The Power of Education in Establishing Regions around the Globe.

According to the World Health Report, the top 10% of wealthy individuals control 86% of the entire global wealth while the ‘poorer’ half of the globe only owns 1% of the world’s wealth. 50% of the 2.2 billion children around the world live in poverty - therefore every other child lives in dire circumstances. 

While many children in established regions enjoy the luxury of learning in a multi modal environment, children in these establishing regions have limited to no access to such educational environments. 

The International Labour Organisation estimates that some 215 million children globally between the ages of 5 and 17 years have to work, so there is often no time left to attend school. 

The lack of schooling leads to a poor education and has negative effects on the population as a whole as well as the individual child. Children leave their youth without having acquired a basic knowledge level, which greatly impedes the social and economic developments of these establishing countries. 

Having personally worked with children in these regions, it has been clear that if we enable children to discover the world of education we will be able to help each individual child achieve their personal dreams in today’s emerging 21st Century Digital Economy. 

Providing opportunity for a new generation to beat the poverty trap should be a key goal. However, in today’s technology based world, the traditional teaching methods in these regions represent an outdated way to address the global wealth issue. These traditional teachings include farming, mining, stitching and cleaning. 

Over the past few years, various organisations and philanthropists have attempted to help solve this global crisis in the form of providing educational technology to these regions however, only a small percentage of the underprivileged population has been able to utilise this material to create a better future. 

Although many have argued that the cause of poverty is the shortage of expertise, it is merely an excuse for lack of opportunity. 

Take Sir Li Ka- shing for example, are there any hands here that know who he is? 

When Li was young, he and his family fled from China to Hong Kong in order to avoid the civil war. At a mere fifteen years of age, his father died of tuberculosis. In order to support his family, Li had to leave his education behind and work at a plastic plant. Unlike many, Li (who was still a minor) was given the unique opportunity by the plant owner to discover exactly how to operate the plant. In 1950, Li founded a plastic manufacturing company, a few years later he grew to be the largest supplier of plastic and to date is the wealthiest person in Asia with a net worth of $31.9 billion. The plant owner who was gifted with education gave back and allowed Li to create a better future for himself and his family. 

Now, although Li was given a unique opportunity to learn, there are many, many other youths across the globe who have not gifted with such an opportunity and are forced to work in hostile, high- risk and hazardous environments. 

If us, somewhat educated individuals replicated the plant owners mentality in the future we could together empower less educated children to believe in themselves, their unique individual abilities and personal talents. It only takes something as simple as giving someone who is less fortunate the opportunity to learn a new skill to help solve poverty as a whole. Alternatively, if you’re feeling a tad generous you can take the ‘mainstream’ approach of donating in the form of a cash sponsorship or through your old books to your local charity. 

Given that education is a key leverage point to tackle the negative impacts of poverty and that these children want to attend school, a renewed, 21st century style commitment to public education is essential. 

Now, I’d like to leave you with one quote today, true intelligence is not about knowledge, but imagination. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - NEXT MOVIE PLAN

Love is a feeling we can all resonate with - a warm, happy and delightful feeling that is invisible, undetectable and unnoticeable with anything but our hearts.  (CHANGE) 

Many adolescents and woman are drawn towards romantic comedy movies. Movies that make them feel good whilst portraying a beautiful resolution to a deep, stereotypical problem. Examples of such movies include Friends with Benefits, Valentines Day and Crazy, Stupid, Love. All of which are based upon a traditional love story concept mixed with obstacles stopping the love from flourishing. (CHANGE)

I strongly believe that the best way to widen up the audience of the Perks of Being a Wallflower would be to transition the genre of the trailer from being drama mixed with elements of adult themes and romance to purely a romantic movie with comedic and educational elements, a romantic genre focused around the idea of Charlie transitioning from an endearing and naive outsider to society to now finding a fantastic group of friends, in particular his best friend, who eventually becomes his girlfriend - Sam, who accepts him and teaches him about the wonders of the ‘real world’ and how to live a life of a ‘normal’ teenager - a fun life of drinking, drugs and in his case, women. (CHANGE)

While the current trailer proved to be highly successful and combined a variety of important adolescent themes such as depression, sexual orientation and stereotypes that are being widely discussed in the media with regards to the age group of fifteen to nineteen, by slightly shifting the genre and themes of the proposed new trailer we could allow the film to be exposed to a much wider audience - not just this teenage age group but parents of teenagers and woman wanting a traditional love story with a twist. (CHANGE)

Instead of just showing parts of a film about a teenager with a variety of issues then a happy ending, the new trailer would provide a whole new, wider perspective to this successful storyline. The underlying theme and focal point of the trailer would be the romantic story between Charlie and Sam and how there relationship flourished as Charlie’s issues were exposed then addressed. (CHANGE)

A recent study conducted by IMDB on the popularity of move genres showed that on average, romantic movies, smashed drama movies in three key metrics - revenue, popularity and reviews. The proposed new trailer would contain a careful mix of the following three elements to ensure parents of teenagers and middle- aged woman would also be potential viewers: the game of love, adolescent issues and adult comedy. (CHANGE)

As mentioned earlier, love is something we can all connect with - regardless of age, demographic, knowledge base or even gender for some. Its something that appeals to everyone. The current trailer however is fixated upon portraying Charlie’s issues - while this is an important element to the overall storyline in the movie, it restricts the potential reach and audience of the film. The romantic story between Charlie and Sam coupled with Charlie’s issues as a secondary theme ensures the film will appeal to an expanded audience. 

The first step to effectively transitioning the genre of the trailer is by establishing a new perspective. It is also important that we address the current scenes with regards to what can stay and what must be replaced.

The way in which I propose we do this is similar to the way in which the 2011, romantic comedy smash hit Friends with Benefits started off their trailer. Bright coloured titles were displayed shown before each scene in the trailer to act as a reference to the audience and keep the mood light when key, deep moments were shown. (CHANGE)

Take this scene for example - have a look at these two pictures. On the scale of 1-10 how serious does these two arguments look? (Question) Pretty serious doesn't it! 

When the argument takes place between the two main characters and there former partners, thanks to the upbeat, fun music and fast paced camera angles the audience perceives this scene in a  comedic and funny fashion. (CHANGE) In the feature film however, this is quite the opposite and this argument scene, instead of being combined with upbeat music, is combined with aggressive sounds to emphasise the deep and serious nature of the argument. (CHANGE)

In the proposed new trailer for Perks of Being a Wallflower, we’d model the Friends with Benefits trailer. The opening frame of the new trailer starts with a bright, visual title stating: “The Beginning”. This tagline, coupled with a passionate and joyful tune aims to establish the romantic and affectionate relationship forming between Charlie and Sam. (CHANGE) The visual component shows Sam dancing and Charlie ‘dancing’ outside of his comfort zone to join her on the dance floor. This particular scene ignites the first spark of curiosity within the audience as to how this romantic story will play out. Furthermore, the audience is now in a much better to identify who the the main character and for some teenagers, connect with, and model Charlie’s actions. (CHANGE) The music stops and the picture goes black for a few seconds. (CHANGE)

Suddenly, a second bright, visual title appears on the screen which states: “The Complications”. (CHANGE) The upbeat, light and passionate music restarts immediately when the camera is fully focused and an extended stop motion style clip begins with rapid cross- cutting footage as Charlie’s disturbing past (CHANGE) and present adolescent problems meld with the resolutions and solutions. The somber coloured background of each scene, combined with upbeat music acts as a vehicle to emphasise the message that Charlie is excluded from society and has also been struck with various issues throughout his childhood thus educating the newly widened audience on teenage issues, however, through the use of upbeat sounds once again, and cross- cutting scenes, the mood of the trailer remains very light and engaging. (CHANGE) 

It is clear that there is no more effective way of demonstrating and educating the audience on Charlie’s problems while keeping the mood positive than by playing upbeat and passionate music, as can be heard in the clip. (CHANGE)

Fast forward a couple of scenes, the final visual title would be “The Happy Ending”. This particular scene would be compromised a very soft, thought provoking background tune and Sam asking Charlie: “Why do I, and everyone I love pick people who treat us like we are nothing?“ Charlie responds with “We accept the love we think we deserve”. (CHANGE) This short final scene then cuts directly to Charlie and Sam kissing to a passionate song that gets louder until the picture fades out black. 

The proposed twist in the perception showed in the trailer will surely engage not only the existing target audience: teenagers, who will be far more engaged with the new lighter, comedic elements of the trailer but also parents of teenagers and middle- aged woman wanting a traditional romantic movie which this new trailer now portrays. 

Business Management: Rebuilding LEGO, one brick at a time.

LEGO was founded in 1932 in a workshop by a creative carpenter from Billiard, Denmark with the name of Ole Kirk Chritstansen. The concept: a self locking brick toy for children was an instant success and 82 years on, although facing very dark times has just finished one of their most financially successful years. Every year, Lego produces 19 billion bricks - equivalent to around 36,000 bricks per minute. To give you a bit of perspective of the popularity of Lego - there are around 62 Lego bricks for every of the world’s 6 billion inhabitants. The self locking brick by Lego is single handedly, the most popular and successful toy product for children in history. Whilst on the surface, with such popularity it would be difficult to imagine that the company was stressed financially, between 1993 and 2003 however things couldn't have gone worse (Lutz, 2015). 

Between the years 1993 and 2003, the executive committee at Lego completely lost control. The committee had a very weak go- to- market strategy and limited experience in operating an established company. The company ‘retired’ a large number of established designers who had conceptualised and developed the original sets of Lego and replaced them with a new breed of young designers, who were top university graduates with a supposed ‘signature design flare’ (Lutz, 2015). The newly appointed, young designers were given a vast budget for research, development and innovation and while in many industries, giving employees the opportunity to create and innovate would be considered positive, in the case of Lego however, too much money was being thrown on ideas and concepts in very diverse markets picked, with very little direction by employees. Some of these products, were big, others were small. Most of which were not based upon the original uber- successful, self locking brick concept. Beginning in 1999, Lego released electronic toys, television programs, action figures, jewellery, clothing and spent an insane amount of money and time developing computer programs for a very niche market. Most of these new, ’experimental’ products downright failed and because of the volatility in demand and no budget constraints for innovation within its employees, Lego almost became bankrupt (Roberts Innovation). 

Sales were plummeting and Lego continued to fund the young designers product ambitions, despite the large budget for driving innovation within the company, most of the innovations had complete and utterly failed and most of its other toy lines were generating very heavy losses. The company spent lots of money attempting to tap into all sorts of markets with no real sense of direction thus not able to pinpoint what customers really wanted and make significant sales to keep the company profitable (Lutz, 2015). 

Lego came very close to hitting bankruptcy due to a key issue within its corporate identity and company culture towards the ideas of profit and money making. Two essential components to creating a lasting and profitable venture. Since its founding in 1932, Lego had always been profitable and over the course of 66 years until 1998, complacency within its employees started to set in and the terms profit and money were considered ‘dirty’ words. Rather than being open to setting sales targets for each of its products to ensure profitability, employees refused to cooperate and were primarily focused on developing many unique products rather than a handful of products that would generate a significant profit for Lego (Delingpole, 2009).

By 2003, Lego was operating on very little cash. The company had lost US$300 million, and was projected for a total loss of up to US$400 million in the following year.  In order to generate operating cash, Lego sold a 70% stake in its Legoland Theme Parks for US$460 million (Wharton, 2012) and moved most of its self locking brick production factories to cheaper facilities in regions of Mexico and Czech Republic. Poor management was a significant, central reason for the downfall of Lego and it was clear that the inexperienced executive team, was not able to recognise there strengths and or weaknesses thus not being able to seek help and get guidance when they were unsure or uneducated (Daniels, 2016). Lego removed its existing Chief Executive Officer and appointed a new Chief Executive, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp and in collaboration with his new executive team, designed a modern, organised and structured innovation plan that allowed groups of employees to remain developing new products as long as it was consistent with the goals and missions of Lego and could be developed within a reasonable time and appropriate budget. Furthermore, the distribution of responsibilities for innovation in all areas across the sections ensured the turnaround of the business (Robertson, 2009).

Lego’s new innovation plan designed by the new executive team was split into four sections (Robertson, 2009): 

• Functional Groups - responsible for core business processes including sales, manufacturing and supply chain
• Concept Lab - responsible for developing new products and play experiences 
• Product and Marketing Development - responsible for developing the next generation of existing products 
• Community, Education and Direct - responsible for providing support to customers and Lego communities 

By introducing a more experienced and educated executive team and implementing a carefully structured innovation plan that set a clear structure for all employees to follow, Lego was effective in establishing a solid foundation for financial success. While these two strategies were indeed successful, Lego could have accelerated the resolution of poor  management by merely releasing and selling existing products that were successful whilst adjusting the team environment and appointing a new team simultaneously. Simple products such as Lego houses and cars that did not require a complete revamp but rather a rebrand. 

Lack of planning within Lego was also a big issue that most employees during the dark periods of Lego could resonate with very well. According to the theory on why business’ fail, in most major companies, careful, methodical and strategic planning are used to ensure that a business can run smoothly at all times. The theory also states that care must be taken to regularly study, organise, plan and control all activities of its operations - in particular the continuing study of market research and customer data, an area which is prone to disregard once a business has been operational for a considerable amount of time (Daniels, 2016). Lego struggled to keep customer interest and was focused upon building products that they thought customers wanted rather than actually researching and speaking with customers to find out what was wanted and needed - therefore, not addressing the guidelines of the theory to creating a sustainable and profitable company. Thankfully, under the new executive team, Lego set up its “Future Lab” a lab run by scientific researchers to find out how kids play and parents interact with the aim of identifying what customers really wanted (Lutz, 2015). The researchers at the lab discovered that there was a significant difference between the behaviours of American and European parents. Future Lab Leader, Anne Flemmert- Jensen noted that “American parents don’t like play experiences where they have to step in and help their kids a lot. They want their kids to be able to play by themselves,” while parents in Europe on the other hand are more hands on and are more likely to sit down and spend time on the floor interacting and building with their kids. Furthermore, the researchers concluded that only 30 Lego products were producing a whopping 70% of the companies toy revenue (Ringen, 2015). 

Using this information, Lego was able to produce toys based upon consumer needs and feedback - for America, the kits were designed and developed for self- exploration and discovery while for Europe, the kits were built to ensure more interaction and collaboration with others. The company was also in a much better position for deciding what type and theme of products customers wanted (Marrero, 2016). Lego addressed the strategic planning theory issue outlined above by introducing the the cost efficient research lab, a key introduction that contributed to making Lego the world’s most powerful toy company once again.

While setting up a research lab proved to be very effective and a pivotal strategy that led to the turnaround of Lego, the company could have utilised its significant internet following by sending out targeted customer surveys across social media through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and or email to find out very similar information in a much quicker and cheaper way (Fine J, 2014). The surveys could have directly addressed the companies questions around what customers wanted and what customers were prepared to pay for each toy. 

Profit was considered a very dirty word amongst Lego’s 8,300 employees - “We were not used to talking about money’, one employee said. According to staff, Lego’s founder and former Chief Executive, was a deeply religious and wholesome man who referred to Lego as an educational lifestyle rather than merely a money- making business and company (Delingpole, 2009). The founders original ideology was fixated upon most employees - something the new executive team was struggling to get rid of. According to Kotter (1979), there were four key reasons as to why the executive team struggled to persuade employees to change:

• Self- interest — putting self first before the objectives of the company
• Misunderstandings — when the purpose of change hasn't been communicated
• Different assessments of the situation — employees may disagree on the advantages and disadvantages of change 
• Low tolerance of change — people prefer familiarity and don't like being out of their comfort zone 

In order to abolish this original thinking and implement a new way of thinking with its employees, Lego’s executive team made a conscious decision to change management styles so that the reason for self- interests holding employees back would be void. From leading and managing in a democratic style, all managers were instructed to lead in an autocratic style, a style of leadership that involves managers delegating and telling employees what to do rather than giving employees total freedom of their employment outcomes - something that was not able to be measured and tracked. Lego also needed to convince their employees that the new path Lego was taking was for the better and the day- to- day satisfaction would still be retained under the new management styles (Leadership Toolbox, 2015). In order to convince staff that this new regime would be for the better, Lego introduced extrinsic rewards. In particular, higher salaries and bonuses for all of its staff (Marrero, 2016). The new rewards motivated many staff to agree with the companies changes and continue working towards the new goal. While the tangible reward for changing clearly helped persuade staff, Lego could have ensured the smooth transition by introducing intrinsic rewards as well. The intrinsic reward system would have provided much more employee satisfaction and enrichment and would have saved Lego a considerable amount of money initially as they would only be spending money on improving their quality employees - employees who were committed to Lego (Watson, 2014). 

It is clear that the strategies Lego and its executive team implemented were effective and ultimately lead to the turnaround of the business. In 2013, Lego’s revenue hit US$4.7 billion making it once again, the largest toy company by both revenue and net profit surpassing Mattel with a considerable margin. 

Bibliography

Primary Sources

• Delingpole J, 2009, When Lego lost its head - and how this toy story got its happy ending, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1234465/When-Lego-lost-head--toy-story-got-happy-ending.html#ixzz40gMJUNIP  
• Nast Marrero, 2016, Senior Agile Consultant at Lego // Email Interview

Secondary Sources

1. Daniels S, 2016, Business Management Class
2. Fine J, 2014, How to do Market Research, http://www.inc.com/guides/marketing/24018.html 
3. Leadership Toolbox, 2015, Leadership Styles: Autocratic Leadership, http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/autocratic-leadership.html 
4. Lutz A, 2015, Lego’s Turnaround Strategy’ http://www.businessinsider.com.au/legos-turnaround-strategy-2015-5 
5. Ringen J & Jensen A, 2015, http://www.fastcompany.com/3040223/when-it-clicks-it-clicks 
6. Robertson D, 2009, Innovating a Turnaround at LEGO, https://hbr.org/2009/09/innovating-a-turnaround-at-lego 
7. Watson Z, 2014, 4 Real-World Examples That Explain Intrinsic Motivation,  http://technologyadvice.com/gamification/blog/4-real-world-examples-clearly-explain-intrinsic-motivation/ 
8. Wharton, 2012, Innovation Almost Bankrupted LEGO — Until It Rebuilt with a Better Blueprint, http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/innovation-almost-bankrupted-lego-until-it-rebuilt-with-a-better-blueprint/