Day 18 & 19: At Last The Week Is Over

When the sun is up all of Boston and Cambridge converge at the Charles River to bask in the sun's warm embrace

Spring is here...I hope!

I suppose I should just keep my day job and avoid making pronouncements about Spring. In all instances, mother nature has embarrassed me and proven me wrong. But irrespective of my weather forecasting accuracy, one thing is certain, when the sun is up, the people of Boston and Cambridge come out in droves and bask in the sun's warm embrace.

This is precisely why, I was looking forward to the weekend. Being a "beach bum", the sun and I have an almost mystical relationship. At this time of the year, I would be driving to Batangas (3 hours drive south from Manila), and will be basking in the warm white sands of the beach. Well, at least Boston and Batangas start with the same letter.

School's Lessons

Business, Government and the Economy

The US has a huge and unsustainable current account deficit that it finances through external debt issuance
It's deficit is caused by too much consumption, oil imports, lost manufacturing capacity and the strength of its currency, which makes imports very attractive
To be able to pay its debt and to make it competitive, the US will have to

buy America in order to rebuild its manufacturing capacity
increase its savings rate
improve its fiscal position through taxation
depreciate the dollar
balance the budget

Gradually weakening its currency however will make US Dollar holdings depreciate in real terms
This is China's and the world's conundrum, it needs the world's largest economy to recover but to do so means eroding its US Dollar holdings in real terms

Leadership in Organizations

Modern studies of motivation has shown that Maslow got it wrong, the saying "different strokes for different folks" has much scientific validity
Ultimately, there are two types of motivation - extrinsic (material & social rewards) and intrinsic (the activity itself is the reward)
There are many principles or theories of motivation but the core point is that leaders must assess the relationship between

effort and performance
performance and outcome
and assess how feedback is communicated

This implies therefore that we must always be on the look-out for a skill gap, a performance definition gap and do not always assume that what is rewarding for you may be meaningless to another
A curious truth though is that our assumptions about a person defines how we treat that individual; how we treat the individual ultimately affects his behavior thereby reinforcing our assumption

Strategy

There are 5 tests of strategy

clarity
asymmetry
internal consistency
external consistency
dynamic consistency

At all times, strategy must expand the consumers willingness to pay, the suppliers willingness to supply in order to expand company value

Negotiation

Negotiations need not be a zero-sum game; it can be a process where the pie expands
At its simplest, it is about knowing yours and the other's alternatives, zone of potential agreements and your transaction values
However, there is a need to actively listen and manage the process

Needless to say, all these came from the notes I copiously took in class and derived from the discussions of the cases. In as much as I would like to shroud myself with a sage-like aura, I need to be true to its source.

Harvard Yard Tour and Faculty Club Dinner

Harvard Business School (HBS) was very kind and generous in preparing a sumptuous dinner for all Advanced Management Program (AMP) participants at the prestigious Faculty Club. The place has impeccable service and excellent food that there is actually a waiting list and those who wish to have a meal here must reserve days in advance. As a sidelight, the Operations Manager, Asst. Operations Manager and the Executive Chef are all Filipinos.

To top it all, knowing that we have been doing nothing but studying, HBS also organized a tour of Harvard Yard. For the first time, I finally saw what was behind and inside all these brick walls and halls. And I must say, what I saw was a thriving and living university overflowing with youth's vitality and hope.

Anyhow, before I go back to my bunk, let me leave you with some images of Harvard University.