Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours.A $30 billion hedge fund has a dark warning.Elliott Management, the giant New York hedge fund run by Paul Singer, is prepping for a wide swath of market moves as Donald Trump's presidency takes shape, according to a letter reviewed by Business Insider."There is a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-singers-elliott-on-central-banks-and-trumps-markets-2017-2">deep underlying complacency which we think permeates global financial markets</a>," the letter added. "We believe that the global confidence in the placidity and boundaries of inflation (and global financial risk) is misplaced and overdone."Meanwhile, Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, the world's biggest hedge fund, told investors he is "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ray-dalio-bridgewater-concerned-with-trump-2017-2">increasingly concerned about the emerging policies of the Trump administration</a>." Elsewhere in hedge fund news, one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/soros-hires-dawn-fitzpatrick-from-ubs-2017-2">most senior women in finance is going to work for George Soros</a>. And here are the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-hedge-fund-managers-2017-2">world's seven most successful hedge fund managers</a>.The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-fomc-statement-interest-rates-february-2017-2017-2">latest monetary policy decision at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday</a>. Check back <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moneygame">here for all the latest news on the announcement</a>. In related news, Fed officials are floating the idea of reversing a key crisis-era decision - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/too-early-for-fed-to-consider-shrinking-its-balance-sheet-2017-2">but it's too soon, according to Pedro da Costa</a>.Senate Republicans took "unprecedented" action to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-trumpenomics-according-to-peter-navarro-2017-1">bypass a Democratic boycott to approve Trump's Cabinet picks, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin</a>. And the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-trumpenomics-according-to-peter-navarro-2017-1">clearest articulation of what Trump wants to do to America's economy comes from one person</a>, according to Business Insider's Linette Lopez. We talked to one of Wall Street's most powerful women about <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-chief-investment-officer-bessemer-trust-rebecca-patterson-part-three-2017-1">dollar strength, bond volatility, and how investors can protect themselves</a>.In tech news, here are the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-expect-from-snapchats-ipo-filing-2017-1">six biggest things to look for in Snap's IPO filing this week</a>. Tesla Motors is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-motors-changes-name-2017-2">changing its name to just Tesla Inc</a>. Whatever it's called, short <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-price-short-interest-increasing-ahead-of-earnings-2017-1">sellers are piling in</a>. Business Insider's Ben Zhang <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rolls-royce-dawn-convertible-review-roadtrip-2017-1">took a $400,000 Rolls-Royce Dawn convertible on a road trip through New Jersey</a>.Lastly, here's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-expect-from-snapchats-ipo-filing-2017-1">how the stock market decides Warren Buffett's McDonald's breakfast every day</a>Here are the top Wall Street headlines from the past 24 hour<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/adp-private-payrolls-january-2016-2017-2">"The US labor market is hitting on all cylinders"</a> - ADP's reading on the growth of private payrolls in the US surged above expectations for the month of January.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/counties-that-depend-most-on-exports-voted-for-trump-2017-1">Nearly all of the counties that could be hardest hit by Trump's trade policies voted for him</a> - Since taking office, Donald Trump has taken a strong line against free trade. He signed an executive order to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-signs-executive-order-on-tpp-2017-1">withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership</a> (a trade deal between 12 countries the around the Pacific Rim), and his Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, floated the idea of a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-spicer-trump-considering-20-tax-on-mexican-imports-2017-1">20% tax on imports</a> from Mexico.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-deutsche-bank-plans-new-bonus-system-for-senior-staff-handelsblatt-2017-1">Deutsche Bank is planning a new bonus system for senior staff</a> - Deutsche Bank is working on a new, more transparent bonus system for its top executives.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ey-ceo-on-immigration-ban-2017-1">Ahead of meeting with Trump, EY CEO says immigration ban "will have an impact on our ability to work as a global organization"</a> - EY (formerly Ernst &amp; Young) CEO Mark Weinberger emailed employees Monday about President Donald Trump's immigration ban, saying it would affect the company's "ability to work as a globally connected organization," and offered help to any employees affected.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/opimas-report-on-investment-banks-2017-1">Global populism is about to hand investment banks a $27 billion bonus</a> - Populist movements such as Brexit and the rise of US President Donald Trump will help strip away a major hindrance for global investment banks - rules.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mexican-peso-price-since-trump-inauguration-february-1-2017-2017-2">The peso has done something shocking since Trump took office</a> - The Mexican peso has done something shocking since President Donald Trump took on office January 20th. It's actually stronger versus the US dollar. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-amazon-to-spend-149-bln-on-air-cargo-hub-fans-talk-of-bigger-ambitions-2017-2">Amazon is building its own air cargo hub for $1.49 billion</a> - <a href="http://amazon.com/" title="" data-skimwords-word="Amazon.com" data-skim-creative="500005">Amazon.com</a> plans to invest $1.49 billion to build a large air cargo hub in northern Kentucky, state officials said on Tuesday, stoking expectations it may one day opt to directly compete with FedEx and United Parcel Service.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/under-armours-post-earnings-crash-leads-to-huge-profits-for-shorts-2017-2">Short sellers made more than $400 million from Under Armour's crash</a> - Shares of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/under-armour-q4-2016-earnings-stock-crash-2017-1">Under Armour crashed more than 20%</a> after the company announced disappointing top and bottom line results while also lowering its full-year 2017 guidance. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ford-ceo-mark-fields-relationship-trump-2017-1">Ford's CEO reveals how his relationship first started with Donald Trump</a> - Ford's relationship with President Donald Trump had a rocky start.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/changes-to-hilton-honors-2017-1">Hilton just revealed a game-changing update to its rewards program</a> - If you travel often for work or for leisure, making use of a hotel company's rewards program can be a great way to have that travel work for you. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/todd-snyder-store-new-york-photos-2017-2">A former J.Crew exec just opened a menswear paradise for the modern guy who "wants to look American"</a> - <a href="http://www.toddsnyder.com/">Todd Snyder</a> wants to sell you his vision of modern American style. And he wants the average guy to be more comfortable choosing it for himself.

What you need to know on Wall Street right now

Inside the crash of Fling, the startup whose founder partied on an island while his company burned through $21 million

Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. On March 23, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer was the keynote speaker at a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/events/">Brookings Institution</a> dinner in Washington, DC. There, he gave prepared remarks on regulatory policy and the Fed's response to the financial crisis, in addtion to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserves-fischer-held-private-talk-at-brookings-2017-4">taking questions from the audience on the highly market-sensitive topic of interest-rate policy</a>.Federal Reserve officials give speeches all the time. What makes this one notable is that it was closed to the public, Fischer's prepared comments <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserves-fischer-held-private-talk-at-brookings-2017-4">have not been made available, and the fact the speech took place at all was not widely known</a>.Fischer's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/federal-reserves-fischer-held-private-talk-at-brookings-2017-4">secret speech shows the Fed has learned nothing from its leak scandal,</a> according to Business Insider's Pedro da Costa.In Wall Street news, hedge fund manager <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/einhorn-says-gm-mislead-ratings-agencies-on-greenlight-stock-split-plan-2017-4">David Einhorn just accused GM of sabotaging him</a>. A top trader at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-mallgrave-leaves-credit-suisse-for-jpmorgan-2017-4">Credit Suisse just quit to take a role at JPMorgan</a>. And a Barclays exec who went to prison for LIBOR-rigging has broken his silence."<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alex-pabon-interview-libor-fixing-2017-4">Traders have been served up as fall guys to protect these more powerful senior bankers</a>," he told Business Insider.Ray Dalio, the founder of the hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ray-dalio-bridgewater-founder-on-fiscal-and-regulatory-policy-2017-4">is cautious about the effects of coming changes to fiscal policy and regulations</a>. And there's not going to be another 2008-style crash, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bridgewaters-ray-dalio-says-there-wont-be-another-2008-crash-2017-4">but there will be "a gradual noose tightening,</a>" according to Dalio.The creator of Wall Street's "Charging Bull" is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/creator-of-wall-street-bull-said-fearless-girl-infringes-copyright-2017-4">criticizing "Fearless Girl" for the same thing he once did</a>.The United Airlines debacle continues. Here are the headlines:<ul><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/man-dragged-off-united-flight-says-everything-is-injured-2017-4">Man dragged off United flight breaks his silence, says "everything" is injured</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-ceo-oscar-munoz-apology-david-dao-good-morning-america-2017-4">UNITED CEO: "This can never, will never happen again on a United Airlines flight"</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-big-mistake-offering-cash-2017-4">United Airlines ignored an easy solution before dragging a customer off the plane</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-passenger-dragged-from-plane-economic-reason-2017-4">There's a simple economic reason why the United Airlines incident happened - and why it will probably happen again</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-video-stock-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-2017-4">Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway lost up to $58.5 million after the United debacle</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-fight-club-meme">A "Fight Club" meme slamming United captures a disturbing truth about airlines and people who fly coach</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/emirates-united-airlines-ceo-feud-2017-4">Emirates is trolling United Airlines' CEO in a new commercial</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-petition-federal-investigation-chinese-lives-matter-2017-4">The White House is now required to address the United Airlines incident due to this petition by an 18-year-old student</a></li></ul>Meanwhile, in President Trump news:<ul><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-promises-to-revamp-wall-street-reform-rules-2017-4">TRUMP: "We're doing a major elimination of the horrendous Dodd-Frank regulations"</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-on-fox-business-mario-bartiromo-ahca-healthcare-failure-2017-4">TRUMP: "It's been very much misreported that we failed with healthcare"</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-advisor-icahn-big-bet-against-biofuels-credits-2017-4">Carl Icahn made a big bet against biofuel credits right before advising Trump on regulations</a></li><li><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mick-mulvaney-trump-budget-chief-government-shutdown-2017-4">Trump's budget chief thinks fears about the consequences of a looming government shutdown are "blown out of proportion"</a></li></ul>In other news, retailers are filing for bankruptcy at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/retailers-are-going-bankrupt-at-a-staggering-rate-2017-4">an alarming rate that's quickly approaching recessionary levels</a>. And we took a look inside L'Oréal's New York office, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-new-loreal-us-headquarters-at-hudson-yards-2017-4">where employees of the $103 billion company can relax on a roof terrace and test products before they're on the market</a>.The New York Auto Show is symbolic of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-auto-show-2017-preview-2017-4">everything dominating the car business right now</a>. In related news, Lincoln just revealed an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lincoln-navigator-suv-at-the-new-york-auto-show-2017-4">all-new Navigator SUV at the show</a>.New York's Financial District has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-new-places-to-eat-in-fidi-nyc-2017-4">become one of the most exciting places to eat in the city - here's why</a>. And lastly, here are the<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-homes-in-america-2017-4"> 28 most expensive homes for sale in the US right now</a>.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mallinckrodt-is-out-of-phrma-lobby-group-2017-4"></a>Here are the top Wall Street headlines from the past 24 hours.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/merger-between-nasdaq-and-london-stock-exchange-2017-4">CREDIT SUISSE: A merger between 2 stock market behemoths makes a lot of sense</a> - The London Stock Exchange's search for a buyer hit a wall last month when the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/29/investing/lse-deutsche-boerse-stock-exchange-europe/">European Commission put the kibosh on a merger between the London Stock Exchange and Germany-based Deutsche Börse</a>. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/whole-foods-stock-amazon-jana-april-12-2017-4-1001917950">Whole Foods shares jump on a report that Amazon had considered a bid</a> - <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/WFM-Quote?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank">Whole Foods</a> is up again Wednesday morning, higher by 1.5%, after a pair of analyst upgrades and a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-11/amazon-said-to-mull-bid-for-whole-foods-before-jana-stepped-in" target="_blank">Bloomberg report</a> that <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/AMZN-Quote?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank">Amazon</a> had considered a bid for the company last fall but never followed through. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-housing-affordability-doctors-2017-4">Even doctors are getting priced out of San Francisco's housing market</a> - Medical practitioners from anesthesiologists to surgeons occupy the top nine spots in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' ranking of the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm">highest paying jobs in America</a>. But by comparing doctors' annual median salary to the median house price in San Francisco, <a href="https://www.trulia.com/blog/trends/affordable-housing/">Trulia</a> found that only 41.6% of homes are affordable.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/transferwise-ceo-taavet-hinrikus-brexit-setting-up-london-fintech-2017-4">TransferWise CEO: 'If I was setting up TransferWise today, I probably would not choose London'</a> - The CEO and cofounder of $1 billion fintech startup TransferWise is calling for "action not just words" from the British government to protect the fintech industry in the wake of Brexit.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-supplier-synaptics-risk-insourcing-credit-suisse-2017-4">Analysts think Synaptics is the company most at risk of being ditched by Apple next</a> - Apple is increasingly ditching its suppliers and moving elements of its production in-house, and analysts have identified the company they think is most at risk of being "insourced" next: Synpatics.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/delta-air-lines-earnings-q1-2017-2017-4">Delta's profit drops 36.3%</a> - Delta Air Lines Inc on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and forecast passenger unit revenue, a closely watched revenue measure, to increase 1-3 percent in the second quarter, citing healthy demand.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-carney-philip-hammond-speech-international-fintech-conference-treasury2017-4">Mark Carney: Blockchain could 'transform' payments, clearing, and settlement</a> - Bank of England governor Mark Carney thinks the technology first developed to underpin digital currency bitcoin could "transform" crucial parts of financial infrastructure.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/adyen-had-700-million-revenue-in-2016-14-million-per-employee-2017-4">A payment business backed by Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey made $1.4 million in revenue for each employee last year</a> - Dutch payments business Adyen doubled revenue last year to $727 million (£583 million), the company announced on Wednesday.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-us-beaches-2017-4">The best US beaches to visit in your lifetime</a> - No matter where you are in the US, you don't have to travel far to find both surf and sand.

What you need to know on Wall Street today

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa " title_caption="People mourn around the body of a Palestinian militant at a hospital morgue in the central Gaza Strip on July 6. Tensions were high along the Gaza border after about a dozen air strikes in response to rocket fire at southern Israeli towns. " class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53ba453beab8eaa41f0f37df-960/gaza-israel-attack-palestinian-2.jpg"></a>REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa People mourn around the body of a Palestinian militant at a hospital morgue in the central Gaza Strip on July 6. Tensions were high along the Gaza border after about a dozen air strikes in response to rocket fire at southern Israeli towns. </div></div></div>Good morning! Here's what you need to know before your first meeting of the day:
<a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2d09e842-0504-11e4-b098-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk#axzz36lDTR2kK">1. Several Israeli suspects have been arrested over the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager, The Financial Times reports.</a> The charred corpse of 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir was found the morning after the funeral of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped and killed in the West Bank. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28189031"></a>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28189031">2. Nine Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli air raids on Gaza following rocket attacks on Israel, the BBC reports.</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28189031"></a>Hamas says six fighters died. <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1548621/diamond-boss-urges-employees-oppose-occupy-central-humiliating-e-mail"></a>
<a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1548621/diamond-boss-urges-employees-oppose-occupy-central-humiliating-e-mail">3. The CEO of a major diamond company has urged his employees not to take part in Hong Kong's democracy protests.</a> A massive "Occupy Central" sit-in is planned if the government there does not deliver reforms. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;region=TopBar&amp;module=HPMiniNav&amp;contentCollection=World&amp;WT.nav=page"></a>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;region=TopBar&amp;module=HPMiniNav&amp;contentCollection=World&amp;WT.nav=page">4. American banks are getting out of the business of international remittances - cash transfers - because law enforcement requirements to prevent and monitor terror funding and drug money laundering are becoming too burdensome.</a> The move will hurt Mexicans most, as cash transfers to Mexico are the largest portion of remittances. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/world/europe/ukraine-military-finds-its-footing-against-pro-russian-rebels.html?ref=world"></a>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/world/europe/ukraine-military-finds-its-footing-against-pro-russian-rebels.html?ref=world">5. The Ukrainian military has gained several small victories against pro-Russian rebels.</a> Previously, Ukraine forces had retreated but they have been reinforced by an infusion of civilian militia. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/06/norman-tebbit-theresa-may-cover-up-child-abuse-dossier"></a>
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/06/norman-tebbit-theresa-may-cover-up-child-abuse-dossier">6. In Britain, there are growing calls for a wide-ranging investigation into the alleged cover-up of suspected child abusers in Westminster, The Guardian reports.</a> The permanent secretary at the Home Office, Mark Sedwill, will be appointing a senior legal figure to conduct a review into what happened to a dossier relating to alleged pedophile activity at Westminster which was passed to the home secretary, Leon (now Lord) Brittan in 1983. The dossier then disappeared. <a href="Cambridge%20to%20The%20Mall%20in%20central%20London."></a>
<a href="Cambridge%20to%20The%20Mall%20in%20central%20London.">7. The Tour de France will go through central London today.</a> The 96-mile route runs from Cambridge to the The Mall.
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28187768">8. Spanish wi-fi firm Gowex will file for bankruptcy after its boss admitted that the company's accounts had been falsified for years.</a> Founder/CEO Jenaro Garcia Martin has resigned. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28188372"></a>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28188372">9. Netherlands' last-minute substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul defended his antics during the World Cup penalty shootout against Costa Rica.</a> He said that speaking directly to every player before they took a shot "to get in their heads" was legit. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/28188621"></a>
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/06/tsa-cellphones-explosives-security-flights-us-bound">10. Passengers flying to the U.S. will be required to switch on their electronic devices before boarding planes.</a> The increased level of vigilance is to prove they do not contain explosives, The Guardian says.
And finally ...
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/crocodile-attacks-handler-at-shoalhaven-zoo-in-nowra-20140707-zsyy6.html">... A man giving a crocodile-feeding demonstration at an Australian zoo nearly became lunch himself when the largest resident crocodile, a 3.7-meter reptile named John, grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the water, the Sydney Morning Herald says.</a> He freed himself moments later and sustained non-life threatening injuries to both hands.

The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

I've had all three of Chase's main Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards - here's how I rank them from best to worst

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Entrepreneurs Awakening</div></div></div>Psychedelics and tech entrepreneurship have long gone hand in hand. Steve Jobs experimented with LSD. Bill Gates dropped acid on occasion.Ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug that induces mind-boggling hallucinations, is Silicon Valley's latest infatuation. Tim Ferriss, a well-know angel investor, recently <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/12/the-ayahuasca-boom-in-the-u-s">described it to The New Yorker</a> as being as ubiquitous as "having a cup of coffee."While you won't find people sipping on ayahuasca in Starbucks, an increasing number of entrepreneurs swear by the plant - which contains DMT, an ingredient designated Schedule I by the Drug Enforcement Administration - as a method of professional and personal development. Businesses have sprouted to facilitate demand.One outgrowth of the trend is <a href="http://www.entrepreneursawakening.com/">Entrepreneurs Awakening</a>, an executive-coaching startup founded in 2012 and based in San Francisco.Each year, a small group of entrepreneurs from around the world joins Entrepreneurs Awakening in Peru, where ayahuasca is legal, to partake in a traditional ayahuasca tea ceremony. About 50 people from hardware, software, and financial tech startups have passed through the program so far. A significant number come from the Bay Area.Ayahuasca grows in the Amazon and has been used by indigenous tribes for spiritual healing for thousands of years. The hallucinations induced by the plant are said to be so life-altering that some users compare it to having a near-death experience. The body breaks it down in such a way that it leaves users high for hours, according to the <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/commonly-abused-drugs-charts#hallucinogens">National Institute on Drug Abuse</a>.Entrepreneurs Awakening uses the jungle vine to help clients come to terms with their weaknesses and find shortcuts to success in the ultracompetitive tech scene."This is a total hack. You can sit in therapy for six years, or you can come to Machu Picchu for a week," Michael Costuros, founder of Entrepreneurs Awakening, told Business Insider. "You choose: red pill, or the sugar pill?"Over 10 days, participants see the sights in the Andes mountains, try local food, and get high on sacred plant-medicine. Costuros guides them through their spiritual journey, and provides executive coaching for a month before and a month after the excursion.The cost of enlightenment: $11,000.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Samantha Lee/Business Insider</div></div></div>One of the earliest reports of Europeans stumbling upon ayahuasca comes from a group of Jesuits traveling through the Amazon in the 18th century. They <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=A_TIBAAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT47&amp;lpg=PT47&amp;dq=diabolical+potion+1737+ayahuasca&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=6suHIJBd4Y&amp;sig=CLJPPLp3h2d3NMxZ6YnQsWmaOL0&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj3r-TQqanQAhVL6WMKHVbmCSYQ6AEIMzAD#v=onepage&amp;q=diabolical%20potion&amp;f=false">called the tea</a> a "diabolical potion" responsible for depriving a member of "one of his senses and, at times, of his life."Research on the effects of the ayahuasca brew, which is made from mashing or boiling the pulp of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, has trickled outside scientific circles in recent years. It caught on among open-minded adventurers.By the mid-2000s, social-media-savvy retreat centers in Peru spread word of the plant's magic. This gave birth to ayahuasca tourism, in which people such as those on the Entrepreneurs Awakening trips visit the Amazon to experience ayahuasca.These days, Costuros - a tech entrepreneur-turned-mentor who joined an executive-coaching firm in 2015 - receives hundreds of applications annually to fill 20 spots over two trips. Most come from tech entrepreneurs. The clientele is part of the draw for many participants. Their fellow travelers face similar pressures and share the same passions.The first few days of the journey are filled with hiking and exploring the nearby markets. Participants eat artisanal breads, alpaca, guinea pig roasted over a fire spit, fruit, and chocolate.On day four, they prepare for a nighttime ayahuasca ceremony. They fast, exercise, and ponder their anxieties, fears, hopes, and aspirations in individual consultations, Costuros says.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Entrepreneurs AwakeningEntrepreneurs Awakening spares no expense when it comes to making entrepreneurs feel comfortable.</div></div></div>The adobe temple that Entrepreneurs Awakening rents out for the retreat is in the Sacred Valley of Peru, located between Cusco and Machu Picchu. It overlooks the Andean highlands and includes two washrooms for the inevitable pukefest. (Ayahuasca causes intense vomiting - or as <a href="https://munchies.vice.com/en/articles/america-is-getting-its-first-legal-ayahuasca-church">fans of the plant prefer to call it</a>, "purging.")Participants take their places on mats and wait for the shaman, whom Costuros has worked with for years, to give them their tea. They focus on their intentions while they wait up to an hour for the hallucinogen to kick in.Under the influence of ayahuasca, the everyday world becomes extraordinary. Costuros compares the experience to entering a lucid dream. One attendee tells me she left her body and saw herself as a girl in her childhood bedroom. Another past participant describes wandering around inside his intestines, much like an episode of "The Magic School Bus."Passersby would see nothing but a group of sleepy tourists curled into balls.Four to five hours later, the group fizzles. Some gather in clusters outside the temple, where they excitedly swap stories. Others retreat to their beds in silence.Then the cycle repeats. Talk. Hike. Eat. Relax. Question your humanity. Fast. Get high.While the NIDA has no findings on the addictive quality of ayahuasca, few people are one-and-done users, according to Costuros."I'd say what's driving them to it is FOMO" - fear of missing out - "to be totally f---ing honest," Costuros said."But what they're getting out of it and maybe why they do it a second time - after they've already gotten the notch in their belt, why would they do it again? - is the results."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Entrepreneurs Awakening</div></div></div>Sebastian, who asked we not include his full name for fear of repercussions for his business, came to Silicon Valley in 2009 because he wanted to run his own company.In three years, his venture-backed startup grew from four employees to 120. He was inundated with feedback on how best to structure the company and consumed by the typical founder questions. Are we spending too fast? Do we need more structure? Am I a good leader?Sebastian brought Costuros and one other executive coach on board to help him sort through these questions. In 2013, he signed up for a trip to Peru.Costuros says these stories are not uncommon. Most entrepreneurs arrive in Peru slightly unhinged from the pressure they're under from investors, employees, peers, and customers.There, among trained facilitators and fellow entrepreneurs, they're free to air their insecurities in a judgment-free zone.Jordan Baker, the founder of a productivity app called <a href="http://www.focuster.com/">Focuster</a> and a past Entrepreneurs Awakening participant, hesitated for some time before enrolling. The $10,000 he paid in 2012 was a lot of money for someone in need of funding for his year-old startup. But he eventually saw the program as a business expense. Baker had shelled out for Tony Robbins' seminars before, and this was as much a networking opportunity as a spiritual retreat.Every attendee Business Insider spoke with said the same thing: What makes the program worth it is the integration, which is Costuros' term for taking the insights gleaned from ayahuasca ceremonies and putting them into practice. It's harder than it sounds.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Samantha Lee/Business Insider</div></div></div>During a ceremony on his retreat, Sebastian says he remembers (virtually) sitting at the base of a tree in the Amazon. A voice called out, "This is the day of your initiation into manhood."That's when a cluster of spiders arrived and a great white shark flung itself from the ocean.For hours, Sebastian witnessed his greatest fears come to fruition. He saw himself as a boy in class, lying in a pool of his own urine while his classmates and teacher stood and laughed."I had that moment where I was like, 'What the f---, really? Every kid pees in his pants once in a while. It's not a f---ing catastrophe. Let it go,'" Sebastian said. "I re-became an adult."In the months after the retreat, Sebastian talked through his vision with his fellow participants and Costuros in video chats. He returned to the office with a clearer sense of purpose, ready to "do what I'm meant to do in this life," he said.Sebastian says he became more attuned to, or at least invested in, his employee's needs. He transferred employees to other departments - or other companies, when he saw fit - where they might reach their potential. His interviewing process changed. Applicants were asked what they wanted to achieve and were placed accordingly, rather than boxed into an open position.Another past participant, who asked to remain anonymous, attended the retreat toward the end of her tenure as a manager at Amazon. She wanted to make a bigger impact on a smaller team, preferably one that connected her to more meaning in her professional life. But she couldn't find the courage to leave.Ayahuasca fixed that."It's not fun," she said. "There's a part of it that's very satisfying, but you have to be up for where it takes you."Upon her return, she quit her cushy gig and accepted a job at a startup in San Francisco.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Samantha Lee/Business Insider</div></div></div>Not every entrepreneur has the means to disappear into the rainforest for 10 days.People without the time or money to travel for a traditional ayahuasca ceremony often settle for local gatherings. A Bay Area group of ayahuasca enthusiasts on <a href="https://www.meetup.com/PSYCHONAUT-SF-BAY-AREA/">Meetup.com</a>, for example, has over 650 members. California leads all states in web searches for ayahuasca ceremonies and retreats, <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&amp;geo=US&amp;q=ayahuasca%20ceremony">according to Google Trends</a>, and interest has steadily risen.But Costuros says that not all of these retreats put high-quality ayahuasca in their tea or use experienced shamans. There's a nickname for these sham productions: "yogahuascas."A shaman in the Amazon often comes from a long line of spiritual healers. But as ayahuasca becomes more popular, the "yogahuasca" trend has worsened. The problem extends from the Bay Area to Peru, as newly minted shamans target foreigners for sham ceremonies." It used to be that it took about at least 20 years to apprentice as a shaman, and now there are people claiming they are shamans within two or three years. There's no quality control," Robert Tindall, a professor of literature and author of two books on shamanism, <a href="http://www.vice.com/read/a-beginners-guide-to-ayahuasca">told Vice in 2014</a>.In 2012, Baker, the productivity app founder, found himself in a retreat center outside the Oakland hills. The ayahuasca ceremony fell on the same day he broke things off with his girlfriend of seven years."I ended up staying a second night because it was so amazing," Baker said. "By the end, I remember my heart was open. It wasn't just a metaphysical feeling. ... Things felt very fragile and beautiful."The experience ended with a buzzkill. A friend dropped him off at the nearest subway station. He became paranoid that people were staring, and he fell right back into his pre-ayahuasca rut.While there is no known lethal dose of ayahuasca (<a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/commonly-abused-drugs-charts">few research centers in the US track the exotic drug</a>), ceremonies can be dangerous under certain conditions. Fatalities are generally a result of suicide, accidents, or erratic behavior. In 2012, an 18-year-old Californian <a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/14/u-s-teen-dies-after-taking-hallucinogenic-drug-ayahuasca-in-peru/">was found buried outside a retreat center</a> in Peru; he was said to have overdosed.Antidepressants <a href="http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/advice/a14193/ayahuasca-drug/">can also be deadly</a> when mixed with ayahuasca, which is why Costuros conducts medical screenings before enrolling applicants in the program.In spite of the risks, most Entrepreneurs Awakening participants who spoke with Business Insider say they first tried ayahuasca in the Bay Area. Their experiences were pleasant overall.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Entrepreneurs Awakening</div></div></div>While Costuros says he's wary of scaling his business, for fear that it would strain his ability to provide quality experiences, he's still gearing up for expansion. Next year, he plans to hold two retreats in Peru and possibly another in Tulum, Mexico.He says he's also in talks with the founder of a startup incubator, whom Costuros declined to name, to create an ayahuasca-friendly accelerator in Costa Rica. Entrepreneurs would build their companies and participate in weekly ayahuasca ceremonies for a dose of inspiration."The intention is to expand our capacity to help innovators, leaders wake up and evolve their psychological garbage," Costuros said, "so they can get on with being awesome." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drinking-hallucinogenic-amazonian-brew-ayahuasca-chris-kilham-2016-4">Here's what it feels like to drink the hallucinogenic Amazonian brew ayahuasca</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Zibnd1cDrwVBkGMJePUTJlr4SVRUUP6P" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Silicon Valley's new craze is flying to Peru to take a psychedelic you can't legally get in America

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.bnkst.edu/">Bank Street</a></div>Who says Congress can't get anything done?
With airport delays linked to the federal furlough of air traffic controllers mounting this week, Congress moved rapidly to address the problem.
The furloughs started thanks to the automatic budget cuts that kicked in this year as part of the so-called sequester.
With travelers complaining across the country, lawmakers, in the span of just two days, rushed through a bill to restore funding.
The move may well please many travelers. But plenty of liberal critics are lamenting the fact that lawmakers moved swiftly to address the airport issue while doing nothing to address many social welfare programs that are feeling the sequester's pinch. (<a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/senate_fixes_the_part_of_the_sequestration_that_affects_rich_people/" target="_blank">Salon's Alex Pareene </a>summed up the sentiment with an article headlined: "Senate fixes the (part of the) <keyword id="1578061" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sequestration">sequestration</keyword> (that affects rich people)!" 
Here are four programs liberals are highlighting to make their point.
1. HEAD START
Thanks to the sequester, <a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/243378/4-big-budget-cuts-congress-left-untouched-while-fixing-air-traffic-delays" target="_blank">early childhood education program</a> may have to drop 70,000 openings nationwide, according to the <a href="http://www.nhsa.org/files/static_page_files/4B17D5B0-1D09-3519-ADF2596FBA091A8B/SequestrationFAQ-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">National Head Start Association</a>. The NHSA, in an explainer on what the sequester means for the program, said they were forced to choose between either scaling back services or reducing enrollment.
At the state level, Head Start programs are finding different ways to stretch their funds. According to CNBC, Columbus, Ind., used a lottery system to determine which students could stay in the summer program there. Another program in California simply sliced two weeks off the Head Start school year, while another in Missouri lopped off three weeks.
Elsewhere, a program in Pennsylvania furloughed 60 employees; others have stopped hiring, or said they may eliminate staffers.
The biggest impact, though, is on enrollment. Of the estimated 70,000 slots that could ultimately be lost to the sequester, <a href="http://www.fox19.com/story/21823396/sequester-cuts-nearly-200-kids-from-local-head-start-program" target="_blank">hundreds have already evaporated </a>in states across the country.
2. MEDICARE
While Medicare outlays were largely spared the sequester's ax (most programs were hit with a 5 percent cut to Medicare's affluent members), patients who rely on the health benefit program are getting the runaround.
Thousands of cancer patients are being turned away at clinics because the drugs they need are too expensive. Instead, they’re sent to hospitals for treatment, where the costs far exceed the clinic costs, but are allowed under sequester.
"If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we'd be out of business in six months to a year," Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York, told the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/" target="_blank">Washington Post's Sarah Kliff</a>. "The drugs we're going to lose money on we're not going to administer right now."
That clinic ultimately decided to drop about one-third of their 16,000 Medicare patients.
So why did Medicare, a program intended to help pay sick bills for the needy, not step in to cover those cancer drug costs? Kliff explains:
Medications for seniors are usually covered under the optional Medicare Part D, which includes private insurance. But because cancer drugs must be administered by a physician, they are among a handful of pharmaceuticals paid for by Part B, which covers doctor visits and is subject to the sequester cut.
As a result, clinics are scaling back their offerings to Medicare patients, with one practice in Manchester, Conn. that specializes in cancer screenings announcing they've stopped seeing Medicare patients entirely. According to a survey from the Community Oncology Alliance, 72 percent of the nation's local oncology practices said they would have to change how they handle Medicare patients thanks to the budget cuts.
3. LOW-INCOME HOUSING
The automatic budget cuts mean federal housing assistance programs will be trimmed by $2 billion this year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The group estimated that cut would leave 140,000 families without housing vouchers.
"The severity of the shortfall in voucher renewal funding caused by sequestration is unprecedented in the history of the program," a report from the CBPP states. "Facing such large shortfalls, agencies will be forced to take steps to reduce program costs quickly, even as they spend down reserves. Most agencies will be unable to avoid instituting measures that adversely affect low-income families."
Those cuts are already being felt at the state level. The Housing Authority of New Orleans recalled 700 hundred Section 8 housing vouchers, and other cities are planning to take similar actions.
From CNBC: Government vouchers have been stopped in cities like San Diego, where some 30,000 people were already on a waiting list to receive them. Only those currently getting vouchers — a total of 14,626 in San Diego of which 54 percent are elderly or disabled — can continue getting monthly payments of $845 to supplement their rent. [CNBC]
4. MEALS ON WHEELS
The program that delivers food to needy seniors may serve 4 million fewer meals this year because of budget cuts, according to the White House. The Meals on Wheels Association offered a less rosy projection, saying they may have to cut 19 million meals.
The program is largely funded by private donations, so it's impossible to say just yet how hard-hit it will be as the year goes on. But already, programs in many states have said they're cutting back. One North Carolina county said they're planning to trim 12,000 meals there, while across the country, California's Meals on Wheels of Contra Costa has said they'll drop 200 seniors from their roster.
More from <keyword id="1465588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Fiscal-Times">The Fiscal Times</keyword>:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/03/07/Senate-Committee-Expected-to-Approve-4-Gun-Control-Bills.aspx#pWs18QBccoGA8AaL.99">4 New Gun Control Bills to Advance in Senate</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/09/01/8-Outrageously-Cushy-Government-Pensions.aspx#page1">8 Outrageously Cushy Government Pensions</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/08/20/China-New-Zest-for-Bling-Has-Downside.aspx#m5DWRFFqYpjc6scu.99">China’s New Zest for ‘Bling’ Has Downside, Too</a>
</li>
</ul>This story was originally published by <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/" target="_blank">The Fiscal Times</a>.

The Sequester Is A Perfect Example Of How Congress Plays Favorites With Federal Programs

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:540px"><div class="image"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_737-529_VP-BHA_SkyExpress%28Russia%29.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></div></div>Global companies struggle with decisions on how much to outsource. Too little means an organization may lose the pricing advantages that can come with using competitive providers worldwide. Too much—or the wrong kind of outsourcing—and quality and knowledge management can suffer.
A panel at a recent Wharton Global Forum in Tokyo titled, "Global Supply Chain Management: <keyword id="6363915" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Outsourcing">Outsourcing</keyword>, Re-shoring, and Near-Shoring," looked at the reshaping of the global supply chain, and how companies choose where and whom to source from in a fast-changing environment. During the discussion, led by Wharton professor of operations and information management <a href="https://opimweb.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/27/">Morris A. Cohen</a>, the panelists suggested that the cheapest solution is not always the best, and that the architecture of supply chains can vary widely depending on the industry and products involved.
<keyword id="6357957" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Boeing">Boeing</keyword>'s supply chain evolves from extensive research into customers and the environments in which they operate, said Beth Anderson, a Boeing vice president. "We go through the entire cycle of designing the airplane and designing the production system, and understanding who our customers are going to be and how we're going to support [the aircraft] once it goes into service."
Boeing's main customer base has evolved since 20 years ago, when 75% of the company's production took place in the United States and Europe, with the rest happening elsewhere. Now, just 25% of Boeing's backlog is in its traditional markets in the U.S. and Europe, with 75% in fast-growing economies like China and India. Thus, Boeing's vast supply chain is evolving to fit its changing market and advancing technologies.
Last year, the manufacturer sourced 783 million parts used to build 600 aircraft. By 2014, it will be bringing in more than one billion parts from a total of 7,500 suppliers to build 700 planes. "It's a vast supply chain and very complex," Anderson said of the 500,000 people in 73 countries engaged in helping to build Boeing products. "It [takes] really well choreographed logistics ... to bring those airplanes together." She noted that even a seemingly simple window shade is sourced from seven suppliers.
Like most manufacturers, Boeing is contending with immense competition, and that means its choice of suppliers has to enhance its competitive advantage. Ultimately, "it all comes down to safety," Anderson said. Each of Boeing's 7,500 suppliers is held to the same standards the company requires of itself. Optimizing its supply chain and other qualities such as fuel efficiency and aerodynamics enabled Boeing to gain 35% in efficiency between 1975 and 1995, but airlines are demanding still more improvements. "Our world has changed dramatically," Anderson noted. "To be competitive, we are working with our supply chain. We're looking at whom we work with, [and] how we change the engineering, the architecture."
Boeing's manufacturing processes have been in the spotlight lately because of the company's high-tech 787 Dreamliner, which suffered from delays, cost overruns and, after its launch, high-profile battery problems. Last week, an empty 787 Dreamliner caught fire while parked at London's Heathrow Airport. Boeing, along with Great Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Honeywell, maker of the emergency device located in the area where the fire appeared to be burning, is investigating the possible causes of the incident.
Ultimately, Boeing seeks to minimize risk and maximize the value of its supply chain by gauging the capability, capacity, collaboration, cash and commitment of its suppliers. It also has to work with aspiring partners in emerging markets such as China, despite potential risks from technology transfers. "It's a balancing act. We don't want to say, 'No, we're not going to share,' because we would be shutting ourselves out of the market. But we have to decide when we have to say no," Anderson noted.
Where, and How Many?
Japanese aircraft maker and defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, whose company has worked closely with Boeing on the 787 and other planes, is also balancing its domestic manufacturing base with the need to expand into global markets, said Shigefumi Tatsumi, the company's vice president and general manager for commercial aircraft. The company makes at most 50 of its best-selling aircraft in a month, with lead times that are often over a year. "We have a very flat supply chain, which is not good for the current business environment," noted Tatsumi. Key considerations are location and quality assurance.
Nissan Motors faces similar challenges, according to Vincent Cobee, corporate vice president in the automaker's Global Datsun Business Unit. Nissan's supply chain, like Boeing's, has been transformed by globalization and the emergence of newly affluent markets outside of North America, Europe and Japan. The shift of production to offshore markets to help defuse trade friction ended the traditional reliance of Japanese automakers on marketing through the big Japanese trading houses. That transition was followed by a shift toward localization across many markets.
While Nissan maintains full control over development of its vehicles, it has had to localize supply chains to reduce costs and reach its key markets. The automaker uses several different business models. The premium brand, Infiniti, is competitive with German luxury cars and developed and made in Japan. The global Nissan product is developed in Japan but localized for various markets. Finally, there is Datsun, which Cobee calls a global-local product, developed and sourced locally with Japanese expertise.
For high-tech products, supply chain logistics can be even more daunting, said Kenji Mizuno, a senior vice president in electronics maker Fujitsu's supply chain management unit. Unlike aircraft and cars, Fujitsu's products are often invisible to consumers, but there are similar pressures to ensure that goods are delivered quickly enough to meet customers' requirements. Fujitsu counts among its clients nearly half of all Fortune 500 global companies and it is the world's third-largest IT service provider, with 173,000 employees and 4.4 trillion yen in annual sales.
Rather than thousands of suppliers, Fujitsu relies on only a handful for each of the many components used in its X86 servers, which Mizuno cited as an example. It buys CPUs from Intel and AMD, and hard disc drives from Seagate and Toshiba. The realities of the supply chain, and high expectations of Fujitsu's customers, mean that Fujitsu has to source parts from suppliers that have moved offshore to China and elsewhere in Asia, and keep costs low, while providing high quality and high reliability and managing grueling time limitations.
Despite the small number of suppliers, Fujitsu must provide servers tailored to meet up to 20,000 configurations, Mizuno said. Fujitsu's solution to the dilemma of scattered suppliers and short delivery times of five or six days is to buy parts from China or from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ship them by sea freight and have them ready for final assembly close to its customers' locations in Japan, Europe and China. "We assemble the products, put them through long tests and deliver. This is the only scenario that allows us to make money and meet all the other requirements," Mizuno noted.
To manage its myriad supply chains, Fujitsu has opted for a "virtual global SCM" (supply chain management system) to decide who will make and deliver products. "We are doing this every day. We look at the customer orders, factory lines and parts supplies. This is the only way we can do it," Mizuno said. Tokyo Electron, which makes the chip sets used in Sony Play Stations and other devices, faces similar requirements for high reliability and quality but has a less open approach to its own supply chain, noted Akihisa Sekiguchi, the company's vice president and general manager for corporate marketing. Tokyo Electron produces mainly for export, though only eight customers account for almost all its business.
No Single Solution
Although it is not that well-known to consumers, Tokyo Electron once was number one in the integrated circuit industry, back when Japan was the leading manufacturer of semiconductors. Now, it is at the top in Japan and number three in the world, with 12,000 employees and $5 billion to $7 billion in annual sales. The firm's manufacturing is all done in Japan, though it ships 90% of its products overseas. "Our R&amp;D is global, but sourcing is domestic," Sekiguchi said. Keeping production onshore works for Tokyo Electron because the components needed to make its tools are made in Japan, and the country's infrastructure can support its manufacturing.
Apart from trials related to years of "endaka," or the high-valued yen, Tokyo Electron's biggest challenge came with the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which forced its factory in Fukushima to close for about two months. The company's workers pulled together to get production back up as soon as possible, though "it takes time to track down 4,000 or 5,000 suppliers," Sekiguchi noted. Calamities like the March 2011 disasters drove home the need to mitigate risk through multi-sourcing. But it does involve costs. "It's not an easy solution," Sekiguchi said. "IP protection is an issue. Geographic location is an issue."
Ultimately, there is no single solution that works in all cases. The question of IP protection is vital to supply chain management, Cohen noted during the panel discussion. But for companies like Boeing, the extremely high degree of regulation typically helps to prevent bogus parts from getting into the industry. "Mostly the regulators do the policing. We just ensure that all the parts have the right documentation," Anderson said.
Automakers like Nissan face much greater risks, given the prevalence of independent auto service companies in many markets. "It's very difficult to guarantee the source of the parts. Our badge is on the car no matter where the parts come from," Cobee noted. "I recommend not using an unauthorized dealer in China."
Partly out of those concerns, some consumers are choosy about the origin of the products they buy. But for IT companies like Fujitsu, although components are made in various places, from Costa Rica to Israel, "we can boast that our products are made only in Japan," said Mizuno. "The real issue is reliability and capability. We do very special tests, and sometimes many components fail. But when we deliver the finished computers, they are very high quality. That's our expertise. They are made and assembled in Japan with our technology."
Tokyo Electron, likewise, uses components from overseas but puts its products through extensive testing before they are shipped. "If components fail, they are dropped," Sekiguchi said of the tests, which extend to the "molecular level. In the semiconductor industry, we buy the product, not the location or the source."
Stretching to reach global markets involves risks, as Boeing's experience with the 787 attests. Yet, outsourcing is something Boeing will continue to do, even if the company found that it went a bit too far with the Dreamliner.
"We had an expectation that our suppliers could do the same things that we do every day. We learned that stuffing an airplane full of parts, [something that] we take for granted, is ... challenging," Anderson noted. "We'll take our expertise and start getting the next new airplane on the books. We're taking advantage of the expertise around the world. We can't believe we're the only ones who can do it." According to Tatsumi of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, working with Boeing is an elaborate process involving hundreds of engineers and a collaboration that has to evolve as the products and market environment change.
Companies must realize that once they have opened the door to collaboration or outsourcing, though, it can never be closed, noted Nissan's Cobee. Given the huge risks of failure for products like automobiles and many other products, "you have to think about not only the benefit for tomorrow but also about whether you can sustain it." To keep a competitive edge requires constant innovation. "You have to innovate more than the others. Yes, we have the daily job of protecting IP. It doesn't take a genius to dismantle a car and reverse engineer it," Cobee said. "The only way is innovation."This story was originally published by <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/" target="_blank">Knowledge@Wharton</a>.

You Searched For "Air costa employees" and got 9 results

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Silicon Valley's new craze is flying to Peru to take a psychedelic you can't legally get in America

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The Sequester Is A Perfect Example Of How Congress Plays Favorites With Federal Programs

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