Wednesday, January 31, 2007
What We Are Working On
The topic I thought I had posted was on what we are trying to accomplish and what has happened the last few days.
A couple of days ago I received a comment from Marc at FullThrottle that I did not have permission to post his article on the Nascar Car-Of-Tomorrow. He was very professional about it and told me to get it off this blog, what you do with articles written by other people and what to look up to learn about using other people's work.
I was wrong as he pointed out even though I had given credit to who wrote the article and where I got it from. My intent was not to steal other people's work and pass it off as my own. Yet, I am responsible for what goes on this blog and so I accept the blame for what was done.
I apologize to Marc and thank him for setting me straight.
Lesson learned.
I also took down the article on the Jimmy Johnson Intervies as well as the story about knowing Dale Earnhardt Sr. (These 2 articles were also given credit to their Authors and where they were found.)
I did not expect that the first lesson learned was about stealing other people's work but I believe the problem has been corrected.
I will now move forward with the original goal of forming a team to develope a winning Nascar Nextel Cup Racing Organization.
I will start posting with more specific details about what we are doing, what needs to be done and how people can get involved, in the next posting.
Again I apologize to anyone I may have offended or hurt.
Doug Scott
Monday, January 29, 2007
Nascar racing and Our Open Business Model Part 2
We will start posting comments on many of the notes and explain in more detail how they can be used in our organization.
Thanks for your time
Doug
***************************************************************************************
A set of fundamental reasons for a company’s existence beyond just making money. Your purpose should be timeless and enduring—“a good purpose should serve to guide and inspire the organization for years, perhaps a century or more.”
We are in the freedom business like Southwest Airlines—to make this membership as available and as flexible for average Americans, as it has been for the well to do.
Disruptive Business Strategy
Southwest Freedoms
Freedom to learn and grow
Freedom to create financial security
Freedom to work hard and have fun
Freedom to create and innovate
You are giving people the freedom to ________________
“ME TOO” WON’T DO
Corporate strategy has been to mimic other companies
Mimicry
Big companies have been content to compete from virtually identical strategic playbooks and to vie for advantage on the margin
Whose products can be a little better?
Whose costs can be a little lower?
Whose target markets can be a little more attractive?
Compare the following for virtually identical strategic playbooks
GM versus Ford
CBS versus ABC
Coke versus Pepsi
American Airlines versus Delta Airlines
_____________________________________________________________________________________
If you know the names and contact info for people already working with Nascar Racing Teams or inside the Nascar Organization, we would certainly appreciate you contacting
us with the informationand how you know them. We are starting our "Little Black Book" and can use your help.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Something genuinely new alters the trajectory of the industry:
The rise of the sport utility vehicle or 0% financing in the auto business
The creation of reality programming in the TV business
The ubiquity of bottled water and natural drinks in the beverage business
The creation of low cost airlines
You can become the author of your own destiny
Whatever I can imagine, I can accomplish
Mass Collaboration
Employees drive performance by collaborating with peers across organizational boundaries, creating what we call a “wiki workplace.”
So-called supply chains work more effectively when the risk, reward and capability to complete major projects-including massively complex products like cars, motorcycles and airplanes, are distributed across planetary network of partners who work as peers.
We The People
Profiting from Collaborative Anarchy
Please Register to Participate
The Power Of Us
Creating a New Page in Business History
Unleashing Our Collective Genius
(Your Input Needed Here)
Some of the largest blogs receive a half a million daily visitors, rivaling some daily newspapers
Text Link
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Recommended Blog
JamesBrausch.com
James Brausch
His software is unique and outstanding. It is also very reasonably priced and always with a money back guarantee.
His salespitch for the software is understated which is very refreshing with all the hype we get from the internet marketers.
His comments and articles are concise and clear and very original.
Make his Blog a regular read and you will learn about marketing and life as well.
JamesBrausch.com
James Brausch
You won't be wasting your time or your money.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Nascar Racing and Our Open Business Model
We have posted about the Open Business Model and how a Nascar Team could be
built using that process. Now I will include some notes from various sources that
gives the feel of the process and some of its attitude.
Become an eyewitness to our success
Organizations have shaped the course of their industries by reshaping the sense of what is possible among employees, customers and investors.
You must understand that companies with a disruptive presence in the marketplace also need a distinctive approach to the workplace.
Front lines of the future
New way to lead, compete and succeed.
A business plan for the 21st century
The strong take from the weak but the smart take from the strong.---Coach Pete Carril
The best way to outperform the competition is to outthink the competition.
Disruptive
Disruptive Technologies
Disruptive Investments
Disruptive Membership
Disruptive Marketing
Compete on the originality of your ideas
It’s not TV, it’s HBO
It’s not racing, it’s ___________ __________________
It’s not impossible, it’s nothing
It’s not marketing, it’s _________ _________________
It’s not a membership; it’s a way of life
We didn’t get here by playing by the rules of the game. We got here by setting the rules of the game.
Letter from the founders of Google
Google is not a conventional company.
We do not intend to become one.
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
Quote from Alan Kay celebrated computer scientist
That’s it for today. I will continue this theme with my next post.
Please think about the above in relation to Nascar racing and winning the
Nascar Nextel Cup!
Thanks
Doug
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Enjoy,
Doug
Trouble In Turn 2 By Mike
Trouble In Turn 2
Matt Crossman
Sporting News
David Poole Life in the Turn Lane
David Poole Life in the Turn Lane
Racing-Reference
Racing-Reference
Scene Daily
Scene Daily
Friday, January 19, 2007
Using Crowdsourcing To Setup a Nascar Team
In Wilipedia they also call it Crowdsourcing. I hope this explains it further and shows you what we plan to do and what the results can be.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the following article
************************************************************************************
Crowdsourcing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate
citations. (help, get involved!)
This article has been tagged since November 2006.
"Crowdsourcing" is a neologism for a business model that depends
on work being done outside the traditional company walls: while
outsourcing is typically performed by lower paid professionals,
crowdsourcing relies on a combination of volunteers and low-paid
amateurs who use their spare time to create content, solve
problems, or even do corporate R&D. The term was coined by Wired
magazine writer Jeff Howe and editor Mark Robinson in June 2006.
Crowds targeted for crowdsourcing include garage scientists,
amateur videographers, freelancers, photo enthusiasts, data
companies, writers, smart mobs and the electronic herd.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Overview
* 2 Advantages
* 3 Types of crowdsourced work
* 4 See also
* 5 External links and references
[edit] Overview
While not a new idea, crowdsourcing is becoming mainstream. Open
source projects are a form of crowdsourcing that has existed for
years. People who may not know one another work together online
to create complex software such as the Linux kernel, and the
Firefox browser. In recent years internet technology has evolved
to allow non-technical people to participate in online projects.
Just as important, crowdsourcing presumes that a large number of
enthusiasts can outperform a small group of experienced
professionals.
[edit] Advantages
____________________________________________________________________
For Information about our Nascar Nextel Cup Race Team please leave your contact info in the comments area.
Thank you
____________________________________________________________________
The main advantages of crowdsourcing is that innovative ideas
can be explored at relatively little cost. Furthermore, it also
helps reduce costs. For example if customers reject a particular
design, it can easily be scrapped. Though disappointing, this is
far less expensive than developing high volumes of a product
that no one wants. Crowdsourcing is also related to terms like
Collective Customer Commitment (CCC) and Mass Customisation.
Collective Customer Commitment (CCC) involves integrating
customers into innovation processes. It helps companies exploit
a pool of talent and ideas and it also helps firms avoid product
flops. Mass Customisation is somewhat similar to collective
customer commitment; however, it also helps companies avoid
making risky decisions about what components to prefabricate and
thus avoids spending for products which may not be marketable
later.
[edit] Types of crowdsourced work
* Procter & Gamble employs more than 9000 scientists and
researchers in corporate R&D and still have many problems they
can't solve. They now post these on a website called
InnoCentive, offering large cash rewards to more than 90,000
'solvers' who make up this network of backyard scientists. P&G
also works with NineSigma, YourEncore and Yet2.
* Amazon Mechanical Turk co-ordinates the use of human
intelligence to perform tasks which computers are unable to do.
* YRUHRN used Amazon Mechanical Turk and other means of
crowdsourcing to compile content for a book published just 30
days after the project was started.
* iStockphoto is a website with over 22,000 amateur
photographers who upload and distribute stock photographs.
Because it does not have the same margins as a professional
outfit like Getty Images it is able to sell photos for a low
price. It was recently purchased by Getty Images.
* Cambrian House applies a crowdsourcing model to identify
and develop profitable software ideas. Using a simple voting
model, they attempt to find sticky software ideas that can be
developed using a combination of internal and crowdsourced
skills and effort.
* A Swarm of Angels is a project to utilize a swarm of
subscribers (Angels) to help fund, make, contribute, and
distribute, a £1 million feature film using the Internet and all
digital technologies. It aims to recruit earlier development
community members with the right expertise into paid project
members, film crew, and production staff.
* The Goldcorp Challenge is an example of how a traditional
company in the mining industry used a crowdsource to identify
likely veins of gold on its Red Lake Property. It was won by
Fractal Graphics and Taylor-Wall and Associates of Australia but
more importantly identified 110 drilling targets, 50% of which
were new to the company.
* CafePress and Zazzle, customized products marketplaces for
consumers to create apparel, posters, cards, stamps, and other
products.
* Marketocracy, to isolating top stock market investors
around the world in head to head competition so they can run
real mutual funds around these soon-to-be-discovered investment
super-stars.
* Threadless, an internet-based clothing retailer that sells
t-shirts which have been designed by and rated by its users.
* MyChances.net utilizes crowdsourcing to generate
admissions information on American and Canadian universities. It
uses this data to predict, through statistical processes, the
odds a student has of getting accepted to a given school.
* Public Insight Journalism, A project at American Public
Media to cover the news by tapping the collective and specific
intelligence of the public. Gets the newsroom beyond the usual
sources, uncovers unexpected expertise, stories and new angles.
* Steve Jackson Games has maintained a large fan community
online since 1983, with the inception of the Illuminati BBS.
They actively encourage fan pages, and tap the community for
playtests, customer feedback, and volunteer product
representation (via the MIB program).
* And hundreds more
[edit] See also
* Configuration system
* Toolkits for User Innovation
* Buzzwords
* Wisdom of Crowds
[edit] External links and references
* The Rise of Crowdsourcing, Wired June 2006.
* Crowdsourcing: Consumers as Creators, BusinessWeek July
2006.
* Ears Wide Open: Is this the company of the future, Fast
Company Jan 2007. (R&D company using their customers as
developers)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing"
Categories: Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All
articles lacking sources | Technology neologisms
*************************************************************************************
Thank you and if you wish to become a part of our team, please leave your contact info in the comments area.
Doug
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Nascar Race Team Jobs and Careers (Part 2)
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Network Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance and Reconfiguration of Computer Networks and Stations
· Analysis of New Computer Equipment for Future Team Use
· Supervision of Team's Internet Activities and Web Sites
Operations Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Supervising Team Operations
· Coordination Between Team Travel, Accounting, Expediting and Computer Personnel
Painter
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Applying paint and finishing products
· Final preparation of paint work for graphics
· Maintenance of paint booth and supplies
Parts Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Parts Inventory and Replenishment
· Cost Control of Parts and Supplies
· Rotation of Consumables and Perishables
· Analysis of New Products
· Coordination with Parts Suppliers
· Setting Inventory Stock Levels
Parts Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Parts Department Maintenance and Parts Stocking
· Pulling Parts for Disbursement
· Preparing Requirements Lists Against Stocking Levels
Pilot
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Pre-Flight Planning
· Aircraft Maintenance Scheduling
· Preparing Aircraft Expense Summaries to Bookkeeper
· Flying Aircraft to Events as Needed
· Advising Team Manager on Flight and Flight Personnel Constraints
Public Relations
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Team Press Releases
· Liaison with Press Personnel
· Advising Team Manager on Consequences of Public Activities
Purchasing Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Purchasing Parts and Services at the Best Price and Convenience to the Team
· Assisting Parts Manager and Crew Chief in Maintaining Inventories
· Maintaining Good Relations with Suppliers
Secretary
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Team Correspondence
· Response to Fan and Sponsor Inquiries
· Maintenance of Office Supply Inventories
Shock Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Shock Absorber Valving
· Maintenance of Shock Absorbers
· Documentation of Shock Preparation
· Testing Shock Absorbers on Shock Dyno and Matching Performance
Security Officer
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Ensuring Team Property is Secured and Protected
· Protecting Team Personnel from Assaults and Threats
· Supervision of Team Safety
· Liaison with Local Law Enforcement
· Discreet Investigation of Security Issues with Visitors and Personnel
Shop Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Supervision of Car Preparation
· Maintenance of Car Prep Scheduling and Budgets
· Advising Parts Manager of upcoming Parts Requirements
Show Car Coordinator
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Coordinating Show Car Requests
· Supervising Show Car Driver Activities
· Compiling Show Car Program Expenses to Bookkeeper
Show Car Driver
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Traveling with Show Car to Scheduled Events
· Security Management of Show Car Rig
· Washing and Presentation of Show Car Transporter
· Attending Show Events and Interfacing with Show Visitors
· Distribution of Team Materials and Sponsor Hand-outs at Show Events
· Compiling Expenses to Show Car Coordinator
Qualifications:
· Willingness to travel extensively
· Commercial Drivers License (CDL)
· May require marketing skills
Sponsor Coordinator
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Responding to Inquiries from and about Sponsors
· Compiling Requests for Submission for Scheduling
Sponsor Representative
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Analysis of Team's performance in Representing Sponsor
· Coordinating Supplies of Sponsor's Materials for Team Distribution
· Maintaining Good Relations with Team
Spotter
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Spotter Radios and Supplies
· Advice to Driver during Competition
· Advice to Crew Chief on Tactics
· Coordinating Deals between Teams during Competition
Team Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Ultimate Responsibility for the Performance of the Team
· Driver Management
· Monitoring and Directing Schedule Performance
Team Owner
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Securing Funding to Permit Team Operations
· Monitoring Driver Performance
· Sponsor Search Management and Sponsor Relations
Tear-Down Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Disassembly of Race Cars after Usage
· Preparation of Tear-down Documentation and Measurements
· Through Cleaning of Chassis and Components
Test Team Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Supervision of Test Team
· Setting Test Team Schedule Based on Requests for Development
Tire Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Wheels
· Securing Tire assemblies Before Use
· Inspection and Organization of Tires Into Sets By Size
· Management of Tire Sets on Instruction From Crew Chief
· Inspection of Tires After Use
· Securing Tires After Event
· Maintenance and Stocking of Tire Equipment and Supplies
Track Engine Tuner
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· General Maintenance of Engines At Track
· Inspecting and Changing Valve Springs
· Inspection and Maintenance of Carburetors
· Maintenance and Stocking of Engine Spares on Transporter
· Post-Race Inspection and Tech Tear-down
Transport Driver
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Driving transporter to events
· Cleaning and parking transporter
· Supervision of transporter loading and stocking
· Management of at-track crew refreshments
Travel Coordinator
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Securing Reservations for Lodging and General Travel for Team Members
· Preparing Itineraries for Events
· Advising Bookkeeper of Per Diem Requirements for Later Dispersal
· Follow-up Auditing of Travel Details for Accounting
Welder
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· General Welding
· Maintenance of Welding Equipment and Supplies
Thank you
Doug
Nascar Race Team Jobs and Careers
Today we give you a few of the different positions that make up a Race Team. We will continue with more in our next post.
***************************************************************************************
Aero Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Aero Test Project Schedule
· Maintenance of Aero Test Records and Documentation
· Liaison with Fabrication Department
· Verification of Compliance with NASCAR Aero Rules
Body Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparing Bodywork for Painting
Bookkeeper
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Compiling Invoices, Packing Slips and Receipts for Expense Accounting
· Preparing Accounts Payable and Disbursing Payments
· Payroll Preparation and Disbursement
· Preparing Retirement Plan Deposits and Distributing Reports
· Preparing Team Per Diem Payments
· Preparing Summary Reports of Financial Operations
Building Maintenance
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· General Building Maintenance and Light Repair
· Floor Cleaning, Care and Repair
· Requesting Building Maintenance Supplies to Purchasing Manager
Business Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Supervision of Accounting Activities
· Assessment of Proposed Team Agreements for Profitability
· Supervision of Merchandising Program
· Coordination of Driver's Activities including Licensing
CAD Draftsman
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of CAD Equipment and Supplies
· Preparation and Detailing of Engineering Drawings
· Preparation of Tool Path Data for CNC Machining
Car Chief
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· General Maintenance of Specific Cars
· Supervision of Mechanics assigned to his car(s)
Chassis Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Chassis Parts Records
· Installation of Chassis Parts as directed by Crew Chief and/or Engineer
· Inspection and filing of chassis parts
CNC Machinist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of CNC machinery
· Programming Tool Paths
· Maintenance and Purchasing of CNC Tooling
Coach Driver
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Coach Maintenance and Repair
· Stocking Coach Supplies and Refreshments
· Driving Coach to and from event sites
· Cleaning Coach after Travel
· Parking Coach in designated area
· Compiling and Reporting Coach Operational Expenses
Consultant
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Analysis of team's approach to a specific problem
· Discreet survey of competitive approaches
· Submission of report offering suggestions and critique
Crew Chief
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Ultimately Responsible to NASCAR for Team Activities including Rules Compliance
· Leadership of the Crew in Practice and Competition
· Supervision of Car Chiefs and Shop Manager Regarding Race Preparation
· Preparation and Distribution of Crew Assignments
Head Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of new Cylinder Head assemblies
· Valve Grinding
· Seat Preparation
· Assembly
· Teardown and Cleaning of used assemblies
Data Acquisition
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance and Repair of Data Acquisition Sensors and Systems
· Installation and Validation of Data Acquisition Equipment
· Maintenance of Acquired Data
· Removal of Data Acquisition Equipment after Testing
Driver
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Driving Equipment and Supplies
· Personal Appearances as Directed by the Team Manager and/or a Sponsor Representative
· On-Time Attendance of Mandatory Driver Meetings
· Cooperation with NASCAR as required in dealing with the Media and the Public
Dyno Operator
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Dyno Equipment and Area
· Installation and Removal of Engines to be Tested
· Logging of Engine Run Data
· Maintenance of Dyno Safety Equipment:
Engineer
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Conducting Design and Preparation of R&D Equipment
· Analysis of Acquired Data and Presentation of Recommendations
· Preparation of Set-up Sheets
· Management of Event Activity Records
Engineering Assistant
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Support and Assistance to the Engineer
· Maintenance of Engineering Documentation
· Maintenance of Engineering Equipment and Supplies
Engine Assembler
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Compiling Parts and Materials for assembly from stock
· Inspecting Parts Condition and Suitability
· Confirming Engine Specification Data to be in Compliance with Regulations
· Validating Piston to Head Clearances and Requesting Piston Machining
· Careful Assembly of Engine Components
· Handing Off Complete Assembly to Dyno
· Updating Engine Assembly Records
Expeditor
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Moving Parts and Materials to Meet Operational Demands
· Local Pick-up and Delivery of Supplies and Equipment Needing Service
· Maintenance and Servicing of Team Utility Vehicles
Fabricator
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Fabrication of parts as directed by the fabrication shop manager
Gear Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Preparation of Gear Assemblies and Transmissions as Directed by Crew Chief and/or Team Engineer
· Maintenance of Gear Records and filing data
· Tear-down and Inspection of Used Assemblies
· Maintenance of Spare Part Inventories for Gear Assemblies
General Manager
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Team Budgeting
· Personnel Scheduling
· Hiring and Firing
· Conducting Team Meetings
· Supervision of All Departments
Graphics Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Decal Graphics Inventory
· Installation of Vehicle Graphics
· Repair or Replacement of Graphics on Used Cars
· Auditing Compliance with NASCAR Graphics Regulations
Janitor
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Public areas
· Maintenance of Janitorial Supplies
Machinist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· General Machining
· Scheduling of Work based on Urgency of Requests with Approval of Shop Manager
· Maintenance of Tooling and Machinery
· Ordering Replacement Tooling and Machinery Repairs
Marketing Director
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Research and Analysis of New Sponsorship Prospects
· Preparation and Presentation of Sponsor Proposals
· Advises Team Owner on Sponsor Relations
· Audits Team for Compliance with Sponsor Graphics and Requirements
Marketing Specialist
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Assists Marketing Director in all activities
· Coordination of Driver and Team with Sponsor Hospitality Events
Mechanic
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Race Car Preparation
· Parts Inspection and Repair
· Check List Work
Merchandiser
RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Maintenance of Inventory of Salable Goods and Products
· Stocking of Merchandising Vehicles
· Transportation of Merchandise to Events
· At-Track Sales of Merchandise
· Sales Reporting and record keeping
Thank you
Doug
Monday, January 15, 2007
Open Business Model Introduction For Nascar Race Team Organization
Our goal is to do the same with our Nascar Operation by involving the public. The ideas and directions that could come from this should be helpful and possibly groundbreaking. We think cars and racing can be effected by this model
We would like to credit USATODAY and Kevin Maney for the following article, originally published December 27, 2006.
***********************************************************************************
The "company," as we've known it for almost a century, is about to go the way of vinyl albums, floppy disks and perked coffee.
It is about to get wikified. Or starfished. Or cracked open like a beehive hit with a baseball bat. Depending on whom you ask.
Three new books say so, and a lot of big thinkers agree. One, due out Jan. 3, is the much-anticipated Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams.
Internet companies such as eBay or YouTube,
where the site's denizens create the content, are only the beginning.
The Wikipedia online encyclopedia — written by thousands of individuals
working without a boss — also shows the way. But these days, the trend
is turning companies inside-out in industries from gold mining to
motorcycles to diapers.
The basic premise starts with economist Ronald
Coase, who in 1937 figured out that companies exist because of
transaction costs. Doing business by assembling all the right people
and resources inside an establishment has long been more efficient than
trying to find and coordinate those things in the world at large. For
this, Coase won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science.
But something momentous is happening to change that.
A combination of the Internet, cheap computing,
Web-based software, open-source projects such as Linux and new ways of
thinking about management are mixing together to dramatically drop the
transaction costs of doing business outside a company's walls.
Doing business is becoming no more efficient
inside a company vs. doing the same stuff outside a company — or
without a company at all. In fact, in many ways, collaborating outside
a company's structure can even be better.
So if a core reason companies exist is to lower
transaction costs, what happens if that reason goes away? Companies
could run into an identity crisis that will hit them like the talkies
hit Charlie Chaplain.
"This new form of innovation and production can
be harnessed for spectacular growth and profitability," Tapscott tells
me. "But companies are going to have to change their business models to
embrace it."
Which is a nice way of saying: This will be about as much fun as going through adolescence.
The best way to see what's happening is through examples.
Wikinomics opens with the story of
Goldcorp, a Canadian gold-mining company — a business about as unlike a
Silicon Valley start-up as opera is unlike Green Day. Desperate for
ways to find new places to drill, Goldcorp did the unthinkable for a
mining company: It posted all its proprietary data on the Internet and
let anyone interpret it for possible drilling targets. Prize money was
promised.
Within weeks, submissions poured in. People
around the world found drilling targets Goldcorp never thought of. The
process shaved years off exploration and shot Goldcorp from $100
million in revenue to $9 billion.
The Internet made it possible to rake in
expertise from all over. The cost was cheap, the payoff huge. It's a
lesson in how every company will have to open processes that have long
been closed — or get clobbered by competitors who do it first.
Tapscott applies the term "wiki" to this
phenomenon. A wiki is a document or process on the Web that anybody can
add to or alter. Another book, The Starfish and the Spider by
Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, says that winning companies will be more
like starfish, which, as I learned from the book, apparently have no
head or brain and are more like a group of cells that agree to
cooperate. Which is how I sometimes feel on New Year's Day.
A more academic book, Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape,
is just out from Henry Chesbrough, business school professor at the
University of California at Berkeley. And on the fringe, an academic
organization called We Are Smarter Than Me is attempting to get
thousands of people to contribute to a Web-based wiki-type book about
these new wiki-type business models.
This is laudable in a practice-what-you-preach way, but there may be another cliché that applies here: Too many cooks …
Anyway, all these books are chock-full of
examples. Tapscott writes about some of the most surprising ones, such
as the Chinese motorcycle industry. Apparently, China opted to create
an open-source motorcycle. The country defined a basic structure and
standards — copied, as Tapscott notes, from Japanese motorcycles — but
then leaves it to individuals and small companies to design parts or
assemble whole motorcycles.
The Chinese are building motorcycles the way
programmers built Linux, and the results have been fantastic with no
single company driving the industry. "It's the extreme example,"
Tapscott says. "But it's now the largest motorcycle industry in the
world."
Companies are testing these waters in lots of
ways. When Procter & Gamble is looking for a molecule that takes
red wine off a shirt or absorbs smells in a diaper, it no longer just
relies on internal R&D. It puts those requests out on a site called
InnoCentive. Scientists around the world can see the challenge, work on
a solution and sell it to P&G. Again, the costs of working outside
the company are minimal.
Geek Squad, the computer fix-it company now
owned by Best Buy, has an open management model. It pretty much lets
employees run the company and design products by collaborating over the
Net, sometimes while playing an online game called Battlefield 2. It's a major reason the company has grown so quickly.
All the authors argue that every company is
going to have to do these things. But it will require the greatest
change in management thinking since the likes of General Motors
invented the corporation in the early 20th century.
Should be a wild ride.
E-mail kmaney@usatoday.com
Posted 12/26/2006 8:48 PM ET Thanks for your time and input, Doug |
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Travel Packages to Nascar Events
Rookies should begin with one event to see what Nascar is all about. Feel the atmosphere around you by going a few days early and have a grandstand ticket to watch the race.
There are many companies with packages that include tickets and hotel rooms. An example is the March 9-11 Las Vegas 400 with packages beginning at $515.00 per person for 2 nights in a very nice hotel and a ticket for each race. Bigger races like the Daytona 500 will run a lot more.
Finally you can find last minute hotel deals on Nascar's website and as a last resort, you can find tickets on eBay.
Doug