The whole point of me writing this blog, was so that you guys could get an understanding of what it's like in class. Is the course too easy, is too hard, will you find time.... and most importantly, is it worth it? I've written enough now for you guys to give me some feedback that can help me make it better for you. So, let me know what you think about this blog at the link below:
Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation
We had a case discussion on both days, quite like the last week, with some dependence on the data at the end of the case. The first case tried to explain how a person might decide about when to sell his venture, if at all, and relies on his basic attitude on how to select people who'll help with partnering with him on the venture. The second case tries to explain the different facets of deciding WHEN to partner with someone for your new venture. Should you do it at the very beginning, somewhere in between or at the very end?
Sort of felt like the class was a little unprepared this week, I am not sure if it was because there was less of pressure this week, or if it's the typical case of the momentum slowing down in between, like taking a short breather. Next week might be better, we have our midterms in ENVC! Just imagine, a whole bunch of students trying to analyse a case and determine if that enterprise is going in the right direction or not!
Social Entrepreneurship
This week, we spoke about electoral reforms. Now, I knew that the prof was a bigshot, but how much of a bigshot wasn't known to me. Turns out he's helped with the ADR, this is the team that actually lobbied hard for the information on previous criminal records to be made public for those people standing in elections. While his last few weeks spoke about how might a person go about helping the poor in society, this week was about what you can do on a different scale, with regard to using the powers bestowed on society to actually help make it better. While it sounds pretty simple in a single sentence, the actual process of getting it done is pretty hard, and it shows on the prof. Through his bitter experiences, he's realized that when you talk about getting something done at the large scale of the government, there's a LOT of retaliation and inertia you face. The way of getting things done is so strongly fixed, that to make it move takes a huge effort.
If my manager was to try and get me to write one more line of code, I know when I might crib... so imagine how much the people in the government must be cribbing. Because for sure, it involves more than one person, a very large number in fact, and it involves them actually having to get off their butts and do some more actual work! It sure isn't as easy as sitting in an AC office and writing code, I'll give them that much. But when you really think about it, they worked to get into that position and we do have every right to correct any inefficiences as it is, ultimately, we the people. It's our job to give the feedback.
B2B Market Management
Ok, I confess! I didn't really read through the cases this week! I mean, I did glance through it, but I didn't actually read it and analyse the numbers. And so, when everyone else is spouting numbers and points to put up on the board, goaded by the professor... I'm just trying to hold on to the coat-tails of all these maniacs in class. Luckily, the basic funda of the class was easy to follow. We were talking about how best we could grow in an environment like the Indian IT industry, where the honeymoon phase is getting over. That is, we've spent enough time in providing simple services, but we're now moving out of the commodity phase and going in for more comprehensive solutions that can help get us to a better place, where the profits are more. And the first session was based on this, the word that we've heard so often is now subtle, in the background. How can we add more value?
The next session was quite interestingly about Microsoft. The big bad wolf of the software world had its fair share of problems. With great power, comes great responsibility, money, and customer dissatisfaction! Apparently, Microsoft was busy coming out with products that gives normal folks like you and I, and huge corporates, enough reason to open our wallet more than once. Now, while they were busy creating more products for us, it turns out that when it cameto service costs, the product managers would add a short buffer to their total costs when selling the product. Then, somebody must have done an MBA and enlightened them about ABC (Activity Based Costing - check Quarter 3!). All of a sudden, there was a way to tie the service costs with each product, and wonder of wonders, the cost associated with service was WAYY too high. So the product managers get worried that they're about to lose their bonuses (for real, this is in the case!) and so they're trying to figure out what to do. And that is how the Microsoft Support Network came into being. It turns out that they initially had call centres, and some very semi-formal methods of service that wasn't standardized. So irrespective of people who are first-time users, major experts or corporates, they all had to stand in the same queue to get problems fixed. So this support network soon found out that they could have online forums, and simple tips put out online, and ALSO have the call centre. Of course they found a way to make money off of that too! You could now get priority customer care for a fee. Yep, that's the summary of the conclusion... for more understanding of why and how such decisions are made, pay the money, and join the course! I've got assignments to do now!
Just to remind you in case you forgot, I'd really find your feedback useful. Here's the link again: https://spreadsheets0.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDN6dEZiVUdSRGVTZExrTkx0Y0wzOWc6MQ#gid=0
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