Collective Intelligence MIT Video

This video contained both brief speeches and a panel discussion about the topics of collaboration and collective intelligence. The persons speaking included a cultural anthropologist who studies media usage of young people in America and Japan, a worker at Linden Lab, known for it's creation of an online 3D virtual reality collaboration tool called "2nd Life," and a professor at the University of New York at Buffalo and creator of the Institute of Distributed Creativity. The overall discussion evolved around defining collective intelligence as being a group of people forming together to make decisions.


The one point that caught my attention the most was the "amateur expert collision" that was brought up by Cory Ondrejka. This is the idea that because of the massive advancement in technology like the internet, people that were once considered "amateurs" are now starting to populating the same arenas where professionals once dominated. The point was made that amateur doesn't mean incompetent, it means un-credentialed. The professionals in the world have things like degrees, certificates, and lingo that help create a barrier between them and the amateurs. The advancement and availability of information technology has allowed these amateurs to gain professional insights and are closer to comparing their knowledge with professionals. This portion of the discussion was the most interesting. 

Zappos Video

Well, first let me address what I saw in the video. The speech given by Tony Hsieh was organized well and covered the topic of being "happy" and creating a positive culture at work. By creating this positive work environment, the employees will perform their jobs better, which will improve customer service, which will improve sales etc. Hsieh provides examples, mainly through his company Zappos, as to the benefits and success of operating a company this way. This video falls right in line with the overall topic that we've been discussing in class. Just like in the Nucor Steel example, this idea of creating a positive culture at work will help the company become more efficient and profitable. Hsieh's sites studies and books that he's read that discuss this "struggle " to find happiness. He ends his presentation by saying that his overall goal with his company Zappos is to bring happiness to the world......

Ok, so that's what I saw in the video, but again being the pessimist that I am, I'm not "drinking the cool-aid." First let me say that I don't want to argue that this business plan is dumb because its obviously working for Zappos. Since I don't consider myself a business minded person, I don't fully understand how the company can offer some of the deals they do. Like the free shipping both ways, the free books, the shuttle rides. My only guess is that they some how make up for these costs by raising their product prices...? Anyways, it is my feeling that Zappos is not successful because of their company culture. With everything that was presented in the video, the only thing that I saw going for Zappos was their great customer service / free shipping. Its these points that would make a consumer use Zappos over some other internet provider. Are they trying to separate themselves from competitors like Amazon with the argument...... Our company has a better culture...? From a customer standpoint I could care less about the company's culture. Does the company have the product I want? Is it priced fairly? Can the product be shipped to me quickly? These are the questions that I am concerned with. While having a positive work environment wouldn't hurt, I don't think it solely produces company profits. I think that Knowledge Management is far more important to a company's success than theories about happiness. Perhaps, I am not seeing the situation right and maybe this "culture" idea is part of the knowledge management process. In the end, I guess Tony Hsieh gets the last laugh since his company is very successful using this business plan.

IT and Knowledge Managment Solutions for Healthcare Problems

Healthcare is one of the top social and economic problems facing Americans today. The rising cost of medical care and health insurance is impacting the livelihood of many Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for necessary medical care is no longer a problem affecting only the uninsured, but is increasingly becoming a problem for those with health insurance as well. One way to better improve healthcare and perhaps lower the cost to patients is to improve the status of the current knowledge management systems in place through developments in information technology. Making a real difference in health care is not about expensive new technologies like robots performing surgery or treatments and unnecessary tests. It’s about getting the right information to the right place at the right time. By applying all that experts have learned about the effectiveness of information technology in other industries, we can dramatically improve the efficiency of the health-care system and the quality of care it delivers. I read an interesting fact that in the U.S., 25 percent of medical claims and 65 percent of medical records are paper based. Having these records digitally based could allow the records to be shared or studied by doctors at hospitals / doctor offices everywhere. For providers, technology can dramatically improve the quality of care by ensuring that the right thing is done at the right time, in the right way, for the right person. (In the U.S. alone, up to 98,000 deaths per year are attributed to medical errors). Looking ahead, the country needs to take an open-standards approach that eases collaboration and information sharing across the entire health-care continuum. The end goal should be a “digital health” system with the patient as the focal point—resulting in care that is more affordable, preventive, personalized, and transparent.

My take on Linda Mason's story

Being the pessimist that I am, after listening to the speech given by Mrs. Mason concerning her life achievements I couldn't help but think " I'll never do anything that great." Her speech discussed the struggles and adversity she experienced throughout her career which included her work with her husband in Sudan refugee camps, balancing work with raising a family, and creation of a humanitarian-based organization called Bright Horizons. Bright Horizons manages employer sponsored child care programs. 


I realize that her speech's purpose was to inspire and inform others on how to create a career of their own,  but I had a hard time relating her experiences to my life goals. If you put aside all of the humanitarian organization details and multi-billion dollar business issues, you can simplify her speech to themes of "never give up" and "do something you enjoy." While these are tips I've heard countless times before from people, I guess it meant a little more coming from someone who has lived it. What Linda Mason has done with her life is incredible and should not be overlooked.


One aspect of her speech that I kept finding myself coming back to was her tip of "sometimes it is better to leap before you look." She admitted that that statement goes against what is usually practiced, but was a major reason for her success. I couldn't help but think that sometimes taking that leap is a risk that a person can't afford to take. I don't mean a "leap" like something as trivial as ordering something new for lunch. I mean   putting all your savings and effort into a business that may fail. I believe the majority of my cynicism stems from my assumption that Mrs. Mason came from a wealthy family or perhaps had plenty of "wiggle" room when it came to finances. Perhaps someone with less financial must take the safer route.


In the end, Linda Mason's story is inspirational and shows the impact one person can have on the world.


***On a side note, several years ago I had the pleasure of watching a video with a similar message to Linda Mason's. It is titled "Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" I didn't watch this video for a class or anything, I simply had some time to kill. The video is about an hour long and about 10 minutes in I was hooked. I encourage any of you reading this to check the video out. This guy is funny, entertaining, and tells a great story of his life. It is similar to Linda Masons speech in that he talks about his career and gives advice, but in my opinion does a much better job. I found the speech to be very emotional and spoken directly from the heart. Again, if you have some time to kill please watch it. You won't regret it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo 

Knowledge as a Strategic Asset

It may be cliche, but the saying "Knowledge is power" was developed for a reason. At the core of any business is its knowledge about its operation, product, and customers. This knowledge is the company's lifeline when it comes to operating their business. What type of product is being used, how that product is being delivered to the consumer, advertising,the structure of the company, all these aspects of the business have been set up based on what is best for the company. Essentially this knowledge is the foundation that a company is run on. To not consider this knowledge an asset would be a mistake. Part of the company's strategic business plan should include how to keep this knowledge out of the hands of other companies, as well as how to insure that this knowledge is shared and communicated evenly among its employees. It is vital that the company knowledge built up over time be protected from other companies in order to insure a competitive advantage. Just like in the Xerox Eureka case, it could save a company time and money if knowledge and expertise within the company is shared to all of its employees.

Increasing Return

A business experiences increasing return when it produces proportionally more output/profit to the amount of input/resources used. Simply put, the more effort the company puts into producing its product or service, the more profit it will experience. This input output relationship should be proportionally related. Of course it is any business's goal to develop a business plan to allow for a higher increase in return/profit than with the amount of resources/input used. This type of increasing return is a sign of a successful business and is usually accomplished through some form of technology.

Xerox Case Questions // Due September 7th

Problem: Xerox Corporation realized that it was losing money and time when its service technicians discovered product maintenance issues which they had never seen in documentation before. With more than 1 million service calls per month, Xerox recognized that these problems could create lengthy downtime for customers as well as cost the company money as service representatives worked to solve these challenging issues. While the maintenance problems were fixed through local information sharing in local work groups, there was still no way for this knowledge to be spread to the entire Xerox work-force. Xerox's problem was that it had an inefficient process for knowledge sharing within its company.

Solution: To protect and use the "intellectual capitol" developed by its employees, Xerox developed the Eureka website. Eureka is essentially a knowledge base which allows Xerox's service organization to create and reuse vital information about its products and services among its 25,000 representatives worldwide. The site allows service reps to contribute their solutions online which allows other reps to reference the postings for help. By using an online solution, Xerox allows its service reps to become part of a global community with the main goal to share information.

Benefits: The Eureka website provides a cheap way for Xerox service reps to communicate knowledge and understanding with each other. Overall it makes the company's employees more efficient, which in turn saves Xerox money.

Difficulties: Even with this great new program that allows employees to share information with each other, the program depends entirely on users for input. It turns out that Xerox staff was reluctant to use the new system because participation would be an added duty to an already controlled workday.  Employees would have to contribute in their off-time. It turns out the incentive that attracted users to contribute was the "professional credit" addition. Users now have the ability to author their solutions that they post to Eurkea, thus giving them credit viewable to everyone at the company.

Lessons Learned: The articles outline a few key points that Xerox learned throughout the process of creating the knowledge database of Eureka. First, its important to inform employees the difference between knowledge management and the way they used to work. Second, try and approach a goal from several different perspectives in order to ensure everyone understands what is trying to be accomplished. Third, it is vital that in a change initiative support come from the top. Last, people must be shown the correct way to be involved in knowledge management. Xerox was able to accomplish this through a knowledge newsletter and a better website.