The Case Against Federal Funding for Public Broadcasting

Alan Mutter argues compellingly about why PBS and NPR should man up and stop taking federal funding:

Although the loss of federal largesse initially would stress the nation’s 368 public television stations and 934 public radio outlets, these generally well-funded, well-known and well-established organizations for the most part could carry on, because only 15% of their backing on average comes from Uncle Sam. While an instant 15% drop in revenues would ruin anyone’s day, it pales against, say, the nearly 50% plunge that newspapers have suffered in ad sales in the last five years.

So, yes, public broadcasters would have to retrench. Yes, they would have to step up fund-raising from foundations, from corporations and from listeners and viewers like us. And, yes, that would mean more pledge breaks. But it would be worth it, because public broadcasters would gain the independence they – and viewers and listeners like us – deserve. Once and for all, the broadcasters could concentrate on broadcasting, instead of worrying about the next budgetary challenge from Capitol Hill or the White House.

/Film and The /Filmcast Improve People’s Lives

In the past two weeks, I’ve received news from two colleagues on how their association with my work at /Film has helped to provide them some valuable professional connections:

  • My friend Dan Trachtenberg is now represented by the super-prestigious Great Guns talent agency in the UK. The Great Guns rep first heard of Dan on our “Top Soundtracks of 2010” podcast, in which Dan casually mentioned that he’s a commercial director. This off-handed remark led to a contract being signed between the two of them. Congratulations, Dan! 
  • A while ago, I interviewed Gen Ip, the creator of the amazing Filmography 2010 video. Last week, I received an e-mail from a major trailer-editing company in LA, which actually cut several of the trailers in the video! The representative was looking to hire and asked me if I could connect him with Gen Ip. After checking with Gen, I e-introduced the two of them this morning. I assume great things will come of it.

I’m grateful that the platforms I’ve worked in can provide people with new and exciting opportunities. It’s a testament to the caliber of our listenership and readership that these opportunities exist. It’s also a sign of the sheer talent and greatness of the people willing to associate themselves with /Film and the /Filmcast.

So there you have it folks! Agreeing to talk with me will clearly improve your professional life in ways you can only dream of. Just know that my door is always open. Because seriously, it’s so lonely over here…

In Which I Receive An Award For Something I Wrote

The ecch, “a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the case method of learning,” has just handed out its yearly awards for excellence in case-writing (for those of you who have no idea what “cases” are, go here for more info). This year’s award recipients include a case I helped to write about Facebook and its “Connect” Platform, which is currently taught at Harvard Business School’s MBA program. Here’s the full press release:


21st ecch case awards go global: winners represent three continents

The winners of the first global ecch Case Awards (succeeding the annual European Case Awards) have been announced.

Harvard Business School, where the case method was first developed, was victorious in four categories and also scooped the overall award with Apple Inc. in 2010 by David B Yoffie and Renee Kim.

One new award and two new case writing competitions were added to the traditional ten categories*. 

Outstanding contribution to the case method was awarded to Kamran Kashani, Professor of Marketing and Global Strategy at IMD (for full biography see notes for editors below). 

Case writing competition new case writer was won by Franco Quillico and Gregory Moscato,International University of Monaco, (a first time win for their school) with their case Tango vs Victor, a case about the proposed acquisition of a French soft drinks company by a pan-European private equity fund. 

Case writing competition ‘hot topic’ case: This year’s subject, Renewable and sustainable energy, technology and development, was won by George Kohlrieser, Francisco Szekely and Sophie Coughlan from IMD with their new case Playing to Win: Leadership and Sustainability at ESB Electric Utility a case about a 95% publically owned Irish utility’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2035 while remaining competitive. 

IMD also won awards in two further categories: Production and Operations Management, and Marketing, with the latter being won with a case authored by Kamran Kashani himself, together with Inna Francis. 

London Business School was the third European School to be represented among the winners taking the Human Resource Management / Organisational Behaviour category with the case Richard Murphy and the Biscuit Company (A) by Michael Jarrett and Kyle Ingram. 

Thunderbird School of Global Management was the second US school to make a first-time winning appearance, scooping the Finance, Accounting and Control category with the case Southwest Airlines 2008 by Andrew C Inkpen. 

The Indian based IBS Center for Management Research, scored a first for Asia by winning the Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management category with the case Knowledge Management Initiatives at IBM by Vivek Gupta, Indu Perepu and Sachin Govind. 

Commenting on his award, Kamran Kashani was “honoured and humbled” to be selected by ecch’s executive committee to be the first-ever winner of the Outstanding contribution to the case method award. “This takes a special place in my 37 years as a management educator, because, for me, the case method isn’t just a pedagogical ‘tool’ but represents the fundamental position I take towards my students: it is a respect for their points of view and a profound belief in their capacity to learn from each other.”

Richard McCracken, Director of ecch said “The new 2011 Case Awards are a resounding endorsement of what we hoped to achieve by making them global, delivering winners from three continents in the first year. The results in the new case writing competition categories have demonstrated that case writing is flourishing worldwide. We were delighted with the response, receiving a remarkable 120 entries from 103 places of learning in 29 countries.” 

The hot topic identified by the ecch Executive Committee for the 2011/12 case writing competition will beSocial Media and Change, looking for cases that focus on how companies are using social media in their business development and strategy formulation. (Entry details at: www.ecch.com/casecompetition) 

For further press information please contact:
Emma Simmons: e.simmons@ecch.com

* Overall winner; Economics, Politics and Business Environment; Entrepreneurship; Ethics and Social Responsibility; Finance, Accounting and Control; Human Resource Management / Organisational Behaviour; Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management; Marketing; Production and Operations Management; Strategy and General Management 

The results in full

Outstanding contribution to the case method
Professor Kamran Kashani, IMD 

Overall winner
Apple Inc. in 2010
David B Yoffie and Renee Kim
Harvard Business School
Ref no 9-710-467 

Economics, Politics and Business Environment
Philips versus Matsushita: The Competitive Battle Continues
Christopher A Bartlett
Harvard Business School
Ref no 9-910-410 

Entrepreneurship
Facebook’s Platforms
Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Thomas R Eisenmann, David Chen and Brian Feinstein
Harvard Business School
Ref no 9-808-128 

Ethics and Social Responsibility
IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A)
Christopher A Bartlett, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjöman 
Harvard Business School
Ref no 9-906-414 

Finance, Accounting and Control
Southwest Airlines 2008
Andrew C Inkpen
Thunderbird School of Global Management
Ref no A07-08-0008 

Human Resource Management / Organisational Behaviour
Richard Murphy and the Biscuit Company (A)
Michael Jarrett and Kyle Ingram 
London Business School
Ref no 408-083-1 

Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management
Knowledge Management Initiatives at IBM
Vivek Gupta, Indu Perepu and Sachin Govind 
IBS Center for Management Research
Ref no 909-018-1 

Marketing
Xiameter: The Past and Future of a ‘Disruptive Innovation’
Kamran Kashani and Inna Francis 
IMD
Ref no IMD-5-0702 

Production and Operations Management
Lego: Consolidating Distribution (A)
Carlos Cordon, Ralf W Seifert and Edwin Wellian 
IMD
Ref no IMD-6-0315 

Strategy and General Management
Google Inc.
Benjamin Edelman and Thomas R Eisenmann 
Harvard Business School
Ref no 9-910-036 

Case writing competion ‘Hot topic’: Renewable and sustainable energy, technology and development
Playing to Win: Leadership and Sustainability at ESB Electric Utility
George Kohlrieser, Francisco Szekely and Sophie Coughlan
IMD
Ref no IMD-4-0302

Case writing competition: New case writer
Tango vs Victor (A & B)
Franco Quillico and Gregory Moscato
International University of Monaco
Ref no 110-062-1 and 110-063-1

Notes for editors

ecch is the largest single source of management case studies in the world, with more than 68,000 items in its catalogue, available through www.ecch.com. An independent, membership-based, non-profit organisation, ecch has offices at Cranfield University, UK and Babson College, USA. ecch is dedicated to supporting authors and users of case studies and promoting the case method of learning. It provides the interface between the authors of cases and the educational institutions and businesses that use them for teaching and learning. ecch has an international programme of case writing and teaching workshops and events. 

ecch Case Awards are presented annually to recognise worldwide excellence in case writing and to raise the profile of the case method of learning. The Awards (formerly the European Case Awards) have been presented since 1991. Awards are made in up to nine management categories; for one overall winning case; two case writing competition categories for a case by a new author and for a newly authored case on a ‘hot topic’; and to recognise the outstanding contribution of an individual associated with the case method. www.ecch.com/caseawards 

Outstanding contribution to the case method: Nominations are collected by ecch and the executive committee, and the committee votes for a winner from the shortlist. 

Kamran Kashani is Professor of Marketing and Global Strategy at IMD. He teaches topics in marketing, strategy and innovation. He is currently researching marketing innovation in large global companies. An Iranian and Swiss national, he graduated from the University of California, UCLA, and gained his Doctorate in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Professor Kashani’s articles and books in marketing and management have been translated into more than a dozen languages. He is the winner of several awards for best paper and case writing. He has researched and written more than 50 case studies and has won four ecch Case Awards (marketing category 2011, 2001, 1995 (runner up) and 1993) and two EFMD awards (marketing category 2005 and 2003). As a coach to teachers in the art of case method, Professor Kashani has been presenting ecch case writing and teaching workshops workshops since 2000, reaching over 220 educators worldwide. He has been a faculty member of ITP (International Teachers Program) at London Business School, UK, New York University, USA, SDA Bocconi, Italy and IMD, Switzerland where he co-directed the programme. kashani@imd.ch

Case awards and competition judging criteria 
ecch identifies winning cases through an objective process – cases are judged anonymously. 

Overall winner and nine category winners: All cases registered with ecch during the last five years are put forward for consideration. The winning case in each category is the one that has achieved the highest growth in popularity among peers worldwide, based on the number of individual organisations ordering and teaching the case during the last calendar year. A case that has won a category award in a previous year cannot win again, but is eligible, once, for the overall award (eg the 2010 overall award winning case won the marketing category in 2009). 

Case writing competition categories: All submissions must have been tested in the classroom, completed in the specified time frame and be in English. They may be compiled from field research, published sources or generalised experience. Authors may submit a single case or a case series. The case, or case series, must be a maximum of 5,000 words, excluding exhibits and annexes. Each submission must be accompanied by a teaching note for which there is no word limit. 

Hot topic: For 2011 cases were invited that feature a business situation within the area of ‘Renewable and sustainable energy, technology and development’. Judging panel members:

  • Stephen Evans, Professor of Life Cycle Engineering, Cranfield University, UK
  • Michiel Leenders, Professor Emeritus, Richard Ivey School of Business, Canada
  • Richard McCracken (Chairman), Director, ecch, UK
  • Stuart Read, Professor of Marketing, IMD, Switzerland
  • Giselle Weybrecht, Author of The Sustainable MBA: The Manager’s Guide to Green Businesswww.thesustainablemba.com
New case writer: Submissions must be the first teaching case in any business subject area, prepared by the author(s) in a format that can be used by other case teachers. Judging panel members:
  • Jamie Anderson, Professor of Strategic Management, TiasNimbus Business School, The Netherlands
  • Geoff Easton, Professor of Marketing, Lancaster University Management School, UK
  • Jim Erskine, Professor Emeritus, Richard Ivey School of Business, Canada
  • Kamran Kashani, Professor of Marketing and Global Strategy, IMD, Switzerland
  • Richard McCracken (Chairman), Director, ecch, UK

The case method of learning was pioneered in the early 20th Century at Harvard University. It has become the favoured teaching method of most of the world’s leading business schools. 

Sony “Hacker” Raises Legal Defense Money In 18 Hours

The Escapist has a cool piece on PS3 hacker Geohot, who asked for and quickly received money from the internet in his defense against Sony:

Geohot, aka George Hotz, firmly believes that he has done nothing wrong. When he and the hacker group known as fail0verflow posted the PS3 rootkey online, allowing saavy consumers to install any operating system on the game console, he was not breaking any laws because he paid for Sony’s hardware and doesn’t have to follow their EULA. On his website Geohot claims that Sony is trying to use his case as a warning and has a team of five lawyers ready to rake him in court to send a message to other hackers. He also points out that other hackers have lost court battle not because they were wrong but because they lacked the money to mount a defense. When pressed with legal fees beyond his means, but a large amount of internet celebrity, Hotz’s only recourse was to ask the masses to donate to his cause. Geohot may have underestimated the number of people who support his fight against Sony, as he received enough money for the first phase of defense in about 18 hours.

When your enemies (AKA your CONSUMERS) are able to easily raise money from an anonymous public to fight you, in a case where they’re trying to make your product more useful, you’re doing it wrong.

Why Dwight from ‘The Office’ Is Wrong About the Body’s Immune System

Salon has a cool new column debunking health myths in pop culture. The first target? Dwight Schrute:

What’s wrong with this picture?

The first problem with Dwight’s take on the hygiene hypothesis is that he is confusing immunity against infection with protection against allergies. The second is that by the time you’re old enough to eat phlegm-drenched toast for breakfast, it’s too late to confer ironclad immunity against infection or allergy, because you need to develop it in early childhood. (Perhaps, in his toilet-side collection of medical journals, Dwight confused the hygiene hypothesis with a recent study showing that infants and toddlers in daycare who get sick a lot tend not to get sick as often once they hit kindergarten and beyond. Details, Dwight. Details!).

The biggest problem, though, with this pop culture view of the hygiene hypothesis is that in two decades of research since Strachan first made his comments, things are turning out to be far more complicated than anyone imagined. In short, research is showing that exposure to some bugs and allergens at an early age can protect us from allergies, while others do the opposite, triggering your body’s immune system to go haywire and exacerbate allergic symptoms. Why one trigger would protect while the other irritates our bodies probably has everything to do with how our immune system reacts and is regulated, though many details are still beyond our scientific grasp.

Arrested Development

Kay S. Hymowitz, on how 20-something men are kinda sucky at being men (via Maria Popova):

Not so long ago, the average American man in his 20s had achieved most of the milestones of adulthood: a high-school diploma, financial independence, marriage and children. Today, most men in their 20s hang out in a novel sort of limbo, a hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance. This “pre-adulthood” has much to recommend it, especially for the college-educated. But it’s time to state what has become obvious to legions of frustrated young women: It doesn’t bring out the best in men.