Going by the concerns in Data Centre (DC) heat reduction (and, as a consequence, the very sustainability of these power hungry behemoths), it's a no-brainer guessing that a path-breaking innovation in arresting the power consumption at DCs would instantly be in the run for a Nobel.
First some facts. It is estimated that 1 % of the total energy produced (globally) is consumed by the server farms of Google's Data Centres. In fact, a third of the spend of any self-respecting IT firm is swallowed up by its energy requirements. Hence, the new-found activism of environmentalists in targeting this sector.
There is no gainsaying that we need efficient means of addressing these issues. Life without Google and Amazon is now unimaginable. No doubt that IT brings in revolutionary changes in lifestyle that facilitates our very existence. However, the unbridled growth allowed to the industry has resulted in these profit centres paying scant regard to the devastation that they cause to the environment.
Rather late in the day, they appear to have woken up and are indeed trying to make amends. For instance, there is a proposal to shift massive server infrastructure and data centres to Rejkyavick (Iceland) where, huge savings in air-conditioning is envisaged to be achieved because of the ambient temperatures. In another interesting development, a church in Finland, with a large basement (that was a bunker-cum-safety hideout from WW-II bombing) is a potential candidate for the same purpose. The idea here is however, a little different. It is proposed to trap the heat generated by the data centres, pipe it, and supply it to meet the entire heating requirement of the city where the church is housed.
The IT industry is forced to innovate now not only for the conventional reasons (processors, networks, hardware, software, the web etc.) but also to address critical global warming issues. One thing is for sure; there is no dearth of innovators in the industry. One wonders, if only the Microsofts, the Apples, the Ciscos and the Oracles would get together on this issue, some revolutionary breakthrough would indeed be forthcoming. Till such time, it's fingers crossed, and Oh yes, the Nobel waits!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Does this qualify for "Moderate" Exercise
Does the following qualify as 'moderate' exercise
(a) Thinking about having a drink - Mental Calisthenics (MC)
(b) Having made up ones mind, walking up to the bar cabinet with slow, steadied, deliberate steps - Physical Calisthenics (PC).
(Caveat - May also involve a sub stage (b1) - in the form of taking a stealthy detour to approach the bar in an effort to avoid a tete-a-tete with the better half who may (more often than not!) intervene and modify the decision making process! – PC)
(c) Having reached the reservoir, opening up the heavy redwood door to choose the drink - PC
(d) Contemplating on the choice of ambrosia from the 'bevy of beauties' lined up in the cabinet (the Glen family, the blended scotch variety, Russian, Cuban, French, Californian, .... - Gawd, so many choices and so little time - gimme a break!) - MC.
(This is an MC at its best, even the likes of Vishwanathan Anand (the mental master that he is!) have been known to suffer nervous breakdowns attempting the exercise.)
(e) Reaching for the glass door to the cabinet that houses the crystal ware (Waterford, Ricci …. ?) and mentally assign the glass ware to be blessed with the fluid to be imbibed. - MC
(g) Psychologically and physiologically exhausted by now, managing to pour the equivalent of three score and a half (in ml) of the selected amber fluid into the chosen glass. - PC
(f) Deciding whether to add an additional liquefied mix of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen (with a dash of carbon-di-oxide for good measure), or a solidified mix of the concoction of hydrogen and oxygen, or better still, shove the contents of the glass down the gullet, on the rocks. – MC
(g) Carrying out the task at para (f) above - PC
(Note-This exercise can be repeated ad infinitum (of course at the cost for earning the wrath of your better half!) for top order benefits.
Phew! Just writing about it has sapped my energies and primed my thirst glands. I need ‘Something Special’ now.
(a) Thinking about having a drink - Mental Calisthenics (MC)
(b) Having made up ones mind, walking up to the bar cabinet with slow, steadied, deliberate steps - Physical Calisthenics (PC).
(Caveat - May also involve a sub stage (b1) - in the form of taking a stealthy detour to approach the bar in an effort to avoid a tete-a-tete with the better half who may (more often than not!) intervene and modify the decision making process! – PC)
(c) Having reached the reservoir, opening up the heavy redwood door to choose the drink - PC
(d) Contemplating on the choice of ambrosia from the 'bevy of beauties' lined up in the cabinet (the Glen family, the blended scotch variety, Russian, Cuban, French, Californian, .... - Gawd, so many choices and so little time - gimme a break!) - MC.
(This is an MC at its best, even the likes of Vishwanathan Anand (the mental master that he is!) have been known to suffer nervous breakdowns attempting the exercise.)
(e) Reaching for the glass door to the cabinet that houses the crystal ware (Waterford, Ricci …. ?) and mentally assign the glass ware to be blessed with the fluid to be imbibed. - MC
(g) Psychologically and physiologically exhausted by now, managing to pour the equivalent of three score and a half (in ml) of the selected amber fluid into the chosen glass. - PC
(f) Deciding whether to add an additional liquefied mix of two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen (with a dash of carbon-di-oxide for good measure), or a solidified mix of the concoction of hydrogen and oxygen, or better still, shove the contents of the glass down the gullet, on the rocks. – MC
(g) Carrying out the task at para (f) above - PC
(Note-This exercise can be repeated ad infinitum (of course at the cost for earning the wrath of your better half!) for top order benefits.
Phew! Just writing about it has sapped my energies and primed my thirst glands. I need ‘Something Special’ now.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
When companies expand does service quality contract?
What's with marketing case studies that brings out the creative juices in the students? I guess, it's the feel of that breath of fresh air after the didactic monologues that pass off as instructions in conventional classrooms.
Been through a case study on the famed 'Dell Service'. What caught the attention is its startling resemblance to the "Starbucks" case study (one that we did in the services marketing class earlier on). Viewing the negative 'word of mouth' that both the firms garnered (during a particularly unforgettable period in their lives), one is prone to contemplate on the fact that both started out selling great customer experiences. Starbucks came with its concept of the 'third place' - a place where one congregated to hit it out with friends, a place that was distinctly different from the workplace and home; a place where one could unwind and catch up with 'my types'. Dell, on the other hand, shocked the world with its impossibly insane proposal of selling computers directly to the consumer, thereby cocking a snook at distribution channels, that entrenched agglomeration of entities that get the goods from the factory gate to the end user.
In both the cases, the customers enjoyed it thoroughly. However, somewhere down the line, both got it wrong. Was it their expansive plans of growth that send them down the slippery slope of self damnation? Search me! One fact is certain. Both shifted their 'position' from 'delighting' their customers, to taking on the challenge of amassing more customers. Was the cost worth it? No clear answers there. What is apparent though, is the fact that there is no silver bullet that lets you expand your business and retain the customer experience. Does it mean that expansion will always penalise the existing customer at the cost of the new additions? If so, should companies attempt it? Also, how do some firms come out the experience unscathed? Lots of questions that beget answers!
Been through a case study on the famed 'Dell Service'. What caught the attention is its startling resemblance to the "Starbucks" case study (one that we did in the services marketing class earlier on). Viewing the negative 'word of mouth' that both the firms garnered (during a particularly unforgettable period in their lives), one is prone to contemplate on the fact that both started out selling great customer experiences. Starbucks came with its concept of the 'third place' - a place where one congregated to hit it out with friends, a place that was distinctly different from the workplace and home; a place where one could unwind and catch up with 'my types'. Dell, on the other hand, shocked the world with its impossibly insane proposal of selling computers directly to the consumer, thereby cocking a snook at distribution channels, that entrenched agglomeration of entities that get the goods from the factory gate to the end user.
In both the cases, the customers enjoyed it thoroughly. However, somewhere down the line, both got it wrong. Was it their expansive plans of growth that send them down the slippery slope of self damnation? Search me! One fact is certain. Both shifted their 'position' from 'delighting' their customers, to taking on the challenge of amassing more customers. Was the cost worth it? No clear answers there. What is apparent though, is the fact that there is no silver bullet that lets you expand your business and retain the customer experience. Does it mean that expansion will always penalise the existing customer at the cost of the new additions? If so, should companies attempt it? Also, how do some firms come out the experience unscathed? Lots of questions that beget answers!
Friday, November 27, 2009
The tyranny of melancholy
Its a well known fact that depiction of disasters, misfortunes, catastrophes, squalor etc. elicit more oohs and aahs than refined portrayals. Slumdog Millionaire is a case in point. Guess it has to do with the human primordial instinct (the id) of helping out the 'down-in-the-dumps' guy. The well-off can, in any case, take care of themselves!
It is also an accepted maxim that the 3Ds - death, debt and divorce offer the most fertile breeding ground for art to germinate and consequentially prosper. No wonder then, that most of the exorbitantly expensive (and, therefore logically, fashionable!) art would radiate pessimism than optimism.
It seems the 'tyranny of the melancholy' has another votary in the Prize committee that selects the Economist(s) for the honour of the Nobel Prize. With a slim variance, the winners in this category for the last several years have all been social economists who have theorised about concepts varying from economic governance (this years winners) to trade patterns (Paul Krugman-2008) to welfare economics (our very own Amartya Sen - 1998). One of the few exception has been Joe Stiglitz ( who alongwith his co-researchers won the prize in 2001 for the study on markets with asymmetric information). I guess, with that attitude wired into the psyche of the deciders, guys like Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, who postulated the stunningly simple concept of Service Quality that determines the level of appreciation that a customer has to a product/service, through what is known as the gap model (the difference between the performance of the product/service and the expectation of the customer), don't stand a chance. Tough luck guys! Start researching on the 'ugly underbelly' variety of topics. You may probably hit the bullseye.
It is also an accepted maxim that the 3Ds - death, debt and divorce offer the most fertile breeding ground for art to germinate and consequentially prosper. No wonder then, that most of the exorbitantly expensive (and, therefore logically, fashionable!) art would radiate pessimism than optimism.
It seems the 'tyranny of the melancholy' has another votary in the Prize committee that selects the Economist(s) for the honour of the Nobel Prize. With a slim variance, the winners in this category for the last several years have all been social economists who have theorised about concepts varying from economic governance (this years winners) to trade patterns (Paul Krugman-2008) to welfare economics (our very own Amartya Sen - 1998). One of the few exception has been Joe Stiglitz ( who alongwith his co-researchers won the prize in 2001 for the study on markets with asymmetric information). I guess, with that attitude wired into the psyche of the deciders, guys like Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, who postulated the stunningly simple concept of Service Quality that determines the level of appreciation that a customer has to a product/service, through what is known as the gap model (the difference between the performance of the product/service and the expectation of the customer), don't stand a chance. Tough luck guys! Start researching on the 'ugly underbelly' variety of topics. You may probably hit the bullseye.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wodehouse and the Greun Effect
Got a mail from an old classmate that revived memories of the good ol' joys of sinking in to your favourite ragged-at-the-edges sofa with a PG Wodehouse in hand. Set me thinking as to what was it that segmented PGW from the rest of the wordsmiths. Can't be humour alone, since there were several blokes who wrote in that genre and fell flat. Neither can it be just jugglery of words - he was undoubtedly a master at that. I guess what set him apart was his sheer depth of understanding of human psychology. He knew, to use a metaphor, where to hit. Rather than hit where it hurts the most, he hit where it elevated you the most. One would be left with this quaint feeling of helpless enjoyment, wanting to sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire that he would drag us into. No wonder, we fell for the maestro's masterful manipulation that made the mundane, magnificent.
Incidentally, the Gruen Effect (or Transfer) refers to the psychological transformations that happen to a fairly natural individual when he/she visits a shopping mall. When a consumer enters a shopping mall, he/she is surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout that makes him/her lose track of his/ her original intentions. Spatial awareness of the surroundings play a key role, as does the surrounding sound and music. The effect of the transfer is marked by a slower walking pace, glazed eyes and slackening of the jaw. In short, the the moment when we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers. It's named after Victor Gruen (an Austrian architect) who modelled the first ever shopping mall. (courtesy wikipedia.com).
What Gruen is to malls, I guess, PGW is to books.
Incidentally, the Gruen Effect (or Transfer) refers to the psychological transformations that happen to a fairly natural individual when he/she visits a shopping mall. When a consumer enters a shopping mall, he/she is surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout that makes him/her lose track of his/ her original intentions. Spatial awareness of the surroundings play a key role, as does the surrounding sound and music. The effect of the transfer is marked by a slower walking pace, glazed eyes and slackening of the jaw. In short, the the moment when we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers. It's named after Victor Gruen (an Austrian architect) who modelled the first ever shopping mall. (courtesy wikipedia.com).
What Gruen is to malls, I guess, PGW is to books.
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