Data Rights

What kinds of rights should we have when dealing with systems that gather our data?  Does this mean we should not accept agreements that do no make this clear?   Thoughtful piece in ReadWriteWeb  It would be useful to have data access rights stated in in terms of these categories.  Simply put, give us access to our data, enable us to use it for our own purposes, and give us ultimate control of that data.  There is a long path to having all of that consistently.  It is also more than just rights for data portability.

PayPal Tries EWallets

The method uses text messages to transfer payments.  The article goes on to provide a good overview of the current market, tests underway, and the belief by many that NFC will emerge as the standard for contactless payment via cellphones.

 " With the acquisition of Fig Card PayPal is laying down a marker that the pioneer in disruptive payment won’t be left behind in the coming e-wallet revolution. The still arguably pre-nascent business is attracting new big tech players, like Apple and Google, while the traditional credit card players move towards creating systems that would make your smartphone your credit card ... "

Decline of Manufacturing

MJ Perry on a global trend of a decline in manufacturing.  Though with population increasing don't we still need to have more things to be manufactured?   Very interesting statistics.

Examining A Measure of Social Connectivity

In Roughtype:  A look at a study that generates a measure called NFC, or 'need for cognition', which is ' ... "a recognized indicator for deep or shallow thinking." People who like to challenge their minds have high NFC, while those who avoid deep thinking have low NFC. Whereas, according to the authors, "high NFC individuals possess an intrinsic motivation to think, having a natural motivation to seek knowledge," those with low NFC don't like to grapple with complexity and tend to content themselves with superficial assessments ... '.    The study looks at how users of social networking are classified with this measure.   The measure itself was new to me.

IBM and Yale Team Up to Teach Analytics

Business intelligence professionals are needed and companies and schools are seeking to provide the analytics training.  Includes a video.

Augmented Reality in the Workplace

In ReadwriteWeb:  Some thoughts about the value of using AR in the workplace.  I agree, there is more opportunity there, since at least currently, there tends to be more standardization in a work environment, and more leverage in making it more efficient.  Good thought provoking piece. The library shelf stocking example is a good one I have mentioned before and can see it reapplied.

Visualize This

FlowingData previews the book: Visualize This. " ... The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics   A book by Nathan Yau who writes for FlowingData, Visualize This is a practical guide on visualization and how to approach real-world data. The book is published by Wiley and is available for pre-order on Amazon and other major online booksellers. Available July 2011 ... "

How to Build Confidence

In the HBR Blog: How to Build Confidence. " ... Very few people succeed in business without a degree of confidence. Yet everyone, from young people in their first real jobs to seasoned leaders in the upper ranks of organizations, have moments — or days, months, or even years — when they are unsure of their ability to tackle challenges. No one is immune to these bouts of insecurity at work, but they don't have to hold you back.... " .  Confidence is important, and you also have to know what you are doing. 

Open Data, Predictive Analytics and Visualization

Good piece. Getting all the proper pieces together, making it easy to do, and then being able to interact with multiple sources, kinds and aggregations of data can be a game changer.

Gamifying Mundane and Innovative Processes

Lauren Carlson contacted me a few days ago to point out some posts in her Software Advice blog.  She originally posted a very good introductory note about the idea of Gamification for sales force automation.  In particular looking at the aspects  of using badge type rewards.   Not an area where we had tried to use the idea.  I have mentioned we had used the general gamify idea for solving tough problems which could use human interaction to generate alternative innovative solutions.  Most were adopted later by altering them using design considerations.

Then Vincent Beerman, followed with some more useful ideas about the concept,  he is the Director of Development for SpectrumDNA, a Social Loyalty and Gamification Agency. Spectrum designs and builds Social Loyalty Programs (SLPs) that drive profitable transactions by fusing classic loyalty mechanics with game dynamics into apps that ignite the social graph.  This work was new to me.

Altogether the beginning of an interesting conversation.  Beerman writes:

 " ... By applying game dynamics to SFA (sales force automation)  initiatives, managers can highlight the intrinsic rewards of helping others on the team through social indicators while providing the right extrinsic rewards for more mundane tasks. The rank and recognition game mechanic has driven the success of eBay, iTunes and Stack Overflow.   ... Gamification does not mean ‘to make a game.’ The art of gamification leverages the science of human motivation to highlight intrinsic motivators and supplement measurable action with extrinsic rewards and recognition in order to optimize experience and productivity. ... "

Read the whole thing, very good, a manifesto for those seeking to sell management on Gamification.  Not always easy.  I am struck to how much gamification can take up some of the aspects of industrial simulation and predictive analytics.  Its all about applying abductive methods to test out new, innovative methods that exist, un harvested,  in the minds of all our employees. Extracting them can be made to be fun.

Am continuing an exploration of the topic of gamification, more will be posted here in the coming week.  Want to collaborate in further evolving the use of gamiication in the enterprise? Join in the comments if you like.

Flypaper

Just exploring Flypaper: " .... Software anyone can use to create professional quality multi-touch, interactive or motion graphics content in one-sixth the time and expense  ... ".  Looks to be very good and easy to use so far.  More experience notes to follow. See also their blog.

Payday Timing

Roger Dooley posts: Walmart CEO confirms Payday Timing Effect.  Was thought to be common knowledge, but had never seen a specific 'proof' of the effect.  Though this is a simple case, is an example of how an analytically armed retailer can track many aspects of consumer behavior.

EmPower Background

Recently I had a meeting with EmPower, custom market and media intelligence services company.  Here is an overview of their background and services.

Kevin Emmons EKR Blog

Newly discovered blog by Kevin Emmons  (Link removed) that covers, among other things, neuromarketing. Most recently: Android Phones Using Neuromarketing, where he talks about the strategies in the Droid and IPhone marketing campaigns.  (Links removed, blog is defunct)

Open Access Book: Ubiquitous Computing

We already live in a world where there is ubiquitous computing. Yet there are many complex challenges to combine,  direct and have ubiquitous computing ideas link with a broad range of sensors, environments, people and other computing devices.   More here with a free download.

Edited by: Eduard Babkin

The aim of this book is to give a treatment of the actively developed domain of Ubiquitous computing. Originally proposed by Mark D. Weiser, the concept of Ubiquitous computing enables a real-time global sensing, context-aware informational retrieval, multi-modal interaction with the user and enhanced visualization capabilities. In effect, Ubiquitous computing environments give extremely new and futuristic abilities to look at and interact with our habitat at any time and from anywhere. In that domain, researchers are confronted with many foundational, technological and engineering issues which were not known before. Detailed cross-disciplinary coverage of these issues is really needed today for further progress and widening of application range. This book collects twelve original works of researchers from eleven countries, which are clustered into four sections: Foundations, Security and Privacy, Integration and Middleware, Practical Applications.

The Consumer Still Needs to be Touched

The sense of touch is nicely brought up in this interview with Estee Lauder.  While vision is by far the most important sense interacted with in the computer age, there is still great power in the other senses as well ...
" ... Estée Lauder -- the $7.8 billion cosmetics and beauty products giant founded in 1946 -- has grown to more than 25 brands in 140 countries. The company clearly knows its customers, 95% of whom are women. In a recent interview with Knowledge@Wharton, William Lauder, the company's executive chairman and the grandson of founder Estée Lauder, discussed the challenges of working in a family-owned business, the company's global growth aspirations and why the key to success is "getting women to put their hands together." ... '

The Retailer: Supply Chain's Last Mile: Workshop May 6

Update: Confirmed Speakers -

Brett Bonner, Director, Research & Development, Kroger Co.
Roger Dattilo, Vice President of Inventory Management for Customer Fulfillment Centers, OfficeMax
Dr. Marshall Fisher, UPS Professor, Professor of Operations and Information Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Paris Gogos, Director, The Nielsen Co.
Alex Hase, Vice President of Sales at Retail Solutions
Brian Kirkpatrick, Director North America Product Supply,  Go To Market Operations, P&G
Bob Wilson, Executive Vice President - Business Development & Marketing


Reminder: The event is free, but you MUST preregister to attend. Please RSVP to tricia.burger@uc.edu to preregister.

The Department of Operations & Business Analytics at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Business is pleased to announce its Seventh Annual Workshop on Hot Topics in Supply Chain Analytics, Practice and Technology. This year’s workshop is entitled, “The Retailer: Supply Chain’s Last Mile.”

There continues to be significant challenges and opportunities in managing today’s retail supply chains. This year’s workshop will focus on the interactions between the retailer and upstream members of the supply chain. Retailers are drowning in data but are having a difficult time developing actionable insights.

Join us to hear experts discuss the importance of information and analytics in improving retail performance: forecast accuracy, inventory turns (while reducing out of stocks), assortment planning and pricing optimization. Industry leaders from P&G, Kroger and OfficeMax as well as information providers, such as The Nielsen Co., Market6 and Retail Solutions Inc., will join faculty experts from the University of Cincinnati and the Wharton School (Marshall Fisher, PhD) to discuss the new science of retailing.

The event will be held May 6, 2011, 10AM - 3:30PM with a short reception to follow at the University of Cincinnati’s Carl H. Lindner Hall in Cincinnati, OH. Seats are limited and registration is required. There is no registration fee. Attendees who preregister as of April 29, 2011, will receive the 2010 book The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance by Marshall Fisher and Ananth Raman.

To register, please contact Tricia Burger, tricia.burger@uc.edu, (513) 556-7140.
 To learn more or for suggested lodging accommodations, please visit http://www.business.uc.edu/SupplyChain/events .

mike.fry@uc.edu
(513) 556 0404
http://www.business.uc.edu/Mike-Fry

History of the Internet Talk

20th Annual E. Leonard Arnoff Memorial Lecture (Repost)
on the Practice of Management Science

“A Brief History of the Internet and its Dynamic Future”
Leonard Kleinrock
University of California Los Angeles

7:30 P.M., Thursday, May 5, 2011
Fealy Auditorium, Room 112, UC College of Business
(University of Cincinnati, Ohio)

In this presentation we discuss the history and future of the Internet. The early work on packet switching is traced and then a brief description of the critical events in the growth of the Internet is given. We then present a vision of where the Internet is heading with a focus on the edge where user participation, flexible applications and services, and innovation are appearing.

Reception at 5:30 PM, 6th Floor, College of Business. Sponsored by: College of Business Alumni Board of Governors​​​ Department of Operations and Business Analytics
www.business.uc.edu/departments/qaom

Free & Open to the Public.
Information: (513)556-7140

Making Work Visible

New book that looks to be of interest.  There seems to have been somewhat less interest in ethonographic research lately after a flurry of interest in the early 00s. 

In Making Work Visible: Ethnographically Grounded Case Studies of Work Practice (Cambridge University Press, April 2011), Peggy Szymanski and co-editor Jack Whalen share how “ethnography” engagements are conducted, and how findings from these studies can lead to business impact. By applying naturalistic observation in different contexts to understand what people actually do – as opposed to only what they say they do – ethnography makes the unknown known, makes the tacit explicit, and reveals insights that would not otherwise be revealed. The embedding of social scientists in technology companies (often referred to as corporate ethnography) was pioneered at PARC in the 1970s, and has evolved here and elsewhere since. Drawing on contributions from PARC, Xerox, and other researchers throughout the world, this book demonstrates how ethnography can improve technology design and help develop better ways of working. The book focuses on case studies in production, office, home, and retail settings – including the critical “customer front.”

Finding Experts

In the ACM: It's Who You know

   

Search algorithm designers have in recent years worked out ways for computers to identify experts in any particular area of knowledge. But for users who'd like those experts to actually answer their questions, identifying them is just the first step. It's also helpful to figure out which experts they can get in touch with ....  "