Re-position HR Department to Support Evolving Business Strategy

Situation
A large academic medical center initiated an aggressive strategy to distinguish itself from its market competition. Several key objectives were central to this undertaking. These included; a focus on improved customer service; visible improvements to the campus; enhanced academic offerings; and distinction as “employer of choice”.

With more than 11,000 employees, the organization has a very high profile in the community. They were recognized for excellence in academic quality and patient care. However, their reputation as a preferred employer was far more tenuous. The Human Resources function had suffered from a chronic lack of resources and was poorly positioned within the management hierarchy. Additionally, minimal HR support was available to managers and application of talent management policies and practices varied widely.

Strategy
HResults was engaged to study the effectiveness of HR services throughout the enterprise; recommend improvements to the infrastructure and design a model for HR service delivery.

Client engagement and HR staff involvement is essential to the success of this type of undertaking. Balancing the needs of the university, hospitals and physician practices presented an additional challenge on this project. Critical steps were to:

    * Obtain senior leadership sponsorship and buy-in through development of a clear set of guiding principles and defined outcomes;
    * Establish a senior level advisory team comprised of representatives from all major constituencies to provide input, hear feedback and endorse recommendations;
    * Gather feedback through interviews, focus groups and process audits;
    * Apply HR Effectiveness measures and competitive practice data to design recommendations;
    * Engage joint HR and operating management teams in targeted re-design activities;
    * Pilot process changes and service delivery model in key client areas and evaluate outcomes

Outcome
The evaluation and re-design of the HR function resulted in significant change for this organization. Most significantly:

    * The functional departmental structure was abandoned and replaced with a service delivery model with three major components:
          o A client facing “Business Partner Team” with experience and competencies matched to the diverse customer base;
          o An “HR Service Center” which is responsible for all processing and automation
          o “Centers of Excellence” for talent acquisition, reward programs and development
    * Senior HR staff were appointed to steering committees for major organizational initiatives
    * HR function moved to new, modern facilities to improve service and access for employees
    * Key processes were automated and employee self service was introduced for routine tasks such as open enrollment
    * Short term savings of nearly $200,000 were realized and longer term recurring annual savings opportunities of over $1mm were identified enterprise-wide

Associated Press sells German unit to ddp news agency

According to a report published by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper, ddp paid tens of million of euros for AP's German services, which provide news content for media customers such as newspapers, broadcasters and online portals.

The deal also grants ddp a 15-year license to adapt and use English-language content from AP's network of 3,000 reporters based in 250 bureaus in 97 countries. Observers say that will allow the Berlin-based agency to go beyond its traditionally domestic focus and provide customers with international coverage of global events.

Competitive pressures

The acquisition will see 110 AP reporters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland join ddp's pool of 140 journalists.

Peter Loew, who co-owns ddp with Martin Vorderwuelbecke, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he had high hopes for the enlarged company.

"We are going to be the best full-service agency in Germany," Loew said. "Our strategy is to make the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) dispensable."

German newspapers on sale at a kioskBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  German newspapers rely on agencies for much of their non-local contentThe aggressive strategy pursued by ddp adds to a string of bad news for dpa, which has been struggling to maintain its position as Germany's leading news agency.

Last month Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper announced it would stop using dpa services in the summer of 2010, citing high costs, while the WAZ group of regional newspapers cancelled its contract on January 1, 2009.

Growth, not cutbacks

Loew told reporters management would focus on expansion, not cutbacks, and that he expected redundancies would be limited to about 15 positions.

Representatives from AP's German works council said employees were disappointed that top managers in the United States had not kept them up to date on negotiations with ddp, and that they only found out the deal had been finalized in the press.

AP, a cooperative whose customers are mainly US newspapers, has been cutting costs to help offset weakening demand from core clients hit by a plunge in advertising revenue.

An attempt to sell its French unit failed last year due to stiff resistance from local staff.

After-market & servicing business: Bosch’aggressive strategy

Is the vehicle servicing business in India undergoing a transformation? Looking at recent developments, the first impression is a definite ‘yes’. Steps are being taken for creation of a national chain of organized workshops that is likely to vastly change the vehicle servicing market.


Currently the players in the vehicle servicing market are vehicle dealers and their service centers, authorized service centers of vehicle manufacturers, some organized multi-brand vehicle service centers, and roadside mechanics. India adds a million new cars every year, half-a-million commercial vehicles and eight million two-wheelers to the vehicle population. There is a definite requirement for quality service at reasonable prices.


Identifying a huge opportunity in this segment, Bosch is planning to expand its presence in the automotive independent after-market business. The company is targeting a turnover of Rs. 1,000 crores in the after-market and service equipment business by 2010 against the current Rs. 700 crores.To know more about the company’s business plans I recently met Mr. K. Ravi, Regional Sales Director – India and SAARC (Automotive After-Market), MICO.He said there is huge potential in the after-market and service equipment business in India.


The car business in the country is just picking up volumes, and cars are increasingly becoming computers-on-wheels with 35 per cent of the vehicle dominated by electronics.He feels that the country still doesn’t have sophisticated service equipments and diagnostic tools to cater to the growing requirement. In order to tap this potential, Bosch is expanding the product range in this business by bringing some of its global technology products into India. It is also planning to manufacture some of these products in India.


A core competency centre has been created in the country to manufacture these equipments in the MICO production complex.Indian after-market Mr. Ravi further said that, in the Indian after-market business Bosch registered a 12 per cent growth in 2006. The company has had a good first quarter in 2007 and expects the after-market business to fare very well in the coming years. The reason is that the sales of vehicles, across all segments, have been growing satisfactorily for the past three-four years.


Usually for any new vehicle, the service requirement for the first three years are met by the manufacturers through their network. Vehicle manufacturers are now offering extended warranty. As a result, vehicle owners continue to use the OEM service network even upto five years. It’s only after five years that all these vehicles come to the open market for service and repairs.


In India 50 per cent of Bosch’s current business is accounted for by the diesel segment. The products offered by Bosch in the after-market include auto electricals, batteries, belts, braking systems, clutch plates and cover assemblies, diesel systems, filters, gasoline systems, gear pumps , glow plugs, horns, lighting, lubricant oils, relays, spark plugs, wiper blades.Going forward, Bosch plans to position itself as a one-stop shop for sales and service and to make available the entire range of products to those who come for service.


The service points would not only sell the parts but also service them. The company is providing intensive training to its business partners for service of components in the after-market. It has created a training centre in each and every State and is offering training in nearly 10 languages. Training is also given on soft skills.Mr. Ravi said Bosch has a network of 750 diesel service centers and 60 auto electrical workshops throughout India, plus 150 Bosch car service centers.


There are plans to raise the number of service and customer contact points to around 1,500 to 2,000 from the current 950 in the next three to five years. Global scenarioFurther, at the global level Bosch has given a boost to its workshop equipment business. It recently acquired brands like Beissbarth and Sicam. This will further strengthen Bosch’s diagnostics unit in the workshop equipment business segment, especially when it comes to diagnostic systems.

For Bosch, the main outcome of the acquisition will be an expansion of its chassis-measurement systems product segment. Its workshop equipment range will also now include tyre-servicing equipment. Moreover, the acquisition will serve to strengthen its workshop equipment business at OEMs’ authorized repair centers.


An agreement for acquiring Beissbarth and Sicam was signed on February 14 last. Together, the two companies generate sales of roughly 90 million Euros and employ a total of some 430 associates at two locations, as well as in several sales companies. Beissbarth GmbH manufactures chassis measurement systems and tyre-testing equipment, and also sells tyre-servicing equipment. Sicam s.r.l. focuses on tyre-servicing equipment. JV with MahaBosch has also agreed for joint development of new test equipment and processes with Maha.

The two companies will jointly develop new test equipment and processes. In this, they will be merging Bosch’s know-how in testing technology related to engine segment, such as vehicle diagnostics, and Maha’s expertise in the wheel and chassis-related business, such as chassis dynamometers.With mutual co-operation, Bosch and Maha are responding to the increasing cross-linkage of mechanical and electronic systems in vehicles.


The joint development work is focused on enabling test institutions and workshops to provide efficient and expert testing of modern vehicles.Bosch car service In India a vehicle owner has two options – one is to use the authorized service centers (ASCs) of vehicle manufacturers or roadside mechanics for their repairs. ASCs offered customers standardized service at costs predetermined by vehicle manufacturers that ensured transparent operations. The huge premium charged by vehicle manufactures for their genuine parts and the cost of labor meant that customer had to settle for a higher bill.


On the other hand, the roadside mechanic used spare parts openly available in the after-market that is cheaper compared to genuine spare parts. The problem with roadside mechanics is the lack of transparency in operations as customers are short charged in components used. The structure of the market created a gap in terms of customer’s needs and expectations.


This is were Bosch has positioned itself to fulfill these needs – quality service using genuine and OE quality spare parts at an affordable price. According to Mr. Ravi, India is one of the key growth markets for Bosch. The global partnerships in the area of automotive service equipments will have a huge business opportunity in India.


Currently, the multi-brand car service market is witnessing exponential growth in India. At the same time, the second-hand car market is also expanding fast. A customer buying a second-hand car is looking for a reliable service solution, and this market has touched close to two million cars and the customers want a branded reliable service solution.


Normally the OEM takes care of service for the first three years, and now with extended warranty some manufacturers retain customers even for upto five years. But in India, the life of all these vehicles is anywhere between 10 to 15 years, and from the fifth year till the end of product life it is the independent garages that provides service to the vehicle.


The Bosch Car Service (BCS) is a global phenomenon. Worldwide there are more than 8000 BCS centers. The company brought this concept to India a couple of years back. Today it operates more than 150 of its car service centers throughout the country. The company targets 200 BCS centers by the end of the current financial year. This is a ready market available for the new range of service equipments which Bosch plans to launch in the Indian market. In the service equipment business, Bosch currently offers battery testers, auto electrical test bench, multi-functional tester, diagnostic tester (Bosch KTS and ESI tronic software), engine analyser and MICO FIP test bench.


The company is also planning to launch a low-cost version of the diagnostic equipments to suit independent garages to be sold at an affordable price.Currently the garage equipments business is dominated by many Indian and international players. Madhus, RAI and Elgi represent most of the global brands in India. Snap-On has a direct presence in India and sells the popular JBC and Hoffmann range of products. Manatec, the Indian brand has its strong presence in the domestic market. Bosch Diesel Service CentreMr. Ravi disclosed that Bosch is also planning to expand its Diesel Service Centre and provide end-to-end service solutions for all diesel powered vehicles.


Apart from being an expert in the repair of conventional diesel injection pumps and components, it is well-equipped to repair all Bosch systems and components such as Electronic Diesel Control pumps & Common Rail pumps both on and off the vehicle.There are approximately 500 Bosch Diesel Centers worldwide, including 35 in the Asia-Pacific region alone.


In India, Bosch recently inaugurated its first diesel service center in Gujarat. This center, the first of its kind in India, exhibits highest level of capability with round-the-clock service. Bosch plans to open another five more centres in the coming year, depending on market conditions and future customer needs. He said: “With the state-of-the-art testing and repair equipment imported from our parent company, the BDC, initiated by its channel partners is authorized for all Bosch after-sales service and warranty work on diesel powered vehicles.

The center is well-equipped to service a large number of modern cars and trucks, as also provide regular diagnostics and repair diesel and auto-electrical units.Bosch is well poised to take the big leap forward. It has its service network in place and is continuously expanding its reach. With the automotive after-market set for exponential growth, Bosch is well on its way to scripting another success story.

Energy Efficiency Study a Microcosm of the Global Energy Crisis

A new study, the Meta-Review of Efficiency Potential Studies and Their Implications for the South, released by Georgia Tech outlines how energy efficiency measures, if implemented now, will curb the need for more coal-fired energy plants in the future. The Meta-Review advocates “an aggressive strategy” that has old, outdated and inefficient equipment and products being replaced by new energy efficient technology. To this end, the study acknowledges that this technology is becoming readily available, but a catalyst, in some form of incentives, is needed to get the private and commercial sectors on board.

What we like about this study is that it can serve as a microcosm for the rest of the world. Look – if we want to reduce the need to scramble for energy resources and production of that energy in the future, then all sectors should realize that energy efficiency has this vast potential. A potential that needs to be unlocked.

The key is to look at what commonly wastes energy. What are a few things that require energy to run or charge that everyone has? An air-conditioner? A cell phone? A laptop? Some people have multiple cell phones or laptops. In total, 500 Billion consumer electronic and semiconductor (products with computer chips) products are produced, sold and used each year. 500 BILLION!!! Most, if not all, are vampire products – meaning they consume energy while not in use or serving their primary function. Likewise, those products account for Hundreds of Billions of Dollars of wasted energy per year and trillions of unnecessary pounds of CO2 emissions.

Implementing a smart grid, mass-producing electric vehicles and ultimately discovering new eco-friendly raw energy sources are crucial to our planet’s long-term stability, but the low hanging fruit is energy efficiency in the most prolific and commonly used energy wasters – the chargers and energy supplies of those 500 Billion vampire products. Aggressive implementation now means discovering a new eco-friendly raw energy resource for the future. That new eco-friendly raw energy resource – energy efficiency.

Asset allocation for fund investors

The importance of diversification

Sometimes it seems like the deck is stacked against small or "retail" investors. These investors compete on an uneven playing field against large institutional managers and the people on Wall Street who make the rules of the game. As members of the investing hoi polloi, most individuals would fare best if they followed a diversified asset allocation strategy using mutual funds.

Diversifying across asset classes allows fund investors to mitigate market risk because, the theory goes, different investments perform differently under various conditions. An easy way to get exposure to many different areas of the market is to buy funds that focus on different types of assets -- for example, domestic funds containing shares of small, middle-size and large companies, plus international and emerging markets funds. For additional diversification, add other noncorrelating asset classes to the mix, such as real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and bond funds.

To determine your ideal asset allocation strategy, start by assessing your goals, risk tolerance and investing time horizon.
Consider your spending needs

Your tolerance for risk goes hand in hand with what you can afford to lose. Though you may have no problem snoozing through tectonic shifts in the stock market, liabilities on your balance sheet can be hazardous to your financial well-being. Liabilities can appear in the form of debts or future cash needs.

"If you are someone who has a spending need -- tuition, spending in retirement -- that you can factor in and put a present value on, incorporate that as a liability as you're doing your balance sheet analysis," says Dorsey Farr, Ph.D., investment strategist and portfolio manager at French Wolf & Farr in Atlanta.

"That means that most people can take less risk than they might otherwise think because they have to take into account that planned spending or liability when they're doing asset-liability modeling," he says.

Some people just cannot stomach the thought of losing money even if they own their home and may never need to touch a penny of their investments. Account for your personality when considering risk tolerance to avoid bailing out of high-risk investments at the slightest sign of turbulence.
Time horizon an important factor

In a broad sense, the amount of time you have to invest will dictate your investment strategy.

The retirement portfolio of a 25-year-old is necessarily different from retirement portfolios of 65-year-olds heading into their nonworking years.

"When you're investing, the time frame is extraordinarily important. As we've seen in recent years, you could have the greatest investment in the world, but in a matter of weeks it can come down drastically because of panicked selling that has nothing to do with that company or security," says Paul Mladjenovic, Certified Financial Planner and author of "Stock Investing for Dummies" and the "Unofficial Guide to Picking Stocks."

A recovery can take several years, which may be too long if you have short-term goals such as buying a car or house or funding college.

As a general rule, the more time you have, the more risk you can take.

A conservative strategy for "Retired Ray"

One rule of thumb calls for investors to have the percentage of their portfolio in bonds that represents their age. So a 60-year-old would hold a 60 percent position in fixed income.

With life spans increasing and the very real possibility of being retired for 30 years or more, some investment advisers are recommending more aggressive allocations later in life.

"I have some retirees that still have 60 percent equity positions," says Kevin Brosious, certified public accountant, CFP and president of Wealth Management in Allentown, Pa. "As long as they have the liquidity to pull funds out when they want to, that's fine."

"It's really the lack of liquidity that will kill a plan or not allow a person to realize their goal," he says.

With enough liquidity, long-term investors can ride out market volatility and wait out the recovery.

For an investor who can't afford to take much risk due to time constraints or emotional disposition, a portfolio heavy on the fixed-income side and light on equities can offer some growth with some safety.

The conservative asset allocation model includes equities for growth, REITs and TIPS for inflation protection, and bonds as stabilizers.

 

 

 

A moderate strategy for "Ethel Equilibrium"

A moderate asset allocation strategy involves a higher allocation to stocks than does a conservative strategy. Stocks are generally more risky than bonds for a few reasons.

"An equity is a security which is a residual claim on the assets of a firm. If there is a bankruptcy, other folks get paid before the equity owners. In exchange for coming last in line, there is potentially more upside," says Farr.

Upsides of stocks include possible dividend payments and increases in share price, also called capital appreciation.

To find the best mutual funds for your allocation plan, Mladjenovic recommends first determining the appropriate category and then filtering down the choices from there.

"People often choose the (fund) that is just in the wrong category," he says. He cites an example in which an adviser put his client's college fund into an Internet stocks fund.

"I thought it was a ghastly decision," he says. "In that fund, they could have chosen the greatest Internet stocks in the world, but it was too great a risk," says Mladjenovic.

When evaluating actively managed funds (as opposed to index funds), compare their cost, management tenure and their performance relative to their peers and benchmark.

 

 An aggressive strategy for "Bold Betty"

Stocks aren't the only asset class to consider for investors interested in a growth-oriented portfolio.

The goal of an asset allocation strategy is to have a number of different asset classes with a low correlation to one another. Even if someone is diversified through the entire universe of equities, all can react similarly to a bad business cycle.

"You have to think about the underlying factors that they might be exposed to," says Farr.

Farr recommends that investors consider gold and Treasury securities when looking for assets that are not correlated with the stock market.

Both "would be a safe haven when the economy starts to do poorly. Or gold sometimes responds to concerns about inflation. Treasury securities ... are counter-cyclical in that when the economy gets weak, interest rates tend to decline and investors pursue safer assets," Farr says.

Heed this warning, though: In 2008, when the financial crisis unfolded and the stock market tanked, every asset class was adversely affected.

Since that's bound to happen from time to time, your investment plan should be based on the worst-case scenario while you hope for the best.

Lilly's Rough Patch Has Analysts Questioning Strategy

Eli Lilly (LLY), which has taken one body blow after another of late, on Tuesday threw in the towel on its much-anticipated Alzheimer's treatment, semagacestat.

The drug failed in its phase-three trials, Lilly said.

Lilly separately has recently suffered two court losses to generic-drug makers.
Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter wants the drugmaker to reinvent its

Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter wants the drugmaker to reinvent its "innovation engine," but some analysts want to see a more aggressive strategy. AP View Enlarged Image

Observers say it's time for the company to change strategy and look to make some acquisitions.

That runs smack-dab opposite the strategy extolled by Lilly CEO John Lechleiter. His strategy is "reinventing our innovation engine here," as he put it in an earnings conference call with analysts last month.

But the engine is sputtering. Lilly is appealing a judge's ruling Thursday that invalidated its patent for the ADHD drug Strattera. On Monday, Lilly asked a U.S. District Court to block all generic versions of the drug until Lilly exhausts all appeals.

The patent was to run until 2016.

Generic-drug makers Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA), Mylan (MYL) and others are ready to launch generic Strattera. Generic competition commonly knocks 80% off the cost of a branded drug.

And on July 28, Lilly failed in another court to protect the patent for its chemotherapy drug, Gemzar. That patent was to expire in 2013.

A failed drug in phase-three trials means a write-off of many millions in already-incurred costs. The loss of a product to generic competition can cost billions in future revenue.

Lilly's stock has fallen more than 9% since Aug. 10, after sliding 2.3% Tuesday to 34.75.

Gemzar sales were $750 million in 2009. Lilly's Strattera sales last year were $600 million worldwide, $450 million in the U.S.

If prices fall 80%, then that's more than $1 billion off the company's top line, which was $22 billion last year. Add it up over the years until patent expiration, and that's more than $5 billion in forgone revenue.

"It's hard to see a reason for the stock to go up without a major pipeline success or without the company making some aggressive strategic moves," said Seamus Fernandez, an analyst with Leerink Swann, which has done business with Lilly.

Lilly's last big deal was its $6.5 billion purchase of ImClone in 2008, though it has made some acquisitions since. Last month, it bought privately held Alnara Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. Alnara is working on biologic drugs for metabolic diseases.

Simple strategy for slot machines

Faced with the aggressive strategy of the simple slot machine, most players use the strategy of conservative stop loss. In this way, are capable of mixing aggression with caution, and therefore get the best of both.

Strategy Run Game Slots strategy is called to execute the game, because it is hitting a machine unless you leave what you want, this strategy leaves no room for sentimentality or instinct, use only the minimum bets that lets you quickly find the best machines. Run the game is a good option for everyone.

Naked and Pulls Limit Loss Before entering the specific approach of running the game, it is first important to understand two concepts that are central to the strategy; Pulls Naked and limit the loss.

Tire means a nude performance with a round win. A player must determine a slot number of spins on a machine that will last without a victory before considering the cold and go to the next machine.

A loss limit is the percentage of your money you’re willing to lose on a machine before leaving it. Between the number of Pulls Naked and the loss limit, their interests will be protected and not continually put a lot of money after the machine has a good bond.

a privately-owned business services group with its roots in shipping

About Us

Bibby Line Ltd is the shipping division of Bibby Line Group Limited; a privately-owned business-to-business services group with its roots in shipping. Following an aggressive strategy of diversification in the 1980s, Bibby Line Group is now involved in ship owning and operation, shallow water accommodation, offshore oil field services, contract logistics, financial services, memorial parks, employment law and health and safety advisory services and retail.

The company was founded by Liverpool entrepreneur John Bibby in 1807 and has its head office in Duke Street, Liverpool.

Bibby Line has built a strong reputation over 200 years in business for professionalism, integrity and quality and is regarded as the oldest privately owned shipping company in the world. This combined with Bibby’s financial strength allows the shipping division to respond quickly to new opportunities.

Throughout its long and illustrious history, Bibby Line has a record of involvement in almost every aspect of marine industry, having owned, managed or operated all types of vessels and has built an enviable reputation for safe and high quality operations, particularly specialising in niche shipping activities.

With a clear and aggressive strategy, Bibby Line aims to grow, diversify and further strengthen its position in chosen market sectors. It has the resources and particularly committed employees to deliver growth and prosperity to its stakeholders.

Cramerica Runs on Natural Gas

        “This whole move is predicated upon the idea that Washington has at least embraced natural gas, that this cleaner, greener fossil fuel — I know it’s fossil, which puts it in the dog house — will be a part of our energy future. Take Anadarko, Anadarko Petroleum is one of the strongest derivative natural gas plays, one of those I’ve been recommending since January 12th, when it was at $38.33. The stock is now up to $54.40. A 40% increase.

        Even as the price of the commodity has just been crushed.

        If natural gas is going to be part of our energy future, then Anadarko is a fantastic stock to own. And its second quarter, recorded record sales volume, selling 4 million more gallons than the midpoint of Anadarko’s guidance. As well as record drilling, the company was able to run fewer rigs but drill more wells and the cost of wells coming down. Anadarko’s a great growth energy with new discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi, a major new project in Ghana that was approved by their government in July and another project in Algeria that’s expected to start producing oil in 2011.

        The company’s also done a great job of hedging its natural gas 80% of anticipated natural gas volumes, hedged at $4.18 in the summer months. Hey, who would ever thought that was going to be good, right? And more than 75% of its 2010 natural gas volume’s protected with a middle floor of $5.60 and an upper ceiling of $8.25. So, even if natural gas prices don’t bounce back hard, Anadarko’s still in good shape.

        APC

        And it’s not starving for cash, either. Remember it raised $1.3 billion with that secondary offering in May? That was at $45.50. Made a lot of people money. You’re up 20% if you got that offering price. Even, again, natural gas collapsed and they raised another $109 million in debt in June, leaving them with $3.5 billion in cash at the end of the quarter and no debt coming due until 2011.” — CNBC’s Mad Money 8/24/2009

Cramer invited Jim Hackett CEO of Anadarko Petroleum (APC) onto his show to discuss the natural gas industry. As you can tell from Cramer’s lead-in to the interview, he is very high on Anadarko specifically and has been recommending them since January. More generally, he is very interested in discussing the benefits of shifting America’s energy infrastructure to run on natural gas that has been produced here in America instead of continuing to import crude oil from all over the world. He made a compelling case for natural gas being a step in the direction of energy independence, and we can hope that this kind of thinking makes its way to Capital Hill soon.

Looking at Anadarko in particular, we think management is doing an exceptional job of dealing with slumping natural gas prices. As mentioned, APC had the foresight to hedge 80% of their production at $4.18, which seemed low at the time, but this has turned out to be a wise strategy as prices continued to fall. In addition to smart hedging, Anadarko management continues to increase production through the downturn. While other producers are forced to slow down production in hopes that prices will rise in the future, APC’s aggressive strategy makes it one of the best positioned to meet today’s challenges.Mad-Money_8-24

Anadarko has appreciated more than 40% year to date, and is currently Fairly Valued by our methodology. Based on the company’s current EPS and revenue figures, we would expect APC to trade somewhere between $45 and $62. With that in mind, our analysis would obviously become more positive on Anadarko if the price of natural gas starts to recover. This is a very real possibility as the ratio oil to natural gas prices has reached 26.35x, which is the highest it has been since at least 1990. Prices reflect supply and demand of each commodity, but we would expect a reversion to the mean over time.

The chart to the right lists each stock that Cramer talked about on Monday’s Mad Money. Please visit Ockham for a complete recap of Mad Money.

Tight Aggressive Style in Poker

If you’ve read our basic poker article about categorizing your opponents, you should already be aware of the 4 typical playing styles in poker using the following labels:  tight, loose, passive, and aggressive.  In that article, the tight-aggressive strategy was described as the most effective strategy for beating low limit cash games, single table tournaments (SNGs), and low buy-in multi-table tournaments (MTTs).  How do you play a tight-aggressive style?  Let’s break it down.
Playing Tight

The first step towards playing a tight-aggressive style is playing tight. Playing tight means getting involved in less hands and folding more hands preflop.  Probably the biggest mistake that new poker players make is playing too many hands.  Being selective about the hands you play will plug this leak and increase your winnings immediately.

The most important thing that being selective does is it helps you conserve chips by folding bad hands right away and not trying to chase second best hands.  For example, folding hands like Ks8s helps you avoid going broke when your opponent makes an A-high flush to your K-high flush and saves you chips when the flop comes king high and you are facing a stronger kicker.

A lot of the money you win or lose playing poker will occur during hands that don’t go to showdown.  You will save yourself money by simply playing tight and folding marginal hands preflop, instead of folding them after you’ve paid to see the flop and missed it yet again.  Playing a tighter range of hands is also helpful for maximizing your credibility when employing the second part of a tight-aggressive strategy, which is playing aggressive.
Being Aggressive

Being aggressive in poker means constantly being on the attack.  Your main actions are betting, raising and reraising.  You rarely check or call.  You don’t wait for your opponents to act and then react to their actions.  As an aggressive player, you want the other players at the table to be forced to react to your actions.

A basic tenant of poker is that it takes a stronger hand to call a bet than it does to raise.  Therefore, if your hand is good enough to call, it’s definitely good enough to raise.  This forces your opponent to have to make the majority of the difficult decisions.  This is a very important concept to remember when playing a tight-aggressive style.
Why the Tight-Aggressive Style is so Effective

The table image your create when implementing a tight-aggressive style is hard to combat. Your tight hand selection gives your opponents the impression that you only play strong, quality hands.  It also makes your bluffs more effective.  For example, your opponents will more apt to believe you have an overpair on a flop containing all low cards than they would against a looser player.

The aggressive component of the equation makes your hand strength difficult to read.  By playing your strong hands, medium-strength hands, bluffs and draws aggressively by betting and raising, your opponents will have a difficult time putting you on a hand.  If you maintain a uniform bet-size regardless of the strength of your hand, such as 2/3 to 3/4 of the pot, you will be able to further disguise your holdings.
Final Thoughts

The tight-aggressive style is the most important strategy new players should learn when they start playing poker.  It combines the two most effective playing styles of poker and helps new players develop the fundamentals required to excel at poker.  By playing tight, you will generally enter pots with an advantage and win more hands at showdown.  By playing aggressively, you can keep control of the action and force your opponents to make the difficult decisions. The tight-aggressive style is the most optimal strategy for consistently beating low limit cash games and low buy-in SNGs and MTTs, so it’s definitely a style you’ll want to master as soon as possible.

Honda’s Aggressive Strategy: Hybrid Green Technology

Honda’s new president Takanobu Ito has announced that he will draw upon the legacy of Honda’s founder to try to ride the current storm in the auto industry; he will do this while trying to offer an aggressive strategy with its hybrid green technology.

The founder, Soichiro Honda was known for his love of cars as well as his boyish personality; sadly, he passed away in 1991. Ito has stated that Honda is to speed up its hybrid vehicle plans, the next vehicle is to be its CR-Z sporty hybrid, this should be released in February 2010 in Japan.

Honda also has plans for a Hybrid Fit subcompact before the end of 2010. Honda are also in the planning stages of offering a CR-Z for the North American and European markets, but it is not known if there will be hybrid versions for these reasons.

Las Vegas Sands Rethinks Macau VIP Strategy

HONG KONG—Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Macau unit is taking a second look at how it markets itself to high rollers after last week dismissing its chief executive, Steve Jacobs, who was a key proponent of direct marketing to clients.
 Sands China Ltd., lauded by many analysts for its aggressive strategy of improving profit margins by cutting out middle men known as junkets to bring big spenders to its casinos, will "study the economics" of using intermediaries to bolster business versus marketing directly to VIP players, the company's newly appointed acting chief executive, Mike Leven, told Dow Jones Newswires on Thursday.

"It will be a number of months before we come to a conclusion," said Mr. Leven, who is also chief operating officer at Las Vegas Sands. Sands China is Macau's second-biggest casino operator by market share after Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings Ltd.

Las Vegas Sands's decision to re-examine its strategy in Macau comes amid a whirlwind of change at the Hong Kong-listed unit that has seen its chief executive depart amid rising tensions with Chairman Sheldon Adelson, as well as the appointments of two top executives in less than a week, all while the company struggles to restart a stalled $4 billion expansion project in Macau.

Mr. Adelson said on Las Vegas Sands' second quarter earnings call Wednesday that its Macau unit may pull back its efforts to drive the direct VIP business, despite analysts' estimates that the method is able to deliver double the margins of VIP business facilitated by junkets.

"We are in active discussion right now since we terminated Steve Jacobs about the wisdom of accentuating the effort for direct premium play," said Mr. Adelson.

Junkets, who bring high-spending gamblers to the casinos, issue them credit and collect on debts in exchange for commission. Although junkets do cut into casinos' margins, they are able to drive business volumes and reduce credit risk because they could be more familiar with their clients' financial standing, reducing the chances of bad debt, which is particularly troublesome to recover in China.

As gambling debt isn't recognized in China, there are no legal means for casinos to recover debts owed to them by Chinese players, which account for the majority of their customers.

Sands China has improved the margins on its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to 28.5% in the second quarter from 22.6% in the same period last year under Jacobs' leadership, demonstrating the company's "effort to cultivate the direct VIP business is time well spent," Citigroup analyst Anil Daswani said in a report Thursday.

But the casino operator's new management now wants to make sure its bold strategy to save on junket commission fees hasn't been the company's relationships with these intermediaries, long a powerful force for driving gambling revenue in Macau, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.

Sands China wants to make sure it doesn't lose valuable junket business to competitors such as Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s Macau unit by alienating these middle men with its strategy, Mr. Adelson said on the call.

The company's strategy reappraisal highlights an evolving debate in Macau over the best way to drive business from high rollers, which have powered Macau's nearly 70% year-on-year growth in gross gambling revenue in the six months ended June 30. VIP play accounted for more than 70% of total revenue for the period, according to analysts.

There are currently 75 active junkets in Macau, the top five of which control about 80% of Macau's VIP market, CLSA analyst Huei Suen Ng said, citing industry sources.

Though Sands China's efforts to drive direct VIP play "should ideally help margins," the strategy could "result in higher balance sheet risk," Morgan Stanley analyst Praveen Choudhary said in a note Thursday.

There are also concerns casino operators can't match junkets' client sourcing abilities: "We all understand the margins are better with direct but the question is if the operator can keep growing that business," said Credit Suisse analyst Gabriel Chan.

Sands, though arguably the most aggressive proponent of driving direct VIP business, isn't the only operator to do so. Wynn Macau, for example, does pursue its own high-end customers, but not in large volumes, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Aggressive Strategy

The goal of the aggressive strategy is to skip the initial chitchat. You want to jump straight to the appointment. You will make e-mail and phone contact almost simultaneously. The goal is to reach the prospect by any means necessary as quickly as possible to begin the enrollment process.

Overview of the Follow-Up Process

Below is a flow chart representing the basic steps necessary to effectively follow up on an Internet lead. The process begins when a potential student e-mails a request for information to the school.

To view flow chart click here.

Auto Response
An auto response is an e-mail generated automatically. It goes to the person submitting a request for information from the school. This is the first step in the process, and it acknowledges that you received the prospect's request. Provide your school's phone number in the auto response. Begin selling the value of a one-on-one meeting with an admissions representative at the campus.

Contact Method: Phone
In an aggressive strategy, contact your prospect by phone first. Contact forms generally request both daytime and evening telephone numbers. They should also ask for the best time to call. Use this and other supplied information to guide your follow-up. You should contact the prospect as quickly as possible.

Attempt phone contact at least once in the morning, during the day, and in the evening. Make contact attempts within 12 to 36 hours of receiving the lead. If you get a machine or voicemail system, leave a message. Make sure to leave your name, phone number and the reason for your call. Emphasize that you are responding to their request. This will indicate that the prospect solicited your call. Make sure to suggest 2-3 times during the day when it is easy for them to reach you. Finally, let the person know you will be making additional attempts to contact them. Leave only one voicemail message – on the first attempt. But let them know you'll call back. You do not want the prospect to feel harassed if additional calls from you show up on a caller ID log.

Once you establish telephone contact, work through the admissions process as you would with any other lead. Maintain control of the conversation. Guide the person to schedule a time to visit the school.

Contact Method: E-mail
It's important to realize that some people prefer e-mail to phone communication. You should e-mail a standardized letter to the prospect if you are unable to connect with them on your phone contact attempt. Develop one standard letter for your school and save it as a template. This will allow anybody who is aggressively working Internet leads to access and use it.

Prior to sending an e-mail as part of your aggressive strategy, set aside time for an appointment for the following day at the latest time you have available. If they indicated their daytime availability in their e-mail, you may also schedule the visit during that time. Assume that the prospect will be available and willing to meet during the time you have set aside.

Your standardized e-mail letter for this strategy should:

   1. Be customized to the information the prospect provided on the contact form. Make sure to use the prospect's name. Mention some specific information supplied in the initial request, such as program of interest.
   2. Have a subject line that makes your e-mail stand out. You don't want it viewed as spam or junk e-mail. An example of a good subject line is "Jim, your appointment has been scheduled."
   3. Let them know that you have scheduled a time for a one-on-one meeting at the school. State the precise time you have set aside in terms of quarter hours, e.g. 10:45 a.m., 4:15 p.m. or 6:45 p.m., and provide the meeting location and specific directions.
   4. Focus on the benefits of your school. You want to speak in language that assumes their desire for an appointment. State that you can answer all of their questions and discuss their opportunities during this visit.
   5. Use proper grammar and spelling. Most e-mail programs have grammar and spell-check functions. Use these before sending the e-mail message, but not as a substitute for careful proofreading!
   6. Be as concise as possible so you won't lose the prospect's interest.

Though you may encounter a small percentage of people who feel you are being presumptuous, and a few who never actually see this e-mail, most people will call you to either confirm or reschedule the appointment. Some actually just show up. Either way, this aggressive strategy generally results in a phone call and/or appointment. A common result of the aggressive strategy is:
•     10% show up for the appointment
•     35% do not respond and need to be pursued
•     15% call to confirm
•     40% call to reschedule

If the Prospect Does Not Show Up or Call
You may find yourself into a situation where the prospect simply ignores the scheduled appointment. To follow up with no-shows, call immediately, concerned that they did not make it. Whether you leave a message or talk to them directly, make sure to express concern. "Jim, I was concerned when you did not show up for your appointment … I hope everything is alright."

In most cases, prospects will claim that they did not receive the e-mail. In this case, apologize for assuming that they checked their e-mail daily and move forward with rescheduling the appointment. If you cannot reach them by phone, send an e-mail.

Now that you've seen 3 different strategies, let's move on. The next section will address the different types of Internet leads and the steps of the sales process. We will also address frequently asked questions and share testimonials from our clients.

When you finish reading the next 3 sections, we'll ask you to take a quiz on what you've just learned and fill out our short survey to give us feedback on the site.

Everything Everywhere reveals business plans

T-Mobile and Orange joint venture pledges to increase customers’ productivity by 15% in aggressive strategy to gain corporate share

Everything Everywhere has pledged to increase business customers’ productivity by 15% over the next three years, as part of an aggressive strategy to gain corporate share.

The T-Mobile and Orange joint venture has announced a 'renewed commitment to partnerships' with improved customer service that will see its staff incentivised on customer satisfaction.

Martin Stiven, Everything Everywhere vice president of business, said:  ‘Our vision of giving customers access to everything everywhere is extremely powerful for our business customers.   Being the UK’s biggest operator gives us a unique opportunity to do something special for business.’

The company said it intends to ‘actively drive partnerships with companies from all sectors’ to provide its business customers with ‘pioneering new products and services’.

Stiven, said: ‘Whether for hardware, software or companies from non-technology fields, we want to work with the very best on partnerships that innovate and provide our customers with something new. At Everything Everywhere we are throwing open our doors to partners who can help us achieve this goal.’

Meanwhile, the company will capitalise on technological advances and the R&D capabilities of parents France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom to deliver new ways of working and increase effectiveness and efficiency for business customers.

Areas of focus will include: Machine to machine, where it will drive a shift in business across transport, retail and the supply chain, as well as enabling new business models such as smart metering; new markets for mobile solutions such as healthcare –  the application of advanced technology to increase productivity and reduce costs for health workers and organisations; information everywhere – eliminating artificial restrictions on which device and communications technology to use and integrating core system and business applications across channels and devices to genuinely enable business everywhere; and HD Voice, to open up new applications in noisy environments and provide a better environment for business communications such as conference calls.

All Everything Everywhere business service staff will be based in the UK to ensure they have a 'deep understanding of the commercial challenges faced by customers'.

For small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, Everything Everywhere will use the Orange and T-Mobile brands’ reach through shops, online and channel partnerships with 'focused propositions' targeting specific customer needs.

Meanwhile, the company will develop services and propositions for new medium and corporate customers through a single brand that offers ‘all the benefits’ of Everything Everywhere.  The Orange brand will target new large business customers.

Stiven said: ‘Our aim is to significantly increase our business customer base by making the most of our resources and the Orange and T-Mobile brands to target the diverse business audience.  We will offer services based on the way businesses want to buy from us.’

Trade unions switch to aggressive strategy

After years of agreeing to moderate pay hikes to safeguard jobs, Germany's powerful unions are gearing up for a dramatic change of strategy, bidding for wage gains that bosses say could derail the recovery.

    * O2 cuts 1,100 jobs - Business & Money (8 Oct 10)
    * BMW and Daimler sales surge - Business & Money (8 Oct 10)
    * Brüderle backs big pay rises as economy booms - Business & Money (7 Oct 10)

Heavily dependent on exporting quality German-made products, the economy, Europe's biggest, was hit harder than most by the global crisis but now appears to be recovering faster as demand across the globe picks up.

Foreign orders are booming, the country's low unemployment has been hailed as a "jobs miracle," top firms are reporting strong profits and consumer and business confidence levels are soaring.

And having contributed, they say, to this performance by not pushing for pay rises during the tough times, trade unions want a slice of the pie now the recovery is setting in.

"In this first wage round after the crisis, we want to ensure employees get their fair share of the upswing," Berthold Huber, head of IG Metall, one of Europe's biggest unions, wrote in the Rheinischer Merkur daily. "That is good for the employees, good for the economy and secures jobs."

"We want our part of the recovery," said Oliver Burkhard, another senior official from IG Metall, which represents more than two million workers in the steel and metalworking industry. The unions have German public opinion and many economists on their side.

A recent poll for ARD television showed that seven in 10 Germans thought union demands for a three-percent pay rise was "appropriate."

Peter Bofinger, one of the "five wise men" that advise Chancellor Angela Merkel on economic policy, called for a "strong increase in wages of at least three percent" saying it would boost Germany's sluggish domestic demand.

Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Union, Bavarian sister party of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said in a recent interview he "absolutely" understood union demands for higher wages.

Unions have been "unbelievably responsible" in the past two or three years, which has enabled Germany to overcome the global slump better than many of its European neighbours, Seehofer said.

Fearing mass lay-offs amid plunging growth, IG Metall agreed in February a two-year deal with a pay freeze and a one-off payment in 2010 followed by a 2.7 percent hike next year.

On the other side of the negotiating table, employers' federation head Dieter Hundt warned it was "premature" to talk of wage hikes as the German economy is not yet completely out of the woods.

Some also caution that the unions' change of strategy could lead to German inflation taking off and eventually to European Central Bank interest rates climbing off their record low levels.

"German inflation slumbers but the alarm has been set," Commerzbank economist Eckart Tuchtfeld wrote Friday in a research note about German wage policy.

But the Financial Times Deutschland said bosses should not fear increased union pay demands as labour leaders have shown they can be responsible when times are tough.

"For unions to demand massive wage increases in light of the DAX (stock market) ... would of course be ridiculous, as the upswing is still too fresh and risky," the newspaper wrote in a recent editorial.

"But companies should not fear moderate demands, as unions have actually in recent years demonstrated that they are more sensible than some have claimed."

Nevertheless, Hundt warned that workers should wait until the upswing has fully taken hold before expecting a share of the proceeds. "We must not put the current recovery at risk," he told German radio. "It's still not yet time to start partying."

STRATEGIES

STRATEGIES

Aggressive

The Aggressive Strategy seeks to grow portfolio asset value through directional investments based on the portfolio manager’s views of the economy, the markets and fundamental investment analysis. Investments in this strategy will typically include a wide array of instruments including, without limitation, stocks, options, bonds, credit derivatives, corporate loans, and funds employing those instruments. This strategy will generally have long, short and hedged positions. It is expected that position concentration could be as high as 10% in any individual investment and 20% in any index or fund.

Moderate

The Moderate Strategy seeks to provide a balance between aggressive growth oriented investments and income producing instruments. Investments in this strategy will typically include a wide array of potential instruments, including, without limitation, stocks, options, bonds, credit derivatives, corporate loans, and funds employing those instruments. The strategy will generally have long, short, and hedged positions. Emphasis will be placed on investment diversification, and it is expected that position concentration could be as high as 5% in any individual investment or 10% in any index or fund.

Conservative

The Conservative Strategy seeks to preserve capital and produce income. A majority of the Account Assets will be invested in fixed income instruments, including, but not limited to, Treasury bonds, municipal bonds, money market funds, certificates of deposit, corporate bonds, corporate loans, and funds employing those instruments. Account Assets may also be invested in the equity markets through instruments such as, but not limited to, dividend paying stocks or funds comprising similar instruments. At the portfolio manager’s discretion, moderate hedges may be used in the Account to reduce risk. Emphasis will be placed on investment diversification, and it is expected that position concentration may be as high as 5% in any individual investment or 10% in any index or fund.


PERFORMANCE

Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Therefore, no current or prospective client should assume that future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by LHCM) or product made reference to directly or indirectly by LHCM in its web site, or indirectly via a link to an unaffiliated third party web site, will be profitable or equal the corresponding indicated performance level(s). Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will either be suitable or profitable for a client or prospective client's investment portfolio. Historical performance results for investment indices and/or categories generally do not reflect the deduction of transaction and/or custodial charges, the deduction of an investment management fee, nor the impact of taxes, the incurrence of which would have the effect of decreasing historical performance results.

Tight Aggressive Poker Style Basic TAG Poker Strategy

Approaching the game of poker can be intimidating for any inexperienced player. Online poker takes away a large part of the intimidation factor, but a beginning player is still left with the difficult, strategy-based decisions that will determine his/her expectation. In this article, we will cover Basic Tight-Aggressive (TAG) Strategy.

Tight-Aggressive is probably one of the easiest styles to learn in No Limit Texas Holdem, simply because you are playing fewer hands. The word “tight”, in this case, refers to your starting hand requirements. Tight poker players will will rarely open a pot with a very weak starting hand (although even the most TAG player will loosen his/her requirements when opening a pot in position).

The word “aggressive”, in this case, refers to the way you play your hand in relation to the pot size and your opponents’ actions and reactions. A basic Tight-Aggressive player will mainly be forcing the action pre-flop and post-flop by raising or betting, constantly making opponents pay for entering pots with mediocre holdings while putting them to the test after the flop is seen.

Two things a consistent TAG player should always be on the lookout for from opponents are kicker strength and the possibility of being dominated by a huge hand post-flop. Many beginning players in today’s game would be surprised to learn that basic tight aggressive strategy, on its own, is not enough to be profitable at any game level above micro stakes. If you’re going to employ any broad-based strategy, you’ll need to learn and adapt to how opponents are playing against your table image.

Tight-Aggressive players, for the most part, enter pots where their starting hand represents an above average showdown value while having a reasonable chance of dominating others’ starting hands. In other words, there truly IS a ton of value in raising with Ace-Queen on the button, and getting one of the blinds to flat-call with a weaker Ace. More often than not, your Continuation Bet will double as a Value Bet, since you’re likely to be holding the best hand after the flop comes.

Beginning TAG players bet their hand strength, and bet it aggressively (at least on the flop they do)… hence the beauty of repeatedly getting opponents to pay for the privilege of seeing flops with inferior starting hand ranges. Opponents are repeatedly forced to either donate expectation with their post-flop draws, or muck… and this is pretty much the elementary theory of Tight-Aggressive play.

However, TAG strategy is highly exploitable, and simply can not survive on its own, especially versus competent players. Non-expert TAG players are constantly caught off-guard by players who trap with their own premium hands. Perhaps the most common (and unprofitable) trait of playing this type of strategy is the ease of becoming stubborn. Once you enter a pot or bet a relatively strong hand after the flop, it requires an enormous amount of discipline to rethink your betting lines once an opponent plays back at you. It can be argued that one of the main reasons people are willing to flat-call preflop raises with mediocre hands is because stubborn TAG players blindly bet their starting hand strength in spite of unfavorable community cards.

In order to play ANY style successfully, a player must put in the necessary work and make correct decisions in situations where “style” gives way to “what’s best right now”. Successful TAG players know how to value their strong starting hands… but perhaps more importantly, they know (more often than not) when they are up against a superior holding. If you are consistently stacking off with hands like Top Pair, Top Kicker in a deep-stacked blind structure, it won’t be long until you’re pegged by players who pay attention.

Especially in cash games, there are plenty of players who simply lie in wait for predictable TAG players. On nearly every site, it is common to find players who play 4 or more tables at a time, and give away tons of information without realizing it. More than anything, you DO NOT want to become predictable in deep-stacked blind structures.

So what’s the answer to turning a profit as a Tight-Aggressive player? Well, you must realize both the pros and cons of such a style. Take note of why exploiting edges is so necessary, but also work to discover how another player will attempt to chip away at your edge… and react/adapt appropriately. TAG is a style… and an extremely generic one at that. It’s highly profitable against opponents who have an unhealthy disregard for patience. It’s highly exploitable against opponents who know exactly what you’re doing.

As always, the determining factor of expectation is YOU. Learn how to play TAG… practice it… embrace it… make use of it. And when your opponents figure out what you’re doing… discard it in favor of a more-profitable “style” that will earn you the expectation a situational decision-maker deserves.