October HBR Case Review

So, much like last month I am giving my case analysis with blind eyes to the expert opinions provided after the case. My format will be a brief outline of the case, the case question, and then my input on the case.

Can Knockoffs Knock Out Your Business?

Brief description:

The case starts with an outside consultant locating and seizing roughly 100 tons of fake products from a warehouse in Hong Kong. The consultant then calls the CEO of Ruffin, Bill Bronson to let him know that the seizure occured. We then find out that Bill has a vested interest in tracking down knockoff products from a nearly fatal accident involving a knockoff watch representing his watch company.

Bill is currently in Dubai and working with Kamil Zafir and Nels Volgren. Kamil and Nels were discussing the upcoming protocols being built into their products that will make reproduction nearly impossible in 12 months. The new product security protocols are partly relying on a laser-etching device purchased from China. They've also been doing some simple things like evaluating the contractor's raw material orders to "red-flag" when they order too much product.

Two weeks later, Bill was in Beijing and noticed an abundance of knockoff products. Lily Wang, Ruffin's east asian director, told Bill that the knockoffs were "free billboards" and they weren't "lost sales"

Bill has added additional lawyers to the staff, employee time is now having to be allocated to testify at the nearly 20 different civil and criminal lawsuits. Essentially, profits were being eaten away by legal costs.

Case Question:

How far should Bill take his campaing against counterfeiting?

Personal Analysis:

Well, I think that some of the efforts that Bill has initiated are excellent countermeasures to the knockoffs. The laser etching and other special markings are an excellent way to help customers verify authenticity. However, knockoffs are an inevitable byproduct of a high-end brand. A clear solution to this problem is to eliminate the outsource production process. Bring the production of the watches and other products back into company hands. This method will help to reduce the leak of confidential manufacturing techniques. Now, you may say that corporate espionage will still happen. While this is possible, it is much less likely than putting corporate products in the hands of external outsourcers in a foreign country.

If the company chooses to stay involved with a foreign outsourcer (which is legitimate from a profit margin perspective) I think that they need to dictate the production facility policies to punish those involved with corporate espionage with jailtime in their local country. Put forth some counter-intelligence efforts...push some fake product designs to each facility and see what is sold on the black market. This could be a method to find the "bad eggs" and get rid of them.

Just some thoughts....as I'm not entirely familiar with these issues on a practical basis. So, my thoughts are entire theory-based. Don't get me wrong...I want to have some experience in those situations. I just don't have any yet.

To Seaside and Beyond

Ok. As a disclaimer...these pictures were all taken on my iPhone. Additionally, I am not a professional photographer. If I were, would I use my iPhone?

This first picture is driving from Bend, Oregon along Route 20 towards Black Butte Ranch. You can see the 3 sisters. Yes, the sisters are mountains.

This is a picture of much of the journey. Some of you viewers may not be familiar with highways in Oregon. Well, this is not really the NORM, but it is an average view of what you see along the highway in the western region of Oregon. Giant trees!!




These are pictures of Detroit Lake. Still driving from Bend to Seaside. However, this is along Highway 22.



And now we are entering yet another of the many tunnels that drive through the mountains in Oregon. OoooOOOO spooky, right?


In this picture my cousin and I are driving to the coast along Highway 26 and approaching Highway 101. For all those that love the show AxMen. This is what they do....I suppose I shouldn't say too much. My great uncle is in the logging business...but it is definitely hard on the eyes to see these great trees lying along the mountainside.


Me climbing the Oregon Heritage tree and showing just how big this tree is...or was. I guess it was struck by lightning last fall. So, only about half of the tree is still standing.








Welcome to Seaside! Pretty darn close to the mountains...yet right at the beach.




Ok...my cousin and I went to the room. Hit the beach for about 40 minutes. Trust me, the Pacific Ocean is not warm in Oregon. But the waves are good. So, after briefly checking out the beach...and the beach bunnies we drove over to Cannon Beach. It is a short 10 minute drive...and is where parts of The Goonies was filmed. This is a far-off picture of Haystack Rock.






One of the best things about the West Coast and the Ocean is truly watching the sun set into the ocean. If you've never been to the West Coast....I recommend traveling there for a sunset. Unfortunately it was a little cloudy for sunset but this is it.




The next few pictures are a series of pictures of Haystack Rock under different lighting during the sunset.










After doing the sunset at Cannon Beach, Brian and I returned to Seaside. That evening we did all the regular things one does at a beach town. Played various games at the local arcades and went to the bars. Now the bar scene has a lot to be desired....you can ask me about that if you're interested in visiting the area.

But, the next day I wanted to get a few more pictures of Seaside. So, the next two pictures are of the beach and me chilling with Lewis and Clark. Can you imagine what Lewis and Clark thought as they finally came to the Pacific Ocean? Makes me want to be an adventurer and explorer out there discovering new things and places.

Where do you apply for that job??

updates..

So, something strange happened. I received my AC Adapter from Sony. Which is good. But the studpid Adapter isn't working. I have to call the Sony Support Team again. Very disappointing.

My classes:
TDC 425: Voice/Data Network Fundamentals
IS 433: Information Security Management
HCI 440: Usability Engineering

Ok, so the classes aren't that weird. But, they may keep me a little busy this quarter. They all seem to have some extra work and projects that may take up my free-time.

The PMP Exam studies are going well. I may post some sample questions and then post the answers. This may be better than outlining what I think is important from the various chapters in the PMBOK.

As far as my vacation pictures. I will be posting the pics that EVERYONE is waiting for--Seaside and Cannon Beach, Oregon in the next couple of days. So, please stay tuned...until the next episode.

Sony VAIO Support Staff

Ok. As I am posting you...I'm posting via my Sony VAIO laptop. I bring it with me on vacations, commuting via the train to Chicago for school and sometimes for work-related engagements downtown.

Anyway, regular wear and tear and wrapping up my AC Adapter has caused the wiring to basically wear out. This was a problem of failing to charge my battery for the past few weeks. I recently discovered the issue was related to the wiring....so after localizing the problem I called up the Sony Support team.

The tricky part was that I called them on 9/12/2008 and I purchased the laptop on 9/9/2008 from Best Buy. So, my limited warranty was tecnically expired. After talking with the support team. Which the first call was only 26 minutes (included all the waiting on hold). I explained the situation to them and was honest about my limited warranty being expired. At first, they were adamant that I would have to purchase the part.

I then explained that I have had a great experience with my VAIO. Probably the best laptop I've had so far (which is true). There is just the one problem with the battery. Which is really a design flaw. Sort of like the iPod and iPhone earbuds have a design flaw. From the AC adapter that plugs into the computer there is the wire that sticks straight out of the "box". When just about anyone unplugs and wraps the cords what do you do? You wrap the cord around the boxy exterior. In so doing you put stress on the part of the cable that is coming out of the box. This is why many laptop power supplies and headphone jacks don't go straight up or out of the box. They have a 90 degree extension. So, from continuous wrapping the wiring wears out...and eventually needs to be replaced. (Probably a good topic to discuss in my Usability Engineering course).

Anyway, at the end of the day I had to fax the support staff a copy of my receipt (which I luckily had) and they would send me a new Adapter free of charge.

I had a very good experience with the support staff. And although I heard a lot of laughter and chatter between other coworkers in the background...which makes me think that their work environment is fun...but could make some customers feel self-concious if they aren't informed/computer-savvy people and have been struggling with the support team.

So, I thought I'd write a post about the experience. They did a great job and understood that 2-3 days demands leniency if Sony wants to maintain their brand image and customer base.

Good job Sony!

new ideas...I think.

So, I thought of a couple of new business ideas. Some of you may know that my grandma has dementia. If not, now you know. But, the taking of pills is a constant struggle for her. First thing....she doesn't remember if she's taken pills for the day. Second, the pill-taking process is extremely difficult. Simple things like an inhaler are almost impossible to do without directions.

To solve the first thing, I was thinking that a new type of pillbox would be perfect. For those that use pills, a standard plastic box that has 7 compartments with a letter representing the day. So, the new pillbox will be much the same with a few extra bells and whistles. First, an electronic locking mechanism that will disallow people to open the next day's pills until....the next day. With the idea of this being electronic...we need a power source. A simple battery will work. But, batteries die. So, there needs to be some sort of auditory cue to notify you when the batteries need to be replaced or recharged. Ok, so there's the locking mechanism. Next, how do we know that it is time to take the pills. Someone with dementia doesn't realize that they should even look at a pill box to take pills. So, there needs to be a visual cue. I'm not stuck on the idea...but an organic LED or some form of visual notification needs to be developed so that it will draw the attention to the pillbox. A flashing light....something.

Ok, so the box is functional at this point. But, unfortunately....the last step needs to be customizable. The pill taking directons. A simple one page laminated direction could probably help.

So, it isn't 100% perfect and I'm sure there are a lot of extra issues. But, please let me know what you think.

I'm thinking someone could make this and sell it for at least $20-$30 per box. Some may think this is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. But, for a personal service that provides the same function of helping someone take their pills is $9/day (that's $2340/year for 5 days a week or $3,276/year for everyday). Would you spend $30 for a pillbox that gets rid of that type of yearly cost?

That was idea #1...I have another one for kids and altering the baby monitor device to embed it into regular headphones.....but I haven't sat down to really think this one through.

McKinsey Quarterly Survey - Business and Society Panel

I just responded to a survey request on the role of business in societal issues like the environment, poverty, etc. Kind of interesting. I recommend that you go to the McKinsey Quarterly site, sign up, and take the survey as well. You get a "bonus article" however, it is a free article that you can find on their archived website. Which is a little bit of sneaky behavior.

It was interesting to think about how we all know that big business was, and still is, a major contributor to the greenhouse gas issue. Surprising little factoid, did you guys know that cows are the largest producer of greenhouse gases. The methane that they produce does more damage to the ozone than anything else on the planet. Mind you, the cows are in such abundance because of our desire to eat them and make shoes. But, neat little factoid that you may not have known.

The survey was basically asking what our opinion of the impact that businesses have on helping to fight the environmental issues, the level that they should be involved in assisting research, what we think the population's view are...etc.

Kind of cool, anyway. I'm busy studying for the PMP exam as well as applying to firms (some of you may be reading this....BOO!) and trying to keep or improve my pitiful 3.83 GPA in grad school. I swear...2 marks of B+ and it is impossible to get a 3.9 or higher.

"Damn!" ~Stewy Griffin

Harvard Business Review - Sept. 2008 Case Study

For those of you that haven't picked up September's issue of the HBR I will give a brief synopsis of what the case is about.

First, the question:

"Are Brady's worst fears justified?"

Synopsis:

Barton Brady is the CEO (I think) of Serendipity Associates (SA). It is a consulting firm that specializes in strategy...or at least branding. Two of Brady's biggest clients, Pixar and Dan Brown have just pulled out of SA to a competing firm. A senior partner, Yasmin Buonarroti, suggested that it was from a price-war loss...but that didn't make sense to Brady as margin pressures weren't really a concern of his firm.

Yasmin was waiting for Brady in the boardroom when he arrived at the office and showed Brady a blog post from Rhetorical Butler talking about SA in a VERY negative light. (It is likely that "Rhetorical Butler" is Hank Wittgenstein who is described to be a rogue philospher that heads up a competing firm. Wittgenstein is a low-cost consultant that is outsourcing some of his work to Ireland.)

We end the case with Brady going for a walk to think about how he will respond to this blog to stop the hemmorage of his client base.

Personal Analysis:

(I am writing this before reading the Expert advice...hopefully I have a matching opinion)

Brady's fears are definitely justified. With an upcoming competitor trying to strategically position himself as a low-cost and high quality consultant it will pull clientele away from more than his consulting firm.

In today's digital age a blog post can be detrimental to one's brand and no matter the response....the message is out there. That being said, it is important that Brady create a post speaking about the benefits of keeping the consulting teams "local" or at least "regional" to better service customers. He needs to further outline why outsourcing work will inherently reduce the quality when a firm adds degrees of separation. He will also need to address the issue of the blogger, the metaphor overuse or misuse in the consulting industry. It will be VERY important that Brady does not attempt to specifically address his company...but the industry at large. Talk about re-inventing the SA brand into its own sans-metaphor society that delivers sustainable results to clients.

I think that the concept of globalization is great to expand current lines of business. But, to deliver the type of work that strategic consulting firms are known for.....the consulting team will need to be working with the company and have a large presence at the company site. The concept of outsourcing consulting work will only reduce the quality of work.


So...that's my take on the Case Study. I apologize for the stream of conciousness type of writing I did there...but I've got a lot of things in my hopper.

Has anyone else read the case? Do you have any additional insights or suggestions???