May 15, 2017The Weight of Capitalism's Creative Destruction

News of Nokia’s foray into digital bathroom scales is a stark reminder of the difficulties of staying on top. For those with fond memories of Nokia’s iconic mobile “brick” phones, the image of this former superpower embarking on a consumer electronics comeback is evidence of what economists call capitalism’s creative destruction.

Many of today’s Millenials remember little of Nokia’s 14-year run as the market leader. In 2000, Nokia was the largest handset company in the world with a market cap of $250 billion compared with Apple at just $15 billion. In 2014, shortly after the sale of its mobile devices division to Microsoft, the slumping company stopped selling phones altogether. Today, Apple tips the scales at approximately a $770 billion market cap while Nokia, in its latest incarnation as a provider of telecom equipment and fledgling consumer electronics, is valued around $32 billion. What happened?

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Categories: MBA

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April 12, 2017The Not-So-Friendly Skies

By now most everyone has seen the video of a 69-year-old man being dragged from his United flight by terminal police officers – the result of an overbooked flight and an algorithm that selected his seat number. Can you think of any other industry that treats law abiding and non-threatening customers the same way? Imagine the furor if, say, Macy’s summoned mall security to retrieve a previously purchased garment from a customer and then proceeded to drag them out of the store because a Macy’s employee wanted the same size.

United’s CEO was quick to apologize and promised to investigate the ordeal. But in a memo to employees immediately after the news broke, he commended the crew for following established procedures when dealing with “situations like this.” No such commendation was offered to the aviation security officer that dragged the passenger through the aisle – he was suspended from his position pending further review. Who was it then that acted inappropriately?

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Categories: MBA

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April 6, 2017Shaving Burn

One of the most remarkable aspects of disruption is that it typically happens under full view of industry participants. New entrants, armed with a good enough and usually cheaper solution, simply wade across the moat into the low end of the market. The incumbents, drunk on their own success, dismiss the interlopers as a nuisance, or worse, decide to concede the low end in order to redeploy capital into higher margin products.

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Categories: MBA

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April 6, 2017Pros and Cons of Transferring Colleges

There is no doubt that transferring schools is common practice among students today. According to a study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 37.2 percent of the 3,629,429 students who enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities decided to transfer schools at least once in their academic career.

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Categories: Transfer

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April 4, 2017MBA Students Work on Unique Capstone Project with Italian Client

Six MBA students and their professor recently returned from Vicenza, Italy, where they toured the manufacturing plant of a leading designer and manufacturer of electric motors used in appliances, electric bikes and scooters. The trip was part of Ramapo’s Capstone program, which is the culmination of the students’ learning experience where small teams of second-year students, along with a faculty advisor, spend the entire spring term working as a corporate consultant.

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Categories: MBA

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March 31, 2017Finding the Right Camp Topic for Your Kids

For generations of American children, attending summer camp has been a time-honored tradition. There are camps focused on a variety of interests – ranging from science-themed camps to adventure-oriented programs, as well as camps focused on sports such as soccer and lacrosse, camps run by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and those with an emphasis on visual arts and music¹. Some children might not enjoy rock climbing or swimming but would enjoy “the chance to study robotics on a local college campus,” for instance¹. Therefore, it is important to understand your child’s personal preferences before enrolling them in a camp that is best suited to their individual “interests and personalities”¹.

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Categories: CIPL

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March 24, 2017The Artist's Eye

“A great leader has more in common with an artist than an economist. Economists drill deep in narrow fields, but the artist’s view is more expansive; he’s [/she’s] more able to grasp the big picture, and see how it is changing.”

The quote is from a recent column by Peggy Noonan who writes weekly for the WSJ. In her piece she takes the new administration to task for, among other things, overplaying an image of darkness and resentment rather than appealing to Americans’ optimistic “can-do spirit.”

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Categories: MBA

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February 16, 2017Good & Bad News Regarding Women in Business

According to a recent study, the percentage of women in senior executive positions is growing worldwide. In 2016, women held 24% of all senior roles globally, an increase of 3% from 2011. In the US, the figure is about the same at 23% and the highest level since 2007. In addition, more than a quarter of all new Directorships at S&P 500 companies went to women. That’s the good news.

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Categories: MBA

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February 6, 2017The End of Employment

A recent article published in the WSJ, The End of Employees, provides a stark reminder of the vast changes occurring in our economy. The idea of outsourcing nonessential jobs is not new and, on the surface, is simply a well-worn CEO practice to reduce costs. Business’ attempts to increase efficiency and profitability are the hallmark of good management, so why is it creating so much angst?

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Categories: MBA

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February 3, 2017Closing The Relative Income Gap

A recent study of Federal Reserve data by the advocacy group Young Invincibles, reveals the extent to which Millennials are falling behind previous generations: Median income is 20% less than their Baby Boomer parents at the same stage of life and they have accumulated half as much in assets, this despite the fact that they are better educated. Much has been made of this generational phenomenon as well as the implications for asset purchases, household formations, and economic growth that will be felt for years to come.

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Categories: MBA

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