Today was the first day of class. I finally saw how my professor, Dr. Lada taught. She allowed a discussion based learning which I do enjoy. The first hands on activity was discussing the Starbucks case study written back in 2007. The question was, at the time was Starbucks a successful company. I argued yes it was successful because the made great product, having a continuous growth in revenue (except for one year), but most importantly they were able to market themselves just by word of mouth. By doing that it allows Starbucks to save money, care for its employees and get fair trade coffee. Even though they did loose their “third home” image, they were able to make one of the best companies in the world.
In addition to the Starbucks Case Study we learned a lot of new business tools. We learned VUCA, PESTLE, and Porter’s 5 theory of Stake Holder. VUCA is a great way to manage or even learn how to manage. It is not about being right all the time, because that is impossible, but instead it is about formulating a plan to be sure that you picked the best option. It is about adaptability. But with VUCA you need to use Porter’s 5 forces, stockholder theory and PESTLE. PESTLE is a great way to understand what the impacts surroundings are for a firm. I believe that using PESTLE can help people in interviews to get more knowledge of what they are getting into. And if you have to make any decisions, getting more background info is always helpful. And if you in a firm and have to evaluate things, using the stakeholder theory and Porter’s 5 forces is key. It allows you to evaluate the situation and move forward and whether to react or not. These decisions, I assume are used daily throughout thousands of firms. VUCA takes into all the business tools we learned to be a better manager and leader. VUCA also comes into play with Mega Trends to better predict industries and how to profit in the future.
After learning the tools we used Porter’s 5 theory into action with the gambling industry. We examined which Stake Holders threaten and have power of the casino’s. I perceived the biggest threat to be online gambling, as it is now legal and becoming more prominent.
Lastly, we went over Strength Finders. I was not surprised in my results. I’m competition, analytical, achiever, strategic, and individualization. And reading through it in detail I felt confident in who I am and now have a better understanding of myself.