Assignment 03
BU310 Fundamentals of Management
Directions: Be sure to make an electronic copy ofyour answer before submitting it to Ashworth College for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to usecorrect English spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be a minimum of one (1) single-spaced pageto amaximum of two (2) pages in length; refer to the "Assignment Format"page for specific format requirements.
Chapter 5: Closing Case. “Laughing All the Way to the Bank” (p. 173). In addition, read some Dilbert cartoons in a book, newspaper, or online at www.dilbert.com.
1. What viewpoint is Adams expressing about work and careers? In your viewpoint, what impact did Adam’s viewpoint have on his choice to leave a corporate job and become an entrepreneur? Explain. (34 points)
2. What sources of information and expertise did Adams use in starting and developing his business? Did the start-up of the Dilbert cartoon follow the typical pattern of entrepreneurial start-ups? Why or why not? (33 points)
3. Adams claims that his success is due primarily to luck and persistence; do you agree or disagree? Do you think his advice is helpful to potential entrepreneurs? Why or why not? (33 points)
This is the end of Assignment 03.
Case:
Have you heard the one about the firm that bought laptops so employees could work while traveling and then bolted and computers to the desks for security? Yes this is a joke published in the business-focused Dilbert cartoons, drawn by unlikely entrepreneur Scott Adams. But it is also a true story. Adams has found a way to channel the absurdity, frustration, and stress of working life into a productive outlet, the creation of cartoon strips based on his real-life experiences in corporate America.
“I cried because I did not have an office with a door, until I met a man who had no cubicle.” Dilbert is the hottest cartoon strip around, carried in 75 percent of U.S. daily newspapers. Scott Adams’s comics have spawned 3 million copies of top selling books, built one of the most visited websites, and inspired an animated television show. The “hero” of the strip is Dilbert, the prototypical white-collar office worker. Dilbert is a technology geek, and other characters include secretaries, consultants, and bosses.
Scott Adams earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and worked for a bank, then he obtained an M.B.A in hopes a promotion. “ I made the observation that people who didn’t have an M.B.A. got ahead much more slowly. I thought I was going to become a captain of industry, so I decided it would be good for my career. Adams joined Pacific Bell and began the invention of Dilbert. When Dilbert’s popularity took off and his corporate career stalled, Adams became a full time cartoonist. He claims that the variety of jobs he has held led to his achievements, saying “ If I could pick one thing that contributed to my success, it was that I tried many things and I didn’t quit.’
Most Artists sell their work to syndicates, so they have little contact with the comic reading public. Adams knew this was a faulty model for customer feedback, thanks to his marketing expertise. So he was one of the first to put his e-mail address on every strip, enabling readers to send him 350 to 800 comments and suggestions daily. He was also one of the first to put Dilbert online (www.dilbert.com).
Another Important lesson from M.B.A school was to identify his target market. Adams claims, “I could get people to do my marketing for me through the simple trick of mentioning different occupations in the strip……I’d put an accountant in a strip, and people would cut it out and send a copy to all the accountants they knew. I kept using that technique, including each of the professions, until everyone on earth had been sent a Dilbert cartoon. It was systematic approach to building the market.”
Boss: “Our policy is to employ only the best technical professionals.
Dilbert: “Isn’t it also our policy to base salaries on the industry average?
Boss: “Right. We like them bright but clueless.”
Adams used his strip to skewer the incompetence he saw in every profession. “When I originally started drawing Dilbert, I was just writing a funny little comic about a guy who had a job that was a lot like mine. People read into it that workers were brilliant and bosses were stupid. But that’s only half true- what I really thought was the everyone was stupid, including me.” However, customer feedback altered his original intent. Adams continues, “ But it was far more commercial to go with what people wanted…..I just did the math; For every boss there are about ten employees. Do you want to sell a product to one boss or ten employees? I had to go with the ten-to-one advantage.
In Adams’s unique philosophy, success is more about luck than about hard work, education, or talent. Adams advises others, “ The capitalist system allows nice failures for every winner, so you’re either one of the many who will fail a few times and quit, or you’re one of the few people who will trying and win. If all the people who quit had kept going, they would have been as successful as I have been with Dilbert”
Adams has a favorite strip, in which Wally, a classic slacker and underperformer, tells the pointy-haired boss, “Over the past year, most of my co-works have managed expensive projects that failed. I’ve done nothing but drink coffee. So on economic basis, that makes me your top performer. Watch and Learn.” Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs; Watch Scott Adams and learn