February 2011 - Fellow - Saltire Foundation Community

Scottish pioneers- 600 golf courses in 48 years

I was privileged enough to enjoy a wonderful game of golf with Tommy Hunter IV and his Father Tom at Charlotte County Club, Charlotte, NC this week. This is one of 600 courses which were designed by the great Scottish golf course designer Donald Ross...

Published 27-Feb-2011 19:13 by Claire MacDonald (2010)

Orchestrating New Product Development

Last night David and I went to a concert given by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. The headline piece was Beethoven’s 3 rd Piano Concerto with soloist Jonathan Bliss, and the orchestra also played Charles Ives 3 rd Symphony and Antonín Dvořák’s...

Published 25-Feb-2011 19:33 by Mark Simmers

Winning Scotland

In common with most of the 2009 Fellows, I’ve been a passive follower of our Fellows blog of late – relishing reading the blogs of the current cohort, while not contributing myself. I spent the bulk of 2010 helping Global Energy Group grow...

Published 25-Feb-2011 17:29 by Martyn Tulloch

Leave no stone unturned in the quest for new opportunities.

Last week I attended a conference at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston. Hosted by the Sloan Business Club, this fascinating talk covered the progress of Africa in the last ten years, highlighting tremendous opportunities for the future...

Published 24-Feb-2011 11:12 by Sandrine Sienche (2010)

Filed under: Saltire Experience, Boston, MIT, entrepreneurship, Economic Development, Africa

Raison d'être vs. personal creativity, and then there is balancing both!

It happened again today… some would refer to it as ‘day dreaming’ as my p1 teacher put it, and some would refer to it as ‘you’re on another planet’! However I like to refer to it as being in ‘the realm of creativity...

Published 23-Feb-2011 13:38 by Amina Nabi (2010)

Filed under: Boston, Liberty Mutual, externship, Creativity, Babson, insurance

North Carolina - sun, golf and a great microbrewery.

I have just enjoyed a great weekend in Raleigh Durham with Claire and Bec – the Saltire IBMers. What a lovely part of the US this corner of North Carolina is – it helped that the weather was warm and sunny, which allowed for two games of golf...

Published 21-Feb-2011 14:28 by Mark Simmers

Filed under: entrepreneurship, Fundraising, funding

Culture : Born or bred.

As we work on our NPD strategy one of the recurring questions has been whether we build it around the existing culture at our externship A company or aim to modify certain ingrained practices and ways of doing things, in 3 months and working in a consultative...

Published 21-Feb-2011 2:00 by Joanne Hagerty (2010)

Filed under: Culture, organisational behaviour

A new dawn full of Energy

Progressing into the new phase of the fellowship was always with a bit of excitement and trepidation, perhaps in equal measure. The Babson experience was a great learning experience, changing attitudes and mindset on every turn. However, moving on to...

Published 20-Feb-2011 21:50 by Mirza Fahd Arshed Baig (2010)

Filed under: externship, Veolia, Babson

Watson wins, but still no cure for the common cold

It's been a buzz round IBM this week. As Claire mentioned in her earlier blog, Watson the super computer was being tested on Jeopardy (a US game show) this week. Watson triumphed over two human competitors Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Jennings tongue...

Published 17-Feb-2011 23:57 by Rebecca Ewing (2010)

Filed under: Technology, IBM, Watson

Got $10? You could be a Venture Capitalist!

Last November I wrote about being a shrewd entrepreneur, and how businesses could raise funds by approaching a key potential client, identifying their pain, providing a solution, and getting this client to fund the prototype and manufacturing of this...

Published 17-Feb-2011 14:34 by Sandrine Sienche (2010)

Filed under: Saltire Experience, saltire fellowship, Scotland, product, crowdsourcing, funding, VC

Big Blue 100 years on......a Scottish perspective as I wander to wonder.

Well as my project progresses, my conversations and learning have evolved I have had a chance to observe and explore many new things whilst working here in Raleigh. There are ideas and behaviours which could be utilised to help Scotland evolve and develop...

Published 17-Feb-2011 0:23 by Claire MacDonald (2010)

Cobbler's Bairns - A Confession

There is an old saying "The cobbler's bairns are the worst shod" - which loosely translated means "The cobblers children have the worst shoes". It is often used where somone is failing to practice what the preach - a dentist with...

Published 16-Feb-2011 8:35 by Ian Stevenson

Filed under: Ian Stevenson, Salient Point

Raring to grow

I’m finding it hard to believe that we are halfway through externship A – time does indeed fly when you are scanning pipes. One of the best insights for me is being at a company that is ramping up for further growth, it’s quite interesting...

Published 15-Feb-2011 16:11 by Joanne Hagerty (2010)

Flying visit to Houston

Last Thursday I packed up my IBM issued computer and headed to Houston for a flying visit. I worked from the Houston Fellows flat during the day, doing my usual round of calls and emails. It was great to see the sun shining thru the windows whilst at...

Published 14-Feb-2011 22:39 by Rebecca Ewing (2010)

Filed under: IBM, Houston, Raleigh, Rice University

When it is dark enough you can see the stars ***

Working at Liberty Mutual has inspired me to think about factors that differentiate; a mediocre successful company, from an outstanding, unpredictable, growing, successful company. The answer seems to always draw back to the ‘people’, within...

Published 10-Feb-2011 16:06 by Amina Nabi (2010)

February 2011 - Fellow

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