Thursday, June 26, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Soccer Popularity in America

Wagner's MBA Law of Soccer Popularity in America: Americans don't like to watch soccer because it is as boring as watching a chess game, even when you scream "GOOOOOAL!!!" (See Wagner's General Law of Motivation: People tend to do what they want to do, if given long periods of time and they are not impeded by the social context or the laws of physics.)

Monday, June 23, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Threatening Terrorists

Wagner's MBA Law of Threatening Terrorists: For your "threat" to seem real, you must appear intimidating, convince the terrorists that you are not goofy or naive, and then deliver on your threats with sufficient force. Although terrorism is a publicity event, terrorists are not going to play some "Washington Word Game" with you through press releases. Prepare for a fight. These TERRORISTS ARE BAD MEN with criminal intent. And then if they won't run off like the cowardly dogs that they are and you are drawn into a fight, fight to win!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Good Bureaucracies Killing Good Ideas

Wagner's MBA Law of Good Bureaucracies Killing Good Ideas: An effective bureaucracy is like a bullet proof vest made of Kevlar; multiple layers of people who can only say "no" can stop any nearly any idea no matter how powerful.

Wagner's MBA Law of the Death Prius

Wagner's MBA Law of the Death Prius: Other than motorcycles, the Toyota "Death Prius" is the most unpredictable vehicle on the road. While Prius drivers hold their head's high like "Starship Captains," the hybrid "Death Prius" often accelerates slowly, brakes slowly, merges defiantly, almost rear-ends you in heavy traffic, and silently creeps up on you while you walk in parking lots. If you are wondering who is at the nexus of traffic slowdowns on hills and inattentive behavior on the road, it is often a "Death Prius". Beware the Prius of Death!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Calculus

Wagner's MBA Law of Calculus: If you master Calculus, the limits to your career possibilities will approach zero or the limits to your career possibilities will not exist, depending on how you look at it.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Jury Duty Summons

Wagner's MBA Law of Jury Duty Summons: It would be hard to define a more wasteful and ineffective way to identify potential jurors than that used in Santa Clara County. Who reads postal mail? Who is impressed by form letter threats? Who wants the evidence to be weighed by people who couldn't escape jury duty? Why aren't jurors paid at least minimum wage to participate in some meaningful way? Who could design a more confusing and ridiculous automated jury telephone line?

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Wagner's MBA Law of Ethnic Majority Politics and "Structural Racism"

Wagner's MBA Law of Ethnic Majority Politics and "Structural Racism": An Ethnic Majority Candidate can easily defeat an Ethnic Minority Candidate due to voter tendency to vote within their ethnicity, the larger majority voting block, the larger majority donor pool, the higher socio-economic status of the majority voting block, the lack of political action committees (PACs) to support the ethnic minority candidate/constituencies, advertising targeting issues within ethnic minority households with only one eligible voter, the need for the ethnic minority candidate to register minority voters to vote and explain their civic responsibilities, and the ability of the majority candidate to run a monolingual English campaign while the ethnic minority candidate must target non-English speaking minority voting block (s) with translators and multiple messages to appeal to their individual ethnicities. Hence, from a marketing perspective, the ethnic minority candidate from a small (e.g., 10%) ethnic minority has little chance of winning a majority vote in a election outside of an ethnic enclave, especially if local journalists support only the messages of the ethnic majority voters and fail to give equal coverage to the messages of the ethnic minority voters. I am ashamed of myself for not realizing this inequity in the past.

Wagner's MBA Law of the Unexpected Event

Wagner's MBA Law of the Unexpected Event: The unexpected event is unexpected, so don't worry too much before or after it happens. Surprise on I-680 above Fremont, CA! This morning a young deer (fawn) ran in front of the Batmobile, as I was traveling at _approximately the speed limit_ ... I missed the fawn by only one or two inches, but it reminded me of how unexpected the unexpected often is when it presents. How did I not run over this animal at this high speed? Did my guardian angel intercede? How could a young fawn come from the median and the shadows in such a well traveled stretch of 3 lane Interstate highway while the sun was just rising above the hills...?

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Wagner's MBA Laws of Employers Stalking You on Facebook:

Wagner's MBA Laws of Employers Stalking You on Facebook: _Facebook Stalking by Employers_ is very common and is frequently discussed in a class that I teach. First, be careful what you post on Facebook and what you allow others to post or tag you in. Second, whenever someone tracks you on Facebook or the Web with intent to do you harm or even monitor you, this is a form of "stalking". Third, people within the organization who are given the task of stalking people on Facebook are not typically trained psychologists or even tech savvy; they are usually staff or managers with too much free time and not enough work to do. Finally, do you really want to work for an organization that is so unethical and bloated with excess personnel that they would waste time stalking you on Facebook? Probably not, as long as you have a job somewhere... IKR.