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Note: This is a repeat upload from one listed below - it looks like there's a problem with this podcast appearing in iTunes. Hopefully this fixes it so you can get Lecture 11!
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This podcast offers a managerial introduction Moore’s Law and other factors delivering fast/cheap computing. Topics include Moore’s Law for empowering the poor, price elasticity, new market creation, and market disruption. Rich examples including the OLPC, mobile phones, Amazon, and Apple are introduced (including brief examples of Kindle/Kindle Fire, and iCloud). But while Moore’s Law is perhaps the greatest economic gravy train in history, lowering interest rates, increasing productivity, and creating new industries, Moore’s Law applied to silicon will also likely come to a grinding halt during your lifetime. The latter discussion introduces challenges plaguing the continued advancement in the semi-conductor industry, and offers the pros and cons of solutions that include multi-core and 3D transistors and why this is important in emerging competition between Intel and ARM. The lecture also offers a business-centric introduction to supercomputing and grid computing, and a discussion of eWaste. Notes for these slides can be found at http://gallaugher.com/chapters, and chapter reading for this podcast is available as “Moore’s Law and More: Fast/Cheap Computing and What it Means for the Manager”.

Our last lecture of the semester covers social media. We provide a brief overview of how firms are leveraging services such as social networks, Twitter, location-based services, and other products. We also provide the SMART (Social Media Awareness and Response Team) framework to help firms think about how to approach social media. Several examples of effective and disastrous social media use are demonstrated, as are key points related to social media policy, methods of monitoring, engagement, and response. The segment also briefly introduces crowdsourcing and prediction markets. Finally, in the remaining minutes key issues in the Facebook Chapter are touched on, including the relationship between network effects, firm growth, and Mark Zuckerberg's controlling interest in the firm, and the failure of the firm's Beacon initiative. Chapter readings and slides for this lecture can be found online at http://www.gallaugher.com/chapters

One force can explain the dominance of Microsoft, Intel, eBay, Facebook, PayPal, Skype, and so many other efforts – the concept of network effects. In all of these efforts, the product or service becomes more valuable as more users adopt them. But where does this value come from? Students learn how network effects are created and reinforced, and why it’s so difficult to compete with firms that have a lead in network effects markets. The lecture ends with a summary of strategies that can be employed when competing in the presence of network effects. The last part of class begins our discussion of social media, peer production, and Web 2.0 – efforts behind seven of the world’s top ten most popular websites. Chapters for both of these lectures can be found at http://www.gallaugher.com/chapters. Find this podcast interesting? Please e-mail the author at john.gallaugher@bc.edu.

Our discussion of Google Case concludes with a discussion of profiling technologies, privacy issues, and an overview of various forms of advertising fraud and how firms counteract these threats. We also discuss the issue of content adjacency, presenting examples of ads served alongside questionable content. We conclude the Google discussion with an overview of the firm’s looming competition with several firms (including Microsoft and Apple), providing an opportunity to contrast Google’s growth with Microsoft’s maturity (introducing the concept of P-E ratio).

Our Google lecture continues with a discussion of AdWords, IP addresses, Geotargeting/Geolocation (their use & limitation), and AdSense. Readings and Slides for this lecture are linked at http://gallaugher.com/chapters. Podcast is in Apple AAC format.

Our discussion of the Chapter "Google in Three Parts: Search, Online Advertising, and Beyond" begins with a look at the Googleplex. Google’s brand, share, revenue, and market cap are introduced and compared with online rivals & traditional media firms. Scale advantages and economies of scale are introduced as we discuss server farms and web crawling. This part of the lecture concludes with an introduction to organic search and paid search, and how rankings are determined. Readings and Slides for this lecture are linked at http://gallaugher.com/chapters. Podcast is in Apple AAC format.

This podcast offers a managerial introduction Moore’s Law and other factors delivering fast/cheap computing. Topics include Moore’s Law for empowering the poor, price elasticity, new market creation, and market disruption. Rich examples including the OLPC, mobile phones, Amazon, and Apple are introduced (including brief examples of Kindle/Kindle Fire, and iCloud). But while Moore’s Law is perhaps the greatest economic gravy train in history, lowering interest rates, increasing productivity, and creating new industries, Moore’s Law applied to silicon will also likely come to a grinding halt during your lifetime. The latter discussion introduces challenges plaguing the continued advancement in the semi-conductor industry, and offers the pros and cons of solutions that include multi-core and 3D transistors and why this is important in emerging competition between Intel and ARM. The lecture also offers a business-centric introduction to supercomputing and grid computing, and a discussion of eWaste. Notes for these slides can be found at http://gallaugher.com/chapters, and chapter reading for this podcast is available as “Moore’s Law and More: Fast/Cheap Computing and What it Means for the Manager”.

This podcast offers a managerial introduction Moore’s Law and other factors delivering fast/cheap computing. Topics include Moore’s Law for empowering the poor, price elasticity, new market creation, and we begin to touch on Amazon and Apple as examples. These issues will be summarized in the end lecture that follows. This lecture is shorter than others since we proceeded the podcast by going over a quiz in class.

Our Netflix case concludes with an examination of the division of the firm into two businesses: Qwikster and Netflix. The streaming business is demonstrated to be radically different from the DVD-by-mail business. Issues of variable, rising, and license costs are discussed, along with limited catalog availability, supplier (content provider) reticence, and the role of exclusives. The upside of streaming is also discussed, including opportunities to leverage social and new revenue beyond monthly subscription (including advertising & premium content). Streaming infrastructure challenges include bandwidth caps and leveraging a public cloud that’s also available to competitors. Streaming also offers faster and broader international reach than warehouse & postal service-dependent DVD-by-mail. We go on to discuss the value of the Neflix streaming platform and varying revenue models for streaming. We end acknowledging that the Qwikster/Netflix split antagonized customers through a price increase and less convenience, but we establish that as a publicly traded company, Netflix will want to minimize the impact of the demise of the DVD. We use Microsoft’s decade-long lack of stock movement as an example of how Wall Street treats profitable firms that are not growing. We conclude demonstrating that the NFLX stock is still richly valued on a P/E basis, and that there may be advantages in a public firm combining price correction with an inevitable subscriber decline as it shifts focus and begins to separate out a shrinking business. A table comparing Qwikster (DVD-by-mail) with Netflix (streaming) is available at: http://bit.ly/Qwikster-Netflix. The Aug. 2011 version of the Netflix case is available at: http://bit.ly/NetflixCasev1-2, while my blog post discussing the Sept. 2011 Qwikster/Netflix divide (updating the case) can be found in the third item down in the Sept. 26, 2011 Week in Geek.

Unfortunately the mic failed when recording the Fall 2011 Netflix (Part II) podcast, so I’m posting a Spring 2010 version of the class. Some data is out of date but many concepts remain the same.

How did Netflix repel Walmart and crush Blockbuster? This podcast discusses key resources leveraged by video subscription startup, including various sources of scale advantage, brand, and data/switching costs. The concept of the long tail is introduced, as is the firm's revenue-sharing model used with some suppliers. Our discussion also covers collaborative filtering (the firm's Cinematch software), crowdsourcing (The Netflix Prize), switching costs, churn rates, and the challenges of the streaming business. Licensing issues, the restrictions of media 'windowing', and Netflix attempts to embed streaming in consumer electronics devices are introduced, as are difficulties in competing with varied and well-resourced rivals as this business shifts from atoms to bits. Written case for this lecture can be found at http://gallaugher.com /chapters. This podcast is in iTunes AAC format.

Our discussion of the relationship between technology and resources for competitive advantage continues. Concepts covered include distribution channels, alliances, and patents. Class then challenges general platitudes on the value of IT and moving early, offering stronger decision-making rules than broadly stated 'move first' or 'follow fast'. Class ends with a brief overview of the Porter Five Forces framework as it relates to technology, the Internet, and commodity vs. differentiated goods. Reading chapter for Strategy & Technology, as well as slides and other resources used in this lecture, can be found at http://gallaugher.com/chapters. This podcast is in iTunes enhanced format.

After a recap of issues covered during the last class (a bit of a repeat from the last podcast because this is a different section than that offered in the prior podcast), we continue our discussion of assets that yield competitive advantage. We explore imitation-resistant value chains and consider early success of Netflix and FreshDirect vs. Dell’s recent woes. We also explore the role of technology in creating and strengthening assets such as brand value, scale, data & switching costs. Examples comparing Google’s profitability to Bing’s struggles, Blue Nile vs. conventional jewelry retailing, and Amazon’s price advantage over Wal-Mart and rivals, are among examples used to illustrate key points. The companion reading chapter for Strategy & Technology can be found online at: http://bit.ly/TechStratV1-2

Lecture introduces concepts of Operational Effectiveness vs. Strategic Positioning, as they relate to technology firms. The goal is to begin to develop a framework for answering the question ‘How can a firm possibly compete when everyone can copy their technology & the competition is just a click away?’ The FreshDirect case is discussed in depth as an example of Strategic Positioning. TiVo’s profitability struggles and the Telecom Bubble of the prior decade illustrate danger in competing with resources that don’t offer value/rare /imperfectly imitable/non-substitutable characteristics. Reading chapter for Strategy & Technology can be found online at: http://bit.ly/TechStratV1-2

Slides and other resources used in this lecture are at http://gallaugher.com/chapters

Conclusion of the Zara case discussion presents how Zara's tech-enabled vertically integrated value chain delivers speed, plus payoff advantages in inventory, customer demand, marketing, ad-savings, and ultimately profit. Prada's failed in-store tech effort is contrasted as a way to understand IS vs. IT thinking. The case ends with a discussion of the vulnerabilities in Zara's otherwise excellent business model. The last part of the case lays the groundwork for our tech & strategy discussion. The Strategy & Technology chapter is available online at: http://bit.ly/TechStratV1-2

A case discussion on fast fashion powerhouse Zara continues. The discussion compares Zara to Gap and covers how information systems enable a counter intuitive, winning strategy that has taken Zara's parent, Inditex, to the #1 position among clothing retailers worldwide. Issues of IS impact on inventory, marketing, design and product planning, ethical manufacturing, and profitability are all discussed. The written case for this discussion is available online at:

http://bit.ly/ZaraV1-2

In this lecture we go over grading criteria, expectations for student social media use (wiki, Twitter, blog, podcast), assignments, projects, and exams. Faculty curious about how we use social media in our courses at Boston College might be interested in Prof. Gallaugher's Academix 2011 talk available at http://education.apple.com/academix/. The last 10 minutes of the class beings our Zara case discussion, only briefly mentioning issues associated with Gap's decade-long struggles.

This first lecture is a setup for the semester and is targeted at getting students enthusiastic about studying at the intersection of business and technology. Several examples are given demonstrating the pervasive impact of technology on various business disciplines, while examples of tech's role in creating 'most wealthy', 'most powerful', 'best to work for', and 'most admired' business leaders and firms are given. Some material from this chapter will be included in the first chapter of the book "Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology" (available free online & in low-cost print form). The role of young people as tech industry pioneers is also covered. Since this is a Boston College course, students also learn the role BC alumni have played in the creation of products from Netscape to the iPod. (note: this file is in AAC format).