Terry's MBA 734 Blog

Is it a good idea to encourage ALL employees to trade in these markets? Should insiders and/or highly uninformed people be allowed to trade? Do they help or hurt the market?

I think that the aggregate of information leads to anonymity in the same way as statistical information. So the more users that participate in the prediction markets the less likely you are to notice that someone from a Google division with inside knowledge is trading on a sure thing. Additionally for an insider to make lots of goobles they have to bet against the market on a sure thing but it would be hard not to have information slip out about projections and thus they would end up betting the same way as most other traders. I think overall they can hurt the market by spreading misinformation while betting correctly but they may give guidance to ambiguous markets.

Online social networks have become ubiquitous in the past few years. What forms of value do users get from these services and who is most likely to sign up on LinkedIn versus other sites?

With social networks users have several forms of value to offer and LinkedIn is interesting because it provides an upfront focus: "Over 35 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities."
You can see that a sense of professionalism is expected and that there are stated things that you would exchange with someone while using the system. From that site mission statement you could expect to meet other professionals and possibly find job opportunities.
The site Facebook offers the contrast of broad or even lack of focus in its mission statement: "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."
This seems like it would let you expand personal life online in whatever shape or form that takes. You don't have to be professional, collegiate, or fit into some other category. There is little guidance as to what to do other than to connect and share.

I think the sites are different enough to have users duplicate their online profile on either site but the potential LinkedIn user would most likely have 1)desire to connect professionally 2)desire for employment/hiring/networking, or 3)have some idea that needs funding.

Source: www.npr.org
All Things Considered, March 16, 2009 - The latest viral video doesn't just come from YouTube — it's a remix of it. Amateur musicians with video cameras and homemade gadgets are all the playthings ...
Full Story From NPR

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing internal versus external employee blogs in a corporate setting? Are there certain industries where one of these strategies makes more sense?

Internal Blogs
Internal blogs allow for more control of the content published and a reduction of risk. A company's internal site lends itself to an expectation of moderation. If iwere to blog for my employer I would at the least moderate my post in terms of negative sentiments but not as much in terms of specialized practices as those could probably help other coworkers. Additionally, the smaller audience size and the preexisting organizational knowledge of those able to view the blog makes it easier to ensure that everyone has received corrected or updated information. Some of the negatives for internal blogs are related to the same issues. Bloggers may have the wrong motivations or expectations for blogging. A blogger could only try to present views that they think the corporation would want to hear. Or a blogger might want to keep specialized knowledge and only give small pieces of information to ensure that they remain the expert on a subject. Another negative with internal blogs is that they don't draw on the customer information that can be a great contribution from external blogging.

External Blogging
Benefits from external blogging start at drawing the customer information but goes further in drawing customers into a greater connection with the company and any product modifications that can come from a blogging effort in which they had high involvement. Allowing an external blog poses additional risks from potentially allowing proprietary information to leak out.

Industries
I don't really think of industry types as I would think about the company type would be more important than industry type. I think internal blogging should be used at most companies where knowledge sharing can improve performance [most companies can benefit from this]. For external blogging I think you have to evaluate the customer to understand how they will view a set of sites. Could you get valuable contributions from customers that could improve products or services? Would you be able to maintain your status and perception of professionalism? Would a potential breach of information be manageable? If you can answer those questions positively then I would pursue external blogging.

1. Is DoCoMo wise to offer its existing mobile phone rivals access to FeliCa?
2. Is search a winner-take-all business?

I think DoCoMo made a good move in allowing rivals to use FeliCa technology for three reasons. 1) Increased Adoption: When a company limits access to a new technology it isn't accessible by a the larger potential userbase. There may be users that desire to use the FeliCa applications but have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from changing providers. Additionally there would be less visibility (brand recognition) since fewer merchants will want to provide access to a smaller userbase and potential users will use and suggest applications to friends. 2) Additional Revenue Stream: DoCoMo's profit from FeliCa Networks increases the attractiveness of a larger userbase for the new technology as they profit from the fees from other providers. 3) Built-in Timed Exclusivity: DoCoMo has the ability to see which applications are coming up, and can work to implement the better ones prior to any other potential provider.

I don't think that search is a winner take all business as end users can easily switch from one search engine to another. Advertisers know that many users are drawn to portal sites such as Yahoo for their integrated mail and news services. These sites will still be useful for advertising.

Testing the new template

Since the writing of the Electronic Arts Case the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii have been released and both have online gaming capabilities. What’s your assessment of the current online gaming market?

The online gaming market I think is dominated by the XBox 360 (for consoles). They had the early mover advantage due to the PS3 getting their blu-ray technology in order and the Wii focusing on bringing in casual gamers. The XBox 360 has been successful in moving ahead of Sony in part due to the early focus on online gaming. The tie in rate for software also shows a clear advantage for Microsoft as they have ensured that each gamer gets a consistent experience in terms of online gaming. For this generation Sony will seem to be the copy cat in trying to match the standard set by Microsoft in the online gaming arena.