News blog 15

Information ethics is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development and application of information technologies. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how agents should one behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially ownership and copyright, digital divide).

INTERCULTURAL INFORMATION ETHICS

http://www.capurro.de/iie.html

In this article, the author talks about a leading question from an intercultural perspective: how human cultures can locally flourish within a global digital environment. This question concerns community building on the basis of cultural diversity. How far does the Internet affect, for better or worse, local and particularly global cultures? Digital interaction could be used to weaken the hierarchical one-to-many structure of global mass-media, giving individuals, groups, and whole societies the capacity to become senders and not only receivers of messages. Moreover, intercultural information ethics deals with the economic impact of the Internet as far as it can become an instrument of cultural oppression and colonialism. I agree with the author that digital divide is not just an issue of giving everybody access to the global network, but rather an issue on how the digital network helps people to better manage their lives while avoiding the dangers of cultural exploitation and discrimination. Therefore concepts such as hybrid and polyphony are ethical markers that need to be critically analyzed in specific situations.

Individual Assignment Blog 5

How did your group make the decisions? What problems did you encounter in the process? Did your group make decisions in a different way than the whole class did? Why?

Our group shared the value sheets and used permutation and combination to figure out the best decision for most of us. Since there are only 6 members in our team and the alternatives are only a few, it seemed that there is no need to use complicated software or hardware to get the optimum result. However, we did encounter a problem during the negotiation process: at least one of our team members had to compromise. At the end, one team member made the sacrifice for the best benefit of the whole team. As far as I know, the other teams used almost the same method as ours to make the final decision.

What kind of information system do you need to design to support such a process of negotiation? Provide a simple hardware/software configuration.

Negotiation is conceptualized as a means through which two or more purposive actors arrive at specific settlements or outcomes under conditions of strategic interaction or interdependent decision making. Left unsupported, negotiating parties often fail to reach the maximum joint outcome that is possibly attainable. As well, the negotiated outcomes may not be fair (from the perspective of the Nash solution) for the parties involved. Prescriptive theories such as game theory, and economic and political models of negotiation exist which attempt to maximize the payoffs for one or more parties by relying mainly on the strategies of the bargainers. Nevertheless, rationality assumption of the prescriptive approach necessary for effectively forming and carrying out the strategies cannot always be met due to limitations of the human information-processing system. Computer support for negotiation entails facilitating electronic communication among the parties involved, and providing decision models to aid in requirement analysis as well as strategic analysis. These systems are labeled as Negotiation Support Systems (NSS).

Negotiation Support Systems (NSS) are designed to assist negotiators in reaching mutually satisfactory decisions by providing a means of communication and through the analysis of available information. Negotiation support may involve using a model-driven, data-driven, communications-driven, document-driven or a knowledge-driven DSS. Model-driven and data-driven DSS are the most common types of DSS one would consider developing using a spreadsheet package. Spreadsheets seem especially appropriate for building a DSS with one or more small models. A developer would then add buttons, spinners and other tools to support a decision maker in "what if?" and sensitivity analysis. A data-driven DSS can also be implemented using a spreadsheet. A large data set can be downloaded to the DSS application from a DBMS, a web site or a delimited flat file. Then pivot tables and charts can be developed to help a decision maker summarize and manipulate the data.

Please check this link for video:

Negotiation, negotiation

News Blog 14

What I learned from class:

Data flow diagram: a graphical representation of the "flow" of data through an information system. It has zoom levels and it is sequential. The simplified "blueprint" of course registration process was shown in the class.

Entity relationship diagram: an abstract conceptual representation of structured data. It has no sequence and it is project oriented.

Relevant article:

Jackson System Development Overview

http://www.dsisoft.com/jackson_system_development.html

In this article, the author introduces us to the Jackson System Development (JSD), which is a method of system development that covers the software life cycle either directly or, by providing a framework into which more specialized techniques can fit. From the technical point of view there are three major stages in Jackson System Development, each divided into steps and sub-steps. From a manager's point of view there are a number of ways of organizing this technical work. In this overview the author also describe the three major technical stages and discuss about JSD project planning, the variation between plans, and the reasons for choosing one rather than another. what I agree most with the author's opinion on the overlappings between technical stages. A set of circumstances exists that makes each overlapping sensible. Therefore a project plan is made based on the technical framework of JSD and on the political and organizational circumstances of the project.

News Blog 13

What I learned from class:

Four levels of changes you can make to business systems: automation, rationalization, reengineering, paradigm shift. The risk is higher as the change is more radical. We should take risk into consideration when designing business strategy. From team A and team B's presentations, I also learned about problems of Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast and the strategies to improve the company's website.

Relevant Article:

Developing a Bed& Breakfast Business Plan

http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/b&b.pdf

After having some knowledge about Brigadoon Bed & Breakfast's problems and business strategies, I started to wonder what a business plan should be for this kind of hotel business. Fortunately I found one from the Internet and unfortunately it is kind of out dated. In this business plan, 13 steps are listed to be considered and executed, including to determine and research the market, to develop a plan to meet laws and regulations, to develop a financial plan, and etc. However, it doesn't mention to build up a business information system. A good information system can dramatically improve a B&B business basically in that it collects, and process customer data to optimize decision-making and enhance customer experience. To develop the information system, a lifecycle of planning, analysis, design, development, testing, implement and maintain should be completed.