US – Rodenberg Tillman & Associates

Income inequality will have a huge impact on everything

November 15, 2016

This statement comes from McKinsey publications in July and August 2016 on ‘income inequality’. This new reality means that a new generation of young people in Europe and the US risks ending up poorer than their parents. From 2005-2014 around 65-70% of the population faced flat or falling incomes. Prior to 2005, this percentage was just 2%. This means that 65-70% of the total population faced a lack of economic progress. The main causes were the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the slow recovery that occurred since then. What are the implications?

Everything can be digitized

March 15, 2016

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

The digital revolution is underway with the biggest hotel chain Airbnb that doesn’t even own a single hotel room, and Uber, the biggest taxi-company that doesn’t even own a single car. The value-chain as we know it will change and be replaced by service-offering systems. This has already happened with the telecom, travel and music sectors. During the next 10 years some 70% of jobs will disappear!

Quantitative Easing by the FED and ECB

December 15, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

A short story: “It is July 2015 on the shores of the Mediterranean. Times are tough, everyone is in debt and everyone lives on credit. Suddenly a rich tourist comes to town; he enters a hotel and puts a € 100 note on the reception counter to inspect some of the upstairs rooms for that evening. The hotel owner takes the € 100 note and runs to the butcher to pay his debt. The butcher takes the € 100 note and runs to the supplier of feed and fuel to pay his debt.

Trust never returns

December 1, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Trust in society is under huge pressure. We can see some extremely negative developments which are out of the control of our politicians, who unfortunately do not have the courage to take the necessary tough decisions.

The balance sheets of the big banks are black holes

October 1, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

We generally never deal with the same topic three times in a row. But in this case we have to, because there is so much wrong in the financial sector. What do you think about the above quote from the Bank of England’s Chief Economist, listed by TIME Magazine as being in the Top-100 most influential people in the world? To us this of great concern, though most people in the world don’t realize it.

Only 30 percent of employees are actively committed

May 15, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

What a statement! This comes from Gallup’s study “State of the American Workplace 2013”, published in HBR in May 2014. Is the situation any different in Europe? We think the percentages are more or less similar for Europe. How can this be changed?

The EU has a supra-national structure

March 15, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Dutch multinationals are facing strong competitors from outside the EU, who are confronted less with the difficult market circumstances prevailing in Europe. According to research by the Dutch Financial Times FD, this concerns multinationals such as AkzoNobel, Aegon, DSM, Wolters Kluwer, KPN, Heineken and Shell. Philips and Ahold are stuck in the middle, and Reed Elsevier and Randstad are the only outperformers.

The leverage ratio of banks is far too low

January 1, 2015

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

We have reported on the continuous threats to banks, and have identified that these are not Black, but Grey Swans. Black swans are large-scale unpredictable and irregular events of massive consequence for which we hardly can prepare ourselves. Grey Swans, on the other hand, are events which have a very high impact, but one for which organizations are able to prepare themselves. Banking is such a huge Grey Swan. Why is this?

Banks, business as usual

December 1, 2014

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Can you imagine that five years after the financial crisis, the financial system in Europe has still not yet improved? Banks still continue to package ‘risky financial products’ into special entities. Our bankers still behave the same as they did before the financial crisis. Why is this so? Bankers think they are better protected against the next financial crisis, because they have a higher percentage of equity on total assets. It’s business as usual all over again.

It’s an illusion that you are able to keep pace with all changes

November 15, 2014

Joseph Rodenberg

A World View, Intelligence Briefings

Peter Diamandis founded the prestigious US Singularity University, active in research on new technologies and author of the bestseller “Abundance”. One of his visions is that technology developments do not just follow the linear curve of growth, but do, however, follow the curve exponentially. Many Boards underestimate the speed of technology change and when this happens exponentially the company loses ground. There are numerous examples where this occurs, the latest being Blackberry and Nokia.