ITMG 350 Final Exam Spring 2018

 

Name ________________________________________

 

This is an open book, open notes, open Internet take home paper/presentation exam. This exam has three parts. In addition to the paper you will be expected to provide a powerpoint/prezi/etc  presentation to the class. This presentation is not meant to be too formal just enough to provide information to the class. This exam is due on 22 May  2018 at 11 AM.

 

Associated Students Academic Integrity Statement

“I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this examination”

 

_____________________________________


 

FINAL EXAM/PROJECT SELECTION SPRING 2018  
# FNAME LNAME PT. 1 DATA ANALYSIS
SELECTION
PT. 2 INFO
ANALYSIS
SELECTION
1 Jane Bird USD Parking Q12
2 Caroline Buhr NBC/Universal Q10
3 Lofton Dayton NBC Universal Q11
4 Christelle Matsuda Pfizer Q7
5 Mason Miguel NBC/Universal Q9
6 Nicolas Mutiloa QVC Q3
7 Alp Oktay Pfizer Q1
8 Chan Thu USD Parking Q15
9 Eric Walsh Pfizer Q2
10 Alec Weber QVC Q9
11 David Ye QVC Q8



 

http://usd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6QlDb9OdLmYNszj 

 
PART ONE  DATA ANALYSIS  CHALLENGE (125 points)

NBC UNIVERSAL
QVC CHALLENGE
PFIZER
USD PARKING

YOUR DELIVERABLES

The background: A brief description, 2 to 4 pages , describing your interpretation of the problem and what’s great about your analysis and your graphic (s).

·               Highlight how your analysis helped you arrive at your conclusions.

·               Highlight how your graphic illustrates your key findings.

The story: A graphic/powerpoint that reflects the major findings of your data analysis.

·               It can be a static images or interactive (such as JavaScript).

·               It can be in the form of charts, diagrams, or an infographic.

 

PART TWO (100) INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANALYSIS CHALLENGE

On the following page are eleven different questions to which you only have to select one to answer so the sooner you select the better your chances are for getting to answer the question you want. The expectation is that you will provide a thorough answer that incorporates as many of the chapters discussed in class and in the book when possible (i.e. discussing IT infrastructure/telecom issues, security, database/business intelligence, knowledge management, enhanced decision making, and managing projects). Your paper length should be about three to seven pages.

Remember to keep in mind that your written response is to come from the perspective of a consultant trying to explain a problem/challenge to a business/organization. This means that you will have to provide clear, organized responses to the questions that lie in the question problem statement. You do have some flexibility in terms of presentation meaning that you do not have to use the typical academic double space, that you can include pictures, tables, charts, figures. Ultimately you need to provide evidence that you have not only answered the questions but provided enough assurance that you have done your research and your proposals/solutions are valid and correct.

 

PART THREE (25 points)
In addition to the paper you will be expected to provide a powerpoint presentation (with ½ page to 1 page handout) to the class. This presentation is not meant to be too formal just enough to provide information to the class. The rationale with the handout is to provide some short bullet points and/or quotes (quick take aways) that the audience participants can use if they were to have to write an article. (Think of yourself as a subject matter expert providing quotes to the press).

 

EXTRA CREDIT (15 points)
The offices of undergraduate orientations/programs/admissions as well as many others on campus are very interested in receiving input towards a ‘USD BUCKET LIST.’ In other words a guide for incoming new and transfer students as to some of the main things that is ‘essential’ for a USD to experience before graduating.  They are also interested in seeing videos that demonstrate a typical day of a USD student, or a video that highlights the excitement of the end of the yeatr and graduations. Your task for extra credit is to provide them with such a guide. Feel free to use any format, any program, etc that you see fit to fulfill this request.

 

This exam is due on Tuesday 22 May 2018 at 11 AM.

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR PART TWO

QUESTION ONE
Without a doubt the Internet has made many changes in the relationships between the companies, consumers, and the government. First describe some of these most profound way in which e-commerce and the Internet has changed the relationship between companies and their customers? Second, describe and explain the idea of "network neutrality." Are you in favor of network neutrality? Why or why not? Third, describe and explain the idea behind the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.  Are you in favor of CISPA? Why or why not? Lastly, hackers, spammers, and their companion viruses are an increasing problem on the Internet and is the basis for some of this legislation. What are the most important measurers for a firm to take to protect itself from this? Is full protection feasible without legislation? Why or why not?

QUESTION TWO
When President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("the Act" or "the 1996 Act" ) into law on February 8, 1996, it represented the beginning of a new era in telecommunications regulation in the United States.  It was highly touted as a progressive action that would be of great benefit to consumers, as it would allow models to be based on competition rather than monopoly.  Over 20 years later T-Mobile has announced its intention to purchase/merge with Sprint, which is now causing a new concern in the new evolution of competition and ‘convergence of services.’  This question asks you to investigate and examine the major issues regarding this merger. For example, how does this merger affect the intent of the Telecommunications Act? What percentage of the market will this merger create? Lastly, investigate and report what options and alternatives do consumers currently have (or potentially could have) with telecommunications services?

QUESTION THREE
You have been hired by a small architectural firm (Shifty’s) interested in implementing a knowledge management system. Your first step is to identify the three major types of knowledge management systems. Provide two examples of each.  In preparing your final proposal what features do you think would be of most benefit to them? What would report to be the main challenges in setting up a knowledge management system? You also feel that knowledge workers so important to the digital firm, but how would you explain that to the Shifty management team? Perhaps you could describe what their functions are and which of these do you feel is most critical to the success of the firm? (Be certain to include why) Lastly, describe how knowledge be gathered from the personal and undocumented expertise of professionals within a firm. List at least four ways to gather and disseminate such knowledge

QUESTION FOUR

Can you build a sleep tracking solution that will help patients?
https://www.mindsumo.com/contests/sleep-track

NOTE: GlaxoSmithKline says this challenge is a great way to make yourself stand out as a candidate for future internships or full-time employment at GSK!

Patients who have been diagnosed or in the pre-diagnosis phase of a range of diseases, often report fatigue or sleep problems as a concern to their doctor. Sometimes, it is the sleep disturbance that brings the patient to the doctor. For example, people with asthma can experience night-time coughing, wheezing, and episodes of breathlessness that disrupt sleep. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute notes that 20 million Americans can be affected by such symptoms. In other illnesses, like cancer, tracking of sleep has documented considerable sleep disruption, including poor quality and quantity of sleep at night and excessive sleep episodes during the day.

We are seeking a simple solution to monitor sleep and wakefulness. This could be a mobile app that uses the microphone in one’s phone to record patterns and/ or monitor sleep and breathing, or by taking a completely different approach to tracking sleep that doesn’t require a phone. Other alternative solutions could involve targeting less tech-savvy patients who might be more included to use something other than a smartphone.

Our goal is to measure all aspects of sleep quality e.g. duration, periods of wakefulness, hours, times waking, episodes of sleepiness during the day, coughing, breathlessness, wheezing etc.

Additionally, we want to focus on improving the many sleep tracking apps which are available today but have low adherence once downloaded.

In addition to paying $1,600 to the top 50% of solvers, we will reward two grand prizes of $200 each.

Deliverables

Design a solution that will track sleep wakefulness quality and quantity for patients / and potentially provide a simple visualization or scale helpful to users. 

  1. Explain the structure of your solution. How will the patient interact with the solution? What will it monitor, and how?
  2. How will the solution enable medical care providers to quickly and easily check on a patient’s sleep? Ideally, your tracker will send data anonymously as to allow transfer of protected data so physicians can track care. 
  3. If your tracker doesn’t use an app or connected device, how does it monitor the patient? Does it include quality of life questionnaire or visual scale?
  4. Provide a link to the live deployed solution (can use Heroku, Github pages, or another tool)
  5. Provide a Github link to your code. 

We encourage you to be creative with what already exists, such as in-phone technology, but we still want your idea to be out of the box. Ideal responses will be user-friendly, and explore ways to encourage adherence to the program. 

QUESTION FIVE
What's your breakthrough idea for blockchain technology?
https://www.mindsumo.com/contests/corporate-blockchain-technology

As companies continue to explore and adopt blockchain technology to drive business value, we are seeking new, innovative, and realistic ideas for how consumer and/or manufacturing companies can use blockchain to transact with both physical and digital assets.

However, blockchain technology isn't without its risks. Companies that implement blockchain technology can drive efficiency in business processes and mitigate certain existing risks, but it also poses new risks to these companies and the market.

We want your help coming up with new blockchain technology uses that will improve a company's value, identifying potential risks along the way.

Deliverables

Help us understand how blockchain technology will drive value for corporations. Specifically, answer the following questions:

  1. What new, innovative, and realistic ideas do you have around how consumers and/or manufacturing companies can use blockchain to transact with both physical and digital assets?
  2. How do your ideas differentiate companies with consumers or allow for more organizational productivity?
  3. What metrics or approaches would you recommend that the company use to measure benefits?
  4. Tell us the risks associated with your idea. What risk-based solution(s) will allow companies to mitigate the new risks associated with adopting blockchain technology?

Additional blockchain background and links to articles about existing use cases are included below. As you brainstorm this challenge, think about the feasibility of implementing your new blockchain idea and how a real company might analyze the benefits for their business.

Reference Materials:

QUESTION SIX

How can we improve the clinical trials experience for patients?
https://www.mindsumo.com/contests/clinical-trials-patient-experience

Whenever a new medicine is developed, clinical trials are part of the process. Patients are central to any clinical trial and every new medicine we work on at GSK. We consider patients our partners, and are always looking to improve the clinical trials experience for them. By their nature, clinical trials require patients to attend visits with their clinical trial care team (anyone who is involved in the care of the patient during the clinical trial: principal investigator, research nurse, staff physician) and often have additional assessments in addition to their normal doctor's appointments.

At GSK, we want to enhance the patient experience of taking part in a clinical trial. We also want to consider ways in which the clinical trial experience can be more engaging for patients, making them feel part of a larger initiative and helping them get the support they need rather than having an individual experience.

Deliverables

How can we use new and emerging technologies and methodologies to make the clinical trials experience better for patients? Answer the following questions in detail:

  1. How would you improve the patient experience for clinical trials? What aspect of the patient experience does your idea address? 
  2. How would you make patients feel like they are part of a greater initiative, instead of just an individual patient?
  3. What can we say and/or do to enable patients to complete tasks during clinical trials?
  4. What new technology could help patients complete tasks?
  5. What, if anything, might stop you from taking part in the different activities involved in a clinical trial?

QUESTION SEVEN thru ELEVEN

 Computational technologies and well-being!

Throughout the history of civilization, humans have lacked capabilities to realize superior well-being for self, friends, and family. In the modern age, computational technologies offer tremendous capabilities, as they enable people to grow better quality and quantity of food, exercise, safety, connectedness with others, and so on. For example, computational technologies are being used to digitize geographic locations and routes, enabling us to travel around the globe (such as, through google maps). Language translators are connecting cultures. While technologies (such as the global positioning system (GPS)) are offering benefits, their adverse effects are being noted as well. Privacy concerns due to monitoring are an example. Similarly, there are concerns about the ill effects of technologies, such as the cell phone and internet (Jenaro et al. 2007). While computational technologies underline possibilities to enhance well-being, their effects (positive or negative) are less understood. The case study may identify the opportunities and challenges for organizations, business, and individuals (including consumers, students, patients, and others), due to advances in computational technologies. Specifically, the case study may focus upon any of the topics listed below:
 

QUESTION 7: Identify how analytics or other computational technologies used in healthcare (say hospitals) or education (say schools) are influencing patient health or student outcomes, respectively. What are the effects of these technologies on the performance of healthcare organizations or educational institutions?
 

QUESTION 8: How are computational technologies (say, price comparison software) changing the ways human shop or consume? How are modern technologies influencing these activities and well-being?
 

QUESTION  9: Has the advent of technologies changed the way individuals play and entertain? Identify technologies being used in the arena of sports and recreation? How are these influencing individual activities and well-being?
 

QUESTION 10: Identify the negative influence of computational technologies on individual well-being?
 

QUESTION 11 5: Identify how computational technologies are influencing the emotional and physical well-being of individuals, such as by helping them network (e.g., through social networking website), communicate (e.g., through Skype), or learn (e.g., through online lectures).

 

QUESTIONS TWELVE THRU FIFTEEN

Retail Analytics and Automation of Choice (e.g., through Internet of Things (IOT))

Retailing is one of the oldest human endeavor, and various civilizations–such as the Roman Empire–have organized activities to connect retailers and consumers (such as through Trajan markets) (Richard 2010). Throughout history, many technologies (such as the point-of-sale scanners or barcodes) have transformed retail. Modern technologies are catalyzing analytics and automation at unprecedented scales. For example, retailers are using such technologies as the Internet of Things (IoT) to automate their operations, influencing how retailers offer and customers choose (Gregory 2014). Many choices in retail are being automated, as smart kitchens are projected to revolutionize ordering, enabling machines (such as refrigerators) to make choices on behalf of the consumers (Yurieff 2017). Analytics is being used to offer discounts, analyze queues, send assistance within retail stores, check real-time on-shelf availability, and other retail operations. In general, contemporary computational technologies are automating many choice decision, becoming the secondary choice-makers, by aiding human (the primary choice-makers’) decision-making (Setia 2018). The case study may address one of the topics below, related to automation of choice. Specifically, the case study may:


QUESTION  12
:
 Identify consumer choices in retail. What are the new analytics and automation technologies influencing these choices? How are retailers adapting operations, to accommodate the advent of these technologies?
 

QUESTION  13: Identify errors in choices that lead to a loss in value (such as due to return costs) for the retailer or the consumer. These errors may arise due to time constraints for human beings. For example, billions worth of gift cards goes unused every year (Tuttle 2012). How are analytics or automation based technologies enabling retailers to overcome these errors?
 

QUESTION  14: Complementing human choice makers: Identify scenarios where analytics and automation technologies are complementing human information processing and choices in retail . What are the advantages of using these technologies for retailers or consumers?
 

QUESTION  15: Substituting human choice-makers: Identify substitution of human activities through analytics and automation technologies in retail. Projects indicate computational technologies, such as drones or autonomous cars, will substitute human activities. What are the advantages to retailers or consumers, in using computational technologies that substitute their activities? Are there any negative implications of using these computational technologies?