2014 Annual Business Conference (ABC)

Location & Date:  Hilton Anatole Dallas, TX March 3-5, 2014 

The Food Marketing Institute's Annual Business Conference (ABC) provides a tremendous opportunity for CPG suppliers to interact with their retail/wholesale trading partners. Within the ABC program, participants can communicate strategies, goals, and operational concerns in an effort to achieve greater efficiency and profitability.

Participants:

• C-level and key senior executives for marketing, merchandising and/or supply chain from FMI retailer and wholesaler member companies
• Distributor and supplier senior executives with responsibilities for overall corporate goal-setting, business development and strategic alliances.

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Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason-Space and Time

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believed that both experience and reason are necessary to make knowledge. One without the other does not work well creating situations whereby reason alone is not weighed in time, while experience, without reason, is limited as an in-depth analysis. Kant’s work The Critique of Purse Reason (1781) delves into the nature of thought. 

He makes a distinction between a priori knowledge and a posterior knowledge. A posterior knowledge is that which we gain from experience while a priori knowledge is that which we gain from the universal truths of reason. Scientific knowledge is gained from a priori/analytic reason while experience is gained from a posterior/synthetic reason. 

Kant also moves into the concept of time and space as part of the a priori constructs of the mind. Just like cause and effect is important to understanding so is space and time. It is a process of experiencing the world and making some order out of it. Without cause and effect along with space and time, it will be difficult to make meaning out of the phenomena we experience every day. 

Reason can improve upon the overall process of understanding. By reflecting and examining the various components that make up logical thought formations we have the ability to improve upon them.  As we manipulate our environment, we also gain more information that adds to our logical thought formations.

When we have gained a stronger internal representation of external phenomenon we can say we are using reason and knowledge. This combination affords maximum understanding of our environment. It is a process of continual learning whereby each age can provide higher platforms of reason and knowledge use.  

Intuitions are based within experience. Some psychologists argue that intuitions are instant knowledge drawn from subconscious process. It is the subconscious data that connects and reconnects to make meaning out of its environment. At times, an instant thought or concept can come forward as a solution called intuition.

Immanuel Kant contributed to concepts of human intelligence, psychology, philosophy, and metaphysics. Many other studies have been conducted that back up his arguments. That does not mean he does not have critics but that as a vantage point his philosophies appear to be as valid as any others are. 

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Trust of Each Other is Declining According to a General Social Survey

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What is trust worth? A poll by the General Social Survey indicates that about 1/3 of Americans trust each other. This is a big step downward from a 1972 survey that indicated that about ½ of Americans trust each other. Around 2/3rds say that “you can’t be too careful” dealing with others.  Trust is trending downward and this should concern a number of people.  

Trust can bring some wonderful things in society. The entire economic system and social structure depends on trust. Trust that if you work hard you will receive a reward, trust that people will treat you fairly, and trust that you can walk down the street without injury. Trust is the glue that binds all of society into one neat socio-economic package.

It is hard for people to determine what leads to more or less trust. We can say that its base is a whole host of reasons that may include opportunity, systematic justice, culture, interpersonal relationships, family life or even world events. It is a culmination of these factors that helps create a perspective of life and others.

For businesses the concept that 67% of people put little faith in those who swipe their cards should be concerning. Thinking about how trust is necessary in commerce it should become apparent that those businesses that do not maintain a high level of integrity can be easily punished in the market.  Let a card theft go viral and see what happens.

For politicians it is even worse.  A total of 81% say they put trust in their national political leaders some of the time and 15% most of the time. If you are a leader, this should concern you a little. Just like trust is the foundation of an economy, it is also the foundation of governance. Policies must meet the needs of the people and the betterment of America’s future without any outside or political considerations.

When I think of trust, I like to look at those societal projects that took generations to build. The people who worked on them had generational trust and cross-tribal trust. Stonehenge started in 2,700 BC and seemed to have developed over a thousand years. Even though its background is hazy and in dispute, historians do believe that many different tribes of people were involved in the whole process as a potential peace and unity initiative. If nothing else, each generation should trust that the generation before them has interest in their betterment.

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U-CAT the Robot Sea Turtle

Researchers Asko Ristolainen and Taavi Salumäe at the Centre for Biorobotics, Tallinn University of Technology developed a robotic sea turtle called U-CAT that has the capability  to explore underwater shipwrecks. With four independent flippers and cameras it can explore these tight cornered locations by moving in nearly any direction it needs to. The hope is that the images captured will be used to reconstruct sites to understand them better.

The robot will be used in tandem with other larger robots. At present most sea robots are put to use in Oil & Gas as well as defense. They are large and expensive machinery. Smaller companies need an alternative to exploring underwater sites without putting divers at risk.

Researchers copied the design of creatures in the wild. It helps to create useful machinery that does not kick up underwater sediment and can get in and out of hard to reach places. Using these small robots is more cost effective and functional than some of the alternatives on the market.

The copying of natural creatures in robotics is one way to hedge the natural development knowledge. Without this copying, researchers must invent completely new ways of producing robots. Using a natural prototype encourages faster development of such alternatives.

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The Economic Development of Society

Production and economic structure have a level of association when attempting to develop stronger economic growth. According to a paper by Tvaronaviciene & Lankauskiene (2013), a review of economic history finds that many of the main theories associated with economic growth are about platform growth. They propose in their literary study that economic growth often puts pressure to change the economic structure of society. 

Most researchers measure economic growth through GDP. As a benchmark, a large percentage of countries use natural resources to create wealth. Yet this approach is not sustainable in the end. The development of knowledge based societies and innovative sectors are more likely to maintain growth into the future. This growth improves upon the livelihoods of those within the workforce. 

Adam Smith produced the famous book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations (1776). Market forces are seen as the invisible hand and are generally better regulators than government (Willis, 2005). Societies that seek to gain wealth begin to improve upon their production and then export that production to other areas of the world. 

 John Maynard Keynes published the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936).  In Keynes argument, the free market could be a positive or a negative force and that investment was the real key to overall growth (Willis, 2005). Continually investing in newer infrastructure projects helps adjust the structure and maintain higher levels of growth. 

One method of increasing development was the mobilization of domestic and foreign savings in order to generate sufficient investment to accelerate economic growth (Todaro & Smith, 2011). Economies move from subsistence agriculture, to modern urbanized centers and into more industrial diverse manufacturing and services.  In order for an economy to develop, it must move transit from one economic structure to a higher structural platform. 

The paper discusses the movement from a primarily agricultural society to one an urban society with products and services. It does not really move beyond this point but does hint how social structure can advance through advancements in technology. If we look at the pace of technology development as seen in portable computers, social media, micro manufacturing, etc. the next level of development is not yet clearly defined. True sustainability is based in the high capacity development generated from the advanced technologies of modern times. These technologies create a higher platform where various entities can help form profound new products and services through the contribution of interconnected societal elements. 

Willis, (2005). Theories and practices of development. Routledge, Taylor & Fracis group: London and New York. 

Todaro, M. & Smith (2011). Economic development (Eleventh edition). Pearson Education limited: England.

Tvaronaviciene, M. & Lankauskiene, T. (2013). The impact of production factors and economic structures on economic development. Business Theory and Practice, 14 (1).

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NASA Brings Keplerstein Back to Life-Kepler Space Telescope

The Kepler Space Telescope comes alive once more. After two out of four wheels failed in May of this year, the space mission has been out of commission. With a little ingenuity, the scientists believe they can get the telescope to work another year.  

The telescope needs at least three of its four wheels to work properly. This allows them to adjust direction and hold its position steady in order to study planets far out in space. Using the solar panels at the sides of the telescope NASA believes that they can even distribute light pressure to keep the telescope pointed in the right direction. 

The only problem is that it can be in proper alignment only part of the year thereby seriously limiting its mission and abilities. Senior administrators are likely to determine the cost and benefit of such a project for the 2014 year. However, the telescope’s costs has already been sunk into its design, production, launch and use. It is hoped that another year of operation will cost much less than preceding years.

At present, scientists have significant amounts of data and they have not yet found the time to analyze it all. Through independent verification, they believe that approximately 103 earth-like planets within the habitable zone could exist. Further analysis of the results will help in determine if there are others worth analyzing. 

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