Better information leads to better decisions!
ECI: Solutions for The Apprentice
One of the biggest television shows right now is undoubtedly The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump. The premise is similar to Survivor, where each episode the weakest link is voted off, until one person remains victorious. In each episode, there are two teams competing for the most success in a chosen business task. Performing well on these business missions is a key component of survival.
Had the teams made a 5 minute call to ECI, given an explanation of information needed, they would have been guaranteed to perform better. With a turnover time of minutes to a few hours VersaCorp and Protégé would have received quality results (and subsequent information as needed) on time constrained business decisions.
Certainly, in the premier episode, ECI would have recommended several locales for high traffic sales opportunities that would not have included a fishmarket location.
In Episode 3, the teams were each asked to negotiate the lowest price possible for several random items. These items included a Calloway driver, a leg wax (both legs), 5 lbs of squid, and a Polaroid One Instant Camera. The teams engaged in haphazard decision making, for example picking a location to purchase from that did not even sell the golf club they were after! ECI could have done product pricing research to determine the best prices for these items.
Another example of how the teams could have benefited from using ECI was in episode 5, where the teams were given $1000 dollars. They then were to buy whatever they thought would resell at the biggest margin in a flea market. VersaCorp decided on women's clothing and jewelry they made, and Protégé decided on an Asian theme such as rice paper umbrellas. The end result, VersaCorp made a profit of only $600 and Protégé came in with a net loss of about $76. Protégé had not by evening on the first day made a decision as to what to sell! Certainly ECI could have assisted Protégé in choosing items.
ECI can also provide instrumental information on promoting a prominent restaurant chain to receive same day visits, patrons most likely interested in purchasing large quantities of Trump Water and preferred advertising strategies for Pedicabs.
