Sunday, June 14, 2009
Chapter 15 Article Review : Lenovo Restructures as Emerging Market Focus Grows
Lenovo will create developed and emerging market units in the place of its regional business divisions as it moves its focus back to emerging economies. Lenovo’s new mature markets division will focus on Western Europe, North America and Japan. Its emerging markets units will include Africa, the Middle East and most of Asia, including China. Building a presence in emerging markets could boost Lenovo in the long term. China, Lenovo’s most important market, accounted for 45% of the company’s sales in the last quarter.
Case Study : Nestle Tries for an All-for-One Global Strategy
2) Nestle allowed each local organization to conduct business as it saw fit, taking into account the local conditions and business cultures. To support this decentralized strategy, it had 80 different information technology units that ran nearly 900 IBM AS/400 midrange computers, 15 mainframes, and 200 Unix systems, enabling observers to describe its infrastructure as a veritable Tower of Babel. This strategy was not appropriate for Nestle’s business model.
3) Nestle’s management found that allowing these local differences created inefficiencies and extra costs that could prevent the company from competing effectively in electronic commerce. GLOBE was formed to standardize Nestle’s business practices. The greatest challenge to GLOBE was personal, not technical. Managers resisted the idea of giving up control over their business process to participate in a centralized solution. The resistance was fortified by the fact that each country’s operations would have to spend its own money to pay for the project.
4) To help with these problems, Johnson asked each country to name a GLOBE manager who would facilitate the adoption of the system. These managers also provided value to each other by exchanging their experiences with the system and the solutions they employed for specific challenges. Johnson also established a steering committee at company headquarters to schedule and manage the rollouts. The steering committee oversaw the reduction of company data centers form 100 to four, including the center in Vevey, which stored the GLOBE templates, Best Practices Library, and central functions.
3) Nestle’s management found that allowing these local differences created inefficiencies and extra costs that could prevent the company from competing effectively in electronic commerce. GLOBE was formed to standardize Nestle’s business practices. The greatest challenge to GLOBE was personal, not technical. Managers resisted the idea of giving up control over their business process to participate in a centralized solution. The resistance was fortified by the fact that each country’s operations would have to spend its own money to pay for the project.
4) To help with these problems, Johnson asked each country to name a GLOBE manager who would facilitate the adoption of the system. These managers also provided value to each other by exchanging their experiences with the system and the solutions they employed for specific challenges. Johnson also established a steering committee at company headquarters to schedule and manage the rollouts. The steering committee oversaw the reduction of company data centers form 100 to four, including the center in Vevey, which stored the GLOBE templates, Best Practices Library, and central functions.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
5 Tips for Businesses Entering Web 2.0
Communication and the tools to do it are forever evolving. All these ways to connect represent a tremendous opportunity for building communities to help us find and share information faster and more easily. Tapping into social media to manage projects is a very efficient and forward-thinking way to keep everyone in the loop and come up with the best ideas for project managers. This class has been tapping into social media to teach us many valuable lessons. We are blogging, which is a social networking tool. This article suggests five social media practices. Number one is to be an information seeker and sharer. Blogging and twitter allows great information to be shared quickly. This can relate to chapter 14, Project Management : Establishing the Business Value of Systems and Managing Change. A manager can communicate information quickly and effectively using the social networking tools. Thousands of people tweet insights and URLs for great articles. Blogging and tweeting are ways to learn to share tools that are needed. I also love to share information. I post many videos for my class on youtube. These videos are also seen by people all over the world and it makes me feel good to know that I am helping the dissemination of knowledge.
A second practice is to provide a sense of community. By searching communities like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can become connected to other project managers who share your interests. You can even ask questions about things that have you stumped or help other people who may be facing challenges. A third practice is to be clear about what is allowed. You have to be clear about using social media for formal, business purposes verses informal, recreational fun. A fourth practice is to leverage social media’s potential for cooperation and collaboration, while using common sense. You should not post things that you do not want your grandmother or a prospective employer to read. A fifth practice is to be an expertise hunter. Invite your team to hunt for hot spots of expertise on the web, from blogs to groups within social networks. As a team, you can become your own social network for filtering information and staying on top of key trends in your industry. This is very relevant to our class because for those of us participating in the team project, this is exactly what we are doing. We are filtering information to stay on top of key trends in the industry of the company that we are working with.
Reference : LaBrosse, Michell. (5/31/09). 5 Tips for Businesses Entering Web 2.0. Computerworld. Retreived 6/7/09 from PC Magazine. Website : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165802/5_tips_for_businesses_entering_web_20.html
A second practice is to provide a sense of community. By searching communities like LinkedIn and Facebook, you can become connected to other project managers who share your interests. You can even ask questions about things that have you stumped or help other people who may be facing challenges. A third practice is to be clear about what is allowed. You have to be clear about using social media for formal, business purposes verses informal, recreational fun. A fourth practice is to leverage social media’s potential for cooperation and collaboration, while using common sense. You should not post things that you do not want your grandmother or a prospective employer to read. A fifth practice is to be an expertise hunter. Invite your team to hunt for hot spots of expertise on the web, from blogs to groups within social networks. As a team, you can become your own social network for filtering information and staying on top of key trends in your industry. This is very relevant to our class because for those of us participating in the team project, this is exactly what we are doing. We are filtering information to stay on top of key trends in the industry of the company that we are working with.
Reference : LaBrosse, Michell. (5/31/09). 5 Tips for Businesses Entering Web 2.0. Computerworld. Retreived 6/7/09 from PC Magazine. Website : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165802/5_tips_for_businesses_entering_web_20.html
Can the U.S. Army Reserve Pay Soldiers Correctly?
1) There were many problems with the U.S. army pay system. The army conducted an audit in the fall of 2005 that showed payment irregularities for 14 percent of the 24,000 soldiers that had been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan or evacuated for medical reasons. The Government Accountability Office reported that at the time of the audit, the Army had logged $1.5 million worth of overpayments to 1,300 soldiers wounded or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The GAO also found that non-injured soldiers were regularly receiving inaccurate paychecks, the result of reaching different stages of their deployments and redeployments. A GAO study determined that over 90 percent of soldiers in units that were mobilized in 2002 and 2003 experienced some kind of pay error that was primarily due to the lack of compatibility between the payroll and personnel systems. Before 2004, the Defense Finance and Accounting Services had been using a pay system called the Defense Joint Military Pay System. DJMS actually consisted of separate systems for active duty soldiers and reserves. The two systems did not work together easily. The DJMS Reserve Component was responsible for payroll management. Salaries, bonuses, and benefits for 200,000 reservists originated from this custom built payroll application. But the payroll management system needed information from the personnel system, known as the Regional Level Application Software system, and the two systems were not well integrated. The computer language used to write DJMS dated back almost 40 years. A new systems solution must address all of these problems and make data integration more feasible.
2) The specific improvements of Forward Compatible Payroll included a clearer Leave and Earnings Statement for soldiers, instantaneous updating of pay records, and better capabilities for updating state tax rates. The Forward Compatible Payroll phased rollout was scheduled to begin in March 2005 with the Army Reserve and National Guard, and over the course of a year extend to the active duty Army, the Air Force, and then the Navy Department. The Forward Compatible Payroll provided more automation for the mobilization process for soldiers called up for active duty. A pay administrator could use a Web browser to review mobilization orders in the personnel system and access and update files in the personnel database without duplicating the data entry for the mobilized soldiers. The mobilization application requested additional information from the administrator, such as the beginning and ending dates of deployment for each soldier, before setting the pay rate for each and adding the appropriate entitlements. After the pay rate was set, the process required a unit commander to approve and sign a hard copy of the mobilization order. Only then were the data transmitted in a nightly batch to a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database at Reserve headquarters at Fort McPhearson, Georgia. The SQL server formatted the data so that the Reserve payroll system could process them. The data were uploaded to a local server at a pay processing center, where staff members used Web browser software to review the pay records. Soldier tour of duty dates and pay data were then exported to the Reserve payroll system, which then paid the soldiers. This process should be improved by being capable of replacing over 30 legacy applications in the Army branch of the Armed Forces alone. This process should eliminate redundant data entries, simplify all processes related to personnel and payroll, and greatly reduce the number of mistakes that find their way through to pay stubs.
3) End users and technical specialists have a big role in analyzing the problem and developing a solution. End users can tell when something goes wrong in the system. People can tell when they are being underpaid, not necessarily when they are being overpaid though. Soldiers brought attention to the fact that they were not being paid correctly and this caused the system to change. Technical specialists must develop a solution to these complex problems. Technical specialists have a role in both analyzing and getting an understanding of the full scope of the problem, and then introducing steps to solve the problem.
2) The specific improvements of Forward Compatible Payroll included a clearer Leave and Earnings Statement for soldiers, instantaneous updating of pay records, and better capabilities for updating state tax rates. The Forward Compatible Payroll phased rollout was scheduled to begin in March 2005 with the Army Reserve and National Guard, and over the course of a year extend to the active duty Army, the Air Force, and then the Navy Department. The Forward Compatible Payroll provided more automation for the mobilization process for soldiers called up for active duty. A pay administrator could use a Web browser to review mobilization orders in the personnel system and access and update files in the personnel database without duplicating the data entry for the mobilized soldiers. The mobilization application requested additional information from the administrator, such as the beginning and ending dates of deployment for each soldier, before setting the pay rate for each and adding the appropriate entitlements. After the pay rate was set, the process required a unit commander to approve and sign a hard copy of the mobilization order. Only then were the data transmitted in a nightly batch to a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database at Reserve headquarters at Fort McPhearson, Georgia. The SQL server formatted the data so that the Reserve payroll system could process them. The data were uploaded to a local server at a pay processing center, where staff members used Web browser software to review the pay records. Soldier tour of duty dates and pay data were then exported to the Reserve payroll system, which then paid the soldiers. This process should be improved by being capable of replacing over 30 legacy applications in the Army branch of the Armed Forces alone. This process should eliminate redundant data entries, simplify all processes related to personnel and payroll, and greatly reduce the number of mistakes that find their way through to pay stubs.
3) End users and technical specialists have a big role in analyzing the problem and developing a solution. End users can tell when something goes wrong in the system. People can tell when they are being underpaid, not necessarily when they are being overpaid though. Soldiers brought attention to the fact that they were not being paid correctly and this caused the system to change. Technical specialists must develop a solution to these complex problems. Technical specialists have a role in both analyzing and getting an understanding of the full scope of the problem, and then introducing steps to solve the problem.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Spielberg: The Future of Gaming is Virtual, Surprise!
Movie mogul Steven Spielberg says the future of gaming is virtual reality. He thinks that virtual reality, which experimentally came and went in the eighties, is going to be redeveloped, just like 3D is being redeveloped today. Spielberg believes that virtual reality will be the new platform for our gaming future. I believe this. Virtual reality is as inevitable as everyone’s been saying for decades. Technology today is constantly bringing new surprises and things are moving very quickly. Virtual reality had many kinks in it and there were many things that needed to be revised and fixed with the virtual system. But technology has come a long way. Since we now have the I-phone, I believe that we can finally fix and figure out virtual reality.
This game system will make a lot of money and hopefully revitalize the economy. Every year, a game system makes a lot of money, especially around the holidays. Virtual reality will become a record holder once it is fixed. The closest game we currently have to virtual reality is the Nintendo Wii. When I tried to buy my little brother a Nintendo Wii for Christmas a couple of years ago, it was completely sold out. This leads me to believe that a virtual reality game system will sell out and there will be more demand for it than any of the existing games. The existing games are all basically the same, they all have a controller and move things on the screen. A virtual reality game system will be radically different. A virtual reality game system will allow people to believe that they are actually in the game. Nothing can beat real life. Virtual reality comes as close to real life as we can imagine. I hope that virtual reality games come into popular use soon. I hope that they are readily available soon. This will redefine fun. A virtual reality game can also revitalize learning. Professions can use virtual reality to practice their profession. This includes doctors, pilots, and the armed forces. Chapter 13 talked about virtual reality and how it can be used by professionals to practice their skill. Virtual Reality is the future!!
Reference: Peckham, Matt. (May 20, 2009). Spielberg: The Future of Gaming is Virtual, Surprise! Retrieved May 31, 2009 from PC magazine. Website: http://www.pcworld.com/article/165274/spielberg_the_future_of_gaming_is_virtual_surprise.html
This game system will make a lot of money and hopefully revitalize the economy. Every year, a game system makes a lot of money, especially around the holidays. Virtual reality will become a record holder once it is fixed. The closest game we currently have to virtual reality is the Nintendo Wii. When I tried to buy my little brother a Nintendo Wii for Christmas a couple of years ago, it was completely sold out. This leads me to believe that a virtual reality game system will sell out and there will be more demand for it than any of the existing games. The existing games are all basically the same, they all have a controller and move things on the screen. A virtual reality game system will be radically different. A virtual reality game system will allow people to believe that they are actually in the game. Nothing can beat real life. Virtual reality comes as close to real life as we can imagine. I hope that virtual reality games come into popular use soon. I hope that they are readily available soon. This will redefine fun. A virtual reality game can also revitalize learning. Professions can use virtual reality to practice their profession. This includes doctors, pilots, and the armed forces. Chapter 13 talked about virtual reality and how it can be used by professionals to practice their skill. Virtual Reality is the future!!
Reference: Peckham, Matt. (May 20, 2009). Spielberg: The Future of Gaming is Virtual, Surprise! Retrieved May 31, 2009 from PC magazine. Website: http://www.pcworld.com/article/165274/spielberg_the_future_of_gaming_is_virtual_surprise.html
Chapter 12: Can Information Systems Make Your Doctor Better?
1) Hospitals and physicians are facing many problems in diagnosing diseases and prescribing medications. More than 1.5 million Americans are injured each year by drug errors In hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor’s offices. More than 7,000 Americans are killed each year because of inappropriate prescriptions. A preventable drug error adds more than $5,800 to the hospital bill of a single patient, and preventable drug errors occurring in hospitals may amount to $3.5 billion annually. There are some management, organizational, and technological factors responsible for these problems. Many of these errors are the result of human factors such as poor handwriting, memory lapses, fatigue, and distractions, compounded by the sheer volume and complexity of available medications. There are more than 10,000 prescription drugs on the market and 300,000 over the counter products. Many have vastly different dosage and usage instructions depending on the patient’s age, weight, and risk factors.
2) CPOE and DDS are appropriate solutions. The CPOE tries to reduce prescription and dosage errors for medications, keep physicians updated on treatment guidelines, and prevent physicians from ordering superfluous tests or drugs that are not part of the standard formularies. The value of decision support lies in its ability to remember thousands of details and bring the right ones to the attention of doctors at the right times. Communications between doctors and nurses can run much more smoothly. The hospital staff members can avoid literally running back and forth to consult each other because the system contains all of the pertinent information. Doctors save time on their rounds by visiting patients with laptops. They can ender orders for drugs and labs, as well as view lab results, without having to return to their offices. The orders are less likely to contain errors or be misread by labs or pharmacies because they are not handwritten. Some studies have shown that CPOE systems can prevent one-fourth of all adverse drug effects. DDS will make healthcare more efficient and save money for patients and insurance companies. The system can help prevent costly malpractice cases. It can serve as a “diagnosis reminder.” There are management, technological, and organizational issues involved in the use of these systems. Physicians must be willing to incorporate the use of these systems in their workflow. CPOE systems must support sophisticated decisions, such as drug choice, dosages, and patient-monitoring strategies, and they must be well designed.
3) There are many obstacles that prevent computer systems from improving the medical industry. Doctors and nurses must trust the system. If they do not trust the system, they are more likely to ignore the automated prompts. Using decision-support software might be hard for doctors to get used to because doctors prefer to trust their experience and training. Some doctors resist the idea that they need help remembering procedures and treatments. Many physicians argue that diagnosing medical conditions is as much an art as it is a science, and DDS systems have not proved to be more successful than human diagnostics. Therefore, estimates place the percentage of doctors in the U.S. who use such systems at no higher than 2%. Doctors feel that the cost of the system is too high. They also feel that the time that it takes to input the data into the system is too much. There are things that can be done to remove these obstacles. As the technology improves and doctors become more involved in the development of DDS systems, the systems may become more desirable. As doctors learn more about the CPOE and DDS systems, they may embrace them more. Physician education is key to removing the many obstacles that these systems face.
2) CPOE and DDS are appropriate solutions. The CPOE tries to reduce prescription and dosage errors for medications, keep physicians updated on treatment guidelines, and prevent physicians from ordering superfluous tests or drugs that are not part of the standard formularies. The value of decision support lies in its ability to remember thousands of details and bring the right ones to the attention of doctors at the right times. Communications between doctors and nurses can run much more smoothly. The hospital staff members can avoid literally running back and forth to consult each other because the system contains all of the pertinent information. Doctors save time on their rounds by visiting patients with laptops. They can ender orders for drugs and labs, as well as view lab results, without having to return to their offices. The orders are less likely to contain errors or be misread by labs or pharmacies because they are not handwritten. Some studies have shown that CPOE systems can prevent one-fourth of all adverse drug effects. DDS will make healthcare more efficient and save money for patients and insurance companies. The system can help prevent costly malpractice cases. It can serve as a “diagnosis reminder.” There are management, technological, and organizational issues involved in the use of these systems. Physicians must be willing to incorporate the use of these systems in their workflow. CPOE systems must support sophisticated decisions, such as drug choice, dosages, and patient-monitoring strategies, and they must be well designed.
3) There are many obstacles that prevent computer systems from improving the medical industry. Doctors and nurses must trust the system. If they do not trust the system, they are more likely to ignore the automated prompts. Using decision-support software might be hard for doctors to get used to because doctors prefer to trust their experience and training. Some doctors resist the idea that they need help remembering procedures and treatments. Many physicians argue that diagnosing medical conditions is as much an art as it is a science, and DDS systems have not proved to be more successful than human diagnostics. Therefore, estimates place the percentage of doctors in the U.S. who use such systems at no higher than 2%. Doctors feel that the cost of the system is too high. They also feel that the time that it takes to input the data into the system is too much. There are things that can be done to remove these obstacles. As the technology improves and doctors become more involved in the development of DDS systems, the systems may become more desirable. As doctors learn more about the CPOE and DDS systems, they may embrace them more. Physician education is key to removing the many obstacles that these systems face.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes
This article relates to Chapter 10 because this article talks about e-commerce. There are quizzes all over the internet that will tell you something about your personality. These quizzes are very tempting and I have taken many of them. They are fun and you hope that they will reveal something to you. You hope that they might help you find yourself, in some small way, or give you new insight about your repressed self.
However, internet quizzes are also a tool for companies to collect data and even money. Online quizzes require you to give much information about yourself. Consequently, these quizzes get you to pay attention to advertisements. For example, RealAge, a quiz that assigns you a biological age based on family history and heath, sells your answers to questions to drug companies who want to market medications. This is unethical. Web quizzes should have full disclosures before people take the quiz that tells them that their information will be sold to advertisers. If people knew the full consequences of their actions, they would make different choices. Many people would not choose to take part in the RealAge quiz if they knew that their private information was being sold. There needs to be sweeping legislation that mandates full disclosure. There should also be public awareness campaigns that informs people that this is taking place. Had I not read this article, I would not know that the information that I enter into little quizzes is being sold. I will now think twice before taking the quiz that tells me which Care Bear I am. The reason that I now know that personal information is being sold on the internet via tricks is because I am in this class. Information is not free, and it should be, especially if it protects people from financial predators.
Some online quizzes even surprise you with required payments or purchases before you can access your results. Test-IQ, a quiz advertised on Facebook has this payment model. You have to look up the privacy policy and read in very fine print to even know they charge. They do not disclose this on their main page and it is difficult to find this out.
CheckMyPersonality.com allows its owners to track down information about you such as your household income, buying habits, and sells that data to marking agencies. The site also periodically accesses your credit card once you’ve signed up. It also can verify that your credit card account is valid and has credit available by charging fees and later crediting them off. This has happened to me also on a website that I visited. This disclosure is very hard to find and buried under the privacy policy in fine print. This is clearly unethical. Companies should have full disclosures that are very easy to understand and transparent. They should not be able to trick people into giving them money. This is unethical and the government should do something about it. It reminds me of credit card companies because they too have terms that are constantly changing, difficult to understand, and in fine print. Both of these type of companies rely on tricking the customer.
On Facebook, opening an application automatically grants its developer access to your entire profile. Many policies need to be re-evaluated when it comes to maintaining privacy in this age of e-commerce.
Reference : Raphael, JR. (May12, 2009). The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes. Retrieved May 17, 2009 from PC magazine. Website: http://www.pcworld.com/article/164527-2/the_hidden_secrets_of_online_quizzes.html
However, internet quizzes are also a tool for companies to collect data and even money. Online quizzes require you to give much information about yourself. Consequently, these quizzes get you to pay attention to advertisements. For example, RealAge, a quiz that assigns you a biological age based on family history and heath, sells your answers to questions to drug companies who want to market medications. This is unethical. Web quizzes should have full disclosures before people take the quiz that tells them that their information will be sold to advertisers. If people knew the full consequences of their actions, they would make different choices. Many people would not choose to take part in the RealAge quiz if they knew that their private information was being sold. There needs to be sweeping legislation that mandates full disclosure. There should also be public awareness campaigns that informs people that this is taking place. Had I not read this article, I would not know that the information that I enter into little quizzes is being sold. I will now think twice before taking the quiz that tells me which Care Bear I am. The reason that I now know that personal information is being sold on the internet via tricks is because I am in this class. Information is not free, and it should be, especially if it protects people from financial predators.
Some online quizzes even surprise you with required payments or purchases before you can access your results. Test-IQ, a quiz advertised on Facebook has this payment model. You have to look up the privacy policy and read in very fine print to even know they charge. They do not disclose this on their main page and it is difficult to find this out.
CheckMyPersonality.com allows its owners to track down information about you such as your household income, buying habits, and sells that data to marking agencies. The site also periodically accesses your credit card once you’ve signed up. It also can verify that your credit card account is valid and has credit available by charging fees and later crediting them off. This has happened to me also on a website that I visited. This disclosure is very hard to find and buried under the privacy policy in fine print. This is clearly unethical. Companies should have full disclosures that are very easy to understand and transparent. They should not be able to trick people into giving them money. This is unethical and the government should do something about it. It reminds me of credit card companies because they too have terms that are constantly changing, difficult to understand, and in fine print. Both of these type of companies rely on tricking the customer.
On Facebook, opening an application automatically grants its developer access to your entire profile. Many policies need to be re-evaluated when it comes to maintaining privacy in this age of e-commerce.
Reference : Raphael, JR. (May12, 2009). The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes. Retrieved May 17, 2009 from PC magazine. Website: http://www.pcworld.com/article/164527-2/the_hidden_secrets_of_online_quizzes.html
Ch. 9 Case Study. Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy
Limited Brands Consolidates Its Supply Chain Management
2) Limited Brands had many supply chain management problems. They all had great business impact. Problems with the supply chain led to a catastrophe. A combination of circumstances created a traffic jam of 400 merchandise trailers at the parking lot of a distribution center that was designed to hold only 150 trailers. The logistics disaster clogged up a main highway and was a public relations nightmare. The environment was one in which planning systems crashed, corporate executives made assumptions, and different segments of the enterprise were not maintaining proper communication with each other. No one had knowledge of the origin of inventory or where it was going. The logjam was a symptom of a larger problem.
Limited Brand’s information technology infrastructure included a mishmash of systems and software from the various retailers that Limited Brands had bought. Sixty major systems were in place with hundreds of applications running on a variety of platforms, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Tandem. Redundancies were common. It was very hard to make supply chain information flow between the applications and coordinate their supply chain.
The impact of these supply chain problems was that discount retailers were pushing Limited stores out of their market space.
Limited Logistics Services ran into resistance from brand executives when it first tried to integrate the supply chain logistics operations of all the Limited companies.
3) Limited Brands faced technical and business process obstacles. Limited Brands was struggling with scheduling issues and processing delays. These problems were due to overly simple point-to-point interfaces that linked one system to another. The infrastructure did not have flexibility because its software applications were hard-wired point-by-point to different application programming interfaces. Changing one API resulted in a chain reaction that caused changes to all the APIs in communication with the connected applications.
Limited Brands needed a reusable framework to enable the replication of software solutions and an enterprise resource planning deployment.
Supply chain management was far away from the boardroom.
4) Limited Brands solved the problems by establishing better control over the supply chain. Limited Brands incorporated “integrated brand delivery.” It obtained improved supply chain technologies that integrate and leverage the supply chain technologies that integrate and leverage the supply chain and logistics. Limited Brands upgraded its software and eliminated the legacy systems. This increased sales, gave better flexibility to respond to market trend and customer needs, freed up employees to concentrate on sales rather than on tasks related to supply chain and logistics. Legacy developed an enterprise-view of the supply chain.
Rick Jackson won the brand executives over by showing them how supply chain transformation would produce significant savings and strategic benefits. Jackson also developed a customer service agreement and metrics for evaluating results. Jackson and his team built regional docking centers on the East and West Coasts to funnel products directly to stores, reducing costs and time to get products to market by as much as 10 days. This helped brand managers make much quicker decisions about which products to reorder.
Tibco worked with Limited Brands to install real-time reporting and communications with delivery agents. They also integrated the outbound supply chain accountability and reporting application with the logistics applications. Tibco’s installation introduced real-time communications between Limited Brands and its suppliers, and provided a secure environment for transmitting documents. It also enhanced the shipment tracking and order visibility capabilities of Limited Brand’s partmers using a booking information module.
Tibco enabled Limited Brands to support future business initiatives and reduce development time and the cost of solutions. Limited Brands was able to unite all of its brands’ technology operations under a central entity.
In 2005, Limited Brands adopted Web-based demand and supply chain management tools from Manugistics to improve collaboration for both the inbound and outbound chains.
Matthews became more involved with supply chain management. The company was able to focus on improving revenue rather than simply keeping costs down when the boardroom was more involved.
2) Limited Brands had many supply chain management problems. They all had great business impact. Problems with the supply chain led to a catastrophe. A combination of circumstances created a traffic jam of 400 merchandise trailers at the parking lot of a distribution center that was designed to hold only 150 trailers. The logistics disaster clogged up a main highway and was a public relations nightmare. The environment was one in which planning systems crashed, corporate executives made assumptions, and different segments of the enterprise were not maintaining proper communication with each other. No one had knowledge of the origin of inventory or where it was going. The logjam was a symptom of a larger problem.
Limited Brand’s information technology infrastructure included a mishmash of systems and software from the various retailers that Limited Brands had bought. Sixty major systems were in place with hundreds of applications running on a variety of platforms, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Tandem. Redundancies were common. It was very hard to make supply chain information flow between the applications and coordinate their supply chain.
The impact of these supply chain problems was that discount retailers were pushing Limited stores out of their market space.
Limited Logistics Services ran into resistance from brand executives when it first tried to integrate the supply chain logistics operations of all the Limited companies.
3) Limited Brands faced technical and business process obstacles. Limited Brands was struggling with scheduling issues and processing delays. These problems were due to overly simple point-to-point interfaces that linked one system to another. The infrastructure did not have flexibility because its software applications were hard-wired point-by-point to different application programming interfaces. Changing one API resulted in a chain reaction that caused changes to all the APIs in communication with the connected applications.
Limited Brands needed a reusable framework to enable the replication of software solutions and an enterprise resource planning deployment.
Supply chain management was far away from the boardroom.
4) Limited Brands solved the problems by establishing better control over the supply chain. Limited Brands incorporated “integrated brand delivery.” It obtained improved supply chain technologies that integrate and leverage the supply chain technologies that integrate and leverage the supply chain and logistics. Limited Brands upgraded its software and eliminated the legacy systems. This increased sales, gave better flexibility to respond to market trend and customer needs, freed up employees to concentrate on sales rather than on tasks related to supply chain and logistics. Legacy developed an enterprise-view of the supply chain.
Rick Jackson won the brand executives over by showing them how supply chain transformation would produce significant savings and strategic benefits. Jackson also developed a customer service agreement and metrics for evaluating results. Jackson and his team built regional docking centers on the East and West Coasts to funnel products directly to stores, reducing costs and time to get products to market by as much as 10 days. This helped brand managers make much quicker decisions about which products to reorder.
Tibco worked with Limited Brands to install real-time reporting and communications with delivery agents. They also integrated the outbound supply chain accountability and reporting application with the logistics applications. Tibco’s installation introduced real-time communications between Limited Brands and its suppliers, and provided a secure environment for transmitting documents. It also enhanced the shipment tracking and order visibility capabilities of Limited Brand’s partmers using a booking information module.
Tibco enabled Limited Brands to support future business initiatives and reduce development time and the cost of solutions. Limited Brands was able to unite all of its brands’ technology operations under a central entity.
In 2005, Limited Brands adopted Web-based demand and supply chain management tools from Manugistics to improve collaboration for both the inbound and outbound chains.
Matthews became more involved with supply chain management. The company was able to focus on improving revenue rather than simply keeping costs down when the boardroom was more involved.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Conficker Causes Rise in Hoax Security Software
This article directly relates to chapter 7. Chapter 7 deals with viruses and other threats to the computer system. Computer owners can take many precautions in order to protect their computers. One of these precautions is installing a virus protection system on their computer. These program can be free, such as AVG, which I use, or the program can cause money, such as Norton, which I used previously. Microsoft says that hoax security software is on the rise and may gain even more momentum and ground. Conflicker is a new virus that has been widely publicized. Consequently, this has scared many people into getting anti-virus software. Therefore, criminals take advantage of these vulnerable people. “Conflicker Causes Rise in Hoax Security Software” is another sad case of internet forgery. It never ends. The amount of people trying to con others on the internet is alarming. Due to the increase in demand for internet protection, criminals are selling protection software that does not exist. Cyber criminals are the worst type of criminals. They prey on the most vulnerable and ignorant of people. Cyber criminals take a lot of information from people. Cyber criminals charge a subscription for this software. The criminal then fires a two-pronged attack on the victim. The criminal gets money from a subscription that is invalid and also they obtain credit card information. The victim can now go into much debt because a criminal has their credit card details. This is a lesson to all of us to be vigilant in doing our due diligence when we give our personal information out on the internet. We all want virus protection software, especially in these times, but we must make sure that we are buying form legitimate sources. It is often difficult to tell which sites/sources are legitimate and which ones are criminal. I suggest only giving out information on well known, trusted sites.
Reference : Skinner, Carrie-Ann. (April 9, 2009). Conficker Causes Rise in Hoax Security Software. Retrieved April 26, 2009 from PC magazine. Website:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/162862/conficker_causes_rise_in_hoax_security_software.html
Reference : Skinner, Carrie-Ann. (April 9, 2009). Conficker Causes Rise in Hoax Security Software. Retrieved April 26, 2009 from PC magazine. Website:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/162862/conficker_causes_rise_in_hoax_security_software.html
Ch. 8 Case Study : A Stolen Laptop at the Department of Veterans Affairs: The Worst Data Theft Ever?
1) There were numerous security weaknesses at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA inspector general reported to Congress that his office had been concerned with the department’s security controls since 2001. The operating system, password system, and detection alerts were all vulnerable to security breaches. Centralized management of all IT programs and activities was paramount. Decentralized management was deep rooted in the agency, making it resistant to change. Such “cultural impediments” were some reasons why central management of IT at the departmental level or a strong information security program was not instated earlier. The VA CIO and the chief information security officer needed to have greater authority to enforce security policies and mandates. The VA needed to consolidate the two IT domains to centralize IT programs and activities completely. The VA should not have given employees authorization to take home a laptop and work from home. Employees were able to use at home special software designed to manipulate large amounts of data, and to access social security numbers of millions of veterans. Data was not classified or encrypted. The VA should also install extra security systems around their data systems so they are not stolen as easily.
3) The VA did not effectively deal with these problems. Their response to the data crisis was extremely poor. The VA primarily stated that it could find no evidence suggesting that the stolen data had been used illegally. The department did not report the incident to law enforcement until two weeks after it found out about it. This might have inhibited the FBI’s ability to perform a thorough investigation and solve the case. Even Jim Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, did not learn about the theft until 13 days after it occurred. This is completely unacceptable. Nicholson and the appropriate authorities should have been informed of the theft the moment the first person found out about the theft. The VA tried to ignore their problems at first instead of adequately dealing with and reconciling them. The VA did not increase their precautions enough so that people’s information would never be compromised again. In fact, another VA computer was stolen from someone that the VA outsourced their computer work to. This is a shame, because the VA should have learned to protect their computer and information the first time.
4) To prevent these problems, I have many suggestions. The VA must encrypt its information. It must also increase access control. Access control consists of all the policies and procedures a company uses to prevent improper access to systems by unauthorized insiders and outsiders. The user must be authorized and authenticated in order to gain access. New authentication technologies, such as tokens, smart cards, and biometric authentication, overcome some of these problems. A token proves the identity of a single user. A smart card contains a chip formatted with access permission and other data. Biometric authentication uses systems that read and individual characteristics.
3) The VA did not effectively deal with these problems. Their response to the data crisis was extremely poor. The VA primarily stated that it could find no evidence suggesting that the stolen data had been used illegally. The department did not report the incident to law enforcement until two weeks after it found out about it. This might have inhibited the FBI’s ability to perform a thorough investigation and solve the case. Even Jim Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, did not learn about the theft until 13 days after it occurred. This is completely unacceptable. Nicholson and the appropriate authorities should have been informed of the theft the moment the first person found out about the theft. The VA tried to ignore their problems at first instead of adequately dealing with and reconciling them. The VA did not increase their precautions enough so that people’s information would never be compromised again. In fact, another VA computer was stolen from someone that the VA outsourced their computer work to. This is a shame, because the VA should have learned to protect their computer and information the first time.
4) To prevent these problems, I have many suggestions. The VA must encrypt its information. It must also increase access control. Access control consists of all the policies and procedures a company uses to prevent improper access to systems by unauthorized insiders and outsiders. The user must be authorized and authenticated in order to gain access. New authentication technologies, such as tokens, smart cards, and biometric authentication, overcome some of these problems. A token proves the identity of a single user. A smart card contains a chip formatted with access permission and other data. Biometric authentication uses systems that read and individual characteristics.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Playing by the Rules
Having efficient Information Technology Systems are key to maintaining good business practices and upholding the law. Many laws are set in place that protect the private information of consumers. But one of the flaws of Information Systems is that they sometimes have poor data security, as is reviewed in Chapter 6. It is important to have an information system that has strong data security because if consumer information gets leaked out, it could mean the downfall of a business. There are particular laws that hold firms directly accountable if data is not secured. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 holds publicly traded companies accountable for maintaining control over their financial reporting. Companies must keep their infrastructure and processes against accounting errors and deceptive procedures. It is monumental that PCs are secure from unauthorized access and data interception.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets standardized methods for the exchange, security, and confidentiality of health-care data. Strong firewalls need to be installed to protect data. Strong password policies need to be in place and data must be encrypted. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 1999 requires financial institutions to protect consumers’ nonpublic personal information. In many states, a business that divulges customers’ personal information must notifiy them of the breach, this is very costly and time consuming. The right network and data-security solutions can stop the theft of private data. This information is directly related to the problems that traditional database systems face, which was the topic of chapter 6. Data must be secure and information systems must have ways in order to maintain and ensure the utmost security. I enjoyed this article because it gave me new insight to all the laws around information systems. Not only is it ethical to protect private information, it is also the law.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 sets standardized methods for the exchange, security, and confidentiality of health-care data. Strong firewalls need to be installed to protect data. Strong password policies need to be in place and data must be encrypted. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 1999 requires financial institutions to protect consumers’ nonpublic personal information. In many states, a business that divulges customers’ personal information must notifiy them of the breach, this is very costly and time consuming. The right network and data-security solutions can stop the theft of private data. This information is directly related to the problems that traditional database systems face, which was the topic of chapter 6. Data must be secure and information systems must have ways in order to maintain and ensure the utmost security. I enjoyed this article because it gave me new insight to all the laws around information systems. Not only is it ethical to protect private information, it is also the law.
Ch. 5 Case Study : Merrill Lynch Connects Past and Future Technology
1) Merrill Lynch needed to update its IT infrastructure in order to remain competitive. The IT system is one of the most critical components of Merrill Lynch’s operations. IT infrastructure has played a major role in the company’s gains in the past 5 years. Merrill Lynch needed to create internet based applications that gave customers access to their portfolios and tools to work with them. Merrill Lynch needed to create such applications while leveraging the processing power and wealth of data in its mainframe.
2) Information technology is at the heart of Merrill Lynch’s business strategy. They internally develop new IT systems that give them a great competitive advantage. Its Web services initiative was integral to that strategy. Merrill Lynch constructed a proprietary Web development platform from the ground up. Merrill Lynch created its own set of in-house proprietary tools that enable its mainframe legacy programs and the functions they perform to be exposed as Web services. Merrill Lynch’s system has a lack of middleware which means that the system’s users could request information directly from the mainframe from their desktops. Merrill Lynch’s investment in Web services saved the company $41 million in application development costs. The company obtained even more value by selling X4ML. Merrill Lynch has a long history of selling internally developed technology and selling X4ML was a great move.
4) Merrill Lynch’s decision to sell off its successful technology initiatives was a good idea. Merrill Lynch has a long history of selling internally developed technology, and the sale of X4ML optimized its investment. The company obtained even more value out of X4ML by selling it. Merrill Lynch most likely obtained a great amount of money during the sale of X4ML. This money can be invested back into the company to develop a more efficient system and grow the company even further.
2) Information technology is at the heart of Merrill Lynch’s business strategy. They internally develop new IT systems that give them a great competitive advantage. Its Web services initiative was integral to that strategy. Merrill Lynch constructed a proprietary Web development platform from the ground up. Merrill Lynch created its own set of in-house proprietary tools that enable its mainframe legacy programs and the functions they perform to be exposed as Web services. Merrill Lynch’s system has a lack of middleware which means that the system’s users could request information directly from the mainframe from their desktops. Merrill Lynch’s investment in Web services saved the company $41 million in application development costs. The company obtained even more value by selling X4ML. Merrill Lynch has a long history of selling internally developed technology and selling X4ML was a great move.
4) Merrill Lynch’s decision to sell off its successful technology initiatives was a good idea. Merrill Lynch has a long history of selling internally developed technology, and the sale of X4ML optimized its investment. The company obtained even more value out of X4ML by selling it. Merrill Lynch most likely obtained a great amount of money during the sale of X4ML. This money can be invested back into the company to develop a more efficient system and grow the company even further.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wanted: Programmers with Ethics
The article “Wanted: Programmers with Ethics” directly related to chapter 4. Chapter four talked about the ethical and social issues in Information Systems and this article revealed that employers are keenly aware of these ethical dilemmas and are seeking employees who will choose to make sound ethical decisions. Those who work in Information Systems have significant power and are able to access a lot of information that the common man does not have access to. This can lead to many moral and ethical dilemmas. Ethics and morals are on the top of the list of traits wanted in Programmers. Ethics and morals were even more desirable than communications skills and business acumen. Many employers are worried about their employees doing unethical things such as circumventing security systems. Information Technology organizations have ethics and morals on their radar. Employees will determine where the firm goes in terms of its morals. Employees decide it they will spy on customers, or if they will use their power and reach for illegal, or questionable activities. Employers can gauge potential employees from conception. Many employers ask potential employees ethical questions and dilemmas at the interview stage. This can weed out the employees that do not make the correct ethical decisions, especially with regard to privacy. I liked this article because we need ethics in the workplace in all fields, especially in IT.
Reference :
Hoffman, Thomas. Sunday, November 16, 2008. Wanted: Programmers with Ethics. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from PC World Magazine.
Website : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153951/wanted_programmers_with_ethics.html
Reference :
Hoffman, Thomas. Sunday, November 16, 2008. Wanted: Programmers with Ethics. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from PC World Magazine.
Website : http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153951/wanted_programmers_with_ethics.html
Chapter 3 : Blockbuster vs. Netflix
1. Blockbuster’s business model is mainly based on having physical stores in many different and convenient locations. Blockbuster has 9,100 stores in 25 countries. In order to compete with competition from Netflix, Blockbuster made some changes to its business model. It added Movie Pass, an online rental service. Blockbuster tried two approaches to maintain its dominance in the marketplace. It focused on its traditional business (having a physical location) and it launched an online store similar to Netflix. Blockbuster’s business model was very successful before Blockbuster had to compete with Netflix. Blockbuster possessed a 40 percent share of the U.S. video rental market by 2004. Blockbuster had video sales of around $16 billion. The changes that Blockbuster had to make to compete with Netflix has decreased its market share. In order to compete with Netflix, Blockbuster added Game Pass, a subscription service for video games, and the “No More Late Fees” program in addition to Movie Pass. The “No More Late Fees” program cost Blockbuster $250 million to $300 million dollars.
2. Netflix is a great challenge to Blockbuster. Netflix is very convenient, movie renters do not have to physically leave their house in order to rent a movie. Netflix also does not give late charges. Renters can keep the movies as long as they want. This was a great challenge to Blockbuster and forced them to adopt the “No more late fees” model. Netflix customers have access to thousands of movies. Netflix forces Blockbuster to maintain an efficient, cheap online subscription model that can compete with the amount of movies that Netflix offers. Video on Demand and TiVo also challenge Blockbuster. These programs could make video rentals obsolete because they are very convenient and require even less than a subscription model. Convenience is the key.
4. Netflix is very successful. Netflix has surpassed three million subscribers and is on its way to four million by the end of the year in 2004. Netflix’s market share rose from 2 to 7 percent between 2003 and 2004. Netflix’s business model forced Blockbuster to change its business model to more closely resemble that of Netflix. It brought customer convenience to the forefront and currently has no match in efficiency and movie titles available.
2. Netflix is a great challenge to Blockbuster. Netflix is very convenient, movie renters do not have to physically leave their house in order to rent a movie. Netflix also does not give late charges. Renters can keep the movies as long as they want. This was a great challenge to Blockbuster and forced them to adopt the “No more late fees” model. Netflix customers have access to thousands of movies. Netflix forces Blockbuster to maintain an efficient, cheap online subscription model that can compete with the amount of movies that Netflix offers. Video on Demand and TiVo also challenge Blockbuster. These programs could make video rentals obsolete because they are very convenient and require even less than a subscription model. Convenience is the key.
4. Netflix is very successful. Netflix has surpassed three million subscribers and is on its way to four million by the end of the year in 2004. Netflix’s market share rose from 2 to 7 percent between 2003 and 2004. Netflix’s business model forced Blockbuster to change its business model to more closely resemble that of Netflix. It brought customer convenience to the forefront and currently has no match in efficiency and movie titles available.
About Me.
Hi. I'm Candace Wilson. I was born in Guyana, South America. My family then moved to Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean. We lived there for 3 and 1/2 years. We then moved to Ontario, California for a year, then to Nashville, Tennessee. We lived in Tennessee for 3 and 1/2 years and subsequently moved to Rancho Cucamonga, California. We have been in Rancho since I was in 7th grade and I love it. However, my studies have led me to migrate from Rancho Cucamonga many times. I moved to Riverside for my undergraduate education. I attened the University of California, Riverside from 2002-2006. I majored in Biology and obtained a minor in Spanish. During the summer after my sophomore year at UCR I completed a research project in Mexico City which looked for a therapeutic vaccine for the HPV virus. This experience inspired me to attend graduate school. I began the Masters in Biotechnology/ MBA program at CSUCI in the fall of 2006. My time at CSUCI led me to my career at Oxnard College. I currently teach Biology lecture and laboratory at Oxnard College. I will be teaching Microbiology Laboratory at Oxnard College during the summer months. When my time here at Channel Islands comes to an end, I plan to attend medical school. I should be starting this last leg of my educational career in August if all goes well. But I will definately miss eveyone I met here at Channel Islands!!
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