We have one sector that is BEATING tech: lumber. It is ahead by 70% year to date (YTD). Yes, as families look for larger homes since homes are now extended offices, there is an emerging boom on the use of lumber. While I do not know how that is playing out in Lagos, one thing is evident: Work from Home (WFH) policy is not a bonanza from your company, it is evolving as a strategic business call which will help companies improve the efficiency of the utilization of factors of production. Imagine the “miracle” when rent payments disappear in financial statements!
Sure, I do think it is an illusion to expect some men to give up the fun of letting you know they are in charge, physically! The virus will pass, the clock-in will begin: Zoom makes everyone appear equal, not sure some men are paid to accept that! Yes, you must be reminded that this part of the canteen is for “senior staff” because hunger attacks them differently in Nigeria.
As economies struggle to recover in the pandemic and U.S.-China tensions flare, investors piling into precious metals may be overlooking another potential haven: wood.
Lumber futures have doubled since early April and are level pegging with silver as the top-performing major commodity this year. Surprisingly, wood is even outshining gold — the go-to haven investment.
While lockdowns and stay-in-place restrictions were expected to curb demand for building materials, North Americans stuck inside decided to spend money and renovate their homes just as aggressive production cuts tightened supplies.
Since the confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, businesses, people and government officials have been working towards total containment of the disease. From the virtual sphere to the physical sphere, concerned stakeholders have expressed their views and still informing people on the need to follow recommended measures for possible contraction. During the first wave of the disease, our analyst spoke with Ukeme Peters, the Head of Planning, Enterprise and Management Systems of Alpha Mead Group, a total real estate solution company in Lagos.
He was asked to speak on the impact of the disease in the real estate industry and coping strategies being implemented by his company to ensure continued service delivery to the clients and what the future holds for the industry. In the current analysis, we leveraged his responses to understand how Alpha Mead Group’s strategic statements aligned with what he said. We also analysed his responses because we wanted to find out how the views of a strategic leader in a real estate company are beneficial to strategic discourse in the industry.
The vision of Alpha Mead Group is “to be among the Top 3 Biggest and the Best Total Real Estate Solutions Company in the World by the Year 2030”, while the mission is “to engage the Best People to equip them with the best Processes and systems to deliver the best Place for our customers to live, work and play.” Looking at the vision, it is clear that the company is positioning itself as leader and best in terms of products and service offering to the stakeholders. Mission statement has clearly shown that the company prioritises human resources, standardisation and value for the actualization of its vision statement. The points in the vision statement have a direct link with the points in the mission statement and stresses that being a leader and offering the best solutions cannot happen without people, processes and being committed to the stakeholders.
Analysis further establishes that Alpha Mead Group employed 196 words to construct its “Who We Are” to the public, especially potential clients and investors. We also discovered that 22 words are unique in the strategic positioning to the public. With 62.2% of the capacity to use vocabulary, our analysis suggests that it is possible that publics would not understand the message appropriately because the higher the complex word usage the lower the level of comprehending strategic statements. Analysis further shows that real (9 times), local (4 times), total (3 times) and business (2 times) are the most frequently used words in “Who We Are”.
Looking at the context of appropriating these words, our analysis reveals that Alpha Mead Group tends to establish its superiority within the total real estate solution. However, the dominance of ‘local’ suggests reason for doubting the strategic intent of being one of the best total real estate solution companies in the world by 2030. This position becomes clearer when one looks at absence of ‘world’ dominance in the vision and mission statements. Instead, best, biggest, company, estate, customers, deliver, engage and equip dominate the strategic intents space.
Meanwhile, it appears that what publics cannot get from the company’s strategic statements absolutely has been catered for by the responses of Ukeme Peters. In his responses to the questions asked by our analyst, Ukeme Peters employed 1,398 words. A total of 544 unique words was found. On like the mission and vision statements that have higher percent for vocabulary density, 38.9% achieved by Ukeme Peters indicates that his responses are most likely to be understood easily by the readers.
With this, our analyst notes that Ukeme Peters has strategically sold his company to the public by demystifying the issues and needs brought by the disease into the industry life. Analysis shows that Ukeme Peters adopted real (10 times), businesses (9 times), estate (9 times), continue (7 times) and customers (7 times) to frame his company’s competencies in a challenging time and what stakeholders and players can do to overcome storms.
Corpus analysis of words employed by Ukeme Peters indicates he is truly a strategist, who understands the art of choosing words to explain complex issues and needs in a challenging time. Connection analysis of words shows that 161 terms were negative while 737 were positive. The connection ranges from 0 to 100 percent. The use of technological processes and equipping employees with knowledge of emerging technologies were found within the perfect positive use of word category [PPUSW].
Within the perfect negative use of word category [PNUS], we discovered corporate and period. These categories were used in different contexts. When PPUSW category was found, we discovered Ukeme Peters want technological processes and technology adoption to be strengthened as the crisis continues. Where we discovered PNUS, Ukeme Peters actually wants business owners, employees at corporate, business and functional levels to understand the challenging time and develop new ways of operating.
Exhibit 10: Link among His Positive and Positive Words about the Crisis
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“When you import goods, you import poverty and you export jobs to other parts of the globe where such goods are produced.” – Aliko Dangote .
From the “The Dangote System: Techniques for Building Conglomerates”, a new book, by Ndubuisi Ekekwe . Begin readinghere. I also invite you to readthis piece I wrote in the Harvard Business Review on how this development could be done.
Whether you plan to work as a software engineer, or are focused more on the business side of things, several programming languages can make your resume stand out to hiring managers. Even if you plan to work in an area where coding is not required, you will find that having some proficiency can make routine tasks easier and allow you to handle information in a more efficient manner. Regardless of what your degree is in, you will be expected to have a solid understanding of office software, and, depending on your field, there may be industry-specific software you should familiarize yourself with as well.
If you do not yet have your degree and are looking to boost your resume, consider committing to school. Many schools offer a full range of degree programs entirely online, so you do not need to turn your life upside down to attend. Concerns about how to pay for classes are normal, but there are many different ways to manage. You may be surprised at how much aid, in the form of scholarships and grants, you qualify for. For the balance, private student loans are easy to apply for and offer attractive repayment terms.
Python
Python is a great first choice for new programmers. It is more forgiving than many other languages, and it is easier to make sense of than more complex languages. Python is a great language for any office worker to pick up, regardless of their duties. It allows you to automate many of the routine tasks of a job, freeing you up for other duties.
SQL
SQL is a data management language. You use it to work in databases, so, if your job touches on those responsibilities, it makes sense to learn the language. Even if there is someone else who handles the database, having an understanding of what you can, and cannot do with SQL is valuable.
Follow Your Interests
Being proficient in python and SQL can be valuable for anyone in the business world. While many people think of coding as something left to programmers, having a solid understanding of how to write some code and how programming works transfers to other areas of your job. Understanding the basics of python, for example, will allow you to create models and answer questions in Excel. Knowing what type of information you can extract from a database in SQL allows you to ask better questions and create better solutions.
Of course, you should follow your interests as well. Programming is challenging, and if you are not interested, it will be difficult to stay motivated. One of the best ways to improve as a programmer is to create projects. While these projects may never reach any sort of market, they are valuable for helping you understand what you need to learn. Working in a language you are interested in and creating a project you find enjoyable will get you much further than following endless online tutorials. You will also find that once you have a solid grasp of one programming language, the others come more easily.
