The Moderate Voice - Latest Comments in Real B-School Reform

Re: Real B-School Reform

jwest — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:01:40 -0000

Mikkel,

Unless you are prepared to rip the still-beating heart of your competitor out of his chest and eat it while his children look on in tears, you better go into academia.

Altruism is a reward for success, not a means to it.

Re: Real B-School Reform

mikkel — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:25:26 -0000

Um, because I&#39m 26. However, I&#39m in the process of lining up startup money and have a few product ideas that hopefully will turn it into a mid-cap company within 10 years...

So I&#39m planning on it.

Re: Real B-School Reform

jwest — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:01:40 -0000

Mikkel,

Unless you are prepared to rip the still-beating heart of your competitor out of his chest and eat it while his children look on in tears, you better go into academia.

Altruism is a reward for success, not a means to it.

Re: Real B-School Reform

mikkel — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:25:26 -0000

Um, because I'm 26. However, I'm in the process of lining up startup money and have a few product ideas that hopefully will turn it into a mid-cap company within 10 years...

So I'm planning on it.

Re: Real B-School Reform

Don Quijote — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:06:17 -0000

The only thing you need to keep all those young bright executives in line is a Dr Guillotin&#39s invention with a nice sharp blade and a few pikes in the middle of Time Square upon which the heads of few older and not quite as bright executives can be tastefully displayed, right under the New Year&#39s ball.

Any thing else is a waste of time and effort...

Re: Real B-School Reform

casualobserver — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:15:39 -0000

mikkel, so why aren&#39t you running a beneficent company that will provide all those societal benefits? Why isn&#39t Silverstein? Hell, the Tom&#39s Shoe guy is.

Walk the walk, don&#39t just type the talk. There are 50,000,000 liberal voters. I think we ought to see at least 1,000,000 new business model companies out of that group, wouldn&#39t you think?

Why do liberals sit and complain about what conservatives are not doing when liberals ought to be out there showing us the way?

Re: Real B-School Reform

Don Quijote — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:06:17 -0000

The only thing you need to keep all those young bright executives in line is a Dr Guillotin's invention with a nice sharp blade and a few pikes in the middle of Time Square upon which the heads of few older and not quite as bright executives can be tastefully displayed, right under the New Year's ball.

Any thing else is a waste of time and effort...

Re: Real B-School Reform

mikkel — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:29:59 -0000

The comments by jwest and DLS show that the problem is on a societal level. Much of the culture is that you have no responsibility to anyone but yourself and your direct beneficiaries and that business is militaristic by definition...social stability be damned. I&#39m just criticizing that mindset, not saying government is the solution; the government is proving to be as incompetent, arrogant and short sided as the worst businesses.

It&#39s interesting talking to people from different cultures. I was discussing this very thing with a coworker from India and he said that India is awful when it comes to the boom/bust cycle and corruption, and that very few companies (regardless of size) achieve long lasting success....except for the ones that explicitly are dedicated to "social responsibility" and helping not only its workers but the community at large, especially during hardship. He said that the owners aren&#39t extravagantly wealthy and the executives make in the low million range...and that the reason for their success is that during tough times people remember that and flock to their products and they don&#39t make dumb moves during boom times. He was optimistic (well pretty much all Indians are) about the future of the country in good part because a lot of the companies have started adopting this business model due to its success.

Re: Real B-School Reform

Chris Shotwell — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:46:48 -0000

by AND large.

Re: Real B-School Reform

DLS — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:27:28 -0000

"reshaped into instruments to create a fairer, juster economy where rewards are appropriately allocated"

That has a sinister tone to it. It goes far beyond converting heads of business into the equivalent of activists and brainwashing them to pursue politically correct, "social responsibility" and other lefty goals.

Re: Real B-School Reform

jwest — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:27:24 -0000

Michael,

This idea of promoting mediocrity in our business schools, discouraging arrogance and risk taking and buffering the impulse of the best and brightest to win while leaving the severed heads of their competition on the gates of their estates as trophies is a prescription for disaster.

Just as the U.S. military seeks the best pilots who have the skill and courage to push jets to the point just before the wings break off, the business community needs to push their industries to the same untested limits. That is what makes this country the leader in business.

Crashes are part of the program and a learning experience, but not a reason to stop testing the limits.

Business is not for the faint-at-heart. Let the mild mannered strap themselves into a bus seat for the ride to their cubicles each day but for god’s sake keep them out of the way of the real movers and shakers riding a rocket down the middle of the street.

Re: Real B-School Reform

DLS — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:25:17 -0000

Actually, that arrogance seems to be on display among fashionable younger bureaucratic elites as well as those on Wall Street, as we see in Washington currently. Rather than "playing house," these elitist and arrogant kids want to "play" [with our] "country"! Not just limited to the economy, though that has substantial importance.

Re: Real B-School Reform

casualobserver — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:15:39 -0000

mikkel, so why aren't you running a beneficent company that will provide all those societal benefits? Why isn't Silverstein? Hell, the Tom's Shoe guy is.

Walk the walk, don't just type the talk. There are 50,000,000 liberal voters. I think we ought to see at least 1,000,000 new business model companies out of that group, wouldn't you think?

Why do liberals sit and complain about what conservatives are not doing when liberals ought to be out there showing us the way?

Re: Real B-School Reform

mikkel — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:29:59 -0000

It's interesting talking to people from different cultures. I was discussing this very thing with a coworker from India and he said that India is awful when it comes to the boom/bust cycle and corruption, and that very few companies (regardless of size) achieve long lasting success....except for the ones that explicitly are dedicated to "social responsibility" and helping not only its workers but the community at large, especially during hardship. He said that the owners aren't extravagantly wealthy and the executives make in the low million range...and that the reason for their success is that during tough times people remember that and flock to their products and they don't make dumb moves during boom times. He was optimistic (well pretty much all Indians are) about the future of the country in good part because a lot of the companies have started adopting this business model due to its success.

Re: Real B-School Reform

squintstopher — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:46:48 -0000

by AND large.

Re: Real B-School Reform

DLS — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:27:28 -0000

"reshaped into instruments to create a fairer, juster economy where rewards are appropriately allocated"

That has a sinister tone to it. It goes far beyond converting heads of business into the equivalent of activists and brainwashing them to pursue politically correct, "social responsibility" and other lefty goals.

Re: Real B-School Reform

jwest — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:27:24 -0000

Michael,

This idea of promoting mediocrity in our business schools, discouraging arrogance and risk taking and buffering the impulse of the best and brightest to win while leaving the severed heads of their competition on the gates of their estates as trophies is a prescription for disaster.

Just as the U.S. military seeks the best pilots who have the skill and courage to push jets to the point just before the wings break off, the business community needs to push their industries to the same untested limits. That is what makes this country the leader in business.

Crashes are part of the program and a learning experience, but not a reason to stop testing the limits.

Business is not for the faint-at-heart. Let the mild mannered strap themselves into a bus seat for the ride to their cubicles each day but for god’s sake keep them out of the way of the real movers and shakers riding a rocket down the middle of the street.

Re: Real B-School Reform

DLS — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:25:17 -0000