Today marked the first day of class for us Woodcock Global Fellows, a much more jam-packed day than the two previous. Going from two free days to a day with class from 8:30 to 5:00 is a huge shift, let me tell you. However, I feel like I have already learned so much from one day in my Managing in Complex Environments class. From the acronyms of PESTLE and VUCA to the concepts of Porter’s Five Forces and the Open Systems Hypothesis, I have seen just how complex a business can turn out to be. This first day of the program taught me so much about what goes into the management of firms, and it intrigues me to learn even more as the weeks go on.

We started off by diving into a 2007 case study about the success of Starbucks. Our discussion made it clear that there were many overlapping factors that effect the workings of firms, both internally and externally. Starbucks main goal was to obviously maximize their profit, just like any other company. However, the company’s founder took a much different approach to make it to the top, hoping to appeal to the consumers and create a much more welcoming aura, rather than a corporate company feeling. As we analyzed the case, we found that Starbucks was extremely successful based upon their annual revenue and net profits, increasing as each year progressed. On the other hand, we found that they were unsuccessful in maintaining their core values that were stated in their mission statement, allowing other companies to rise and compete with their products. Through this we were able to examine the effect of changing environments over time on the way a firm is managed and see how these firms adapt to the changes put in front of them.

In addition, we were also introduced to Porter’s Five Forces and the Open Systems Hypothesis. Both of these outline the way in which certain factors can impact and pressure a company, as well as the way that a company can help guide themselves and remain successful. The Five Forces are built upon the idea of competition and rivalry among firms within the same industry, and the Open Systems Hypothesis goes hand in hand with that. The hypothesis states that firms must interact with their environment to strive and thrive, requiring them to make decisions that are best for the firm when changes happen in the environment. The Five Forces that cause the change in the environment are competition, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, buyers and suppliers. Each of these has certain elements that can effect firms as a whole, and when you combine more than one, it results in the complex environment that the class is built on.

All in all, I feel like I learned a great deal about business today, and I had the chance to bond and create great memories with my classmates. I can’t wait to see where this class takes me in my studies and where this program takes me as I build relationships with my peers, who I can certainly call my friends in just three short days.