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March numbers signal manufacturing slump
Michelle R. Matisons ManufacturingEver since President Donald Trump made an increase in manufacturing jobs one of his key campaign promises, many Americans waited to see if this promise would come to fruition or if it was just another empty political slogan to be dusted off and then returned to the post-industrial, outsourced, and downsized U.S. production heap. New numbers from February and March 2019 report manufacturing declines, reflecting the first quarterly drop in production since 2016. A quarterly drop is no small potatoes, and hard manufacturing data continues to challenge rhetoric from the White House and Capitol Hill about a robust manufacturing economy.
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How to protect against cybersecurity threats in schools
Brian Stack EducationI’ll never forget the first cybersecurity attack I endured as a high school principal. It happened years ago, after I had to assign consequences to a tech-savvy student who regularly would hack into our school Wi-Fi network to access websites and social media platforms that, at the time, were blocked from student access during the school day. I remember the student being upset because he was trying to meet a critical deadline for his international business, and his two other partners needed his help to finish a project for their company. The three ran a company that rented and sold server space to gamers around the world. Mind you, my student had just recently celebrated his 15th birthday.
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Business lessons learned from the Boston Marathon
Roberta Matuson Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementEarlier this week, I had the opportunity to watch the Boston Marathon. If you've haven't seen this race, which happens to be the oldest marathon in the U.S., I'd encourage you to do so. It's quite a sight to behold. Here are some of my key takeaways from the race that can apply to business.
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Opportunity alert: A flurry of OASIS on-ramps
Lisa Pafe Civil & GovernmentAfter several months in a holding pattern due to U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) solicitation protest B-408685.18, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued an update to the long awaited on-ramps to the existing One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services Small Business (OASIS SB) pools on April 17. GSA states that they anticipate releasing OASIS Small Business (SB) Pools 1, 3 and 4 and 8(a) sub-pools in late April 2019. Based on GSA Interact OASIS milestones provided in March 2019, the unrestricted on-ramps are likely to follow a couple of months later.
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Congress considers net neutrality, digital divide laws
Michelle R. Matisons Science & TechnologyYour first time logging on to the internet may have been decades ago, but battles over its regulations rage on as the U.S. House just passed a huge hurdle by embracing net neutrality. The Senate is now considering the Save the Internet Act, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declared it "dead on arrival," signaling that the battle for net neutrality is ongoing. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed net neutrality rules established by the Open Internet Order of 2015. The main issue here is equal treatment for all internet data.
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3 steps to impactful sexual harassment prevention training
Catherine Iste Business Management, Services & Risk Management#MeToo has had a significant impact on organizational awareness of pervasive harassment issues. The number of states implementing sexual harassment prevention training requirements continues to increase, as does the number of progressive organizations offering training regardless of external requirements. But does all this training do anything to address the problem? Here are three steps to increase the chances it does.
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Are you measuring the right things?
Linda Popky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementThe good news about today's technology-enabled world is that we have the ability to measure just about anything. And the bad news is that in today’s technology-enabled world, we have the ability to measure just about anything. We are literally drowning in data points — some of them more useful than others, but all of them screaming for our attention. How do you determine on which measurements to focus? Here's the key point to remember: What gets measured gets managed.
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What’s next as Department of Defense inches forward on commissary…
Miranda Y. Brumbaugh Law Enforcement, Defense & SecurityOn July 1, 2018, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense and current Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan signed legislation for a task force established to determine if the consolidation of four major entities in the commissary divisions of the military would be worth it. The task force, headed by retired Army Maj. Gen. Keith Thurgood, has completed a major report detailing its analysis. The proposed consolidation of commissaries could bring about major changes for active military and veterans alike.
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US outdoorsmen to contribute more than $1 billion to conservation in 2019
John McAdams Recreation & LeisureMen and women who shoot, hunt, and fish will provide over $1 billion in conservation funding across the United States during fiscal year 2019 through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration and Federal Sport Fish Restoration Acts. Better known as the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts, respectively, those programs fund fish and wildlife conservation efforts through excise taxes placed on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing tackle, and boating equipment.
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Structural systems and processes to sustain an association
William D. Pawlucy Association ManagementEvery association has a framework. A solid and well-built framework promotes sustainability and a strong structure. The following are the key structural systems and processes for performance excellence. If one is missing, the organization is not “firing on all cylinders,” and will need a tune up. We will explore each of these areas one by one and the essential items in each area that should be in place to run at peak performance. These areas are governing documents; strategic direction; performance measures; protocols and behaviors; committees and task forces; and financial oversight.
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