Business Development, Growth & Expansion Planning for Aspire Public Schools

Aspire Public Schools, a CMO headquartered in San Francisco, establishes and operates public charter schools in California focused on providing low-income, urban youth with a high-quality education that will prepare them for college. With a current total of 10 schools, Aspire’s objective goal was to operate 100 charter schools in the state while maintaining its credible image of consistent improvement and delivering quality service. In addition, they also aim at attaining sustainable self-sufficiency through exclusive revenue from administration fees for running their Home office’s operations.

Despite widespread recognition and ardent praise directed towards their model of imparting education, Aspire’s financial situation and academic performance at the time were far from optimal. Only two of their schools were barely meeting the minimum API score requirements and decile rankings set by the state, while astronomically high and disproportionately distributed facilities expenses across their existing schools were resulting in an average net loss of 5% of revenue per school. This was their prime concern and a specific objective was to operate facilities at an average of 12% of revenues by ensuring that new school facilities amount to a maximum of 10%. Moreover, the cost of running the home office was proving to be very expensive, with personnel expenses accounting for 70% of its budget. However, Aspire envisions increasing its staff by 50% which would characterize a further increment. Rapid expansion with a target of opening 35 schools by 2008 or less optimistically, 90 schools by 2013 coupled with philanthropic donations of 11 and 25 million dollars respectively were seen by COO Gloria Lee as a plan to attain financial stability by breaking even.     

Management at Aspire is currently poised with the lucrative yet complex prospect presented by LAUSD to establishing their nascent presence in Los Angeles by opening the first of their schools in southern California – A project that is estimated to partially capitalize on an overwhelming demand of 130,000 prospective students. While entry into LA’s school district is eventually imminent for Aspire to develop a healthy alliance and stronghold in the state, it simultaneously runs the risks associated with growing at an uncharacteristically fast rate. These include the economic burdens of opening a new regional home office, compromising on quality, sacrificing autonomy and adhering to an array of bureaucratic norms prevalent in the district along with the volatile political landscape and legislative issues that comprise of the daunting realities for schools in LA.

The second alternative that management contemplates is gradual and controlled growth of Aspire public schools within Northern California, largely influenced by historical successes in San Francisco and Oakland. With a functional home office already present in the region, increasing the number of schools under its jurisdiction seemed to be an economical and operationally efficient model. Also, owing to its stature and prowess in the region, this option would also give Aspire the flexibility to independently operate these new schools as it desired. After few years, once the region becomes saturated and when sourcing charters becomes a significant challenge, pursuing growth inwards and down the coast to find new opportunities would be the next step.

Another option is to stall growth, refine and enhance their current efforts and in few years when they are better prepared, revisit the prospect of entering Los Angeles. This would presumably entail upgrading the quality standards and performance ranking of their existing schools by focusing exclusively on the suggested five year improvement plans that were put in place, prior to considering any expansion options.

On evaluating the problems and opportunities that surround these three alternatives, I have taken the decision to pursue the first option i.e. accepting LAUSD’s offer to expand into Los Angeles, primarily because it aligns perfectly with their long term vision. However, I have recommended a slightly different approach for Aspire’s growth efforts in southern California. To begin with, the target of opening 35 schools will be met over a suggested period of 10 years by 2013 as opposed to 2008. The reason behind this is to ensure that they do not expand too fast which in retrospect, can have a detrimental impact on the quality of their services. With this comparatively conservative growth plan, Aspire will see an addition of 2 new schools per year till 2008 followed by an addition of 3 new schools per year till 2013. In this way, the percentage increase in the number of Aspire’s schools will never exceed 15% barring the first year (2004) where it will be 20%. Also, these 25 new schools will be composed of 15 elementary schools that will be opened initially, followed by 10 high schools respectively as the cost to open elementary schools is lower and Aspire has a history of successfully operating them. This will provide Aspire with time to further develop and perfect their model for high schools in the future. This model will yield a projected net profit of $1,435,275 in year 10 (2013) for all the 35 schools cumulatively while the home office will see a net profit of $266,332 as well in the same year. (Click on the spreadsheet below for forecasted calculations)

Analyzing this decision strictly from a qualitative standpoint, its potential benefits are not difficult to foresee. Firstly and in an obvious sense, it would be duly irrational for Aspire to surpass an ideal premium opportunity like this to make its segway into southern California.  With its apparent domination in the north and going to the tune of its vision to expand throughout the state, penetration into Los Angeles is all but eventually inevitable. Moreover, it will provide Aspire with the chance to leverage its unique and highly sought after teaching style to several students from the region that are in dire need of their services. This will serve to enhance their credibility and presence in the community as well. While the several issues that await Aspire as a part of this project cannot be neglected, they will also put aspire in a position Aspire to test themselves on unfamiliar terrain – A challenge that if they overcome, will set them on a perfect course to achieving their much cherished long term vision. 

In addition to this, Los Angeles is expected to spend around $8 million on new schools in the forthcoming years with about $50 million directed towards the support of facility costs for charter organizations like Aspire. LAUSD also seemed to suggest that several utility costs for Aspire-purchased land would be covered too. As identified by Lee and Shalvey, the location of this project would serve as a means of attracting a wider, ethnically diverse and greatly talented pool of prospective recruits for teacher and principal positions. Based on these possibilities, it is imperative that the decision to venture into Los Angeles will be a promising and fruitful one for Aspire.

Strategic analysis of Safeway's business model

Safeway, Inc. is a leading operator of grocery chains in North America with three prominent competitive Advantages. The company’s broad product portfolio helps it to cater to a diverse range of customers. Safeway is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America with an extensive network of distribution, manufacturing and food processing facilities across 1,678 stores in the US and Canada. At Safeway, innovation is considered as the top priority and continues to be the cornerstone of the company’s corporate strategy. Two years ago, the company implemented the Autonomy's Intelligent Data Operating Layer software to increase operational efficiency. This continued focus on innovation and regular launch of products helps the company to align itself to the change in customers’ tastes and preferences.

However, on the other hand, Safeway is also plagued by certain weaknesses. Firstly, its failure to source and market the company’s merchandise efficiently and creatively could impair its ability to compete successfully and could adversely affect its growth opportunities. Next up is the critical issue pertaining to declined Liquidity. The company reported a decline in all the liquidity ratios. Its liquidity ratios decreased due to the increase in current liabilities. Its total current liabilities increased to $5,038.3m in the fiscal year ended 2011 from $4,314.2m in 2010. This led to a marginal decline in its liquidity indicators such as current ratio, quick ratio and cash ratio. The declining current ratio indicates that the company is in a weak position to meet its short-term obligations. The company also reported a decrease in cash and short term investments in fiscal year 2011 to the extent of 6.3% which was responsible for a recorded negative net change in cash of $49.4m. The decreasing cash reserves indicate the company’s inability to obtain additional debt to finance acquisitions, capture business opportunities and meet capital expenditure or other capital requirements in the future. In addition to this, Safeway has also recorded an increasing number of product recalls. Such recalls can hamper Safeway’s brand image and have a significant impact on its product sales. In addition, they not only affect the company's current revenues, but could also affect its long-term performance by reducing customer confidence. Another vital concern focusses on revenue concentration: Safeway’s financial performance is highly dependent on the US and Canadian operations, which comprised about 84.6% and 15.4%, respectively, of its total revenue for fiscal year 2011. The US economy is recovering very slowly and any such macro-economic factors slowing its revenue generation or decline in its business and financial performance from the US segment could have an adverse effect over its operating cash flows.

That being said, Safeway has a number of opportunities that they can capitalize upon characterized by a wide range of Private label brands, growing demand for organic products, an increase in Online Sales and an array of strategic agreements and partnerships with the USDA and the CNPP.

On the flip side however, Safeway is also faced by several key risks such as fierce competitive pressures from traditional grocery retailers, non-traditional competitors such as super-centers and club stores, as well as from specialty supermarkets, drug stores, dollar stores, convenience stores and restaurants. Unfavorable alterations in Government Regulations as well as changes in Labor Laws make for an even more challenging environment.

Discount Rate Analysis: During the fiscal year ended December 2011, Safeway recorded an increase in revenues of 6.29% over 2010.  The operating profit of the company was USD 1,134.60 million during the fiscal year 2011 - A decrease of 2.14% from 2010 while the net profit of the company was USD 516.70 million during the fiscal year 2011, a decrease of 12.39% from 2010. Based on these financial indicators, I would recommend a conservative discount rate of 15% taking into consideration the volatility of Safeway’s business environment, their low liquidity and the growing prospects of potential threats from giant retailers like Walmart.  All these factors create a predicament of ambiguity for Safeway’s future.

International Advertising Assignment: New Fiat Panda - "This is the Italy we like"

Advertising is often a direct reflection of cultural and societal values. In recent years, empirical studies have shown the emergence of several “global brands” that cross borders and attempt to appeal to a mass market of consumers. However, a debate exists as to how much ethnocentrism occurs in the way advertising is created and distributed to target audiences. In this assignment, I will critique an ad from outside my home country. The purpose is to review the ad and see what research and information I can come up with to better understand the cultural context under which it was created.

This well-crafted TV advert for Fiat first aired in Italy in January 2012. With the intention of spreading messages of national pride and integrity, it draws striking similarities to the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Manifesto Commercial aired in the United States. Both car manufacturers seek to leverage their unique competitive advantage as one of their nations pioneering automobile companies to attract attention, inject interest, facilitate desire and eventually persuade a course of action. The Fiat commercial appears to be directed at promoting the new Panda hatchback model but actually assumes a much greater objective – Reminding Italians about everything the company stands for, its nationalistic values, culture and ethics in a desperate effort to start anew. It fosters a bigger picture perspective as it highlights everything that defines the nation such as craftsmanship, design, structural inventions and a glorious history of prolonged excellence in automobile manufacturing. Based on Fiats then worrisome position in the global market, the ad was seen as a source of redemption for the automaker in a time of anxiety and growing concern for a nation bewildered with an array of economic crisis and growing uncertainties. 

As mentioned earlier, the commercial targeted several aspects of Italian lifestyle with the mention of design and aesthetic value being the most prominent. It also aimed at selling the concept of ‘hope and faith’ in an effort to encourage Italians that their days of prosperity and wealth can be restored if they just begin to trust the values that built the nation in the first place. Considering Italy’s Roman Catholic ancestry and religious standing, these phenomena seemed to align well with Fiat’s goal of refurbishing its image and leading people to believe that through the company, the nation is on the verge of a new beginning. In addition to this, artistry, creativity, passion and the desire to produce are other critical Italian characteristics that were very relevant in the context of this ad. Displaying the current state of affairs in the initial part soon followed by the notion of an ideal Italy, this ad inspires positive change through dire action.   

The laws, rules, and regulations governing the use of advertising in Italy are as liberal as those in the United States without any major distinctions, censory restrictions or prohibitions. A good method of understanding the differences between advertisements aired in various countries is by undertaking a comparative study. Identifying and analyzing two very similar TV ads produced by two very different companies, operating within the same industry and seeking to communicate a similar message was intriguing. While the predicament of both these automotive giants were relatively similar at the respective times during which these ads were broadcasted, the key factors that were touched upon to stimulate almost identical viewer response were quite different. The Jeep commercial targeted core American values and beliefs such as pride in American manufacturing and engineering, telling the world that American manufacturing is getting back on track, and that Chrysler is working hard to build the best new products for the market. On the other hand, Fiat looked to drive home elements of day to day Italian life such as the importance of creativity and design, beauty, aesthetics and perfection while consequently reiterating their legacy as one of the oldest and largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. Both commercials were characterized by these similar values that were thought to have built the nation as well as the company and inevitably reinforce this popular connection. The timing and character of these campaigns were spot on as they aired during a tumultuous period of great difficulty for both companies. Both automakers decided to go back to their roots and market a campaign that would encourage consumers to make purchase decisions based on their ‘responsibility’ towards their country and to entice their patriotic pride of driving a vehicle that strongly represents their nation. In hindsight, the Fiat ad might have well been exactly how the Jeep ad was, if it were tailored to be created and broadcast in the United States.

Developing an Integrated Marketing Campaign for Kimpton Hotels: Brand Management and IMC in Action

San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is the first and leading collection of boutique Hotels throughout the United States and Canada. Kimpton Hotels offers services and design elements focused on care, comfort, style, flavor and fun. Every Kimpton hotel reflects the energy, personality and pulse of its location, history and architectural style. With presence in several big cities across the United States, Kimpton fuses art, social responsibility and fine cuisine into its hotels and restaurants such that each hotel is uniquely branded to reflect the characteristics of the cities where the hotel is located. Kimpton uses this strategy to target specific market segments in these key cities. In doing so however, a significant challenge that they faced, was a lack of overall recognition for the Kimpton brand. This originated from the fact that travelers usually remembered each individual hotel that they visited in a respective city, but failed to recognize that particular hotel was a part of the Kimpton chain. This was because Kimpton’s efforts to give each hotel its own unique theme culminated in the individual hotels’ brands becoming more famous, prominent and identifiable than the parent brand itself. Moreover, bookings done via online mediums such as Priceline failed to identify a certain hotel as a part of the Kimpton group. Another problem Kimpton faced with these websites was that of inability to allocate points for their “In-Touch” loyalty program. Also, efforts to communicate information about this program were undertaken by local properties and failed to target the specific customer groups identified by Kimpton. Based on online research, Kimpton Group identified the likes of The Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Peninsula Hotels to be their specific prime competitors. From a broader perspective, it is reasonable to infer that competing hotel chains offering similar services and within the same price bracket, but with superior parent brand awareness may also pose a significant threat to Kimpton.

     Of the identified target audiences, if Kimpton were to focus on Pet lovers and Eco-conscious travelers, they can tailor their “In Touch” campaign in the following ways. Redesigning all the forms of communication such as e-mails, posts. Etc. to reflect an environment and animal friendly theme, preferably with the use of earthly colors like blue and green. They should also highlight these aspects of the hotels’ overall theme and any environmental or animal rights programs that they may be a part of. A few minor adjustments to the hotels decor could go a long way in procuring the interest of these target groups. This could include the introduction of creative customer centric methods of beautification such as the use of self-sufficient fish tanks and small botanical gardens, which could make for a picturesque ambience as well as be used to leverage the appeal of these audiences. Some kind of association with environmental protection groups and animal right’s activists such as PETA is another way to attract desired attention to the program. The use of social media to propagate these messages, ideas and initiatives whilst subtly advertising the “In touch” campaign could prove equally effective. Alternatively, the “In Touch” program can be integrated into their communications mix with the use of PR. The best way to communicate various aspects of this program to the masses effectively is directly and so it would be useful to host invitation based complementary events for the Kimpton faithful at select locations for the sole purpose of spreading awareness about the “In-Touch” program as well as the association of the parent brand. If these events can include a presentation by the group’s management or PR division promoting a catchy campaign tagline such as ‘Live and Let live’ (Live being a Pun for living at the hotel as well as supporting harmonious and holistic living with the environment and all life forms by and large), it could prove paramount to achieving the established goals.

     The utilization of client centric and customer specific media vehicles such as the Internet advertising, forms of new media like SMS and e-mail, localized print ads and targeted narrowcasting should suffice for introduction of this campaign. This is primarily because it is easier to assess effectiveness with a concentrated low budget media campaign rather than the highly risky, expensive and unnecessary use of larger media vehicles such as Broadcasting. With the exception of narrowcasting efforts such as radio commercials, the performance of social media campaigns can be easily and cost-effectively measured using tools such as Facebook analytics. Similar tools are available to numerically quantify the response rates of SMS and e-mail communications. 

 

     An efficient method for Kimpton hotels to communicate their philosophy throughout the internal organization and their community would be by first considering the analogy of the service triangle. They can convey their messages and ‘set the promise’ to their faithful customers through an adoption of the external marketing methodologies discussed above. In order to internally market themselves to their employees, they can arrange seminars and training programs to explain the characteristics of their brand thoroughly. This will be critical because in the service sector, there is a high level of contact between the front line staff and the customers and it is up to an organizations employees to deliver the promises established by the company through interactive marketing. For this, it is important that they themselves understand the mission, values and everything that Kimpton stands for in order to properly enable these promises. A significant challenge that Kimpton may face in doing is that of miscommunicating or not clearly these messages to the customers or even their employees for that matter. This could potentially amount to a breakdown of the entire system and consequently the market themselves in the manner that they so please.

Jeep - America Will Be Whole Again: A review of the 2013 Super Bowl commercial

This emotionally charged commercial opens with two impactful and unavoidable quotes that speak directly to the heart of every patriotic American - an appeal on behalf of the troops and a quote from Oprah Winfrey. The rest of the ad, narrated just as exquisitely by Oprah as well, plucks just as masterfully at the heartstrings with wives waiting anxiously, children playing innocently and people waiting eagerly in hope and anticipation. The icing on the cake is when the fighting heroes, come home - In a Jeep Grand Cherokee or a Wrangler and quite fittingly, the new Jeep Patriot which Jeep is primarily trying to market through the campaign. This is a well calibrated ad for an SUV that excellently tie’s together a call to honor and support the USO with an emotionally pressing appeal to purchase the new offering.  

The intended audience that this Ad looks to target are primarily the most patriotic of Americans, both young and old, who are instantly moved by this campaign’s emotional message. The secondary target audience would include socially responsible Americans who would weigh supporting their nation’s heroes more heavily as opposed to simply buying a vehicle that best meets their needs. It also looks to target ardent Jeep lovers obviously who are quite clearly able to associate the national carmakers brand with certain core American values such as loyalty to one’s nation, integrity and freedom. In whole, Jeep aims at creating awareness about a critical national phenomena that they possible hope will result in consumers making emotionally impulsive purchase decisions to support theirs and their country’s cause. The needs of this targeted category might well be quite diverse considering the alternatives and competition. This could range from performance, design, price, value, mileage and so on. However, by taking an emotional and patriotically significant stand with marketing their offering, Jeep is able to differentiate it by creating a strong lasting connect with their audience that can potentially sway them away from even thinking about the technical specifications of the vehicles, of which no apparent mention is made. 

  

The key benefit claim that Jeep wishes to communicate is expertly presented through this commercial – Buy Jeep and do your bit to support your country and its troops. Jeep has always had a legacy of communicating patriotic and socially intuitive messages through mass media in order to market their products and this stems from their close proximity with the American military operations. Another similar example of this was the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Spot. For decades, Jeep’s have been used as military vehicles to transport troops for combat or otherwise and this reinforces its public opinion as America’s very own SUV. Thus, in a way, this ad goes off of the advertiser’s existing campaign in terms of its central theme although it is unique in a very specific sense of patriotism. It is hence not hard to see why the advertiser selected this kind of emotional appeal for the campaign which also involved American troops acting as brand endorsers in a way. 

In terms of generating awareness about its products, Jeep rather subtly displays flashes of its new and existing models while it does do a fantastic job of reminding people about its role in defending the country, thus reinforcing its brand image as a national icon while simultaneously creating interest among potential buyers to further research the offering. In doing so, it will be able to direct TV audiences to its various selling points such as the website or store front where a desire to purchase the product will possibly emerge. Finally, to initiate action from the consumer, it seems less likely that this ad will instantly result in consumers purchasing the product even impulsively as there is a significant build-up that will eventually and probably culminate in a purchase decision. In terms of effectiveness, this ad certainly creates a very impactful and lasting impression on the viewers that is evident from its immediate publicity that has pushed it up the ranking charts as one of the most impactful commercials ever made. Based on this analysis and also from my own judgment of the potential returns from this communication, I believe that this ad is worth the amount as it looks to be set up for successful long-term impact on account of its strong emotional message that will be well engraved in the minds of the target audience for a long time to come, irrespective of whether or not they purchase the offering.   

Augmented Reality & Visual Retail: Tesco’s smart phone enabled virtual grocery stores in South Korea

This is an article analysis which I conducted for an IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) class project and presentation at Atkinson, based on Tesco’s Homeplus and its smart phone enabled virtual grocery stores in South Korea.  

In the spring of 2011, Tesco PLC – A UK based retail giant renamed its South Korean branch operations to Homeplus, in an effort to become the nation’s prime grocery retailer without increasing the number of stores. They adopted an approach that involved expanding their online sales rather than opening new stores. As South Korea has more than 10 million smartphone users in a population of less than 50 million, it made sense to look at mobile shopping just as much.

Based on research conducted by Cheil Worldwide, South Koreans were dubbed as the second most hardworking people in the world. Long work hours, busy schedules and crowded stores made grocery shopping a burden rather than an enjoyable experience as it left little time, energy and interest to perform the task. Thus, offering the opportunity to shop while doing something else had a lot of value and so Tesco aimed at utilizing unproductive waiting times more efficiently. Take for instance, commuters waiting for their train: they have time on their hands, quite likely have jobs and are usually susceptible to dynamic and relevant forms of marketing communication. With Homeplus, Tesco were able to capitalize on this opportunity by building virtual aisles on the platforms at Subway stations in the nascent stages on the concept’s implementation. They created lifelike, enormous and rich images of food items and plastered them across the walls of train platforms, laid out in the same way as they would be in the shop. Every item had a corresponding QR barcode, and people waiting on the platform could check out the items on the huge billboard and scan the QR code of the relevant item using their smartphones. This immediately added the item to their Home Plus shopping basket. The idea was to make online shopping more visually appealing at a time when people were captive and bored. Deliveries of the goods could be arranged to arrive within hours of the order, meaning that in some cases they could arrive just as the commuter gets home. The strategy proved successful and Home Plus online sales went up by 130 percent in three months, and the number of registered users went up by 76 percent. The retailer also closed the gap on its main competitor, E-Mart.

        

Cheil Worldwide – The organization accredited with creating the virtual subway stores for Tesco's Homeplus, won three awards for its marketing, adverting and communications campaign for the concept and brand at the 56th annual Cannes International Festival of Creativity in addition to a Grand Prix in Media and two Gold Lions in the direct advertising and Outdoor advertising categories, for the virtual subway stores.

‘The long tail of PR’ is one of the principles that Scott mentioned in his book “The New Rules of Marketing,” which was what Tesco applied to its model in Korea. Instead of spending millions of dollars trying to attract customers to a normal supermarket, they decided to attract their customers with the use of a ‘push mechanism’ rather than a ‘pull mechanism’. Thinking outside the box and understanding their potential customer persona, Tesco identified a need that even their customers didn’t realize they had, and were paramount in successfully pioneering a strategy to service that need. According to Scott, “Smart marketers understand buyers.” and this is exactly what Tesco’s model focused on. Instead of competing head-to-head with huge supermarkets, they decided to study their consumers’ requirements and lifestyle in depth in order to engineer a service that was designed to best accommodate this lifestyle.

Another principle that Scott mentioned was ‘driving buyers into the sales process’. This is what Tesco did when they created a marketing buzz by the way they presented their services and products to the public. Going after their buyers and having a direct relationship with them was something that Tesco tried to do with building their virtual stores in the subways. At this point, it is crucial to understand that Tesco isn’t only selling grocery products - They are also selling convenience, time-saving and a promise of ‘on-time delivery’ to the consumer. This is another phenomena that Scott explains in his book under the headline “You are what you publish.” One of the questions that a marketer should ask according to Scott’s book is, ‘what do you want your buyers to believe?’ In this case, Tesco wanted their customers to believe that they didn’t need to waste their time and effort shopping in crowded supermarkets and that the experience Homeplus offered was faster, easier, enjoyable, more productive and simply better - They conveyed this message in the most exquisite and ingenious fashion.

Article Link: http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/96909/Smart-Phone-Enabled-Virtual-Grocery-9

The CP+B way ..

I applied to CP+B (Crispin Porter + Bogusky) for a summer internship position and was amazed by the whacky casual response that they sent me!

Dear Craig,

A wise man once said, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step.” It might have been Marco Polo. Anyway, you have taken that first step by submitting your resume to Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and we are tickled that you have expressed interest in joining us. Another wise man once said, “Now the ball is in our court.” This means, we will now review your resume to see if we have the right opportunity for you. If so, we’ll be in touch lickety-split. If not, we’ll keep your information handy in case the right opportunity presents itself.

Sincerely,

The Crispin Porter + Bogusky Talent Relations Team
(Crispin Porter + Bogusky is one of the Top 10 advertising agencies in the U.S)

Competent Jerks, Lovable Fools and the formation of Social Networks: Article Analysis

The central theme of the article states that an individual’s persona, attitude and behavior may result in both positive or negative perceptions and reactions from his/her peers or colleagues. It focusses on the necessity to maintain a balance between competitiveness and likeability while partaking in informal social relationships at the workplace. Furthermore, it examines various methods a manager can utilize to extract the best out of people of diverse personalities and competencies by capitalizing on their unique strengths. The reading states that people at the workplace are different and thus classifies them as follows:

          1          The competent jerk that is resourceful but has a bad personality.

          2          The lovable fool who is not very insightful, but has a great with people.

          3          The lovable star that is both loved by everyone and is resourceful.

          4          The incompetent jerk that is not competent, nor likeable.

While I agree with the above stated categorization, a statement made in the case mentioned that when people who are familiar with each other and who like each other work together, it is usually harder to point out negatives in each other’s ideas, strategies, etc. I do not believe this to be true as I have experienced otherwise during my own interactions with people. I feel that it is easier to convey honest opinions and criticism while working with someone you know well rather than someone who is absolutely new to you. In all honesty and simplicity, this reading has taught me that it is best for one to stay humble and down to earth despite their respective levels of intelligence, expertise, productivity or otherwise. This is essentially true because adopting a persona that can potentially alienate an individual from their peers or colleagues will inevitably result in them compromising on a vital element of success that they singlehandedly do not have entire control over – popularity. It is a quality that is earned rather than merely developed like most other soft skills and the only route towards achieving it is to ensure that the people around you like & support you. This has been the case with the lovable star, who is always at the top of the pecking order – both intelligent and loved by everyone.

I certainly believe that if the lessons learnt from this case can be well synthesized and applied correctly in real life scenarios, they can have very resounding and prominent results on a person’s work life and relationships, by and large. For these very same reasons would I strongly recommend this article to any colleague of mine, whom I would consider to be a victim of their own professional behavioral downfall simply because they may not be aware of the implications that their attitudes or actions have on those around them. I believe that this article compels one to think beyond his/her respective horizons. It helps uncover many blind spots of whose existence we may not necessarily have known. In other words it helps us identify those weaknesses that we may never have known to have had simply because we may have been blinded by the fog of our own pride and arrogance. This allows us to reflect on ourselves and take corrective action in a timely manner, before the matter goes out of hand which in relation to this article would mean rejection from your peers/co-workers. The ability to see what cannot necessarily be seen is in many ways a divine endowment and is the one crucial takeaway from this article, in my opinion. Hence, I feel that this article is instrumental in undertaking an analysis of oneself and thus remedying the situation instantaneously. 

I think this article relates to managing oneself from week 7 as it advocates managing others and being managed. It explores the process of self discovery of one’s strengths and reviews ways in which to build a personal brand around these strengths.

The Nut Island Effect: Article Analysis

The central theme of the article highlights the importance of having a linkage between management and the workforce. It explains how even productive, dedicated and hardworking teams can succumb to failure when there is discrepancy between management and the team. These shortcomings, which may result on account of management’s indifference or lack of interest in the team’s activities or cause, can result in the team losing faith in them and taking crucial decisions and actions themselves for which they aren't necessarily skilled. This has grim consequences on them such as lack of motivation, poor results and various other inconsistencies.

I completely agree with the teachings of this reading as I had experienced similar situations in my own career and it was easy for me to empathize with it. The learnings I derived from it have not been particularly unknown to me and have proved to remind me of a lesson I learned in the past wherein a group, of which I was part of, was working on a project and lost trust and interest in their supervisor owing to her lack of involvement. Hence, it served to reinforce my understanding of this issue. It taught me that having a good active connection with ones superiors/managers is vital to ensure smooth functionality of operations, promote synergy & effective flow of information, exchange ideas, keep people motivated and resolve conflicts in a timely manner. 

At work, I believe that it is absolutely critical to inherit this mentality of engagement and so I would make it a point to mention it to any colleague of mine who works in a functional team or who may be the leader themselves for that matter. I consider it to be the responsibility of the subordinates as much as it is that of the manager as to ensure proper integration of this ideology because a team also needs to respond effectively to their respective tasks and the advice of their supervisors, without which a disconnect in the system would be inevitable. In this case we notice that the fault was solely that of the upper-management, but often in real life situations, it is also the other way around and equal contribution and cooperation of both parties is required. I take away 2 principles for integration from the case – One, as a manager, to always remain hands on and physically present to support my team making sure that I am well aware of everything that is happening with an air of sincere interest and commitment to my colleagues and to their project.  Secondly, as a member of the team, to retain faith in my superior and respect them for their position by following their instructions closely and whole-heartedly. 

With regard to current business trends, I believe that this article is very relevant in an age where autonomy has become an essential element of a young professional’s persona. Today, the lines of hierarchy in modern organizations have blurred to an extent that even subordinate newcomers consider their own judgment and abilities to be more developed than those of their seniors, albeit their numerous years of experience. This article relates to various concepts discussed in class that can be used to derive managerial insights:

·         The presence of linkage between management and the team of workers at Nut Island wasn’t evident. This fundamental flaw stemmed from the lack of engagement on management’s part and marked the beginning of turbulent times at the plant that was met with much dismay.

·         Human beings are a social species. They desire recognition for their work just as they need criticism for their shortcomings. This is possible by means of active interaction between management and the high performing team that was absent at Nut Island. Thus, despite their best efforts to perform, stay motivated and keep the plant alive, they eventually succumbed to a classic case of negligence by upper level management.

·         The strategic & political lens can be applied to this case. Strategically managing relationships appropriately and having the right inputs can produce the right results. Mismanagement of people is a strategic failure for a manager. MDC’s rash decision to focus on other areas while neglecting an efficient project depicts how management can crumble under political pressure.