Virtual Identity

In last week’s class, our guest speaker Erik discussed the many aspects of one’s online identity. This was a very thought-provoking discussion as Erik explained that the virtual world is constantly moving closer toward reality while the real world is constantly becoming more virtualized.

Erik definitely has some very progressive ideas when it comes to embracing new interactive online technologies. I found it incredibly surprising that someone with such widespread knowledge about privacy issues in the virtual world would so widely embrace these many technologies and services. In fact, Erik even goes so far as to allow his cell phone to be tracked by any visitor to his personal website at any time. Additionally, any visitor to his website can see if and when he or his wife is online.

Perhaps he does this just to show skeptics that the internet is somewhat safe. Personally, I think he is saying that most people already have a vast amount of private information already publically available on the internet. I think Erik is simply taking control of what information is available (albeit a pretty liberal policy on which information to make public) to the public.

Erik is definitely successful in making a clear point: we are largely limiting our virtual potential and abilities by not fully embracing virtual identities because of privacy concerns. I think he is definitely right to some degree. Employers like to try to block individuals from using Facebook at work for example. They go to great lengths to accomplish this, at a very high expense. Ultimately this only leads to poor employee morale and fosters a culture which looks to beat the system by any means necessary. Erik explains however that these services exist and are a significant part of many individual’s lives today. Therefore, companies simply can’t pretend that Facebook doesn’t exist. Instead, Erik explained that employers must separate true human resource issues from other issues (Facebook, etc.) which are beyond the company’s control.

I definitely can’t say that I’m going to start allowing anyone with an internet connection to be able to freely track my location at any given time. I still think that’s a completely insane idea. I do however have a much different perspective on what my virtual identity is, what it means to me, and how it is evolving. It definitely seems plausible that the only solution to the problems associated with new disruptive virtual technologies which we’ve been discussing all semester may be most effectively addressed by accepting them, embracing them, and using them to create value in our professional and personal lives.

My power went out again

I was working on some homework this evening, and once again, my power went out. This really isn’t unusual at all at my house in northern Baltimore County. It seems as though any stiff wind or moderate rain will most likely take out my electricity for at least 12 hours. I should have expected the same for tonight. I was listening to the radio on the way home tonight and heard the ‘Emergency Broadcasting Service’ warning of especially nasty thunderstorms which would likely produce “ping pong ball sized hail”. Well of course, just as I was making some headway tonight, it happened again.

For me, losing power is more than just an inconvenience. My house isn’t on public water; we have a well. Additionally, we have an electric stove and oven (even though the dryer and water heater are powered by natural gas… go figure). Therefore when my power goes out, I don’t simply lose my lights and hot water. Instead, I also lose everything, most importantly running water. This means no drinking water, no showers, no teeth brushing, and most importantly no toilet flushing.

I’m really beginning to wonder why BGE allows my neighborhood to go without power so frequently and why it always seems to take days to repair. Every time I lose power, it’s because of a downed tree, limb, or telephone poll. It really makes me wonder why BGE doesn’t just bury the power lines in my neighborhood. The homes here aren’t very far apart, with an average yard size of an acre or so, and there aren’t more than 50 homes in the whole neighborhood. It simply can’t be cost efficient for BGE to be constantly sending crews out in hazardous conditions (at double or triple the normal rate of pay) twice each month on average to fix the same problem time and again.

Furthermore, shouldn’t BGE be able to prioritize those areas which are most reliant on power for the most basic necessities? I know that BGE sends crews to areas where danger is more imminent. For instance, a crew came out pretty quickly in the last snowstorm because the downed limb was causing the power lines to smoke and spark. BGE should take this a step further and assist those without water first and foremost.

What really gets to me with all of this is that Comcast ALWAYS repairs my cable service before BGE restores my power. I know this because I have a TV tuner for my laptop. How is it possible that Comcast has the resources to outperform BGE in continuity of service? And since when does Comcast serve its customers more effectively than ANY other firm?

Chile Class Update

The entire Chile (non) study tour now seems more complicated than ever. Not only has missing the trip caused me and my classmates an incredible amount of unexpected work, but it has also led to the question of whether to try to go again.

Here’s where we currently stand. The marketing Chile class (my class) has been assigned an extra marketing-related project in lieu of the original trip. More specifically, the assignment is to work as a team of three or four individuals to identify a product or service void in Chile and develop a marketing plan to bring a product or service to Chile in order to fill said void. This assignment was given April 1^st and is due May 1^st. Not only is this a rather sizeable assignment, but the entire class was forced to form groups by email, very informally. Luckily, I got to know a few of my classmates before the trip, so I was able to join a great group.

For our project, we decided to focus on bringing Lowes hardware stores to Chile. We chose Lowes because Home Depot already has expanded to Chile in very few locations and has made several very significant mistakes upon which we noticed that Lowes could easily capitalize.

So thankfully it looks like we have the right recipe for successfully completing the class, but others in my class were definitely not as fortunate. Furthermore, in speaking with Kim, corporate social responsibility Chile class (my class’ counterpart) is tasked with designing a case study about an ethical issue in Chile; a country that they’ve never been to!

In addition to the newfound homework burden, the idea of a re-trip to Chile is now being discussed. Thankfully, everyone in both classes was eventually refunded all of the money toward the Chile class, less the tuition fee. So why not go?

Well, as it turns out, it’s now going to cost an estimated $600 more to attempt to go again for several reasons, mainly because the trip would have to leave during the height of the Chilean tourist season. Furthermore, the trip would still include all aspects of the study tour (company visits, meetings with MBA alums, etc.), but the trip would not actually count for any class credit.

Personally, I am all for going, even if I have to pay another $600 and wake up every morning at 7am to attend a site visit at a Chilean business. From everything I’ve heard, the experience far outweighs any negatives that have come up in previous years. I’ve already completed all of the preparation work in order to immerse myself in Chilean culture to the fullest. I can’t really see why I wouldn’t go, honestly. Hopefully the required minimum 16 students agree to try again in January, I know it would be an unforgettable experience.

A brief rant on Netflix...

For my second topic this week, I was looking through IT news articles and came across a story on Netflix. According to the article, " New Netflix deals mean more streaming movies but longer wait for 'Avatar,' other DVDs", my beloved and faithful Netflix is changing, seemingly for the worse. The article explains that Netflix is focusing much more efforts toward its streaming media service. In turn, this is obviously using capital which Netflix previously allocated to purchasing new movies on disc for distribution to its customers.

Accordingly, movie production studios are supporting this trend by delaying the release of new movies to Netflix in order to sell more retail copies of movies at a much higher profit. In return, Netflix will have license to stream much more content from the same studios.

Personally, I use the Netflix service for both streaming and disc rental services, especially since I can play streaming Netflix movies through my Xbox now; but the real reason that i first subscribed to the service and continue to do so is because I can have access to the newest movies immediately without having to leave home.

This 'evolution' of Netflix instantly reminds me of the change in cellular phones over the years. Remember when our cell phones were just that - phones? Not cameras, not music players. not GPS trackers. Just phones. I was very happy with my old Motorola Startac with its pea-green lcd screen because it worked great. I had service nearly everywhere, and the battery seemed to last forever. Of course, over time, cellular companies decided that we needed massive color screens, high-resolution photographic capabilities, and ringtones! Sure it all looked pretty cool, but none of it worked well. I remember going through many of these phones as the hit the market. Each one seemed to have poorer call quality and a battery that lasted about half as long as the previous phone.

The point is, I really don't understand why tech-related companies can't find competitive advantage in their core businesses anymore. Perhaps this makes me a 'laggard' according to Gartner, or at very least resistant to technological advancement. I just think some things are better left the way they are, like a gun or a Bic lighter. They work because they are simple and they do what they were intended to do extremely simply and efficiently.

As an afterthought. maybe this is just the result of Wal-Mart's acquisition of VUDU. I'm sure Netflix is immensely worried about competing with Wal-Mart for streaming media subscribers. In that case, thanks for messin' with my Netflix, Wal-Mart!

Online Classes

This week's blog topic has to do with online classes. Throughout my educational career, I have had the opportunity to take many online classes, satellite classes, and hybrid classes. Overall, I have to say that I think there is a huge potential for these nonconventional types of classes to be more efficient and effective than their traditional counterpart, however my experience with them can be described as mixed (positive and negative) at best.

Most of the online courses I have taken were at the community college level. At the time, it was very obvious that teachers and students were both in the initial stages of adapting to this online classroom environment. Likewise, the majority of these classes consisted of little more than an exchange of emails on a weekly basis. Basically, the instructor would give out the syllabus, post due dates on the online calendar, and the assignments were to be emailed back by the due date. Additionally, there would usually be two or three exams throughout each course. In order to take these exams, the students would have to schedule an appointment at the college's testing center within a one week timeframe, and take the exam in a strictly monitored environment. Finally, If the instructor was REALLY savvy, he or she would setup a discussion page and force the class to interact on various topics throughout the semester.

The fact is that the impersonal nature of these classes is very hard to overcome. I think for most students, online classes were the easy way out since participation and attendance was a minimal factor in grading, if at all. For others, such as myself, online classes presented a new challenge without the bias of a professor's lecturing style. I found that I truly did learn quite a bit in these classes because I was basically forced to read the book page by page, and basically teach myself the material. This really begs the question though, "why not just buy the book and teach yourself and save yourself the tuition fee?".

I think this is the real issue for the online classroom of today and for the future. Instructors need to be able to utilize the incredible efficiencies of the internet to reach students more effectively. I'm not sure if the solution lies in new software or proper use of current online classroom software.

In the past, I think institutions have relied on online classrooms as a way to enroll more students without erecting new buildings. Today however, it is quite apparent that online teaching is an incredibly competitive landscape, with new online teach institutions entering the marketplace all the time. It will certainly be interesting to see how online classes utilize IT advancements in the future. I have a feeling that traditional schools might be facing a bigger threat than they realize.

Last Week's Class Presentations

In our last class meeting, we heard from two guest speakers, Joyce and Dan. Joyce and Dan are in the unique position of being co-CIOs for their company. Since this co-CIO structure differs from the traditional single CIO model, it was tremendously helpful to have the opportunity to meet and hear from actual co-CIOs themselves.

The first speaker, Joyce, spent a great deal of time reflecting on her journey through the ranks of IT to her current position. I found it quite interesting that Joyce really focused a great deal on the importance of managing relationships within any organization. I found this to be a pretty refreshing mindset for an IT manager. So often, it seems as though IT departments become extremely impersonal. I think this is largely because IT professionals focus on projects and specifications while overlooking interpersonal interactions in the workplace. Joyce’s approach to both working and managing heavily stresses a healthy work-life balance. Again, IT professionals often end up working relentlessly to finish projects while putting their personal lives on the backburner. Throughout her career, Joyce has always made career moves and decisions based on the outcome on her family and personal life. This is really the most important lesson learned from her presentation. Unhappy and overworked employees simply won’t perform at their peak. Accordingly, these employees become difficult to properly motivate. I think Joyce is probably extremely effective as a CIO as I’m sure this mindset pervades throughout her organization’s culture.

The second speaker for the evening, Dan, had a much different focus throughout his presentation. Dan spoke to us about IT leadership models, job functions of IT professionals, and how these topics are affected by the constantly evolving world of technological innovation. Dan was perhaps in a more difficult position as the second presenter. Since our class has focused on the idea of co-CIOs throughout the semester, we were really interested to see how Dan’s ideas compared to Joyce’s, and how two distinct leaders could possibly collaborate to act as a single managing entity. I thought that the really interesting aspect of Dan’s presentation is that he explained that there is no defined model for IT management. In fact, Dan stressed the importance of finding a system which promotes healthy interactivity and communication among team members.

Overall, I think it was extremely interesting to hear both sides of the dual CIO arrangement, especially when put in perspective with what Shelley has shared with us about her perception of her organization’s management. In the end, I think the most important takeaway from these presentations is that people are capable of producing astounding results if they are not micromanaged, allowed to think and act independently, and are able and willing to communicate with peers and managers in the workplace freely and openly.

Facebook really is a threat

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing quite a bit of job hunting, and I always seem to meet people who warn me about the dangers of having a Facebook page while searching for a job. Of course, we have talked extensively in class about the many various problems associated with having potentially compromising content openly available to the public. Accordingly, I have locked my Facebook down so that I am in complete control of who sees my personal conversations and photos which I post. Additionally, companies are all taking a proactive approach by monitoring their employees’ actions on Facebook and even restricting their employees from using the service completely in some cases.

The idea that companies and organizations are actively looking at their employees’ and potential employees’ actions has really had me thinking about how these very same companies choose to present themselves on websites such as Facebook. Today, I came across an article, “Whole Foods working to curb Facebook-based scam”, which delves into the issues which companies face with their own Facebook pages. According to the article, Whole Foods wasn’t being proactive enough. In fact, someone else had posted a false Whole Foods Facebook page which offered coupons to those who joined the Facebook group. Now, Whole Foods is faced with a massive cleanup effort to mitigate the problems stemming from this fraudulent Facebook page.

This really got me thinking today about how influencial Facebook really can be; good or bad. More importantly though, I think it’s incredibly important to point out that companies have been actively policing their own employees, but perhaps they really should be doing more to watch out for more foreign threats through Facebook. Of course, many organizations already monitor and search the web and social networking sites for the use of their name, but I’m sure that there’s far more organizations which simply don’t.

The internet has always served as a forum for disseminating negative information about products and organizations. Likewise, it always seems that negative information has always spread like wildfire through customer reviews and general discussion. In the past, it seems as though companies tried to simply ignore the negativity. Today however, it is quite apparent that a dissatisfied customer can literally sabotage a company by merely posting a comment or page on Facebook. Perhaps it’s time that modern organizations recognize Facebook as not only an opportunity, but also as a very real threat. I really wouldn’t be surprised if an ‘Facebook protection team’ becomes a mandatory part of business models of all organizations in the future.

... and You Thought Wal-Mart was Already an Unstoppable Giant?

Recently, I've been hearing a lot about Wal-Mart venturing into new areas of business. I found this pretty surprising since I figured that Wal-Mart pretty much already had its hands in everything. But, Wal-Mart has managed to find a new target category: digital entertainment. More specifically, I was reading about Wal-Mart's acquisition of the VUDU digital media service in the article "Wal-Mart Picks Up Digital VUDU". I hadn't heard of the VUDU service previously, however it apparently is somewhat similar to Netflix, selling and renting digital movies on through the internet directly to specific web-enabled devices such as Blu-ray players and LG televisions.

Well, maybe its not THAT surprising. After all, I do recall a group presentation in one of my other MBA classes last semester which focused on Wal-Mart's entertainment media strategy. Apparently Wal-Mart has been phasing out DVD and Blu-Ray movie sales for quite some time. In fact, the firm has been moving toward selling only popular new release titles. Along with that, Wal-Mart has also been pushing for more Red Box kiosks in its stores. The firm actualyl makes more on its Red Box rentals than it does through traditional media sales; not to mention the extra floor space in each store. Perhaps then the move to digital media is really the next logical step.

Of course, Wal-Mart has been fiercely competing with internet wholesalers such as Amazon. One of the most recent battles between the two firms came in the form of the '$10 bestsellers list books'. With the acquisition of VUDU, perhaps Wal-Mart is targeting digital video sales before Amazon makes a similar move. Personally, I think this is a major oversight on Amazon's part as it obviously has the infrastructure to implement a service such as VUDU seemingly much more easily than Wal-Mart.

Beyond Amazon, the article also suggests that Wal-Mart is reaching even further to compete with Netflix and even Apple in the realm of digital media distribution. This certainly seems a daunting task as both of these firms are proven industry leaders in categories with which Wal-Mart has little or no experience at all. Finally, the article does briefly mention that there is at least some resistance to Wal-Mart's never-ending spread. Best Buy is now partnering with Netflix to sell digital media through its retail outlets and through the devices it sells.

This will certainly be a hot topic for discussion in the future as these developments unfold. Will Wal-Mart take over all digital media as we know it? I hope not, but I don't doubt it!

Team Building

We talked about team building quite a bit in our last class, and like some of my fellow classmates, I too have very little experience with team building exercises. In fact, the closest I would say that I've really come to participating in this type of activity would be in putting together and motivating teams as a business development counselor. In this role, I was a project manager charged with making sure the overall project met its various deadlines. This could mean licensing, obtaining permits, obtaining funding, writing plans, etc. The real challenge here though was never delegating responsibility; that part was usually pretty obvious as each team member was brought on to the project because he or she specialized in a specific aspect of the project. The challenge was setting timeframe goals for these projects and finding ways to motivate the many team members to strive to meet these goals.

One example that really comes to mind when I think of teambuilding has to with an urgent-care medical center which I was helping an entrepreneur to establish. The overall team for the project invloved the entrepreneur, building engineers, bankers, medical association representatives, marketers, and myself as a consultant. I found it extremely difficult from the onset of this project to coordinate the efforts of all of the parties involved. In truth, the team really had no sense of direction as each person had his idea of what was most important and how it should be done.

I eventually came to the conclusion that the entrepreneur would have to assume a leadership role in order to properly motivate the rest of the team. After all, it was ultimately his business in question, he just didn't know where to begin. I helped him setup and actually write down specific goals for each inidivdual to complete by a given date. Beyond that, I found that the best way to accomplish these goals was always to promote inter-reliance among team members. To accomplish this. we formed two separate 'subcommittees' . This was nothing official, but it meant that people on the business end (marketers, bankers, counselors) could collaborate and focus on business-related objectives without wasting the time of the others in the group. Likewise the engineers, medical association reps, and the entrepreneur (he was a doctor) could focus on the medical-related issues together. These 'subcommittees' really turned out to work quite well as the two smaller groups worked much more efficiently and the individuals within them were able to communicate much more effectively.

By the time our next monthly meeting came around, everyone had a great deal of progress to report. No longer did our meetings consist of one part of the team reporting results and passing the work onto the next team member.

Russia's Attempts to Legitimize its Internet

This week, I chose to look at the article "To fight scammers, Russia cracks down on .ru domain". I think this topic is very relevant to our class discussion with Gretchen Klebasko of Legg Mason (yes, I dropped her name again!) about the future of second-level domain sales. Additionally, I just finished a project for International Management which focused on intellectual property theft from countries such as Russia.

In the past, Russia has always been regarded as a hotbed for piracy. In my research for my project, i was astounded to find out that the Office of the United States Trade Representative specifically singled-out Russian websites as a major international concern for intellectual property theft in 2009. In fact, Russia is one of very few countries listed on the USTR's Priority Watch list (those countries which are unsafe for trade). Furthermore, one of the key parts to my research had to do with Russian websites serving as an incredibly massive black market for illegal trade copyrighted works. Apparently, these websites were so fraudulent, that many were in the business of openly selling pirated works and sending them around the world. Interestingly, this type of internet mail-order piracy is unique to Russia. Even in China, pirated works are largely exchanged in person or in a brick-and-mortar or street vendor format.

After reading this article, it definitely seems that Russia is finally taking a significant stance against piracy, probably because the U.S. did include Russia on its priority watch list only recently. According to the article, " anyone who registers a .ru domain will need to provide a copy of their passport or, for businesses, legal registration papers. Right now, domains can be set up with no verification -- a practice that has allowed scammers to quickly set up .ru domains under bogus names". In fact, it is estimated that only 23 percent of current domain database records in Russia are accurate.

Personally, I don't see how the Russian government can possibly plan to tackle this issue effectively. The level of corruption in Russia's internet domains is astounding, and I'm certain that the already well-established criminal operations will undoubtedly resist these initiatives; probably with a great deal of success. Perhaps there is significant pressure from the U.S. and other free trade nations to crack down on piracy, or perhaps the Russian government would like to actually transform Russia into a safe country with which to trade. Only time will tell, but for now I think I'll steer clear of .ru websites.

Implementing Disruptive Technologies

In helping new and prospective business owners and entrepreneurs, I think the Small Business Development Center could have really been a far more effective organization had we implemented some of the disruptive technologies discussed in class. Since we have to pick one, I will discuss the advantages already seen and possible future advantages to be gained through the implementation of cloud computing technologies. In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say that the SBDC needs cloud computing in order to survive.

The national network of SBDC's is really made up of individual economic development entities in nearly every county in the country. In the past, each office maintained an extremely small IT department; usually consisting of only one or two individuals. These individuals would then be responsible for coordinating common office technologies and communications.

During my time there, I noticed many problems and inefficiencies in this system. The underlying issue was twofold: the true power of each local office to assist its clients comes from its ability to utilize its massive national resource network; additionally each SBDC office is technically some sort of entity/arm of its local government. This meant that the few systems connecting these offices were hardly homogenous, and often greatly hindered communication. Furthermore, there was no easy way to implement a homogenous network with a dedicated universal support staff as each SBDC is funded separately.

Cloud computing really seems to be the only solution to this problem. In fact, the only real homogenous system currently in place on a national level is the client database. By moving as much IT as possible to the cloud, the SBDC could finally become a homogenous organization. A good example of this has to do with government contracting. Government contractors represented a major segment of Maryland's SBDC clients. In many situations, these contractors either need to coordinate with contractors in other states or at least need to apply for various requirements in other jurisdictions. Currently, this means that each office must prepare a mountain of paperwork describing the specific needs of the contractor, and send it to the SBDC in the other jurisdiction where the research is basically repeated. This cycle of inefficiency often continues for several days or even weeks. Moving each office's local resources to a cloud-based system would centralize and standardize all of this information, making it equally accessible from any office.

Additionally, these offices could benefit from a cloud-based email service. Since each office is a branch of local government, the email addresses for individuals working at different offices are vastly different; often to the point that new contacts from other national offices are often blocked by spam blockers. Having a cloud-based email and/or other communication system would improve communications tremendously.

Finally, and probably most importantly, cloud-based systems are financially feasible for this organization. Each office would simply have to allocate part of its budget to 'buy-in' to the system. This would eliminate the red tape currently imposed by differing local governments.

My Never-ending Jet Ski Project

I spent the week following the Chile ‘almost’ trip at my mother’s summer house in the Outer Banks. When I arrived there, I opened the garage door, and was immediately confronted with my arch nemesis of the last several years; my piece of junk jet ski.

Ten years ago, a friend of the family was upgrading his 45 foot yacht to 65 foot model, and no longer had room for his jet ski. In an act of ‘generosity’, he offered the jet ski to me for no charge, the only issue was that it wouldn’t exactly start. The ski was only four years old at the time, a ’96 Polaris SL780, and it was barely even broken in. Since I was working at a motorcycle dealership at the time, I figured that I wouldn’t have much trouble in obtaining parts and/or service advice from qualified mechanics, so I took it.

From there, I purchased a service manual and immediately began to tear into the ski, trying to locate the source of the starting issue. Everything looked new and seemed to be functioning properly, but the engine just wouldn’t turn over. At this point, I assumed that the engine must have been seized, so I decided to disassemble the motor. Of course, I found nothing out of place or broken at all, however I saw this as a major accomplishment as it was the first time I had rebuilt any engine.

Eventually, after a great deal of trial and error, I realized that the previous owner had run over a rope with the ski, and the small piece rope was jamming the entire drive train. Okay, so I found the problem, and I actually found a great deal on a high-performance replacement drive system from one of our watercraft distributors. I installed the new drive system eventually, after countless minor setbacks, and actually got the ski to run (on a trailer, in my driveway).

It was a couple more years before I actually tried to put the ski in the water and take it for a ride. I remember that first day I put it in the water, the anticipation was insane. I started it, made it to the end of the marina, hit the gas and it stopped dead in the water. I had to swim it back in; carburetor problems. I was pretty fed up at this point and parked the ski In the garage for another year, until last summer. By then, I was committed to success. I rebuilt all the carburetors myself, replaced all the fuel lines, cleaned out the gas tank, and actually had the ski running well by August ‘09 (in the driveway, on the trailer, of course).

I finally dropped the ski in the water… success! It screamed across the water at 60 mph. I ran it for 10 minutes, and brought it back in as I had to go to work. The next day, I was off work and extremely excited. I took the ski out for the afternoon. After a half hour or so, the ski shut off. Then it sank to the bottom of the bay. I had to have it towed all the way back, and once I got it on the trailer, it drained water for several miles back to my house. I knew it was done for, and I left it in the garage.

So, I got back from my ‘almost’ trip to Chile over spring break, opened up the garage, and there it sat, mocking me. It actually made me laugh, and I ended up taking it all apart again. I’m currently rebuilding the carburetors again, and I’m determined to have it running, and floating, by June. Wish me luck.

IT Issues on the Chile Trip that Never Was

As most of you already know, Loyola’s sixth annual MBA study tour to Chile was cancelled due to the massive earthquake last week. Kim and I were both on this trip along with twenty-six other students and two professors. We actually almost made it to Chile; we were roughly three hours from landing in Santiago (we were over Ecuador when the plane turned around) when the earthquake struck, ending our study tour before it began. Since we underwent such an immense deal of preparation, and came so close to going, I thought I would talk about some of the IT-related issues I saw on our ‘almost’ trip.

We first found out about the earthquake at 3:30am ET, when the pilot woke all the passengers, announcing that we couldn’t lant in Chile because the airport was no longer functional. The runway and control tower had been damaged due to a “significant earthquake” according to the pilot. At this point, I realized how reliant on information technology we really were in that isolated Boeing 767 over South America. Thankfully, the vast communication networks in place not only alerted our airline of the disaster nearly immediately, but also allowed the airline and pilot to determine the best airport at which we could land, as the plane was running low on fuel. Fortunately, the combination of on-board IT which was monitoring our geographic position as well as our fuel consumption, in conjunction with the many air-traffic control measures in the U.S. and abroad, allowed the pilot to safely return the plane to Miami. There was very little time to make this vital decision, which was obviously facilitated by an incredibly extensive IT infrastructure.

Once we landed in Miami, many of the passengers on board the flight, namely our instructors and the native Chileans trying to fly home, were desperately trying to communicate with loved ones and friends in Chile. At this point, it became apparent the cell phones and landline phones were both completely nonfunctional in Chile’s major cities. In fact, the only communication devices which appeared to be working were Blackberry phones. The feeling of not being able to communicate was tremendously humbling. Suddenly I became quite apparent that even a relatively less technologically advanced area such as Chile still had a massive investment and reliance on information technology for everyday living.

In the end, I think it was the moments in which we expected IT systems to facilitate processes, and the technology wasn’t available, which I remember the most. There were many of these on this trip due to the sudden unpredictability of the situation, but the one that stands out the most occurred in the Miami airport. There, we were re-boarding the airplane, heading back to Dallas. Since this was an unplanned trip, the airline had no way to scan our tickets to let us back on the airplane. Instead, the employees had to manually check each of our previous tickets and identification before boarding. This simple task seemed to take forever, and it was all caused by the lack of a simple IT system which we all take for granted on a daily basis.

Guest Speaker Gretchen Klebasko

In our last class session, Gretchen Klebasko came to speak about what she does at Legg Mason. Gretchen heads the intellectual property team at Legg Mason. I truly enjoyed our discussion as we had the opportunity to see more of the legal side of Legg Mason’s operations as opposed to strictly the business and marketing which we so often study as MBA students. Additionally, I personally took a great deal of interest in this discussion as so much of my professional background has been based in various forms intellectual property development and protection. There are a few points which Gretchen made on which I would like to comment.

First, I thought it was incredibly interesting to learn more about the steps that Legg Mason takes to conduct business and serve its customers while monitoring and/or limiting the divulgence of proprietary information and other various forms of sensitive information. As is the case with most modern organizations, this means monitoring the actions of employees in the digital world through social networking websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. According to Gretchen , Legg Mason truly goes to great efforts to watch its employee’s actions on these websites. This really made me think about the level of exposure we assume when we use these social networking sites. It’s not that I think that companies shouldn’t be able to look at what its employees are posting on the internet; of course they should. Instead, I’m questioning why we feel so compelled to share such intimate details of our personal or work lives with others on social networking sites when most of us would never share industry secrets other sensitive work-related information with other firms directly. So, perhaps the real goal of Legg Mason and other really any other firm which has similar sensitive information should be to foster a culture which is uncomfortable with actively using and posting to these sites.

I also found it incredibly interesting that Legg Mason has individuals, such as the one Gretchen spoke of in Texas, whom actively try maliciously pursue a firm as large as Legg Mason. Incredibly, it seems this individual was most harmful when he didn’t get his way and he began posting harmful information about Legg Mason on the Legg Mason Wikipedia page. Unfortunately, firms today must take an extremely active role in combating mere individuals in the ever-expanding space that is the internet.

Finally, Gretchen spoke about the importance of being multilingual. In all of my positions, there have always been situations in which I wished I could speak another language. Especially in intellectual property, where interpreting trademark and patent laws and precedents abroad is of paramount importance, being multilingual is truly a vital asset. Since Gretchen’s visit, I have decided to begin learning Spanish as a first step.

Webcam Spying

I've seen several news stories over the past few days about the webcam spying incident that has occurred in the lower Merion School District, based in Ardmore, PA. The article, "School accused of off-campus Webcam spying" explains this case in detail. The basic story here is that the local high school distributed laptops to many of its students. These laptops were to be used throughout the school year as a long-time loaner type program. Additionally, each of these laptops came equipped with a webcam; a standard feature on most of today's laptops.

As the article's title implies, Harriton High School was eventually accused of using these built-in webcams to spy on several of its students without their knowledge. Eventually, while spying on one of the students, school officials witnessed some objectionable behavior (while the student and his laptop were at home), and contacted the student's parents. The school even went so far as to provide the parents with incriminating pictures as proof of the behavior; "Many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors, and their parents or friends, in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress."

Thankfully, this student's parents had enough sense to recognize this practice as a major violation of personal privacy. Accordingly, this has now led to a massive federal wiretapping investigation at this particular school. Of course, the school defends this practice by explaining that the ability to remotely activate and view webcams on the loaner laptops was a security feature, to be used if the laptop was ever lost or stolen.

This abomination of socially beneficial information technology practices is truly frightening, especially after my previous blog post on cell-phone tracking. It seems that organizations are minimizing the importance of our personal privacy at every possible turn.

This really makes me wonder about any company issued device. Many of our devices which our companies lend to or purchase for us have the ability to capture sound and/or video. Perhaps the idea that the IT department at work could remotely hijack your Blackberry for the purpose of spying or 'ensuring security' isn't really so far-fetched at all.

I think the core issue here is where company/school property ends and where personal property begins. Obviously the organization which lends the equipment should have some ability to ensure the safety and security of the device (computer, phone, company car, etc.), but these measures must not undermine an individuals' constitutional rights to privacy.

Perhaps we still have a long road ahead of us in ironing out this complicated juxtaposition. Until then, maybe we should all think twice before doing or saying anything in front of our school or company-issued devices. In the specific case illustrated in this article, many of the students of Harrinton High School now keep a small piece of masking tape over their webcams when they aren't using them; just to be sure.

Getting paid to fish: Is it possible?

Since I have the opportunity to choose any topic for this blog entry, this blogger has decided that he is going to bore you all tremendously, and rant on how I could possibly achieve the impossible; getting paid to fish!

First, a little background. Since I was a small child, I have always been at home on the water. As a child, I fished in ponds around my neighborhood, and occasionally would fish with my dad on his small boat in the Chesapeake Bay.

As I got older, especially once I had my driver's license, I would spend every summer on the Outer Banks. There, I would fish every waking moment. I really began surf fishing for Spanish Mackeral and Bluefish from piers and the beach. Eventually, after meeting others interested in the same thing, I learned how to target more elusive species such as Sheepshead, Red Drum, and Speckled Trout.

From there, as I grew older and more experienced, I was invited on boat trips with others, constantly learning new things. At this point, I was now spending a rather substantial amount of money on fishing equipment. It eventually became common practice to spend $600 or more for a custom rod and reel. The cost of my hobby didn't matter to me though, I was working on a fishing pier, so I could literally fish for the better part of every day.

At that point, at around 18 years of age, I realized that I wanted to be paid to fish. In direct defiance of my parent's wishes, I began working as a first mate on various offshore fishing charter boats. I would get up at 4:00 AM daily, prepare the boat (50+ foot yachts), and make the daily 50 mile offshore trek to the Gulf Stream. I spent three summers in this exact routine, pursuing various pelagic species such as Marlin, Dolphin, Wahoo, and Tuna.

At some point though, I realized that the grunt work wasn't for me. As much fun as it was, I didn't want to bait some tourist's hook every day for the rest of my life. At this point, I had several close friends who were all in basically the same position, and we each took different paths.

Justin's parents own a chain of incredibly lucrative tackle shops in North Carolina, so he's pretty much set, aside from an undergraduate business degree which his parents required. Likewise, Ketch's parents are filthy rich and bought him a 70ft yacht and a house in Tortola; he's now living the life. Jack decided to work in restaurants for the summer and move to Bali for six months each year, fishing and surfing. Andrew joined the coast guard and now captains a 40ft cutter in Oregon, he's on the water every day and loves every minute of it. So that leaves me.

I'm now about to graduate with my MBA, and I have a strong background in marketing, intellectual property, and project management from my work and educational experience. So where do I go from here? I've thought about working for a fishing manufacturer in product development in some capacity perhaps, or even as a marketing rep for a boat manufacturer, but I just haven't come across the right position. Well, I'm not giving up on the dream yet. See you guys on the water!

Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking

Since this week’s topic had to do with the legal implications of IT, I really started to think a lot about what our government does to monitor our daily actions. At what point does our government’s utilization of IT to maintain security become unethical and too invasive? The article, “Justice Dept. defends warrantless cell phone tracking” really sparked my interest in this topic. Of course, this article is referring to the built-in GPS capabilities of cellular phones, and the legality behind the accessibility of this information to law enforcement agencies. More specifically, there are two forms of cell phone tracking; retrospective and prospective. Retrospective tracking utilizes historical data kept by mobile providers, and isn’t very detailed. In contrast, prospective tracking is very detailed (roughly accurate to a city block) and “reveals the minute-by-minute location of a mobile device”.

According to the article, the United States Department of Justice is now asking U.S. federal courts to allow the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to have relatively open access to individual’s cellular phones for the purpose of tracking the whereabouts of that individual. The rationale here is that “there is no constitutional bar to acquiring routine business records held by a communications service provider “. Additionally, such law enforcement agencies are already permitted to use tracking devices without first obtaining a search warrant.

I think we all knew that this issue would arise before too long since so many individuals have cell phones, the majority of which can be easily tracked with satellites. Personally, I am vehemently against our government being able to access our location through our cellular phones. I certainly never agreed to this when I purchased my cell phone. That said, I also definitely want some government agencies to be able to track my location. Obviously, I want emergency services to be able to locate me if I am ever lost or stranded, and cell phone tracking could very easily facilitate this.

Despite my disdain for warrantless cell phone tracking, perhaps it is necessary. Perhaps we shouldn’t have this assumption of privacy. After all, cellular phones definitely make it easier for criminal to evade law enforcement. In fact, the article details two instances in which federal law enforcement was able to track a murderer and drug shipment via cell phone tracking.

Still, I believe that this issue must abide by constitutional law; specifically the fourth amendment. If law enforcement officials truly have reason to suspect wrongdoing, shouldn’t they be able to obtain a warrant to track that individual? I think my problem with this issue is that ‘big brother’ wants to randomly follow otherwise (presumed) innocent individuals. Perhaps the old wives’ tales of embedded tracking devices in tooth filliings or pennies really isn’t that far off…

Legal Implications for Government Agencies

In the past, firms for which I’ve worked have had very small IT departments, if any at all. As an alternative, I would like to discuss some of the legal aspects of IT that came up in my CIO interview. For the CIO interview assignment, I spoke with John Henderson, a network administrator for the United States Social Security Administration.

Obviously, security is a massive issue for any government organization. In the case of the Social Security Administration, extremely personal information for every single United States citizen is at stake. In fact, according to John, Social Security is constantly struggling with decisions to digitize its information to improve efficiencies given the inherent security risks of having such information more widely accessible.

Aside from this obvious threat of identity theft, John really focused on more internal security threats. For John, the majority of his daily efforts are centered on maintaining Social Security’s massive worldwide intranet. Accordingly, within this network, email tends to be the primary aspect of IT from which legal issues arise.

Social Security works very closely with software developers such as Microsoft to develop email systems which very closely monitor the internal communication among its employees. This includes scanning files to check for viruses as they pass through the network, and also even monitors written email communication for specific words and phrases which indicate illegal internal activity. There is obviously a major legal issue with regard to these practices as the privacy of an individual’s communication comes into question. Of course, all government employees realize that their actions at work are highly transparent, and Social Security is rather open about its liberal use of this policy in order to deter illegal activity.

Additionally, Social Security constantly backs-up all of its data. This literally means that the agency makes a daily backup copy of the hard disk of every single workstation (hundreds of thousands of workstations) on its entire network. This allows the agency to always have a redundant copy in case of an IT disaster. Of course, this also allows the agency to monitor each individual’s work for internal security.

For Social Security, the importance of maintaining a secure network is astounding. There is really no telling how far-reaching the effects of any security breech to this agency could be. Not only could the identity of every U.S. citizen be compromised, but the daily operations of countless federal, state, and local government organizations as well as the operations of many private firms would be directly affected as well.

Sioux Thompson's Developmental Stages

Sioux Thompson's talk about organizational development was definitely thought provoking. Overall, I found her discussion of development progression of individuals to be of the greatest interest to me. According to Sioux, there are four development levels (D1-D4). The first of these, the lowest level, refers two those who are learning a skill for the very first time(s). These individuals have a very low level of competence as they are new to the skill, yet they are very much committed to learning the skill. Individuals at the second level of development have attempted the new skill, experienced numerous failures, and still haven't learned very much. These individuals are no longer committed to succeeding given their failures. At the next level of development, individuals have learned from their failures. These individuals have not yet mastered the skill, but they have had some success. At this point, they are learning from their failures, progressively succeeding more often, while failing occasionally. Individuals at tis level are becoming increasingly committed as they see that they are capable of success. At this point, individuals can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The fourth and final level of development represents the point at which the individual has basically mastered the skill. Individuals no longer fail, are very comfortable with the skill set, and have a high level of commitment to using the new skill given their confidence.

After learning about the levels of development, we took this model to the next level by assessing what strengths and needs individuals at each level would possess. In looking back at this part of the assignment, and putting it in perspective with my other MBA coursework, I think this model is strongly correlated to Maslow's hierarchy of individual needs. According to Maslow, individuals have five levels of needs, those being (from lowest to highest): physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Individuals must first satisfy lower levels of needs in order to attain the next level in the hierarchy.

In Sioux's example of learning use a manual transmission, I noticed that Maslow's hierarchy closely fits with each development level. At the first developmental level, Sioux had both physiological and safety needs. As she obviously needed food/water/shelter before even considering driving a car, and once in the car she needed to feel secure in order to take the first few steps in learning the skill. Perhaps this safety came from the seatbelts, or the fact that she was learning in a secluded parking lot. She also needed to feel safety at the second level of development as she was becoming frustrated and losing interest. If she didn't feel safe at this point, she would surely quit. At this point, she also needed to have a sense of love/belonging from her friend who was teaching her. This kept her working to learn despite her failures. In the third level of development, she was at the point where she needed esteem. This is because she could now see that she was beginning to succeed, and this brought satisfaction and increased commitment. Finally, once mastering the manual transmission at the fourth level of development, Sioux had reached the need for self-actualization. She was now at the point that she would continue using and pursuing this skill for some higher purpose. Perhaps she would one day teach someone else this skill.

Medical Records IT.. or the lack thereof

One of my largest projects at the MD Small business Development Center was to setup an urgent-care medical center with a local entrepreneur. My client wanted his business to be differentiated as an upscale, less-stressful faciltiy. One of the major points of differentiation was that this business would charge its customers upfront in cash, and then handle all insurance claims after the service was performed. Prior to this, I hadn't had a great deal of knowledge of or experience with medical records and insurance issues, so I really didn't understand what the big deal was.

Since completing this project, I have to say that I am truly amazed at the complete lack of information technology in the world of hospitals and medicine. Why don't we have a central repository of medical information in America? It makes no sense. In fact, most medical facilities in our country only have hard copies of our medical records. This means that when a person seeks medical attention at a facility which he or she hasn't visited, that facility must contact the most recent medical provider for an up-to-date medical history on that individual. It amazes me that hospitals have such archaic records systems when CVS and Wal-Mart keep a national record of all of my prescription information; available instantly at any time.

With a centralized medical records system however, many of the current pitfalls of our medical system could be avoided. One of the major advantages is the time savings in tracking down someone's records, but the accuracy of these records would also be much more accurate as it passes through fewer hands. Additionally, doctors would be able to more quickly identify problematic patients; those patients whom frequent different hospitals and falsify information to obtain prescription medications. Additionally, a centralized medical records IT strategy would allow doctors and insurance companies to interact instantly, rather than having doctors and other medical professionals waste their valuable time in authorizing medical procedures and prescriptions.

The major downside to such a system is definitely security. Medical records contain the most personal of an individual's information, and this information could prove extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. To me however, personal medical records and information already exist and could be obtained by unscrupulous individuals with some degree of ease.

Perhaps this issue is closely tied to our current domestic healthcare reform efforts. I'm sure a more nationalized healthcare system would require such advances in information technology. Even if our country doesn't reform its healthcare system however, we really need to take steps to modernize our medical information systems for the well-being of us all.

Toyota's Recall: Leveraging IT

I was looking through news articles online for this blog entry, and I kept coming across news stories about Toyota’s massive recall. The one thing that I’ve really noticed in this developing story is the Toyota’s IT infrastructure seems to be incredibly strong. First I want to make two things clear: I’m not talking about this manufacturing/design defect specifically, but I am referring to Toyota’s ability to implement a change. Additionally, I think this is would be a much more massive problem for most automakers. In fact, I’ve worked in motorcycle dealerships in the past and noticed the general lack of IT support beyond the manufacturing stage of the supply chain.

I think the part of this story that really surprises me is Toyota’s responsiveness to the problem. After all, we are talking about a defect that affects eight of the most popular vehicle models sold my America’s second largest auto manufacturer by volume. I think most people look at Toyota’s move to halt sales and production of these models as a sign of weakness. From my past experience however, I think its complete remarkable that any manufacturer has the ability to cease its normal operations on such a massive scale and implement a change so abruptly. I recall several recalls on motorcycles in the past which were immensely more chaotic and far less organized. In fact, defects which had resulted in several deaths would take years to correct as manufacturers and dealers have minimal IT systems which could facilitate such recall. The usual recall routine involved the manufacturer sending each dealer a few of the replacement parts or “recall kits”. As customers would bring their vehicles in for repair, the dealership would literally have to fax paperwork to the manufacturer which showed that the dealership had performed the repairs, and the manufacturer would then send more kits.

In Toyota’s situation however, that is simply not the case. Toyota has in incredibly detailed and strong IT network with each of its dealers. This system allows Toyota to allocate recall kits to its dealers based on the geographic location of each of its customers. Toyota can then send each customer to the nearest dealer. Additionally, Toyota’s manufacturing facilities are also implementing advanced IT systems. In fact, Toyota’s new Texas assembly plant can stop production of any of its entire line of vehicles at any given time, and begin manufacturing any of its other vehicles in the same factory within twenty-four hours. Obviously, Toyota has a similar system for producing parts as this recall is being accomplished incredibly quickly given its scope and size.

In all, I really have to say that I’m astonished at the advancements Toyota has made in being able to utilize information technology to mitigate this problem so effectively. It really makes me realize how primitive the IT systems were which facilitate recalls in other industries (especially the motorcycle industry!).