Stakeholder Actualizes Win-Win Paradigm
Former Consultant Claims 2002 Buzzword Bingo Championship
Scott Sharabura
Issue date: 1/21/02 Section: Humor
CHICAGO — First-year GSB student Eric Chen squeaked out a victory during Competitive Strategy on Thursday, as he was crowned Buzzword Bingo Champion of 2002. Chen yelled "BINGO" at the end of a student question on the "multi-faceted barriers to entry faced by total-quality e-tailers." The winning buzzword was "e-tailer".
"I feel so empowered," exclaimed Chen as he celebrated his win. "It was a very experiential game. I was able to fly under the radar and get on the fast-track to measurable results."
Chen nosed out Kate McGuinn, who only needed "market leader" or "build the brand" for a bingo. Did McGuinn's career aspirations in marketing unduly influence her buzzword selections? "I can't claim that they didn't," she said with regret after the class. "Everyone has to pick a strategy. Eric loaded up on New Economy buzzwords – like 'New Economy' – while I stuck with more traditional marketing and operations buzzwords. It really could have gone either way. I fully congratulate Eric on his buzzword skill set."
The match ended in controversy for some. Professor Sonia Marciano commented that January 17 is the earliest anyone has ever completed Buzzword Bingo in her course, and she suspects collusion. "Get real," she growled in a post-class interview. "In the very first class, somebody asked about the 'best-in-class customer relationship managers facilitating next-generation grassroots initiatives for one-stop dot-coms.' You can't tell me the students aren't gaming the system."
Questions were also raised about Chen's eligibility to compete. As a consultant for three years prior to business school, Chen's amateur status may have been compromised. However, a judge ruled that he was "disintermediated from his consulting toolkit," and thus eligible for the match. The post-match drug test turned up negative.
A few competitors were disappointed when the leading buzzwords from the fall quarter failed to maintain their momentum. "Choosing 'trust account' was an error on my part," admitted Erik Steffensen. "But the buzzword really performed solidly during LEAD … I guess I was swept away by irrational exuberance."
Claire Liou was more bitter about the demise of once-popular LEAD buzzwords. "How come nobody mentioned 'infomapping'?" she complained after the class. "I was told it was an excellent tool for organizing documents, but it never cropped up in class!" Asked if she was considering legal action against her LEAD facilitators, Liou only commented, "The LEAD facilitators can stick it in their I-message."
The winning buzzword is a powerful indicator of the changing nature of business. Winners from earlier years include such timeless gems as "experience curve" and "cash cow". Since the mid-1990s, however, many of the winners (see table) have reflected the rise of the Internet and the importance of computers in society.
In fact, the victory of "e-tailer" is seen as a positive indicator for beleaguered Internet stock prices. Reporters from Reuters Securities and Bloomberg followed the match with interest, and rushed to file a story following its conclusion. The Nasdaq jumped 4% on hearing the news, as investors expected the victory of "e-tailer" to herald a resurgence of the flagging e-business sector.
But for Chen, all of this was secondary: "I'm just happy to actualize my vision statement."
"I feel so empowered," exclaimed Chen as he celebrated his win. "It was a very experiential game. I was able to fly under the radar and get on the fast-track to measurable results."
Chen nosed out Kate McGuinn, who only needed "market leader" or "build the brand" for a bingo. Did McGuinn's career aspirations in marketing unduly influence her buzzword selections? "I can't claim that they didn't," she said with regret after the class. "Everyone has to pick a strategy. Eric loaded up on New Economy buzzwords – like 'New Economy' – while I stuck with more traditional marketing and operations buzzwords. It really could have gone either way. I fully congratulate Eric on his buzzword skill set."
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The match ended in controversy for some. Professor Sonia Marciano commented that January 17 is the earliest anyone has ever completed Buzzword Bingo in her course, and she suspects collusion. "Get real," she growled in a post-class interview. "In the very first class, somebody asked about the 'best-in-class customer relationship managers facilitating next-generation grassroots initiatives for one-stop dot-coms.' You can't tell me the students aren't gaming the system."
Questions were also raised about Chen's eligibility to compete. As a consultant for three years prior to business school, Chen's amateur status may have been compromised. However, a judge ruled that he was "disintermediated from his consulting toolkit," and thus eligible for the match. The post-match drug test turned up negative.
 |
A few competitors were disappointed when the leading buzzwords from the fall quarter failed to maintain their momentum. "Choosing 'trust account' was an error on my part," admitted Erik Steffensen. "But the buzzword really performed solidly during LEAD … I guess I was swept away by irrational exuberance."
Claire Liou was more bitter about the demise of once-popular LEAD buzzwords. "How come nobody mentioned 'infomapping'?" she complained after the class. "I was told it was an excellent tool for organizing documents, but it never cropped up in class!" Asked if she was considering legal action against her LEAD facilitators, Liou only commented, "The LEAD facilitators can stick it in their I-message."
The winning buzzword is a powerful indicator of the changing nature of business. Winners from earlier years include such timeless gems as "experience curve" and "cash cow". Since the mid-1990s, however, many of the winners (see table) have reflected the rise of the Internet and the importance of computers in society.
 |
In fact, the victory of "e-tailer" is seen as a positive indicator for beleaguered Internet stock prices. Reporters from Reuters Securities and Bloomberg followed the match with interest, and rushed to file a story following its conclusion. The Nasdaq jumped 4% on hearing the news, as investors expected the victory of "e-tailer" to herald a resurgence of the flagging e-business sector.
But for Chen, all of this was secondary: "I'm just happy to actualize my vision statement."