Rufus Pollock, a Cambridge University PhD candidate, recently released a report in which he calculates the optimal length of copyright protections. His report concludes that the optimal period is 14 years. Using mathematics is an interesting approach to dictating important public policy issues such as copyright law.
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1.0 Introduction: The Future Success of CICS Rests on Achieving Excellence
“Success will not lower its standard to us. We must raise our standard to success.”
(McBride, Jr.). This quote by Reverend Randall R. McBride, Jr. reminds us that success is attained through a raising of standards. I propose that the key for continued success for CICS is raising its already high standards to accept nothing less than excellence.
1.0 Introduction— Internal Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence are Essential to any Organization
Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist, wrote eloquently on the need for any combatant to obtain two types of knowledge, internal intelligence and competitive intelligence, before engaging in battle:
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle" (Giles, 1910, p. 39).
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Introduction—The Consequences of Poor Decision-Making: Surgeries for All
In a landmark study involving decision-making, researchers asked a panel of three physicians to examine 389 boys to determine if they required a tonsillectomy. These physicians ascertained that 45% of the patients required the procedure, at which point the doctors were dismissed. A second three-physician panel was created and asked to examine the boys who were previously deemed healthy by the first panel (Backwin, 1945, as cited in Carroll & Johnson, 1991).
The second panel determined that 46% of the previously healthy boys needed the procedure. A third panel of doctors were then recruited to examine the 116 boys deemed healthy by the prior two panels of physicians. The third panel concluded that 44% of the twice previously screened boys required the surgical removal of their tonsils (Backwin, 1945, as cited in Carroll & Johnson, 1991).
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Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay since 1998, is an excellent example of a woman leading her company through non-traditional means. As she puts it, "When you're trained in MBA school...you use the words, 'Drive, push, go after,' and it's not that way here" (Tarsala, 2003).
Try saying that to yourself. How does it sound? It probably sounds a little uncomfortable, a little scary, and undoubtedly a little goofy. My challenge to all CICS students is to wake up every day and say this phrase.
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