Change

I read a quote from Albert Einstein. He said "the world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing". What he said is very true. Just look around us. Sometimes we see a powerful but unjust or corrupt leader. We seem to be powerless. One thing we forget is that he or she is so powerful because of the followers. Followers that follow the leader blindly. Yes, we definitely cannot change everything. Some are just beyond our capacity but the least that we can do is to change ourselves followed by people near to us. If everyone starts changing him/herself for the better, then collectively we can actually achieve wonders.

Reactivation

Salam and good day. My last posting was almost 3 years ago. Have been very busy with my administrative works, thus less time to spend on writing. Despite that I am quite active sharing my thoughts using my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Plan to reactivate my blog which will give me more freedom to share my thoughts. I will write in both languages English and Malay. Wish me luck.

What a Joke...

The first thing I do when reached office today is reading and signing outstanding letters...took a day off last thursday due to flu and fever...interestingly among those letters I found one interesting...a letter of appeal from an MBA student...funnily attached to his letter is a letter from the member of parliament using an official letter head supporting his application without knowing the procedures, rules and regulation of the university...worst he copied the letter to  the respective Minister...the student was given a conditional offer letter...to take GMAT exam within 6 months after his registration due to his lack of work experience (3 years minimum required)...we have been flexible at that time by giving him the conditional OL which we no longer do...he agreed, registered but didn't take the exam as required...and now he is asking for exemption....using a political hand...academic is academic...rules must be understood, observed and complied...no exception...wonder why such a matured postgraduate student needs to involve a member of parliament to solve a small matter...come on...said we're moving into a developed country soon with first class mentality...what a joke...my response remains the same...take the GMAT test...that is the contract

Success

I read this interesting quote in Going Places, a monthly magazine published by Malaysia Airlines, on my flight to Istanbul...it is about success from Michael Jordan, one of the basketball legends...he said..."I have taken more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed"...even Michael Jordan said success never comes easy...it requires lot of sacrifices and guts to try things and take defeats and failures as valuable learning process...so instead of finding faults, probably it is better to see the positive side of it...failure as a learning process...a good reminder for all including myself...cheers
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...Innovation

...read HBR blog about why big companies can't innovate...big corporation's success is measured by its profit and dividend it pays to the shareholders...start-up company's success, on the other hand, is gauged by how well it identifies a problem in the market...venture capitalist will fund the start-ups if they think entrepreneurs have identified a big problem with an interesting solution ...if the solution matches well with the problem, it'll see growth in revenues and ultimately profitability...if fails, it will continue to innovate and search for better solution...or identifies a new problem and its matching solution...however, when corporation reaches maturity, the measure of success is very different...it's profit...and more profit...without acknowledging the limits of the organization...it focuses on different issues...efficiencies, leveraging existing assests and distribution channels, and listen to their (often) best customers...as the structure of big corporations are becoming more complex, more procedures, rules and regulations are established for standardization...with multiple layers of decision making processes...it requires more efforts to achieve efficienc....the types and scale of innovation is given less priority... ...while achieving efficiencies is important but it should not be done not at the expense of innovation… no wonder some entrepreneurs would prefer to let go (sell) of their businesses when they reach a certain level...a level where there is less room for innovation…and then use their innovative thinking to start a new business...and the cycle goes on and on...lessons learned...when companies grow bigger and becoming more complex...centralization may not be the best option...top management needs to recognize the limits of their organization in making profit...to inculcate the innovation culture, top management should allow and empower certain groups to function with different goals and operational metrics...ok that's about company...let's now think how innovation works in an academic institution or business school in particular...let's have a look at the world top 100 b-schools...what make them top b-schools, how do they differ from the average b-schools...what are their characteristics...are they big or small...are they a comprehensive or a very focused school...how some schools get into the list in a short period of time (less than 10 years)...take SP Jain School of Global Management and Indian School of Business as examples...they are small and very focused…then look at Sasin, a model different from SP Jain or ISB…while remains under the umbrella of Chulalongkorn University…it is given a high degree of autonomy which enables it to innovate and do things differently…HBS is the same…while there are no definite answers to the questions...but if getting into the world rank matters most to your institution...then acknowledging various models of successful b-schools is crucial...

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