Management

While watching television a few weeks ago, I was aghast at what I saw. A large cable television company ran a commercial about a new competitor. The large cable company identified its competitor by name and showed a bull-headed service technician offering service to a homeowner, who interpreted anything the homeowner said as wanting service.

Arthur Blank & Co., American Bank Note Company and Keystone Plastics of Canada, three subsidiaries of the worldwide ABnote Group, are uniting under a new brand, ABnote North America.

Ask any group of managers if they view themselves as an elite within their organization, and you can be sure they'll deny it. You'll hear comments such as, "I have an open-door policy" and "I take pride in always being accessible and approachable."

Last week, apparel manufacturer Original Outerwear called me in a panic. One of its biggest competitors, Copy Cat Designs, had knocked off its recent catalog. Copy Cat had published a catalog that incorporated the look and feel, layout and other significant features of Original’s catalog. The only difference with Copy Cat’s catalog was the name and specific products contained in the catalog. When asked what could be done, my first question to Original was “Do you have a copyright registration for your catalog?” The response was a resonating “huh?”

It appears that my February article, “Turning Lemons Into Lemonade,” which discussed benefits of bankruptcy from a debtor’s perspective, made some readers’ blood boil. No doubt, those readers were creditors, who likely experienced firsthand how bankruptcy can wipe out any hope of being paid on your accounts receivable.

The nation’s current state of financial turmoil has trickled down to every sector, including the printing industry. Sales and profit margins are deteriorating, forcing companies to shrink salaries and workforces and come up with creative ways to maintain and boost their customer bases. It ain’t pretty. And the picture isn’t expected to brighten any time soon.

“Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.”—Carl Gustav Jung, Psychiatrist 1875-1961)

WHEN THE NATIONAL Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced in December 2008 that the U.S. economy had been in a recession since the previous December, it hit American citizens with a dull thud. The word “recession” had been whispered over cubicles and at dinner tables, splashed in sensationalist headlines on tabloids and magazines, and calmly and firmly denied by politicians for months.

The news about the economy seems to be getting grimmer by the minute. And nobody is immune from the adverse effects of the recession. I have heard many of my clients—from real estate developers, to dentists, to product manufacturers—express their frustration and fear about the state of the economy and their businesses today.

Let’s face it, layoffs are inevitable in these hard economic times. We are constantly bombarded with media reports of massive layoffs. While laying off employees may be necessary for your company to survive in this economic climate, the lawsuits that may follow from a poorly executed layoff plan can financially cripple your company. Even worse, the costs of the lawsuit can be greater than the laid-off employee’s salary and benefits.