This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

I couldn’t avoid humming that song during my last days in Warwick…
So many things in such a short time, it’s amazing, however now when people ask me to tell them some histories I don’t even know what to say, I guess is still too soon or maybe it’s already too late…

Everything in this life has an end and thus my time in Warwick. I really believe that each student of the FTMBA class 05-06 has something really especial, so if the company you want to work for don’t see it, it’s simply because they don’t deserve you. I don’t believe in this networking trend (like sending presents to the children of your desired target, for God’s sake!), but in keeping in contact with people you know and value. Therefore I will be pleased if someone sends me and email and ask for anything he or she thinks I may be useful. They know how to search for my name in the wbs address book.

Five words that come to my mind:

Muda (and its variants kaizen, kanban, poka-yoke, the five Ss, the four Vs, …)

It depends (valid for accouting and behaviour moels)

Customer value (and also its variants customer focus, 5forces, 4 Ps, …)

Iperoha (is it possible that I cannot remember any swearword! Cazzo!)

DOH! (yeah, it is a word)

I just hope the MBA is more than just that ;P

It is always kind of sad saying goodbye but ey, as Humphrey Bogart would say: We'll always have Paris. Thought it is true that it has been so intensive that some part of myself rests now on the shire (Warwickshire) and it will rest there forever...

Thus he died
Nom the Wise
Lord of the caves and friend of man
Fair, and noble
Most beloved of the Noldor race
Paid the price, he redeemed the oath
Farewell my friend, farewell

Me and Myself (for once and for all)

Hey, not everything is gonna be complaining in this blog, sometimes life has its bright side as well.
The examination week ended and while writting my economics assigment I found this:

The European MBA: European Profile Wins Out

Noch eine

Yes! I promise... It's me! :-)

Innovation, wealth and economic independence.

Today I was reading Graham's idea about Inequality and Risk, and I couldn't avoid asking myself this question all the time... are startups as necessary in the EU economy as in US?

The logic answer is yes, because startups facilitate a competitive market and create dynamism in the economy, avoiding blue chip companies' complacency.

But is this really linked with the amount of innovation in a country?

I understand that a startup is the easiest and cheapest way to innovation in a country.
It is easy, get a group of new graduates, they don't expect a huge salary and have anything to lose, so ask them to take the risk of applying the new findings and theories learned in their studies into the "real world" and wait till some of these groups discover how to best market them.
Voila!, now we have a new company threaten the stablished power, a bunch of millioner nerds and a better off community thanks to the leap in technology which will make our life longer or more pleasant or both.
This is great, but is it really the only way to innovate?

Aren't the universities itself without startups involved the ones which should nurture the society with innovation?

Isn't rewarding enough for a scientist to discover something completely new and revolutionary, the desire of knowledge?

Are all the novel prices focused in maximising profits or in solving misteries?

Are the people who say "I want to be rich" really meaning it? Or do the really care about having enough money in order to not to have to worry about it?

Can a country that realies in its scientist community compete angainst another driven by selfish and ambitious wall street sharks?

Who's been more important in human history Einstein or Onassis, Stephen Hawkins or Bill Gates?

Is this society really $$ driven? Why?

Internet job search engines

I don't even remember the last time I posted something in this Blog, the MBA doesn't leave with to much free time...
But today I was shocked by this email:

***************************************************************************************************
Hola Ruiz,
en Monster hemos encontrado un puesto que te puede interesar. Pulsa en Solicitar online si quieres optar a este trabajo.
Puedes encontrar muchos puestos más en buscartrabajo.monster.es y asegúrate de que has enviado tu CV en micuenta.monster.es.

Atentamente
www.monster.es

ES-CAT-Barcelona-Programadores Junior ASP

Nuestro cliente es una joven y muy dinámica empresa de software actualmente en modo de rápida expansión, enfocada especialmente en el desarrollo de negocio a nivel internacional y precisa incorporar:
Programadores Junior ASP

Funciones:
Formando parte de un equipo de jóvenes profesionales de la programación, emplearán sus conocimientos de ASP y SQL en el desarrollo de nuevas modalidades de las exitosas aplicaciones que comercializa la empresa.

Requisitos:
Experiencia profesional de al menos un año desarrollando en entorno ASP con SQL.
Ganas y capacidad de aprender y actitud orientada al trabajo en equipo.

Se Ofrece:
Sueldo: 15.000 ? - 18.000? según experiencia.
**************************************************************************************************

For the non-Spanish speakers this basically means that Monster found my ideal job based on the data I stored in its site.
And basically in accordance with them, my ideal job is to program ASP applications for 15.000 EUR before tax a year, which makes about 1.000 EUR a month, having a month 160 hours we get to the thrilling figure of 6,25 EUR per hour. Grrrreeeaaaat!!!

Not needed to say that an average programmer in any other European city like Dublin or London is making 250 EUR per hour, and YES the cost of life in Barcelona is not THAT low. So I don't see the bargain, maybe for the company you might think, but I rather think that the problem is that this "youth and very dynamic software company, which expansion is focused in developing an international business ", and which wants you to "develop new version of its successful applications" cannot afford to pay more to its employees because its poor quality standards and ridiculous business skills. If at leat they would use this cheap workforce to developed salable software like India.

And this isn't only about Engineers, I guess the same happens in many other professions and you may know better than me.

I don't have too much to add appart from being grateful to the web site Monsters, which by the way broadcasted a one million dollars Ad in the Super Bowl break time some years ago, for giving me the opportunity to apply for this astonish job offer.

Oh Lord blessed the day I decided to escape from the Spanish's software industry evil power.

The English Patient

Long time ago since my last blog, but ey this is an MBA! Did you expect to have some spare time at all? No, but...
And right now I'm more on the but side. Today could have been remembered as the worst day in my live, but thanks God, was only the worst half an hour in my life (until now).

And the thing is that I have time to write this, because I'm actually on drugs and can not concentrate on the things that MBAtters.

Why am I on drugs? Because the Walsgrave hospital kindly gave them to me. Why did they gave them to me? Because... ok, let's do it properly and start from the beginning.

I've been having problems with my back lately, let's say that the bed and chairs provided by the university in my accommodation, lakeside, didn't win the price to the comfortability (to be honest I don't know if the could passed the lowest quality standards).

At the beginning was only a bit of pain every now and then, but the thing was going worse and worse. Then my girlfriend visited me, and of course I ask her for a massage, she's really good at it but not this time, because after her departure the pain was increasing steadily until the fact that last night I had to sleep on the chair, because the pain was terrible if I tried to lay back on the bed.

You don't know me, but I can tell you that I'm the kind of guy who doesn't go to the doctor until is to late and the damage is done. So this morning I went to the Health centre here in Warwick University. I don't have anything against British people in general, but let's say that not for saying more pleases and thank yous people are more polite. In Spain we rarely use them and ey aren't we one of the nicest and warmest countries in the world?
But let's focus, I went there on my own to ask for an urgent visit.

• Urgent do you say? Where is blood? Why aren't you laying in a stretcher?
• Ok lady, the blood flows through the veins and I don't lay becasue my back is so terrible injured that I cannot even sit down without having some stars flying around my head.
• Ahh, I see, urgent, ok, what about at 5:15 this evening.
• If this is the best I can get that's ok, I 've been already suffering on my own for two days.
• Ok, but remember to bring 50 pounds because you're not staying in our beloved country more than one year.
• Fair enough.

Go to class, go home, eat, syndicate group meeting, doctor. This looks a good plan for today, but It changed a bit. Terrible back pain the whole day, and it becomes even worse during the meeting. We can call it stress or tension or whatever, but the result is me standing up, going to the hall and suddenly collapsing. My back said hasta la vista baby with the most awful pain I've ever had in my whole life, of course no possibility to sit neither to lay on the floor. Ask for help (thanks Tawanda, Felix, Ajay, Mehra, Peris, Wilson, Larissa, whoever was also there), the give me a chair not to sit but to lean my arms. The pain increases and increases till I feel that I'm gonna lose my conscience. I ask for aspirins of painkillers. Not a single aspirin in the school, and even if the receptionist had one it i not accepted to give it to the students, again British politeness.

Ten minutes of endless pain and screaming, but don't worry, they're coming. First paramedic unit comes to rescue me, no aspirin, no painkillers, no sprays, but questions, thousand of questions that only I can reply, once again british politeness and procedures, while sinking in an ocean of pain, harvested of sorrows.

• When, where, why, how, name, address, what do you want me to do?
• Ehhh!! what do you thing? Relieve me!
• Beep, beep, no entry for that in the system, sorry not possible you should wait to the ambulance.
• Ambulance? but then who are you? (bad move, really polite British get offended if you don't constantly use the words please and thank you even if you say them with the worst tone)
• Ah, I see, is this a complaint? We have three more cases to assists now, Are you not satisfied with our service? Ok, You can fill in this form threefold and send it to...
• Helloooo I'm still here, trembling, sweating, on the edge of collapse, but still here, please go and assist these needy people. I just hope they only need a good chat to solve their problems.

Waiting for the second unit. People start to come and go, no optimistics thoughts. I hear something like if no traffic half an hour or maybe less, this shouldn't be happening in a country like this, no one has aspirins. Too many people too noisy, even more stress, I do not need more stress, at least Mehra and Ajay are using some spray on my back.

I feel like falling apart, then suddenly a new voice appears in the Edvard Munch scene. A friendly calmed voice, preaching for hope. I take some pills, but I'm in a second floor without elevator. (Yes, polite and multiracial people, but without caring too much about disabilities or the environment?) Now it's your turn Juanjo, my herald, my hero, lion heart, just arm yourself with courage, stand up and run down the stairs.

Once inside the ambulance one more issue, one has to sit down or lay back. Sit down or lay back? which part of that's the two things I'm unable to do since yesterday didn't you understand?

• Ok stay calm we have a cool gas for you, breath, breath deeper
• Oh, I see, oh well, whatever, nevermind. With the lights out is less dangerous.. a mosquito an albino yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.
• I think it's starting to make effect.
• One elephant went out to play upon a spider web one day. She had such enormousfun, she called for another elephant to come. Two elephants ...
• Yeap, I think so, let's go. Please, name, address, telephone number, blood type?
• Bla, bla, bla. Ey guys, are you sure this is completely legal? I want one for Christmas!
• lol, yes he's high, we're almost in the hospital, breath deeply because we'll remove it soon.

Wheel chair, door, wheel (big one, it must be a bus), ramp, door, yellow tiles, left, right, right again, stop. Same questions again, please wait here. [...] Left, white lane, right, bed.

• Would you prefer to lay back on the...
• I'm afraid I'm not.
• Alrite, same questions again, please wait here.

Wait, wait, wait, oh shit Felix I think the gas effect is wearing off, wait, wait.

• juyaunjo wuiz? Yes? Hello I'm doctor X ... same questions again.
• I have pain on my back.
• I see. Please lay back no the ...
• I can not.
• I see. Do you feel dizzy? [testing knees reflex]
• No, just pain on my back, just the muscles nothing in the bones.
• It hurts here? and here? and there? No bones or tendons affected, so nothing I can really do for you apart from giving you this awful lot of pain killers.
• Mhhh, ok, but some recommended exercise to recover sooner?
• I'm a doctor not a physiologist!!!
• I see, thank you, bye

So here I am now with my dear friends ibuprofen, paracetamol, dihydrocodeine and tradamol. Looking afraid at my bed, do I try it? Why not? Lets go. [...] Lateral position ok, but laying back still risky, one more doses, sleep well.

Airports Usability

I’ve been lately taken some flights with some different European companies. Some of them have developed check-in machines for the passenger to save time; ok also to reduce personal, but isn’t this the inherent reason in any software development project?

I want to compare the British Airways and Aerlingus systems, because after using them I’ve fully understood some of Joel’s main principles in UI usability like “Every time you provide an option, you're asking the user to make a decision” and “Users Don't Read the Manual”.

To start with the British Airways machine doesn’t do anything if you do not introduce your credit card. I asked why and the reason is to identify your self. Ok let’s say 90% of the passengers have a credit card, not so bad, because you are only excluding a small 10% that surely aren’t among your best customers, so screw you and queue please.

But Aerlingus kindly avoids the unnecessary login thing; don’t you have to pass two or three controls to check your identity before the boarding takes place?; and therefore also saves time for the credit card owners like me who never remember in which pocket they have the wallet.

The next steps are more or less the same for both systems:

Please introduce your reservation number.

Please confirm your seat.

How many baggage do you want to check in.

and … wait a second!

Following the Idontknowwhich regulation, you have to confirm that no objects where introduced in your luggage without you knowing it, oh my god!, how the heck can I know if someone did put a weapon of mass destruction in my suitcase if I do not know it! I presume that you have to hire a bodyguard for your luggage from the hotel to the airport. I haven’t done that, but since then I’ve always threateningly gazed at the taxi driver: Ey, I’m watching you! Don’t ever think to insert a WMD in my suitcase while you place it in the boot, because I have to swear on the bible that every single item in my suitcase was place by me and only by me.

Anyway, I’m losing the track now, back to the question, let’s assume that we have to ask that. The fact is that this message is like the thousands of wordy MS Windows messages, which we always reply clicking the Ok/Yes button? That’s a small detail the Aerlingus’ developers thought about it, and therefore in their system the question is something like “Do you confirm that […]”, and you click Yes, of course, you confirm whatever message you see in order to catch the flight on time! It is like this “I agree” statements or “Terms & conditions” that you have to read before doing anything in a web page. They don’t know that “Users Don't Read the Manual”, and certainly British Airways developers don’t know it either, because their statement is something like: […] Ok, I don’t even remember it, but the case is that I pressed YES and what happened? Police alarms; please don’t move we’re going to jail you; you have committed and illegal act and the SWAT is coming; No, I wasn’t that unlucky, it was just a message in the screen like this: “You can not continue with the automatic check-in, please go back to the tradition check-in desk, wait a half an hour queue and risk your self to loose the flight just for being a nerd and try to use this fancy fast check-in facility”.

The funniest about this is that the legal message in the BA machine was in Spanish (my native language, as you already should know for sure after checking my pathetic English writing skills) and the message in Aerlingus machine was in English but much less wordy and therefore understandable.

The moral of the fable is: if you don’t have credit card and want to use the automatic check-in facilities fly with Aerlingus. Nope wait, the real moral is: Read always the small prints. Nope maybe is … It doesn’t really matter, because this is not a fable and there’s not moral within, but just bad software developers around the world who don’t know, understand and use the basic rules of a decent UI and therefore makes your life a bit more painful every day.

The class of 2006

First "real" academic class in Warwick, The Basics of Economics.
Ok is not like if the "Introduccion to accounting" was a bad one, in fact I didn't know how to put the rigth figures in a balance sheet before, but I can see that the economics one is gonna be really interesting, and the professor (Ben Knight) was really cool (ok, having and Irish mother with spanish surname has also influenced me a bit ;-).

Since I want to improve my english writting skills and at the same time consolidate the few concepts explained today I'm afraid I'm gonna bored any single lector that accidentaly came to my blog, but eh! guess what? at lest you don't have to pay the 25.000 pounds of the MBA.
I'm even thinking about do it in a weekly basis if I have time, let's see what happens.

Let's start saying that managers have little influence in the success of their companies because of the so called "Economic Determinism" quoting Warren Buffet.
Because Macroeconomy and Microeconomy forces managers' job should be to simply pray for good times.
In accordance with Ben, economics explains Cycles and Trends in the Financial Performance of Business by assessing:

• Vulnerability of the individual business to external forces
• Exposure in its Market
• Exposure to the Global Macroeconomy

My guess was that the professor just wanted to make his subject relevant but let's go deep inside...

Vulnerability has to be with "The Short Run Average Cost Curve". Economists assume that capital is fixed in the short run therefore they consider only fixed and variable costs as Total Cost. On the other hand they consider the Output of a business the what the costumer pays for it minus the value of the "bought in" inputs.
Basically we have a function called "Average Total Costs" equal to "Total Cost" divide by "Output" and if we draw this function depending on the Output we have the following curve:

Point B is called "Minimum Efficient Scale" and it tells you things like the amount of production that you should have to maximize efficiency.
I know what are you thinking, why the heck is called minimum if in fact is maximizing, first of all economist are not so optimistic as engineers are and second they put the average cost in the y-axis when it clearly is a function of the price, so, what could you expect from them?

Anyway, with this curve is really important because depending in which industry you are,
it will be more like a Champagne Flute in which case you'll be more vulnerable to external Economics changes or like a saucer like manufacturing industries in which case your variable cost is bigger than the fixed one and you aren't so vulnerable, therefore The Slope matters!


Market Exposure is even easier to understand. Usually when you reduce the price of your product, more people buy it because the real incomen of the customer also increase or because of the substitution effect, like when DVD players were cheaper than VHS everyone subsituted it for the new one.

This is represented in the next graphic, but what is really interesting, is when you compare the slope of two different industries.

The blue one is less exposed to changes in the market because a change in price doesn't affect (as much) the quantity of products sold, like the oil, where an increase of 1% in price only rebounds in a 0.003% decrease in demand. Whereas the green one is more elastic and exposed to market changes.

Just to mention that the dream of any company is to reverse the slope of the function and make it in a way that when you increase price more people buy your product.

Another Market Exposure can be seen from the customer's income point of view, the so called the Income Elasticity of Demand (IED). This is equal to the % change in demand divide per % change in buyer's income.
For Normal Goods this figure is positive and demand increases when the income increases
For Inferior Goods the IED is negative meaning that if the income rises the demand drops.
For Luxury Goods where a 1% income increase increases the demand in more than 1% the IED is bigger than 1.
If products are strongly inferior then an increase in price will reduce real income and hence strongly increase demand offsetting the substitution effect so the demand curve is positively sloped.

So far so good, we haven't yet spoken about the Macroeconomic Exposure, but this almost is self explanatory.

One of the key concepts is the Gross Domestic Product (GPD), which is the sum of value added by each and every producer of goods and services.
This small acronim determines the Disposable income, which determines the Aggregate ie Total Demand, which determines the Market Demand and Prices, in a way that if the GPD increases all the rest increases and the other way around.
Giving us another powerfull mesure unit called "GDP Respone Elasticity", which is the "% change in Market Demand" divide per "% change in GDP".
With this we also have industries with more elasticity like steel or leisure and others with less like water or food.

There are more important macro exposures like Exchange rate and Interest rate but I think we had enough for today.

Ok managers of the world, now you see how little you can influence to the success or fail of your companies, but instead of just sit and pray just try to AVOID being vulnerable and exposed asking your marketing team to discommoditise your product and differentiating it from the rest; or asking your law team to put barriers to entry to the competitors; or just start rigth now to buy suppliers and distribution chains to be able toapply vertical restraints.
Yeah, I now these are just minutes compared with the power of politicians, but by the way, who wants to study politics and give the power to the people (at least once every four years) ?? ;-)

Mannheim rules

I've just finished my "kick off week" here in Mannheim and tomorrow will fly to Birmingham.
There are so many things that have happening this week that I can't even remember all of them.

Basically we have known each other through team building activities. And it has worked out to the point that yesterday some of us were really sad to have to say goodby to the ones who are not going to the same business school first.
(now half of the class goes to Paris and the other half to Warwick and in January we swap. So we won't see each other again until April here in Mannheim)

We have also met the participants of the last year, whose graduation was yesterday, and they gave us many useful tips and advice, above all to easier deal with the administrative and bureaucracy stuff and to relax ourself telling us that is hard but not so hard that there is no time to also have fun.

The University here is in a gorgeous palace of the 18th century, but the city itself is not so exiciting.
My classmates are just incredible, talented people from many different nationalities and backgrounds that every single minute you discover new things
not only from them but also from yourself. They challenge and support you at the same time.
Next week we have another kick-off week but this time with the 70 participants of the full-time MBA in Warwick, that is why I think it was so important to build a Mannheim spirit within our group.
I am really excited and looking forward to meeting even more people from different backgrounds and to start the hard work.

EOI. Mostres de les proves

http://wm.nokia-asia.speedera.net/wm.nokia-asia/xm_brandsite_apac/n8800_tvc.wmv

http://www.onfuego.com/users/videos/k/m/f/d/kmfdm543/2005/08/25/1125032422.wmv

Intel's new boss