• BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IS ALWAYS CORRELATED TO MANAGEMENT DECISIONS about direction, strategy and risk control. The AICPA reports that more than seven in ten organizations admit to “at least one strategic initiative failing in the last three years as a result of flaws in their decision making.” Reality is that as private companies evolve, many owners & managers make critical decisions in a vacuum – without independent perspective or feedback, focused only on short-term profits & cash flow, dealing with ‘urgencies’ more so than ‘importance’ in the context of longer-term sustainability, scalability or future Value. Often there is minimal, if any, proactive strategic planning or alignment of personal goals with operational infrastructure, and business potential is squandered. Wiser entrepreneurs fill this vacuum with guidance from broad-based consultants (and often Advisory Boards) expert in economic, financial, and operational arenas. DCG has cost-effectively guided hundreds of closely-held & family businesses toward optimal profitability, Valuation and exit. Call us before your reality-check bounces!
  • ‘PERFORMANCE PAY’ IS AN ESTABLISHED ELEMENT IN EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, but numerous studies suggest that, for people in creative and managerial roles, performance may well be diminished. The reason is that whether measured by periodic earnings or valuations, “fixation on hitting targets or proving competence is actually counterproductive; it prevents people form thinking outside the box, limits innovation… and significantly increases the likelihood of earnings manipulation (‘cooking the books’), shareholder lawsuits, and/or product safety problems… Once you link financial rewards to a particular measure, it’s going to affect behavior in terms of what a person does or do.” The clearest examples are a CEO “cutting back inappropriately on long-term investments such as research & development or advertising when they need to boost their numbers to hit their bonus target.”  [HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW – Feb 23, 16]
  • CYBERCRIME IS NOW “THE TOP NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT – higher than that of terrorism, espionage or weapons of mass destruction” according to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. Over half the U.S. respondents to PWC’s Global Economic Crime Survey “have experienced some type of cybercrime.” Much of the problem is a “communication gap between policy-savvy executives and technical staff who speak a different language… but also companies too often buy software relying on it to prevent attacks, instead of viewing cyber-security as a ‘people’ problem.” It’s not a matter of if you’ll get hacked, but when your security will be breeched and how often; a Zogby Analytics survey in December found fifteen companies who reported they’d been hacked more than five times last year. Call for a courtesy consult.  [U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT – Feb 25, 16]
  • TODAY’S POLITICAL BANTERING AND UPHEAVAL OF ‘CIVILIZED’ DISCUSSION & DEBATE most likely marks a turning point in American culture, but is consistent with the history of human evolution. “Culture is essentially a network of artificial instincts which enable strangers to cooperate effectively, through belief in myths & fictions which accustom people to think in certain ways, behave in accordance with certain standards, want certain things and observe certain rules… But, being a man-made order, culture is packed with internal contradictions – like ‘liberty’ versus ‘equality’ – and this process fuels change… Such contradictions are an inseparable part of every human culture, since ideas and values compel us to think, re-evaluate and criticize… Contradictory beliefs riven by incompatible values are known as cognitive dissonance – often considered a failure of the human psyche but, in fact, are a vital asset which allows for establishment and maintenance of any culture.” Evidently we’re evolving, as obnoxious as the process is.  [SAPIENS – Yuval Harari – 2015]
  • EDUCATION AND FINANCIAL LITERACY ARE HIGHLY CORRELATED. Globally, U.S. teens recently scored below average and ranked 9th in in a 29,000 student survey of Financial Literacy, while latest stats show that 20% of American adults spend more than they make, only 40% have a budget, and 60% have no emergency fund. What’s wrong with today’s education system in a really smart 3-minute rap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xe6nLVXEC0
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.  Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery” – Winston Churchill

      Big picture of the islamification currently uprooting Europe – a powerful 3-minute video (based on a short poem “The Snake” narrated by Donald Trump): http://pumabydesign001.com/2016/02/07/this-donald-trump-video-the-snake-is-going-viral-in-europe/

DCG: UTILIZING GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE FOR OPTIMAL STRATEGIC & FINANCIAL DIRECTION, MANAGEMENT, NEGOTIATION & MEDIATION