RESUME PSI 

The information systems we use to tap this mother lode intelligently are the subject of this chapter, and particularly the ways we can identify trends and patterns to make better decisions. Determining which photos and text work best on a company website is just one decision that can be improved with business intelligence and decision support tools.

Here are more: ▶ How much should we spend for online ads this season? Which ads work best? ▶ Should we create more fish dishes for our menu? How much can we charge? ▶ When should we start our phonathon to raise money for disaster relief? Should we invite celebrities to promote it?

▶ How should we address the bad publicity about our product recalls? Should we ignore it? Business intelligence (BI), introduced in Chapter 1, is an umbrella term that includes the vast quantities of information an organization might use for data-driven decision making, from within its own data repositories and also from external sources. The term also encompasses the software applications, technologies, and practices that managers apply to the data to gain insights that help them make better decisions.

•Employees working primarily at the operational level make countless decisions as they deal directly with customers and handle all the routine transactions. Many decisions follow predetermined policies and procedures that spell out how to handle different situations. Monica took training for her call center position, in which rules for dealing with each type of call were specified. She learned how to deal with angry callers, impatient callers, and callers who appear to be in severe physical or mental distress. Within this structure, however, Monica also makes decisions independently, such as how long to spend with each caller, how to encourage a caller to attend a hospital event, and how sympathetic to sound in each situation. Business intelligence for use at the operational level is attracting considerable attention as organizations find ways to bring meaningful, performance-related information to all employees. Timely data showing the outcome and effectiveness of their decisions can dramatically affect performance. At 1-800-CONTACTS, the world’s largest contact lens store, operational business intelligence fine-tunes the decision making of every call center agent. Each one has access to a customized screen with color-coded gauges showing daily metrics, such as his or her average calls per hour and average sale size. Bar charts show these metrics, comparing them to the agent’s monthly averages. The screens also contain displays updated from a data warehouse every 15 minutes so agents get quick feedback. Bonuses are tied to a formula based on these measures, so motivation to move the needles on their dials is high. After the system was implemented, revenues increased $50,000 per month, with consistently high call quality.1 Figure 7-2 shows an example of the kinds of screens used in call center settings.

uTechnically, email transmission is relatively simple (Figure 8-2), although the steps vary depending on the type of email server that is hosting your mail. You usually start by identifying the servers that will handle your outgoing and incoming mail. For outgoing, you enter the name of the SMTP server, which stands for “simple mail transfer protocol

uFor example, a student in Hong Kong may rely on her university’s host. When she types a message to a friend and clicks “send,” her message is first transmitted to a special port on the university’s SMTP server, and then the server software takes over. The SMTP server adds date and time information, and then directs the message to the server identified after the @ sign. Mailbox accounts also specify the name of the server that handles incoming mail. Many begin with “pop,” such as pop .myuniversity.edu. A newer protocol for incoming mail is IMAP (Internet mail access protocol), in which mail is actually maintained on the server and organized into folders there. IMAP is especially useful when you use more than one device. You can access your mail from your smartphone, tablet, or any other device, and also see the symbols that show whether you read or replied to the message. For a mobile workforce, these features are essential.

–he ground up to work within the browser rather than with client software installed on your computer. One drawback is that some organizations block access to those websites over concerns about productivity. Some governments have blocked access as well, such as those in Iran and Myanmar. The Address Book, Business Cards, and Contact Management Email’s explosive success led to enhancements and new features. Its simple address book expanded to a rich contact management system that supports distribution lists, photos, birthdates, and much more. Keeping all this information about clients and coworkers together, synched to a smartphone, boosts productivity considerably. The ability to seamlessly share and update contact information electronically is fundamental to contact management. However, the paper business card with all its nonstandard formats and fonts is not going away soon. Sales calls, business meetings, and introductions typically start with an exchange of business cards, and protocol for each exchange may be rigidly prescribed by custom and tradition. Japanese businesspeople, for example, use both hands to offer their cards as a show of respect, and they always make certain the card is oriented so that the recipient can immediately read it. Scanners with optical character recognition (OCR) software can decipher details on most business cards. Another strategy is to exchange electronic files with your contacts that software can easily read. The “vCard,” for instance, is a file format used to exchange business card information electronically. A more recent and versatile approach uses microformats, which rely on the XML family of standards to represent metadata. This approach is also used for exchanging contact management data. The “hCard” is an example.

■A blog, short for “web log,” is one example. The blogger maintains a website composed mainly of ongoing commentary, images, and links to other online resources. The posts are displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent appears on top. Blogging software, such as the free versions available through Wordpress and Blogger, simplifies the task of creating your own website to express opinions, review products, discuss hobbies, or just rant. Readers can add their own comments to the blogger’s posts, joining in the asynchronous discussion. For organizations, blogs can help create a more intimate connection with customers, employees, or suppliers. For example, the owner of a seafood restaurant might want to blog about favorite fish recipes, or add videos of the dock where the owner buys fresh fish.7 Sometimes blogs are used for sincere apologies. Embarrassed by a long series of car recalls, the president of Toyota posted this: “Good evening everyone . . . I’m deeply sorry to have caused inconvenience and concern to so many of our customers, to so many of you.”8 Figure 8-8 lists some top company blogs that do far more than offer announcements and promotions.9

 

•Sally H. is looking forward to her retirement after 22 years with a midsized employment services firm. She gave 60 days’ notice, but her swamped coworkers do not have much time to go over all her accounts. They haven’t learned her secrets for keeping clients happy or recruiting the best temporary staffer for every position. Sally entered notes about each client into the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, but the notes are just a pale shadow of her knowledge. She is also concerned that she can’t pass on the strong relationships she developed with her contacts, especially in regional business schools where she recruits so much talent. Sally possesses all three of the main types of intellectual capital, shown in Figur

•Sally H. is looking forward to her retirement after 22 years with a midsized employment services firm. She gave 60 days’ notice, but her swamped coworkers do not have much time to go over all her accounts. They haven’t learned her secrets for keeping clients happy or recruiting the best temporary staffer for every position. Sally entered notes about each client into the company’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, but the notes are just a pale shadow of her knowledge. She is also concerned that she can’t pass on the strong relationships she developed with her contacts, especially in regional business schools where she recruits so much talent. Sally possesses all three of the main types of intellectual capital, shown in Figure 9-1. They reflect the ways human beings contribute intellectual power to an organization.

e 9-1. They reflect the ways human beings contribute intellectual power to an organization.

 

•Structural Capital Structural capital includes the knowledge stored as documentation about business processes, procedures, policies, contracts, transactions, patents, research, trade secrets, and other aspects of the organization’s operations, often stored electronically. Essentially the knowledge left behind when an employee goes home for the day, structural capital is built up over years of operations, although it may not always be well organized. Sally contributed in many ways to the company’s structural capital. For example, she is developing a handbook that explains legal aspects of temporary employment, and she is frequently updating it as laws changed

     

__TERIMA KASIH__