The third best bar in the world

As we were sitting in the shade, I was listening to the smooth French accent of a nearby tour guide describing the bar in the park as the third best in the world according to Lonely Planet.

Budapest's Erzsebet is definitely saved on Google maps, will be coming back here for sure. She told her listeners, you can come back later and find out for yourself - what great advice.

The benefit of open systems theory

I was asked during a course, what do you see as the benefit to the study of management of the open systems theory? A strategic view of management processes is imperative for modern managers; while a purely operational view serves frontline and middle management with a fast changing operating environment requires strategic management thinking.

Open systems theory maintains organisations, and more importantly the people who make up those organisations adapt a close working relationship with their external environment to ensure long term viability. A complex relationship exists between internal and external customers, suppliers and the staff members who interact with them. The modern operating environment requires organisations to quickly adapt to external factors due to global organisations, modern communication systems, international managers and flatter organisational structures.

The vocational education and training sector is under siege by the higher education sector, the schools sector, government funding models and international universities offering free online education. A modern vocational training organisation that fails to address the needs of their students will rapidly lose market share to organisations targeting such client relationships.

The iron curtin

Shall we live as slaves or free men? It isolated the east from the west, it split Europe and the world, it took away our freedom, it held us in captivity and fear, it tormented and humiliated us and we finally wore it down.

Burn rate

Burn rate is a measure for how fast a company will use up its shareholder capital; it is negative cash flow. If shareholder capital is exhausted, the enterprise will either have to find additional funding, close down or generate a profit from internal cash flows.

I purchased this hard cover book in the Latin Quarter in Paris for 1 euro and although a very old publication, it provides a fairly good history of the internet. I found it in the business section of a second hand bookshop with it providing a compelling read on buses, trains and planes throughout the next stage of the trip through the United States.

With an increasing number of investors and entrepreneurs blaming the dot-com bust not only on unsound management practices but also financial management to maintain the burn rate, it was accepted as the proxy measurement of how fast the start-up company was acquiring a customer base.

Does the book adequately describe the principles behind the current raft of technology companies heading to the market for funding? I am not sure but I will certainly treat with suspicion estimated revenues promoted by underwriters on the unsuspecting public.

Google Android One

The battleground for smartphone supremacy appears to be India, well it is the launch pad at any rate for low cost smartphones.

Following the launch of the low-cost Firefox OS smartphone into the Indian market, the Android One retails for a little over $100, a bargain at any price. Throughout the rest of 2014 and into 2015, the Android One will be progressively launched into South East Asian markets.

Powered by 4.4.4 KitKat, the smartphone will not be running obsolete software for budget consumers with free Android updates for the first two years, after that, I assume you will be charged for updates.

It will be interesting to see if budget smartphones will be released into premium markets like Australia or online sales will allow postage to outside countries.

Getting my MBA application together

I am considering my application for an MBA course, just putting together a top notch application should be considered an achievement in itself. Limited numbers of post graduate positions are available at the top business schools, so competition is fierce, the cost is significant so selecting the right provider is paramount.

You do get a couple of cracks at it though, because if first choice is not accepted, you move to second, third and fourth choice, I suppose. Once you have selected your preferred provider - you want to make your application count.

Then there is the GMAT at some but not all institutions, the graduate management admission test, having taken 2 1/4 hour written examinations, a 3 1/2 test incorporating analytical reasoning, integrated reasoning, quantitative reasoning and a verbal assessment is another step up again, not looking forward to that one.

I have read that only 6% of MBA applications for Stanford University are successful with 10% of Harvard applications making it through, now I know this is the top end and other business schools are closer to 50%, still, it is discouraging.

Then, once you have been accepted, hopefully at an institution high on your list, a couple of years of your life are gone, just slip past - you are under pressure to land that big job or promotion to make it all worthwhile.

Firefox OS smartphones

As Apple Inc prepared to roll out 4 million pre-sold iPhone 6 mobiles to cashed up consumers willing to pay a massive premium for their product; Mozilla Corp, the non-profit foundation behind Firefox is launching an open source operating system for smartphones targeting a totally different market segment.

I must admit, I am a fan of the Google Chrome web browser as my account is linked where I can access my personal account on any computer. I really like the Android open source system used on most non-Apple smartphones and tablets.

I use the Mozilla Firefox browser at work and reckon it is really a pretty good and intuitive operating system. Following on from Google's lead, rival tech company Firefox has also developed open source software to power mobile phones.

When I inspect the analytics of this particular site, I note with interest approximately 65% of internet traffic is Google Chrome, 20% is Firefox, 6% Internet Explorer, 4% is OS;FBSV 3% Safari and 2% Opera, Mobile Safari, CriOS and other systems.

Now this is open to change daily and only an indication although trends have emerged over the year this blog has been running. Based on this information, one might assume the rising popularity of Firefox is eclipsing Microsoft's Internet Explorer as browser of choice. 

I am also guessing the dominance of the Google Android operating system for smartphones accounts for the 65% majority. One expects this to last for the next decade or so, we really can't project any further forward than that.    

Searching the net, a 16GB iPhone is listed for sale at $869 (non-plan) and a whopping $1249 for a 128GB non-plan smartphone on the Apple Store website. The low-cost Firefox powered smartphone seems to be receiving mixed reviews currently, the phone is fairly simple to use by all accounts.   

Two Firefox powered smartphones have been released in India, the Intex Cloud FX and single-core processor Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 are 2G and not 3G enabled phones. The INR 2299 ($43 AUD) Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 is very competitively priced with further roll-outs in regions planned for the future.

What I am guessing is the take-up of cheaper smartphones in developing markets will lead to pressure on margins of the established players in developed markets as Firefox powered handsets improve.