So what already MBA's are doing now? Well myself I'm still reading stuff every now and then, and recently I'm into Robin Sharma who made famous the book called 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' and academic wise, they are using his stories and theories into business, David have you heard of it?
His latest book now is 'The Greatness Guide', it's all about become a better person and be the best in you.
Actually David, I've got another topic that you may have a viewpoint.
You know that Kevin Rollins (Former CEO of Dell) is out and Michael Dell came back in? I was actually curious of what new strategy that Michael Dell would do when he steps back in but till date they are still leaning on the same old pricing strategy? Why? Why Dell continues to challenge others on pricing whereby they have spend millions on their super efficient infrastructure on delivery, assembly, parts and all just to be the top in line for 'Service'.
The reason for Rollins have negative profits during his regime was he adopted pricing strategy instead of service? Up till date you can see Dell selling at very cheap prices not only in Malaysia but around the world and constantly having speacial offers and sale?
I see you have not stopped learning... reading. That's amazing!!! I have yet to complete 2 books in the past 2 years.
Okay I can't say I have read the book "The Monk...". Can you enighten and give some of their stories?? Especially those on business practice and theories.
I will put this address up for the new MBA students whom I think would love to contribute their thoughts and I am hoping the QUALIFIED MBAs would share with them their experiences, their JOYS, tears and sufferings...etc.etc.. but you ahve to admit it was a "good time".
On Dell, I do not have the latest information but it looks like Michael is/or should be upset that for this year at least Dell is loosing market share to HP.
I also teach "Str Leadership" USQ program and we use a Book titled "What the Best CEOs Know?" by Jefrey Krames. I quote Michael Dell "From the start, our entire business - from design to manufacturing to sales - was oriented around listening to teh customers, responding to the customer, and delivering what the customer wanted". and he also further add that "Being in touch with customer needs ... more important is when customer needs are changing..." Well in summation, maybe Rollins should read something here i.e. what the Boss is thinking about and how to satisfy the customer's needs!!??
My take is: Dell has many options with a leading market share but unlike anything else BUSINESS is merciless if one makes a wrong move! I am refering to STRATEGY!
Price is a pwoerful competitve tool if played correctly BUT I would have thought that Dell's customer would prefer something different like new and better product innovations than cheaper products!!
Secondly, Dell would be better of if they developed NEW core competences in the computer industry! Any ideas on what??? A thought is "CUSTOMER"! Dell needs to find out exactly what they want!?!
"What the Best CEOs Know?" by Jefrey Krames, thanks for sharing. I might explore this the next time, need to get more books to negate off my personal taxes.
'Thank you for making us No.1', this is a very bold statement by HP, no doubt HP has overtaken Dell, but the statistics are just a mediocre amount something like over 25,000 units? In the scale of the PC market in US being about 60 million, beating Dell by 25,000 units or so is not entirely a milestone but of course winning is winning, like in F1 Michael Schumacher wins by seconds, this shows how competitive the world is now.
David, if you ask would Dell be better off if they developed new core competences in computer industry? My opinion is on the fence because Dell needs to understand their capabilities first and you know very well the capabilities consist of 'Resources', 'Processes' & 'Values' as emphasized by Christensen the author of 'Innovator's Dilemma', they might have the resources as they are still super rich in cash flow, but 'processes' is every organizations' nightmare as they often act as a barrier to create new things and be innovative. Dell is not PC makers, they are basically assemblers and sad to say Steve Jobs (Apple) once criticized Dell for making 'un-innovative beige boxes', sorry if Michael is reading this.
That's why if we see HP computers we can see the same processors and specs often with Dell and Acer but the entire outlook of HP design is sleek, sexy, and modern. HP is trying to differentiate through looks and dress to kill, in addition they are also pretty much an innovatitive organization like they the very first one who came out with 'lighscribe' technology for CD/DVD that can burn drawings on the CD/DVD surface for labelling and artwork which is included in every HP PC, another example look at their flat screen panel LCD monitors, they have built in speakers whereas Dell ships you individual speakers with the extra wires on your desk or workstation.
Having said that it's relatively true 'customer needs are changing'. People would pay the extra dollar for something different.
Looking forward to any MBAs comment(s) (Patrick Lim). Good to hear an outsider (other than USQ,USc mbas)
You probably know by now, Malaysians are generally not writers but mostly speakers.
Recently I have Intl Bus. Gp presentations and they were generally good in their contents and more businesslike. Very different approach from your time... there you are for "replicating notes".
Okay, for Dell even to lose a survey findings of say 1-2 units to a competitor is a "BIG" thing... Well, Michael Dell starts from very small and he knows what it means if the day you start to lose that "market share" ... you can only go downward instead of upward. To be a market leader is not difficult but to maintain the lead is!!!
On another note, "...Dell ...understand their capabilities first and you know very well the capabilities consist of 'Resources', 'Processes' & 'Values'... " Yes, you have it correct only the GREAT companies can do this i.e. Strategic Architecture (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). I am not so sure whetehr Dell "does not" understand eior business! Most articles I read point to Michael KNOWs his very well!! Maybe what he really need is some 'new blood', a "different perspective from Rolilins and himself to push Dell "skywards"
It will depend on the corporate culture and leadership!!!
Am busy in the coming weeks but will post ideas regularly. Have external seminars to prepare.
We would like to know what your thoughts and any examples of your current status i.e. experiences on the value of the MBA degree?!?!? you can be anonymous and do not need to quote company names!!
Are the subjects helpful?, your learning outcomes, practical usefulness, effectiveness in your work, any discriminations, your immediate future plans, etc, etc.??
Since someone brought up the topic of 'Blue Ocean Strategy' on a very long email thread lately, it might be worthwhile and more relevant to migrate this topic to this blogsite where others might have their own point of view.
This Blue Ocean Strategy is much talked about as competition in this present time is so great, every industry, market, and product to name a few are so called 'Red Ocean', and sometimes to big companies again Dell makes prudent sense to compete in terms of pricing to sustain and sometimes obtain new market share. Years ago, computers are somewhat a luxury item and I still remember my first computer is an Apple II which cost like 7 grand for that.
So why 'Blue Ocean', to create untapped and uncontested market basically, or in other words to become a monopoly where one gets the highest margin and profits. So how to acheive 'Blue Ocean'? This comes down to innovation and with innovation a company or an organization can create a totally new product or a new paradigm where there is no competition at all.
No doubt a large percentage of companies now are sailing in the 'Red Ocean' where they are competiting in existing market place and trying their very best to beat competition through generic strategies unlike 'Blue Ocean' they create a market of their own and having no competition at all.
It is very much easier said than done and we have to look deeply into the current company or organization we are to evaluate if we are capable to sailing from the 'Red Ocean' to a 'Blue Ocean', I guess this would be the biggest challenge for an entire company/organization as a whole.
Just my opinions and thoughts towards the much talked about 'Blue Ocean Strategy'.
I share some of your criticisms of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS); which I regard as snake oil masquerading as scientific research. To read my criticsm of BOS, read my blog post "Blue ocean, same ocean" at :
http://georgehkchua.blogspot.com/
Those of you who are interested in a more complete debunking of management fads (such as Blue Ocean Strategy) can read Phil Rosenzweig's "The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers":
In this brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in bestselling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.
Sincerely,
George Chua JCU MBA candidate
P.S. To facilitate orderly discourse on a variety of topics, can I suggest that David create separate posts for each topic that he'll like to discuss - e.g. "What your MBA experience was like and how can B-school in general be more relevant?", "What are you doing with your MBA now?", "Is Blue Ocean Strategy the new new thing?", "Can Michael Dell turn his company around?", "Should China revalue the Yuan?", etc. This way, the discussion thread can be more focused.
I couldn't agree with you more that topics should be an individual thread by itself. I second George's idea, so 'David' who is in control of the dashboard please do the necessary to enable more focus topics for discussion.
When you've already logged into blogger.com, you should have come to a webpage that indicates 'Dashboard' that edit, delete or view your posts. You should click on edit posts, from there you can post new topics e.g like what George mentioned; "What your MBA experience was like and how can B-school in general be more relevant?", "What are you doing with your MBA now?", "Is Blue Ocean Strategy the new new thing?", "Can Michael Dell turn his company around?", "Should China revalue the Yuan?"
14 comments:
So what already MBA's are doing now? Well myself I'm still reading stuff every now and then, and recently I'm into Robin Sharma who made famous the book called 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' and academic wise, they are using his stories and theories into business, David have you heard of it?
His latest book now is 'The Greatness Guide', it's all about become a better person and be the best in you.
Anyone has read about him yet?
Actually David, I've got another topic that you may have a viewpoint.
You know that Kevin Rollins (Former CEO of Dell) is out and Michael Dell came back in? I was actually curious of what new strategy that Michael Dell would do when he steps back in but till date they are still leaning on the same old pricing strategy? Why? Why Dell continues to challenge others on pricing whereby they have spend millions on their super efficient infrastructure on delivery, assembly, parts and all just to be the top in line for 'Service'.
The reason for Rollins have negative profits during his regime was he adopted pricing strategy instead of service? Up till date you can see Dell selling at very cheap prices not only in Malaysia but around the world and constantly having speacial offers and sale?
What's your take on this?
Hi Patrick,
Good of someone to respond. You are the first!
I see you have not stopped learning... reading. That's amazing!!! I have yet to complete 2 books in the past 2 years.
Okay I can't say I have read the book "The Monk...". Can you enighten and give some of their stories?? Especially those on business practice and theories.
I will put this address up for the new MBA students whom I think would love to contribute their thoughts and I am hoping the QUALIFIED MBAs would share with them their experiences, their JOYS, tears and sufferings...etc.etc.. but you ahve to admit it was a "good time".
regards,
david C
Hi atrick,
On Dell, I do not have the latest information but it looks like Michael is/or should be upset that for this year at least Dell is loosing market share to HP.
I also teach "Str Leadership" USQ program and we use a Book titled "What the Best CEOs Know?" by Jefrey Krames.
I quote Michael Dell "From the start, our entire business - from design to manufacturing to sales - was oriented around listening to teh customers, responding to the customer, and delivering what the customer wanted". and he also further add that "Being in touch with customer needs ... more important is when customer needs are changing..." Well in summation, maybe Rollins should read something here i.e. what the Boss is thinking about and how to satisfy the customer's needs!!??
My take is: Dell has many options with a leading market share but unlike anything else BUSINESS is merciless if one makes a wrong move! I am refering to STRATEGY!
Price is a pwoerful competitve tool if played correctly BUT I would have thought that Dell's customer would prefer something different like new and better product innovations than cheaper products!!
Secondly, Dell would be better of if they developed NEW core competences in the computer industry! Any ideas on what??? A thought is "CUSTOMER"! Dell needs to find out exactly what they want!?!
I hope Michael is reading this!??!
regards,
david chong
Hi David,
"What the Best CEOs Know?" by Jefrey Krames, thanks for sharing. I might explore this the next time, need to get more books to negate off my personal taxes.
'Thank you for making us No.1', this is a very bold statement by HP, no doubt HP has overtaken Dell, but the statistics are just a mediocre amount something like over 25,000 units? In the scale of the PC market in US being about 60 million, beating Dell by 25,000 units or so is not entirely a milestone but of course winning is winning, like in F1 Michael Schumacher wins by seconds, this shows how competitive the world is now.
David, if you ask would Dell be better off if they developed new core competences in computer industry? My opinion is on the fence because Dell needs to understand their capabilities first and you know very well the capabilities consist of 'Resources', 'Processes' & 'Values' as emphasized by Christensen the author of 'Innovator's Dilemma', they might have the resources as they are still super rich in cash flow, but 'processes' is every organizations' nightmare as they often act as a barrier to create new things and be innovative. Dell is not PC makers, they are basically assemblers and sad to say Steve Jobs (Apple) once criticized Dell for making 'un-innovative beige boxes', sorry if Michael is reading this.
That's why if we see HP computers we can see the same processors and specs often with Dell and Acer but the entire outlook of HP design is sleek, sexy, and modern. HP is trying to differentiate through looks and dress to kill, in addition they are also pretty much an innovatitive organization like they the very first one who came out with 'lighscribe' technology for CD/DVD that can burn drawings on the CD/DVD surface for labelling and artwork which is included in every HP PC, another example look at their flat screen panel LCD monitors, they have built in speakers whereas Dell ships you individual speakers with the extra wires on your desk or workstation.
Having said that it's relatively true 'customer needs are changing'. People would pay the extra dollar for something different.
HI Patrick,
Looking forward to any MBAs comment(s) (Patrick Lim). Good to hear an outsider (other than USQ,USc mbas)
You probably know by now, Malaysians are generally not writers but mostly speakers.
Recently I have Intl Bus. Gp presentations and they were generally good in their contents and more businesslike. Very different approach from your time... there you are for "replicating notes".
Okay, for Dell even to lose a survey findings of say 1-2 units to a competitor is a "BIG" thing...
Well, Michael Dell starts from very small and he knows what it means if the day you start to lose that "market share" ... you can only go downward instead of upward. To be a market leader is not difficult but to maintain the lead is!!!
On another note, "...Dell ...understand their capabilities first and you know very well the capabilities consist of 'Resources', 'Processes' & 'Values'... " Yes, you have it correct only the GREAT companies can do this i.e. Strategic Architecture (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). I am not so sure whetehr Dell "does not" understand eior business! Most articles I read point to Michael KNOWs his very well!! Maybe what he really need is some 'new blood', a "different perspective from Rolilins and himself to push Dell "skywards"
It will depend on the corporate culture and leadership!!!
Am busy in the coming weeks but will post ideas regularly. Have external seminars to prepare.
David chong
Hi ALL MBAs,
We would like to know what your thoughts and any examples of your current status i.e. experiences on the value of the MBA degree?!?!?
you can be anonymous and do not need to quote company names!!
Are the subjects helpful?, your learning outcomes, practical usefulness, effectiveness in your work, any discriminations, your immediate future plans, etc, etc.??
regards,
david chong
Since someone brought up the topic of 'Blue Ocean Strategy' on a very long email thread lately, it might be worthwhile and more relevant to migrate this topic to this blogsite where others might have their own point of view.
This Blue Ocean Strategy is much talked about as competition in this present time is so great, every industry, market, and product to name a few are so called 'Red Ocean', and sometimes to big companies again Dell makes prudent sense to compete in terms of pricing to sustain and sometimes obtain new market share. Years ago, computers are somewhat a luxury item and I still remember my first computer is an Apple II which cost like 7 grand for that.
So why 'Blue Ocean', to create untapped and uncontested market basically, or in other words to become a monopoly where one gets the highest margin and profits. So how to acheive 'Blue Ocean'? This comes down to innovation and with innovation a company or an organization can create a totally new product or a new paradigm where there is no competition at all.
No doubt a large percentage of companies now are sailing in the 'Red Ocean' where they are competiting in existing market place and trying their very best to beat competition through generic strategies unlike 'Blue Ocean' they create a market of their own and having no competition at all.
It is very much easier said than done and we have to look deeply into the current company or organization we are to evaluate if we are capable to sailing from the 'Red Ocean' to a 'Blue Ocean', I guess this would be the biggest challenge for an entire company/organization as a whole.
Just my opinions and thoughts towards the much talked about 'Blue Ocean Strategy'.
Patrick Hoh
Hi fellow MBA students/graduates,
I share some of your criticisms of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS); which I regard as snake oil masquerading as scientific research. To read my criticsm of BOS, read my blog post "Blue ocean, same ocean" at :
http://georgehkchua.blogspot.com/
Those of you who are interested in a more complete debunking of management fads (such as Blue Ocean Strategy) can read Phil Rosenzweig's "The Halo Effect: ... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers":
In this brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in bestselling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.
Sincerely,
George Chua
JCU MBA candidate
P.S. To facilitate orderly discourse on a variety of topics, can I suggest that David create separate posts for each topic that he'll like to discuss - e.g. "What your MBA experience was like and how can B-school in general be more relevant?", "What are you doing with your MBA now?", "Is Blue Ocean Strategy the new new thing?", "Can Michael Dell turn his company around?", "Should China revalue the Yuan?", etc. This way, the discussion thread can be more focused.
Hi George,
I couldn't agree with you more that topics should be an individual thread by itself. I second George's idea, so 'David' who is in control of the dashboard please do the necessary to enable more focus topics for discussion.
Cheers,
Patrick
HI George and Patrick,
How do you go about creating the separate posts??
david chong
Hi David,
When you've already logged into blogger.com, you should have come to a webpage that indicates 'Dashboard' that edit, delete or view your posts. You should click on edit posts, from there you can post new topics e.g like what George mentioned; "What your MBA experience was like and how can B-school in general be more relevant?", "What are you doing with your MBA now?", "Is Blue Ocean Strategy the new new thing?", "Can Michael Dell turn his company around?", "Should China revalue the Yuan?"
Good Luck.
HI All,
I was very busy with corporate training.... and all the exam papers and assignments to mark????!!!
As your suggestion, I have input the new format with separate titles or posting for the blog.
Any ideas??
regards,
david chong
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