On October 30, 2006 at 4:56 PM, venerable CICS Alum Tony Piazza and his wife, Elizabeth became the proud parents of a beautiful 8lb 5oz girl named Molly Elaine Piazza. Molly was 21.5 inches long, which is very tall for a baby. Obviously she inherited this from Tony. The CICS Family continues to grow.
Jason Buie
Here are some links that have free training you can utilize to learn basic and intermediate level skills with various software. I encourage you to try various software you may be unfamiliar with in order to have a broader base of learning.
Microsoft Office 2003 Training
Traning for the entire Office 2003 suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio, Project, Frontpage, etc. The training modules range from very basic to very advanced.
ElementK
ElementK has a variety of training courses available on a wide range of software. As an additional bonus, ElementK will allow you to print out a certificate of completion. ElementK provides a gradebook to maintain track of which courses you have completed. Once you visit the site and grasp how many courses are available, this feature will seem more necessary. Did I mention this is free??
Have fun learning.
Jason Buie
Recently I had a situation where my trusty auto "threw a rod". The rod exited the block via the oil pan. As I was retelling the story, I ended by saying that ultimately my car would need a new motor. At this point, the gent I was speaking with began to explain that there is a distinct difference between a motor and an engine. The end result of which, I stood corrected in needing a new engine for my car, instead of a new motor.
I was a bit fascinated and somewhat humbled that I have been around cars all my life, I even work as a designer in an automotive plant, and have never distinguished between the two terms. I began to wonder what other terms I have been using incorrectly. Then I conducted some research. I found an interesting article called, "Engine and Motor- Two Closely Related Words Investigated." This article provides the etymology of the words and is quite a scholarly piece.
A lot of people probably don't care if they are using the right word or not. But as a professional, it is imperative to have a precise vocabulary. It can literally make the difference in what job opportunities are available to you in the future. If you are talking to some rednecks who are pulling an engine out of a truck using a tree and "come-along" winch as a hoist, then it probably don't matter if you refer to the device as a motor. However, if you are interviewing at General Motors for the Chief Information Officer position, then it may be wise to use the correct terminology.
You have to decide what level of professional behavior you are content to exhibit.
Jason Buie
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the new wave of the future in upcoming technologies. IMS promises to deliver a total integration of all voice, date, and video services. Here are some resources that can be utilized to gain a further understanding of the subject. Who knows you may want to make a presentation on the subject of IMS someday?
Read on for the resource list...
Jason Buie
IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM (IMS)
Resources
IMS FLASH- Watch this presentation and it tells all. Would make a good intro piece for presentation. This is Motorola site- and advertises, but this is a very good presentation for understanding and overview.
IMS- International Engineering Consortium
"IP Multimedia Subsystem IMS Overview and Applications" Whitepaper
"IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Service Architecture" Whitepaper
I have located some excellent material that I believe explains much of the 620 information in a way that is easier for many to understand. Check it out and see what you think.
Surprisingly enough, this site is published by the Department of Transportation. Don't be fooled by who publishes it. This is the real deal. It is fairly comprehensive and provides a thorough explanation of many difficult to understand concepts.
The link is: Telecommunications
Another interesting site is Cisco. You may recognize some of the slides. WHERE ARE THE REFERENCES???
Cisco has at least two good resources. The Cisco site is extensive, so there may be more valuable resources buried beneath the many layers. Here are the two I have found:
1. Internetworking Technology Handbook
2. Glossary
Telecommunications as presented by Dr. Leroy G. Williams. This has different slides and he uses a different teaching methodology. Check it out.
Link: Dr. Leroy G. Williams Telecom
I hope this helps you as it has me.
Jason Buie
Management styles from 1982- “NO WAY are they relevant in today’s workplace!”, “The workplace has changed too much since then.”, “This company still thinks it is 1982.” These are a few of the comments I received while talking about this subject at Borg-Warner, where I work.
Borg-Warner is an old company, the company dates back to 1880 with 2005 revenues totaling $4.3 billion....
Are 1982 Management Issues Relevant in Today’s Workplace?
Jason Buie
Ball State University
August 2006
ARE 1982 MANAGEMENT ISSUES RELEVANT IN TODAY'S WORKPLACE?
Management styles from 1982- “NO WAY are they relevant in today’s workplace!”, “The workplace has changed too much since then.”, “This company still thinks it is 1982.” These are a few of the comments I received while talking about this subject at Borg-Warner, where I work.
Borg-Warner is an old company, the company dates back to 1880 with 2005 revenues totaling $4.3 billion. (Borgwarner.com. 2006). To the casual observer, Borg-Warner appears to be an outstanding company with tremendous potential. However, an insider sees a different story. At the Muncie plant there is a laizzez-faire management style (Taking into account this may not be the situation at all plants, and may partially be due to union regulations). Many feel this is why the Muncie plant is in danger of closing down. The recent wave of layoffs and downsizing indicate that many problems need resolution using different management methods than in the past.
The book, In Search of Excellence (Peters and Waterman, 1982) could be outdated material due to the date it was written. However, it embodies many similar principles that are expounded in recent books on management styles. The Eight Attributes (pp. 13-15) are as relevant today as they have been at any time in the past. These universal management truths are a Bias For Action, Close To The Customer, Autonomy And Entrepreneurship, Productivity Through People, Hands On Value Driven, Stick To The Knitting (Stay With What You Know Best), Simple Form With Lean Staff, and Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties.
Another important part that the text discusses is The Action Orientation (pp.154), citing this as the most important trait. The action orientation means the company focuses primarily on doing and taking action. The quote, “If you’ve got a major problem, bring the right people together and expect them to solve it.” (pp. 155) sums up the action orientation nicely.
The book Good to Great (Collins, 2001), espouses a similar management philosophy using the same approach. Both books studied companies that were successful in an attempt to glean certain management’s truths that were common to the best of the best using applied research methodologies. Jim Collins additionally studied “comparison companies” that served as a control variable. It is of note that both books focused on the top successful companies in conducting their research. Peters and Waterman focused on 75 companies while Collins focused on 28 companies, each with a comparison company, for a total of 56 companies studied. Such an assortment of companies in the study provided a broad sample to culminate data.
The focal point of Collins’ approach is “Level 5 Leadership”. A hierarchical pyramid of leadership levels is laid out in detail with Level 1 Highly Capable Individual, Level 2 Contributing Team Member, Level 3 Competent Manager, Level 4 Effective Leader and finally, Level 5 Executive. (pp.20). Collins states, “Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company.” (pp. 21)
There is likewise a framework of timeless concepts embodied in this book. First Who…Then What embraces “having the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats- and then they figure out where to drive it.” (pp. 13). Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith) means to always believe you can succeed but deal with reality too. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles) focuses on three questions. What are you deeply passionate about? What can you be the best in the world at? And what drives your economic engine? (pp96). A Culture of Discipline where the values of self-responsibility are embraced to such a point that hierarchy, bureaucracy, and excessive controls are not needed. The concept of Technology Accelerators, where technology is never considered the primary factor in success or failure. And The Flywheel and the Doom Loop where great companies are built like a flywheel gaining momentum with each turn, rather than all at once.
The concepts that are advanced in both books share many similarities and with few variations are preaching the same gospel. This continuity from 1982 to 2001 in management principles that have remained in such a wildly changing economy and global marketplace further show the timeless and universal nature of these concepts. Peters highlighted an additional point that is interesting to note, which also falls in line with the “DO” theme of both books, that “Japan doesn’t have business schools.” (pp. 5). The Japanese have refined their management techniques through work- they are tempered in the factory as a sword is tempered by the flame.
As a future executive of the information and communication industries, it is of high importance to embrace these concepts, and put them into practice. I have embraced the Action Orientation of putting these concepts into use at my workplace in order to better understand and further utilize them. Further learning on management principles completes the circle with praxis through an understanding of the theory and a practical application of management values.
It is an amazing fact that such management “technology” and learning is widely available yet is not embraced by more companies. The same contradiction is involved with the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards- which are a collection of the “best of the best” quality and environmental standards. Surprisingly, many companies do not adopt these. Perhaps the future will make or break such organizations forcing them to get on board or get off the bus.
References
2005 BorgWarner Annual Report. Retrieved August 31, 2006 from http://www.borgwarner.com.
Collins, J. (2001). Good To Great. New York; Harper Collins.
Peters, T. J. & Waterman Jr., R. H. (1982). In Search of Excellence. New York; Warner Books
This paper explores the quandary of human communication. Human communication is a term that escapes an easy definition. Thus, it becomes necessary to elaborate on the phrase in order to explore the meaning, as understood from the standpoint of society as well as that of the information and communication scientist.
THE QUANDARY OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
The Quandary of Human Communication
Jason Buie
September 2006
Ball State University
Abstract
This paper explores the quandary of human communication. Human communication is a term that escapes an easy definition. Thus, it becomes necessary to elaborate on the phrase in order to explore the meaning, as understood from the standpoint of society as well as that of the information and communication scientist.
THE QUANDARY OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Human communication is a term that has a dynamic definition, escaping the traditional means used to define a phrase. There are likely as many definitions of human communication as there are humans to communicate the definition. It seems each person has a different synthesis of the elements involved in defining the phrase. There is a quandary among people as to an exact definition of human communication. Quandary is defined as, “a state of perplexity or doubt.” Thus, this paper is aptly titled, “The Quandary of Human Communication” to reflect the perplexing nature of the phrase.
In the ICS 602 Human Communications seminar last week (8/22/06), we discussed over 30 individual components of communication. The list covered the entire spectrum of human communication. However, this list was not complete. Likely, it was only the proverbial “tip of the iceberg”. Future seminars will provide more insight and specificity to this area and our individual definitions will build and become more comprehensive.
“Communication is difficult to define…There are 126 definitions of communication listed in Frank E. X. Dance and Carl E. Larson, The Functions of Human Communication: A Theoretical Approach (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1976), Appendix A.” With so many varied definitions, it is easy to see what a quandary the definition of human communication can be.
A good working definition of human communication is the architecture of human verbal and nonverbal communication with the proper volume, tone, intonation, and clarity transmitted through a medium with a minimum of disturbance, noise, and distraction to an attentive, listening receiver. It also would need to encompass the appropriate diction, syntax, context, meaning, significance, timeliness, emotion, emphasis, importance, rate, and speed. This could include gestures, facial expressions, looks, eye configurations, and appearances. It is of great importance that the transmission and reception of a message takes place in an understandable language and accent for optimal understanding.
An interesting aspect of human communication is when it is used for entertainment purposes through itself. Human communication entertainment would comprise a vast array of various media and art forms. Music of any style, television, talk radio, lectures, speeches, comedy, karaoke, and poetry reading are a few examples of the entertaining facet of human communication.
Art itself would be an example of human communication, whether through painting, theater, acting, sculpture, or origami. The “litmus test” of art is the message it conveys when measuring the value of a work. Many artists spend a lifetime in an attempt to capture and convey their attitude and philosophy into some medium whereby others can comprehend the plethora of emotions that comes from being misunderstood.
Another area of some import (the reason we are all alive) is that of human communication in dating and mating. The traditional verbiage about a first impression taking 5 seconds is being contradicted by new scientific studies done at Princeton University. “As minimal an exposure time as a tenth of a second is sufficient for people to make a specific trait inference from facial appearance. Additional exposure time increases confidence in judgments and allows for more differentiated trait impressions. However, the judgments are already anchored on the initial inference” This research is shedding new light on the dating and mating ritual and “love at first sight”. It is of particular concern for the scientist studying human communication to understand that so many judgments are formed entirely on nonverbal communication occurring in the first tenth of a second upon meeting a new person.
Amazingly, all forms of communication still adhere to the Mathematical Theory of Communication as advanced by C.E. Shannon in 1948. Shannon advanced that the information source sends the message through a transmitter that transmits the signal (through noise) to the receiver, where the message reaches its destination. Fifty-eight years later, despite quantum leaps in the technology of communications to the point where the entire world can be accessed at the touch of a button, it all still occurs within the parameters of Shannon’s theory.
This definition is one that is workable in the context of Human Communications seminars. Certainly it will be added to, extrapolated, and expounded upon throughout the semester, by the end reaching a more concise and specific definition that the CICS geeks can carry through life and use in their particular line of business.
References:
Merriam-Webster. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (pp. 1017). Springfield: Merriam-Webster Inc.
Littlejohn, S.W. (2001). Theories of Human Communication. (pp. 6, footnote 15). Albuquerque: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Todorov, A and Willis, J. (2006). First Impressions: Making Up Your Mind After a 100-Ms Exposure to a Face. Association for Psychological Science, Volume 17—Number 7. (pp.592). Princeton University
Shannon, C.E. (July 1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communications. Bell System Technical Journal. (pp379-423). Volume 27
The focus of this case study is “The Intelligent Book”, a paper dealing with the hypothetical MBY Telephone Company. MBY has implemented an intelligent book format covering their service information manual, which includes all information a technician needs in the field. The advantages of a digital format include the ability to continually revise and update the information in order to enhance the productivity of the service technicians. Also, of particular importance would be the ability to amass data that could be researched. This research would lead to findings that would serve to further improve the processes and ensure a smoother operation overall.
Case Study: “The Intelligent Book”
Conducted for ICS 644
Jason R. Buie
Center for Information and Communication Sciences
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306
Email: jasonbuie@comcast.net
June 2006
Abstract
The focus of this case study is “The Intelligent Book”, a paper dealing with the hypothetical MBY Telephone Company. MBY has implemented an intelligent book format covering their service information manual, which includes all information a technician needs in the field. The advantages of a digital format include the ability to continually revise and update the information in order to enhance the productivity of the service technicians. Also, of particular importance would be the ability to amass data that could be researched. This research would lead to findings that would serve to further improve the processes and ensure a smoother operation overall.
1. Introduction
There exists a need to conduct usability studies at the MBY Telephone Company in determining the effectiveness and feasibility of maintaining or further developing an intelligent book. This intelligent book would contain the service information manual in digitized format that could be easily searched, referenced, updated automatically, and data compiled from the system-wide usage of this media manual.
In order to effectively undertake a usability study, it first becomes necessary to define the term usability. Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use. The word "usability" also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process.
(Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, August 25, 2003 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html).
2. Research Methods
In the evaluation of this case study, we will answer three questions, as follows:
(1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an electronic versus print medium for delivering and working with documents/books/manuals/etc?
(2) In the digital environment, what range of information can be captured about documents/books/manuals/etc and their usage?
(3) What is the potential use of this information?
These questions are posed by Professor Bellaver in order to more effectively evaluate possible solutions.
3. Review of Literature
In thoroughly understanding the nature of the intelligent book, digitized media, and the field of knowledge management, it was necessary to review certain literature. This review included two texts.
First reviewed was the Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management Of particular note in this work was the following quote that emphasized that technology must meet the needs of the customer, “…our future competitive advantage will depend not just on selling information-technology products to customers. It will depend on co-producing these products with customers- customizing technology and work practices to meet their current and future needs.” This is relevant to the situation with MBY where the brilliance of using the digital media will be to enhance and customize the technology to meet the customer’s needs. (Page 157. Harvard Business School. 1998)
Second in review was Knowledge Management Strategy and Technology. The structural processes involved and the subsequent use of the data gleaned are summed up well.
Further investigation and application of qualitative research into the human element of information technology deployment may give a different perspective about how system installations or upgrades could be handled and eliminate some of the user challenges associated with information technology.
(PAGE 73-74, Bellaver and Lusa. 2002)
There exists a great deal of information on the subject of knowledge management as it applies to the use of digitized media in the service industry. The summative context of the information entails that the global marketplace requires rapid changes in a company as technology increases and methodologies improve. One way to ensure this occurs in a rapid manner it with the utilization of the intelligent book.
4. Questions
(1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an electronic versus print medium for delivering and working with documents/books/manuals/etc?
(2) In the digital environment, what range of information can be captured about documents/books/manuals/etc and their usage?
In the digital environment, the entire range of information can be captured about documents/books/manuals, etc and their usage. The entire range varies depending on what type of material is being looked at. Say for instance, a design drawing could be referenced, changed, and resaved with the corrected dimensions being forwarded to the master copy and redistributed to all technicians. While a manual could utilize printed text, design drawings, technical specifications, troubleshooters, order of operations checklists, and so forth.(3) What is the potential use of this information?
The potential use of this information would be to enhance and continually improve the company, the technician’s skill sets, repair effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. Through the management strategy of continuous improvement, all phases of the service call could potentially be improved upon through the use of digital media. The data compiled would allow for more effective organization of the manuals. Perhaps the most universally used pages would be included in a quick-reference page with links to the information. The most relevant data would be decided through knowing which pages the technicians used the most. This data would also allow for the retirement of information that was never accessed. The data would also provide a formative evaluation of what was working, what was clear to understand, and what could be improved upon.5. Conclusion
The advantages of changing over to digital media are too many to simply overlook or ignore. Many will hold steadfast, claiming the tried and true “hard copy” has greater reliability. While the overall reliability will be better with the digitized format because the focus is for total customer satisfaction, which can only be brought about by a process of continual improvement. With the digitized format, data can be acquired that can further be quantified and researched to see the “big picture” and take the necessary steps to remain competitive. The conclusion of this case study is therefore that MBY Telephone Company would experience enhanced customer service response with the conversion to digitized media format for all documents/books/manuals, etc.
Greetings and Salutations from CICS World.
SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS (free and trial)
AntiVirus/ Malware
Symantec Corporate AntiVirus: This site will allow you to download and install the Corporate Edition of Symantec AntiVirus software to your local computer system.
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps2/av/
Crap Cleaner: Free software that keeps your computer clean of junk files, also has a powerful registry cleaner- all for free.
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/
SpoofStick: SpoofStick is a simple browser extension that helps users detect spoofed (fake) websites. It is free. Spoofstick has different versions for Ieexplorer and Firefox.
Ieexplorer http://www.spoofstick.com/internet_explorer.html
Firefox http://www.spoofstick.com/firefox.html
Office
Microsoft Office 2003: Microsoft Office Professional is available free for download. Microsoft Office includes: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access.
http://www.bsu.edu/webapps2/software/microsoft/
Microsoft Office Visio: This Microsoft product is available for a 60 day trial download at no charge.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/visio/prodinfo/trial.mspx
Microsoft Office Project: This Microsoft product is available for a 60 day trial download at no charge.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/prodinfo/trial.mspx
File Storage:
ILocker: iLocker is the hosting platform for individual storage services at Ball State University. Faculty, staff, and students with BSU Computer Usernames may create their own iLocker site to securely store academic or personal information. Each storage site, by default, may contain up to 2 GB of information.
http://ilocker.bsu.edu/