From todays Wall Street Journal:
"The European Union's top antitrust regulator has sent a letter to Microsoft Corp., warning the company that it won't be allowed to sell its new Windows Vista operating system in Europe if it comes prepackaged with certain features."
When will the idiot lawyers learn that pulling stuff like this doesn't hurt Microsoft. It hurts computer manufacturers and ultimately the end users.
Tony
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Two rants in one day...I'm on a roll
Fast Company has republished a November 2004 interview with Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell. In the interview, Rollins states "If R&D spending is the driver of success, why aren't IBM and HP making money in the computer business? Compaq and HP haven't made money in their desktop business for at least five years."
Granted, we're a year and half later, but a simple look at the numbers proves Rollins wrong. Here is the operating income from HP's PC business for the last six years. I have to concede defeat to Rollins in 2001-2002, but for the pre- and post-merger companies, numbers speak louder than Rollin's words. Oh, and by the way, since the time of the interview, Dell's stock price has dropped from $40.52 to $29.23 while HP's stock price has risen from $20.00 to $33.79.
Opeating Income for PC Division:
2000
HP - $335 million
Compaq - $289 million
2001
HP - ($412) million
2002
HP - ($401) million
2003
HP - $18 million
2004
HP - $205 million
2005
HP - $657 million
Granted, we're a year and half later, but a simple look at the numbers proves Rollins wrong. Here is the operating income from HP's PC business for the last six years. I have to concede defeat to Rollins in 2001-2002, but for the pre- and post-merger companies, numbers speak louder than Rollin's words. Oh, and by the way, since the time of the interview, Dell's stock price has dropped from $40.52 to $29.23 while HP's stock price has risen from $20.00 to $33.79.
Opeating Income for PC Division:
2000
HP - $335 million
Compaq - $289 million
2001
HP - ($412) million
2002
HP - ($401) million
2003
HP - $18 million
2004
HP - $205 million
2005
HP - $657 million
Full Time vs. Part Time MBA
Career Journal has posted an article about why a full-time MBA program "still rules with corporate recruiters." Given that I'm two semesters into a part-time MBA program, I thought I'd comment on some of the claims made in the article.
1) Full-time students' experience "mirrors the the consulting experience...they have been brainstorming and solving problems in teams with people who have different skills and different styles."
Personally, I have found this to be even MORE true in a part-time program. Not only do people have different skills and different styles, they have different career and industry experience. In my current finance group I have team members from the IT, Oil & Gas, and Investment Banking industries. This breadth of real world experience cannot be matched in a full-time program.
2) "The full-time M.B.A. is a much richer experience-as much about clubs, guest speakers, close interaction with classmates and professors, and networking with alumni as it is about the cirriculum."
First off - clubs? Welcome to something I like to call "undergraduate". If you didn't develop interpersonal skills and interact with classmates and professors as an undergraduate, chances are you won't as a graduate student, full- or part-time. Second, I do see some validity to this point which is why I believe that UT got this one right in their Houston MBA program. Classes are held at the Houstonian hotel, which includes a Friday night stay at the hotel. You can hit the bar, hit the town, or hit the books with classmates, professors, staff, etc. In addition, every fall semster begins with a week-long "intensive" in Austin. One look at the 2nd year classes during this week and you can definitly see the bonds formed between classmates as well as between students and staff.
3) "Full-time students... are immersed 12 to 16 hours a day."
True, but how much of that day is immersed in theory, and how much is directly related to their eventual real-world exposure. In my undergraduate days I was immersed - no make that drowned - in five semesters of calculus. Did that make me a better at my current job? Absolutely not.
Now if the argument here is about workload, I'm really going to have to disagree. Trying to balance a 10+ hour workday with 4+ hours of schoolwork and family committments is definitely more demanding than the good ol' days of just being a college student.
4) "Many go part-time just to get the three letters-M.B.A.-behind their name."
Tony Camilli M.B.A. - I think not. I pity the tool that actually tries to pull that one off.
5) Internet...
I pretty much agree with everything they've said about online programs, albeit they've been a little too harsh.
Overall, my biggest problem with the article weight that they give to surveys of recruiters - campus recruiters specifically. These are people who interview COLLEGE STUDENTS for a living. My personal opinion is that they simply don't know how to respond to early to mid-carreer interviewees who know as much, if not more, about a job than the interviewer. Also, as I expressed earlier, a key benefit to a part-time or executive program in the breadth of work experience in a class - and no, internships and co-ops don't compare. The fact that my classmates work at various companies, in various industries, in have worked in different countries adds a significant value the overall experience.
Thanks,
Tony
1) Full-time students' experience "mirrors the the consulting experience...they have been brainstorming and solving problems in teams with people who have different skills and different styles."
Personally, I have found this to be even MORE true in a part-time program. Not only do people have different skills and different styles, they have different career and industry experience. In my current finance group I have team members from the IT, Oil & Gas, and Investment Banking industries. This breadth of real world experience cannot be matched in a full-time program.
2) "The full-time M.B.A. is a much richer experience-as much about clubs, guest speakers, close interaction with classmates and professors, and networking with alumni as it is about the cirriculum."
First off - clubs? Welcome to something I like to call "undergraduate". If you didn't develop interpersonal skills and interact with classmates and professors as an undergraduate, chances are you won't as a graduate student, full- or part-time. Second, I do see some validity to this point which is why I believe that UT got this one right in their Houston MBA program. Classes are held at the Houstonian hotel, which includes a Friday night stay at the hotel. You can hit the bar, hit the town, or hit the books with classmates, professors, staff, etc. In addition, every fall semster begins with a week-long "intensive" in Austin. One look at the 2nd year classes during this week and you can definitly see the bonds formed between classmates as well as between students and staff.
3) "Full-time students... are immersed 12 to 16 hours a day."
True, but how much of that day is immersed in theory, and how much is directly related to their eventual real-world exposure. In my undergraduate days I was immersed - no make that drowned - in five semesters of calculus. Did that make me a better at my current job? Absolutely not.
Now if the argument here is about workload, I'm really going to have to disagree. Trying to balance a 10+ hour workday with 4+ hours of schoolwork and family committments is definitely more demanding than the good ol' days of just being a college student.
4) "Many go part-time just to get the three letters-M.B.A.-behind their name."
Tony Camilli M.B.A. - I think not. I pity the tool that actually tries to pull that one off.
5) Internet...
I pretty much agree with everything they've said about online programs, albeit they've been a little too harsh.
Overall, my biggest problem with the article weight that they give to surveys of recruiters - campus recruiters specifically. These are people who interview COLLEGE STUDENTS for a living. My personal opinion is that they simply don't know how to respond to early to mid-carreer interviewees who know as much, if not more, about a job than the interviewer. Also, as I expressed earlier, a key benefit to a part-time or executive program in the breadth of work experience in a class - and no, internships and co-ops don't compare. The fact that my classmates work at various companies, in various industries, in have worked in different countries adds a significant value the overall experience.
Thanks,
Tony
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