The Commercial Modular Building Blog

We’ve talked about modular nuclear reactors before. Basically any new construction technology that employs modular construction methods is of interest to this blog. As we’ve said before, modular construction methods are quickly becoming the dominant mode of construction and are being used for many different kinds of applications in today’s construction industry.  

It seems as though the US government is showing increasing interest in the modular nuclear industry. According to an article, the United States government announced a new funding initiative for the reactors which will involve the Department of Energy sharing costs with private modular reactor manufacturers to build small modular nuclear reactors.

The smaller reactors are deemed more flexible and cost-effective to construct, due to their modular nature. Also, these new modular reactors are much more safe, utilizing passive, automatic safety controls that more effectively monitor safety conditions than the old active controls that required human interaction to function.

Improved safety conditions will especially be important to the public, considering the recent Fukushima disaster being fresh in the public’s mind.  China itself has already been investing in the smaller modular nuclear reactors to accommodate its ever-increasing industrial capacities.

With modular design making more and more construction projects more efficient and cost-effective, we may be seeing all sorts of new construction activity spring up that was previously in the form of dormant  projects. For example, not many companies could make nuclear reactors because of the astronomical costs associated with construction, as well as the long period of time before the reactors would start turning a profit. Now with a more efficient construction method, higher quality and safer reactors can be constructed.

Expect modular reactors to start popping up around the United States in the next decade.

Good employee morale is essential for a well-functioning business. And that’s not only because happy employees are just more pleasant. Happy employees contribute to a better functioning business as a whole, since business itself consists of relations and cooperative actions that take place between people.

If you have a bunch of workers who are constantly in bad moods, or fatigued, or they just don’t work well together, your processes are going to suffer. Think of how long it takes to get a project done when you have that “one guy” who takes forever getting you the information you need, or sending in your report, or lagging on the assembly line. Let alone if there are multiple people that are dragging their feet.

Employee emotions, motivations, perceptions, attitudes, and everything else about their person is going to dictate how quickly tasks get done, and how smoothly the overall process works. Each mini task effects all of the other tasks they relate to, and so if even one gets held up, the whole chain slows.

That’s why it is so important for business to keep their employees happy and motivated. And that’s why there are so many how to articles stressing employee morale and motivation. That’s also the reason for recreation centers and conference rooms and cafeterias and every other social facility that is useful in a workplace. It is important to integrate all of your workers into the company culture.

That said, here’s some useful articles about employee motivation, and even about midday napping that we’d like to pass on.

Companies that adapt to the new economy have to innovate and slim down.

We understand pretty well now that today’s global economy is fast-paced and highly competitive. Many CEOs are asking themselves what they need to do to survive in this new, ever-changing global marketplace in the face of an ongoing recession. We’ve talked about what successful companies are doing to adapt: preparing for change, investing in green energy, branding…now I want to talk about the final two attributes that make today’s businesses adaptable and successful in this economy: the ability to innovate and slim down processes for maximum efficiency.

The necessity of innovation 

In today’s global economy, it is highly necessary for businesses to make innovation one of their dominant philosophies and to take measures in carrying out innovation on a practical level, which relates back to the article in which I stressed the need for businesses to be change-ready.

 The market is constantly changing, and very rapidly, with the incredible speed and availability of information. New competition is entering the marketplace all the time and this competition is constantly offering new ideas, taking advantage of previously untapped and unrealized consumer power. Technology is constantly changing as well, posing new problems and providing new marketable solutions.

The highly adaptive companies that are surviving are the companies that are constantly innovating to keep up with the market.

Innovation itself can pertain to technology, product ideas, marketing, or even the organization of the company. It doesn’t simply have to be about coming up with some new gadget or style, it could just mean restructuring the company as a whole or radically altering a company’s image.

Innovative companies are best able to remain relevant and appealing…and thus successful.

On slimming down

I approach the topic of slimming down with caution, especially when coupling the topic with the topic of innovation.

One of the main barriers to innovation is when a company insists on efficiency and profit-making ability as opposed to nurturing innovation and taking risks. Slimming down business processes can go two ways: either you make your processes more efficient and more effective, or you halt innovation and suffer for it.

Adaptive companies can restructure their processes and trim unnecessary waste in order to become more efficient, but they must also take care not to stifle much-needed innovation, and they must not be afraid to take risks either.

The optimal strategy is striking a balance between lean business processes and bold innovation. Not easy to do, but the successful companies will keep in mind both elements.

Conclusion

We’ve seen that the new economy poses quite a challenge for businesses. But with challenge comes innovation and change, and the emerging victors will be stronger and more successful than ever. To come out on top of the competition, it takes a business that can adapt and pursue bold new ideas, while taking advantage of existing methods and infrastructure to keep moving.

I recently spent some time with one of our customers who were making a change to one of their facilities. I asked him how the people were handling the change. His response was like many I’ve heard in the past. He said, “I don’t understand why people don’t want to change. I can’t figure out if they are lazy or just scared of what will happen.”

My response was very simple: “People are reluctant to change is a result of their peer groups’ ability to change.” He looked at me with a blank stare. I went on to explain further.

When a company goes several years without changing, that is the expectation that every employee has. When a company is continually changing, then continual change becomes the norm. Their peer group around them all feels the same way when change has never happened at the company. In other companies such as Google®, Microsoft®, Apple® and thousands of others who change daily, weekly, monthly and annually, change is the expectation. Change is the way they do business. Continue reading…