Yet Another Wal-Mart Supply Chain Efficiency Initiative- Will it Ever Change?

-Bob Ferrari

Earlier this Summer, Wal-Mart began a new initiative to lower costs in an effort to keep prices to consumers low. From the moment Wal-Mart was founded, Sam Walton’s only goal was to come up with innovative ways to cut supply chain costs and allow him to offer the same goods found in other stores for greatly discounted prices. Wal-Marts newest initiative involves taking over freight delivery when practical in the United States. By having its own private fleet for delivery, they can greatly cut the cost of shipping goods to and from distribution centers(an earlier innovation by the company to cut supply chain costs). It is estimated that Wal-Mart will be able to reduce shipping expenses by 3-6% using this new initiative. It’s just another innovative way Wal-Mart has figured out how to lower costs and pass the savings along to consumers.

This is related to Business Processes in that it focuses on a specific business process, shipping and distribution, and shows how to improve the process to be more effective and cost-efficient. By focusing on business processes, Wal-Mart has been able to consistently cut costs and use their ability to offer extreme low prices to become the biggest retailer in the world.

Ferrari, B. (1970).Yet Another Wal-Mart Supply Chain Efficiency Initiative- Will it Ever Change? [online].

Available: http://www.theferrarigroup.com/blog1/2010/06/01/yet-another-wal-mart-supply-chain-efficiency-initiative-will-it-ever-change/.

(June 1, 2010)

Reports: Google considering iTunes-like music service
“GOOGLE Music”

Google doesn’t want only to be a search engine as most of youth people us for. Now Google want to explore new ways to satisfy the large demanded of people in the digital world of music. Compact Discs (DC’s) have become old for some of us, now we buy and download the music in the internet directly to the computer. To the present iTunes is the most popular store in the digital world of music. However that might being to change when Google introduces its new download service for music during the holidays. As mention by Jolie O’Dell, “Andy Rubin is planning on a holiday-season launch for the search behemoth’s new music download service.”

Google is just planning the download service for music that will be introduced during the holidays.  But Google is planning to continue improving its new service that eventually will be converted Google online subscriber. The online subscription will be introduced next year; this was confirmed by a record label executive.  Google is having meeting with different record label companies to have their support with the new service Google will have.

With the new service Google will begin another rivalry with iTunes. Why? Because iTunes introduce its IPhone, Google also launch the Android. Now that Google will introduce “Google Music” its new service that will operate with the Android phones as their music engine similar or better than iTunes?

However with this improvement or reengineering its service will attract more customers to its market. Yet when Google launches its new service they have to monitor what the customers are saying about the service what need to be improved or what their favorite tool of the services. This will help to improve the service whenever it’s an upgrade. Since technology changes everyday tech or search companies also need to be up to day with the new technology.

Business Process Improvement

The area of technology has hit the world.  Most of the young people want to have the latest phone or musical device that comes out to the market. The different companies that produce the different phone or musical device have to work extremely well with the companies they supply. Why because both companies need to know what will be their next hit in the area of phones.  Business Process Improvement “ Organizations begin by documenting what they  are currently do, and then they establish a way to measure the process, follow the process, measure the performance, and finally identify improvement opportunities based on the collected information.” Mention by Baltzan Phillips (Business Driven Information Systems)

Jolie O’Dell, Initials. (n.d.). Reports: google considering itunes-like music service. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/09/06/google.music/index.html?npt=NP1

Baltzan, P. &. (2009). Business Driven Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Go Shopping; change the world

By – C. McCloy

Kliener Perkins company founded an iFund that allows people to donated to a charity of their choice via an iPhone.  The app can be downloaded for free and the donations don’t cost the cell phone user a dime.  The app is paired with a built in navigation unit that when the iPhone comes in reach of specific businesses (food, sporting goods, car dealerships) it will ask you to tag if you visited and then you will be eligible to donate to your charity of choice with companies like Kraft, CitiBank, Proctor & Gamble, and many many others footing the bill.  The only benifit that the companies that donate the money have is they are seen as compasionate businesses and may see more business in the future. They have built a bond between their charity and that company by doing a good dead. The idea for the company funding the donations is to donate the money to the charity instead of spending it on marketing.  Although in actuallity they are advertising in a sneaky way that may give the consumer positive feelings about the company when the money was going to be spent regardless.

This article relates to business processes’ in that it is an innovative idea to capture the consumer without throwing an advertisment in their face.  Most large companies spend millions on television, magazine, and billboards advertisements.  Instead they spend slightly less by donating and being able to tell the customer they did.  It reaches the customer at a more personal level.  The companies Kraft, Proctor & Gamble have reengineered their business process to reach a different market of consumers and potentially gain a customer in the long run.

Mcloy, C. (2010) Go Shopping; change the world. CNN Tech. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/08/31/causeworld.qa/index.html

An Introduction to Business Process Reengineering

By Angela Salemme

                In order to keep up with today’s fast changing business and technology environments, organizations cannot afford to develop and streamline their processes at a slow, incremental pace.  Firms must reinvent their processes to see remarkable enhancement to compete in today’s marketplace.  This method of redesign is known as BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING, or BPR. 

 What does REENGINEERING consist of?

                Muthu, Whitman, and Cheraghi define reengineering as “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed” (1999).  In order to completely reengineer a business process, organizations must go “back to the basics and reexamine their very roots” (Muthu, 1999).  Reengineering is not always successful, in fact, 50 to 70 percent of organizations fail in their efforts to revamp their processes (Muthu, 1999).  Muthu, Whitman, and Cheraghi provide a methodology that organizations should follow to help improve their success in their overhaul efforts.  This methodology consists of five stages:  Prepare for BPR, Map and Analyze As-Is Process, Design To-Be Processes, Implement Reengineered Processes, and Improve Continuously (1999).  If there is a major need for the process to be revamped, then an organization should begin with the first method of the reengineering process that Muthu et al. present as a means for success, preparation:

Prepare for Business Process Reengineering

1. Build a Cross Functional Team,
2. Identity a Customer Driven Objective, and
3. Develop Strategic Purpose.

If an organization makes it their “first priority to understand the expectations of [their] customers and where [their] existing process falls short of meeting those requirements…the mission or vision statement is formulated” (Muthu, 1999). 

Map and Analyze As-Is Process – form “a detailed flow-chart or process map of a work process showing its inputs, tasks, and activities, in a structured sequence” (Baltzan, 2009).

Business Process Map

1. Create Activity Models,
2. Create Process Models,
3. Simulate & Perform Activity Based Costing, and
4. Identify Disconnects & Value Adding Processes (Muthu, 1999).

Design To-Be Processes – “show the results of applying change improvement opportunities to the current ‘As-Is’ process model” (Baltzan, 2009)

1. Benchmark Processes,
2. Design To-be processes,
3. Validate To-be Processes, and
4. Perform Trade-off Analysis (Muthu, 1999).

 Implement Reengineered Processes

1. Evolve Implementation Plan,
2. Prototype & Simulate Transition Plans,
3. Initiate Training Programs, and
4. Implement Transition Plan (Muthu, 1999).

Improve Continuously

1. Initiate On-Going Measurement,
2. Review Performance Against Target, and
3. Improve Process Continuously (Muthu, 1999).

References

Baltzan, P. &. (2009). Business Driven Information Systems. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Knowledge Assets Development, Inc. (n.d.). Process Map. Retrieved September 5, 2010, from Knowldege Assets: http://knowledgeassets.com/ProcessMap

Muthu, S. e. (1999). Business Process Reengineering: A consolidated Methodology. International Conference on Industrial Engineering Theory, Applications and Practice. San Antonio: Deptartment of Industrial Engineering, Wichita State University.

Section 2.1: Decision-Making Systems

Artificial Intelligence Learns To Play Music

My article “Virtual Musicians, Real Performances: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Music” is about a company called Zenph Sound Innovations and how they are developingcomplex software that models musical performances based off of old music recordings. In the simplest of terms, this company is designing artificial intelligence software that can listen to recordings of musicians, either living or dead, and analyzing their playing style in order to create a virtual profile of that artist. While the software is still in the very early testing phase and is currently limited to only a few musical instruments, the goal of this company is to be able to license and market “style plug-ins” that would allow you to hear your own music played back as if a famous musician was playing it.

The current technology only allows for Zenph Sound Innovations software to playback existing performances, note for note, yet clearer than the original recording. However, as the AI is further developed and fine tuned, they hope to be able to create original works with any “style profile” that they or a consumer chooses. Zenph’s long-term goals for this software is to be able to model instruments into the software so that a consumer could write a song on a virtual guitar using this software and then filter the song through different “style filters” to make it sound as if any number of famous guitarists are playing the consumers song.

In section 2.1 of our textbook, it talks a little about how Artificial Intelligence is slowly being integrated into our daily lives. The goal of Artificial Intelligence is to have a piece of software recognize input, learn from that input, and then apply what it learned to future inputs, including making decisions or in the case of the article, apply a vast array of musical playing styles to a piece of music. Zenph’s software is a perfect example of Artificial Intelligence. Musical recordings are run through the software which recognizes, identifies, and learns patterns of that particular artists playing style and is then able to apply what it has learned to other pieces of music.

I really thought this article was fascinating because the concept of taking a song that you have written and being able to hear how it would sound as if Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page or even Kurt Cobain were playing your music is just so cool. While I am not at all musically talented, I have numerous friends who are incredibly talented and they are always looking to try out new styles or technology to make their sound better or to further develop styles. Many of them like to try and replicate certain famous guitarists’ styles on their songs, but with this technology, it will make it even easier to hear how your song would sound with that added styling. I know that once this technology is perfected, many of my more musically inclined friends will be clamoring to give it a try.

Works cited:

Photo: Retrieved September 1, 2010, from: http://www.technologyreview.com/files/11634/robot_hand_x220.jpg

Van Buskirk, Eliot (2010, March 2) Virtual Musicians, Real Performances: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Music Retrieved August 31, 2010. From: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/virtual-musicians-real-performances/

In the article “Gmail’s new mind-reading inbox” I found on CNNMoney.com by David Goldman talks about one of the many new features Google has come out with is “Priority mail”.  I know Gmail does have a Spam box but not all emails are Spam and sometimes you are stuck with a list full of emails in your inbox. Google has introduced this new feature to help users separate their inbox into categories of very important and emails that you can read later. The automatic features sort users very important emails by the users pasts’ activity and seeing whether an email has been opened or replied to. There are also buttons you can click to tell the system which emails are very important or emails you can read later. “+” is for very important and “-” is for emails you can read later. Why is Google doing this? Well, from their sample of 10,000 employees, Google found out that “Priority mail” reduces the time usage an employee spent viewing their emails by 13%. Many companies would prefer their customers to spend a lot of time on their network but Google has no worries because it has no fear of competition as of right now. Google wants to provide better customer satisfaction by making their systems more users friendly. Finally, if you don’t like the new “Priority mail” feature by Google, it can easily be turn off.

Why is this article related to Chapter 2 section 2.1? Because it talks about strategic decision-making and one key factor to that is having valuable information to minimize a company’s flaw (Baltzan,P. & Phillips, 2009). Many executive information systems are taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) that “simulates human intelligence such as the ability to reason and learn”. Google’s priority inbox uses neural networks one of the most familiar categories of AI systems. “Neural networks attempts to emulate the way the human brain works and it’s most useful when the decisions involves patterns or image recognition because a neural network can learn from the information it processes” (Baltzan, P. & Phillips, 2009). By looking at the users activity on which emails are opened and replied to, the system can analyze the pattern and categorize them into very important emails and emails that can be viewed later.

What I like about this article is that I can relate to the problem of having a lot of emails in my inbox and it would be nice when the next time I check my emails that the ones I need to read are listed at the top. It would save me time by having to read what’s important first than reading an email that is for leisure.

Article’s site: http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/31/technology/gmail_priority_inbox/index.htm

Works Cited:

Goldman, David. “Gmail’s new mind-reading priority inbox – Aug. 31, 2010.” Business, financial, personal finance     news- CNNMoney.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Sept. 2010.   <http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/31/technology/gmail_priority_inbox/index.htm>.

Baltzan, P. & Phillips, A. (2009). Business Driven Information Systems (second Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Section 2.1: Decision-Making Systems

Siri – An Artificial Intelligence System

In the article “Siri launches voice-powered iPhone ‘Assistant’”, Dylan F. Tweney describes a new artificial intelligence system called Siri. Siri is a new iPhone application which is free of charge and is a personal computer assistant which recognizes speech. Siri currently works in the United States only. It understands language and is able to learn new things from the user. Furthermore, Siri interprets  enquiries, thus, it can obtain information about the weather, a taxi, restaurants and a lot of other things. The response is quick because Siri is connected to a lot of different web information services. The article states that the initial testing of the personal computer assistant was very good as Siri is widely connected and looks at various sources of information. Apparently, it is a much more comfortable and faster way to obtain information than searching in the Yelp iPhone application for example.

This article relates to chapter 2.1 of the textbook since Siri is a form of artificial intelligence. According to the textbook, “Artificial intelligence (AI) simulates human intelligence, such as the ability to reason and to learn” (Baltzan, P. & Phillips, A., 2009, page 55). This is exactly what Siri does. The more a person uses this application, the more it will learn about his/her preferences and the more precise information will be. Thus, Siri is one example of an artificial intelligence system.

I really like this article because I think that Siri is a very efficient tool. It is particularly useful for obtaining information quickly, such as when the user does not have a lot of time to search for information on the internet. Moreover, I really enjoyed reading this article because I was not familiar with this application before as it is not available in Germany. In addition, it really shows in a simple way how artificial intelligence works.

Works cited:

Photo: Retrieved August 30, 2010, from: http://www.iphonebuzz.com/siri-virtual-assistant-for-the-iphone-277425.php

Tweney, Dylan F. (2010, February 5). Siri launches voice-powered iPhone ‘Assistant’. Retrieved August 30, 2010 from www.wired.com: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/02/siri-voice-recognition-iphone

Baltzan, P. & Phillips, A. (2009). Business Driven Information Systems (second Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Section 2.1: Decision-Making Systems

In the article, “SMARTER THAN YOU THINK; Computers That Listen to You Make Strides in Talking Back,” authors Steve Lohr and John Markoff takes a look at the latest development of artificial intelligence (AI) and what it will mean for our futures. With the advancement of AI technology, future generations will think it is perfectly normal to hold entire conversations with a machine that will understand them and talk back. To date, the most successful piece of AI that has been mainstreamed is speech recognition. People are talking at their hardware now more than ever. People can tell their phones to call someone or tell their car system a desired destination without having to lift a finger. In the professional world, doctors are utilizing more AI technology to transcribe patient visits and call centers are using AI to filter calls to the correct customer service departments. Improved productivity is the result, but there are also drawbacks as millions of call center and transcriptionist jobs will be lost. Even so, prospective situations will present themselves and job growth will head in a different direction.

Studies being conducted in AI advancement include “image recognition and machine learning” (Lohr & Markoff, 2010). Eric Horvitz, a computer scientist at Microsoft’s research laboratory has an assistant that recognizes his colleague’s faces, has access to his schedule, can calculate the time it will take for his phone calls to finish so others may see him or decide when it’s acceptable for others to interrupt his meetings. It is also a machine. It is proficient at sifting through data and calculations, but its ability to comprehend is limited. It cannot comprehend social cues such as sarcasm. This limitation can lead to mistakes and many are concerned with how AI advancement will impact society in general. There are legitimate fears that it will change the dynamics of customer/corporation relationships as it might and can be used as a barrier between companies and irate customers. Others fear its usage in the segmentation of the rich or affluent from everyone else. But there is no contesting that it has made life easier for everyone on some level.

Section 2.1 in our textbook touched upon AI technology and how it is being implicated into a company’s decision making system. More companies are now realizing that with the internet in place, competition for their customers’ business is coming from a global scale. A type of AI system that can help a company become more productive and keep its competitive edge is an intelligent agent. Intelligent agents include software that can track competitor’s prices and products online and notify users when something important happens.  

I particularly liked this article because it showcased what the future might hold in terms of the personal or professional relationship humans are developing or will develop with their machines. It boggles the mind sometimes when I think about how we, as a society, have become so dependent on technology. Even now, my computer is one of my lifelines in college life. Not having one or access to one would be a struggle for any college student these days. But there are those of us who have seen some type of Science Ficition movie where AI advances so much that it becomes self aware and does things beyond the scope of its human owner or creator. That is a scary concept, but there is no telling what the future might bring.

[Untitled photograph of robot]. Retrieved August 28, 2010, from: http://www.humansfuture.org/images/cyborg.jpg

Lohr, S., & Markoff, J. (2010, June 25). SMARTER THAN YOU THINK; Computers That Listen to You Make Strides in Talking Back. New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2010 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E0DC123BF936A15755C0A9669D8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

Baltzan, P. & Phillips, A. (2009). Business Driven INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (2^nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

This article described discussed and compared new technology that was offer in a few vehicles (the VW Touran, the Toyota Prius Spirit, and the Lexus LS460 to be specific).  This technology is called the intelligent parking assistant, and it does what it implies (Parks your vehicle).  This feature was put to the blind fold test and exerted varied results in usability and performance.  The VW Touran was the easiest to use and passed the blind fold test it allowed the driver to pick a parking spot on the street and took control of the steering wheel.  The driver however, still had control of the power exerted (gas pedal) and if it reached a certain speed it would automatically shut off this feature. The Lexus and the Toyota differed from the VW in that the Lexus and Toyota use on screen control to plot out the vehicles path and the VW does that on its own. Also all systems had a shut off that was engaged if the driver began to accelerate to fast.  Nicholas Rufford and Jason Dawe concluded that these systems where good but still required some improvements and that “the system still couldn’t beat a competent driver” (www.timesonline.co.uk). 

This article correlates with chapter two because it involves the use of artificial intelligent.  The Text describes four types of artificial intelligent: Expert systems, neural networks, genetic algorithm, and intelligent agents.  I believe this is an intelligent agent system because it performs a certain task, I think also exhibits traits of a genetic algorithm AI system in that it optimizes a repeated tasks at least in the VW system. I wonder if both system of AI where used and if anymore systems will be integrated to form other tasks.

Nicholas Rufford and Jason Dawe

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article2068943.ece

Artificial Intelligence is a fast growing form of Information Systems. This form of Information systems is highly beneficial to the business world. A recent use of Artificial Intelligence is seen in Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Urban Challenge. This challenge was highlighted on MSNBC’s technology section in an article titled “Driverless SUV wins $2 million Pentagon race” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21625291/ ).This was a competition that encouraged teams to build a smart vehicle that could navigate itself through a 60-mile course in the desert area of Victorville, California. The racers were not only judged on speed but also safety checkpoints. The winner of this challenge was a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV, which had been extremely modified. The vehicle was created and guided by a team from Carnegie Mellon University and General Motors. The team won the challenge and took away a prize of two million dollars.
This type of Artificial Intelligence can be classified as an Intelligent Agent. The Computer systems that are used are aimed at using knowledge for a specific task. In this case the task was driving through rough terrains and not breaking down. This competition was a way for DARPA to get teams to research for them, without having to pay wages. This technology is hoped to be use for military vehicles. By using this type of technology soldiers wont have to risk their lives by traveling in to extremely dangerous situations. This technology also allows for judgments that soldiers usually don’t have time to make, to be executed. Tony Tether, director of DARPA was quoted in the article for stating, “I watched these things driving, and I forgot after a while that there was nobody in there.” Artificial Intelligence opens the doors to making business more efficient.

Chapter 2. IS in Business

Information systems such as the Internet help people
make key decisions in and out of the business world.
There are a wide array of resources one can go to for
information .
One of the commonly hit resources via the Internet is
Wikipedia which many people have a misconception
about it’s credibility. Wikipedia is an e-encyclopedia
which has generated more than 3 million articles of
information to date with a portion of those articles being falsely written.
It seems as if people in business gather extra information via the Internet to help solidify that
the decision their making is the right one. Some may not realize how credible the information is
there receiving via the Internet which could lead to false representation of the truth. Wikipedia
recently posted an article and video demonstrating a willingness to change the way the company carries itself by implementing a color coded system which will put recently added text in a highlighted color and highlight text that might not otherwise be from a reputable publisher based on their past history of articles.
It’s good to see that Wikipedia is taking the initiative to meet the demands of its users by
creating a more credible way of delivering quality information.

Levs, Josh (2009). Wikipedia’s Credibility
CNN Video
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/09/01/nr.levs.wikipedia.changes.cnn

Therapy, who doesn’t need it. It can help with minor things like biting your nails to major concerns like suicidal thoughts. In the 1960′s a computerized program was created, known as ELIZA, that was an alternative to a human therapist.

Therapy can be quite effective as treatment to a person, granted that person wants to change. In a session a therapist can read the patients body language and feel his/her mood. A lot of tell tale signs is non-verbal communication between a patient and a therapist. Therapists can pick up on non-verbal communication because of good education and experience.

Expert systems advise by storing expert information and then give suggestions based on rules and restrictions. They are advantageous in cost cutting because sometimes it is cheaper than hiring a human to perform the job.

Online therapist that emulate human therapist may some day in the future be the norm. ELIZA, created in the 1960′s, was the begining of the online therapist. Now they are more developed and will continue to gather more information and make better suggestions.

I’ve only seen therapists in the movies but they seem like competent people willing to help. I see them mostly listening, giving key suggestions now and then, while the patient rambles on. I think it would take a while for acceptance of the computerized therapist. What would help make the computerized therapist accepted faster is low cost, easy user interface, and an avatar as an on screen therapist.

Toyota focuses on the Just-in-Time manufacturing system. ‘Kanban’ concept, which was one of the principles on which Toyota’s JIT was based. The Kanban philosophy is Developed by the Japanese, the JIT production system was one of the most significant production management approaches of the post World War II era. The system comprised a set of activities aimed at increasing production volume through the optimum use of inventories of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods. In a JIT production system, a workstation gets a part just in time, completes its work and the part is moved through the system quickly. JIT was based on the principle of producing only what is needed and nothing more than needed. That lead Toyota to first prize in America market.
Although many automobile companies around the world adopted JIT, the system was far from perfect and difficult to implement. It was based on the key assumption that sources and channels of supply were reliable and dependable at all times. Moreover, JIT involved high set up costs and Special training and reorganization of policies and procedures in the company were necessary to implement JIT. The supplier relations of the company also needed to be improved to ensure timely delivery. In the absence of good supplier relations, JIT increased the risk of inventory shortage.
This is very famous manufacturing system. And I actually saw many Toyota cars near my home. I think JIT also based from estimate demands and supplies. And after consider about environmental datas they can decide how many car they will make or how many inventory they need.

Toyota’s JIT Revolution
http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Operations/OPER006.htm

We have all seen the movies.  Humans are co-existing with machines and everyone is happy, until the machines join forces with one another and try to wipe mankind of the face of the earth.  Many have thought about the possibility of machines outsmart humans.  In Monterey Bay, CA, artificial intelligence researchers, leading computer scientists, and roboticists met to discuss the issue of being surpassed by machines.

The scientist are worried that future innovations could cause social problems and dangerous outcomes.  Already there is a robot called the Predator Drone that comes close to an autonomously killing machine.  Scientists agree that robots similar to the Predator Drone are on their way, if not already here.  In addition to our fear of safety, robots are threats to human jobs.  Already there are self-driving cars, personal assisstants, and home service robots.

Despite the fears, scientists hope future innovations will benefit mankind.  They are glad this issue is first brought to the attention of the scientist.  Scientist are encouraged to advance technology in a safe and ethical manner.  This problem is similar to the problem of biologists faced in the 70′s.

Source: <a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html</a>

In Eliot Van Buskirk’s article, “$1million Netflix prize to be awarded soon,” Buskirk shines the spotlight on the a contest that software engineers and mathematicians have been competing in for the last 3 years that involves Netflix awarding the winner 1 million dollars. The contestants goal in the competition is to develop a movie recommendation system that will improve the current system in place by 10 percent. As it stands, two teams are in the run for first prize with Bellkor’s Pragmatic Chaos taking the early lead by developing a 10.05 percent improvement of Netflix’s system in June. Netflix then allowed a 30 day window in order for the other teams to catch up. The Ensemble was able to do so by creating a 10.10 percent improvement within the window frame which was better than Bellkor’s Pragmatic Chaos of now 10.09 percent(Van Buskirk, 2009).

The contest Netflix issued to the public was a very successful idea in order to involve many minds and also give them full incentive to succeed by issuing out a 1 million dollar prize to the winner. The business process reengineering Netflix is conducting to the recommendation system in the end will make their current system faster and convenient for its customers. The recommendation system of Netflix is a key aspect to their business as a means to providing superior service to its customers. The winner Netflix chooses will be the system that has met certain criteria and tests that Netflix will discuss come September 21, 2009 when the winner is announced to receive their 1 million dollar prize.

Van Buskirk, E. (2009). $1 million Netflix prize to be awarded soon. Retrieved September 2, 2009, from CNN Technology
Web:http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/02/netflix.prize/index.html

NVision Solutions: Mapping Data

In this article, the author introduces a company that creates decision support software combining geographic information systems and maps. This allows customers to visually analyze data discovering patterns and problems that would be difficult to discern in a database or spreadsheet.

The idea is pretty simple. Map the customer’s data to an image of the relevant area and analyze for any patterns appear once the location is included. This technology could be very useful for many kinds of businesses, potentially leading to improved decisions in the location of new stores, more precisely mapping customer demographics, and better design of systems that depend on geography, like irrigation and city planning. But NVision’s special interest is emergency management, making sure that emergency response knows just what areas are hardest hit and just what sort of terrain they’ll find when they get there.

This is an example of a decision support system (DSS). A DSS integrates information from a variety of sources in a way that is meaningful and lets the user see patterns more readily than he/she could from the plain data. Much like the digital dashboards shown in our book, NVision’s maps make it obvious when an issue is causing data to bunch up within a certain area, whereas a list of addresses might not make that clear even if you knew the area. The result of DSS is faster and hopefully better decisions.

Reference:
Cure, Sarah. (2009, Aug. 22nd). NVision matches up maps with information. Sun Herald. Retrieved from http://www.sunherald.com/business/story/1555179.html

article resource – NewYork Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/business/29auto.html?scp=8&sq=business%20making%20decision&st=cse

In PC Magazines article, Artificial Intelligence: The Computer Genius, author Matthew Graven explains how close we could be to seeing actual artificial intelligence. In the article Graven explains what artificial intelligence, or AI, could be. AI is based on what our perception of intelligence is. Science Fiction movies have peaked the interest of the world to the possibilities of AI. AI now is thought of as machines that can function to perform task that require the human decision process.

The article mentions a study conducted by Alan Turing, called the Turing Test. The test was done by having a machine and a person answer questions on a keyboard provided by a interviewer. The interviewer was not allowed to see where each response came from and was assigned the task of distinguishing between which answer was made by humans or computer. The test proved the interviewer was unable to tell a difference between the machine and the human. This shows artificial intelligence already does exist since obviously the machine applied the same intellect of the human to answer the questions. Graven seems to believe AI in movie standards will not be available for another 20 years, but traces of AI already exist today.

The reason I selected this article was for its ties to artificial intelligence which happens to be a topic discussed in chapter 2. In class we watched a video of two robots interacting and curiously behaving similar to humans. The video intrigued me and prompted me to put more consideration in the concept of AI. It made me think how many everyday items show signs of having artificial intelligence. Everything from computers to coffee makers has some kind of intelligence that is truly amazing to consider.

Graven, Matthew. Artificial Intelligence: The Computer Genius. PC Magazine. Sept. 4 2001. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,55581,00.asp

As I was browsing through the business magazine BusinessWeek it was exciting to find a very interesting article about a Web 2.0 Dashboard called StrategyEye Digital Media. Everyone is talking about StrategyEye, a London-based startup, because of its unique ability to mix Web search services with in-house analysis to offer organizations with business information related in friendly, interactive formats. According to BusinessWeek, it was founded in 2004 by former investment banker Neck Gregg and its main goal is to become as large as Google, but for the market research.

What makes StrategyEye unique is the way it uses technology by scanning the internet, including blogs and social networks such as Facebook or MySpace, something that Google and Yahoo! cannot offer. As all the data is gather about a particular company or topic is put into meaningful graphic displays which could later be used by most managers with little or no technology skills and still understand how his organization is seen by others around the world. Nick Gregg describes StrategyEye as “It lets you see what everyone in the ether is saying about your company and the industry as a whole.” In addition, it links the results with entries from 4,500 expert bloggers who share their knowledge in today’s main issues of the digital world.
Another useful tool that StrategyEye offers to its users is the accessibility to add comments on the posts of StrategyEye analysts. The information discussed in the posts examines mergers and acquisitions such as the recent acquisition of Pfizer Inc. over Wyeth and other digital media related topics.

I was curious to learn more about StrategyEye, so I signed up to get an account. Unfortunately, most of its users are business people who can afford to pay costly subscriptions; therefore, my subscription was not successful.

Scott, Mark. (June 15, 2008). A Web 2.0 Dashboard for Buzz.
BusinessWeek. Retrieved Sept. 1, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2008/gb20080115_925667.htm

Elizabeth Landau’s article entitled Therapy online: Good as face to face? delves into the world of psychotherapy using artifical intelligence. She explains how it was started in the 1960′s with a computer program called ELIZA that was designed to actually mimic an actual therapist. It would ask questions and respond the way an actual therapist would. This has progressed to be available online today. There is still a quite prevalent aspect of therapist doing to their work online, without the face-to-face interaction. There is believed to be quite a future fo this as it allows at a low cost for the patient to interact with the therapist without having to deal with embarrassing personal interaction. There are “ELIZA’s” today that incorporate text, graphics, videos, and more. It is not real clear what the future holds for this industry.
It relates to the text in that it has to do with the artificial intelligence aspect. It is about using technology to do the job that a human would normally do. As the text states, technology can be used to mimic human intelligence. In the article’s case, it improves the decision making process. No longer do people have to wait for an actual person to service their needs.
I liked the article because it was fascinating. It is intriguing to think of the idea of using a computer program for psychoanalysis. I like the aspect that it is a lot cheaper than actual human care and it has the possibility to work well. It could just get dangerous if a computer makes a mistake with a person that is suicidal.

Landau, E. (2009) Therapy online: Good as face to face? CNNhealth.com. Retrieved September 3, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/31/online.internet.therapy.cbt./index.html?iref=newssearch