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Not a short time ago, Bob Dylan wrote that, “The Times Are A Changin’.” While the words and prophesies sounded reasonable and accurate then, I can say now with certainty that the times have actually changed. But they have been changing for a while.

A quick look at history proves the point. During the Colonial Era of George Washington, the country had seemingly unlimited land for farming and expansion. Indeed, soldiers of the Revolutionary War were granted land rights to their new country in payment for their military service, and our self- proclaimed manifest destiny was to move westward.

And then we ran out of country. Sure, the addition of Alaska helped a bit but all in all our country’s borders were soon defined. Politics notwithstanding, fast forward to President Obama. He was raised in Hawaii with what has been termed the ‘island mentality’ for negotiation of disputes. On an island there is not much room to run and no property on which to expand. The concept is that people discuss the issues until a consensus is achieved. That does not mean that one or both parties may be satisfied; in reality, most successful negotiations may leave each side slightly disgruntled. Now, however, we have run out of world.

That lesson has now been driven home on a global platform as we have the Facebook and Twitter revolts in Africa and the Mid-East. Now with social networking, even despotic leaders can’t keep the Internet turned off for very long. Sure they can use violence, but the ‘whole world is watching.’

In sourcing apparel and textile manufacturing there are no unknown havens. The tried and true China of many years has a middle class as large as ours in the USA. They are becoming a consumer nation and while that bodes well for those exporting to China, sourcing managers have had to run to every hinterland seeking cheaper production. And following China, rates of labor have risen and are rising in Bangladesh and Vietnam. The AGOA treaty with Africa has been less than successful for a number of reasons. If you are not aware that cotton is higher than it was during the US Civil War, then you are not in this industry. Wool is higher. Oil (read: polyester) is higher. Geopolitics affects economics to a tremendous extent and more regularly and rapidly than in the ‘old’ days.

What’s to be done given this changed reality? First, admit that the ‘waters around you have grown’ – don’t waste time rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The old times are probably not to return soon. The new program involves honest communication with all members of the supply chain. The large, well-financed manufacturers were smart enough to lock in future purchase contracts for raw materials. Sure, more cotton will be grown in the future and the price should come down, but we don’t know when and can’t continue to absorb the increases without passing the extra costs onto customers. There’s still a lack of robust job growth so we risk the dreaded stagflation. Look to cut costs with better design, planning and logistics.

Information technology will assist in the reduction of excess inventory. Quick turn and speed to market are advantages to producing in the USA and this hemisphere. We should emphatically enjoy our trade law benefits with NAFTA, DRCAFTA, Cumulation and the like. Learn about the fabric availability and duty free treatments. Look at soft costs like travel and executive time expense when determining the real price of manufacturing a product. One company I know of spent $1 million in air freight to bring garments in from China because fall delivery was late. The Chinese government decided to keep some sewing operators down on the farm versus sending them to complete purchase orders. How much of that million could have been saved by sourcing closer to home?

Supporting sustainability can result in measurable cost savings in materials and energy. Programs are being applied in Sri Lanka as we read this. China chose to close one day per week to reduce pollution but productivity suffered. Just because a government may have complete control doesn’t mean that the most effective methods are utilized or benefits completely realized.

What are some other solutions? We can get with our colleagues at the end of April and beginning of May and attend the NAUMD annual convention in Orlando and the AAPN meeting in Miami Beach. Find out what’s going on globally and initiate or enhance your strategy. The slow one now will later be fast as the present now will later be past. So get in the new world and lend a hand. You have only your world to help as the times will keep changing. We can prosper by working together.

A fundamental question that was asked of us as undergraduates in economics class was to identify the difference between the short run and long run. My professor answered that no one lives in the long run. While a human may not live forever, corporations in theory can last forever. What lessons for success in the long run can be applied to the short run to which we are all allocated?

An organization in the long run needs a core religion or set of cultural values that will unite the current group of people and yet be able to transcend into the future. This concept supersedes what any one individual or leader can contribute. What are the values, rituals, and sets of behaviors and beliefs that will unite people and carry them past the current functions they need to perform? If no one lives in the long run, why should we align our companies to survive and thrive? Because the guiding principles will help assure success in the short run where you and I do live.

The role of the manager or leader is to develop a culture that will continue to assure a stream of profits. Whether you head a ‘for profit’ corporation or a nonprofit, in order to succeed your income must exceed your outgo or your upkeep will be your downfall. But focusing on profits is not the key to attaining them. Profits are an outcome of the properly invested energies, leadership guidance and assets of the organization.

What are the inputs then? Here’s where we get to revisit some basic fundamentals of successful management. Fundamentals are those things that have not really changed in many years. My mentor, Jim Rohn, used to say, “beware of someone coming along and offering you new fundamentals.” In this challenging economic environment where there is more talk of ‘transformational’ changes in the habits of buying, borrowing, saving and investing of consumers, reviewing the fundamentals may help guide us forward.

The good manager will first define the task or responsibility at hand by determining the needs of the clients to be served. These can be internal or external clients or customers depending on your role in the organization. But everyone has needs to be satisfied and satisfying those needs is why we have a job. A business cannot exist very long in the short run or certainly not in the long run if there are no clients to serve or sales to be made. I know that the targets may change quickly, regularly and quixotically but that’s why managers or leaders are supposed to be paid the big bucks if they can keep up with the changes and remain ahead of the curve.

Next, the manager must identify what type of staff is required so that the team can complete the tasks as defined. Do you have the right people in the right place with the right training and competencies? What assistance may be needed to build a strong and capable team? Have you communicated the mission clearly? How do you plan to compensate the contributors to the accomplishment of your task? Some may be paid salaries, some commission and others may be rewarded in various ways such as recognition or promotion or legitimate golden parachutes. A manager, like the weakest link in a chain, will only be as good as his or her ability to assess the purpose of the organization and mesh that with the desires of the team members assembled for the purpose of accomplishment.

To identify and perform the service required would define effectiveness. Administrating your team and the required assets appropriately would describe your efficiency. A proper combination of both is required. You have to know where you are going and the best way to get there. You want to arrive at the right place for the right cost.

Another value of the leader is to be the constant entrepreneur and be proactive in continually determining what the effectiveness is in the long run. Has the market changed? Have the needs of our clients changed? Is the staff I have still in possession of the skills required to deliver the goods and services? Can the leader integrate the assets for the long run? When an organization is no longer effective or efficient, what training, consultation, flexibility, support from the board of directors or lending institutions or stakeholders will be required to get back on track? How can the organization repair itself?

If these factors cannot be managed, then how else can we attempt to survive for the long term? Have the current leaders taught their skills and told the stories of their experience to their workers so that the leadership functions of analysis and performance can manage the future transitions required? Have the fundamentals of your business been communicated to the upcoming crop of leaders so that the organization will thrive in the present times and be prepared for future success?

Who is asking these questions in your organization and who is preparing the responses? Stepping into or continuing in the leadership role demands mastering and implementing the fundamentals of success for your short term gains that are guided by the long term cultural principles in your organization.

“How to have your cake and eat it too” has been a goal of mine for a while. While it may not be fully possible there is a way to come closer by expanding the context of our thinking. There are three areas of knowledge: what we know, what we know we don’t know and what we don’t know that we don’t know. It’s the last piece that is most intriguing and can block our path to greater achievement and growth.

While cost control is always a management objective, sustainable growth derives from continued and additional profitable sales. There are still some fundamentals that apply. Charlie Munger, partner of Warren Buffet and VP of Berkshire Hathaway, noted in a speech to a graduation class that “You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.” Isn’t this philosophy just a slight twist on the Golden Rule? Or as Dr. Tony Alessandro refined the concept to be the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would like to be done unto.” Tony has termed his sales strategy ‘non-manipulative selling.” This strategy recognizes that greater success comes from delivering goods or services based on the needs and timing of the buyer and not the goals of the seller.

This approach may take more time and require understanding and patience but in the long run your business will be built with happier clients. For example if you call on someone and they are content with their current supplier you can respect that and ask if you can follow up at a future time. No pressure or manipulation. Yes, if you are a persuasive sales person you can probably manipulate the buyer into a yes decision. But remember that adage that “a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still.” Tricky sales techniques don’t support the integrity basis required for long term profitable relationships.
So if your strategic plan has allowed accessibility to desirable products or services you may offer to the market place then what is holding back your growth? Are there problems or issues that need to be overcome in order to progress? Have you been unsuccessful in identifying and addressing those impediments to growth? Now could be a great time to check the context of our thinking and be open to discover solutions or possibilities of that which we don’t know and wasn’t near our radar screen. Here’s a context example. If you have only two colors on your palette, blue and yellow you only have three options- blue, yellow and green as I discovered in second grade by coloring over the blue sky with my yellow crayon which only gave me a green sun. But if you expand your palette and your context to include all the colors of the rainbow spectrum, you now have the ability to produce any color or combination thereof.

Context is one of the three C’s you will need to get closer to all the cake you may want. The next C is Collaboration. While during WWII, this was a negative word, but since we have learned that the effective and efficient management of the supply chain will only benefit with collaboration among the component phases. Sales activity focuses our attention on the needs of the buyer. But with better understanding and collaboration with our suppliers or vendors, we can be in a better position to service those sales needs. If you can buy something right, selling is not a problem. At Greco Apparel we recently had a major issue with each of two fabric suppliers and the quality of the piece goods. We were within our right to reject the material but this would not have enabled us to complete our purchase orders. And today, as you are probably aware, there are fewer vendors worldwide and even fewer who maintain any inventory to support immediate purchase. The answer for us was to expand our context in understanding the nature of the problem created by our vendors and try to reach a workable solution. Fortunately both of our suppliers in this situation are quality businesses and shared our motivation to support our mutual long term growth. We learned more about the technical issues and were able to work with our clients to develop alternatives and still achieve our delivery schedules.

The third C is Confidence. We had to have faith that a workable quality solution existed, albeit outside the context of our current knowledge that would allow us to accomplish our goals although we didn’t know what the solution would be. We maintained our integrity by not permitting the crucial nature of the demand and the risk of losing business influence the acceptability of sub-standard quality. While this stance for integrity was the appropriate choice, we had to have confidence that a solution was available. If a solution did not present, we were back to the drawing boards to plan another quality solution which would maintain the trust of our clients. In the long run not much is more important.

When the pressure is great and the darkness of potential failure may be upon us, remember the words of Winston Churchill who spoke them to the 1941 graduating class at Harrow. “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never-in nothing great or small, large or petty never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy…we find ourselves in a position where I can say that we can be sure that we only have to persevere to conquer.” Perseverance is the enemy of failure. Utilize the tools of context expansion, collaboration and confidence to ensure your success.