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
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.
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:
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:
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:
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).
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?