Coca-Cola's secret syrup...
Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC's) secret recipes...
These are classified as trade secrets, secrets known only by a trusted few, that are used in the production of major brands, that give companies owning these brands, their competitive edge...
People have been trying for decades to get their hands on these, without success and even if they did, there are so many locks and counter-locks to these secrets, that their efforts will almost always be futile.
But who holds the keys to these secrets?
Well, the truth is that no one knows for sure, and even if they did, they wouldn't tell :).
Some surmise that the CEOs and Chief Research Officers are the keepers, others suspect family owners (who may be majority shareholders), who have held on to these secrets for generations.
But whomever the keepers are, they are either one of two things, men and women of high integrity or people who have a lot to lose by letting these secrets go.
Coca-Cola stock is one of the safest stocks to own as Coca-Cola is consumed in every country across the globe and their brand managers are one of the best-trained in the world.
Yes, they've made mistakes, but they've rebounded with renewed vigour, after each, surging ahead their major competitors, namely Pepsi-Co, after each rebound.
They have become so formidable that many of their shareholders have built up tiny fortunes and even sent generations of their families to college, based on the appreciation (increase in value) of these shares.
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Even with the health food-craze sweeping over the developed world, teens still prefer a Coke.
But clever marketing, innovation protection in the form of trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, utility patents (these protect how products work; processes, methods, formulations) and design patents (these protect how the Coca-Cola bottle and packaging looks) are key to Coca-Cola's success and the success of the diversified businesses they own.
Their tight grip on distributors, the most expensive link of their supply chain, also ensures their success.
The same goes for KFC.
Who would have thought that a fried chicken recipe, formulated by a honorary Colonel from Kentucky (Harland Sanders) would have been so popular?
But again kids and teens all over the world go crazy over KFC.
E.g. even during hurricane Dean in Jamaica, people wanted KFC and were angry when the stores were closed, hours after the hurricane.
Well let's get back on topic :)
The Keepers...just who are they?
Well there are two types: the True Keepers and the Transient Keepers.
The following is a general description of True Keepers:
These men and women are very unassuming...they don't look like keepers, but they are...
They know their stuff..they are experts in their field and leave nothing to chance.
They are always thinking 5-6 steps ahead of the average person and they can out-think you in a minute.
They have many positions in organizations (both official and unofficial)...from janitors to secretaries to CEO to Board Chairmen, to consultant, psychologist and friend.
And they bear the title of True Keeper, well.
They can be trusted...you can even trust them with your life :).
They are women and men who aren't tempted by money...very rare indeed, since most people are.
And because their sniffers for frauds, are very well attuned...they can assess your character by talking with you for a few minutes.
Because of their character traits, especially the trait of "paying attention to detail", they can move from Janitor to Chairman of the Board, in 15 years...but many don't...many hate the spotlight.
Some are minglers at parties, but few have very loud mouths...
These are the people whom the Americans would describe as "having your back"...they make very good friends, because they're so trustworthy.
Then there are the Transient Keepers...you need True Keepers to keep Transients in check.
Unlike True Keepers, Transients keep secrets as it's in their best interest to do so.
They love money and power and would do just about anything to get them...including stabbing people in the back :).
Like True Keepers, they are politically savvy...savvy to company politics...savvy to the way organizations work, to the way people in organizations think, and their secret ambitions...
But unlike, True Keepers, Transients seek out company secrets and the secrets of people in key positions, so that they can use it to blackmail these people or the company in the future, or to start companies of their own.
Their ears are always attuned to the latest office and company gossip. No matter where Transients may be in the organization (yes, they too, hold the same official and unofficial positions as True Keepers) they've got their noses on the pulse of things.
And they thrive on this knowledge and use it to their advantage to rise to the top. (Hot air always rises :))
Because some hold positions of pre-eminence in organizations, they are then "trusted" with company secrets. But you always need at least two (2) other people, usually True Keepers, to watch the company's back.
Here is where Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality Agreements and Ethics clauses in employment contracts mean so much...and lawyers with enough experience and business savvy to draw them up, so that they can be as airtight as possible.
Please read the following article, "Protect Your Trade Secrets: Know your rights when an employee leaves", by
Keith M. Gregory, JD, and Stephen J. Baumgartner, MSc(Econ), re how to protect your company's trade secrets.
If a Transient blabs (discloses a company's trade secrets)...slap him/her with a multi-million dollar fine...then he/she will wish that he/she went where the sun don't shine :).
But seriously, Transients have a lot more to lose if they reveal a company's trade secrets.
They lose their credibility...and no company will want to hire a Transient when they find out that he/she has blabbed...not even the company that they're stealing it for...so Transients usually keep these secrets to themselves.
Even if they don't, and use it to to their own advantage (like to start their own companies or bring down their former companies), they are discovered, sooner or later.
How?
By True Keepers, who are ever so vigilant, and who always build sure-fire methods of detection, into the inner working of the trade secrets themselves.
For Transients who are major shareholders or company owners, should they reveal the company's trade secrets, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. The value of their stocks would decrease substantially and probably never recover, as the company's trade secret is the one thing that would have kept this company afloat and ahead of its competitors, for years.
Their efforts to ditch the stock would be futile, as international regulatory bodies, governments and the police have become very sophisticated to these particular "insider trading" activities of Transients.
Thus the lifestyles Transients were accustomed to, would disappear, so too the phony friends and "loved ones" that Transients tend to attract.
I wish I could tell you of one company that consists of only True Keepers, but unfortunately, like life, honest people and dishonest people co-exist, to make life very interesting :).
There are, however, ways to attract True Keepers to your company...I will tell you how, in my next post.
(NB: The information contained in this post, does not substitute for advice from your financial advisor or lawyer. Please consult these persons for financial and legal advice, respectively.)
Gillian
Sources Include:
1) Article, "Protect Your Trade Secrets: Know your rights when an employee leaves", by
Keith M. Gregory, JD, and Stephen J. Baumgartner, MSc(Econ), Pepperdine University, Graziado Business Report.
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