Midsemester break :
Prof Lee encouraged me to take part in Citibank Business Case Competition organized by SMU. In the early stages of registration I was looking around for a team and was getting non-committal answer's from people.It was not until the last day that I was able to gather my team of 4, Neo from my class included.We started work and it took several meetings and brainstorming sessions before we came out with our first draft.3 full nights before we were onto our third draft, all the while brainstorming with Prof Lee.Finally we were confident enough to go ahead with it.We had a lot of innovative ideas, Extensive research, financial analysis and a great deal of hard work.
It was a good experience.......we learnt a lot specially in terms of teamwork with the team being very dynamic and motivated...
A word on the case itself. i personally feel that the case is very vague. It wasn't well written and well could be interpreted in different ways. I'm not being a sore loser and criticizing the case competition for I hear from friends who made it that it was an unforgettable experience.
Well all in all I got to learn a lot and was happy I undertook the challenge. Im inspired to participate in more such competitions and excel at them. Better luck next time!
Another thing about case challenges is that I think it is a culmination of skills like analyzing, presenting , designing and communication.Only a person with all these skills can succeed at such a competition and it is essential to build such skills. If you are creative, your creativity needs a vent dosent it?
But does NTU or any organization provide such a vent? I don't think so? Don't you think we should make an effort to better ourselves in all these aspects and have some focussed organization to do so....t may be tough but not impossible........
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Elevator Pitch!!!!
Session 5 :
No it does not mean giving a speech while going up in an elevator. Though this may be the impression that some of you may have if you've watched some of the videos on Youtube. You may have though what the hell is this????
So let me tell you what an elevator pitch is(Im not bragging that Im Miss know it all but my knowledge on the subject has increased since I started working on it as a project assignment for this course. Its basically a short narration of your idea, brief enough to be able to communicate while travelling up in a lift and comprehensive enough.
Interesting I think, calls for a great deal of precision as well as the ability of good communication.Conveying an idea in few words(mind all you talkative people...there isn't any blowing of hot air here!)
So, my elevator pitch, technologically "neat".Minh Nhat and I thought of our friendly e-traveller friend e-Scort!!! sweet.......your buddy on your holiday escapades....... we display our technical skills(both of us are computer engineers after all)
So here it goes task 1, learn flash, task 2 learn movie maker(now that should be interesting).We did that.Then we thought of a cool presentation idea that would express our idea with as few words as possible. So we did that.We looked for online videos which we recorded and cropped and used moviemaker to integrate them.We also used flash for the rest of our presentation and integrated frames made in it again using moviemaker and to top it all, we put in good music.
So it was ready and quite n impact it made in the class I must say....we had everything there but oops! who will talk about the value proposition ? so we were asked to edit it and now the final version is posted on you tube.You can watch it at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_PxF52vGA
The other idea that I specially liked was Neo's idea and their presentation which was a recording was done pretty well.
A brief mention of what my e-Scort is.Well introducing an element of fun and learning into travel, e-Scort uses a website to assist the user before travel and finally a mobile interface linked to wi-fi offering services through local operators at the toursit place.Our proof of concept will provide details and you will finally know all implementation details by the end of the semester in our business proposal.
No it does not mean giving a speech while going up in an elevator. Though this may be the impression that some of you may have if you've watched some of the videos on Youtube. You may have though what the hell is this????
So let me tell you what an elevator pitch is(Im not bragging that Im Miss know it all but my knowledge on the subject has increased since I started working on it as a project assignment for this course. Its basically a short narration of your idea, brief enough to be able to communicate while travelling up in a lift and comprehensive enough.
Interesting I think, calls for a great deal of precision as well as the ability of good communication.Conveying an idea in few words(mind all you talkative people...there isn't any blowing of hot air here!)
So, my elevator pitch, technologically "neat".Minh Nhat and I thought of our friendly e-traveller friend e-Scort!!! sweet.......your buddy on your holiday escapades....... we display our technical skills(both of us are computer engineers after all)
So here it goes task 1, learn flash, task 2 learn movie maker(now that should be interesting).We did that.Then we thought of a cool presentation idea that would express our idea with as few words as possible. So we did that.We looked for online videos which we recorded and cropped and used moviemaker to integrate them.We also used flash for the rest of our presentation and integrated frames made in it again using moviemaker and to top it all, we put in good music.
So it was ready and quite n impact it made in the class I must say....we had everything there but oops! who will talk about the value proposition ? so we were asked to edit it and now the final version is posted on you tube.You can watch it at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_PxF52vGA
The other idea that I specially liked was Neo's idea and their presentation which was a recording was done pretty well.
A brief mention of what my e-Scort is.Well introducing an element of fun and learning into travel, e-Scort uses a website to assist the user before travel and finally a mobile interface linked to wi-fi offering services through local operators at the toursit place.Our proof of concept will provide details and you will finally know all implementation details by the end of the semester in our business proposal.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Do you know how to present your case?
Session 9
Part 2
Case presentations
The most important aspect of a case presentation is your target audience. Your style, your demeanor all need to compliment your listeners’ hopes .you need to give them what they want to hear.
Having said that, say you are the CEO of a company your opening needs to be extremely powerful and commanding and should be able to relate to them a brief descriptions of what you want. Writing and rehearsing some of your ideas will always assist you in your presentations.
Your primary presentation should highlight what you hope to achieve and pertinent reasons supporting these ideas. This target then becomes the key focus of the presentation.
We should always present a context for our decisions for instance the incentives for our stakeholders. A SWOT analysis is recommended and will strengthen your clause.
Justification of our decisions is always a must. Who will take the decisions and what is the process of the decision taking. Being prepared to defend your stance is also important.
Finally a well rehearsed closing that will gather popularity rather than impose authority is required and will win us those last brownie points that could very well be the icing on the cake and get our decision passed if we are the CEO or maybe win us the competition !(if we are in one)
So we see that an analysis may be exemplary but unless it is sold well you are no better than having no analysis at all. Market your idea well and gain support .Deliver your analysis in a creative and appealing fashion. Manipulative I agree but if you want to stay in the game that’s the only way to take!
Part 2
Case presentations
The most important aspect of a case presentation is your target audience. Your style, your demeanor all need to compliment your listeners’ hopes .you need to give them what they want to hear.
Having said that, say you are the CEO of a company your opening needs to be extremely powerful and commanding and should be able to relate to them a brief descriptions of what you want. Writing and rehearsing some of your ideas will always assist you in your presentations.
Your primary presentation should highlight what you hope to achieve and pertinent reasons supporting these ideas. This target then becomes the key focus of the presentation.
We should always present a context for our decisions for instance the incentives for our stakeholders. A SWOT analysis is recommended and will strengthen your clause.
Justification of our decisions is always a must. Who will take the decisions and what is the process of the decision taking. Being prepared to defend your stance is also important.
Finally a well rehearsed closing that will gather popularity rather than impose authority is required and will win us those last brownie points that could very well be the icing on the cake and get our decision passed if we are the CEO or maybe win us the competition !(if we are in one)
So we see that an analysis may be exemplary but unless it is sold well you are no better than having no analysis at all. Market your idea well and gain support .Deliver your analysis in a creative and appealing fashion. Manipulative I agree but if you want to stay in the game that’s the only way to take!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
What if the future scenario changes?
Session 9
Part 1
Scenario planning
The class commenced with us discussing scenario planning. How would one make future plans?........
Interesting, I thought a person with a logical bent of mind should identify past trends and plan the future accordingly. The other two ideas that my class mates thought to be interesting were following a plan of action and hoping that it would be successful as well as applying plans to realities to see its outcome. Fair enough I was introduced to the idea of scenario planning and strategic management.
Von Neumann…….heard of him?ah…… yeah the guy who was the pioneer of computer architecture. And what does he have to do with scenario planning? Strange as it may seem, he had a lot to do with it and influenced its ideas in a variety of ways. We discuss history, von Neumann and his team in Mexico(if I recall correctly) who were working during the war in Europe and implementing methods that would serve as precedence for the future.
So what do we conclude, strategy and structure are intertwined? One cannot do without the other and they go hand in hand. But all said and done, what is a strategy? a simple question with a million perspectives, depending on what intelligence you use, scientific intelligence, marketing intelligence, competitive intelligence all reflect on their relevant strategies in different ways. Competitive intelligence is all about looking for traces. But if we are to talk about it in generic terms its your ability to plan for the future. A contingency plan is essential as well because unforeseen circumstances may arise as well.
How do you plan? How do you decide? You have a set of task related factors which comprise the decision space. So having analyzed all these factors our class discussion moves to a point where we discuss an interesting new technology the wi-fi 802 and the presence of hotspots in Singapore. Now what would scenario planning with respect to this involve and what could be its closest competitor. The most interesting idea was that of providing unsecured wireless networks all over Singapore which would allow free access to people without building new infrastructure or providing more hotspots. However certain remote forces in this area again could be the development of new technologies.
We discussed an example of the telecommunications scenario in the 21st century, where 3 variables namely munificent resources, diffusion of knowledge and harmonious governance controlled the scenario description. The Delphi technique where in experts are asked their point of views and then the divergence is discussed was introduced to us. Maybe we were left to emulate the Delphi technique with a short assignment when we were asked the to figure out the structural variables in a case when a Pacificnet was to provide free service to its customers and generate revenue from other sources. Interesting points like how technologically savvy a person is were brought up besides the availability of resources etc.
Here our class was interrupted and we were moved to another room. End of scenario planning……………..
But to sum up, I think its an interesting idea and very relevant with respect to the dynamism of the markets today where we need to be prepared for unpredictable circumstances and need to broaden the horizons of our intelligence. Planning for the future and developing strategies in scenario planning is the way to stay one up on catastrophies…(a little emphatic but it conveys my idea.
Part 1
Scenario planning
The class commenced with us discussing scenario planning. How would one make future plans?........
Interesting, I thought a person with a logical bent of mind should identify past trends and plan the future accordingly. The other two ideas that my class mates thought to be interesting were following a plan of action and hoping that it would be successful as well as applying plans to realities to see its outcome. Fair enough I was introduced to the idea of scenario planning and strategic management.
Von Neumann…….heard of him?ah…… yeah the guy who was the pioneer of computer architecture. And what does he have to do with scenario planning? Strange as it may seem, he had a lot to do with it and influenced its ideas in a variety of ways. We discuss history, von Neumann and his team in Mexico(if I recall correctly) who were working during the war in Europe and implementing methods that would serve as precedence for the future.
So what do we conclude, strategy and structure are intertwined? One cannot do without the other and they go hand in hand. But all said and done, what is a strategy? a simple question with a million perspectives, depending on what intelligence you use, scientific intelligence, marketing intelligence, competitive intelligence all reflect on their relevant strategies in different ways. Competitive intelligence is all about looking for traces. But if we are to talk about it in generic terms its your ability to plan for the future. A contingency plan is essential as well because unforeseen circumstances may arise as well.
How do you plan? How do you decide? You have a set of task related factors which comprise the decision space. So having analyzed all these factors our class discussion moves to a point where we discuss an interesting new technology the wi-fi 802 and the presence of hotspots in Singapore. Now what would scenario planning with respect to this involve and what could be its closest competitor. The most interesting idea was that of providing unsecured wireless networks all over Singapore which would allow free access to people without building new infrastructure or providing more hotspots. However certain remote forces in this area again could be the development of new technologies.
We discussed an example of the telecommunications scenario in the 21st century, where 3 variables namely munificent resources, diffusion of knowledge and harmonious governance controlled the scenario description. The Delphi technique where in experts are asked their point of views and then the divergence is discussed was introduced to us. Maybe we were left to emulate the Delphi technique with a short assignment when we were asked the to figure out the structural variables in a case when a Pacificnet was to provide free service to its customers and generate revenue from other sources. Interesting points like how technologically savvy a person is were brought up besides the availability of resources etc.
Here our class was interrupted and we were moved to another room. End of scenario planning……………..
But to sum up, I think its an interesting idea and very relevant with respect to the dynamism of the markets today where we need to be prepared for unpredictable circumstances and need to broaden the horizons of our intelligence. Planning for the future and developing strategies in scenario planning is the way to stay one up on catastrophies…(a little emphatic but it conveys my idea.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Design time!
Session 8
There you go. Conjunctivitis caught me! I cant make it to class.One of the most unfortunate things that can happen as I really wanted to go to class, I really enjoy the interactive sessions and then we are supposed to present the Proof of concept as well. But this red eyed monster ( well conjunctivitis can do that to anybody……make them a monster!!!!) has to sit in her room and read the lecture slides by herself. So the maximum I can do is write what I think of design which would have been the core issue of the debate in class I gather from my classmates who were nice enough to share the ideas with me.
The design of a product is what really creates its commercial value. A product may be technologically very advanced but unless it is well designed and an appealing buy which will condone the user with an emotional benefit it will really not create the market fervor. Techno toys love technology but a layman will want an appealing product, a teenager will ant to showoff his possession which looks attractive rather than explain technical details of an ugly possession. Take the Apple ipod and Creative mp3 for instance. Creative may be better in technology but the ipod creates a “cool effect”.
The youth believes that anybody who is somebody will carry an ipod.
A few ideas from the lecture notes. In design you must be clear about the underlying idea in order to communicate the idea comprehensively through the design. The initial layout is important. We must use clear color patterns and avoid cluttering. These are components of a good design. Once the design is ready we must test it on real users to get some useful feedback. Task analysis with the users and their feedback to the test is really important .We should ask our users to talk aloud as they work with the design .This way we can follow the flow of their thoughts and use it to analyze faults in our design as well as make relevant changes to the design. So these were a few ideas about design which I gathered and have discussed with you.
I would say that design is the underlying component of creativity whether it be brand design or product design. If I as to extend this idea to more generic terms I would say even analysis and communication are skills with an underlying design component. You need to design your ideas and your communication, use design to structure and filter your thoughts………an interesting way to talk about design don’t you think?
There you go. Conjunctivitis caught me! I cant make it to class.One of the most unfortunate things that can happen as I really wanted to go to class, I really enjoy the interactive sessions and then we are supposed to present the Proof of concept as well. But this red eyed monster ( well conjunctivitis can do that to anybody……make them a monster!!!!) has to sit in her room and read the lecture slides by herself. So the maximum I can do is write what I think of design which would have been the core issue of the debate in class I gather from my classmates who were nice enough to share the ideas with me.
The design of a product is what really creates its commercial value. A product may be technologically very advanced but unless it is well designed and an appealing buy which will condone the user with an emotional benefit it will really not create the market fervor. Techno toys love technology but a layman will want an appealing product, a teenager will ant to showoff his possession which looks attractive rather than explain technical details of an ugly possession. Take the Apple ipod and Creative mp3 for instance. Creative may be better in technology but the ipod creates a “cool effect”.
The youth believes that anybody who is somebody will carry an ipod.
A few ideas from the lecture notes. In design you must be clear about the underlying idea in order to communicate the idea comprehensively through the design. The initial layout is important. We must use clear color patterns and avoid cluttering. These are components of a good design. Once the design is ready we must test it on real users to get some useful feedback. Task analysis with the users and their feedback to the test is really important .We should ask our users to talk aloud as they work with the design .This way we can follow the flow of their thoughts and use it to analyze faults in our design as well as make relevant changes to the design. So these were a few ideas about design which I gathered and have discussed with you.
I would say that design is the underlying component of creativity whether it be brand design or product design. If I as to extend this idea to more generic terms I would say even analysis and communication are skills with an underlying design component. You need to design your ideas and your communication, use design to structure and filter your thoughts………an interesting way to talk about design don’t you think?
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