http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Why-in-sourcing-ERP-support-makes-good-business-sense

1.  With the majority of businesses using some form of ERP, do you think it most beneficial for the business to create their own ERP or have a professional perform the initial setup and training? Why? Why not?
2. What makes ERP valuable to the business?
3. The system processes of ERP systems are selected by the business needs.  If you were establishing a new business would you invest in ERP software at the start of your business? Why? Why not?

This article discusses a survey conducted by Panorama Consulting about companies with more than an annual revenue of $25 million about its use and experience of its ERP systems over the time period of January 2013 to February 2014  (Drew. 2014).  The article states that the companies’ expectations did not fully exceed their desired benefits, and that the increase in costs and scheduling concerns also contributed to the companies not fully utilizing or experiencing all that the ERPs had to offer (Drew, 2014).

1.  One issue that the article brought up is employee cooperation in utilizing the ERP, and how this can be a challenge for midsize businesses.  Do you think the benefits of using an ERP outweigh the costs and time of training employees to use these systems, particularly in a midsize business?

2.  The article discusses the level of dissatisfaction that companies may have with their ERP system, particularly by going over budget on projects.  What do you think the companies should do to ensure this kind of issue with budgeting does not occur when utilizing the ERP project, or do you think that this is the nature of the software?

3.  The article does state “that this survey was conducted by an ERP consulting company, which stands to benefit if ERP software implementation is considered too difficult for IT to handle,” while acknowledging that ERP implementation can be challenging.  Based on what you read in the chapter and any real life experience, do you believe that ERP systems may be too challenging for a business, or is it a matter of proper training and budgeting?

Link to article:  http://midsizeinsider.com/en-us/article/erp-software-implementation-is-growing-m

Valachich PowerPoints:

Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Chapter 8

Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

This is a very interesting article that essentially highlights just how massive data warehouses are now, and how much bigger that they will get in the future.  Charles goes into how different companies are using data warehouses to store and analyze massive amounts of data, like how Walmart uses data from warehouses to determine how to set up their in store displays, how tv companies can use data from warehouses to determine what people are watching, etc.  Although using data warehouses is beyond the scope of many smaller businesses, the number of companies who use these warehouses is likely to grow in the next couple decades.  The end of the article also offers words of caution for companies using these warehouses- solid practices for managing stored data, properly indexed tables, and good data extraction, transformation and loading techniques are the keys to keeping 100 terabyte databases from getting out of control.

Questions

1. How safe do you think the data stored in massive warehouses is?

2. Do you think smaller companies will begin using data warehouses in the future if they become cheaper and easier to manage?

3. Do you think there are any situations where using data warehouses could actually become a disadvantage to a company?

http://www.informationweek.com/data-data-everywhere/d/d-id/1039328?page_number=1

This article describes how supermarkets monitor customer’s club cards to advertise to its customers through analytics.  Even though the article is British, we can all relate to how the supermarkets we shop at use our buying history to advertise to us.  I believe that there is a positive and a negative side to providing large corporations with our buying habits.  Yes we may be getting coupons in the mail to save money, but where will the line be drawn to protect our privacy.

Questions to comment on…

#1.)  Should supermarket chains have the right to browse your debit card if you did not know you were opted in to the Visa or MasterCard “perform data analyses”?

#2.)  Would you be offended if a supermarket assumed you were unhealthy and suggested healthier products or recipes because of your shopping history?

#3.)  Is it ethical for supermarkets to monitor your spending outside of their stores to gain aggregated data to decide on new store locations?

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/08/supermarkets-get-your-data

The article was published by David Goldman @CNNMoneyTech January 16, 2012.

The article emphasized Cybercrime affected  online shoe store Zappos’s reputation. Zappos is one of billion businesses which using information system to make better business decision, and to run its business efficiently. The cybercrime caused million customer sign in passwords were exposed, and their identity including addresses, emails, phones, and partial credit cards were hacked. The incident was cost Zappos’s reputation and sales.

My questions are

1. What are your suggestion to eliminate the cybercrime if you were a business owner?

2. What are you doing to protect your identify if your were a consumer?

3. What would you do to re built Zappos’s reputation after the incident if you were Zappos’s CEO?

I hope the article is interesting you. See you Thursday thru Webex.

The article talks about the Reston-based firm (Clarabridge), which culls Web sites, customer service phone calls and social-media sites to help companies make sense of customer feedback. Clarabridge leverage technology and industry specific best practices to listen, analyze,and measure the voice of the customer in real-time; all the time to help companies to truck customers feedback about their products. Because Social media continues to be a critically important customer-feedback channel, Clarabridge helps protect the name and the brand of products.

Some questions to think about

1Do you think that social media is one of the main sources that could possibly damage a company’s reputation?

2 If you had a small business would you employ Clarabridge to help you manage any negative feedback about your product?

3Today when the types of things that people want to do with the data get more diverse and information  rapidly spreads across the world, do you think that information systems managements are able to control social media’s effects on businesses?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/evolving-internet-helps-clarabridge-improve-customer-feedback-business/2013/05/10/21b7c570-b1c4-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html

Search Today and Beyond: Optimizing for the Semantic Web

This article talks about Google and some major competitors like Yahoo and Bing making big strides towards creating a semantic web. In the article it lists various new applications that have been released and how they will potentially impact society.

Some questions to think about:

1. Assuming the semantic web is fully able to comprehend a user’s search, what will that do to competition between search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo?

2. In the article it talks about rising search engines with the same technology, but significantly less users. Do you think these small search engines will be able to break into the market with Google already receiving billions of searches per year?

3. Penny Herscher, CEO of First Rain, describes her vision of semantic web technology as being able to essentially simulate real life interactions based on information that can be found on the web. Do you think this technology will help or hurt society?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/business/e-commerce-companies-bypass-middlemen-to-build-premium-brand.html?_r=0

1) How does the existence of intermediaries affect the efficiency of electronic markets?

2) How should merchants promote their e-commerce site?

3) Is e-commerce contributing to unemployment?

http://www.usanfranonline.com/rfid-technology-boosts-walmarts-supply-chain-management/