Module 8

I’m a little slow with new technology and wasn’t introduced to computers until I was a senior in high school in 1986.  One of my classes had a very cool Commodore 64 computer that had 64 kb RAM + 20 kb ROM plus a 8 inch floppy disk  - back then that was a big deal…”we had computers!”   I personally really didn’t do much with our high school computer and most our class mates really didn’t have an opportunity to learn the uses because the computers were new our school in 1986 but given the chance we would rather play Pong or Dungeons & Dragons.  I suppose that computers during those days were mostly just a wonder for the mere fact that we would only see one in schools or a business.  Gaming devices like Atari or Play Station dominated the teenage market.  Of course, I was mostly interested in playing games than using a regular computer during the 80’s.

My real application of computer usage for me and my education started to emerge in the early 90’s.  During this era the computer industry was beginning to find its own legs to market to mainstream Americans and to new global markets as well.  There was definitely a huge frenzy in 1992 with Microsoft’s release of Windows 3.1 or at least I remember it being a big deal back then.  Unfortunately, at the time my wife and I wanted to purchase a new computer but we had a new baby and house which made it hard for us to make that kind of investment even for school.  We had to make do with what we had which was my wife who had an old IBM from the 80’s that took most of the room in our new home.  Nevertheless, years later the price of computers really didn’t drop but the technology had jumped leaps and bounds from our last research.  I really needed to upgrade our old computer for school and now my job required that I purchase a computer/laptop too.  It was a very exciting time to shop for new technology and all of the different type of computers that were now on the market during the mid - 90’s. Of course, I wanted to have the greatest and latest technology for school and for my business.  We finally purchased a Compaq that had Windows 95, 8 mb of memory, 1 gigabyte hard drive with 33 MHz processor plus a 28.8 internal modem.  We were both very excited of our new acquisition but probably just me.  We filled half of my truck bed up with our new computer stuff.  I was going to be the best college student ever – I thought as I signed my life away with a hefty bill of just shy of three thousand bucks.  I didn’t finished school but did start a new business during this time.

I returned back to school after a fifteen year hiatus and discovered that there is no way to function in school without access to internet with a computer.  A lot has changed since my last experience in college and now computers dominates the whole college experience.  My son who currently attends Arizona State University seems to believe that he needs to purchase new computers every year that he is in school.  Of course dad needs to pony up and buy because he claims that his classes require that he have certain software and hardware for him to stay up to date with his classes.  I found out the main reason why he needs a new computers is the gaming programs that he “needs to have access to.”  Perhaps I have to realize that this is my new reality as I return back to school.  I definitely understand now that the atmosphere here at Weber has changed.   Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to the new challenges that lie ahead as I continue to finish my education. 

Module 7

I suppose that we all have certain skills that we have acquired over the years by either trial and error or you might just have a gift.  So the argument is in what environment do these skills flourish?  Let’s take the question to the next level - in what country do these entrepreneurial opportunities grow that can create innovation freely.  There are nation states that encourage innovation and I believe one might say that maybe it’s their culture to be that way. 

However, the reality is that there are countries that produce certain products or even specialize in textiles.  If the country has a comparative advantage in textiles, it could specialize in textile production.  For example China can produce certain items at a lower cost than most countries and still make a profit for everyone from the production to the sale to the end users.  Nevertheless, having a comparative advantage does not necessarily mean that you have quality products but simply a product that was produced a lower cost and/or cheaper cost than other countries.

If there is an enough time research via the internet I would consider myself a self-directed consumer.  Sometimes, I believe that there is overabundance information that is thrown at us as the consumer concerning products and/or services to purchase.  The problem that I find now is having the time to decipher which is reliable and true for me to make the right decision.  But my reality is in most cases I’m pressed for time and I primarily look for conveniences in my buying process.  Therefore, I wish I was a more a self-directed consumer but unfortunately I’m a non-self-directed consumer…shame on me.

I believe that most of the world thinks that today’s globalization mean Americanization depending on who you are speaking with around the world.  I travel quite a bit for my business and meet folks around the world.  I was really excited from my last trade conference that I attended a week ago.  During the conference I had a several opportunity to meet with potential clients from Australia, Germany, England, China, India and Singapore.  One particular encounter I had was with a reporter from the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), I wanted to share my new knowledge from this class concerning Thomas Friedman flat world theory.  We had a pleasant discussion on globalization according to Mr. Friedman’s point of view of our flat world.  She didn’t agree with Friedman’s point of view or maybe it was my delivery of the concept – probably a combination of both.  However, I was very interested in listening to her perspective of America influences in her part of the world.  Much to my dismay I was unsuccessful to articulate Mr. Friedman theories after a lengthy conversation Ms. Ming from (SPH) was still convinced that globalization means Americanization.  I discovered that I should probably keep my mouth shut when it comes to globalization debate until I finish this class. 

Module 6

They are many advantages of Free Trade and I believe that we all have benefited as a result of no artificial barriers between participating governments to restrict the flow of goods and services on a global basis.  One of the main functions of free trade has been the increase of production of goods and services because of the advantage of efficiencies generated from governments around the world that specialize in a particular production and/or labor to meet the global demand of their output.  I believe from a macro approach is it a Win-Win strategy for everyone that can part take of the flat world system.  So it is hard to argue with anyone that free trade is a bad idea.  However, on the flip side which Mr. Friedman I think fails to really mention are the problems of the separation of third world countries from developed countries. The third world countries have extremely poor and uneducated population that can’t compete nor even know that there is a present of free trade.  One of the major concerns with free trade are the exploitation of labor and cheap production are ever present on this flat world platform. 

I recently read that Apple’s main supplier Foxconn plant that is located in Chengdu, China is under fire for its treatment of their employees.  Apparently, the employees are committing suicide because of the working conditions within the plant.  I found this appalling that now Foxconn has installed nets to catch employees that decide to jump around their facilities as an answer to the problem.  Apple sales continue to rise and recently sales rose 73 percent to $ 46 billion in their fiscal first quarter.  This is the dark side of free trade that most of us don’t see or even think about when we purchase goods or services on this flat world.

Finding someone with skills that can collaborate and orchestrate horizontally on our flat world would be categorized as a “new middler.”  The ability to communicate and sell within a local market is definitely an added value to a new middler.  A person who has an ability to be versatile learning how to adapt and change to any business situation is a competitive advantage. 

“CQ+PQ>IQ” is the curiosity (CQ) and passion (PQ) for business success in our flat world and are more significant than intelligence (IQ).  In creating innovation and/or new ideas are driven by curiosity the ability to find out how new innovation can make things better for all of us that have been discovered by entrepreneurs and obviously the passion is the execution of ideas into reality.  Intelligence is also very important but is not the main function of innovation.                        

Module 5

I’ve always considered myself old school I generally don’t embrace change and/or new innovation very quickly…I’ve believed that the old innovation is so much simpler to use.  To this day I still break out my vinyl records or my old 8 track tapes I know most of you don’t what I mean but I still enjoy having some control of my music.  Nevertheless, now days I need to worry about updating my I-phone, my kid’s droid cell phones, the family computers and laptops, changing all my passwords to guard against hackers, viruses, worms and internet spammers now updating my car computer that has GPS satellite and internet access the lists goes on and on. I believe that Thomas Freidman’s understanding of the triple convergences has created more problems for some of us but I do understand the importance of it as well.  However, an old guy like myself is still trying to find my place in this new platform that we all live in now.  I’m still trying to rid of all of my old cell phones chargers from the pre TC (Triple Convergence). Yet, ironically I’m very grateful of the post TC to have one cell phone charger that works for my kids droid phones…finally.  But still in my opinion - sometimes I don’t want to meet these new players in this new playing field of the horizontal collaboration for the mere fact I really don’t know who is a friendly or a potential foe.  Lastly, as I check my in box daily I tell myself “I really don’t want to meet single living in my area or some Russia or Hungarian gal named Ulga that is anxious to meet me.” “ or do I?”  I got bigger problems in my life than to worry about that kind of stuff.  Now days I have hard enough time just remembering my new password at weber.edu.    

 Undoubtedly, there are always unintended consequences in this new horizontal platform when it comes to business competition on a global scale.  The bidding process was of course meant to be fair to all interested parties that wanted the business and the State of Indiana wanted the best firm to do a certain tasks - of course trying to get the biggest bang for their buck.  It is unfortunate to have State of Indiana that wanted to save money by awarding a firm that is best qualified to perform the contract but later to have politicians step in and dictate fairness after the fact.  Leave to the politicians to create more barriers and triple the costs and provide such a disservice to the State of Indiana.  I believe that both parties are guilty of being exploited and the exploiter in the same situation.

Intellectual property (IP), is one the last real property that can be protected in this digital world…one would think that would be the case.  However, today’s flat-world platform it seems that there are no real borders that separate individuals from using, stealing, copying etc., other innovators hard work.  In our digital world is getting harder to find out who the real owners are when it comes to purchasing, using, products via this flat world.