Class 7 9/20/11: I seem to prefer blogging on cases

There seems to always be nothing to say, not even a paragraph, the day after a lecture class. However, going to classes concerning the classes seems to always make me WANT to blog about it, and reflect. Would this be ok, that my blog posts are substantially longer(even if it's not ok, I seem to have kept it this way anyways...), but for both days of class combined? Since textbook classes thus far seem to still be rehashing material we learned before, it is sufficient to comment on them a little along the way.

Today's case on Harley Davidson was a very long(do they get longer and longer from here on out?) yet very interesting read. I seem to be saying that about all of the cases thus far, but I think I just got lucky. As a fitness enthusiast, Bally's was appealing. Luxury service like Wynn Resorts appeals universally. And then with Harley, it is the kind of interesting that blends itself with respect. Because the case spent so long talking about Harley's history, and building the image of a company tradition and a company brand, it seemed to give the corporation itself life.

I am also enrolled in Professor Martin's Business Ethics course this semester, and we have just gone through material relating to the moral responsibilities of a corporation as its own entity. Central to our discussion was how one could separate the corporation from its owners and executives. At what point does a company stop being just an extension of its owner's thoughts and take on its own identity? I feel like Harley has surpassed that point, with how much this case described Harley's past, present, and future, as one continuous process.

For these longer cases, however, do they not merit additional treatment beyond the about 45 minutes allotted in class today? For Bally's and Wynn Resorts, both shorter cases(although Professor Tuggle, why did you say Bally's is a very complex case?), I feel like class time was enough. It seemed somewhat rushed for the discussion about Harley -Davidson.

Also out of curiosity, will we be tested on the data about various cases on the midterm? There seems to be ample emphasis placed on getting the correct year, the correct names of executives, and so on.

As for the textbook material on chapter 4...sometimes I really wish we just had capstone class based on cases only. Since we have spent our previous semesters in school learning and memorizing all of the various theory, could this class not be simply all application? Just a thought...

Class 5 9/13/11: Totally gambling illiterate

Quite unlike my situation with last week's case, in which I had been a loyal customer of a gym for years and was really into the material, this week's case on Wynn Resorts left me rather confused.

The first and last time in my life I've been to Las Vegas was when I was about 11 years old. Our family and extended family had decided to take a camping trip to Las Vegas together, and on the drive back, stop by Las Vegas to discover just exactly what the hype was. As one could imagine, Las Vegas was at least just a bit dull for an 11 year old who was much more enamored with cartoons and video games than anything a casino could offer. I vaguely remember a too strong smell of smoke, lots of glitzy slots, and interesting buffet food. I don't believe I ever left the one casino we stayed at for the two or so days, and I do remember being extremely excited to leave the place.

Therefore, upon reading this case, things did not connect with me. It was quite interesting, however, reading about these things I never knew about. Especially of interest was the fact that Macau was the equivalent of a Chinese Las Vegas. Call me ignorant, especially for someone who was born and lived in China for eight years, but I never knew about Macau either. I have no interest in visiting Macau, the same as I have no interest in visiting Las Vegas, but I appreciated learning a little more about the rules that govern China and its territories.

As far as the previous lectures on textbook chapters have been, I just have one question: why does it feel like business classes recycle and rehash the same basic information to its students over and over? Or is it because this class is capstone, and therefore meant to be an indirect summary of everything previous? Probably the latter one, but for these first two chapters I feel like I've heard everything in some format or another before.

Class 3 9/6/11: Such Fond Memories

When I realized I needed to register for a capstone course, imagine my surprise when the screen said Dr. Tuggle was teaching the class! Not to be intentionally a suck up, but I thought tech with this professor was quite the good class, at least as far as the material goes. Nobody could make technology interesting for non computer majors, but it went as well as it could with Dr. Tuggle teaching this class to a bunch of business majors!

Long story short, I thought that signing up for this particular capstone would be a good idea, considering the tough reputation I've heard the other capstone professors have.

The first week of classes did not disappoint. It felt like the format and pacing of the tech class I had previously, simply structured around new material. The technology news made a comeback! In the form of business news of course. Considering the fact that I often forget to follow news at all by myself, I feel like this will help me keep current on such news.

The first case was also an interesting treat. I guess, according to the terms defined in the case, I'd classify myself as a "core member"(of 24 hour fitness). I've belonged to the gym for over 4 years now, since May 2007 or so, when my dad changed companies and they had a family gym membership plan. Since my high school freshman year, when I started school sports, exercise has gradually become an essential part of my life. There have been times when I've cancelled or scaled back on social events with friends in order to get in my weekly workouts! Thus, I read the case eagerly, and am looking forward to further analysis.

Overall, I think these past three classes have been a great start to the semester, and I'm looking forward to more.