Angela R. Gilson
Four Unconventional Ways To Tell If Your Workplace Culture Is Toxic
With graduation around the corner, many students are willing to take any job they can get. Many are ignoring the important factor of culture in the workplace. If you do not mesh well with the culture of your company, it is going to make your attitude towards work suffer. In this Forbes article, author Maureen Henderson shares some tips on how to tell if the culture you dove into is actually toxic.
– Employees spending time with each other outside of the workplace to bond is a great sign that it is easy to get along with your co-workers.
– Noticing people’s reactions to entering and leaving the office will determine weather or not they enjoy spending 40 hours a week there.
– If co-workers support each other with non-work context. For example, do other co-workers buy Girl Scout cookies to help out a co-workers daughter? (I’m not sure if anyone, toxic or not, could turn down Girl Scout cookies)
While looking for jobs are you interested in the companies culture to make sure you’ll fit in?
Do you feel as though it is imperative you fit into your companies culture? Or is clocking in, working, and clocking out enough for you?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2015/04/21/four-unconventional-ways-to-tell-if-your-workplace-culture-is-toxic/2/
3 Questions on Killer Robots
Since fully autonomous weapons don’t yet exist, why isn’t a ban premature?
Although fully autonomous weapons are not in the market at this time, national- security experts are saying countries will be looking at this as the next step in warfare technology. These experts believe that any fully autonomous weapons should be banned before any developing begins. Concerns around these weapons are rising because of the intense threats it brings to society.
Isn’t it difficult to define a “fully autonomous” weapon?
The article explains it as a weapon who could kill a target without any human input. They also explain the difficulties of not having an explanation. If anyone were to ban a weapon that is “fully autonomous” a definition would first need to be explained, along with a broad range of violations because people may look to get around the exact definition of the weapon.
In addition to the errors that could lead an autonomous weapon to kill civilians, what are some of the novel legal problems they could cause?
Who would even be responsible for an error? The chain of commands could lead all the way back to the manufacturer. Which under the current law no one would be at fault.
Are these weapons something that could be implemented? What types of effects could it have on society as a whole?
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/536881/3-questions-on-killer-robots/
5 Technology Products That Won’t Let You Break the Law
5 Technology Products That Won’t Let You Break the Law
Since we talked about the safety measures of 3-D printers in class during our disruptive innovation class, I thought this article was informative of how safety measures are being taken into account.
The article states that algorithms are used to prevent people from creating gun parts as well as print counterfeit money. Even Photoshop forbids you from scanning and printing money.
Do you think these technologies are actually smart enough to prevent people from breaking the law? What would be some ways people could get around these preventions?
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/5-technology-products-that-wont-let-you-break-the-116183169724.html
Why It’s Time To Rethink Your Hospital’s Technology
Hospitals have never promoted a technology forward environment. Is it time for a change? I say yes. With the rise of consumer knowledge through social media, consumers can easily search around for the best price and products. This is no different when it comes to dealing with a hospital. Old IT systems in hospitals today are outdated and lack innovation. We’ve heard some ideas of disruptive innovations when it comes to hospitals in class, but what could a hospital gain from changing its systems to be more productive? What type of changes do you feel would be too drastic that the healthcare industry may not need?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/athenahealth/2015/04/13/why-its-time-to-rethink-your-hospitals-technology/
Is Tesla on The Brink of Disruptive Innovation?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/tesla-technology-produce-cars/story?id=30025690
Tesla Motors announced on Monday that they are introducing a new product, but to much dismay it is not a new car. Tesla was creating something new, keeping all consumers in the dark.
“We need the ability to store energy when it’s bountiful and use it when it isn’t bountiful,” Brauer said. “If somebody can come up with a system to time shift energy storage, that would have a lot of potential and go far beyond the automotive industry.”
Rumors are divulging from this comment from a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, that it may be some type of home battery.
What types of innovative creations could Tesla have up it’s sleeve?
How to Get the Job When You Don’t Have the Experience
“The Permission Paradox” – You can’t get the job without the experience but you can’t get the experience without the job – is one of the great career Catch-22s.
I came across this article on Linkedin, while I was scrolling for jobs. Almost every job I came across required 3-5 years of professional experience. How can I have experience if I cant get a first job? Well, James Citrin, author of The Career Playbook, tells you how in just 5 steps. Reading this article gave me confidence that not all requirements are so black and white.
James gives a few pointers that stuck with me after reading:
1. Be willing to start at the bottom. Just because we have a degree, doesn’t mean we should automatically get a high paid salary in a fortune 500 company. Sometimes you need to work up the ladder.
2. Re-imagine your experience. Have you ever planned a spring break with your friends? That counts as some type of “project managing” right? It was your responsibility to collect money, work with budgets, and research unknown variables of the trip.
To those of you who are still searching for jobs or have already gotten an offer, have you used creative stories like these in interviews to fill an under qualified job requirement?
Five disaster-planning steps for small businesses to implement
5 disaster-planning steps article
Today we talked about how many companies that had data centers in the World Trade Center survived 9/11. With so much talk about continuity plans in MIS 2501, it shocked me to see that zero companies were still in business a short 5 years later. When touring the data center here at Temple, just being in the atmosphere of the servers made me feel how important they are to the structure of Temple. How could a CEO in a multi-million dollar company not be worried about data being destroyed if the business revolves around it? It makes me wonder how a company could be so careless to not plan for the future so tediously.
This article by InsuranceNewsNet.com asks it’s readers, “Could your business bounce back if a disaster occurred?” They explain the 5 steps every small business should go through when planning for a disaster.
1. Consider all possible risks
2. Commercial property and casualty insurance
3. Survey your systems
4. Take your first steps now
5. Create a business continuity plan
These are all steps we have heard before, which steps do you feel are the most important?
If you could add or delete steps off this list what would they be and why?
Project Proposal
Project Information
Group Name: Dream Big Productions
Project Name: KickTheBucket
Project Summary
Do you have a bucket list with dreams that you feel will be impossible to accomplish? Do you have a certain activity in mind that no one else is willing to try? Well we have the app for you! KickTheBucket will assist you in expressing your bucket list and connecting you with like-minded dreamers. This app will allow you to accomplish your bucket list while reducing costs by sharing the activity with a bucket buddy.
Many people go through life with a special list of activities they want to accomplish. Our project is being created to help customers achieve their lifetime goals. We want users in close proximity to find each other and help achieve these goals together. This application will map out how to accomplish each goal by showing them either activities in the area or the best route to get there. Users can also connect with each other to give advice on activities they have already achieved.
Project Contacts:
Angela Gilson – tud47710@temple.edu
Andre Messa – tue87490@temple.edu
Anne Buckley – tud15347@temple.edu
Matthew Ortiz – tuc43841@temple.edu
James Brunetto – tuc53089@temple.edu
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