The Integrative Stream

Plus-Size Gorillas

BusinessWeek has two interesting articles, on Google’s product development process and lack of non-search category-leaders.

I’ve been wondering about this for a while: is Google now an 800 pound gorilla with all the manueverability of an 800 pound gorilla? Small companies with tight cash flow need to focus their efforts. Google, at the moment, doesn’t.

Carnival Time

The Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Blog Business World. Good stuff this week.

Online Physician Visits

This is a critical trend, with implications for cost containment, chronic care providers and software vendors. With insurers reimbursing for online consultations the economics change for everybody.

ContraCostaTimes.com | 06/08/2006 | The doctor will see you now — on your laptop

Businesspundit: YOU should pay ME - 9 Companies That Don’t Get It

Along the same line as my recent T-Mobile discussion, BusinessPundit has ”
YOU should pay ME - 9 Companies That Don’t Get It“.

Although I’d change his rental car entry from “Every Company But Hertz” to “Hertz”. Hertz has a policy where they won’t rent to people under 25, without a corporate arrangement. I had to rent a lot of cars when I was under 25, and my company wasn’t big enough to strike (or bother striking) a corporate deal. So I developed some loyalty to companies, like Enterprise, that solved my problem. Hertz really lost me when I went down to New Jersey (I must have been 24) to do some consulting for a major pharmaceutical company. The customer had arranged the travel for the trip, which meant a rental car from their preferred agency - Hertz. But since my business card was not issued by the pharmaceutical company, I ended up in a twenty minute negotiation to get the car, which included a condescending lecture from the local manager. Not what you want at 11pm with a long drive in front of you. Rob suggests not treating customers like idiots, and that’s good advice. I’d also suggest not treating them like children. The best customers will remember.

The one time I did try Hertz after I passed the quarter-century mark I was unimpressed; the line to get my car at LAX was longer than any rental car line I can remember.

Stanford Revamps MBA

Stanford has cut back on core courses, aiming for a more “personalized” MBA curriculum. It sounds like a good idea; it’s also one of the things that attracted me to MIT. After finishing the required first-semester core curriculum you’re free to take whatever you want, although there isn’t much (if any) advising in place to help students craft their curriculum. More flexibility will draw better students to MBA programs.

HIPAA Unenforced

Washington Post: Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines