anthonyjhicks.com

Harvard Business Review Managing Yourself

Posted on 31 Jan 2005 in General

Just started reading a special edition of Harvard Business Review with lots of articles on Managing
Yourself. HBR admit a departure from the norm into self-help, however the articles on career
management, life and work balance have been quite interesting and engaging so far. Recommend
picking up a copy at one of the bigger newsagents such as WH Smith, GBP15.20 though!

Things get worse with Coke

Posted on 21 Mar 2004 in General

Poor old Coke has had quite a bashing over the past few weeks trying to launch their new purified tap water product Dansai in the UK. This week it was pulled from the shelves due to too much Bromate being introduced during the filtering process. The irony is priceless, the tap water before purification is safer, purer, and significantly cheaper than the resulting Coke product. Given that so many people wanted to see Coke fail, it makes you wonder who is monitoring all the other brands on the market — which are likely derived from tap water sources too. I wonder how many people really believe their bottled water comes from a beautiful natural spring hidden in the Scotish highlands? It’ll be interesting to see where the UK marketing team go with the Dansai brand. It’s a big brand in the US, and I guess they had hoped they could continue to globalise the brand in the UK. With such poor market entry, and headlines linking the brand with Cancer, will they attempt to re-introduce in a few months time. Will consumers remember?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1174127,00.html

Subtle marketing differences between UK and Australia

Posted on 27 Jul 2003 in General

A few observations:

The consumer adoption and commercial exploitation of text messaging in the UK far exceeds that of Australia. Every day you’re bombarded with dozens of advertisements on TV and billboards to TEXT something somewhere for more information, to register for a competition, to make a donation, to vote, or to provide feedback. There are even TV channels with 24 hour chat rooms, with text messages scrolling up on the screen creating a TV/Mobile Phone chat system. It’s interesting to see such a healthy adoption of text messaging, although to me it seems a waste of time

The Talent Myth: Are smart people overrated?

Posted on 22 Jan 2003 in General

I’m sure I remember seeing and possibly even linking to this article when it did the rounds of weblogs six months ago, at any rate I thought it was worth linking to again. Not that I necessarily agree with the underlying assertions on the failure of performance and reward based management approaches, however it’s an interesting perspective, and certainly sticks the knife into management consultants and Harvard MBA’s which is always entertaining in itself. A good read. (note, I’m only half-way through reading it..) [via Koeneman]

http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_07_22_a_talent.htm

Digital costs hit TV profit

Posted on 04 Apr 2002 in General

Some very interesting figures on profitability of major Radio and TV stations in Australia. Including a massive drop in total revenue compared to the previous year. Recommended read.

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4063550%5E15316%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html

Arthur Andersen Is Said to Be Near a Sale to a Rival

Posted on 16 Mar 2002 in General

It’s quite interesting to watch such a strong firm like Anderson crumble, and end up being sold to a competitor:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/11/business/11AUDI.html

Local Pawns In The Global Pay TV Tussle

Posted on 04 Jan 2002 in General

Excellent analysis of the struggling Pay TV market in Australia, worth a read. The next few years will be very interesting indeed, as all operators continue to operate at a loss with very low new subscriber uptake. (Note: I would get it if my building was cabled!)

http://australia.internet.com/r/article/jsp/sid/11423

Another interesting business idea..

Posted on 16 Jun 2001 in General

Why is it I’m most entrepreneurial and creative when I’m supposed to be studying? I have the best business idea, one that’s targeted at the wealthier in society, $120k to $100mil segment. And it’s not technology related, although obviously technology would be used to support the business. It’s could also operate as a franchise. There are businesses similar to this that individually, perform some of the functions of my business. This is almost an amalgam of several different types of businesses, into one quite interesting and useful service. Of course, I’m not going to tell you what this business idea is. But I think it’s something I might invest a little planning time in post-exams to see if it’s viable. And trust me, if you’ve got cash to burn and busy lifestyle, it may be a service you’d consider using.

CNET: How to shop for a high-tech start-up

Posted on 16 May 2001 in General

“…Acquirers usually buy innovation streams, not just one-shot innovations. Playing the teams right If this is true, it implies that managers need to handle high-tech mergers differently than they do …” [via CM]

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-201-5940157-0.html?tag=lh

Dimension Data and Proxicom Sign Definitive Merger Agreement

Posted on 15 May 2001 in General

The head count of my employer just grew by another thousand or so. Interesting acquisition as Compaq was also bidding for the Proxicom, however they advised they would not compete with the superior offer from DiData. Note the press release from 26th April advising Compaq would be acquiring Proxicom.

http://www.proxicom.com/company/press/press_releases/display.asp?articleId=186

Caught in the Tender Trap

Posted on 04 May 2001 in General

Interesting article and discussion thread on the effort expended preparing IT tender responses. An activity I’ve been spending alot of time on lately.

http://australia.internet.com/r/article/jsp/sid/227

ArsDigita: From Start-Up to Bust-Up

Posted on 30 Apr 2001 in General

Very interesting article by Philip Greenspun explaining the ongoing dispute between himself and the rest of ArsDigita Board and the Venture Captialists. Essential reading for anyone working with external management and venture capitalists in a startup (note ArsDigital is well past startup). Highly recommended. [via slashdot]

http://philip.greenspun.com/arsdigita/litigation-story

“The Good News Is the Bad News When It Comes to High Tech Spending” by Bill Gurley

Posted on 21 Mar 2001 in General

Gurley discusses the cyclical nature of the technology industry and why we’re vulnerable to shifts in the economy.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1270-210-5159468-1.html?tag=archlnk

How to become a Starbucks millionaire

Posted on 10 Feb 2001 in General

Interesting article from Australia.Internet.com on how Mark Hofer won the Starbucks ‘partnership’ in Australia: “Every few months or so, a report from Hofer would land on the desks at Starbucks Centre in downtown Seattle. It would contain information about the growth of the coffee shop culture, stories of the sidewalk cafes springing up in Melbourne and Sydney, and the inevitability of Starbucks having to open up or be left out of the expanding Australian market.”

http://www.enterprisewatch.com.au/r/article/jsp/sid/760820

MetaCapitalism

Posted on 13 Jul 2000 in General

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Management Consulting group have published a book on MetaCapitalism, MetaMarkets, Value Added Communities and the future of business. Sounds all encompassing doesn’t it? The thing is I can’t even figure out how to order on their web site, I’d still like to have a read though.

http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/mcs.nsf/docid/9B9E48C21D18B8238525690C004BD3A3