MBA 725 - Reflections on Module 2 Concepts

Week two is drawing to a close.  This week’s focus was on understanding organizational structure and the importance of having the right people in the right positions.  In launching a new business (or initiative), having the right staff will be critical in making or breaking the business.  Here’s the questions for reflection this week…

Why is it necessary to look through the four lenses when developing an internal communication strategy?

I think one of the biggest learnings I have already taken from the MBA class work is that it is extremely critical to look at my business decisions through the four lenses. In the case of the communication strategy, the four lenses will help my communication be understood by all those receiving it.

How do your personal experiences, prejudices, and expectations impact your ability to objectively select the best candidates for a job or project position?

As with every aspect of life, personal experiences and prejudices will affect my ability to be objective. A good leader has to learn to be unbiased and subjective with his selection process. A learning from my own experience is that it is good to utilize multiple people when searching for the best candidate for a position. This might include having the HR department do the initial resume reviews and interviews. This will allow a more subjective approach to hiring. Personal experiences can cause a person to possibly stereotype a candidate into the wrong category.

How does the identification of outsourcing opportunities relate to core competencies and competitive advantages? Can this relationship also be connected to the organizational structure? Explain and provide an example.

In reviewing the six step process recommended by Thomas Duening for identifying outsource opportunities, one step is to identify core and non-core activities of the business. By outsourcing activities that are non-core, the business can focus it’s time and energy on it’s core competencies. By developing and improving core competencies, a competitive advantage can be realized. Take a company that is focused on building computer processors. Their core competencies lie in research and development of faster and more powerful chips. By outsourcing their logistics, they do not spend their time coordinating how their product gets to the marketplace, but what their next product will be. The logistics provider has no knowledge of how to build microprocessors, but their core competency lies in knowing the most cost effective way to deliver the products on time. This is an outsourcing that benefits both companies.

May 27, 2007 | Filed Under MBA 725 | 1 Comment 

MBA 725 - Reflections on Module 1 Concepts

I survived MBA 715 and am now moving into 725. My first course was all about creating the business idea that would launch. Now, I learn about organizing that launch. This course will prove challenging for me, as my brain dominance leans more towards creative thinking and being a visionary. Organization is one of my weakest areas. I’m looking forward, albeit apprehensively, to the skills I will learn in this course. The questions for reflection follow…

Consider your own leadership traits. Do you more closely fit with the creative nature from MBA 715 or the organizational nature of MBA 725? Explain your response.

My HBDI scores very strongly reflect my creative, right-brained thinking style. My initial overview of the launch stage is very overwhelming. My weakest area is organization. As a leader, I will need to learn to utilize better organizational traits. A good leader is able to adapt when necessary. If I move into a launch project, I will also want to have solid organizational dominants on my team.

Reflecting on your personal past experiences, discuss an idea you developed, only to have it fail during the implementation. Why did the implementation fail?

I’ve had a number of software developments fail, but usually turn successful during rework. As I look back over them, probably the most common reason for failure was not understanding the requirements of the end user. When the project went live, we would find that the output of the project ended up not being exactly what the end user needed. This may have been avoided by doing more up front simulation of the final product.

Think of the products and services of your current organization. How can the products and services be reclassified to identify different markets?

Our product went through this a number of years ago. We had an industrial product line that someone had the idea to make a few modifications and introduce to the retail consumer world. It has done very well since then. As our products are highly industrial and specific, it will be a difficult process to reclassify the products. For our business line, new product development is more likely to get us into different markets.

May 20, 2007 | Filed Under MBA 725 | Leave a Comment