Ent 2.0 Chp. 7

Tips for making a smoother transition:

Eliminate the old product. Make the new product have to be used and make employees get comfortable with it.

Use believers to your advantage. They are adopters who for some reason quickly see the benfits of the new product and use it. Just with examples in groudswell, use these people to you advantage. Let them tell everyone why they really like it and that it should be implemented.

Build ESSP'S that are compatable with current technology becuase more people will be likely to use them. For example you can access Facebook from you Cell. Facebook may be new but using cell phones isn't.
Twitter and e-mail are compatable.

People use e-mail and Ent. 2.0 would be a partial shift from using something that they are comfortbale with and that is why it is taking over more slowly.

Also communicate with the intended users of the tech. Communication is key !

Ent. 2.0 Chp. 6

This chapter was about people worrying about people putting inappropriate content on the site or people putting information that isn't relevant.

People will contribute innacurate material and embarrasing information.

However, it is thought that the benefits outway the disadvantages.

Many company execs. say that the biggest barrier is actually the users who don't want to change and not the managers that don't want to input and use the new technology.

The had a saying " we value items in our possession more than itmes that could be in our possession" and this totally makes since. People value e-mail, something they have now and now the changes that could be implented by Ent. 2.0 becuase there are chances that they will fail. People are comfortable with what they know and that is that!!!

Ent. 2.0 Chp. 5

Group editiing- diverse set of people to collaborate on a single document

Authoring- Putting content online for other people to see

Broadcast searchs- Putting things online that you don't know in hopes that you recieve answers

Collective Intelligence- Use of tech. to generate answers from a dispersed group.

Self Organization- Uses to build valuable communities and shape them over time.

Ent. 2.0 Chp. 4

"The Bulls Eye"
The center is the strong ties, the next tier is the weak ties, and the outermost ties are the potential ties. Alot of people like Wikies because they are "frictionless, and allow people to add structure linking and tagging."

Strongly tied- Added mediwikie to Vistapring: suggested his colleagues should add content to the articles and that Wikis should be used for the whole company.

Weak Ties- Serena used Facebook- It holds many contacts, it's a large rich address book, and it allow people to share and update as much information as they want to.

Potential ties- U.S. Intelligence Community- Blogs- Easy and they don't take alot of time and they are a permanent collection of posts.

Ent. 2.0 Chp 3

Free and Easy platforms for Communication and Interaction- These would include things like Blogs, Twitter, Social Networking. We will discuss in the next chapter how specific certain aspects are better to use when relationships are different.

A lack of imposed structure- Wikipedia- No work flow- specific pattern, No decision rights to a specific person, No interdependencies (who will work together), and No data specifications.

Mechanisms to Let strucutre emerge- Ent. 2.0 is the use of emergent social software by organizations to pursure their goals.

It is crucial that companies recognize the benefits of these social softwares and learn how to use them best to their benefits.

Ent. 2.0 Chp 2

Vista Print- gave away free business cards and they used "upselling" by encouraging customers to pay small amounts for products that they thought were superior.
Serena Software- "Mashups"- Combining Chicago Crime and Google Maps
The U.S. Intelligence Company- Trouble connecting the dots. Lack of effective information sharing between them.
Google- Cowgill- Starting prediction market
Kirnos- programming expertise---> Two people talking who normally wouldn't need to communicate at their job.

There are so many missed opporutnites when people don't use technology to their advantage. If everyone used it and communicated with his it would help with all the missed opporutnites.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is sharing resources and information to computers on demand. Alot of people have criticized this term because they feel that we are already using these means of technology. This type of technology can be implemented in many different ways. There is the public cloud or the external cloud. There are community, hybrid and private clouds. Amazon, Google and IBM have began to use cloud computing, seeing that there is room for relationships among customers and sellers of products.

Examples of Neural Network apps

Two examples would be e-mail spam filtering and data processing information. As with your e-mail, it learns patterns in certain types of data that show that something is spam. This is how it goes into your spam folder and not your inbox in your email. Data processing and using this type of technology is all about recognizing patterns in the data that you input. It is very neat how it seems more and more types of technology are using neural network programs because they are so beneficial.

Neural Network Technology

Neural network technology is software that learns to recognize patterns in your data. Once it has been treaing on samples of your data, it can make prediction by deleting patters in future data. Software that learns is called Artifical Intelligence. NeuroPro is an example of this type of technology. We were able to experiment with this software in class and it was really neat how it was able to produce such large amounts of articulate data.

NeuroShell Classifier

Neural Network information is structed and machine readable. NeuroShell Classifier solves problems based on patterns that are learned from historical patterns. These are patterns that are based on information that has been stored in the computer from previous uses and they are structured. Everything in this program is structured. There are algorithims in this program, one being a new neural network and the other being a statistical classifier.

The main thing is that these are machine readable.

Inside your company

KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES (WHO ARE CUSTOMERS) IN THE LOOP! Make them work together. Best Buy started Blue Shirt Nation and it was created to listen to what the employees had to say. They came together, embraced the idea and were committed to making the company and their goals a success.

Avenue a/razorfish uses wikis to keep their employees together and on the same page. All projects have pages and they can learn about their colleagues.

Organism which is a social network was created to bring together collaboration and communication between the employees.


Bell Canada came up with ID-ah! where employees would submit ideas and vote on them. There was a committment to all employees but a committment by executives to read and put into place some great ideas therefore applying what they had been told.

Dove

Dove went against the norm and didn't use typical models for a commerical. This a was a genius idea in forms of creation because it was something out of the ordinary. They also used web based videos to launch a new product line.

Dell listened first then acted. There were unsastisified customers who were really taring apart the company on blogs that it wasn't even aware of. They finally made the "blog resolution" team and by doing this they were able to track blogs and share their knowledge with their customers.

The book talks about how you become so engaged with your customers that you start walking hand in hand with them and caring about what they say which is great for the company.

Supporting itself

A good support system enables people to connect and they will making life alot easier. Just in the case with the CarePages and how it made life so much easier for the parents. They didn't always have to worry about talking to people. They allowed the hospital to create this new piece of knowledge and distribute it to the family members.

DELL had the case where one of its customers was posting answers on Dell's community for free. He and other customers were supporting each other and applying the knowledge that he knew. It saved so much money and so many calls to Dell Customer Service. Dell gets its validation from the ratings and reviews that the customers send in that they were satisfied with the answer they got or that it helped them in some way.

People who support each other support the groundswell. They are the true sight of knowledge management in that they create, apply and distribute all the time!

Energizing!

GET PEOPLE TO TALK! That is the whole point and purpose of energizing the groundswell. Get into their enthusiasm and allow them to talk and share and create ideas together.

Ebags, 21 days after a bag ships, they send an e-mail asked them to review the product. Of course not everyone responds but they people who care about the company and the product do. They get people talking and the site eventually learns to build on itself. They allow the people to create and distribute the knowledge, what knowledge they want heard.

LEGO uses lego ambassadors to communicate with each other and share ideas with the people as to what they want. They are creating knowledge together, sharing together, and then applying it when they tell the CEO's what they want.

Energizing is all about creating and applying in my opinion. You want new ideas so get people to talk. You want people to feel as though they have a say in something so every once in a while apply an idea that they want.

Talking with the Groundswell

ERNST AND YOUNG is a prime example of how to talk to the groundswell. They are a company that has to hire around 3500 college students every year. They have created a facebook page that encourgaes one on one talking with the candidates. They have an information page in which they distribute knowledge in the form of video, information, and other advertising.

Here they have created the knowledge and distributed it well, getting it out to their target audience.

HP has their executives blogging. They have them answering questions to their customers and they are creating, sharing and applying knowledge.

Proctor and Gamble created and distributed knowlege in a very different way. Instead of "yelling" at their customers and only advertising about their product they created a forum and a site that allowed people to talk about many topics, occasinaloy throwing in promotions for their products. It's like hiding what you want to advertise behind what people really want to talk about. Very smart!

Who do you market to

When I read the case of the Mini Cooper company I was very surprised yet it made total sense. If you don't have a new product coming out and if there is not something that is going to wow your customers are you stuck? Not really. It's time to then think creatively.

They distributed knowledge in one of what I think is most brilliant ways. They marketed to people who already owned the mini cooper. Instead of trying to find new customers they marketed to and used there current customers. Telling them what a great car it was and letting those enthusiatic customers feel as though they are part of something and let them spread the word.
This is sooo smart because I would rely on what a friend told me more than a salesman. I would think the salesman is just trying to sell me the car but if my friend owns one, loves it and goes on and on about it then maybe there is something there.

Apply that knowledge of the happy customer and let them do some of the work for you.

How to get into the groundswell

So how do you get in there and learn to fight with the best of the best. You stop and look at the important things and what is going to matter to your customers.

P- People What are the people wanting?
O- Objectives What goals are you trying to achieve with your site?
S-Strategy How do you want relationships to change?
T-Technology What apps should you use?

Listening- Listen to what your customers want, don't want and are saying
Talking- Spread the message
Energizing- Use energized customers to help spread the word about your company
Supporting- Help customers support each other. Create an area where they can work together
Embracing- Integrate customers, embrace them, and use them to help your company

Targeting AlphaMoms

People were creating a website and thought that blogging would be a huge part of it and what they found was that they were wrong. "AlphaMoms" were more of the critics type. They liked to rate and read information but they really didn't like to be creators. Therefore they had to change there plans. This is applying knowledge as it relates to knowledge application because they are learning what is going to be the most effective on their site and using it. They didn't post a whole bunch of blogs or want a whole bunch of blogs because these women didn't want to use them. They wanted to rate and read and review other people's work and that is how they changed their sites.

This is why it is important to know the technographics and who your audience is because it could make all the difference in whether your company or idea sinks or floats.

Different Technologies

This book in chapter 2 mentiones many different technologies that are associated with the groundswell. Blogs which are journal entries, social netowrking sites which allow people to maintain a profile of themself, wikis which are when many people are relyed on to create and maintain the site, ratings and reviews which allow people to post comments and responses, and tage which are a people driven organization. There are RSS and widgets with bring the updated content to you and widgets are mini apps that connect to the internet.

TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE! It's all about people to people interaction. Allow them to create, apply and share information and everyone will be on to the groundswell. Companies and customers will begin to have a greater respect because they now have a say in how businesses are run.

How important are social technographics?

They are very important. As Chapter 1 talks about you must know who your audience is and what they are involved in in the world of technology to determine what they will participate in. There are the creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. Creators publish blogs and web sites, critics post ratings, collectors vote for websites, joiners join social networking sites, spectators read blogs and read ratings and the inactive don't do anything in the world of the groundswell.

Digg.com decided that it's customers would be in charge of what was on their site and that is why they decided not to take the number down. Once they did in the first place, other people were putting it on their own blogs and things and I loved how he said "at least we'll go down fighting." This was knowledge sharing as it relates to knowledge management. They shared what they knew and then it was taken from person to person. They distributed their knowledge and then let it go from there. I think it is wise when you allow the customers to feel as though they are able to help maintain a site and get their ideas out there.

Not part of the Groundswell?

What will happen to a business in the future who is not an active member of the groundswell. What if there was a company who went out on a limb and chose not to use the groundswell; not to listen to it? Would the company survive and strive or would they drown in the negative comments and blogs that they can't respond to and defend themselves? I think for any company in the future to strive they will need to be part of the groundswell. They will need to use it to market there company, to communicate with customers or to strive off of their feedback. Companies need to grow with technology and it would be crazy to think that a company in the years to come could strive without being involved with technology in a major way.

The post office

Technology may be hitting our mail system hard. Word it that our post office is losing so much money it is considering taking away one day of mail which doesn't seem like much. But it was so obvious it was going to happen and it will probably get worse with the use of e-mail and the internet for much of people's communication needs. It seems the only things that come in the mail are bills (which you can now access and pay online) and local community newspapers (which you will probably soon be able to access online). So instead of losing one day of mail service per week will we ever be in danger of losing the post office? It is an interesting concept to think about and in one way you say it could quite possibly happen but at the same time there are things that seem like they can only be done at the post office. I just can't believe how much money technology and the use thereof have taken away from a mail system that has been in place for quite a long period of time.

Computer security in the health industry

As someone who deals with a hospital via e-mail and the internet I sometimes wonder how safe my information really is. All of my personal information from contact information to test results is sitting on these computers for someone to access at any time; someone which might not supposed to be able to see it. I am notified of perscriptions, doctor's appointments and bills through this system; alot of which is very sensitive information. With computers changing all the time is there always going to be adequate security? How will people know if their information is in danger or not? It is a wonderful advantage being able to use the computer to be in contact with my doctor's office but sometimes I wonder when to much sensitive information is to much to be put out there? Just something I have been thinking about.

Can people really be all they need to be?

As Dr. Jih was talking in class today, he mentioned how a company he knows of can't hire people because they simply can't find the "right" person. With the way technology is growing is it acceptable to ask that someone be as up to date with technology as it is with itself? Can one person simply know all there is to know? I'm not to sure of this answer to be honest especially when it deals with technology. It changes so much everyday so how are we to know when someone knows everything or we think we ourselves know everything. Sometimes companies will just have to hire people who fit the bill and who are will to learn as technology and the industry evolves and quit looking for that "ideal know all candidate." Companies must make their expectation realisitic and if someone is will to learn with the changes then so be it.

The future of technology

It is interesting to just think sometime where technology is going. To think of where we have been in the past to where we are now alone is simply amazing. For instance, now you can get a complete college degree online. Everything can simply be done by using the computer and many years ago this was unimaginable. While there is so much good with technology also comes the bad too. So many people are taught the easy way today when using computers, calculators, ect. or they sit in front of the t.v. all day. So while yes technology is a good thing and many advances in this field are great there are always going to be some negatives to the field especially if technology gets to advanced.

Who do we market to?

Before I read chapter 5 in the groundswell, I thought duh, you market to people who you want to buy your product. You can tell people how great it and why they should buy it and on and on. But the book makes a really good point in that it is crucial to market towards people who already own part of your brand. By getting people to talk about how much they like your car or how much they like your clothing, they are going to talk. And people are going to listen to them because they own the product already and have experience with it. It is not like listening to someone who doesn't know anything about the product or who is just trying to make it sound good. It is real like experience which people take into consideration more and appreciate. So this chapter has totally changed my mind on who we market towards. Not only do we market towards new people but we market towards people who already own and enjoy our products.

Listening

Why is listening important for companies? It is important for several reasons but in particular the fact that customers want what they want from a company and they want to know they are being heard. Companies can make many beneficial changes to their organization when they LISTEN. It is something that would appear to be so easy but are book states that " listening is perhaps the most essential neglected skill in business" which is very surprising. Sometimes managers or CEO's make the company what they want and they alone want, and don't really include other people. It is amazing to think of so many companies that have went out because they didn't listen to the customers. I know a local restraunt that went out of business because customers were wanting what they weren't giving them. They didn't give the customers what they wanted= they went out of business!

Security

The more I am getting into the Groundswell book, the more talk is about social networking sites and there great benefits. And while yes, one must admit they are a great invention I have to say there can be some security issues with them. If you are on Facebook and say I'm going to the grocery store for a while then people will know you're not home. If you are on Twitter from your cell phone and you say that you are somwhere where you might be alone that could be setting yourself up for a realy problem. It is important to remember that these networking sites are great but at the same time be smart about using them. Be smart about what you put on them because with these sites, you never know who may be looking at your page or your tweets.

The new age of customer support

One of my favorite inventions with all of this new technology and knowledge is the customer support that you can receive online. Our article was discussing Dell and ever since they impleneted their customer service option online, 20%-50% of questions are answered online. This is one of the greatest inventions because it saves people so much time and allows them to get answers to questions alot quicker than having to drive 30 minutes to the store. Of course there are some questions that may not be able to be answered over the computer and that need to be addressed in the store but for a basic question this is a great service to have. I would say I would buy a product such as a computer somewhere where they had online customer support bersus somewhere that didn't simply because I feel as though that particular business is trying to connect with me and be more customer friendly. Technology can help companies in the since that people may use their company because they are trying to gain more ways to help the customer and communicate with them.

Customer Power

Customer power is essential to any company. As our articles have stated the company brand is what the customer wants. Cusomters essentially have the power to make a company float or sink. If someone likes your product, great. They let everyone know how wonderful it is and you have great success in your business. If they don't like a company they will be sure to let the company and every follower know about it. Hence your company sinks. So basically the bottom line comes down to listening to your customers. If they want something do your best to try to please them. Don't let your brand be what your company thinks it is, cause it's not. It's all about what your people want and they may define what they want totally different then what the company does. People rule the businesses!

What makes social networks take off

People; the customers are what make social networks take off. People who want to connect with people and people who want to find new friends are what help Facebook and MySpace excel. These cites allow for people to keep up with friends, birthdays and special events that may be going on. You can even tell your friends what are you are doing second by second on cites like Twitter. People are always thursting for knowledge even if that knowledge is about other people or people they don't even know. Knowledge about everything is at our fingertips more so now than ever before and we can constantly keep with up with people in a real life up to date time. I'm not so sure that I want people knowing what I am doing at every second of the day?

Twitter

I have heard alot about Twitter but didn't really know the many ways that it could benefit a business. It can help the company stay in contact with customers but most importantly I think that it can help the company gain very valuable feed back. One thing that alot of people are going to enjoy is the way that this company can put out special promotions and coupons to its followers. The more followers there are the more people there are to communicate and give feedback to one another.
The more people feel that there feedback is being listened to the more likely that the company will have alot of fans.

The first test

So today we had our first test in class. I feel as though it went really well. I think that I have really been able to master alot of concepts that have been discussed in the articles and in class. I was really excited that it was an essay test because I feel that I expanded on what I knew which really boosted my confidence that I am really learning something from this class.

Something that I like most about this class is that the concepts are put into really life situations that help me relate them alot better and it helps. I am really starting to learn what a vital part technology plays in businesses and technology and helping them succeed.

How to talk with the groundswell Chapter 6

1. Post a viral video - When you let people see the video they will share. People are the customers and they will pass around information and talk. That is one of the major benefits of the internet.

2. Engage in social networking sites- Everyone now-a-days is involved in a social networking cite. When you create a profile on a cite it lets customers see what information you want to put out there. It expands your name and message further and further and more people will pass it along.

3. Join the blogosphere- If people in your company write blogs then people will read them. This will allow people to interact with staff of your company and get certain messages that you want out, out.

4. Create a community- This is a prime way for you to interact with your customers. Listen to them as they listen to you and take the feedback that they give you. Having a community really poses no purpose in my opinion unless you listen to the feedback of your customers.

To Collaborate or Not To Collaborate

Collaboration has it pros and its cons. Technology has made the idea of collaboration seem easier and beneficial to some extreems. Collaboration can be good in many ways that the article mentions such as:

1. Cost savings because the best and most effiecient practices will be put to use.
2. You have more expertise so better decisions can be made.
3. innovation because you have more people working and more people to encourage to create knowledge.
4. increased revenue through the sharing of the best ideas.

However, while it seems collaboration is a great idea and a company would be stupid not to do it, it has its downfalls.

1. People may not want to share the knowledge that they have or learn from others. There are some people who think they know all and they are not willing to except new knowledge or further their own knowledge.
2. Some people may not want to share the knowledge that they have because they may not want to help the other company or may not know how to seek it out from another company.
3. Some employees of the company may not want to work with employees of the other company thefore creating an inablity to work together.

So while sometimes collaborations may be a good idea sometimes they may be hard to initiate. It is important to find ways to encourage employees to create new knowledge, expand on their current knowledge, and share with others the knowledge that they have.

About.com

The online site about.com is very unique. I really like the way that they do business. About.com is an online "neighborhood' as they call it where people can come together to ask questions regarding numerous topics and then other guides/ contributors can answer their questions to the best of their knowledge. They keep a list at the bottom of topics that they need people to guide or write about so that encourages people to get involved.

They manage their site by relying on indivduals to partice and essentially SHARE KNOWLEDGE. The people are inticed to share the knowledge that they have creating it elsewhere and passing it on to people who are curious about a particular subject.
People may feel encouraged to visit this website because they will be talking and reading what normal everyday people write.

This is a really neat way of doing business. Personally I had never heard of this website but next time I have a question about something I will be sure to visit this website and pass along the word to other people that I know!

Groundswell Chapter 5

The brand is what the customers say it is. That is the main point of this chapter. It's not was the VP says it is, it's not what the manager says it is; It is what the customer says it is! The customer RULES! Cusomter can do a variety of things to explain there satisfaction or dissatisfaction of your company, and remember people talk. They post their opinions or rate your company on different sites. The downside however is that you don't hear from everyone. In my opinion you will only hear from the really happy customer who wants to praise your company or the really angry company who wants to make his/her point known!

Companies can set up their own private community online and encourage customers to go that particular site to give their opinions. Or companies can begin brand monitoring which is checking all the other sites where people may put their opinions.
Regardless of the option you choose, people talk and they share opinions so beware!

Groundswell Chapter 4

There is nothing more important so far in this book as for companies to learn how to use the groundswell to their benefit. This task can seem hard for some but really if the company follows a few basic steps they can strive in the groundswell. You have to define: people- what are customers ready for, objectives- goals?, strategy- how do you want relationships with your customers to change?, and technology- what applications should you build?

How to use it to their benefit is outlined by these next few steps:

• Listening- Listen to your customers. Learn what they want.
• Talking- Spread messages about your company.
• Energizing- Energize customers you already have about your company.
• Supporting- Help customers support each other.
• Embracing- Integrate customers into the way your business works.

With these few simple steps, companies can thrive. An essential part as you can see from above is PEOPLE (CUSTOMERS)! If you listen to them, support them and integrate them your company can succeed.

Groundswell Chapter 3

The social technographics profile includes:

• Creators- online customers
• Critics- react to other content online; post comments, reviews or reflections
• Collectors- save URL's and tags on social bookmarking services
• Joiners- Participate on social networking sites
• Spectators- Consume what people produce
• Inactives- Non-participants (which do actually exsist)

With the help of these types of profiles you can "understand how social technologies are being adopted by any group of people."

You can keep up with friendships, making new friends and the creative impulse.

Groundswell Chapter 2

Like many types of change when they first occur, alot of people don't think that they can succeed in the new change. When in all reality when it comes to the groundswell, with knowledge and experience (and the want to succeed in it) companies, people and policies can thrive in this "new" type of world.
There were a few examples given of technology that are in use that I alone use so some of the stats on them were actually very interesting and surprising to me.
First were blogs which are a personal type of entry. The book says that 1 in 4 people use blogs which was surprising to me. I hadn't used a blog until I began this class and the only people I knew that used blogs were celebrity or media personalities.
Social networking sites are another one of the "up and comings." With these sites you can maintain profiles, connect with each other and interact with other friends. The books says that 1 in 4 people visit a social networking site monthly which I thought was actually a little low. I feel like alot more people use social networking sites and they will continue as time goes on.
The last type of technology they mention that I use is the wiki, which I use for this class.22% of people use Wiki according to our book and to be honest I had never heard of it before this class. It is a very useful site in the sense that my group and I can keep EVERYTHING together and talk to each other and the teacher can view the site too.

Groundswell Chapter 1

We have all heard of some of the websites that are considered to be part of the groundswell but there were several mentioned in the first chapter that I had never heard of. Basically groundswell means that people are getting the information and things from each other now-a-days vs. getting it from large corporations. Examples would be purchasing things off of E-bay or Craigslist from another person or getting information from someone on Facebook or MySpace.

With technology evolving the way it is (and the groundswell concept) companies are going to need to readjust their focus on things such as the message they want to percieve and how to better market their companies. People aren't buying the car magazines to find out about cars their going to carfax.com. People aren't going and buying their newspapers anymore; they are accessing them online.

More and more business will be done on the internet. For companies that want to strive during this time it is going to become extremely crucial that they learn the in's and out's of the computer world. They will need to understand why people access the information that they do and how affectivly they do it.

Organizational Culture as a Knowledge Resource

I have to say first that I really enjoyed this article. There are several points that I found very important that I am going to ellaborate on.
The first point will be the type of environment that is crucial to knowledge sharing and my second point will discuss "types" of ways that a business can be run and the most effective in sharing knowledge.

The article stated that affective knowledge management practice requires a culture that fosters and rewards the creation and use of knowledge as it's sharing among individuals and group members. This is a very important point because people need incentive and/or the ability to feel open with their peers to share ideas. Some companies offer incentives and some people just need to know that in the future there will be benefits. In order to affectivly share knowledge it's important that everyone feels open to the ability to do so. If a company doesn't effectivly communicate with their employees knowledge sharing will essentially be shut down if they don't feel as though they can share that knowledge and that their opinion will matter.

Employee vs. Job Orientation:
Employee orientation is a much better choice of running a business than in a job orientation model. With an employee orientation people will feel cared about and that the company cares about them. When an employee feels respected, odds go up that they will commit to their job, be open to new thoughts and even share some of their own knowledge that they might not have if they didn't feel like they mattered.

Involvement with a Community

When I think of a community in a business sense I think of the place that I last worked. I worked at Parent Teacher Store where we really worked off of each other and our customers. Our customers frequently provided feedback on what they liked about our products or maybe why they wouldn't buy a certain product from us. We weren't really "managed" by one particular person but insight was taken from all employees who wanted to participate in creating better innovations for our company. We were as the article talked about "self flourishing" in that we made most decisions on our own.

Some customers would provide us feedback and some wouldn't ever tell us why they wouldn't buy a product. We offered no incentive to our customers for telling us information but most would so that we could make our business better. We also had an online website where customers could relay their feelings about our stores.

It was very helpful in the sense that we could create better content for our customers because we were an "open" community.

A knowledge community at Hallmark

Some things in this article really stuck out to me that I would like to further discuss. The first thing is that stories and innovations are allowed to come from anywhere within the community. They are not just limited to managers or people who are higher up in the business. I really like this since of "community" and that EVERYONE is involved because that can get drowned out in many companies.

Communication is important in a community because the more that people are open with each other and talking to everybody the more likely new knowledge and idea will come about. If no one talks there will never be new ideas born.
In my opinion stimulating innovation is a very important basis of a community. Include everyone, encourage everyone and value their opinions and in response you will have lots and lots of new ideas!

Brigham & Women vs. Nucor Steel

Brigham and Women hospital had to take data and input it all into a data system that could be used for data entry. Nucor Steel essentially had to use experiments and tril and error to find the best techniques to get the job done. Nucor Steel was more employee related, always finding ways to motivate the employees to share knowledge and to make the most efficient ways to produce. Brigham and Womens put the knowledge in the computer ( a system all doctors have to use everyday) and made it something they got used to and used every day. The doctors applied this knowledge everyday by using the entry system and using the software to view patient records. Nucor Steel applied the knowledge by finding the best techniques and applying them in all practices.

TECHNOLOGY=BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S
PEOPLE= NUCOR STEEL

They both used both technology and people but one more so than the other. You have to have the technology for the people to use and you have to have the people to use the technology if you have it. Therefore while one may be used more in a particular setting, they are both of equal importance.

Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom

Data to me is facts or statements that represent something. This would be used more in the business would as companies may look at "data" to see if a technique being used is producing the desireable affects.
Information would be anything that anyone knows. It could be data, facts or common sense. This could also be any type of knowledge that someone has learned.
Knowledge to me is mainly what we acquire through learning. You become smarter as you become more knowledgeable and to gain more knowledge you must be taught.
Wisdom is when someone uses what they have learned and pairs it with their common sense. It is often said that they are wise if they use good judgement or make a good decision.

All of these words are interrelated together especially in the world of technology. People need to use all four of these things to better their business, learning strategies and knowledge.

Knowledge Based Economy

This is a tool to produce benefits and job creation. One major aspect of this tool is produce ideas and knowledge. Everything around us is technology; everything around us is useful information that if read properly can be used for some gain personally or in a business relation.
Technology is making it easier and easier to process information therefore in returning creating better knowledge.
The more people know the better they will work at there jobs in turn creating better and more effiecient production. Computer networking is a crucial part of out economy and in my opinion will only begin to get more important.

However, as technology and computers continue to grow it will be important for people to keep up with the technology. Because technology is changing, our economy is constantly changing. If we don't keep up with both we are bound to lose out on precious knowledge that could have turned into a great and beneficial idea.

Knowledge Management Systems

I can best relate the concept of knowledge management systems to the article Just In Time Comes to Knowledge Managment. This concept is simply having access to documents, information and credible sources at your fingertips. The more I thought about this type of technology being in hospitals the more I was trying to think of where else this technology would be at. It could be here at MTSU where everything is turning to the computer database. When you call MTSU with a question everything can pretty much be found on the web site or a certain database that employees have access to. They have access to requirements for certain programs, transcripts and scholarship information just to name a few. Back in the day certain things were only done with pen and paper so technology is truly evolving in the name of business.

I believe that banks use knowledge management too. All bank accounts, laws and certain types of information they need for opening accounts for example, can all be found on certain databases in their systems. Car dealerships use technology in looking up features of models of cars and searching the history of a specific car. Everyone needs to realize that essentially over time just about everything will be on the computer and it may come to the point where all types of information, public or private, can be viewed.

The wisdom of crowds

I really like reading about this concept and the four parts that make up a knowledgeable group. The cite that we referenced talks about the diversity of opinion. This is important because it is crucial that each individual person has their own knowledge of information that they obtain and keep because their knowledge may help further the knowledge of the whole group. The second thing that it mentions is independence. This point is crucial because if everyone had the same opinion as everyone else new knowledge would never be created, discussed or considered. If one person likes one idea in particular then they may gather more information regarding that subject to try and pursuade people that their opinion is the best way to complete a task, therefore creating new knowledge.

Another point mentiond on the website and in class as well is drwaing from knowledge within the company. If a particular way of doing a task works great, find out why and implement it in other parts of the company where it could be of benefit. Sometimes the greatest knowledge is under on roof and there is no need to go elsewhere to find it. And lastly a point made was aggregation or pursuading others that your opinion is the right one. If someone believes strongly enough in their task then they can pursuade others to conform to their decision therefore putting everyone on board to make that knowledge better.

Network Effect

As I was reading about network effect it struck my mind to relate it back to the article Just In Time regarding technology in hospitals. In relation the the My Health At Vanderbilt accounts the principle of network effect holds to be very true. For this example the more people who have these accounts, the more beneficial it is to other patients that have them. More doctors will be proned to using these accounts for information and communication if they know that large numbers of their patients have them.

At times these accounts can somewhat seem like a pain because they are to much detail and to much work for doctors, but if they know that these accounts are proven beneficial they may choose to use them.

Just as with all technology, the more the better. If more people have computers then the more valuable computers are to everyone else as well. You can't keep up with old friends on Facebook if they don't even own a computer.

Network effect to me is a great system. I think this system can be put in place for all sorts of situations and products and that it is a good thing when a product gets to be better when more of it is owned by others.

Just in Time

I found this article very interesting. It is amazing to me how many errors there are in the medical field everyday! This is a huge undertaking but as technology advances more and more I believe systems like this should become mandatory. They are a huge undertaking yet crucial for all types of diagnosisis. It is very important that a doctor be able to have this type of knowledge at his fingertips. I have looked into it more because my group presentation is on this article and Vanderbilt uses simliar technology. They have a system called WizOrder which is their clinician data entry site and StarChart which is the program that they use to view patient records. They also have a program called My Health At Vanderbilt. With this system each patient has the option to have their own account in which the patient can contact the dr. office via e-mail, view appointments, view lab results and many other things. It is a very beneficial program and truthfully I have never looked into detail at which technology programs Vanderbilt uses so as a patient there I actually found the research very useful!

Learning to use Wiki

I am really excited about learning how to use the Wiki account this semester. This seems like a great cite that more teachers should consider using because it grades the group as a whole but this way teachers can see how much individual work a person is contributing. I am also interested to see if this helps my fellow group members and I keep the information all together and easier for us to manage. This should be a neat cite and I really look forward to using it this semester. Until tomorrow....

Back to school tomorrow

So tomorrow I am back to school for my second day at MTSU. The first day went pretty well but there are some things that could go better tomorrow. So for today I am spending the day with Jackson and waiting for Nurse Tina to come to the house. My back and neck have really been bothering me but hopefully that will start to feel better. Chase is at work today so tomorrow will be the first day we have to get Jackson to him while I'm at school. We'll see how that goes. Now I'm off to have a good day!

My first blog!

So this is my first blog. I have always heard about blogs but never set one up so we'll see how it goes. Yesterday was my first day of class at MTSU and overall it went really good. I got to school super early because I was worried about parking. I really am going to like all of my classes this semester; both on campus and online. It is a huge change from Columbia State but I think I will love it (not the driving part though). Well this is my first blog but there will be more to come!