What Happened to Blockbuster?

 For this post the rise and fall of Blockbuster Video will be discussed.  Blockbuster Video was founded by David Cook in 1985 (Ash, 2020).  I remember the excitement of going into Blockbuster Video and strolling the aisle looking to find the perfect video or two for the weekend.  At its peak there were more than nine thousand Blockbuster Video stores.

Blockbuster didn’t foresee or plan for two crucial events.  First Netflix came into the market and offered to have videos sent to your home for a monthly flat fee.  Rather than needing to go to the store, the video shipped to you at a flat rate of $9.99 per month and a family could watch as many movies as they could order and return.  This was a change providing convenience and economic cost savings with an unlimited model.  The second event that Blockbuster did not plan for was the introduction of streaming services.  Now families no longer needed to go to the store to pick up videos but rather for a flat monthly fee a family could stream as many movies a month as they desired.  The was a technological change and a change that offered families with convenience.

A sociotechnical plan has the ability to assist organizations in their ability to understand and plan for changes that could impact their industry.  Blockbuster missed this opportunity as they did not foresee the economical and technological changes that could impact their business.  If Blockbuster had forecasted these technical and economic events Blockbuster could have diversified their video delivery model as they had a loyal customer base.  Today Blockbuster has one remaining store in Bend, Oregon.

For my sociotechnical plan I am focused on remote surgery facilitated by wireless technology.  For my sociotechnical plan I will need to address the technology challenges which includes moving from 5G to 6G which will continue to provide lower latency and greater speeds.  In addition, for success cultural change will need to be addressed.  Today robotic surgery is a common practice but the idea of having the surgeon in a different city or state will need to be accounted for in the sociotechnical plan.

There are numerous examples of organizations that have had great success but due to their short sightedness they are no longer in business.  There are many things that have the ability to impact the continued success of an organization.  The use of a sociotechnical plan can assist organizations in getting ahead rather than having to play the game of catch up.

References

Ash, A. (2020, August 12). The rise and fall of blockbuster and how it’s surviving with just one store left. https://www

Let's Innovate!!

 

Innovation does not always occur due to well-developed and engineered plans but rather at times occurs due to accident or just plain luck.  According to Digintent (n.d.) innovation is a novel way of solving a problem and adds value.  For this post we are going to focus on innovation through serendipity, errors, and exaptation.

Innovation through serendipity can be defined as a discovery that was not planned but occurred (Scofield & Hedge, 2011).  The modern-day microwave oven is one such serendipity innovation.  The first commercial microwave oven became available in 1947 and was known as a radarange (Blitz, 2021).  The technology was actually developed for use by the military for their radar system but in 1945 Percy Spencer realized that the microwave beam melted a chocolate bar in his shirt pocket.  He later went on to pop popcorn and cook an egg.  The innovation of the microwave oven was purely serendipity or awesome luck.

Innovation via an error is when a mistake is made and yet something valuable is developed through that error.  The pacemaker is one such innovation.  The pacemaker was invented due to an error made by Dr. Wilson Greatbatch.  He was working on a heart rhythm recorder when he by error added an incorrect electronic component (Intellectual Ventures, 2016).  Rather than recording the sound of a heartbeat the device made the sound of a healthy heartbeat.  Dr. Greatbatch continued to perfect his device and in 1960 the first pacemaker was implanted into a human.

An innovation by exaptation is essentially finding a new use for something that exists.  An example of this could be the corn flake.  Dr. Kellogg first developed a breakfast food that was comprised of flour, oats, and cornmeal.  He would make biscuits out of this dough.  Dr. Kellogg later found that he could roll this dough out flat and cut into pieces.  Once these pieces of dough were baked in the oven, they became crispy and flavorful.  This innovation could also be considered one made by error as he had left his dough out overnight which drove him to roll it out rather than make his normal biscuits.

Some of the greatest innovations are not derived out of carefully defined plan but rather many of them occur due to serendipity, errors, and exaptation.  All of us have the ability to play an innovative role if we are observant and remain curious.  There is still a lot of opportunity for innovation.

References

Blitz, M. (2021, September 2). The amazing true story of how the microwave was invented by accident. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a19567/how-the-microwave-was-invented-by-accident/

Digintent. (n.d.). What is innovation:  Why almost everyone defines it wrong. https://digintent.com/what-is-innovation/

Intellectual Ventures. (2016, November 8). The heartbeat of invention: How pacemaker creator Wilson greatbatch saved countless lives. https://www.intellectualventures.com/buzz/insights/the-heartbeat-of-invention-how-pacemaker-creator-wilson-greatbatch-saved-co/

Scofield, D. M. & Hedges, K. (2011, August 23). Serendipitous innovation. https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/08/23/serendipitous-innovation/

It Is Never Too Late To Dream!

 

Today’s post is focused on what I would do if I had all of the money, time, and talent in the world.  What I thought would be a relatively easy exercise proved to be more challenging than at first blush.  So, let’s get started……

Education:

1.      Learn to play the piano

2.      Learn to play the oboe

3.      Study religions of the world

4.      Get a law degree

5.      Learn to play poker

6.      Learn to play pool

7.      Learn yoga

8.      Learn chemistry

9.      Obtain a Nurse Practitioner degree

10.  Learn to play chess

Job or Research:

1.      Chief Technical Officer

2.      Lawyer

3.      Psychologist

4.      Nursing Home Director

5.      Nursing Home Recreation Director

6.      Book Store Owner

7.      Greeter at a hospital

8.      Human Resource Director

9.      Travel Coordinator

10.  Technology Trainer

Philosophical or Religious:

1.      Attend various religious services to gain insight

2.      Read ancient mythologies

3.      Study the Gods from various religions

4.      Spend a week living with an Amish family

5.      Visit an atheist country to gain understanding

6.      Read the Koran

7.      Read the Book of Mormon

8.      Visit Israel

9.      Visit well known churches throughout the United States to understand their significance

10.  Interview priests from various religions

Travel:

1.      Visit Antarctica

2.      Go on an African safari

3.      Visit Cuba – this has been a bucket list item and I missed the opportunity when we were able to travel to Cuba.

4.      Visit St. Petersburg, Russia – we had a plan to take a cruise to St. Petersburg but that is now deferred.

5.      Visit Australia

6.      Visit New Zealand

7.      Visit Vietnam

8.      Visit Alaska

9.      Visit Hawaii

10.  Visit India

Home:

1.      Home in the mountains

2.      Home on the beach

3.      Master bedroom closet that was 14x20

4.      Add a swimming pool

5.      New hardwood floors throughout

6.      Have a dedicated library with bookshelves from floor to ceiling

7.      Outdoor fireplace

8.      Outdoor kitchen

9.      Dedicated laundry room

10.  Heated floors throughout

As I shared this exercise was more challenging than I had originally thought.  I found myself judging my ideas or finding reasons to not capture them.  The other thing I learned about myself in this exercise is that I have listed a number of things that I planned to do in the near future and others that I have the ability to do with time.  Overall, I learned that none of us are too old to dream.

What are your dreams?

The Value of Scenario-Based Planning

 

The purpose of this individual paper will be to review and discuss scenario-based planning.  The paper will begin by reviewing an organization that did not do proper scenario-based planning and suffered the repercussion.  Scenario based planning is when an organization will brainstorm, analyze, and plan for various scenarios of the future (Accenture, 2016).  Scenario-based planning allows organizations to look forward into the future as they complete their organizational planning.  The benefit of scenario-based planning is that an organization’s executives have the ability to understand an assortment of scenarios for their organization and enable better decision making (Ali & Luther, 2020).  By completing scenario-based planning organizations and their executive are able to proactively plan and not find themselves in a reactionary position as the future for their organization unfolds.

One organization that fell victim to the lack of scenario-based planning is Research in Motion (RIM) or better known as Blackberry.  Blackberry was one of the first smartphones and at one point in time held a forty-three percent market share in the United States and a twenty percent market share globally (Appolonia et. al., 2022).  RIM introduced a two-way paging device in the mid 1990’s which had a small keyboard.  RIM eventually added organizing capabilities similar to the popular PalmPilont (Loop, 2022).  RIM continued to innovate and added email capabilities and instant messaging to the Blackberry device.  I remember getting my first Blackberry in the early 2000’s and at that point I truly believed I had made it in the business world.  Anyone and everyone working in business had a Blackberry.  At the time it was hard to imagine a day without a Blackberry.

The 1990’s and early 2000’s were a great time for technology companies.  Blackberry was one of these.  Technology was growing at an accelerated pace and RIM took advantage of the time by developing a product that organizations were looking for to drive efficiency and effectiveness in their organizations.  RIM did a great job of utilizing scenario-based planning in their early days.  This is demonstrated through their evolution of the one-way pager to a two-way pager with a full keyboard which drove efficiency as now those with a pager could quickly respond to a need.  The individual no longer needed to find a phone in order to respond.  In addition, RIM took advantage of the need for an organization’s associates to understand their calendar when away from their computer and built in a calendar and task functionality into their device.  What most likely made the Blackberry indispensable was the addition of the email functionality.  RIM made this decision when email was still considered a relatively new technology (Loop, 2022).  Unfortunately for an organization like RIM that was so skilled at scenario planning in the organization’s early days they stopped scenario-based planning which drove them to stall out on the innovation front.  The graph below demonstrates the rise and fall of RIM stock (Luo, 2018).

Figure 1 RIM Stock

In 2007 Apple launched its first iPhone.  Apple’s plan was simple.  The plan was to build an entire lifestyle around their iPhone.  Whereas the Blackberry focused on business customers the iPhone was meant for everyone.  Apple did this by incorporating their iPod functionality into a phone that also had the Blackberry features such as email and messaging.  Apple created a store so that various applications could be added to their device whether it be gaming, music, etc.  This allowed iPhone users to customize their experience with the iPhone.  Apple also re-envisioned the device so that the majority of the device was a screen rather than a keyboard which was the majority of the Blackberry device.  Blackberry tried to mimic the iPhone touchscreen but was unsuccessful in launching a touchscreen that worked as well as the iPhone’s.  By this time Apple and android manufactures had grabbed the hearts of the former Blackberry users and expanded the market from business to include smartphones for everyone.  The graph below demonstrates the rise of Apple stock with the launch of the iPhone (Yarow, 2011).

Figure 2: Apple Stock

In not conducting scenario-based planning Blackberry missed a few key items.  Blackberry missed the opportunity to envision a day where smartphones would be in everyone’s hands.  Blackberry missed envisioning that everyone from teenagers to soccer moms to grandparents would crave a device that would simplify their life by containing not only business functionality but also a way to listen to music, take pictures, play games, and organize life.  Blackberry was also very invested in their QWERTY keyboard which did not allow them to envision a future where a touchscreen could be used instead. 

The fact that RIM did not conduct scenario-based planning stalled their innovation and organizational growth.  In the beginning RIM was very innovative but with success they forgot to dream big.  RIM missed the opportunity to expand who and how the device could be used.  If RIM had conducted scenario based planned RIM would not have been placed in a position to react to what the iPhone had introduced to mobile device users.

Organizations can utilize scenario-based planning to drive innovation.  Although it is quite easy for an organization to slip into the forecasting model when experiencing great success organization must fight the ease of doing so.  People are often interested in the next best thing especially if it allows one to become more effective or efficient.  This is one of the lenses that organizations can utilize when conducting scenario-based planning.  When enhancing the product or service how can the product or service drive greater efficiency and effectiveness?  Organizations can also look at how the use of their product can influence their customers from a formal and informal means.  This was demonstrated in the Blackberry versus iPhone war.  Blackberry was focused on work transactions which are very defined and formal.  Apple expanded their use to include the informal by including the ability to listen to music, take personal pictures, and play games.  Apple also opened up the use cases to not only those defined by Apple but also to allow for other customer focused use cases through the use of their app store.

With the launch of the Blackberry device came a change in the social landscape.  Everyone wanted to have a Blackberry.  Having a Blackberry demonstrated personal and professional success.  When the iPhone came along the social landscape was further expanded in that having an iPhone also demonstrated that you were an adopter of technology.  That as an iPhone user you had the latest and greatest technology in your pocket.  This was demonstrated through the long lines that were seen at Apple stores with the launch of a new device.  People have been known to get in line days before the launch of a new iPhone.

Scenario based planning takes time and discipline for organizations to conduct.  Through the Blackberry example the scenario-based planning is not only required for start ups, but needs to continue through organizational success as scenario-based planning allows organizations to continue to innovate which keeps their products fresh.  As long as technology continues to evolve individuals will crave the ability to utilize new technology in an effort to simplify their lives.

References

Accenture. (2016, April 22). Scenario-based planning:  Exploring the best chance on success. https://www.accenture.com/nl-en/blogs/insights/scenario-based-planning-the-best-chance-on-success

Ali, R. & Luther, D. (2020, May 14). Scenario planning:  Strategy, steps, and practical examples. https://www.netsuite.com/portal/business-benchmark-brainyard/industries/articles/cfon-central/scenario-planning.shtml

Appolonia, A., Nixdorf, K., and Leslie, R. (2022, January 14).  How blackberry went from controlling the smartphone market to a phone of the past. https://www.businessinsider.com/blackberry-smartphone-rise-fall-mobile-failure-innovate-2019

Loop, E. (2022, January 27). The extraordinary rise and fall of blackberry. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/business/the-extraordinary-rise-and-fall-of-blackberry

Luo, J. (2018, February 1). The rise and fall (rise again?) of blackberry. https://digial.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-again-of-blackberry/

Yarow, J. (2011, October 14). Chart of the day: Apple’s stock’s rise since the iphone. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-stock-2011-10

Technologies Socio-Technical Influence on Education

 

With the evolution and availability of technology the ability to re-think how education is delivered is a hot topic.  The article by Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) focused on the socio-technical aspects of utilizing technology to enhance a student’s learning in formal and informal settings.  The qualitative study introduced low end laptops to schools who had not previously utilized this type of technology for learning.  The study looked at how these laptops could be utilized in the formal in-school setting along with the informal home setting.  In addition, the study evaluated technical aspects which include things such as a teacher’s ability to utilize the laptop as part of her learning plan and technical areas such as access to the internet and charging stations.

A conceptual framework demonstrates the connection of what is being studied to assist in understanding the linkage between the concepts (Jabareen, 2009). The study defined a conceptual framework that demonstrated the informal as the study participants at home, with friends, and with distractions.  The framework demonstrated formal as the actual school setting while the technical was demonstrated as the laptop itself and the technical knowledge to utilize.  The conceptual framework demonstrates the interconnectedness of informal, formal, and technical linkages.

The study included four specific use case and the research findings were viewed from an informal, formal, and technology perspective.  One of the things I appreciated about the findings is that it included a cultural aspect.  It would have been easy to focus only on the ease of completing homework or the efficiency gained by not needing to conduct library research, but the findings include how the student, teacher, and families felt and responded to the addition of technology in the student’s learning plan.

From the ability to replicate the study perspective I believe the study could be replicated as the researchers did a good job of describing the concepts being studied along with detailing the specific use cases.  The challenge in duplicating may be finding not only low-cost laptops to use but also in ensuring that students have access to internet services at home for the informal component.  I believe many of the concerns about laptops being stolen and the safety of the students with laptops would be a relevant concern regardless of location for the study.  Overall, the researchers did a good job of defining the study and then detailing the results to support their research question.

References

Hayashi, E. S., & Baranauskas, M. C. (2013). Affectability in educational technologies: A socio-technical perspective for design. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 57–68.

Jabareen, Y. (2009, December). Building a conceptual framework: Philosophy\, definitions, and procedure. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. Doi:10.1177/160940690900800406