The Strat Man

Private Enterprise

2006-05-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

Charles Koch applied the "Science of liberty" to become one of the world's richest men.

Koch has touched a very sensitive and crucial issue about the philosophy of managing enterprises. Market Based Management (MBM) is a strategic concept by itself focusing on the micro level of companies. According to Hamyl, MBM is a business concept module that has a market scope stamp.
I truly believe in the concept Koch has used to triple the profit of his enterprise during a short period. A concrete proof of his success is simply reflected by his huge wealth. Koch was especially right not to let his enterprise be public because people will definitely look for the short run profit on their investment giving no time for innovative managers to build a base of long term growth and profit. Where as in family businesses management are most of the times directed by owners who try to build a horse power spirit in them by motivation and incentives. I personally have worked in a German family business that employs 20,000 people. It is a home atmosphere over there which led me to perform as much as I can, thinking that I own the company, most of people I have met there felt the same way, and that is exactly what a free market require, a free self decision making environment based on supply and demand
Some people as the ones who have replied to the article might think that it is not all about money, explaining from the point of view that MBM is a greedy way of making money and forgetting the poor society. Well, that is not entirely true, MBM in a way reward people from all classes when performing well at work, it authorizes them to fell truly like they are the owners of companies they are working for. This whole concept pushes people to do better in life, be effective in society and professional in tasks given to them. I always thought in my family business that why should employees not want to earn more and be wealthy enough when it is possible for them to be so, that I could offer them by incentives not peanuts that really appreciate their human efforts to do the best they can without looking after them.

I very much appreciate Koch for his positive thinking in becoming wealthy and profitable (of course because he is an engineer) and in the same time benefiting others like his employees (80,000 employees can be rewarded) from all levels of his enterprise.

Kabul Dispatch

2006-05-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

'A Virgin Market'
Afghanistan is open for business.

Ann Marlowe wrote the article about Afghanistan using golden letters. Afghanistan is the place where war fires were not extinguished for the past twenty years. It first started internally between tribes and ended up with a united army coming from the west.

Through out the article, Ann explained the interesting opportunities of business in Afghanistan. Porter new entrants' business module very much reflects the situation in that country as described in the article. Every thing would just work out perfect by investing in any field. The country is still in a great need to lot of investments. Some one might say that Iraq was a great opportunity to invest in as well; however, Afghanistan is a place that never had any sort of modern civilization in all means, where as Iraq was the fourth most powerful force in the entire world having big industries such as chemical and automobile industries. According to the article, the increase in GDP is 22.5% from 2002 to 2004; this is a great achievement for a country that went through hell in the past two decades. It is like a fertilizer, you just seed the land and water it, then wait shortly to see the growing farms around you, but in this case you have the choice of using any type of seeds you would like, no restrictions are made i.e. all types of businesses could be initiated in Afghanistan simply because there is no one else.

Now, two very important points must be raised about this article. First, Ann made the story as a pink city having no difficulties, she has neglected the barriers of entries, but not for the new entrants as competitors, instead, she neglected the barriers for the first comers. The way the references in the article were mentioned such as "British-educated Minister, a western-educated Afghan and so on give credibility to readers who don't know what is going on behind the scenes which is the biggest barrier, lack of security. There are crimes and kidnapping going on a daily basis in Kabul and in other cities as well. Therefore, it should not be expected that foreign investors would come with their families and put themselves on a golden plate for someone to shoot them. (Kindly have a look at the responses that were made on the article).
The second important point, Ann reflected the Americans as late comers to the potential opportunities waiting in Afghanistan. Well, the way I see it is totally different. I believe that the American government would not invest billions of dollars in a war for others to come and take the meat out of its mouth. Instead, I bit a million bucks that no foreign investment would even think of putting a single finger in Afghanistan without paying a "tax."

Marketing Corn Flakes to Muslim Girls

2006-04-30T03:35:00.001-07:00

I would like to thank you professor Hunter for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to talk about this very interesting topic. Although the topic is of great importance, no one so far started any discussion about fulla.

To start with, I would like to explain the history of full. Spacetoon is a Bahraini based TV station owned by five partners from Syria. I remember very well, five years back, Bahrain TV was advertising a lot about a new free TV channel (Sapcetoon) which will be focusing on kids. Within a short period of time, Spacetoon was officially born. The concept of this TV was to translate most interesting cartoons from many languages to Arabic. Since I still remember some of the cartoons I saw in Montréal, Canada when I was a little boy, I realized that many of those I watched were translated from English and French to Arabic especially the action type of cartoon. Shortly after the opening of Spacetoon channel, many ads come under the name New Boy. Those ads were all types of toys and games a kid could think of in addition to some educational materials and games as well. That was actually the answer to my question on how come Spacetoon requires no membership fees. Finally, Fulla came to the show. Fulla first was shown as a small doll, the type that young girls would like to carry around and show there friends. It is just the Arabic version of Barbie.

Although Barbie existed in the Middle East since long time, its reputation did not even quarters that in the west. Fulla, however, made a market bomb only in the first three months after showing up on TV. According to the Basics for differentiation element under the Hamel’s Core strategy business model, where firm should capture the essence of how to differentiate themselves from rivals rather than trying only to stand on the same line of performance. Fulla did not show up only as a doll, it went further more into many other products such as books, games, plastic houses, and finally it went into food products and confictionaries such as chocolates, chewing gums and juices. However, that was not mainly the reason behind its success. Fulla is an Islamic legond to little boys and girls who obviusly are spending much of there time watching TV. To answer your question on why fulla is targeting pre-pubescent muslim girls is the fact that Saudi Arabia is the most promissing market in the region, and in order for such kind of ideas to work, someone must put into his plan the ways of entering Saudi market. In addition to that, Middle East consists mainly of Muslims; it would be very attractive to parents to see such kind of products in the market, they would prefer to buy fulla products rather than other non sense products. The last reason I could think of is that the producers felt that it is their duty and responsibility to make an Islamic character which childrean would love since there existed no such ideas uptil that time, however I am not very much infavor of the third justification because as you mentioned, the back side of the corn flakes box shows three girls wearing no scarf and putting make up.
To know better about fulla, it is a good idea to visit "TOYS R US." There, you will find everything about fulla in details. And if you want to market a succesful product, then it better be fulla or good luck with your chances

Marketing Corn Flakes to Muslim Girls

2006-04-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank you professor Hunter for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to talk about this very interesting topic. Although the topic is of great importance, no one so far started any discussion about fulla.

To start with, I would like to explain the history of full. Spacetoon is a Bahraini based TV station owned by five partners from Syria. I remember very well, five years back, Bahrain TV was advertising a lot about a new free TV channel (Sapcetoon) which will be focusing on kids. Within a short period of time, Spacetoon was officially born. The concept of this TV was to translate most interesting cartoons from many languages to Arabic. Since I still remember some of the cartoons I saw in Montréal, Canada when I was a little boy, I realized that many of those I watched were translated from English and French to Arabic especially the action type of cartoon. Shortly after the opening of Spacetoon channel, many ads come under the name New Boy. Those ads were all types of toys and games a kid could think of in addition to some educational materials and games as well. That was actually the answer to my question on how come Spacetoon requires no membership fees. Finally, Fulla came to the show. Fulla first was shown as a small doll, the type that young girls would like to carry around and show there friends. It is just the Arabic version of Barbie.

Although Barbie existed in the Middle East since long time, its reputation did not even quarters that in the west. Fulla, however, made a market bomb only in the first three months after showing up on TV. According to the Basics for differentiation element under the Hamel’s Core strategy business model, where firm should capture the essence of how to differentiate themselves from rivals rather than trying only to stand on the same line of performance. Fulla did not show up only as a doll, it went further more into many other products such as books, games, plastic houses, and finally it went into food products and confictionaries such as chocolates, chewing gums and juices. However, that was not mainly the reason behind its success. Fulla is an Islamic legond to little boys and girls who obviusly are spending much of there time watching TV. To answer your question, Saudi Arabia is the most promissing market in the region, and in order for such kind of ideas to work, someone must put into his plan the ways of entering Saudi market. In addition to that, Middle East consists mainly of Muslims; it would be very attractive to parents to see such kind of products in the market, they would prefer to buy fulla products rather than other non sense products. The last reason I could think of is that the producers felt that it is their duty and responsibility to make an Islamic character which childrean would love since there existed no such ideas uptil that time, however I am not very much infavor of the third justification because as you mentioned, the back side of the corn flakes box shows three girls wearing no scarf and putting make up.
To know better about fulla, it is a good idea to visit "TOYS R US." There, you will find everything about fulla in details. And if you want to market a succesful product, then it better be fulla or good luck with your chances

Big step for a bank, and Saudi women.

2006-04-30T01:31:00.000-07:00

Saudi was always known for its conservative atmosphere for women. The article in the Financial Express talked a bout a new incident, a brave step as a mater of fact towards Saudi women.

Before starting my analysis, I strongly would like to criticize the author of this article as he stated a false comment about Islam in his entry statement "Saudi women may not be allowed to vote or to drive, but Islamic law does grant them the right to control their finances". Firstly, it doesn't mean that if Saudi allows or permits something, then this is what Islam has instructed Muslims to do. Islam gave women the right to vote and drive since 1427 years ago, other wise all other Islamic countries would have made the sane as Saudi. A proven fact in the Islamic history was that women used to ride and even race men on horses, and they had all voting rights at that time to the extent that many of them gave important advices to leaders which made them win battles. Second, the author was very mean when he made indirectly Islam as a old fashioned type of religion. The title of the article contains Saudi, so why did the author try to put a religion that has nothing to do with individual acts in the middle of the story?!

It has been more than two years since Saudi banks offered woman banking; however, it was made in a traditional way were women went to deposit their many in women only banks. That really did not lead to any type of development in women's life. What the Saudi Fransi Bank (BSF) did could be considered according to Porter as a new entry to the woman – marketing side of banking "If you can show women you will look especially at their needs, you can do lot of business." The new approach selected by the BSF was very brave in terms of directly communicating with the Saudi woman about outdoor business activities. P&G for instance, made many commercials viewing the Saudi woman washing dishes, which is somehow alright to the society.
The commercial made as a new approach gives women the feeling of importance as an acting body in the Saudi society "You have your dreams. You have your ambitions". Yet Mohsmed Ghozeil showed a slight fear about the ad made "it is a daring departure in Saudi Arabia;" but in my opinion globalization gave little chances to any negative response from the society; now days there are international channels that provide women with everything going around in the world, Saudi men as well are more opened to social life specially that the new generation is exploiting the glob for education and business.
In terms of the VRIO framework, Barrney has a word to say with the value that women will get when a bank gives them an opportunity to develop and a cure to their needs as an essential part of the Saudi society "need to know the bank will be a friend and help them through life stages" Jean Benazet, a marketing manager in BSF. BSF in this case is rare in marketing their women product and are not rare as a bank service. That is mainly the reason why all other banks will try to imitate the approach of BSF.

Dubai adds Value by solving Traffic problems

2006-02-16T03:49:00.000-08:00

The article “Transport experts praise Dubai traffic forum,” talks about an event which took place in the year 2005. Mr. Syed Mohiuddin Afoz, of the Government of Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, said “We’ve seen interest from members of the emirates’ ruling families.” His comment was about the fact that the forum was very much supported as a big interest by the ruling family in Dubai. I totally agree with Mr.Syed’s statement, as a matter of fact, the ruling family in Dubai continuously develops strategic plans to improve and add value to Dubai so that it becomes a main touring and business city. This has lead to the increase of population in about 50%.

People in Dubai can clearly see the tremendous growth of population in the city, which had negatively affected the economy in the time lost to move from one point to the other inside the city. H.H Sh. Mohammad Bin Rashed AL Maktom who is viewed as a great strategic leader, have given his orders to major construction companies in UAE to solve the problem of Dubai increasing traffic in a period not more than five months.

According to Barney, Value is the ability to face environmental threats and opportunities. Traffic became more and more with the increasing amount of people entering Dubai. This will strategically added value to Dubai Emirate compared to other Emirates because people will be more satisfied with transportation in the city, were as other nearby emirates might have difficulties developing and solving traffic problems. It ends up by giving Dubai a competitive advantage over others. However, one problem facing Dubai to stand under the umbrella of Barney’s VRIO framework is rareness. Sharjah as well started solving its traffic problems by building new bridges and expanding roads and that is mainly because people started thinking and seriously searching to live in Dubai since the majority of people work in it, which of course will end up in an economic tragedy. However, the speed, quality of work done and the enthusiasm is definitely the best in Dubai amongst all other cites in UAE which in my point of view will sustain Dubai of having a competitive advantage over other emirates.

Retailers must do More to Stay on Top of Competition

2006-02-08T02:11:00.000-08:00

According to Hamel, Business Concept Innovation “is the capacity to imagine dramatically different business concepts or dramatically new ways of differentiating existing business concept.” The article “Retailers must do More to Stay on Top of Competition” states that managers of the retail market should not only sell existing products but also should think innovatively towards their market development in order for them not to be left behind, which contradicts the Basics for differentiation element under the Hamel’s Core strategy business model, where firm should capture the essence of how to differentiate themselves from rivals rather than trying only to stand on the same line of performance.
Phil McArthur, Director of Leasing and Marketing at Dubai Festival City, stressed out the point that through “Ambitious developments and innovative management techniques,” the Middle East captured the attention of the world’s retailers. The Business mission which is to make the region and specifically UAE the world’s most successful shopping center market was clearly mentioned by McArthur. But what I think that there will be a huge gap between what is mentioned in this article and what is really going to happen in the near future. McArthur claims that we are moving in the right direction. Construction, in particular Malls are growing up like bacteria in UAE, but if you go to many malls and add the total number of customers in all malls, you will notice that they are the same number that used to go to Deira City Center which is one of the first shopping centers in UAE! Moreover, if you walk down the so called “New Dubai” road, you will find many of the new buildings are empty; they were made for the sake of trading only. So, the innovative management mentioned was nothing more than copying a western concept of retail marketing, BUT with a great difference that in the West you will find continually in the past, present and in the future people shopping in malls, but in this hot, humid unstable region the scenario is very different. McArthur based his statement on the fact that lot of competition will come up in the retail sector of UAE, which is a natural phenomena for a virgin market but it is definitely not an innovative technique.

Test Post

2006-01-27T03:25:00.000-08:00

Test Post for MBA 618 at AUS.