Just a few days ago, 50 Zappos employees quit their job. What caused 18% of Zappos employees to decide they couldn't handle the heat? CEO Tony Hsieh explained his innovative project management style that gave employees the choice of a severance package or participation in his "Holacracy". Hsieh made this offer to his employees last March, and since, over 18% of his workforce has chosen to resign. The CEO's new PM style consisted of no managers, no titles-- the standard hierarchy virtually eliminated. Many internal and external changes took place at Zappos that called for a refresh in project management strategy. Rather than having the standard hierarchy, Hsieh thought that a total renovation would be a great move for the growing company.
Hsieh first heard about Holacracy at the 2012 Conscious Capitalism CEO summit. Hsieh decided that this was the best method because it encourages long term self management and self organization. This system prevents the bureaucracy that was beginning to play a more and more in the company. The CEO wanted to avoid losing the start up edge that was so valuable to the company while still empowering each employee to work with an entrepreneurs spirit. Because this environment is not suitable for everyone, a generous severance package was offered to employees. The new approach allows for employees to be more independent and self motivated through tech projects. The CEO hopes that this will encourage creativity and innovation while still sticking to the company's values and goals that made them so successful from the start.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsieh-explains-how-zappos-rebounded-from-employee-exodus-2016-1
Friday, January 29, 2016
Microsoft's Windows-and-devices group again records lower revenue
But declines in the 'More Personal Computing' division were less than the previous quarter, with Windows revenue down 8%
Microsoft yesterday again reported a decline in revenue for the group responsible for Windows, the Surface line of 2-in-1s and notebooks, and smartphones, in 2015's fourth quarter. Microsoft sold just 4.5 million Lumia smartphones, or 57% fewer, than in the same quarter the year before, and revenue from phones overall plummeted by $1.2 billion, a decline of 53%.With those sales numbers -- Apple, in contrast, sold 5.7 million iPhones each week during its December quarter -- Microsoft's business is on the edge of, if not ending, then on an abyss of apathy.
From the article, we can see the project of Lumia smartphone is failed. it caused revenue from phones overall plummeted by $1.2 billion, a decline of 53%. The reason that may cause the failure is unclear business needs and project objects and inadequate user involvement. Lumia did not clear the need of customers and market so it is hard to compete with Apple. To make project successful, the project manager should fully understand the business need and users request.
After reading the article, I understood that it is necessary to satisfy users request and company's business need to make project successful. When managing a project, we should communicate with users and make system user friendly.
Citation:
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3028072/windows-pcs/microsofts-windows-and-devices-group-again-records-lower-revenue.html
Microsoft yesterday again reported a decline in revenue for the group responsible for Windows, the Surface line of 2-in-1s and notebooks, and smartphones, in 2015's fourth quarter. Microsoft sold just 4.5 million Lumia smartphones, or 57% fewer, than in the same quarter the year before, and revenue from phones overall plummeted by $1.2 billion, a decline of 53%.With those sales numbers -- Apple, in contrast, sold 5.7 million iPhones each week during its December quarter -- Microsoft's business is on the edge of, if not ending, then on an abyss of apathy.
After reading the article, I understood that it is necessary to satisfy users request and company's business need to make project successful. When managing a project, we should communicate with users and make system user friendly.
Citation:
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3028072/windows-pcs/microsofts-windows-and-devices-group-again-records-lower-revenue.html
Banking on security innovation to beat the hackers
The most advanced banks take a pro-active approach to cyber-security.
In the article, " Banking on security innovation to beat the hackers", cybercriminals and the most advanced banks take a pro-active approach to cyber-security. Banks are being asked to be more open, digital, and customer-focused through the advance of newer technologies like mobile payments, biometrics and wearable devices. This was accompanied by increasingly serious hacker problem. To solve the problem, a project is created. It asks banks think like hackers: conduct external penetration testing against themselves, mine the dark web for their own information leakage, apply data classification products to prevent data loss (DLP).
The aim is to make it too costly for a criminal gang to steal our money. Any criminal gang looks at risk, investment and profit and if that doesn’t match up, they will go elsewhere. There are numerous ways of ‘kicking out’ the hackers. Most forward-thinking banks are now considering honeypots and dummy data sources.
In the lecture, we learned project planning and project management. The first activity of core process identify problem and and obtain approval. In the article, the problem that bank faced is cybercriminals and security problems. The second activity of SDLC core process is plan and monitor. The project plans to test internal applications, perimeter defense and staff against phishing attacks. If banks get penetrated, the project can ensure banks detect hackers, and isolate or kick them out as soon as they are in.
After reading this article, I learned how bank security works and how important IT is. MIS is responsible for company’s information security and clients’ interest.
Citation:
http://www.cio.com/article/3002038/data-protection/banking-on-security-innovation-to-beat-the-hackers.html
User Error Compromises Many Encrypted Communication Apps
Apps that aim to let you talk securely may be made less secure by users who screw up the authentication process.
In the article, "User Error Compromises Many Encrypted Communication Apps", Apps often ask users to verity checksum or short authentication string to make sure the information hasn’t been breached by an intruder. However, this process has been proved insecure by the researchers from University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Researchers mimicked a cryptophone app and have 128 participants attend the test. Participants listened to a random two- or four-word checksum and determined if it matched the words researchers give. The researchers found that study participants frequently accepted calls even if they heard the wrong sequence of words, and often denied calls when the sequence was spoken correctly. Beyond that, researchers say that using a four-word checksum instead of a two-word checksum seemed to decrease security, even though a longer checksum should increase security exponentially.
In the lecture, we learned reasons that may cause project failure: poor IT management and poor IT procedures, inadequate executive support for projects, and inadequate user involvement. The apps, which include RedPhone and Signal, have this authentication problem. These apps' authentication process makes users confused and reduce users' interest. For these reasons, the failure of authentication may cause failure of project.
According to this article, we can know that authentication processed by people is insecure and may affected by subjective thought. when managing a system, authentication and password are needed to be set. Obviously, the authentication process should be totally controlled by computer and system. users and system administrators should not be involved in. The system management should also have a standard procedure. If administrator need change the authentication, he should follow the procedure. Only in this way, the authentication of system can works because computers makes no mistake.
Citation:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/544516/user-error-compromises-many-encrypted-communication-apps/
In the article, "User Error Compromises Many Encrypted Communication Apps", Apps often ask users to verity checksum or short authentication string to make sure the information hasn’t been breached by an intruder. However, this process has been proved insecure by the researchers from University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Researchers mimicked a cryptophone app and have 128 participants attend the test. Participants listened to a random two- or four-word checksum and determined if it matched the words researchers give. The researchers found that study participants frequently accepted calls even if they heard the wrong sequence of words, and often denied calls when the sequence was spoken correctly. Beyond that, researchers say that using a four-word checksum instead of a two-word checksum seemed to decrease security, even though a longer checksum should increase security exponentially.
In the lecture, we learned reasons that may cause project failure: poor IT management and poor IT procedures, inadequate executive support for projects, and inadequate user involvement. The apps, which include RedPhone and Signal, have this authentication problem. These apps' authentication process makes users confused and reduce users' interest. For these reasons, the failure of authentication may cause failure of project.
According to this article, we can know that authentication processed by people is insecure and may affected by subjective thought. when managing a system, authentication and password are needed to be set. Obviously, the authentication process should be totally controlled by computer and system. users and system administrators should not be involved in. The system management should also have a standard procedure. If administrator need change the authentication, he should follow the procedure. Only in this way, the authentication of system can works because computers makes no mistake.
Citation:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/544516/user-error-compromises-many-encrypted-communication-apps/
Hands-on with LG’s roll-up flexible screen
Technology has become fundamental to societal and corporate growth. Human activity, and arguable human existence, is hinged on technological developments. The article by Dave Lee indicates the benefits and defects of technology in the TV field growth. He mentions that LG has worked with the flexible roll-up screen. The characteristic for this screen is that it can be rolled up or scrunched around, but it displays with full HD. They already made 18in screens, but their aim is 55in and beyond. With this screen, people can roll it up when they don’t need it. However, even LG has no idea about how much it would actually cost when it will be sold at all. Unfortunately, when the dead pixels damage, there will be a tiny empty square on the screen. This kind of screen just can be rolled, but not folded flat. See the video for how it works at the link below.
This huge project is an innovation in technology. As we discussed in class, project management needs project cost management knowledge. They need to know how much this project will cost in the whole process. However, the LG team isn’t able to find out how much it would cost. The LG Company’s primary goal is to make a roll-up screen. Actually they didn’t calculate how many customers will buy this screen, and how much will it cost or expenditure. They need to make sure that this screen can work efficiently the same as the normal TV.
Although this roll-up screen is a newly technology, it may develop quickly. MIS students have to know the trend of IT development. MIS professionals should focus on calculating how to avoid producing inferior products. As a result, IT students must be open-minded about the future.
Citation:
Lee, D. (n.d.). CES 2016: Hands-on with LG's roll-up flexible screen - BBC News. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35230043
This huge project is an innovation in technology. As we discussed in class, project management needs project cost management knowledge. They need to know how much this project will cost in the whole process. However, the LG team isn’t able to find out how much it would cost. The LG Company’s primary goal is to make a roll-up screen. Actually they didn’t calculate how many customers will buy this screen, and how much will it cost or expenditure. They need to make sure that this screen can work efficiently the same as the normal TV.
Although this roll-up screen is a newly technology, it may develop quickly. MIS students have to know the trend of IT development. MIS professionals should focus on calculating how to avoid producing inferior products. As a result, IT students must be open-minded about the future.
Citation:
Lee, D. (n.d.). CES 2016: Hands-on with LG's roll-up flexible screen - BBC News. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35230043
For DevOps Success, Embrace Culture Change
For success in a DevOps environment, tech companies must provide their employees with a safe environment, easy access to knowledge, and freedom. Discussion and idea sharing should be encouraged. Once these are fulfilled, a company will reap the benefits that DevOps promises. Maybe. Written in a tweet from Ian Head, Research Director at Gartner, he estimates that "by 2018, 90% of I&O organizations attempting to use DevOps without specifically addressing their cultural foundations will fail.". A focus on the technical aspects of the software development methodology rather than the cultural aspects is where the challenge begins.
In order to over come these challenges, author Chris Cancialosi provides some cultural considerations for DevOps. These items include creating a space for employees to meet and discuss freely, providing support to leaders, as they are often the last position that is considered in need of support, actively engaging stakeholders, acknowledging that mistakes will happen, but to use them as a learning exercise, and understanding the difference between skepticism and cynicism. "It takes time and shared experience for a new DevOps culture to embed itself." Once the cynics are gone and the skeptics have started to see that a DevOps environment can yield benefits, that is when the culture begins to embed itself.
DevOps is a fundamentally different way of working that requires careful consideration to cultural and human dynamics. It cannot be solely implemented with tools, it requires attention to cultural aspects along side the infrastructure components. If done properly, however, this form of collaboration among teams will empower members with a sense of purpose and aligned leadership.
As an MIS student searching for job opportunities, it is key to understand what companies are engaged in DevOps, or other software development methodologies. It is important to know if a DevOps environment is the right fit, or if another methodology is better. Of course, no one can fully understand a companies culture until they are immersed but by educating oneself about the different methodologies, an easier more knowledgeable decision can be made.
Citation:
Cancialosi, Chris. "For DevOps Success, Embrace Culture Change." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2016/01/25/for-devops-success-embrace-culture-change/#789aeff9382f.
In order to over come these challenges, author Chris Cancialosi provides some cultural considerations for DevOps. These items include creating a space for employees to meet and discuss freely, providing support to leaders, as they are often the last position that is considered in need of support, actively engaging stakeholders, acknowledging that mistakes will happen, but to use them as a learning exercise, and understanding the difference between skepticism and cynicism. "It takes time and shared experience for a new DevOps culture to embed itself." Once the cynics are gone and the skeptics have started to see that a DevOps environment can yield benefits, that is when the culture begins to embed itself.
DevOps is a fundamentally different way of working that requires careful consideration to cultural and human dynamics. It cannot be solely implemented with tools, it requires attention to cultural aspects along side the infrastructure components. If done properly, however, this form of collaboration among teams will empower members with a sense of purpose and aligned leadership.
As an MIS student searching for job opportunities, it is key to understand what companies are engaged in DevOps, or other software development methodologies. It is important to know if a DevOps environment is the right fit, or if another methodology is better. Of course, no one can fully understand a companies culture until they are immersed but by educating oneself about the different methodologies, an easier more knowledgeable decision can be made.
Citation:
Cancialosi, Chris. "For DevOps Success, Embrace Culture Change." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. http://www.forbes.com/sites/chriscancialosi/2016/01/25/for-devops-success-embrace-culture-change/#789aeff9382f.
Operational Effects From Effective Data Management And Communication
Inter-connectivity between business organizations is becoming
a requirement with the advancement of technologies and its effects on business efficiency.
Different areas of each business tend to work in their own respect with their
own systems. This in turn means that there is miscommunication and latency throughout
these companies through just waiting for information to update. A perfect
example of this is the social security office and the department of motor
vehicles. At least forty-eight hours is necessary for information to be
exchanged between these two organizations which function with the same data.
This data is used their own software packages which are used to minimize operational
costs.
It is easy in this big data world to purchase software to process
all of the information. However, from an operational standpoint this approach
could have unforeseen negative externalities. Pre-made templates and proprietary
formats are just some of the ways software automation can get in the way of a
business.
It is important for businesses to consider the operational
costs of their choices in the future. Data warehousing and distributed data fabric
are coming to be essential pieces to running a business which effectively
communicates its data throughout the entire company. As MIS professionals it is
necessary to take these concerns into consideration when working with our
perspective companies. If implemented properly, it could take more time for the
initial startup of the project but would be most effective for long term deployment.
Europe's biggest Kickstarter has gone bust after raising $3.6 million
Kickstarter is a famous global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. Project creators can gather money from public and choose a deadline and a minimum funding goal. It works so well for creators around the world who have coolest idea and letting other people support them and get some return from those cool projects. Unfortunately, bad news just happened two months ago as Zano drone project fail to deliver their product. Zano drone is an ultra-portable, personal aerial photography and HD video platform that fit in a user's hand and beamed straight images back to their smartphone. After it was introduced on Kickstarter, it soon became Europe's biggest Kickstarter campaign that raised more than 3.6 million dollars. However, project backers were very disappointed with the outcome of the Zano project since the build quality is very low. The Drone which the company delivered had poor battery life, low picture quality and lack of other features. With no surprise, this is not the first time that a project in Kickstarter completely failed.
One of the basic reasons for Kickstarter project’s failure is lack of project management. Many creators admit that they need basic project management skill and most of the time they failed to manage the resources they had, such as money and time. On the other hand,
Kickstarter dose not require creators to post their project plan like work breakdown structure etc. As a result, after they received enough money form backers, they just start their project right away without any thoughtful planning and management. At the end, creators may fail to meet their main objective and cause dissatisfaction from their backers.
As MIS students, we will deal with different projects all the time. To have a clear goal and time management is essential. IT projects often involve many resources and have time limitation, with a well planned work process structure is the best way to begin the project as project management is the foundation of success.
Citations:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/19/9759834/zano-drone-bankrupt-liquidation-kickstarter
https://medium.com/triggertrap-playbook/how-a-half-million-dollar-kickstarter-project-can-crash-and-burn-5482d7d33ee1#.rnwqng8ki
One of the basic reasons for Kickstarter project’s failure is lack of project management. Many creators admit that they need basic project management skill and most of the time they failed to manage the resources they had, such as money and time. On the other hand,
Kickstarter dose not require creators to post their project plan like work breakdown structure etc. As a result, after they received enough money form backers, they just start their project right away without any thoughtful planning and management. At the end, creators may fail to meet their main objective and cause dissatisfaction from their backers.
As MIS students, we will deal with different projects all the time. To have a clear goal and time management is essential. IT projects often involve many resources and have time limitation, with a well planned work process structure is the best way to begin the project as project management is the foundation of success.
Citations:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/19/9759834/zano-drone-bankrupt-liquidation-kickstarter
https://medium.com/triggertrap-playbook/how-a-half-million-dollar-kickstarter-project-can-crash-and-burn-5482d7d33ee1#.rnwqng8ki
Can Phones Really Replace the Wallet?
In the article, "Your Phone Will Replace Your Wallet at the ATM, Too", the idea of mobile phones becoming the most common form of payment and banking is discussed. Already phone innovations have been made where consumers can upload their credit and debit cards onto their phones and pay for items at different vendors by simply tapping their phone against the card reader. For many Americans this form of payment is still considered foreign, but soon consumers will be able to use their uploaded debit cards at their bank's ATM as well. Already in China this is considered quite normal. It is actually more uncommon for someone to use a physical card than to use their phone for all financial transactions.
This type of innovation is a huge project for the different phone designers and programmers. As discussed in class if new projects are not executed at high levels they are very likely to fail. If phone companies are hoping for American consumers to adopt this form of payment, they need to make sure that the software and technology on the phone as well as the card readers are working efficiently and seem secure. This is where MIS workers are extremely important. Companies need to hire MIS individuals to analyze and work on the security of this entire process both during production and while the transactions are being made. By being able to ensure security for consumers this project is less likely to fail.
Although banks want to roll out cardless banking very soon, there are many possible bumps along the road, that hopefully they have planned for in their project planning. If they have done this I feel that this will be a huge movement in the technology world and will open up many different areas of future technology use.
Citation:
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/cardless-atms/
This type of innovation is a huge project for the different phone designers and programmers. As discussed in class if new projects are not executed at high levels they are very likely to fail. If phone companies are hoping for American consumers to adopt this form of payment, they need to make sure that the software and technology on the phone as well as the card readers are working efficiently and seem secure. This is where MIS workers are extremely important. Companies need to hire MIS individuals to analyze and work on the security of this entire process both during production and while the transactions are being made. By being able to ensure security for consumers this project is less likely to fail.
Although banks want to roll out cardless banking very soon, there are many possible bumps along the road, that hopefully they have planned for in their project planning. If they have done this I feel that this will be a huge movement in the technology world and will open up many different areas of future technology use.
Citation:
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/cardless-atms/
DevOps in the Multisourcing Sector
DevOps is a project management strategy beyond normal Agile development that focuses on operations and developers working together throughout the entire project life cycle and beyond. According to research by Garner, this DevOps will evolve to be a mainstream strategy of 25% of Global 2000 Organizations. Evolving to this project management method will provide companies many benefits, including "Results and outcomes driven, quicker delivery, smarter more collaborative methodology, end-to-end capabilities and cross-silo functionality." Adaption of DevOps strategies are especially important to the multisourcing sectors of the industry since it requires companies to work extremely closely with their outside partners while implementing these strategies.
This article is an interesting extension of what we have been discussing in class regarding Agile development. Changing from traditional development to Agile seems challenging enough, and to extend that to multisourcing companies can exponentially increase the potential issues with implementing these strategies. However, a company that is able to successfully participate and work with other companies in implementing DevOps strategies will have an incredible advantage within their industry.
Very few companies these days work entirely independently within the industry. As we learn more about Agile project management I think it is important to keep this in mind and I hope that as an MIS professional I will be able to apply what I learn in this class not only to single project management teams but also to multisourcing development. Having such a mindset is not just a benefit, it is becoming the standard to compete in the rapidly changing industry.
Citation:
http://www.projectaccelerator.co.uk/devops-the-biggest-challenge-for-the-multisourcing-sector-in-the-next-24-months-is-also-its-biggest-opportunity-for-growth/4705
Gartner Says By 2016, DevOps Will Evolve From a Niche to a Mainstream Strategy Employed by 25 Percent of Global 2000 Organizations
This article is an interesting extension of what we have been discussing in class regarding Agile development. Changing from traditional development to Agile seems challenging enough, and to extend that to multisourcing companies can exponentially increase the potential issues with implementing these strategies. However, a company that is able to successfully participate and work with other companies in implementing DevOps strategies will have an incredible advantage within their industry.
Very few companies these days work entirely independently within the industry. As we learn more about Agile project management I think it is important to keep this in mind and I hope that as an MIS professional I will be able to apply what I learn in this class not only to single project management teams but also to multisourcing development. Having such a mindset is not just a benefit, it is becoming the standard to compete in the rapidly changing industry.
Citation:
http://www.projectaccelerator.co.uk/devops-the-biggest-challenge-for-the-multisourcing-sector-in-the-next-24-months-is-also-its-biggest-opportunity-for-growth/4705
Gartner Says By 2016, DevOps Will Evolve From a Niche to a Mainstream Strategy Employed by 25 Percent of Global 2000 Organizations
Build, Measure, Learn
Lean start-up development has long since been based on a model of 'build, measure, learn.' In this model, companies create their minimally viable product (MVP) and then use that as their baseline as they collect user feedback to improve upon their product. This model was developed to avoid drawn out research phases that resulted in companies losing their ability to be first to market, which cost them significant market share despite being a superior product. The author, Amanda Stockwell, instead suggests that a stronger prototype could and should be developed by a brief learning phase before beginning the building phase of the cycle. This shortened research phase could consist of nothing more than light customer interaction which would limit guesswork and could easily improve the direction and purpose of your product.
While efficiency is key in project management, that does not always mean that being the first to produce a certain product is the best course of action. Project managers must always keep the the short and long term success of the project in mind, as we see in this article. A great project manager will understand which phases will add the greatest value and do their best to prioritize those efforts. While the lean start-up model is a classic example of the iterative approach, this also goes to show that no single model is perfect.
In today's evolving world, it's important to understand that no single framework will ever be the solution to all problems. Technology has grown in so many directions and at such a rapid pace that its impossible to attack every problem in the same way. This article should be a lesson to all developing professionals to keep an open mind. Adhering to a single mindset will limit your capabilities, while those who embrace and adapt to today's ever-changing environment push forward.
Citation:
Stockwell, Amanda. "Build, Measure, Learn Is Not Enough." Agile Alliance, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2016
While efficiency is key in project management, that does not always mean that being the first to produce a certain product is the best course of action. Project managers must always keep the the short and long term success of the project in mind, as we see in this article. A great project manager will understand which phases will add the greatest value and do their best to prioritize those efforts. While the lean start-up model is a classic example of the iterative approach, this also goes to show that no single model is perfect.
In today's evolving world, it's important to understand that no single framework will ever be the solution to all problems. Technology has grown in so many directions and at such a rapid pace that its impossible to attack every problem in the same way. This article should be a lesson to all developing professionals to keep an open mind. Adhering to a single mindset will limit your capabilities, while those who embrace and adapt to today's ever-changing environment push forward.
Citation:
Stockwell, Amanda. "Build, Measure, Learn Is Not Enough." Agile Alliance, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Spotlight on Project Management as a Recruitment Hotspot
Recruitment for project management is increasing rapidly.
With the economy recovering strongly, the global business community has become
more confident, and now they want to hire more project managers. Because so
many years were spent in fear of spending too much, companies were not updating
their systems as potentially necessary. Now, behind in technology, companies
want project managers to move them into the next digital steps.
Established businesses do not want to outsource project
management, so they have increased hires in this field. Also, with the
increasing market of start-up businesses, there is an increased need for
project managers and professionals with project delivery skills in order to
drive these new businesses towards success. Many of the project management
roles being filled require niche skills and specialization. It is important to build
these skills, and we can begin to develop these skills through MIS 441.
For me, hoping to pursue a career in MIS, this is a great
piece of knowledge to have because I can begin developing project management
skills pre-graduation. MIS students can also use this information to expand the
categories of jobs that they are looking to apply for post-graduation. With a
greater need for project managers with niche skills, MIS majors can build and
develop specializations in order to better serve the global business community.
Just-in-Time Awareness Training and Behavioral Analytics
The article that I read is "Behavioral Analytics: The future of Just-in-Time Awareness Training?" Just-in-time awareness training is a new method of training employees through the use of behavioral analytics. Behavioral analytics seeks to gather information on the actions of employees to assign a probability of risk which an employee poses to an organization While this recent trend of data usage is able to identify the risky employees, it can also be used to, through training, target specific areas for improvement. Recently organizations have begun to monitor the behaviors of their employees. When the system observes a risky behavior by an employee, it will prompt the employee to immediately begin watching a training video on their mistakes. One example given is when an employee compromises data, either accidentally or purposefully, into a public cloud server such as Google Drive; the system will then halt the system and pop up a 20-second video for the employee to watch. If the offense continues, a second video will show that is 5-minutes while the third will be 30 minutes. The videos get exponentially longer with each subsequent violation. This almost adaptive negative reinforcement along with data analytics will start to become a major trend within organizations in the near future.
This topic relates to class because as organizations begin to implement this new method of training, it will not only be used to train IT professionals, but also operations staff. As we are aware, there has always been an antagonistic relationship between those in operations and those in security; one aims at achieving efficiency while the other is security. If this method were to be implemented for those who work in operations, however, employees would be stopped on the job for possibly inconsequential mistakes. This would increase tact time and the production cycle because if employees who are working on building a car needs to keep stopping their work to watch videos, it makes it extremely hard to be productive or for operations managers to plan the cycle time and the critical path.
This new method of training and behavioral analytics is important for MIS professionals to know because MIS professionals are the link between operations and IT. As a result, they must be able to effectively understand both the viewpoints of these departments and be able to properly translate these departments’ unique language to the other. Furthermore, within organizations systems analysts are segregated from the actual usage of their developed applications. As a result, system analysts, which is a role that many MIS professionals go into, need to be able to distill down a system to only the required components and adding only the security that is deemed to be necessary to achieve the optimal efficiency.
This topic relates to class because as organizations begin to implement this new method of training, it will not only be used to train IT professionals, but also operations staff. As we are aware, there has always been an antagonistic relationship between those in operations and those in security; one aims at achieving efficiency while the other is security. If this method were to be implemented for those who work in operations, however, employees would be stopped on the job for possibly inconsequential mistakes. This would increase tact time and the production cycle because if employees who are working on building a car needs to keep stopping their work to watch videos, it makes it extremely hard to be productive or for operations managers to plan the cycle time and the critical path.
This new method of training and behavioral analytics is important for MIS professionals to know because MIS professionals are the link between operations and IT. As a result, they must be able to effectively understand both the viewpoints of these departments and be able to properly translate these departments’ unique language to the other. Furthermore, within organizations systems analysts are segregated from the actual usage of their developed applications. As a result, system analysts, which is a role that many MIS professionals go into, need to be able to distill down a system to only the required components and adding only the security that is deemed to be necessary to achieve the optimal efficiency.
Project Management and the VW Emissions Scandal
The Volkswagen emissions scandals is one of the largest and most expensive scandals in our history. When VW was unable to get their cars to meet emission standards, they decided to take a shortcut that may have cost billions. This failure can be traced back to poor project management within the company.
VW created a device that connected to the emission device that would help “massage” the emission readouts during tests. This device would return a vehicle to lower emissions when it was being tested so that the car would receive better emission standards. The problem with this is that it was not only misleading, but it also covered up the fact that Volkswagen Diesel cars were putting more than 40 times the nitrogen oxide rate than the national standard. So why did VW decide the implement this device?
The head of the project that created these vehicles decided something early on in the project life cycle: the device that would reduce emissions was too expensive for the budget allotted for the project. So instead of trying to allocate money from other parts of the project (or simply scrapping the project altogether), they decided to create a shortcut that wrong from both an ethical and legal standpoint. The fallout from this disaster was not only historically expensive being estimated at over $25 billion dollars in fees, but it has also potentially caused permanent damage to the company’s image as well.
A lot can be learned from this case that can help project managers. A budget is a budget no matter what. Ask for an increased budget may be necessary in some cases, but more often than not a project manager will need to get creative to solve budget issues. This story is an example of a project manager who was lazy, and simply wanted to cut cost no matter what ethical or legal issues stood in the way of the project. A project manager must be able to balance the scope, time, and cost in a way that sees that project to completion.
The project manager also did not take into account all of the stakeholders affected by this project. They acknowledged the companies need to stay within the budget, but they did not acknowledge the public's response to the outcome of the project. The result of not acknowledging this has led to a public backlash against the company, and losing public support has lead to a damaged company image. This will dissuade new/potential customers, and may result in Volkswagen losing existing customers as well.
Citation:
Volkswagen . N.p., Oct. 2015. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.
http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=7666.
VW created a device that connected to the emission device that would help “massage” the emission readouts during tests. This device would return a vehicle to lower emissions when it was being tested so that the car would receive better emission standards. The problem with this is that it was not only misleading, but it also covered up the fact that Volkswagen Diesel cars were putting more than 40 times the nitrogen oxide rate than the national standard. So why did VW decide the implement this device?
The head of the project that created these vehicles decided something early on in the project life cycle: the device that would reduce emissions was too expensive for the budget allotted for the project. So instead of trying to allocate money from other parts of the project (or simply scrapping the project altogether), they decided to create a shortcut that wrong from both an ethical and legal standpoint. The fallout from this disaster was not only historically expensive being estimated at over $25 billion dollars in fees, but it has also potentially caused permanent damage to the company’s image as well.
A lot can be learned from this case that can help project managers. A budget is a budget no matter what. Ask for an increased budget may be necessary in some cases, but more often than not a project manager will need to get creative to solve budget issues. This story is an example of a project manager who was lazy, and simply wanted to cut cost no matter what ethical or legal issues stood in the way of the project. A project manager must be able to balance the scope, time, and cost in a way that sees that project to completion.
The project manager also did not take into account all of the stakeholders affected by this project. They acknowledged the companies need to stay within the budget, but they did not acknowledge the public's response to the outcome of the project. The result of not acknowledging this has led to a public backlash against the company, and losing public support has lead to a damaged company image. This will dissuade new/potential customers, and may result in Volkswagen losing existing customers as well.
Citation:
Volkswagen . N.p., Oct. 2015. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.
http://calleam.com/WTPF/?p=7666.
Tech Musing - Project Mgmt. Related to NASA News Update
Introduction
Humans face
the greatest threat for a prolonged future of life from the dramatic effects of
climate change which can be felt anywhere in the world. Plant life is critical
for the survival of virtually every organism on the planet. NASA has reported
positive news for possible plant cultivation in space1. Although the
blossoming of a zinnia flower aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is
significant, plants have been grown in space vehicles for longer than a decade1.
NASA astronauts are planning to develop tomato plants in 2018. With a mission
to Mars in the near future and the current condition of food produce on Earth,
food producers should acknowledge this update. For a manager using the agile
methodology the software delivery is highest priority.
Project
Managers’ Role
Aside from the societal prominence of extending life
outside Earth, the project managers of businesses involved within the food
industry predominantly must notify employees of any alterations in tasks moving
forward. The first step the manager takes is evident to conceiving and
initiating a project’s plan. To further elaborate on this subject, take a
farming corporation into consideration for the remaining cycle of a project
manager.
Business Management Methods
The agile
method is one of several fundamental methods a manager chooses to take with
future business projections. Another main method would be the waterfall method which
indicates how most actions are explored for outer space missions as everything
is documented formally without brisk changes. Agile is almost the opposite in
this case as the employees conducting software development for these missions
would be monotonous to meet safety conditions for people and/or vehicles
venturing along with cost and time for example. The food corporation’s head
project manager chooses to plan a vegetable operation to sell to consumers in
current grocery stores. After determining reasons for his proposal, he notifies
employees of changes the corporation must take regarding this plan after their
approval.
Core Processes
Once the manager informs workers about a new organization
mission, he evaluates a problem in the industry and attempts to reach approval
from others and manage a new task. Second, the farming corporation project
manager establishes a business environment and plan involving the work to be
completed and those held responsible while discussing new findings and
consulting others. Following the activity’s planning, researchers report to
other teams on the project that the zinnia plant has strict light and
environmental parameters for it to grow.1 Tomatoes, which the
manager placed on the list of agricultural products to produce on the mission,
would need a broad amount of days before collecting for market. This update
influences other parts of the mission recalling there is an estimated system
completion time.2
Conclusion
Managing projects is imperative to every business and as students
we must comprehend each of the core processes, which only two out of five are
described above. The project manager identifies the problem to be approved,
plans and monitors the project, discovers/understands details, designs system
components, builds/tests/integrates system components and finally completes
system testing before deployment. For
the food production project manager to use the agile method, scope, time, cost,
risk and quality would require consistent monitoring for project success. In
other words, the manager specifies actions taken following past estimation
accuracy.2
References:
1. Shektman,
L. (2016, January 18). NASA has officially grown the first zinnia flower in
space. Retrieved January 27, 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-has-officially-grown-the-first-zinnia-flower-in-space-2016-1
2.
Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R. B., & Burd, S. D. (2012). Systems analysis
and design in a changing world (6th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Course Technology.
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