Author: Dan Siburg

Map of Commercial Banks by State as of Q4 2019

A commercial bank is where most people do their banking.  Commercial banks are financial institutions, which include depository trust companies, credit card companies with commercial bank charters, private banks, development banks, limited charter banks, and foreign banks.  A commercial bank accepts deposits, offers checking account services, makes various loans, and offers basic financial products like…
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Avoiding a Liquidity Crisis from Becoming a Solvency Problem

Any size and type of business can have a liquidity crisis. Liquidity can be defined as the ability of a business to pay their current financial obligations, which requires converting assets, such as, accounts receivable, inventory or services provided into cash as quickly as possible.  Cash is the most liquid of all assets and is…
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Map of Median Household Income by State for 2018

The U.S. Census Bureau provides annual estimates of income.  Household income includes income of the householder and all other people 15 years and older in the household, whether or not they are related to the householder. Median is the point that divides the household income distributions into two halves: one-half with income above the median…
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Why Management Wants the Turnaround Person Gone as Quickly as Possible

In the course of my career I have done more turnarounds than I want to remember.  Over the years, I have learned that most turnarounds follow a similar pattern. First – Business management or owner(s) are questioning why the turnaround person is even needed to begin with.  It appears that no one thinks there is…
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Chart of 4-Week Moving Average of Initial Jobless Claims from January 28, 1967 to January 25, 2020

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. Week to week initial jobless claims may be very volatile, so the four-week moving average attempts to smooth out the weekly data used for the initial jobless claims. The largest increases in initial claims…
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Everyone Hates Annual Performance Reviews – Stop Doing Them

Manager’s hate writing and delivering annual performance reviews.  Employees hate doing self-appraisals and the dreaded annual review meeting.  Why?  For one, this might be the only formal feedback an employee receives all year.  There’s a lot riding on it.  Raises are often tied to the overall rating which adds to the pressure.  Even for employees…
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Chart of Industrial Production Index from January 1, 1919 to November 1, 2019

The Industrial Production Index is an economic indicator that measures real output for all facilities located in the United States manufacturing, mining, and electric, and gas utilities, excluding U.S. territories. The index is compiled on a monthly basis to bring attention to short- term changes in industrial production. The index also measures movements in production…
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Turning Two Negative Job Functions into One Positive Job Function

When I talk with business executives and managers two of the most negative job functions they are responsible for are: Annual employee performance reviews How to engage employees in the business’s goals and objectives. The key to solving these two negative job functions is to combine the two activities into a positive job function that…
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Chart of Total Assets Held by Classes of Households for July 1989 to April 2019

Total assets held include real estate, financial assets, such as stocks and bonds and consumer durable goods, which are goods that wear out over a long period such as, cars and home appliances. In July 1989 the top 1% held 21.3%, the 90th to 99th wealthiest percentile was 34.2%, the 50th to 90th wealthiest percentile…
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Think About How You Are Thinking

Often executives, managers and owners never stop to question how they are thinking about a business issue. Management at all levels have to think about how they are thinking about an issue and stop themselves from having a predetermined result for a project, as management often will miss warning signs related to how a project…
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