Blog Assignment #5 (Due Feb 23, 11:59 pm): Post a blog to highlight the key points of and lessons learned from this videoed speech.
The speaker, John Chambers is the CEO of Cisco. When he came to the company they were worth about 70 million dollars. They are currently worth about 40 billion dollars. He has been an irresplaceable part to the success of Cisco.
John Chambers talked about change in his speech. He asked a married man if he liked change. The man said yes. Chambers then asked him if he would like to change his spouse and the man acted nervous and unneasy. Chambers compared this to change in business. No one wants to change something that is comfortable to them, but in business change is a necessity. Without change your compnay is going to fall behind. You have to change to stay with the new trends even if the change at the time feels uncomfortable.
Chambers also talked about how important it is to listen to your customers. If you do not produce products your customers want then there is no reason to be producing te products. Chambers said the next generation of businesses will rely on collaboration and teamwork.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Assignment 4
Blog Assignment #4 (Due: Feb 16, 11:59 pm): Discuss how the knowledge spiral framework interpret the knowledge creation activities in Nucor Steel.
Nucor Steel is a great example of a compnay that knows how to use knowledge. In a failing industry, Nucor Steel has been a success. Nucor Steel has used superior human capitol by placing plants in rural areas that have an abundance of hard working people. They offered top of the line compensation which allowed them to attract many interested people. 1200 people applied for 8 positions at Nucor Steel which gave them the opportunity to be extremely selective. Nucor Steel also uses continuous on the job training and multifuncitonal training. They also use an incentive program for every employee which helps Nucor Steel gain more knowledge from their employees.
Nucor Steel was able to successfully use the incentive program for new ideas becasue of the great rewards for the employee with the new idea. The first incentive was the only way for employees to earn a bonus was to come up with a new way to increase productivity. The second was that the employees only got the bonus if their idea worked properly so this lead to ideas working right the first time. Finally there was no upper cap on how large an employees bonus can be so employees keep coming up with new ways to increase productivity.
Whenever employees are encouraged to experiment there will always be some failure. Nucor Steel tolerates this failure in hope that a succcess will follow a failure. Nucor Steel also used breakthrough technologies before their competitors. This was risky but it paid off because they were able to get ahead of their competitors. Nucor Steel's social ecology allowed them to excel with sharing and mobilizing knowledge.
Nucor Steel is a great example of a compnay that knows how to use knowledge. In a failing industry, Nucor Steel has been a success. Nucor Steel has used superior human capitol by placing plants in rural areas that have an abundance of hard working people. They offered top of the line compensation which allowed them to attract many interested people. 1200 people applied for 8 positions at Nucor Steel which gave them the opportunity to be extremely selective. Nucor Steel also uses continuous on the job training and multifuncitonal training. They also use an incentive program for every employee which helps Nucor Steel gain more knowledge from their employees.
Nucor Steel was able to successfully use the incentive program for new ideas becasue of the great rewards for the employee with the new idea. The first incentive was the only way for employees to earn a bonus was to come up with a new way to increase productivity. The second was that the employees only got the bonus if their idea worked properly so this lead to ideas working right the first time. Finally there was no upper cap on how large an employees bonus can be so employees keep coming up with new ways to increase productivity.
Whenever employees are encouraged to experiment there will always be some failure. Nucor Steel tolerates this failure in hope that a succcess will follow a failure. Nucor Steel also used breakthrough technologies before their competitors. This was risky but it paid off because they were able to get ahead of their competitors. Nucor Steel's social ecology allowed them to excel with sharing and mobilizing knowledge.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Assignment 3
Blog Assignment 3 (Due: Feb 9, 11:59 PM): Search and find a healthcare service provider website that has information about how that service provider uses information technology to better their services. Post an entry onto your blog.
Kindred Healthcare is a healthcare service provider that is dedicated to hope, heeling, and recovery. Kindred Healthcare is the largest diversified provider of post acute services in the United States. Fortune magizine named it Most Admired Compant two years in a row. Kindred Healthcare provides for long term acute care, nursing and rehabilitation, Homecare, hospice, assisted living, and family education. Kindred uses information technology to help improve their services. Information technology is used for record keeping and record using. When a patient is brought in, their previous records can be easily accessed which makes their treatment easier and faster. Kindred Healthcare provides high intensity medical care to patients who need extended hospital stays. This could not be done without their use of information technology. Information technology helps Kindred Healthcare when treating patients. The correct medicine and treatment can be found. IT greatly improves efficiency and safety. Records are kept safe and organized and treatments are all documented and stored. Kindred Healthcare would not be one of the leaders in healthcare service without the use of information technology.
Kindred Healthcare is a healthcare service provider that is dedicated to hope, heeling, and recovery. Kindred Healthcare is the largest diversified provider of post acute services in the United States. Fortune magizine named it Most Admired Compant two years in a row. Kindred Healthcare provides for long term acute care, nursing and rehabilitation, Homecare, hospice, assisted living, and family education. Kindred uses information technology to help improve their services. Information technology is used for record keeping and record using. When a patient is brought in, their previous records can be easily accessed which makes their treatment easier and faster. Kindred Healthcare provides high intensity medical care to patients who need extended hospital stays. This could not be done without their use of information technology. Information technology helps Kindred Healthcare when treating patients. The correct medicine and treatment can be found. IT greatly improves efficiency and safety. Records are kept safe and organized and treatments are all documented and stored. Kindred Healthcare would not be one of the leaders in healthcare service without the use of information technology.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Assignment 2
Blog Assignment #2 (Due: Feb 3, 11:59 pm): Write and post a blog to discuss the implications of the video Systematic Irrationality for knowledge management.
The video Systematic Irrationality for knowledge management made a lot of interesting points. One topic that was covered was a study done on cheating. Groups of people were given a test with a limited amount of time to complete the test. The test takers were then asked to tell how many questions they got correct. In these studies, almost everyone cheated a small amount. Most people would say that got 2 or 3 more correct than they actually did. I think this is interesting that a lot of people cheated a little. No one cheated a lot which I also think is interesting. People think it is ok to cheat a little on something that is not very important. This worried me because this thought could lead to bigger problems for everyone. When someone starts off cheating a small amount it could possibly lead to cheating on bigger, more important things. It is not rational to think it is ok to cheat on something insignificant and not cheat on important things. Cheating is cheating.
The video Systematic Irrationality for knowledge management made a lot of interesting points. One topic that was covered was a study done on cheating. Groups of people were given a test with a limited amount of time to complete the test. The test takers were then asked to tell how many questions they got correct. In these studies, almost everyone cheated a small amount. Most people would say that got 2 or 3 more correct than they actually did. I think this is interesting that a lot of people cheated a little. No one cheated a lot which I also think is interesting. People think it is ok to cheat a little on something that is not very important. This worried me because this thought could lead to bigger problems for everyone. When someone starts off cheating a small amount it could possibly lead to cheating on bigger, more important things. It is not rational to think it is ok to cheat on something insignificant and not cheat on important things. Cheating is cheating.
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