From MIS to SPM

Today was pretty much a test. In one of our major subjects, Information Systems, we were to have a quiz. I already studied 2 out of 3 chapters days prior to the scheduled test and decided to wake up early the next day, like 4:30am in the morning. Sometimes, I figure it's much easier to wake up early in the morning when you've drank a fresh cup of our famous local coffee - kapeng barako. Freshly brewed, steaming, bitter-sweet. Apparently, for this certain uber important "event", I didn't wake up. Kinda woke up early even but managed to rush through the morning routine.


I was so worried that I haven't studied the last chapter. So on my way to school, I rushed reading through the notes as provided by the person who will be reading this sooner or later. =) The quiz, well, it was fine. I'm not so confident because I found 4 out of 5 questions interrelated in its complete sense. So I was answering the questions without anticipating the next. Then, the bell rang. Bells are good when it's lecture when the subject is boring or the professor is pointless. But otherwise, and when it's a quiz, it's a whole different thing.

Then came another class where we also had a quiz. We weren't able to study for that quiz. A lot of us were to preoccupied with the earlier class. Yeah, it was wrong, but sometimes, we have to weigh things accordingly. So again, we had to rush studying the topic. C'est la vie... Lucky us, the quiz was easy!

After that, we had 6 hours of break....A very long break. In an attempt to start earlier in one of our major projects, we re-read our case on LVMH and discussed issues. I'll never look at fashion the same way again for sure! I thought it quite ridiculous that people actually go gaga making blouses and belts and shoes and whatever. But it's true, when you see things from a different perspective, your whole belief can change.

Came at last was our major class. Strategic planning and management. It's one of my favorites next to environmental engineering and production planning & control. This one's a hard one. I find it quite dynamic and the situations that you should view yourself in in order to analyze the situation right. And we're talking about the market. I mean hey, if it's hard in class, what about the real thing huh? And on top of that, it's just important that we have to think in the wavelength of our professor. It would have been quite easy if it's your best friend we're talking about!=) But it's great because we learn things that are beyond of ourselves, beyond of our eyesight.

Two topics were talked about so we had to extend time. And of course, we had to rush things. The bad part about rushing is, just my personal comment, the information we have to absorb becomes a little too much. Especially when the school you're in rushes education like it's some joke. I personally don't recommend my school, Mapua, to people I know, unless they decide to change it back to 2 semesters per year (instead of 4) and change some policies that directly affect us. The things we have to learn in such a short time...our ability to retain the information is soooo limited. A first-year professor said once, "When you get home, throw everything you learned in a bucket so you can start anew." Everyone can do it, the problem is getting it back in your head. I'm getting lost! Anyway...

We discussed diversification that day (right after rushing through the previous topic). It was a very crucial topic because our case (LVMH) for this subject concentrates here. And, by the way, it is such a big difference when there's a supporting material (for this topic, LVMH for example). As diversification and all that there is to it was discussed, I was easily able to relate the lecture to the case. And when that happens, the concepts are also easily understood, and as obvious, they stick to your head fast. Reading takes you places, I really wish it became everyone's habit, not just a requirement.

The idea of diversification is very important in a market that is easily affected by forces from the outside and the inside. Wouldn't it be nice to always have a "backup" business? A sort of plan B. The risk is scattered into your favor. When the first net breaks, at least there's a second one to catch you again. But the ability to baste this second net isn't that easy. Concept-wise, it's easy. You have your "go signs" that tell you it's the right time. But moving about to make this happen, it's something that experience teaches you...The politics that go around, the manipulations, and all those worldly things.

Pepsi Co. was taken as an example to solidify the idea behind this practice. As was told, Pepsi bought the "yum brands" namely KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut and was viewed as a distribution center. Plan pretty much didn't work out as they expected. What they didn't see perhaps was that it wasn't a strategic fit. These yum brands concentrated on service and Pepsi was into lowering down costs in order to be more competitive with Coke. But eventually, they were able to turn things around and it started to work out well. They were able to leverage activities in the value chain and created a strategic fit. Now, Pepsi is earning more than Coke because of those acquisitions.

One of the things we must ask ourselves before venturing into diversification is whether the industry we want to venture in is attractive or not. Determining its attractiveness has several variables - all of which is a result of reading, listening, observing, and reading between the lines. Another thing to ask is how hard it is for us to enter that industry. Of course, we have to weigh out things. We don't want to have all our efforts be in vain when we soon find out our plan is close to impossible. Then when we get there, we ask, are we better off it or with it? They say that good things don't last forever. I disagree. It's up to us to make eternity a reality. We have to make it possible that we are in fact better with it. And only when we've exhausted all efforts do we come to conclude it's just not working out as we wanted it to.=)

When we intend to do diversification and earn from it, we should expect to spend a lot of money. It's simply inevitable. It's like saying, "no guts no glory". There's also a big chance that we're bidding for that business. And money becomes the key. The things we have to do - liquidate our assets, sell shares, whatever - in order to win that business (assuming we really believe in their potential), must be done. Business=money, money=greed, greed=sin, sin=evil. Through the law of math, business=evil.=) Apparently, this isn't so. I guess there are more variables to it like survival of the fittest, giving jobs to the unemployed and more. Anyway...

It's also very important to always look at things from a different view especially in business. There are so many factors to consider - the industry, the competitiveness, and the profit we can gain. Not to mention the environment inside-out. It's a hard subject, but a fun one!