Small Private Universities’ limbo - The vanishing of Educational Middle Market.

According to the document of Mc Kinsey Quarterly, there’s a trend for middle markets and companies to disappear in the next years, increasing the world polarization where the high-end and low-end are the only sectors with sustainable growth.

If we apply the results of that study to the Education field and more precisely to Private Universities with a strong focus on business and (of course) Business Schools, we’ll see there’s a growth in the market for business education but according to the polarization process mentioned before.

With reference to the course prize (Master’s prize), we can distribute the business education companies in three big groups:

Low-end market: Public Universities (around 3.000 €)

Middle market: Small and medium private universities and business schools

(Master studies: around 15.000 €)

High-end market: Big universities or Business Schools (around 50.000 €)

According to McKinsey study, there will be a decrease in next years in the number of students of middle market universities like PFH or other small & medium Business Schools. However, since last years there was an increasing number of students attending to these private universities which is probably due to the world crisis, which has increase the number of people that prefer to keep on studying in order to apply for a better job in the future.

We have to consider this situation as an anomalous situation caused by the crisis, but with a middle term view really scaring for middle universities stakeholders.

¿Is there a solution? Of course it is. Companies and managers think that the strategies and services provided that were successful in the past will be successful in the future.

The maintenance of a high level competing system/company is complex and much more in a field like business schools, where students are the product and the client at the same time.

Being aware of future trends and changes in the educational sector is necessary for the survival of these companies.

The following graph shows the life cycle of a company, doesn’t matter in what field.

The graph shows the trend of:

Comfortable Position - Relax - Decadence

According to the graph, only a deep change on company’s strategy would avoid the disaster. Innovation and market strategic positioning in a high-end or low-end market are the solutions for these almost-dying companies trapped in the middle market.



Social Media - Screening applicants

Reppler conducted a study over 300 workers on hiring processes in different companys and the result is clear: over 90% of recruiters use social media to screen applicants.

What do you think? Do you have any picture that your boss shouldn't see? Maybe some of you are thinking about cleaning up your profiles so I'll give you an advice my grandmother used to tell me.

Everybody has something ashamed, it is normal.

So if you're thinking of making a white profile, remember that recruiters suspect about white profiles. Keeping some pictures with friends in bars, practicing sport, etc... will help you to make your profile more trustable although it's not.
Just think on the kind of things you'd like to show and upload them, but after a clean up.

Here it is the original survey result:

Social Media - Dalai Lama's Business School

Genarally, I don't go to the bed till 12 o'clock so I spend my time in the evening seeing what's happening in the world, and more precisely, what's on in Twitter.

Just a few minutes ago I was posting my last Tweet of the evening when I saw something disturbing. Twitter was suggesting me to follow Dalai Lama and of course, now I'm his follower.Are you a Dalai Lama's follower? Or you're not yet in Social Media? If Dalai Lama is in Social Media, what are you waiting for?

It's extrange to see how the internet and social media touches every field of human knowledge and behaviour, including religion.  If you look carefully at his advices, you'll discover words full of passion, motivation and in some cases, valuable advices. Some of them, like the one I've posted here could be found in any business school around the world in a lecture about competitive advantages.



Disruptive Innovation vs IT Innovation

What makes the end of 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century different from other periods of history is not the Arab Spring, the International Debt Crisis or the end of the Cold War. What makes different this period of time from others is the speed of the changes take place.

We see everyday in the news many new advances on IT, specially on the internet field and there are so many companies that are focusing their innovation processes and strategies on a change of the IT model: social media, cloud computing, or any other high tech device.

We have to face that although social media seems to be here to stay, it's still a baby and it can and probably do change in the future. Sometimes we trust on foreign adn new technology more than in our own team and their ideas. Sometimes, these ideas, simple and in one way disruptive, would probably set a competitive advantage for your company in comparison to others.

I post here this video to teach you that although important, IT is not the only kind of innovation or developement we can achieve. Sometimes the success comes with something more simple.

The decadence of successful companies

It's hard to succeed in today's world, compiting with high level companies and with continuous changes in technology. This is so true that the 80% of new business go bankrupt in the first two years.
The other 20% survives and the lucky ones may also achieve a leader position of their market or product.

But sometimes, companies and managers think that the decisions, strategies and products that were successful in the past will be successful in the future. So the leader feels confortable and stops thinking about improving.

The main problem is that the leadership of a market or a product is hard to maintain due to high competence so if you feel confortable with your market possition is possible that you're becoming lazy and someone else would be the new leader in a short time.

Success - Confortable Position - Relax - Decadence

Hurry up! Innovation saves company's lifes!

Size matters - The Scale of Universe

I've already talk about TED and the vision of Chris Anderson to spread ideas and knowledge around the World using the internet.

TED is a continuos source of knowledge in all fields where you can listen a good idea, a good project, or just something interesting in just 18 minutes. The idea is simple: We all know something that would be interesting for other people. Share it!

According to that, I'd like to share with you a Tweet from TED's founder Chris Anderson.

The link shows an approach to Universe size, from an atom to the biggest galaxy.
If you're not yet a TED follower, I highly recommend you to be one as soon as possible.

Link: - Scale of Universe -

Quality of Leadership - Spain vs Germany

Few weeks ago, @vientodevenus posted "No encontrar tu universidad en las listas internacionales no tiene precio, la matricula si".

Not finding your University in International rankings is priceless, the tuition if.

According to Financial Times' ranking, Spain has two of the Top 10 World Business Schools in Global MBA Rankings. Germany has none.
However, "Germany's recovery from the global recession has been among the fastest of major economies, surging at a 6.1% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2011 alone. Its budget deficit is a small fraction of those in the U.S., Britain and Japan. Whereas the U.S. faces chronic unemployment, Germany's jobless rate is at a 20-year low". (Wall Street Journal, June 27-2011)

How is it possible that Germany, with no Top level institutions, has been developing better than the other European countries for the last 20 years? What happen to Spain and its managers? Maybe the quality of the leadership doesn't make the difference.

In Germany, "small and midsize companies make up nearly 80% of private-sector employment in Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy, and 98% of its 350,000 exporters. Mittelstand companies ship products to, on average, 16 different foreign markets". (Wall Street Journal, June 27-2011)
In Spain is almost the same.

According to these data, there's no reason to think that spanish growth should be less than german growth. So some people suggest that the problem a cultural matter.

Are Spanish employees more inefficient than german ones?

How is it possible? Chairmen and stakeholders trust in our well educated managers to make our employees do their best. Álvaro González-Alorda, writer and professor at ISEM Fashion Business School says that "The quality of your leadership depends on the quality of your conversations". He doesn't mention the notoriety or popularity of the Business School.

So I asked myself:

Are our managers educated in conversation?

Are our managers leading people in the right way?

How are we supposed to change our employees way of behaviour in order to avoid or reduce inefficiencies if we don't comunicate properly?

Berliner for a weekend

Dear guests,

I'm going to Berlin for the weekend so don't expect the blog to become updated. Don't panic! I'll be back on Sunday night!

Enjoy your weekend!

Environmental Innovation - 5 Tips to lead the Green Market

Few minutes ago I was seeing an Earth overview thanks to some images courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. These pictures were taken at about 350 km from Earth during the past summer.

http://vimeo.com/32001208

If you look the video, you'll see the fantasctic work of our NASA fellows, but you're also going to see the human footstep in the world. About half a year ago I presented my Industial Engineering's final project and I decided to start with a picture of the world at night so you can see a world full of light as in the video. Then I put the same picture but taken 200 years ago: you can't see anything.

Are we changing the world too fast? Are we applying our knowledge to implement and develop new products and services under the prisma of green eficiency? How can we take advantage of the new tendences in the world market? 5 easy Tips to succeed in this area!

1.- Demand in your business green energy. It's a little bit more expensive but some energy companies provide this kind of energy that cames from solar fields, windmills, etc.
You can also get a certificate that you're using only green energy.

2.- Start a non environmental policy. Get some Environment certificates such as ISO 14000 or symilars. It takes time and money but in the long term you'll see that it worths the effort.

3.- Decrese your carbon footprint! Use local materials and providers to avoid long transport distances. The nearest is your provider, the green it is!

4.- Ask your provider to do the same: Environmental certifications and green energy. And ask them to do the same ith their providers also!

5.- Finally, Sell your product as a green product. According to McKinseys  publication "The vanishing middle market" (Nov'05):
Executives recognize that premium and no-frills offerings are squeezing middle-of-the-road products and services in many industries. Our study of 25 industries and product categories in Europe, North America, and on the global level shows the extent of this phenomenon, known as market polarization.¹ We found that, from 1999 to 2004, the growth rate of revenues for midtier products and services trailed the market average by nearly 6 percent a year (Exhibit 1).

My advise: Make a Green brand a High End brand

La Doce Vita è finita!

Meine Damen und Herren, Masdames et Messieurs, Ladies and Gentlement!

Comment ça va?  Do you feel good?

Ich bin euer conferencier. Je suis votre compere, I am your host. (And you're my guests)
Und sagen

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome. Im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret...

 

Leave your troubles outside. So life is disappointing, forget it!
In here life is beautiful.
The girls are beautiful.
Even the orchestra is beautiful.

 

 

Silvio has been playing the Master of Ceremonies & Entertainer role in the European cabaret during the past decade but now the party is over. Time's over! No more girls, no more partys, no more cabaret. The show can't go on anymore!

 

The lack of confidence in the Italian economy is making the stock market going crazy, with ups and downs everyday, making the solution of the crisis more and more expensive day by day. The announcement of new refforms is not working anymore. Although the economic situation of Italy is still being the same as the previous 20 years, something has happened. Is it just an attack promoted by te americans or chinese to the Euro? Or is it a real and unsolvable debt crisis?

 

For years and years, the Italian debt has been on the 120 % of GDP with an average grow of  1%. So, what's different now? Why are we facing this situation that seems it has no solution? And much more important, how can we get advantage?

 

I leave it as an open question. Despite the crisis, everyone of you has to find his own answer. To help you thinking and taking a move, I'll post this encouraging message from Rocky Balboa.

Let me tell you something you already know. The worlds aren’t all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it...

You've gotta hit as hard as life. It isn’t about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much can you take and keep moving forward? That's how winning is done.

TEDxBaghdad

As Chris Anderson has already said in his Twitter, we are reaching the day for the TED event in Baghdad, probably one of the most expected events in the world right now.

What does a TEDxBaghdad means?

Well, from my point of view, it's the first step for a continuous peace and stablish of a real stable regime and democracy. I don't know you but I really want to see what they have to tell me!

http://www.tedxbaghdad.com/

This is an article from The Daily Stat:

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

To Young Workers, Tech Freedom Is Worth a Lot

At least 2 out of 5 college students and young employees say they'd accept a lower-paying job over one that paid more if the position offered greater flexibility on access to social media, the ability to work from various locations, and what type of mobile phone employees can use on the job, according to a survey commissioned by Cisco of more than 2,800 college students and young professionals in 14 countries. Flexibility on these issues will be important in determining which companies will land the next wave of talent, Cisco says. http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/dailystat.php?date=111011

According to this, in more than 14 countries the 40% of young professionals & students prefer to be in facebook and have an iPhone that to earn more money...

This survey reflects a change in the way of thinking, where a 60% prefer more money, the 40% refer much more free time in the job and New Tech applications instead of money. It opens the door to a new world of ways of paying:

In the XX century the workers prefer an exact amount of money

By the end of the century and the beginning of the new one, the payments where divided into a fixed amount and a variable amount refered to goals and achievements.

We also included some social variables in order to make the package more interesting for the employee: company's car, dental health insurance, nusery bonus, etc.

Should we consider according to Cisco's survey including time to access the facebook & other social media as a new way of retribution?

The power to change

Tonight I was having dinner with my chinese neighbours and we were talking about how to save money in the supermarket when you're living abroad. The conversation were focus on the eggs and the code number that shows you where the egg comes from and what's its quality and production method.

Well, the fact is that I told them that is possible to buy Organic-0 eggs for the price of a Caged-3 egg. You only have to change the eggs from one box to the other. They obviously told me that I can not do that... That's stealing! -she said. So I told her that although I don't use to do this kind of things, the spanish guys are told to be the most tricky guys in Europe so they probably do it. I said that it isn't too bad, that it is such a small crime that you don't even break the law, you just bend it!

She answered my with a dilapidating sentence: In China I can not break the law.

And I answer with Martin Luther King's speech (I have to admit I was pedantic at that time):

"There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all... One who breaks an unjust law must do it openly, lovingly...I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law."

And here it comes the great sentence (we should learn from them):

-In China we cannot change the laws. Only he can do it. WE can break the rules but I just can bend them.

The power of change depends on how much noise are you able to do. If you're the only one shouting in the dark, you'd probably get ignored. But if there's more than one voice, if the voices shout too loud that it's imposible not to heard them, then you can change the World.

10 Tips to find a job abroad

During the last months the situation in Spain and other countries is getting worst by moments and specially for graduates & young professionals.

Being a graduate or young professional in one of these countries means that you're facing a 40% of unemployment between young people and about a 20% on average. Someone would say that this data shows a great future to Spain because it means that Spain has a long way to go till we reach our GDP growth limit (20% of work forces are not in use) but it also means, sincerely that WE (the young people) are fucked.

In Germany they have the opposite problem: their GDP (three times bigger than the spanish) will not grow anymore, the industries are full operated, and there's almost not unemployment (6.5% is due to structural unemployment and short time unemployment). That's the reason why Frau Merkel ask for spanish engineers. They need us to keep on growing and being one of the most powerful economies in the world.

So, in the following lines, I would offer you 10 Tips to help you find a job abroad.

1.- Learn the language. It is false that all the europeans speak English. That's just a tale. From the very beginning you will face situations when you have to communicate and you don't speak the language. In my case, the day I arrived in Germany I had a delay of 7 hours in Barcelona Airport so when I arrived at Hamburg Hfb I had to change my train ticket and nobody could speak with me in English, so imagine what would happen if you try to buy something in a shop or something like that.

2.- Meet inland people. Networking has always been a great source of information and job opportunities. Anyone could be a job advisor. You'll probably find lots and lots of people... tell always the same story. Try to engage them and pray they known someone in the company you want to work in. According to what I used to say: Everybody has an uncle/friend that works on...

3.- Register and get in contact with the local authorities. In Germany, for example, it is necessary to register yourself in the City Council (Rathaus). It's better to avoid problems =)

4.- Go to the next JobMesse-event. These events are roled all over the country and on very different dates. It's a perfect opportunity to know new companyes and look what are they looking for.

5.- Develop a really good CV. Remember that in some countries with equal opportunity policies they don't accept CVs with pictures! Take care of that!

6.- Start a document with all your Applications. It sounds really bad when someone calls you due to a job application and you can't remember the requirements and task for the job. So making a document where store all this information could be really useful.

7.- Use the international webpages for international mobility. I highly recommend to join EURES as a first step. EURES is the international webpage for professional mobility and it's full of job offers. As you get confident with the language you can start trying other webpages.

8.- Move to the country of destination. That is not cheap but remember that you're supposed to do interviews, so you must be there. Buy a new cellphone with a new number and write in your CV the new address. It helps!

9.- Try to join any professional association. If you're a member of any german association they would probably trust much more in you and in your qualifications. Search it on the web!

10.- Do not panic. It's normal to fail in the first attempt. But remember that Übung macht den Meister!

Greece: Financial disaster or hidden opportunity?

In japanese, the word crisis (危機=kiki) is made of two different letters: 危=”danger” & 機=”opportunity”.
I know that most of you have heard about this before but with the tale I'm going to tell you now you probably will see the crisis with other eyes.

In a normal afternoon, between caffee and cupcakes, a smart physicist (The Father-in-law) shared with his son-in-law his view of the states-debt-crisis, focus on the case of Greece.

He appointed that the European Central Bank should print money to repaid the debts of Greece.
I've heard this point of view millions of times but he went much more precisely than the people (most of them are renamed economists) talking about that on TV.

He made the figures about the amount of debt that Greece and other countries like Spain and discovered that the total amount of debt in Europe is just like the 20-30% of the total assets. So he suggested to print a certain amount of money per person. Imagine that each person is given 10,000 € so we're printing 3,000,000,000,000 € for all the European population. Spain will receive about 470,000 million € which must use to pay the 600,000 million € debt it has.

In the case of Spain, we almost pay the debts. For other countries the amount received is enough to pay the debts and also to keep money and invest it on building bridges, roads, railways or any other kind of investment that could help to create employment.

Where's the trick? An increase in the quantity of money is linked to an increase in the inflation rate and into a depreciation of the Euro against other currencies like the US Dollar. 

So, in the one hand, we'll have to pay more for our goods and even much more for those goods which are imported but on the other hand, this situation makes the european products cheaper to compit in the world so it's easy for us to sell our products abroad.

The big problem is that if we print money to pay our debts we lose our international credibility.

Who will certify to the markets that we're not going to do it again in a future? Who is going to save money instead of spend it if we save them each time they do the things wrong? Who is going to teach us that we cannot play with international economics and get free of all the stuff?

Now think about it: Credibility... I think we lost it long time ago.

What is Pursuit of hapiness - Pursuit of Goals?

We are lions, we are tigers. This is our time.

Are you prepared to do what you have to do? I do.

I am like all of you! I am you. I know that our countries are getting worst and worst. I know that all of you are fed up with political class. Me too.
I know that all o you are fed up with hearing always the same dilapidating sentence: Thank you for applying, but we regret...

I was angry because I was living in a country with no future. Where people with ambition and ideas, with a degree and language knowledge have to survive with 1.000€ a month. I was fed up of that situation.

So I decided to emigrate.
I'm one of those who have decided that is better to go away and face the daily challenges of a globalized world instead of coach potatoes in home's sofa, regreting the good days and complaining without doing nothing.

My aim now, and therefore the aim of this blog, is to document my steps in Germany, my successes and failures throughout my journey as a young emigrant who tries to go on and grow as a professional and do something important in life.

This blog is about my attempt to become better day by day and achieve my professional goals, my ambitions.

In order to do that, I will post here all the information that I read everyday, including some interesting videos and interviews that help me to face my everyday journey. I hope it would help you too.

And today, as all the great days in life, I've decided that we need a motivational speech, so using youtube, I'll bring you a speech to motivate you. Enjoy it!

Let's show the world how great we are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z29W1IYNus&feature=related