Sunday, November 21, 2010

Google TV

Thank you, Google [GTV] for having the decency to begin the process of diligently explaining your master plan of systematically infiltrating and controlling every aspect of our lives. Up until this point, we all knew it was happening but couldn't quite put our fingers on it. Well throw that proverbial baby out with the bathwater, because Google has once again flexed its muscles in unveiling its most recent technological supplement: Google TV. Looks like all of those reconnaissance missions under the guise of Google Earth have provided the much needed confirmation that the people are finally ready to have YouTube streamlined to their faces while they sit back on their couches. Thank you, Google. Once again you've managed to improve the efficiency of our laziness. The pesky extra effort it took to walk from the living room to bedroom to grab the laptop had begun to pose a serious threat of light perspiration.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Strong Leadership Is Vital In Implementation

Continuing the conversation about the Cisco case involving implementing ERP, you can't understate the value of strong leadership. Regardless of whether you view their success as dumb luck or pure genius, it is undeniable that the implementation would have failed without the strong leadership that was present on both sides throughout. From Cisco's standpoint, the buy in was palpable. People's jobs were on the line, and it was up to Pete Solvik to make sure that the ERP was a success. Pulling people from across the various business units was critical in establishing the project as a business wide endeavor. As far as the vendors and software providers go, their leadership was equally valuable. They were invested in this project from the very beginning. I think the take away here for future managers is that, as we are faced with similar decisions and options, we have to find ways to leverage partnerships and relationships to make sure that there is PERSONAL leadership involved. If both sides of an implementation have personal ties to the success of the project, it will end well in spite of technological problems and obstacles.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Outsourcing Musing

Nike, the largest distributor of athletic shoes in the world, outsources 100 percent of it's function of manufacturing shoes. Initially, this struck me as odd and counterintuitive since it seems like that is what Nike is all about: making shoes. As I looked deeper, however, I realized that what Nike is really all about is research and development in athletic apparel technology and post-production marketing. The actual shoe production ancillary to what Nike's true core competency. This example shows the importance of fully understanding what your company is, what it does, and which functions are core and which are auxiliary.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Barnes & Nobles' Nookcolor

Has anyone else seen this? [Nookcolor] This week, Barnes & Noble unveiled a counterattack on Amazon's unmistakable dominance of the e-reader market. Barnes & Noble is desperate to capture a piece of the ever growing e-reader market before they are rendered irrelevant in the changing book market. I found this to be interesting especially in light of previous class discussions regarding a firm's ability to adapt to the market. It seems that BN knows that it has to change something and be flexible before it suffers the same fate as Blockbuster did against RedBox. It will be interesting to see whether or not this new approach will be able to compete with Amazon's Kindle. With some additional features and a snazzy color high def screen, it is intriguing if nothing else.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Outsourcing: a double edged sword

The potential benefits of outsourcing can be deceivingly alluring, and often cause organizations to rush into a relationship that proves to hurt the company more than help it. In this article [NAVY]  from August 2008, an interesting side of outsourcing is exposed as it discusses the US Navy's decision to outsource its desktop system to EDS, a Texas-based vendor. Beating out IBM to earn the contract, EDS was thrilled to earn such a significant deal. However, it soon became obvious that the company was ill-equipped to make good on the expectations that the Navy had for it. In essence, EDS bit off more than it could chew and it would up being horrible for both parties involved.

The article brings to light two important precautions that must be made before outsourcing: careful analysis and knowing the capabilities of the potential company. Every business has an agenda and has goals, and as a manager is important to understand your own business's goals as well as the goals as the potential vendor. EDS was anxious to score such a big contract and made promises and claims in order to get the deal with the Navy. In the end, the company was unable to deliver and put the Navy in a bind. Outsourcing is risky business, and it is critical that a company has trust and confidence in its vendors and that the vendors have proven track records that indicate they will be able to fulfill your needs adequately.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Hollywood Reinforces the Significance Mobile Technology

[CNN]
In the discussion on Friday, we talked about mobility and social networking as keys to the future. This article on CNN talks about Hollywood's role in reinforcing that notion. Hollywood has always played an important role in both driving and displaying current trends in American culture. In the recent movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the characters are seen texting and facebooking on their portable devices. It's little things screenshots like these that push the market subconsciously toward a more mobile way of social networking. The article goes on to talk about 4 ways that technology informs and move television: driving storylines, advertising products (affecting the market and reinforcing tech impact), making us laugh, and reflecting a period. As technology continues to become a bigger and bigger part of our lives, we will continue to see these familiar products and references in Hollywood in increasing amounts. 

Friday, September 24, 2010

Implementing Technology

So many factors are involved in deciding when, why, how or if a person or corporation to implement a new technology. As it is with anything involving people, I don't think that it is possible to produce a fail safe philosophy of implementation. Instead, I think that technology implementation has to be considered in conjunction with the human element and is therefore a case sensitive issue.

When I was in high school I worked a part time restaurant job in my hometown. When the restaurant first opened up, every order was hand written on a receipt pad of sorts and the carbon copy was passed back to the kitchen and placed on a pin up board. To complete the order, a line cook had to read the hand written ticket and communicate what each member of the kitchen staff was responsible for. Naturally, as time went on and the restaurant increased in popularity, more and more people came, volume increased, and this system became apparently inefficient.

The need to switch to technology was apparent. Within the first 2 months, we had moved to a computer system where the waitresses in the front of the house would enter the orders into the computer. The orders would then print out on a mobile printer in the kitchen, and each order would be broken down into each section of the kitchen staff. (For example, the ticket would have 3 sections: "Grill, Fryer, Salads." Each team member could look under his section to see what he needed to do to complete the order.) Our average ticket time decreased significantly, and we had less problems with orders than ever before.

The same staff, however, did not react with such a welcoming spirit when it came time to switch computer systems. Management made the call that it the current technology wasn't the best, especially with their intent to make the restaurant a chain. The need for a simple, uniform computer system throughout all of the stores became a top priority as expansion started to happen.

This time, with everyone accustomed to a particular technology, resistance was vocal and widespread. For the cooks, it didn't really matter because they were essentially receiving the same type of ticket in the back. However, the waitresses had a hard time locating all of the products on the new system and weren't able to enter orders with the same speed and accuracy as they had before. The decision was made, though, and there was no looking back.

The restaurant went through a month long transition period and had on site tech help for every shift for the first 2 weeks. After that, tech support was readily available through the phone and would be called in on occasion.  It wasn't an easy transition, but eventually the technology stuck and the staff grew accustomed to it. In the end, the new technology was irrefutably better and more efficient. It just took a lot of work to keep staff morale high during the transition period and it took dedication from the management team to grind it out and be there to provide support and guidance through the struggle.

My personal experience highlights the important of management buy-in and dedication. Had there been apathetic managers, the new technology would have been a bust and the restaurant may not have grown to what it is today.