Chapter 9 Blog

What are the ethical dilemmas associated with using facial recognition software? Is the use of this type of software really any different from a store asking to see your driver’s license when you use your credit card? Why or why not? Should the government be able to place digital video cameras on every street corner and use facial recognition software to monitor your movements? Why or why not?

Facial recognition software is a biometric software that provides identification by evaluating facial characteristics. The ethical dilemmas associated with using facial recognition software are people could be identifying you from a distance without you even knowing so. I think it is much different from a store asking for your driver’s license when you’re using your credit card because you are giving them permission to look at your identification care. I do not believe the government should be able to place digital video cameras on every street corner to use facial recognition to monitor peoples every movement. Although it would help identify people committing crimes, I do not believe they should be spying on peoples every movement.

Chapter 8 Blog

The issue of pirated software is one that the software industry fights on a daily basis. The major centers of software piracy are in places like Russia and China where salaries and disposable income are comparatively low. Given that people in developing and economically depressed countries will fall behind the industrialized world technologically if they can’t afford access to new generations of software, is it reasonable to blame someone for using pirated software when it costs two months salary to buy a legal copy of MS Office? If you answered no, specify at what income level it’s okay to make or buy illegal copies of software. What approach could software companies use to combat the problem apart from punitive measure, like pressuring the government to impose sanctions on transgressors?

Yes it is reasonable, I don’t believe it’s right for people in developing and economically depressed countries to pirate software, because it is illegal.  It is not fair to the people who are actually paying for it. One approach I think software companies could make would be to make software they could charge a price that is within their budget so they can afford it. An approach I think the government could take would be to put a software privacy on the software made in the United States.

Chapter 7 Blog

Consider an e-business like Amazon.com. Which Web-centric metrics on page 324 would be most important to it? Justify your answers. Now consider a content provider like CNN (www.cnn.com)? Which Web-centric metrics would be most important to it? Justify your answers. Why would two e-businesses have such a different focus on Web-centric metrics?

I would think an e-business like Amazon.com would use web-centric metrics that track their page such as, page exposures, conversion rate, click-through, cost-per-thousand, abandoned registrations, and abandoned shopping carts. With these eight web-centric metrics, Amazon would be able to track just about everything their customers are doing/buying on their page. For a content provider like CNN I would think the would use different web-centric metrics such as, unique visitors and total hits because then they could see the amount of people visiting their page, as well as, how popular they are compared to other news websites. They would use different Web-centric metrics because one is an online store you buy things off of and the other is an online news station.

Chapter 6 Blog

There are seven phases in the systems development life cycle. Which one do you think is the hardest? Which one do you think is the easiest? Which one do you think is the most important? Which one do you think is the least important? If you had to skip one of the phases which one would it be and why?

The seven phases in the systems development life cycle are: Planning, Analysis, Design, Development, Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance. I think the hardest phase is phase 4: development. I think the easiest phase is phase 1: planning. I think the most important phase is phase 5: testing. I think the lease important phase is phase 7: maintenance. If I had to skip on phase I think it would be phase 7 because I think it’s the least important phase out of the system development life cycle.

Chapter 5 Blog

In this chapter, we focused much of our discussions on using such technologies as B2B e-marketplaces to create tighter supply chain managements, thereby driving out costs. If you refer back to Chapter 2, another major business initiative is that of customer relationship management (CRM). How can B2C e-commerce businesses utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives? How can B2B e-commerce businesses utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives? Will become easier to harder to maintain relationships with customers as businesses move toward more “electronic” commerce? Why or why not?

B2C e-commerce occurs when a business sells products and services to customers who are primarily individuals. CRM systems use information about customers to gain insights into their needs, wants, and behaviors in order to serve them better. B2C businesses can utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives by looking at what customers are buying on the Internet, and finding similar products to recommend to them. B2B e-commerce occurs when a business sells products and services to customers who are primarily other businesses. In order for B2B businesses to utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives, they can see what businesses want which products, then sell them the products they will be interested in. Electronic commerce is commerce, but it is commerce accelerated and enhanced by IT, in particular the Internet. I think it will become easier to maintain relationships with customer as business move toward more “electronic” commerce because it enables customers, consumers, and companies to for new relationships with the new technology.

Chapter 4 Blog

AI systems are relatively new approaches to solving business problems. What are the difficulties with new IT approaches in general? For each of the systems we discussed, identify some advantages and disadvantages of AI systems over traditional business processes. Say you were selling specialty teas and had brick and click stores. Would you use the same type of AI systems for each part of your business? In what way would you use them or why would you not? Is there a place for decision support and artificial intelligence techniques in small specialty businesses? In what way would decision support add value? Can you think of how a DSS or an AI system would be value reducing (in terms of Porter’s value chain theory)? What do you see as the major differences between running a mammoth concern and a small specialty business?

The general difficulties with new IT approaches in general would be the new approach needs to be understood and accepted, as well as, people have to be trained to use the new system. Artificial Intelligence is the science of making machines imitate human thinking and behavior. The artificial intelligence systems that businesses use most can be classified into the following major categories: expert systems, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and agent-based technologies. Some advantages of artificial intelligence systems are that they can be independent, stand-alone decision making systems, or they can be embedded into a larger analytics system, carrying out and executing specific functions. A disadvantage would be a robot lack common sense. If I were to sell specialty teas, I would use the same type of AI system in each part of my business because I’m selling similar items. I don’t think decision support or artificial intelligence techniques would benefit a small business because it would be expensive and small businesses have fewer resources. Decision support systems have three components consisting of: a simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface, access to large amounts of information, and models and tools that you can use to massage the information. I think the main difference between running a mammoth concern and a small specialty business would be the amount of information is collected.