CIMBAns decide: Dilbert or The Office?

As a consultant in my prior career, I could tell how good company morale was at my clients' offices by the number of Dilbert cartoons posted in cubicles. More Dilberts almost always meant poor morale. As a social phenomenon, Dilbert has gained a loyal following of readers who can personally relate to Scott Adams' insights. So I thought CIMBA management students would be interested in Dilbert's world. They weren't.

This semester CIMBA Intro to Management students showed an overwhelming interest in "The Office." The Office was the subject of (at least) five entertaining student choice presentations toward the end of the semester. Even though students made their presentations on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving travel weekend (along with final exams the next), CIMBAns put their best efforts forth. Interestingly, many of you asserted that Michael Scott is a brilliant manager (despite some foibles and follies). Did you learn that in class?

Origin and originality of ideas

"Make it a practice to keep on the lookout for novel and interesting ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea must be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are working on."

- Thomas Edison

This semester's class of CIMBA entrepreneurship students are developing business plans for food tours, social networks for studying abroad, RFID tracking of personal valuables, and kiosk-based auto rental. While each of these ideas has been implemented before in some shape or form, these students embraced Edison's advice and the challenge of original adaptation. Look for updates here!

Managerial decision making

Decision making is one of the most important functions of management. Despite its importance and exhaustive study on the topic, we still struggle to make decisions effectively. In two STVP videos posted here, Janice Fraser of Adaptive Path explains how efficient decision making can be supported by giving the decision maker responsibility, accountability, and authority, and Dominic Orr of Aruba Networks describes how to cultivate a fast decision making process focused on facts and intellectual honesty. Finally, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely discusses how we are all victims of the "illusion of control" in decision making (click on the image above). Clearly, there is more researchers can do to help managers become better decision makers.

When managers are more effective than markets

During the Intro to Management lecture on October 15 we discussed the need (or not) for the professionalization of management (Khurana & Nohria, 2008) and the reason why firms exist. With the recent scandals attributed to managers and their alma maters, these are useful questions to ask. In contrast to "professionalized" occupational roles like doctors and lawyers, however, managers must deal with planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four basic functions of management) - planning for an uncertain future, creating effective and efficient structures for organized activity, motivating and directing people, and trying to keep everything on track. It is the manager's skills that allow organizations (aka "hierarchies") to be superior in many cases to markets and contracts (the domain of lawyers). In recognition of these important differences and the importance of organizations in economics, Oliver Williamson is one of two economists who won the Nobel prize for economics this year. Professor Williamson's work explains conditions under which firms or markets would be the superior form of organization. For us, the challenge is to create managers who can master planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the functions of the firm. Professor Williamson knows we could never codify that! (Clicking on the image takes you to the October 17 story in The Economist)

Khurana, R., & Nohria, N. 2008. It's time to make management a true profession. Harvard Business Review, 86(10): 70-77

Motivation in the 21st (?) Century

Management scholars have been studying motivation in the workplace for decades. Many of you will recognize the familiar pyramid pictured here as "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs," which Maslow formally presented in 1943. To motivate workers, managers have established all manners of external incentives, such as bonuses, stock options, commissions, and other rewards, in the name of improving productivity. What scientists have consistently found, however, is that these external incentives actually hurt performance. In a stimulating presentation from TED Talks, Daniel Pink cites numerous studies that support this and argues that our motivational approach should be based on autonomy, mastery, and purpose rather than on carrots and sticks. The audience - and surely Maslow - agree. The difficult question for managers is how best to implement "what science knows" into "what managers do."

What entrepreneur do you admire?

In our ice-breaker introductory session of Entrepreneurial Strategies, students identified entrepreneurs whom they admire. The list included Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, WWE founder Vince McMann (!), Bill Gates, Henry Ford, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Interestingly, several students admired Chris Gardner (the protagonist of The Pursuit of Happyness) as a model entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are quite distinct from managers in the personal practices and mindset they assume: entrepreneurs set the work climate, engage in opportunity-seeking behaviors, and constantly strive for new insights to move their ventures forward (McGrath & MacMillan, 2000). That "venture" can be your team's project, your start-up company, or even your career (Mr. Gardner is the gentleman on the left).

Opening day (or Getting to know you, Parte due)

CIMBA students met in classrooms for the first time on Martedi after arriving in Paderno del Grappa by way of long flights from the states. The University of Kansas, U Conn, University of Oregon, and University of Iowa are particularly well represented in this cohort of motivated undergrads. Other schools with student participants include West Virginia, Iowa State, and Texas Tech Universities and the Universities of Arkansas, Nebraska, Delaware, and Tennessee. During introductions in the management course, I asked students to name a manager they admired and why they admired him/her. The overwhelming theme that arose was that students named managers for whom they had once worked, citing personal care and attention, thoughtfulness, outgoing personalities, and a focus on getting things done while having fun. The idea of what a good manager does is embodied in the type of person and the quality of the relationship with that person. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence of the value of "soft skills" in the management field.

Getting to know you!

I've had the pleasure of meeting most of the new faculty members for the fall 2009 semester and am getting oriented to the Paderno del Grappa campus on the beautiful grounds of the Istituto Fillipin (pictured above). This semester I'm teaching introduction to management and entrepreneurial strategies. Both courses will adopt a strong orientation toward problem-solving (especially Intro to Management, with its incorporation of the Kepner-Tregoe methods of decision-making and problem-solving), and both will be heavily grounded in international contexts.

Pet products not inspired by Pets.com!

Did you know that your dog or cat's skin could suffer from overexposure to sunlight? That is apparently what Bayer Pet Care wants you to think. In a country where the tan makes the man in the suit look even sharper, you can buy sunscreen for your cane or gatto. Luckily, mi gatti tan indoors. This picture was taken from a storefront in the "gheto novo" section of Venice in June, 2009 - the same piazza where you can buy this chess set.

Ferie Agosto

Most Italians take the entire month of August as holiday and leisure time. The Feriae Augusti dates back to at least 18 BC as a series of festivals and celebrations declared by the Roman emperor Augustus. Many businesses are closed during feire. Here in the Veneto dozens of manufacturers are able to accommodate this downtime through cooperation and by somehow avoiding bad agency behaviors. It's an interesting thought experiment to imagine how US firms would behave under similar cultural expectations...

America's Most Promising Social Entrepeneurs

This story in Business Week highlights 28 social entrepreneurs. You can vote through April 26 for your favorite entrepreneur. Read the full story here.

Perfect your pitch

Brad Feld offers eight mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid when pitching for capital.

Do you really need a business plan?

The experts aren't so sure--but entrepreneurs like the founders of Roaring lion energy drink say it's a must. here's how to know if writing a business plan is for you. Read more.

Starting a business during an economic downturn

Here are three recent articles on starting a business during a downturn. Thanks to Danny Smith for bringing these to my attention.

USA Today

BusinessWeek

TheStandard.com

Invention at Play

For those of you who might be visiting the DC area, be sure to visit the newly-renovated and opened National Museum of American History. The Lincoln Exhibition is great, but I really enjoyed the Innovation at Play exhibit on the first floor. It's interactive, very visual and tactile, and very imaginative.

Willie Watson - Friendly Reminder

An electronic flat screen daily planner with touch screen capabilities called “Friendly Reminder.”
As a college student, we have tons of obligations that pile in by the second. It is not a day to pass where we do not remember a task or that we recall at the last minute and our old friend “craming” comes to bail us out once again. Not only is this a problem with college students, but also managers, CEO’s, and all sorts of business oriented people. Yes, there are PDA’s cell phones, and those unreliable paperback daily planners that alert us during the day, but to be more effective on remembering upcoming appointments should be the first thing we see in the morning. I plan on inventing a digital wide screen calendar/planner that suspends from your wall. The calendar will allow you to program your appointments in the system with the option to “dispose after completed” for tasks typing a paper or the option to make it a daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, or yearly for events such as paying bills and birthdays. The most amazing feature about this calendar is the priority lighting system. It consists of three different colors; red, blue, and green to let you know as soon as you open your eyes in the morning whether you got something to do. Red is for task or events that is due that day, Blue is for events that week, and green is events longer than a week but approaching. So if you wake up in the morning to a room filled with flashing red lights, you might want to jump out of bed and check your calendar. The most convenient feature is that it talks to you and tells you exactly what you have to do, so no more wasting precious time instead you can continue getting dressed or whatever else you need to do to prepare for the day. I will have the greatest financial success with this product on college campuses so I am going to release it in campus supply stores and eventually branch into electronic stores such as Office Max and Circuit City. From an estimated cost of production, I figured that a price of $124.99 would be a legitimate price to make a substantial profit.
With all new products comes hesitant customers, and this product will provide no exceptions. It will pose the question “Do I really want to invest this much money into a calendar?” One major problem that the calendar will face is convincing people of the quality of this unproven product. College students are usually strapped for cash and have a tight budget, therefore it will be a problem marketing this product in the beginning.I will be faced with the obstacle of heavy marketing to insure my target market is knowledge of all the features and in result willing to invest in my invention. Another issue I face is creating a dual image for the product. Friendly Reminder must be trendy enough to appeal to college students and professional enough to appeal to the corporate world.

Gabriele Plate - Water Purification

We ran out of battery power on the camera for Alex and Gabriele. Read Gabriele's pitch through this link.

William Morris

Rebecca Casteel

Nathan McMullin

Morgan Nix

Matthew Bavar

Leighton Griggers

Lori Grant - Iron Bar

Justin Patterson

Jordan Winn

Jessica Ellison

Joseph Hubbard

Grey O'Brien

Grace Burch

David Baker

Darrell Miller

Danny Smith - Video Glass for Law Enforcement

Danny Beard - Solar Panels for Alabama

Christopher Boone - Organic Produce

Chris Smelley

Bryan Hahn - Contractor jobs database

Brennan Wheeler

Brett Coburn - Neighborhood Social Networking

Ben Thurber - "I'mAFan.com"

Ashleigh Gay

Alex Biehn - Online backup system for students

We ran out of battery power on the camera for Alex and Gabriele.

My idea for a new venture is an online backup service targeted at students. This would be a subscription based service that can be paid for by the month or on a semester basis. It would partner with universities so that students would have a worry free place to back up their files on their computers. This would solve a problem of having to constantly back up personal computers at home and give them a distant secure place to back up files in case something happened in their dorm, home, or apartment. The computer could be set up to automatically back up all files on the computer at night or at a set time daily. This way if the computer crashed or was broken all the student would have to do is log in to their account and reinstall the files on a new computer or the repaired one.

The start-up costs for this venture would be the costs of building a website, programming, and having the space to store files. Since more space can be bought as needed, the business model is very scalable, and you could even go the route of having another server hosting the site so that you never actually have to buy big hard drives to store the data on. This way you just rent or buy more space as you gain more and more customers. This could start as a very small business on this very campus.

The rates for the business would be something like $5 a month or $20 for a semester per student. Since most of the files on a computer might only add up to a few gigabytes starting with a terabyte external hard drive could service multiple customers. There is competition but I have not found anything targeted at students yet. Most of the online backup services are targeted at businesses. This would be a valuable tool for students with all of the class work being done on computers these days. If you could get 20,000 students at the university to sign up for the semester then the revenues would be $400,000. This would a hue profit margin with the relatively low start up costs. Getting programs set up at more and more universities would make this business a very lucrative venture.

Ashish Patel - Inventory Check Scanner System

Allison Abney - Green Grocer

The Sundance Channel: EcoBiz

Rent a Green Box - Ecopreneuring with Spencer Brown

InternshipIN Student-Founded, Student-Run Business

Founded by U.C. Berkeley students Arielle Patrice Scott, Jessica Mah, and Andy Su in the Fall of 2008.

InternshipIN is bridging the gap between two groups of people hungry to get to know each other with no true other way to connect.

Google Book - Campus CEO

For those of you who are beginning to see the potential of starting your own business on campus - or if you have no idea how to get started, read for free Campus CEO. Written by a winner of "The Apprentice" with practical advice.