Who Knows What…

Is it a good idea to encourage ALL employees to trade in these markets? Should insiders and/or highly uninformed people be allowed to trade? Do they help or hurt the market?

I believe it is a good idea to encourage employees to trade in these markets. In this case Google has a very effective tool for informing managers. These market questions can be applied to advise small projects or create scenarios to inform future investment. Additionally, Google could sell the outcomes of market scenarios to interested parties.

I also believe insiders and uninformed people should participate in the trading process. Both these extremes balance the information being shared amongst market participants. Additionally, no market participant has perfect information which is again a balancing control in the process. Insiders can potentially shape the market in profound ways, but they’re influence can be diminished by the number of users. The same factor applies to uninformed; the number of participants will drive the impact these voices have on outcomes.

Where it could work

In what other industries or areas would Threadless’ community-driven product development model work well? And not so well?

I think the Threadless model could work in industries where customization and consensus could create good products. For instance, I think the personal computer industry could benefit from this model.  Of course there has to be parameters and limits, but Dell has successfully customized computers from its inception.  I also believe home construction company’s can take a look at this model.  I think construction companies could greatly benefit from the model identified in this case, particularly because of the economic down turn. Homebuyers are more apt to purchase new home they know many people would like to have, while still paying a good price.

I don’t think this model would work well with in the automobile industry. The assembly lines and set-up times would be too difficult to overcome.

The Value of Social Networks

Online social networks have become ubiquitous in the past few years. What forms of value do users get from these services and who is most likely to sign up on LinkedIn versus other sites?

The overall value one receives from social networks is directly related to their need to have social contact with family, friends, and/or peers.

Families are spread across the country. These networks help to bring them together with words, pictures, and videos. This is low cost alternative to frequent visits.

Friends tend to have more loose communication norms than families. Social networks provide communication through different media and also allows for finding friends long since spoken to.

Peers or professionals use social networks to identify job opportunities and build groups that can help progress ones career. Professionals are most likely the customers for LinkedIn. The information collected and disseminated in the system is likely to be for professionals. A community within the LinkedIn began to form (Relationship managers, Networkers, Contractors, etc.).

Wikipedia’s Self Sustaining Market of Information

How do Wikipedia’s processes for creating and modifying articles ever lead to high-quality results?

I believe the quality of the work lies with interested parities for the article. For instance these articles can be quite extensive and involved; this naturally begs the question – who would take a significant amount of time to intentionally mislead people? This is the fundamental control measure of Wikipedia.

Interested parties in a subject will initiate the content and likely guard the article’s accuracy for a period of time. I take myself as an example. I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. As I review the Wikipedia page for the team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_steelers ), I would check for accuracy and misleading information and correct the record where necessary. Therefore, if a rival team’s fan tries to play mischief; my personal interest and diligence will address this wrong.

Additionally, the website has some safeguards in place to make certain errors are corrected by not allowing anonymous or newly registered users to create pages. There are administrators that also keep track on these pages.

Note: NBC Nightly News had a piece on Wikipedia in 2007. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMcBtfUlmws

Pros and Cons of Corporate Blogs

Creating company blogs, whether internal or external, has advantages and disadvantages.

Internal blogs:
Advantages: In a corporate setting, writing blogs can serve as a useful tool for sharing information and promoting new ideas within the company. Additionally, this allows every employee to have their views known to management without filters.

Disadvantages: Depending on the size of the company, using blogs to communicate can become cumbersome and difficult to manage. Employees may not have time during the work day to post blogs with substantive commentary, thus creating a resource with useless information. Also, there’s a cost for maintaining a blog, with little to no assurances of future benefit to the firm.

 

External blogs
Advantages: Promoting external blogs may provide a platform by which companies can carryout e-commerce. Firms can advertise and sale products. Also, companies can use this tool for recruiting or other enhancements.

Disadvantages: There’s a danger of a company’s proprietary information or competitive resources being spread on the web. Also, there’s a cost for maintaining a blog, with little to no assurances of future benefit to the firm.

 

Good Place for blog

I believe blogs are most beneficial for firms and industries that at their core technologically savvy or media driven. These companies can use the power of blogs while staying true to their core competencies. I would submit examples like Apple, IBM, or CNN. Customers instinctively look to these companies for industry insight, thus making their company blogs destination sites.

No Permanent Tipping Point for Apple

Has the digital music market irreversibly tipped in Apple’s favor?

No, Apple has distinct advantages but the digital music market will likely change in time. In its current state, Apple through its iTunes offering is the dominant force in the industry. However, as of late Apple had to reverse encrypting songs to make them more available.

Companies like Sony that control both content and have technology development can place limits on the music it sales to Apple, while developing products that consumers want to buy.  I believe larger firms (Sony, Microsoft, and others) can compete and take away from Apples advantages in the long-run. I also believe emerging technologies like satellite radio or other on-demand products will also lessen Apple’s dominance over time.

Brightcove Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Brightcove has seemed to master the long-tail concept of offering a range of on-demand programming that could satisfy a seeming endless list of customer demands.
• The company has also found a successful pricing model for its services. As mentioned in the case, “Web video advertising in 2006 sold at a premium over standard TV advertising”.
• Brightcove could possibly control programming content to shows developed for them.
• The company will have first mover advantages for launching a broad based level of internet television. The company will also have a sequent mover advantage by studying the challenges encountered by YouTube and other competitors.

Weaknesses

• The larger networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox are likely to launch alternatives to Brightcove rather than work with them. This is evident with the advent of Hulu.com, an NBC Universal website that has network controlled programming.

• Brightcove will not have control of content in the larger premium market. They will have to rely on the large networks to draw in customers that wish to view older programs.

Network Control and Evolving the Platform

1. Is DoCoMo wise to offer its existing mobile phone rivals access to FeliCa?

Yes, DoCoMo appears to have a strategy to saturate the market with access to FeliCa. This access would allow firms to become a network that would dominate the integrated circuit market; thus achieving greater network effects for this technology (the greater the number of users, the better). FeliCa would also become a wedge for DoCoMo to become a service oriented business-to-business firm that could engage its competitors in an unprecedented manner.

2. Is search a winner-take-all business?

No, Google enjoys the dominate search engine position – however it was not long ago that Yahoo lead this market. The winner take all definition (one platform serves the mature networked market) does not apply here. There are many platforms to choose from. Google is the strongest, but Yahoo and Microsoft are major competitors. For instance, Yahoo is one of the most frequently visited websites on the internet.

Search is a Multi-homing platform (most users on a given side affiliate with multiple platforms). There are virtually zero switching costs and customers freely use the best/most innovative products that within the search market. While Google currently serves as the most innovative, its rivals are very close behind.

Online Gaming Will Continue to Grow

Since the writing of the Electronic Arts Case the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii have been released and both have online gaming capabilities. What’s your assessment of the current online gaming market?

The online gaming market is seen as an enormous opportunity for several of the major companies in the software and hardware industries. Firms like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and to a lesser extent IBM are competing for billions in potential revenue.

I have seen an example of the global scale of this industry first hand. During my George Mason University Global Residency course we visited firm named Globant (www.globant.com). This software company started small but has since grown and now provides software development support to Electronic Arts (EA). A Globant executive mentioned that EA is a major customer and expects to do a lot of work for them in the future.

In addition, the number of households in the America with broadband has increased as the private and public sectors invest in this technology. This is an important metric to track the growth of this market. Online gaming will continue to grow.

Netflix and the VOD Market

Since the publishing of this case, Netflix has entered the video on demand (VOD) market.  What is your analysis of how Netflix has attempted to update their business model with VOD?

 

Netflix understands the level of competition within the DVD rental market. The company has looked to develop online movie viewing with the ability to link with a television. Additionally, the company is considering exclusively serving the VOD market, which will likely require long-term commitments from new customers.  The company will also view its current customer base as the initial market for the VOD offerings. I believe this is a smart strategy as it utilizes Netflix’s strengths and provides an advantageous clarity in this emerging market.

 

Also CBS News “60 Minutes” did a piece on Netflix in 2006. Check it out: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/01/60minutes/main2222059.shtml