Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Meet Ike Theodore (IT) Willis -- a New IT Hero

This video features a few separate technology innovations including Cisco Borderless Networks and Data Center/Virtualization innovations, such as WAAS, Cisco EnergyWise, TrustSec and VXI . These particular innovations are interesting due to the large amount of freedom created by these products, allowing a person to access personal files virtually anywhere, and completely wireless. Just as the video will show, such technologies may even lead to a reduced crime rate! 


Meet Ike Theodore (IT) Willis -- a New IT Hero




SAP Distribution Game

1. At the end of the game my team was able to first rise a few ranks and then in the end, again fall a few ranks. My teams ranks were between fifth and seventh place throughout the three 'days.' As far as strategy, we broke our team into three separate jobs, one person who watched over the inventory, one person to control marketing, and one person to control the pricing of our products. We based all pricing off of our sales, raising the price on those products who sold the most, and lower those of which did not sell as well. For our marketing scheme, we tried to place the majority of marketing expense in regions in which were seen to have the most profit making potential. 


2. Although the game ranked teams solely on profit, this is not the only consideration one should take into account when running a business. Profit must always be on a persons mind during business operations, but one must also take into account the building and future of the business itself. Often times, it can benefit a company to extend marketing and sales expense if there is a good possibility it will lead to higher profit in the long run. All businesses and its associates should continue to place a large amount of focus on sustainability, always questioning what will help the business to grow. 


3. Although we were unable to come out on top, I feel my team worked well together and was able to clear a respectable amount of inventory. If we were to go back, I believe that it would be beneficial for my team to place a smaller amount of focus on marketing and concentrate more on the inventory, as this seemed to be a large component of the top teams. 


4. Through the distribution game I am better able to understand the inner workings of large companies and the ways in which they move and replenish inventory. Also, the game helped to explain how companies decide how to market different products within different parts of the world. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Apple Fires for Facebook Post

After reading the article, I feel that Apple was completely justified in its decision to let go of the said employee. The company had a policy set forth of which the employee violated. The biggest question regarding ethics, to me, is the fact that the employees 'friend' is the one who showed management the post. To me, the employee should be more upset with his friend then the company. As I'm sure we can all agree upon, there are times where our job may not be be the greatest or we may be unsatisfied in a specific position, but I see no true purpose to make a negative post, which could lead to negative consequences much deeper then those that will affect the company. It is the responsibility of the employee to censor ones self through social media regarding such post. 


If I was the employer I would have made the same decision that Apple chose to make. As an employer, I would like to be able to trust the employees of who I employ, by an employee violating any code of conduct within the business, this to me, is a violation of trust, giving reason to make a necessary decision. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Decisions, Decisions...

In todays world, we are surrounded by technology that is able to help us do just about anything. Decision making is no exception to these technological advances. Although I do not personally use many tools in my normal decision making process, there are a few times when it becomes necessary. As a student here at Salisbury, we have all had some experience using GullNet which helps students to choose an appropriate class schedule, helping to decide appropriate times and days for any given student. There is many different decision making tools that can be found, a few examples are Excel, 1000 Minds, DecideIT, Expert Choice, and Logical Decisions just to name a few.


Decision making tools are used by millions of people everyday to make personal decisions as well as business decisions.

1000Minds

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Plagiarism!

Plagiarism is a problem that we have all learned about since the beginning of our academic careers. According to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, to 'plagiarize' means "to steal and pass off the ideas and words of another as one's own, to use another's production without crediting the source, to commit literary theft, or to present as new an original idea or product derived from an existing source." 


As we grow older and further into our academic lives, plagiarism has continued to rise with no end in sight. Technology has played a large role in the advancement of plagiarism as it allows students to easily access the Internet and find just about any topic one may be looking for. It seems in todays society a student can just as easily type in an essay question and find multiple links to websites of which provide students with full essays or detailed notes, making it shockingly easy for one to cheat. As well as these websites, the Internet is full of millions of online databases where all too often students are able to just 'Copy and Paste' the words of another into their own papers. 


Throughout the years, technological advances have also allowed teachers and faculty to fight back against plagiarism. Internet website tools such as Turnitin, iThenticate, WriteCheck, and Turnitin For Admissions allow teachers to precisely check the amount of similarities found between a students work to that of similar works found on the Internet. Although such sites are not always perfect, these tools have been very helpful in the battle against plagiarism. 




I was able to find much is this information through: Plagiarism.org

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Ethics of Working In The Liquor Business

For the two years prior to my transfer to the Salisbury University, I worked at a liquor store back home. As one might imagine, the role of ones personal code of ethics constantly comes into play. As I just recently turned the legal age of 21 myself, carding, and many times denying persons from buying liquor is constant judgement call. With the trust of my boss, who, along with myself, would take the hit of a $5,000 fine for any person caught selling alcohol to any persons under the age of 21, I was given the opportunity to run the cash register, leaving it up to me to decide whether or not a person needed to be carded or not.


But the role of ethics does not stop at just the ability to decide a person a legal age, there are many other rules in which accompany the role of any person working in the liquor industry. Day in and day out, I witnessed the same customers, buying the same bottle of liquor or the same case of beer every single day, at least once a day and at many times, multiple times per day. Each day I was faced with the dilemma that I am feeding the addiction of so many of these people, it was up to me to decide whether I was content with this fact.


As stated earlier, I did stay with the job for two years and still continue to work there when I manage to make my way home for the holidays. Although my own personal code of ethics allowed me detach myself from any personal responsibility of others personal decisions, it was always something that weighed on my mind. I constantly joked with my co-workers that I truly hope that there is never a point in my life where I walk into a liquor store and the person at the counter already has in hand the bottle he or she knows I will be buying on that day, as I have personally done for so many of my customers.


The liquor industry is a place where ones personal ethics will be tested on a daily basis, and it is up to no one but yourself to decide what is right and what not.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

American Education - Lowering The Bar

Throughout the years, the United States educational system has fallen behind in almost every category, ranging from graduation rates, to classroom performance. The government continues to fight its problems, as they tend to do, with money, as the United States spends more money per student then almost any other country, which averages to about $129,000 per student who completes grades K through 12.


Through the governments astounding $129,000 per student, it seems they still can't find money to pay the majority of teachers a more reasonable salary. Other countries, such as China, recruit teachers from the top of their college classes in order to better their educational system, giving each student the best possible chance to learn from the most well qualified teacher. It has been shown that the majority of students in other countries who face disadvantaged backgrounds are achieving the same success as those who do not face such problems. Also, many other countries have longer school years and shorter breaks, providing students with more time spent in the classroom, directly correlating to more time learning.


Many believe that todays classrooms and teachers are stuck in the past and are not able to keep up with the ever changing world around us. OECD Secretary-General Anger Gurria states, "They don't only produce children who know the matters by heart," Gurria said. "They're educated to understand and face the challenges of real life." As technology continues to increase in classrooms around the world, it seems many US teachers are not able to break the norm and begin teaching students the necessary information needed to succeed in the ever growing world we live in.


Through these provided links, I found some interesting points relating to this problem:

USA Today - Education

CBS News