To Behavior

In-out group dynamics based on superficial differences can be used to create racially and religious division that tear society apart. It is important to look at the language of the group and how they utilize face-to-face and online language such as Facebook and text to create social adherence and coordinated action. We can see similar inflammatory rhetoric issues not just in hate groups but also in gangs, times of war, divisive politics and much more. We must be careful on how we use language. 

According to a study of online hate group presented at ASONAM '13 Proceedings of 2013 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining behavior language choice and content are important markers of hate group activity (Ting, et. al. 2013) the language used can be telling of a groups values, intent and next steps.

Such content and linguistic analysis has been used for some time. Law enforcement uses it to reconstruct context for crimes, predict future crimes, and prosecution of past crimes. We may psychologists and human resource departments to understand group culture. It is also has been put to use in the intelligence community to discover subversive groups, derail violence, and arrest potential terrorists.

For example lets say people in the group said things like "We don't need 'those"' types of people in this town!!!!!" or made a comment like, "Let's show this guy want don't want him or 'his kind' around here!" What they are essentially doing is creating differences between people that have only small differences in order to rally their base to engage in coordinated activities. 

Lets say someone within the group challenged them about what "those people" and "his kind" actually meant. Further asking questions, and assuming their isn't a lot of ego deflection, we would find they would either mean specifically a race, religion, or other superficial difference. Further questioning might lead to a core and fundamental discovery that "those people" and "his kind" refers to anyone one that doesn't validate their distorted self-image (this becomes even more telling of the influencers in the group" and core assumptions of ethnocentric superiority. 

Challenge within the group would have indicated a healthier external point of view. It would have allowed for a little more critical thinking. Dysfunctional groups are characterized by inner validation that reinforce distorted viewpoints where questioning is not possible while more functional groups can gain outer validation where people are allowed to question poor behavior without significant retribution. As a real life example not one can say that I have done anything to them and thus everyone ostracized quickly for fear of "falling out of the graces" of central ring leaders.

We can continue to look at the environment and other markers of criminal intention. In this situation we already have a context of the use of racially charged language use such as "nigga babies", "dumb niggas", and other such terms that were pointedly used to describe children but also used in general social context to refer to others such as Black sports. The language itself becomes a marker of why such coordinated activities occur and how some are deemed as "outsiders" and some as "locals".  

It doesn't really stop there. The group also spread religiously based bias by indicating Muslims (the definition will get more interesting in the future) are violent and crazy and should be stopped with force. They went as far as to put in false police complaints with similar genre of activities while at the same time encouraging people to take on more aggressive actions. Actions that ranged from whispering and raising their nose in the air all the way to staring down children in a parking, restricting help, and encouraging an officer to walk up aggressively and ask "Do you have a gun?"

It wouldn't be hard for researchers and law enforcement officials to interview people within the group, follow up on witnesses, review Facebook/social media postings of group members, and collect group text to determine the full scope of behaviors. Names of core group members are well known and their actions have now become general public knowledge. I suspect that in a small town there are just too many close association. That is one reason why law enforcement officials should not fraternize with those engaging in hate related activities.

Small Towns and a Big America

Small towns are beautiful and offer opportunities to really get to know your neighbors. That is one of the reasons why people buy houses and raise children in such places. However, when a maladaptive personality influences group behavior that further encourages others to engage in hate based intimidation the definition of who and whom is allowed is problematic. Its not a problem if you aren't the target but it is a problem if you have responsibilities to children and others within the community that may have been injured from such behavior. 

Family oriented communities are not the same thing as ethnically cleansed communities. Ethnically cleansed is a harsh word that may technically fulfill the definition but could be slightly into hyperbole depending on how its viewed. If there is low minority rates, an active group of community members seeking to make life uncomfortable by exploiting perceived differences, and little accountability for such behavior therein lies a larger problem of complacency. So I want to walk back that highly charged term to something more along the lines of highly encouraging "culturally homogeneous" community which maintains a softer connotation more likely to be palatable to the average reader.

We want to keep our communities safe and great places to live and enjoy nature. That should not be a code word for racially and religiously motivated "cultural homogeneous" group adherence and enforcement. I do see a few mixed race children and other small sprinkles of diversity but one has to wonder if they are more or less tolerated as "lesser than" members of society in so long as they just sort of stay out of public life. It appears to be a contentious issue if they are socially active, educated, vocal, confident and highly engaged in helping the community. In other words, if they are highly visible and are willing to enforce reasonable boundaries for aggressive behavior that could draw discontent.

We should be careful to not allow malaptive personalities and a "cultural homogeneous" mindsets to become the norm of how we view our community and interact with the public. Being different is not only not wrong it can be an asset when drawn into community and political affairs to create positive outcomes. Diversity can bring new ideas and new ways of ensuring our community not only accepts the Americanized values of equality, but also improved economic positioning that can enhance the lives of residents and our children and grand children (From any background).

So what can I say? I've seen things in the past year and half that I have not seen in any other place on the planet. Instead of shying away from the challenge to help my people become better I embrace it more and with a bigger hug of understanding. Intimidation is useless if you are not intimidated. When I see the people I grew up with and played sports with and went to church with and did fun things act this way I realize the difference education and exposure made in my life (There is a lot more to that story). I want to reach back and grab their hands and pull them into the modern world and the fundamental American value system of equality and fair treatment. 

The world is changing, there is civil unrest, there are long-stemming issues racial/religious issues that are being pushed into the public debate. The locals I know are good people at heart (I could tell by the few very worried faces who were too fearful of their social networks to reach out) but who haven't had much exposure to other types of people. That lack of awareness makes them susceptible to "boogie man" stories and scary "outsiders" lurking in the shadows type fairy tales that limit their ability to fully accept the essential principles that made this country great. Once we accept the argument that America is only an idea based on core values and principles on how we treat each other, engage in commerce, and relate to the world around us we can see these hate behaviors as a detractor to our national development. If we are going to be a global bulwark against limiting and destructive ideologies that are waiting "at the gates" so to speak then we all have a responsibility to make our communities, country and nation a better place. Its our civic duty!

I believe in solutions more than complaining so I will be coming out with more information on how to develop a positive and accepting culture that leads to healthier lives and a more prosperous future for all our children. 

Clark, et. a;. (2020). Resource control theory posits that individuals may utilize prosocial and/or coercive strategies to access social resources. Child & Youth Care Forum, 49. 

Ting, et. al (2013) Content matters: a study of hate groups detection based on social networks analysis and web mining. ASONAM '13 Proceedings of 2013 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining. Pages 119-120 vhttps://doi.org/10.1145/2492517.2500254

Will The Economy Bounce Back End of 2020?

The economy has taken a "hit" and much of normal life grinded to a halt without taking the time to even screech. I'm reading the article, "U.S. Is About to Unveil the Ugliest GDP Report Ever Recorded" by Reade Pickert and much of the article discusses a bounce back based in consumer spending and re-opening. My concern is not so much Q2 in the primary adjustment stages but more so Q3 and Q4 where people have already had time to adjust to a different life pattern.

Q1 and Q2 are likely the worst of the months as consumer spending and global commerce declined abruptly. These were also the months businesses and people had to do the most adjusting. I might be able to call them the panic months where no one really knew what this COVID thing was and closed everything down. 

Q3 and Q4 have a lot of things that may indicate strong growth. Jobs are adjusting, business is adjusting, and consumers need new products they have gone without. Furthermore, they are tired of staying in and are venturing out more. We have also created safety protocols in many states that allow places like restaurants, gyms, and casinos to open. 

Much of the recovery depends on the power of COVID and our state/federal response. Yet assuming things stay relatively the same I think these will be our strongest two quarters. Q2 numbers will be interesting as a prelude and early 2021 will tell us if we will have sustained upward trajectory. There is also the possibility that 2023 shows a technology adaptation burst as companies fully integrate post-COVID technology and operational approaches to the market.

Pickert, R. (July 30,2020). U.S. Is About to Unveil the Ugliest GDP Report Ever Recorded. Bloomberg. https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/u-s-is-about-to-unveil-the-ugliest-gdp-report-ever-recorded