Could unorthodox business ideas become the norm?
See “Schwartz takes over at Sun” (Database, page 2)By Jon Fernquest
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Humans live on food. Companies live on ideas.
It could be a new product idea. It could be a new idea about an old product.
But if a company does nothing new, if it just repeats the same old ideas, other companies will overtake it and the company will die.
The computer company Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley has just appointed a new chief executive officer with a new innovative approach to strategy.
What Sun needs is an iPod: “a runaway hit product to give the company new life in a new market.”
Who or what is Sun? Why is its choice of a new executive officer important?
Jonathan I. Schwartz, the new CEO of Sun MIcrosystems, does not look or behave like a CEO normally does. In the article, how does his biography and personal appearance challenge traditional stereotypes about corporate leaders? (See answer key at end).
In the computer world, Sun is know for producing servers and the Java programming language. Outside of the computer world, Java is best known as a platform for games on mobile phones, but Sun has not profited much from Java. They have only profited from, “indirect revenue when telecommunications companies purchase Sun hardware for new information services, like Java-based games that require more computers on the back end.” Schwartz may shift Sun’s strategy and, exploiting the mobile phone-Java connection, “push Sun directly into consumer markets.”
If you were Schwartz, what would your business plan be? What kind of iPod-like consumer product would you design to best use Sun’s Java technologies?
While you read, circle the ideas and business practices that differentiate him from other corporate leaders (See answer key at end).
You might want to check out Jonathan Schwartz's weblog and Wikipedia entry. For listening practice, listen to a keynote address he made at an important meeting on open source software.
Vocabulary (in discussion above)
a stereotype – the fixed image and beliefs that the public has about a kind of person or thing, for instance all westerners eat a lot of bread or dentists are boring people who don’t take riskskeynote address - the speech that begins a large meeting that sets out the main theme of the meeting
Vocabulary (in article)
whiteboard – the large white board used for writing on in classrooms and conference roomsat first glance – the first thing that you think of when you see or read something
unorthodox – not ordinary or standard practice
aggressively priced – very competitively priced, priced to get lots of customers
set-top box – a box that connects a television to outside video, audio, web pages, or games coming from cable, satellite, or telephone (See Wikipedia:Set_top_box)
a ponytail – tieing your hair in a single strand hanging behind your head, the actor Steven Seagal wears a ponytail, George Washington did too (See Wikipedia:Pony_tail)
by way of – via, go through one place to reach another
affluent suburbs – neighborhoods of rich people on the edges of large cities
perched above – on a mountain, hill, or cliff overlooking some place
to aspire – to have a strong desire to achieve
fledgling – new and without experience
novel – new and different from what has been done before
computer workstations – the personal computer that sits on a user’s desk (servers are not workstations)
a magic bullet – a remedy that cures a disease that seems incurable, a solution to a problem that is difficult to solve
in the wake of – after a big important event (the wake of a ship is the waves behind it as it passes)
to fend off something – to defend yourself from something
warming to… – becoming more interested in…
shunning – avoiding and keeping away from someone or something
succession planning – planning for changes in leadership
revamping – make changes to improve
a runaway hit product – a popular product whose popularity never ends
has the reins – has control (reins are used to control horses)
computer network infrastructure – all the equipment and software that keeps the internet and local networks at companies running
a stronghold – the company has strong control over this industry or product
slackening – becoming slower, less active, and less intense
mobile phone handsets – the mobile phone that you hold in your hand
payback – return, the reward you receive for doing something
to contend that – to state or argue that something is true
the back end – software that runs on the server and not the user’s (client’s) computer or mobile phone (See Wikipedia:Front_and_back_end)
“shame on me” – said jokingly about himself, people usually say “shame on you” to a child who is behaving badly
monetise – turn into money, revenue and a profit
Answer key:
1. Different ways that Schwartz’s biography and personal appearance challenge traditional stereotypes about corporate leaders:
a. “wearing the ponytail”
b. “he was a liberal arts major at Wesleyan college in the 1980’s”
c. “Schwartz’s place of residence…a house on the edge of the Mission District of San Francisco”
2. Ideas and business practices that differentiate Schwartz from other corporate leaders:
a. “likes to take visitors on whiteboard tours of what at first glance appear to be highly unorthodox business ideas”
b. General Motors should give away cars to people who subscribe to their support service
c. “I belong to a club that exists around the world that says progress is made by the unconventional…And that is reflected in many things, whether it’s where I choose to live or the company I work for or the ideals to which I aspire.”
d. “Schwartz has made it a rule to conduct novel marketing experiments.”
e. “has taken to selling computing time for a dollar an hour from a large grid of the company’s servers.”