Shift Happens

Last night we discussed a presentation which presented lots of facts about things changing.

DID YOU KNOW? SHIFT HAPPENS

What did you think? Comment here or register and comment on the other blog.

Gene A. Wright

GOOGLE and Chaos -- Part of their Strategy?

In the article "Chaos by Design" Fortune, October 2, 2006 is interesting because it talks about the culture at GOOGLE and why "chaos" is all part of the plan. The eight year old company is the "ultimate petri dish" according to the Chief Chaos Officer Shona Brown (who wrote the book "Competing on the Edge" has tons of experiments going on all of the time.

The article talks about unique spaces, unique policies, unique benefits and the unique ability it has to make money. Innovation is the key to everything. The amount and level of talent is unbelievable.

What makes this company tick?
What makes it so special? We know it is different?
What is their strategy?
What do you think is their most unique characteristic?
Can they come up with a "second act" as the article asks? What will it be?

Gene A. Wright

Disney and Pixar

One of Disney's Core Competencies is animation. In fact, Bob Iger said that animation is the "heart, soul, and engine that drives the train called Disney". However, Disney spent $7.4 Billion on Pixar. Pixar is responsible for animated blockbusters such as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles Cars and Toy Story. Disney's cartoons are classics and consistently do well at the box office and on DVD and now on iTunes.

The article "Pixar's Magic Man" discusses the deal between Disney's Bob Iger and Apple's Steve Jobs.

In another article, John Lasseter, now the head of animation for Pixar and Disney, once fired by Disney said that "Every film that I've made is a tribute to Walt".

Why did they make this deal?
What will this do for Disney? Pixar? Apple?

Gene A. Wright

GOOGLE and YAHOO! Compete for Mobile Market

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) often is the platform for a number of announcements.

It is not too surprising that YAHOO! and GOOGLE will be battling it out for the Mobile Market. What is interesting from a strategic management standpoint is the way that the alliances are shaking out.

Samsung working with both companies. Motorola with Yahoo!.

Why is it that we are seing so much of this partnering and alliance activity in all businesses?

Gene A. Wright

"How to Succeed in 2007" is the title of a feature article in Business 2.0.

The article has brief snipettes from a number of leaders and managers with their ideas of what it will take.

Here are a few:
Howard Schultz - Starbuck's "Dare to Be a Social Entrepreneur"

Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt - GOOGLE "Simplicity"

Michael Dell - Dell "Think Big"

Stephan Covey - FranklinCovey "Strive for Moral Authority" Character and Contribution

Rachael Ray - Chef and Author "Turn your Passion into an Empire"

Richard Branson - Virgin Group "Learn How to say No"

And many More.....

Which one did you like the best? Why?

Gene A. Wright

An important and popular topic in our class is of course, globalization. Another is discussing the "value chain" as well as the supply chain. Can we get enough insight into the process of building a competitive value creation process; I think not.

I recently listened to a webcast presented by Industrial Distribution Magazine entitled "Five Critical Strategies for Building a Competitive Supply Chain"

The webcast is a little over an hour long, and you will need to register to attend the archived event, but it is interesting. It is a panel discussion with an introduction by the editor of Industrial Distribution.

The comments about the actions of distributors, standards, globalization, forecasting, competition etc., are very interesting and informative.

What do you think are some of the salient comments by the presenters?

Gene A. Wright

The World is Flat Posting

http://em801.blogspot.com/2006/06/world-is-flat.html

Gordon Bell,, a reseracher at Microsoft is working on a "digital diary, a searchable database that contains digitized versions of nearly everything in his life." The diary will be stored on a blackberry like device that he carries with him at all times and will help him recall everything from events to conversations that he's experienced.

The article Digital age may bring total recall in future is from the tech section of CNN.com.