Ethical Dilemma

BYU basketball forward Brandon Davies' suspension from the BYU basketball program certainly presented an ethical dilemma for university officials. The essence of the dilemma centered around the impact that the decision would have upon the external and internal perception of the school's honor code and the impact such a decision would have upon the school's basketball program. On the one hand, the university was faced with preserving the integrity of the school's honor code by suspending Davies. On the other hand, a suspension dramatically derailed the success of the school's nationally ranked basketball program. The difficulty of the decision is realized when considering that the basketball program was on the eve of becoming "America's team" with a possible "Cinderella run" to the Final Four Championships. It is probable that the university's viewed its decision as a strong voice in upholding the principle of the honor code. This example, teaches us that one of the questions that we should ask ourselves when faced with ethical dilemmas is: "Which principle is most important?" Another question might be: "Which decision brings success in the short-term/long-term?" "Is the short-term more important? Or is the long term more important?"

Misalignments in Personal Brand

McKinsey's 7-S Model has implications for a variety of circumstances and situations such as the development of one's individual brand. The model includes the following elements: structure, systems, style, staff, skills, strategy, and shared values. It is common for business professionals to sometimes "reinvent" themselves. For example, some professionals do this by going back to school for an advanced degree. As I noted in class on Tuesday, when an organization seeks to undergo massive changes, such as redefining corporate strategy, the organization has to "get into" as many of the 7-S's as possible in order to make notable change. Likewise, if an individual wishes to "reinvent" himself, he must "get into" as many of the 7-S's as possible if he is to re-brand himself.

The individual can develop a set set of skills such as the knowledge and skill attained from an MBA program. For style or culture, the individual can magnify the strengths of his personality and maybe even develop new strengths. Even in one's individual life there must be structure that supports the change. This structure might include regular activities that help the individual to refine his skill and ability. Each individual will also develop a customized process that will help him achieve his goals. The staff portion of the model might refer to an individual's network. In order to have opportunities for a new career, network contacts are paramount. All of these elements will contribute to the individual's overall strategy and values, which is a distinguished personal brand.

The problem is that most people find it difficult to align all of these elements of the 7-S model. The more than one can eliminate misalignments, the more successful he will be in developing a distinguished brand and successful career.

H-P Acquires Analytics Startup

H-P CEO Leo Apotheker announced his first acquisition as CEO of the largest technology company in the world. The acquisition underscores Mr. Apotheker's desire to pursue "profitable growth" rather than the disciplined cost-cutting results achieved by former CEO Mark Hurd. Next month H-P will announce in greater detail its strategy towards "profitable growth". However, Monday's acquisition sheds important light on the direction H-P is heading.

Vertica Systems Inc. is a small startup that has developed software that can be used by companies to analyze data. The software allows companies to identify emerging trends and other important information in real-time. H-P's competitors such as IBM, Oracle, and EMC have also invested in similar technologies.

Mr. Apotheker's investment in software represents broader efforts by technology giants to become one-stop services for clients. Such a push by H-P, if successful, will result in what Mr. Apotheker calls "profitable growth" given that the software space has higher margins than traditional manufacturing.

As the technology behemoths pursue growth, investors will attentively watch to see how the competition will unfold. Sustained competitive advantage will likely be achieved by those organizations that best create new markets with new technologies.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/02/14/h-p-acquires-analytics-startup-in-new-ceo%E2%80%99s-first-deal/

The Capstone Effect

The team strategy simulation, Capsim, is integrating all facets of a business education in an attempt to provide the student with a unique opportunity to experience the challenges of the business world. The student gains a sense of what it must be like to lead a business organization-a task that requires the student to see and understand the complexity involved in the execution of numerous business functions-R&D, marketing, production, H/R, finance. The results of the simulation are affected not only by the decisions of the student but by the interplay of other student teams. This provides for a very dynamic environment resembling the typical business environment.

Overlaying the management of typical business functions i.e. R&D, marketing, production, finance, etc., is the development of business strategy. Even before the simulation begins, team members must debate overall business strategy. The question becomes how can a team develop the best strategy in a competitive environment?

First, the team must envision the kind of overall offering it hopes to make to the market. What kind of effect will the organization have on the world? Then, the team must determine whether or not such a strategy is feasible. Does the organization have the right tools to make it happen? Are there others who are trying the same thing? Are they succeeding?

China's ICBC Bids for U.S. Entry

China's largest state-owned bank signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Bank of East Asia's U.S. subsidiary. It is the first time that China's state owned banks have acquired a U.S. deposit-taking institution. This is interesting given the fact that President Hu Jintao just completed his visit to the U.S.

For years, China has been pressured by the outside world to open up its economy and revalue its currency. Applying Porter's business strategy model, we can see that during past years China has employed a cost strategy to fuel its rise as one of the world's largest economies. For most of its history, China has refused to revalue its currency because the dollar pegged yuan has helped fuel its export market.

The time is coming for China to think about adjusting its strategy. Perhaps the revaluing of the Chinese yuan will prove a catalyst for China in adopting a different strategy- be it a differentiated one or otherwise. Granted, such a change will take time. But the idea is interesting. With growing foreign exchange reserves, primarily U.S. dollars, China faces substantial risks. President Hu's visit, along with other collaborations with U.S. officials indicate that China officials are on the move. It will be interesting to see how the situation plays out within the coming years.