Not feeling "up" these days? Japan Close-Up magazine for October takes note of the 'Nothing Makes Me Happy' syndrome they say is sweeping Japan. A pervasive apathy seems to have gripped the country. The article is couched as a selection of "mutterings" of a range of disenchanted citizens, including a typical company man, a bookkeeper, a millionaire and a Tokyo University student.
Also in this issue: An interview with Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera. Titled 'For the Good of the Public', it outlines Inamori's management philosophy. Memorable quote: "The most fundamental purpose for a company must be to protect the livelihood of its employees and their families now and in the future so that every one of them can lead a happy life." Now if that doesn't lift your spirits .....
Weinstein Co. made an exclusive deal with Blockbuster, the terms of which dictate that for four years starting with the coming January, TWC will make available its titles only to Blockbuster, excluding the company's main competitors Netflix and Movie Gallery. Blockbuster in turn will provide the most exposure to the TWC titles and some payments to Weinstein Co. For more details on the deal read the article in November 16, 2006 Daily Variety.
Titled 'China's Global CFO', the October cover story of Finance Asia extensively highlights Mary Ma, perhaps the most prominent CFO in China today. A senior executive of Lenovo, the world's # 3 PC maker, Ma played a crucial role in negotiating the complexities of the takeover of the firm in 2004. She is now seeking opportunities to "trim down" the computing giant and surmount challenges in achieving savings and operational efficiencies. She notes some of the hurdles she's already faced: "One of the biggest changes in my job is the amount I have had to learn about international markets. In China, we were more focused on small businesses and consumers. ... the PCD (personal computer division) is more focused on Fortune 500 companies." The company is a work in progress, but Ma concludes confidently: "Lenovo's new business model will succeed, just as all our other strategies have succeeded."
The New York Times reports that there may be concern among retailers about how much consumers will spend this holiday season. Wal-mart has reported that the company expects a weak sales estimate, and after that report, stocks tumbled in their steepest slide since July. As Wal-mart goes so does the economy?
The new book Dynasties : fortunes and misfortunes of the world's great family businesses by the economic historian Davis S. Landes tracks some of the world's most famous family businesses. The book makes a good argument for the prominence of family firms. Read BYU Professor Brayden King's blog entry on orgtheory.net. He also points out an interesting NY Times review of this book.
The library has ordered a copy of this book. · read more reviews
The cover story for the December 4th issue BusinessWeek 'The Soul Of A New Microsoft' reports a cultural shift at Microsoft. "The software giant is entering perhaps the greatest upheaval in its 30-year history. New business models are emerging -- from low-cost 'open-source' software to advertising-supported Web services -- that threaten Microsoft's core business like never before. For investors to care about the company, it needs to find new growth markets ... 'Things are different from the desktop world that most of the Microsoft guys grew up in,' says Michael A. Cusumano, a management professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has written extensively about the company." With Bill Gates planning to leave the company in June 2008, who will be the next generation leaders and take Microsoft beyond Windows?
Our bloggers are taking a brief holiday break. We'll be back "on the air" Monday, November 27. Gobble gobble!
A BusinessWeek article, The Dark Side of Second Life, reports on a recent virtual town hall meeting in Second Life, in which one of its creators, Philip Rosedale, known on the inside as "El Presidente," and Second Lifers discuss the latest crisis to befall the digital community where members interact, buy and sell goods, and build property worth real money. Software, such as CopyBot, lets people copy others' possessions - and puts the value of Second Life's virtual property at risk.
"It would seem the virtual world is facing a very real-world problem: crime. As more people have joined the global virtual community -- it now boasts more than 1 million members -- residents are grappling with how to secure property ownership and ensure public well-being."
'China Blog'. This is the title of the cover story for the November 13 issue of InformationWeek magazine. It's a weeklong chronicle by Aaron Ricadela, describing his adventures in Beijing hobnobbing with IT businesspeople, executives, analysts, and researchers. He begins by observing that China's $ 2 trillion economy is expanding at 10% annually, and that its IT market will reach $35 billion this year; China will account for 41% of growth in Asian IT spending this year.
Notes Reed Hundt, former FCC Chairman and author of In China's Shadow, "This is the big challenge. American firms have never had an economy rise so rapidly." Ricadela's diary is replete with statistics that any IT executive should digest. He warns: "The 'Middle Kingdom' is rich with opportunity, but its abstruse ways can foil those who don't invest the effort to understand."
Are you an heir to the family dynasty and want to read about business practices that don't work in family controlled businesses? Then read The Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram by Nicholas Faith, St Martin's Press. "The Bronfmans made their fame and fortune transforming a bootlegging operation on the Canadian prairies into Seagram, one of the world's biggest drinks groups." Read an interesting review of the book at FT.com.
The library has ordered a copy of this book.
SmartMoney showcases its 'Power 30' as its November cover story -- the 30 most influential people in investing today. Broken into groups (The Investors, The Policy Makers, The Market Movers, etc.) these investment titans are shaping (and rocking) the financial world.
Names include Harry Lange of Fidelity Magellan, Bill Miller of Legg Mason Funds, Sheila Blair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, US Representative Christopher Cox, Liz Ann Sonders of Charles Schwab, Hector Ruiz of Advanced Micro Devices, Toshihiko Fukui (Governor, Bank of Japan), Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures and of course, The Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett. Learn who's who in investing -- and why.
Jouni Forsman, the Research Director at Gartner, thinks that in the future the telecommunications innovations will take place in the emerging markets. His conclusion is based on the extensive research on emerging markets that he's just completed. He states the reasons in his posting on Gartner's blog.
From the Stanford Report, dire news: A new study indicates that unless steps are taken to protect them, all species of wild seafood will disappear within 50 years. Stanford biologists, part of an international team of researchers, conclude in the November 3 issue of Science that the loss of marine biodiversity worldwide is profoundly reducing the ocean's ability to produce seafood, resist diseases, filter pollutants and rebound from stresses such as climate change and over-fishing. Something to think about next time you tuck into your mahi-mahi.
What will the NFL come up with next? Who can beat an 80 lbs book with over 850 pages devoted solely to American Football. Super Bowl XL: The Opus is an ubersized book chronicling the last forty years of the NFL and will start selling November 21. The Kraken Media and Sports group is printing 20,000 copies of this limited edition which will sell for $4,000. The first 400 books printed and named the MVP edition will include the signatures of all living MVP players and go for around $25,000. The NFL is undoubtedly one of the most successful sports franchises around and what a way to make a splash into the holidays. You can buy it, or ogle it on Amazon.
Read more about Super Bowl XL: The Opus in this New York Times article.
What are curious minds reading? From a few select blogs come reading recommendations. Ed Batista offers Power Up: Transforming Organizations Through Shared Leadership by Stanford's David L. Bradford, and Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? What it Takes to be an Authentic Leader by Robert Goffee.
Stanford Professor Robert Sutton commends a forthcoming book, Made to Stick, by fellow GSB Professor Chip Heath and his publisher-brother Dan, and Harvard Professor Rakesh Khurana's Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs.
And from Diego Rodriguez comes The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) by John Maeda. Let your brain sink its teeth into any or all of these intriguing books.
You may find these at Jackson Library:
• Power Up: Transforming Organizations Through Shared Leadership - call number: HD57.7 .B697 1998
• Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? What it Takes to be an Authentic Leader - call number: HD57.7 .G663 2006
• Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs - call number: HF5549.5.R44 K48 2002.
• Made to Stick - will be available in January '07.
• The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) - currently on order.
In a recent New York Times article, Fortress Investment Group, an alternative investment firm, has filed to sell $750 million worth of shares to the public, valuing the company at $7.5 billion. The article poses that this company has let the general public take a peek into the financial workings of the hedge fund world.
This small comic book publisher has survived for 20 years against the likes of larger competitors Marvel Entertainment and DC Comics. Read about it in the New York Times.
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, as keynote speaker at the Roads to Innovation conference at Stanford. Schmidt talks about opportunities in this new digital world, and how corporations cannot hold data hostage from users. As an example he gives the fact that cell phone numbers are now portable and the public can take this identity with them wherever they are. In the future he sees people accessing their information with whichever device they want. What has made this possible is open and standard protocols on the web. The Web has helped open up the possibilities to access information no matter which device you use.
Schmidt also speaks about what's near and dear to every librarian's heart, trustworthiness of a source and its content. How trustworthy is information put out by those who are not necessarily experts in their field? He speaks about how we are all playing the "poker of information" who can get away with presenting information to a public who believes them, without being sure where the content is coming from. You can view Schmidt's presentation (58:39 min.) at Executive Conversations with Christian Grant.
Read in the Mercury News an article on how a Palo Alto start-up, loopt, in partnership with Boost Mobile, one of the biggest youth-oriented wireless phone companies, plans to give the young men the freedom to continue social networking away from their computers. With a new service, about to launch, close to 4 million Boost customers will be able to create group of friends, keep track of them using the text messaging, pictures, and GPS technologies built into their mobile phones. According to James Brehm, wireless analyst with Frost & Sullivan, "This is the next step and it's a giant leap".
Are your customers happy? If not, you might want to read about today's best practices in customer service. FastCompany presents their 2006 Customers First Awards. 'Customer Champions' include Mandarin Oriental, NASCAR, American Girl and others. 'Honorable Mentions' include Title Nine Sports, Best Cellars, and Cold Stone Creamery, to mention a few. And then there are the 'Local Heroes', including Babeland, Elephant Pharmacy, Pinkberry and Flight 001. Learn what the 'Companies That Love Their Customers' are doing right.
VLAB (The MIT / Stanford Venture Lab) invites GSB students to an evening with bestselling author Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm, Dealing with Darwin) and a panel of three veteran CEOs from Barracuda Networks, Postini and Proofpoint.
The event, starting at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 15, includes an hors d'oeuvres reception, followed by Moore's speech and a panel discussion in Bishop Auditorium. The reception in Arbuckle is $15 for GSB students, the presentation, starting at 7:00, is free for GSB students.
"Does it seem as if Christmas creeps up earlier every year? That's because it does," according to an article from Advertising Age.
Last year, Wal-Mart set the stage by moving its holiday ads up three full weeks to Nov. 1. This year, the first to roll out the holiday campaign is Lowe's, on October 23 - a full week before Halloween!
A recent survey shows that "40.4% of consumers started to shop for the holidays this year before Halloween, up from 40.1% in 2005." Many businesses are racing to attract these early shoppers. However, some worry the holiday hype could backfire.
After a sharp decline in investments following the tech bust of 2000 and 2001, venture firms are beginning to pour money into a new crop of Web 2.0 companies, in businesses such as social networking and online video. Some worry that the frenzy is getting out of hand. "This is scarily like 1998 in some ways," says David Card, a senior analyst with Jupiter Research. "There's easy money out there, and there are some bad ideas getting funded." Read the article at BusinessWeek.com.
Want to know what the big enchiladas were predicting just before (and after) the Crash of '29 ? Check out the 1927-1933 Chart of Pompous Prognosticators. You may be surprised. You may be amused. But you'll definitely be more skeptical, after you have a chuckle at pronouncements of yesteryear by President Herbert Hoover, Bernard Baruch, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, Yale economist Irving Fisher and others. Enjoy this 20-20 hindsight from a safe viewing distance.
Bruce Nussbaum in BusinessWeek Online showcases Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century, from Worldchanging.com. Though he grumbles "Yes, it leans left and it appears to downplay the role of markets as a possible solution (something that is working in Europe and the US). And I don't think it helps to have the first sentence to the intro on business be 'Business doesn't have to be destructive,' " Nussbaum goes on to quote approvingly the following book review from another blog: "Worldchanging is sometimes a bit visionary, but it's not naive. They have a sane optimism about the future that carries through the book, which covers topics as diverse - yet interconnected - as biomimicry, clean energy, water, disaster relief, green design and architecture, transportation, megacities challenges, education, public health, South-South science, social entrepreneurship, microfinance, start-ups, ecological economics, networked politics, transparency, citizen media, climate foresight, etc. It's a fabulous compendium of ideas."
The library has ordered a copy of this book.
Foodie star Rachael Ray is suddenly everywhere, it seems. Is she a 'Branding Goddess'? That's the title of this interesting blog entry by Grant McCracken, which marvels at her meteoric rise and its marketing implications. Unless you're a premium member of the Ray Fan Club, this catalog of Everything Rachael will probably tell you all want to know, and more.
From Guy Kawasaki's blog comes mention of 'In Search of the Valley', a DVD from Steve O'Hear containing interviews of Valley pioneers like John Warnock (Adobe), Andy Hertzfeld (Macintosh programming whiz), Steve Wozniak (Apple), Craig Newmark (craigslist), Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly Media), and Guy Kawasaki (The Macintosh Way.) Steve provides Guy with outtakes of an interview with Wozniak, not found on the DVD; 'Woz' discusses growing up in Silicon Valley, the Homebrew Computer Club, and starting Apple. Interested? Go to Kawasaki's blog for the extra footage ... and more.
The library has ordered a copy of the DVD.
What do wallpaper past, perfume, and modeling clay have in common? Check out this month's JacksonLine to find out.
You will also find out how to IM the library, become a star on Wall Street, and get a job in Private Equity.
"In the future, the 'P' in personal computer could stand for portable." How are PC makers preparing themselves for tomorrow's demand for information and entertainment anytime, anywhere? What is the future of hardware? How will corporate data centers cope with increasing amount of data flowing over the Internet and corporate networks? Check out the BusinessWeek Online's special report on Next-Generation Computing.
MySpace, the social networking site purchased in July by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, is trying to move into overseas markets, according to a New York Times story. Already established in Britain, Australia, Ireland, Germany and France, MySpace is expected to expand very soon into Japan as a possible joint venture. But with expansion comes concerns about the capacity for a product with an American flavor to accommodate other nations' socializing habits. In some countries MySpace may face stiff competition, such as Brazil's Orkut.com, Germany's Studivz.net and France's Skyblogs.
"MySpace seems to be doing pretty well so far," notes Nate Elliot, senior analyst at Jupiter Research. "But you have very little control over where these things take off." The jury is still out. Says Allen Weiner of Gartner, "News Corporation is global. If they're going to use the strategy they're using in the U.S. -- which is that MySpace is a portal but also a platform for content delivery -- then each and every market is important."
Roads to Innovation takes place at Stanford this weekend (November 11-12.) The conference aims to "disentangle the drivers of innovation in the economy and the role of universities, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and corporations in the promotion of new ideas and technologies."
Open to MBA and PhD students, GSB alumni, Stanford students and alumni, and professionals, the event will present distinctive policy makers, businesspersons and scholars in the debate on the enablers of technology, and promises to be a characteristically 'Stanford event' -- exciting, thought-provoking, and rewarding.
Rodney Dangerfield? No, Stanford University's Professor Robert Sutton. Sutton speaks to the issue of dignity at the office on his personal blog. He showcases Randy Hodson's 2001 book Dignity at Work, and cites approvingly Hodson's definition: "Dignity is the ability to establish a sense of self-worth and self-respect and to appreciate the respect of others." Sutton goes on to opine, "Dignity at Work is written for academics, not managers, but it is far more accessible than most academic books and still impressively rigorous in terms of theory and evidence. If you are serious about digging into the struggle for workplace dignity ... this splendid and well-crafted book is well-worth reading." By way of counterpoint, Sutton, author of the upcoming new book The No-Asshole Rule, draws on some material of his own --- his list of 'things assholes do' --- to describe situations where respect is notably lacking. (Find the dirty-dozen list with a review of Sutton's book at Gary Kawasaki's blog.)
You may find a copy of Dignity at Work at Jackson Library. Call number: HD4904 .H62 2001
The No-Asshole Rule will be published in February 2007.
BusinessWeek Online notes a growing trend: In the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley, firms are sending their corporate directors back to school. According to the article 'Sending the Board Back to School', directors are signing up for specialized exec ed courses in increasing numbers. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002 to create more transparency in financial reporting, is creating a more complex environment where directors feel they need to be up to speed in order to avoid potential corporate disasters in the post-Enron era. As David Wittrock of California Micro Devices, who himself recently attended the Stanford Director's Forum, says, "It is time for directors to step up and voice their views on corporate decisions. The days of unanimous votes on every issue without any challenges to top management are over."
The October 23 New Yorker has a review by Anthony Grafton of historian William Clark's book Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University. According to 'The Nutty Professors', Clark outlines the historical evolution of the professorial profession, highlighting superstars like mediaeval theologian Abelard, whom Grafton calls the 'first Parisian intellectual', Michael Maestlin, astronomer and instructor to Kepler, and legendary German historian and Nobel laureate Theodor Mommsen. Grafton feels Clark doesn't quite fully explain how academics came to possess inherent charisma, as opposed to the formal authority they possess, but he does pinpoint the importance of 'asceticism' in creating an impression of greatness -- citing examples such as Friedrich August Wolf, author of the 1795 hit Prolegomena to Homer, a nonconformist who famously abstained from pleasures to devote himself with monk-like diligence to his studies.
Perhaps the most amusing part of the article is the awed account by Mark Twain of Mommsen's appearance at a Berlin banquet in 1892, where Twain -- himself no stranger to celebrity -- saw a thousand German students go berserk and raise the rafters with their extreme exuberance for the famed professor.
You may find a copy of this book at Education (Cubberley) Library.
Edmund Phelps, Economist from Columbia U., speaks to Bloomberg's Suzy Assaad on the state of the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy he views as "amazingly strong" and low unemployment as "remarkable." Professor Phelps won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics with his research on the interplay of inflation expectations and employment. His theory is that the containment of expectations in regards to inflation will contain the inflation rate itself. Using Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or TIPS as well as other methods inflation expectations can be gagged.
Phelps is also asked about emerging markets such as China and India and states that both countries have a long way to go. He mentions China's "phenomenal growth rate" and more "dynamic" environment in the entrepreneurial sector as great economic drivers. Although India is doing well, high-tech in Bangalore constitute only a small portion of India's economy.
Phelps also speaks about investing his prize money in... something "safe" not Real Estate :-)
Watch the video at Bloomberg.com.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Debi Gore-Mann (GSB, Class of 1987) has been hired as the first female athletic director at the University of San Francisco. Before going to USF, Gore-Mann served as senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator at Stanford and the Cardinal won 14 Division-I national titles during her tenure. That's it from the Sports Desk!
Sir Nicholas Stern, former VP of the World Bank and former professor at the London School of Economics, predicts in his report on Economics of Climate Change if action is not taken immediately to stem global warming: floods could displace 100 million people, one out of six people in the world could be affected by water shortages, droughts might be so severe as to cause massive migration, and the extinction of many forms of wildlife could happen. All this could be avoided if 1% of global GDP is spent to curb global warming, and in the end for every £1 invested now £5 or more will be saved in the future. Put out by the UK Treasury, this is the first report written by an economist to enter prominently into the global debate on climate change.
Apple Computer celebrated its 30 year anniversary last April. On the weekend of November 4-5th, 2006 at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA, a panel discussion was held called "Apple in the Garage" celebrating and discussing Apple's history.
Whether you are a symphony manager looking to increase attendance or starting up your own theatre company, Arts Reach magazine, founded by GSB alum John Zorn, may be just what you need. Subtitled "The Art and Science of Enhancing Your Mission, Attendance and Fundraising", its articles target the specific fundraising needs of the artistic and performing community.
Recent pieces include 'Top Ten Signs It's Time To Outsource Your In-House Telephone Campaign', 'Creating Anniversary Buzz', 'The Death of Performing Arts Subscriptions - Or Not?', and 'Engaging the Younger Demographic'. Job listings and conference announcements are also included.
Check it out, in Jackson Library. Access to the electronic version is also availble to Stanford users at the Information Desk of the library.
Social philosopher Charles Handy offers commentary on the roles and teaching of some of the reigning management gurus of the last few decades. Personalities covered by a series of radio addresses include Peter Drucker, Michael Porter, Tom Peters, Kenichi Ohmae, Warren Bennis, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter, among others. And Handy himself. Whether you agree with their ideas or not, these figures have exercised a considerable influence on management styles and techniques over the last 30 years.
Since the World Series has begun its October classic, I've run across books on baseball not surprisingly. One book "Growing the game: The globalization of Major League Baseball" by Alan Klein, concerns itself about the effort to promote baseball internationally.
In his book Klein cites polls that rank American football as the most popular US sport, then basketball followed by baseball. The US claims that baseball is the "national" sport. Will it ever be the #1 "international sport"?
You may find a copy of this book at Green Library.
On October 19th Carly Fiorina came to the GSB dressed in Cardinal red and spoke on the topic of leadership to a packed auditorium. For those of you missed her talk, you can read a summary of the speech and watch the video (56:31 minutes).
In this hour long discussion Fiorina speaks about how workers in a company "watch the walk more than listen to the talk" of a leader. She also speaks to her motto of "being authentic" when working with people and how leadership is all about possibilities. Stick around for the Q&A segment; Fiorina is very candid and up front and recounts a fun anecdote at the end.
There is a new trend to design storefronts without a front window especially in malls. So as you head out on your Christmas shopping expedition, you won't be able to browse the windows to see a sample of the merchandise inside. Instead you will basically see a wall. Read about it in this New York Times article.
Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced Sun Tzu's Art of War as the canonical hip Eastern text for executives?
BusinessWeek highlights a new wrinkle in the world of business: the rise of 'Karma Capitalism'. Western business schools are introducing 'self-mastery' classes based on Indian techniques, and Indian-born strategists like C.K. Prahalad and Ram Charan hold sway as today's white-hot business gurus. As Prahalad says, the challenge is to develop a capitalism that "puts the individual at the center of the universe," placing employees and customers first so that they can benefit shareholders. A lofty goal, BusinessWeek observes. But if it is attained, business leaders may find that India's biggest impact on the global economy may be on the way executives think.
Denmark is the happiest country in the world, according to researchers at University of Leicester.
The first 'World Map of Happiness' covers 178 countries, and was based on a battery of statistics and responses of 80,000 people worldwide. The most significant factors were health, the level of poverty, and access to basic education. Six European countries ranked in the top 10. The U.S. came in 23rd.
The study will be published later this year. You may read a brief summary at BusinessWeek Online.
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