Chapter 7

As I read the ethics Guide, Dialing for Dollars, it made me think about Enron. From my understanding what they did was set up offshore fake companies that would buy their products and take their debt. When Enron could No longer cover up the fact that they were doing this is when they went bust. Running a company ethically will do two things, it will allow you to receive divine guidance and it will eliminate backlash problems like the one explained in this ethics guide.

How can you create a system that monitors how ethical your employees are?

October 26th

I am not sure what I need to write on today. So I guess I will comment on the test. I appreciate that fact that I really have learned something thus far in the class. i had no clue wha tto try and get out of the first month but after going over the test a little I can see that there are quite a few things that I have gained a better understanding of.

Class Oct 23, 2009

I often wonder why it cost so much to implement a basic IT system but when you really begin to break it down it is understnadable. I think case 2-2 is a good example of this. A large part of why it failed is due to underfunding but in part there are more substantial reasons. The characteristics of the leaders and there habbits were a large part of why the new IS system was not implemented corectly. Another reason is that there were just not enough computers to go around. It is extremely hard to cordinate one computer among many people.

Class Oct 19, 2209

My thoughts on last class were that we spent about 40 minutes talking and signing up for the test this Saturday and after all that was said and done I realized that I have to be at the Laie service project. I guess that is how life goes some times. Pick one there are two right places to be.

When can we have another practice test?

Career Assignment #5

With international business management as my field of study it is going to be very important for me to know how to do business online. The cost of flying around the world is far more than just getting on the computer and chatting by email or having a video conference. My ability to use all forms of IS will help me to have a competitive advantage over the competition. If I do not have the ability to use some of the more complex databases and internet activities it would greatly decrease my value in the job field

Consider Your Net Worth #2

One problem that often faces businesses is that they start off with just the most basic thing then when the time comes to upgrade it is a very hard step to change over to the newer system. With that in mind, if I ever felt that something had the potential to grow beyond the basics of a spreadsheet I would do my best to just start it off in a database. That would save a lot of effort if you ever did have to convert it from a spreadsheet to a database.
There are two ways to do everything and to play devil’s advocate, by starting off with a basic spreadsheet the startup cost would be far less and the ability to upgrade to a database is always an option in the future when it is really necessary. In this way, you would never have more than you needed and your information would grow in proportion to your need to upgrade your database.

Class oct 16, 2009

If I am not mistaken, phone lines use electricity and fiber optic cables use light. I suppose that a less effective way to move information through cables would be sound seeing how we already have two other options covered. The fastest thing that we know about is light and that is already in use by fiber optic cables so my though during class was what is going to be the newest and fastest thing after fiber optics. I am sure that something will come but I don’t know what it is going to be.

Chapter 6

As I read these chapters I am always asking myself how is this going to apply to me in business. The thing I think most often is that I will need to know the vocabulary more than anything else. If I am running a company and my IT personnel need to communicate with me then I had better have an understanding of what they are saying. One thing that I did not know before this chapter was the distinction between internet and Internet. I know have a better understanding of what they are. My question is when am I going to be able to use me laptop, cell phone, printer etc. as one unit without having to set up a network? That would be nice.

Chapter 5

If there is one thing that I would love to learn that I dont know anything about it is using a database. I can really see how that would be beneficial to me in the buisness world. I think that I fall into the same category as many people in that I would just rather open an excel sheet and imput my information that way.

Class October 12, 2009

I like how we talked about what a manager needs to know about IS. I know that I am looking at going into some type of management and I really have no interest in going into IS but I am beginning to realize how having a little more than a basic understanding of IS will give me an advantage in the workplace.
Another random thing that came to my mind during this class was how far away are we from having a completely sold state (no moving parts… I think that is called solid state) computer? It seems like that would last longer and break less and be faster

Chapter #4

My favorite part of chapter 4 was the Churn and burn. It makes so much sense. I was thinking about a few people who I know back home who own their own business. A few of them were the latest and greatest type of people. They always have the newest and nicest things. Then there are a few other people who are not like that. They get something and use it till it does not work anymore. When the recession began those few people who were the use it till it beaks type of people are still in business while those who were the latest and greatest are now out of business. I am pretty sure I am going to keep my laptop for a really long time after reading this section.

Knoll Inc . presentation

When I was listening to the presentation about Knoll Inc. the one thing that came to mind was how important there research was. I am sure that Knoll has lots of information on what people want in an office. They probably understand that as good as any other company and that is why they would be willing to spend so much time on one product, in this case the chair. They also spend millions of dollars in promoting this chair in an effort to convince people that the office needs to be a place of comfort and not just a show up and work type of thing. While they make it sound like the office is a game room for most companies they are not 100% correct but in their effort to make it sound like that they probably make a lot more money

Case 1-2

This is interesting. I started working in the Honors Program and I got my own office. It is very nice when I need to sit down and get things done but it sure can be really quiet some times. This is a little off subject but some software that has made my office experience great has been Pandora. I love their whole music concept. Thinking about my office and the furniture that is in it is interesting. I assume that the files I have on my computer save me about five or six full size filling cabinets. That certainly allows for a prettier, more inviting looking office.

Class Oct 7th

One of the questions I had during the presentation on Gety Images was how they control international infringement of their images? I suppose it is no different than Microsoft or Adobe. There is very little they can do to control copyright infringements out of their jurisdiction. Just that fact alone would keep me from wanting to get to deep into this company with my own money. I just don’t see it getting as big as Microsoft. There are also way too many companies that could potentially be better competiers in this market.

Case 1-1

I had never heard of this company until I read this case study. It is a great idea and of course one of those things that I wish I would have thought of. The amazing thing is how little it really requires to run such a profitable company. The overhead is very low and it will grow more profitable for a lng time around its certain fixed rates.

Class Sep. 30, 2009

When I was doing the Career Assignment I was not too sure what the point was. Now that we spoke on it I think I have a clearer understanding of what the purpose was. One of the things that stood out to me was how it is so true that employers are looking for people who already know what to do. That is my goal in college. Get the knowledge I need to benefit my employer right away.