California schools are ditching the use of textbooks. See the link here:
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090609/tc_afp/useducationinternetcalifornia_20090609155456
I think that this is great idea. I don’t know any time when I actually read the textbook in high school, and I was as studious as they came. I had a huge blue duffle bag with all of my textbooks and notebooks that I drug along with me everywhere (I never used the locker room). I hope that this will be the tipping point that will start the tidal wave away from paper waste and huge, needless expenditures on pricey books that no one really reads.
Geoff found this reference to a recent study. We’ll have to take a look at the study to see the exact details. I’m thinking that how they measure effort is a determinant of their results. http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2009/04/08/business-plans-dont-matter-to-venture-capitalists/
I’ll add this to the syllabus for next year though. It’s good to think about. Thanks Geoff.
Insurance giant AIG to pay $165 million in bonuses
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090315/ap_on_bi_ge/aig_bonuses
We will discuss this a bit later, but I couldn’t help but post this. Do you buy the tournament model (we have to pay more than the rest to get the smartest people, and that by so doing we will be managed best)? Doug Smidl mentioned that it was definitely worth it to pay really “good people” 30% more. That seems to make sense at some level. But does it make sense here? Consider the following quote.
“We cannot attract and retain the best and brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses, which are now being operated principally on behalf of the American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury,” Liddy said.
Now check out the performance of AIG in the last year:
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AAIG
In our discussion of strategy, we discussed some tactics of of how to implement a low-cost strategy in the airline industry. Several groups had ideas, yet we didn’t have time to discuss how one company would be able to implement them, while others would not (in order to gain competitive advantage). Ryanair is a good example of an airline that is pursuing a low-cost strategy. They seem to have quite a coherent strategy. They land in less-traveled airports, they have advertising inside the planes (keeps ticket prices lower), they focus on shorter regional flights, they even announced recently that they would start charging to use the in-flight bathrooms (see Ryanair toilets
).
But what resources are required for them to pull off tactics like this? I think that it takes some resources that most airlines do not have. Part of it is culture and organizational identity. When I look at this photo, I think that charging for using the toilet would not be as big of a deal as if I were charged by another airline. The company identity seems to be coherent (which we discussed in class), with additional low-cost tactics. They might not work, but I think that they are more likely with Ryanair because they have a coherent identity and strategy. For example, it would make more sense to have to pay for bathroom visits on shorter flights than on longer flights. Since Ryanair focuses on shorter flights, they have an advantage in implementing something like this.
I thought of this entrepreneur when we were discussing the airline industry. It’s interesting because it bridges two industries – automobiles and aircraft. Has the technology shifted enough that there is a real opportunity now?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_moller_on_the_skycar.html
Reply to this post with your business ideas or comments on the business ideas of others. You do not have to post any or all of your ideas, but you will need to record them in section 4 of your participation portfolio. If you post your ideas, you can get valuable feedback.
Format for the business idea (comments on this post):
Name the business idea
Describe in 100-500 words (can include drawings, images, etc) the business idea. You can expand on the format from the business concept worksheet (you are not limited to as few words as in the business concept worksheet, and the idea journal requires one additional question). Specifically, you must address:
1. What is the need (describe who needs it and why?
2.How would you solve the need?
3. Who would buy your solution?
4. What is needed to develop this idea?
The idea will be graded by assessing the following questions:
1. Did you answer the question?
2. Did you support your answer with reasons and evidence?
3. Is it clear that you recognize the limits of your idea?
4. Have you organized your writing coherently and clearly?
Comments (0) 