October 2006

Threshold News

Get Smart. Stay Smart.

Naturally, given the business we're in, a line from Jane Applegate, an award-winning business journalist and speaker, resonates: "More businesses fail due to lack of information than from lack of money." She was talking about information about the world that's outside your company's walls, whether they’re virtual walls or brick and mortar. Put another way, many things going on in the external environment have the potential of hurting your business or, on the other hand, of making it stronger.

Dangers as well as opportunities abound, and most of them are reflected somehow, somewhere on the Internet and in the print and broadcast media. This open source information matters, if detected soon enough, and if you can trace out the paths that lead to the future. Threshold's Get Smart. Stay Smart. services can light the way.

Room to stretch

Since Threshold started in 1993, we have taken some pride in being pioneers of the virtual workplace. For the most part our research staff works from their homes throughout the Chicago area and indeed, throughout the country. But growth inevitably (we suspect) leads to the realization that some kinds of relationships work better when the participants share a physical space, at least part of the time. Face-time - and not just digi camera face-time - has its benefits, even in an otherwise comfortably virtual organization. Consequently, in July Threshold moved into larger, more conveniently located offices in the vibrant center of Evanston, Illinois. We now have space for project managers, support staff, and even some researchers to work and meet together. The address is 1601 Sherman Avenue, Suite 500, Evanston, IL 60201.

In the following pieces we give a quick overview of two oppoprtunities disguised as problems that are facing many of our clients: the aging workforce and the biofuels debate.

Opportunities In Business

The aging workforce

Within 10 years, 40% of Americans working today – that’s 64 million Baby Boomers – will be eligible for retirement. The issue for Corporate America is not if, but when, business leaders will have to deal with the impact of retirements and the presence of large numbers of older workers.

Ernst & Young research shows that over 60% of U.S. companies currently have at least 16% of employees that are aged fifty or older, with over 27% of companies with at least one-fourth of their employees older than 50. By the year 2012, the median age of U.S. workers will reach an all-time high of 41.4 years, with 20% of the workforce aged 55 and older.

The looming talent gap is the current center of focus – every day in Corporate America, accumulated knowledge walks out the door when an employee retires. And continuing company downsizings result in wholesale loss of talent and skills. Far-sighted organizations are seeking to close this talent gap with mentoring programs, leadership succession planning, and the development of knowledge networks.But some statistics suggest that 70% of companies have no formal plans in place to manage a loss of talent and skills.

What can companies do now to plan for the inevitable future?

Aggressively and effectively identify, capture and manage the accumulated technical and market knowledge that older workers possess.

Identify the potential gaps in soft skills – like communication, team building, independent thinking – and begin establishing programs now for younger workers.

Explore alternative options to ensure your future workforce – partnerships with educational, social, and government institutions that can identify and foster potential employees.

Open a dialogue now with employees for new opportunities within the organization – it will always be easier to retain workers than to find new ones to replace lost talent.

With four generations of Americans now represented in the workforce, the differing attitudes and expectations of Millennials, Generations X and Y, and Baby Boomers can lead to strains on our organizations. Or proactive and creative companies may actually be in a position to take advantage of all talents an individual employee has to offer the company. One thing is for sure: in the next twenty years, competitive advantage will come from finding ways to enable different generations of workers to work together more effectively.

To learn more about the future of the American workforce and strategies needed to meet these new challenges, check out these sites:

The Human Capital Institute, a global membership-based think tank devoted to talent management and other emerging best practices for human resources. Membership provides access to a wealth of material related to the issues facing the workforce now and in the future.

Aging Workforce News is an enhanced news site and blog tracking developments, tools, and resources for managing older workers and boomers in the workplace. Membership provides regular updates and access to other material.

The recent book Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills And Talent by Ken Dychtwald and others. The authors present innovative and actionable management techniques for leveraging the knowledge of mature workers, reengaging disillusioned mid-career workers, and attracting and retaining talented younger workers.

The 2004 report, The 21st Century at Work: Forces Shaping the Future Workforce and Workplace in the United States from the RAND Corporation analyzes shifting demographic patterns, the pace of technological change, and the path of economic globalization.

Opportunities in Technology

Biofuels – energy from biomass

With crude oil prices remaining at over $50 barrel since May 2005, there is an 'unstoppable' momentum to biofuels.

Finally, government sponsorship in the US is increasingly supporting these developments. Recently, the US set a renewable fuel standard (RFS) of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 and in Europe, the European Union has ordered that 5.75% of all fuel for trucks and cars must come from renewable resources by 2010, up from 2% in 2006.

Meanwhile, private interest and investment groups are also making commitments and contributing huge dollar amounts to renewable fuel programs, the latest being Richard Branson’s pledge to donate all of the profits of Virgin Group’s transportation businesses over the next ten years to renewable fuel research, as much as $3 billion.

All these programs share goals of replacing our dependency on petrochemical-based oil products and of decreasing global warming and the human carbon footprint. They offer many different research and technology opportunities.

Here’s a list of just some of the research and business opportunities that are associated with successful commercialization of biofuels and other renewable resources:-

Biofuel feedstock R&D – different oils and plant carbon sources

Catalyst and enzyme technologies to improve feedstock to fuel conversion efficiency

Industrial scale-up and purification processes

New uses for waste products from biofuel creation, e.g. glycerol from biodiesel.

Development of optimal blends of biofuels for use in existing combustion engines.

Improvements and modifications to combustion engines and energy utilization devices.

Local, national and global distribution and supply networks for new biofuels.

Construction of biofuel supply stations.

Effective government and regulatory agency policies to encourage and monitor implementation use of biofuels.

Biodiesel and ethanol are two biofuels that are garnering much research interest, especially here in the Midwest. Both can be derived from a variety of plant carbon sources and offer a range of industries - from farmers to waste-management companies - novel ways of doing business.

Processes to carry out such biomass to fuel conversions have been known for some time (many stimulated by the last oil crisis in the 1970’s), but the current research boom is generating many more ideas. A quick patent search using the term ‘biodiesel’ in the title or abstract yields 105 patents since 2005 for instance. Assignee names reflect the worldwide interest in clean, green technologies associated with use of non-petroleum based fuels: Biosource America, Clean Diesel Technologies, Dawn of the World Corporation, Sun Care Fuels Corp. Many big, traditional chemical and oil companies are now also getting involved.

All three types of fuel considered here – biodiesel, ethanol and gasoline – ultimately generate carbon dioxide and water when burnt. The difference with the CO2 derived from plants or animal waste compared to underground oil is that it doesn’t increase the net planet carbon dioxide levels, because it’s already an integral part of the present-day carbon cycle, i.e. CO2 is not entering after a break of several million years.

Fuel from food crops may not be sustainable in the long run because the energy it takes to grow and process most such crops uses up more fossil fuel energy than it creates,. But, it’s a start to changing the equilibrium between the many interdependent, worldwide petrochemical-based energy distribution networks and businesses.

There are many problems and hurdles to be overcome before our petrochemical-based economies can be replaced by renewable resources, but there is hope the human capacity for invention and problem solving will rise to the challenge and the opportunity.

To learn more

….These sites will get you started. Or call Dr. Alison Taylor of Threshold’s science team to discuss your specific interest.

Alternative Fuels Data Center website
USDoE, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Last updated 6/14/2006

American Coalition for Ethanol website

Biodiesel Retail Fueling Sites in the US
August 30, 2006

Biomass to ethanol
US DoE: Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Biomass to energy converter and database
Energy Research Center of the Netherlands, ECN
sponsored by Novem, Shell Global Solutions and Host.
This links to the searchable Phyllis database for composition of a whole range of biomasses from plants and animals.

Carbon Footprint

National Corn to Ethanol Research Center, NCERC

New Opportunities in US Biofuel Market
A recently released study providing detailed analysis of the US Biofuel market.
From Piribo. $1,245

Production of biodiesel usually proceeds vis one of three routes, as detailed in the National Biodiesel Board's web page.

More references we used in this article

Money Grows on Trees and Palm Oil Beats Crude on Diesel Demand
Claire Leow & Sajei Kishan
August 28, 2006 Bloomberg.com

Virgin Group to Invest $3 Billion in Renewable Energy
by Sara Parker
September 27, 2006 RenewableEnergyAccess.com

What is Gasoline?
Virtual Chembook Elmhurst College
Charles E. Ophardt, C. 2003

Thermodynamics of the Corn-Ethanol Biofuel Cycle
Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences,. 23(6), 519-567, 2004
T. Patzek