1. STANFORD UNIVERSITY
DESIGN THINKING ACTION LAB
ASSIGNMENT 7
“IDEATE”
By Dr. Mikhail Zenchenkov
August 12, 2013
Personal info of 18 participants:
Ethnicity: Russians
Age: 19-23; 24-28
M/F: 11 males, 7 females
University/College/Technical Schools: 4-5yrs degree programs, 2-3 yrs degree programs
Major: Law, Math, Programming, Culinary, Engineering, Construction, Services
Work experience, yrs.: 0-5
Family Status: Singles and young families with mostly one kid
International Work Experience, yrs: 1-3 months, mostly CIS countries (Ukraine, Kazakhstan)
Cities/Regions: Perm, Salsk, Gukovo, Krasnodar, Nizhniy Novgorod, Stavropol
Other comments: only 3 people haven’t changed their job from the 1st
one they’ve taken,
primarily because of their work experience is under 6-8 months.
CONCLUSIONS:
TEAM: In general people are dissatisfied in Russia with their jobs when it comes to joining new
team. As new hires added to the team, they are feeling that it’s more of a condition in which they
can fit or not.
PAY: Low salaries at entry levels in Russia make it very unattractive for young people to join
the companies; on the other hand, by having no job experience young people can’t afford better
entry job offerings.
REQUIRED WORK EXPERIENCE: Companies need to have people who can do the job, but
fresh graduates can’t have 1-1.5 yrs work experience right after graduation.

2. 2
PROBLEM STATEMENTS
TEAM: Does general (multifactor) work dissatisfaction affect team building in the company
(and as a result financial performance of the firm)?
PAY: Since the companies are not willing to provide fair pay to the entry-level jobs should other
stakeholders get involved to help newly recruited graduates?
REQUIRED WORK EXPERIENCE: How can companies together with students, government
and shareholders map out new balanced priorities in order to stimulate job market?
IDEA GENERATION
Any problem is always a systems problem therefore the idea development process will be
designed for three earlier identified areas which are all present in the school-to-work transition
process: team, pay, experience. Another important aspect is that there is always more then one
stakeholder involved when it comes to the decision, few stakeholders should be acknowledged at
the start.
I. TEAM:
Does general (multifactor) work dissatisfaction affect team building in the company (and as a
result financial performance of the firm)?
1. Make regular team building activities
2. Introduce company, “arrival brief”
3. Introduce mentor program
4. Have get-togethers in the company
5. Introduce team building seminars by
external experts
6. Show that the company performance
depends on team work
7. Have a balance of age groups in the team
8. Involve in team projects from the start
9. Develop team building climate and culture
inside the company
10. Relate financial stimulus (annual bonus,
stock option) with team work
11. Introduce profit sharing program same as
Samsung Company
12. Have diverse teams
13. Introduce good communication course
14. Respect and acknowledge everyone’s
contributions despite age and experience
15. Have company rotation programs
Practical: Introduce mentor program. A newly recruited person should have an experienced
professional who could be available to answer the questions, make recommendations and
provide general guidance.

3. 3
Disruptive: Develop team building climate and culture inside the company. It takes a long time,
3-5 years and more, but this is how a company should invest in itself.
Favorite: Introduce profit sharing program same as Samsung Company. Most companies treat
their people same as a small aquarium fish, give them some crumbs to make it swim. In the
contrast, Samsung has a unique profit-sharing program. In the end of the year a great lump sum
payment is made to the employees depending on the company’s annual financial performance. In
2005, an IT engineer could have an extra 15,000-25,000 USD in the end of the year to appreciate
his contribution. In my opinion, this is why Samsung is growing so fast recently; treat the people
the way you want to be treated yourself.
II. PAY:
Since the companies are not willing to provide fair pay to the entry-level jobs should other
stakeholders get involved to help newly recruited graduates?
1. Introduce 1 year government subsidy
package to all newly recruited
graduates
2. Provide extra (overtime) assignments to
let them earn more
3. Involve government agencies
4. Explain to graduates that they should
have a long-term vision
5. Make more meaningful work
assignments
6. Collect further research data
7. Compensate through other better
conditions such as housing, insurance,
interest free loans
8. Have a clear career path developed
after joining the company to show
long-term benefits
9. Take them seriously from the start
10. Make a council of newly joined “fresh
brains” that will work together
11. Offer free trainings internal/external
12. Let employees work from home
13. Have flexible working hours
14. Give them extra weekends for great
service
15. Pay them with lots of verbal
appreciations of their work
16. Admit their importance in the
companies despite of the job types
Practical: Have a clear career path developed after joining the company to show long-term
benefits. This practice should be a must. Very low cost with a great personal impact.
Disruptive: Let employees work from home. With today’s level of technology people can easily
work from home at least half of the time they spend at work, especially it would be great for
women, part-timers and students.

4. 4
Favorite: Make more meaningful work assignments. An MIT research has shown that people
when it comes to intellectual work are motivated in a different way compare to simple labor
tasks. They look for meaningful, self-directive work so let them have it.
III. REQUIRED WORK EXPERIENCE:
How can companies together with students, government and shareholders map out new balanced
priorities in order to stimulate job market?
COMPANIES:
1. Make it a part of the social
responsibilities programs “youth
development”
2. Introduce new corporate standards
by leading qualifying agencies
3. Have own developmental programs
4. Have own corporate university
5. Develop transition programs with
the university
6. Speak about this issue at
shareholders’ and board meetings
UNIVERSITIES:
1. Make more job-related assignments at
the university
2. Have better collaboration with
companies at the university
3. Make mutual projects, assignments and
competitions with the companies
4. Work on building outstanding
reputation among employers
5. Have a strong PR department and news
distribution plan
6. Regularly update curriculum matching
it to the market needs
GOVERNMENT:
1. Clearly promote an idea about giving a
chance to young graduates at all levels
2. Make President speak about importance
of hiring and developing youth
3. Make State level requirements
4. Provide special tax benefits related to
number of young recruits
Practical: Have own developmental programs. Many companies do not have their own
transitional programs and instead put this pressure to the newly recruited kids. Companies must
have induction, rotation, and other in-house programs to help the youth with their 1st
steps.

5. 5
Disruptive: Make President speak about importance of hiring and developing youth. President
speeches change the financial markets, same way they should change the thinking of businesses,
direct to new priorities and convey this message clearly to all involved parties.
Favorite: Make more job-related assignments at the university. In my opinion today’s education
is a disaster in terms of how much time is spent in the classrooms, lecture halls, auditoriums.
Same thing goes to the amount of time for any degree program. I believe, that Babson College is
the model for all business education programs and can be easily tailored to the needs of the
educational institutions.
END of the Document
Would be glad to receive any kind of comments,
Mikhail
Zenchenkov@gmail.com