RSD Solutions to speak at Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters New Brunswick Conference

by Michael Arbow, MBA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com

 

On Thursday 26^th of May, RSD Solutions will be speaking at the CME’s annual New Brunswick Conference being held at the Delta Fredericton.  Entitled “Manufacturing… A Whole New World” this year’s conference focuses on the dynamic business and global environment that manufacturers in New Brunswick and indeed all of Canada are living in.  Rick Nason (Partner) and Michael Arbow will be speaking on reducing financial risk through hedging – a form of financial insurance.  They will focus on the “pain” exporters may face because of the rising Canadian dollar and the potential pain of volatile interest rates and how by hedging this financial pain can be reduced and how profitability and peace of mind increased.

 

For more information on this CME New Brunswick event and the CME click on the link:

http://tinyurl.com/3tghztm

Looking Forward

Rick Nason, PhD, CFA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDSolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com 

 

Having just signed a book deal (on a trade book on complexity for business – a pet passion of mine), one starts to think about how it will be received.  Will it be accepted, criticized, forgotten or just plain ignored?

 

Looking back through my library that includes books from when I was a kid, I realize that some of the books stand the test of time better than others.  Certain books, such as the Bible or the Koran have been with us for centuries and looks like they will be with us for centuries to come.  They have stood the test of time. Some like Dow 40,000 look ridiculous pretty quick.

 

As one who does a lot of article writing and workshops on Financial Risk and Enterprise Risk Management, I wonder not only how will my work look 5, 10, or 50 years from now, but how will the entire field of risk management be viewed?  Will we be considered to be the Alchemists of the business world – in vain search of answers while looking in the wrong direction, or will the discipline develop into a respected science or field of practice?

 

Looking forward is one of the things that a risk manager is supposed to do.  Have we looked forward enough though at our own profession?

Path Not Point

by Rick Nason, PhD, CFA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com 

 

When conducting risk workshops, or risk implementations for organizations, the question that frequently comes up is “when will we know when we have arrived as a best practice risk firm?”  It is a natural question to ask as managers always want to know when they have a solution to an issue nailed down.

 

The response however catches people by surprise.  The response is “you won’t”, and the reason that you won’t is that risk management is a path not a point.  Risk management is always developing and evolving.  There is no end point. 

 

That may be seen as discouraging, but it should be seen as encouraging.  For those willing to keep moving along the path it means competitive advantages as too many organizations want to rest on their laurels at achieving a point.  Other organizations do not have the discipline to stick to long term achievement.  Still others keep looking for the mythical short-term fix.

 

Recognizing that risk management is a path and not a point is one key to risk management becoming a solid cornerstone of competitive advantage.

 

It’s Always Something

Rick Nason, PhD, CFA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com 

 

I must confess that I have not read the book by Gilda Radner titled “It’s Always Something”, but its title resonates with me as a risk manager (and as a person).  Risk management is not perfect.  Corporates are not perfect.  Economics and economies are not perfect.  People are not perfect.  Customers as well as employees are not perfect.  That is why “it’s always something”.  That is also why there will always be risk management.

U of T Press signs book publishing contract with RSD Solutions Partner Rick Nason

by Michael Arbow, MBA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com

 

We are RSD Solutions are very happy to announce that the University of Toronto Press (UTP) has signed Rick Nason, Partner at RSD Solutions, with a publishing contract for a general interest book.  Founded in 1901, University of Toronto Press (UTP) is Canada's leading scholarly publisher and one of the largest university presses in North America publishing books of general interest, journals and textbooks.

 

With the working title “It’s not complicated: The art and science of complexity in business”; Rick’s book is aimed at altering the way business problem solvers, strategist and managers look at areas as diverse as marketing, operations and organization behavior.  Utilizing his background in physics and Wall Street, Nason applies the thought processes used in the studies of the sciences such as biology, mathematics and physics to the business environment.  From this cross-disciplines perspective, readers will gain a unique understanding of business issues and be equipped to propose distinctive practical solutions to common and not so common issues. 

 

Rick’s book is scheduled to be released for North American wide distribution in early 2012.  Follow our RSD blog to learn more about the finalized release date and purchasing information as it becomes available.

 

 

For more on UTP, their books, journals and other services click on the link:

http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/

Headless chickens

by Stephen McPhie, CA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com

 

 

I’ve been following the recent Canadian general election.  Not many people outside Canada have done so because the coverage in non-Canadian media has been pretty well non-existent as usual.  Fortunately the internet lets me follow such worthy electronic publications as the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star – and, if I want to read Rex Murphy (always a good read), or Conrad Black (who seems complimentary to Canada and anyone who might help get back his Canadian citizenship), the National Post.

 

Also, in the UK, there has been a referendum on the “Alternative Voting” system (a sort of modified first past the post system that means that the winner might well be the person who gets the 2^nd or 3^rd highest number of first choice votes).  The AV referendum, held expensively to placate the junior party in the governing coalition (and which ended up causing them major grief), returned a resounding no, as it was intended to do by the senior coalition partners.

 

Commentators have determined that the Canadian election changed everything, not just for the next 4 or 5 years, but forever.  They are reading the last rights of the Liberal party as well as the Bloc Quebecois.  Perhaps they are right but I reserve judgement.  After all, it was not too long ago that the Tories were reduced to 2 MPs.  They changed and adapted but they are still obviously very much with us.

 

In the UK, there was also an election for the Scottish government that really might change everything.  It was held under a proportional representation system, widely thought to have been put in place to make it extremely unlikely that the Scottish National Party would ever gain a majority government.  Well the extremely unlikely happened.  The Labour party, which has regarded Scotland as its own personal fiefdom, is in total disarray.  Seat after seat that a few weeks ago it would have been assumed that a dead worm could win for Labour fell to the nationalists.  Actually, all other parties did badly and the leaders of the 3 main opposition parties have all quit.  However, at least in a UK context as it affects the party, it is probably the greatest worry for Labour.  They mismanaged the whole process and their assumptions brought forward for many years were all wrong.  Now they are running around like headless chickens.  Having lived in Canada through 2 Quebec referenda and all sorts of attempted constitutional contortions, I have an idea of how things will pan out over the next few years.

 

I could go on about politics but that is not really the point I want to make.  There are lessons for companies managing risks.  The unthinkable can happen and does happen frequently.  Sacred assumptions can break down overnight.  They can also change or return just as quickly.  Scenarios, systems and processes must take account of this. 

 

And I do not consider my idea of what will pan out in Scotland as a sacred assumption.  I plan to buy a small, uninhabited island off the Scottish coast and declare independence from Scotland, England, Newfoundland, the BBC and anything else that claims jurisdiction!

 

  

 

Barbershop Poles

Rick Nason, PhD, CFA

Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.

www.RSDsolutions.com

info@RSDsolutions.com 

 

 

I subscribe to the Week.  It is a news magazine that is basically a weekly news summary magazine.  It is a fun read as all of the articles are super-short and are sourced from a wide variety of newspapers and magazines.  One of the sections of this weekly is called “Only in America”.  “Only in America” gives capsules of the stupidest news stories from around the States.

 

Catching up with some issues that were a few weeks old, a story on “Only in America” caught my eye about Barber-poles.  It appears that a city in the U.S.  has outlawed Barber-poles as they are considered to be a traffic hazard with their rotating red, blue and white spirals.  This is truly something that could happen “Only in America”.

 

Of all the issues facing most American cities, Barber-poles has got to be quite far down the list.  The mere fact that one city has decided to outlaw them really makes you wonder.  How much time did they spend studying the issue of Barber-pole risk?  How much of the city manager’s time was spent drafting the law?  How large was the legal bill?  How much city council time was spent debating the issue?  How much time, energy and resources were spent by special-interest focus groups? (I am sure there is a special interest focus group on both sides of this issue.)  I find the whole thing quite amazing.

 

However, I suspect that if I poked around your organization it would not take long to find a Barber-pole issue or two (or more) that has been risk managed to death in your workplace.  Barber-pole issues are risk management issues that each company spends way too much time, energy and effort working on, when the risk benefit is simply not going to justify the whole exercise.  I say let the Barber-poles spiral away – it’s the Starbucks Coffee signs I find distracting!