Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Discusses Monetary Policy

The presentation was stuffed full of little details. I suspect there were a lot of people watching for business reasons and seeking to look into the crystal ball of what the Federal Reserve plans to do next. The video helps highlight how solving our societal problems means we need to use different tools in places where they are most effective. To me, this is supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of Millennials to help them create more of their own opportunities and bring manufacturing back to the U.S. That will only happen if we have policies that encourage low interest business loans match with local, state and regional stakeholder policies that attract investment and entrepreneurship. 

Its their new world anyway.......

Inside Higher Ed Article on "Moody's: Coronavirus Drives New Business Models, Disruption for Higher Ed"

I'm reading the article, "Moody's: Coronavirus Drives New Business Models, Disruption for Higher Ed" by Rick Seltzer and what I find is that our environment forces us to adapt and change in ways that we have a hard time grasping until we have few options left. Online education has been growing for some time and there is not a strong case for including more of its strengths into higher education models. The pandemic highlights a few things that we should consider.....

Online Capacity Building: Its hard for universities to build up their online offerings because of culture and expertise. Slowly, online education has become a viable option for professor employment and work arrangements. If we transition thoughtfully, we can integrate traditional teaching modes of thinking with more nimble online development. There is a balance to be played here in tradition and adaptation. Sometimes we may want to consider constructing that capacity in homegrown initiatives or buying that capacity somewhere else such as outsourcing.

Traditional Campus Capacity: Traditional campuses are wonderful places to learn, develop and grow. They create a physical space for students to have a place where learning is at the center of their world. Memories are created from campuses and people are forever tied to their school identities. Some schools are unlikely to see the same foot traffic as they once did and cost structures might change to reflect a dip in face-to-face students (i.e. live stream classes) What to do with those buildings and the extra capacity is going to be a big question for leadership if we can't bring campus attendance up.

The author brings up a good point about outsourcing versus creating internal capacity. Having a user friendly interface and high customer service is going to be an important aspect of successful online education. A positive experience improves retention. Online education has really changed over the years and can offer course materials and interactive learning in one place and setting. Virtual learning is based on the powerful information transference of the Internet and we will still need professors to interpret that information and provide their expertise. 

Outsourcing has advantages in terms of specialized knowledge gained through working with different industries and application of features to industries and institutions that may not have working knowledge of such online platforms. In this case, online education knowledge is a must for any successful in-house program and if a university doesn't have it then they just don't have it and must find a different place to obtain capacity.

Outsourcing the essential core functions makes sense when you need to build your internal capacity and seek to focus on other business management aspects. There may come a point where you do not need the help of a service provider but that is also dependent on how the service provider adapts to their environment as well. If they use their starting knowledge to truly capitalize on innovative so that there are market advantages to staying with the firm then they can maintain real value. Fall behind on creating "scalable" new technologies and your future prospects turn dim. 

Its a pretty good read. Here is the citation for it. 

Seltzer, R. (August 27th, 2020). Moody's: Coronavirus Drives New Business Models, Disruption for Higher Ed . Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/27/moodys-coronavirus-drives-new-business-models-disruption-higher-ed

Dealing with Unclear Business Decisions: Application of Evidence Based Thinking Principles?

Graduating MBA students are taught to think critically and use evidence in their decision making. When the information isn't there they will need some way of making sense out of market fogginess. Utilizing evidence based decision making will help you think critically about decisions but also be able to develop new research that can lead to novel market findings. Using evidence and filling in the gaps when information is missing is part of what innovation is all about. Helping graduate students understand evidence based decision making and how to dealing with market ambiguity is important. 

While it doesn't always make financial sense to continue to dig for more information it does make sense to use some type of model to understand ambiguous information and make sense of it. One of the reasons why it is so frustrating is because there are lots of different possible outcomes and it takes a while to sort through all the different ways things connect and reconnect. Lots of mental spaghetti. 

Strategic decisions rely heavily on data to minimize risks and when data is missing they must learn to deal with it effectively. One of the ways to do this is to move through a check list to see that you covered the most important basis for narrowing your choices. 

1. Make sure you know what your goal is so that you can weigh all decisions on their achievement of the goal/objective. 

2. Organize data points chronologically or thematically. If you are trying to create a time line then you will want chronological that leads to trending. You may also want thematic information that seeks to group concepts to capture insight into certain potential choices. 

3. When you find gaps in the data then you should go out and find some more data if its available. Know specifically what you are trying to answer based on your goal/objective and see if there is available market data. If you can't use other's research you may have a unique problem and need to go it alone by creating new research........

4. Conduct research from existing data sources or create new data sources when there are important questions unanswered. For most companies they can use existing research but some companies may need new research to make important decisions. 

5. Analyze the information for association, causation, trends, patterns, etc... Look at your data from multiple viewpoints and uses. 

6. Organize and display the information in a useful way of understanding and maximizing its value to stakeholders (academic or industry). Sharing your research leads to a stronger body of knowledge and more innovators in society. 

7. Decisions should be focused on what might be logically connected, what areas are supported, the understanding of potential risks, and what are the most likely scenarios and outcomes. You can consider ranking the importance of goals as well as developing a strength rating (i.e. 1-100) to create a final value for any decisions you make. If it doesn't work then you got some of the methodology or calculations wrong and you can take that feedback to improve your model for another round of decision making. 

Critically based evidence decision making is an ideal form of making business decisions. However, when information is missing you should use some type of more formal analysis to better map (i.e. game theory, decision tree, etc...) that can better help you more objectively take a look at the information. Nothing is truly objective but can be more or less objective than sticking your finger in the air to determine the next course of direction. As the quality of the data sources, research and triangulated sources rises so does the "business intelligence" use of critical thinking models. 

Education Research Service Projects (ERSP) by The American Educational Research Association

 Education Research Service Projects Program

Special Call for Proposals

Deadline: August, 31, 2020

 

The American Educational Research Association is currently accepting proposals for a special cycle of Education Research Service Projects (ERSP) initiative grants to address the dual pandemics facing education and learning in formal and informal contexts: COVID-19 and systemic racism. AERA’s Education Research Service Projects initiative encourages education researchers to offer their pro bono expertise to educational organizations, institutions, or other community groups that have identified and expressed a need for such assistance. The ERSP initiative provides small grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to defray direct costs involved in these projects.

 

Special Call for Projects Focusing on the

COVID-19 and Systemic Racism Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered the physical places where education formally takes place in the United States and across the globe, from childcare through graduate education. The broad impact of school closures on student well-being and academic outcomes as well as uncertainties about what education will look like in the months ahead are introducing new challenges and raising new questions for educators, institutions, and families related to the safe, effective and equitable provision of education at all levels. Simultaneously, educators and students are also facing the persistent reality of systemic racism in the United States. The recent murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis and the public outcry highlighting longstanding inequities in our education system have prompted many schools and other organizations to look more closely at the manifestations and implications of systemic racism. In the current context, there are increasing opportunities for education researchers to leverage their expertise in ways that are relevant to addressing these pandemics at the local level and serve the public good.

 

As part of AERA’s efforts to respond to the impact of these dual pandemics, a special call for Education Research Service Projects invites proposals that address through research service: COVID-19, systemic racism, or the intersection of the two. Education researchers are encouraged to submit proposals to offer their expertise, on a pro-bono basis, to address issues and questions related to these pandemics that educational entities or settings (e.g., childcare supports or services, schools, school systems, colleges and universities, community organizations) are currently facing.

 

The special call builds upon the Education Research Service Project Initiative’s broad aim to engender a culture of service that is responsive to significant needs at the local level and to support education researchers in using their skills and expertise to serve the public good.

 

The proposal deadline is Monday, August 31, 2020. For more information, please see the Special Call and Guidelines. If you have questions about the special call or the ERSP program, email edresearch@aera.net.

Jim Paulsen Chief Investment Strategist Discusses Investment Breadth and Concerns

Investment is highly important for our country as companies are launched and financed through our markets. I'm trying to learn more about big investments and how it might impact places like Delta County Michigan that have potential for investment in local businesses and tourist related micro-manufacturing. Investments can lead to long-term development of multiple income streams.  

To that end the video discusses small cap stocks and diversification. I'm wondering if a city/county could create an investment fund that would allow larger investors who want to finance local business can buy into the fun and local business mix. 

Within each fund is a battery of local businesses that helps investors build a market through investment planning. It will also allow multiple businesses to grow together. For example, if I wanted to spark a micro tourism manufacturing clusters I might have small businesses with that cluster in one fund. Therefore, investment money moves directly into that cluster and those businesses that are likely to create the highest return on investment. 

That might be a good idea if investing in packs with larger funds leading to high growth for the individual business and even higher for the fund as a number of businesses that are growing and developing off of each other within a high innovation market lead to even higher growth rates. 

I'm not sure if it has been done. Probably it has been done a lot. Yet if can try and create these special funds (assuming they don't already exist) we can push innovation up faster than investing in individual businesses alone. New industries and new businesses for Millennial might be a good thing. 

Michigan Gov. Whitmer COVID-19 Briefing 8/25/2020

You may want to watch the video. Flu shots and business opening. What she says about flu shots makes some sense especially if the risks are low, its covered under most people's plans and readily accessible. There is no need to compound problems unless it is necessary. Since the two diseases have similarities they want to risk compounded variables. Also if there is a preventative aspect then it might be wise to get one. 

Republican and Democrat National Convention 2020 Day 1

 Republican National Convention Day 1....

Democrat National Convention Day 1....