Indian Oil Corporation said, the fire, which occurred in the crude distillation unit after a month-long maintenance, was extinguished and refinery operations remain unaffected

Swiggy IPO makes 500 employees crorepatis, unlocking ₹9,000 crore in ESOPs, with shares listing at a premium

The billionaire, however, did not give the time period or details of the projects

The partnership will focus on several key areas, including capacity development, research, data-driven innovation, and the promotion of sustainable development

“This initiative, launched Chief Minister MK Stalin is aimed at enhancing the employability of Tamil Nadu’s youth and connecting them with top-notch #career opportunities”

Coaching institutes cannot make false claims, create false sense of urgency or use selected candidates information and pics without consent in advertisements

Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDE) have been driving the growth in electricity grid length with rapid expansion from 2001, on increasing electrification. China leads the incremental transmission network put up in the last decade while India leads on the distribution side. India leads in Technical grid losses in T&D when compared with other countries. High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines, thus, emerge as the most preferred transmission lines considering their lower losses and their suitability for long-distance power transfer

Now I'm no expert when it comes to pricing real estate in terms of advertising dollars (although I could probably put my quant-head genes to work), but methinks this guy sold out too cheap. Efficient market theory, auction theory, winner's curse, ... ba humbug ... set a higher reserve price, man!

In a prior blog entry, I listed some of my favorite CEO and VC posts. Tim Oren has a follow-up post that builds on one of his prior posts that I cited. Tim's new post addresses "Two Stage Ventures". This post is interesting because it looks at the entrepreneurial financing path from the other direction, and it breaks the mold of what I would call "traditional" (and perhaps passe) venture financing. I also find this post interesting because it is something that I have sensed emerging over the past few years (e.g., by articles or blog entries connected to Accel Partners, Matrix, Dawntreader Ventures), but it is the first time I have seen something explicitly written down without talking around the subject.

Back in November 2004, I referenced the historic Microsoft dividend payout in the context of what one could buy with money. I often perform these numeric exercises or reference work by others because it can sometimes be hard for people to comprehend how big numbers are. The influence of Microsoft is simply huge. I referenced how their recent moves affected the stock markets in the antivirus space. Now as Suzanne has pointed out to me, it appears the dividend payout has positively influenced the government's measure of consumer spending. Simply wow.

More often than not in traditional management consulting engagements involving operations, there is usually room for setting up or revising goals, metrics & reporting, and service level agreements. Depending on the phase of development of a company (often couched as Stage 0 [Ad-Hoc], Stage 1 [Functional], Stage 2 [Intrabusiness Cross-Functional], etc. maturity levels by a consulting firm), the next higher-level of metrics and reporting may apply and be a goal for the client organization to strive for.

Where management has to be somewhat careful about applying metrics, however, is how people and company culture play a role in getting everything to work together right.

To put a finer point on things, one can put in place a perfectly appropriate set of metrics and reporting systems for a company yet miss the boat completely on a management-level as to how the results should be applied because of the culture.

As an example in sales operations, I have frequently seen a competitive environment laid out. People's individual performance levels are exposed, and poor performing people are weeded out. This environment can work out in some cases. On the other hand, in a collaborative engineering or product development environment, cooperation may be encouraged.

On a related topic, a friend of my wife and I, Dr. Uri Gneezy at the University of Chicago, has some great research on the relationship between competition and gender. From the research summary:

Gneezy suggests that CEOs creating incentives in their firms should be aware that making the internal environment more competitive might create a bias that helps men, while putting women at a relative disadvantage.

My take on applying this type of research would be to recognize and raise one's sense of awareness to the environment one is implementing metrics in. Although metrics may be encouraged to be tracked to an individual-level doesn't automatically equate to that the environment has to be a competitive one. Choosing a collaborative versus dictatorial management style that is compatible with the desired company culture is a separate choice from metric implementation.

Steve Shu Managing Director S4 Management Group Email: sshu@s4management.com Web: http://www.s4management.com

If you've made a New Year's resolution but have not read this blog entry yet, there may still be hope. Most people have probably broken their New Year's resolutions by Valentine's Day. How can you prevent this from happening to you?

Digging up a study from the University of Washington, there are some key suggestions for succeeding with one's resolutions:

- Have a strong initial commitment to make a change. - Have coping strategies to deal with problems that will come up. - Keep track of your progress. The more monitoring you do and feedback you get, the better you will do.

As it turns out, these are the same types of principles that apply to change management consulting projects in the business world. Although style of change management tactics in organizations also plays a role (e.g., leading people to a goal versus spreading gasoline around a organization and coercing people by insinuating that a fire is going to happen), many change management initiatives fail to work out because:

- organizations get distracted, - do not use project management methods to manage processes (e.g., date, milestone, & issue tracking), - or ignore the importance of using a microscope on activities early on in the process of change.

Steve Shu Managing Director S4 Management Group Email: sshu@s4management.com Web: http://www.s4management.com

Brad Feld, venture capitalist at Mobius Venture Capital and perhaps well-known locally here in Dallas because of the EDS acquisition of the The Feld Group, has a great perspective on measurements. I'm blue in the face from my recent, numerous discussions on the subject. My immediately prior two posts (here and here) are very closely related to the same core subject on reporting and measurements.

A couple of key things in Brad's post that I resonate with are focusing on synthesis, reacting, and not getting lost in the numbers. Sometimes I get nauseous when I recommend to clients that there be more measurements as part of core business foundation, yet I can see that their faces read, "you want me to provide more numbers????".

Steve Shu Managing Director S4 Management Group Email: sshu@s4management.com Web: http://www.s4management.com

I recently attended a talk by author, Bijoy Goswami. Bijoy covered team building as based on his book "The Human Fabric". I have to admit that I'm generally skeptical of the practicality of these kinds of talks, especially in cases where modern artwork is posted. Boy was I *wrong* (about both the content and the artwork - the artwork really drove some points home for me - sorry blog readers, no visual reference). All of it turns out to be great stuff. Bijoy's frameworks are useful and can be applied much like Myers-Briggs stuff can be applied (as opposed to being only descriptive).

Although I'm going to botch some of Bijoy's specific nomenclature, Bijoy's talk centered around building teams, and he talked about how successful teams need to build around three archetypes of people: the Maven, Evangelist, and Relater.

As I come from spending a good amount of time in the software world, people that are Maven-types are basically "Tools". Mavens are geniuses when it comes to technology and love architecturally cool stuff like gmail. They tend not to be good marketers.

Evangelists are thought of as people that come across as flashy, and they know exactly how to pitch a product with the one, two, and three top business points why one should buy.

Lastly, there are the Relater-types that are emphathetic and maintain relationships. They put people at ease and seek first to understand before seeking to be understood. They hate gmail, but they love Outlook because it helps the Relater stay connected with people.

In any case, Bijoy's claim is that teams (whether the team consists of two people) need to cover all bases.

As I think about my own archetype (a Relater-Evangelist), I realize that one of my past business relationships had been successful because my counterpart is an Evangelist-Maven. In one of my past client projects, I realize I plugged a key gap because of my Relater background. Now that I'm helping a friend recruit a key person for his company, aside from covering the nuts and bolts during the interview process, I'm thinking about how the new hire will round out the executive team.

Anyway, please check out Bijoy's book. I'm a believer now, and may end up buying the book for some of my clients.

Update (2/17/05): Bijoy has let me know offline that readers can take a look at the art and his website at http://www.thehumanfabric.com . Thanks, Bijoy!

Steve Shu Managing Director S4 Management Group Email: sshu@s4management.com Web: http://www.s4management.com

Today the University of Chicago held its Business Forecast 2005 at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. Excellent talks. Prognosticators were:

Robert Z. Aliber Professor of International Economics and Finance Emeritus, Chicago GSB. Director, Center for Studies in International Finance. Formerly Senior Economic Advisor, Agency for Economic Development, U.S. Department of State.

and

Harvey Rosenblum Senior Vice President and Director of Research of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Economic Policy Advisor to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Associate Economist for the Federal Open Market Committee.

My key notes from Harvey Rosenblum's talk (my key takeaways: be thankful, be wary):

• Shocks that happened since the late 90s - surprised they haven't sent us into a deep depression
• Y2K overspending and then drop in spending
• Loss of wealth due to stock market crash
• 2001 World Trade Center
• 2001 Corporate scandals (Enron, MCI, etc.) drove up cost of capital
• Sarbanes-Oxley caused unintended consequences where all public companies now have to bear significant costs of implementing S-O compliance, etc. where only 2% of public companies may have problems
• Iraq war
• It is surprising we (United States) are not in a depression
• Credits attributed to good monetary policy and fiscal policy
• Additionally deregulation has provided the US markets with flexibility to weather these shocks
• Growth 3-4%, inflation low, unemployment dropping
• President Bush, while Time's Man of the Year, didn't get enough credit for just in time fiscal policy
• Long bond rate "conundrum" exists, but the economy appears to be in a zone of price stability
• Interest yield curves are flat, but history shows that if these tip then 1 year after that there will be a recession
• Need to watch yield curve. Some concern if Fed follows historical raise rate policies there will be problems.

My key notes from Robert Aliber's talk (my key takeaways: international policy is biggest issue, trade deficit bigger concern than budget deficit, international shocks translate into the United States importing issues as the trade deficit):

• $600 billion hole is trade deficit
• 25 year slide of US dollar against Yen & Swiss (which basically means Europe)
• Thus, we have sharp slide of dollar yet the trade deficit is increasing?? (rarely happens)
• Perspective on why this is happening. When financial crisis occurs in other countries, it shows up as an import to our trade deficit (i.e., our deficit grows)
• China's investment boom slowing because of evergreen finance (essentially loans being made, accruing interest, but funny money since no one is paying interest)
• Going to be a problem in the future.
• Turning back to international trade as a whole (not specific to China), the asset price bubble may burst if US puts in import controls.
• Housing market may have some issues. Did we see the Las Vegas numbers?

One question I had in my mind after this talk was that I understood venture capitalists in the States to be eager to do deals in China. That said, given what I heard today, I would be wary of the propsect of things going south for investments in China in a timeframe that would be shorter than the investment horizon of a VC.

Steve Shu
Managing Director
S4 Management Group
Email: sshu@s4management.com
Web: http://www.s4management.com

My professorial wife, Suzanne Shu, is doing some very interesting research in the marketing department of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Recently, she was invited to give a talk on special consumer choice topics to the PR firm, The Richards Group. The Richards Group represents a number of well-known clients such as AIM Investments, Comcast, Corona Beer, Fruit of the Loom, The Home Depot, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Nortel, and Sub-Zero Freezer Company.

In any case, we are planning to cover some of the same topics presented to The Richards Group in a series of posts over the coming weeks. Thanks for tuning in!

Steve Shu
Managing Director
S4 Management Group
Email: sshu@s4management.com
Web: http://www.s4management.com

Actually, I'm going to be moving ... my blog that is. After some discussions with both my wife and my blogfather (Paul Brown), blogging appears like it is going to stay with me. I've been getting more interest in blog projects, blog writing, blog marketing, blog networking, blog small talk ... as much as I've been bucking moving, I need to just do it. My current service with Tripod does not support some of the front-end authoring productivity tools that I need. Additionally, although most of my readers are non-bloggers and non-technical, things like lack of support for trackback and some other technical things are not ideal for me. Time to bite the bullet. This move may also give me an opportunity to start fresh and get rid of some bad habits I have like maintaining multiple RSS feeds, writing some stuff in HMTL but having some stuff in other formats, etc.

Here the new destination ... http://www.steveshu.typepad.com. Hope to see you on the other side! We'll be covering Suzanne's series of posts there as well.

Steve Shu
Managing Director
S4 Management Group
Email: sshu@s4management.com
Web: http://www.s4management.com

JM Bullion introduces the dazzling 2021 Silver Britannia Coin with state-of-the-art security features that make it, "the world's most visually secure bullion coin." The coin showcases four, new technologies that add layers of security, bringing life and movement to the foreground and animating effects to the background of the coin.

Josip Heit, GSB Gold Standard Banking Corporation AG: "GSB Group develops high-tech block chain and cryptotechnical products for communication networks under the aspect of a climate-friendly orientation

GSB hires Sophia Thomalla as Blockchain Ambassador: Since the morning hours of today, December 8th, 2020, one of the most exciting commercials of the year 2020 has been running in the middle of Times Square in New York.

The GSB Gold Standard Group and I Josip Heit, as Chairman of the Board, have decided to do something special for our community in these challenging times. We hope to express our care as a group for you through this action. In line with our corporate philosophy, we are certain that every worthwhile thought we turn into a noble deed brings us all closer to the consciousness in which we should all live: for do good and it will be done unto you!

On the occasion of the press conference on 15 January 2021, Josip Heit, Chairman of the Board of GSB Gold Standard Group, together with Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Alexandru Cocindau, stated to the numerous journalists that blockchain technology and decentralisation enable global transparency for various products that are needed on a daily basis.

Josip Heit, CEO of the Gold Standard Group, presents the world's first GS solid gold credit card (GS lifestyle card) made of pure gold on 01 February 2021!



Network Control announces record year over year revenue and customer growth due to extreme value of its telecom expense management services in support of the sudden shift to work from home (WFH) requirements in most industries.

The survey, conducted in mid-April by Leger on behalf of RATESDOTCA in conjunction with the brand's 10th annual Best of Finance report, finds Canadians are especially eager to resume spending on restaurants and travel once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, though still shy of pre-pandemic levels.

Asset Management Group, Inc. of Stamford, CT., is pleased to announce that the College of Financial Planning has granted Michelle L. Ross the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation.

For the second quarter of 2021, the ORLEN Group posted record-high LIFO-based EBITDA of PLN 3.2bn, up by a remarkable PLN 1.2bn y/y.

It's Not Just Money, It's Life, is a new book from financial adviser Beth Blecker (www.easternplanning.com) that aims to help individuals fulfill their financial dreams. Among other things, the breakout book teaches that the purpose of money is to: "Serve you and your goals, not the other way around."

Mux Miner puts in effort to lower energy consumption in cryptocurrency mining. Users can mine with the MUX series in BCH, BTC, Ether, LTC, Monero, and Dash.

Specialist insurance broker GrECo acquires 100% of MAI CEE Ltd., a major risk, insurance and employee benefits consultant in CEE.

In addition, the team plans to optimize the calculation of functions for newbies and old users. This way the hash rate will grow faster.

LeGrand S. Redfield, Jr., President of Asset Management Group, Inc, in Stamford, Connecticut has earned the designation of Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) from The American College. Unlike a general financial planning program like the CFP® or ChFC®, the RICP® delves much more deeply into the specific area of retirement income planning. It also trains advisers to plan for potential issues that can have a serious negative impact on a person's retirement plans.

APRIL 29TH, 2022 - Dexvers exchange's proprietary token $DXVS public sale has officially begun with their listing on the Welthee Launchpad on April 26th. The token is now available for purchase on the platform, with crypto or card.

Mortgage fintech Perch closes $4M Series A to accelerate growth

Michelle L. Ross Completes the Risk Management, Insurance Planning and Employee Benefits Course.

Asset Management Group, Inc. of Stamford, CT, is pleased to announce that Jennifer Brucato has passed the FINRA Series 65 Securities License Exam and has been promoted to Associate Financial Planner.

MetaChain, a high-performance blockchain platform, could be the key to revolutionizing the Turkish Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Research project develops solution for the automated detection of illegal financial flows – including verifiable minimum requirements for the use of artificial intelligence in sensitive areas.

Atlanta-based fintech Tern partners with global cross-border payments provider UniTeller to allow TransferMex cardholders to easily send money to Mexico

Allianz has launched two new initiatives to help women overcome financial uncertainty on their path to professional football.

Stamford, CT - Asset Management Group, Inc. is proud to announce that Jennifer Brucato has been awarded the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation by the College of Financial Planning. This prestigious designation recognizes Jennifer's commitment to providing comprehensive and expert financial advice to high-net-worth clients.

From 2003 to 2023, RTO National Partners with Hundreds of Dealers Across the U.S.

Asset Management Group, Inc. proudly announces the achievement of LeGrand S. Redfield, Jr. CLU, ChFC, CFP, who has successfully obtained the Accredited Behavioral Finance ProfessionalSM (ABFP™) designation from the renowned College for Financial Planning.

To clarify GfBk's position on the agenda items for the Annual General Meeting on June 4, 2024, we would like to make the following fundamental clarification: We support numerous agenda items set by the Executive Board. When we express a contrary opinion, it is from the perspective of a shareholder focusing on the overall well-being of the company and all other shareholders.

Asset Management Group, Inc. of Stamford, CT, is pleased to announce that the College of Financial Planning has granted Ashley M. Tuccinardi the Financial Paraplanner Qualified Professional (FPQP®)

The Jackermeier investor group will participate in the bidding process organised by goetzpartners for ENDOR AG.

Mr. Mattia's death is a tragedy that harmed his family and community greatly, and his family plans to hold CBP accountable for the outrageous killing of their beloved family member.

Prevent calf cramps.