Final Reflection

Although this is the end of our journey together in ENT 3003, you now have a set of experiences that you can use to better navigate the future. My hope is that each of you have, to one extent or another, developed an entrepreneurial mindset. That you keep a sharp eye out for problems, and you're willing to offer a solution. 

For this final reflection, I'd like you to do a few things:

1) Read through your blog from this semester. Recall all of the experiences you've had a long the way -- the highs, the lows -- the fun moments, and the moments of drudgery, and even the moments of dread.

2) What sticks out to you as the most formative experience? The experience that you'll remember years later? What was your most joyous experience? What experience are you most proud of yourself for accomplishing?

3) At the beginning of the semester, I mentioned that I wanted each of you to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. And we repeated the mantra -- I am an entrepreneur. Now, at the end, do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? Do you think you have moved closer to developing an entrepreneurial mindset?

4) What is the one recommendation you would make to the students who are going to journey down this path in the future? What would you recommend they do to perform best in this course? What would you recommend they do to foster that mindset?

Once you have written your post, please include a picture (for illustration!). Include the phrase "Final Reflection" in the title.

Don't forget to make the declaration. 

My Exit Strategy

All good things come to an end. Eventually, the entrepreneur exists the venture she or he created. Although exit comes at the end of the entrepreneurship process, its implications can be seen throughout. Exit can influence how you identify opportunities, develop products or services, and manage and grow the firm. In this exercise, I would like you to reflect on your own exit strategy.

Here's what you should do:

1) Identify the exit strategy you plan to make. Do you intend to sell your business in the next 5 years for a large return? Do you intend to stay with the business for several decades and retire? Do you intend to protect the venture as a family business, and pass it down to your children?

2) Why have you selected this particular exit strategy?

3) How do you think your exit strategy has influenced the other decisions you've made in your concept? For instance, has it influenced how you have identified an opportunity? Has it influenced your growth intentions or how you plan to acquire and use resources?

In the post, please include a picture (for illustrative purposes!). Include the phrase "My Exit Strategy" in the title. Please share the URL here, and don't forget to make the declaration.

Make It Real

Make it Real

When the semester began, I argued that our experiences can shape who we are. Now that you're at the end of the journey, we ask you to reflect on where you've been. Next week's "Final Reflection" exercise asks you to look back through your semester and identify the highlights. Reflection is an educational tactic that is useful for making the things you learned stick. (In fact, there's a great book on this called "Make it Stick," by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel, which I'd highly recommend!)

In this exercise, I want you to do a bit more than just make it stick; I want you to make these experiences real. You are all the founders of a new venture, social movement, or other project. You have actually engaged in customer research. You have actually made pitches to groups of potential customers/investors/employees, etc. You have actually identified a product/service mix, described a growth and exit strategy, and you have experience practicing search engine optimization.

I've often thought back on my own life and the years I published a campus newspaper as an undergraduate student. I wish someone had told me I was an entrepreneur; I might still be doing it! Here's my chance to pay it forward:

You have all of the experiences of an entrepreneur. And you didn't just read about it in a textbook. You actually did it. You ARE an entrepreneur.

For this exercise, I'd like you to do something very simple. Put together a resume. An entrepreneur's resume. You'll list all the usual things -- your education, skills, work experience, etc. -- but I want you to actually include a line item that indicates you were the founder of a new venture. This should go at the top, and it should be included in "Work Experience." I also would like you to list some of the tangible experiences and skills you have acquired and practiced in ENT 3003. Some of these skills and experiences can be listed under the "Founder, My Venture" heading. Some of them you can include elsewhere on your resume. 

Now, because this should be your real resume, it should be a Word or PDF file. Please create this resume, upload it to a cloud storage system like your Google drive, and embed a link to it in your blog post. Once you have completed this exercise, please include the phrase "Making It Real" in the post title.

Celebrating Failure

Our friend, Thomas Edison, once remarked -- rather famously! -- that he didn't fail to invent the lightbulb 1,000 times. No! He just discovered 1,000 ways that didn't work. 

In this exercise, bare your soul.

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed -- whether in this class, or outside of this class. Don't spare any details! It'd be even better if there was something you tried several times this semester, and failed each time. 

2) Tell us what you learned from it.  

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure. Failure is hard, isn't it? It's embarrassing, sure, but it also means that we have to change something about ourselves. Talk about how you handle failure (emotionally, behaviorally). Finally, talk about how this class has changed your perspective on failure -- are you more likely to take a risk now than you were four months ago? 

Please include a picture with this post. Also, don't forget to include the phrase "Celebrating Failure" in the post title. Share the post URL here, and don't forget to make the declaration. 

Elevator Pitch No. 3

In this exercise, which will work exactly like your previous elevator pitch exercise, you'll record your elevator pitch and publish it to your blog. Here's what you should include in the post:

1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

Be sure to include the phrase "Elevator Pitch No. 3" in the post title.

Once you have published your post and shared it here, make the Declaration!

My Unfair Advantage

As an insurance provider my company will have to operate under the same strict legal guidelines as my competitors. Therefore, my unfair advantage  must be one of the intangible nature. The legendary author of "To Kill a Mockingbird", Harper Lee wrote in her sequel novel "Go Set a Watchman" the following quote: "Every Man's Watchman, Is His Conscience." Examining my entrepreneurial proposal at its base I am merely providing insurance to athletes. What separates me from anyone else in the market is my conscience. I view providing insurance to those in need as a moral obligation that has been consistently ignored, specifically by sports entertainment employers. My company shall strive for excellence because any uninsured individual injury could add extra weight to my conscience.

Reading Reflection #2

For my second reading assignment in Principles of Entrepreneurship 3003 I read "Cognitive Surplus", by social media theorist Clay Shirky. Shirky defines cognitive surplus as the ability of the world's human population to voluntarily work in unison on large sometimes global projects. Its a simple definition for a very intangible concept, but it does explain how globalization through technology has allowed for collaboration among the widespread masses. However, a key factor of cognitive surplus is that it can only occur during periods of free time in a person's day. Any information or skillful efforts contributed by an individual hoping to aid in cognitive surplus must be done of their own free will. The second half of cognitive surplus is the current media tools available to create and communicate. 

In my opinion this book relates extremely well to the learning style of this ENT 3003 class. It has a positive message that empowers the reader, teaching them anyone at any given moment can have global impact. Hence the book's tone properly reflects the class. Shirky says a new conception is needed for the word media so it will no longer be perceived as something professionally produced. The following quote is how he prefers to define current media "Here’s mine: media is the connective tissue of society." If I were to design an exercise based around the information in this book I would have a contest between where involved must use as many different media mediums as possible to contact one person in their life at a time to deliver a piece of information. They could use different apps or websites such Snapchat, Skype, Tinder, Facebook, Instagram, blog comment areas to contact one person deliver a small piece of information then move onto a different form of media outreach. After a 24 hour period participants would tally their total number of people contacted. The purpose of this simple exercise is to show people how many different forms of media outreach we didn't have at the end of the 20th century.

My biggest surprise moment of the book probably came when Shirky explains his unique view on some of the benefits of older piracy sites like Napster. Obviously he appreciated the sharing platform for a hungry customer base. He looks at my generation as being more law abiding than our predecessors because with crime rates dropping considerably in numerous parts of the industrialized world millenials devoted ourselves to a particular type of criminality cyber sharing/theft. I've seen few people Shirky's age appreciate Napster in such a way.  
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Overall it was a really great book and I encourage everyone to read it though if you do not have the time to read the book you can find Clay Shirky's Ted Talk presentation online where he explains more about Cognitive Surplus.

Growing My Social Capital

For this assignment I was required to contact three individuals to increase the radius of my business network.

My first contact was with Cal Becker a Nationwide insurance agent. This satisfied my domain expert as Nationwide sells insurance to amateur athletes. My family does some business with nationwide as our insurance provider. I'm sure any questions I pertaining to types of insurance that can be sold and ways to get as many people insured as possible, is of the utmost importance to Cal.

My second contact was actually Charles Wright, a former professional wrestler. He functions as the expert on my market because he know every ache and pain my customer base is facing. I met him as a fan at an event in Miami this month and begun a dialogue. He actually sees some legitimacy to my in my idea.

My final contact was a supplier in my industry was another wrestler Diamond Dallas Paige. He tries to supply the wrestlers with an alternative form of managing their health. He produces has his own brand of yoga targeted towards helping retired wrestlers and extreme athletes improve their quality of life. I met him at the shortly after establishing contact with Mr. Wright. Including both these beloved reputable entertainers in my network will open doors to my customer market. Their goodwill is as good as gold.

This process networking has been different than usual because I have have the opportunity to interact with celebrities that I wouldn't have had the courage to speak my mind to. Below is a picture of me and Charles Wright a person me and many other consider a trailblazer for African Americans trying to break into sports
entertainment. It was an honor to meet him.

My Customer's Avatar

My prototypical customer is the everyday entertainer, action hero, and death defying stuntman also known as pro wrestler.  My design for an insurance company that caters specifically to independent contractors who do not have the option to buy insurance directly from employers uses both the current and retired wrestler as its main customer base. The average professional wrestler is an amateur somewhere on the independent circuit that could be quite literally breaking his or her back to gain access to a companies main wrestling roster. They perform low budget house shows in every venue from large arenas to undersized high school gymnasium until reaching the big stage on a main roster. Keep in mind house shows tend to have few if any safety regulations and minimal ill equipped medical staff. Wrestlers live on the road traveling to some 300 odd days out of the year to perform in different cities. This time away from their loved ones is hard on all parties involved and like any athlete when wrestler do return home it is battered and bruised. Should the physical damage not be enough to sway the opinion of those debating the necessity of this type of service, we must also take into account the harm a prolonged wrestling career can have on the brain. Performers usually wrestle 3 to 4 times a week both on and off camera.  Other than the eccentric personalities, dangerous acrobatics,  and a life on the road wrestlers tend to be common individuals. They have families often times marrying someone else working in the industry whose prepared to deal with a spouse away from the household most of the time. A love of wrestling is often passed from one generation to the next, but many wrestlers say they hope their children don't follow in their footsteps career wise. Who'd want their kids to put their health on the line to earn ends meat.


Beyond a general love of wrestling I have a few things in common with my customer avatar. I travel numerous times throughout the year and live for about six months several hundred miles away from my family. Also as a sports management major I have to participate in an internship for an athletic organization. Being an intern could be likened to being a wrestler on the independent circuit because I am breaking my back to be added to the organizations main roster.

Elevator Pitch No. 2

In this exercise, you'll record your elevator pitch and publish it to your blog. Here's what you should include in the post:

1) The pitch. Same as last time, 1-minute long. No Web cams. No sitting. Be dynamic! Upload the video to YouTube (as you do with all of your videos) and post the link.

2) A reflection on the feedback you received from your last pitch. Describe what stood out to you as important, what feedback surprised you the most, what feedback you think was outright wrong or silly. 

3) What did you change, based on the feedback?

My Secret Sauce

There are three part of this exercise:

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? Write this up in a detailed list. 

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. Ask them what they think makes you different -- remember, focus on your knowledge, skills, abilities, emotions -- in other words, your human capital. Try to stay away from discussing your other types of capital (such as who you know). Record each interview. In your blog post, please post each interview, as well as a two-three sentence summary of each interview, explaining what your key takeaways are.

3) Reflect on the differences. How do you see yourself, and how do others see you? Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? Do you think your interviewees are correct about you? Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How? 

Famdued (My Portmanteau)

My portmanteau is the word famdued.  It is combination of the syllables "fam" from the word famished and  "dued" from the term subdued. Famished is an adjective meaning extremely hungry or to go without food.  Subdued is an adjective defining someone as quiet or controlled. Thus, the word I've improvised is an adjective describing a noun's attributes. In this case famdued means to be in a lethargic reserved state because of hunger. Its a pretty simple word to throw out in everyday conversation, but over a week of trying to make the word popular among my associates I realized it wouldn't be easily integrated into common speech.

After realizing my word was a flop I investigated why each individual didn't quite find the term desirable. Majority opinion was that it sounded to goofy. Famdued is accused of sounding like a mix between surfer culture words like dude with the idiom fam, short for family.  Some people found the word unnecessary because its seemed redundant where they felt the term famished implied the same definition as my created word. To be accurate famished merely means a state of hunger and I interpret that doesn't mean an attitude when hungry. So the response to my addition to the English language was not promising.

Normally, since I consider myself rather creative when it comes to the mastery of diction I would be somewhat downtrodden with my failure of word craft. However, I find that the task is more difficult than it appears at first. If I were to work harder at the skill a portion of my terminologies might catch on.

Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course? 

I have improved my self evaluation skills since enrolling in this class. I never really listen to the sound, volume, pitch, or tone of my own voice when speaking. However, screening all the audio recordings of interviews I do for this class has, through repetition allowed me to enhance my eloquence.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

I came into this online class with a tremendous amount of confidence in my ability to navigate the class. I have been taking online classes at numerous colleges over the past several years in addition to my online schooling completed in high school. Needless to say I'm experienced with online submission protocols and where lessons or assignments belong. However, because this class is structured differently and requires me to use different mediums like, "Soundcloud" to present to my work I was thrown off guard. I remember how it felt in my early days of taking online classes and how frustrating technology can be when its not functioning the way you desire.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

The first tip I would offer a future student of this class is get in the habit of investigating interesting headlines by reading. Today society has television and internet to throw information in our face and many of us haven't employed discerning eye about what data is relevant in a while. Get a decent tape recorder is my second tip. Lastly, my third piece of advice is to make an alarm to not miss extra-credit assignments.    

                                             

Week 7 Reading Reflection

WEEK 7 READING REFLECTION

     I read about entrepreneur Steve Jobs in a biography by Walter Isaacson.

1) The thing that surprised me most about Jobs is that he was such an informal genius who touted his own individuality, but at the same time remained a perfectionist about his creations. For instance, Jobs didn’t mind being perceived as a hippy by his coworkers during his time at the Atari or making his company represent the antithesis to IBM’s formality. However, when heading a project like the “Macintosh” he had clear restrictive guidelines for engineers and designers in an attempt to present his work in one particular light.

I most admired Steve Jobs for constantly betting on himself. Whether it was going into someone’s office without an appointment to demand a job or having the guts to manage any project that came through Apple himself, Jobs felt he was always the most capable guy in the room.

I have to say I least admire the way Jobs denied his first child Lisa Nicole Brennan, admittedly because he wasn’t ready to be a parent at the time. A man who had the courage to literally build his visions into reality and amassed a net worth of 256 million dollars by the age of twenty-five was so frightened by the thought of being a present father he alienated his one child. In retrospect considering Job’s personal struggles with identity due to the actions of his birth parents giving him up for adoption one might understand his hesitancy concerning the matter. Nevertheless, this was no excuse for his physical absence in his daughter’s life (he was a more than decent financial provider).

Many of Job’s great qualities come from his narcissistic behaviors. Viewing himself as an ultimate innovator he would label those individuals in lockstep with his way of thinking as “enlightened” and he didn’t see potential in as “assholes”.  His narcissism had other considerable drawbacks as well, he’d often repackaging the thoughts of others including his employees as his own brain children. As a younger man, Jobs seemed to have viewed himself as infallible which is why he seemed to shift blame for company failures on others. He blames the disappointing Apple III launch on there being to many designers on the project, while he stated the world wasn’t ready for the powerful “Lisa” computer. Not to mention Jobs gave the bulk of the blame to marketing director John Scully for the Macintosh losing to Microsoft in personal computer sales.  Jobs states he overpriced it at $2,495.

2) Jobs was a very competent man exhibiting an affinity for both the liberal arts as well as mechanical engineering. He could always see how consumer technology was trying to evolve and proceeded to pick and choose what trends he wanted to apply to his own masterpieces. This was the case when Apple encouraged investments by Xerox so Jobs could get his hands on graphical user interface technology. Obviously, Jobs added to this list of skills shrewd business man because inventor/mechanical designer Steve Wozniak claims Jobs always knew how to make a profit whenever Wozniak produced great technology.  

3)  In chapter 16 the relationship between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates is introduced. The two worked together to produce some software for Job’s Macintosh. However, after Gates’ company Microsoft released Windows operating system the two friends had a falling out. Jobs was disgruntled that the graphical user interface was being used in the Windows system. However, I will never understand this grievance because as Gates pointed out on numerous occasions both products are merely an advancement on the Xerox technology. There shouldn’t be any reason for animosity.

4) My first question to Steve Jobs:  You clearly saw potential in the section of Lucasfilms you would eventually re-brand as Pixar shown by the 50 million you invested before work begun on the Toy Story project, but how many companies or company departments had you bailed out up to that point? I’d ask this question because Pixar before Jobs took ownership of Pixar hardware, software, and animation all three sections of the company were hemorrhaging funds. I was curious how confident Jobs was before the sustained success of Pixar that he could save a failing business, or would he just be blowing 50 grand.

My second question to Steve Jobs: What was the event that changed your life making you desire to be a family man. I’d ask him this because Jobs always had trouble establishing strong relationships with people and if he simply wanted more kids he might have considered adoption. I want to know why Jobs became a family man during the late 80s was it simply age and maturity or was there an event catalyst.

5) Jobs’ philosophy of hard work was to always strive to make something great regardless of the fiscal cost. Express your opinion without fear backlash or how you’ll be received. Personally I do agree with Jobs that you’ll always work harder if you’re following your passion. If you take pride in something dedicate yourself to it being ignorant to consequence.

"Need Awareness and Information Search"

Unfortunately, my recordings still wouldn’t upload correctly. You’ll hear the first recording cuts off early and the third interview couldn’t upload at all.

https://soundcloud.com/acottman1/interview-6-8-161

https://soundcloud.com/acottman1/interview-2-6-8-161

However, I still want inform everyone about what I’ve learned from these interviews. My attention was brought to another problem my hypothesis will solve. I hadn’t thought about how creating an insurance company to cater specifically to one group of athletes could help customers avoid a tedious process. From my own personal experience and that of those I have interviewed getting insurance can be a complicated time consuming process. It helps when you have an employer or outside source to narrow down applicable options for you. Furthermore, I learned that the problem my hypothesis intends to solve stems into other countries and my insurance company may be an applicable solution for the independent contractors in Japan or Canada.

"Idea Napkin No. 1"

So, please describe the following:

1) You. Who you are. What your talents are. What your skills and experiences are. Also: what are your aspirations? Specifically regarding your business concept, how do you see this business (if you were to start it) playing a role in your life?

Hello I am Angelo Cottman and I am a sports management major. For the majority of my life I have always occupied myself with sports both as an athlete and a fan. To find joy in anything including sports you must have, to quote the late great Bruce Lee "emotional content". As such I found myself emotionally invested in sports and the athletes who played them instilling a desire in me to center my future career around the subject. I have a background as a tour guide specifically working at colleges. Therefore, I've had experience getting people particularly my peers to buy into an idea I believe. If I can get individuals to trust my opinion on where the proper venue for their academic future is than I can get athletes to trust my concern for their health. As a boy I grew up witnessing my mother suffer from physical limitations due to paralysis brought on by stroke. Similar medical ailments run in my family so I'm grimly aware of the importance of having medical insurance and how the lack there of can destabilize a family. I don't want to have to watch the family of beloved athletes go through such struggles.  

2) What are you offering to customers? Describe the product or service (in other words, how you'll solve customers' unmet needs). 

I want to create business plan to have my own insurance company that provides individuals with health and life insurance. Specifically, my business will be catering to the niche market of uninsured athletes. 

3) Who are you offering it to? Describe, in as much detail as possible, the demographic and psychographic characteristics of your customers. Think especially of this question: what do your customers all have in common?

Luckily many professional athletes are insured, but there are numerous subgroups that due to not receiving coverage from their employers fall through the cracks. Professional wrestlers who work in the business of sports entertainment fall into this category because they are hired as independent contractors they typically receive no medical insurance. Wrestlers are always at constant risk for life threatening injury whether they're performing live shows or just in the training stages. The sports entertainment business comes with few safety guidelines and is always pushing the boundaries and health complications tend to kill most wrestlers before the age of 70.  

4) Why do they care? Your solution is only valuable insofar as customers believe its valuable to them. Here, explain why customers will actually pay you money to use your product or service. 

As I previously mentioned, wrestlers have one the most physically taxing jobs in the world of sports and promotional companies seem unconcerned with the safety of their employees. An athlete's livelihood is their body so to keep it well maintained is a necessity. Also, most wrestler know the low life expectancy of people who participate in the industry and desire to change that. It is not just the risk of paralysis and stress on the cardiovascular system, but of chronic brain injury that these workers face everyday. A person who provides fans with such enjoy should have a quality of life health wise that reflects their dedication to the craft. 

5) What are your core competencies? What sets you apart from everyone else? Also: what do you have that nobody else has? 

The thing that sets me apart from everyone else is that unlike other wrestling fans who see a successful multi-billion dollar industry operated by talent that earns more money than they could dream of, I will forever see a system of exploitation. Wrestlers make money off the sweat of their brow, doing a job most people would be scared to do day in and day out. Few wrestlers make the big money anyway because most are stuck on the independent circuit, but are still stuck with a lifetime's worth or injuries. This is why they identify readily with the working class. I consider it an honor to defend my fellow proletariat.

6) In addition to these five elements, please spend a paragraph evaluating whether you believe these elements fit together or whether there are aspects of your business concept that are weaker / out-of-joint with the others. 

I find that these elements fit together. I  could never accomplish such a grand feat alone I would require a lot of assistance to start this movement. Starting any regular insurance company can be a complex multi-step process not to mention a time consuming one. Getting certification and then securing a customer base sounds simple at first, but could take years and even once you have customers that doesn't necessarily guarantee profit. If I were to ever try this endeavor I would need a very trustworthy team of business associates by my side.

Tweaking the Innovation

In my previous posts I explained that professional wrestlers are free contractors hired independently by wrestling promotion and they are typically uninsured. I commented this presents an opportunity for the creation of an insurance company to provide low-cost health insurance specifically to these athletes. Were someone to test my hypothesis there are two ways this could become a profitable venture.


Breadth of entrepreneurial hypothesis: There are two basic ways insurance companies earn income. They can earn underwriting income, investment income, or both. Underwriting income is derived from the difference between how much money is collected for all policies sold versus how much money is paid out in insurance claims for those policies in any given time period. Investment income is revenue generated by investments made by the insurance company with unused funds.

Depth of entrepreneurial hypothesis: For underwriting income the depth of ways the insurance company can make money lies with customers paying premiums for insurance. As for investment income the depth of ways profit can be made is far more plentiful because they have the freedom to invest in many different types of stock.

"My solution"

In my hypothesis post I added  a link to a paper I wrote detailing the problem with the medical coverage sports entertainers receive, or rather the lack thereof. The only way to rectify this issue is for the companies like WWE which are billion dollar organizations to put together a reasonable medical plan. However, to force companies to do this the workforce in this case independently contracted wrestlers may have to reconsider unionization, striking, and filing a lawsuit similar to that NFL players with their concussion suit. As long as the revenue stream continues to flow towards the top brass of professional wrestling entertainment ownership no one in charge will feel the need to change how business is run. The only way to change business procedure in this instance is to make conglomerates feel pain in their pockets. However, if a benevolent third party organization perhaps for profit or charity could fill the void for these athletes and provide them a desperately needed service than the responsibility could be taken out of the hands of the WWE.

An Ethical Analysis of Safety Practices in WWE

An Ethical Analysis of Safety Practices in WWE 

                        By Angelo Cottman  

             Project #1 Management Challenge 

        Class: Organizational Management 3025 

                  Professor: Thomas Walker 

                          October 15, 2015

Introduction:

     Blood sport, the mere mention of this phrase calls forth to the mind vivid images of clashing warriors inside the coliseum and various arenas from bygone eras. Throughout history, countless cultures worldwide have pitted man against man in the dance combat. In the pursuit of higher social status, wealth, glory, freedom, completing rites of passage, as well as to entertain the viewing masses, people have commonly fought to the death. It is commonly understood for a warrior, there was no more noble a death than to die in battle. Humanity left the barbarism of death matches behind, replacing it with the supposedly safer more evolved corporate run platform of contact sports. Today, society wisely dictates that the life of the athlete is protected over the trivial outcome of whatever contact sport he or she is playing. It is both the legal and ethical obligation of sports corporations to educate the athletes they employ about the risk of the activity and to the best of their abilities, preserve the overall health of said athletes.

     As a Sports Management Major, I have taken an interest at how prominently voiced the debates on player safety have become through the recent United States media. It's near impossible to not hear about concussion controversy in the NFL or controversy involving damaging steroids in pro baseball and boxing. Each of these issues and various more are indeed valid in their intent to question what level of culpability a sports organization bears to for their player’s safety and health. Over the years, listening to player unions attend courts on the behalf of current and retired competitors, I began to wonder about the fates of athletes in sports without union representation to argue the perspective of the workforce, such as boxing or UFC. Which ultimately leads me to question is anyone advocating the need for safety protocols in the pseudo-sport acrobatic venue that is World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

     It is a purely unethical practice to employ a person without explaining to them known safety hazards of the job (De George, 2014). This distasteful and illegal practice is what the National Football League has been accused of in a collection of joint class lawsuits. Claims were filed against the league by players whom say the sports organization withheld vital medical information concerning the long-term affects of head injures from players who at which point continued to play for the company. As of April 22, 2015, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved a settlement between the NFL and NFL Properties, retired NFL players, their representatives and family members. The NFL has not admitted any guilt in disregarding the affects of serious head injuries to players; specifically concussion injuries that occur when the brain continues to rattle around in the skull cavity after the body endures blunt force trauma or stops abruptly. Testimony from NFL employees in this case say not only were players not informed by sanctioned league doctors about the long-term affects of chronic multiple concussions, which commonly occur during the average NFL players career, many players were encouraged to knowingly play through concussions or fake results on concussion detection test, thus avoiding missed games due to not being medically cleared. Regardless of the “he said she said” surrounding this case, if the NFL is truly guilty of these accusations, it is a cruel act they’ve committed against their workforce, yet it becomes apparent the WWE is responsible for worse actions.

                        

Challenges faced by Organization:

     It’s abundantly clear that WWE is a company in the business of sports entertainment, a market where the goal is to use colorful acrobatic athletes in unorthodox amusing combat situations. The television and live events that WWE produces are as theatrical as they are scripted. Despite the staged aspect, the stunts performed by the well-trained professionals take tremendous physical risk. Particular attention should be paid to the parallels between WWE and legitimate pro sports companies, given that most physicians who have treated WWE wrestlers or as they are often referred to “Superstars”, compare the damage sustained by Superstars to that of NFL athletes (Cox, 2014). Only WWE workers don’t adorn the helmet or padding to dull the impacts of their bodies against the padded wooden ring, metal objects (barricades, stairs, and ladders), other bodies, and concrete. 

     Former face of WWE, current UFC fighter, and ex-WWE Superstar Phillip Brooks, better known by his ring name CM Punk, is reported in a 2014 journal article by “The Washington Post” saying the WWE concussion protocol amounts to “bull [expletive]”. Punk went on to say, “WWE doesn’t do anything to protect the wrestlers, they do things to protect themselves. … They don’t let everybody know that they’re doing all these fantastic things for concussions for ‘the boys. They do it so it looks good on them in the public.” Punk’s use of the term boys refers to his fellow professional wrestlers. Moreover, the article concludes with Punk commending the power of the NFL Players Union to force the leagues hand about instilling legitimate concussion protocol, an outcome he didn’t see happening in WWE. Well there is a concussion policy, however, when compared to the extensive six page document the NFL released about their concussion testing/mandatory recuperation policy, the mere two PowerPoint slides produced by WWE entitled “ImPact Concussion Management Program,” is made to look as incomplete, illegitimate, and laughable as CM Punk would have us believe. The manuscript doesn’t even list the symptoms of a concussion. 

     As previously mentioned, WWE performers do not have a union representation and are employed as independent contractors. Therefore, the wrestlers lack a powerbase to respond when legal rights of workers are violated. Such was the case when CM Punk admitted in an interview with Colt Cabana on the “Art of Wrestling” that he’d been pressured to keep wrestling after receiving a concussion in 2014 and again immediately following his elbow surgery. “I got a concussion in the Royal Rumble. It’s pretty godd*** obvious. I knew I had a concussion. Everyone knew I had a concussion. And they were like we want you to take this test and I said your test is bull***. I took the test while texting you [Colt Cabana] and listening to my headphones and I “passed” with flying colors. But then they were like we want you to go to the ring and run the ropes. And I was like but I just passed your test and they were like yeah, but we still think you have a concussion. I was like so your test is worthless.” Within the two hour interview, Punk describes multiple occasions when he was cleared to wrestle following injury by WWE doctors without even being examined by them. An incident following Punk’s elbow surgery involved him without a medical examination, being cleared to wrestle over the phone by WWE doctor, James Andrews, who was out of state at the time (Paglino, 2015) As egregious as these business practices are by the WWE, they are lucky it only resulted in CM Punk retiring from the company due to health related reasons in 2014. The consequences of unethical medical practice have often been much higher.

                  Management’s Response to Challenges:

     The two biggest changes to WWE medical protocol came on the heels of tragedy. Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero, two names most every WWE fan correlate with great triumph and great despair. On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure due to underlying atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply oxygenated blood to the heart. He was a former WWE champion. The body of Chris Benoit was found on June 25, 2007 after he had sedated and killed both his wife and son Daniel. Benoit was a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The Eddie Guerrero case was simple. Doctors concluded that Eddie’s intense workout regiment he performed to stay in shape for the WWE circuit, combined with his past substance abuse of painkillers and human steroids caused his heart to give out. Substance abuse is a prominent problem in most professional sports, yet even more so in WWE because the amount of muscle mass and endurance level required for wrestlers to perform weekly at the highest stage demands the use of stimulants and painkillers. Almost immediately following Mr. Guerrero’s passing, WWE announced a new drug testing policy to detect the use of particular steroids (Cantor 2005).  As for Chris Benoit, it is known the plethora of concussions he suffered during his career caused critical brain cell damage that in other cases have led to dementia. The Benoit story is often mucked up by public misconception with people assuming, like Eddie Guerrero, that Benoit was on steroids leading to killing his family uncontrollable rage. This couldn’t be farther from the truth, as no anabolic steroids were detected in Benoit’s body. Leaving brain damage as the most likely cause for his peculiar actions, a theory with which WWE avidly disagrees. Though ironically, in the aftermath of the murder-suicide scandal, WWE initiated its current ImPact Concussion Test Program (WWE, 2015). It would be remiss not to mention that in addition to Chris Benoit‘s public life in private he was a loving father and husband adored by his friends who to this day find his final acts uncharacteristic. 

                     Analysis of Management Response:

     The aforementioned settlement between the NFL and their players resulted in major benefits made readily available to Class Members in the case. The NFL must now offer baseline medical exams for retired NFL players and extensive education curriculum about football safety (NFL Settlement, 2015). Also, the NFL may award funds to parties diagnosed with ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Dementia and certain cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can only be diagnosed after death. As shrewd corporations, often WWE and the NFL avoid taking responsibility for the concussions, substance abuse, or injury their productions help to cause. Players forced the league’s hand by taking legal action, so perhaps the same must be done to the WWE for them to have legitimate policy reform (Zygna, 2015). Clearly, improvements have been made in the WWE safety protocol, yet it has all been retroactive in response to death. Initiative must be taken by the WWE to confront issues before they occur or all progress is hollow. For instance, WWE may want to begin by adjusting its Impact Testing since the only behavior it mentions are chair strikes to the head, which are now explicitly prohibited during shows. However, it should be noted that wrestlers in WWE are commonly required to get kicked in head, slammed through tables, leap from ladders/cages of greater than 20 feet, and endure impacts to the head from metal barricades or ring stairs.

              My Ideal Resolution to WWE’s Challenges:

     As a devotee to the sport of wrestling, I have watched more than my fair share of events. I understand the violent atmosphere in which extreme stunts are performed is the main draw of WWE’s genre of shows.  It can be difficult to tow the line between safety and extreme, so I would respond to the ethics problems WWE faces, first by acknowledging the medical issues caused by intensive wrestling, then by establishing a form long-term medical coverage for retired wrestlers.  WWE has taken little, if any accountability for the health of its staff, either current or retired. By acknowledging the problem, the WWE should educate the world about the risk of wrestling. This way there can be a more open dialogue about wrestler injury and WWE can hire a higher quality of professional medical personnel. I understand that medical coverage for current wrestlers may be good, but long-term injuries warrant long-term medical coverage. Obviously, this would be expensive, but when you take into account the amount of funds WWE has dedicated to causes like breast cancer, the armed forces, and St. Jude’s it seems reasonable to think that they could set aside some money to aid the workers that help build the legacy of WWE. Overlooking the fact that wrestlers are independent contractors, once their careers have closed someone should help these performers who’ve given up their lives to compete.

                                  Closing:

     In 2015, modern day gladiators perform their craft in professional fighting rings competing not to the final breath, but to the final bell. The final straw for ex wrestler CM Punk reportedly came when WWE Dr. Chris Amann misdiagnosed a deadly MRSA staph infection as a “fatty deposit” on the wrestler’s back in 2014 (Paglino, 2014). After succumbing to illness, Punk broke ties with WWE to begin healing, his contract was terminated the morning of his wedding day (Cox, 2014). Many onlookers, including Punk himself felt this was a personal message regarding how he left the business. Regardless of personal disputes between management and employees, there is always the ethical obligation of a company to best protect the health of its workforce. Professionally, the WWE has failed this challenge and must make great strides in the future to have access to the next crop of talented upcoming wrestlers who have the option of working for other wrestling entertainment corporations, like Global Force Wrestling, TNA, Lucha Underground, and Ring of Honor Wrestling. Moreover, if WWE hopes to retain the support of diehard wrestling fans like myself they must do justice to the dedicated men and women who make the sport possible. 

                                                  WORK CITED 

Biography.com Editors. "Chris Benoit Biography Athlete, Murderer, Television Personality." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/chris-benoit-21203169>.

Cantor, Brian. "Eddie Guerrero's Cause Of Death Officially Revealed - Wrestlezone." WRESTLE ZONE. CraveOnline Media, 07 Dec. 2005. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/228361-eddie-guerreros-cause-of-death-officially-revealed>.

Cox, John Woodrow. "CM Punk Slams WWE’s Health and Wellness Policy, Says He Was Fired on His Wedding Day." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2014/11/28/cm-punk-slams-wwes-health-and-wellness-policy-says-he-was-fired-on-his-wedding-day/>.

De George, Richard T. "A History of Business Ethics." A History of Business Ethics. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2015. <http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/conference/presentations/business-ethics-history.html>.

"NFL Concussion Settlement." NFL Concussion Settlement. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <https://www.nflconcussionsettlement.com/>.

"NFL's Head, Neck, and Spine Committee's Protocols Regarding Diagnosis and Management of Concussion." Nflplayers.com. NFL. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. <http://images.nflplayers.com/mediaResources/lyris/pdfs/NFL_Diagnosis_Mgmt_Concussion.pdf>.

Paglino, Nick. "WWE Issues Statement Following CM Punk Blasting Company Doctors - Wrestlezone." WRESTLE ZONE. CraveOnline Media, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2015. <http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/530395-wwe-issues-statement-following-cm-punk-blasting-company-doctors>.

"WWE & ImPACT Concussion Management Program." Http://corporate.wwe.com/. WWE. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. <http://corporate.wwe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/WWEImPACTConcussionProgram24.pdf>.

Zynga, Andy. "A Social Brain Is a Smarter Brain." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Publishing, 06 May 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2015. <https://hbr.org/2014/05/a-social-brain-is-a-smarter-brain/>.

"Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1"

Foreword: I will be including the interviews that accompany this blog post at a later time.

Being a fan of sports and the sports entertainment industry the health and futures of athletes are things that occupy my attention. In recent years with the recent media attention being paid to how the NFL handles concussion, the integrity of the National Football League has been brought into question. Surprisingly, there are even more oversights in the industry of sports entertainment where athletes no longer contracted by programs receive no medical benefits.

Hypothesis: Wrestling companies in the United States refuse to provide athletes with proper medical care during and after there violent careers. 

• The who: Wrestling companies like WWE

• The what: Refuse to provide athletes with proper medical care

• The why: There is an issue because the average career of any stunt athlete is riddled with injuries so it may be difficult to afford medical coverage for both current and retired wrestlers.

This issue not only affects athletes but their families who are often left with enormous medical bills to care for their loved ones. Also, many times the family must cope with the fact said athlete is suffering from severe physical or mental impairment by the conclusion of their career. The web address at the bottom of my page will link to a blog post of a paper I wrote last year. In the paper I outline some of the safety practices of WWE the premier company in American sports entertainment (which is different from the professional/collegiate sports industry). The only solution to the problems faced by current and retired wrestlers is for their employer/former employer to prioritize the health of their workers. 


http://2016principlesofentrepreneurship.blogspot.com/2016/05/an-ethical-analysis-of-safety-practices.html

Looking for Opportunity

Opportunity #1:  The first economic opportunity I have identified is within the NCAA, a part of the American sports industry that generates more than 12 billion dollars annually (money generated is not equivalent to revenue). However, with the NCAA being such a success it is a wonder why the heart of its workforce, collegiate athletes aren't fiscally compensated for their efforts. The article listed below by Taylor Branch, discusses the economic trend of forced amateurism on collegiate athletes. The article touches on how this process along with the mandatory contract signing by  collegiate athletes awarding all of their identity rights to the NCAA is fundamentally unconstitutional.  Obviously, this trend needs to change not just because the prototypical customer being players deserve to reap the profits they generate, but so every fan of college sports like myself doesn't have to bear witness to the hypocrisy of the NCAA. I became aware of the opportunity to pay the players years ago when I first learned about the profit margin projected each year within particular college sports. Although, I am very aware it won't be easy to pay college athletes because not every athletic program makes money, in fact many programs across the country are hemorrhaging funds. So we would have to answer the question do athletes in non-revenue generating  collegiate sports like track and gymnastics deserve to be paid? Moreover, once the door is opened to the idea of player compensation it becomes hard to regulate how each player will be paid. For instance, will all players in a sport be paid at a flat rate or will negotiations take place between schools and players creating a reward system based on their individual present and future contributions to the athletic program. Lastly, allowing college students to receive payment will invite agents to come in to manage their value adding yet another dimension to the already murky business of college sports.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/


Opportunity #2: For my first regulatory opportunity I have identified a peculiar legal statute in the state of New Jersey. I first became aware of this law through my aunt who told me a story about an old lawsuit her company was involved in back in 2015. Apparently in the state of New Jersey if a trespasser enters onto private property and is accidentally injured it is possible in some cases for the injured party to sue the owners of said property. The URL listed below links to a document from the the New Jersey Judiciary website. In the the document on page three you will find the definitions and general duties owed to both adult and infant trespassers. The document is long and contains much legal terminology, but it goes on to describe certain circumstances where property owners can be held liable for injuries incurred by trespassers. Personally, I don't think individuals who trespass thus breaking the law themselves should necessarily be able to sue landowners to possibly make a profit from the incident. Getting rid of this law all together is not the answer, but modifying it would serve to protect property owners and alleviate some of the burden on the New Jersey legal system.

https://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/charges/5.20F.docx


Opportunity #3: My second economic opportunity has to do with increasing the number of extreme sports venues in the state of Florida. I came across this opportunity about two years ago when me and my friend were entertaining the idea of starting a paintball business on his property in south Florida. These types of business are a low cost investments usually only requiring a few thousand dollars to start. Also, Florida excluding water logged areas has the perfect landscape for sports like paintball with plenty of flatland. There is a lack of extreme sports providers in Florida so there isn't much competition to new enterprise. Young adults between the ages of 15- 35 would be the target demographic so they would be the ones to benefit most from taking advantage of this opportunity.


Opportunity #4:  My second regulatory opportunity involves changing all racially insensitive team names in major professional sports leagues. I became aware of this opportunity several years ago when national media attention was once again brought to issue of minority groups pointing out the offensive nature of certain professional team names. Specifically, there are numerous team names in pro sports that can be considered insulting to the Native American demographic. Clearly it could cost any professional sports organizations a great deal of money to engage in a re-branding effort. However, the benefits of becoming a morally aligned organization concerned with its effect of public should outweigh any financial loses.


I hold each one of the beliefs to be evident because I can be objective when reviewing these issues. I am not concerned with the fiscal situation of the NCAA nor the cost of re-branding pro sports teams since I do not work for them. I merely care about fairness when it comes to how enterprises operate. I think if athletes work than they should be paid; if a team name is has a racially charged word attached to it (Redskins) than change it out of a sense of decency to your fellow man. If  a law is not functional and can end up rewarding people for violating a law than said law should be changed. I an not unique for holding these opinions it is merely that many others like me lack the ability to expeditiously change these situations.