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Real Life Business Education: Too Many Internets

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:28:00 +0000

Last Year, author Ray Bradbury famously said that there are "too many internets". This was part of a crazy rant that he recorded on this blog. I'm not exactly sure what Bradbury meant by too many internets, but it turns out he was right... sort of. We actually have too many registered internet addresses.

This is a strange concept. We often hear about the capacity limiting constraints of legacy hardware or fiber, but addresses? It seems like they should just be able to add a digit or something. Unfortunately the current IP naming conventions were developed over thirty years ago when the internet was still just a closed experiment accessible only to US government agencies and a few Universities. And now... in 2010, we experiencing a famine of IP addresses.

According a Wall Street Journal article, help is on the way. Apparently help, is a new naming system call IPv6, which will allow a "near infinite" number of internet addresses. The catch is that most of the hardware out there that is more than just a few years old isn't compatible. So begins the long upgrade. I guess the one positive thing is that internet hardware and devices are typically upgraded often.

So, will we run out of IP addresses? The techie folks say that it's unlikely, however, that is only because companies began to prepare for the end of addresses a few years ago. Thanks companies- your making us all realize that Ray Bradbury's comments were just as dumb as they originally sounded after all.

Cheers!

Real Life Business Education: The State of the Union

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Unlike most people, I actually enjoy watching politicians give speeches. But, it' not for the speech itself. I think what I enjoy is thinking about all of the work that went into a speech behind the scene. Let me explain...

In President Barack Obama's latest State of the Union address, he talked a lot about things that democrats would normally shy away from- things like tort reform, lowering the corporate tax rate, and spending cuts. You see, Obama and his staff know that they cannot continue to push a democratic agenda when they don't have a majority in the house and senate as well as the presidency. So, instead they are shifting the administration's stance to a much more moderate one. In doing so, they are offering to go after some traditionally conservative ideas to send a message to the republicans. That is- if you don't play nice, the public is going to see you as the bad guys. Why? Because we have already brought up several ideas that are catered to the right. So, if we can compromise, you can too- right?

It's the messaging. Messaging is a core business principle. Companies message customers with their pricing and customer service message. Companies even message each other with their sales. You know the "low cost guarantee"? It's just a message to the competition that lowering their price won't win them any business- it's just a way to avoid a price war.

So, from the president of the US to Wal-Mart, the speeches and actions all contain hidden meanings. Now that you know, maybe you will enjoy listening to politicians talk as well.

Real Life Business Education: Healthcare

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:30:00 +0000

Now that I am finished with my Business Education I have begun to seriously think about what kind of career I would like to pursue. It seems strange to still be talking about "what I want to do when I grow up" at age 30, but here I am. Getting your MBA makes you feel like the possibilities are endless, like you could join any company or industry and add value- that they would be lucky to have you. Not because your something special, but because you have taken the time to learn and understand the core principles of what makes a business tick.

While contemplating my future, the thought of working in healthcare has often crossed my mind. You can actually get an MBA in Healthcare management, but the Business Education I received is enough to consider joining this industry as well.

So why is it attractive?

Two reasons:

1) Healthcare is growing - with the passing of Obama's Healthcare Bill, there are certainly going to be many jobs being created in the coming years. These new employees will need leaders and managers to... well lead and manage them.

2) The greater good. One of the hardest thing about my current job is that it has no real moral value. At the end of the day I am helping a company increase it's profits so people holding it's stock can be a little richer. I don't think there any shame in that, but there isn't an extreme amount of pride either- don't get me wrong... I love my job and the company I am employed with. But to know the work that I did enabled the healing of the sick would be pretty cool.

So, we'll see. I have a lot of thinking to do and with today's norms in employment, I have a few more careers ahead of me :)

MBA Degree - Check!

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:38:00 +0000

First, let me apologize. My entries have been fewer than I normally like-hopefully that will change soon.

You see, I have been given a gift of time. About 15-20 hours a week to be exact. I have this time because just a few weeks ago I attended the last class required to obtain my MBA degree. Yes, that's right! I have graduated! It seems like just yesterday I was writing my description for this blog "applying, attending, and one day graduating from Business School". Well, I'm happy to say that day has come. I am done.

It's funny though, it still hasn't sunk in. I'm still extremely protective over my free time and I have that eerie feeling that I am forgetting to do something. But I'm not. Now I can spend my time doing home improvement projects, catching up on the mail, and hanging out with my dog... and wife.

People keep asking me what I am doing that I have all of this free time. The truth is that I now play 5-10 hours of video games a week and get 1-1.5 hours more sleep per night- I think both of these are very positive things.

...meanwhile on the job front, I was promoted just days after graduating. I don't think it had a whole lot to do with finishing school, but I'm certain that school allowed me to get to a position to be promoted. Yes, I am definitely enjoying the fruits of a very laborious 2.5 years. And soon I will begin paying for that fruit (tuition) at a very reasonable interest rate.

But, it has been worth it. Along with my latest promotion came an increase in salary equal to my monthly student loan payment. What an amazing thing in the current economy- I am truly blessed.

Verizon is using their MBA

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 04:30:00 +0000

I recently noticed that Verizon Wireless applied some typical MBA know how to their pricing scheme for smart phones. The old data options from Verizon were to either buy an unlimited everything (data, text, pix, and flix), or a multimedia package (text, pix, and flix). The former was $29.99, while the latter was $9.99. What this essentially did is charge light users of data the same as very heavy users and there was no difference in speed that was offered.

Verizon’s latest pricing includes differentiation in price for total data used for a month and connection speed. The premium is for faster service and/or greater data usage.

This is a concept affectionately referred to as price discrimination. They figured out that different folks are using their bandwidth differently and thus value that bandwidth differently. Now, its not pure discrimination because VZW is actually offering slightly differentiated products, but they are essentially charging different customers different prices based on their willingness to pay.

Other examples of price discrimination include a student or senior discount, in-state college tuition, and corporate discounts. In all of these situations businesses are trying to increase their overall profitability by selling to people at the maximum price they are willing to pay.

Obviously Verizon has a few MBA graduates on their payroll. Nice work VZW.

Lessons from Business School - Economic Value Estimate

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:29:00 +0000

The Chevy Volt was recently released for mass production and will soon be available at a Chevrolet dealer near you. This car has been released to much fanfare and is being hailed as the first electric car that he general public will purchase. The biggest reason for this is the vehicle’s range on a single battery charge.

About a year ago, I read about the Volt and was very excited about the prospect of a legitimate electric car. After reviewing the specs and the range, the first thought I had before I could decide if I would purchase pone is “how much is Chevy going to charge?” A year later Chvy announced a price of approximately $40,000 for the vehicle (depending on options). The announcement of the price was timed very well with the pricing class that I began back in September. One of the very first concepts that we learned will allow me to share a very valuable Business School lesson with you…. The EVE (Economic Value Estimate).

The framework is actually pretty simple. You just take the price of the closest alternative, add the difference in benefit (positive or negative), and adjust for qualitative factors such as a fast adoption product strategy. Here’s a quick back of the envelope on how the Volt may have been priced…

Folks who buy the volt are probably the same people who bought a Toyota Prius, Civic EX, or Focus Ltd. So let’s tak the value fo these cars on average… say $24,000. Now add the cost savings that an owner would experience using electricity instead of gasoline over the expected useful life the car (Let’s say 10 years at $1,000/year). So now we have $24,000 + $10,000. Finally, add in the reduced maintenance costs and some amount for the novelty of owning the first mainstream electric vehicle. Let’s say that amounts to ~$8,000 over the life of ownership. The grand total is $24k + $10k + 8K… $42K. $42K is the price ceiling (the highest price that should be chosen for the vehicle based on the value it represents to a potential owner. The floor is the cost of the next best alternative, or $24,000 in this case. Chevy should then choose a place in this spectrum depending on their strategic goals. Since Chevy is just recovering from bankruptcy and the popularity of the Volt is high, the price they chose seems reasonable. If they wanted to push inventory a bit more to gain some sales momentum, the may have priced $2k, $4k, or $6k lower.

It will be interesting to see how the Volt does… about 1 year from today, we will see if the Volt’s pricing analysts got their money’s worth from their respective business schools.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong – Finally, Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:23:00 +0000

A group of four of us left our hotel with a driver and a guide named Sunny. It wasn’t very long that we realized Sunny was probably just as excited to be going to Hong Kong as we were – I don’t think she actually gets over there much.

It was starting to get dark as we approached the border. 30 minutes later it was pitch black as we made our way from the boarer into Hong Kong. We arrived in the city and finally landed in Lan Kwai Fong. We spent the first 30 minutes exploring the general area before we finally found an outdoor courtyard with a few different restaurants. As we walked into the courtyard, several restaurant owners/workers met us with menus and began attempting to persuade us to eat at their respective establishments. We settled on Thai and enjoyed a nice meal for only about $10 per person. The food meal I ordered ended up being some of the best Thai curry I’ve had.

For the rest of the night, the group of us hopped through a few bars, explored a few streets, and tried to stay dry. Did I mention it was raining?

The night actually ended pretty early… at around 10PM everyone in the group headed back to the JW Marriot and I checked into the Metro Park hotel in Kowloon Hong Kong. I spent the next day there as well before catching an evening flight out of HKG. With a full belly from all the bakeries and restaurants I visited in Hong Kong I rode the hotel shuttle back to the airport. I got there with plenty of time to spare and boarded the plane for home.

On the way home, I couldn’t help but to be excited about all I had learned. This trip truly was a real life business education. From my time in Beijing to the rainy streets of Hong Kong, I had the opportunity to entrench myself in a new culture and business on a continent that a week earlier had seemed light years away. This was a very valuable trip.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong – Shenzhen

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:21:00 +0000

I woke up around 7AM on Friday and headed over for a meeting in downtown Shenzhen. The meeting was on the 50^th floor of a high rise glass and steel building – incredible views. This was the first chance I had to actually go inside one of the Shenzhen sky scrapers that had been thrown up at break neck speed. At first glance, the building looked like something you would find in an upscale part of a US city. The lobby was large and open and there was an Illy coffee stand near the elevators. A key card was required to go to the elevator lobby and people were dressed business casual for the most part.

Once up to the 50^th floor, I began to inspect the building more closely. Behind the sealed concrete floors and glass walls, doors, and cubicles, was some pretty shotty construction. Cables were exposed on the walls and simply painted over. The corners and thresh-holds didn’t quite line up right, and the windows and doors weren’t all straight. As I stared out the window at the sweeping views, I began to wonder what would happen if there was an earthquake.

After the last meeting ended, we headed back to the JW Marriot and got ready for evening trip to Hong Kong.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong – Growing Pains

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:25:00 +0000

We woke up early Thursday morning and headed down to the breakfast area of the JW Marriot in Shenzhen. The main breakfast area was set up as an elaborate buffet. There were different stations for pastries, egg based dishes, fruit, yogurt, Asian breakfast, and various other hot food selections. The entire time I ate, there was a young man standing about 5-10 feet from the table just waiting for my water glass to dip below the half-way point, or for me to ask for an additional fork, or something else. This level of service was something that permeated the hotel.

After breakfast, we were met by a driver who would be taking us to a meeting that was about 2 hours outside of the city. We boarded the van (waters in hand) and headed for the most remote part of China I would see on the visit. Between our hotel and the meeting site, we saw every level of poverty and wealth. We saw hundreds if not thousands of high rise buildings going up in every direction as we left the city. Most of these buildings fell into one of two categories… shiny and new or in utter disrepair. This is probably the result of a typical Shenzhen alternative to maintenance- tear it down and build something new. After about 75 minutes of nothing but sprawling city we began to see some of the surrounding area. We saw large suspension bridges that lead to Hong Kong, existing and construction to build new ports, and lots of water. We passed by recently renovated areas that are intended for the 2010 Asian games just a few miles from complete neighborhoods of shanties. We also saw several small pools of water that were being aerated.

That 2 hour ride gave me a view of what unrestricted growth coupled with government incentives and an artificially low currency can accomplish. It was truly amazing, but I din’t see one area along that route that I would actually want to live. Water and air pollution are rampant, structural and personal safety are in question, and there was a general feeling of filth just about everywhere (except in the shiny new buildings).

We arrived at the meeting at about 10AM and wrapped up just in time for lunch. We had a nice lunch at a local restaurant where stuck mainly to vegetarian and pork dishes- save for one pigeon soup. After lunch we headed back he same way we came, and at 4:30PM I walked back in the door of the JW Marriot – safe and sound in a luxurious bubble.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong – An Adolescent Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:27:00 +0000

I spent my third and final day in Beijing wrapping up the process improvement project that started on Monday, and talking with our legal group that looks after all of China. I packed my bags early that morning and had them loaded in the van so we could go straight to the airport at about 3PM.

We arrived at Beijing International Airport about 2 hours early for the flight. We were booked on China Southern out of Terminal 1 (not the beautiful new terminal that was built for the Beijing Olympic Games). From the time I entered the airport in Beijing to the time I arrived in my Shenzhen hotel, I saw a different side of China. Up to this point I has spent my time in a luxury apartment building, in a van with a personal driver, or with technology companies. This part of the trip seemed a bit more authentic.

After checking in for our seats, we headed to the security check in. The check in was a mess of lines moving at different speeds with X-ray machines and tons of airport staff. The carry-on scanner in my particular line broke just after I had reached a place in the line that made it difficult to exit and move to a faster one. About 30 minutes later I made it through to the metal detector. The metal detector might as well have been a door way, because it went off on every person in every line. Shortly after the metal detector, I stepped up to a platform where I was patted down – it seems that pat downs were standard operating procedure. Finally, after about 45 total minutes, I exited the security area and headed to my gate.

The gate area was old and dirty, over a jet-way style walking bridge and down a large set of stairs, it felt more like a rundown bus station than an airport. Ironically, we exited the airport and boarded a bus for our plane. While walking up the tall metal staircase to the door of the China Southern aircraft, I noticed some patchwork that had been performed on the wings. It was blended in to be unnoticeable like it would be in the States or Europe.

The plane itself was slightly dirty, but generally what could be expected of an aircraft that flies 2-3 hour segments. We took off and I put my faith in the pilots and a whole aviation system that I knew absolutely nothing about. The flight itself was rather uneventful- I watched a Chinese movie with subtitles about the heir of a Macau casino fortune losing his inheritance. When it came time to land, the pilot lowered the landing gear and touched the plane down. Immediately upon landing, the plane began to vibrate heavily. It literally sounded like the overhead bins were going to detach from the plane. After about 45 seconds of uncontrollable vibration, the plane reached a taxi speed and we slowly made our way to the gate.

After disembarking, we claimed our bags (rather uneventful) and headed out to meet our driver. After about an hour and 5 phone calls to our local contact, we gave up on the driver and hopped in a cab. Our local contact was kind of to tell the cab driver in Cantonese that we needed to be taken to the JW Marriot in Shenzhen. We arrived 30 minutes later at our hotel glad to have survived a 70MPH dodge and dash in a tiny geo metro sized cab.

After being shown to my posh room, I reflected on the day’s events. The first 3 days of my trip I was extremely impressed with the shiny new China that I saw in Beijing, but for the last 8 hours or so, I had seen the side of China that is struggling to grow up (i.e. the imbalanced quality at the airport, the different standards of a domestic airline, and the cab driver who was obviously used to driving in “war zone” traffic. It seemed while I was getting my business education in China, they were in the midst of getting theirs.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong Kong – Shiny Imported Cars

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 05:22:00 +0000

The second stop of the day was to a second vendor who we do slightly more business with. After the old-school meeting we had at the previous location I was ready for more unique China Experiences. This is where my Chinese Business Education took a turn. What I noticed immediately with this second vendor was how nice there offices and cars were. Also, the size of their staff seemed to be inflated as well. As I began to notice these things, I thought back to a few months earlier when this particular vendor had quoted some very high prices when we were in a pinch. I think I know where the money went…

And this seems to be the way it goes in China. The man who pays the first price he is offered in China is a fool of fools. Just before leaving for the second vendor visit of the day, I had an opportunity to go the Silk Market. The Silk Market is a 5 story market place where individual sellers can’t rent booths and sell to the general public. You can buy everything from knock off clothes, to chess boards, to music as long as you have the patience to negotiate a price because this place was all about the bartering. I bought a few things, and the final price that I paid was approximately 20% of the asking price- and I probably got ripped off. The takeaway is that while the Silk Market is a bit extreme because of its size and the number of tourists walking through, it really isn’t that far off of the way business is done in China.

Rewind to the business dealings where my company didn’t push back on the pricing and you have a fine explanation of how the vendor can afford beautiful office space, nice cars, and a large staff with lots of “marketing” people.

Business lesson learned.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong Kong – Tea Time

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 05:16:00 +0000

My second day in Beijing was dedicated to two visits to external vendors that I have been working with for about the last year, but have never met in person.

My driver picked us up at around 7AM and we promptly left for the first vendor’s office. We trudged through the typical Beijing traffic for about 45 minutes before ending up in an area just outside of the Beijing Airport (NE section of the city). As we made our way down side streets, we began to notice a bit more “culture” than we had seen in either the business district or the area around the hotel.

Our driver kept glancing down at the address for the vendor that an admin had translated into Chinese as he was driving in what appeared to be circles. After about 10 minutes of sporadic turns and confusion, the driver pulled off on a side street and asked a taxi driver for directions. About 5 minutes later we pulled into a 10 story building and made our way up to our vendor’s office.

Upon entering, we were immediately whisked into the Vice GM’s office by my contact. My contact (our account Manager) translated for the Vice GM as he talked to us about the core values of the business that he had helped start. As he explained in a soft Mandarin, he served us an amazing green tea in very small cups- constantly refilling as the minutes went by. I think I must have had 12 cups of tea by the time the meeting was over. Towards the end, we talked about some minor process improvement changes that I had thought about implementing, took a brief tour of their facility, and were on our way.

Just before leaving, the account manager offered to take us on a tour of the Great Wall. After trying 3 different times to explain that our schedule was too tight for any touring of any sort, I simply acknowledged the offer, and said thank you. I think that was the right way to handle it.

After the first meeting, we loaded ourselves into the van and headed back to our office. Next stop in the China Business Education was a second vendor and an organized company dinner…

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong Kong – Work begins in Beijing

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:30:00 +0000

I arrived at our Beijing office at approximately 8:45AM this morning, got set up with a desk, and walked into my first meeting at 10:00AM. One of the primary reasons for this trip was to coordinate process improvement with a team that interacts with my team and several of our partners in the US offices. I originally set the meeting up with the person who I have often interacted with and her boss. This meeting shed some light on a cultural difference that existed between my office and the Beijing office. Let the business education begin.

What I found is that the manager is fully accountable in our Beijing office, whereas individual contributors are empowered and accountable in the US offices. As the meeting went on, my primary contact hardly said a word. In fact, she even declined future meetings on the same topic. This seemed odd to me given the corporate culture I’m used to, but when in Beijing… The goal of this initial meeting was to have introductions and map out the current process that I wanted to improve. Mission accomplished.

After a nice lunch at a Cantonese restaurant, I spent the rest of the afternoon meeting with various people in the Beijing office including the Finance director. The finance director explained the intricacies of getting money into and out of China and the difference in business climate. It turns out that our company isn’t nearly as well known in China as they are in the rest of the world. After the last meeting, we called our driver and headed back to the hotel. We later ate dinner at a Taiwanese restaurant with one of the Beijing colleagues where turtle soup and snake were on the menu- we stayed mostly vegetarian. After that we wrapped up the first day of my Chinese business education.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong Kong – Setting up in Beijing

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000

My plane touched down in Beijing at approximately 4:00PM local time. The plane parked at a gate in Terminal 3, which was the terminal built for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Immediately upon exiting the jet way I was struck by the sheer size of the terminal. It was one giant room with sloping cold and red lines on the ceiling. I knew instantly that Beijing was somewhere special to be.

My first interaction with a Chinese official was the customs agent who screened me upon arrival. He wore a very official navy blue uniform and held an emotionless straight face, that is until he saw my passport picture. My passport picture was actually taken in Dublin at about 8AM after a 3 hour train ride from Cork- so needless to say that it isn’t the best picture. So, this agent of the scary communist government that I’ve heard so much about chuckled a bit and passed me through. This was the beginning of my realization that the view I had of China prior to my visit there would not be the one I would leave with.

I exited the baggage claim area to sea of people and drivers holding signs with names and companies from around the globe. I found my name and my driver and headed out. The number of people I passed in that airport on the way out probably exceeds the population of some US cities- there were so many people.

Soon after leaving the airport, we hit traffic. Traffic, as I discovered is as Beijing as Tienanmen Square. About 45 minutes later I arrived at my hotel. I arrived at the front desk and was promptly greeted by two young Chinese women who spoke very good English. They gave me my room keys and told me to call if I needed anything at all. I headed up the West tower of the hotel to my room, got settled, and headed down to the lobby area to see what business were still open in the hotel complex.

I found a small Pan-Asian restaurant where I ordered soup and curry. Turns out the order could have fed 4 people, but I still got out for $12 including a beer. After dinner I found an on-site masseuse who for $55 gave me a 90 minute full body massage followed by a 60 minute foot massage. Relaxed beyond belief, I headed up to my room and promptly fell asleep.

Real Life Business Education: China & Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:48:00 +0000

Right now, I am sitting in seat 12A of a Boing 767-300 looking at a flight status map with cities like Shenyang, Dandong, Dalian, and Beijing. According to another screen, my plane will be touching down in Beijing (after 768 more miles) in approximately 1 hour and 44 minutes at 3:34PM local time.

I will be spending the next 7 days in China and Hong Kong working with internal company teams, external partners, and vendors. Talk about a real life business education…

Traveling this far for work is a first for me. In fact, this is the first time I have ever traveled for work that wasn’t centered on training or some sort of career enrichment event. Needless to say I am very excited… very excited for the opportunity to work cross functionally with an overseas team, excited to meet the external partners and vendors that I have slowly been building relationships with over the past 9 months, and excited to be visiting Asia for the very first time.

I know that I have not been the most consistent and publishing entries lately, but I promise to write at least every other day I am here. I will write about the differences in business culture, funny mishaps, and anything else I think you may find interest in hearing about. In the event that I am unable to publish to blogger from China, I will push all of my entries through from Hong Kong – I get there on 11/03.

Stay tuned for more…

Lessons from Business School: Power Pricing

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:44:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last entry, I am taking a pricing class this quarter. I just couldn't see leaving business school without a pricing class.

The professor is out of the Kellogg School of and is one of those Profs who is purely academic- meaning he has never worked a day in his life. His lack of experience definitely hurts his credibility among an Evening MBA (mostly employed)class, but I have noticed that there are several valuable nuggets in each class.

The first class in particular really helped drive home the importance of valus in pricing. The framework goes something like this...

Customers are willing to pay a certain price for something that they value. The price that they will pay is determined by two conditions. Their purchasing power and their preference for one product as compared to a basket of alternatives. For example, to determine how much a customer who must procure transportation is willing to pay for a Honda Accord a "power pricer" would do the following.

Determine the utility that a buyer gets from all forms of transportation (public transit, cars, trucks, etc.). Find the alternatives that provide the best value to the customer and then determine how much more or less value the Honda Accord bring them. add or subtract an amount for that added/reduced value and you will arrive at a good price.

What's described above can be expressed more mathematically as... the price of a Honda Accord should be less than or equal to the value of aclose alternative +/- the difference in value between that alternative and the Honda Accord. The price can then be adjusted to fit a particularly pricing strategy (i.e. lower price if a company is new and aggressively trying to take market share).

...well that's today's lesson from Business School.

Independent Study – A Business Education Option

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:15:00 +0000

As an Evening MBA student the curriculum is somewhat pared down to ensure that you are only taking classes that are essential. This is how an individual is able to complete two years of schooling at ½ the pace in only 50% more time (That’s 2 classes at a time instead of 4 in 3 years instead of 2). Since the schedule is pared down, I have made every attempt to take classes that I really feel are worth the ~$3000 each that I pay in tuition. This quarter I am doing something that I considered to be a waste of that $3000 only 2 short years ago… an Independent study course.

So, why am I choosing to steer my business education in this direction? Especially when I am in the last quarter of my program? Well, because I wanted an opportunity to use all of the different things I have learned across disciplines on one project.

The Independent study project that I will be completing this quarter is a farm to table delivery service. I made sure to include a full fledged marketing, operations, and financial plan as part of my project requirements. Obviously a certain amount of business strategy will also be involved in the project. I am doing this because the Evening Business Education often lacks a capstone course. Full time students usually have an internship and also complete large projects at the end of their program- there are no real equivalents for evening students unless you make your own way- hence the inspiration to do an independent study.

I look forward to keeping you updated on the project throughout the quarter in addition to my classes. Hopefully the lessons I’ve learned while spending the last two years in classes and close to $60,000 will prove to be valuable. Looks like we are going to find out together :)

Heading Back to Business School – One Last Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 23:33:00 +0000

Hello, it has been almost a year since my last blog entry! First, let me apologize for taking so long to write- it has been a crazy year. Since my last entry, I was hired on permanently at the hi-tech company I mentioned interviewing for in my last entry. Then I got a taste of the 60 hour work week. This combined with business school worked out to a temporary hiatus for this blog.

So, here’s what happened this past year... I moved from core classes to electives, which has allowed me to concentrate in Finance. I’ve taken classes like Entrepreneurial Finance and Problems in Corporate Financial Planning as a part of that emphasis. In these classes, I focused on things like establishing a healthy growth rate, financial forecasting, capital structure for corporations, venture capital, and more. Most of this work was case based and a solid challenge. Another highlight was a leadership course centered on the 6-domains leadership model. The class was half academic and half workshop – very practical.

So where does that leave me? Well, it leaves me with 1 quarter of business school remaining! I graduate in about 11 weeks. Amazing. It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about my experience taking the GMAT. Now, I am ready to hit the road – MBA in hand. So, look forward to some more entries this quarter. Topics will be centered around pricing, a business idea that I am pitching as an independent study, and as always current events in the business world.

So stay tuned… there is a lot to say as I head back for my final quarter of business School.

7:45 AM Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:28:00 +0000

I think I wrote in a previous entry that I recently interviewed for a permanent position with my current employer. I have been a contractor for the last 10 weeks or so...

Well, I received an e-mail today from my manager asking that I meet with her tomorrow morning at 07:45 AM. This is 5 days before she said I would get an answer on the interviews. As soon as I got the e-mail I felt nervous. I started immediately going through a mental list of possibilities.

Here is what I came up with....

1. The other candidates that were interviewed for the position weren't up to par and I am going to be offered the position.

2. The other candidates were far better than me and I am going to be told that I am no longer in the running.

3. The number I put in under "expected salary" on the pre-interview questionnaire was too high.

4. Something completely unrelated to the interviews.

I have gone over this list several times in my head and have come to an extremely novel conclusion... Are you ready for this?

I can't change the interviews and there is nothing I can do about what will be discussed tomorrow, so I need to let it go. I have tried very hard to do this and have mostly succeeded as of about 3:00 this afternoon.

Now, back to the business of preparing for school to start up again in 2 days!

My schedule this quarter is a bit weird. All of the classes are 2 or 3 credits so none of them meet on consistent days. One Tuesday I may have Spreadsheet Modeling and Business Strategy while the next I might have Ops management. This is instead of having 2 of the classes split the quarter. It is very confusing...

Well, I have a few chapters to read for my first day back. See you on the flip side.

Business School Favorites. IDEO!

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Over the last several days I have been reading syllabuses, putting old school work in binders, buying outrageously expensive books, and getting my mind ready to start another quarter in business school. However, tonight I want to reminisce a bit about one of the best things I have seen in business school. It is a video about a firm called IDEO.

IDEO is a consumer product design firm that is located in Chicago (they recently moved from the silicon valley). That isn't the interesting part though. The interesting part is how IDEO develops new product designs and how they run their company.

They develop new product designs by putting together small teams of people with extremely diverse professional backgrounds. You might see a team with an ex-school teacher, an aerospace engineer, a paleontologist, a dentist, and a CFA on it. For the most part there are no hierarchical rules on the team and everyone is expected to come up with their own quirky ideas. They have a specific process for designing which involves a research phase, brainstorming phase, building phase, and refinement phase. During the whole process, the "adults" guide the group and insert deadlines. The adults are a few people picked to ensure projects stay on task.

The company culture is also very interesting. If you walk inside IDEO's offices you will see the wing of a DC-3 pertruding from the wall, bicycles strung up on the ceiling, and umbrellas blocking the glare on computer screens. Employees at IDEO are encouraged to build their workspces in a way that suits them. This produces the aforementioned decor and lots of other crazy stuff. It also gives employees a sens of ownership, and a say in how their company works.

The interesting thing is that IDEO is not only a design shop... they have also been tapped to offer advice on transforming company culture. The video that I link to above says that IDEO may be the workplace of the future. Well, it has been a few years since the video was filmed and I still don't see an airplane wing in my workplace, but maybe we have headed bit more in that direction.

Enjoy this business school favorite!

Business School at Work: Project Management

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:06:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to interview for a permanent position at the place I have been a contractor for the last 2 months. During one of the interviews, the hiring manager (my current boss) said that she would like the person who fills the open role to design a road-map for the team to use as a development guide. She shared her goal for our team, which manages the supply chain of high value IT assets, to become 1st class and then world class. I thought her definitions of both of these were interesting. By her definition...

1st class means that your customers trust you more than themselves.
World class means other groups model their teams after you.

Anyway, owning something like this sounds a lot like project management to me. And although there are many certified project management professionals, I am finding more and more that it is something many of us have to learn OTJ (on the job). It's real life Business School.

My ideas feeding into this road-map mainly center around data acquisition, vendor management, and supply vs. demand analysis.

1. The data acquisition piece has to do with ensuring systems are in place that deliver accurate and timely data about the supply chain. Currently we have some of this, but the systems aren't always reliable. Hence, some of the data is outdated and some is just plain wrong. In other cases, the data we want measured and recorded might exist somewhere, but systems still need to be developed to deliver it to us.

2. The vendor management piece is something that has already been a big focus, but a supply chain team should be able to make strong recommendations to the group procuring assets on why they should or shouldn't choose a particular vendor. We should also be able to inform the contract creation process by providing specific terms for inclusion.

3. Analysis of supply vs. demand is the last piece. Basically, this one is making sure the internal customers are ordering the product in the right amount and at the right time to meet their demand while allowing some flex for unexpected business.

In all of the above items, whoever holds the new position will be driving the processes and tool development. Seems like a great opportunity to extend business school into the work place.

Business School in Real Life: A little bit of Customer Service Goes a Long Way

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:09:00 +0000

I just got back from a very productive and pleasing trip downtown. I was able to get a new watch that was recently given to me adjusted and come home wearing it.

My experience doing this involved a store that that has a strong emphasis on customer lifetime value and showed me that through good customer service. This is a real life business school lesson. Let me explain...

Nordstrom and the Watch Adjustment

Nordstrom's customer service is the stuff of legends. Everyone has heard the story of the elderly woman who successfully returned a car tire there or of the scores of people who have returned shoes after years of wear. Although those things sound extraordinary, what impresses me is the small stuff. Today was an example.

I walked up to the men's watch counter with a brand new Seiko watch and asked if they could fit the watch. The young lady behind the counter very politely said that she would and measured my wrist. She then took the watch and the box and told me she could have it done in 5 or 10 minutes. I browsed the men's department while I waited and returned to find the watch fitting perfectly. I asked the young lady how much I owed and she said not to worry about it.

Wow! What is free in this world anymore? I walked away very impressed and in Nordstrom's debt. As a result, I will be much more likely to make a purchase there in the future and I will be telling everyone I know how great Nordstrom is because they helped me out with my new watch. Maybe someone I know hear's this and goes to Nordstrom to purchase their next watch. Maybe someone who had a bad experience at a lesser department store decides to give Nordstrom a shot because they just want to go to a place with good customer service. Remember, the watch was not purchased at Nordstrom. To them, it doesn't matter. They had an opportunity to make an impression on a customer and they know a positive impression is worth more than a $10 service fee. Kudos Nordstrom, and thanks for the real life business school lesson.

The Economics of Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Harvest season of the summer's gardening escapades has begun at my house. Today, as I was chomping away on some rainbow chard, leafy greens, and tomatoes that I grew in my back garden I began to think about whether or not the DIY project was cost effective.

Here is what went into the garden this year.

-4 boards (2"x10") for above ground planter

-8 self drilling screws for above ground planter

-30 square feet of water proof liner for under above ground planter

-60 lbs of organic soil

-seeds for 3 heads of lettuce, 3 rainbow chard plants, 4 beets, 2 snap pea plants, and 1 giant leafy green plant

-a starter tomato and cilantro plant

-organic fertilizer

-approximately 15 hours of planting, watering, and trimming labor

Assuming the labor is free, the total cost of the project was approximately $118.50. From the garden I have harvested and have yet to harvest approximately 12 salads worth of leafy greens and heads of lettuce, 90 cherry tomatoes, 30 snap peas, 4 beets, 0 cilantro (died), and 10 rainbow chard leaves.

Allocating this cost in a completely non-systematic way that is...

$8.25/ salad ($100.00 total)
$0.10/ cherry tomato ($9.00)
$0.10/snap pea ($3.00)
$1.00/beet ($4.00)
$0.25/rainbow chard leaf ($2.50)

This makes the vegetables look pretty good, but the salads quite expensive. The one thing to consider is that the cost of the boards, screws, liner, and soil is a one time cost. I guess we could make the salads about $4.00 each then.

Well, the point is that I have discovered that if you garden it is not to save money. It is definitely because you enjoy fresh vegetables and enjoy trimming tomato plants. I actually discovered the latter to be true of myself. Conclusion? Gardening is not an economically sound practice for the average Joe, but it is worth it!

Bon Appetit

Business School (Part II)

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:46:00 +0000

It has been several weeks since I gave my final presentation in the summer management class and I am again gearing up to enter the hellish schedule, arduous rigor, and delightful experience that is business school.

I'm no longer a new kid on campus, I am now a much older and wiser second year. I will be starting this year off with three courses...

Quantitative methods

Operations Management

Business Strategy

I have to be honest that I really don't know a whole lot about what these courses will entail. I have been putting off reading the syllabuses because once I know what the courses are about I will feel like I am back in school. Not quite ready to leave my vacation.

The one thing I do know is that the quantitative methods class is centered mainly around Excel modeling. This is particularly exciting for me because the job I recently started has involved a lot of work in Excel. This means that I may learn some useful things... but hopefully it also means that the class will be a light load for me. I guess I will confirm that soon.

In the mean time, I plan on enjoying the time I have left to be a normal person. I will continue to pretend that having nights and weekends off is normal and that reading books for fun is actually something I can do. I have only a few more days of bliss where I just have to work so I am going to soak them up. I will wrote again once I begin preparing for class.

Until then...

Is Business School Worth It?

noreply@blogger.com (Reuben South) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:54:00 +0000

What do Bill Gates, Howard Schultz, Jeff Bezos, and Oprah Winfrey all have in common? Well, besides being some of the richest people in the world, these four also share a statistic. There highest level of education is a four year degree.

All of these people showed promise from a young age and some would even say that they were "born to lead". That begs the question... Is business school worth it? Can leadership be taught? Is B-school just a place for smart people to network themselves to slightly more money and marginally more interesting careers. Would the successful ones be successful anyway?

My hunch is that the answer is "it depends". It really depends on the person. Yes, Oprah and Bill were ready for the world, but these people are both extraordinarily lucky and extraordinarily driven. For the vast majority of us we can benefit from the education that business school provides. In fact, if you were to ask Oprah, Schultz, Bezos, or Gates if they would trade some of their lessons in the school of hard knocks for ones taught in a lecture hall, they would probably say yes.

So is it worth it to me... I think so. I think that I have the raw stuff it takes to be a leader and I am confident that when I graduate I will be a different, less confused, developed professional. I wouldn't trade the experience and I've already grown to value it a great deal. That's a good thing, because I will need to remember that as I begin paying back the loans.