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BUSINESS NEWS BECKER MORGAN GROUP WINS METAL ARCHI- TECTURE DESIGN AWARD Becker Morgan Group was awarded the 2015 Metal Architecture Ribbed Metal Wall Panels Design Award for Audi Cape Fear. The project is featured in the July issue of Metal Architecture and displayed on metalarchitecture.com . The Metal Architecture Design Awards recognize “cre- ativity in the metal construction industry and showcase exciting uses of steel” incorporat- ed into project design. Audi Cape Fear is a 21,800-square-foot auto- motive dealership in Wilmington, North Car- olina. The triangular-shaped site resulted in a unique triangular-shaped building footprint, which allowed for an exciting dynamic be- tween the primary programmatic elements: showroom, sales offices, and the service garage. The angles of the walls helped en- hance the dynamic presence of the building, located at one of the busiest intersections in Wilmington. Becker Morgan Group provided consultation as the owner’s architect during schematic design exercises led by Audi’s corporate architect, CDR Studio Architects of New York City. Becker Morgan Group was architect of record, providing design development, construction documents, and construction phase services.

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MARK ZWEIG , from page 1

both the numbers of the business and in management decision-making. Open book management – sharing the numbers with everyone and not having any secrets whatsoever – helps build trust with the employees and management. Educating all employees at ALL levels on where the money goes is helpful to getting them to see how they contribute to the firm’s success. You cannot underestimate the importance of sharing this information. Ditto for explaining all decisions made that affect people in the firm and the logic behind them. We have intelligent people in this business, and they can understand things for the most part IF you explain. Doing so is critical to their motivation. 3)They keep it positive! It’s really easy to be a cynic and gripe and complain about problems. I have been there, myself, many times. But in the interest of your team and their morale, you are far better off to keep it positive! Make sure that you share successes on wins and give accolades to those who receive praise from clients for jobs well done. All of this will contribute to a positive culture. And positive results come from a positive culture. 4)They have accounting and reward systems that encourage cooperation. So many companies are set up to do the opposite of this. They track each unit and then pit them against each other and, in the process, discourage work-sharing, people- sharing, credit-sharing, and, in general, helping out the other guy who’s in need. You must be extremely careful how you design your accounting and rewards and make sure they encourage whatever behavior is the best for the LONG TERM interests of the organization. 5)They have the right mix of people in the firm. This is easier said than done, and there’s no simple formula or prescription for how to do it. But, the fact that it is difficult doesn’t mean it is any less important or necessary. You’ll know it when you see it. And cultural compatibility of everyone in the team is critical to you. It doesn’t mean you want everyone to be the same, either, because that will likely re- sult in a lack of creativity and, in some cases, unnecessary competition and conflict. Getting the right team is a job that never ends. Management has to remain vigilant, in terms of decisively dealing with problems and capitalizing on opportunities to add good people. There are so many things you have to do to get your machine humming and everyone pulling the rope the same way. All I know is when you do, amazing things will happen!

More BUSINESS NEWS, page 10

38West Trenton Blvd., Suite 101 Fayetteville, AR 72701 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Andrea Bennett | Managing Editor abennett@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent lsullivan@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Correspondent rmassey@zweiggroup.com

Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 508-653-6522 E-mail: info@zweiggroup.com Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Blog: blog.zweiggroup.com Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year subscription, $775 for two-year subscription. Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail TheZweigLetter@TheYGSGroup.com . © Copyright 2015, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

MARK ZWEIG is founder and CEO of Zweig Group. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 17, 2015, ISSUE 1116

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