Global 100; Ricoh makes the list for the 5th year in a row…

In a press release that reads “RICOH MAKES "GLOBAL 100" LIST FOR 5th YEAR IN A ROW “Ricoh touts that they have earned this prestigious award for the fifth time. The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World is a project initiated by Corporate Knights Inc. (a Canadian magazine focusing on corporate social responsibility) and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, (research firm that sells information), and is a list of companies that are the world’s most sustainable. A sustainable corporation is defined as a company “that produce an overall positive impact on society and the environment."

“We believe that a company’s ability to manage its extra-financial aspects, such as those related to environmental, labour, and human rights, is a powerful proxy and a leading indicator for its overall management quality. Management quality, in turn, is the single greatest determinant of companies’ financial performance. The aim of this initiative is thus to promote better managed and better performing corporations regarding sustainability issues.” – Selection from the Global 100’s Mission Statement.

The list has been maintained since 2000 and this is Ricoh’s 5th year to make the grade. At first I was a bit leery about this list but after further review seen that Forbes and others have written about this list and its validity. “The list is not a ranking. It looks only at AAA-rated corporations that can be considered models of sustainability, and they are picked to cover a broad range of industries.” – Forbes Article 100 Corporations That Will Survive 100 Years

In Ricoh’s press release they talk about some of the factors that got Ricoh on the list and the importance that they put on sustainability. “One of the overwhelming factors in Ricoh’s favor was the company’s "Year 2050 Extra-Long-Term Environmental Vision," and how its current management strategies all support this initiative. Ricoh’s strong performance in the other three key indicators also contributed to its inclusion in this year’s list.” – Ricoh’s website

In a world where almost all competitive companies have an environmental policy, social responsibility policy it only makes sense that they parley this “mission statement” into a forward thinking sustainability movement. It is top of mind as workers that we seek employment from someone that is “sustainable.” Now more than ever newly unemployed are looking for somewhere to hang their hat that they can feel comfortable that they will not have to pick it up at the end of the day. Not only do workers want a safe place to work, they are also the same consumers that speak with their pocket books.

The sad thing is as applaud-able as a “Global 100” is it is very subjective and the organizations that put the list together didn’t give a methodology that is beyond reproach in fact it is a bit vague. The entire list could be pure hyperbole and an elaborate marketing scheme to help promote more products/services via advertising and elaborate analysis reports. One would hope that we would have enough real motivators to promote companies that can produce for the long haul but in a world of “quick thinking,” everything is suspect.

Ricoh on the other hand has had a long standing environmental policy and has actively been a forward thinking corporation that strongly thinks “green.” It will be interesting to see how this list produces against the Dow Jones industrial average and MSCI World Index over time. It is interesting to note that this list changes dramatically from year to year so one would wonder how sustainable the “lost companies” were. Although this list is more art than science there is a lot of “witchcraft” involved as everyone is being graded on a curve and not truly compared to each other and with no true standard set as a goal or “perfectly sustainable company.”

As companies look to “make a difference,” and to “make headlines” more and more we will hear of their efforts. As important as they are to the overall impact that a company has both good and bad to our environment they also impact the bottom line and affect their investors. Let’s hope this list helps to motivate corporations in the right direction and not just to spend more in “disinformation advertising.”

Pirate Mike

For more information on Ricoh’s sustainability efforts one can look to: http://www.ricoh-eco.com/

Konica Minolta Imaging the end of the Danka Legacy

After receiving about 15 calls from fellow Konica Minolta-ians and Danka-ites it became evident that a mass slaughter had occurred just a few weeks ago on a Friday at 4pm about 500 people from sales and service were walked to the door and said "don't let the door hit you …" Konica Minolta service managers with 15-20 years of tenure and all of the Konica Minolta National Account Sales Managers, "You job has been eliminated." Thank you for your service but we don't need you anymore. You will get a severance package "if I fill out the paperwork properly" have a nice day!

This is part of the bloodletting that I referred to in a blog or two ago. We are at the beginning of a new age. Konica Minolta has shown that due to the inflation of the Yen that they are 50% or worse off from last year. Yasuo Matsumoto the Chief Executive Officer reported in the 3 Quarter Earnings report that their net income was done over the last nine months by -51%. That is a substantial amount for a company that had a very aggressive go to market strategy. But even Konica Minolta was not unscathed by the Ricoh acquisition of IKON. The new RiKON accounted for 100 million dollars of high end Konica Minolta production gear per year. That was more than all their other channels together including their Konica Minolta Business Solutions. Now that IKON has a full on Rioch and Kodak strategy Konica Minolta will have to rely on their direct and dealer channels to push the gear.

Now the new group minus the chaff that they separated from the wheat just a short time ago is now the go forward group that still has very little direction. Local reps are not 100% of their roles and even where to show up for work. What is in store for the band of merry men? They seem to have divided the responsibility of the high end production to Danka folk and have let the down the street business to the Minolta folk sorry Konica Minolta folk. Does that give my heritage away? Well what I can say is that a lot of really very dedicated and very talented service professionals were sacrificed the other day and to what end? What can be gained by separating the worker bees from the hive?

I am always curious to watch and see what Konica Minolta does. Rumors had it that they were buying Oce. But that now doesn't seem to be much of a reality. What does seem to be happening is that they have taken all that was left of Konica and put them on the front lines as "down the street" salesman even if they were major account or national account reps. Equalizing everyone to the same task, "transactional business." Konica Minolta, both sides and the new company was never good at project management and large deals, and always reverted to transactional business as they cannot see past a 30 day or better yet a weekly forecast. They have little or no analyst support, no presales support and very little if any understanding of the "solution sale."

This has to be hurting them in a world that is very "solutions oriented." In a world that is looking for "turn key" solutions, and printer fleet management, and managed print services. The days of walking in and asking if they needed a fax machine or a copier are over and they have not quite adjusted to that yet.

Watch for some interesting turn abouts if they ever get their patented inkjet technology to work in mainstream production environments. After introducing a new textile inkjet printer look to see them get in with the craze of manufacturers that are working on high speed inkjet printers that had Drupa filled with new vendors and exhibits.

To all of you that were sacrificed I am sorry that you paid the ultimate price to help them make up for the appreciation of the Yen over the dollar and Euro which accounted for -31.8 Billion yen. We know that you are the reason that they were successful and hope that you find yourself a home in the companies that are expanding and increasing their market share like the new Rikon.

Pirate Mike

The Corporate Persona

It is funny how companies take on a personality of their own. Many times a company's success of failure is dictated by their culture. What I find interesting is that there are volumes written about corporate culture but few really seem to mean much. Let me tell you what corporate culture is not. Corporate culture is not a "mission statement." Is doesn't look like something that is generated by HR or anywhere else within an organization that is manufactured. The world culture comes from the Latin word cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate". This is interesting as corporate culture is cultivated but can only come from a naturally occurring source. I have seen good "corporate cultures" and bad ones. Neither of which really were things that people could control; they just manifest themselves based on realities that exist. The prevailing culture comes from the top; I have heard it many times, "speed of the leader, speed of the pack." When you see a group failing, look to the top and typically you will find poor leadership. Emotions and Feelings are human they are also embodied by companies as they are built out of the building blocks of people. Everything that "is" a company becomes the persona and is reflected in the corporate culture. In the witnessing of this culture both good and bad I have learned that good leaders spend a lot of thought in building, preserving and protecting a group's culture. This becomes an intangible asset more powerful than the people themselves. It is the power by which fuels both the internal and the external. It can take a new hire and drive them to success of failure. It can also bring new vendors and clients to the table just by its existence.

Entrepreneur.com called corporate culture, "A blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals and myths all companies develop over time." I think this is a very accurate description as it talks to the elements of what comprises the culture but one thing the definition doesn't talk to is how the elements affect each other or which ones are weighted the most. If the truth be told you really cannot create the formula for the culture as it is a living think with everything becoming a chemical reaction to the others. This chemistry ultimately creates a unique ingredient that has the power to build or destroy what it touches. This energy is the force by which pushes a company to greatness or drags a company to its knees. It is so sad that very few pay any attention to the development of a strategy for the creation of a good and solid culture. I think most managers mid and high level look at it as an exercise that was taught in a business class that has no real application or relevance to true business success.

Corporate culture can be a headquarters initiative and a "in field" phenomenon. Many companies try to control or manipulate the culture without having true merits to its creation. This culture manufacturing can backlash. Once someone realizes that they have been mislead in their beliefs distrust begins to build that is much harder to pull down than the walls of China. Employees hate to be treated like cattle and want to be treated intelligently and fairly. Good managers and organizational leaders learn quickly whom they can entrust with the truth. This handing out of the truth builds trust and loyalty as it is a very rare trait in people especially when money is involved. Most will sell out to trickery and simple manipulation to get the results they desire and in so create a culture that becomes a hidden liability. It becomes a ticking time bomb that will go off when you least expect it and typically when you cannot afford it. It will take out your best people and leave you with followers that have no direction.

A quick way to create a dangerous culture is the use of disinformation. As a company our objectives, goals and directives are only as good as the sum total of the people carrying out those objectives, goals and directives. Bad culture comes from lack of leadership or poor leadership. A strong leader will create warriors while a poor leader creates thieves and victims. The results are evidence of the quality of the leadership. Poor results equal poor planning and poor execution. And the lack of a quality culture come from the lack of weight given to the creation of a strong culture and bond which can hold a company together in the toughest of times. In a soft economy like what we are experiencing now it is even more important than ever to bring forth strong leaders and to pay attention to the culture that we create if we are to survive to fight another day.

The sad thing is that many companies spend more time thinking about things that are not core to their business. They major in the minors and never get a chance to step up to the plate to hit a "home run." Many a fortune 500 contender has gone away do to a lack of focus on their core competencies, and maintained simple strategies that will take them to their ultimate goals. I work for an office equipment sales and service company that is owned by a manufacturer of office equipment. What is interesting is that we administrate ourselves to death. We spend more energy on things that do not make us money and refuse to focus in on money making activities. We know what problems we have but are unable to solve them. Our problems are just ignored as they are "too big" to surmount. Logistics, Supply Chain, Customer Relationship Management, Order Entry, Order Fulfillment, Service and Support all our noble things to excel at. These are elements of any business that if neglected will ultimately contribute to its failure. But without a strong culture even a company that has all of these things ironed out cannot survive especially in times like these when even the secretary is a pirate.

As I survive another merger I just watch the ants in the colony work, all the time thinking…

7 Deadly Sins; The Qualifications of a Copier Salesman

Seven Deadly Sins… The qualifications of a copier salesman…

I have uncovered or become aware of some odd understandings relative to work over the last couple of months. I am not sure really sure how to articulate them, but what I can do is describe them to you and you can figure them out for yourself.

The idea of 7 deadly sins is not spoken of in the bible directly but was used in early Christian teachings to illuminate the idea that man was prone to sin. Catholic teaching broke sin into 2 classifications, venial and mortal sin. The 7 deadly sins are capital or mortal sins.

Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century, and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the seven deadly sins are as follows: luxuria (extravagance, later lust), gula (gluttony), avaritia (greed), acedia (sloth), ira (wrath), invidia (envy), and superbia (pride).1

Every day I walk a simple path.

I talk to people and listen to their problems. After considering the causes and effects of their situation I ask them questions to probe into what they have done to fix their problems and how that effected their situation.

I pay close attention to the things that bother them the most and try to get them to prioritize their problems and find out what they are willing to do to fix or remove the problems. I identify the people involved in the problem and the people that are affected by it. I try to assess how much the problem costs them in both hard and soft costs.

Once I get a picture of who is involved and the process that they go through to solve their problems, I get an idea if this is something that they want to fix now or in the future.

At the end of the day I have to sit with myself and put together a plan of action and present it to the people that are responsible to fix the problem. If they buy into what I have put down they agree and act, if not they disagree we discuss it further. If we cannot come to an agreement we both go our separate ways and they continue with the situation that they have as it was before I came along.

This is the life of a document management equipment and services professional.

We are sometimes referred to as the "copier guy." I am sure that in this day and age we should be called the "copier person," as the gender reference is quite unnecessary. In this game either sex has the same opportunity to participate in the 7 deadly sins that are so profound in this industry.

When I talk about being a corporate pirate most laugh and think I am joking or exaggerating the situation but if you could be a fly on the wall in our building and the many buildings just like ours you would not sleep at night.

Ok, that is probably an exaggeration, but it would shock you and in many cases disgust you. After almost 5 years in this industry many things make me feel ashamed of the people I work with and for.

I have said that your success with a company like mine as a customer is dependent on your connection to it. If your rep is not good, neither will be your experience with the company they work for. Manufacturers and dealers of office equipment and document management services work on a very basal level. And in many cases the parent company or distribution organization is quite evil by nature. Your only hope is to have a buffer "rep" to keep you whole in the experience, or at least minimize the beating (both financial and emotional) you will take from it.

I most of the time try to overlook how others act and the underlying tones that are so prevalent in my business. I try very hard to balance myself and offer solutions to problems and charge people a equitable price somewhere between the extremes that are going to be presented by my counterparts. I also try to the an expert in the areas of topic so that I bring value and am not making money without earning it and putting in the work needed to earn the business for the long term.

I was privy to a conversation which displayed the ugliness that is so frequently seen that makes even the most native business person wary of people in our industry. When dragged into the conversation I was a presented a scenario and asked a question. I answered, "oh that is greedy you can't do that well I mean you can but you will be exposed and the customer will hate you for life."

Everyone looked at me like I was a Martian speaking Swahili.

I for a brief moment remembered why I consider leaving this business almost daily. The sad thing is it is the culture that has been fostered for many generations of salespeople and managers and is not needed at all.

You could almost say the 7 deadly sins are the 7 needed qualities of a "copier salesperson."

Companies interview perspective employees and make sure that they have ample quantities of each of the 7 deadly sins and forgo any real qualifications.

My first boss said, "Michael even a monkey can do this job." He further illustrated, "I could tape a lease to the back of a blind dog, kick him out of the building and eventually he would come back with it signed." He would later prove himself correct and become wildly successful as a salesman, sales manager and then a branch manager for a fortune 1000 company.

So let's for fun look into the world of a copier salesperson just briefly and examine the qualifications first hand shall we.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 1

Latin: luxuria (extravagance, later lust)

In copier sales an effective sales manager will show a young salesperson how to drive their desires for things which of themselves are not evil but to excess are lustful. Whether it is sex, money, power, control if you are still breathing surely you don't have enough of any of them.

A good copier salesperson will never be satisfied, and will always be disappointed with how much they sell, how much they make (see greed), how quickly they get promoted, how long their vacation is. A great copier salesperson will stop at nothing to further their lust of all things corporate.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 2

Latin: gula (gluttony)

In copier sales the best sales representatives will be easily identified by how well they gorge themselves on all things corporate. Copier salespeople are not temperate or aware that they should have any natural limits to anything the desire (see above).

A good manager will gather his or her sales people together on a regular basis and teach basic gluttony. This is really quite a simple thing to learn, you just take your newbie's out and feed them a $200 dinner, drink 2 or 3 bottles of very expensive liquor/wine, and have grand discussions on how they too can have more than they can legitimately use for themselves. A good sales manager will take the new people out shopping and show them how to buy things they don't need or will ever use.

The virtue of overkill will be a daily practice until they even employ it in their own lives.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 3

Latin: avaritia (greed)

Money is just the beginning of greed. A good sales manager will make sure to teach the principle if the customer is spending $10 and is unhappy they will gladly spend $20 to be happy, even when the solution costs $2 and can be sold at a profit for $4. Why would you save the customer $6 when you can increase their budget based on the pain they have and make an extra $16, $8 of which you will get to keep.

Managers are quick to instruct their salespeople to get what is theirs and a bit more. It is so bad that over time it becomes so common that the goal is to see how much you can charge someone without them going bankrupt before they make their first payment and lock themselves into the deal or before they realize how bad they got screwed.

Greed goes way beyond the customer but reaches into the team that they are on and the associates that they work with. Greed says that you must sell everything in your neighbors' pond before reaching into your own. A good manager will promote greed as it facilitates the need to sell more and makes everyone more competitive as they must to survive.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 4

Latin: acedia (sloth)

This is a principle that is taught by the manager that has to be managed all the time. It is the manager's job to manage focus of their salespeople and ensure that their needs are met first. Sloth is taught as a privilege. If you over achieve and sell more than anyone needs, and ensure the managers needs are cared for you can do absolutely nothing.

They are taught to sleep in, stare at their computers, take time off. It is the reward for proper lusting, greediness, gluttony as well as the other 3. When you have overloaded on the other 6 deadly sins you must Sloth. Slothing becomes a way of life. You wake up driven by the lust of being over full (gluttony) and greed and the reward for over achieving is Slothfullness.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 5

Latin: invidia (envy)

A good and experienced manager will stack rank their salespeople and grade them against all of the other salespeople across the organization regardless of how much of an apple vs orange comparison it really is.

A good copier salesperson cannot stand to see another have success and becomes driven by the lust of success to overachieve and be as greedy as possible so that they can overcome and surpass all of their comrades.

A quickly rising manager will ensure that every one of their sales reps cannot stand to even hear of someone else's success or participate in an activity with someone they think could possibly out do them.

Envy resents anything that is good that happens or is good about anyone that they see. Envy is very closely related to Pride, and it drives the lust of self worth which is the fuel that makes pride gluttonous.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 6

Latin: superbia (pride)

A sales manager cannot graduate until they are good at making each sales person believe that they are the best and deserve everything and more. Days of sloth are awarded to those that can be the fullest of themselves.

Copier sales people gorge themselves with the lusts of the flesh and material goods until they cannot move or afford to move then are pushed out the door with belief that they are the only person alive and that they deserve more. They are rewarded for becoming a prima donna. A good manager will know how to control their prima donna's and let them all think they are 1. A practical organization will parade their top performers around and show them that they are invaluable and that they can have anything they desire fueling their lusts.

Then the manager just begins over and finds new untapped desires and drives them to gluttony with greed, and keeps them competing with envy in the fearlessness of their pride. When they fall over from exhaustion they give them days to recuperate by awarding them time to Sloth. If they are having a bad month they will use their pride to control them with the envy and wrath of their fellow associates.

Qualification of a good copier salesperson 7

Latin: ira (wrath)

Wrath is a byproduct of the final two deadly sins Envy and Pride. It is quite ugly and not as common but is a product of greed and envy.

When someone else has success a good copier sales person becomes instantly envious and because they are excessively greedy they fuel this emotion with wrath, which satisfies their pride in that they should be the only one that can be so successful or rich or whatever the deadly sin promotion is for the month. It is most obvious when the greed of one sales person takes an account from another to fuel their lust of one of their desires. Since they cannot satisfy this gluttony with their own accounts they must do it with someone else's. It is much more pleasurable to satisfy themselves with someone else's accounts.

This lust and greed creates the wrath of the sales person that is feeling envious of the success of the greedy and gluttonous sales rep. A good manager deals with wrath in the most obvious way, with a good dose of pride. "You are not going to let so and so do that to you are you?" "You know you are twice the sales person they are!" Then an experienced sales manager will look for a lust that can fuel the envy and promote the rep that has wrath to go out and be greedy enough to show up the original rep. Wrath is a great way to push someone to compete with the others when the other 5 are having little effect. Sloth is reserved for those that have been over gluttonous for some time and had a lot of success being lustful and greedy.

The seven deadly sins require a lot of effort to perfect so typically a good manager will only focus and practice one at a time till they manage a group of major account executives or specialists. In which case the sales people are quite advanced and can practice multiple sins at a time.

This requires a very greedy and prideful manager that can truly harness the energy of their people and use it to fuel their own desires (lust) and gluttony. And of course a good manager works their sales people to death chasing after the dream while they practice the greatest of all sins; Sloth…

In the end a good copier salesman or saleswomen (which there are many) are taught that they deserve whatever they can take from someone else and that it is ok at any cost. They are taught to pull out the stops and go for broke. They are taught how to gamble as professionals and to know when to risk it all for the payoff of the ultimate permanent full time sloth which is held as a carrot to a donkey.

I hope you have enjoyed this enlightenment…

PS – There are organizations that promote the 7 virtues and moderate their sales people keeping them "connected" and customer centric. But they are far and few between, and almost nonexistent in the copier business.

This is why I live a simple life on a 34 foot boat, forsaking the trappings of Dallas and all that is offers. Not that I haven't had my moments being caught up in the limelight. I was after all a 2 time president's club winner and a 1 time circle of excellence winner for that unnamed fortune 1000 company that way talked about above. I am the prodigy of that sales manager that eventually became a branch general manager ;)

Life is fast, life is hard, life never lasts long enough to learn how simple it really is. We complicate it so that we can feel superior to everything else that God has created, when really we were created from the very dust that everything else walks on - Pirate Mike

I am sure that this is considered blasphemous to those that are in my industry as we all want to believe that we are saints. (It is part of our pride) – Pirate Mike

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins