One of the most interesting subjects in my college life is BREM, also known as Business Research. The six unit subject is cool, not because the teacher is cool, but because attending it is dependent on personal choice. The teacher, doesn’t really require daily class discussions and urgently needed requirements. All you have to do is to make her feel that you are doing well and you are on the right track in pursuing the final requirement, which is a 50-page research study. Considering the fact that we are HP’s (that is, we are the so-called ‘cream of the crop’), a 50-page output is really so damn easy (yabang!) that we could finish it overnight. Haha. Anyway, the problem started when the teacher rejected all our business proposals because she never wanted us to venture into food and service industry. We had to go with the flow but later on another problem emerged. She realized that after a few months of taking the course, we weren’t really exerting much effort (basically because there was so little pressure, we were busy in other subjects and we were forced to have a research study focused on something that doesn’t really interests us). This, however, was resolved when we managed to make use our ‘persuading powers’ to put an end to her feeling of great disappointment. A little drama and a few more fabricated facts… and whala! We’re okay again. Then, during the finals, we were scolded for a lot of things… she thought our works were nothing but a bunch of craps! Well, it’s not solely our fault because she didn’t even tell us what is right and what is wrong… what should be done and what shouldn’t be. Sigh. And, to make things worse, she added a few more items on our to-do list for finals… including the physical presence of an industry expert!!!
The logic behind having an industry expert is to verify the data that were gathered by the research were true, to prove that the strategies were feasible and to give advice on the management and additional possible tactics towards business work. Sounds easy and logical, eh? Well, for us, it’s not! Consider that you are planning to venture into a food-restaurant business. In your business research, you gathered all the data needed about the market, location, and marketing strategies; made projections on the start-up capital and 5-year financial plan; and detailed all other important facts. How can you possibly let the manager of McDonald’s come as your industry expert? Wouldn’t that put your soon-to-be business in jeopardy by exposing personal and solicited strategies appearing on the research? What if, hypothetically, McDonald’s copy that strategy? Better yet, what if they copy an innovative product line or are enlightened to an unexplored market segment (blue ocean strategy)? Would they come over in the first place?
As a result of the difference between our personal understanding and the requirements of the school curriculum, we made some ‘minor’ adjustments (just for us not let go of what we believed in)…
The logic behind having an industry expert is to verify the data that were gathered by the research were true, to prove that the strategies were feasible and to give advice on the management and additional possible tactics towards business work. Sounds easy and logical, eh? Well, for us, it’s not! Consider that you are planning to venture into a food-restaurant business. In your business research, you gathered all the data needed about the market, location, and marketing strategies; made projections on the start-up capital and 5-year financial plan; and detailed all other important facts. How can you possibly let the manager of McDonald’s come as your industry expert? Wouldn’t that put your soon-to-be business in jeopardy by exposing personal and solicited strategies appearing on the research? What if, hypothetically, McDonald’s copy that strategy? Better yet, what if they copy an innovative product line or are enlightened to an unexplored market segment (blue ocean strategy)? Would they come over in the first place?
As a result of the difference between our personal understanding and the requirements of the school curriculum, we made some ‘minor’ adjustments (just for us not let go of what we believed in)…
a. The Soy Candle Group promised that their industry expert would come over before the oral defense was finished. The teacher never anticipated that they were just lying. The presence of an industry expert was a requirement to be able to have an oral defense. Before the teacher knew it, she already has marked their grades on her record book.
b. The Yema Group ought to ‘vanish’ in the entire duration of the other groups’ presentation. They came on the last minute, with no industry expert, but the teacher heard them out…out of pity, perhaps.
c. The Digital Printing Group brought along a friend to come over and act as an industry expert. The teacher never knew that the industry expert was just acting and bribed to save the group’s souls.
d. The Botanical Garden Group brought the father of one of its members. Seriously! He acted as the industry expert but his relationship with one of the members was never exposed. So much for secrecy, eh?
e. The Pillow Bag Group brought a housemaid. She acted as the industry expert, and all her actions were rehearsed and her questions were ready-made on a script. Pretty deceiving, eh?
… And that’s how we got our A’s… bow… (clap clap).
.jpg)
.jpg)
