ALMOST LIVE from the 2015 Allied Executive Economic Symposium.

Bob Baur, Chief Global Economist for Principal Financial Group, discussed:

• how the recent global trends are unwind and the world is re-balancing;
• the closing of the China Investment boom;
• Reduced growth in China's economy on a permanent basis (due to 1 child policy shrink in labor force, peak productivity has passed, cost competitiveness diminishing and excess productive capacity has been achieved;
• the ending of the commodity super-cycle, which is undergoing a structural change that should last for years;
• closing down of global outsourcing and increase in domestic manufacturing, which should lead to increased wages for the middle class and continued reduced unemployment;
• European and Japanese economy expected to expand;
• Vanishing inflation phenomenon expected to continue with excess supply and capacity;
• Consumer will return to drive the economic engine;
• Era of low returns and expected increases in stock market to match profit growth.

Charlie Weaver, of the Minnesota Business Partnership, made a strong case for doing business in Minnesota from a corporate culture and quality of life perspective - including noting that St. Paul is the number 1 romantic city in the USA .  His discussion revolved around several initiatives legislatively which would be harmful to the Minnesota business community and went through some rather staggering statistics regarding the current tax burden shouldered by Minnesota businesses and their owners.

My good friends, Dale Klein (CEO of Parallel Technologies) and Travis Penrod (CEO of Interstate Companies, Inc.), together with Dan Ferrise (CEO of Miller Manufacturing) and David Green (COO of Supply Chain Services) spent ample time explaining the key performance indicators that drive their leadership of their respective organizations.  Travis explained how he starts with the global economy and works down from their to his sectors.  Dale discussed monitoring lead generation efforts so as to ensure that sales groups stay active.

The panel also discussed corporate culture and core values.  Dan Ferrise explained how the first step of his company's business planning process starts with a review of the mission statement, goal statement and core values statement.  He says "we hire to it and live with it."  Dale Klein discussed the intangibles his company strives for to make the work environment a fun place to be, i.e. basketball courts, golf simulator.

Next up - compensation strategies.  Each panel member described the percentage of growth in compensation for their teams - primarily reflecting an across the board cost of living increase.  They described the use of variable compensation to drive performance and having the variable measurements tie to culture.

This was just some of the highlights of this event.  I encourage all business leaders to explore the power of collaboration with peers.  Invest in yourself by joining Allied Executives.  Tom Fafinski (Member since 2002, part-time group facilitator since 2008).