Harrah's Reflection

Harrah's Return on Investment: 62% =====Others: 23%

I think that might be enough said.

The only thing I want to discuss here is some things that I think Harrah's should do in moving forward.  There methods have obviously proven to be successful and they should continue to do what they are doing.  They have differentiated themselves as great properties for customers to visit because of their generous rewards programs.  I am a good example of a loyal customer, I pretty much only go to Harrah's properties because they seemingly offer the best rewards.  Kudos to them.

So the big topic of interest in the consultants suggestions for me was the argument over Quality or Quantity.  Here's my take.  I want both!  It seems that Harrah's does keep their quality customers content with their rewards programs as proven by the consultants, so I am not going to discuss much of that.  But my problem with the presentation was the fact that their rewards program does not seem to bring in the casual gambler.  The choice few that maybe gamble $20.  My goal with the rewards program would to get those people that gamble $20 to gamble $30.  If Harrah's can increase the amount of time that people are actually gambling, then it is a winning scenario just in the design of the slots and tables in general.  So next time someone orders a Long Island Iced Tea, give them the opportunity to sign up for the reward program and give them a $5 table voucher to get them sitting at a table.  Of course I would rather have 50 people gambling $1000 over 1000 people gambling $50, but let's be realistic and say that it is the same net effect.  Harrah's wins. 

Collecting data is what has given Harrah's an advantage, and if they get more customers to sign up and enter their information in the system, the advantage will improve and Harrah's wins again.  Even if they are only gambling $20, they are still a customer and still a data point to help Harrah's differentiate their data modeling system.

62% ROI!!! When can I start?

Pandora Reflection

As a C-level for the Pandora case, I was happy to hear some of the alternatives that the consultants produced.  I was pleased to see that all the alternatives produced a positive net increase in revenues.  I still was not convinced if these alternatives solve the problem at hand that I mentioned in my pre-class blog.  How is Pandora going to increase their net income?  This means increasing revenues without increasing costs or decreasing costs while maintaining revenues.

The suggested plan of action was to combine alternatives 2, 3, and 4.  These alternatives were to develop a mobile application, implement a tier structure, and usage of proper audio advertisements.  I agree that Pandora needs to implement those three alternatives, but I think if they were to combine those three, the first alternative of using social media should be used as well.   The amount of users of Pandora has increased consistently over the years, but is that a number that will consistently increase with competitors, such as Apple, finding new ways to break into Pandora's market share.  I think that if social media was used appropriately, the fact that it is free source of advertisement when people like songs and share with their friends.  It might be a reason for someone who has previously not been exposed to Pandora to check out what there is to offer. 

I don't think there is a question about the tier model option here, but it is just something that will flourish as Pandora uses the Audio Advertisements in correlation with the tier model.  I'm thinking that the tier model should be redesigned to appeal to people that listen for more than 40 hours because those are the customers that Pandora wants to keep.  Maybe offer a tiered pricing system that correlates with the amount of hours that a user listens to Pandora.  Keep your loyal customers happy, save them money, and provide them the opportunity to continue to explore their musical interests in a way where they feel they are saving money.

As for audio advertisements, my suggestion as a C-level was to flood the free service with them because people will then understand that this is why it is free.  People will not be upset, they will just understand that they need to pay for Pandora if it is such an issue.  ALL FREE SERVICES HAVE ADVERTISEMENTS!  Freemium is something that Pandora needs to leave in the past if they want to be a company that stays with us.  I believe that the amount of data that Pandora has collected to link songs/artists of similar tastes be listened to/ discovered/ exposed to the general public in a way that users demand.  Being a first mover into this market should not be looked at like a disadvantage.

Selling the company = Not an Option! Bottom line.

Overall, I feel that Pandora needs to change there business plan.  I got a feeling that the thing that has been holding Pandora back is the fact that the owner wants to maintain a serendipitous listening experience.  This isn't Napster, this isn't free radio, this is the music industry.  Consumers need to understand that the artists that produce the music they listen to and enjoy  need to make money as well.

Bet on Harrahs

I really enjoyed reading this case study about Harrah's because I am a frequent gambler and I do receive many offers from Harrah's properties.  Being that I do live within 45 minutes of Atlantic City, where there are numerous Harrah's properties, I do visit them frequently.  I always wondered why it was the Total Rewards program that was the one that kept on sending me free room offers and free play money.  This case validates the main reason: data warehousing.

Being that I hold a degree in Mathematics, I understand that casino games are in favor of the casino.  If this was not the case, casinos would not exist.  This case does not focus on the inherit profitability that exists with people gambling, it more so focuses on the marketing plan that Harrah's employs.  If Harrah's is expected to make 10 cents on every customer per visit, then it would only make sense to increase the amount of times that a customer visits.  The case states that the success of Harrah's is more based on software than it is hardware, which means that the market analysis is much more important than the actual games that exist in the casino.

It makes me wonder why they always offer me a free room on days Sunday through Thursday.  Duh! I wouldn't normally go down there on those days, but if they bait me into spending my $60 in free slot play, I will certainly take a trip down and take my chances.  Free food, free rooms, free shows... WHY NOT?!?

We are talking about large numbers here.  Being that Harrah's operates in every single place that casinos can operate, it only makes sense to increase the efficiency of their marketing plan to draw patrons to their casinos.  It's not about winning or losing while playing the games because casinos always win when we talk about an extended period of game play and expand that over a larger amount of customers.  The numbers do not lie!  The games are designed that way.  Card counting is a fallacy, only the most brilliant minds can perform such a feat.  As stated in the case, Harrah's market plan has increased the amount of visits per person by nearly half a visit per month (and this doesn't mean that you got in a fight with your spouse halfway down to AC and turned back to go home).  This means millions/billions of revenue that Harrah's can potentially generate.  Sorry, not potentially... indefinitely!

I like spending the Total Rewards points on a free meal at a 5 star restaurant that is located exclusively at a Harrah's property, but then I also like to take numerous pit stops at the tables to test my luck.  NUMEROUS!!  I am a loyal patron to Harrah's and it is because they keep in touch with me because their mailings.  I almost feel obligated to continue playing a Harrah's because I do not want the rewards to stop coming.  Good Job Harrah's! You make me want to work for you.

Oh yeah, my gambling statement did not come up as a loss this year! ; )

Pandora: Helping people find music they love...

As an avid music lover, the birth of Pandora was something that I took in with great appreciation.  I was once a subscriber to Sirius radio because I liked being able to choose what type of music I wanted to listen to when I was in the car.  Whether it was jazz, alternative, or simply just 90's music; satellite radio offered something that that air radio could not.  I was willing to pay for the subscription fee because that offered the opportunity to listen to commercial-free radio.  But when Pandora began, paired up with the flourishing sales of smartphones, it offered the chance to listen to not only your favorite band, but bands that are just like your favorite band on any PDA without a problem.  This introduced me to some music that I would have never heard of if I was listening to radio other than Pandora.  After all, 52% of music that is playing through Pandora is music of unsigned artists.  There's one thing that really makes a music lover happy besides listening to good music, and that's listening to good music that you have never heard before.

With that said, Pandora is sitting in a position where they need to make some decisions relative to making profits because there is seemingly a dramatic increase in the amount of cash that needs to be dished out in royalty fees.  The company is already operating at a point where there has been no dramatic change in net income.   In other words, the more users that Pandora acquires, the more revenues are generated, but this is in direct proportion to the amount of costs that are incurred.  It seems that Pandora needs to make a change to their business plan to counteract this synchronicity. 

So how can Pandora increase its revenues without increasing its costs? Or, similarly, how can Pandora low its costs without jeopardizing a decrease in revenue? 

My first thought was to improve the interface of Pandora.  Being that 93% of their revenue is generated from advertisements, it could be a good idea to advertise some more.  Helping people find music they love is what Pandora specializes in, so why not continue that model?!  So what do music lovers like to do besides listen to music?  How about attend live music so they can see their favorite artists perform?  I know I would like to have an option to click away on a tab that lets me view when the artist of a certain song will be touring in my area so I can see them live.  I am not sure of the functionality of this option, but I can see having a link that automatically searches the band or artist on livenation.com or even ticketmaster.com in your given location.  This type of partnership would not change the functionality of Pandora, but it would potentially drive more customers to buy tickets to concerts of bands they love.  This might increase the revenue side.

Then my second thought was one that aligned with what I stated in the first paragraph and that's the fact that music lovers like to hear good music that they never heard before.  Let's just say that I wanted to plug in Bob Marley into my Pandora and listen to reggae.  Sure, I'll get to listen to some Bob, maybe it will lead me to some Toots & the Maytals, or some UB40.  These are all artists that we expect to get led to.  What if Pandora threw in a wildcard every here and there?  Some band or artist that is up-and-coming that is not well known at all.  For someone like me; I would stop, look at my Pandora, and inquire about this song that I never heard of.  In essence, this creates more interaction with the Pandora platform, potentially creating more revenues.  But revenues would not be the main thing here, it's the reduction in the royalty fees that need to be paid out to the artists.  An up-and-coming band does not need to be paid as much, driving the costs down.  This does not need to happen frequently, maybe one new song for every ten played.  Plus, if a user does not like the song, they have the option to click the next button.  The big picture here is that if 10% of the royalty fees are reduced, we might be able to see a sustainable increase in Net Income without jeopardizing the functionality of the Pandora platform.  Maybe it will create more value to music lovers!

The other point that I want to make here is that there has to be some value in the massive amount of data that Pandora has acquired from their users.  Being a first mover in this industry has enabled them to collect what demographic likes what type of music.  This has to be able to be used in a way that can create more value to its customers.  I look forward to hearing something about this in the presentation today.

Thanks.

Bombardier Reflection

After attending the consultants presentation for Bombardier, I have a greater sense of all the components necessary for the proper implementation of an ERP system.  I really believe that the connection between the Project Management Team and the end users is the essential key to success of any ERP system.  Without this cohesion, any new technology or management approach risks the chances of not being used to their full potential.  We all know that all new technology has more advantages than disadvantages because it would not make it past its development phases if it did not offer a greater upside.  The problem that I see reoccuring is that the human capital involved is not always up to task in learning and utilizing these new avenues to make their daily work activities significantly easier.  This causes a certain lag period where a new ERP system will not be used to its full potential for an uncertain amount of time.  This may result in lost revenues, which is obviously a reason why any management team would stay the course and continue to operate as is.

The consultancy team did a very good job in analyzing all the different soltuions to the problems that persisted with Bombardier as they took the journey in implementing a new ERP system.  THe part of the presentation that correlates with my initial reaction after reading the case study is the request to diversify the project support team.  This goes along with my excitement because there is an indefinite need for support and education professionals with the goal of making a smooth transition to a new ERP system because on board employees are significantly less expensive than consultants.  Teachers are paid an average of $50K in the state of New Jersey and their job duties, in essence, are to shorten the learning curve.  If these efforts can be focused of tech knowledge and program specific training modules, that annual teacher salary will look miniscule if we look at the costs that will be avoided by getting employees on board more rapidly and by resolving issues in a more timely manner.  The next step for me is to gain these skills and  product knowledge to be able to teach how to use these new programs and be able troubleshoot any problems that may persist.  I believe that we are heading in a direction where all companies will be moving away from their old methods and moving to ERP systems and other tech savvy solutions, so why not have an education portal that makes these transitions more fluent? 

MS Project Reflection

My expectations of Microsoft Project Professional were very high as I downloaded to program.  I was expecting a program included all the necessary components necessary to complete a project accompanied by lots of accessories that make the completion easier and more efficient.  Although I did not have a sufficient amount of time to really dive into the whole program, I did notice that it did include components that can be used to plan out the time of a project, how resources should be allocated in the project, duration estimate of each task, and many other aspects that I have never seen offered in a software application.  Being that I have never seen anything like this before, I was impressed to see a software application that performed tasks that assisted project managers in developing plans, assigning resources to tasks, managing budgets, and many other components that take place in a “project.”  I feel that if I was to be put in a position where I was responsible for a project from start to finish, I would love to have a resource such as Microsoft Project to guide me along the way because I feel it has the ability to order my thought process and organize these thoughts in a manner that can be executed with efficiency.  I appreciate the fact that it is a Microsoft product because it can easily be integrated into all the other Microsoft products that are available, such as Powerpoint and Excel, so that people feel more comfortable with using Microsoft Project.  The interface is similar to all the Microsoft Office products, which makes learning it a little easier for someone who is already exposed to MS Office.

But let’s get realistic here.  Being that one of the main tasks of Project is to make project management easier.  I know Microsoft does not make crappy or irrelevant products, so I know that Microsoft Project will do all the things necessary to manage a project in a user-friendly manner.  But the question that I was asking during my trial was does it create value to the people that are actually going to use it?  I looked up some comments on what people had to say that was a disadvantage to Microsoft Project and here’s what I got:

-there’s a steep learning curve.

-there’s a generic focus.

-there’s no collaboration.

-it’s a desktop/ offline application.

-it has some compatibility issues.

Of those five main concerns, I think the one that catches my eye is the fact that there is no collaboration.  I say this because when I think of Project Management, I think of constant and ongoing communication between the parties involved in the project.  Being that there is no outlet for this offered in MS Project, it would require a collaboration platform (an added expense) to act as a complement.  We all know that a single license for Microsoft Developer programs run about $500/license, which is rather steep for something that may serve as something that replaces the planner in your briefcase.  So why not add another expense because our new software does not perform EVERYTHING we need it to. I would imagine that any successful project manager would almost be insulted to have someone tell them to use a new software application to be able to complete a project from start to finish.  One thing that I have learned from many of my case studies this semester is that people are very resistant to change, especially if they believe that there is nothing wrong with what they are doing currently.  For a new software application to be successful, it needs to be flawless.

So who do I believe are the people that would benefit mostly from something like MS Project?  My current answer would be companies that include a small amount of employees, or simply a start-up company.  If everyone is on the same page and all parties understand their duties, I think MS Project would work wonders for them.  But then again, small companies and start-ups might not have the funds to make the investment in MS Project.  Maybe a group of business consultants can use it to plan out all their research or their next presentation and execute it in a more timely fashion so money is not lost there. 

Overall, I think that MS Project is something that can eventually catch on, but I believe it still needs some time to really gain momentum.  Cloud computing is still at a young age, once interconnectivity gains more respect, I see MS Project including a way to have everyone in a large company collaborating in a way that breeds productivity.

Bombardier being bombarded by ERP

After reading the case about Bombardier and their journey of implementing a new ERP system, my initial reaction was one that was overwhelmed and excited at the same time.  Bombardier is a huge company that operates multiple facet of business, mostly focusing on aerospace.  But whenever the description of all the different business processes that are included with launched and new ERP system to a company so large, I almost wanted to start my own business that competes with Bombardier because it seemed almost impossible to make the change.  That was the overwhelmed part of me.  All the data quality issues and technical difficulties are one thing, but the general philosophy of any business changes upon an implemetation of such a scale and this is not to mention the trickle down effect that the new system has on employees that were once comfortable and now are in disarray.

That's where the excited part comes about.  Being that I am involved in the e-learning enviroment.  In the case, it is mentioned that the training modules developed for employees "provided too much information in a short period of time."  This is where my skills and confidence as a teacher start to get tickled because I feel that I could develop lessons that can assist employees in learning new technologies in a cost effective manner.  Bombardier hired a third party to develop training material and it seems that they are not content with the services.  I am an educator that does not want to be in the classroom and I am obtaining my MBA to get into the business side of education.  This gets me excited because it has made me aware that there is opportunity to get into the business side of business education, if you know what I mean.  Maybe in the birth of all of this new technology and interconnectivity, the new thing is really going to be training provided for all these new things.  IDEAS IDEAS IDEAS!