Kaizen

**Kaizen** is an in-universe news segment by Aaron Schere focusing on economic and business developments. It is published by Farnes Media Partners. It is named after the japanese word *Kaizen* (改善), meaning *change for the better*.

## Issues

### Issue 1

*Source: News Update: Kaizen*

**Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Schere nor Kaizen guarantees any specific outcome or profit. Before acting on information in this program, you should strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. > #**

It’s nine a.m. here on Earth. Time to open for business. Hello, my name is Aaron Schere and welcome to the first … the inaugural episode of KAIZEN, a weekly analysis of the UEE economy. We’re going to look at the latest fluctuations in the markets and cover the week’s developments in the trading and business world. Along the way, we’ll pull together some of the most influential and dynamic voices to help keep you in the know.
Want to know who’s going to give you the best return on your investment? Need to find who’s got a surplus of raw materials? Do you need a system-by-system analysis of demand and market prices? Well, you’ve found it.

This is the Breakdown …

<cue graphic>

We’ve tapped the finest data relay services from around the systems to get you as close-to-current financial information as possible.

**DISCLAIMER: Financial information is considered near-current at time of recording. Schere, Kaizen, Farnes Media Partners, or Banshee Courier Services are not responsible for the accuracy of the information after recording.**

Here’s our first batch:

Stanton System

Shubin’s strip mining operations on MicroTech seem to have hit a standstill but we’re speculating that their need for fuels and repair parts won’t go down anytime soon. Now, whenever you’re dealing with a conglomerate like Shubin, you have to enter into negotiations prepared. Their offers will start well below market value, sometimes as much as thirty percent. The trick is to do your research — most Corps operate with a cache of resources in anticipation of work stoppages, so avoid common materials or gases if you want to get any kind of decent return.

Chronos System

With last week’s announcement about a “breakthrough” in the Synthworld project, the system’s economic needs have been reviving. Now, I’m not optimistic that their announcement is anything but a UEE marketing ploy. On the plus side though, UEE invoices for geoengineering technology and raw materials have been getting approved. So contact your local UEE rep to see exactly what they’re looking for.

Ellis System

Racing season’s rapidly approaching, so the planets in Ellis are starting to collect bulk food and raw materials for constructing the various temp tracks and skyboxes. We spoke to a foreman at MCR’s base camp who echoed the commission’s press statement.

“In an effort to keep costs down, we’re trying out a new system of collecting our supplies from independent contractors as opposed to a single one-stop-shop Corp.”

More information is available directly through the MCR commission.

Davien System

Finally, I’m sure all of you have heard about the terrible storms ravaging Davien II, specifically around New Arden. Needless to say, they are in desperate need of medical supplies, food and construction materials. Now, as an economic analyst, I’m compelled to say that I wouldn’t recommend trading if you’re solely looking at the bottom line. However as a Citizen, I say, take the financial hit to help out your fellow human. Besides, it never hurts to get on the UEE’s good side.

That’s the Breakdown. We’ll check back in with more system updates over the hour.

We’re going to take a quick break with a word from our sponsors, but when we get back, we look at the symbiotic relationship between crime and the economy. There has been a common perception that poverty and crime are linked, based on the belief that areas of economic depression are at risk of an increased crime rate. But can you also draw a direct connection between crime and prosperity?

Later on in the hour, we’ll also take an in-depth look at building a factory. What do you need to get started? What kind of materials do you need? And location, location, location, what’s that sweet spot between cost and safety. We’ll be joined by Sasha Bart, one of New United’s top economic correspondents.

That and a whole lot more when Kaizen returns.

### Issue 2

*Source: News Update: Kaizen*

Hello and welcome to another episode of *Kaizen*, your jump point to financial solvency. My name’s Aaron Schere. I will be guiding you through the latest economic and business developments throughout the Empire and beyond.

**Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Schere, Kaizen nor Farnes Media Partners guarantees any specific outcome or profit. Before acting on information in this program, you should strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.**

Later on, we’re going to have another installment of the Breakdown where we collate all the latest data from the systems and examine with our team of expert analysts and consultants to help you interpret what’s the best course of action with your money.

Before we do, it’s time for Capitalize, where we assess the news coming in from the Spectrum to find a business opportunity in disguise.

Here’s a situation that’s been slowly working its way through the NewsOrgs. Much to the surprise of our team of economic analysts, this hasn’t exploded into a major news item, but they suspect that it soon might.

I’m talking of the delays reported by the manufacturing departments of both RSI and Anvil Aerospace. Early last week, RSI issued a statement to its dealerships reporting that they would be unable to fulfill delivery requirements for the next two cycles, without citing a reason or an exact date. Anvil released a similar statement a few days later. This one was followed by a series of organized strikes from the production unions who claimed that Anvil had frozen their production facilities and was denying their obligation to pay their employees.

How could two separate companies face crippling production downturns at the same time? Are other ship manufacturers at risk? What was responsible?

One answer:

Alcohol.

No. This isn’t a cautionary tale about sin and vice. This is how a simple policy decision can reverberate through a galactic economy. It’s these kinds of details that the major NewsOrgs will miss, but our financial investigators live for.

On the desolate surface of Lorona in the Banshee system, nestled away from the massive mining consortiums, FoveaInc operates a small facility that produces short carbon. FoveaInc uses the isolation to require their employees to live in on-site housing and shop at company stores in an effort to recirculate their money.

The factory’s management team thought that they could increase their factory’s output by deeming the possession and consumption of alcohol to be in violation of company policy.

Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect. After multiple appeals to overturn management’s decision failed, the employees stopped fighting. Management believed they had quelled their employees. They were wrong. Output of the factory actually began to diminish.

So how does this affect megacorps like RSI and Anvil? Let’s walk through it.

FoveaInc has contracts to act as the exclusive provider of short carbon for both Jahr FabriCorp and Vance Super Industrial. These two corporations use the short carbon to create diamond laminate which they use in the construction of cockpit glass. Each of those corporations have signed exclusive contracts to provide cockpit glass to …

Correct. RSI and Anvil Aerospace.

So, to recap, a management team’s decision to ban alcohol on Lorona led to a diminished output which prevented Jahr and Vance from creating the laminate that RSI and Anvil use in the construction of their ships, which has now prevented the dealerships from replenishing their inventory.

What does this mean for you? Well, hopefully you’re not in the market for a new RSI or Anvil ship. But it does mean that Jahr FabriCorp and Vance Super Industrial are desperate for short carbon. If you can deliver in the quantities they’re looking for, you could probably name your price. And if you could get them in a bidding war? Well … there’s no end to space.

If you happen to be one of those people who isn’t bothered by the itch of the unethical, you could always try to sell some alcohol to the employees on Lorona. I would never suggest such a course of action, but business is about looking at all the angles.

**Schere, Kaizen nor Farnes Media Partners would never advocate any act that is a willful and direct violation of UEE law.**

We’re going to take a quick break. When we come back we’ll hit you with the Breakdown.

More Kaizen after the jump.

### Issue 3

*Source: News Update: Kaizen*

Hello and welcome to another episode of *Kaizen*. I’m your host, Aaron Schere, here to help guide you through the jump point to financial solvency by breaking down the latest economic developments in the Empire and beyond.

**Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Schere, Kaizen nor Farnes Media Partners guarantees any specific outcome or profit. Before acting on information in this program, you should strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.**

Before we introduce today’s guest, I’d like to take a moment to send out a happy birthday. One hundred and twenty-two years ago today, the Imperial Spectrum Commission unveiled the Spectrum ID system. The project was led by Dr. Yong Erroll in cooperation with scientists and engineers from Aciedo CommServices. The team devised a more much effective system to uniquely identifying corporations, organizations and even individuals across the various networks and comm relays positioned around the Empire. The Spectrum ID system was such a success that within six months (SET) of implementation, the previous system, CTTD, all but disappeared. So, to the memory of Dr. Erroll and the brilliant engineers who devised the Spectrum ID, happy birthday to your creation.

Ever since the malady known as Lynch’s Fever was identified almost a month ago, a series of additional inspection protocols were quickly implemented to contain the spread of the disease. While trade and commerce have taken a serious blow inside the borders of the UEE, members of the medical community are optimistic that a treatment will pass safety review in the very near future.

My guest today caused a bit of a stir when he appeared on *Showdown* shortly after the disease was first identified. Please welcome Garet Waldon of the Trade & Development Division.

**Garet Waldon**: *Hi Aaron. I’m not sure if ‘bit of a stir’ covers it.*

Fair enough. So I gather there was some pretty heavy fallout from that appearance?

**Garet Waldon**: *I’d say so. People seemed to think that I didn’t care about those afflicted, but I was simply trying to be pragmatic about our options.*

Has the origin, the patient zero if you will, of the disease been discovered?

**Garet Waldon**: *No patient zero, to my knowledge at least. I believe Dr. Byrne held a press conference linking the virus to a contaminated batch of foodstuffs. One of our analysts did discover how the fever managed to appear in three systems at once. The licensed hauler that was carrying several crates of the contaminated food was attacked by pirates while on his run. Apparently, the two pirates were scared off by local law enforcement, but not before heisting a crate apiece and separating. Probably not one of their most successful scores, I would imagine.*

So what is the status of Lynch’s Fever at the moment, specifically in the government’s customs and scanning protocols? Is it contained?

**Garet Waldon**: *We’re working on it. The scientists over at the Medical Corps have managed to isolate … I’m not a doctor so I know I’m going to screw this up … genetic markers in the virus or something. Again, I apologize for not knowing, but in short, they’ve provided the TDD with these markers as updates for our scanners that will allow them to identify contaminated cargo.*

Does that mean that our listeners can expect their shipments to return to their usual delivery schedule?

**Garet Waldon**: *I wouldn’t say that. These scans still require time for any type of cargo that could conceivably carry the virus, so there is still a longer-than-usual scrutiny, but between these scans and the rumors of the treatment in clinical trials, it seems like things look promising. Officially though, it’s too early to tell.*

Understood. Have you been able to calculate the economic damage done by Lynch’s Fever?

**Garet Waldon**: *Not officially, but between contaminated cargo, shipping delays and lost workhours due to illness, I would imagine that it’s significant.*

Thank you, Garet, for coming by and giving us the straight feed.

**Garet Waldon**: *Anytime.*

We’ll take a quick break for some words from our sponsors. When we come back it’s time for Breakdown, where we look at the systems you and your business should be eyeing next.

More Kaizen after the jump.

### Issue 4

*Source: Kaizen: Reconstruction Revolution*

**Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Schere nor Kaizen guarantees any specific outcome or profit. Before acting on information in this program, you should strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. > #**

It’s nine a.m. here on Earth. Time to open for business. Hello, my name is Aaron Schere and welcome to the first … the inaugural episode of KAIZEN, a weekly analysis of the UEE economy. We’re going to look at the latest fluctuations in the markets and cover the week’s developments in the trading and business world. Along the way, we’ll pull together some of the most influential and dynamic voices to help keep you in the know.
Want to know who’s going to give you the best return on your investment? Need to find who’s got a surplus of raw materials? Do you need a system-by-system analysis of demand and market prices? Well, you’ve found it.

This is the Breakdown …

<cue graphic>

We’ve tapped the finest data relay services from around the systems to get you as close-to-current financial information as possible.

**DISCLAIMER: Financial information is considered near-current at time of recording. Schere, Kaizen, Farnes Media Partners, or Banshee Courier Services are not responsible for the accuracy of the information after recording.**

Here’s our first batch:

Stanton System

Shubin’s strip mining operations on MicroTech seem to have hit a standstill but we’re speculating that their need for fuels and repair parts won’t go down anytime soon. Now, whenever you’re dealing with a conglomerate like Shubin, you have to enter into negotiations prepared. Their offers will start well below market value, sometimes as much as thirty percent. The trick is to do your research — most Corps operate with a cache of resources in anticipation of work stoppages, so avoid common materials or gases if you want to get any kind of decent return.

Chronos System

With last week’s announcement about a “breakthrough” in the Synthworld project, the system’s economic needs have been reviving. Now, I’m not optimistic that their announcement is anything but a UEE marketing ploy. On the plus side though, UEE invoices for geoengineering technology and raw materials have been getting approved. So contact your local UEE rep to see exactly what they’re looking for.

Ellis System

Racing season’s rapidly approaching, so the planets in Ellis are starting to collect bulk food and raw materials for constructing the various temp tracks and skyboxes. We spoke to a foreman at MCR’s base camp who echoed the commission’s press statement.

“In an effort to keep costs down, we’re trying out a new system of collecting our supplies from independent contractors as opposed to a single one-stop-shop Corp.”

More information is available directly through the MCR commission.

Davien System

Finally, I’m sure all of you have heard about the terrible storms ravaging Davien II, specifically around New Arden. Needless to say, they are in desperate need of medical supplies, food and construction materials. Now, as an economic analyst, I’m compelled to say that I wouldn’t recommend trading if you’re solely looking at the bottom line. However as a Citizen, I say, take the financial hit to help out your fellow human. Besides, it never hurts to get on the UEE’s good side.

That’s the Breakdown. We’ll check back in with more system updates over the hour.

We’re going to take a quick break with a word from our sponsors, but when we get back, we look at the symbiotic relationship between crime and the economy. There has been a common perception that poverty and crime are linked, based on the belief that areas of economic depression are at risk of an increased crime rate. But can you also draw a direct connection between crime and prosperity?

Later on in the hour, we’ll also take an in-depth look at building a factory. What do you need to get started? What kind of materials do you need? And location, location, location, what’s that sweet spot between cost and safety. We’ll be joined by Sasha Bart, one of New United’s top economic correspondents.

That and a whole lot more when Kaizen returns.

## Fran Mirotic vs. Nova Pyrotechnica

An episode of Market Breakdown saw Aaron Schere bring lawyer Fran Mirotic onto the show to discuss her case against Nova Pyrotechnica. Mirotic was employed by the family of Xander Castillo, who felt that the company's negligence played a role in Xander's death.

Nova Pyrotechnica is accused of knowingly selling faulty missiles to members of the public, a claim backed up by the 'tragic stories' of dozens of other citizens that are referred to in the lawsuit. Mirotic also made the assertion that reports indicate that missiles made by Nova Pyrotechnica are more likely to explode unexpectedly than those manufactured by any other major company.