Another analysis on the Generation Why culture

Echoes of some of the things we discuss on a day-to-day basis, courtesy of ej.

Here’s an excerpt :

Blending Life And Work Into A Whole Experience
Gen “Why”-ers think first about where they want to live and what kind of lifestyle they want to lead. Then they place their careers into that context and find jobs. They believe that life is to be enjoyed and see no reason why they can’t balance work, family and personal lives. Brands need to understand how much this group wants to blend their lives into one seamless experience. This is very different from the career choices that their parents made where “the job” dictated everything. Enjoying life frequently took a back seat to career, and was put on hold until after retirement. This idea of enjoyment first is often hard for senior “boomer” managers to understand. Yet, if they allow for and consider some newer more flexible work style approaches they would find that Gen “Why”-ers can choose to be highly productive. Best Buy’s Minneapolis headquarters recently transformed its rigid, herd riding culture, which equated physical presence with productivity into something far more flexible. The new, fluid structure called ROWE for “Results Only Work Environment” takes the attitude that performance on output beats watching the clock for hours any day. All of a sudden it is not where you work, the time of day you are working, or the amount of hours you choose to work, but your overall performance and contribution that counts. This makes total sense to Gen “Why”-ers. After all, this highly entrepreneurial group, who grew up multi-tasking with the great advantages of technology, can create a flow chart, design a sales presentation, listen to music, while making a tomatillo quesadilla. (more…)

(I personally prefer the tag “Y” instead of “Why” when refering to this particular Generation… someone should inform Ms. (Mr?) Cottingham that only older people use the term “Generation Why”)

An insight into propoganda

Insightful article on Adbusters – Economic Indoctrination, Gilles Raveaud

“According to Mankiw, if a problem persists, it can only be for one of two reasons: the market is imperfect, or it is inexistent. No other explanation for persisting economic or social problems is permitted.”

Creative Destruction at work!

“Goldman executives and analysts assign much of their success to smart people and a relatively flat hierarchy that encourages executives to challenge one another. As a result, good ideas can get to the top.” - The New York Times –

Against the drain

Here’s an interesting piece of commentary from the Harvard Business Online blog about the reverse brain drain the UK is facing.

Interesting fact – according to the post, the UK is in fact, one of the few developed nations NOT experiencing a shrinking youth population.

What do you think?

If you were King

They’ve told you that in market economies, you really are King.

The internet has recently taken the concept of market economies and the adage of “consumer is King” – one step further.  Radiohead, the seminal brit-rock cum post-grunge post-rock band, has come up with a new album called In Rainbows and is releasing it first on the internet.

Hardly shocking these days, that a band should choose to release ”soft copies” of albums ahead of actual album drops, but what’s really got fans and non-fans alike buzzing is the fact that listeners can pay any amount they choose in order to download it off their website.

Aside : Afdlin Shauki, Malaysia’s own Jack Black – comedian and singer extraordinaire – tried this method of marketing his Fuuyo album, whereby he promised to send fans copies of his album in CD or cassette form and let them decide on how much to pay him.

What do you do when you’ve been given the power to set prices?

Using the Radiohead example, let’s examine four possible things you could choose to do.

A – Pay the price a similar album would cost. 
Never mind the fact that store prices already factor in many extra costs which are directly related to putting the album on CD store shelves (such as transportation costs to music stores/Apple, payments to distributors etc. which shouldn’t really come into play anymore since this particular marketing method cuts almost all third party involvement out of picture) and pay the exact amount the album download would cost if you had gotten it off an iTunes store or CD store. Doing this would mean you’re sending a message to Radiohead’s record company that you’re actually quite happy with the status quo way and price of purchasing music.

B – Pay more
If you really like the music, and feel it’s worth more than other albums out on market shelves, you can pay a premium over store prices. This will send a message that as King, you’re willing to recognise and reward value. Record companies are likely to be very happy with this outcome and may even spend more on bands that release music that induce such behaviour.

 C- Pay less
As King, you may be happy with the product, but feel that it’s not worth paying store prices for the album download. Taking this route, you may be considering the fact that (as mentioned in (A)) you’re still paying what the album is worth, but you’re stripping out the costs that were never incurred since third parties were not involved in getting the music to you. Or you may just pay less if you feel that, relative to other albums out there, you’re not getting your money’s worth.

D – Pay nothing
What’s interesting and sometimes exploited, is how you can even choose to pay zero dollars – ie: nothing – for the album download. In this case, assuming you’re still behaving rationally, either you think the music sucks and you’ve wasted your time or you’re just cash strapped and enjoying the option of getting a freebie. Whilst some may say fans who take advantage of this option are cheating or even stealing the band’s music, in reality, bands like Radiohead hardly see much of the money made from album sales. Fans who pay nothing for the album may still be good for Radiohead, if you take into consideration the fact that the downloads these fans consume, still count as “albums sold” and showcases the band’s overall influence in the music scene. Record companies may suffer some lost revenue, but what the band and gets in terms of word of mouth positive publicity may benefit them more than if fans miss out on buying the album altogether because they’re unable to purchase them conventionally.

If you are King and have purchased a product which allowed you to pay whatever you want, do consider your judgement carefully and as long as you’ve made a fair decision, you’ve earned the tagline – the “consumer is always right” – and you’ve truly earned your title of King.  

Revolutionary

I came across this interesting blog post from the Time blog, “The Curious Capitalist”. What piqued my interest was not the mustache, but the underlying precepts of ‘blog-munication’ (this word has just been coined; for lack of a better word), and how the way in which the consumer (in blog land, this would mean the reader) receives his/her information has shifted from a prescriptive to a selective mean.

Sure, intrinsically, what we choose to read is still very much dictated by the author, but through the power of ‘GOOGLE’, we are able to draw intelligent and informed conclusions on the subjects which concern us.

 Don’t believe me? Google it.

Inflationary Qualms

After discussions with my friend, and colleague, Jason, I have decided my first post on this weblog shall be to touch upon inflation and how it has affected the 20-something supposed gen-Y.

Having graduated from college, with Bachelors in hand, and leaving my parents with a Herculean credit-card bill, I got on to the next flight out of Michigan in search of the dream of joining the Malaysian workforce.

A year down the road, I’m working for a firm many consider to be at the vanguard of financial risk management and business strategy, and given the chance to work with the best in the industry. But one can’t ignore the stark reality, and I want to be as frank as possible and say it with as much candor as I can – the pay is embarrassing.

Let’s put things into perspective, by using Lime Juice and Wages of Fresh Graduates as an indicator of inflationary costs: -

The average Malaysian fresh graduate five years ago earned about and estimated RM1700. Today, he earns about RM2300. A 36.08% increase in wages.

Five years ago, the price of two limes squeezed into a cup, with water and ice added to it, used to cost RM0.80, the price today? RM1.70. A 62.94% increase in price.

(photo credit : paultan.org)

Now, I’m only basing this on the price of lime juice, and have not factored in other costs required such as travel costs, and other miscellaneous day-to-day needs such as grooming, food, and social obligatory costs (which shall be discussed in my next article).

Now, we should all ask ourselves a few questions: -

• How have you been affected by inflation?
• What measures are our government taking to help us?
• How are you helping yourself fight inflation?

Disclaimer: Figures for wages have been estimated through discussions with previous fresh graduates with an undergraduate degree at the time of this comparison (5 years ago), and prices of lime juice are estimated based on the authors own experience (5 years ago), if you have the exact figures of average wage rates of fresh graduates and lime juice prices, feel free to let us know, and our index shall reflect accordingly. All numbers are shown for illustrative purposes only, and the authors of articles written herein on this weblog shall not be held liable for any use or misuse of any information published on this weblog.

The importance of selling to win

Read two interesting articles recently – both slightly similar to the other.

One’s about the art of selling yourself.

The other’s about Rudy Giuliani’s example of how to win over people.

Both touch on exerting influence over other people – through oratory and appearences.

My big question is – is talk and flash more important than substance?

Talk and flash are certainly more convincing…

When it comes to winning, how do you find that delicate balance between selling and delivering?

Industry Guide for the Gen-Y Workforce (Part 1 – Tech Companies)

Just graduated or looking for a career shift? Here’s my personal assessment of the prospects of various industries in Malaysia.

Technology Companies – (E.g. Software, hardware, communications)

Dotcom bust fears aside, the technology sector is the most vibrant and lucrative. The high number of companies that fall short of succeeding in this challenging industry may be daunting, but critics need to take into account the very low barriers to entry in this industry, long incubation period and rapidly changing landscape. Companies that can overcome the downsides of this industry will be those that position themselves at the top of the value chain, emphasise high service standards and utilise effective market research.

Top end value chain companies would be those dealing with R&D, servicing or re-engineering, as opposed to the lower end value chain companies such as those doing assembly, rolling out of technologies older than 3 years (think SMS) or maintenance. 

Tech companies also understand the Gen-Y workforce best, with more flexible hours, juvenile perks like bean bags, drink fountains and foosballs tables as well as a generally young workforce. While some tech companies may not pay well, opting for equity stakes in the technology you help develop is a very good idea and could potentially set you apart from your peers.

Next :  Consumer Markets, Food and Beverage, Leisure, Real Estate and Construction, Healthcare, Agriculture, Professional Services.

Ada apa dengan Gen-Y? (Why Gen-Y?)

Cohorts, age groups or generations, call it what you like, are useful classifications to segmentate people. In comparison with other generations from recent times (such as the Baby-boomer Generation that emerged post World War 2 or Generation X of MTV fame) Generation Y stands out as one of the most distinct.

In terms of characteristics, Generation Y-ers carry on the more sophisticated aspects of Generation X traits. Whilst Generation X were the pioneers of the Internet, Generation Y is at the forefront of the more interactive universe of Web 2.0. Whilst Generation X sat through the dawn of globalisation, globalisation is imprinted in the very DNA of Generation Y.

Generation Y is also relatively more important based on their sheer numbers. As children of the later stage baby-boomer generation, Generation Y is an echo of the boom seen in the more stable, prosperous periods of post World War 2.

Aside from characteristics and numbers, what sets Generation Y apart from others, is the way they have changed the rules in almost all aspects of life as we know it. Marketers, technologists, artists, bankers, therapists, lawyers and many others, have each in one way or another seen how textbooks are being rewritten to establish the rules of engaging the Generation Y.

We are :

• the latest generation of voters
• the most misunderstood generation of recent times, the government and private sector are only just beginning to understand how to reach us, communicate with us but struggle to really address our concerns 
• the first batch of youth to benefit from globalisation through better travel, educational and communications opportunities
• the first batch of youth to suffer from globalisation through more competitive work environments, higher energy costs, systemic erosion of culture as well as severe environmental damage and climate change

I could go on and on defining the Generation Y and establishing reasons why they play a big role in revolutionising Corporate Malaysia, but perhaps I’ll just sum up in one pertinent point :

Picture the most elusive target market out there – the target market that would change the way you do business – the target market that will exert the most influence over all other market segments – chances are, you’re thinking about them – the Gen-Y.