How to make $$$$ in your PJs

The major factor, if not the only factor, for getting a college degree is to have a job.  Information technology may change the way you look at potential careers.  I am talking about “virtual jobs.”  Never heard of it?  Well you are not alone.  Just imagine clocking in to work while in your pajamas at home.  The ubiquitous nature of the internet companies will not need a physical office.  Virtual worlds like Second Life are the obvious starting point for these virtual jobs.  There are online businesses that accommodate people that play in a virtual world.  Players can buy anything for their avatar in these worlds such as virtual cars and weapons.  The virtual money in these worlds can actually be turned into real money.  Virtual worlds are not just fun and games; some universities use it to train their students.  “Medical schools such as the University of Kansas Medical Center use Second Life to simulate medical procedures.”  Dentists and can use this training technology for their profession as well.  Any position available in the real world is available in a virtual world as well. 

Virtual Law firms are another way that information technology is changing how people work.  Virtual Law Partners is a firm that only exists online.  They eliminate a big cost of having a physical office. 

ITBusiness is a website that helps companies to build virtual offices. 

“Their suggestions include: 1) hiring a virtual receptionist and using Skype for outbound long-distance calls, as well as for conference calls; 2) using on-line software, such as Google Docs and Zoho software, for word processing, spreadsheets, and other functions that can be stored and shared online; 3) using a robotic personal assistant, such as Highrise to organize your address book and to create a caseload for each of your projects; 4) outsourcing your calendar, such as Google Calendar, which allows users to see, suggest, and comment on others scheduled activities; 5) holding virtual meetings, such as on the site GoToMeeting and freeconference.com.”

There are pros and cons with everything; having a virtual office and virtual employees is no different.  Technology is constantly changing and improving, employees must do the same.  In order for a job seeker to be employable they must emeries themselves with information technology.  The future job seekers need to have the finger on the electrical pulse of this industry.  Employment and the American Economy depend on information technology.

REFERENCE

http://www.globalization101.org/virtual-jobs/

James Todd

Information Technology bringing it to you hot at Dominos

Information Technology has reshaped how successful business is done in America even our precious fast food Industry. In an Industry where profit margins are slim and competition is fierce, service based industries must be innovative and use technology to gain any competitive advantage that they can. I got the idea to write this article the last time my wife ordered pizza. I personally like Dominos when I want good takeout pizza for a low cost and convenience. I noticed the internet web page up that looked similar to this it was the first time I had seen anything like this.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=dominos+information+technology&oq=dominos+information+technology&gs_l=img.12...4054.25773.0.36759.30.11.0.19.19.0.114.866.10j1.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.ErPRMH7WpIY#imgrc=Q_7SiPm19kafhM%3A%3B7h07irfRkvLxtM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fevbdn.eventbrite.com%252Fs3-s3%252Feventlogos%252F15487947%252F02generic.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdpzitopenhouse.eventbrite.com%252F%3B869%3B280

Another time I ordered pizza to pick up from dominos I went in after work and when I went in to the Dominos to pick up I saw a ticket machine printing away. It was nothing new for me to see orders being recorded or entered into some sort of system at a fast food place but what struck me as this machine was printing away is that it was just internet orders from peoples home computers or smartphones.  It was completely automated and didn’t take any labor or man hours to take the order or record the information aside from the pizza maker tearing off the order and preparing the pizza. As each order from the internet or someone’s cell phone came in it was routed to the nearest dominos location. I couldn’t help but think as I was watching each of these orders come in it was like a cost savings to the company as each order streamlined the process and automatically recorded all data just as the customers put it in without error. This system could provide senior leadership with tons of useful information from peak order times, what promotions work best, where best to target advertising dollars or any information leadership would like to extract with remarkable accuracy. Many times in a lot of classes we talk about how things could possibly affect business but I thought this was an interesting one that I could see in my life with something as simple as a streamlined fast food order giving a pizza shop a competitive edge.

 

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=643&q=dominos+information+technology&oq=dominos+information+technology&gs_l=img.3...3468.16413.0.17453.30.11.0.19.19.0.143.431.10j1.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.7.img.rjzolBF6aO0#hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=dominos+cell+phone+order+information+technology&oq=dominos+cell+phone+order+information+technology&gs_l=img.12...64244.72238.0.75875.19.18.1.0.0.0.141.1200.16j2.18.0...0.0...1c.1.7.img.1eqxgbPfMBU&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44442042,d.eWU&fp=1f91900e7b97d3d7&biw=1366&bih=643&imgrc=ii_seRyux5a8bM%3A%3Bl4J_s8IRyQ7iLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi998.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Faf109%252Ftalkingnewmedia%252FTNM-2011%252FDominosUK-iPhone-lg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ftalkingnewmedia.blogspot.com%252F2011%252F05%252Fdominos-pizza-reports-that-its-iphone.html%3B410%3B770

Posted by: Jeremy Squires

Newspapers

With IT's advancements the newspaper industry has suffered. Can anyone remember the last time they went out and bought a newspaper? These advancements have changed us to get our information from the internet instead of reading the newspaper everyday to be up to date with what is going on in the world. Instead of wating until Sunday morning to look through the coupon book to see what all of the best deals are now we just go to the  store's website and fould out how much it is. Now all of this isn't necessarily bad it is just different and has caused many job losses.

In between the years of 2008 and 2009 there were a total of 166 newspapers closings in the United States. With all of these closings their have been many job losses. In those two years their was a total of 35,000 job losses.
If the newspapers weren't closing down then they were making cuts. These employee cuts have consisted of paper couriers, manufacturers, members of the editorial staff, and journalists. Paper couriers are given larger paper routes, have harsher penalties, and loss of vacation time. In addition to the employee cuts the newspapers themselves are also taking a hit. Because with the loss of editorial staff members and journalists the papers themselves are not up to the same quality that they once were. The manufacturing cuts have led to smaller papers being produced. IT's advancement is killing the newspaper industry, and soon receiving a newspaper at your front door will be a thing in the past.


References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/jul/06/us-press-publishing-downturn


Images from Google


Matthew Gilliam

Sharing Economy.

What would you like to rent?

          

          There is a trend developing that is known as the Sharing Economy.  With the economy in the state that it is, people are looking to save money anywhere they can.  You can find a place to stay, a car to rent, a power tool that you need for a DIY project or anything else you can think of for rent on the internet.  This "collaborative consumption" is making people with underused assets money and saving people who would rather rent than buy expensive items money.  Web sites like Airbnb, Relay Rides and SnapGoods connect peer to peer renters to the goods and services they are looking for.  It is no surprise that this trend started to take off after the financial crisis of 2008.  Technology has made it easier for people to find these goods and services that they are looking for.  I have used this type of website recently to book accommodations for an annual vacation that I take.  I saved a significant amount of money over last year's accommodations that I can spend elsewhere.  

          There are some issues that have arisen which can be expected with any new type of business model.  Some local governments are upset that people are renting rooms to people without paying the appropriate hotel taxes.  Some people have even been evicted from their apartments for violating their lease agreements by renting it to others.  Another issue is insuring property and cars that are rented to people.  It took some time for these websites to find an insurance companies to underwrite them.    

          Information Technology has made it easier for renters to find out about their customers as well.  In the past, this would be much more difficult.  Today, you can look up your potential customers on facebook and other social media sites.  You can also do an online background check to give yourself peace of mind before you hand over the keys to your home or car to a stranger.  

Question:  Would you feel comfortable renting your home or car to a stranger?  Would you feel comfortable renting a room from someone you haven't met rather than staying in a hotel?  

Sources: http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572914-collaborative-consumption-technology-makes-it-easier-people-rent-items 

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573104-internet-everything-hire-rise-sharing-economy

Help Wanted

It is not surprising that unemployment is high and the demand for information technology 

workers is also high.  The reason for this predicament is most of the workers that are unemployed do not have the technical skills needed for the available jobs and the recent college graduate does not have the work experience to fill the better paying jobs. 

Cisco is one company who is hiring.  They are taking a different approach than most companies.   They work with different universities like San Jose State University and Wichita State University.  The collaboration of company and school students can receive real world training while still going to school.  Cisco offers a certification called “Cisco Certified Network Associate.”  A person must pass two exams that cost $150 each and last 90 and 70 minutes long.  If a student passes, they will be able to apply for jobs that require that certification.  However, they will not be able to apply for the jobs that require experience. 

One company in Wisconsin had 17 information technology jobs and 10 of them were help desk support.  The entry level jobs will be easy for this company to fill.  But the problem is trying to fill the better paying senior level jobs.  The applicant needs to have work experience in network design and understand the health care system.  Where can you find that applicant?  Companies like this one face a real problem.  Because there is such a gap in knowledge and experience, these job openings can be empty for years.

Bob Knott of SWC Technology Partners said, “there’s a shortage of skilled workers across the board, not only at the entry level but at the experienced level.”  SWC does their recruiting on campuses instead of posting on job boards.  SWC hired 46 people and of those 46, only seven came directly out of college. 

As information technology changes, new jobs will be formed.  How will companies find enough candidates to fill those positions?  It takes a student 4-5 years to finish college, and companies want 5-7 years of experience.  That is roughly 10 years before a company will consider them for a mid to senior level position.  The worst part of this scenario is, technology changes all the time and in 5 to 10 years the knowledge that they gained in college might be as useless as a floppy disk is today.

How do you think companies like these will solve their hiring problem?

James Todd

REFERENCE:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/08/27/is-there-a-glut-of-technology-jobs-for-young-people/

IMAGES ARE FROM GOOGLE DOCS

BPO

BPO

How business is done

Today it is becoming increasing rare to find large businesses having complete end to end operations. It comes down to a simple fact if when someone else can do it for your firm and it is not part of your core operations it makes sense to outsource.  From an accounting standpoint it could be said that it makes sense to outsource when it becomes cheaper than your combined fixed and variable cost. In essence when you outsource it becomes a purely variable cost.

So the question then becomes, why the recent surge in BPO in our recent history. I think that the answer is information technology. I think that there has been a lot of pushback as we see jobs being outsourced and lost due to technology and this is not the first time.  I was reading an article and found out that at the turn of the century something like 90% of Americans worked in Agriculture and a lot of jobs were lost as farm machinery became more and more predominate. In the short term I think that it would be little console to those losing their jobs to let them know that the advancement would be better for our economy in the long term.

 I think that today we see history repeating itself again just re-wrapped and repackaged. As we have lost a huge amount of manufacturing jobs due to that fact it can be done cheaper elsewhere we must adapt and go through the growing pains again. Today’s IT further enables BPO by lowering transaction costs, helping supply chains, and tracking quality more accurately.

Question - How do you feel about outsourcing and do you think America should cling to manufacturing?

Jeremy R. Squires

Sources

http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/economy-market-trends/technology-has-had-500-billion-impact-nations-weal/nCXwS/

Pictures

http://www.livingarchives.ca/?q=node/318&pid=la:315&dsID=PNG

http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/feature/2242939/outsourcing-the-tax-function

Telecommuting

One new form of IT that has affected a good amount of jobs lately is telecommuting. It now gives people the option to work all day from their home instead of having to go to the office every day. This gives people the benefit of getting to spend more time with their families, use free time more efficiently, and get more work done. Employees that are giving the opportunity to telecommute are in a happier working environment so they have a higher morale and that will cause them to work harder.

 

 

According to an article done by the San Fransisco Chronicle "an estimated 1.35 billion gallons of gasoline could be conserved annually if every U.S. worker with the ability to telecommute did so 1.6 days per week."  Telecommuting would not only help the employee it would also help companies an average of $1l,000 could be saved annually from each employee that worked from home. 470,000 new jobs could be created in the economy if all of those able to telecommute. Each telecommuter would save any where from $2,000 to $7,000 a year just on gas savings. The chart below shows the total number of workers that telecommute. If their are so many benefits of telecommunication then why don't more people use it?
 by M. Gilliam






Question

Has anyone had experience to telecommuting in their work place? Was it a good or bad experience?

Sources

 http://commutezero.com/support/telecommuting/telecommuting-stats
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Group-touts-telecommuting-s-green-benefits-3286958.php
http://www.teleworkresearchnetwork.com/telecommuting-statistics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-boKXU3L-pc

 

 

 

How digital technology has changed the recording industry.

Pro Tools:  DIY recording and the end of analog studios.

         In the past, recording, editing and mixing an album was a very costly endeavor.  The picture above is of a Neve 8028  mixing board.  When Sound City studios purchased it new in 1973 it cost $76,000.  This was double what a house sold for in the San Fernando Valley where the studio was located at the time.  Today, you can purchase Pro Tools digital mixing software for $300-$600.  Anyone with a computer and music equipment can record and mix their own album.  You can purchase a complete package that has everything you need to record an album minus the instruments and computer from Musicians' Friend now for $3,700.  The low cost of modern digital recording equipment is enabling aspiring musicians to create music without the support of a record company. 

          Modern digital recording equipment is not only helpful to amateur musicians looking to record their music.  The recording industry has benefitted from this technology as well.  It used to take countless hours of mixing and cutting and re-recording tracks to make an album.  All of this was done on tape.  You were limited to the number of sounds you could incorporate to the number of channels on the mixing board.    You had to literally cut and splice tape together to make any changes to the recording. 

All of this had to be done with the assistance of professional engineers that would cost you around a hundred dollars an hour.  Today, there is no limit to the number of sounds you can add to your recording.  You can cut and add new material with the click of a mouse. 

          In 2011, Sound City closed it's doors. A documentary by the same name was released this year. Some of the most influential rock n' roll albums in history were recorded at this studio. The move away from analog recording to digital technology made it impossible for them to compete. The film chronicles the story of how the business went from state of the art to antiquated and no longer financially viable in the music industry  It also tells the story of the people who worked there that no longer have a job.     -J.Ishman

References:         
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_City_(film)

     
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173823162/dave-grohl-finds-musics-human-element-in-a-machine

http://www.billboard.com/articles/photos/features/1507485/sound-city-review-dave-grohl-shines-his-light-on-a-dumpy-mecca

 



Will Work for Food

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42183592/ns/business-careers/t/nine-jobs-humans-may-lose-robots/#.UTPOKzA4vy0

Can we keep our jobs?  That is the question on many people’s minds today.  Information technology has been increasing productivity in many industries.  Good news for employers, bad news for employees.  An article on nbcnews.com entitled, Nine jobs that humans may lose to robots, informs us why jobseekers should be concerned.  Judith Aquino exclaims, “By 2013 there will be 1.2 million industrial robots working world wide.”

 Pharmacies are one place where you will see robots sooner than later.  Information technology will make the process of getting a prescription much easier.  Computers will fill your prescription electronically and a robot will do the rest; retrieve the pills, bottling, and then dispensing them.  According to this article, one such system has prepared 350,000 prescriptions without an error. 

Lawyers are not safe from information technology either.  People can now use software instead of paying for an expensive lawyer.  This will help consumers save money if they need basic legal services.  This transition may be slower depending on the confidence level of the public.  But the savings are dramatic.  “Blackstone Discovery of Palo Alto, CA provided software that helped analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000.”

Drivers should proceed with caution if they think they have job security.  The automated car is coming and companies like Google are speeding up the process.  Google has already tested seven cars on the road.  The results may surprise you.  Those cars drove 1,000 miles without human intervention and over 140,000 miles with minor human intervention.  One day “driving” will be possible without touching the wheel.  Imagine sitting in the driver’s seat and waking up from a nap, as you look outside your window you see a semi-truck driving 60 mph with no one in the front seat.

Remember that summer job working as a store clerk?  Well, thanks to information technology, your children or grandchildren might not have that memory.  When was the last time you talked to a bank teller?  If you are like most Americans you do the majority of your banking online or through the ATM.  Store clerks will eventually have the same fate.  According to this article, Los Angeles Times reported $740 billion was transacted through self-service machines in 2010 and by 2014 that number is projected to be $1.1 trillion.

If you pay attention to the news you are aware of drones.  Drones are one reason why human soldiers will not be needed in the future.  Drones will know who to shoot and not shoot; they will know the difference between fire and no-fire zones.  A GPS signal will give them an accurate location of targets.  This will have some ethical dilemmas, and more than likely will be a highly debated topic.

Aeon Co. has developed a robot for the purpose of babysitting, yes babysitting.  This Japanese retailer made a four foot robot that babysits children while the parents shop at a store.  The age of the children was not in this article but my first thought was, how does a robot change diapers?

Human safety is important to everyone breathing.  For that reason it only makes sense that information technology would be used as rescuers.  Robots can do many things that are humanely impossible.  A snakelike robot is used to enter small spaces, using a camera it will record everything that it comes across.  This has the potential to save countless lives in an event of a building collapse.

Will information technology deliver media content in an entertaining way?  Northwestern University has developed software that specializes in machine-generated stories.  This is a simple and cheap process.  For instance, a scorekeeper emails game data, the software then spits out the game story on the computer in minutes.

Information technology has the potential to touch every job we know today.  When my parents were kids they dreamed of having flying cars.  Now that I have a child I dream that he will have a job.

By James Todd

References
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42183592/ns/business-careers/t/nine-jobs-humans-may-lose-robots/#.UTPOKzA4vy0

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA

The city of Pittsburgh has seen an 80% drop in its workforce from its peak and has been a city forced to reinvent itself. I think as technology developed the steel industry in Pittsburgh declined as well.   As Technology broke down barriers of competition to the beast that was Pittsburgh steal. Pittsburgh has taken a huge hit as have many other of the heavy manufacturing  cities located in what is now referred to  as the rust belt located in the north eastern part of the united states .  

As many of the other Rustbelt cities have been struggling to reinvent themselves in the absence of the abundant heavy manufacturing jobs of the past that acted as a sort of jet fuel to the local economy, Pittsburgh is handling the change relatively well. The story with Pittsburgh I think is not just another sob story of a dead manufacturing town or of a has been city like Detroit where there are city blocks of real estate left vacant for squatters and riddled with crime. Pittsburgh has taken a proactive lead in such areas of green technology as education, robotics, financial services, and health care. It is possible that we may even live to see day where the two words Pittsburgh and steel are not so readily connected.

 I think Pittsburgh is a great example of a city that has seen the negative side of disruptive technology  and then was able to use technology to dig itself back out to be one of the more promising and technologically advanced cities on the east coast. The new economic boom in Pittsburgh’s medical technology I think is systemic to having schools such as University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University cranking out tech savvy graduates into the local workforce, calling the city home. The Medical technology sector in Pittsburgh spans from cancer research to synthetic human plasma.

Jeremy R. Squires

References   

http://www.keystoneedge.com/features/medicaldevices0303.aspx

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-09-21-us-steel-pittsburgh_N.htm

JcPenney Closings

Google Images

JcPenney is an example of a big retail store that is having to close more and more stores due to an increase in online shopping. Shoppers can now go online and have their items shipped right to their front door. As opposed to wasting gas to go to a store that might not even be close to them and have the item they are looking for. Online shopping offers a bigger selection of items because, the items are coming directly from warehouse so customers are no longer limited by only what a certain store's selection is. They are also guaranteed to find their size, because they are ordering it and not having to choose from what is left over after other shoppers. Working in retail I see this problem occur very often.

According to Business Insider JcPenney is forecasting to close 300 to 350 stores in 2013. This will create many job losses. Jobs from the highest ranking senior manager to the lowest ranking sales associate could be lost.  Their current number of US stores is 1,100. Their on year stock performance was a -53.6%, which is the measure of the returns of shares over the past year. If JcPenney is wanting to continue their success in their stores then they are going to have to implement new stratageis.      M. Gilliam 


 Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/8-retailers-closing-the-most-stores-2013-2013-1#jcpenney-4

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fpat/3571934408/

 

 

Redbox vs. Blockbuster.

The entertainment powerhouse that was once Blockbuster is a perfect example of an industry that has fallen victim to disruptive technology in our economy.  Many of us can remember having a blockbuster in virtually every town.  Not to say that disruptive technology is a bad thing, it just changes the current marketplace to more efficiently meet consumer demands and standards of quality.  I think that we live in an age where consumers expect everything to be like Burger King, you have it your way.  Businesses and industries that can adapt to consumer expectations the fastest are the survivors.  Information technology has leveled the playing field while Blockbuster for whatever reason may have thought they were safe behind the walls of the of brick and mortar stores they built in every single town.  Now, Blockbuster is copying Redbox’s technology with Blockbuster Express.  The idea is almost identical to Redbox movie kiosks.  This is reminiscent of the narrative in our textbook of Citibank’s ATM.  Once they introduced the ATM to the industry, every other bank copied their technology.  It is obvious that Blockbuster has gone into survival mode.  One must wonder, did they move too slowly to try and catch up with new technology, or has the damage already been done?   J. Ishman