Amr's blog, To Infinity and Beyond, asks a very important question regarding the "new School" article: " What ever happened to the old school?"

If we apply Barney’s framework on this situation, we can see that these students go after the M.B.A in order to stand out and differentiate themselves in the market. However, even though having a master’s degree is a valuable resource, I don’t think it is always a rare one.

The solution, Amr says, lies in programs like those at AUS:

Business students in AUS are required to finish an obligatory 6-week internship in order to graduate. I find this very helpful as I have experienced it myself and found it crucial in terms of building relationships, experience, and forming an idea of how companies really operate from within. Therefore, schools need to concentrate on providing superior education in order to bring up valuable and rare students that can make a difference in the business world and be indispensable assets to their organizations.

Ghadeer analyzed the "New School"article and concludes, correctly, that "education is not enough":

work experience should be there to show a person’s capabilities. This is what most companies ask for. Graduate study in a lot of the business schools around the world is becoming a more hands on experience. This is a type of enhancing the relationship dynamics discussed by Hamel. By making their programs more of a hands on experience, they are giving their students (customers) the skills they need when they go out to work for the companies. The companies ask for experience and this is what the students are getting through these programs.

Marwa also has a nice analysis of the New School article. Here's her summary:

As Jay barney said “not just a few resources and capabilities enable a firm to gain a competitive advantage but that literally thousands of these organizational attributes bundled together to generate these advantages. In this article business schools are trying to improve the economic performance of their business and increase their competitive advantage. Schools approach and attempts to develop the understanding through which different types of schools compete. Schools are having different valuable resources and capabilities. Although they are competing in the same business they are rare, because they are choosing different innovative approaches to attract their target customers which in this article the student. In general, there is no easy way to recipe for the success of Business organizations.

Shaza seems to agree with Marwa about how US business schools need to adapt:

To satisfy many students, many business schools should change and enhance their programs in order to better prepare fresh graduates for the competitive work environment they are going to face. Also, business schools should always be able to meet the changing needs of employers. Business schools should be valuable by making students ready to add a value for the firm that they are going to work in and make them ready to face all the difficulties that the firm might face in the future. In addition, business schools should be well organized in order to choose the best students that have the best qualifications to be professional business people in the future.

Seniors at Senior Level

On Yaco's Blog there is an analysis of the "Seniors" article with a specific emphasis on super-senior Dana Cable:

The question of value: Because of the vast experience he has I think Cable is considered to be an important resources because he can aid it in grasping new opportunities and avoid threats.

The question of rareness: Currently there are not many people over 65 who are continuing to work, but it’s becoming a trend.

The question of limitability: I think it will be very difficult for a firm to force their best employees who are 65 to continue working since most of them will want to retire.

The question of organization: I think firms with such senior workers will benefit from them because they are experienced and know how to and probably are exploiting the firms resources, otherwise I don’t think they will stay in a company that’s failing.

Maissa has some interesting observations about baby-boomers that I like (expect for the part about the grey hair and bent back):

The baby boomers to me are people with grey hair, wrinkles and probably a curved back but with a bundle of cherished experiences and knowledge in the working field. This is what makes them rare!!!! I mean where else can you find valuable knowledge and learned experiences other than from people that have grew in age and have dealt and encountered with a lot of obstacles throughout their lives. In Barney’s language this is considered a rare asset to the firm that has them since they would not “want to lie around in a hammock. They're going to find a way to stay active as they move into the post-60 years."

Moustafa shares Maissa's positive perspective on the skills seniors can bring to a job:

From personal experience, I visit the States every summer, and most of the employees in stores such as Wal Mart,JC Penny for example, are either students, or seniors. The majority however; are seniors. Seniors are in the best position to influence students, and build them to enhance their skills. They can give a company an advantage over competitors, though it might not fit into the definition of a unique historical condition exactly, but it gives them something of value that other firms , especially new ones (new competitors) would find really hard to attract. A 70 year old would not want to join a new company and help build it up, he or she would rather stay in the company she or he worked for throughout his or her lifetime and considers home, regardless of the amount of money he or she is recieving. Most of the seniors working are not doing so because they have to for a living, but because they devoted their life to the business, and apart from the sentiments, its the desire to see the business successful that strives them to continue doing their job.

Tariq also thinks that seniors rock, Well okay he didn't say that exactly. He said this:

I believe that having a high number of experienced minds working on in an organization beneficial in the sense that it adds “value” to the “human capital”. Firms spend a fixed amount of their revenues on training and developing their workforce. If these firms retain their most qualified, efficient and effective employees, they may save on most of their training expenses and utilize the “financial capital” in obtaining resources that other firms do not possess. This in effect will increase the strength of the firm by adding value to the firm’s resources.

Nazia's analysis of this article also used Barney. Here's her analysis of the question of imitability:

Imitation in this case would be for competitors to retain their senior workers or managers if one company does so. In a way imitation would be possible; anyone can retain their old employees. But then the question to ask is: what do they have to offer to their company? If there is unique historical information possessed by one firm’s senior employee along with key threads of social complexity thereby giving their firm an edge over their competitors, then I believe that imitation would not be possible.

Finally, Ahmed also sees a signficant role for seniors:

Aging is usually viewed as a sign of weakness but in today’s world that might not be the case. Experience comes with age. We all know that experience is highly sought in the business world and it is considered as an entry barrier in Porters 5 forces framework. Experiences as those gained by top management such as Warren Buffet and Dana Cable Sr. are impossible to copy by new comers to their industries.

With all the confidence students have in seniors, I dont feel so bad about getting old now!

Selfishness Has its Value to the Economy

Mohammed Y. used the four resource questions and he sees value in the "selfishness" that Wal-Mart has made work to its advantage.

Wal-Mart resources and capabilities are considered valuable because of their huge and very flexible distribution practices and centers. Their resources and capabilities are also considered rare because they allow them to offer the biggest variety of goods and services with the cheapest prices. They also possess resources and capabilities that are hard to imitate because it would be very costly to duplicate or even try to substitute their huge and very efficient supply chain. Finally, this is what leads them to huge profits and enjoy a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. In conclusion, the low prices and huge varieties are enough to make customers ignore all other issues about the company while spending their hard-earned cash there. That’s why around 138 million customers visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide every week. I personally think it is just a matter of time before they break in New York City.

Shaikha sees the value of consumer "selfishness" and concludes that it beats at least one of the older alternatives:

Peter Brown also mentioned some examples from countries that were dominated by socialism like Russia and compared them to the behavior of multinational corporations like Wal-Mart. In those socialist countries, competition was barren due to the political structure there, which led to bad economy and even worse living standards.

It has been always this way; customers would always be “selfish” and focus on their interest and that is what constituted a competitive market. Therefore, I am totally with the author had to say, little customer “selfishness” is required if not necessary to drive the market and improve the economy.

Pooja notes the barriers to entry that Wal-Mart is facing in New York are not insurmountable:

The article also states that “WalMart has no stores in the New York City due to resistance from Coalition from labor, Civil rights and community groups”. This implies that WalMart had been facing barriers to entry as mentioned in Porter’s article. However, these barriers could be surmounted in future as the article states that “people can both dislike WalMart yet shop there”. Even though the consumers and the society think that WalMart is somehow unfair to people, they will still shop from there because of the value created by WalMart in the past.

Question for Pooja. What do you think these "resisters" really want? Lower quality goods and higher prices? Or might it be something else?

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