Thatcher memories.........

Thirty years ago this week on the 3rd May 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister of Great Britain as leader of the Conservative party.

Were you around then ? I was. I was in the 6th form at school facing a gloomy future of mass unemployment and industrial strife.

The late '70's was a grim time in Britain with mass strikes and an industrial culture which was well recognised as the "sick man of Europe"; Thatcher changed all that battling the Unions head on and introducing legislation regarding secondary strike action which has still not been repealed today.

The pinnacle of industrial strife was the miners strike of 1984 - 1985 which ended with the defeat of the mineworkers and the closure of the vast majority of pits.

I was brought up in a mining village and remember well the despair and poverty that resulted, those communities would never be the same again.

However, I also remember some other things, how, for the first time, working class people were allowed to buy their own homes from the council at a knock down rate and how those homes were improved by their proud owners, new windows and doors, hanging baskets, painted railings, small things which gradually improved the appearance and standards of the area.

Years later I would read about the poverty of common ownership with understanding.

Thatcher's policies created a spirit of entrepreneurship and competition which fuelled more than a decade of economic growth in which we all shared and prospered. Tony Blair was Thatcher's natural air. Sure, we're all paying the price now with the "Credit Crunch" but let's not get all maudlin and blame the bankers for everything, after all Capitalism is a cyclical system so what do you expect, the thing is whats the alternative, Communism ? Socialism ? Anarchy ? Ha !

Who can forget her leadership too, when the Falkland Islands were invaded by Argentina Thatcher had no qualms about setting up a task force to recapture the islands flying in the face of weak National and International opposition. We can all question that decision but first ask the Falkland Islanders what they think.

Whatever your memories of Margaret Thatcher there is no doubt - the Lady was not for turning !

Time to Market - the real cost of delay.

Anyone involved in New Product Introduction (NPI) knows how critical time to market is but do they know how to quantify it?

If a product has a predicted lifecycle of two years the assumption must be made that sales will cease 2 years after product launch i.e at product "death".

If the launch date is delayed by 2 months the original product "death" should remain the same. Any product will only be viable until its successor is released by its originator or the competition. The result is a loss of 2 months of sales which will have a real monetary value. This is a perfectly reasonable proposition as there is no logic in assuming that the competitors next product will be late just because yours is !

This enables us to quantify project delays in terms of real dollars. Great news for Senior Management but also good news for the project manager as it allows us to justify additional project resource or equipment in order to meet the original project timescales.

Remember - if your Senior Management has not provided the resource you budgeted for to bring the project in on time quantifying time to market losses in monetary terms is a great leveraging tool.

Grand National Economy

Today at 4.15 BST at Aintree racecourse in the North West of England forty horses set off in one of the greatest sporting spectacles on earth. Millions will watch world wide hoping and preying that their horse will cross the line first and their investment will be rewarded.

This race is (in)famous for the number of fallers which occur throughout the race and it is not uncommon for two thirds of the starters not to finish. It is ferociously competitive and the jockeys are fearless as they soar over the huge fences without knowing what lies on the other side.

The roar of the crowd propels the riders on until the field is strung out and the final few battle it out up the final rise towards the finish line.

Its all a bit like the economy with competing firms thrashing it out over the ever undulating financial landscape. Many of the jockeys of these steeds appear to be blind as they leap into the unknown and many will fall over the course of events but some will prevail to bring home the bacon for their investors.

In hindsight how many will prevail because of good planning, excellent management, customer focus and quality product and how many through pure good fortune.

Whatever race your in - Good Luck !!