AU Blogspot

 
          Thanks to Rob West for permission to use this Photo.

Our new Ashworth University Discussion Forum has been sparking some lively debate.  If you haven’t checked out the forum yet, what are you waiting for?—get engaged with your student community!

Ashworth University Business Student, Frederick F, states: 

I recently completed the Macroeconomics course, and all the negative things about Keynes were wrong!

I do agree with government intervention to get the economy out of recession and depression as a better solution by lowering interest rates and major government projects to get people employed and spending money.

However… I wrote projects, not programs. Programs that are started to help people don’t usually work, just enough to keep people employed and create more red tape.

As for supply and demand side economics, I side with Jean-Baptiste Say whom said “Demand creates it’s own supply”

Keynes basically said that excessive saving can lead to recession or depression, True, but today we are experiencing excessive greed which is causing our current recession. (High gas prices and the mortgage crisis.)

Ashworth University Technical Services Supervisor And Resident Economist, John Ash, responds:

Well, Keynes’ ideas look dynamite on paper, but they suffer from the minute flaw of not actually holding up in the real world. I know, I know, we should ignore that and just let the beauty of his carefully constructed theories suffer no detractors, but those of us who are actually studying economics to understand the world better and use that knowledge to improve our own lives (i.e., make more money) can’t allow such intricate economic fallacies to remain unmolested.

Keynes’ theories were gospel for the economic advisors of the 60s and 70s, and it is generally believed (among economists anyway) that strict adherence to his policy recommendations led to the stagflation of those decades (stagflation is when the economy is in a recession but inflation is increasing, two things which are supposed to be mutually exclusive by Keynesian standards). Keynes is a good starting point for understanding economics, but modern post-industrial economies are far too complex to be modeled with it. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to find one unifying principle which will explain everything; it’s never going to happen. There are a lot of variables, and usually no single one is going to accurately predict the movement of the economy. (more…)

 
                          Thanks to theskokieten for permission to use this Photo.

With one of the most critical takeovers in the history of business-tech hanging in the balance, there is predictably no shortage of rumors, innuendos, and overnight prophecy to keep anyone with even a passing interest in Microsoft’s bid to acquire Yahoo rather distracted. This brand of spin campaign is not entirely motivated by misdirection though. As you can imagine, deals of this magnitude are negotiated on multiple levels.  There are internal games within each empire’s own walls, strategies within strategies, many with their own internal logic; some may even be contradictory in relation to one another’s objectives. You then consider the number of different visions attempting to exploit emerging market opportunities that may not even be recognizable at this time. Recall the downfall of Apple in the 1980’s. The genius himself, Steve Jobs, was even fired from the company he co-founded. Apple almost went under. There were factors beyond product development mistakes, marketing errors, and market conditions that brought Apple into the dark. The company itself was at war internally. Marketing vs. Sales vs. Design vs. Finance vs. Jobs vs. Sculley and around the loop again.

The short-term endgame of Microsoft’s takeover can be anticipated in certain respects, i.e. the Yahoo brand will largely stay intact, Microsoft/Yahoo’s search capabilities will be integrated with Live search carrying the day—but I suspect that the long term implications of this deal will also be determined by the psychology of the individual players involved and how their respective agendas run productive or counterproductive to rapid market shifts. After all, we’re talking about an information game that’s played at light speed. There’s no longer enough time to make mistakes and recover from them. No one has a mastery over the fundamentals like Bill Gates and Microsoft. The rules of the game change, but they’re also cyclical. This is partly why Google has every right to be concerned about Microsoft’s latest move. Concerned in a responsible way.  Google’s not going to be spooked.  They’re already in close discussions with Yahoo.  It wasn’t a gamble, so rest assured that Page and Brin are ready to go.  The move fits within Gates’ fundamental playbook.  Consistency sometimes appears surprising or original because our memories are short and selective.  We forget so easy…

The following video provides an overview of this developing story.

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University

                Thanks to Joanne L. for permission to use this Photo.      

In the early 1970’s I can remember hearing my father, a small business owner, saying that his job would be so much easier if he could find someone who could handle the occasional welding job that he had.  You see, he had to hire an employee who knew how to weld even though he only needed a welder every once in awhile.  The problem with this was simple; my father had to pay the employee a higher wage due to his welding expertise when most of the time the employee was doing odd jobs around the office. What was the answer to this dilemma? Outsourcing!       

In the early 1990’s I can remember asking my business partner, “Why don’t we hire an outside company to handle our minimal small engine maintenance so that we do not have to add another mechanic to our staff?”  In doing so, we would not have to pay a full-time employee for sporadic work.  Again, the answer to this dilemma was outsourcing!       

Outsourcing is the process of subcontracting work to a third party. While the idea of outsourcing is not new, many entrepreneurs have not considered the beauty of hiring others to do work that their own company can not do for itself.  If this idea seems interesting to you, you might want to join the ranks of thousands of American companies who have learned how to increase productivity while saving money.  Just this past week I was speaking to an employee of a successful landscape company in our area, and learned that this company only has five full time employees; yet, they manage over two million dollars worth of landscape maintenance each year.  How do they do it?  Outsourcing!  Some companies are in a stronger position to capitalize on this concept, yet it proves to be a strategy that could work for many small business owners.

The primary reason most organizations choose to outsource work is to reduce costs and increase profits.  As a result, the organization can focus on their internal resources that provide them with a competitive edge.   In other words, if a business can reduce costs and increase profits, they can also offer a more competitive price which will allow them to gain more business.  The landscape company that I mentioned earlier began by outsourcing the work normally found within a finance department.  They hired an accounting firm to handle their receivables and payables, deposits, and payroll.  (more…)

                Thanks to Amayzun for permission to use this Photo.

I’m not a regular viewer of The Apprentice TV show, but I happened to catch a recent episode where the competitive project was to develop a marketing strategy around a new line of Kodak printers.  During the briefing process, where the contestants were given a product description to base their pitch on, I was really struck by the Kodak marketing executives’ emphasis on Ink as the factor distinguishing this product in the print marketplace.  Kodak’s central message was: “Our ink is revolutionary, the best in the world, on top of that, this new printer, is half the price of our competitors, who are offering an inferior product and customer experience.”  Unless you work in the print industry or have investments in this area, it’s easy to overlook that the comparative quality and cost of ink/paper are what drives this market, not necessarily the machine itself, which is in many respects a generic shell duplicated by the leading players—give or take a couple unique features. 

With this topic top of mind, I remembered a podcast that I’d recently listened to about Hayden Hamilton, entrepreneur and founder of a printing company known as GreenPrint.  One of Hamilton’s innovative contributions to this market is software that dramatically reduces the amount of unwanted pages from the printing process; the type of waste that collectively costs corporations millions of dollars each year.  Like any great entrepreneur, Hamilton saw an opening in this waste and created his company to fill this empty space in the market.  In this podcast interview, Hamilton explains the story behind GreenPrint, one that I believe you will find very informative and motivational.  Click on the image above to listen to this great podcast.  Your comments are welcome and appreciated, so let’s hear from everyone!

We’d like to thank Betsy Flanagan and the team over at Startup Studio for this great interview!

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University School Of Business

               Thanks to Kit Kowan for permission to use this Photo.

Seth Godin’s ability to reinvent conventional perspectives in an original framework has earned him celebrity status in the marketing world.  Praised for his seemingly prophetic insights into developing digital trends, Seth is the kind of entrepreneur who doesn’t find it necessary to break the rules in order to generate consumer attention; he simply  interprets the rules in ways that the “experts” had said were too undefined, open, and ironically enough: consumer-centric.  The communications channels that Seth proposes to reach customers (get their attention) should be understood by any entrepreneur trying to make it in online marketplace, which is already yesterday’s— a reality that has informed Godin’s strategic principles throughout his career.  The following video is a nice introduction to the sometimes bizarre, but always inspiring perspectives of a truly creative business mind.  Click on the image above to watch this video.  We encourage you to share your thoughts with the community afterwards.  Take care.    

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

I’ve met two types of entrepreneurs. There are those who have always known that they wanted to start a company, but they just needed to find the right idea, and then there are the people who stumble upon an idea compelling enough to convince them to start a business. I happen to fall in the latter group.

Based on my experience, one type of entrepreneur is not preferable or superior to the other. Chances for success are much more dependent upon the quality of the idea, a little bit of luck, and a lot of spot-on execution.

A good business idea (or a bad one) can come from anywhere: the classifieds sections of magazines like Entrepreneur, trends in industry-related or mainstream news, or the recognition of some “pain” in your day-to-day life, whether it’s at your job, at play, or at home. Many pains have a remedy (that you can monetize) if you’re resourceful and creative enough. In mid-2006, a couple of months after graduating with my MBA, I needed to buy a gift for my then-roommate for his birthday. He was (and is) a DJ, and I wanted to get him something really cool that he’d appreciate and enjoy… but I didn’t know the first thing about DJs or the stuff that they use.

Web sites like Amazon and Epinions weren’t much of a help. They’re very useful when you know what you’re buying, but all I knew was for whom (an amateur DJ) I was looking to buy. Since I do everything online, I wanted a Web site that would help me find a great gift for someone with a particular interest or hobby.

And that’s how a pain in my everyday life sprouted an idea. Through my frustrations as an average online consumer, I had identified a genuine market need which I thought I could address.

Things Change

I’d argue that there’s no bad source of ideas, just bad ideas. For instance, if the market you’re considering is saturated with competitors, and your idea isn’t significantly differentiated, then you probably have a not-great idea on your hands. But that’s not necessarily a sign to give up; it’s a cue to ask yourself whether another, better idea can address the pain you’re trying to solve. (more…)

Paul Krugman is simultaneously one of the most respected and controversial economists in the world.  Named by The Economist as “the most celebrated economist of his generation,” Krugman’s provocative opinion pieces in the New York Times often set the tone of political debates that appear across the cable/network television and talk radio wire.  It’s not uncommon for Meet The Press’s Tim Russert to relentlessly grill Presidential candidates on Krugman’s latest “op-ed”, so it’s clear that he does project quite a lot of political influence whether you agree with his analyses or not.  In this video, which you can view by clicking on the image above, you’ll watch Paul Krugman’s recent presentation at Google Headquarters.  Enjoy the video.  I look forward to hearing your perspective.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University