Over the past year, we've heard both political candidates talk about many domestic and international issues, inluding the economy, iraq, oil drilling, and healthcare. However, one important topic that doesn't get enough national attention is the need to improve our public education system.
It's peculiar that we don't hear more about education reform. We're constantly fed the same line about how U.S students constantly rank in the lowest amongst OECD (developed) nations. As other countries get stronger in math and science, the U.S gets relatively weaker. This trend is especially disconcerting with the ever increasing thirst for technological innovation in the world economy. As more jobs are created in this industry, I expect to see a relative decline in U.S emplyment. In New York and California, many Indian and Chinese communities have burgeoned because U.S companies desire the skills that Indiana and Chinese schools teach. With the increase in talent import in addition to increased offshoring, there will be less jobs for Americans.
Now that Obama is going to be taking in a mere 16 days, I have one question: What will he do to improve education? He's selected a moderate Secretary of Education, one that has yielded positive results in Chicago, but still not willing to end teacher tenure. Perhaps a model such as Washington D.C's superintendent Rhee has implemented, where she has shaken things up by firing 70 teachers in the last year alone?
Not only do we need to hold teachers accountable for their actions, but we also need to lengthen the school year. With Germany and Japan each having more than 240 days in their school year, it seems futile to hope that American students will be able to learn the same amount of information in 25% less time (180 school year).
It seems that a root cause of the problems in America's education system is that it is based on antediluvian laws that have no applicability in today's society. The 180 day school year was established to coincide with the Agrarian calendar, so that kids could stay at home and help tend to the crop during the summer months. Teacher tenure was established towards the end of World War 2 when there was a dire need to recruit teachers and employ more people as the soldiers were returning. These regimes need to be updated to match the current state of our economy. Teacher tenure should be reduced, as the market for teachers should become more competitive and pay should be based upon results. In addition, the school calendar needs to be expanded. This will provide students more time to learn school materials, more interaction with children, and will reduce the burden on parents to watch their kids during the summer.
While our rankings are poor, the good news is that yankee ingenuity is prevailing. Charter schools are popping up all around the nation, employing innovative models to raise students' performance. From longer school years, dress codes, and market-driven incentives for high caliber teachers, students in these schools seem to be performing well. In addition, changes to administration such as Michelle Rhee and Arne Duncan give us hope that the players at the top are working hard to better our education system.
The state of education today will drive our nation tomorrow, and I look forward to the improvements ahead.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, October 24, 2008
A Look at NYU Wagner's School of Public Service
Have you ever considered what you could get from an education in Public Service? For the past few months, I've been exploring Masters and Ph.D programs in Public Service, trying to figure out what value I could get from it. My most recent trip included an open house visit to NYU Wagner's School of Public Service. Here are a few observations/conclusions I made from my trip.
1) MPP programs are really managerial training programs. The core skills that you learn are the same ones that you'd pick up in an MBA program: how to manage, how to lead, and how to measure.
2) Whil both MPP and MBA programs utilize a socratic case study method in the classroom, the actual material is different. MPP programs focus on social problems and emphasizes readings in current methodologies, while MBA programs focus on business problems. Skillls derived from either programs should be transferrable.
3) Students in MPP Programs seem to be relatively deficient in Mathematics and Economics compared to their MBA counterparts. It seems odd that students could successfully deal with government problems without having a better grasp of the underlying economic theories that explain public sector programs.
4) MPP programs seem to be a less rigorous version of law school, and a less managerial version of Business school. Law schools students learn the underlying theories that govern society, while business school students learn how to manage and measure change. MPP programs seem to fit somewhere in the middle of these two programs, but lacks the strength of either.
5) MPP classses appear to be extremely interesting, as classroom discussion is centered around fixing large issues that haunt our world.
1) MPP programs are really managerial training programs. The core skills that you learn are the same ones that you'd pick up in an MBA program: how to manage, how to lead, and how to measure.
2) Whil both MPP and MBA programs utilize a socratic case study method in the classroom, the actual material is different. MPP programs focus on social problems and emphasizes readings in current methodologies, while MBA programs focus on business problems. Skillls derived from either programs should be transferrable.
3) Students in MPP Programs seem to be relatively deficient in Mathematics and Economics compared to their MBA counterparts. It seems odd that students could successfully deal with government problems without having a better grasp of the underlying economic theories that explain public sector programs.
4) MPP programs seem to be a less rigorous version of law school, and a less managerial version of Business school. Law schools students learn the underlying theories that govern society, while business school students learn how to manage and measure change. MPP programs seem to fit somewhere in the middle of these two programs, but lacks the strength of either.
5) MPP classses appear to be extremely interesting, as classroom discussion is centered around fixing large issues that haunt our world.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Your Financial Life AFter College
As college graduation season swings underway, there are many students and recent grads who don't know what they want to do with their lives and/or don't have jobs. Depending on your family's financial situation, this may be a problem. Over the years, there are some trends that I've been noticing about the job hunt and budgeting:
1) Start the Job Hunt Process Early
According to some recent studies, it takes the average college graduate 4 to 6 months to secure a job. Add in the looming recession, and you'll find that finding a job is extremely tough. Even though you may have found it fairly easy to get a part time job as a waiter or as a grocery store clerk, most people find it much harder to get a full time 9-5 job after colllege. If you're an average students, you should assume that you'll get 1 interview call for every 15-20 jobs you apply for. Then factor in the fact that you'll be competing against other students in the interview process, and that many companies have many rounds of interviews. Overall, the general idea is that you should apply for many jobs.
Secondly, it is important to understand that some companies, especially for the more competitve jobs (accounting, finance, engineering, computer science) will hold multiple interview rounds at many schools, and that the overall process from submitting your application to receiving an offer can take over a month. Therefore, it is important to start applying early.
2) Learn the Recruiting Cycle for your Industry
For competitve positions, most industries have differing hiring cycles. Financial Companies generally start looking for candidates in October, so it is important to start applying for jobs early. However, if you want to go into advertising, most firms look for someone to start immediately, so you can generally wait towards the end of the school year to start applying. Talk to your school career centers to learn more about the recruiting cycles of firms to help you apply for jobs in a more effective and efficient manner.
3) Student Loans
When reviewing job offers, it is important to consider the cost of living and every mandatory expense that you will incur, including student loans. With many private universities having total costs in the $40,000-$50,000 per year range, most students accumulate a signifcant amount of debt without considering the ramifications. Depending on who your loan is from and what interest rate you got it at, debt can cost students a signicant portion of their income. Contact your school's financial aid office to see how much debt you've accumulated and how to pay it off. If you have federal loans, go to http://www.dlservicer.ed.gov/. I recommend creating a budget in Excel to map out your projected expenses.
4) " I have a liberal arts degree, therefore I'm not qualified for most jobs"
I hate hearing this statement, because it's simply not true. With the exception of a few computer science and engineering jobs, most companies are looking to hire people who can think logically, write coherently, be organized, and be logical. The most important thing in your first job is to have a hunger to learn, an intellectual curiosity to ask questions, learn rules and processes, and improve efficiencies. Most majors won't prepare you for the specifics of a job, but will train you in how to approach the problems. The most important thing you can learn in college is to learn how to learn - that is, to learn how to be adaptive and understand your surroundings. A liberal arts degree teaches you these traits, as most classes have significant reading and writing assignments.
Good luck in your job search.
1) Start the Job Hunt Process Early
According to some recent studies, it takes the average college graduate 4 to 6 months to secure a job. Add in the looming recession, and you'll find that finding a job is extremely tough. Even though you may have found it fairly easy to get a part time job as a waiter or as a grocery store clerk, most people find it much harder to get a full time 9-5 job after colllege. If you're an average students, you should assume that you'll get 1 interview call for every 15-20 jobs you apply for. Then factor in the fact that you'll be competing against other students in the interview process, and that many companies have many rounds of interviews. Overall, the general idea is that you should apply for many jobs.
Secondly, it is important to understand that some companies, especially for the more competitve jobs (accounting, finance, engineering, computer science) will hold multiple interview rounds at many schools, and that the overall process from submitting your application to receiving an offer can take over a month. Therefore, it is important to start applying early.
2) Learn the Recruiting Cycle for your Industry
For competitve positions, most industries have differing hiring cycles. Financial Companies generally start looking for candidates in October, so it is important to start applying for jobs early. However, if you want to go into advertising, most firms look for someone to start immediately, so you can generally wait towards the end of the school year to start applying. Talk to your school career centers to learn more about the recruiting cycles of firms to help you apply for jobs in a more effective and efficient manner.
3) Student Loans
When reviewing job offers, it is important to consider the cost of living and every mandatory expense that you will incur, including student loans. With many private universities having total costs in the $40,000-$50,000 per year range, most students accumulate a signifcant amount of debt without considering the ramifications. Depending on who your loan is from and what interest rate you got it at, debt can cost students a signicant portion of their income. Contact your school's financial aid office to see how much debt you've accumulated and how to pay it off. If you have federal loans, go to http://www.dlservicer.ed.gov/. I recommend creating a budget in Excel to map out your projected expenses.
4) " I have a liberal arts degree, therefore I'm not qualified for most jobs"
I hate hearing this statement, because it's simply not true. With the exception of a few computer science and engineering jobs, most companies are looking to hire people who can think logically, write coherently, be organized, and be logical. The most important thing in your first job is to have a hunger to learn, an intellectual curiosity to ask questions, learn rules and processes, and improve efficiencies. Most majors won't prepare you for the specifics of a job, but will train you in how to approach the problems. The most important thing you can learn in college is to learn how to learn - that is, to learn how to be adaptive and understand your surroundings. A liberal arts degree teaches you these traits, as most classes have significant reading and writing assignments.
Good luck in your job search.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Goodbye McGraw-Hill
As College Students, have you wondered why you are paying anywhere from $100-$150 for a brand new calculus or economics textbook, when the theories taught in those textbooks have mostly stayed the same in the past 100 years, let alone the past 10. Then why do publishers continually push a new version of textbooks every year or two? This represents a huge costs to students, who generally don't have a lot of dispensable income to begin with.
Hopefully the OpenSource Revolution can help us solve this problem. Slowly yet steadily, professors have begun to post their own versions of textbooks on-line. Using a collaborative model, some professors have started to work together to write their own versions of textbooks, updating them yearly and using them in classes, saving students money.
These textbooks work , as textbooks are generally meant to serve as supplemental reading to lectures. While they may not have bright colors or too many valueless pictures, the theories, terms, and definitions are all there. One Great OpenSource Textbook is by R. Preston Mcafee (http://www.introecon.com/). He's written a well thought out introduction to economics textbook that he uses for his class at Caltech. Anyone can access his textbook free on-line, or can pay a measely $11.10 for a printed copy of his book (to recoup the printing and shipping cost)
Although most economics departments don't know about his book, there is a small following of professors from prestigious universities, including NYU and Harvard, that use his textbook in their classes. Reviewers agree that the book rivals some of the best economics textbooks in terms of academic merit, it puzzles me as to why it isn't more widely used.
I believe that marketing may be the key factor hindering his growth (Good job McGraw Hill, you know how to sell). University departments need to know that these options exist, and that good textbooks are available for free. While some professors may elect not to choose them in lieu of their own books (aka to make $$$), I believe that a good handful of teachers would not be opposed to adopting these textbooks for introductory level classes. Financially constrained students will appreciate a cheaper education that provides the same value.
Viva La Revolucion! - Promote OpenSource Education!
Hopefully the OpenSource Revolution can help us solve this problem. Slowly yet steadily, professors have begun to post their own versions of textbooks on-line. Using a collaborative model, some professors have started to work together to write their own versions of textbooks, updating them yearly and using them in classes, saving students money.
These textbooks work , as textbooks are generally meant to serve as supplemental reading to lectures. While they may not have bright colors or too many valueless pictures, the theories, terms, and definitions are all there. One Great OpenSource Textbook is by R. Preston Mcafee (http://www.introecon.com/). He's written a well thought out introduction to economics textbook that he uses for his class at Caltech. Anyone can access his textbook free on-line, or can pay a measely $11.10 for a printed copy of his book (to recoup the printing and shipping cost)
Although most economics departments don't know about his book, there is a small following of professors from prestigious universities, including NYU and Harvard, that use his textbook in their classes. Reviewers agree that the book rivals some of the best economics textbooks in terms of academic merit, it puzzles me as to why it isn't more widely used.
I believe that marketing may be the key factor hindering his growth (Good job McGraw Hill, you know how to sell). University departments need to know that these options exist, and that good textbooks are available for free. While some professors may elect not to choose them in lieu of their own books (aka to make $$$), I believe that a good handful of teachers would not be opposed to adopting these textbooks for introductory level classes. Financially constrained students will appreciate a cheaper education that provides the same value.
Viva La Revolucion! - Promote OpenSource Education!
Business School Perspective: Executive Summary of Google Strategy
Here is one business school Team's perspective on Google's Forward Looking Strategy:
Company Overview
Google began as “a new approach to online search” pioneered by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at
As a business, Google generates its revenues by delivering relevant advertising on its website and affiliated websites. Google accounts for 30% of the
Google has historically focused on attracting web traffic and consequently advertisers to its acclaimed search engine, displaying ads alongside search results in a calculated order. Google generates traffic to its search engine by continuously improving its user-friendly applications and search technology. Google's PageRank technology uses several criteria to place more relevant sites at the top of the search results. More accurate results increase usability, which drives traffic. Advertisers are drawn to Google because of its large user base and cost-effective pay-per-click system, whereby advertisers only pay Google for ads that users actually click. This allows advertisers to control how much they want to spend and how often their ads appear, allowing businesses of all sizes to advertise with Google. In addition, Google now offers many products on which to display ads, including email, maps, video, instant messaging and comparison shopping (Exhibit C). Similar to its ads, Google’s products feature simple design, open platforms, a user-friendly interface and no pop-ups.
Industry Overview
A five-forces analysis indicates that the online advertising industry possesses average profit potential, as seen in Exhibit D. The industry is volatile and dynamic, as new innovations can drastically alter the strength of the five forces. With a myriad of new technologies and innovations, popular new products could emerge at any moment, from relatively unknown players. Although the threat of new products is extremely high, the industry is expected to grow 25% next year. Accordingly, the industry’s five-year average ROA of 17.67% is comparable to the economic average of 15.45% (Exhibit E).
Firm Performance
Google has produced a five-year average ROA of 23.01% which reflects its strong corporate strategy. The firm’s other financials are also positive: since its 2004 IPO, Google’s stock price has increased over 500% and currently trades around $700 per share (Exhibit F), resulting in a market capitalization of $200 billion that includes minimal long-term debt (Exhibit G). However, Google has a high P/E ratio of 52.69, which indicates that the stock may be overvalued and is perhaps experiencing a stochastic bubble. Despite this, 90% of Wall Street analysts covering Google rate the stock a “Buy” or “Buy/Hold.” They may be anticipating increasing earnings from current products, expecting future successes from the introduction of new products, or they may be comfortable with the level of risk associated with a technology-related stock.
Google’s earnings reveal the firm’s high level of operational effectiveness. Google’s year-over-year domestic gross revenues have increased more rapidly than the industry, and its strong operating and profit margins have historically outshined those of competitors (Exhibit H).
Competitive Advantages
The firm derives its competitive advantages from its internal resources (Exhibit I and J). Google’s complex algorithms allow Google to retain its 64% search engine market share while its patents and other products give the firm a broad advertising reach. Google’s unique approach and dedication to research and development, based on the 70-20-10 model shown in Exhibit K and open-source platforms, enables the company to remain innovative and yield new applications on which to display ads. The firm’s inspiring and accommodating culture helps attract and retain top talent, and its strong reputation and strong balance sheet, facilitate capital expenditures such as acquisitions of other firms.
Current Strategy
Based on these competitive advantages, Google is currently implementing a consistent strategy with four guiding princples: (1) continue to improve algorithms and focus on Internet search quality; (2) continue to introduce new products to broaden advertising reach; (3) increase advertising revenue via acquisitions and alliances; and (4) horizontal expansion into other forms of advertising such as print, video and radio via acquisitions and alliances (Exhibit M). For example, Google has an exclusive advertising alliance with MySpace. It has completed 48 acquisitions to date, including the pending acquisition of DoubleClick, which would allow Google to improve ad targeting and expand its ad-serving business.
Emerging Strategic Challenges
The online ad industry will be greatly affected by technological advances to the Internet. Google must continue to be forward-thinking and craft its strategy to address emerging trends. Three such trends are: (1) the transition away from the traditional operating system toward an Internet-based operating system. Programs are most commonly installed on a PC’s operating system and files saved to its hard drive; however, the number of programs available online is increasing, and soon more individuals will save files online in data warehouses. (2) As the Internet becomes more prevalent, consumers are also demanding access via mobile devices such as smart phones and mp3 players. (3) Additionally, Internet growth in emerging markets, most notably
Recommendations
Understanding the increasing conversion toward online operating systems, Google should continue its acquisition strategy and purchase companies producing the most innovative online products, such as Google Docs and Picasa, which may become a key source of advertising revenue.
Furthermore, Google should follow a horizontal integration strategy to enter the mobile market. It should continue developing Android software for the Google Phone, a highly anticipated product, but it should not purchase the 700 MHz spectrum that is up for auction. Though the spectrum could bring the Android platform and other applications to more users and provide Wi-Fi to customers, this backward vertical integration would not be in line with Google’s horizontal expansion strategy. Operating a national network requires resources and capabilities that are inconsistent with Google’s core competencies, and the move might cause the firm to lose sight of its innovative business model.
Google should continue its aggressive expansion strategy in India, but slowly integrate products into China, where the government enforces strict media censorship. For example, it should wait to offer YouTube, which is currently being blocked by
Other Challenges and Recommendations
Google also has legal issues to address, including click fraud (which artificially inflates a site's popularity and its ranking within search results), the Congressional debate over Net Neutrality and litigation risk from video content owners. If not addressed, each could reduce Google’s profitability. Google should continue to improve its code on a regular basis to decrease ClickFraud and reduce copyright infringement on its video service YouTube. It should also continue its coalition lobbying efforts against net neutrality.
Furthermore, Google needs to diversify its revenue streams by making its existing products more profitable and developing new product lines. The firm generates 65% of revenue through Google Search, while its other products remain less popular (Exhibit O). Google could perhaps increase revenue from these products by syndicating YouTube with its advertising program, increasing ads on Google Maps and Books and escalating its expansion into offline advertising. It should continue to sell its online office applications to business users and try to position its Orkut social networking service as a stronger competitor against MySpace and Facebook. Finally, Google could continue horizontal integration to develop a new operating system or web browser, which will create synergies across its vast product line.
Conclusion
Google’s search engine and user-friendly products have attracted a valuable base of Internet-users and advertisers worldwide. Given the firm’s resources and current position as the industry leader, Google’s future success depends on whether the company can continue to execute a forward-thinking corporate strategy focused on innovation in a dynamic era.
For the Full Text with Exhibits, Just Ask.Any Comments? Please Post!
Authors: Anne, Alex, Amee, Tracy, Ankit
Monday, November 5, 2007
Google Officially Launches Video Ads
On November 2nd, Google Officially launched "Video Units" - a way for YouTube Partners to advertise their video ads on websites. Video Units is currently being offered through AdSense, and allows any website owner to add Video Units to their website in hopes to generate revenue. This marks Google's first foray into non-text based advertising. These videos will still be relevant to the content, as they will be contextually targeted or site-targeted. Video Units will either be displayed on top of a YouTube Video, or will have text taking up the bottom 20% of the YouTube player screen. This marks a remarkably different way to advertise compared to the traditional video followed by full commercials model that we've seen on t.v for the past 50 years.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Merill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal will be Resigning
Reports indicate that Stan O'Neal, Merrill Lynch's CEO for the past five years, is very close to resigning as early as Sunday night(October 28) or Monday morning (October 29). O'Neal has recently received a lot of criticsm, as he has been blamed for Merrill's $7.9 billion write down related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and his unauthorized attempt for a possible merger with Wachovia. The write-down represents Merrill's largest loss in its 93 year history.
Investors have seen Merrill Lynch's Stock drop as much as 30% this year, and will be extremely interested to see who will replace O'Neal. Rumors indicate that Merrill will conduct an extensive internal and external search for possible replacement candidates.
Investors have seen Merrill Lynch's Stock drop as much as 30% this year, and will be extremely interested to see who will replace O'Neal. Rumors indicate that Merrill will conduct an extensive internal and external search for possible replacement candidates.
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