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Have A Happy Friday: The Toilet Story

President Obama & “Fairness” ????

There is a saying “All is fair in love and war.” According to web references, “It traces its origin back to John Lyly’s ‘Euphues’ (1578). The quote was “The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war. ” John Lyly was a Renaissance English poet and playwright.” The saying is further defined as ” behaviour that is unpleasant or not fair is acceptable during an argument or competition.” Thus based on concepts dating back to at least 1578, “fairness” depends and competition bends the concept toward being a moot point.

As entrepreneurs, you are in competition with everyone for everything, be it ideas, patents, skilled people, money, getting products to market acceptance, anything and everything is competition-based. As suggested in this past Tuesday’s blog on Apple’s use of Foxconn to manufacture most/many of its products for world-wide consumption, they do this not out of a sense of fairness, but competition and maximization of profit potential for their shareholders. Make no doubt about it: Apple’s manufacturing is NOT “FAIR” to American workers.

Let’s face it, we are in global competition with the rest of the world for everything, be it energy, doctrine, policy, or business-based. The rules in this competition are NOT BASED on a President Obana Doctrine of Fairness, but whatever it takes to win the competition.

Please don’t sit complacently by thinking “Yeah, right on Mr. President, lets be “fair” about taxes, health reform, income equality, and give everyone “a fair shot.” That’s not the way the world turns, and certainly not a basis on which entrepreneurs compete on a global basis. Rather, the name of the game is whatever it takes. Let’s be fair about fairness. Hank

The King Delivers

Every semester at least one of the student teams in my class proposes a business idea involving delivery; whether it’s restaurant food, groceries, laundry or alcohol, they believe it to be a good business model with profit potential.  As an instructor of entrepreneurship, I encourage them to be more creative and try to think of a good business idea that stretches beyond their college bubble reality.

Sure, delivery is needed by some consumers, those with limited ability to travel to the store or to a restaurant.  That consumer niche’ would probably prefer to have more home delivery options.  But is this really a necessary business model for the majority of consumers?

Recently, though, I’ve noticed signs in upscale restaurant windows newly offering a delivery service.  And, Burger King just announced that they are piloting a test delivery program in the DC area with the goal of bringing it nationwide.    So, now I’m beginning to re-think my stance on home delivery business models.  Apparently we’ve become accustomed to not having to go out of the house to participate in purchasing consumer goods and services.  Most products are available online and can be delivered to our door.   So, of course the next generation believes this convenience should apply to food, alcohol and laundry.   In addition to getting our pizza and Chinese food dropped on our doorstep, now the local Italian restaurant will bring us our dinner, too.  Most of these foods travel well, and can be reheated in the microwave or eaten cold the next morning (cold pizza is my favorite and my daughter likes cold Chinese noodles).   But, fries, burgers and shakes don’t usually taste very good unless eaten quickly after grabbing the bag through the drive up window.  Burger King says they have developed a new thermal packaging which ensures the Whopper and french fries are delivered hot and fresh.  You’ll have to pay a $2 delivery fee and probably tip the driver.  A minimum order is between $8 and $10.

If Burger King really has figured out a way to bring their food hot and fresh right to our door,  is this something we want?  Isn’t the reason we eat at McDonald’s and Burger King because it’s so fast and convenient?  If we had another choice, just as fast and convenient with better taste and  nutritional value, would we choose that over a burger and fries?   Time will tell if this delivery trend will prove to increase sales and be cost effective.    Domino’s, whose business is 70% delivery, wishes them luck saying  ”There is a reason that not all pizza places deliver: It isn’t easy.”  Beth Carroll

Obama to Steve Jobs: “What would it take to make iPhones in the United States?”

I don’t normally do this, but all students [and all readers of this blog] regardless of their major should read, digest and understand the implications of Apple’s manufacturing strategyas depicted in the following NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html

Might give those 99% protesting the 1% while carrying all Apple gear pause for thought. The article presents a very concise picture of Apple’s global supply chain and implication(s) for US policymakers, workers, and educators. What is your take on Apple’s strategy?

You can read more about Foxconn here: And a video of Steve Jobs defending Apple’s use of Foxconn as its manufacturer of choice is below:

PS: Since I wrote this blog entry, the Dean of Krannert School of Management sent the link to all Krannert faculty as a suggested reading. Keep in mind, the “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” guy started this.   Hank

Feeding your caffeine addiction: AeroShot to the rescue

 David Edwards, a Harvard professor of biomedical engineering who also invented inhaled insulin, has a new product on the market – AeroShot. The AeroShot contains a puff of lime-flavored caffeine powder; one squeeze, and it dispenses about 40 mg of the drug in your mouth, like an asthma inhaler. (The Washington Times)

As you might imagine, David’s device has and is raising the ire of pundits in many corners, including Senator Chuck S. of NY. According to their FB page, they are seeding (making dependent???) college campuses with free samples. One of their FB fans states “I just baught AeroShot, and now I am a fan, got my friends into them. Working 10 hours a day in a office doing tax work…..Aero saved our days !!!” Others are pissing and moaning about shipping costs and their business model in general.

For entrepreneurs and those aspiring to be, is this really a viable concept on which to base a business? How would you change/improve their distribution system? Would you target a narrow market or follow a more shotgun approach? How would you counter the naysayers out there? Do you expect big brother (FDA, CPA or ???) to step in and rain on your parade? [Thanks to Beth Carroll for the heads up on this "different" product.] As a side-lite a video ad for their “product” is below.  Hank

Have A Happy Friday: Don’t believe everything you hear

Wolfram|Alpha: An interesting tool

Wolfram Research is a software developer in the computational sciences space. The company is known for its fully integrated technical computing software Mathematica. I’m certain many Purdue students who happen across this blog have used Mathematica in their courses @ Purdue. Wolfram Alpha’s vision is to create a system which can do for formal knowledge (heuristics, algorithms, rules, methods, theorems, etc.) what search engines like Google have done for informal knowledge, such as text and documents. (Crunchbase) Sound interesting?

What you may not know/realize, is that Wolfram also has a free web-based product named Wolfram|Alpha. This is one of those tools that you just have to try out to appreciate. Either it floats your boat, or it doesn’t. For engineering students especially, it should be extremely useful. View the video below to get a taste of what it’s all about. I sure wish I had access to it was I was an undergrad engineering student! And for entrepreneurs, take a look at their use of social media to promote their product. Hank

A life without Twinkies?

Twinkies, that delicious little golden cake with cream filling, might be a snack of the past. Just this month it has been reported that Hostess Brands, the maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, is preparing to re-file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after emerging from their first filing only two years ago.

Twinkies were first invented by a baker named James Dewar in 1930. He came up with the name when he saw a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes”. Twinkies were right up there in snack popularity with Oreo Cookies during the 1970’s. I grew up with Twinkies in my lunch box, as an after school snack, or a tasty treat with friends after a hard day of playing outside and they are yummy!

Those familiar with the bankruptcy announcement say the company is facing a cash crunch with more than $860 million in debt. Hostess claims one of the reasons for their troubles is higher labor expenses than their competition due to unionized labor. They say rising ingredient costs have also taken a bite out of their profitability. Another excuse for their current situation is that health-conscious Americans favor yogurt and energy bars over the dessert cakes and white bread they devoured 30 years ago. They believe that Hostess snacks don’t fit into the U.S. trend toward a healthier lifestyle and of eating a diet rich in whole wheat foods, fruits and vegetables. “The iconic status of Twinkies is partly this perception that there’s nothing real in it,” said Ken Albala, professor of history at the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, Calif., who specializes in food history. “It’s this cake filled with an unidentifiable sugary cream filling that never goes bad.” I say the crème filling in a Twinkie is no more mysterious or unhealthy than the crème filling between two chocolate cookie discs, yet Oreo’s are still one of the best selling snack cookies in the US today.

And what about the mystery meat served at McDonalds in both their burgers and their nuggets? McDonald’s sales continue to rise during the current healthful eating trend. What, then, do you think is the real reason Twinkies sales, along with those of other Hostess brands, haven’t been able to keep up with the company’s growing costs? Beth Carroll

Dave: You are it

Staples has a current ad running that says it all; when you are a startup/small business, often you are it. Think about it. And thanks to Beth Carroll (author of Wednesday blogs) for the idea/link. Hank

Separating truth from fiction

In today’s lead up to the November national elections, there has been and will continue to be much misinformation on the part of EVERYBODY involved. One assertion  particularly bothersome to me is the lambasting of Mitt Romney for his actions while at Bain. In particular, he is being criticized for making firms more competitive by reduction of body counts, closing down inefficient plants, and in general doing what in-place management should have been doing all along.

As entrepreneurs, you are have  to run lean, efficient, and productive organizations; or fail. I teach in my graduate Sustainability Strategies class at Purdue, that management must seek to obtain and maintain a balance between People, Planet and Profit. What is being advocated by those most critical of Mitt is support/maintain “People,” and forget about Planet and Profit. That’s not the way businesses work as you will find out on your own. Without profit, business fail, and without Planet likewise. Hank