Back to Business School: Orientation

I mentioned in my last post that I had attended orientation for school recently...

It began on Friday at 1 PM. All of those of us who made the cut entered our new business school and filed into the lecture hall. The Dean of the program kicked off the orientation with a 90 minute talk about how to get the most out of our experience. Although sitting and listening to someone talk for 90 minutes isn't something I have done for a long time, the information was extremely valuable. He set many of us at ease when he exposed that he didn't "read everything" when he went to business school and that he had a few classes he was "lucky" to get through.

Next we heard from the library guy, career services, some of the clubs, and more. By the end of the "half day" the majority of us were fried. It seems this experience of sitting and listening for several hours (3 hours) has become alien to what is now a bunch of cubicle loving, plane riding, impatient... grown-ups. Luckily, the day ended with a food/cocktail hour. (This was the first event I went to, but this and others seem to always have some sort of food and alcohol incorporated). everyone seemed to be their normal selves after a drink and some calories.

The second Day (09:00AM to 04:00PM)... began with some announcements, but quickly moved to an introduction to one of our professors. Next, we heard from a panel of current students who gave us the inside scoop on what it was really like to do the Evening MBA program. Everything they said seemed to lead back to a description of how tired you always are and how important it is to network. I guess that's honesty.

In the middle of the day we took our class photo. While we were posing, a female undergraduate student began taking her clothes off. By the time she was done she was down to a bikini and completely oblivious to the whistles and laughter coming from our group. She was about 100 feet away, but she was the only one within sight of us and obviously very involved in her book. It was a great moment.

We spent the remainder of the day hearing from some of the staff and doing a mock case study. None of us were ready for that...

So it's actually happening. After years of talking about going to business school, and putting off the GMAT, I am finally doing it. Bring it on!

Back to Business School: The Evening MBA

One thing that I don't think I have mentioned in my past entries is that I am pursuing a fully employed or Evening MBA.

My decision to do business school in this way was based primarily on the fact that I have a mortgage payment to make each month. There's also the work experience piece too, but it was mostly about money.

As far as the degree goes, there will be no difference between myself and someone who completed their MBA in a full-time program. In fact I will have an advantage... not just an MBA, but an additional 2 years of work experience.
However, one thing that worried me was the attitude of the school. At info sessions for the program we were told repeatedly that the Evening MBA program was not a good place to be if you are a career changer. I took this advice to heart, but soon after I began the application process my intentions changed.

Well, by the time I was accepted, I was job searching and hoping the MBA program would be able to help me expand my network. To be honest, I was not sure if I had made the right decision, but it was much too late change it. Too my surprise, I am not the only one in this situation. In fact, almost every person that I have met in my program or the Full-Time program is looking for a career shift. Some of them would like to stay with their current employers, but even there they usually want to be in a different field (software engineering to marketing, business development to operations, etc.).

When I think about it, this makes complete sense. Why else would a person spend several thousand dollars on Business School. The MBA is a way to expand your horizons whether you can afford to quit working or not. And, while most of us are in this to learn and better ourselves, we are also in it because of the opportunities to go places we couldn't go otherwise.

So here we go... 10 days and counting until I can call myself an MBA... Evening MBA student.

The Upside

From the moment I began studying for the GMAT and putting together my application for business school there's been a question looming in my mind. At this point with my first class less than two weeks away, the answer is undoubtedly yes, but it didn't start that way.

I asked it of myself when I sat down to write the first application essay. The question was, "Do I really want to do this?" . Do I really want to write essays again? Solve word problems? Analyze cases? Read text books!?!? Its definitely a hump that I had to get over as a prospective MBA candidate.

I have now come to believe that this school stuff is what stops most people with undergraduate degrees from moving into masters programs. Because, let's face it, writing essays, doing homework, and taking tests is really kind of annoying. But, what we all forget about our first four years are the great things that come along with being a student.

So... what's the upside? Here are just a few benefits that I found out I will receive for being a student at the Business School.

1. Gym Membership

I now have access to the premier work out facility in my area for free (included in the several thousand dollars a quarter for tuition). I went and toured it the other day with my wife, who also gets access for $15.00/month. They have multiple basketball courts, squash, racket ball, volleyball courts, a climbing wall, a pool, an indoor track, tennis courts, and more. I am also eligible to play in the intramural league.

2. Transportation

Since the school is in a major metropolitan area we are given transit passes for $17.00 a month that are good on any trains, buses, or street cars. This is a HUGE discount!

3. Student Discounts

This is amazing... movie theaters, restaurants, bowling, pool, the list goes on and on.

4. The ability to think and dream without consequence

Although this isn't a direct perk, most of us work in jobs that are grounded in, well, reality. While an MBA program has heavy application, as a student you are allowed to dream of what could be without immediately discussing the cost/benefit, feasibility, and facing the army of nay sayers. Eventually the ideas have to make it to earth and be well thought out, but there is that in between time that you just get to wonder.

So I am not looking forward to many of the school like assignments again, but a least when I get one I can take a subsidized ride on a bus, to a coffee shop that offers 1/2 priced donuts to students, and dream about the answers. Then when I am finished, I can head over to the gym to blow off some steam- all for mere thousands that I don't have to pay pack until 6 months after I graduate.

Ah the life...

Thomas Friedman's Business Education: China for a Day

In a recent interview on Meet the Press, Thomas Friedman discussed the "Energy Revolution" that he thinks is necessary in this country. He discussed, and wrote a chapter in his new book, about what it would be like for the U.S. to be "China for a Day" in order to get the ball rolling on the new revolution.

Obviously he was referring to the now famous ability of the Chinese President/King to wave a magic wand and control industry. The best example to date of the magic wand is the shutting down of factories 2 weeks prior to the Olympic games in Beijing.

So what would it be like if the U.S. President could/would wield absolute power on industry and government in terms of a move towards alternative energy and innovation? Well, I think we would see the bypassing of congress to implement instant tax credits and write offs for companies using clean energy, a carbon tax, mandatory shifts to production of non-petroleum vehicles for the U.S. car market, and several wind/solar plants being built in the next year. We would also see some major public dollars invested in science education, alt energy start-ups, and grant money for the submission of new ideas for alternative energy.

If the above were to take place, not only would we see a revitalization of our employment and dedication to innovation (the single greatest factor that led to American domination of the 20th century), we would create an entire industry in which we would be the captains. We could engineer, manufacture, implement, test, and SELL, SELL, SELL the new technology. In addition to the advantages to our foreign policy, national security, and education system it would be the greatest business accomplishment of our generation.

Friedman agrees... when approached by young Chinese who tell him that America got to "go dirty" for 150 years and now its their turn, he tells them to go ahead and take their time. Why? Because within 5 years America will be able to develop these clean power sources and when "China is choking" on its own pollution, we can sell the new technologies to them.

Thank you Thomas Friedman for the business education. Although, I don't think the U.S. president will ever be able to speak as a dictator (nor should he), I can only hope that our country wakes up! Because if we do, and we own this revolution not as an obedient people, but as a free group of citizens, we will win big.

Back to Business School - More Summer Reading

In the beginning of the summer I spent a few days going through a classic Business School Novel... First Break All the Rules. The basic premise of the book is that the conventional management rules are incorrect and must be broken in order for a company to achieve greatness. In this book, Gallup challenges the notion that anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it, they take on the idea that employees should be "well-rounded", and they preach that the best managers play favorites.

The mantra that is repeated over and over again in this study of exceptional managers is that a manager should not worry about what is left out of an employee, but focus on developing an individuals strengths. In other words, don't ask Michael Jordan to practice his golf swing.

The book makes a great case for the idea of leveraging the strengths of individuals towards company goals. Just imagine everyone at your company doing what it is they do best for the majority of each of their days. What would that look like?

The authors spend a lot of time talking about skills and talents. They say that talents are a way we repeatedly look at or do things where as skills are specific things we learn how to do. As an example, the analytically talented person is always looking at how and why something works, mentally or physically tearing things apart and putting them back together. Someone with an achiever talent is measuring life in completing goals - they seek to complete things each and every day. Since these talents are ingrained in our method as people, rounding us out on talents we lack doesn't work. Instead, the book suggests that we should be repeatedly challenged in our areas of talent- thus rejecting the "well rounded employee" idea.

It further asserts that energy put towards developing talents will yield a much larger growth rate. Taking the MJ metaphor further, the percentage of improvement Michael received from practicing basketball from college onwards was far greater than it would have been from practicing golf. There was more bang for the buck in hoops.

As an employee, this is such a refreshing thing to hear. Imagine your boss coming to you and saying, "Let's figure out what your good at and gear most of your work around those strengths - I want to push you in these area. Then, let's find your weaknesses and improve them to a functional level, but push off most of the work that you are weak in to another team member who has a strength in that area." Now apply this across an entire organization and what happens? I'll tell you, the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

This was definitely a book worth reading before heading into Business School and I will definitely apply the principles it presents throughout my career as a manager. It is highly recommended to any current or future manager.

Bowling, Billiards, and Movie Theaters (Business gone awry)

When I was a high-schooler in the not so distant past I lived in a small suburb of Los Angeles in Southern California. The city had about 50,000 residents and we were an hour's drive from L.A.

I remember driving with my friends to the local billiards hall and playing pool for several hours while listening to Witchy Woman and Iron Man on the jukebox. The cost was $6.00/hour for the table, so a group of four of us could get some quality time in for not a lot of cash. I also have fond memories of moonlight bowling on Saturday nights and several visits to the movie theatre through the years. But lately these staples are in danger.

During my trips home the last few years I have noticed that the movie theatres and bowling alleys are a shadow of their former glory and the billiards places have been replaced by restaurants or day care centers. At the same time a rise in upscale theatres like the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, CA, swanky pool halls like the Parlor in Bellevue, WA, and even uppity bowling alleys like Lucky Strike is hard to ignore.

So what's the deal? Are teenagers no longer customers? Is alcohol required to be a part of everything we do? Are business owners getting greedy? Is real estate too expensive to just rent pool tables and take in a few extra quarters at the jukebox?

Whatever the answer , it's a triumph for large business and a tragedy for teens. The mom and pop pool halls, bowling alleys, and movie theaters can't make enough money serving just the teens, and the 20, 30, and 40-somethings are heading to the trendier upgrades. As a result, the smaller establishments are closing down or are run down and will soon be gone completely. And, with alcohol almost always a part of the new business plans, the teens are out.

Which means that my teenage memories of pool halls, plain old movie theaters, and Saturday nights on the lanes are beginning to sound a lot like my parents' memories of the penny arcade, the five and dime, and the milk man.

Am I really getting old already...?

Beware of Mumps, Measles, and Rubella in Business School

The countdown has begun... I begin business school in less than thirty days and I am beginning to feel the pressure.

So what kinds of things have I done to prepare? Well, I have been reading business classics most of the summer (First Break All the Rules, Purple Cow, Built to Last, etc.) I have been seeking out opportunities to get involved in acquiring new business at work. I have been reading the financial news and paying closer attention to the markets. And, I have been watching the olympics like crazy (does that count?).

The one thing that I have been a bit unprepared for, though, is my immunizations. When reviewing the checklist of all of the things I needed to do before I could start school I must of overlooked it. The deadline for the MMR vaccines is in a few days and I have only had one that I can prove. Most schools require two rounds of vaccination that are at least four weeks apart.

I set out to solve this problem with the most reliable source I know. No, not google... the original google; Mom. I called her in the morning a few days ago and by that evening I had an unofficial vaccination record. It turns out I had an MMR shot way back in the early 80s - you know, before computers. Finding out I had an early shot was a positive development, but like in an episode of 24, (the Jack Bauer variety), solving one issue led to another. How do I get an official record of the vaccine from the 80s?

A call to the latest physician that I had in my hometown led to the discovery that his practice had been sold twice and eventually placed in the hands of a well-known HMO, Kaiser. I finally found the records office of Kaiser and called them. They said it would be no problem to get my records, but that I would have to fax a form and wait two weeks for them to "check the files". Were they serious? Kaiser... meet scanner. Scanner... meet Kaiser.


Since two weeks was too late I began to consult the 2nd most reliable resource at my disposal... yes, now google. Google led me to a county agency that indexes these sorts of things, but a phone call revealed that it didn't have any records before 1989- I feel old for the first time in my life.

I'm now out of ideas, so I send an e-mail to the University asking for a delayed deadline for the vaccination requirement.

I never received a response, but I decided to try my High School as a lsat effort. Turns out my High-School transcript has my immunization record on it. Presto, fax, and fax again, the University has the info and approves the documentation. That was close...

Ya' know, we read lists of what is required in order to get into business school so many times... you must do well on the GMAT, have a solid GPA, 2-3 good letters of reccomendation, a few good essays, etc. But don't forget the all important one that can actual keep you from registering at a public instituion, vaccinations. Oh yeah, and don't forget to file for the FAFSA either...

Getting Ready for Business School - Built to Last

So business school is 1 month away and I am pushing forward with more summer reading. Right now I am making my way though Built to Last - a classic (1990's) business book that discusses the results of a massive study of the world's most visionary companies and some less visionary counterparts. The author's define a visionary company in a complex number of ways. However, it is basically one that has been around for more tha fifty years through multiple generations of CEOs and that is still thriving. The basic premise of the book is to explain what went into the visionary companies to make them last. What is their secret?

I am about 50 pages in so far and despite the analytical nature of the book I am finding it to be a good read. I will do a full review of the book once I finish, but I wanted to talk about one concept that I recently read which really blew me away.

The authors notice that almost all of the visionary companies that they are studying have one common thread - they are not in it just for the money. Many of them have built into their company culture that modest profit is needed, but that the true test of the company's success is how well it innovates new technology (Sony), comes up with products that contribute to the health of patients (Johnson & Johnson), or leads aerospace development (Boeing).

A visionary CEO put it eloquently when he described profit as being akin to blood, breath, and water for a human being. Blood, breath, and water enable a person to live, but they are not the point- they enable the dreams. Profit is not the point, profit allows a company to pursue a goal.

Does the company you work for have a "why?". I began thinking about my own company, which has also been around for several decades. And while we have core values on how we are to conduct business, there really isn't anything that says why we conduct business. Transportation is definitely less cut and dry than technology, health care, or aerospace, but we could have something. A mission statement that encompasses why our company exists. "We will create innovations in global transportation that enables our customers to thrive in their core businesses", or "We will be the most productive and safest transportation company on the planet so that our employees will have sustainable employment and our shareholders a reasonable return on investment".

With some time dedicated, my company could establish a real statement that all of its employees could look to for inspiration or use to challenge Sr. management on their direction if anyone felt they were steering the organization off course.

...so needless to say this book is quite thought provoking for me. I will be sure to write about any thing else interesting that comes up in my business school summer prep.

Until then...

NBC is Ruining the Olympics

The normal sports in the U.S. have their exciting moments, but for some reason I never really get behind a team with any sort of heart. If they stop winning, I get frustrated with them and stop watching (I tend to have high standards for people paid millions of dollars to do something well).

But once every four years I become the guy who yells at the TV set, who blames the refs for everything, and who tunes his wife out for the sake of the tube. I am an olympic sports fan. My favorite disciplines are swimming, gymnastics, and track & field, but I like just about everything besides the events involving rifles.

So this year, I was very excited to hear that NBC was planning to have a website (nbcolympics.com) dedicated to the games with live video and replays of events.

However... the whole thing has been one giant disappointment, culminating with this evening. It all began with the opening ceremony never being fully released online (and not even partially available for over 24 hours after it occurred). Next, the "live events" were not the ones I wanted to watch (i.e. the gymnastics all arounds, Michael Phelps races, etc. etc.). For those, we have to wait until NBC airs them, and on the west coast three more hours for tape delay. But the worst sin NBC has committed is detailed below...

...Imagine you ( the huge olympic gymnastics fan that you are) have been watching NBC's olympic coverage for the last 3 hours (it's 11PM) and are still waiting to see some of the women's gymnastics individual final events. Since it is beginning to get pretty late you decide to check the NBC olympics website to find out what time the event will be airing and what the medal count is like while your at it. So you get to NBC's website and the first thing you see is pictured at the top of this page. The RESULTS of the competition from yesterday that NBC decided not to show until after 11:00PM tonight. And what's worse? The caption says that the final was full of twists and that I should watch it on TV later.

Are you kidding me? The only thing I am going to do is try and find other internet coverage of the olympics so NBC's viewership is 1 less than it would have been otherwise. Hopefully you will join my revolt and we can affect some of the ad revenues.

Hey NBC, please explain the business logic of showing headliner events (Gymnastics finals, Phelps races, etc.) between 10PM and 2AM. Is that the big ad revenue generating time? Here's an idea. Show just the popular stuff on TV, but show it live and replay it later as well. And for the website... show every single event live and make the full coverage available for playback with those short internet commercials. Give it away, generate some traffic, sell tons of ads, and avoid ruining my olympics. Job done.

Getting ready for Business School - Summer Reading

During my rant about Mcdonalds' misplaced marketing dollars earlier this week I mentioned Seth Godin. He is the author of a book I read in the first part of my business school summer reading prep.

The book is called Purple Cow and it discusses how the game has changed when it comes to marketing.

Semi-Brief Synopsis

1. Seth says that the formula for success used to be to make a product and then advertise it like crazy to a broad audience on television. He highlights the fact that consumers used to trust television, hence the mantra, "I saw it on TV - it must be true".

2. Godin illustrates how the old school of marketing (the "TV Industrial Complex") has died. He discusses the rise of the trusted friend, word of mouth advertising, and viral marketing. He concludes that the way to win in today's marketplace is to make a product so "remarkable" that you catch the attention of early adopters (the trusted friend) who then "sneezes" the product to the majority.

3. He notes the natural change in the game... the product MUST be awesome. He says that it is no longer possible to market a mediocre product with massive advertising dollars and expect it to be successful. Why? Because the majority doesn't trust TV commercials any more. They check trip advisor, consumer reports, or more likely a trusted friend who is a subject matter expert. So the result, ahem... Mcdonalds, is that no one is going to believe a Chicken Burger from Mcdonalds is a healthy breakfast just becaue you say it is in an olympic ad!

End of Semi-Brief Synopsis

So what is an example of something remarkable? The ipod touch and iphone, google's search engine, the World, Purple Cow (it was initally shipped by the dozen, to encourage early buyers to share it, and came packaged in a milk carton), unlimited minutes wireless plans, Beijing's opening ceremony, University of Phoenix, Pink Berry, the "I am rich" app for the iphone, etc.

How do I know these things are remarkable? Because everyone is talking about them. I see them on digg.com, I read about them in newspapers, my geeky friends can't stop talking about them, and I am here sneezing them to you in this blog.

So congrats on being a pioneer Seth... and thanks for the book - and an extra thanks for making it short. Business schools are taking note.
...
In case you wondering, the name (Purple Cow) was inspired by a trip Seth took with his family to the French countryside. While touring, they marveled at the beauty of the brown cows they saw roaming in the area... at least for a while. After several hours the brown cows became ordinary. Seth said that what once caught there attention could no longer steal a glance, but if he saw a purple cow he would have definitely looked and told all of his friends about it.

Dear Mcdonalds, Where'd you get your Business Education?

Well, its less than two months until I start Business School and I'm really soaking up the free time in anticipation of a very busy schedule. Lately, I have been watching the Olympics, which are taking place in Beijing, on TV and online. In the midst of watching the US men's swimming team beat the pants off (.08 seconds) of the French in the 4x100 today, a Mcdonalds commercial came on.

It started out with the usual sequence of athletes doing their thing... striking a volleyball, swimming, throwing a discus, etc. The next scene is the athletes describing a home made tasting breakfast sandwich while holding (not eating) it.

Really Mcdonalds? Do you think that we believe athletes eat at your restaurant? Do you really think pairing visuals of strong athletes with your "home made tasting" breakfast sandwich will brainwash the average viewer into thinking that breakfast at Mcdonalds is healthy?

Did the Mcdonalds' marketing team receive their business education in the 1980s? Maybe.

Here's the new school of thought that Mickey D's should have considered. Blanket advertising doesn't work anymore because consumers don't trust companies, they trust the opinions of individuals they know and respect. It's called word-of-mouth advertising and they only way to get it, is to do something "remarkable", like Seth Godin remarkable. This idea of athletes eating Mcdonalds or even Wheaties is so outdated and unremarkable it will be dismissed as fast as a shoot the duck and win a free ipod banner ad - nice try Mcdonalds.

P.S. Modern business education can be pursued in person full time, part time, or even online... it's time to freshen up.

Engagement

I’m going to divert from the usual B-School discussion today and talk about something that happened to me at work this week…

The Background…

I work as part of an operations management team in a somewhat industrial facility. Although my title has the word “manager” in it, a more appropriate title would be liaison. I am essentially an intermediary between a large corporation and a local set of unions. I take the general vague will of the company and translate it into more specific work instructions for the union foremen and chiefs on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis. I also have the power to direct the labor force, hire, and fire.

All of the above would lead a person to believe that my job is important and that it is a fulfilling use of my time and intellect. The truth is that the labor force that I “direct” really understands what they are doing well. So well in fact, that my main job is to make sure they don’t goof off or try to sign in for too many hours on the payroll. In other words, I’m a company rep… a warm body – a baby sitter.

The Problem...

For more dynamic individuals the idea of being a warm body is nauseating. Even more disgusting is the micromanaging some superiors engage in to make sure we make sure everything runs OK. And what if we have an idea or an improvement, for change? “Don’t mess with what is already working.”.What is the result of all of this stuff? Zero engagement. Many members of the operations management team don’t care how well the company does or even how on track the union guys stay as long as they don’t have to hear from their manager. I find that some of my colleagues do as little as they need to do in order to avoid being bothered. Less than ideal, right?

The Turning Point...

So here is an experience I had this week that may be the fix… or at least a good first step towards the fix. After expressing interest in getting more involved with the business strategy side of our operation, my boss’s boss’s boss calls me into his office and asks me to help him create a long term business strategy and then record it in an official document. He wants new ideas on how to find more customers, analysis on our infrastructure and equipment, and insight on how to engage the management team.

...Small gesture, right? All he did is respond to my request and suddenly I am alive at work again. I care again. I am doing the little things well because I am reminded in my research for this new special assignment of why we do them. I care how the company does because I have been tasked with making it better. I am engaged.

Too often Senior managers want to control an organization like a puppet master, and all that leads to is the creation of lifeless puppets underneath them – management or not. However, when an employee is responded to and asked to own a piece of the business, the result is an engaged colleague, full of life who is intellectually and emotionally invested in the success of the company.

So, what’s the take away? The take away is “remember”. For myself, and many of you, senior management is in the not too distant future. When we get there we must remember the wisdom we offer as lower management and individual contributors.

Good Night for now.

Getting into Business School - GMAT Test Taking Strategy

The GMAT is required by most Business Schools. I have outlined below the method that I used to study for the exam. I scored a 650 and 720 (95th percentile) on my first and second sittings respectively. The below process can be very effective if you are a self motivated individual, but it is by no means perfect. If you decide to follow any of my advice and run in to issues, feel free to contact me by e-mail or by commenting…

*It is important to know the score you need to be competitive at your choice Business School before you begin preparation*

1. Start out with a computer practice-test to see where you stand.

2. Practice all quantitative and verbal sections of the exam using the questions in the official guide starting with the easy ones(the questions range in difficulty as they go – question 1 is the easiest). Do every tenth question or so. When they become difficult, start doing clusters of questions (every 3rd or 4th question) at that level until you begin to get them correct. Then resume practicing every tenth question until you start missing again and repeat as before. Do this until you proficient to about the last 20 questions in each section.

*It is important to leave several open questions as you go so that you can do some capstone testing on fresh questions at each level of difficulty at the end of your initial preparation.

3. Once you have some reps on each section and you are getting most of them right, do several mini tests. A mini test should consist of 3 to 5 questions of varying difficulty from each section. It is important to do easy, mid-range, and hard questions during these mini tests because this is what the actual test will do. I found myself sometimes over-thinking the easy and mid-range questions until I had enough practice to recognize the approximate difficulty of the question right away.

4. Once you are getting most of the questions in your mini-tests correct on a consistent basis, take the second computer practice-test. If you are scoring where you want to, go ahead and make your exam appt. and keep mini-testing yourself until the day of the exam. If not, focus in on the areas that are lacking with some more reps. Maybe 10 or 20 questions from the sections you are struggling in. Try and pick questions that are similar to the ones you missed. Once you feel comfortable go ahead and do some more mini tests. This is the hardest part of the prep. I actually did 50 or 60 data sufficiency questions in a row at this stage as I was severely handicapped in this area at first.

5. If you feel comfortable you have two options at this point. The first is to schedule and take the exam. The second is to re-take the first computer practice-test. It should show you very different questions than you saw your first time through since your aptitude will be dramatically increased by this point. If you score in your target range go ahead and schedule the exam and do mini-tests every day to keep your mind sharp. If not, get some more reps and take the computer practice-test 2 again.

This 5 step process is not only cheap, but it is a very effective way to prepare for the GMAT.

If you find yourself at a serious sticking point the best solution may be to search craigslist and find a private individual who has experience taking the test who can help you decipher the questions that are giving you trouble- but stick to the official guide. Some of the other test prep books will help you marginally, but they don’t mimic the style of the test. Again, understanding the way the questions are worded and the style the problems are in will be the hardest part of the exam.

If all of the above doesn’t work for you, then you may want to seek alternative preparation techniques including classes and other resources, but these five steps will be a productive foundation even for those individuals who need more.

Getting into Business School - GMAT Mythology

So lets discuss four popular myths about the GMAT,

1. “The Math is Difficult”.

The truth is the vast majority of the math in the exam are based on concepts that are learned in a basic algebra course or earlier.

With that said, most of us don’t use many basic math concepts on a daily basis, so some brushing up is helpful. I bought a book called Forgotten Algebra and spent about 5-10 hours practicing the concepts throughout the book. I might have done 200 practice questions in total and by the end I was ready to begin test prep.

2. “To get a good score on the GMAT I need to attend an expensive course.”

The truth is that the best test prep for the GMAT is the official guide put out by the GMAC (the writer’s of the exam) - $23. I know, it seems too simple, right? Well, the truth of the matter is that the hardest part of taking the GMAT is the way the questions are worded, not necessarily the concepts. The best way to practice for this is to get some reps on similar questions. The official guide has 800 questions of varying difficulty from past tests.

This book, combined with the FREE online practice tests (available on MBA.com), is really all you need. The practice tests are amazingly similar to the actual exam (same instructions, same number of questions, computer adaptive, etc.). The practice tests also give you an opportunity to work under time pressure, see which questions you get wrong, and get a score.

In my next post I will detail the 720 score strategy I used for preparation using the official guide and the free test prep software.

3. “You should only take the GMAT once because MBA programs average your scores”

The truth is most people take the GMAT more than twice and 99.9% of Business Schools take the scores from the test with your higher overall score.

4. “I need to devote several hours of practice time for the essay portion of the exam”

Actually, few Business Schools really care about your essay score especially since a computer is now grading them. Admissions committees will actually tell you this at the information sessions if you attend one. However, bombing this portion might make them wonder. So read some of the sample essays in the official guide and practice once or twice, but don’t sweat it.

Getting into Business School - The Big Hairy GMAT

The first step towards the illusive MBA is the GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test). There are a lot of myths out there about this test and some unwarranted fears as a result. Also, as with any standardized test, there are several companies ready to help you “crack” the exam for a few thousand bucks. I hope to demystify what is a mostly straightforward exam process and give some insight from my own experience over the next few posts.

So lets start with basic information about the GMAT:

-The test has three sections: Essay (Analytical Writing Assessment), Quantitative, and Verbal

-The AWA portion requires two types of essays: analysis of an issue & analysis of an argument

-Quantitative has two subsections: Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving

-Verbal has three subsections: Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction, and Reading Comprehension

- Scores are based on an 800-point scale (530 is the median score). The scores are always multiples of 10 (630, 640, 650, etc.).

- There are an 37 questions in the quantitative section and 41 in the verbal

- It is a Computer Adaptive Test

My Experience

I began to study for the GMAT in early January of this year (2008) and took the test in March and again in April. My preparation included a math refresher and some self-directed test prep. My first score was a 650 and my second was a 720. My percentiles for the higher score were 81 and 95 in Quantitative and Verbal respectively – Overall percentile was 95. To give you an idea of where this score measures up consider that the median GMAT score of the current Harvard Business School class is a 710. I am not telling you this to brag, but so you know that what I am sharing with you is battle tested.

I will have some more posts soon about GMAT myths, interpreting scores, test taking strategy, what the actual test day is like, and more.

Stay tuned.

Back to Business School

Hello-

My name is Reuben. As of July 15, 2008 I am your new blogger extraordinaire. I am in my late 20’s, married, and a resident of the west coast. I graduated with a B.S. in Business Admin. in 2003 and have been working for a European supply chain company for the last 4 years. I enjoy fresh mozzarella, traffic free commuting, and long walks on the beach. I recently received a letter of acceptance from a prominent Business School and am excited to be writing for you.

My primary intent is to share an actual Business School experience with you. This will include pieces of the curriculum, campus life, club experiences, and the internship/job search. I will also focus some posts on current business events, cutting edge and classic business reading material, and other stuff that is worth talking about.

While I can’t divulge exactly which Business School I will be attending, I can tell you that it is a top 50 AACSB School. The University is public and has about 300 students in their MBA program. My official start date is at the end of September 2008. Between now and then I will be writing about some of the things I learned while selecting a school, studying for/taking the GMAT, the application, and getting in.

Please comment often and feel free to contact me directly via e-mail if you have any questions, arguments, or new ideas.

What is Forensic Accounting Anyway?

The other day a friend asked me "what is forensic accounting?" Honestly, it is a good question considering how morbid it sounds. When people hear the term "forensic," they automatically expect it to relate to something out of CSI. Though that's not always what forensic means, it turns out that becoming a forensic accountant is not too far from the mystery and intrigue of CSI.

A forensic accountant's job is to analyze all aspects of someone's finances, down to every little detail. The job isn't nearly as "redundant" as typical careers in accounting would be. I use the term "redundant" because that's what my friend had said in our conversation the other day. When I was pursuing my online accounting degree, I learned quite quickly that the day to day activities are anything but dull. Regardless, if I were a forensic accountant, something tells me that things would be even more exciting.

What do you think? Numbers can always be a puzzle (or mystery), but are they more fun when attached to something like Enron?

Could You Handle Working at "The Office"?

I absolutely love NBC's The Office and am embarrassingly over-celebrating its return to primetime after the Writers' Guild strike began last November. What makes the show so great is not only its absurdly uncomfortable humor but also its canny ability to make the characters feel familiar. Everyone has worked with a Jim or a Pam, a Dwight or even a Michael at some point in their careers.

With its 'mockumentary' style camera-work and relatable characters, the show exudes reality and with that, it tackles real-world business situations such as sexual harassment, firings, diversity, office relationships and much more.

But how real are The Office characters and their career problems?

This article on All Business Schools.com: Business Degree Salaries: "The Office" Reveals its HR Files... outlines the projected salaries of your favorite Dunder-Mifflin characters. They make a lot more than you'd think—especially considering how little work they do. It also offers suggestions on business degrees and schools you can attend to get your salary to their level.

U.S. News also did a series of articles offering Career Lessons From NBC's The Office. It offers advice for dealing with difficult bosses like Michael Scott or improving management skills to get a promotion like Dwight should. There are also articles on escaping the "first-job trap" that Jim is stuck in as well as ways to find your dream job, maybe in art like Pam.

U.S. News' most honest career advice, however, was this:

"The surest path to success in such an environment, at a branch that seems destined for certain failure, might be to get out as quickly as possible. Indeed, that is what many career experts would recommend."

If I had to work in an office where my boss is constantly interrupting my work to deliver inappropriate jokes and my co-workers prefer to hook-up and do crossword puzzles rather than work—I would bolt in a heartbeat.

But as a 30-minute sitcom—I'll take Dunder-Mifflin Scranton over my job any day.

Free Advertising

With all the viral marketing that goes around the internet these days, when I first came across this website, I thought it must be another example of the technique. Then I began to realize I was surprised my own parents hadn't created the website first! To anyone who has been to a Costco on a Saturday at mid-day, it won't come as a surprise to find that the warehouse club chain can attract a pretty rabid following.

Now, there certainly are some items at Costco I've grown fond of, but when I began to work the typical 9-5 M-F business work week and only could get to Costco on nights and weekends, I lost comprehension for how Costco is able to convince its member to pay $50 a year to subject themselves to such a shopping experience (at least here in DC)!!

A typical weekend trip to Costco here consists of slowly circling a parking lot looking for an empty space while trying not to drive over the roves of customers. Once showing your paid membership card to the doorman like you're headed to some VIP club, you get to slowly try to make your way through a gigantic yet somehow packed store with a ridiculously over-sized shopping cart. At the end of course you get to finish it off with a long line at every register where every customer has hundreds of dollars worth of groceries to scan. Oh and I almost forgot the finishing touch of no bagging available--you're lucky if someone will give you some old cardboard trays to precariously pile your items in.

I guess I must be in the minority though, because somehow through an ingenious business model, Costco has managed to be so loved by their fans that they incur the type of free advertising you see at the Addicted to Costco blog. In fact it is precisely that business model and culture which made me disbelieve any notions that it could be viral. Clearly they are doing many things right in that warehouse.

Tightwads vs. Spendthrifts

The Globe and Mail reports on an interesting study that delineates not just between the behaviors of so-called "spendthrifts" and "tightwads" but the actual physical reaction between them. Tightwads, according to the study, feel an emotional pain when paying money for anything. On the flip side of the coin, Spendthrifts felt an emotional pleasure whenever purchasing something.

What makes the study more interesting than just our common sense perception of money transactions is that the pain was felt regardless of whether the person was rich or poor or whether it was an expensive purchase or a just a moderate one every day one.

It somewhat saddens me to say that I am definitely in the tightwad camp. I thought that this might get better with age as my income and financial independence increased, but alas, even weekly groceries give me a slight pang at the cashier. Fortunately, heavy usage of credit cards in lieu of cash seems to dissipate this feeling--concurring with the findings of similar study at Standford University.

What is perplexing about the findings is that even in this day and age of heavy credit card debt, tightwads outnumber spendthrifts by 3:2. What is probably less perplexing in falling in line with our cultural stereotypes is that that the number of spendthrifts among females was much higher than in men.

One more reason to learn about Greasemonkey

During the course of sharing a computer with someone while reading an article online, I've discovered that I am far from the only one who slowly highlights words as they read down the page. I'm not sure whether it is due to keeping my eyes focused on words like speed readers use their fingers on tangible pages or perhaps it is the eyestrain of constantly staring into a dull white lightbulb as most reading on the internet (outside of using a Kindle) tends to be--particularly those with largely a white background.

There is however one site I use on a regular basis who seems to aspire to correct this habit the way a nun would slap a pupils fingers with a ruler. The New York Times, in their infinite wisdom, introduced a feature where whenever you double click on any word in their article, an automatic dictionary pops up in a new window. Now I know the New York Times can have an educated vernacular at times, but really? Are people really needing to look up words in the dictionary on the New York Times that often? It's not exactly Tolstoy. The reason the NYT might have considered not implementing this feature (other than its realistic utility) is that everyone who reads text on the computer like I mentioned earlier (a fair percentage of users in my experience) are driven nuts by it. You would think since the Times also requires registration they might have a profile where a user could toggle the feature off, but no.

Queue the arrival of the most simple yet gratifying Greasemonkey script, the New York Times Kill Doubleclick Dictionary. Those who are neither regular users of the New York Times' website nor avid double-click readers might not understand what a relief this script is for some of us, but I assure you it is.

Stealing from the Cookie Jar?

A lawsuit recently cam out from my most recent place of residence, San Diego, coming to a surprising judgment--that Starbucks must pay over $100 million to its baristas due to tip money that went to supervisors. While at first this seems like a great victory for low-paid baristas getting their tips back from stereotypical greedy lazy supervisors--we've all had 'supervisors' in the past that took the meaning of the title a bit to literally--in actuality this was a judgment that flies in the face of common sense.

The key term that substantiates this is that these were SHIFT supervisors. These were NOT managers sitting in chairs in the back room checking their email and assigning people when to work. These were little more than glorified baristas who fulfilled all the duties of a regular barista in terms of beverage preparation, only occasionally chipping in when needed on managerial tasks like ordering supplies.

The statue cited by the plaintiffs was a state law barring managers and supervisors from obtaining a share of employee tips. This is when it really starts to become clear how messy things can get when government tries to regulate business with broad sweeping legislation. It would seem that Starbucks, combining the modern business strategy of more seamless flow between managers and employees with another modern business strategy of job title inflation to create incentives for lower employees and created the "Shift Supervisor" role which hardly fit the common term of 'supervisor', but fulfilled the previously mentioned goals of streamlining and incentivizing.

Unfortunately for those supervisors, they will now be getting paid LESS than those their supervising on some days as the judge as issued an injunction against ever sharing in future tips. Perhaps by the letter of the law the judge is correct, but clearly this was an atrociously written law by legislators with good intentions but poor foresight.

The larger question is whether government should have any sort of role in this part of business. As someone who has worked in a restaurant I might argue that a fairer law would be forcing servers at restaurants to share tips with cooks in the back of the house. As it stands, there's no real way for restaurant patrons to tip the cook when they have a delicious meal when in fact many assume that tips will be shared (since they sometimes are) and furthermore, I'm sure I'm not the only one to tip more when a meal is particularly outstanding even when the server might have had nothing to do with it.

Gas prices from around the world

Every so often as gas prices continue to rise across America, it is important to remind ourselves that we actually have it pretty damn good here--at least in terms of gas prices. Fabulously40.com did a great spread comparing what we pay to the rest of the world. The clear conclusion is that the rest of the developed countries continue to pay a substantial amount more than us Americans. Large oil-producing countries in the developing world on the other hand at least seem to get low prices on gas although given the terrible strife usually associated with those places, I won't argue that it's a fair trade.

What this layman's survey of gas prices doesn't factor in of course is that Europeans' high gas (or should I say 'petrol') prices are most attributed to the high taxes the governments place on each litre for roads and other vehicle-related government expenditures. I have to say though, I envy the Europeans' approach to these taxes. Not only does this method seem to make sense from a fairness standpoint--the more you drive, the more taxes you have to pay proportionally--but also from an economics standpoint, a consumption-based tax would add incentives to driving less and investing in alternative energy technology which would be beneficial for a multitude of environmental and political reasons.

Business Attire

Just how important is appearance in the business world? From a micro level, when I look around offices I've been in, it seems absurd that the people in positions of power were there due to their physical appearance. Furthermore, when you look to someone like Bill Gates, certainly he did not get where he is today from debonair looks . The problem is, when you look at these questions from a micro level, you miss out on the more subtle (and perhaps subconcious) large trends. Sure when it comes down to a qualified applicant with some skin blemishes versus a bumbling Fabio, the former will win out, however, when the field has been narrowed down to a sparse number of candidates, as is often the case, our primitive instincts will likely play a part.

Studies have found a direct correlation between BMI and wages over a lifetime. Of course this has to be taken with a slight grain of salt as the correlation might not be a causation, but rather a symptom of being poor. For example, rich people are often able to afford healthier fresher food while the poor will often survive on unhealthy but cheap starches and processed food. Furthermore, there are other correlations such as being able to afford a gym membership, being educated about about nutrition and for many, more spare time to devote to staying healthy. Or it could be a simple correlation that healthy people are more likely to have a strong work ethic that leads to career success in the same way that it keeps them healthy rather than the latter causing the former. And yet, I don't think it requires too much of a stretch to imagine that attractiveness has some sort of effect on hirings and promotions.

Along those same lines of the BMI correlation, studies have shown that CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are almost universally over 6 feet tall. Now for those of us such as this writer destined to a life of looking up to those people in an unfortunate literal sense, that might seem disheartening. However, the lemonade one should make from those lemons is that appearance can most certainly play a big part so it is important to pay close attention to it in the business environment.

For me who seems to perpetually live on a budget, work clothes has always been something I've scrimped on. Interview clothes were the only exception--I understood the value of a first impression, but after that, I always figured 'why should I concern myself with wearing particularly smart clothing for my co-workers who seem like they could care less? As long as I followed the dress code, is there really much of a point to spending money on work clothes versus a more comfortable bed, a fun night out with friends, or other goods and services that I seem to derive much more pleasure out of?

In light of these recent studies though, it's been a bit of an eye-opener of something I really shouldn't look past as much as I do. Now that doesn't mean I need to take a trip up to 5th avenue and buy some Armani, but perhaps I should earnestly look at revamping a lot of my wardrobe as a form of investment rather than a merely a vein frivolous expenditure.

Euro update

Well its been a difficult past few months trying to trade the Euro. The strategy of one-directional trading has an obvious weakness and that is when the market begins ranging. Since I began employing this strategy back in November, the market had been stuck in a range (at least on the 4 hour and daily timeframes) for most of the time. Although I caught I nice trade I mentioned on the blog back in December, January and the first half of February on the other hand were pretty rough as I kept getting stopped out when the market would range and doing a lot of give and take. In addition to that, the 50 pip trailing stop doesn't seem to be what it used to be. You can follow the daily average true range and see that it has been steadily over the past couple of years. I imagine this is mainly due to the increased trading of this currency by the major banks and institutions as the Euro cements itself as the major currency pair of the world.

Had I been trading this currency a year or two ago, the 50 pip trailing stop was truly a 'set-it-and-forget-it' type of trade. It could easily take several days before the trade was closed. Recently however, I've been finding myself more and more checking the charts throughout the day to watch the trade, watching it nervously as the Euro could easily plummet 70+ points with little notice. I am beginning to consider increasing the distance of the stoploss.

Granted of course there is an obvious downside to doing this--my position size would be cut in half (those 50 pip wins won't be quite the bonus to my account), however, I think trading would be more relaxing than it currently is. I think I would have much more of a feeling that I'm jumping in a steady current than now where it is beginning to feel a bit like a whitewater rafting adventure as I hope not to crash into rocks along the banks. Buying on dips would be less stressful as well since I could misjudge when the trend will resume by up to 99 pips and still catch the catch a hold of current.

Of course, I need to stay realistic as my optimism is certainly aided by the recent surge of the Euro as it finally burst through the 1.5000 ceiling and hardly looked back. A market correction is certain, but as long as the US government continues borrowing and spending like drunken sailors and Bernanke lowers those interest rates, I see no reason to believe 2008 won't be a successful year for my portfolio (undiversified though it may be)!

The End to the Writer's Strike

Well the writer's strike is over at last. It was always slightly confusing what exactly the entire dispute was about. And I'm not sure whether that was due to nondisclosure agreements regarding the negotiations or whether the news organizations I most listen to simply didn't want to bore us with the intricacies of the business and financial disagreements.

Some of the most interesting openings into the world of the strike was through the late night talk show hosts such as Leno, Letterman, Conan, Stewart, Colbert, and Bill Maher. Not to say that they weren't particularly biased since most if not all of the hosts are former writers. This is of course in addition to the left-leaning tendencies of hollywood in general and most of these hosts included. Because of all this, while the strike was going on these hosts would regularly rip into the producers' stance. Of course I realize that these likely were often straw man versions of the arguments. What was mos interesting was afterward when the dispute was finally settled, there seemed a general feeling of 'was it worth it?'

Many of their new new media internet rights they negotiated for in the deal don't come into effect for 2 weeks after initial release--to me that seems a pretty damaging blow. I understand that sometimes you have to use the stick when in negotiations, but given that all these people had to go without work for such a long time, the impression seems to be that on balance the strike was a poor choice. As a further point, the fact that there was hardly any doubt that the negotiation would be approved when it went to vote to the union members, seemed to clearly indicate that teh writer's were desperate for work. It was especially unfortunate for those writers on shows like late night talk shows who really gain nothing from rights to internet content, yet were out of work and pay all the same. And now, just when we thought we'd seen the end, there are rumblings in the distance of an actors' strike looming in the in the future!

So while I'm dying for some more Lost, and Pushing Daisies, it looks like I might need to keep this Netflix subscription I picked up during the strike still going.

Young Millionaires

In an article that is simultaneously inspiring and disheartening, Forbes had a recent article on young millionaires. I say that because while it is inspirational what many of these veritable 'kids' were able to do with only a modest amount of capital or education, it is also rather slightly disheartening to compare it to what you had done by age 20, or even your current age.

It is difficult to exactly find a common thread in all of them besides of course an 'entrepreneurial spirit'. One of the most interesting of the case stories was Cameron Johnson who clearly has more than the average amount of that spirit. In fact some might argue that perhaps he has a bit too much of it after he bought toys from his sister that clearly were worth a great deal more than he paid her in order to sell it on eBay.

One interesting lesson is that it is a misconception that how 'new' of a product or service you must provide and how much you need to dominate competitors. Often when we read about successful entrepreneurs, for obvious reasons we primarily read about the most successful entrepreneurs who go on to completely dominate their market. And yet, many of the unquestionably successful entrepreneurs only find a very slight niche such as Catherine Cook who created a social networking site that caters to high school students. To me, if I heard the pitch for such a website my initial reaction would be "How will you compete against Facebook, Myspace, Orkut et al. when they already have thousands upon thousands of high school students on their sites". Yet it appears that assessment would simply be wrong since she has found success with the venture.

In other words, perhaps the lesson is that it's okay for an entrepreneur to take a chance on just shooting for the moon rather than the stars.

Where is the line? Is there one?

I heard an ad recently on the radio for the Ashley Madison Agency. Now as someone who has been a pretty avid user of the internet for many years now, I have been unfortunately privy to some shocking sites, but I never thought what would really make my jaw drop would be a dating website!

The basic premise of the site is online dating exclusively for married couples to find affairs. Perhaps what made it particularly shocking was it being brazenly advertised on the radio giving it an air of mainstream acceptance. I ended up hearing an interview with the creator of the site and found it an impressive example of the degrees of rationalization humans can get into. At the end of the day, this guy is trying to turn a profit by enabling cheating.

Certainly I don't think such a site should be illegal or anything of the sort, but I do feel like the site crosses a line too far. While some might say "well people would cheat any way", economics would tell you that when you make an activity more attainable, i.e reducing the cost, you will increase the demand. Clearly the end of result of the site will be more people cheating on their spouses than otherwise would. As such it amazes me that the site's creator, a married man, has been able to rationalize this to himself. It seems like moral relativism to an extreme.

In the interview the creator came across as extremely proud of his business idea that filled a niche in the market--and given the 100,000+ users of the site, clearly there is a niche. In a sense, it is a testament to the entrepreneurial drive to start a successful niche-filling business that one could actually be proud of such an endeavor.

Smart Keyword Searches

There is a really great feature in Firefox (and a similar one in Opera) that doesn't seem to be very popular, but I think its just that most people don't know about it. The feature is called 'Smart Keywords'. It used to be the case that whenever I wanted to use a particular type of search engine such as YouTube or a online deal search like at Slickdeals I would either have to bookmark that site or find the firefox extension at the Mycroft project to stick on my upper-right search box and have it appended to the drop down menu. Fortunately I discovered this Smart Keywords feature that not only makes searching much faster, but simply much less of a pain.

To start with, find a search engine that you want to make this 'shortcut' to. My favorites are probably YouTube, eBay, Amazon, Craigslist and Wikipedia (though there's a great trick for Wikipedia that I'll go into later). So go to the search field, right-click in the field and select "Add a keyword for this search". There is then a small dialog box asking you for a name (this doesn't really matter) and a keyword. I like to put in a short abbreviation like 'yt' for YouTube, 'cl' for Craigslist, etc. This will create a bookmark (if you end up using this feature, you should probably make a separate folder to store these in to keep them out of the way of your real bookmarks). Now whenever you want use the search, go to the address bar with ctrl+L and type in the keyword followed by the search term e.g. "yt tom cruise couch". It seems slightly complicated at first and maybe slightly hard to remember the individual keyword for the searches, but once you get into the swing of it, you use it all the time for for countless sites.

Now the slightly more advanced section. Often it is simply better to search for a site using Google's domain search function both due to their server's speed and the quality of the result. Wikipedia which I mentioned earlier is an especially good example of this. What you can do in these situations is type in a search as you normally would such as "site:en.wikipedia.org example". Once you're on the search results page, bookmark the search, right-click on the bookmark, go to properties, add a keyword, and then the key trick is to find whatever search term you used (in this case, "example") buried in the long URL and replace it with "%s" (no quotes). After that it function just like the other Smart Keyword searches.

Now I never use the second search box and only use the Google toolbar very occasionally for its suggested search feature. Enjoy!

Greenspan's Age of Turbulence

Lately I’ve been listening to Alan Greenspan’s Age of Turbulence and I have to say it is a fantastic book. Though I never studied Economics in the academic level past Macroeconomics 101, I’ve long held an interest in it, particularly at the macro level. Greenspan gives a fascinating insight into what goes on behind closed doors with some colorful anecdotes that give a human touch to the seemingly disparate nature of the Federal Reserve. One of my favorite moments was when he first began chairing the meetings and was introduced to the arcane and complex language that had become virtually required of all members and he would joke to his assistant ‘whatever happened to the English language around here?’

The first part of the book is dedicated to following his path from growing up in a single parent household to becoming the chairman of the Federal Reserve. Normally I think of these top government positions that are appointed as being plagued with a lot of cronyism and who knows who. That's why it was refreshing to see how hard he worked starting with academics through the business world and only finally receiving his well-deserved position. Makes me want to start on those business school applications soon.

Although he is definitely republican, harking back to his days as a colleague of Ayn Rand, he gave some interesting analysis of the Presidents he worked with throughout the years starting beginning with the Nixon administration through the current George W. Bush administration. Of all the presidents, he seemed to have the most respect for the unelected President Ford and felt pity for him as he followed a prudent economic policy but had the misfortune of the election coinciding with a downturn of the economic business cycle.

Very interesting as well was his respect for Bill Clinton who although stood on the opposite side of the political fence with a party not normally associated with fiscal conservatism, was steadfastly dedicated to doing what he could to ensure long-term growth, most importantly cutting the budget and deficit in the face of extreme opposition. This was a stark contrast to his analysis of the second Bush’s economic conduct which has allowed for rampant deficit spending and the instability of the dollar.

The next part centers around the different economic ideologies. There won’t be much surprise which ideology he ends up favoring, but given the rest of the book, I’m looking forward to reading a pretty objective and well thought out argument.

Irrational Economics

There was a very interesting article last month in the LA Times by Dr. Michael Shermer on humans' innate irrationality in money matters. A lot of the findings seem to fly a bit in the face of the classical Adam Smith's assumptions of self-interested rationality and maximization in the market.

The first study mentioned is a thought experiment supposing that if the cost of all goods and services remained the same, would you rather earn $50,000 per year while everyone else earns $25,000 or $100,000 per year while everyone else earns $250,000. Given the premise, cold logic makes this seem an easy answer--Option B. However, emotion perhaps plays a greater part of economic decisions than we give it credit for as the most common answer is Option A.

However, I would argue that this thought exercise is not very telling about our microeconomic decisions but perhaps rather our motivations behind doing so. To begin, the premise of supposing that all goods and services remained the same while the average income multiplies ten fold, is a bit of a stretch from a basic inflationary standpoint. Many economic choices are goods and services which provide the same basic outcome but are based on sliding scale of relativity that separates what the rich can pay versus the poor. First class on Virgin Airlines versus the red-eye flight on United Airlines, downtown apartment near the metro versus an apartment in the suburbs with no nearby public transportations or entertainment centers. It seems no surprise to me that when the average person envisages what life choices would be available to someone who earns less than half the average income, it is hardly desirable.


Furthermore, while this study highlights an interesting bit of the human psyche--that we are motivated more by social standing than actual economic worth, in the real world these are going to result in the same outcome. Both motivations would result in the self-interested, hard-working, risk-taking and innovation central to capitalist theory.

McDonald's and Starbucks at War

I never really saw this battle coming, but after eying the enormous revenue fellow multi-national chain, Starbucks is making, McDonald's has decided to enter the market of fancy coffee. Having recently received some surprisingly positive reviews regarding their drip coffee, McDonald's will move it up a notch and install espresso machines and baristas to create lattes, cappuccinos, machiattos, and the rest.

My first impression is that it seems like a very strange mix. Perhaps I'm not a coffee aficionado, but when I head to Starbucks or other comparable cafe, I'm usually going there for the preferable atmosphere. That is, preferable to my own apartment and most certainly preferable to the plastic and vinyl chairs under acres of fluorescent lighting found in my nearby McDonald's. I was never really under the impression that I was going to Starbucks for top of the line coffee--at the end of the day, its just a massive franchise chain.

I suppose I can see it from McDonald's perspective. From their vantage point, Starbucks has supplanted them as the king of the franchises, with seemingly limitless growth and showing up in the farthest reaches of the capitalist world. Meanwhile they are doing this not on the McDonald's method of offering impressive value for money, but on the contrary having rather shocking markups on combining brewed cofffee with various incarnations of cream and sugar.

Still, to me this new strategy reeks of desperation from a franchise on the descent. There is a reason Starbucks' strategy has been successful without focusing heavily on value for money and that is that this is not our grandparent's economy. Disposable income continues to rise and fewer people are staring at the decimal places when paying for small indulgences. As much as McDonald's would like to think they are only a small price war away from barreling into the coffee industry, it is a different world they are attempting to forge into. I believe it is very indicative of their differences that while the tasks might not be all that different, you would never expect to leave a tip for a McDonald's employee whereas people are constantly leaving their change and then some in the Starbucks barista's jar.