My Trading Post
I'm in my second-to-last MBA class this term, and while it is butt-kicking dull, it is also insanely time-sucking, and so, as usual, I have no time to write what I wish.
One of the things I am always required to do with these online classes is participate in the 'student louge' or online forum for talking about This Week's Topic. One can only imagine the cliffhangers generated from a bunch of overworked 40somethings trying to drum up creative things to say about the Price Elasticity of Demand or the Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management in a Lean Manufacturing Environment. One can almost hear the paint drying on the growing grass...
Despite my utter frustration with the third-grade level writing and the propensity for my fellow students to agree with one another rather than risk a debate on anything, I continue to write as I always do--long and with attempted wit. As a result, I am largely ignored. I do not understand this, except to surmise that it is simply too much trouble to read my blatherings and/or respond.
So to "get back" at my peers and to thrash out at least a little whimper of a post, I'm copying one of my Week 1 posts out here. We were asked to write out the "3 compelling reasons why we chose one product over another, and conversely, what we would sell if we were a supplier. Finally, why does it all work?" Stay with me; remember, if it's worth writing, it's worth making fun of. And there's no better target of fun-poking than myself.
More celiac writing to follow. Much, much, much to tell, but MBA comes first--at least until mid-October, when my last assignment is turned in.
A the I(n my Penultimate Class)
I am a Consumer Reports girl all the way down the line.
Price is a concern, but is secondary to quality and reliability. I take a very long time to decide on all but the most trivial of purchases, and I admit that even those "impulse" purchases are relative re: timing (it took me 3 months to choose a travel mug).
As a result of what I politely term my 'scientific mind' on purchases, I go for the sturdy, long-lasting, Global Warming-durable items. I'll choose stainless steel over plastic, cotton over polyester, and, in the higher-priced markets, Toyota over Hyundai. Both have lovely body styles, but even though Toyota is way more expensive and far less flexible on price, their cars never die.
My Eureka vacuum trumped the Hoover in microbial pickup and durability of attachments. The 45% silk cardigan I plucked from an obscenely expensive boutique has been with me since college, and the leather backpack I bought as a Starting My MBA Gift in 1995 (no typo, it's been 14 years in the making), just yielded its first tiny (repairable) tear.
The third category of Reasons to Purchase behind Durability and Price is propensity for timelessness re: fashion. Because it takes me so long to decide and because the things I buy last forever, I can't risk too much that's trendy, lest I look like a throwback, or some crazy Chicago lady who lives out of her shopping cart (irony intended). :)
On the seller side, I would not be so presumptuous to assume that everyone is as spastic as me regarding a Zillion year half-life, so I'd do a bell curve of items: 70% in the pretty good/no complaints/will last at least a season stock and then fill up the rest of my inventory with fringe on both sides: half in the fragile-yet-trendy and the other half in the Will Outlive Your Twinkies category.
Why do I think it all works? Because there are always buyers available to purchase items of quality (again, a relative term).
One of the things I am always required to do with these online classes is participate in the 'student louge' or online forum for talking about This Week's Topic. One can only imagine the cliffhangers generated from a bunch of overworked 40somethings trying to drum up creative things to say about the Price Elasticity of Demand or the Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management in a Lean Manufacturing Environment. One can almost hear the paint drying on the growing grass...
Despite my utter frustration with the third-grade level writing and the propensity for my fellow students to agree with one another rather than risk a debate on anything, I continue to write as I always do--long and with attempted wit. As a result, I am largely ignored. I do not understand this, except to surmise that it is simply too much trouble to read my blatherings and/or respond.
So to "get back" at my peers and to thrash out at least a little whimper of a post, I'm copying one of my Week 1 posts out here. We were asked to write out the "3 compelling reasons why we chose one product over another, and conversely, what we would sell if we were a supplier. Finally, why does it all work?" Stay with me; remember, if it's worth writing, it's worth making fun of. And there's no better target of fun-poking than myself.
More celiac writing to follow. Much, much, much to tell, but MBA comes first--at least until mid-October, when my last assignment is turned in.
A the I(n my Penultimate Class)
I am a Consumer Reports girl all the way down the line.
Price is a concern, but is secondary to quality and reliability. I take a very long time to decide on all but the most trivial of purchases, and I admit that even those "impulse" purchases are relative re: timing (it took me 3 months to choose a travel mug).
As a result of what I politely term my 'scientific mind' on purchases, I go for the sturdy, long-lasting, Global Warming-durable items. I'll choose stainless steel over plastic, cotton over polyester, and, in the higher-priced markets, Toyota over Hyundai. Both have lovely body styles, but even though Toyota is way more expensive and far less flexible on price, their cars never die.
My Eureka vacuum trumped the Hoover in microbial pickup and durability of attachments. The 45% silk cardigan I plucked from an obscenely expensive boutique has been with me since college, and the leather backpack I bought as a Starting My MBA Gift in 1995 (no typo, it's been 14 years in the making), just yielded its first tiny (repairable) tear.
The third category of Reasons to Purchase behind Durability and Price is propensity for timelessness re: fashion. Because it takes me so long to decide and because the things I buy last forever, I can't risk too much that's trendy, lest I look like a throwback, or some crazy Chicago lady who lives out of her shopping cart (irony intended). :)
On the seller side, I would not be so presumptuous to assume that everyone is as spastic as me regarding a Zillion year half-life, so I'd do a bell curve of items: 70% in the pretty good/no complaints/will last at least a season stock and then fill up the rest of my inventory with fringe on both sides: half in the fragile-yet-trendy and the other half in the Will Outlive Your Twinkies category.
Why do I think it all works? Because there are always buyers available to purchase items of quality (again, a relative term).
posted by Former Fat Girl Gone Skinny | 7:43 PM
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