MSOE EM 800 Strategic Management

Shift Happens

2007-02-14T18:18:00.000-05:00

Last night we discussed a presentation which presented lots of facts about things changing.

DID YOU KNOW? SHIFT HAPPENS

What did you think? Comment here or register and comment on the other blog.

Gene A. Wright

GOOGLE and Chaos -- Part of their Strategy?

2007-02-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

In the article "Chaos by Design" Fortune, October 2, 2006 is interesting because it talks about the culture at GOOGLE and why "chaos" is all part of the plan. The eight year old company is the "ultimate petri dish" according to the Chief Chaos Officer Shona Brown (who wrote the book "Competing on the Edge" has tons of experiments going on all of the time.

The article talks about unique spaces, unique policies, unique benefits and the unique ability it has to make money. Innovation is the key to everything. The amount and level of talent is unbelievable.

What makes this company tick?
What makes it so special? We know it is different?
What is their strategy?
What do you think is their most unique characteristic?
Can they come up with a "second act" as the article asks? What will it be?

Gene A. Wright

Disney and Pixar

2007-02-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

One of Disney's Core Competencies is animation. In fact, Bob Iger said that animation is the "heart, soul, and engine that drives the train called Disney". However, Disney spent $7.4 Billion on Pixar. Pixar is responsible for animated blockbusters such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles Cars and Toy Story. Disney's cartoons are classics and consistently do well at the box office and on DVD and now on iTunes.

The article "Pixar's Magic Man" discusses the deal between Disney's Bob Iger and Apple's Steve Jobs.

In another article, John Lasseter, now the head of animation for Pixar and Disney, once fired by Disney said that "Every film that I've made is a tribute to Walt".

Why did they make this deal?
What will this do for Disney? Pixar? Apple?

Gene A. Wright

GOOGLE and YAHOO! Compete for Mobile Market

2007-01-21T14:47:00.000-05:00

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) often is the platform for a number of announcements.

It is not too surprising that YAHOO! and GOOGLE will be battling it out for the Mobile Market. What is interesting from a strategic management standpoint is the way that the alliances are shaking out.

Samsung working with both companies. Motorola with Yahoo!.

Why is it that we are seing so much of this partnering and alliance activity in all businesses?

Gene A. Wright

2007-01-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

"How to Succeed in 2007" is the title of a feature article in Business 2.0.

The article has brief snipettes from a number of leaders and managers with their ideas of what it will take.

Here are a few:
Howard Schultz - Starbuck's "Dare to Be a Social Entrepreneur"

Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt - GOOGLE "Simplicity"

Michael Dell - Dell "Think Big"

Stephan Covey - FranklinCovey "Strive for Moral Authority" Character and Contribution

Rachael Ray - Chef and Author "Turn your Passion into an Empire"

Richard Branson - Virgin Group "Learn How to say No"

And many More.....

Which one did you like the best? Why?

Gene A. Wright

2007-01-06T10:32:00.000-05:00

An important and popular topic in our class is of course, globalization. Another is discussing the "value chain" as well as the supply chain. Can we get enough insight into the process of building a competitive value creation process; I think not.

I recently listened to a webcast presented by Industrial Distribution Magazine entitled "Five Critical Strategies for Building a Competitive Supply Chain"

The webcast is a little over an hour long, and you will need to register to attend the archived event, but it is interesting. It is a panel discussion with an introduction by the editor of Industrial Distribution.

The comments about the actions of distributors, standards, globalization, forecasting, competition etc., are very interesting and informative.

What do you think are some of the salient comments by the presenters?

Gene A. Wright

2006-12-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

The World is Flat Posting

http://em801.blogspot.com/2006/06/world-is-flat.html

2006-10-17T12:09:00.000-04:00

Gordon Bell,, a reseracher at Microsoft is working on a "digital diary, a searchable database that contains digitized versions of nearly everything in his life." The diary will be stored on a blackberry like device that he carries with him at all times and will help him recall everything from events to conversations that he's experienced.

The article Digital age may bring total recall in future is from the tech section of CNN.com.

2006-09-26T19:54:00.000-04:00

The article New technology could end DVD format war was posted on Cnet this afternoon.

The article talks about how the British company New Medium Enterprises has figured out a way to produce a multiple-layer DVD containing both the Blue-Ray and HD-DVD version of a movie. There are two primary advantages to this:
1. Cost. It currently costs $.06 to produce a single layer DVD. Using NME's technology, the cost to produce a multiple layer DVD (they've successfully tested 10 layers thus far) is only $.09.
2. Compatibility. Consumers can purchase one copy of a movie that contains both formats, meaning that their movie library will not be obsolete depending on which format wins out.

2006-05-22T13:18:00.000-04:00

Starbucks is expanding into different markets...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-05-18-starbucks-usat_x.htm

2006-05-09T17:38:00.000-04:00

Mergers are in fashion.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2006-05-09-merger-usat_x.htm

Interested in how many U.S. searches Google has per day? See link below.

http://searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/34701_2156461

2006-05-09T13:36:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to be away from class tonight, so here is my snippette.

Given our discussion of the ethics around protecting identity and dealing with confidential information, I thought this joint project announcement was interesting. Further, the optimization of the US healthcare system via electronic data is a movement that I think we will hear a lot more about in the coming years. The article is from the Small Business Times.

Tosa company launches joint project with Sun Microsystems

Wauwatosa-based TeraMedica today announced it has formed a joint solution with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc. to create a system that enables health caregivers to securely share patient-centric digital content, including medical images, electronically over a network.TeraMedica's Evercore solution, running on the Sun Java Composite Application Platform Suite, allows physicians to attach medical images such as X-rays and MRI scans, as well as other clinical digital content, to a patient's existing electronic health record (EHR) and then easily access them from the desktop. By providing caregivers with timely access to relevant patient information, the joint solution can ultimately help improve patient safety and care, increase efficiency and reduce costs.Customers currently using or testing the Evercore on Sun solution include the Mayo Clinic, ProHealth Care in Waukesha and the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin."A picture is worth a thousand words, and TeraMedica puts the picture into the patient view, creating a single point of access for all electronic health information, both data and images," said Wayne Owens, vice president of healthcare integration platforms at Sun Microsystems."TeraMedica's Evercore technology complements Sun's healthcare solutions by enabling access to medical images and other clinical digital content via a patient's existing electronic health record," said Jim Prekop, president and chief executive officer of TeraMedica, which is based at 10400 Innovation Drive. "By allowing caregivers to easily view and share medical data, together Sun and TeraMedica can help raise the standard of medical care."

2006-05-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

AOL to launch two-pronged attack. First, they will offer free internet phone service tied to its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) software. Second, they will offer web-hosting to challenge MySpace, called AIMPages. Full story here:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/05/technology/aol/index.htm

2006-05-08T22:18:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! upgrades its ad search tools to try to challenge Google. New algorithm helps advertisers target customers easier. Read full story here:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/08/technology/yahoo_advertising.reut/index.htm

2006-05-02T17:13:00.000-04:00

"....Chance favors only the prepared mind" -Louis Pasteur

This is an interesting article that discusses options to the annual strategic planning session which is typically found to be less valuable than planned. The authors suggest a real-time approach to strategy making. One of the keys is encouraging creative minds. Companies like Capital One do this by allowing executives to create strategy by experimentation.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1191&L2=21&L3=37

2006-05-01T10:44:00.000-04:00

We've talked about Google competing with a number of companies in several areas.

This article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/technology/01google.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

focuses on Microsoft's new browser, Windows Vista, and the way this browser directs people to MSN's search tool. Google asserts that it positions Microsoft to unfairly divert web traffic (and advertising dollars) from other competitors.

Two things in this article were of interest to me:

1. Google is increasing their lobbying efforts. They are no longer a "thorn-in-the-flesh," of the larger companies, but a significant contender in their own right.

2. It talks about the alliances built in this competitive marketplace (e.g., Google and Firefox) and the dynamic between software and hardware companies; particularly, the choice of software to load on their computers.

2006-04-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

Microsoft evalutating their strategy. Time for a makeover?

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/05/01/8375454/index.htm

2006-04-25T13:25:00.000-04:00

Breaking the rules on pizza delivery. Will Papa John's 10-minute pizza bring them to number one?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-04-24-fast-pizza-usat_x.htm

Question: If you order pizza when you are camping, is it really camping?

-Adam

2006-04-25T12:52:00.000-04:00

Snippet from CNN Money about how large media firms are acquiring video game companies and gaming websites in an effort to attract new customers and as a potential new channel for advertising.

Big media: Time to play games

2006-04-25T01:04:00.000-04:00

Interesting article about CEO of Sun, Scott McNealy, stepping down. We talked in class about Sun potentially being the biggest threat to IBM, but now this is the fourth Sun executive to either resign or retire in the past two months.

The article, McNealy steps down at Sun, is from cnet.com

2006-04-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a snippette on Honda and their Civic that runs on natural gas...

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6490981.html?tag=blog

2006-04-14T11:47:00.000-04:00

Here is another Apple snippette... Apple has release a new version of their remote desktop manages networked MAC OS X systems. The new version is designed to work with Intel based MACs.

http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/2006/04/11/apple-remote-desktop-0411markets15.html

2006-04-13T13:40:00.000-04:00

"Google Calendar"

Here is another Google snippet.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2006-04-12-google-calendar_x.htm

2006-04-11T17:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry, the link in my last post didn't work. Here's a working link.
Protective parents: Gold for cellular services?

2006-04-11T17:22:00.000-04:00

Disney to offer new cell phone service for kids, but with features aimed at protective parents, such as GPS to follow child's location and the ability to monitor voice and text messages.
Protective parents: Gold for cellular services?