Week 5 Part 1 Task 4: KMS

Knowledge Management Systems in Small Business

In recent decades the topic of knowledge management (KM) has gained significant momentum in the business environment. Knowledge management has been undertaken by a variety of firms, typically a KM process involves: knowledge capture; knowledge organizing and knowledge storage; knowledge distribution; knowledge sharing. [1] A successful KM results when virtually all the knowledge within the business is harnessed, and used as part of the company's core business and competitive intelligence strategy. The purpose of this post will be to explore how small businesses use information systems to be successful.

Small businesses did do not overtly think about KM.  It was often perceived as a resource and time intensive endeavor.  However, KM enables businesses to be more effective by reducing training time, having better understood processes and procedures, and by providing better analytics. The cost of KM has reduced significantly with the creation of a range of software such as Wikis (MediaWiki, Confluence), Document Repositories (DSpace, AjaXplorer), Project Management Software (Redmine, eGroupWare), Customer Relationship Management (SugarCRM, vTiger) and ERP (OpenERP, webERP) Software can help with knowledge management. [2]

An example of a small business that has incorporated KM is the CPA firm Miller, Walker, & Thompson, LLP (MWT). Miller, Walker, & Thompson, LLP is a regional accounting firm that specializes in the services of attestation and assurance (A&A), tax compliance, general business consulting, and basic accounting services. The firm participates in industries, such as construction, manufacturing, multi-family housing real estate, and non-profit. The firm operates in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs nearly 50 employees. There KM system is broken down into 6 steps. First the firm acquires knowledge through formal training, education, research, and also from professional experience in the field. The next step is to add value to this knowledge. Information and knowledge acquired from external sources is collected within the firm and analyzed by the firm's employees. Value is added when knowledge and information can be utilized within the firm to benefit or improve its operations. Next, value-added knowledge should be integrated within the firm's practices and stored for future use. Then, employees use stored knowledge within the firm in order to provide the highest quality of work to clients. Clients also they contribute to a firm's acquisition of knowledge. Finally, professionals learn from experience and resources, which enables them to distinguish value to add to information and produce best practices for clients. [3]

“Business intelligence practitioners worldwide generally agree that in this knowledge-driven global economy, knowledge itself is a commodity that offers the only sustainable competitive edge”. [1] It is obvious that the smaller-sized company need to capture and strategically use its knowledge. Smaller-sized companies need knowledge management for virtually the same reasons that larger ones do. There is more competition in today’s markets, which puts great pressure on companies, large and small, to innovate and to develop products rapidly. It is important for any business to use any resource possible to get an advantage and knowledge can be a secret weapon.

[1] http://www.eknowledgecenter.com/articles/1005/1005.htm

[2] http://pssnet.com/blog/knowledge-management-small-businesses

  

[3] incpas.org/docs/candidates-students/11purdue.pdf?sfvrsn=2‎

Week 5 Part 1 Task 3: Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality in Medicine

 

With changings times, the world constantly faces new challenges. Throughout history, engineers have found ways to overcome these challenges. Recently, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has chosen 14 challenges that are seen as the most important challenges in this century. Certain challenges include areas such as improving energy use, advancing health and medicine, expanding technological functions, and much more. The goal is for engineers to discover solutions to these challenges, so that society can benefit as a whole. Of the 14 challenges, one vital challenge is to enhance virtual reality. [1] Since Virtual Reality is used in many applications within the medical field, the purpose of this research is to investigate the implantation of virtual reality by doctors and students. The two most prominent uses relate to education and training and surgery/diagnosis assistance. [2]

 

Virtual reality provides medical students as well as physicians with interactive training opportunities in a risk-free situation. Virtual reality is being used in all medical applications from cosmetic surgery to neurology. The technology transforms data, such as a CT or MRI scan, from a typically flat image to a three-dimensional image of the patient, which is stereoscopic. This allows surgeons to visualize complex procedures prior to the actual surgery and even practice surgical procedures. [2] Surgeons can train with virtual operations, so that they are prepared for real world situations where they must perform potentially dangerous surgeries. This is important because with this extra practice, surgeons can learn how to flawlessly execute different surgeries, without the risk of death to the patient. This can lead to a substantial decrease in the number of casualties in surgery. It is also used when training front line professionals and first responders to deal with emergencies. A series of virtual environments can be developed which contain different scenarios, e.g. road traffic accident which the first responders have to deal with. This is where they learn decision-making skills as well as the practical hands on skills required in this type of situation. Another option is disaster training such as a chemical spillage or an outbreak of an infectious disease, which often results in large numbers of casualties. [3]

 

New virtual reality technology would bring virtually created images of a patient into the operating room and project a 3-D image of the actual patient so that the surgeon can see the structure beneath the surface. [2] This means smaller incisions, shorter recovery times, and safer surgery. Surgeons are able to practice complicated operations on the virtual patient before performing the procedure on the actual patient. During surgery, the virtual system tracks the surgical instruments and their exact location. [2] With this precise information, the surgeon can make smaller incisions and reduce recovery periods. By projecting 3-D images of data gathered in a CT or MRI, very rapid diagnosis of a severe injury will be possible. [2] In order to reach a diagnosis, physicians must conduct a series of tests, which produce raw data. But virtual reality can be used to create a visual explanation of this data, which is easier to read, understand and interpret. [3]

 

Healthcare is one of the biggest adopters of virtual reality. This technology allows healthcare professionals to learn new skills as well as refreshing existing ones in a safe environment. Plus it allows this without causing any danger to the patients. 

 

[1] http://www.pitt.edu/~sat66/ethics.pdf 

 

[2] http://www.emory.edu/BUSINESS/et/virtualreality/medical.htm

 

[3] http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality-healthcare/medicine.html

Week 4 Part 1 Task 3: Decision Support Systems in Agriculture

Every day we are faced with situations that require us to make decisions for the best way to handle and solve them. There are many factors one must take into consideration when solving a problem. You must compile all useful information to identify and solve problems and make decisions. In a large corporation this could be nearly impossible for a person to do alone and the amount of manpower spent on this process would be immense. Today there is specific software designed to assist organizations with the steps involved in making decisions and solving problems. “A decision support system (DSS) is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to help make decisions that solve problems”. [1] DSSs are also used in many organizations such as healthcare, law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and government. A growing area of DSS application, concepts, principles, and techniques is in agricultural production. 

Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is a software application program “that comprises crop simulation models for over 28 crops (as of v4.5). DSSAT uses data base management programs for soil, weather, and crop management and experimental data, and by utilities and application programs”. The system allows uses to create crop simulation models that can mimic growth, development and yield as a function of the soil-plant-atmosphere dynamics, and they have been used for many applications ranging from on-farm and precision management to regional assessments of the impact of climate variability and climate change. This program has been in use for more than 20 years by researchers, educators, consultants, extension agents, growers, and policy and decision makers in over 100 countries worldwide. [2] This system is important because the crop models can predict crop yield and resource dynamics (water, nitrogen) as well as an economic component that calculates gross margins based harvested yield and byproducts, the price of the harvested products, and input costs. Agriculture is an important business and farms are a huge investment in both time and money. This program allows for the users ie farmers to predict what are the best crops to grow and predict what their profits can be. Also on the flip side, these models can help determine whether it is even a good idea for the farms to plant crops in the first place.

The federal states of Germany have installed a national DSS for agricultural production. The program titled ZEPP (Central Institution for Decision Support Systems and Programs in Crop Protection) guarantees a permanent supply of meteorological data, organizes and co-ordinates trials, incorporates scientific progress into the existing DSSs and, in close co-operation with universities and federal research stations, develops new systems for important pests. [3] The goal of the ZEPP is to “develop, collect and examine existing forecasting and simulation models for important agricultural and horticultural pests and diseases and to adapt these models for practical use”. DSS are employed for the estimation of disease/pest risk, the necessity for pesticide treatments, forecast of the optimal timing for field assessments, forecast of the optimal timing for pesticide treatments and recommendation of appropriate pesticides [4] Disease and pest can completely wipe out a crop and destroy the land that it invades. This DDS allows the farmers to predict which infestation they should worry about and the proper course of action to take to prevent serious loss to there crops. 

Decision support systems gather and present data from a wide range of sources for a wide range of organizations. DSS applications help people make decisions based on data that is collected. Rather than just relying on a database, which is a single information resource, DDSs use a combination of integrated resources that work together to solve a problem. In the agricultural sector, the use and implementation of DDS applications has proved to be beneficial to the users. These systems help reduce the cloud of mystery that surrounds the future and helps prevent serious loss by making educated and calculated decisions for how these farms should run. 

[1] Fundamentals of Information Systems, 6th Edition pg 288

[2] http://dssat.net/

[3] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2338.2000.tb00858.x/abstract

[4] http://www.intechopen.com/books/efficient-decision-support-systems-practice-and-challenges-from-current-to-future/decision-support-systems-in-agriculture-administration-of-meteorological-data-use-of-geographic-info