Cody Patchell's Blog

Google is attempting to launch a new operating system to compete with microsoft windows.  With the help of Linus Upson, an ex-engineer at at Netscape Communications Corp., they are attempting to counter Microsoft’s dominance in the OS.  This is a very bold move on Google’s part to take on such a established  system such as Microsoft Windows but once again, Google is attempting to create a niche market designed to position the web browser, in particular Google Chrome, the center of the the computing experience.  Their theory is that people are spending less and less time using installed software and are rather using web based software such as Facebook, google docs, and gmail.  Their plan is to build just enough of an operating system to run their internet browser, therefore eliminating the need for software instillations or security updates.  While this is a good theory, I don’t feel that this will catch on by a large enough population to to make it profitable.  While people are increasing their usage of online apps, one cannot solely rely on them as internet availability and high costs prevent the usage of such an operating system in many places without internet access.  Eventually an operating system such as this may be able to work and prosper, but as it stands right now, the OS will have a very limited following.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/technology/Striking+Microsofts+heart/3936359/story.html

With all the talk of ‘ambush’ marketing lately, it’s a topic worthwhile blogging about.  As we talked about in class briefly, during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, although the official athletic sponsor was Adidas, Nike seems to have been recognized more in China through their strategic sponsorship of Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang. Now this sponsorship can definitely be viewed both ways.  Obviously, Adidas and the IOC would term this type of sponsorship, “ambush marketing,” but in this particular case I truly believe Nike’s ‘Guerrilla’ marketing strategy was well thought out and delivered a better results than Adidas’ official sponsorship.  Nike had the specific goal to expand more into China and gain the loyalty and respect from the Chinese population.  By sponsoring China’s premier sprinter, Nike was able to gain the interest in Nike products because the Chinese  people idolize Liu Xiang and want to be as much like him as possible, much the same as to why many Americans buy Nike Air Jordan’s to be like Michael Jordan.  Nike seams to utilize these types of tactics no matter the situation which seams to have better results with consumers who would rather be like their idol that chose a brand that is associated with the entire even such as Adidas.  Why spend the money sponsoring a huge event like the Olympics for hundreds of millions of dollars when you can sponsor one athlete that gains you better exposure?

One of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories in the IT world is Dell Inc. (called PC’s Limited at the time) founded by Michael Dell in 1984.  As Brian Wong said, entrepreneurship is about creating value out of nothing, it’s about seeing an opportunity and finding an innovative approach to capitalize.  This is exactly what Michael Dell started in 1984.  He saw a rising opportunity in the PC market and came up with an innovative way to capitalize.  Because personal computers are a fairly low margin product, minimizing or limiting fixed costs is extremely important.  Dell believed he could capitalize on the rising use of the internet and eliminate the massive fixed costs associated with operating  retail storefront by selling his products online.  This also allowed the company to provide “mass specialization” as internal parts are very interchangeable, making it very easy to substitute products in the manufacturing process to fit individual customer needs.  Not something you can easily do in a retail store.  By basing all his sales online, he also dramatically cut down his inventory turnover ratio as they didn’t need to produce stock months in advance only to have them sit on shelves in retail stores.  This is an extreme advantage in the IT sector considering the rapid price depreciation of products.   Michael Dell can be considered a very successful entrepreneur as he fits all four of the characteristics given in Quick MBA’s definition of an entrepreneur.  He created a huge amount of wealth in the company (he’s worth an estimated $12.5 billion), he managed to create this wealth in a relatively short period of time, there was a considerable amount of risk involved, and finally he used a highly innovative company method that established their competitive advantage in the market.

On November 5th and 6th, I, along with three other first year Sauder students, were able to participate in the 4th Annual CMA Case Competition held at the Coast Coal Harbor Hotel in downtown Vancouver.  I considered it a great opportunity to utilize my newly acquired skills and knowledge from university, into a real world situation, all the while practicing my analytical and presentation skills.  It was quite amazing how many times, over the course of the night, we found ourselves drawing upon different resources we had be taught in our various university courses (particularly Comm 101 and Organizational Behavior) as we were continually regurgitating terms and theories,  just recently learned in the the respective classes.  It was truly inspiring to really see the usefulness and practicality these courses had in real life business situations.  The biggest takeaway from this case competition was how many different fields we had to draw from in order to reach our conclusion, putting further emphasis on the values a general course like Comm 101 has displayed.  It dislayed the true importance of the bridges between different fields of business, and showcased that in todays world, versatility really is the key to a persons success.  Gone are the days of mass specialization and departmentalization.  In todays business economy, employees must be able to adapt and flourish in the ever changing environment, that is todays dynamic business world.

I am looking to go into finance in my third year at Sauder so anything finance related always peaks my interest. After hearing Murray Carleson and Dean Dan speak about the beginning of “The Great Recession,” I began to look into more of the causes and culprits of the whole thing.  This is a documentary movie I found called “Inside Job” from director Charles Ferguson with lead narrator Matt Damon about the 2008 financial crisis.

I haven’t yet had the chance to see the movie as it is only playing in one theatre in BC, but look forward to the opportunity to see it.  I am really quite floored by what these huge investment firms such as the Lehmen Brothers and Goldman Sachs were able to get away with throughout all the years leading up to the crisis.  I understand the concept behind lowering the risk by diversification, but just because you have a bunch of different kind of crap, spread around different parts of the US doesn’t mean at the end, you’re not left with a big pile of crap! This is essentially what these investment banks were doing with the sub-prime mortgage backed securities.  Setting up a whole bunch of absolutely horrendous mortgages (average of 99.3 percent of houses leveraged), grouping them together and somehow managing to rate them AAA (the same rating as government securities!)  How they we’re able to get away with this is beyond me!

As shown in this post,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/08/AR2010100806687.html

BP was far more worried about cost cutting measures than the safety and integrity of their oil rig and employees.  As stated in the article, of 13 employee evaluations reviewed by investigators, 12 had documented ways they had saved the company huge sums of money.  This can be a cause for concern when dealing with something as potentially hazardous such as an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. 

It goes on to show that they had brought in a contracted team to look at the oil rig and run some tests in order to ensure its safety.  They would have had to be paid approx. 190,000 so BP decided to forgo the tests and sent Schlumber away only 11 hours before the explosion causing the devastating oil spill. 

If BP can get away with this to such an extent even after such a major catastrophe, I only wonder what other companies continually cut corners with regards to safety.  I guess its only a matter of time before the next major disaster due to overlooked safety measures.

Now we’ve all heard in the last while that Blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy in the United States.  They are planning on doing this as a temporary move in order to reform their business strategy and become a positive player in the movie market again.  The incredible jumps in technology in recent years, however, has had an increasingly large effect on video stores such as blockbuster. It is increasingly easy to find large selections of movies (legally or illigally) in large online data bases.  In today’s world, it seams almost archaic to have to drive to a movie store, just to pick a movie to watch.  Only then to have to drive all the way back to the store to return it before incuring any extra fees.  Compare this to something such as Shaw on Demand in which you can order a movie using your remote controle, having the movie on your screen in seconds. No late fees, no distance to travel, just convinience at your fingertips. The future of movie renting will leave Blockbuster in it’s dust.  It really is only a matter of time.

I recently purchased a foam mattress topper from a company in Kelowna named Sleepy’s. I had to special order the mattress but was told it would be ready for pickup before my departure to UBC.  A full month later, I have still not received my mattress. This ongoing struggle with the company to get my mattress along with the recent discussion in class about social media had me thinking about just how quickly word of mouth can be accessed by an exorbitant amount of people.  Word of mouth has always been an extremely useful means for consumers to gain knowledge about products and services businesses provide.  It has been shown that trust peer evaluations and reviews more than 50% more than traditional advertising.  This goes to show that negative customer service issues can lead to major problems for a company as information regarding the customer’s experiences can easily be spread to many other potential consumers through social media on the internet.  This shows that customer experiences, especially those on the negative end, can have consequential effects on a companies performance making it increasingly important for companies to maintain a strong image among the consumers.

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/word-of-mouth-marketing/

Despite being an active member of various social media portals, I was blown away by some of the figures shown in this movie.  It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly the technological advancements of today’s world effect us immediately in so many ways.   With the rapid expansion of social media in recent years, it has really changed the way businesses can communicate with potential customers.  A portion of the video that stood out most to me was how we no longer have to look for news items that are relevant to ourselves as they now easily find their way to us through various social media portals.  This is a drastic shift from previous generations that relied almost entirely on print and television based news.  In today’s world we are updated instantly of current events and news with non-stop feeds of information delivered right to us wherever we are.  The video then looks to the future describing a time where we no longer look for products and services as we once did with the news, but they will find their way to us through today and tomorrow’s technology. That future is right around the corner and I am very interested to see how the business world reacts.

The story I have heard the most about recently in regards to business ethics would be the story about a man named Bernie Madoff.  The question I’m asking today is, do you think that someone can be taught how to be ethical? (whether it be in business or otherwise) In my opinion, whether someone is ethical or not relies solely on their inner drive and personality.  I don’t believe that anyone can become more ethical just by simply learning about ethics.  Such as, if Bernie Madoff were to have learned more about ethics in university, he wouldn’t be any less likely to pursue the ethical path he undertook.  I do believe, however, that people who are naturally ethical can learn more about ethical practices in business and ways of implementing it into their own lives.  I believe the teaching of ethics in schools and universities to be relevant in that students are more easily able to understand what value ethics have on business and our general lives.

based on this article in The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/can-we-teach-ethics-when-pigs-fly/article1354361/