Manufacturing Rises PMI Up to 61.2% for May 2021

The ISM's index of national factory activity increased to a reading of 61.2 last month from 60.7 in April. This would mark the 12 month of overall expansion. You can look on the PMI site and find some of the following highlights from the main page (ISM May 2021): 

-Demand expanded, with the (1) New Orders Index growing at a strong level, supported by the New Export Orders Index continuing to expand, (2) Customers’ Inventories Index hitting another all-time low and (3) Backlog of Orders Index continuing at a record-high level.

-Consumption (measured by the Production and Employment indexes) indicated slowing expansion, posting a combined 8.2-percentage point decrease to the Manufacturing PMI® calculation.

-Inputs — expressed as supplier deliveries, inventories, and imports — continued to support input-driven constraints to production expansion, at higher rates compared to April, due to continued trouble in supplier deliveries.

You should really take a look at the site because there are lots of detail and highlights on manufacturing in the country. One thing is supply and labor issues. This is where companies can invest in improved productivity and in turn digitization of industries or they can go to a low cost alternative (American-Mexican partnerships as an option. Don't forget donations to the orphans I keep trying to help!) 

New CyberAttack Highlights Need for Investment in Digital Infrastructure and Economic Platforms

Another large scale cyber attack highlights the need for changes in the overall digital infrastructure and economic platforms. We are working with data infrastructure that is disjointed and not secure and will continue to struggle until we bump up to the next level (See Information Age Economic Platform). A recent increase of different types of attacks on important governmental and business entities seems to create a more dire situation of improving our data storage and infrastructure resilience (See Updated Infrastructure and Security). 

Short scope is that these are isolated pockets of cyber hunters trying to randomly gain information and resources from companies and got "lucky". Worse case scenario is that it is testing weaker companies in hopes of shutting down bigger industries in a coordinated manner (Gas, Food, Electric, SolarWinds, Etc..). I hope its not a perimeter/adaptation check but researchers might want to take a take a peak. 

Kind of makes you think one of these entities hit a "jack pot" of information somewhere and/or got good at obtaining data from multiple sources? or cross country coordination? 🤔 This is why we need more blockchain and dispersion of data into smaller pots. By the time someone hacked a number of pots (many of them are freelance businesses so they would have a pattern that reflects their entity)  there would be lots of data footprints (Unless you have the right sequence the guessing itself leaves a data point that can be traced back to the originator. I think I read that once in computer magazine. Probably would work? 🤷)

Countries like Russia and Iran have gotten really good at these hacks as "passive-aggressive" sort of ways of proxy fighting against a larger country like the U.S. Its also cheap and effective from a military standpoint. China is also good at hacking but their ideology seems to be much different and they are more "purest" in their philosophical driven behaviors. It does tell us we need a new generation of cyberwarriors and extended network coalitions in the cyber world. That also doesn't begin to discuss the need to innovate not only our military but also next generation manufacturing, space exploration and a whole host of other industries to stay ahead. (New Military Honor Codes Ok I read a lot..sorry 🤓). 

I'm not a cyber expert but my generation was one of the first adaptors of the Internet for widescale use (Kind of weird growing up with no air conditioning, chalk boards and pull down maps and then leap forward a few decades to biocyber, robotics and this stuff. Yikes! The new generation knows nothing of the old ways except what was in the books. Gosh! I'm Old!😬) and we made rap, breakdancing, and early techno cool. We were after the polyester era (side note I hear polyester pollutes alot).

Two Firefighters Shot in LA-What is going on?

There seems to be a spat of people using guns to solve problems. In this case two LA firefighters were shot. Copycat killers are possible and perhaps even a likely explanation. However, I would very much like to know if there are any similarities between the different events, affiliations, ideology, etc...between the different events.

While these appear to be independent events we should always keep our mind open to alternative explanations such as a connection (I doubt it but who knows). We do know we need serious mental health reform to help people before something big like this occurs (assuming its mental health related) but politicians are still struggling to find solutions.

Firefighters are good people and their only job is to help others and help their community. Such behaviors defy any sense of good more conscious. Local and national profiles should be created to dump data from all of these different events to specifically focus on cross comparison and analysis to find similarities. Extremely sad state of affairs. :(

Does Hyper-Politics Limit Freedom of Speech, Knowledge Sharing, and National Development? (Virtual and Physical)

Freedom of speech is one of the most important values our country can have. It is also one of those values that produces the most benefit for society. Whether we are discussing public issues that impact a country or we are discussing issues as they relate to workplace (cross functional teams) we find that knowledge sharing makes a big difference in outcomes. 

Freedom of speech is knowledge and idea sharing. It is a process of where people are given the right to express their ideas and opinions without retribution and silencing (intentional or not). 

If you sit in a board room and/or meeting room you will become increasingly aware if you pay attention to the body language and cues that some are given a bigger microphone than others. Its natural in social setting for some to lead and some to follow. 

It is also natural that some have more knowledge and intelligence than others and some struggle to keep up with the pace of conversation. What we do find is that healthy teams are open to members contributing knowledge and should not be limited by specific requirements to come to pre-existing solutions. 

For example a study of  103 cross functional team respondents using mediation regression analysis and structural equation modeling techniques found the following (Knuckes, 2021):

Cross Functional virtual team environment, social trust predicts knowledge sharing when mediated by intention to share knowledge. 

What the study is saying is that when teams (virtual and likely applies to non-virtual) want to accomplish goals through new ideas they will need to create social trust to encourage knowledge sharing (As manages we may need to create the right environment and team loyalty.)You can read more about the study HERE. 

Those societies that are open to new ideas will advance and develop while those that suppress new ideas through rigid social structures (i.e. China single party or U.S. hyper politics) will eventually start to decline as people come to realize that only certain voices, ideas, and people are capable of coming up with good ideas (Societies with elites wealthy "connected" and non-elites poor and "disconnected"). Think of who/whom in society has the largest microphones and whether or not they are qualified to really give advice to the rest of the country and party followers (This isn't for/against any particular party or person. Its just a point to be made about logical inconsistencies in some arguments promoted and how people accept arguments without sufficient critical thinking. One possible theoretical explanation is we can see similar alpha behaviors and compliance in food choice among vervet monkeys through the  neuroanatomical similarities of evolution.).

For example, an idea that adjusts an innovative process could expand R&D budget outcomes by 1.5X. That might result in first in advantages and market leading products/services which raise revenue and put a 2nd place company (or soon to be) onto the top of the market with significant market advantages. If that idea wasn't shared the company might continue to loose its market share (See Swotch Strategy). 

This is why the U.S. has been so successful for so long. It had an ideal that it strove for and it drew in as many people as it possibly could. While it wasn't perfect (Yes we do still have problems to work on.) it does seek to improve with each generation. However, hyper politics forces people to rigidly adhere to one opinion or another opinion and that leads to the stifling of innovation and development (Look back over the past two decades and see how it might be possible that the rise of hyper politics also means limiting ideas and growth and development).

Knuckels, L. (2021).Effects of Social Trust on Knowledge Sharing, Loyalty, and Effectiveness in Cross Functional Virtual Teams. Trident University International, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2021. 28417632

Watch Joe Biden's full 2021 Memorial Day address

 A pretty good speech. America really is only an idea that we live out in our daily activities. It is one of those countries were we have an opportunity to create a truly open advanced society that moves beyond the paradigms of the past. Republican or Democrat....no difference......we should all have the same end goal even though we may need to compromise on the methodology. 

Memorial Day-Honoring the Warriors of the Past While Keeping an Eye on the Future (Budgets and Battleships)

We as a society have a lot of choices to make over things that range from domestic affairs to military budgets. Our soldiers and warriors of the past gave us an opportunity to make more choices today. They made sacrifices so that the rest of us could continue to have maximum options to create new opportunities. We should keep an eye on the future of our nation and how cyber warriors matched with advanced military tactics and equipment can blaze the trails need to give the next generation their chance to carry the nation's torch of freedom. 

Let us remember that freedom is not free! Its responsibility lay at all of our doorsteps and no one gets a skip over responsibility pass. There are some who recognize the work of freedom and there are others who desire to stifle it for their own self interest (Self-oriented behavior can get in the way of collective goals).  

The assumptions of the past no longer serves the realities of the future. We are in a transition stage where the work of freedom is complex and difficult to define. We must compete not only with our military but also with how we function as a society (Freedom is multifaceted. Without a free society based on equality we can't compete economically and scientifically to ensure military or economic readiness for our next stage.)

Every time we step up to meet the risks to our essential truths we become stronger as a society. When institutions and people don't step up to meet those challenges the wings of freedom are clipped. 

There are people all throughout our country who make the many thousands of small choices everyday to advance toward or away from freedom. Chances are they don't even know they are doing it but their choices add up to have big outcomes (Are you serving your country in small ways that range from volunteering to community building? Have you welcomed a new family in the community? It all ads up to create a national environment and culture for success.)

Most Americans are far removed from the horrors of war. It is all too easy to send people overseas without having to do the mental work at home first to ensure defined successes (The military needs clear purpose and sufficient support before tackling complex problems overseas). There is costs to war and should always use evidence based decision making before committing souls to our national causes (The bigger purpose should guide those decisions.).

We must keep an eye on the future and what we want this country to look like a few decades from now. This isn't up to our politicians, military, or "connected" but up to each of us to take those small positive steps to do what is right in honor of the past and in diligent effort toward a brighter future. When the dream of freedom is swallowed up by poor decisions and/or ineptitude the fault and consequences lies on all of us (We are a democracy.). 

There are a couple of positive articles our national leadership should consider before jumping to quick conclusions and costly mistakes. The very nature of our military and its leadership abilities are changing before our eyes. It is up to them to think strategically about creating maximum options and opportunities for the military in an emerging era before voting along political lines (i.e. not thinking for themselves).

A Commander and Chief at West Point stated, "We need your Honor — that inner compass that guides you, not when the path is easy and obvious, but when it's hard and uncertain; that tells you the difference between that which is right and that which is wrong." Honor has shifted toward the idea of an inner compass that allows one to draw from their own strengths and value systems even when there is no social kudos for one’s actions (See Changing Military Honor).

You may also consider how advanced leadership can be used in our civilian world to create beneficial change that helps generations succeed. That often requires our current political structure and institutions to be willing to adjust and adapt to develop a stronger more competitive society and military. Sometimes we have to partner industries and cross breed competencies to maximize efficiency and alignment (See Civilian-Military Leadership). 

"All Americans Are Free" by Geoff Livingston 

While I'm a Muslim-Catholic and to many people who sacked our capital don't believe people like me (or anything different than themselves) have a place in our society I don't recall seeing them in the trenches; or even their ability to discover and see those trenches. (See FBI Capital Riots Insurrectionist Search) I would like to continue serving my country in small ways in the second half of my life through generating new opportunities (We can't expect the spotlight and sound bite/byte seeking politicians to know all the answers. We must hedge all of our societal knowledge to come out on top of the challenges coming our way.). 

Freedom doesn't come from crushing a beer can on your forehead and waving a flag....it comes from people trying to help their country and doing meaningful things that lead to open doors and future opportunities. As we ponder the $715 Billion Budget the Pentagon (summary and official) we may want to ask, "What can you do to maximize the outcome of that budget through military-industry mutual development?" See Start-Up Firms for Space and Military.

Attracting Multinational Headquarters to Innovative Locations (Delta County Model)

Continue to work on the concept of allowing for greater intellectual draw to the U.S. along by finding a tax system that draws corporate headquarters (HQ) and its associated intellectual capital to the United States to better calibrate its tax system to the future of digital economics. You can read more about the overall piece of HQ and Infrastructure Invest (Which will be adjusted when new info arises) and the overall theory in which it will be placed Transactional Clusters. Its important explore modern and emerging tax structures to keep the nation competitive and moving into higher performing economic platforms. The problem of our growth and failure often is in the political realm and not in the ability to find new methods ( Why we should support R&D and allow science/evidence based to guide our decision making). 

There is a difference between a full functioning HQ and one that has been hallowed out to a shell. Unfortunately companies like to play legal games and keep their legal status in one place but have most of their functioning operations overseas. 

According to the study entitled Why Do Multinational Corporations Relocate Core Parts of Their Corporate Headquarters Abroad? companies analyzed 58 of 100 largest Dutch firms to find that the factors as to why a company hallows out their HQ is influenced by (1) an increase in the degree to which the HQ is internationalized; and (2) a decrease in the perceived attractiveness of the home country (Baaij, et. al 2015).

One of the reasons why companies keep a small HQ in their home country and but then gut it for other locations is because of strategy. Strategic considerations found in the study include the following:

(a) better quality communication and knowledge exchange with overseas strategic stakeholders (i.e. information spillover and diverse talent);

(b) access to higher quality international strategic resources, including capital, talent and services clusters (bettered mastered in a cluster where such environments can be created); and
(c) access to a lower-cost fiscal regime and a higher quality legal and regulatory regime (i.e. strong patent protection, legal structure, and law systems).


How that fits within my strategic cluster model includes 1. better clustered communications and knowledge exchange, 2.) focused capital, resources, talent spill over, and shared services, and 3.) lower costs and higher legal and regulatory environment. Putting the right resources within the right area raises value for firms in a way that moves beyond simple lower tax options.

The study seems to confirm the idea that headquarters can be attracted by a competitive HQ tax rate that also encourages greater access to the resources that create the highest value proposition. That also means we don't necessarily need to be the lowest taxable location but should provide tax flexibility (a calibrated option) as long as firms move/keep their HQ and percentage of operations (avoiding shell HQ) to the area (i.e. Delta County) in order to maximize industry related development. 

R2-1 HQ  can be attracted and retained through 1. better clustered communications and knowledge exchange, 2.) focused capital, resources, talent spill over, and shared services, and 3.) lower costs and higher legal and regulatory environment (Baaij, et. al 2015).

Here are a few things we might want to keep in mind. I'm trying to apply the ideas to a theoretical model for Delta County Michigan (See Start Up Firms Delta County) to see if it can attract diverse investments from the international community. Specifically focused on engineering/design firms that need access to advanced small batch beta and custom manufacturing. It is hoped that it will result in greater innovative growth in advanced technology (i.e. aerospace, military, outdoor, etc...) through new theoretical models (See Multi Clusters Delta County and Congressional 1st District News) and provide a framework for a national model (specially designed clusters to innovate key industries and in turn the national manufacturing chain). 

-A side note here. We are often limited by existing theoretical and philosophical works that led to current tax systems. Some politicians (I only say some) have more fun throwing food across the table then actually solving problems (Its their job to solve problems!). We have to break out of that mode in the next state of national development if we want to attract investment to the U.S.. What is written here isn't intended to disprove other tax systems but develop an option to consider further exploration. It might provide a middle route (top down and bottom up) where attracting HQ through a tax structure that maximizes intellectual capital draw (clustered industry innovation and tax rate) while at the same time maximizing tax revenue when innovative products butterfly supply chains throughout the country (mass production and bottom up skilled labor).

Baaij, M., Mom, T. Van den Bosch, F. and Volberda, H. (2015). Why Do Multinational Corporations Relocate Core Parts of Their Corporate Headquarters Abroad? Long Range Planning, 48 (1). Pages 46-58 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024630112000477