He Struck Gold on the Net (Really) (p. 40)
FC Article

• Rob McEwen and Goldcorp took a chance and let outsiders help them find their next lode. What projects does your company have that would benefit from input from outsider experts? Besides more minds working on the same project, what are the other potential benefits? What are the risks? Could the Goldcorp Challenge have destroyed the mining company?

Security Check (p. 69)
FC Article

• Sadako Ogata says real security is having enough faith in living tomorrow to start thinking about the next week. How do you define security? What factors besides simply being alive make up your definition of security. How has this changed since Sept. 11? What would your ideal secure environment be?
• Do you agree with Tom Ridge, that the threat of terrorism is inescapable? If the concensus in your group is 'yes,' analyze how much of that is based on their perception of risk, or that of the media and government officials. How would you define an 'acceptable level of risk'? What would it have to include?
• Linda Chavez-Thompson of the AFL-CIO says the country rates their job security as a 7 out of 10. Where do your group members rate theirs? Where does feelings of job security rate into feelings of overall security?
• Richard Ketchum of the Nasdaq says security has to include confidence. Do you agree? Where is your group's consumer confidence level now. Are they still investing, selling, sitting on what they have? Does your group believe Ketchum when he says the financial markets have never been more secure? What is causing this security, or lack thereof? Do you fear or welcome the collaboration between the Nasdaq and NYSE to help back each other up?

Five Half-Truths of Business (p. 117)
FC Article

• Discuss and evaluate the five half-truths the CEOs bring up. Which can be specifically applied to your business/industry? Which are easily worked out and how? How may these lead to other longer-term problems?
• Discuss the evolution of the 'glorification of greed' and how it relates to other economic movements and theories. Does capatalism have to inherently be greedy? Invite an economics professor from a local university to present the links between capitalism and greed, and to outline possible ways to break this cycle. What alternatives might there be to downsizing?

Daniel Richards contributed this month's Flash Points.

June 2002 Connexus | Flash Points | Next Steps

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