U.S. industrial manufacturers expect continued domestic and international growth in 2012, although forecasts have fallen below 2011 actual growth rates, according to the findings of the Q4 2011 Manufacturing Barometer released today by PwC US.  While uncertainty still prevails and own-company revenue expectations have moderated, optimism about the worldwide economy rose in the fourth quarter of 2011, including a notable improvement in sentiment regarding prospects for the U.S., as compared to an all-time low in domestic sentiment in the third quarter of 2011.  In addition, U.S. industrial manufacturers continue to forecast increased investment spending in the year ahead, including major outlays in operational spending.  Plans for merger and acquisition (M&A)activity also increased, and there was significant emphasis on expansion into new markets. 

Optimism regarding the prospects of the U.S. economy over the next 12 months rose to 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 – up from only 5 percent in the third quarter of 2011 – and 28 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. economy grew in 4Q 2011, up 21 points from the prior quarter. However, the majority of respondents, 57 percent, remain uncertain, rather than outright pessimistic.  Among U.S. industrial companies operating abroad, uncertainty also remains high at 64 percent, with 36 percent believing that the world economy is declining and 48 percent reporting that they saw no change.  However, 16 percent of respondents marketing abroad view the world economy as growing in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 9 points from the prior quarter.

“While forecasts remain guarded with growth rates trailing prior year actual performance, optimism about the worldwide economy increased among U.S. industrial manufacturers in the fourth quarter of 2011,” said Barry Misthal, global industrial manufacturing leader for PwC.  “Despite the improved sentiment, however, the majority of U.S. industrial manufacturers remain cautious regarding the outlook ahead.  Expectations for moderate growth in 2012 appear to be balanced by healthy cash levels, improving gross margins and continued strategic investment spending among the major industrial manufacturers.  Management teams continue to seek avenues to expand globally and gain market share, while carefully managing their risk exposure.”

Growth
Although the projected average growth rate for own-company revenue for 2012 was lowered from 5.0 percent in the prior quarter to 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, 83 percent of respondents expect positive revenue growth for their own companies in the year ahead, while 7 percent expect growth to be negative and 10 percent expect no growth. With regard to the international contribution, industrial manufacturers continue to expect international sales to deliver 38 percent of total company revenue in 2012, the same as the prior quarter and one year ago.

“While optimism about the international economy remains well below sentiment recorded in last year’s fourth quarter, expected sales contributions from overseas operations remain identical with prior year levels,” added Misthal.  “At the same time, plans for spending and M&A activity continue to be a major international focus over the next 12 months.  Given ongoing issues facing Asia and Europe, these findings may point to a stabilization of sentiment regarding the global outlook.”

Looking back at full year 2011, the composite average growth estimate for own-company calendar year revenue growth was 5.3%, down slightly from 5.6% projected in the third quarter survey.  Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they had positive own-company growth in 2011, with 19 percent forecasting double digit gains and 68 percent projecting single digit gains.  Eight percent were negative, while only 5 percent had zero growth.

Spending
Over the next 12 months, 67 percent of industrial manufacturing panelists plan major new capital investments, up 12 points from the third quarter of 2011.  The level represents the highest in the past five quarters, with two-out-of-three U.S. industrial manufacturers planning spending.  However, the average level of new investment spending is expected to be lower at 4.2 percent of sales, in comparison to 5.9 percent in the third quarter of 2011.  Ninety percent of respondents plan to increase operational spending, an increase of 5 points from the previous quarter.   Increased operational spending is cited for new product or service introductions (57 percent), information technology (50 percent) and business acquisitions (40 percent).  Forecasts for research and development spending declined 8 points to 40 percent from 48 percent in the third quarter of 2011, while spending forecasts pertaining to marketing, sales promotion and advertising remained low.

M&A
On the M&A front, 38 percent of industrial manufacturers say they planned activity, with virtually all of them seeking to pursue acquisitions.  Forty percent plan for expansion into new markets abroad, and 40 percent plan new joint ventures. The number planning strategic alliances rose to 35 percent, and new facilities abroad increased to 32 percent.

“The increase in planned operational spending, as well as M&A activities reflects an ongoing focus among U.S. industrial manufacturers in investing for  growth in the face of an uncertain global outlook,” added Misthal.  “In addition, industrial manufacturing companies have continued to build liquidity, while taking steps to improve margins and provide ample support for investment in growth initiatives with a global focus.”

During the fourth quarter of 2011, 38 percent of respondents reported higher gross margins, while only 15 percent said they were lower, for a net gain of 23 percent.  These results are up 15 points from the third quarter of 2011, despite a continued high level of costs.  In fact, 32 percent of U.S.-based industrial manufacturers reported higher costs, while 15 percent reported cost reductions, for a net plus of 17 percent, 11 points below the third quarter.  In addition, 30 percent raised prices, but 8 percent lowered them, for a net plus 22 percent reporting higher prices, up 12 points from the third quarter.

Employment
Looking at the employment picture, 37 percent of respondents plan to add employees to their workforces over the next 12 months, off 1 point from the third quarter of 2011.  However, the net workforce composite projection rose from a minus 0.2 percent in the prior quarter to a plus 0.7 percent, representing modest gains and a break from what had been a declining hiring pattern in past surveys.   Among those respondents planning to hire, the most sought after employees will be professionals and technicians (28 percent) and skilled workers (23 percent).  Interest in production workers declined to 13 percent, off 14 points from the third quarter of 2011.

Regarding expected barriers to business growth, legislative and regulatory pressures were cited most by respondents at 50 percent.  Lack of demand and oil/energy prices were next at 47 percent, with both being down from the previous quarter.  Taxation concerns dropped 7 points to 33 percent, while concerns about decreasing profitability fell sharply to 18 percent.

“The success of U.S. industrial manufacturers in increasing operating profitability remains a major bright spot in the prolonged challenging global marketplace,” added Misthal.  “In the fourth quarter PwC Manufacturing Barometer, concerns about profitability holding back growth were the lowest in over 12 months, highlighting the fundamental strength of U.S. manufacturers in spite of ongoing sales pressures and intense global competition.”

Special Topic: Supply Chain and Global Operations
U.S. industrial manufacturers continue to focus on improving company supply chains globally.   According to the fourth quarter PwC Manufacturing Barometer, three quarters (77 percent) of industrial manufacturers surveyed believe it is very or extremely important to the growth of their global businesses to improve their companies’ supply chain over the next two to three years.

Forty three percent of respondents confirmed it is very/extremely important to improve their companies’ globalized product development operations, while 40 percent sited their supply base and 39 percent cited their manufacturing footprint as major priorities.  In addition, 75 percent of respondents confirmed definite plans for major/minor improvement of their globalized distribution systems over the next 12 to 18 months.

Moreover, 78 percent of industrial manufacturers surveyed believe their current business is scalable to meet global requirements at target performance levels over the next two to three years – 50 percent definitely and 28 percent probably.  The majority (52 percent) of respondents envision the need to rethink and/or reprioritize their companies’ manufacturing core competences to grow and optimize their business during the next two to three years.  Overall, 57 percent of industrial manufacturers see a need to partner in new ways with their strategic suppliers to grow and optimize their business over the next two to three years.

To view the complete Manufacturing Barometer report, visit http://www.pwc.com/manufacturing-barometer. For information about other Barometer surveys, including recent economic trend data and topical issues, visit http://www.barometersurveys.com.

Lest We Forget…

11.11.11 Please be sure to take a moment on November 11, at 11 a.m. to remember and honor our veterans who have and continue to defend our freedom.

History of Veterans’ Day:

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.

Is Thanksgiving as we know it an endangered species?  With Halloween’s ghosts barely banished, each year retailers push the Christmas season upon consumers earlier and earlier – and all at the expense of the Thanksgiving holiday.  But the Allrecipes.com community is out to turn that around.  Inspired by community member Doug Matthews’ November 2010 blog post lamenting the commercialization of the holiday season, Allrecipes, a Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) company and the world’s #1 digital food brand, today announced its “Respect the Bird!” campaign: a grassroots movement to savor the true meaning of Thanksgiving and tune out the distractions of Black Friday that have intruded upon Thanksgiving week.

A national survey from Allrecipes found 82 percent of home cooks think Christmas is marketed too early and that the Thanksgiving holiday gets too little attention as a result. Moreover, 42 percent admit being frustrated by Christmas shopping sales that begin before Thanksgiving while 39 percent just try to ignore them.

Allrecipes has created a dedicated site, www.RespectTheBird.com, where Thanksgiving enthusiasts can rally support for the movement. Here, consumers can take the Respect the Bird Pledge, a promise to fully enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and not begin shopping for the December holidays until after November 24, and get recipes and tips for their Thanksgiving festivities. The site and complementary social media channels (Respect the Bird Facebook community and Respect the Bird on Twitter – @RespectTheBird) will make it easy to spread the movement among friends and family.

“Thanksgiving is an amazing holiday and I believe I was speaking for a lot of people when I wrote the blog post last year about Respect the Bird,” said Matthews, leader of the Respect the Bird movement. “I am thrilled that Allrecipes is taking Respect the Bird to a new level with this campaign and I hope it sets a precedence that the holiday be celebrated by sharing thanks and good food with friends and family, not Black Friday shopping!”

With thousands of top-rated Thanksgiving recipes from classics such as Homestyle Turkey, the Michigander Way to exotic side dishes such as Holiday Cranberry Chutney, Allrecipes will be the go-to resource for Thanksgiving meal planning, expecting 28 million visits the week leading up to Thanksgiving day – a 35 percent increase over 2010.

“Allrecipes.com thrives on its vibrant user community of more than 25 million passionate home cooks like Doug Matthews,” said Lisa Sharples, President of Allrecipes. “When we saw how our community responded to Doug’s blog, we knew we had to help that community express its appreciation for what we all think is truly the best day of the year.”

How America Will Celebrate Thanksgiving

So how do Americans plan to Respect the Bird this year? In addition to polling members about their attitudes toward holiday marketing, Allrecipes also discovered the following Thanksgiving trends in its annual survey:

• Thanksgiving dinner is the most celebrated holiday meal with 71% of Americans planning to prepare the traditional meal this year.
• What Americans love most about Thanksgiving is spending time with friends and family (74%), closely followed by eating delicious food (55%) and giving thanks for what they have (53%).
• More than 83% of cooks will get Thanksgiving recipes from food websites, such as Allrecipes.com.
• The majority (69%) plan to spend the same amount of money on Thanksgiving dinner this year as they did in 2010. Cooks looking to save money on holiday food costs plan to do so by purchasing items that are on sale (68%) and preparing dishes from scratch (65%).
• When it comes to choosing recipes for holiday meals, home cooks like dishes with ingredients they can use again (53%) and recipes they’ve tried before and turned out well (58%).
• As for the food, the majority (88%) will roast their turkey in the oven. The most popular side dishes include classics like mashed potatoes (83%), cranberry sauce (81%) and stuffing (92%), with the majority (64%) cooking the stuffing outside the bird.

Allrecipes.com: Ultimate Resource for Thanksgiving

Home cooks looking for Thanksgiving help can turn to Allrecipes.com’s Recipe Buzz where thousands of community members help answer each other’s questions every day. During Thanksgiving week Allrecipes has enlisted the help of its most active community members, a group of 100 Allrecipes Allstars who will help monitor the Recipe Buzz and answer the community’s burning (or how not to)Thanksgiving questions.

Allrecipes Thanksgiving pages (http://allrecipes.com/Features/Holidays/Thanksgiving/default.aspx) feature everything needed for a fantastic Thanksgiving meal including top-rated recipes, how-to videos, ready-to-go menus, helpful articles and helpful recipe scaling tools for large family feasts. As the #1 food website for 30 consecutive months, and the top Thanksgiving destination for the past 3 years, Allrecipes is America’s go-to resource for all things Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving planning on the go, Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app for Droid, iPhone and Windows Phones is the #1 free food app with nearly 10 million downloads, and the Allrecipes.com Your Kitchen Inspiration app is the top free recipe app for the iPad. Both apps will feature top-rated Thanksgiving recipes during November.  Allrecipes also stocks a robust library of eCookbooks, including the popular 100 Best Thanksgiving Recipes for $3.99 on Nook, Kindle or iPad.  Allrecipes users’ with supporting memberships can use the Menu Planner tool to plan their entire Thanksgiving meal from appetizers to main dishes to desserts and get a full shopping list that is scalable for the number of people attending the feast.

About Allrecipes

Allrecipes, the world’s largest digital food brand, receives 700 million annual visits from home cooks who discover and share food experiences through recipes, reviews, photos, videos, profiles, and blogs on the web and mobile devices. For 14 years, the brand has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all skill levels seeking everyday and holiday meal solutions. Allrecipes’ global, multi-platform brand is comprised of 17 websites, 9 apps, and 13 eBooks serving cooks in 23 countries and 11 languages. Allrecipes is part of Lifestyle Communities @ RDA, a division of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. For additional information regarding Allrecipes, please visit http://www.allrecipes.com.

About Reader’s Digest Association

RDA is a global media and direct marketing company that educates, entertains and connects more than 140 million consumers around the world with products and services from trusted brands. With offices in 44 countries, the company reaches customers in 79 countries, publishes 90 magazines, including 50 editions of Reader’s Digest, the world’s largest-circulation magazine, operates 83 branded websites and sells nearly 40 million books, music and video products across the world each year. www.rda.com.

On working with Jason Brevard:
I have been coming from a rather unusual scenario, having been off work for 15 months due to medical issues. Jason worked with me on how to properly address my time away from work and turn the focus on my extensive work experiences, past work successes, and strong motivations to contribute to a team environment’s continued success. I found that his network of contacts and available resources opened a door for me where doors had been closed. I went knocking on the doors Jason showed me and today I have what appears to be the best job I’ve had in the last thirty years!

Facebook boasts some 640 million users worldwide; Twitter receives over 95 million Tweets every day, and Yelp, a website featuring feedback on service providers, has surpassed 50 million unique monthly users. Social media, in one form or another, is undoubtedly here to stay. In fact, 90 percent of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know and 70 percent trust opinions of unknown users.

In the recent past, brands—especially those in the hospitality industry— had to rely on “small sample size” shopper reports, dated surveys, and/or inconsistent comments cards to evaluate customer perspectives. Now, with all of the websites devoted to reviews and comments from customers, everyone is a critic. Furthermore, the reach and influence of these consumer critics is skyrocketing—through social media. Capitalizing on all of that instant information by presenting it in a way that is understandable and actionable is critical.

At the same time stories of the effects of employee motivation, engagement, and overall attitude on customer service abound. However, one company found, linking employees directly to what customers are saying online has dramatically increased staff ownership of the employee/customer relationship. Enter Minnesota-based Parasole Restaurant Holdings, founders of eclectic, leading-edge concept restaurants, including Buca Di Beppo.

Partnering with newBrandAnaltyics, Parasole effectively captures a complete, real-time view of their customer feedback online, synthesizes it, and generates actionable insights that can immediately improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue.

“Many companies like Parasole are also seeing that sharing online customer feedback from social media channels with their employees gives them a renewed and sustained sense of motivation for and ownership of customer service and the overall customer experience,” explains Ashish Gambhir, Co-Founder of newBrandAnalytics.

Armed with this type of customer feedback data, Parasole employees now understand every customer experience counts, because they read about it on the Internet.

Wise employers especially in the service industries will harness the power of online customer feedback to engage their employees in making things better, adding the incentive of cash reward.

The results of a recent study add another concern: many of the top math and science students in the United States are increasingly the children of immigrants. Even though only 12 percent of the US population is foreign-born, the study found that 70 percent of the finalists in the 2011 Intel Science Talent Search competition were the children of immigrants. Also, according to the report, 60 percent of the top science students and 65 percent of the top math students were born to immigrant families.

From time to time, we have discussed the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) initiative. The FIRST organization engages young students (ages 6 to 18) and their mentors in solving common problems in a six-week timeframe.

The FIRST teams build robots using a standard “kits of parts” and a common set of rules, then vie in regional and international competitions. Founded in 1989, this impressive program now serves 248,000+ students from more than 10 countries on 22,475 teams, making 20,675 robots. Over 90,000 mentors and event volunteers support their .

The growth of the FIRST organization is most impressive and is a shining example of how society can create science heroes, a goal of Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and FIRST founder. If the US is to be competitive globally, we will need to tap into all the talent we can find.

Read more about FIRST at http://www.usfirst.org.

The following are THREE critical steps to help you differentiate yourself from your competition:

Step One: CUSTOMIZE

This applies to both your resume as well as job applications either online or printed copy. It is important that your resume and the answers you provide on their application form highlight your experience and skills to match their job requirements.

Step Two: BE CONTEMPORARY

You need to show that you are aware of current trends in your prospective profession and have knowledge of trends in the current Job Market. You need to have a basic understanding and usage of social media. Social Media is now a critical part of our culture and certainly a part of the culture of recruiters and hiring authorities. Set up a LinkedIn and Twitter account.

Step Three: SHOW ENTHUSIASM AND ENERGY

Employers react to individuals who show a high level of enthusiasm and interest in working for them and their company. In your cover letter and resume you want to express a high level of intellectual, mental and emotional energy. This will help you BRAND yourself and stand out to recruiters or hiring authorities reviewing your credentials.

Implement these three steps and you will land more interviews which will lead to job offers.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by The Nielsen Company. The cutoff date for February’s preliminary results was February 10, 2011.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “The Consumer Confidence Index is now at a three-year high (Feb. 2008, 76.4), due to growing optimism about the short-term future.  Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions has improved moderately, but still remains rather weak. Looking ahead, consumers are more positive about the economy and their income prospects, but feel somewhat mixed about employment conditions.”

Consumers’ appraisal of present-day conditions improved moderately in February. Those stating business conditions are “good” increased to 12.4 percent from 11.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” was unchanged at 39.6 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was also more positive than in January. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” rose to 4.9 percent from 4.6 percent, while those stating jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 45.7 percent from 47.0 percent.

Consumers’ short-term outlook was more optimistic than in January. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 24.4 percent from 24.0 percent, while those anticipating business conditions will worsen declined to 10.4 percent from 12.2 percent.

Consumers were mixed about the job market. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead edged down to 19.8 percent from 20.8 percent, however, those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 15.4 percent from 21.2 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes rose to 17.3 percent from 15.3 perc

1. HIGH VALUES AWARENESS
Values are communicated often and discussed to ensure awareness and understanding throughout a corporation.

2. HIGH VALUES ACCOUNTABILITY
People are evaluated on values-driven practices and results with zero tolerance for values violations.

3. LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
Leaders earn the right to expect others to do things by doing those things themselves.

4. VALUES-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING
Decisions are evaluated to ensure they are in accord with corporate values BEFORE they are implemented.

5. IN SYNC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Rules, policies and practices are evaluated to ensure they reflect and support all corporate values.

6. VALUES-DRIVEN EDUCATION
Training developmental activities teach how to demonstrate ethics and apply corporate values.

7. ATTENTION TO PERCEPTIONS
Surveys and other perception-collecting activities are necessary components of corporate assessment and change strategies.

8. STEADY, INCREMENTAL CHANGE
Emphasis is placed on many small improvements rather than long, elaborate programs, recent fads and annual programs.

9. VALUES-BASED SELECTION
The degree to which people subscribe to and practice organizational values is key when hiring and promoting employees.

10. ENCOURAGED INITIATIVE
People are rewarded for POSITIVE ACTIONS rather than complaining, blaming others or waiting for others to take initiative.

1. Too Long – It is not concise, interesting and relevant.

2. Too Short – It doesn’t provide enough information to draw any conclusions.

3. Too Condensed – Paragraphs and sentences are too close together and difficult to read.

4. Too Wordy – Many words are repeated and could have been condensed.

5. Too Slick – It is so well prepared that it is obvious that a professional put the resume together.

6. Too Amateurish – It is not able to express yourself because it lacks professionalism.

7. Sufficient Data Lacking – The material is insufficient for proper evaluation.

8. Resume Is Too Gimmicky – It contains words or structures that are too far from the norm and are unacceptable.

9. Poorly Reproduced – It is not put together in a professional manner.

10. Misspelling and Poor Grammar Usage – Today’s technology makes it completely unacceptable to spell a word incorrectly.  These two skills are mandatory in almost every career.

11. Resume Is Dishonest – Any part of your resume that is untrue is completely unacceptable and not forgivable.

12. Resume Is Boastful – Confidence is good, but overall bragging is too much to try to live up to.

13. Poorly Expressed – If you are unable to prepare your resume in order to get an interview, get assistance from someone who can help you.

14. Objective Omitted – It is important that you understand the opportunity and gear your objective toward that opening.

15. Gaps Of Employment Not Addressed – If the gap is obvious it should have some type of explanation, if it is a short period of time it can be omitted.

16. Inconsistencies – Make sure everything on your resume is consistent. Inconsistencies are perceived as dishonest.