Mid-semester Tips

Spring Break has been over for a week, the weather is getting warmer, and graduation paraphernalia is beginning to be seen on campus. That only means one thing....we are getting closer to the semester - and the year - being finished! In fact, only five more weeks remain of the spring 2011 semester. Now before you begin to stress out about all the things left that need to be done (myself included), here are a few tips that may help in finalizing those research papers or reading assignments...

In my experience with the capstone level course of Strategic Management, I feel I have picked up a few tricks of the trade. To give a background of what this course entails, a company is given to you for you to research just about every single item of, to perform multiple analyses, and the select strategies for the company to pursue. Honestly, I don't find it extremely difficult in terms of the information to produce; what I find difficulty is the time it takes to perform one of these research projects in the very limited amount of time I have: about 3 weeks. It is not uncommon to have about 200-300 pages of information. So how do I organize all this research into a nice and neat orderly paper?

Well, perhaps to the chargrin of environmentalists, I print a bunch of information (but don't worry, it is one recycled or scrap paper!). I organize my findings by category and then by group. After compiling the sources together, I then take my lovely fat yellow highlighter and a colored pen and begin reading away. As I highlight information I write in the margin what it pertain to within my research. Does it apply to the mission of the organziation, it's capabilities, a financial aspect? After going through my research with my handy dandy writing utinzels, I then begin organizing my findings through a bulleted format in a Word document while also citing every point. As I write the bullet point I am putting it into my own words, thus avoiding the evils of plagerism. After spending some time going through all of my highlighted sections and rewording them, it is then time for the paragraph formation.

I generally look for trends or topics that seemed to repeat themselves and group them together before writing the sections. I have noticed that through this approach, sections that I once thought would take hours, don't take quite as long...they still take hours, but I can write about a 15-18 page paper in under 2 hours using this approach. Granted, that doesn't include the time it takes to do the research, read/highlight it, and then type it into my own words, but I love the fact that I can organize and write a spiffy paper in what feels like less time. Perhaps this system may help you, maybe not. I just felt like passing on the tip since it has helped me.

With just several weeks left of the semester, it is important to make sure you don't let your time get away from you. It can be hard to stay motivated, but you can do it! Keep pressing on, keep working hard, and remember that what you're learning now will be beneficial sometime in your future.

Snow on ORU

Today Tulsa is expected to hit 60 degrees. Last week we had over 14 inches of snow on the ground. Is it possible to have a snowball fight while wearing shorts? In Oklahoma it is.

Two weeks ago Tulsa received the most snow it's ever received in a 24-hour period: 14+ inches. Two days later we hit with a 20% chance of snow flurries becoming 4 inches. Last Tuesday the winter weather came again, giving us another 6 inches of snow. So within a ten-day period, we received two feet of snow. Now, for some folks who live up North, 2 feet may seem like nothing, but to us here in Tulsa, this is something that had never happened before. Schools and businesses were shut for days (in fact, the Tulsa Public Schools didn't have school for almost 2 weeks!).

Among all this snow, we also had our Homecoming events on campus. Nearly 100 business alumni braved the snow and Arctic temperatures to meet up once again for our Power Luncheon. Quite a number of ORU alumni gathered for the Homecoming Banquet and then cheered as our basketball team on to a great win.

With the higher temperatures coming Tulsa's way and melting what has been on the ground the last two weeks , these pictures now seem but a memory, but I hope you still enjoy them!

Spring Semester

Well, the spring 2011 semester is now in its fourth week. A big welcome to our 20 new MBA and Master of Not for Profit Management students this semester! I am excited about what is in store for this semester...maybe not so excited about the amount of homework I'll have, but I am excited about the concepts I'll be learning and that in just a little over 3 months, I'll be graduating (wow, lots of stuff to finish before then!).

My classes this semester consist of the capstone course Strategic Management with a co-requisite of Management Simulation and Business Ethics...a good healthy dose of everything business related. So far, I'm really enjoying these classes; granted, I did just get swamped with project assignments in Strat, but I feel like I'm learning and that's a good feeling. I'm not sure how this semester will unfold, but I'll just take one week at a time...and in some cases, one day at a time.

I hope to post little blurbs on here to keep everyone connected with things going on at ORU. For example, right now is a great time to begin working on getting an application in to join us next fall - especially if you qualify for scholarships. Our scholarships are not guaranteed but are awarded based on the availability of funds, the type of scholarship, and the date in which students are accepted. So don't wait too long before beginning the process. It is terrible to miss out on free money if you qualify for it. The application is online at https://webapps.oru.edu/gradapps/business/. Happy spring semester!

Finding a Need and Filling it...Airport Security Style

We hear it on a semester basis - that one of the keys to successful product implementation is to find a need and fill it. Sometimes marketers can create a need and fill it, but some only need to be creative enough to find a need in the market and then do something about. Marc Carey is one such individual who has done this.

During the holiday season, a time of air high travel for Americans, scanners considered intrusive by some travelers were set up at airports while at the same time a more thorough pat-down was approved for TSA members to use. This created a stir all over the radio waves, television, newspapers, social media...some argued that other forms of security could be used, that some should not have to take part in either one of the security options, that this was violating the rights of travelers, and some even said that it would hurt the air travel industry. Instead of joining in on the speculations and complaints of new security procedures, Mr. Carey decided to take action and create a product that would allow travelers to pass through the scanner while still retaining a form of privacy. Thus entered Scannershirts into the market.

These Scannershirts have a special ink printed onto the shirts in areas that flying travelers want to keep to themselves. When they pass through the scanner, the areas on the product where the ink has been printed will show up as blurred on the monitors that TSA members review. According to Scannershirt's website, TSA is okay with certain areas of the body being blurred.

The demand for this product skyrocketed as people began to hear more and more about this choice in the privacy of traveling. Marc Carey didn't just create a product that fit a need though, he chose to create his product solely in the United States in order to create more jobs. In addition, 20% of his net profit from sales will be going to the children effected by the 9/11 attacks. Mr. Carey realized there was an open market for his scannershirts and combined with his American patriotism, created a product that helps other Americans and also protects the privacy of travelers who fly.

While this product may seem trivial to some, to others it gives a deeper sense of security. Travelers can now fly free of the worry of someone peering too deeply into their screened image while knowing that their physical safety is being protected on a higher level. Considering the amount of travel I do and the hours of business learning I have done, I found this product to be innovative, creative, and one that fills the demand of protection for personal rights while still maintaining a high level of security during air travel.

A Taste of Europe

Last week I was wandering the old cobblestone streets of Bavaria. Between Munich and Salzburg and everything in between, I was able to catch of glimpse of life for these bustling European towns - whether through gleaning information through its history, experiencing the culture, learning more of its position in music, eating extremely calorie-filled pastries (and thoroughly enjoying them!), watching business in motion or just observing people in their everyday lives, I had seven full days in Central Europe - with my family of 20.

We did almost as much as any group could do in the time that we were there, but one of the things that stands out to me that took my MBA studies and brought it into real life was walking through the BMW plant in Munich. Due to competitive intelligence, no pictures were allowed on the inside, but what I saw took accounting principles into action, brought management to life, and even touched on the concept of "going green."

The first part of this two hour tour with a distance of over 1.25 miles within the plant begins with viewing the blocks of metal and then watching all sorts of robotic engineering inventions start to form the vehicles. I could have watched just this one area for at least one hour. I felt like all those movies that deal with robots may have gotten their ideas from watching something like this. Incredible! Throughout the tour, I learned interesting facts, such as BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works, it takes 40 hours to produce a car (11 of these hours spent just getting painted), a car is ready for sale every minute on the plant, over the time period of one year and when considering all of the other locations where BMW makes vehicles, less than one ton of waste is produced.

I found the cities of Munich and Salzburg to have a reverence for their histories as well. Many buildings we explored had been demolished during World War II, but in an effort to restore life as normal, these buildings were reconstructed as they had once been. The area was not taken to construct something new and it was not used to create a modern development. Throughout the centuries, churches or cathedrals which had existed prior to the medieval period are still standing today.

Some of the structures are more recent than other. For example we explored Neuschwanstein, which by other European standards may be considered new as it is only around 200 years old. We also explored features underground as we experienced an Austrian salt mine near the town of Hallein. Before this adventure which required the wearing of large baggy pants and a frumpy top, I had only visited gold mines or coal mines. My perception of any mine being the same was crushed as my family delved into the land beneath the border of Austria and Germany, used salt mine slides, and developed an understanding of how salt had been used to expand cities.

Not too be outdone by all of the history and adventures experienced, we also caught of glimpse of the life of music within Salzburg through a Mozart and Advent concert we enjoyed at the top of the city as well as touring Mozart's Residence.

There's nothing like experiencing history when you get to see and experience it yourself. As I prepare for finals, it's nice to glance through my pictures and remember the warmth of hot apple cider on snow-covered cobblestone roads lined with Christmas trees among centuries-of-old architecture.

Dinner & the Concept of Time

A few weeks ago I read a book, The 24 Hour Customer by Adrian Ott, and since then I've been paying more attention to how the concept of time can be implemented into the marketing mix of the 4 Ps. While many companies have been seeking ways to market their product, price, place, or promotion, Ott proposes that time should also be considered and gives examples of numerous businesses starting to do this. While her examples are great, you'll have to read them for yourself to find out more about them. But in the meantime, I found an example of her concepts through my dinner the other night.

Due to work, class, or meeting with grad groups, my husband and I don't get home until about 7:30 or 8pm on most nights. Then, add in the an ample amount of graduate homework, house chores, a dog, and life outside my control, and it all adds up to me not making dinner...mostly because we just don't have the time or it's already late. So, in order to still receive some sort of sustenance for our stomachs, we'll either eat a quick salad or opt for pizza. This particular night we opted for pizza. And since it was after 8pm and we're on a bit of budget, we chose to go with what we know to be fast, easy, and actually tastes good.

Tulsa has many choices for the pizza lover. Our new favorite pizza shop that's fast and cheap - and tasty - is Little Caesars. But before they moved just a few miles from my house, we wouldn't think of eating there. The thoughts of "Pizza! Pizza!" were buried in my childhood memories, not to be turned over by possible new experiences of trekking across town to a sketchy area within a rundown looking retail store. Little Caesars had basically been written off by most pizza devourers in Tulsa. But now that they have launched multiple shops in better areas all over town, business is booming. Not only are they now just a few minutes from my house and offer pizzas for $5, the real beauty of what they have to offer is in the area of time.

While the $5 deal is super great, what's even better is that I can walk into their little pizza site and give them $5 (plus 43 cents for tax) and walk out with a pizza less than a minute later - all without calling ahead or ordering. Little Caesars is completely accessing the concept of time and are using it to sell pizzas. Don't want to call in and wait for your $13 pizza to be done? No problem - just come by and pick up a cheese or pepperoni pizza for $5. You want a $5 pizza but it's not Monday? Just swing by our place any day. Need a pizza after 9pm? We're open late. Don't want to cook for dinner? Come see us.

It's brilliant. Every time I go (which is just about once a week), there will be a line of people picking up pizzas. But I know my car will driving away just two minutes later. Fresh, hot, tasty pizza, all for $5 and ready when I am. Little Caesars has captured this market of offering a good product at a reasonable price while using time to drive more sales. And I am part of that market. It's good to see that my favorable childhood memories have been restored. To this I say, "Welcome back, Little Caesars. (I'll probably see you again in a week!)"

Remember to Live

This past weekend I was in California for my grandmother's memorial service. My grandmother was a special lady, full of prayer and love for family. I will miss her. I don't really know if I can really put all my thoughts into words, but here I'll try...

*Don't let yourself become so consumed with the cares of this world, that you forget to treasure those things that cannot be replaced - time with your family, making memories with friends, and conversations with loved ones.

*Be careful what you write down...one day another family member may read it (my grandma left many great memories down on paper and gobs of amazing black and white photographs).

*When it comes down to the things that matter most in life, there's really nothing better than the fellowship of family.

*Prayer is powerful and lasts forever.

*Life does not slow down, you'll blink and suddenly it's five or ten years later.

*Having a positive attitude really does make a difference.

*Love, God, and family are all you really need to be happy in this life.

*Leaving a legacy of love, prayer, and laughter is one of the best legacies there is.