Adam Coss

Marion Jensen

IST1100

31 January 2015

Module 3 Essay

So far, this book has talked a lot about outsourcing and how the world has been flattened by this amazing concept. Outsourcing is certainly a very powerful strategy for many businesses, especially the multinational ones. It offers so much more for a price that just can’t be beaten. While outsourcing has helped many companies with some of the more tedious parts of their workflow, such as accounting, bookkeeping, order processing, software engineering, data entry and many other tasks, it may not be the smartest choice for all businesses.

For many businesses, it makes sense to move their entire operation, from start to finish, to another country where they can benefit from cheaper labor and lower cost of employment. These lower cost may be a result of lower taxes or government required benefits. When all of this comes together, it’s possible to lower the cost of the entire operation rather than only a portion. This is referred to as off-shoring. There are some companies that use this method in the US. Nissan motors began building vehicles in Japan and later started making trucks in the US. They built the factory and everything to manage and maintain the facility in Tennessee so that they can sell the trucks to US buyers while saving on shipping costs and gaining entry into a market that could not be done in Japan at that time.

It’s important to understand the difference between the two concepts because they mean very different outcomes for a business. It makes sense for a freelance designer to outsource their accounting or file management to some fast and eager worker in Bangalore, but they would never trust the entire process to be handled by a complete stranger. On the other hand, a shoe company will likely prefer to have the materials, workers, order processing, accounting and many other aspects handled in an area of the world where they can take advantage of cheap labor and much lower material costs.

While many companies focus savings in outsourcing and off-shoring, it is equally important to know how your processes are operating. Wal-Mart is an innovator in new supply chain techniques. I’ve witnessed some of these innovations at other companies, such as Associate Foods. Their warehouse was in the process of transforming the last time I was there. Half of the warehouse was using printed stickers so that the employees could look on the sheet and see what the next item to pull was. Once they put that sticker on the box they move on to the next item. In the other half of the warehouse, there was a voice activated system that would guide you to the next item to pull and notify you of your progress, similarly to the system for Wal-Mart as described in the book. Obviously there are many ways to save some time and money in this complicated process.

You can only improve your business if you know what needs to be improved. Before, if you wanted to know about your competition, you would have to spend thousands of dollars in market research. For smaller businesses, this was certainly out of reach. Now, all you have to do is get on Google and search your market for top competitors. You can view their pricing, services and even get a good idea of they operate by reading online reviews about their business. Google has extremely powerful tools for those that operate online, such as Google AdWords, Analytics, and many other tools. I use some of these myself and the information is priceless. It can tell you when your customer arrives at your site, how they got there, what they clicked on and how long they stayed. This can make the difference between putting ads in the landing page or a different page, or investing in ad space on a site where you are getting good traffic from. In all, these aspects of business are not universal wins for everyone, however, knowing what each of these strategies can do can help you make key decisions on operating more efficiently.

Adam Coss

Marion Jensen

IST1100

17 January 2015

Module 2 Essay

In this week, I have read much about the history of workflow software, open source code and collaborative contribution. While I have a history in web programming and graphic design, I must admit that I didn’t pay much attention to open source code. I would always hear people talk about different open source programs and how they are great, but it didn’t seem to matter much to me because I was always building websites myself from the ground up. I had a basic understanding of what open source meant, I just didn’t see why or how I could take advantage of it.

Without workflow software, things would move a lot slower in our businesses. I seriously doubt that companies could offer same day shipping or even next day shipping for that matter. With this kind of software, we are able to take orders from customers, create purchase orders, provide shipping estimates, track shipping, notify customers of delays, manage costs and inventory, and so many other things. I use a web service called Weebly. They host my website and provide me with nearly a full e-commerce set up within the online software. After a customer places an order, the only thing I am responsible for is placing the order to the supplier. All of the bookkeeping and customer management is automated so I can focus on placing orders and driving more revenue.

Weebly does provide all of the coding for the websites that they build. So like open source programs, I can take the code and modify or improve it in anyway I like. I haven’t need to but it’s great to know that I have full access to any portion of my site, after all, I am paying them a monthly fee so I would like to be in total control if need be. The concept of open source code is refreshing. The idea that groups of people come together for a greater good is kind of romantic. It reminds me of community supported agriculture, which is something that I am involved in. While CSA is certainly more physical, I can only imaging how mentally demanding a collaborative effort in software engineering must be. It’s hard enough just to get people to agree on colors, it must be challenging to get a group of people to agree on software architecture.

I remember when Y2K was the only thing we could hear about on TV. It was like the old days when there were only 3 channels, if the president was on, well… the president was on. You didn’t have a choice what to watch anymore. That was TV when Y2K was happening, it was Y2K everyday. I don’t remember anyone talking about how Y2K would affect India and the future of globalization. Learning about how outsourcing the remediation to India gives me hope for when there may be another computer based crisis. It shows that it is possible for multiple countries to come together to avoid a disaster. I always imagined that if a massive cyber attack happened, we’d all be waiting for the virtual red tape to be cut.

Outsourcing is extremely powerful. Without outsourcing, India’s economy would surely be very 
different. Reading about globalization and outsourcing is really providing me with more insight on 

how I can operate my own business more efficiently. I know many photographers outsource their 

editing to Indian companies. This has sparked some very heated debates in the creative industry. 

With 

editing being such a huge part of the finished product, how can we allow someone we don’t even 

know to take over such an integral part of the creative process. However, many photographers use 

these editors with stunning results. It allows the photographer more time to focus on print sales and 

brand marketing. It takes just as much time to edit a photo as it does to scout, light, and shoot an entire set of photos. Imagine freeing up that much time to improve your creativity, or to work with 

your accountant, or more importantly, interact with potential clients.

Adam Coss

Marion Jensen

IST1100

17 January 2015

Module 1 Essay

I must admit that this class is already quite interesting and Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat is a very interesting read. The concept of globalization isn’t entirely new to me. Recently, I have signed contracts with multiple suppliers for my online retail business that are communicating with me from across the ocean. As Friedman has suggested, it has been fairly easy to gain entry into an international business. While my business has just started, it has cost less that one thousand dollars to build from the ground up. This is entirely attributed to the technological growth of communication and the internet.

Friedman has outlined this growth into three different versions. Globalization 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Globalization 1.0 was about physical strength and industrial progress. More importantly, it was about how countries moved this strength and expanded their industries to other nations. How may a country expand through industry rather than borders. Globalization 2.0, which was roughly around the time of both world wars, was created by a growth through the industrial revolution. The catalyst of this Globalization 2.0 was decreasing transportation cost through steam engines and the railroad. Later, the growth would continue with the increased use and lower cost of telecommunications, such as the telegraph and telephone. More importantly, the creation of the internet has matured the global economy in the way that we were able to send information to each continent within seconds. Friedman contends that Globalization 3.0 started around 2000. The driving force in Globalization 3.0 is the individual, which I can definitely relate to. In 3.0 the individual expands globalization by being able to collaborate in small or large groups from any city in the world in real time.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was a very important moment for many people. There are many changes that have happened due to this event but Friedman points out how the fall of the wall affects globalization. While the dismantle of a physical wall makes for obvious expansion, there is also a psychological aspect that some haven’t considered. The mental barrier that expansion is impossible was also dismantled when the Berlin Wall fell. This allowed people to free their thinking about what boundaries truly exist in the global economy.

The story of Netscape is one that I find fascinating. While I grew up in the time that the internet was booming, and it still is, I have to admit that I completely ignored Netscape altogether. I didn’t get my first PC until Internet Explorer had already outpaced Netscape. The story of Netscape is so important because without them, we likely would have a very different system for accessing the internet today. It would likely be difficult and expensive, much like switching internet service providers. With their continuing effort to keep the World Wide Web as available as possible it helped to ensure that anyone with a connection could gain access, regardless of computer platform and monetary status.

The internet has certainly allowed for a huge amount of opportunities in every country. While some countries are designing and building the plans for future ventures, other countries utilize the power of the internet to offer highly sought after services that some of us don’t have time for or simply don’t want to do. Which is not to imply that these jobs are worthless, because these jobs have credited billions of dollars in profit for countries that would still be struggling to make a name on the global stage.