Dell and the margin

Computer maker Dell (DELL) released 2009 year end and quarterly earnings yesterday. Cash flow from operations increased 106% YOY (that's year-over-year) and the cash conversion cycle improved from -25 days last year to -36 days. On top of that, free cash flow and cash on hand are both on the rise.

So why did the stock price drop 6.65% right after the release?

Professional networking

After I earned my MBA, I joined the Career Services committee of the alumni association.  This year, our focus is to deliver seminars focused on two things:  professional networking and personal performance.  It's how we add value to both the school and alumni - creating a resource where individual can equip themselves for professional success.

The first component of that is called professional networking.  Interesting concept by itself, but we took some time to define it.  Here's what we came up with:

Professional networking is the creation and maintenance of relationships for mutual benefit and advancement, within the context of your own personal and professional goals.

Marketing Mix: 4P Model (a.k.a.,"Marketing 101")

In large swaths of the US, the word "marketer" is synonymous with "Business Development," "Sales," or "Advertising."  This is especially true in the SMB (small- and medium-sized business) space, where there is often one person or department wearing all of these hats at once.

At it's purest, the textbook definition is pretty broad.  Stuart & Solomon in Marketing:  Real People, Real Choices define marketing as "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational changes."  It's big, broad, and deep.

Back in the 1960s a Harvard professor named Neil Borden wrote an article called "The Concept of the Marketing Mix" in a Journal called Science in Marketing.  Soon after, he started sharing the idea in his marketing classes at HBS.  The ideas are simple and straightforward, and the academic marketing community hasn't come up with a better model since.

Extension

First there was Coca-Cola.

Then there was Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.

Then there was Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Cherry Coke...and Coke Vanilla...and Coke zero...and...and....

Marketers call this “extension,” and the idea is that consumers will try the new product because it's related to the old in some way.

Ceteris paribus and the MBA

“Ceteris paribus.” I still remember my first year in B-school, hearing this phrase being bandied about like everyone in the room knew what it was. I learned later that I wasn't the only one Googling the phrase after class.Ceteris paribus is a Latin phrase that roughly translates to English as “all other things held constant,” or “all things held equal.” It's used in scientific experiments, finance, economics, and complex models of several stripes. Ceteris paribus is a quick way to say that, if nothing else in the world changes at all, then a change in variable X will create a change in variable Y.

Resolutions for the new year

It's the first day of the new year, and there are several things still on my to do list from last year:  run a 10-k, finish a marketing case with some colleagues I'd hoped to complete by October, and organize my office.  What's on your list?

Leadership Skills Continuum

Business Finance magazine has an November/December article called "The Leadership Skills Continuum."  Jeffrey Thomson from the Institute of Management Accountants writes that different leadership skills need to be developed along the career life cycle.

Article link

Thomson identifies five specific career points, and the skills to develop at each:

1. entry level


2. young professional


3. seasoned practitioner


4. senior management

He also calls out the three soft skills entry-level associates need to learn:

1. emotional intelligence (see this earlier post)


2. effective communication


3. time management

These three skills can be improved at almost every point in an organization, from the new hires all the way to the executive suite.  It's helpful to remember that these soft skills will go a long way in making you more successful in your career and in life.