Goodbyyyyee!

I come to my final blog for MBA 8125. I didn’t do a whole lot of blogging, prior to this class. So this has been good exercise for me. I realize I need to do more of this. Maybe not every week, but definitely more frequently. It needs to become a more strategic part of my business plan. It provides a useful way to network with clients and colleagues. It provides a meaningful way to dialogue with others about what you're thinking and learning. If you do something long enough, it eventually becomes a habit. I think this class activity has certainly help shape and reinforce this new behavior.

Like many of you, I feel I’ve learned a lot in this class, but it was far more than I bargained for. I’m glad I didn’t attempt to take two classes this semester. This is all I could handle and more, with a fulI-time job. I'm looking forward to a little time off before the summer session begins. And having more time with family and friends. Hope our paths cross again. Good luck in your future endeavors and have a great summer!

Thought you might enjoy this film clip from the Sound of Music. It's one of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bRjbWV7T-s

Individual Presentations

I really enjoyed the presentations we heard. I think everyone did a great job! However, I’m a little out of breadth given the break neck speed we had to do them in. How about you? It’s too bad we didn’t start these presentations sooner. It would have been nice to have some time to discuss and ask questions. Two days was simply not enough time to cover all the group and individual presentations. It seemed like a lot of work for 6-8 minute sprint. All the topics were timely and provided great insights into some of the important developments in information technology. Anyway, it was great to learn about how technology is making our lives easier and more efficient, and providing valuable resources to help people with special needs (e.g., blindness, hearing impaired). Great job everyone!

VOIP Phone Service?

My presentation tonight on VOIP phone service really made me think about whether this might be a good alternative for our home and business wireless service. I would like to keep at least one landline for protection against power outages or if the internet service is down, but there appears to be some real advantages to VOIP over cell service (and land lines) – low cost, portability, and a wide array of options and features that are free! Internet service and bandwidth don’t appear to be an issue. So I’m not too worried about that. Would like to know a bit more about internet security and what is available to protect against spam, eaves dropping, and redirection. Would also like to know more about hardware and software requirements.

Out of curiosity and preparation for tonight, I did some additional research to see what VOIP service providers offer and what more I could learn about internet phone service. Found some good information on the local websites, but had additional questions about the service terms and conditions. Unfortunately, I was only able to get in touch with one customer service agent, who was more interested in selling me something than answering my questions. I was appalled at the high pressure sales tactics that the individual was using to get me to sign up. Realizing that the only way I was going to free myself of this person, I told him “thank you” and hung up. Thought this was the end of it, but less than a minute later he called me back to tell me that his pay is based entirely on commission and that he had not made a sale all night, and that he would greatly appreciate my business. This experience was a definite turn-off and gave me a bad first impression of the industry.

Don’t know what we’ll end up doing. I’m hoping that I can find someone who has been using VOIP to get a better idea on his/her experience and whether this is a good solution for us. Friends, family, or coworkers are sometimes your best resource for information. They are generally people you can trust and will not give you a lot of BS. I would like to consider this option, but want to be well informed and comfortable with my decision before I give up what I have. If any of you have used or are currently using VOIP, I'd love to talk with you about your experience.

LinkeIn

I don’t know about you, but I’ve really enjoyed the group and individual presentations we’ve heard. William’s presentation on LinkedIn was especially meaningful, being a neophyte at social networking technology. I registered with LinkedIn about a year ago. I'm still learning how to fully utilize this technology. A number of colleagues and friends urged me to do so in order to expand my social network and to stay connected. Over the past several months, I’ve had invites from people I know or who have met at meetings (e.g., TAG). Just the other day, I received an invitation from Matt Brown in our class. Sorry I didn't respond sooner Matt!

For the most part, I’ve accepted the invitations that have been emailed to me. Much of my business is driven through referral or word-of-mouth. So anything I can do to expand my business presence is a plus – even people I have not had direct contact with or who may be associated with another colleague several layers down. Leveraging these associations could be a real advantage at identifying key decision makers, learning more about an organization, and knowing what crucial conversations I need to have.

LinkedIn has also helped me connect with former colleagues I have not spoken with in years. It’s interesting to see what they’re doing, the people their connected with, and how our paths might someday cross. What’s more it’s easy to set up (even for me!) and free! I hope to take full advantage of LinkedIn and make it more an integral part of my business. Thanks for the great presentation and the information you shared with us William!

As I was reading Nicolas Carr’s article, IT Doesn’t Matter, I couldn’t help but think how this column might have helped or at least reshaped the thinking of an earlier employer I worked for. For example, the access amount of money a company can spend on IT to create a strategic advantage. In the early ‘90’s, I worked for a company that was moving to a HR enterprise system (PeopleSoft). The company was shifting from a centralized to decentralized organization, with some of the HR functions being shifted to the managers. HR would still play a key role in talent management, but much of the administrative/transactional activities would be delegated to the direct managers. Unfortunately, the company did a poor job of preparing the leadership and culture for change. There was no management consensus on why this new system was important, and no serious discussion on how this would improve the business (i.e., “burning platform”). This system ultimately failed and the company ended up losing millions of dollars in development and implementation costs. And things seemed to be more messed up than before. As I recollect, this process was encouraged because it was the “flavor of the day" ("If GE uses it, it must be good") and pushed by some, but not all senior management. These systems were marketed to provide better integration, reduce cost, and enhance customer value. Unfortunately, the infrastructure and alignment were not in place to make it work.

Web 2.0

Our assignment this week on Web 2.0 reminded me of the incredible wealth of information the internet has become. I use it constantly for work and school. I remember the days when I used to spend hours and hours researching articles at the library to write papers. Now much of that can be done online without ever leaving my house. My kids are on it all the time for school work, Facebook and the like. At home I found it useful as well. Just the other day, I was struggling with how to remove the screws from our deck boards that have become rusty and difficult to turn. I went to Internet Explorer and typed in couple of search words and up came a variety of links about how to deal with this problem. Within a few minutes, I had a variety of suggestions and ideas on how to remedy this issue. I’ve done this on numerous occasions to deal with home related issues. Gaining access to information is becoming easier than ever before and for the most part it is free!

Just the other day, I was reading an article that was describing how patients are becoming more savvy at diagnosing the problems they are having by researching their problems online. Thus, patients can become better educated on what may be going on, and doctors can move more quickly at diagnosis and treatment. Even doctors are using the internet to gather information to make more appropriate diagnosis and recommendations. One story I read described a patient with a very rare disease that nobody on the hospital staff could diagnosis. One of the doctor’s went onto the internet and typed in the symptoms and found a reported case in another part of the country with very similar symptoms. The doctor was ultimately able to use this information to diagnosis and treat the patient.

I was reading a book on Google the other day. The founders (i.e., Brin and Paige) would like to have access or scan every article and book that was ever written and make it available to the public. What that will look like and how they will do this is a mystery to me. Additionally, as more information becomes available, the challenge will be how to turn data into knowledge that will lead to better decision-making and results. Ultimately, that may be the next frontier.

Google Takes a Stand

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very impressed with the Google’s recent decision to pull out of China. After a four year experiment operating a Chinese-language search engine from Bejing under censorship rule, Google has decided to pull out of mainland China and operate on an uncensored site in Hong Kong. Uncovering evidence of Gmail accounts of human rights activist being assessed by third parties, unwarranted surveillance and blocking of search engine material, and persistent blocking of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger, Google decided it had enough. In doing this, Google took a bold stand on human rights, and reinforced its mission statement “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” as well as reinforce its core values (e.g., Do the right, don’t be evil,” “We aspire to improve and change the world.”). David Drummond, Chief Legal Officer, said “We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.”

It’s refreshing to see a company “walk the talk” and live by its core values. Some investors have questioned this decision because they think that Google may be missing out an opportunity to grow its brand and create greater shareholder value. Others have said that Google is more concerned about intellectual property than human rights. Sergey Brin told the New York Times, “Our objection is to those forces of totalitarianism.” However, for the most part, public opinion has been very positive. It was touching to see the flowers, and kind notes of appreciation that were left at the doorstep of Google’s Bejing headquarters by the Chinese people, when Google announced that it was leaving. In fact, IT professionals in China have reportedly said that they support Google’s decision to leave, but are saddened at loosing the experience, partnership, and profound influence that Google has had on its society and search engine community in China.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Hong Kong and what accessibility people will have to information in China. Already, there have been some unexplainable interruptions in Google’s service out of Hong Kong, and they’ve seen additional blocks to some of its services. However, I certainly don’t think China has seen the last of Google. Certainly, you can’t downplay their short history of innovation and success. Larry Paige was quoted as saying, "Have a healthy disrespect for the impossible." In the end, Google may figure out a way to make this work. For now, the Chinese people are the real losers in this battle. Having adopted our daughter from China, I certainly root for the day when China’s “Great Wall” comes down and the people of China can live in a freer more open society. It will be great day for all of us. Kudos to Google for taking such a bold step!