Any current events? Technology & Business in the News?

Any current events?

Technology & Business in the

News?

1st Mossberg due Feb 7th

Instructions posted in Anderson School files and on class web site

Questions?

Questions from last class?

Some “take home” points from last lecture:•The term “technology” encompasses more than someone sitting working at a computer or laptop

•All business owners and managers (regardless of field or department) need to have a basic understanding of technology. When the people at the top leave the technology piece entirely to someone else, bad things happen. Folks at the top are ultimately responsible.

•There are no longer “technology initiatives.” The line between technology and business is becoming gray.

•Automation of a bad process still leaves you with a bad process. Business process reengineering is key to success when installing new automation into a business.

Digital Divide

•Technically savvy versus computer illiterate

• Unlimited access to technology versus limited/none

Social inequity that has emerged in the digital age

Electronic Birth Registration in Bangladeshpage 17

January 2008 – Harvard Business ReviewFive Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy

www.hbr.org

Forces That Shape CompetitionThe configuration of the five forces differs by industry. In the market for commercial aircraft, fierce rivalry between dominant producers Airbus and Boeing and the bargaining power of the

airlines that place huge orders for aircraft are strong, while the threat of entry, the threat of substitutes, and the power of suppliers are more benign. In the movie theater industry, the

proliferation of substitute forms of entertainment and the power of the movie producers and distributors who supply movies, the critical input, are important.

The strongest competitive force or forces determine the profitability of an industry and become the most important to strategy formulation. The most salient force, however, is not always obvious.

For example, even though rivalry is often fierce in commodity industries, it may not be the factor limiting profitability. Low returns in the photographic film industry, for instance, are the result of a superior substitute product—as Kodak and Fuji, the world’s leading producers of photographic

film, learned with the advent of digital photography. In such a situation, coping with the substitute product becomes the number one strategic priority.

January 2008 – Harvard Business ReviewFive Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy

www.hbr.org

** This article is currently available in full for free from the HBR web site

Case 1: Continental AirlinesThis Call is Being Monitored

• CallMiner software installed:

– Records and transcribes conversations

– Captures keystrokes

• Used to craft marketing plans

• Improve quality of customer service

• Determine what training is needed

Case Study Questions

1. What are the business benefits of the CallMiner system?

Provide additional examples beyond those in case.

2. How can new technologies like CallMiner help companies improve their customer service & gain a competitive edge in the marketplace? Explain.

3. Andre Harris refers to calls to reconfirm a flight as “quite frankly, low-value calls.” Why are they classified as low value? Why do you think so many customers are placing such calls?

Mgmt 450Hardware

What does a non-technical manager need to know about

hardware?

• Basic hardware terminology

• Where does your information go?

• Speed?

• What will it cost and why?

(Total Cost of Ownership)

Define Hardware

• Machines and media

• Physical equipment, as opposed to computer programs or methods of use

• Mechanical, magnetic, electrical, electronic, or optical devices

Input

Storage & Processing

Output

http://www97.intel.com/discover/JourneyInside/TJI_Intro/default.aspx

Information from Intel on hardware

Resources to help with the jargon

TechSouphttp://www.techsoup.org/The technology place for non-profits WhatIs Technical Encyclopediahttp://whatis.techtarget.com/ Webopediahttp://www.webopedia.com/

Input Devices

Types of hardware that enable you to get programs, data, commands, and responses into the computer’s memory

Examples of input devices• Mouse

• Keyboard

• Monitor (touch screen)

• Stylus

• Keypad

• Audio or video input (microphone, camera)

• Bar code scanner

• Other scanning device (fax machine, other scanner)

Speech Recognition

Speech recognition is a type of input in which the computer recognizes words spoken into a microphone.

Videoconferencing• Videoconferencing is

using digital video technology to simulate face-to-face meetings

• Whiteboards, which are a a part of the screen, can be used to write or draw

BiometricsIn a computer context, biometrics refers to

using some measurable physical characteristic as part of interaction with the computer.

This is usually in a security context of some sort

– typically authenticating users onto a system (are you who you say you are) – or in a

profiling context (are you the bad “guy” we are looking for)

Biometrics

• Face• Fingerprint• Hand Geometry• Retina Scan• Iris• Signature• Veins on back of hand or wrist• Voice analysis

Radio Frequency ID (RFID)Use of electromagnetic technology as a way to

track or tag something

Need an RFID ID tag or chip

Need a transceiver (reader) for scanning and antenna

Need a processing device of some sort

What does RFID have to do with Wal-Mart?

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205900561

Output Devices

Output devices are peripheral devices that enable us to view or hear the computer’s processed data.

Visual output– Text, graphics, and video.

Audio output– Sounds, music, and synthesized speech.

Output Device Examples

Monitors

Audio Output Devices (IPOD, cell phone)

Printer

Plotter

Computer Systems(Where the processing occurs)

• Information appliances– PDA– Cell phone– Game boxes

• Notebook Computers• Desktop Computers• Servers• Mainframes• Terminals

– Transaction terminals– Terminals connected to mainframes

• Supercomputers

What is the difference between a PC and a server?

Questions Managers Might Have About Processing

•Where does processing of our data occur?One location or multiple locations? Nearby or far away?

• How fast will processing occur?• When will processing occur?• Who has physical access to this equipment?• How is this equipment protected?

Fire – heat – cold – dirt – other hazards• Who owns the equipment?• What equipment maintenance is required?• How often should this equipment be replaced?

Memory/Storage• Temporary

– Store information that is currently being processed

– Random Access Memory (RAM)

• Long Term– Saved after the computer is turned off– Hard drive, CD-ROM, floppy disk, DVD,

jump drive

Storage Media

RAM: Random Access Memory Floppy DiskHard DiskUSB (zip drive, thumb drive)

CD-ROM, CD-RWDVD

Questions Managers Might Have About Storage

•Where are our data being stored?One location or multiple locations? Onsite, offsite or both?

• What are we planning on storing?• How much data can be held there?

Do we need an archive plan?• Do we have room for growth? • Who has access to this storage?

Physically and via computer

What happens when it doesn’t work?

What is the acceptable level of

risk?

Speed

BandwidthThe amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time.Example 100 MBPS (megabytes per second)

Microprocessor Speed

The clock speed of the computerExample 200 MHz (megahertz)

Trends in Hardware

… Smaller, Faster, More Reliable and Less Costly

… Easy to Purchase and Easy to Maintain

… Direct Input Devices that Are More Natural & Easy to Use

… Output Methods that Communicate Naturally, Quickly, and Clearly

Ergonomics (from the Greek words ergon [work] and nomos [natural

laws] ) is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects,

systems and environment for human use.

Ergonomics

A user-centered design (UCD), also known as a systems approach

or the usability engineering lifecycle aims to improve the user-

system fit.

Ergonomics

Additional information available fromhttp://ergo.human.cornell.edu/

The Cornell University Ergonomics website

Maintenance Schedules and Down Time

• When should regular maintenance occur?

• When should planned, larger maintenance events occur?

• How much notice is needed?

• For major hardware failure, what is acceptable down time?

You get what you pay for…..

Fault Tolerance

The ability of a system to respond gracefully to an unexpected hardware or

software failure.

BACKUP PROCEDURES• How often is the data backed up?

• How is it backed up?

• Who checks to make sure it backed up?

• Does the restore operation work?

• Where is the backup stored?

• Who (in the company) knows about all this stuff?

POWER FAILUREUninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

Backup power supply for a computer. Takes over when the power goes off and begins beeping loudly to alert the operator to a power failure.

Backup Generator

Short for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks, a category of disk drives that employ two or more drives in

combination for fault tolerance and performance. RAID disk drives are used frequently on servers but aren't generally

necessary for personal computers.

RAID

Utilizing a backup server that duplicates all the processes and transactions of the primary server. If, for any reason, the primary server fails, the backup server can immediately take its place without any downtime.

Server mirroring is an expensive but effective strategy for achieving fault tolerance. It's expensive because each server must be mirrored by an identical server whose only purpose is to be there in the event of a failure.

Last modified: Monday, August 05, 2002  Server Mirroring

Equipment Warranties

• How long?

• What does it cover?

• Where is the work performed?

• How long will the work take?

• Loner equipment?

• Shipping method?

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

• The purchase price of technology is only the start

• What are the other hidden costs?– Staff time required to set it up– Expertise needed (technical & end user)– Replacement parts if it breaks– Maintenance time– Ability to upgrade

FOR NEXT TIME

• Read (or at least skim) chapter 4 in your textbook

• Review Mossberg instructions if you haven’t looked at them yet