IS6600 - Seminar 1

1. IS6600 - Seminar 1 Global IS & KM Applications in Organisations - Introduction

2. Introductions – Me! • In HK since 1991; Travels in 71 countries. • Teaching non-technical IS courses to MSc and (E)MBA students • Research involves China-focused • knowledge sharing in SMEs • virtual and distributed work • IT-enabled organisational change • Webhttp://www.is.cityu.edu.hk/staff/isrobert • Email isrobert@cityu.edu.hk

3. Topic Coverage 1. Introduction; Culture; The Socially-Networked Manager 2. Web-based Applications and Cases 3. Global ERP Cases 4. Global IT Offshoring / Outsourcing 5. Social Networking @ Work: Global and China Perspectives 6. Knowledge and its Management in Organisations 7. Knowledge and Culture 8. Information, Knowledge & Strategy 9. How could we manage people (and knowledge) better? 10. Big data and Surveillance 11. Green IT 12. Project Presentations 13. Wrap-up, Revision.

4. Resources • Course Website • http://www.is.cityu.edu.hk/staff/isrobert/IS6600.htm • These notes are not comprehensive, i.e. if you come to class, you will hear, see and do many things that are not visible in the notes. • So please do come to class. On time if possible, but late is better than never.

5. Learning Styles • I expect that you will engage with the learning process • Participation and interaction • Listen, reflect, challenge and criticise (constructively) • Each class will have • Opportunities for interaction, discussion, debate, as well as your own work-life examples • I will assess your individual participation in each class

6. Assessment Patterns & Grading • Coursework – 40% • Team Project (4-6 person teams) • In Class Discussion – 20% • Minimum 70% attendance (9 classes) is required. • If you cannot come to a class, please let me know in advance. • This is not an attendance mark – it is a participation mark. • Exam (open book/web) - 40% • Note 1: Passing is optional! • Note 2: You must pass the exam and the coursework to pass IS6600 as a whole. • Note 3: Please do not plagiarise – if you do, you will fail!

7. Grading Definitions • A: Excellent • Strong evidence of original thinking, analysis & synthesis; extensive knowledge base • B: Good • Good awareness of the importance of the subject; some analytic ability; reasonable understanding of issues & literature • C: Adequate • Understanding is reasonable, but much room for improvement • D: Marginal, minimal familiarity with the subject • F: Very weak

8. Rationale • I developed IS6600 because of • The lack of a high level KM & IS course • A long term personal interest in the topic • My sense that other courses in this area are too orthodox – and we need to push the boundaries a bit • IS6600 follows and complements • IS5313, IS5743, IS6921

9. Course Goals • Explore and investigate advanced IS & KM topics from a global perspective in the organisational context. • What is global? Globalisation? • What is ‘advanced’? • Cutting edge technologies? • Future trends? • Solutions to complex problems? • Roughly a 50-50 (IS-KM) split on materials.

10. East or West? Or Global • Too many textbooks and gurus assume an East-West split • Either you are ‘Eastern’ or ‘Western’ • But globally, the picture is a little more complex! • There is also North and South • Developing and Developed • There are multiple, competing perspectives

11. A Few Major Global Companies • Banks: HSBC, CityBank, BoC • Aviation: CX, QF & SQ, Boeing, Airbus • Shipping: OOCL, APL, MOL, MSC • FMCG: P&G, Nestle, Kraft, Unilever, Swire • Elex: Philips, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Huawei • Oil: Shell, Exxon, BP, CNOC, Halliburton, Husky • Pharma: Roche, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline,… • They are all different, yet all global and all rely on IS extensively

12. Global Events • Companies organise global annual summits • They bring together their senior executives for discussions and planning • This involves lots of • travel • money • time • inconvenience

13. But Look at Cisco (www.cisco.com) • Each year, they organise a global virtual partner summit for CIOs. • Everyone participates virtually – with video links/chats and IM • It saves a lot of $$$ and time • It also improves interaction. • Less $, more productivity? • Can cheaper be better?!

14. Then What are Global IS? • Systems used by single organisations across two or more nations? • Systems accessed by many different organisations – in many nations around the world? • What makes Global Information Systems so special, important and problematic?

15. Technology and Globalisation are rapidly transforming the nature of work the way we work the way we think about work Work Places? Spaces? Clouds?

16. Culture • Patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting • Behaviour styles • Negotiating techniques • Protocol • Business practices • Cultural misunderstandings can threaten or even destroy your efforts in a foreign culture/country. • Where is foreign? Where is local? How local are the locals? Who are the foreigners? Am I local or foreign? Are you? Does it matter?

17. Understanding Culture • … is not just about observing. • “the same behaviour can have different meanings and different behaviours can have the same meaning” [Schneider & Barsoux, 1997] • Why do people behave in this way? • What are their underlying values and beliefs? • Do we really live in a global village? • “We do not see things as they are … we see things as we are” – Anaïs Nin.

18. What is Culture? HUMAN NATURE universal to laughto cry CULTURE a group level construct, but… When is it appropriate to laugh? to cry? Where is it appropriate to laugh? to cry? way of life passed down from one generation to the next through education and experience – Concise Columbia Encyclopedia collective programming of the mind – Geert Hofstede PERSONALITY individual each of uslaughs/criesat different times / places

19. Iceberg Model of Culture Behaviour Attitudes Assumptions Values Beliefs

20. Culture Below the Surface • Attitudes • “I can’t live without my iPhone” • Assumptions • “Women/Girls make the best negotiators” • Values • “Money is more important than anything else” • Beliefs • “My purpose in life is …”

21. Culture Above the Surface • Greetings • How should you greet someone? kiss, hug, bow or shake hands • Does it depend on who they are, who you are? • Dress • What is appropriate attire at work? at a funeral? • Punctuality • What does it mean to be “on time”? • How quickly should you reply to an e-mail? • Gift giving • Should you give gifts to business associates? • Whatshould you give? • Corporate Logos • What projects the“right” or “wrong”image?

22. Colours in Different Cultures Adapted from Russo & Boor (1993)http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm

23. CorporateLogos

24. Culture Story 1 – Ethics • Your good friend is a programmer at HK Airport. Last night, he told you that he wrote a virus for fun and it leaked out, infecting a cargo handling system and causing an accident last year where three workers were killed. • The official investigation indicated that ‘no one individual should be held accountable – the IT Dept takes collective responsibility’. • What will you do? What if no one was killed? • What is the role of your ‘cultural values’ in reaching a decision? Would everyone react the same way? • What does “collective responsibility” really mean?

25. Culture Story 2 – KMS Design • You are designing a new KMS for a Hong Kong consulting firm. • The system should capture knowledge from employees and make it available to other employees – current and future. • You interview current employees so as to establish their current knowledge practices. • Many say that they never share – they consider that knowledge is a personal asset. • Others say that they only share with members of their guanxi-network.

26. Culture Story 2 – KMS Design • What are you going to recommend to management? • Is there a culturally ‘better’ solution than a KMS? • Is a strongly centralised system for knowledge always good? • Should we allow individual employees to choose with whom they share, or not to share at all? • Do we need to ‘control’ knowledge and knowledge sharing or can knowledge be free?

27. Culture and Workplace Issues • Global transfer of IS applications is not automatic or problem-free. • Systems designed for one culture may not work in another culture • Few researchers have investigated these issues - probing the iceberg. • Most textbooks assume a monocultural, ethnocentric and universalist perspective • “If it works for us, it’ll work for them” • “They are ‘human’ aren’t they?!”

28. Culture and Workplace Issues • Limited understanding of why failures occur beyond the generic “culture” explanation. • Descriptions of successful global IS stories – but little in the way of detailed understanding • Why is it successful? • What are the critical success factors?

29. Culture and Work • Telework (working from home, from a remote site) has become popular in some countries, esp. US, Canada, Australia. • Up to 10% of the workforce teleworks regularly • Yahoo! Recently cancelled all telework practices! • Cited need for a working-together culture

30. Work Culture • Together or Apart? • Individualism or Collectivism? • Control or Freedom? • Telework has rarely been popular in HK. • How about China? • Why?

31. The Web – Unlimited Information: Opportunity or Hazard? • In late summer 1994, a mathematics professor found errors in Intel’s Pentium Processor. • When Intel refused to respond, he posted his comments on a website. • Later, Intel announced that the error would only happen once in 9 billion calculations. Critics disagreed, noting that one would never know if a calculation was correct or not. • Within 1 month, IBM stopped shipping Pentium-based PCs. • In November, Intel admitted the problem, and offered a replacement chip “if you can prove the need”. • By late December, following huge public outcry, Intel offered the replacement chip to anyone who asked.

32. In 1994 • Who had Internet access? • Globally, less than 1% of the population • Who read newsgroups on the web? • Even fewer people. • Search engines were primitive and missed a lot of content. • Internet-literacy was low. • Were you Internet literate in 1994?

33. In 2014, it is a bit different • 34% of the world is online – 2.4 billion people • More Chinese are online than Americans • Wikipedia: written by anyone & the 5th most popular website globally • eBay/TaoBao buyers and sellers rate and comment on each other’s performance for every transaction. • Epinions, Amazon, and many others report customer feedback on all products. • Avaaz delivers social activism online • Dopplr keeps you in touch with your friends’ travel movements, doodle with meetings & schedules • Wikileaks is more informative than governments.

34. CN IN JP AU UK DE FR FI US HK All 1997 0.01 0.001 6 7 2 4 1 10 19 7.9 1.8 The Ubiquitous Web 2002 3.6 2 44 55 57 39 28 52 59 60 9.6 2000 1.3 0.5 21 39 33 19 15 42 45 52 6.1 2006 9.4 4.5 67.2 68.4 62.9 59 43 62.5 68.7 69.2 16.0 2008 19 5.2 73.8 75.9 66.4 64.6 54.7 62.7 71.4 69.5 21.9 2012 36.3 8.4 78.4 78.3 82 79.9 69.5 85.2 78.2 68.5 30.0 2014 40.1 11.4 79.5 89.8 83.6 83.0 79.6 89.4 78.3 74.5 34.3 http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

35. Markets & Conversations • The Internet spawns new forms of ‘speech’ • Deep linking subverts hierarchy • Better quality information comes from other consumers, not vendors • Does anyone actually read/listen to what the vendors say anymore? • Do the vendors know what we say about them??? • There are no secrets • you can find anything online, good or bad, even in China (if you know how)

36. What’s all this got to do with IS? • Blogs are an IS application • Blogs are a powerful weapon – in anyone’s hands • Of offence or defence • Of propaganda or counter-propaganda • Of information or mis/dis-information • Blogs are increasing used by senior executives • Search engines ***love*** blogs. • http://blogsearch.google.com

37. Ignore Bloggers at your Peril! • Jupiter Research Study • Bloggers are exerting a "disproportionately large influence" on society. • The 25% of web users who are "active" are dominating opinions and creating business trends. • "They're not representative of the larger audience, but what they're saying does matter". • Globally, there are hundreds of millions of blogs, and bloggers – they are better paid, better educated, and have better jobs. • If 100 people complain online, that can be enough for a firm to pull a product from the shelf.

38. Application Example (for you!) • Your company produces high-end MP3 players in China and sells them worldwide. Your latest model, SX88, sells well and is guaranteed for 3 years. • However, 15 minutes ago, you (the CIO) received an e-mail from your marketing director about an on-line discussion forum that reports several breakdowns of the SX88 after as little as four months. • When you search for “SX88 failure” on Google and Baidu, you see that there are already over 1000 hits, many at blog sites. • Hacktivists suggest Denial-of-Service attacking your servers and hacking your website to protest! • What will you do to stop this negative publicity?

39. New Lines of Defence & Offence • Executive Blog (xlog)! • Written by an executive on own initiative. • “Straight” language – not marketing language • Insights, opinions, wonderings, marketing. • Jack Ma (Alibaba) http://blog.sina.com.cn/mayunblog • Li Yan Hong (Baidu) http://hi.baidu.com/liyanhong • Employee Blog • Written by large numbers of employees with company encouragement (e.g., HP). • Insights (technology), advice.

40. Web 2 4 Work • In China, I see increasing evidence of Web 2 applications, e.g. • Instant messengers • Microblogs • … being used as normal work tools for • Marketing • Knowledge Exchange • Collaboration

41. For Example • Instant Messengers and Microblogs used as corporate communication tools • YinHai - www.yinhai.com • TenCent – www.tencent.com • iSoftstone – www.isoftstone.com • Glodon – www.glodon.com

42. IM for Work in China • Some Chinese companies now allow or encourage employees to use IM at work • IM tools like QQ, MSN • Mobile IM: WeChat, • Microblogs like Yammer, Weibo • Integrated platforms like RTX

43. So, How Can Web 2.0 Contribute to the Value of IT? • Can Web 2.0 enhance communication or knowledge sharing at work? • Can Web 2.0 facilitate a new culture? • Does a better culture improve competitive advantage? • Do we need significant investments? • Of what? $/£/¥? Time? Creativity? • What could we do with Web 2.0 that we are not doing now?