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Dominic P Lyate wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted today “Major new Tesla product line — not a car — will be unveiled at our Hawthorne Design Studio on Thurs 8pm, April 30″ and these few simple words have sent the media into a tizzy. What will it be? What does the mad genius have up his sleeve? Apparently, according to many outlets and this article, Musk & Co. are working on a home battery solution that can power all of your home electricity needs for a set period of time–all the while interfacing with SolarCity’s (of which Musk is Chairman) solar solutions to provide “free” electricity in perpetuity. I think it’s a great idea that offers a definitive value proposition. If they can get the launch right, and the cost low, I think it’ll reach many millions of households over the next decade. I think this home solution aims to disrupt the “commodity” status that power delivery companies have fallen into, and I can see this spurring some much needed innovation in the marketplace. What ramifications do you think this will have on power companies and their strategy moving forward? Do you see companies like PECO partnering with Tesla to provide these packs as a supplement rather than a “whole home” solution?
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
I found this article where the author lists what he believes to be the top 5 risks for IT projects. They are as follows:
1. Other projects getting prioritized over yours, thus taking funding away.
2. […]
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Amanda M Rossetti wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
http://gizmodo.com/youtubes-ready-to-blow-your-mind-with-360-degree-videos-1690989402
Youtube has released the option to post 360 degree videos. On the browser you click and drag and can look around the person filming and on the phone you move you’re phone to see the whole area. There are some issues right now but they claim it will be fixed soon. For example you have to use a python script to make it actually work in your browser. I think this is a great sustaining innovation though, because they have been doing flat videos for over 10 years. There are not a lot of consumer cameras that can shoot in 360 degrees thought.
What do you think of this? Do you think people will use it with the python necessary? What about without it?
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I really like the idea of Youtube releasing the option to post 360 degree videos because its different compared to the ordinary flat videos. I do think people will use it with the python script if they are truly interested in post 360 degree videos. Once one person posts a video everyone is going to start doing it.
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I like the idea as well, because it does show sustaining innovation, and I think there are plenty of people who will find it interesting and use it. However, I think that having to use Python might be a turn off for people. Once they make it so that anyone can use the 360 feature any time, then I think it will catch on much faster.
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
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I like the idea of detailing all of my accomplishments throughout the year and listing them out because I would be better prepared for my performance review and it is easier to keep track all of the accomplishments. Sometimes its hard to sit and think everything you have accomplished and of course your boss won’t remember everything you have accomplished because you are not the only one on the team.
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I like the idea of the self evaluation. It provides a back and forth conversation that allows you to counter negative aspects of your review. However, I can see it backfiring if your reviewer does not agree with your points and they may view it as you questioning their authority. In addition, when most people talk about their achievements, they blow them out of proportion resulting in less objectivity when it comes to self evaluations. What I think might be better for larger organizations is having several reviewers. More times than not, a person will work with a number of managers in a given year. It may be more objective to average the reviews of a number of managers so if a person is a consistently poor performer, there is verification from multiple sources.
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Jacklin L Altman created the doc Project Plan 9 years, 5 months ago
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
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You’ve raised a great point. I found the evaluation of information in real-time other than historically to be the most interesting and eye-opening; that is definitely beneficial to businesses. To answer your question (which actually prompted me to write my post on artificial intelligence), I have an answer that goes along with real-time monitoring. This article here (http://blog.xively.com/xively-infographic-future-of-the-iot/) provides an infographic on the future of IoT, and one key benefit for businesses (or, “doing good”) will be that “organizations will predictively meet business needs through intelligent, automated action driven by previously inaccessible insights from the physical world”. The example given was a refrigerator that has sensors in it connected to a scientific lab that is able to dispense enzymes for the purpose of accelerating experiments. The interconnectivity of devices allows the business to automatically recognize when revenue is created and restocking is needed, with the process ultimately allowing the devices to automatically predict upcoming experiments and alert scientists to new enzyme lines. This is just one of many examples of potential benefits (which would save money on operating expenses), and would also be an example of an application for a smart grid in a “smaller sense”.
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Dominic P Lyate changed their profile picture 9 years, 5 months ago
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Dominic P Lyate wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 5 months ago
In this article by Vikram Jandhyala and Will Ludlam of the Seattle Times, the role of collaboration in disruptive innovation is investigated. The authors argue that without collaboration, people become […]
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Amanda M Rossetti wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 6 months ago
Photo by Tsahi Levent-Levi
Disruptive Innovation An opportunity for growth
Khattab Al-Ali outlines what businesses should do in the face of disruptive innovation and how they can use them to grow. He recommends not trying to use an innovation that your business model cannot support as well as not following competitors into new business segments if they have expertise you don’t have. He says that listening to customers for what innovations to invest in is a good idea but not to give the customers everything they want on a whim, it does not always make good business sense. He also says when evaluating disruptive innovation you need to not only focus on the standard metrics. Some innovations have consequences that people would not originally think. Finally he says that when addressing the disruptive innovation you should separate it from your main business as to not add risk to your current business.What do you think businesses should do when evaluating new innovations? How do you think the organization should structure these endeavors?
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 6 months ago
In light of our learning about disruptive innovation and reading about companies like Apple who have used it to their advantage, I found an article claiming that disruptive innovation is not a strategy and […]
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I agree with the idea. Although it is possible to create a culture of innovation and creativity, it is flawed logic to assume that an organization can plan on disrupting markets on call. What can be done is to cultivate the employees mindsets and approaches and provide them with the resources and empowerment necessary to create new things. Those creations, even if they take place, aren’t guaranteed to be monetized. In plain terms, you can only lead a horse to the water.
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I agree with Mohamed that some companies will be more innovative than others, and that directly depends on their culture. However, even though Steve Jobs didn’t intend to redefine the music industry, that’s because it’s really difficult to determine if a product is going to be successful when the general public doesn’t even know they need it. He knew the iPod’s design, bundling package (software with hardware), music store and business model were unique and extremely innovative, but other than making predictions based on some preliminary research, you will never know a products’ success until you launch it. I don’t think that disruptive innovation is a sustainable business model because that would require predicting the future. However, I think you can strive for sustaining extreme innovation, which will most likely disrupt a market eventually if it is successful in creating that culture.
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 6 months ago
With our own progress reports coming due each week, I thought I would share this article that has some pointers for how to effectively communicate the status of a project. The author, Rob Redmond, states that to write an excellent status report you need to understand the three components of status, how to write brief details, and what key data is needed by management.
He describes the three components of status as:
Overall: The overall project health
Milestones: Major accomplishments with accompanying dates
Issues: Obstacles to successful project completionHe then goes on to explain the concept of “brief details,” in which he suggests that when reporting a status you:
Use bullet points instead of prose
Avoid unnecessary titles
Shorten sentences as much as possible
Avoid adverbsLastly, key project data that should be communicated includes:
Project Name
Overall health (red, yellow, green can be used here)
Current completion (in %)
Expected project completion
If you are ahead/behind schedule, if so, how much
Issues you faceDo you agree with the author’s three-point structure for status reports? What do you think goes into writing a good status report? How have your status reports evolved after taking MIS 3535?
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I agree with the author’s three-point structure for status reports. All status reports should include the overall project health so that others can get a sense of whether the project is going well or not, right away. Major accomplishments should be tracked to assure stakeholders that the work is being done in a timely fashion and can be very encouraging. Issues should definitely be communicated because if the issues are unknown to others, there is no way they will know if there is something that they can help with.
A good status report should definitely use the green, yellow, red approach to illustrate the health of the project so that it draws attention to what needs to be focused on and less attention to what doesn’t. A good status report should also be written concisely. After taking MIS 3535, I’ve gotten better at writing status reports. I am briefer in the details of what is happening throughout the various phases of the project and am elaborating on details that may be unclear.
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Amanda M Rossetti wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 6 months ago
Cliff Ennico says your elevator pitch should do three things, while not making three big mistakes. He says in your pitch you should introduce yourself, talk about the most important feature of your business plan, and get the person excited and wanting to hear more from you. These are very similar to the things we talked about in class. He says that you should not describe the “skills rather than the purpose”. Many of the people who went over time in their elevator pitches got too into the details of their application. The next thing he said people do is not tell an interesting story. If people are not interested in what you have to say they will tune you out. We talked in class about opening up with the problem and following with how your application fixes that problem. The last thing Ennico says people do is not rehearsing or being unprepared. While we all know what our applications do fitting that information into 30 seconds is difficult without preparing first. Sitting down and thinking of what three things you want to convey will help get your message across.
Do you agree with Ennico’s points?
What things do you think should be included in a good elevator pitch?
What things do you think people tend not to do well when it comes to elevator pitches?
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I agree with Ennico in that a good elevator pitch needs to get the other person interested, needs to convey the main point of the idea being pitched, and should absolutely start with an intro. I think that a good elevator pitch should be short and sweet, spoken clearly and with a confident voice, and it should have anywhere from 1 to 3 “big things” that you want the reader to remember. As we saw in class, some applications lend themselves well to a 3-point presentation, whereas some could be explained in one or two points. I think that some common mistakes that people make when giving elevator pitches is rushing through them because they’re nervous, trying to regurgitate memorized information, and trying to cram too many details into what should be a quick presentation.
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I agree with Ennico’s points. You should definitely introduce who you are so that people know who they are speaking with and it also makes it more personal. You should definitely sell what you are talking about to the other person and leave them wanting more so that it can lead to a follow-up discussion for some time in the near future. What people tend not to do well when giving elevator pitches is focus on the purpose rather than focusing on the latest and greatest features. People tend not to tell a short story that is compelling for its targeted audience. Working through nervousness is another thing that people tend to not do well. When people are nervous, they tend to talk to fast, get stumped if they stutter, fail to give eye contact, and sway back and forth excessively which negatively impacts the elevator pitch.
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I agree with Ennico’s points that you should introduce yourself, talk about the most important feature of your business plan, and get the person excited and wanting to hear more from you. if you are giving a 30 second pitch, it should be interesting because you want to capture the audiences attention. I think its important to tell a brief story in the pitch and tell an anecdote because that is what captures everyones attention. Being enthusiastic also helps because if the audience sees you are excited and passionate what you are talking about then so will they. Things I think people tend not to do well is practice. It is hard delivering a 30 second pitch but, with practice I believe it can be done. When people don’t practice they usually tend to get nervous and lose their train of thought.
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Amanda M Rossetti wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 7 months ago
Going global: Is it time to streamline your ERP?
Today in class we discussed the difference between IT many years ago and today where years ago in order to include IT in your business you needed to spend a lot of […]-
I do not think that a single ERP for a multi-national company is the best approach because a multi-national company has a different set of business needs for each of its locations as well as a different set of regulations. Also, I think that it is safer for a multi-national company to have multiple ERP systems because it is important for multi-national companies to have a back-up system in case one system fails. The benefits of having a single ERP system are that it is less maintenance involved, system upgrades won’t take as long, taxation is easier to deal with, and it helps the business standardize itself. The downfalls of having a single ERP system are that the company only has one system to rely on, downtime, and the potential to lose customers if the system losses important information due to a crash. I think an organization should implement a global ERP system when a company has duplicate ERP systems and resources in more than one country, the company is resorting to manually reconciling financial and accounting information, and if the company is struggling with multiple taxation and legal environments.
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Amanda M Rossetti wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 7 months ago
New Project Proposal
Name of the Organization: Prestige Worldwide
Project Title: Ingredient List Decoder
Project Overview: Our project is to create an app that will help users avoid ingredients or chemicals in products they are using such as allergens. The app will suggest alternative products that do not contain ingredients they wish to avoid.
Project Timeframe: January 20th 2015 – May 4th 2015
Prepared by: Jacklin Altman, Dominic Lyate, Brittany Cougle, Arren Soroko, Amanda RossettiProject Summary
Ingredient lists are complex and hard to read and some are incomplete. People with allergies or have chosen to avoid certain ingredients need a quick and easy way to decipher if the product they are safe for them to use. Our app will fill this gap though allowing users to enter in ingredients and chemicals they wish to avoid. Users then enter or scan the barcode of the product they are looking at and the app will tell the user if the product contains anything they wish to avoid. If it does have ingredients the user does to want the app will then suggest substitute products that are similar but do not contain anything the user is avoiding. Users can use the app to purchase these products and have them shipped to their door.
Project ObjectivesApplication should store user data on what ingredients and chemicals they are avoiding
Application should be able to scan barcodes and search for manually entered products
Application should be able to notify users if the product contains ingredients or chemicals they wish to avoid
Application should suggest alternative products when searching
Application should interface with major online retailers (such as Amazon, Walmart, Target etc) where it will allow users to purchase suggested products through the applicationProject Deliverables
Project Proposal
Contains summary of the project
Contact information for all involved
A background of the problem that our application is going to solve
Objectives for proposed app
List of deliverablesWeekly Progress Reports
States the work performed to date
States what still is in the worksList of Stakeholders
List of people who are directly affected by the project
Budget
States how much money will be allocated for the project
Work Breakdown Structure
An incremental decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables and work packages
Risk Management Plan
Foresees risks, estimate impacts, and define responses to issues
Communications Plan
Describes communication channels between stakeholders involved in project
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Dominic P Lyate wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 7 months ago
Hello Professor Hohne,
Here is the Project Proposal for Prestige Worldwide. Please let us know if you need anything else.
Thank you!
Project InformationName of the Organization: Prestige Worldwide
Project Title: Bill Scheduler
Project Overview: Our project is to create an app that will link to a user’s credit/debit card or bank account and allow them to schedule when their bills are paid. Users can also split the bill with additional users such as roommates.
Project Timeframe: January 20th 2015 – May 4th 2015
Prepared by: Jacklin Altman, Dominic Lyate, Brittany Cougle, Arren Soroko, Amanda Rossetti
Project Contacts:
Jacklin Altman: tud07405@temple.edu , 267-240-4916
Dominic Lyate: tud09457@temple.edu, 717-799-1607
Brittany Cougle: tud08034@temple.edu , 267-221-2976
Arren Soroko: tue85820@temple.edu, 484-332-6226
Amanda Rossetti: tud07273@temple.edu
Project Summary
Our project aims to solve a major problem that many college students and long-term roommates face on a weekly or monthly basis–why does paying the utility, cable and other service bills always have to be the responsibility of one person? Our project solves this issue by allowing users to load bills from any service provider into an easy-to-use interface, send split requests to roommates, friends or colleagues, and pay the bill together, on-time, every time. The app is also great for anyone looking to keep track of and schedule bills–so nothing goes unpaid. Simply link the utility account (cable, electric, gas, etc.) to the app and receive automatic updates and reminders of when bills are approaching and when they’re due. You can even choose to pay them automatically and receive a receipt notification directly on your smartphone.
Project ObjectivesApplication should integrate with phone calendar to allow user to schedule bill payments and be notified of upcoming payments due
Application should be able to scan receipts, glean relevant information, and integrate information into the bill-splitter
Application should be able to notify other users of split bills, how much is owed, when it is due
Application should interface directly with major billing companies (PECO, Comcast, etc.)
Users should be able to make payments directly through the app, and companies can charge late fees/overages through the appProject Deliverables
Project Proposal
Contains summary of the project
Contact information for all involved
A background of the problem that our application is going to solve
Objectives for proposed app
List of deliverablesWeekly Progress Reports
States the work performed to date
States what still is in the worksList of Stakeholders
List of people who are directly affected by the project
Budget
States how much money will be allocated for the project
Work Breakdown Structure
An incremental decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables and work packages
Risk Management Plan
Foresees risks, estimate impacts, and define responses to issues
Communications Plan
Describes communication channels between stakeholders involved in project
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Dominic P Lyate and
Arren Soroko are now friends 9 years, 7 months ago
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Dominic P Lyate and
Brittany M Cougle are now friends 9 years, 7 months ago
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Amanda M Rossetti and
Dominic P Lyate are now friends 9 years, 7 months ago
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Amanda M Rossetti and
Brittany M Cougle are now friends 9 years, 7 months ago
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Jacklin Altman wrote a new post on the site MIS4596 – Section 3 Spring 2015 9 years, 7 months ago
In class we talked about being innovative versus being creative. An article I read cites Shawn Hunter, author of “Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes,” who discerns the two as follows:
“Creativity is the capability or act of conceiving something original or unusual while innovation is the implementation or creation of something new that has realized value for others.”
The article goes on to discuss how creativity does not necessarily mean innovation, though it can lead to it. In a brainstorming session where ideas are flying around, that’s creativity. It isn’t until some value-driving idea is actually implemented that innovation sets in.
Shawn Hunter also chastises businesses for trying to create creativity on demand, by forcing employees into brainstorming sessions instead of focusing on building innovative processes and products. He claims that innovation doesn’t have to be the next big thing, it can simply be a tweak to a current process that makes the business operate better. He also states that it’s crucial that a business and its entire culture do everything possible to foster innovation in the workplace. The article cites the creation of the Starbucks Frappuccino as an example of innovation. Originally, the idea was rejected by company leaders. It wasn’t until the product was quietly made and sold to customers that it became a hit and was officially introduced into the product line.
Do you think that innovation and creativity necessarily need to go hand in hand? Can one exist without the other? Can one be successful without the other? In your experiences in the workplace, does management tend to focus more on innovation or creativity?
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Innovation and creativity do not necessarily need to go hand and hand. Businesses should definitely make sure that they find their proper balance of innovation and creativity because both are needed in order to be successful. However, every business has to make sure that they set themselves apart by focusing on its strengths in comparison to its competitors. Some businesses are better at being innovative than others, while some businesses are better with creativity. If a business is not great at being innovative and its competitors are and they have the same level of emphasis on innovation, the business that is not as innovative will sink. The same is true for creativity.
Creativity can definitely exist without innovation and vice versa. New ideas can be generated everyday but it does not necessarily mean that the business is going to implement it. A company can implement something new that its competitors already have implemented before them, which lacks creativity. In my experience, management focuses more on implementation than creativity because management seems to favor some people’s ideas more than others. However, management does focus on tweaking existing processes to find ways to do things better for everyone, which is the innovation piece.
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I believe that creativity and innovation are two separate entities. Creativity is more of an art approach to something. It uses design to catch the eye of a consumer. Creativity makes a product beautiful or more attractive. Innovation is more developing a new method of doing something that no one has thought of yet. When I think of innovation it is simple, yet extremely useful.
Both creativity and innovation go hand in hand. Although able to stand alone, both are best used when put together. With a mix of the two, the creation of a new product or idea can far surpass any standard that already exists. For example, when designing a new car. If the engine is a new innovative idea, a consumer may not see the innovation without a creative outside design. Creativity and innovation should be intricately intertwined to create outstanding ideas.
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Using the article’s definition of creativity and innovation I would say creativity can exist without innovation but innovation needs creativity. Someone can come up with many creative ideas but without action they remain that, ideas. Also, not every creative idea is innovative. I usually think of innovative ideas as not just implemented, but somewhat successful. I don’t believe people would call an idea that caused a business to go out of business innovative, but it could have been creative.
I think an issue with being innovative businesses have is trying to force it as he discusses. When you sit a group of people in a room and say, ok innovate, you get people so focused on coming up with a new, innovative solution that they do not come up with any innovations at all. I agree with Shawn Hunter that brainstorming sessions are not always the best strategy to trying to employ when trying to think of a solution. I sat in many brainstorming sessions as an intern where the person running the session did not employ the best practices we discusses in class and all they led to was awkward silence and no solutions. When you put so much pressure on people to be creative or innovative they will self edit before they say anything.
In my experience management looks for innovation because they want actionable ideas. The next question after ‘we could do ____’ is always ‘how would we do that’. They also tend to dismiss the idea if you don’t at least have a starting point.
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I think that PECO and other companies will not see Tesla as a threat until it is too late. This would be like Comcast teaming up with Google and the Chromecast. If they do see it as a threat, they will try to compete on their own.