Tag Archives: innovation

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Most business incentives don’t work.

We’ve already seen and heard of many instances where business incentives granted by governments to firms moving in have not produced results the politicians wanted.  Why is this?  Which incentives work?  Finally there’s a study that sheds light on this. It’s important advice for local and regional leaders.  One should always take economic research with a grain of salt; but if even a few awful cases could be prevented the benefits for local economies would be great.

Tim Bartik and John C. Austin November 4, 2019

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via Most business incentives don’t work. Here’s how to fix them.

Here’s the PDF of the study by Bartik:

Bartik 2019 – Making Sense of Incentives_ Taming Business Incentives to Promote

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Posted on November 5, 2019 by in entrepreneurship, Investing, Labor Economics, Leadership, Logistics, Macroeconomics, Managerial Econ, Strategy

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Cryptocurrency TEU token gone

Here was one of the use cases for blockchain that everyone thought was innovative, addressed a real problem, and made some sense.  Apparently the users don’t think so.

It was designed to provide a mechanism to make reservations for 3PLs and shippers for slots on container ships.  The issue addressed was overbooking and no-shows.  But apparently noi one was able to make use of it. Only 100 were traded recently, leading to the firm’s shutdown.

I suspect the problem is the ocean carriers’ propensity to cancel voyages if they don’t have enough cargo. that delays everyone’s cargo till the next ship goes. That could be a week or more on many routes.  Why would anyone book using the TEU if the voyage will be canceled?

A bit more design thinking, developing user personas and use cases, might have revealed this flaw early on and prevented the waste of venture capital and startup labor, or created more usable modifications.  But maybe it accomplished what the entrepreneurs wanted– they got funded for a year or so and put the money in their own pockets. So what about the users? The VCs have baked into their plans a 90% failure rate; they’ll just make it up on another better bet.

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via Low take-up forces shipping cryptocurrency teu token out of circulation – The Loadstar

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Posted on October 5, 2019 by in Logistics, Ports, Shipping, Supply Chains

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Flexport – moving beyond freight forwarding?

This article looking at Flexport now appeared recently under Cathy Morrow Roberson’s byline in The Loadstar.  We enjoy hearing about what Flexport is doing now.  But the idea that they are changing direction to become more like a 4PL is not the point. That’s where they were always going!!  The press and financial folks may have perceived them as a technology play.  But all along Ryan Petersen has intended to create a firm that actually helps customers manage their supply chains, by giving them visibility, a certain amount of in-depth analysis, and good service assistance in dealing among supply chain partners, temporary or permanent.  I don’t think the vision has changed; just the world’s view of it.

  via The Morrow-Roberson road test: Flexport – moving beyond freight forwarding  – The Loadstar

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Posted on July 22, 2019 by in entrepreneurship, Logistics, Service Management, Supply Chains

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