Erudite Relics of Loc Huu Ho

ORIGINAL SOURCE HERE

26th March 2009

I was reading a polemic if entrepreneurs should, or not, get an MBA and I would like to put forth my idea about the matter.

We are always learning and will continue until dead. There is always something that could be improved and, to figure out, knowledge will facilitate the process.

I agree that many entrepreneurs develop their business skills with blood, sweat and tears, as I did. I co-founded two high tech start-ups and, after 25 years of “bloody times” and two companies, I decided to get my MBA.

In theory, having a couple decades of experience in running a business, I should already know almost everything about business management and development. But, actually, getting the MBA, I learned, rooted and improved a lot of processes and knowledge that I was already using, and also, I learned a lot of new things (state-of-the-art techniques, theories, new writers, new strategies, new “gurus”, and so on). I learned all that, even being a compulsive reader of everything about management, strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship, and had read hundreds of books about the matter, before deciding to return to school. Read the rest of this entry »

Someone writes more efficiently if they have learned to:

• identify several related but separate writing tasks
• focus on one task at a time and perform each task well
• identify the best sequence for completing the various writing tasks
• reduce writing time by starting quickly and by writing a first draft requires relatively little revision

Writing process is broken down into stages similar to the following:

1. Gathering and Choosing Content
2. Organizing That Content
3. Composing the First Draft
4. Finishing the Document:
   • revising content and structure
   • editing phrasing
   • fixing errors
   • polishing format

GETTING STARTED

What does my reader need and expect?
What purpose am I trying to fulfill?
free-writing: process of writing until the writer discovers what she or he really wants to say

• Use an audience/purpose profile to determine the types of information and analysis to include. List the types of questions that your reader would ask (or that your reader has already asked).
• Choose an appropriate, proven structure and then “fill in the blanks.” Then, use elements of an audience/purpose profile to modify the suggested structure to meet your readers’ needs and preferences.
• Brainstorm a list of ideas and topics. A random listing of possible topics and ideas works precisely because it takes advantage of the natural chaos that exists in our minds. Often, we are most creative when we allow free thought association to generate a series of loosely related points and topics. It’s important to simply record these points as they come, and not to edit them. Later, when the creative frenzy has abated, you can discard the points that don’t seem relevant. The, you can organize the material that remains.
• Brainstorm ideas in a cluster diagram. Cluster diagramming suits people who think visually. It also suits those who are used to following hypertext links through the internet. Read the rest of this entry »

RECORDING THE FINDINGS

Record primary research findings by a medium that suits your purpose.
Record secondary research findings as notes.

• Taking Notes (decide what to record and how to record the item; Record the sources of all internet-based material)
• Quoting the Work of Others (avoid plagiarism by correctly citing your sources; it is better to paraphrase your borrowed material to draw your conclusions from other works)
• Paraphrasing the Work of Others (to express the original idea in a clear, simple, direct, or emphatic way without distorting the idea and giving full credit to the source)

• Elements of an effective paraphrase:

reference to the author early in the paraphrase, to indicate the beginning of the borrowed passage

keywords retained from the original, to preserve the meaning

original sentences restructured and combined, for emphasis and fluency

needless words from the original deleted, for conciseness

your own word and phrases that help explain the author’s ideas, for clarity

a citation (in parentheses) of the exact source, to mark the end of the borrowed passage and to give full credit

preservation of the author’s original intent

Read the rest of this entry »

Research is classified as primary or secondary:

Primary research involves an original, first-hand study of yoru topic or problem. (eg. observations, interviews, questionnaires, inquiry letters, personal experiments, analysis of samples, fieldwork, or company records.

Secondary research includes materials published by other researchers. (eg. journal articles, books, handbooks, reports, online articles, electronic databases, government documents, internet sites, and material held by public agencies and special interest groups.

Read the rest of this entry »

The three essentials of the English language are: Purity, Perspicuity and Precision.

By Purity is signified the use of good English. It precludes the use of all slang words, vulgar phrases, obsolete terms, foreign idioms, ambiguous expressions or any ungrammatical language whatsoever. Neither does it sanction the use of any newly coined word until such word is adopted by the best writers and speakers.

Perspicuity demands the clearest expression of thought conveyed in unequivocal language, so that there may be no misunderstanding whatever of the thought or idea the speaker or writer wishes to convey. All ambiguous words, words of double meaning and words that might possibly be construed in a sense different from that intended, are strictly forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style at once clear and comprehensive and entirely free from pomp and pedantry and affectation or any straining after effect.

Precision requires concise and exact expression, free from redundancy and tautology, a style terse and clear and simple enough to enable the hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of the speaker or writer. It forbids, on the one hand, all long and involved sentences, and, on the other, those that are too short and abrupt. Its object is to strike the golden mean in such a way as to rivet the attention of the hearer or reader on the words uttered or written.