What if you had access to a global barometer of your competitors capital deployment plans? If this barometer were data points that you could plot on a graph for analysis, would that aid in your decision making process and strategy planning? Further, what if those trends were unpolluted by deflections based on speculation or high frequency trading influences? If that data point were added as an additional validation input in your SWOT analysis, do you anticipate you would be better able to ascertain the margin pressures you might face? Do you think you could make better decisions as to where to source your materials acquisition, manufacturing, support facilities and manpower?

Baltic Exchange Dry Index (BDI) & Freight Rates

This article exposes that the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is just such an indicator, amongst many little known and obscure trend analysis tools, that an enterprise investor or entrepreneur should consult when planning the entry timing and geographical locations in which his venture should be set. This precursor to production is often times labeled as the purest of the data points available in regards to contract futures and business trends in general. It exposes the committed capital in both shipping spending and indirectly the tonnage of raw material delivery contracts as they happen over time. Because it is tracked and calculated daily, it can be read similar to a stock chart to expose trends and project reversals of the same when compared with other data.

• Shipping costs of Raw Materials
• Global Margin Pressures
• Commodity Demand Trends
• Capital Deployment Commitments and General Business Confidence
• Decoupling the US Dollar Value within the BDI and Global Commerce

Shipping costs of Raw Materials

• The Baltic Dry Index – (Wikipedia.org)
• Baltic Exchange Dry Index (BDI) and Freight Rates (EOD) – (Investools.com)
• Index: Baltic Dry Index – BDI (BALDRY) – (Wikinvest.com)

This article was first published at http://thenationalnetworker.blogspot.com/2011/02/strategic-business-and-market-trends.html

I took it as an effort to educate those of an older business model mindset and transition us to what we really should be doing and saying in our online presence, i.e. personal branding efforts. Well, watch the video and see if it doesn’t call You to action to reassess your online conversations and profiles.

Having watched this video I realized, I personally have this tendency to compartmentalize all I do in my business and separate it from my personal activities.

Having recently gone through a tragic passing in our family made Penny’s mention of a recent funeral of particular importance to me. The importance of people, family and having complete integrity within ones own character seems to have ticked up a notch. This serendipitously coincides with my crossing back into the life stream of  contacts involved in evangelizing Relationship Capital (RC) and the benchmarking business relationships with principles and practices I have been taught since childhood.

Stay tuned as I go through this process and progress towards an even more transparent online presence, authentic personal brand and singularity in my online profiles and communications. Notice in the Business Model Canvas (image at right) that all of the key elements of planning involve relationships; not just the project tasks and time lines for accomplishment.

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Image by zilver pics via Flickr

I really did like their address book for capturing and retaining updated and accurate information on my contacts with a minimum of effort. I even upgraded from the standard free account to the premium account to support my networking efforts. Then they were acquired by Comcast and the communication from support became very lean. They were often evasive when I asked questions regarding this “maximum connections limit” and then began to blame it on their new owners.

From a customer’s point of view, shutting down the communications and transparency were more than I could tolerate. As it relates to customer management, this is a fine example of setting stakeholder expectations and then failing to negotiate any change to those expectations.

It is highly likely that your projects have changes on a constant basis that need re-negotiating with your stakeholders. Inherent in any expectation there are commitments that build trust which in turn increases relationship capital with the customer. In this case, that hard earned capital has been erased from the balance sheet. Successful projects and life are filled with value derived by both parties, and increasing trust built on precise communications and renegotiating of commitments and expectations as reality and circumstances dicatate.

Since March of 2007 I began work to build network connections that could cushion the blow when consulting contracts expire. At that time, I was on the final leg of a contract with Unilever in Trumbull, CT. I knew that I had to grow my contacts in the industry quickly so I could find additional work in the near future. Once I discovered how much it fit my personality, I really started to get serious about it.

I started with LinkedIn and Plaxo to support my growing address book and follow-up with contacts to whom I thought I had some value to offer  or that were of immediate value to my jobs search. I then started a bit of expanding the range social networking sites to afford me wider exposure and inbound invitations from others to avoid having to stop connecting to others when I reached the network limitations.
Since then, I have gone on to work in other networks covering geographies outside the US to a more global community. Ecademy and Viadeo are the two primary networks I used for this purpose. Both have been great adjuncts to my efforts but, still something was missing. How is it that one can properly and efficiently both deliver and extract value, monetary or otherwise, from this multitude of connections. For that I turned to current authors and promoters of the Relationship Economy.

I first heard about the “Relationship Economy” from Jay Deragon. At the time, I was only aware of his one blog A Relationship Economy. He repeatedly had thought provoking commentary on contemporary issues and incidents that struck a familiar cord. Often short and challenging, his questions always urges one to consider the norm and how it may or may be normal for much longer. The internet and rapid communication is transitioning power to people to create grass-roots demand for products and services as they wish them to be. Not unlike the mid-fifties transition from a salesman approach to the marketing approach, the new relationship economy is on track to derail the corporate freight train that pushes products primarily driven by inertia. Once today’s corporations start an ad campaign, they are loath to change course based on a few poor customer feedback incidents.

I also began following LinkedIn giants in the recruiting industry. To date, I have had a healthy relationship with only one recruiter/placement agency for whom I had any trust and could reciprocated with any sense of loyalty.

A superconnector named Vincent Wright was using much of the tenants of the Relationship Economy espoused by Jay Deragon. I was quite encouraged by what I saw and more importantly by what I was able to read and listen to on podcasts about Vincent and his method of establishing reciprocal relationships assisting both employers and employees to find their best matches. Finally, a recruiter who was not just out to “sell” me at the best margin for his sake. Vincent has an entire roster of networking groups with similar credo. That being said, most do not have the community wide recognition like Vincent’s My Linkedin Power Forum . Visiting and joining his group has been quite enlightening from a new millennium recruiting and placement perspective.

Also of worthy note is the Adam J. Kovitz, CEO, Editor-in-Chief of The National Networker . His staff of dedicated authors and thought leaders constantly produce networking and relationship capital related articles designed to illicit thought, changes in attitude and values as they relate to businesses of the future and the present.

These are just a few of the resources and people who have created them who have inspired me to research further into the Relationship Economy, RC (Relationship Capital). They motivate me to find how I can add more value to every relationship and deliverable I commit to in my business and my personal life.

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Welcome to the beginning of my eternal student blog. I know I am bit old to be formalizing this but, now seems a fine time to be learning how to blog and start passing on to a younger generation some of what my life lessons have taught me.

I have learned a great deal from having been in several industries and having played many roles throughout those experiences. I have been in construction, law enforcement, retail, the military and now IT project management . With this background I am finding that my formal studies are making much more sense as I have points of reference to attach the content of the materials to. It is a great benefit to be able to think back to previous work experience and be able to correlate current course content to particular situation or problem resolution. This gives me mental practice formulating a relevant responses and remedies for future clients.

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Bucchere Development Group was the brainchild of Chris Bucchere, a talented Plumtree Portal architect and developer who supported the original company and product releases. He assembled a team of highly skilled developers and early adopters to continue with custom development of CMS, wikis and blogs supporting the objectives and projects in various industries; high tech, government, energy and pharmaceuticals.

Chris contacted me to support the development of a project management and Agile SDLC approach, response to the  RFP and participate in the subsequent interviews with the US House of Representatives. Chris and I were able to perform most of the planning and assembly of the response working remotely and submit it to the House of initial review. Once that review was complete, the House IT committee requested a face to face interview/challenge conference allow elaboration and further evaluation of the team’s capabilities and plan design and deliver the solution requested.

As the PM on the US Government ALUI Project RFP Response project, I had the following responsibilities:

• Develop Project Management/Agile SDCL Approach Response to the US House of Representatives Request for Proposal [RFP]
• Participate in RFP Oral Q&A Interviews hosted by House of Reps
• Co-develop rigorous questionnaire to elaborate RFP/Project scope
• Co-develop portions of second and third responses to RFP
• Outline Risks related to project and make recommendations

I fully endorse Chris as he was a highly competent and transparent customer from a project management point of view. He was open to suggestions and recommendations and often applied innovative solutions to the most mundane of situations resulting in an easy going and productive work environment. If you ever have the chance to work with or for Chris, jump on the chance as you will look back on the successes that seem to follow this thought leader.

Last month I completed my studies and took my Project Management Professional [PMP] exam administered by the Project Management Institute [PMI]. I Passed! I had been studying since December of 2004 to take the test; lots of reading and stacks of flashcards to back it up and pound it in. It is not only a relief to have successfully finished this certification but, it is likely the most prestigious of my certs to date. Yes, my MCSE NT 4.0 certification was great accomplishment. But, that was mainly because I crammed all of the tests into the 4th of July week in 1998. The real difference is that it was a information Technology certification that had mainly vendor proprietary procedures and jargon at it’s core. The PMP certification is a management and applied knowledge certification. PMP and project management has foundational principles that can be applied in a wide array of circumstances and situations to increase productivity and reduce the risk of failure.

Because I had never completed my Bachelors degree, this certification gives me an almost equivalent edge in the market place. I personally used this certification to build a consulting business/reputation which eventually I will leverage to finish my degree and place myself squarely in the management “qualified” and “experienced” zone needed to advance my career.

In addition to my personal reasons stated above for working to  become PMP certified, there are more general benefits that include..

• PMP is internationally recognized credential from the PMI.
• Learning the PMBOK best practices makes one more valuable as an employee and shows initiative.
• PMP requires experiential evidence of 4500 hrs of Bachelors Degree holders and 7500 hrs project work for those without the Bachelors Degree (my situation). This is valuable in confirming project management experience to potential employers.
• PMP Salary Facts*:
  • Those who have held the PMP credential for two to four years earn median salaries of $64,400. That’s 15.6 percent higher than the $55,720 annual earnings of non-credentialed project managers with similar experience levels.
  • Those who have held the PMP credential for five to nine years earn median salaries of $94,340. That’s 17.2 percent higher than the $80,500 annual earnings of non-credentialed project managers with similar experience levels.
  • Those who have held the PMP credential for more than 10 years are rewarded with median annual salaries of $102,000. That’s a 13.3 percent increase over those of non-credential holders with similar experience levels.

    *Source: PMI’s Project Management Salary Survey, Fourth Edition.

My personal conclusion: PMP is a certification that can be obtained by those who do not have degrees but, have significant project experience and who may need a confidence builder and the income sufficient finance  getting back to school and completing a university degree thus rounding out their management experience and formal education.

- PMP Number: 226081 (issued to Robert D. Watkins) Apr 2005 – Apr 2012

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RD Watkins extends contract into Customer Engagement Manager role.

Due to an extended medical absence of a key customer engagement manager who has ownership of several web/extranet and integration projects, RD Watkins has been engaged to temporarily take on these responsibilities. The projects that are the scope of this contract are LiveLink (OpenText), PlumTree Portal and My Unilever installation and integration of the subsequent legacy applications that will progress as modules into this new extranet environment. In addition to these projects, there is Project Phoenix with it’s objective to integrate the three Puerto Rico facilities into the standard “shared services” support model.

The PMO has also requested that Robert develop several “methods” for the upcoming deployment and utilization of UPlan (Niku – project and resource management software). He originally had a hand in creating the standard MS Project template that has been in use by the PMO over that last three quarters. The first method he creates will outline the production turnover process as it relates to the standard Unilever processes.

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RD Watkins extends contract with Unilever in Integration Project Manager role to complete Best Foods NJ facility and Canadian business units Desktop Application roll-outs.

Unilever has committed to an extension of Robert D. Watkins contract so that the GIO Integration Lab may use his skills and years of experience with the Wise scripting tool and desktop roll-outs. Specifically, Unilever is completing the Canadian Aztec II Desktop/Laptop roll-out and the Unilever Best Foods and UNUS business unit deployments in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

This extension is slated to go until March to accomplish these final portions of these deployments.

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RD Watkins inks new contract with Unilever for Project Management / Coordination

Unilever North America Global Infrastructure request Robert D. Watkins to assist with several ongoing projects. These projects include the Manufacturing for the Millennium SAP Project, Business Objects Upgrades, Gentran Migration from NT to Unix migration and Legacy Integration, Targeter for the Web enabled AMPs sales,  Video Conferencing Production Turnover, Manugistics Enterprise Forecasting as well as  the preparation for various Sales Office infrastructure build-out projects. These Projects will be managed for the Home an Personal Care Business Unit.

RD Watkins has been employed prior to this contract with Unilever in a Technical Project Manager role assisting in development of Wise Scripts for delivery of business applications via Microsoft SMS and for 8 locations / business unit deployments in 2001.