subject: Five Minute Master of Business Administration Degree Developed By Translators [print this page] Author: Jennifer Simpson
Whenever I'm browsing through a bookstore, books with titles like "The 14 Hour MBA" always seem to catch my wondering eye. That's a great idea - a single book that provides all the information contained in a two year graduate business degree. So yesterday, while I was browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I had a thought. I should collaborate with our Russian translator, Japanese translator and Portuguese translator to develop a 20-minute graduate business program for our new clients. This would allow them to gain valuable knowledge, save money on a bunch of textbooks and improve their chances of landing a great job and the promise of big raises. But suddenly it dawned on me. Why offer this when I could offer an even shorter course? Well of course all of this is just not possible. But just as a builder sets out the specifications of a building before beginning building and selling it, we can also map out the specifications of a graduate business program. In a nutshell, the objective of an MBA program is to help companies operate successfully, and we kept this in mind when we met with our translators to sketch out the common elements of all successful business organizations. In particular, all successful companies are able to create demand and sell it profitably. Creating Your Own Demand
A few Portuguese translation workers took the first stab at defining how demand is created. They found that really successful companies identify a need, produce the product or service and deliver it in a timely manner. But this only works if the business provides the good or service at a better price or higher quality than the competitors. Making Your Business Profitable
While some Portuguese translators defined the creation of demand, a team of Russian Translation workers defined the creation of profitability. To the Russian Translators, successful companies must sell products or services at prices that are high enough to cover costs and adequately compensate investors. Quite often, companies must be highly profitable and be a leader in market share. As a result, it can be extremely difficult to satisfy investors and customers at the same time. The fact that all companies are not successful in this respect is a primary reason why managers enroll in MBA programs. Thus far we are well on our way to providing the first ever super quick MBA. It was encouraging to see that the Russian and Portuguese translation groups grasped the daunting task that companies face when trying to please customers and investors. Challenging as the task may be, some highly successful organizations have been able to satisfy both customers and investors. While all this was going on, we put our Japanese Translation Team to work to determine the characteristics required for business success. The Japanese translators came back with the assertion that to be successful, a business must have talented workers at every level. They reinforced the importance of executives who create sound strategy, managers who provide positive motivation and make sensible decisions, and front line employees who provide outstanding customer service as a result of posessing the knowledge and skills required to effectively do the job. Japanese translators also stressed the importance of maintaining strong relationships with investors, customers and external suppliers. Finally, the Japanese indicated that successful companies have sufficient capital to execute their plans and support their operations. And thus we have proven our point that an MBA course could be designed in fifteen minutes and delivered for free in five minutes to whoever reads this far.About the Author:
