data

Data mining can be used to uncover patterns in data but is often carried out only on samples of data. The mining process will be ineffective if the samples are not a good representation of the larger body of data. Which basically means that the best way discover patterns in data is to make sure that the data that is being mined is from a large section of data. The more data that there is the more patterns there will be and the more accurate the mining will be.

Nucor Steel Vs. Just in time

Both of these articles talk about how sharing knowledge and information can be used to save on time and money, and on how if you use this effectively you can increase the money you make. Nucor Steel used the idea of knowledge sharing as a way to keep employees motivated, by giving them incentives to come up with ways to become more efficient. But the focus in the Just in Time article was more on the use of technology to cut down on unnecessary errors caused by doctors, because of the vast amount of information that is needed for them to do their job. The idea behind this is more about cutting cost on unnecessary tests or potential lawsuits.

Just in time article

This article talks about the problems doctors have in keeping up with all the information that that they need to know, and some of the problems they have with their day to day business such as ordering tests for a patient or for ordering medicine. I really thought the idea of having a patients medical history on file in a system that will alert the doctor if the patient has a history of certain reactions or other diseases that may be over looked without the alert. This has cut down on serious medication errors by 55%. The possibilities of this technology are huge, given some time it has the possibility to significant cut down costs, by cutting down on unnecessary hospital stays and future malpractice lawsuits.

Nucor steel article

This article seemed to really try to show how a company can get ahead by shifting the focus of knowledge sharing to there employees. The company was able to get ahead in a struggling industry when other companies couldn't, this is because of how efficient they were. They were able to achieve this efficiency by having a very motivated workforce. They gave incentives to their workforce to come up with different ways to become more effective in their jobs. I also like the idea that the only way that a person could get a bonus was if their group of employees reached a goal. And the managers got bonuses based on how the plant did, the plant managers bonus was based on how all the plants done in the company. This helped motivate plants to share information, if one plant had a good way of doing something they could share it to improve the other plants. I also liked how when they built a new plant they would use people from the community to build it, and promise them the opportunity to work there after it was finished. This helped motivate the builders to do the best job they could do. I think this is a brilliant way to do business, this will make the employee feel like more than a number. Other companies should look at this as an example on how to keep a motivated workforce.

1/25/2010

The term Wisdom of crowds to me can be a bit deceiving. Not every crowd of people can be wise. There are many things that a crowd must have in order for it to be considered wise. The opinions of the individual must be diverse, even if their opinion may be considered crazy. They must also have independent opinions. A group that allows their opinion to be swayed by everyone around them cannot be counted on for valuable opinions. I believe these are to very important steps in ensuring that a crowd can be more valuable than just a single person giving advice

1/22/2010

Network effects only become significant after a certain number or percentage of users log in, when this occurs it is known as critical mass. This point is reached when the goods value is higher that the price that was paid for the said good. While the growth that has occurred is good it cannot continue indefinitely, because congestion will eventually occur. Another great example of this is Ebay. If it wasn’t because of the large number of users that are on Ebay, the use of the site would not be nearly as value able. EBay also must have a large number of users for it to be profitable for the company.

1/21/2009

The amount of or type of effect that a user has on the value of service or product for other people. In simple words the more people that use the product the more valuable the product becomes for the other users. The most prime example for this has to be Facebook. Everyday more and more people create accounts on the site. This allows more information to be shared between the users. You can find friends, businesses, and even work opportunities. The more people that are on the site, the greater the chance for it to be useful to you. Facebook has became the most popular of the social networking sites, but it isn't the only one, Myspace also has a similar type of effect on users. The more that are on it the more valuable it becomes. Network effect isn't always a positive thing. Sometimes too many users can cause the site or program to run slow. I think MTSU's pipeline is a prime example. When too many students are using the site. It runs much slower and sometimes its overloaded and you can't even log in.

1/20/2010

Well today has been an eventful one, not so much for me but for the nation and the world. First, thing I heard this morning is that Haiti was rocked by another earthquake. Which, I have no doubt has terrorised the people of that country. It is obvious to me and everyone that it will be many years for the people of that country to recover. I just hope that the government for this country gets it act together to help its own people. Also today we here that Mass. state senator Scott Brown defeated Marth Coakley for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy. This will have huge impact in the senate, because it takes away the 60 Democrat votes needed to pass the health care bill. I'm hoping that this is sending a message to Washington that we will not stand by and not be heard. I also hold out hope that this will kill the Obamacare bill that I think will severely harm this country. Hopefully they will get the message, If you voted for health care or the bailout its time to get the hell out.

January 19,2010

Knowledge economy refers to either an economy of knowledge or a knowledge based economy. The main difference between these is that in the economy of knowledge, knowledge is a product and in the knowledge based economy, the knowledge is used as a tool. And our society is in a transition phase right now towards a knowledge economy because of a push towards globalization throughout the world thanks to the Internet. In this economy, knowledge is considered to be either a business tool or a productive asset.