Author Archives: arthur rafael

Sasson with the first digital camera

Last week, I had come across an extremely interesting blog post published by the Harvard Business Review and written by Scott Anthony discussing the failure of photography giant Kodak. At one point, Kodak was one of the most powerful companies in the world, dominating the camera market during the era of film. As such, it is hard to believe that the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 to soon sell of its patents in order to liquidate. How exactly could this have happened?

Anthony describes their failure simply as “myopia”, the company failed to adapt to the changing market and was blinded by their success (1). In COMM 292, we had discussed the judgement shortcut of overconfidence bias: the tendency to be “overconfident about our abilities” (2). In Kodak’s case, the large amount of overconfidence bias that their management was evident. Steve Sasson, an engineer who once worked at Kodak was the inventor of the first digital camera prototype. He presented management with his product, which then prompted management to invest billions into developing a range of digital cameras. However, the shortsighted management was so concerned about matching the performance of their current film cameras instead of “embracing the simplicity of digital” (1).

Simply put, Kodak had analyzed the situation partially correct, by investing into a product that would eventually displace film cameras. However, they were unaware of their overconfidence in their current product, as they attempted to match their film cameras’ performance. This led to them producing a sub-optimal product and losing millions of dollars. Eventually, Kodak’s inability to fully adapt to the digital market led to their demise.

This does leave an important lesson for future companies regarding overconfidence and shortsightedness. While basing your change on future technologies, one should be able to approach the situation in a new light. Essentially, such as in the Four D’s of Appreciative Inquiry, companies should visualize “what might be”. It simply is not good enough to grab a new idea and add it onto a preexisting success, there must be more thought behind the process of change.

1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 419.
2. Anthony, Scott. “Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology.” Harvard Business Review. N.p., 20 Mar. 2017. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

A few weeks ago, I sat in a meeting for one of the various clubs that I am a part of. This meeting was very typical, each role discussing the work they had done in the past week, and putting forward any items that may be of attention. When the roles behind marketing brought up their current projects, I quietly sat and nodded in agreement to their ideas as were the rest of the group. However, I felt as if their implementation plan could have been improved upon with a few adjustments. I felt as if I was just a first year representative, and he knew better as the Vice President of Marketing. More importantly, I was a victim of groupthink. 

Groupthink “describes situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views” (1). In this particular case, I was exactly conforming to team’s agreement on the idea, without expressing my own. Consequently, I was not playing to the strengths of the group decision making process. Groups are strong in bringing more input into the decision making process, opening up “the opportunity to consider more approaches and alternatives” (2). It is important to note that I might have not been the only other member that exhibited silence at that time. Other members may have felt the same way but had stuck to conformity for the same reasons, thus further perpetuating weaknesses within the group. So how do groups play to their strengths and avoid groupthink?

In an article by Dr. Ben Dattner, he views a case study that fields potential solutions to groupthink within a team. He highlights former U.S. President Robert Kennedy’s initiative in playing devil’s advocate throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis, “vigorously arguing against contemplated courses of action in order to force the group to discuss and debate the contingent merits of different strategies” (3). As such, Dattner highlights the importance that leaders should take in order to force further discussion on decisions, might it be through playing devil’s advocate such as Kennedy. This will lead to the increased input that groups look for, being able to formulate a more well-devised plan, and minimizing the hindrances of groupthink.

1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 423.
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 422.
3. Ph.D., Ben Dattner, Gwen Dewar Ph.D., Alex Lickerman M.D., and Nando Pelusi Ph.D. “Preventing “Groupthink”.” Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to work as a sales associate at a large retailer. During my training phase, I was taught in depth on how to present an effective sales pitch to a potential customer. This meant communicating only the truths pertaining to the product, and also in regards to the warranty packages that we try to sell as well. The overall goal was to achieve an honest reputation of a retailer in the eyes of customers. Despite this, the company was infamously known to have employees that use cunning tactics in order to make their product and/or warranty more appealing to the customer. It is clear that these employees who do not follow the expected communication procedures may end up damaging the company’s reputation. Why is this the case?

In sales, effective communication is everything. According to Stuart Leung, editor of SalesForce, the goal of a sales pitch is to be able to accurately present information on a product/service, “address[ing] potential sales objections that may come up” (1). However, barriers to communication, which are displayed on a regular basis in retail environments, are the obvious antithesis to that. The most popular ones being used in creating sales pitches include filtering, in where the salesperson will highlight the pros of the product while neglecting the cons, and lying, or sometimes stretching the truth in order to make something appear better than they are not.

While these barriers are often explained in regards to internal communication within a company, it is evident that these can be detrimental in a retail setting. In my experience, I have seen countless product returns and negative reviews of our business. This is because the customer would have found out at some point that the salesperson assisting them with the product exhibited one of these  barriers to communication, and did not end up purchasing the product that was advertised to them.

Conclusively, for businesses to maintain an honest reputation, they have to go beyond just training their staff to practice effective communication. Businesses, such as the one in context, have to be able to maintain these expectations in communication by monitoring staff more closely and letting staff know that exhibiting these barriers cannot be tolerated.

1. “How to Make a Good Sales Pitch in 7 Steps.” Salesforce Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

Today, I was faced with a familiar but difficult question at a meeting: what is your goal by the end of this year? I promptly responded with the goal of reaching 100,000 subscribers on my Youtube channel having just finished editing a video prior to this meeting. Many reacted with surprise, noting that although a difficult goal to accomplish, it would be feasible as I had already amassed a fan base of 25,000 subscribers. Analyzing the numbers now having said it, the goal almost looked impossible. How could I quadruple my fan base in just eleven months? Consequently, I asked myself: are the goals that we sometimes set not effective?

Goals are definitely what keep us motivated, they can be what enable ourselves to constantly improve ourselves. But to what extent does this actually apply? Our textbook presents goal-setting to be effective if one’s goals are specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound (1). By structuring goals to abide by this criteria, in theory, should one’s goals influence and motivate.

Further analyzing my own goal of increasing my subscriber count on Youtube, I saw that it fit these criteria. It had a specific number to achieve, it was easily measured by subscribers, it was absolutely attainable as evidenced by my current success, it showed obvious results, and was bounded to be achieved by the end of the year. Therefore it made sense that this goal, while ambitious, was definitely something that still motivated me.

In team-oriented settings and workplaces, these criteria also make perfect sense. If any one of these criteria would be missing in setting goals for a team, a team member may feel hopeless or aimless in their pursuits. This has been reflected in my experiences, having been part of a team with no greater goals in mind other than to continue what had been done in the past. Needless to say, this goal failed to motivate others, as it had not necessarily supported the group’s initial vision of bettering its content from the last year, violating the criteria of being results-oriented.

As such, goals should be approached with and set out with care. I believe that organizations should carefully plan out and set these powerful motivating tools in order to utilize the full potential of their workers, while individuals must take the same precautions to realize their dreams.

1. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 128.

From workplaces, sports teams, and groups assembled for school projects, I have worked in teams throughout my whole life. While most of these teams have worked seamlessly, striving for our common goals, there are a few that are just not pleasant to work with. At one point in time, most experience a team with a “dead weight member”; someone who did not pull their weight whether it be through irresponsibility or just not pulling their weight. However, how exactly is one supposed to deal with this situation?

Comm 292 touches on subjects such as team dynamics, and what attributes to a fluidly working team. Referring to the 5-stage model of group development, my experience points to dead weight members likely being pointed out by the “performing” stage, when team cohesiveness matters the most, when it is likely to be too late to fix the issue. Fortune Magazine with the assistance of Kerry Patterson, co-founder of training and development firm VitalSmarts explores this topic in an article, stating that “people wait until they are fed up, and then they blow
their stack” (1), reflective of my experiences in groups dealing with a similar situation.

In dealing with a member like this Patterson explains that the best thing to do is to speak with the “errant teammate in private” and instead to “be curious, find how he sees the situation”. Under my assumption, this is to happen early on in the group stage, as my experience had seen non-contributing members being identified by the storming stage of group development. Reflectively, many groups during the in-class activity pertaining to conflict management brought this up. This can be related to the “climate of trust” needed for an effective team. Our textbook mentions that this climate is achieved by “feel[ing] that the team is capable of getting the task done” (2). If the problem is identified and worked at early on, then this climate has a better chance of being a reality, leading to a possibly effective team.

The best thing to do when dealing with a dead weight member is to identify them early on, and approach them instead of a superior regarding them. Sometimes there may be other circumstances that cause them to act that way, and by doing this you are increasing your chances at an effective team.

1. Fisher, Anne. “Got a teammate who’s slacking off? Here’s what to do.” Fortune. 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 Feb. 2017. <Fisher, Anne. “Got a teammate who’s slacking off? Here’s what to do.” Fortune. 21 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.>
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 128.

Watching the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NALCS) on a Saturday afternoon, I was captivated by the shout casters’ conversation concerning personal motivation and the longevity of professional esports careers. It was an interesting dispute, as they seemed to attribute motivation to just only affect players’ willingness to continue a career, not their achievements.

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok at the 2016 League of Legends World Championships

Out of the six League of Legends World Championships, South Korea’s SK Telecom (abbreviated as SKT) has taken the first place trophy in rather dominating fashion for three of them. However, what may be most surprising is that for each of their championship wins, the starting roster has shuffled many times. Despite this, there always remains a constant, that being the presence of what many consider the greatest League of Legends player of all time, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.

Knowing these facts, the aforementioned conversation sparked my interest in the aspects of motivation that we have studied. This is due to Faker on several occasions touting his personal motivation as an agent for his overwhelming success. Having noted this, the aforementioned conversation got myself thinking: which type of motivator introduced in Comm 292 would be most effective in changing performance?

Referring to an interview by Faker following a semi-final victory during the 2015 World Championships, he states that “the prize money is … definitely a source of motivation, but really what I want is to win another World Championship title” (1). This shows that while the grand prize of $1 million USD remains an incredibly great extrinsic motivator for the world champion, that through intrinsic factors does he strive to perform at his best. As such, is it that intrinsic motivators are more effective in increasing performance?

While the textbook does not agree that in all cases intrinsic motivators keep people more driven and performance-orientated, it does state that “intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mat reflect the situation … rather than individual personalities” (2). In the case of Faker being on track to win his second world championship, this description of the motivators makes absolute sense. By this time, Faker had already acquired an amount of money unfathomable to almost all 19 year olds, his team winning the million dollar prize in 2013. Therefore in this situation, money, being an extrinsic factor, was clearly not as appealing as creating a legacy, and establishing what would become the most dominant organization in League of Legends History.

From this connection, it was clear to me that the effectiveness of motivators are highly dependent on the situation, and should be implemented as per case basis. Furthermore, these motivators can be highly effective, encouraging some to become the best in their field.

1. “Why Faker is the world’s best League of Legends player – an interview with “god”.” PCGamesN. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://www.pcgamesn.com/league-of-legends/why-faker-is-the-worlds-best-league-of-legends-player-an-interview-with-god>.
2. Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 7th edition, p. 128.

Crowdfunding projects are ever-increasingly becoming more prominent in today’s age, spearheaded by the success of some projects such as the Oculus Rift, the Ouya, and the Pebble. However, it is quite evident that these (and many other) projects have something in common, that they stem from an idea with an avid community waiting for the idea’s realization. Is this absolutely necessary in order to launch a success crowdfunding campaign? Furthermore, does this mean that crowdfunding mean more than just to create a business, but to create awareness of an idea as a whole? In a Harvard Business Review blog post by Ethan Mollick, these questions are explored, being backed up with with research.

A person using the concept Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

Mollick explains that the recent boom in companies partaking in the development of virtual reality products wouldn’t have happened without crowdfunding. He puts forward the idea of the aforementioned Oculus Rift pioneering the way for other products such as the Samsung gear or HTC Vive, both products created by established and refined multi-billion dollar companies. It was Oculus founder and online VR community enthusiast Palmer Luckey, who took initiative and gathered initial support from this niche community to start up this crowdfunding project. Mollick explains that through this and his surveys, it is evident that crowdfunding “serves to validate demand and build communities of support”. I find this idea extremely interesting, as crowdfunding initiatives are usually seen as a way to garner finances to support what is an idea in demand. However, Mollick explains how sometimes crowdfunding projects can be a way to find out if a certain product, service, or idea is in demand, enough so that individuals or small firms are willing to financially support what may only be a possibility. He goes on to say that only 9% of funded projects fail to carry on with its goal, and that this is because the proof that there is demand for that project’s goal is already present. I see this as companies being able to do a primary type of market research that we haven’t seen in the past.

So are these communities necessary in order to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign? Based on Mollick’s post, the answer is almost certainly yes. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the community has to be preexisting. This community can be established through the launch of something like a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign. Once people realize that there is an idea that they want to support, and that many others feel the same, the community of people wanting an idea to be realized is established. Crowdfunding definitely is about more than just raising funds, it can also be about creating awareness, and therefore, a sort of community.

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My COMM101 class has been granted the opportunity to create blogs that give a student’s insight on the world’s current events. This post is an opportunity to review and comment on two of my peers’ blog posts, seeing how views can differ from person to person.

Blog #1: Calvin Chang’s “Can Nintendo Level Up to the Mobile Gaming Market?”

A flock of avid Pokemon Go players, attributing to the game’s success

I agree with the article in that Nintendo’s strengths entering the mobile market definitely lay in the characters and brands that they own. I like the idea that Calvin puts forward that these brands incite a form of nostalgia in the heart of people who have played these games previously, and how this was exemplified through the release of the extraordinarily popular mobile game, Pokemon Go. Personally, I think that this is a great strategy to employ as Nintendo is able to have a scope outside of just one age group, but to open up their customer segments and reach out to not only kids, teens, or adults, but a great combination of the three. I feel like Calvin has written an excellent post, describing the strongest aspects of the video game company’s entry into the mobile market.

My biggest concern reflects Shigeru Miayamoto’s, will these freemium games being put out by third party developers hurt the established brands of Nintendo? I put this forward because a video game series I loved, Roller Coaster Tycoon had a freemium version of their game released on the mobile market that most people, including me, thought was extremely lackluster and did not reflect the original games themselves. If this were to happen to the titles slated to release next year on mobile like Fire Emblem or Animal Crossing, would future sales of the flagship console games decrease? However, I expect Nintendo to hold high of themselves and prevent any disastrous releases to happen.

Blog #2: Kamil Kulewski’s “Nordstrom’s Pill Themed Fashion Line Deemed Offensive”

               Moschino’s Pill-Themed Clutch

Kamil expresses con
cern that further market research should have been done in order to prevent backlash against Nordstrom after the release of Moschino’s pill-themed fashion line. However, I believe that this backlash against these brands has very little effect on their well-being. I understand that social issues should often be complied by brands in order to receive the maximum benefit, however I believe that some, especially high fashion brands like Moschino generate more growth out of controversy.

It is no surprise that high fashion runways are filled with models that flaunt unrealistic beauty standards, wearing controversal clothing. While most would find these practices and designs disgusting, some people find intriguing and fashionable. I feel as if controversy helps some high fashion brands grow, despite the view that many others may take.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 with the “S Pen”

Amidst more reports of even more Samsung Note 7 catching on fire after the first recall, Samsung made a definite call to cease production of the phone on Octomber 10, 2016. Samsung also urged Note 7 users to immediately shut off their phone out of concern for their customers’ safety, even creating incentives of up to $100 for returning theirphone. Samsung is clearly attempting to perform damage control on the situation, but many people are speculating on whether the situation is salvageable or not. What implications do these events have on the Samsung brand and on its competitors?

Firstly, the immediate consequence of the Korean tech giant heading into the holiday season without a new flagship phone will deal great damage to its sales. Their other flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, is not slated to release until the spring of 2017. Michael Robinson, chief technology strategist at Moneymorning.com states that “they cant really rush [introducing new Note 7 handsets into the market]”, so Samsung will most likely have to face the most opportunistic time period of the year with a the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, phones which were released back in March. This is during a time when Apple’s iPhone 7 and the Google Pixel would be barely a few months old, which were slated to be the competitors for the Note 7. Samsung will miss when a customer
segment, the gift buyer, grows by a hundredfold in addition to current Samsung customers facing less of a switching cost moving to a new brand due to their ability to offer more recent hardware.

A Samsung Note 7 afflicted by the “exploding battery” defect

The effects of this disastrous release will remain within the company’s reputation for quite a long time as well. Edward Snyder, manager of Charter Equity Research states that “this has probably killed the [Note’s] brand name”. It is evident that not many people would not like to purchase a phone in which its predecessor has been reported to catch on fire and in some cases, explode. The Note line carries a lot of selling power with its name, being associated with the most current high end specs and the extremely intuitive S Pen. Consequently, this could mean a sharp decrease in sales for Samsung. In addition to this, the lasting effects of the brand being associated with unsafe products will likely stay for years to come. This release will definitely be in effect during the active consideration stage of many consumers looking to purchase a Samsung product.

Clearly, there is a heavy impact on Samsung’s brand as a whole as a result of the Note 7’s failure. However, Samsung is a giant and experienced company, and many (including I) expect them to comeback from this tragic release.

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The recently purchased Apex League of Legends Team after winning the North American Challenger Series

With the Philadelphia 76ers recently announcing their purchase of established Esports brands Dignitas and Apex on September 26, the amount of involvement from professional athletes and teams in esports is heavily growing. Just last year, Rick Fox (formerly of the LA Lakers) announced his purchase of the League of Legends team Gravity to field his own roster under the moniker Echo Fox in addition to the announcing of Shaquille O’Neal’s and the co-owner of the Sacramento Kings’ investment into the Esports brand NRG. So why are big names in conventional sports investing into this new realm of competition?

The 2015 League of Legends World Championship Finals hosted at the Mercedez-Benz Arena in Berlin

Esports, by definition are the competitive tournaments of video games, especially among professional gamers. As trivial as this sounds, events like the 2015 League of Legends World Championships amassed over 334 million unique impressions online and through television. In addition, this event had a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million during the finals, rivalling the same statistic for the MLB finals of that year. This is why more and more sports franchises are investing into esports; they are growing at astronomical rates that even surpass some conventional sports. I believe that this is due to the great increase of youth looking towards the internet for entertainment instead of the television.

The 2014 DOTA International Event

Companies are also realizing that esports are a way to reach out to the notoriously difficult to reach market of 18 to 35 year olds that spend much of their time online. Major sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL are not streamed online, so many look towards esports as an alternative. Like conventional sports, people are excited about these competitions. Millions of dollars are being put into both the prize pools and production of esports. They are able to root for their favourite team and associate themselves with a community that they feel they are able to be involved with. However, much of this demographic is unable to identify with conventional sports, either not having experience in playing them or having disinterest in the sport itself. However, competitive video games are increasingly easy to access with games such as DOTA2 and the aforementioned League of Legends being free to access. Therefore, they are able to align themselves with a professional organization with players that share a common interest as them- the video game they play. Therefore, these big name figures and organizations are investing into esports due to the ability to reach out to an exponentially growing new customer segment that may not necessarily overlap with the market of conventional sports. Esports are definitely on the rise to overtake conventional sports in viewership, especially due to the financial support behind the scene that is finally starting to take shape.

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