Kristopher Hug

What is an example of a community of practice that you are a member of? How did you become a member? In what ways do you benefit from being a member?
A commodity of practice I am a member of is an additional military training and service organization called Arnold Air Society (AAS). When I started training to become a USAF officer in 2011 I had…[Read more]

Rich, you bring up a good point that has been mentioned several times in this class. Many organisations and industries aren’t quick to adapt new concepts and business practices but instead think the old way of doing things is tested through time so it must work. I agree with you that digital distribution hit this industry rather quickly so they…[Read more]

From the perspective of the recording industry (record labels), what advantages do digital media have over physical media? Then why were the labels so resistant to digital media?
The clear advantage for the recording industry in regards to digital over physical media is the cost of production and distribution. With physical means a record…[Read more]

Using the Siemens case as an example of pros and cons of open innovation, what should a company consider if it is considering doing something similar?

Like we saw with Siemens and even with Wyeth, corporate culture like most have been saying, is the key to innovation and open communication in an organization which is something Siemens didn’t u…[Read more]

Chase,

Great example with the encyclopedias. I remember too well using Encyclopedia Encarta in the late 90’s and every year they had to release a new version with more information or like you said, go to the library to get newer information. The information was “scarce” compared to modern web browsing and that’s why it died out. Believe it…[Read more]

What do you think? Is abundance more disruptive to society than scarcity?

I think that abundance is more disruptive to society than scarcity for many reasons. First, when you have scarcity you have very few people an operations involved in a product which by default creates little disruption in the market and society but as soon at that…[Read more]

Two major components of Wyeth’s global IT strategy were its ERP system and its “Global Data Warehouse.” In what ways do you think that the global nature of these initiatives influenced their design, development, and implementation?

The global nature of the ERP and Global Data Warehouse initiatives influenced their design, development, and imple…[Read more]

What was the role of IT in the globalization of Wyeth? More broadly, would you say that IT-enabled globalization is simply another version of the centralization/decentralization decision that any company makes when it has multiple divisions, or is it fundamentally different? Explain.
The role of IT in the globalization of Wyeth was the driver…[Read more]

Rich, I didn’t even consider the communication and transportation side to increasing global presence. You bring up a great point though. If you look at companies like Ebay, their entire business runs on streamlined transportation and without it many global brands likely wouldn’t even exist. I know with Ebay you can order items directly from…[Read more]

Do you think that information technology has enabled the emergence of global brands?
I do think that information technology has enabled the emergence of global brands. Before the advent of the modern internet, many consumer goods were regionally locked meaning a majority of that goods sales happened in the specific region it was produced in or…[Read more]

Ryann, I agree that you have to be careful of what you put on the cloud. Like in that movie “Sex Tape” and with all the Apple iCloud hacking scandals that have been happening recently it shows that nothing store online is truly secure. I don’t think this should deter anyone from backing up online though. But the same goes with online storage…[Read more]

If I were to explain the cloud to a co-worker I would say that the cloud is an offsite, online storage system that allows the user to access their data from anywhere across many platforms. The cloud is a new approach to an age old data storage system. In the past, people and small organizations had either an onsite data server or portable hard…[Read more]

How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system?

Matulovic should take a standardized approach in his response to fellow executives asking for special treatment. He should not give special treatment to anyone because that would undermine the new…[Read more]

Will, I think your comment about creating a shared vision is key with this reading because VW seemed to be very scattered before this proposal. Their old system of relying on the release of new projects to fit their budgetary needs was something that needed to be changed because if they had a bad year they would be underfunded until they can…[Read more]

What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Is it better or worse than the old process? Are the criticisms justified?

The new process for managing priorities at VWoFA in my opinion is better than the old “haphazard” system in many ways. The old system had the problem of managers banking on the…[Read more]

Consider the company you work for now (or one you have worked for in the past). Pick one of the “boxes” in the Ostervalder & Pigneur Business Model Canvas. Describe what goes in that box for the company you picked.
I currently work for the U.S. Air Force and we have very different activities for each of these boxes then you would find in alm…[Read more]

John, I’m very interested in the insight you gave about this portion of our University. I’m sure that I am not the only one who forgets to think about all the operations that go on behind the scenes to allow our campus to function and grow. I found it interesting that since your group is part of Temple they are technically your customer but you…[Read more]

Think about somewhere you have worked before. Do you think the company under-invested or over-invested in Information Technology?

I worked for CVS Pharmacy from 2008-2011 as a college job and found that they greatly under-invested in Information Technology. During my time there, CVS’s store level infrastructure was outdated by at least seven y…[Read more]

Chris, great post. I have found the same issue with companies I have worked for in that the “how we have always done things” mentality has been rampant throughout these companies which puts them at a disadvantage. The greatest example of this I have found was when I worked for a small family practice doctors office. They resisted moving from…[Read more]

Celia, that’s the fine line we are dealing with today in current policy. How much information is too much? I know that text logs and gps data can now be used in the court systems to help with convictions but at what point to we say no? I think a vast majority of tech users are not tech savy so they don’t know at what point they should say no.