Monday 29 April 2013

The Art Of Strategy- Aviniash K. Dixit & Barry J. Nalebluff

An excerpt from the book The Art Of Strategy by Aviniash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebluff found online at W. W. Norton & Company.

After learning about The Game Theory in module 1, I decided I wanted to dig deeper and find other pieces of writing relating to this as it was something that interested me. This chapter 'The Ten Tales of Strategy' starts by asking us to guess a number between 1 and 100 and if you answer it correctly you get £100 (not really but just pretend).

It explains that by not wanting to give you the money, they predicted a number that would be hard for you to get. With the first guess most commenly being 50 and discovering if it is too high or too low, it is most common for us to divide the interval in to two parts then pick the mid point.

'The key lesson of game theory is to put yourself in the other player’s shoes. We put ourselves in your shoes and anticipated that you would guess 50, then 25, then 37, then 42. Understanding how you would play the game allowed us to greatly decrease the chance that you would guess our number and thus reduce how much we’d have to pay out.'
They give us an example of strategics being used in the American realtiy show Survivor, the winnner being Richard Hatch.

'We weren’t surprised when the pudgy nudist Richard Hatch outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted his rivals to become the first champion of the CBS series and earn the million-dollar prize. He was gifted in his ability to act strategically without appearing to be strategic.'

The final challange of Survior consisted of 3 people and the winner would be the last one stand on a pole with their hand touching the immunity idol. They explain how the winner of the challange gets to pick their opponent and make it to the final. The winner is then decided by the other outsted contestants. Ok, so first thoughts you would assume that this would be a physical task and that the strongest physically would win...but no. Richard and Kelly where aware of Rudy's popularity throughout the competition and that if they where to face him in the final, he would definitely win. Richard had a strong alliance with Rudy and so if he won the task and didnt pick Rudy then he would lose Rudy's vote, as well as all of Rudy's friends. So...instead of winning the task, Richard wanted Kelly to win so that she would pick him and make it to the final. This is exactly what happened! Richard came down first, followed by Rudy after 4 hours which made Kelly the winner. She of course chose Richard who was the least stronger contender...the final came and Richard was crowned the champion.

'With the benefit of hindsight it may all seem easy. What makes Richard’s play so impressive is that he was able to anticipate all the different moves before they happened'

Richard outwitted his fellow contestants without them even realising it. This is an interesting example and something which I can relate to the entertainment industry. People work in certain ways to better themselves without anyone else even realising it. Have I had it done to me? Or have I actually done this myself? Strategics is something that I find very exciting...am I clever enough to figure someone else out and realise this is what they are doing? Are people willing to do this to further their careers? Will it have an overall good effect or bad? This is something I would like to explore further and I look forward to challanging my inquiry partipants with this idea.

An important point made which I believe to be very relative in this industry 'you have to take into account the objectives and strategies of the other players.'  You can think in the most logical way possible and think you know the outcomes 'But if you are playing a game, then you have to consider how the other player will be acting and how those decisions will influence your strategy.' So how do we know if the other person is playing a game? Will it be through trail and error...trusting them and then not trusting them and learning from experiences? Will discovering they have a strategy change how we behave? Or are you the one with the strategy? Reading about strategy in this extract coincides with what I learnt in module 1. The 'prisoners dilemma' demonstrated to me that people sometimes have a strategy in life; make affiliations with resourceful people to gain all they can, to then defect and reap all the benefits themselves, therefore the benefit not being mutual. So for example, meeting up with a friend who you know has inside contacts with a big casting agency and pulling out any information you possibly can. Therefore receiving important information that will benefit you or even better, your friend putting in a good word for you to the right people. Once you've got everything out of this affiliation you have made, would it be right to not give back to them anything you have gained that would maybe help them out? Is playing  a strategic game where you are the only winner very ethical? Could there be conesquence to your actions? These questions I hope to explore further and widen my knowledge by gauging opinions and ideas from my inquiry participants.

References
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail-inside.aspx?ID=8657&CTYPE=

Monday 22 April 2013

Literature Review: "Networking- It's not what you know- It's who you know" Gal Baras- Ezine Articles

I am looking in to the networking side of the performance industry but finding an article based purely on this was proving quite difficult. However, I stumbled across the article on ezine articles online written by a man called Gal Baras. Gal is an Internet Marketer and Life Coach from Brisbane, Austrailia.

The phrase 'It's not what you know- It's who you know' is a statement I want to research deeper as it is something that is regualry heard throughout this industry especially. Is this phrase entirely correct? It is interesting to hear Gal's side of this and how he firmly belives this phrase to be true. He supports this by sharing experiences of his own life and career and it very intruiging to see how much of an impact networking has had.

Gal opens this article with a very bold paragraph and is is immediately apparant that he believes networking is the key to success in every aspect of life.


'No matter how big our office, how colourful our flyers, how powerful our computers or how many degrees we have, it is the quality of relationships we establish with ourselves, our family, our friends, our customers, our suppliers and, more than anything else, with people we don't know, that will determine our success in our personal life or in business'

Gal believes that success in any profession is down to the quality of relationships created by ourselves with any type of person we come across in our lives. His opinion is that it does not matter how extravegant and amazing our qualifications are, or how fabulous something looks, it all comes down to relationships.


He explains how as a child studying, the emphasis was always on grades and deeper knowledge and that these where the formulas to success. However, we are given a small summary of his first few jobs and he explains how they where never because of his profession and education but because of his attitude and contacts.
'I got my first job after university through one of my professors. My second job was a referral by the manager who had just laid me off. I was taken to my third job, half way around the world, by my plant manager, who was moving there himself and needed people he could rely on in his own new job'
Gal goes on to talk about his 4th, 5th and 6th jobs and all of course being because of the network he had created which he refers to as his "safety net".
'Networking is inexpensive, sometimes even free, and it works because of two major psychological truths:
  1. People are afraid to do business with strangers.
  2. People prefer to do business with people they know or with people who were recommended by someone they know.
Therefore, the MORE people you know (i.e. the BIGGER your network), the more business you'll do'.
There are many points made in this article that I strongly believe in. For example the last 2 points I believe to very true as I experienced this myself in the past jobs. I do believe that expanding your network and getting as many contacts as you can along the way can benefit you but is it purely down to this? Gal talks about his first job after university. Yes this was through his professor but would he have been offered this oppourtunity without a degree? He states that qualifications have no importance but without his education it could have been a different story. It is all good and well having affilitaions in all the right places, and maybe he believes his education has no significance, but what if he where to burn bridges with a certain someone? He would have to start from scratch and if he had no eduaction or qualifications behind him then would anybody even look at him twice? Would he be taken seriously as a professional? Yes Gal Baras is proof that networking can promote success but this may not be the case for every person. Can it have a negative effect also? What if you are too well know for the wrong reasons? These questions support my reasoning for my inquiry as I find it so interesting to find examples of situations that dont benefit your success but possibly ruin it. It is with this research I propose to develop my knowledge and try to discover techniques that will help create success.

References

http://ezinearticles.com/?Networking---Its-Not-What-You-Know---Its-Who-You-Know&id=363736

Monday 8 April 2013

6B- Observations

Using observation as a tool in my Inquiry will be very useful. I find witnessing events yourself is very beneficial as you see it from your eyes and point of view, and not just by listening to someone else's opinion. Observations allow you to observe and record events so that you are then able to reflect on the information and analyse, weather this be in written format and using means such as recording equipment.

Does networking enhance the success of your career?

Networking can take place in many types of formats:

Web: blogs, YouTube, Facebook, twitter spotlight.

Socially: conversations with friends/ agents/ industry professionals, class, auditions.

I can take it upon myself to observe some of these situations over the course of the inquiry and discover the different approaches people use. In module one, I talked about how at the beginning of my training, I hated the word 'networking'. I felt this was such a forced thing (being a teachers pet/ licking someone's ego) as some would call it. Growing though this module, I realised that it doesn't always have to be forced and that it can sometimes be quite a natural process as I found myself using various methods throughout my practice and not even realising it! It will be interesting to observe situations and see If the methods used by participants can have a direct link to how successful they are in this profession.

I aim to try out different techniques. For example, when observing a social gathering such as a press night, I can observe from a distance so that the group are not actually aware of my observation. I do not want participants to behave in a certain manner, or do certain things because they feel they should. I feel a social event like this is quite unstructured and so feel that the more natural the situation, the more viable my information and discoveries. However, it will be interesting to see the differences when I do inform participants. Will this effect my results? Some situations will require me to inform the participants because of course sometimes consent is required. Especially if you are recording, e.g class, audition as it is important that we try to stay within ethical frameworks.

A few months back I was part of an audition panel. This was the first time I had experienced this as I am normally on the other side! I couldn't believe how much it opened my eyes! It allowed me to sit back and take in the whole room, where as normally I am just worrying about myself. I feel this observation benefited me greatly as a lot of techniques used by the participants I was then able to put in to my own audition practice. You are being judged from the moment you walk in the room, even when you are stood waiting to perform, you are always being watched. For example those sitting down and chatting at the sides did not come across well at all. Those who generated a positive and focused attitude caught my eye, and this was before they had even danced! It was helpful seeing some of the networking techniques come in to practice.

Positive: A girl who had worked well for the company previously was spotted as soon as she took to the floor. Already the panel where chatting about her before she performed the routine. Performing the routine well, and knowing that she was reliable an hard working previously, got the girl the job.

Negative: There was one girl who outshone others during the audition because of her ability, appearance and awareness. However, she had worked for the company before and this girl, along with the other ensemble members involved had managed to give themselves a bad name. Once the casting director realised this, she was cut immediately. Was it this girl in particular who had previously caused problems? Maybe she was tarnished with the same brush as the the others when actually she worked professionally in every way. But this didnt matter. This therefore cost her the job. This to me showed how careful you need to be to not get involved in the wrong circles. Knowing the panel this time did not work to her advantage!

Pros
Direct contact with participants.
You see the situation for yourself and don't just hear someone else's take on it.
You get a feel for the behaviour.
I myself as the inquirer can also participate in the event being observed.so therefore feel more involved and in tune with the situation.

Cons
Time consuming.
There are a lot of ethical issues you have to be aware of, especially if people are observing children.
Your presence may effect the behaviour of the participants you are observing.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

6B- Focus Groups

Focus groups are a productive way of gathering information from an area you choose to focus in on. It demonstrates how much knowledge can be gathered within the one space. The people I am choosing to research are performers within the entertainment industry from ages 19 to 30. I feel this will give me enough variety as it is individuals starting their careers as well as those who are more experienced. I feel the more mature members of the group can provide me with reflections on past experiences and maybe techniques they feel they should have utilised more. For example, seeing how other industry friends of theirs have used certain networking techniques in the past which have therefore impacted the success of their careers and to see if they wished they would have followed by example. The more inexperienced members (recent graduates) will demonstrate to me the amount of knowledge they have regarding networking. Do college faculties prepare students for what is ahead and how sources can be used?

I think it is a good idea to have a focus group which incorporates successful industry professionals, with those who have maybe not made as much of an impact. How do these people differ? Is there as pattern? Does networking result in a more successful career? A good suggestion from one of my SIG group members Hannah, was to divide up the focus group in to confident speakers and those who are slightly quieter and less confident. You can therefore conduct two separate focus groups. I feel this is important as you want equal participation and if you have an individual who is talking a lot and being confident, then it might nock a quieter person and mean they don't join in. I have noticed in group campus session that this is sometimes the case. It is clear that some people talk out a lot more whilst others just sit and listen. On the other hand, it is interesting to allow these people to come together to discus thoughts and opinions as this sometimes results in the more reserved people being probed on by others and so therefore involving themselves more.

I experimented with a small group of professionals when conducting my pilot. This I felt would ease me in to the focus group experience gently. As the reader suggests, you should ask each person to speak and identify themselves before the process begins. Similar to my point made in the previous paragraph, reader 6 talks about bigger personalities “also influence, and in some cases actually take over, a group and make it difficult for the less assertive members to speak” (Bell, 2005, p. 163). This is why it is vital that you identify each person as this will help you when analysing the data. To prevent anybody taking over the discussion, I made sure I derived a suitable seating plan and also highlighted the importance of not talking over one another. Picking suitable questions helped the discussion stay on the right track and not veer off on to a completely irrelevant subject.

Pros
Allows opinions to develop as people hear other people's thoughts and so can build on their own. Group interaction helps come up with new ideas and therefore more tools and techniques. It is a fun and informal atmosphere so allows participants to relax and allow themselves to speak openly and honestly. They can share experiences and reflect on them.

Cons
People may participate more than others (which is why I may try dividing up the group as I mentioned earlier). People may have conflicting opinions which is a good thing, but you have to maintain control and not let It get out of hand e.g talking over each other. A certain degree of preparation is required; consent forms, suitable location which is within ethical requirements, suitable topic questions, arranging a time that suits your focus group.

Online focus group?
This is another suggestion I found. How about an online focus group? Yes this overcomes the problem of distance but does it take away from the fact that we are together and relaxed in a group environment where we feel comfortable enough to voice our opinions. Discussion is constrained but could make it easier to construct and reflect on information as it would be in a written format. This is something I may experiment with but at the moment, I may just use the survey tool as an online source.

I really enjoy focus groups as I love how anyone is free to voice opinions. Others can then relate to your experiences and you can then reflect on it together. They help widen your knowledge as someone might mention something that you was not aware of before. You can then put it in to practice yourself which could help benefit you as a person and a professional.


Bell, J. (2005) Doing Your Research Project (4th ed), Milton Keynes: Open
University Press.

Task 6B part 1- Survey & Interview

Pilot survey
Pros
A survey is quick and easy for people involved. You can choose to have a large amount of participants which therefore results in more responses. This then can help you find averages/come up with conclusions/see patterns. Also, web based surveys analyze the data received so you don't actually have to put it all together yourself. This is very beneficial and has provided me with examples of charts I may use in the future: horizontal/ vertical bar, pie chart, donut chat, stacked horizontal/ vertical bar, line graph, area graph.
Cons
A survey doesn't always guarantee a response (especially web based surveys). I myself found I received over 10 responses when using survey monkey as a tool for my inquiry, however, others found that their online survey only returned 4 responses over the course of 3 weeks. There is no one there to remind you to fill it in so people find it hard to fit it in to their daily schedule. I also discovered that with some online surveys, you are only able to put together a maximum of 10 questions...the only solution being to pay for the upgrade! Maybe you are best to construct a survey yourself using tools such as power point and Microsoft word. Minimal detail is acquired due to the nature of a survey e.g yes no answers in some cases.
Therefore
Maybe paper copies are more useful? Are people more likely to fill it out as it is there in front of them? You are also not limited to the amount of questions you use (10 might not be enough). Remember people don't always have access to the Internet...where as with hard copies all you need is a pen! For example Hannah handed me a hard copy and I filled it out within 10 minutes and handed it straight back to her. Results were instant. It can provide a more personal approach and so people may feel more inclined to do it, especially if you give it to them yourself. But does it take up too much time? Not if the questions are suitable and you have thought about time being an important factor e.g questions that get to the point...no essay writing required! You may need participants to post the survey back to you which could cause problems. People may forget/send it to the wrong address etc and this too is more time consuming.

Carrying out pilots within SIG groups enables us to come together and discuss ways in which we can develop and better our surveys. Reflection is a good tool to use for this exercise. For example, talking about the questions used and if we feel they are suitable. With both Hannah and Chelsie I gave feedback on questions e.g Chelsie provided me with a question that had only two possible outcomes...'Do you think it is more important that a teacher has more experience or more qualifications?' Pick either 1.experience or 2. Qualifications. I felt that both were necessary but I wasn't able to explain this. Chelsie therefore altered her options and gave an 'other' option which allowed me to explain how I felt. I was also advised on maybe providing a ranking system on some of my questions. This is to vary the survey and make it more interesting for participants.


Pilot interview
As well as surveys, I will be using interviews throughout my inquiry. At first I thought an interview would be just the same as a survey, only spoken. However after conducting a pilot interview with my SIG group member Hannah, I discovered how valuable they will be in this process. I also looked at its cons.
Pros
More detailed/ personal responses. You are able to delve deeper If need be and explain questions/ answers if someone doesn't understand. You witness the reaction of the participant e.g facial expressions. You get a feel for their personality and what they are about which is definitely important as you may discover similarities between people.
Cons
An interview is very time consuming. You have to organise a time/date/location that suit both you and the person you are interviewing. This then brings in many other important factors regarding ethics e.g finding a space that is within health and safety regulations to ensure no harm is brought to anyone, providing a comfortable atmosphere and ensuring the person doesn't feel under pressure to answer at any time if they don't want to. It requires more organisation and time on your behalf as well as others. I have highlighted in previous blogs the importance of consent when using all tools in the inquiry, with interviews being one of the most important reasons for this. This could effect people participating e.g if someone is under the age of 18 then their parent or guardian may decide that they do not want their child to take part.

Whilst interviewing Hannah I recorded the conversation using my iPhone. A friend had advised this to me and this was the first time I put it in to practice. I feel this is a perfect way to record the conversation so that no information is missed. You are also able to hear the tone and manner in which they speak which is vital. Of course Hannah is a good friend anyway, but an interview allows you to get comfortable with one another which could result in more detailed answers. An important thing to be aware of, is they way you approach the question and the way in which you vocalise it. Being a performer I am used to changing my voice in many ways to suit the situation. I have to be careful to not put questions across in a biased manner. For example; more expression and enthusiasm in your voice and face when asking a question that you strongly agree with. The interviewee may see this and may feel inclined to agree with you, just because it seems like the 'right' option. This could effect my results so I have to be careful.

A good suggestion made was that when utilising any of these tools, we should strongly touch upon honesty. This is very important. We don't want people to feel like they should answer a certain way because they feel they have to. No one is judging and a lot of the time participants will be anonymous anyway!