Big East adds Tom Jernstedt as advisor

[GGGG]

I answered it. Great leaders inspire. And build. She has done neither.

That wasn't the question I asked.  I asked why you keep referring to her as a "bureaucrat" when that isn't what her background suggests at all.

[Pakuni]

Great leaders inspire and deliver tangible results.   

And speak in platitudes.

[Eldon]

Has Ackerman been on campus yet? I know she visited providence and had a local Q&A with them.

[Archies Bat]

This whole thing is playing out like the office scene from Anchorman...

[

Please update after we get to the 5th page, and let me know if I have a speaking role.

[Dr. Blackheart]

And heading off the "all she was able to do was find an office, visit schools, and hire some people" comment.  Thats all that I know she has done as thats what I have heard her say in interviews.  If you have other information that she is not working hard and making strides, then feel free to prove me wrong.  

Which is our issue.  Relaunching a brand...one with roots back to 1979... should have been Job 1.  Issuing the Ackerman Report, finding a plush office, visiting schools, filling out paperwork isn't as that can be delegated or deprioritized.  Building the brand in conjunction with an integrated marketing plan with your marketing partners is.  Don't have a budget?  Try getting some ad revenue and sponsorship cash. Nothing is more important as that is why 80% of new products fail:  no sustaining support.

Why compare to the B1G?  Because that is the big boy and everyone else is comparing you to them.  You need to be edgier to breakthrough...Right now, the BE is DePaul looking to collect other teams' NCAA credits (in this case, Fox) to use an analogy.  Each fan, reporter, recruit, advertiser, media outlet are comparing them to you.

Conan was a relaunch for prime time...didn't work as NBC did not support it.  Bad mix, no support.  FAIL

This is a competitive situation where the BE has been marginalized:  by the football schools, ESPN, the MSM.  Why wait and not integrate with the one time Fox investment?  Makes no sense.

[brewcity77]

And speak in platitudes.

I think keefe is the CEO of Left Twix. "Dammit, it's cloaked in chocolate! Totally different process than being covered in chocolate."

[keefe]

I think keefe is the CEO of Left Twix. "Dammit, it's cloaked in chocolate! Totally different process than being covered in chocolate."

Aren't you a fireman? The point being, what, exactly, have you done in the corporate world?

[brewcity77]

Aren't you a fireman? The point being, what, exactly, have you done in the corporate world?

Nothing at all. Which is why I don't weigh in on stuff like this. But all you do is try to obfuscate the issue, change the topic to suit your argument, and scare people off with big words and walls of pictures.

The point being, any average guy with passing knowledge of forums can see how you operate. I don't need a business degree for that.

[GGGG]

Nothing at all. Which is why I don't weigh in on stuff like this. But all you do is try to obfuscate the issue, change the topic to suit your argument, and scare people off with big words and walls of pictures.

The point being, any average guy with passing knowledge of forums can see how you operate. I don't need a business degree for that.

Don't forget the dismissive insults.

[keefe]

Don't forget the dismissive insults.

From the Bully of Scoop...

[GGGG]

From the Bully of Scoop...

Uh huh....sure.

Have yet to answer the question I see.

[brewcity77]

From the Bully of Scoop...

And from the post accusing you of dismissive insults, you go for a dismissive insult 

Classic keefe.

[Pakuni]

And from the post accusing you of dismissive insults, you go for a dismissive insult 

Classic keefe.

No.
Classic keefe would have meant photos depicting bullies.

[GGGG]

So I decided to go back and take a look at when Ackerman was hired, and found this, which outlines a great deal of what she faced in the short term.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2013/06/27/Colleges/Ackerman.aspx?app_data=%7B%22pi%22%3A%2238048_1372353561_1607150263%22%2C%22pt%22%3A%22twitter%22%7D

Given all that was needed to be done, including things as mundane as finding office space, I don't really think it is fair to judge her performance yet.

[mu03eng]

Can someone get in a quick Hitler reference so we can call it a day for all internet memes in this thread and move over to the don't talk to recruits thread and REALLY jack that one up?

[Dr. Blackheart]

Can someone get in a quick Hitler reference so we can call it a day for all internet memes in this thread and move over to the don't talk to recruits thread and REALLY jack that one up?

Let's call it a day.

[mu03eng]

So I decided to go back and take a look at when Ackerman was hired, and found this, which outlines a great deal of what she faced in the short term.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2013/06/27/Colleges/Ackerman.aspx?app_data=%7B%22pi%22%3A%2238048_1372353561_1607150263%22%2C%22pt%22%3A%22twitter%22%7D

Given all that was needed to be done, including things as mundane as finding office space, I don't really think it is fair to judge her performance yet.

Is it unfair to be concerned?

[GGGG]

Is it unfair to be concerned?

Heh...no. 

[Eldon]

Well she apparently thinks that she is starting from scratch

"My challenge is an operational challenge. We have to create the infrastructure again and create some important pieces from scratch," she said.

She says she's still shopping for office space in New York City and is busy weighing how large of a staff the Big East needs. Groups of athletic directors have carried a heavy load and Fox Sports officials crafted much of the men's basketball schedule. Several major holes in that schedule — mainly in unequal preparation time and home/road splits — emphasize that the first year of the Big East will see some hiccups.

"This time next summer I hope I would have had a summer vacation, which I didn't this year," Ackerman said.

Here are Ackerman's thoughts on some other major Big East issues:


http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/college/content/20130911-big-east-commissioner-ackerman-will-build-on-what-gavitt-set-in-motion.ece

Article from September 11th

[ZiggysFryBoy]

What position would be?

Rodeo.

Jebus, the rest of you MFers were too busy pud whacking over the Yahoo broad and missed this low hanging fruit.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I misspoke earlier, but was damn close.

The old Big East had 29 full time employees.  Of the 29, 23 went to the American Athletic Conference and departed the Big East.  ~80%. Below is the list of Big East staff from the old conference...those that are crossed out didn't go to the AAC.  Everyone else did.  Starting from scratch.


Mike Aresco    Commissioner
Paul Brazeau   Senior Associate Commissioner (Men's Basketball)
Nicholas V. Carparelli, Jr.   Senior Associate Commissioner (Football & Marketing)
Joseph F. D'Antonio, Jr., Esq.   Senior Associate Commissioner (Compliance & Governance)
Donna DeMarco Egan   Senior Associate Commissioner (Administration)
Jennifer M. Condaras   Associate Commissioner (Compliance & SWA Liaison)
Danielle M. Donehew   Associate Commissioner (Women's Basketball)
Thomas R. Odjakjian   Associate Commissioner (Television & Men's Basketball Scheduling)
John Paquette   Associate Commissioner (Communications)
James A. Siedliski   Associate Commissioner (Olympic Sports)
Barbara M. Jacobs   Assistant Commissioner for Women's Basketball Officiating
Kristen D. Brown   Director of Sport Administration
Susan S. Eaton   Director of Business Affairs
Mark A. Hodgkin   Director of Digital Media
Shawn P. Murphy   Director of Men's Basketball Operations
Sara Naggar   Director of Communications
Kenny A. Schank   Director of Compliance
Chuck  Sullivan   Director of Communications
Robert A. Weygand, Jr.   Director of Sport Administration
Patrick Colbert   Assistant Director of Sport Administration
Michael A. Costa   Assistant Director of Football & Video Administration
Michael A. Coyne   Assistant Director of Communications
G. Arthur Hyland, Esq.   Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officiating
Terry McAulay   Coordinator of Football Officiating
Lisa Zanecchia   Assistant to the Commissioner
Lois A. DeBlois   Senior Administrative Assistant for Administration and Basketball
Wanda L. Factor   Administrative Assistant
Linda A. Yates   Administrative Assistant for Officiating
Kathy Kirkpatrick   Receptionist
Jamie Corun   Digital Network Assistant
Catherine Carmignani   Olympic Sport/Sport Administration Assistant

[warriorchick]

Can someone get in a quick Hitler reference so we can call it a day for all internet memes in this thread and move over to the don't talk to recruits thread and REALLY jack that one up?

[warriorchick]

Can someone get in a quick Hitler reference so we can call it a day for all internet memes in this thread and move over to the don't talk to recruits thread and REALLY jack that one up?

Here, let me settle this:

All of your penises are the same size. 

Pissing contest over.

[Archies Bat]

Here, let me settle this:

All of your penises are the same size. 

Pissing contest over.

Thanks, I appreciate measuring up to Keefe.

[keefe]

Well she apparently thinks that she is starting from scratch

"My challenge is an operational challenge. We have to create the infrastructure again and create some important pieces from scratch," she said.

She says she's still shopping for office space in New York City and is busy weighing how large of a staff the Big East needs. Groups of athletic directors have carried a heavy load and Fox Sports officials crafted much of the men's basketball schedule. Several major holes in that schedule — mainly in unequal preparation time and home/road splits — emphasize that the first year of the Big East will see some hiccups.

"This time next summer I hope I would have had a summer vacation, which I didn't this year," Ackerman said.

Here are Ackerman's thoughts on some other major Big East issues:


http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/college/content/20130911-big-east-commissioner-ackerman-will-build-on-what-gavitt-set-in-motion.ece

Article from September 11th

Ms Ackerman knew the magnitude of what needed to get done. She is the CEO. And her challenge is not really all that difficult. Launching a multi-party, scientific-focused joint venture in the 3rd World is much more difficult. Figuring out ways to solve the cold chain issue for vaccine distribution in Africa is far more difficult. Having 24 hours in which to put together an actionable plan for evacuating 80,000 terrified civilians from a war-torn land is difficult. Turning around the former leading innovator in the i-space is much more difficult. Reorienting the world's leading hardware firm into an agile service delivery enterprise is difficult.

From what you've said, her challenge was to make key hires and find office space. From first hand experience I can tell you that once you are presented with an opportunity you begin building your team. You start making phone calls and getting commitments from key people immediately. Only then can you decide if you can execute the mission and make a commitment with your shareholders. She should have had her team roster filled before she told the Big East yes.

Finding office space is a two-hour drill - your staff presents you with options and you decide. A CEO doesn't walk around Manhattan looking for a place to hang the shingle. Your staff should have recommendations within 3 days. At GE we knew we needed new offices after acquiring Toho Semei, for practical, functional, and symbolic reasons. Our staff pulled together recommendations based on Six Sigma protocols. In one afternoon the Executive Committee selected Mark City in Shibuya. The need for new offices for the Conference was known to Ackerman before she took the job. This was the very least of her priorities. As a leader she knew intuitively that the new HQ needed to be in Manhattan; any idiot could see that. Before she said yes to the job she should have tapped into her network to begin the site selection process.

But the real reason she was hired was to establish the reconstituted Big East as the leading collegiate basketball-focused brand. And in that she has done precious little. The fact that there is confusion about league identity screams failure on her part. As others have made clear, the BE has no coherent MarComm strategy. It seems to me that her emphasis on office space and hiring suggests she is much more comfortable addressing bureaucratic issues than providing strategic leadership. Marissa Mayer understands that difference as demonstrated by her actions at Yahoo.

Whether a restructuring, launch, or spin-off (the Big East has elements of all 3,) successful enterprises sharpen the focus on core skills and competencies. This was done to perfection by Ford, Starbucks, and Apple. But in the case of the Big East, Ms Ackerman has yet to articulate that core competence. I would hazard to say that everyone on this site knows what it must be but as yet we have not heard this from Ms Ackerman. One indication she seems to be getting around to defining that would be the hiring of Jernstedt.

Successful enterprises also capitalize on changing environmental conditions. There is a superb HBS Case Study by Lynda Applegate on Gerstner's re-engineering of IBM. Prof Jan Rivkin of HBS cites this model as a roadmap for Michael Dell's current challenge at Dell. And the insights from the IBM case are useful for the Big East model. Some would see the seismic movement taking place in collegiate athletics as a threat but Rivkin would argue that gifted leaders would discern then deliver on the opportunity.

The Big East has many unique qualities and proprietary assets that are screaming to be leveraged into something more valuable. One needn't look any further than the conference's own DNA to fathom what those gems are. But we have yet to see any recognition of that from the conference leadership.

Both Applegate and Rivkin would say that Ackerman must deliver on two essential elements in order for the Big East to capitalize on the opportunity it was given last March. In order to solidify the short term position, an enterprise must identify those assets from which it can squeeze the absolute most cash and marketing excitement. One could point to the FS1 deal but I would counter that it was only a good first step. There is too much else that has not happened which is solely the responsibility of Ms Ackerman.

The second major deliverable, which has longer term consequences, is to identify those assets in which to reinvest to fuel the enterprise's strategic objectives. To date we have heard nothing from Ms Ackerman on this score. We should have expected something two months ago. 

There are many examples of leading brands squandering their equity primarily due to poor leadership. Industry leaders are rarely brought down by catastrophic events. It is almost always a series of small yet completely avoidable problems or failure to respond to a changing competitive landscape. Boeing has superb engineering but fails miserably in operational execution. Sears and K Mart failed to counter Wal-Mart's category killer low-cost strategy despite decades of early warning (and they compounded the problem by merging which exacerbated the decline.) Sony went from being an innovator to being a me-too. Motorola and RIM once dominated the marketplace. And the Big East was the pre-eminent basketball brand as recently as this past April.

There is another HBS case study detailing Mark Hurd's success at HP in the wake of Carly Fiorina. Under Hurd's leadership, HP refocused on its core competence as a printer/PC company – HP's only profitable lines of business – and spun out of everything that was unprofitable. These moves satisfied Rivkin's assertion that that an enterprise must solidify its short term position by capitalizing on those assets that will yield the absolute most cash and marketing sizzle.

And Hurd knew that in the long-term, HP's survival was threatened by its sole presence in the highly competitive hardware commodity space. He therefore leveraged his core strengths by diversifying his portfolio into other lines of business that were strategically vital for HP's future. Hurd acquired EDS and transformed HP through development of a compelling product portfolio that included the high margin software, IT services, and tech consulting verticals.

Ms Ackerman has not performed as one has every right to expect of a senior executive. Her behavior has been much more typical of a bureaucrat – she speaks of not having an office when a dynamic leader speaks of building the brand and taking the enterprise to greater places. Mark Hurd, Marissa Mayer, and Lou Gerstner don't quibble; they act. I would submit that Prof Rivkin would evaluate Ms Ackerman's performance rather harshly. And with good reason.