OwenBloggers: Isha - MBA '08

Independence Day

About 7 am my sister asked me what I was planning on doing today. She was halfway across the world at work, and she had more plans to celebrate American Independence Day then I did – she was planning on having a BBQ. Me? I just got up thinking how to reply to a particularly difficult e-mail relating to job search. Plans, what plans? I had none. But things come to even those without plans. Soon an Owen Alumni messaged me on Facebook and as we talked he suggested seeing Hancock mid day. And I thought what a great idea! I’ve been thinking about seeing the movie, but at a no specified time, which for me often means when it comes out on video… BTW, it’s a pretty good film – definitely worth watching.

As I was getting ready to go out, Brie called telling me that she would be at my place about five. A quick look at the calendar reminded me that I asked her if she was going to the fireworks show at the Riverside Park downtown. Silly me, and I thought I had no plans…

So after the movie, four ladies went downtown for a dinner and a fireworks show. Originally, we wanted to sit by the stage and listen to the music (concert started at noon and went all day until the fireworks finished close to 10 pm), but it was so crowded we gave up on the idea. We ended up by the Woodland Bridge. Not only we had a great view for the fireworks (minus the music that went with it), but also we avoided all the smoke that comes with it. The wind blew it all at the nice folks right by the stage… It was so smokey that I couldn't see the very well lit Batman building. But it was a very nice show. If you are in Nashville on July 4th, do check it out. In the meantime, you can check out the video of the event form someone who was apparently in my vicinity.

After the show it was so crowded with all the people moving away from the river and to the parking lots. I was a bit scared that it will take us longer to get out of downtown then the time we spent there. But nothing is as it seems. Since we parked further up Broadway, it took us less time than I expected, so we ended up at home at a reasonable hour. It started raining as we were maneuvering through the crowds, but it started to pour few minutes after we got out of the parking lot. It was raining so hard, we couldn’t see the road. And all I could think of was how glad I was for not walking home.

Song of the day:
Martina McBride - Independence Day

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Global Obesity Boom

It came to me as a bit of a shock coming back from Poland. Even though Poland might not have the thinnest people in the world, on average we are not overly obese. When I was in NYC for three days, I didn't see much of it either. In a place where people walk a lot, it's hard to keep on hundreds of pounds in excess weight. Well, that's not the case in Nashville.

I went to an open air movie at the Centennial Park with Brie last night. There I was confronted with a sad reality of the overweight South. It's been said that it's a pandemic. I think it's a self induced one. I mean, when I see a mother giving a soda to a small child/toddler, my blood boils. What we put in to our bodies has an immediate (and long term) effect on our health and well being. I had a long conversation with a friend in Poland about it, so it resonates even stronger with me now.

Looking at the facts, CDC announced couple of days ago that the number of Americans with diabetes increased to 24 million. It's interesting to read comments on WSJ Healthcare blog about this issue. Statistically speaking, about ten of my classmates (Owen MBA Class of 2008) have diabetes. And some, statistically speaking, don't know about it and the illness goes undiagnosed and untreated.

Talking of college, last week Reuters had an article on how Freshmen 15 can lead to obesity in women. Maybe it’s time for the universities to offer healthier options. No, not offer, impose healthier options on incoming students? I remember my time in dorms and school dining halls – it wasn’t pretty… “Healthy” consisted of a tiny salad bar and an oatmeal cookie. On special occasions we had bran muffins. And I did go to a large California University. I hope times have changed, but looking at Vandy it’s a slow moving progress. The cafeteria’s burger section is about a third of the whole area. Going healthy is slow process.

Of course there are those that see obesity as means to get rich. I am not revering here to vultures preying on the desperate, but rather on those who try to change people, lifestyles and perceptions. Although the Journal refers to the “Healthier Living 15” there are plenty of companies that try innovation to not only get ahead, but also get healthy.

Song of the day:
Weird Al Yankovic - Fat

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Our chasers are salty

I’ve been doing research on Doritos and in general on Frito-Lay brands trying to figure out the positioning they use, estimate target demographics, etc., so my group can figure out if the current  promotions of Doritos are in line with the target groups. (I hope they are since I am sorry to say that I absolutely don’t get this year’s Super Bowl commercial.) As I am cruising the internet searching for useful bits of information, I came across this blog about Lay’s dill pickle chips. The author talks about drinking vodka like a Russian. I don’t know about smelling bread, but in Poland we definitely use salty things as a chaser. And rarely it’s in a liquid form… Dill pickles make spectacular  chasers, so does kielbasa (and no it has nothing to do with the imitation of goodness that you can purchase in American supermarkets), bread is a good choice, but so is marinated herring (yes, a fish in vinegar). Then again herring in oil is pretty good too, especially if served it with onions and bread. Yummy! And although all of this might sound a bit odd, I just would like to add that we have a different drinking culture, and parties can be a bit different then you would see at Owen’s Thursday night socials... 

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The smell of food in the lobby

Don't be surprised, the smell of food in the lobby has a powerful impact on students. It's like a magnet that holds them and keeps them around even if they might have had other plans. Apparently nothing attracts MBAs more then free food.  As en example, last Thursday the The Office of Development and Alumni Relations put on cocktails and hors d’oeuvres Mardi Gras style. The lobby was full of hungry students. I admit, I was on my way home when the smell of fried chicken hit my nostrils and it didn't take long for me to have a hurricane in my hand. I am sure that some of the students came in with the single idea in mind - interact with alums. However, I am convinced that Owen staff is well aware how free food affects students and they take full advantage of it.

Talking of food, the discover weekend is here and I signed up to show my support for Owen and to tell of the indecisive students out there that Owen is the place to be. And no, free food did not play a role in it - I got up and out of bed because I care. I can eat breakfast at home you know... Unfortunately, I missed last night event (which I hear was a lot of fun) so my interaction with the prospective students is so far fairly limited. But not all is lost, there is still lunch and then there are drinks on town at night. Too bad it's two weeks before finals, or I would be in a much more celebratory mood. 

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So is drinking healthy or not?

Over the past few weeks there have been several news articles, commentaries and blogs on the subject of drinking, alcoholism and health. After reading through them I wonder if I was a regular consumer who just picked up a paper what would I think? My conclusion probably would be I need to be an alcoholic to have a healthy heart. Don’t believe me? First the guidelines by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) states that moderate drinking by women amounts to one drink a day (two per day for men). On the other hand, Danish researches recently found, or rather concluded from a 20 year long study, that drinking a drink a day is beneficial in the long run. Now, we all know that a glass of red wine a day is good for your heart, but any drink? Hmm, interesting...

On the other hand, we have the unpleasant aftermath of drinking – the hangover. On New Year’s Eve, WSJ published a commentary on the Anatomy of a Hangover, with the conclusion that remedies are many, but the suffering remains. That’s something for Owen students should keep in mind as they are enjoying Thursday night festivities…

What are business implications for the industry? With studies like the Danish research they should do nothing but jump in joy. (I wouldn’t go as far as marketing alcoholic drinks as healthy though.) Then again, most people will probably take those findings with a grain of salt, so it might be wise to hold off the festivities for now. So the main question remains: is it healthy or not?

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Can GMO affect your HMO?

Or more likely can GMO affect your health and health insurance? What does one have to do with the other? Considering that for all sense and purposes, cloned animals should be considered GMO, then allowing them for consumption will introduce more GMO into our diets and thus bodies. For those naïve that think there is no GMO in their life, think again. All you need is a little cross pollination of GMO and regular crops and you have been modified.

So what does that mean to the average Joe? Initially, probably not too much. On one hand we have statement by the FDA that cloned meet is safe:

“Extensive evaluation of the available data has not identified any subtle hazards that might indicate food consumption risks in healthy clones of cattle, swine or goats," the Food and Drug Administration said in a final risk assessment that confirmed preliminary findings from 2006.”

On the other we have attitudes of potential costumers that convey two distinct responses to the question of “would you eat it?” I did a little survey at Owen asking students what thought on the issue and the results were a bit surprising to me. After initial negative replies, the more students I asked the more said that they would buy and eat cloned meat. One student said “I see nothing wrong with cloning, as long as they don’t screw up the genes.” Others admitted that if FDA approved then they would consider it safe and one even admitted that “The idea is gross, but then again I eat “hormone chicken” and that is probably a lot more disturbing then cloned meat.” Others had had similar thoughts, but specified that they would purchase cloned meat if it was considerably cheaper then not cloned variety.

Of the students, faculty and staff that did not like the idea of cloned meat and would never eat it, the reasons why varied drastically. Some cited ethics as the main cause of concern. Others indicated that more studies needed to be done before we could conclude that such meat and any other animal product (like milk) is safe for consumption. This group also thought that labeling those products as “cloned” is crucial. But as a word of caution, the FDA will not require mandatory labels for clone-derived foods.  Hmmm. Yet another group specified that currently they don’t eat any GMOs, and one person said that she and her family eat only organics due to health concerns. The main theme though, aside from the ethics that is, was long-term safety of the product and its impact on the human body.

As for the ethics of this one student said simply “no.” Then she went on to explain that from her view point of a theologian/creationist, God created beings and this is interfering in his creation. I might not agree with her reasoning, but that is not the issue, now it? What ever is being said here, would you, my dear reader, eat a cloned steak or drink milk from a cloned cow?

So to return to the initial question: what does that mean to the average Joe? Maybe nothing, but maybe those cloned cows contain some sort of genetic mutations undetectable with current technology (why did Dolly the cloned sheep die so quickly?) and those minor mutations might, just might mean more tumors in humans. And then we will be able to say that those GMO definitely affect your HMO or any other health insurance you might have or want to purchase.

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Innovation and money

There is a close link between the two. Money drives innovation and successful innovation makes money. Simple right? Not so much. Especially if you look at how the world is becoming a smaller place, innovation, especially in healthcare, is becoming more challenging and complicated. In pharma, on one side you have the time it takes to develop the drug, test it, etc. and on the other how and where do you recover the costs of putting forward your innovation.

In the panel The Development of Medical Innovation: Who Stands to Benefit? one of the issues discussed was drug trails in foreign countries (especially phase III) and upon completion the product not being available in this part of the world. Why? Because the idea is to push the drug into the US market and reap the benefits of full cost recovery. Often the regions whe re the drug is tested patients simply can’t afford the price tag. Unfortunately the panelists were not too concerned about it. Yes, they did raise the issue, but offered no solution.

On the home front, we discussed clinics run by nurse practitioners who provide a service to the insurance-poor in facilities located at drugstores or Wal-Mart locations. Is it the way to go to cure the ills of healthcare? The jury is still out on that one. But innovation is crucial, what we, as business people, must do is try to figure out how to ensure that money follows those “little” innovations so they keep on coming. As a wise man said: innovate or die.

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Thursday night social – on a slightly larger scale

Oh, the buzz of excitement! People coming in from (almost) all around the globe to exchange ideas and to see how they can change the world one company at a time. Last night the welcome reception was held in a huge tent. We had hundreds of people attending. In the beginning of the evening the most common question were “how do we get Net Impact at our school?” and “what are the benefits of having the conference at your school?” etc.  I think running around with the camera had something to do with people mistaking me for one of the organizers. Sorry folks, just taking pictures here. However, it was really cool to talk about the changes that the conference brought about. I can see a definite trend developing and let’s not forget, this is the Deep South and the only green things around here are the magnolia trees. OK, not really, but close enough.

As the night progressed, the conversation moved away from “what school are you from?” to more meaningful topics like the carbon emissions in production of petroleum based siding panels and following debate if it can be considered sustainable. Now, all I have to do is wait for the breakout sessions. With a great variety of topics and the fantastic panelists the choice is hard, but I can only go to one session at a time, so I will have to sacrifice nine others.

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Departing from reality

I was reading through entertainment news (not the gossip variety, but actual news about the entertainment industry) and I came across an article on the Kid Nation that exploited the issues of killing livestock in order to eat protein. I don’t know where majority of critics get their chicken breasts, but I am pretty darn sure that at some point they were attached to living, breathing chickens. Oh wait, they are all vegetarians and vegans... But leaving the quality of the critics aside, the argument raised is that those poor children will be scared for life by the experience. Well, if any of them ever had any experience of living on a farm (sustainable or not), they would be used to that sort of thing. I remember when I was a kid, I would visit my aunt’s farm. When I would say I wanted chicken soup for dinner, she would go out and few minutes later I would be sitting by her watching her pluck the feathers. Granted, I was well out of my toddler years before I saw her kill one, but I don’t look back at it as traumatic. Actually, I don’t look back at all. Now, slathering a pig was a more memorable experience, not that I would loose sleep over it either. None of those experiences put me off animal proteins, on the contrary, they make me appreciate a piece of meat a bit more knowing how much work goes into an animal before it ends up on my plate.

I am not saying that forcing children to kill anything is advisable or desirable.  However, how many of those kids (or any kids like them) have parents that go  hunting? Are we saying that killing a chicken for sustenance is worse then going duck hunting or putting another set of antlers on the wall?  How is that as food for thought?

Missed the episode or deperate to watch kids actions and reactions?  Click here to see it on YouTube.  And definately check out the comentary  of the viewers.

Jumping for hops and barley

Breweries are a popular subject in MBA presentations. Heck, I did one just yesterday and witnessed another one in corporate valuation class. They looked  at the overall alcoholic beverages market, but I don’t recall them talking about the prices of hops or barley. And looking at WSJ today, they really should have considered should how changes in supply of raw materials, especially since they are limiting themselves to such small geographic area, will affect the value of the company. On the other hand it would be interesting to see what sort of contingency plans Samuel Adams and other craft-brewers have if  natural disasters strike their primary supply areas. How will changing the region where the raw materials are grown change the taste of their beers and thus affect the demand for t heir products? Now that would be an interesting scenario analysis to perform.

BTW, mega brewers in the US use corn and rice instead of barley, so they won’t be as affected by the price changes; however, is it really beer that they are brewing…?

Technorati tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, Owenbloggers.com, MBA, Vanderbilt, Nashville, Business School, Beer, Commodity Prices