Gourt > Business > Employment > Careers > Job References
- For referencing in Wikipedia, see Citing sources.
In general, a reference is something that refers to or designates something else, or acts as a connection or a link between two things. The objects it links may be concrete, such as books or locations, or abstract, such as data, thoughts, or memories. The object which is named by a reference, or to which the reference points, is the referent.
The term reference is used with different specialized meanings in a variety of fields, as follows:
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Sim C.E.O.
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
It’s Monday morning, and the president of Back Bay Battery, a $240 million company, is looking over his financial statements. Sales are way up for his main line of nickel metal-hydride batteries, and yet he can’t help noticing the customer complaints, particularly about how long the batteries take to recharge.The company’s new ultracapacitor batteries recharge in less than a 10th of the time, but so far they’re losing millions of dollars as the company scales up production. Betting that they’re the future, though, Back Bay’s president takes a deep breath and decides to shift scarce R&D dollars away from nickel metal-hydride research and toward ultracapacitors. It might sound like another stressful day at the office, but it’s actually a stressful day at school—the business simulation will be part of an assignment for Harvard Business School students in their second-year Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise course.Simulations like Back Bay Battery have become increasingly popular at business schools as educators seek to promote experiential learning over passive instruction via lectures, arguing that students work harder and retain more information when given more hands-on instruction. And they seem to be a natural fit for students raised on playing videogames. Today more than 90 percent of business schools use at least one simulation in their teaching, and many use more.Simulation games have become so successful that H.B.S.’s publishing arm, Harvard Business Publishing, which also produces the classic case studies that generations of B-school students were weaned on, has begun producing its own simulations in partnership with Forio Business Simulations. One of the first is a simulation of running a Benihana restaurant that’s based on a bestselling case study. Other simulations focus on specific business situations and challenges, such as managing a complex supply chain (The Root Beer Game), running a technology-driven business (Back Bay Battery), and climbing Mount Everest as part of a team (Everest). “Experiential learning is a big deal everywhere” says Denis Saulnier, Harvard Business Publishing’s assistant director for educational technology. “[We] saw it as a natural complement to the case-study method," he says, adding that students actually get to act out scenarios and see cause and effect.Saulnier says that while sales of its simulations and other e-learning products are nowhere near that of the publisher’s paper cases because they’re so new, they are the fastest-growing part of its catalog, and he expects them to become a significant part of overall sales in the future. Customers of the simulations, which typically cost about $12.50 per student, include many of the country’s top business schools, including Columbia, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon.Harvard Business Publishing already has some strong competition, however. Dan Smith, president of Capsim Management Simulations, estimates that sales of his recently launched Comp-XM game, in which students run a virtual $100 million company for five sped-up years and answer questions about their decisions, are up 20 percent over last year. And Sam Wood, a former Stanford Business School professor who founded Responsive Learning Technologies to market the games he and fellow professor Sunil Kumar developed, notes that the majority of schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business now use either his or Capsim’s products. The virtual simulations do bear some resemblance to old-fashioned case studies. In general, students watch a short clip explaining the scenario (just as case studies set the scene), and then have to make a decision about what to do next. Unlike with case studies, however, students using these simulations are able to get instant feedback on their decisions through multiple rounds of play. In Harvard’s Benihana restaurant simulation, for instance, students choose whether to move customers from the bar to the restaurant in batches or individually—and see how this affects sales. They can change the size of the bar and the number of tables. They can try to speed up table turnover, then run 20 iterations instantly and see how profits change. Students seem to prefer the challenge and the format. Wood notes that when Stanford started using an early version of Littlefield Technologies, an operations management simulation that he and Kumar designed, student ratings for that class rose dramatically. The games do have their critics, however. One study conducted during the 2004-’05 school year at a business school in Edinburgh found that while the majority of students enjoyed the simulation game, it seemed largely due to their novelty rather than to any inherent advantage they possessed. Others wonder just how realistic these simulations can possibly be, which even some of the game makers admit is a limitation. “Would a kid who ran a simulated company be qualified to run a Subway franchise? I doubt it,” says Capsim’s Smith, who is an adjunct professor at DePaul’s business school. But, he notes, “You can get some clue whether the students mastered the basic concepts and more importantly, can integrate them together.”The games also get knocked for the poor quality of their graphics, especially given the power of today’s computers. Harvard’s Everest simulation, for example, looks little better than the Oregon Trail computer game many current business students may have played in elementary school. Saulnier says graphics are secondary to the game’s content and ease of use, but other simulation makers are taking a different approach. The latest version of Marketplace, a popular simulation about selling computers put out by Innovative Learning Solutions, features factories that could show up in Second Life, scenery reminiscent of World of Warcraft, and colorful characters like a villainous loan shark named Guido. “People do like a little bit of entertainment along with the education,” explains Ernie Cadotte, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville marketing professor who designed the game.For its part, Harvard Business Publishing plans to issue six more simulations this year, including extremely current topics such as a mergers-and-acquisitions simulation and another where students manage a private-equity portfolio. “We’re only going to scale up,” Saulnier says.Related LinksLaw Firms' Summer MadnessLaw Firms' Summer MadnessB-School Buzz: A Future in Failures
Politics Party
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: C.E.O. of national party convention Employers: Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee Openings: Political connections Salary Cap: $200,000 Number of Jobs: Two Maria Cino has been thinking a lot about balloons lately. The C.E.O. and president of the Republican National Convention has nightmares about mishaps like the 2004 Democratic convention when the celebratory balloons failed to release following John Kerry's acceptance speech, causing much embarrassment. To guard against anything similar happening with the 200,000 balloons on tap at this year's Republican convention, Cino has 300 pounds of confetti ready to drop at a moment's notice. It's just one of the many details Cino worries about since she started planning the convention more than 18 months ago. The four-day extravaganza in the Twin Cities is expected to draw 45,000 people, and transportation, accommodations, and security must be arranged for all of them, in addition to arranging for logistics and technology for all the events and speeches. Since January, her staff has swelled from a skeletal crew of some 12 planners to a force of 150 full-time employees, who in turn oversee an army of volunteers. "We are basically a Fortune 500 company created overnight," she says. "We start with nothing and end up with about a $125 million budget and 10,000 volunteers to put together a four-day event. Then we tear it down in about two weeks and the company closes." The budget is comprised of a $50 million grant from Congress for security (one is given to each party); $17 million from the Federal Election Commission; and up to $58 million raised by the host city's Republican committee. Part party planner, part politician, and part entrepreneur, the job of convention C.E.O.—a position that turns over every four years—is broad and fast-paced and unlike anything found in politics. It's something Cino considered when R.N.C. Chairman Mike Duncan offered her the convention job over cheeseburgers in January 2007. Up until then, Cino's 25-year career had included chief of staff to former congressman Bill Paxon of upstate New York, and then following him to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, which guided the successful effort by Republicans to win control of Congress in 1994. Eventually, she rose to deputy chairwoman for the Republican National Committee; and later, under President Bush, Cino was appointed Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce during his first term, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation during his second. "As I started thinking about it, I realized it's the only job I haven't had at the national committee, aside from being chairman," she says. "It's a great opportunity. Instead of being the No. 2, I'm the No. 1—president and C.E.O. of my own company." Indeed, Cino delegates like a corporate C.E.O., setting the mandates for seven division heads handling everything from transportation to decorations and music, then making sure preparations proceed according to plan. Naturally, the last days of preparation are the most intense, with a litany of staff meetings and walk-throughs and questions (do the 560 individual televisions screens that make up the big screen function in unison? Are the aisles too narrow? How is the cell-phone reception around the arena? Are there enough buses to move 45,000 people through the city?). The magnitude of the task is apparently enough to obscure party loyalties. Cino says she's been in regular contact over the months with her counterpart over at the Democratic National Convention, Leah Daughtry. "We all talk—we all have the same nightmares a couple days before the convention," she says. "It's a profession." Related LinksShe's BackCarly FiorinaShould We Take Economic Advice From Fiorina?
Let's Make a Deal
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
As president and general manager of the New York Rangers for over a decade, I had a responsibility to our ownership to negotiate effectively on almost a daily basis, whether with one of our own players or a fellow G.M. concerning a trade. The results of the hundreds of deals I conducted over that time were largely determined by how I conducted myself during the negotiations. Here are the basic principles I developed for successful negotiating. 1. Don't Commit First If you can get the other side to state their position or proposal first, you may be pleasantly surprised at what they want. At the very least, you'll get valuable insight into what they're thinking before they know what you're thinking. I once acquired a struggling player by asking the other G.M. how much of the player's salary he'd be willing to eat if we took him. Surprisingly, he was willing to pay two-thirds of the contract, and I got the player to renegotiate his contract down to that figure just for the opportunity to stay in the N.H.L. Result? He played for us all season and the other team paid his entire salary. Getting the other side to commit to a position first allows you to use their proposal as the "high-water mark." Then, if it comes to taking a middle ground, you can be closer to what you want than they are to what they want. 2. Put Your Ego Aside Negotiations are about getting a deal done, so don't try to impress the other side with your intelligence and negotiating abilities. The stronger you look, the bigger the fight you'll have on your hands. One tactic I use is to get the other side to help me during the process, asking questions that make them feel superior, such as "I'm not really sure, what do you think?" Or I might say, "I don't know the market nearly as well as you do." Ego-driven negotiators make mistakes like telling the other side that they don't have to check with anyone above them, or they don't need to check with experts before making a decision. When you put your ego aside, you retain options such as deferring a decision until you can think it through more thoroughly and consider opportunities to get something extra. You can also delay your decision until you've had a chance to check with your owner or board of directors. 3. Keep Your Eye on the Puck When Wayne Gretzky played for the Edmonton Oilers during their run of four Stanley Cups in five years in the mid-'80s, he was constantly harassed by role players, fans, and coaches, all trying to get him off his game. But No. 99 knew that the only thing that mattered was putting the puck in the net more times than the other team. Just like Gretzky, an effective negotiator needs to focus on the issues and not be distracted by the actions of others. No matter what the outcome of a single meeting or phone call, don't let the other side's moves or reactions take your eye off the puck. One of my strategies when negotiating with agents was to make up a ridiculously low offer from my owner to lowball the agent, knowing that they'd be offended or even insulted. No matter what curses or other words came at me, I simply looked at the result, which was often a lowering of their expectations, to judge if I'd advanced toward my deal. If you react and let the other side get you upset or out of control, you'll always lose. 4. Always Make the Other Side Feel Victorious When the deal is done, always congratulate the other side. You want them to feel like they won. "Thank you, but please let me say that you did a fantastic job negotiating this deal" was a favorite phrase of mine. Even if you think the other side didn't do well, congratulate them and never gloat. The reason for this is simple: You never know when you're going to want to do another deal with that person, and you want them to feel good about you personally when you do. Be humble in a victory and you'll be sure to have more of them in the future. Neil Smith is the former president and general manager of the N.H.L.'s New York Rangers. He is currently the owner of a minor-league hockey team, the Johnstown Chiefs, serves as a consultant to the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues, and is an analyst on Versus Network, the NHL Network, SNY, and Hockey Night in Canada. Related LinksFixing a HoleIdle Chatter: C(Double)U Later?Tampa Bay Lightning Sale Deadline Looming
Peak Performer
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: Ultra-high-altitude climbing guide Employers: Mountain expedition companies Salary Cap: $45,000 Number of Jobs: 20 or 30 worldwide When Guillermo "Willie" Benegas heard about the disastrous climb up K2 earlier this month that killed 11 people when an avalanche struck, he didn't spend any time second-guessing the climbers or their guides, despite having guided several expeditions up Mount Everest and neighboring peaks himself. "It wasn't anyone's fault. Things can go wrong—and they went wrong," he says. More than anyone, Benegas says he understands that the rewards of summiting the world's highest mountains come with substantial risks. During 10 years as a guide for Mountain Madness, an adventure-travel company based in Seattle, Benegas has climbed Everest eight times and led a dozen other expeditions to peaks over 26,000 feet. In that time he's never had an accident or lost a client. People he takes to the Himalayas come from all walks of life, from company presidents to bricklayers to retired lieutenant colonels. Benegas has guided his share of C.E.O.'s, but can't name names due to the confidentiality agreements he signed. To prepare, many of those clients go through Mountain Madness' Live Your Dreams program, where they may spend several years climbing progressively higher peaks in preparation for Everest. To climb the world's highest peak, Benegas says clients need perseverance, perspective, and a pack mentality. Benegas definitely isn't in climbing for the money. Guides earn slightly less than half the $65,000 fee Mountain Madness and other outfitters charge climbers for each trip up Everest. Since weather conditions limit Himalayan expeditions to spring and fall, Benegas supplements his income by guiding treks in South America, working on ski and avalanche patrol outside his home in Salt Lake City, and from an endorsement deal with North Face, which has featured him in magazine ads. For Benegas, though, climbing is less a job and more a way of life. Born in Patagonia in South America, he and his twin brother, Damian, who works as a guide in South America, started climbing in their teens. By the time he was 20, Willie had summited Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas. He moved to the U.S. a year later and, through hard work and ability, established himself as an elite guide, leading his first Everest summit in 1999. EmbeddedVideo Willie and Damian Benegas climbing Nuptse, a 25,726-foot peak in the Himalayas just southwest of Mount Everest, in 2006. By now, Benegas has traveled in the Himalayas so often that he considers the handful of local Sherpas he works with extended family, and they, in turn, call him Willie Sherpa. When a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated the Kashmir region in 2005, Indian officials let him bring supplies to secluded mountain villages, which are off limits to Westerners for political reasons. It was due to the fact that he'd helped rescue a member of the Indian army during an ill-fated summit attempt two years before that he was permitted. With his 40th birthday approaching late this month, Benegas admits to slowing down, but not by much. When he tore a wrist ligament that put him in a cast last March, he didn't think twice about leaving a week later to lead a monthlong expedition of 10 climbers up Mount Everest. His idea of a good time is still more extreme than most, like the 100-mile endurance run in Utah's Wasatch Mountains he'll compete in over Labor Day weekend. Everest has taught Benegas to embrace extremes, a sentiment he tries to instill in his Everest clients. "It's so much more than a guy with no experience who decides to pay $65,000 to climb to the summit," he says. "Trust me, he'll suffer like he's never suffered in his life. But suffering will make him grow. Then he'll realize it's the most amazing thing he's done in his life." Related LinksAttention K Street: Opportunity KnocksFord Drives a Surprise Profit Santiago
Building a Career
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: Lego artist Employers: Corporations and individuals Openings: Word of mouth Salary Cap: Six figures Number of Jobs: About 40 Lego master builders Who doesn't remember growing up playing with Legos—the small, colorful bricks that can be combined to create anything from airplanes to zebras? Most kids ultimately pack up their Legos and move on. But Nathan Sawaya never did. The 35-year-old New Yorker makes a six-figure living as a Lego artist, creating large-scale works of art using tens of thousands of the plastic pieces. Among his recent projects are a 10-foot-tall replica of the new Trump Tower being constructed in Dubai for Donald Trump, and a four-foot-tall bumblebee commissioned by Fall Out Boy bass guitarist Pete Wentz as a gift for his new bride, pop star Ashlee Simpson. He says he receives hundreds of commission inquiries every month. Though he played with Legos like most kids, they were the furthest thing from his mind when he set out in the working world. After graduating with a law degree from New York University in 1998, Sawaya became a Wall Street attorney, earning a comfortable six-figure salary—and working in a high-stress environment. To relax after long hours at the office, he would work on art projects at night, making sculptures using clay at first, then moving into more whimsical media, like candy. One of Sawaya's first hobbyist projects with Legos was an eight-foot-tall pencil. Friends would come over to gawk at it, and Sawaya eventually set up a website, brickartist.com, to post photos of his creations. Visitors to the site sent in requests, such as Lego renderings of portraits of their children. The hobby became the real thing in 2004 after he won a competition sponsored by Lego to find the best builder in the U.S. He quit his job and became one of Lego's "master model builders," creating sculptures for its theme park in San Diego. They paid him just $13 an hour, but it gave him good training for when he returned to New York to create his own Lego works full-time. Sawaya now keeps 1.5 million Lego bricks, meticulously organized by shape and color into clear bins (he buys all his Legos in bulk). He sketches his projects first on something called "brick paper"—essentially, graph paper modified for Lego shapes—and takes anywhere from a few days to a few months to build them. At any given time, he's working on three or four projects, earning anywhere from a couple thousand dollars up to six figures per work, depending on the complexity of the project and how quickly they need to be built. For his own personal fulfillment, he also creates more avant-garde works and has two traveling exhibitions of his work (here's a slideshow of some of his work). Ironically, Sawaya says he now works more hours per week than he ever did as a corporate lawyer, although he also makes more money than he did then. Most important to him, though, is the artistic gratification he gets out of his Lego creations, particularly when he gets feedback from children who are inspired by his projects. "There are 400 million children out there playing with Legos," he says. "Who am I to say that they aren't artists too?" Also on Portfolio.com Gas Prices Around the World Making Bucks on the Greenback The Denver Party CircuitRelated LinksRap's Economic IndicatorsDaily Brew: Science Shows What Harvard Students Really Think Of Rednecks360? Maybe Not.
Switch Hitter
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0000
And for tonight’s act, Peter Guber presents . . . the sixth season of the Class AA Frisco RoughRiders. Yes, that Peter Guber, the movie producer behind blockbusters like Batman and Rain Man. The same Peter Guber who was booted from his job as chairman and C.E.O. of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1994 for incurring the company’s biggest write-down ever. Since then, Guber has moved on from Hollywood to small-town America, refashioning himself as a mogul of a different kind: one who buys distressed minor-league baseball franchises and transplants them in second-tier cities looking for an economic boost. As he did at Sony, Guber has hooked up with deep-pocketed patrons, only this time around it’s local governments, which will foot the bill for pricey new stadiums. This is a standard yet perennially controversial arrangement, but it hasn’t prevented Guber from becoming one of the biggest owners of minor-league franchises today. He owns five teams, operates one, and is in the process of buying another, the Winston-Salem Warthogs. Owning minor-league teams is not as sexy as moviemaking, he admits. “But there’s a sizable bottom line if you do things right,” he says, showing the same promotional savvy that made him famous a decade and a half ago. Guber got into the minors almost by accident. After leaving Sony, he formed Mandalay Entertainment, a TV-and-film-production company (its most notable release is I Know What You Did Last Summer), and made a few bids on various major-league sports franchises, including the Oakland A’s and the N.B.A.’s Miami Heat. When those failed, Guber instead partnered with a father-son team that owned two successful minor-league franchises to form Mandalay Sports Entertainment. Today, Guber relies on his own scouts to find cities that are in the market for a team. Back in 2002, for example, Frisco, Texas, a fast-growing town north of Dallas, was eager to acquire a club. Tom Hicks, owner of the major-league Texas Rangers, wanted to bring a team to Frisco to anchor a planned real estate development. He contacted Guber, who already had multiple teams in his stable, and they reached an agreement. Frisco would pay for a $22.7 million ballpark, while Hicks and Guber would reel in a team. Their quarry: the struggling Shreveport, Louisiana, Swamp Dragons, which they snapped up for just over $4 million, renamed the RoughRiders, and exported to Texas. Now Mandalay, which bought the bulk of Hicks’ interest in 2003, pays Frisco to lease the city-owned stadium, Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Attendance at RoughRiders games has increased dramatically as players’ on-field performance has improved. The team went from last in the league in 2001 to first in 2004. The Frisco arrangement is similar to a deal Guber struck in 1999 involving the Rockford, Illinois, Cubbies. According to a person close to the club, Guber scooped up the franchise for $4 million, renamed the team the Dragons, and forged an affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds. An intermediary introduced Mandalay to city executives in Dayton, Ohio, who offered to finance a $23 million downtown ballpark in order to entice a team to move there. As part of that deal, the city of Dayton and Montgomery County issued municipal bonds worth $18 million to pay for most of the stadium’s cost. Mandalay put in $4 million. In return, it secured a 20-year operating lease with an option for an additional 10 years. Mandalay is currently working with the city on a multiuse real estate development surrounding the park. If the deal, worth $250 million, goes through, Mandalay will be an equity partner. At the time Mandalay connected with Dayton, “baseball people thought we were crazy,” Guber says. “They said we were too close to the fan base of the Reds, that depopulated Dayton couldn’t support a team, that I was just another Hollywood guy with a silly jones for baseball.... Well, sure, I’m a fan, but this is not philanthropy for me.” Though Guber is prone to making exaggerated statements, this doesn’t appear to be one. Over the past decade, minor-league teams have become the toy of choice among wealthy businesspeople and are known for performing better financially than their major-league parents. The teams are relatively cheap, costing anywhere from $1 million to $25 million, depending on their class affiliation. There is also a built-in financial advantage, in that major-league affiliates pay minor leaguers’ salaries and injury costs. Minor-league team owners, who don’t get involved in scouting, trading players, or hiring and firing coaches, operate like movie-theater owners: Guber makes money through sponsors, ticket sales, and concessions, which can generate profit margins of 15 to 20 percent. While the rate at which team values were appreciating has recently slowed, the minor leagues retain some advantages. Major-league teams, for example, collect only 6 percent of their minor-league affiliates’ ticket sales. And minor-league owners are allowed to keep all the revenue from concessions and merchandise sales. Tonight, though, Guber’s attention is on the RoughRiders, who are taking on the Midland RockHounds at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. While the RoughRiders go through their pregame drills, Guber, who is attending the game with his two 14-year-old sons, looks down at the crowd-pleasing Newlywed Game unfolding atop the visiting team’s dugout. The action is broadcast on the stadium’s giant outfield screen, bringing roars and howls from the crowd. Guber cheers right along. “I love this team. I love all our teams, because I love this game,” he says. Just then, the crack of the bat echoes in the stands. All heads turn—except Guber’s. He is counting the house.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EEOC Addresses Performance And Conduct Issues Under The Americans With Disabilities Act
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0000
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a comprehensive question-and-answer guide addressing how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to a wide variety of performance and conduct issues. The document is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov/facts/performance-conduct.html
New EEOC Publication Aimed at Increasing Opportunities for People with Disabilities in Federal Employment
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0000
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a new question-and-answer guide aimed at promoting the hiring and advancement of individuals with disabilities in federal government employment. The new publication is available on the EEOC’s web site at www.eeoc.gov/federal/qanda-employment-with-disabilities.html
EEOC Issues Federal Work Force Report for 2007
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today released the Annual Report on the Federal Work Force for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, covering October 2006 through September 2007. The comprehensive report, which informs and advises the President and the Congress on the state of equal employment opportunity (EEO) government-wide, is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov/federal/fsp2007/index.html.
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Sim C.E.O.
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
It’s Monday morning, and the president of Back Bay Battery, a $240 million company, is looking over his financial statements. Sales are way up for his main line of nickel metal-hydride batteries, and yet he can’t help noticing the customer complaints, particularly about how long the batteries take to recharge.The company’s new ultracapacitor batteries recharge in less than a 10th of the time, but so far they’re losing millions of dollars as the company scales up production. Betting that they’re the future, though, Back Bay’s president takes a deep breath and decides to shift scarce R&D dollars away from nickel metal-hydride research and toward ultracapacitors. It might sound like another stressful day at the office, but it’s actually a stressful day at school—the business simulation will be part of an assignment for Harvard Business School students in their second-year Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise course.Simulations like Back Bay Battery have become increasingly popular at business schools as educators seek to promote experiential learning over passive instruction via lectures, arguing that students work harder and retain more information when given more hands-on instruction. And they seem to be a natural fit for students raised on playing videogames. Today more than 90 percent of business schools use at least one simulation in their teaching, and many use more.Simulation games have become so successful that H.B.S.’s publishing arm, Harvard Business Publishing, which also produces the classic case studies that generations of B-school students were weaned on, has begun producing its own simulations in partnership with Forio Business Simulations. One of the first is a simulation of running a Benihana restaurant that’s based on a bestselling case study. Other simulations focus on specific business situations and challenges, such as managing a complex supply chain (The Root Beer Game), running a technology-driven business (Back Bay Battery), and climbing Mount Everest as part of a team (Everest). “Experiential learning is a big deal everywhere” says Denis Saulnier, Harvard Business Publishing’s assistant director for educational technology. “[We] saw it as a natural complement to the case-study method," he says, adding that students actually get to act out scenarios and see cause and effect.Saulnier says that while sales of its simulations and other e-learning products are nowhere near that of the publisher’s paper cases because they’re so new, they are the fastest-growing part of its catalog, and he expects them to become a significant part of overall sales in the future. Customers of the simulations, which typically cost about $12.50 per student, include many of the country’s top business schools, including Columbia, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon.Harvard Business Publishing already has some strong competition, however. Dan Smith, president of Capsim Management Simulations, estimates that sales of his recently launched Comp-XM game, in which students run a virtual $100 million company for five sped-up years and answer questions about their decisions, are up 20 percent over last year. And Sam Wood, a former Stanford Business School professor who founded Responsive Learning Technologies to market the games he and fellow professor Sunil Kumar developed, notes that the majority of schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business now use either his or Capsim’s products. The virtual simulations do bear some resemblance to old-fashioned case studies. In general, students watch a short clip explaining the scenario (just as case studies set the scene), and then have to make a decision about what to do next. Unlike with case studies, however, students using these simulations are able to get instant feedback on their decisions through multiple rounds of play. In Harvard’s Benihana restaurant simulation, for instance, students choose whether to move customers from the bar to the restaurant in batches or individually—and see how this affects sales. They can change the size of the bar and the number of tables. They can try to speed up table turnover, then run 20 iterations instantly and see how profits change. Students seem to prefer the challenge and the format. Wood notes that when Stanford started using an early version of Littlefield Technologies, an operations management simulation that he and Kumar designed, student ratings for that class rose dramatically. The games do have their critics, however. One study conducted during the 2004-’05 school year at a business school in Edinburgh found that while the majority of students enjoyed the simulation game, it seemed largely due to their novelty rather than to any inherent advantage they possessed. Others wonder just how realistic these simulations can possibly be, which even some of the game makers admit is a limitation. “Would a kid who ran a simulated company be qualified to run a Subway franchise? I doubt it,” says Capsim’s Smith, who is an adjunct professor at DePaul’s business school. But, he notes, “You can get some clue whether the students mastered the basic concepts and more importantly, can integrate them together.”The games also get knocked for the poor quality of their graphics, especially given the power of today’s computers. Harvard’s Everest simulation, for example, looks little better than the Oregon Trail computer game many current business students may have played in elementary school. Saulnier says graphics are secondary to the game’s content and ease of use, but other simulation makers are taking a different approach. The latest version of Marketplace, a popular simulation about selling computers put out by Innovative Learning Solutions, features factories that could show up in Second Life, scenery reminiscent of World of Warcraft, and colorful characters like a villainous loan shark named Guido. “People do like a little bit of entertainment along with the education,” explains Ernie Cadotte, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville marketing professor who designed the game.For its part, Harvard Business Publishing plans to issue six more simulations this year, including extremely current topics such as a mergers-and-acquisitions simulation and another where students manage a private-equity portfolio. “We’re only going to scale up,” Saulnier says.Related LinksLaw Firms' Summer MadnessLaw Firms' Summer MadnessB-School Buzz: A Future in Failures
Politics Party
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: C.E.O. of national party convention Employers: Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee Openings: Political connections Salary Cap: $200,000 Number of Jobs: Two Maria Cino has been thinking a lot about balloons lately. The C.E.O. and president of the Republican National Convention has nightmares about mishaps like the 2004 Democratic convention when the celebratory balloons failed to release following John Kerry's acceptance speech, causing much embarrassment. To guard against anything similar happening with the 200,000 balloons on tap at this year's Republican convention, Cino has 300 pounds of confetti ready to drop at a moment's notice. It's just one of the many details Cino worries about since she started planning the convention more than 18 months ago. The four-day extravaganza in the Twin Cities is expected to draw 45,000 people, and transportation, accommodations, and security must be arranged for all of them, in addition to arranging for logistics and technology for all the events and speeches. Since January, her staff has swelled from a skeletal crew of some 12 planners to a force of 150 full-time employees, who in turn oversee an army of volunteers. "We are basically a Fortune 500 company created overnight," she says. "We start with nothing and end up with about a $125 million budget and 10,000 volunteers to put together a four-day event. Then we tear it down in about two weeks and the company closes." The budget is comprised of a $50 million grant from Congress for security (one is given to each party); $17 million from the Federal Election Commission; and up to $58 million raised by the host city's Republican committee. Part party planner, part politician, and part entrepreneur, the job of convention C.E.O.—a position that turns over every four years—is broad and fast-paced and unlike anything found in politics. It's something Cino considered when R.N.C. Chairman Mike Duncan offered her the convention job over cheeseburgers in January 2007. Up until then, Cino's 25-year career had included chief of staff to former congressman Bill Paxon of upstate New York, and then following him to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, which guided the successful effort by Republicans to win control of Congress in 1994. Eventually, she rose to deputy chairwoman for the Republican National Committee; and later, under President Bush, Cino was appointed Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce during his first term, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation during his second. "As I started thinking about it, I realized it's the only job I haven't had at the national committee, aside from being chairman," she says. "It's a great opportunity. Instead of being the No. 2, I'm the No. 1—president and C.E.O. of my own company." Indeed, Cino delegates like a corporate C.E.O., setting the mandates for seven division heads handling everything from transportation to decorations and music, then making sure preparations proceed according to plan. Naturally, the last days of preparation are the most intense, with a litany of staff meetings and walk-throughs and questions (do the 560 individual televisions screens that make up the big screen function in unison? Are the aisles too narrow? How is the cell-phone reception around the arena? Are there enough buses to move 45,000 people through the city?). The magnitude of the task is apparently enough to obscure party loyalties. Cino says she's been in regular contact over the months with her counterpart over at the Democratic National Convention, Leah Daughtry. "We all talk—we all have the same nightmares a couple days before the convention," she says. "It's a profession." Related LinksShe's BackCarly FiorinaShould We Take Economic Advice From Fiorina?
Let's Make a Deal
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
As president and general manager of the New York Rangers for over a decade, I had a responsibility to our ownership to negotiate effectively on almost a daily basis, whether with one of our own players or a fellow G.M. concerning a trade. The results of the hundreds of deals I conducted over that time were largely determined by how I conducted myself during the negotiations. Here are the basic principles I developed for successful negotiating. 1. Don't Commit First If you can get the other side to state their position or proposal first, you may be pleasantly surprised at what they want. At the very least, you'll get valuable insight into what they're thinking before they know what you're thinking. I once acquired a struggling player by asking the other G.M. how much of the player's salary he'd be willing to eat if we took him. Surprisingly, he was willing to pay two-thirds of the contract, and I got the player to renegotiate his contract down to that figure just for the opportunity to stay in the N.H.L. Result? He played for us all season and the other team paid his entire salary. Getting the other side to commit to a position first allows you to use their proposal as the "high-water mark." Then, if it comes to taking a middle ground, you can be closer to what you want than they are to what they want. 2. Put Your Ego Aside Negotiations are about getting a deal done, so don't try to impress the other side with your intelligence and negotiating abilities. The stronger you look, the bigger the fight you'll have on your hands. One tactic I use is to get the other side to help me during the process, asking questions that make them feel superior, such as "I'm not really sure, what do you think?" Or I might say, "I don't know the market nearly as well as you do." Ego-driven negotiators make mistakes like telling the other side that they don't have to check with anyone above them, or they don't need to check with experts before making a decision. When you put your ego aside, you retain options such as deferring a decision until you can think it through more thoroughly and consider opportunities to get something extra. You can also delay your decision until you've had a chance to check with your owner or board of directors. 3. Keep Your Eye on the Puck When Wayne Gretzky played for the Edmonton Oilers during their run of four Stanley Cups in five years in the mid-'80s, he was constantly harassed by role players, fans, and coaches, all trying to get him off his game. But No. 99 knew that the only thing that mattered was putting the puck in the net more times than the other team. Just like Gretzky, an effective negotiator needs to focus on the issues and not be distracted by the actions of others. No matter what the outcome of a single meeting or phone call, don't let the other side's moves or reactions take your eye off the puck. One of my strategies when negotiating with agents was to make up a ridiculously low offer from my owner to lowball the agent, knowing that they'd be offended or even insulted. No matter what curses or other words came at me, I simply looked at the result, which was often a lowering of their expectations, to judge if I'd advanced toward my deal. If you react and let the other side get you upset or out of control, you'll always lose. 4. Always Make the Other Side Feel Victorious When the deal is done, always congratulate the other side. You want them to feel like they won. "Thank you, but please let me say that you did a fantastic job negotiating this deal" was a favorite phrase of mine. Even if you think the other side didn't do well, congratulate them and never gloat. The reason for this is simple: You never know when you're going to want to do another deal with that person, and you want them to feel good about you personally when you do. Be humble in a victory and you'll be sure to have more of them in the future. Neil Smith is the former president and general manager of the N.H.L.'s New York Rangers. He is currently the owner of a minor-league hockey team, the Johnstown Chiefs, serves as a consultant to the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues, and is an analyst on Versus Network, the NHL Network, SNY, and Hockey Night in Canada. Related LinksFixing a HoleIdle Chatter: C(Double)U Later?Tampa Bay Lightning Sale Deadline Looming
Peak Performer
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: Ultra-high-altitude climbing guide Employers: Mountain expedition companies Salary Cap: $45,000 Number of Jobs: 20 or 30 worldwide When Guillermo "Willie" Benegas heard about the disastrous climb up K2 earlier this month that killed 11 people when an avalanche struck, he didn't spend any time second-guessing the climbers or their guides, despite having guided several expeditions up Mount Everest and neighboring peaks himself. "It wasn't anyone's fault. Things can go wrong—and they went wrong," he says. More than anyone, Benegas says he understands that the rewards of summiting the world's highest mountains come with substantial risks. During 10 years as a guide for Mountain Madness, an adventure-travel company based in Seattle, Benegas has climbed Everest eight times and led a dozen other expeditions to peaks over 26,000 feet. In that time he's never had an accident or lost a client. People he takes to the Himalayas come from all walks of life, from company presidents to bricklayers to retired lieutenant colonels. Benegas has guided his share of C.E.O.'s, but can't name names due to the confidentiality agreements he signed. To prepare, many of those clients go through Mountain Madness' Live Your Dreams program, where they may spend several years climbing progressively higher peaks in preparation for Everest. To climb the world's highest peak, Benegas says clients need perseverance, perspective, and a pack mentality. Benegas definitely isn't in climbing for the money. Guides earn slightly less than half the $65,000 fee Mountain Madness and other outfitters charge climbers for each trip up Everest. Since weather conditions limit Himalayan expeditions to spring and fall, Benegas supplements his income by guiding treks in South America, working on ski and avalanche patrol outside his home in Salt Lake City, and from an endorsement deal with North Face, which has featured him in magazine ads. For Benegas, though, climbing is less a job and more a way of life. Born in Patagonia in South America, he and his twin brother, Damian, who works as a guide in South America, started climbing in their teens. By the time he was 20, Willie had summited Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas. He moved to the U.S. a year later and, through hard work and ability, established himself as an elite guide, leading his first Everest summit in 1999. EmbeddedVideo Willie and Damian Benegas climbing Nuptse, a 25,726-foot peak in the Himalayas just southwest of Mount Everest, in 2006. By now, Benegas has traveled in the Himalayas so often that he considers the handful of local Sherpas he works with extended family, and they, in turn, call him Willie Sherpa. When a 7.6-magnitude earthquake devastated the Kashmir region in 2005, Indian officials let him bring supplies to secluded mountain villages, which are off limits to Westerners for political reasons. It was due to the fact that he'd helped rescue a member of the Indian army during an ill-fated summit attempt two years before that he was permitted. With his 40th birthday approaching late this month, Benegas admits to slowing down, but not by much. When he tore a wrist ligament that put him in a cast last March, he didn't think twice about leaving a week later to lead a monthlong expedition of 10 climbers up Mount Everest. His idea of a good time is still more extreme than most, like the 100-mile endurance run in Utah's Wasatch Mountains he'll compete in over Labor Day weekend. Everest has taught Benegas to embrace extremes, a sentiment he tries to instill in his Everest clients. "It's so much more than a guy with no experience who decides to pay $65,000 to climb to the summit," he says. "Trust me, he'll suffer like he's never suffered in his life. But suffering will make him grow. Then he'll realize it's the most amazing thing he's done in his life." Related LinksAttention K Street: Opportunity KnocksFord Drives a Surprise Profit Santiago
Building a Career
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0000
Job Title: Lego artist Employers: Corporations and individuals Openings: Word of mouth Salary Cap: Six figures Number of Jobs: About 40 Lego master builders Who doesn't remember growing up playing with Legos—the small, colorful bricks that can be combined to create anything from airplanes to zebras? Most kids ultimately pack up their Legos and move on. But Nathan Sawaya never did. The 35-year-old New Yorker makes a six-figure living as a Lego artist, creating large-scale works of art using tens of thousands of the plastic pieces. Among his recent projects are a 10-foot-tall replica of the new Trump Tower being constructed in Dubai for Donald Trump, and a four-foot-tall bumblebee commissioned by Fall Out Boy bass guitarist Pete Wentz as a gift for his new bride, pop star Ashlee Simpson. He says he receives hundreds of commission inquiries every month. Though he played with Legos like most kids, they were the furthest thing from his mind when he set out in the working world. After graduating with a law degree from New York University in 1998, Sawaya became a Wall Street attorney, earning a comfortable six-figure salary—and working in a high-stress environment. To relax after long hours at the office, he would work on art projects at night, making sculptures using clay at first, then moving into more whimsical media, like candy. One of Sawaya's first hobbyist projects with Legos was an eight-foot-tall pencil. Friends would come over to gawk at it, and Sawaya eventually set up a website, brickartist.com, to post photos of his creations. Visitors to the site sent in requests, such as Lego renderings of portraits of their children. The hobby became the real thing in 2004 after he won a competition sponsored by Lego to find the best builder in the U.S. He quit his job and became one of Lego's "master model builders," creating sculptures for its theme park in San Diego. They paid him just $13 an hour, but it gave him good training for when he returned to New York to create his own Lego works full-time. Sawaya now keeps 1.5 million Lego bricks, meticulously organized by shape and color into clear bins (he buys all his Legos in bulk). He sketches his projects first on something called "brick paper"—essentially, graph paper modified for Lego shapes—and takes anywhere from a few days to a few months to build them. At any given time, he's working on three or four projects, earning anywhere from a couple thousand dollars up to six figures per work, depending on the complexity of the project and how quickly they need to be built. For his own personal fulfillment, he also creates more avant-garde works and has two traveling exhibitions of his work (here's a slideshow of some of his work). Ironically, Sawaya says he now works more hours per week than he ever did as a corporate lawyer, although he also makes more money than he did then. Most important to him, though, is the artistic gratification he gets out of his Lego creations, particularly when he gets feedback from children who are inspired by his projects. "There are 400 million children out there playing with Legos," he says. "Who am I to say that they aren't artists too?" Also on Portfolio.com Gas Prices Around the World Making Bucks on the Greenback The Denver Party CircuitRelated LinksRap's Economic IndicatorsDaily Brew: Science Shows What Harvard Students Really Think Of Rednecks360? Maybe Not.
Switch Hitter
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0000
And for tonight’s act, Peter Guber presents . . . the sixth season of the Class AA Frisco RoughRiders. Yes, that Peter Guber, the movie producer behind blockbusters like Batman and Rain Man. The same Peter Guber who was booted from his job as chairman and C.E.O. of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1994 for incurring the company’s biggest write-down ever. Since then, Guber has moved on from Hollywood to small-town America, refashioning himself as a mogul of a different kind: one who buys distressed minor-league baseball franchises and transplants them in second-tier cities looking for an economic boost. As he did at Sony, Guber has hooked up with deep-pocketed patrons, only this time around it’s local governments, which will foot the bill for pricey new stadiums. This is a standard yet perennially controversial arrangement, but it hasn’t prevented Guber from becoming one of the biggest owners of minor-league franchises today. He owns five teams, operates one, and is in the process of buying another, the Winston-Salem Warthogs. Owning minor-league teams is not as sexy as moviemaking, he admits. “But there’s a sizable bottom line if you do things right,” he says, showing the same promotional savvy that made him famous a decade and a half ago. Guber got into the minors almost by accident. After leaving Sony, he formed Mandalay Entertainment, a TV-and-film-production company (its most notable release is I Know What You Did Last Summer), and made a few bids on various major-league sports franchises, including the Oakland A’s and the N.B.A.’s Miami Heat. When those failed, Guber instead partnered with a father-son team that owned two successful minor-league franchises to form Mandalay Sports Entertainment. Today, Guber relies on his own scouts to find cities that are in the market for a team. Back in 2002, for example, Frisco, Texas, a fast-growing town north of Dallas, was eager to acquire a club. Tom Hicks, owner of the major-league Texas Rangers, wanted to bring a team to Frisco to anchor a planned real estate development. He contacted Guber, who already had multiple teams in his stable, and they reached an agreement. Frisco would pay for a $22.7 million ballpark, while Hicks and Guber would reel in a team. Their quarry: the struggling Shreveport, Louisiana, Swamp Dragons, which they snapped up for just over $4 million, renamed the RoughRiders, and exported to Texas. Now Mandalay, which bought the bulk of Hicks’ interest in 2003, pays Frisco to lease the city-owned stadium, Dr. Pepper Ballpark. Attendance at RoughRiders games has increased dramatically as players’ on-field performance has improved. The team went from last in the league in 2001 to first in 2004. The Frisco arrangement is similar to a deal Guber struck in 1999 involving the Rockford, Illinois, Cubbies. According to a person close to the club, Guber scooped up the franchise for $4 million, renamed the team the Dragons, and forged an affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds. An intermediary introduced Mandalay to city executives in Dayton, Ohio, who offered to finance a $23 million downtown ballpark in order to entice a team to move there. As part of that deal, the city of Dayton and Montgomery County issued municipal bonds worth $18 million to pay for most of the stadium’s cost. Mandalay put in $4 million. In return, it secured a 20-year operating lease with an option for an additional 10 years. Mandalay is currently working with the city on a multiuse real estate development surrounding the park. If the deal, worth $250 million, goes through, Mandalay will be an equity partner. At the time Mandalay connected with Dayton, “baseball people thought we were crazy,” Guber says. “They said we were too close to the fan base of the Reds, that depopulated Dayton couldn’t support a team, that I was just another Hollywood guy with a silly jones for baseball.... Well, sure, I’m a fan, but this is not philanthropy for me.” Though Guber is prone to making exaggerated statements, this doesn’t appear to be one. Over the past decade, minor-league teams have become the toy of choice among wealthy businesspeople and are known for performing better financially than their major-league parents. The teams are relatively cheap, costing anywhere from $1 million to $25 million, depending on their class affiliation. There is also a built-in financial advantage, in that major-league affiliates pay minor leaguers’ salaries and injury costs. Minor-league team owners, who don’t get involved in scouting, trading players, or hiring and firing coaches, operate like movie-theater owners: Guber makes money through sponsors, ticket sales, and concessions, which can generate profit margins of 15 to 20 percent. While the rate at which team values were appreciating has recently slowed, the minor leagues retain some advantages. Major-league teams, for example, collect only 6 percent of their minor-league affiliates’ ticket sales. And minor-league owners are allowed to keep all the revenue from concessions and merchandise sales. Tonight, though, Guber’s attention is on the RoughRiders, who are taking on the Midland RockHounds at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. While the RoughRiders go through their pregame drills, Guber, who is attending the game with his two 14-year-old sons, looks down at the crowd-pleasing Newlywed Game unfolding atop the visiting team’s dugout. The action is broadcast on the stadium’s giant outfield screen, bringing roars and howls from the crowd. Guber cheers right along. “I love this team. I love all our teams, because I love this game,” he says. Just then, the crack of the bat echoes in the stands. All heads turn—except Guber’s. He is counting the house.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EEOC Addresses Performance And Conduct Issues Under The Americans With Disabilities Act
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0000
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a comprehensive question-and-answer guide addressing how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to a wide variety of performance and conduct issues. The document is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov/facts/performance-conduct.html
New EEOC Publication Aimed at Increasing Opportunities for People with Disabilities in Federal Employment
Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0000
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued a new question-and-answer guide aimed at promoting the hiring and advancement of individuals with disabilities in federal government employment. The new publication is available on the EEOC’s web site at www.eeoc.gov/federal/qanda-employment-with-disabilities.html
EEOC Issues Federal Work Force Report for 2007
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Naomi C. Earp, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today released the Annual Report on the Federal Work Force for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, covering October 2006 through September 2007. The comprehensive report, which informs and advises the President and the Congress on the state of equal employment opportunity (EEO) government-wide, is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov/federal/fsp2007/index.html.
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