Final Projects Favorites

I really liked the Decks for Days business model.  I began my quest to learn how to snowboard this past 2010-2011 ski season, but as a skier I understand the difficulties both in time and money that it takes to travel with skis or snowboards.  It is easy enough taking your equipment with you on a roadtrip, but I can't imagine the cost it would be for me to travel to Colorado or Utah.  Especially since I like to ski and snowboard.  If I am on a week long ski trip I might want to switch each day or every few days, but to travel with two sets of equipment and the way airlines charge now is obsurd.  Decks for Day solves my problems! I am sure it is cheaper to have the equipment shipped than it is to bring on flights.  I also do not wan't my snowboard to have the "United Breaks Guitar" fate either.  I think this model would also be good for those looking to purchase a new board.  Sometimes you want to try to different brands, but rental companies tend to have extremely warn out or non-brand equipment which makes comparisons for shopping purposes difficult.  One difficulty for Deck for Days would be keeping prices competitive.  Not only are they renting equipment, but also shipping it and for customers to opt for this option there prices need to be lower than rental companies both locally and at ski resorts. 

Attracting More Participants to Google Prediction Markets

Prediction markets are only effective if a lot of people participate.  What are the best ways to encourage more traders and trading within internal company prediction markets?

In Google’s case, awards such as t-shirts and cash prices were given to those who participated and made correct predictions.  I was reading this case and wondered how many employees were skeptical of participating in a program where t-shirt prizes were given and predictions revolved around sporting or political events.  If Google wants to increase their participation rates within their GPM program they need to offer more trading involving Google’s business decisions as well as business related incentives.  With incentives such as an extra day of PTO or the ability to leave two hours early on a Friday as well as involving more Google related predictions employees will feel more comfortable participating during their work hours. 

Executives within Google should participate and then make conversation with employees during breaks or lunch regarding the GPM.  This will encourage both increased interaction and discussion about the GPM as well participation.  Another idea would be the ability to trade Goobles in for paid vacations.  For example, employees who obtain a previously determined amount of Goobles could trade them in for a family vacation in which they could choose from a few different vacation options or packages. 

The Trend towards Crowd Sourcing ...

What are the similarities and differences between a community-driven product development process and a traditional product development process within a firm?

Community-driven product development is different than traditional product development within a firm because community processes lack most of the hierarchical structure and costs that exist within a firm’s development process.  Firms usually pay highly educated professionals to research, solve problems, and develop new products.  Because of the large salaries required for these types of positions and the physical aspect involved with commuting to the job itself, these firms can only hire so many people for such tasks.  Community development on the other hand can be done by just about anyone.  Websites, internet, and other technologies make it extremely simple for mass groups of people to contribute their input and knowledge.  The ease of use and large base of non experts who contribute their innovative ideas allows for inexpensive product development.  While a traditional firm uses standards and a limited number of executives to decide the final outcome, crowd sourcing companies can ask for answers, utilize criticism, and determine favorites from a limitless number of people.  What could be any better than obtaining feedback directly from a company’s customer base?  Of course, most companies involved in community-based development must utilize a set of standards in order to streamline the generated content, but the system is not nearly as bureaucratic as with traditional systems.  As ecommerce continues to grow, I think many companies will see the positive impact crowd sourcing will have, thus driving us to a much more community driven economy.   

Adding Value to LinkedIn

LinkedIn recently hit 100M users. If you were in charge at LinkedIn, what would be your strategic goals for the next several years?  How would you achieve them?

LinkedIn is the number one PNS in the US and Europe for several reasons including the ability for professionals to connect and learn from each other.  Despite the high switching costs involved, LinkedIn needs to continuously develop their features in order to keep active users.  For example they need to:

Further Develop the Job Search Aspect

Since this is a social media site for professionals I believe, LinkedIn should offer their job application free of charge for users.  Why not make this site similar to Monster or other job search engines where consumers can search jobs for free but employers pay a fee to have their open job opportunities listed.  To me it makes sense that the opportunity to advance your career on a professional networking site be free of charge for consumers. 

Further Develop the Recruiting Process

I think it would also benefit LinkedIn to begin marketing to college Juniors and Seniors who are looking for internships or entry level positions.  Although this market may not yet be professionals most of them are starting their careers and beginning to develop their networks in order to eventually become professionals. 

Do not dramatically blend the line between having a professional or social media site

Professionals often face consequences and issues balancing their social lives with their professional lives.  For example, co-workers who go to happy hour together or spend time outside of work together may have trouble keeping the social aspect of their relationship outside of the office.  The same could be true if LinkedIn continues to increase the social portion of their website.  Professionals usually like to keep their personal and professional lives separate which happens to add a large part of the attraction and value to LinkedIn.  I do not believe a social addition to this site will add value to the end user. 

Wikipedia - Can they keep out the Bad?

How do Wikipedia’s processes for creating and modifying articles ever lead to high-quality results? In other words, since anyone can easily edit Wikipedia, how is it that good (and usually accurate) content emerges?

                Had Wikipedia kept its business model from Nupedia the site would not be as prominent and as expansive as it is today.  I say this because people love to post videos, articles, and reviews regarding their knowledge and interests.  One reason may be for bragging rights and the other because I believe people genuinely care to share their knowledge with others.   If Yelp, YouTube, and Wikipedia are not enough examples for you to believe me then remember that we also have sites like Google Maps where users can make reviews and many different blogging sites where users can generate and post their own information. 

                With any user generated information site there will of course be information and content that is added that is either below average, completely wrong, inappropriate, or offensive.  Wikipedia in fact has seen and had to deal with examples of each, but the fact that most people take pride in their research, knowledge, and writing will keep most of the generated information accurate.  The majority of people who take the time to share their information through Wikipedia probably have a passion for the information they are sharing and do not want to jeopardize their reputation or the experience of other users.    This Wikipedian system where users can edit articles allows for articles to become accurate overtime.  Wikipedians usually feel strongly enough about a topic to make changes to an article that is inaccurate or inappropriate if a bad apple justso happened to share misguided information.  Wikipedia’s system of editors, administrators, and bureaucrats acts almost like a checks and balance system which can ensure the stabilization and accuracy of articles.  Although this process of adding, deleting, and editing user generated information may be a slow process, I think overtime the accuracy of articles will prevail.

User Generated Content

In general, how should organizations deal with issues posed by user-generated content and other information spread over social media?    

           I have come to learn that one of the most important forms of advertising is through word of mouth advertising.  People tend to follow recommendations from their friends, family, and those who tend to like similar experiences.  We have already seen several examples in this class of businesses which thrived mostly through word of mouth and other limited marketing techniques.  One great example of this is the Taxi Magic application. 

                Having said that, social media can be a great, inexpensive, medium for advertising and creating awareness for many companies.  However, companies must be aware of the consequences that can also occur.  It is just as easy for consumers to promote their negative feelings and experiences as it is for them to advertise the positive experiences.

 User generated content and other information spread over social media allows for consumer knowledge and experiences to be shared with vast amounts of people, on a much large scale than traditional word of mouth regardless of whether the information is positive or negative.  The case for today’s class is a great example of this.  United lost $180 million dollars as a result of one customer’s unhappiness with the company.  Companies must be aware of the dynamics that has resulted from social media and develop strategies in order to counter balance many of the negative and consequential aspects which can occur. 

United airlines and other companies like Comcast which have suffered detrimental social media encounters can learn from their past mistakes.  And other companies which have not faced the negative impacts should follow suit before they suffer from similar problems like 10% decreases in their stock.  In order to protect themselves, companies today must focus on their customers.  We are in a service based economy and the ultimate goal should be to cater to customers.  Mistakes happen and companies can’t please customers 100% of the time, but when a complaint is made it is now more important than ever for companies to take action and make amends.  As mentioned in both readings for today’s class, many companies are developing search techniques which find complaints and comments made on a number of social media sites which either positively or negatively affect a particular company.  This can be used to their advantage! Companies should used these techniques and reach out to those unhappy consumers before damage is done.  Not only is this a way for companies to make amends with unhappy customers,  it is also a way for them to poll information to see where they need improvements and how they can ultimately provide better services for their customers.  Social media seems like a great way for companies to listen, take ideas, and interact directly with the people they are trying to please.

Is Hulu's Plot Actually Evil?

Hulu’s value proposition is different than traditional broadcast and cable television because they offer many of the same programs that cable television does with added value to the user.  For example, users can stream shows at any given time.  Not only can they watch the shows they love, but they can do so at their convenience.  Hulu also offers streaming from more than one network, which gives users an abundance of variety.  I think it is also important that Hulu not only provides users the flexibility when watching their favorite shows, their services are free of charge.  As of right now users are being offered an added bonus without any additional cost.  If Hulu can maintain their current revenue source the company will have a competitive advantage over TV Everywhere which charges a subscription fee.  With a value proposition like this, It does not seem as if Hulu's plot is all that evil.