The Economist has more on the MBA Oath coming out of HBS -- will this help create better managers, and ultimately, a better profession?
You can check out the article here. My friend, Alex Vallejo, also has an interesting entry on the profession of management at his blog here.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Cut The Suppliers
Wal-Mart recently announced efforts to suspend the sale of cigarettes in their stores. Citing the move as a way to promote a greener and more health-conscious Wal-Mart, this action may actually bear more economic motives. A recent blog in BusinessWeek suggests the recent tax hike on cigarettes -- up 61 cents to $1.01 per pack -- could have serious consequences on future demand of cigarette sales.
However, this move by Wal-Mart poses an interesting question: if Wal-Mart, a company that sees $.03 for every dollar in sales as profit, considers cigarettes an unprofitable venture in the future, then how will other retailers respond? Will there even be a response? And, should there be a fat tax?
This would be a good time for a Porter's Five Forces...
However, this move by Wal-Mart poses an interesting question: if Wal-Mart, a company that sees $.03 for every dollar in sales as profit, considers cigarettes an unprofitable venture in the future, then how will other retailers respond? Will there even be a response? And, should there be a fat tax?
This would be a good time for a Porter's Five Forces...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Keep CEOs Out Of Tech?
George Colony, CEO and founder of Forrester Research, has an eye-opening post on his blog titled CIOs to CEOs: "Stay out of tech". Colony found that many CIOs would like to see the CEO of their company "stay out of tech", essentially instilling more trust in the role of CIO.
Colony naturally disagrees with this view -- as do I. As he states, "the CEO doesn't have to program, but he/she cannot be ignorant when it comes to IT/business technology". This technological disconnect between CEOs and CIOs -- which I had originally believed was based on a lack of understanding of technology by CEOs themselves -- may actually be instigated by CIOs in the workplace. Though there may be no factual evidence of this, the evolving face of IT must be discussed by both CEOs, CIOs, and senior level managers in order for ideals like "IT-as-Change" (dubbed by Andrew McAfee and discussed in this blog post) to be executed.
As Colony puts it, "there is much change being driven by tech in the outside world that the CEO must understand -- and translate for the inside". This is probably the primary job of the CIO, as much of IT's best-practices must be carefully crafted by technical hireups in the company. However, using this technology to create competitive advantage -- and future business change -- is something a CEO must always be involved in. With new technologies emerging everyday, the CEO must continually be aware; thus, the CIO must look to the CEO as a partner, rather than just a "boss".
I guess my best example could be the Barack Obama campaign. Obama, and his advisers, knew that the web was going to be a game changer in this past election. They knew enough to incorporate it into their campaign strategy and looked to their technical people as allies to make this happen. It undoubtedly became a competitive advantage for Obama, even though Obama himself did not know exactly "what to do" to ramp up such a large online following.
Colony naturally disagrees with this view -- as do I. As he states, "the CEO doesn't have to program, but he/she cannot be ignorant when it comes to IT/business technology". This technological disconnect between CEOs and CIOs -- which I had originally believed was based on a lack of understanding of technology by CEOs themselves -- may actually be instigated by CIOs in the workplace. Though there may be no factual evidence of this, the evolving face of IT must be discussed by both CEOs, CIOs, and senior level managers in order for ideals like "IT-as-Change" (dubbed by Andrew McAfee and discussed in this blog post) to be executed.
As Colony puts it, "there is much change being driven by tech in the outside world that the CEO must understand -- and translate for the inside". This is probably the primary job of the CIO, as much of IT's best-practices must be carefully crafted by technical hireups in the company. However, using this technology to create competitive advantage -- and future business change -- is something a CEO must always be involved in. With new technologies emerging everyday, the CEO must continually be aware; thus, the CIO must look to the CEO as a partner, rather than just a "boss".
I guess my best example could be the Barack Obama campaign. Obama, and his advisers, knew that the web was going to be a game changer in this past election. They knew enough to incorporate it into their campaign strategy and looked to their technical people as allies to make this happen. It undoubtedly became a competitive advantage for Obama, even though Obama himself did not know exactly "what to do" to ramp up such a large online following.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New Apartment
Secured an apartment today in Davis Square. We really lucked out on this one... will post pictures when I move in.
Monday, June 1, 2009
IT and Business Meet
Just found this article over at the McKinsey Quarterly website about IT as a commodity. I wish I found it days sooner! The authors seem to share the same perspective as me, based upon my comments published in IT as Change. Below is an excerpt from McKinsey's article Where IT Infrastructure and Business Strategy Meet that I found very true:
Yet the very ubiquity of these computing, storage, and networking technologies makes some executives regard IT infrastructure as a commodity. That’s a mistake. Yes, components such as servers and storage—even some support processes, like the monitoring of applications—have been commoditized. Even so, an effective infrastructure operation creates value by making sound choices about which technologies to use and how to integrate them. A technology product purchased from a vendor may be a commodity, but the ability to bring together hardware, software, and support to provide the right combination of cost, resiliency, and features for a new application isn’t.
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