Jackson Blog

Who Let The Dogs Out?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:46:14 -0800

What happens when a top dog doesn't have his day? On his blog Stanford Professor Bob Sutton discusses research into organizational behavior when high-testosterone individuals are subjugated to those with low testosterone. Some experiments suggest that when 'naturally dominating' individuals are not given high status but are kept lower down the totem pole, organizations perform less effectively. People seem to sense that something is "out of whack", and lose confidence in the group. So what are the implications for corporations who always want that top efficiency? Give their top dogs free rein?

Nobels Don't Foretell

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:17:58 -0800

The US won 70% of the Nobel awards this year, but the prize is a lagging indicator; Nobels are usually given to scientists at the end of their careers. Are we looking back through a time tunnel, and do these American achievements reflect the past instead of the future? An article by Fareed Zakaria Is America Losing Its Mojo in the November 23rd issue of Newsweek discusses the possibility that we are falling dangerously behind the rest of the world in innovation. For example, Zakaria claims we are far behind the rest of the world in one key resource: human capital. Our students are not measuring up -- and thus America is not producing the kind of workers needed for a knowledge-based economy. The gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world is closing on many fronts, but is most evident in the high tech arena. Can we rekindle the American spirit? Or is Zakaria a new Gibbon, describing the beginning of the end?

Googled

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:26:00 -0800

Ken Auletta, "America's premier media scribe", has written a new book "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It.". Auletta spent 2 1/2 years working on the book, interviewing 150 former and current employees, including founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. He came to see the 11-year-old Google - which now produces two-thirds of all Internet searches in the United States and last year had revenue of nearly $22 billion - as full of brilliance and idealism, contradictions and vulnerabilities. Read about his recent book reading held at Google headquarters in Mountain View. Also check out this new book and other books penned by Mr. Auletta here at Jackson Library.

Blue Ribbon Blogs

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:18:11 -0800

Guy Kawasaki on his blog cites the 19 bloggers that Inc. magazine thinks you should read. Included among them is Kawasaki's blog, but we're happy to report that GSB Alum Seth Godin's blog also made the grade. Check it out.

Tristes Tropiques

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:04:33 -0800

Thomas Friedman makes a powerful argument for rain forest management and preservation in his November 11, 2009 op-ed piece for the New York Times. Friedman claims that the amount of CO2 emitted collectively into the atmosphere by all the cars, trucks, planes, trains and each year is actually less than the carbon emissions that result every year from the chopping down and clearing of tropical forests in places like Brazil, Indonesia and the Congo. We are losing a forest the size of New York State every year. Friedman's strategy is to make saving the rain forest more profitable than clearing it, but will a website be the only 'Amazon' our grandchildren will know?

GS Taking Vaccines, Really!?!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:48:54 -0800

Some of you who watched Saturday Night Live this weekend might have seen the "Really" news skit portion with Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers covering H1N1 vaccines going to Wall Street if not, here it is. Maureen Dowd from the New York Times wrote a scathing piece calling Goldman Sachs, “Goldmine Sachs” entitled Virtuous Bankers? Really!?! where she provides a short description of the SNL dialog as well as addressing Wall Street’s other misbehaviors. The Wall Street Journal reports that Goldman Sachs requested 5,400 vaccine doses, and as far as we know only received 200. One small light shone on the ethics deprived landscape that is Wall Street in that Morgan Stanley agreed to distribute its 1000 doses of the vaccine to local hospitals for distribution.

Chocolate Egg Laying Chicken vs. Cream Cheese

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:48:24 -0800

Kraft is in the throes of a hostile takeover of the very British company, Cadbury. The “takeover dance” which has been talk of for a while has finally come to pass. There is an outcry from Englishmen to keep Cadbury British. Cadbury went as far as saying that it felt the bid by Kraft was “derisory.” What is going on? It seems Kraft wants to grow its business and believes this is the way to proceed. Cadbury has been doing well for itself even surpassing expectations last quarter. The Financial Times is indicates that since Kraft has shown its hand that some Hedge Funds might be interested in jumping in to bid.

Leading Innovation

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:21:56 -0800

As described on his blog, Stanford Professor Bob Sutton has been leading a workshop on spurring innovation, together with Professor Hayagreeva "Huggy" Rao and others. Customer Focused Innovation is the name of the program, in which executives spend mornings reviewing cases, theories and models and afternoons applying design thinking. Among their projects is a collaboration with a local Tesla motors dealer to improve the Tesla car ownership experience. Included in Sutton's blog is a list of 21 things 'that great bosses believe and do' to lead innovation.

The Beginning of SV

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:47:45 -0800

Ever wonder how the region Silicon Valley got its name? What were the first companies in the valley? Discover Silicon Valley's history in these sources: Silicon Valley [videorecording] : a one hundred year renaissance / [produced by] Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, c1998 Jackson Library - Media Center Collection Media Center Video 223 Making Silicon Valley : innovation and the growth of high tech, 1930-1970 / Christophe Lécuyer. Jackson Library - Main HC107.C22 S395 2006

Mickey 2.0

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:46:39 -0800

Two centuries ago Robert Burns famously wrote "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley". Words to be heeded, perhaps, by top dogs at Disney today. According to an article in the New York Times, the corporation is embarking on a risky remake of its pop culture fixture Mickey Mouse. A new, more cantankerous and cunning Mickey will make his appearance in a coming video game. For decades Mickey has been carefully preserved in cultural formaldehyde, but the market for mouse momentos has been shrinking, so Disney execs feel it is time to update their icon for a new generation. They know they are treading on thin ice. Remember 'New Coke'?

SBA Channel

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:26:54 -0800

The Small Business Administration has its own YouTube channel, where you can view video interviews with successful entrepreneurs who share the lessons they've learned about owning a small business. Pick the topic that interests you or sit back watch all the videos.

Ready For Prime Time

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:57 -0800

According to data released by comScore, a whopping 125.5 million Americans watched some 10.3 billion YouTube videos in September alone. That's an average of 154 videos per viewer; the average online viewer watched 9.8 hours of video that month. Move over television -- there's a new boob tube in town.

Venture Capital is still breathing

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:56:29 -0800

The VC industry has had a tough year but the firm Greylock Partners, has put together a new $575 million fund, one of the biggest to be created in the last year. A New York Times article goes on to say "The venture industry has been pummeled in the last year by dismal conditions that have made it difficult for start-ups to go public or get acquired by bigger companies. Many have predicted that the number of venture firms could shrink by as much as half." What the industry will look like in a year is anyone's guess, but for now it's still alive and kicking.

Sweet Tweet

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:39:08 -0800

Guy Kawasaki has become a Twitter evangelist. His new blog entry, Current Twitter Demo Script, is a compendium of links he uses to demo Twitter and spread awareness of Twitter as a marketing tool. Included are tips on Twittering for maximum effectiveness. Sweet.

Twitter On

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:27:54 -0800

Soon Twitter is going to launch two new features called "Lists" and "Retweets" which were created by Twitter engineers who watch "how people use the service and which ideas catch on. Then its engineers turn the ideas into new features." A New York Times article talks about how other companies have "morphed" their orginal business idea into to something different and have in turn been more successful. Read about it.