Blog 2-2 - Forces and competition

After reviewing Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) website, I have to admit, I was very impressed.  Besides doing day to day business, company attempts to make real effort to better lives and working conditions of workers employed by MEC suppliers.  In addition is company also strives to reduce environmental footprint.

It is very original that company’s customers are also its owners or as MEC refers to them, “shareholders”.   Each shareholder gest a vote on how company is run, how it conducts its business and gets to vote in the board of directors.  By empowering customers to become involved with company’s business operations, MEC creates unique organizational environment. 

 “Ethical Sourcing” section of MEC website, explains how company strives to ensure that its suppliers follow internationally accepted labor standards.  MEC take a lot of heat from its customers for doing business with China.  As its justification for doing so MEC explains that while it disagrees with Chinese government policies, doing business with Chinese companies nevertheless improves lives of Chinese workers.  In addition, MEC states that cost of doing business is one of the primary reasons behind its choosing Chinese over Canadian suppliers.  Out of seventy one factories that MEC has business relationship with, only seven are Canadian.  It is sad to see that company that boasts so much about being Canadian, falls short in supporting Canadian manufacturing sector.

In addition, MEC “Ethical Sourcing” section outlines its environmental focus and attempts to reduce environmental foot print tied to manufacturing of its products.   At the same time MEC admits that it has no control whatsoever if its suppliers share the same environmental vision and are taking steps to better the environment.  Ironically, vast majority of MEC suppliers are from countries with the worst environmental records.  Some might argue that better way to ensure environmental responsibility would be to do business primarily with more environmentally responsible countries.

Blog 1-1 - Now It’s Your Turn

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Now It’s Your Turn (Page 4, Essentials of Contemporary Management Third Canadian Edition) defines differences between “Opposable” and “Oppositional” thinking.  Opposable thinking often referred in business as “old school” thinking that takes “either-or” dominative management style approach.  Oppositional thinking revolves around win-win management style approach. 

I remember having one of my first IT jobs in small IT company in Edmonton. My primary job was to build computers from spare parts that the company would then sell off to consumers.  When I started, I was immediately informed by my supervisor of three primary rules of "his" service department:

1.       Supervisor is never wrong.

2.       No matter what I think, I should stay quiet and do what I was instructed.

3.       No one was allowed near his desk.  (This one was hard to follow, since the only phone in service area was on his desk. So I was literary taking my life in my own hands to answer a ringing phone in his absence.)

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As bad as it sounds, this job taught me discipline and consistency.  It also taught me how it feels to be micromanaged and unappreciated.  When I went on to my next IT job, I was hired as a service manager for a small computer store.  Initially, I did not know much about managing department and small team of service technicians.  Nevertheless, still having fresh lessons from previous job in mind, I knew what not to do.  That alone made me a pretty good manager and quickly earned me respect from my superiors and team members.  I empowered service technicians to regularly review the way we build and service computers and point out things they did not agree with.  Then we would have an ultimate "face off".  I would build computer my way and they would build computer their way.  Then we would race computers to see which one installs operating system and starts up faster.  If I lose then I would buy my service technicians lunch at Boston Pizza and change the process and if I win then I get to keep my "Undefeated Champion" title.   I had many jobs since then.  In the past fifteen years I noticed a slow change from oppositional thinking, "my way or the highway" type managers to opposable thinking type managers.  Managers today are more prone in engaging in healthy discussions and bridging ideas to achieve win-win resolutions.  This probably has something to do with retirement of baby boomers generation, which naturally paved the way for younger workers with more progressive thinking to take charge. 

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I often think about becoming a manager, after all this is why I spend early morning and nights studying for SAIT management classes.  Just like any other professional, future manager needs tools.  My tools are:

• Education.  I truly believe that education is the first step in becoming a good manager. 
• Mentor.  Good mentor and a role model can mentor you in things from personal experience and empower you to be more than you currently are.
• Previous experience.  God or bad, previous experience in invaluable.  Often knowing what not to do is more important than anything else.