IT Management Practices: Involving the Team

I have an experience that I feel may be useful to share. Till date, I have worked on two excellent new product development projects and it has been a wonderful learning experience. However, each team had its challenges. Since I do not want to name the companies or the managers, let us say I am talking for company Alpha and company Beta.

Both companies are technically very strong. However, company Alpha had to put together a team to develop a rich Internet web application when RIA as a concept was pretty new. This initially led to ambiguity in terms of experience and possibilities, but the manager ran a tight ship and delegated responsibility. The whole team was encouraged to develop skills and participate very closely at every stage - including interviewing, requirement gathering and architecture. This ultimately led to technical skill development, team bonding, growth of all team members and decent execution of the project. The stress and responsibility were evenly divided, but there was no doubt on who was leading the pack. Leadership was inclusive and far-sighted.

Company Beta, on the other hand, had significant experience with web applications and RIA was relatively known by this time. So they could hire the people with right skills and there was less ambiguity to start with. But the structure was more hierarchical and the manager less keen on sharing "power" across the board, giving less influence to team members on requirement gathering, designing or interviewing. Of this, for me, the most difficult part was not being included in requirement gathering. Working with a requirement document may be the norm in big companies, but for entrepreneurial setups it is absolutely critical to be involve the team closely. This can save a lot of time down the line lost to bugs resulting from misunderstood requirements. Moreover, such involvement creates more urgency, creates an aura of responsibility and gives additional perspective to the whole process. This can be critical in long term.

Ultimately, both companies managed to launch a good product. Nevertheless, Alpha is playing for the long term - trying to nurture second rung of leadership - while Beta will increasingly get dependent on one row of leadership with a big vacuum below. In the long run, it may indeed make a difference between great and good, and would be another testimony to Jim Collins.

Iran's regime can learn from China and Libya

Iran is increasingly finding itself facing intense criticism and an unsupportive populace. The Revolutionary Guard have been firm and the Government's propaganda machine is in overdrive. Yet the tensions simmer.

In my opinion, if the current regime wishes to maintain its vice-like grip on power, it has two examples to copy.

The first is China. It survived Tianamese Square with decisive, brute force - the world opinion be damned. Nevertheless, the repression could not have been successful without a plan to either integrate or neutralize the aggrieved groups effectively. China's growing economic might and propaganda also helped.

Libya, on the other hand, made a U-turn on its policies and re-built its bridges with the western powers, including the "Great Satan". Its bargaining chips were, of course, oil and building the right public image for the leader. Colonel Gaddafi has carefully crafted a statesman like image using a mix of impossible sweet talks (like United States of Africa) and oil money. The logic is simple: nobody may cry for you if you are thought of to be Saddam Hussein-II. Nevertheless, behind the facade Libya remains as dictatorial as ever. In fact, riding on back of current economic crisis and oil money, they (along with Chinese and Middle Eastern funds) have gained a significant influence in the world market.

Iran's regime can do a bit of both if it really wants to achieve its ambition of retaining power and dominating the world stage. In fact, with its large oil reserves Iran can become an oil super-power displacing Saudi Arabia and Libya (in terms of influence). Iran should know that West doesn't give two hoots about democracy as long as it is profitable. After all, the West does deal with China, Libya and Saudi Arabia. And are Burma and North Korea less oppressed than Iraq? A pity they are not oil rich. Nuclear weapons et al will come if Iran can phase out its problems and take them one by one using diplomacy, money and stealth.

The Fibre of Stability

A recent article in FT about China and the conundrum that it presents to the democracies of the world got me thinking about quite a few things. A few days of serious thinking has yielded some interesting results.

People like to believe that historically capitalistic democratic societies have been the most successful, prosperous, stable, free and just ruling political systems in the world. Stability and prosperity have been the two most important selling points in the quest of exporting democracy. After all, communism never managed to deliver its promises, fascism was a disaster, theocracies have proved to be repressive, most erstwhile socialist countries were marching towards progress (until this recession) by adopting capitalism and monarchies are all but in name now. Democracy never had it better. That is, if we can forget Iraq.

The only exception to this rule is China. The way the Chinese economy is growing; by 2050 it will be double the size of that of a democratic USA. It is also a fairly stable country with an excellent infrastructure and a very shrewd, pragmatic & ruthless foreign policy. All the wishful thinking of China's demise remains that- a wishful thinking. What went wrong?

Nothing, if you ask me. I feel that it is too early to judge the "stability" of capitalistic democracies as they are pretty young. Generally, stability and prosperity can be achieved by any system (democratic or not) if it has:

• a strong & reliable succession mechanism agreed upon by populace(democratic or otherwise)
• a strong armed force & intelligence wing
• natural resources plenty enough to survive and scarce enough to not cause complacency (and not attract marauders looking for a quick buck at your expense)
• fair and fast law system
• strong infrastructure and encouragement for education
• power blocs (judiciary, armed forces, intelligence, legislature, Prime Minister, President, King) that are divided enough to be controllable and united enough to be useful
• open trade and clever, disguised protectionism
• enough propaganda to instil a feeling of nationhood
• ability to deal with adversaries decisively and intelligently
• and finally, full coffers

Ultimately, the discussion about leadership and politics is out of scope and I cannot possibly address all issues. My point, however, is that capitalistic democracies need to look beyond their self-righteousness if they wish to find an answer to the Chinese conundrum.

Cracking the GMAT

3 months, many sleepless nights, 82 essays and 30 practice tests. Worth it? Yes. Every bit of it. GMAT is not the only thing that you would need to make it to your dream business college, but it can help. At least I hope it does! My learnings from the GMAT for you. Of course these are my views and may not work for you. But I will be glad if they do!

1. I feel GMAT is a test of will rather than any special skill. The questions are not especially difficult after some practice, but it is challenging to maintain your focus at its highest level throughout the test. The only way to do make focus better is to take as many practice tests as you can. Besides the one you will get from your test material and GMAC, you can buy some from www.800score.com
2. If you have the discipline, there is no substitute for self-study. Buy all the material you can, but the best material that you will get is from GMAC itself. Kaplan and Princeton will not hurt either. But keep your hands off Barons, bad book. Will waste your time and confuse you.
3. I went overboard with 82 essays, but it does not hurt to at least brain-storm as many topics as you can with your friends
4. Nobody is going to come from the business school to meet you personally at the test venue; do yourself a favor and go in the most comfortable dress you can find.

Hope that helps. Cheers!

Motorcycle Sales

The following appeared as part of an article in the business section of a local newspaper:

"Motorcycle X has been manufactured in the United States for more than 70 years. Although one foreign company has copied the motorcycle and is selling it for less, the company has failed to attract motorcycle X customers - some say because its product lacks the exceptionally loud noise made by motorcycle X. But there must be some other explanation. After all, foreign cars tend to be quieter than similar American-made cars, but they sell at least as well. Also, television advertisements for motorcycle X highlight its durability and sleek lines, not its noisiness, and the ads typically have voice-overs or rock music rather than engine-roar on the sound track."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The presented article speculates about the reasons behind the success of motorcycle X, despite it being copied by some foreign company. This is speculated to be because of the exceptionally loud noise made by the motorcycle. However, even though the article tries to find alternative explanation, it goes ahead to reason based on the premise that its speculation is,in fact, correct. Further, it tries to compare the sales of indigenous cars to foreign cars, completely ignoring the fact that the foreign cars are not necessarily a copy of American cars. Neither does it take into account any differences between the target audience for cars and motorcycles.

Initially the article tries to articulate a reason behind the success of motorcycle X in face of it being copied and sold at a lower price by a foreign company. The reason is said to be the exceptionally loud noise made by the motorcycle by some of the users. By the article's own admission, it is the viewpoint of some and not all (or even most, for that matter). The source of the data is not clear and hence the certainty attached with it is not warranted. To its credit, the article does cast a doubt on reason and states an intention to look for an alternative explanation. To its discredit, it goes on to base the argument on the reason that itself put to doubt, hence basing the examples and arguments around noise. By doing this it also completely fails to explore an alternative reasons (like better quality or brand value) behind the sales.

Further, the comparison used to illustrate the point is invalid as it does not address the same situation: foreign cars are not necessarily a copy of American cars. The foreign motorcycle, on the other hand, is a direct copy of its American counterpart. When motorcycles look essentially same, the end-user can compare everything feature-by-feature easily. Moreover, the target audience would also be similar. For cars the choice may not be that easy with the given parameters. Comparing a Mercedes to a Hummer or a Porsche is simply not possible as they are three different genres of cars. The choice may depend on if the person wants a luxury car, a land rover or a sports car rather than any other feature.

Finally, the article does not take into account the difference in expectations of a motorcycle buyer and a car buyer. While it is possible that a motorcycle buyer may be looking for brash, youthful, loud vehicle; a car buyer may be looking for a luxury vehicle as a status symbol. Since they may not be looking for the same thing, equating their buyer expectations may not lead to correct results.

Concluding, the presented article is logically flawed on many counts. In order to appear stronger, it needs to at least present a more relevant analogy besides actually exploring reasons behind success of motorcycle X. Otherwise it risks appearing poorly reasoned, hypothetical and incomplete.

Professional and Personal Fulfillment

"It is difficult for people to achieve professional success without sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

There are no free lunches in this world. To gain something, one has to often loose something else. The same is true for professional success;it is hard to achieve it without sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life.

A fulfilling personal life needs enough time with the family, daily exercise and some time for leisure. However, there are only twenty-four hours in a day. Success demands persistent hard work, focus and vigilance. In fact, the more one becomes successful, the more responsibility one gets. Not only that, success also has the potential to attract all the wrong kind of people to one's life: it may be a gold-digger, a jealous rival who  or a fraudulent charity. This demands higher level of vigilance and takes its toll on the successful individual. 

A pertinent example I can think of is a report that I read in a health magazine on the rise of occurrence of diseases like high blood pressure, cardiac arrests, asthma and depression in young, working professionals. This is attributed to rising stress level in the fast-paced working environment of today. As individuals compete to out-perform the other in a zero-sum game, the entire focus shifts to  getting ahead. This leaves people with very less time with their family or themselves. Hence, when professional fulfilment takes precedence, personal fulfilment is often the first casualty.

Even if I had not read the report, my personal experience would have led me to reach the same conclusion. A friend of mine and his wife were two successful professional in the investment banking and sales sector respectively. While the husband worked long, unreasonable hours; the wife had to travel frequently across the country. As they wanted to grow in their respective careers, they also decided to delay having a baby. Over the years their interaction fell down drastically and now they are also facing a problem in conceiving a baby. The situation is so bad that it is likely that they may divorce each other. It is a clear example of how the pursuit of professional success often entails sacrificing important aspects of a fulfilling personal life. 

Concluding, I completely agree with the stated opinion. Obsession with the rat-race of achieving professional success often involves forgoing other things: personal fulfillment. This is not something that is planned, but is a consequence of having fixed number of hours in a day and the desire to excel professionally in today's fast-paced environment. 

A Language Course

The following appeared in an article in a college departmental newsletter:

"Professor Taylor of Jones University is promoting a model of foreign language instruction in which students receive 10 weeks of intensive training, then go abroad to live with families for 10 weeks. The superiority of the model, Professor Taylor contends, is proved by the results of a study in which foreign language tests given to students at 25 other colleges show that first-year foreign language students at Jones speak more fluently after only 10 to 20 weeks in the program than do nine out of 10 foreign language majors elsewhere at the time of their graduation."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The presented article aims to promote a model of foreign language instruction. It tries to achieve this by presenting the results of a study. However, it fails to talk about either the source or the methodology of the study. It also fails to address possible cost-handicaps associated with a course that involves living abroad for 10 weeks. 

The cornerstone of the reasoning is the result of the study conducted. Hence, it is extremely important to know how effective and authentic the study is as strength of the study will essentially determine the strength of the argument. If it was conducted by Jones University, its neutrality is questionable as the tests may have been designed to favor its own students. On the other hand, if the study was conducted by a neutral third-party, it would make the study highly credible.

Further, the background of students chosen for the test is also important to know. If they had a reasonable level even before they started the course, it would be unfair to compare them to students who were absolutely new to the language. The level of students on which the study was conducted has to be at a reasonably same level for the study to be credible.

Finally, the proposed programme involves staying abroad for 10 weeks. This may make the programme prohibitively expensive when compared to other programmes. A proper cost analysis is important to determine how much more a student may need to spend to complete the programme and whether such an investment is warranted. Sending students abroad may be a good way to teach them, but they should be able to afford to do it as well.

Concluding, the presented reasoning is flawed in some ways. In fact, it looks like a marketing gimmick undertaken by Jones University to promote its course. If Professor Taylor wants the article to be credible, he can do so by clarifying the source and the methodology of the study and whether his programme would inflate tuition cost significantly. Barring, all prospective students should take the presented arguments with a pinch of salt.