01/27/10

1. 01/27/10 Background and motivation Course mechanics, motivation, and expectations Invention vs. innovation, diffusion of innovation Work system introduction Technological progress Cases Database introduction Exercise on fundamental limitations of information technology

2. My background and motivation • Taught at USC • Vice President of Consilium • Manufacturing software start-up in Silicon Valley. • Acquired by Applied Materials • Return to university – How can I contribute best? • Information systems textbook (4 editions) • Recent research and book (Work System Method) • www.stevenalter.com

3. Mechanics of Course • Blackboard site • Daily assignments • Reading assignments (Look at the questions first.) • 5 work system snapshot assignments due before class on Tuesday • Graded assignments • Group: Emerging technology paper (2/17) • Group: Work system innovation paper (3/10) • Individual: Take-home final exam (3/10) • Individual: 5 work system snapshot assignments (2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/3) • Subject line when sending emails … • Last name, first name, assignment name • Title of paper, list of team members

4. Templates for Major Papers are Available on Blackboard • Templates support learning. • Templates clarify expectations. • Templates make it easier to evaluate papers.

5. Paper and Electronic • Both paper AND electronic versions, submitted to alter@usfca.edu • Group: Emerging technology paper • Group: Work system innovation paper • Individual: Take-home final exam • Electronic only, submitted to alter@usfca.edu • Presentation for Emerging technology paper • Presentation for Work system innovation paper • Electronic only, submitted through the Assignment page on Blackboard • Individual: 5 work system snapshot assignments

6. Expectations during class • Submit work system snapshot assignments before class using the Blackboard Assignments page • We will discuss reading assignments and work system snapshot assignments during class • Frequently break into smaller groups • Move around as necessary. • Interactive learning as much as possible • No right answer in many situations

7. Invention vs. innovation • Invention • The first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process • Innovation • The successful introduction of a new thing or method that adds value. • Ideas applied successfully. • May be incremental, radical, or revolutionary. • May also have a negative or destructive effect as new developments clear away or change old organizational forms and practices.

8. Diffusion of innovation curve (Everett Rogers)

9. Sources of innovation • Inventors and R&D • Entrepreneurs/ marketers • End-user innovation (von Hippel) • Difficulties in using the product • Adaptations of the product • Managers looking for better performance

10. Technology-Enabled Innovation • Relies on technology, but may not be about technology • Changes a system of doing work • The innovation is a work system innovation • The process of innovating is the process of changing the IT-reliant work system.

11. Importance of tech-enabled innovation to general managers • Want better business results • Cash, profitability, market share, ROA, etc. • Business results come from operational results • Efficiency, speed, consistency • Operations occur through IT-reliant work systems • ==>>>Better business results occur through Technology-Enabled Innovation

12. We will focus on work system innovations that apply information technology • Permits focus in a short course. • Three-fer • Learn about IT in practice • Learn about organizational operations • Learn about innovation in organizations • Will not discuss many important types of inventions in physical technologies: solar, wind, battery, pharmaceuticals etc.

13. This Course’s Central Issue for Managers and Business Professionals • How can I be more effective in evaluating systems and thinking about how to improve them, whether or not IT plays a major role, and whether or not the system is totally within my organization or links to other organizations? • Why is this important? • Assume you are a manager or executive. • Assume you are a sales professional. • Assume you are an IT professional. • Assume you are an entrepreneur.

14. The Work System Method: Connecting People, Processes, and IT for Business Results • The big picture for understanding systems in organizations • Drill down into work system elements • Lots of business terms for understanding and analyzing systems

15. Work System Framework

16. Typical Work Systems at USF • USF’s system for accepting students • USF’s system for registering for classes • USF’s system for assigning classes to classrooms • USF’s system for paying employees • USF’s system for long term planning • USF’s system for recruiting athletes Work systems use IT, but aren’t IT systems.

17. Typical work systems analyzed by students at Georgia State

18. Special Cases of Work System • Information System • Project • Supply Chain • E-commerce web site

20. Metrics: Quantitative measures for evaluating performance • When analyzing a work system, use information such as • What are 10 possible metrics for evaluating the hiring system?

21. Assignment 2.1 • Produce a work system snapshot for Apple’s process of accepting new apps for sale in the Apple Store • Submit before class on Feb. 3 • Grading method is on the assignment

22. Evaluating a work system snapshot • Fig. 2.2, p. 17 • Explain why this is or is not a good work system snapshot.

23. Characteristics of a good work system snapshot? • Describes the relevant work system • The smallest work system that has the problem or opportunity that is being analyzed • No more than one page • Internal consistency: See Guidelines in WSM, p. 48.

24. Explain why the following is or is not a good work system snapshot

25. Parts of an analysis and design effort • What work system are we talking about? • Work system snapshot • How well does it operate? • Metrics • How do work systems change? • Work system life cycle model

26. Project Success Rates from Surveys

27. Work System Life Cycle Model (Chap. 7) Operation & Maintenance Initiation Development Implementation

28. Demonstrate the presence of technological progress • Identify 10 devices or tools that are commonplace today, but didn’t exist or were barely on the radar screen 10-15 years ago.

29. What does IT do? • Capture information • Transmit information • Store information • Retrieve information • Manipulate information • Display information

30. IT hides essential details users don’t care about. (See WSM, Chap. 13, pp. 179-192) • Intentionally or not, it may hide, obscure, or misrepresent threats to personal and organizational interests. • Surveillance • Unexpected storage of information • Unexpected use of information • Lock-in • Hidden assumptions and logic

31. Better technology may NOT help • When and why? • In business situations, how can one judge whether a particular technology is better?

32. IT often encounters or causes problems • Look at one of the following articles on Blackboard • Password problems • Distractions related to technology • Skype outage • Difficulty correcting public data • Comments to class about the article you read • What is the main point of the article? • What management, business, or societal trade-offs are related to the problem or issue in the article?

33. Moore’s law in action: memory chips • 1973 1 kilobit 1,024 • 1976 4 kilobit 4,096 • 1979 16 kilobit 16,384 • 1982 64 kilobit 65,536 • 1985 256 kilobit 262,144 • 1988 1 megabit 1,048,576 • 1991 4 megabit 4,194,304 • 1994 16 megabit 16,777,216 • 1997 64 megabit 67,108,864 • 2000 256 megabit 268,435,456 • Flash drives: 64 gigabyte or more

34. Progress in microprocessors • chip year transistors addressing MIPS • 4004 1971 2,300 4 bit 0.06 • 8080 1974 3,500 8 bit 0.06 • 8086 1978 29,000 16 bit 0.3 • 286 1982 134,000 16 bit 0.9 • 386 1985 275,000 32 bit 5. • 486 1989 1,300,000 32 bit 20. • Pentium 1993 3,200,000 32 bit 100. • Pentium Pro 1995 5,500,000 32 bit 300. • Pentium II 1997 8,000,000 32 bit 500. • Pentium III 1999 28,000,000 32 bit 1,000. • Pentium IV 2000 42,000,000 32 bit 1,500. • Itanium 2000 25,000,000 64 bit --- • 2008 view: http://download.intel.com/pressroom/kits/IntelProcessorHistory.pdf

35. Telecomm data transfer rates • Year Data rate technology • 1844 5 bps telegraph • 1876 2 Kbps telephone • 1915 30 Kbps Transcontinental cables • 1940 7.6 Mbps Coaxial telephone cable • 1956 1.3 Mbps Transatlantic telephone cable • 1983 45 Mbps First fiber optic trunk line • 1996 2.5 Gbps Install faster fiber cables • 2000 3280 Gbps Bell Labs - 300 km cable in lab

36. Moore’s Law is the fifth IT gen.

37. Back to current reality • For each of the following cases: • What happened? • What might have helped avoid the problem? • Is the situation related to an IT-enabled innovation? • Cases • Comair • Mizuho • Click fraud

38. Rate yourself on a scale from 1-5 • 1 – My professional roles use IT knowledge and focus on building, analyzing, or maintaining IT systems • 2 - My professional roles involve extensive use of IT systems and knowledge of IT • 3 - I have used IT systems extensively, but my roles are not associated with IT • 4 – I use IT occasionally, and often joylessly. • 5 – I am allergic or semi-allergic to IT.

39. Emerging technology assignment – due on Feb. 17 • Teams of 4 – with one or two 3’s • Assignment 2.2: Email by Feb. 3 : team members and one paragraph about proposed topic. • What is the technology (or group of related technologies) • Why it is interesting or important • Technology of type whose application business people can understand (not hidden in infrastructure)

40. Examples of possible topics

41. Emerging technology assignment (details) • Identify sources • Between 5 and 8 pages • Single spaced in the format of the template • Brief presentation to class

42. Gartner Hype Cycle for 1995 http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=130115

43. Gartner’s Emerging Technologies, 2005 http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=130115

44. Possible starting point • http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=130115 • Find an interesting hype cycle on the Gartner web site (Should involve applications rather than pure technology) • Find the outline of a Gartner Hype Cycle Report that is being sold for $$$ • Identify interesting topics that are mentioned in the outline • Use web searches and other sources to find information about interesting topics. • If you can’t find any info, select a different topic.

45. Database Introduction • What does a database look like? • What are the advantages of using database software? • Northwind Traders - a hypothetical distributor of gourmet food products • Great example of a database application • Not trivial, but not too complicated • Master date is filled in • Transaction data is filled in

46. Database exercise using a spreadsheet as a database • Download the Excel database from Blackboard • Add a new product • Add a new customer • Enter an order for the new customer. • 12 units of Grandma’s Boysenberry Spread • 16 units of Tofu • 25 units of your new product

47. What are the limitations of this database in a spreadsheet? • Data integrity issues? • Data retrieval issues? • Efficiency issues? • Control issues? • Reporting issues?

48. Database ideas • Define the database in advance • Build in rules to support desired transaction logic • Minimize redundant data • E.g., Company name and product name appear only once in the database, but can be displayed on many forms and queries. • Use existing database information to maintain integrity of new information • Define queries and reports • Reuse queries and reports • Create new queries and reports

49. Structure of organizations (example) • CEO and President • CFO • Accouting manager • Payroll manager • VP of Manufacturing • Factory manager • Logistics manager • VP of sales • Domestic sales manager • International sales manager

50. Structure of a computerized calculation • Produce pay check • Calculate gross pay for each employee • Retrieve hours worked for each employee • Retrieve wage rate for each employee • Gross pay = hours * wage rate • Calculate net pay • Calculate federal tax • Calculate state tax • Calculate other taxes and deductions • Net pay = gross pay – federal tax – state tax – other taxes and deductions • Print pay check • Print …..