Module 13

     This class has made me realize how important technology is in our society today. It made me realize that there are everyday things that we do that includes technology. I just can't even imagine what life would be like without the technology we have. It has made out lives easier but can cause problems as well.  This class has helped me realize that this is just the beginning for technology. It is constantly changing and will just grow more and more as time goes on. I can't wait to see what society comes up with in the next 50 years.

     While reading this textbook I learned about different businesses and how they succeed with all different aspects. Like supply chain I enjoyed reading about supply chain and how a successful chain leads to a successful business. Also if you don't have a strong supply chain how that can affect your business. 

     My favorite assignment was interviewing a friend or a love one about how they use technology is their job setting. I interviewed my mom and she wouldn't be able to do what she does everyday without the technology we have now. It made me realize that everything from electronically clocking in to phones are part of her job and wouldn't be able to succeed without it.

     I enjoyed the textbook we had in this class, I will take many things from it. It had great stories and loved hearing them from the author. He is a very good writer, he defiantly knows how to write and get his point across in a clear understanding way. But, I did enjoy the modules that we didn't have to read out of the book and we got to write on something else. I looked forward to the assignments outside of the book, I enjoyed something new.

     I enjoyed taking this class online. It is hard to go to school full time and also working full time and it's nice we have the options to take classes outside of the campus. It wasn't too hard and I enjoyed writing on a blog and sharing what I thought with my classmates. I also liked reading my classmates posts and seeing what they learned that week either reading out of the text book or whatever we had to do outside of the book. I have already suggested this class to friends of mine that are looking for a good online class. 

Module 12

     

     Module 12 we were asked to read a article named "Why the Future doesn't need us" published by wired magazine. This article made me realize how important technology is in this day in age and how is it constantly changing and will always continue to change. The author states 3 components as GNR, Genetics Nanotechnology and Robotics. 

     Joy states that nanotechnology will be good for dealing in the medical aspect. I think this could be directed in a good or bad directed. I think it depends on how people use it and not abuse it. I think this component is not as important as the other two, I think the other two are higher up on the importance ladder.

     Another component that is stated is Genetics. While reading this article it made me think a whole lot different of the genetics I knew about. The article states, "As this enormous computer power is combined with the manipulative advances of the physical sciences and the new deep understanding in genetics enormous transformative power is being unleashed. These combinations open up the opportunity to completely redesign the world for better or worse. The replicating and evolving processes that have been confined to the natural world are about to become realms of human endeavor." That sounds pretty scary to me, that makes me wonder what people could do with genetics that we have never thought of.

     The third component is Robotics. The article states, "How soon could such an intelligent robot be built? The coming advances in computer power seem to make it possible by 2030. And once an intelligent robot exists, it is only a small step to a robot species-to an intelligent robot that can make evolved copies of itself. I have to be honest when I read this section of this article it made me think of the movie Robots with Will Smith. How robots can take over the world and do exactly what humans can do. Would that ever happen in our society? We have robot machines performing surgeries on real people. Is that going to eliminate doctors and surgeons in hospitals? What else could happen in our future? I think yeah maybe robotics could help us in a good way but only if we use it properly. Would we consider computers as a robot? Because computers have eliminated thousands of jobs to more efficient would else could be created that could eliminate even more jobs. 

     What do these 3 have in common? Us they can be controlled by us. We can control how they are used for the good or the bad. I think it's important that we are smart with our decisions and make our decisions using our heads. Make sure that nothing goes wrong make sure they are used for more for the good than the bad. 

Module 8

Brittney McMurray

IST 1100

Module 8

                Computers have been very involved in my education; I started using computers in Kindergarten. Back then the screens were green and defiantly couldn't do what our computers could do today.  But as I went through K-12 computers got more and more important in my education. We started getting papers to right on the computer, we had to read articles that you could access over the internet, we had to make power points dealing with a subject we were learning, and now in college I am taking classes online towards a degree.

            I talked to my father about computers and his education; he graduated from Weber State over 30 years ago in engineering. He defiantly didn't have access to classes online or even accessing your classes online.  My classes I can check my status of my grades in an instant and my father didn't have that option back when he was at Weber State University.  If he had to check his grade in his class he had to ask the professor, which the professor had recorded in a track book. It’s amazing what the difference is from education and computers from now.

            My husband just started Weber State University this semester.  When he applied for the university he did it completely online. Not once did he have to come into the university to get enrolled. He applied online and got his acceptance letter in the mail a couple days later. It’s amazing to think you can apply for a university without even leaving your home.

            I have a laptop that I use just for my schooling; I write my papers on it and do any assignments that are due on that computer. I can take it anywhere, I could succeed my education in a woman’s bathroom if I really wanted too (doesn't mean I would).  For me papers are the worst thing to do on my laptop. Thinking it takes too much time to complete. But can you imagine before writing a paper without it? Writing it in pen/pencil? Imagine your professor telling you that in this class we have a final paper due at the end of the semester and it must be 20-30 pages long. But, you had no computers and had to write it by hand.  Wouldn't one be a little overwhelmed?  I will be honest and probably cry and be a little stressed. Computers have made our speed of exceeding in our education greatly.

            While writing this blog post I have thought how computers are going to succeed the education system in the future. My children are going to have all these amazing things on the computer that we can’t even fathom yet. I am privileged for what I have been given in this day in time to succeed my education.  

Module 6

Brittney McMurray

Module

October 4, 2014

Friedman states free trade by using David Ricardo’s theory which he states, “If each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative cost advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize, there will be an overall gain in trade, and overall income levels should rise in each trading country.” When I read about free trading I thought instantly of how it would help our current economy issues. We would be opening up jobs, providing better paying jobs and building up a savings account. Imagine if we had these things happen more often now? Wouldn't you think we would be better off? Do you think we would have a more established society?

What traits does one need to have to be a so called “new middler’? One can get specialized jobs which could be working with an A-list celebrity, or being a neurosurgeon in New York City or even being a big hit sensation like Michael Jackson. They can’t be touched or as he states “untouchable”. He also states about anchored jobs, meaning jobs that are performed in person. Examples could be a plumber or a babysitter. Imagine if everyone had this mindset to get a job like this? Wouldn’t it help our economy our hurt it? I thought if we are all equals in this world would that make the world more equal?

So what does CQ+PQ>IQ mean? Well first let me fix it so it doesn’t look like a math problem (because honestly who likes math?) It means curiosity quotient plus passion quotient is greater than intelligent quotient. When I read about this to me it meant curiosity and passion are obviously greater than intelligent.  I believe passion grows intelligence not the other way around. I think people need to go toward goals more, in this day in age people believe that you need to be Albert Einstein or the highest IQ to have a good paying job.  NO! You’re passion and curiosity can get you just as far or even farther than intelligence. This section hit home with me because I believe I am not the smartest person around. But I have passion for the things I love. I need to use that passion and curiosity to my advantage. If I set my goals straight and strive to be the best I can with the passion I have, the intelligence will just grow as I learn.

In conclusion, when reading these chapters I realized these are things that can make a better world, country, state, city or population. These things can just make us better can make the economy better. Think about if our younger generation develops these skills how the world would be for them? What kind of changes will be made?

Module 4

                Who I chose to interview for this week is my Mom; she is an Administrative Assistant for Cardiovascular, GI and Hospitalists Services.  She is responsible for taking minutes for meetings, schedule meetings, lots of data input; right reports, sends lots of emails and keeps track of the director’s schedule. She has been working for Intermountain Healthcare for 20 years this Halloween. Computers have always been a huge tool for her profession. Below is some things she performs daily at work that she uses the computer to perform that task.

            When taking minutes for a meeting my mom starts by recording the meeting, and then she writes a report on her computer that went on during that meeting. She has to state who that spoke, what they spoke about, what the follow up is going to be and what the action item is going to be. She does meeting minutes at least twice a week.

            When my mother schedules the meetings in her office she orders catering, has to reserve a room, invite the attendees and do the agenda. This is all done through her computer through Microsoft Word minus the catering.  The catering is done on a catering program on the Intermountain website.

            My mother performs a lot of data entry she takes different percentages and puts them on a graph. It based on how many MRI’s, heart attacks, etc. happen in their department. The program she uses for her data entry is the Microsoft Excel program.

            She is also is in charge of the director of the department’s schedule. She schedules his appointments through his schedule in a word program. She has to make sure that everything is correct and organized through her computer program. She also has to make sure he is overbooked and is aware of any new events happening.

            Emailing is a huge part of how we communicate today. My mother does lots of emails in her office. She orders the education materials and office supplies and all of their department needs. She directly emails 5 different suppliers. Different items come from different places. She is constantly emailing different suppliers about things needed in the offices.

            About 90% of my mother’s job is on the computer. She stated that she is grateful for the technology we have today, without it she wouldn't have the same job. It would be a lot harder without the technology we have today.  Technology has made communication a lot easier in her profession. She makes lots of conference calls and web cam calls; they call people from Bear River, Salt Lake, Provo, etc. Without the computer they would be limited to the way of communicating.

            I've gone to visit my mother multiple times while she is in her office; she is always on the computer. It is true what she said in her earlier statement that her job is 90% on the computer. It’s amazing that some people could not do their job that same without computers. It’s not as efficient. 

Module 3

What is the difference between offshoring and outsourcing? Friedman states on pg. 137, “Offshoring, which has been around for decades, is different from outsourcing.”  Offshoring is moving a whole factory to different locations. Outsourcing is when you take a function that a certain company was performing in –house and giving that to another company to perform that same function.

I wanted to explore the different definitions of supply chains; the one definition that stood out to me and made the most since to me was from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/supplychain.asp their definition states, “The network created among different companies producing, handling and/or distributing a specific product. Specifically, the supply chain encompasses the steps it takes to get a good or service from the supplier to the customer. Supply chain management is a crucial process for many companies, and many companies strive to have the most optimized supply chain because it usually translates to lower costs for the company. Quite often, many people confuse the term logistics with supply chain. In general, logistics refers to the distribution process within the company whereas the supply chain includes multiple companies such as suppliers, manufacturers, and the retailers.”

Wal-Mart gained an advantage through controversial means.  Wal-Mart started by offering the lowest prices they could, it worked to their benefit. People would invest and sell to Wal-Mart because they knew their products will be sold. When a customer thinks of this store what do you think of? They think of the lowest prices possible, that’s what makes this company a billion company. Wal-Mart also is amazing in restocking, have you ever been to a local Wal-Mart store and been out of stock in something you needed or wanted? Very unlikely.

Google has affected business all over the world in a huge way good and bad. When I personally search for a restaurant in my area Google has a section where you can see people who have rated and made comments about the business. If there is an overall bad rating of a business do you think I would want to experience that? Most likely no, if a company has all positive ratings and comments yes; I am most likely want to go to that certain place. Google has made it at your fingertips to find anything out about a business. You can find location, ratings, what kind of merchandise/products they sell, and even pricing. Honestly I don’t know what I would do without Google they have made life easier not just for businesses but for many other things. I bet not one person in the time of age have gone to Google for one thing.

Module 2

Brittney McMurray

Module 2

When reading about workflow I thought of that exact word workflow, it made work flow better, made it more efficient, and reliable. It also made me think of how technology is today, machines helping out another machine, eliminating most human interaction. My example of work flow is any type of communication, its email, instant messaging or maybe the extreme of webcam. Think about communication 50 years ago. The phone and letters were the main way of communication and now “workflow” has upped that technology and probably will continue for many many years. I also think of my occupation right now, I have to constantly communicate with others who are not exactly close by. Emailing my boss, who is across town, is helping my work flow even more. It’s amazing what we can do in this time.

Open source software or also known as community developed software made me think of a concept we know as sharing or contributing. If one company downloads this certain program they can make changes too effectively to help work for them. Meaning they wouldn't have to go back to the company to request a change, it pretty much gives them full access, or like I said earlier sharing. Friedman said something in this section that caught my attention, "Not being a computer geek, I had never focused much on the open-source movement, but when I did, I discovered ti was amazing universe of its own, with self forming communities of online, come-as-you-are volunteers."

Friedman defines outsourcing as “any service, call center, business support operation, or knowledge work that could be digitized could be sourced globally to the cheapest, smartest, most effective provider.” What I got out of this section was companies that have so much incoming calls cannot answer each of these individuals they would never hang up the phone. Wal-Mart for example, if you needed to call Wal-Mart do you think you would talk to someone directly from the store? You are more likely to be transferred to a call center how has the number/employees to provide the service you request. The crazy thing is that call center might even be in a different state!  They have the technology and equipment to answer your questions to their fullest knowledge.

I am going to be honest; this book is still hard for me to understand. I have to reread a section over and over to fully understand it. What I do know Friedman is one amazing man. I can defiantly tell he looks at the world in a different way. It’s very interesting to read. Even though I am having troubles with the reading, I still know Friedman is one smart guy. Hopefully as I read on that it will be easier for me to understand.