Week 11 : Cybercrime

Today we discussed about cybercrime. Cybercrime is a term used broadly to describe activity in which computers or networks are a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity. A way to prevent cybercrime is to know how the criminal work.

There is two type of cybercrime. First one is to get profit out of it, the second one is only to cause disruption. Common way to get profit is from ATM and credit card number. ATM is quite risky because there is camera recording person using the ATM machine. while the credit card user can be tracked. One way to acquire credit card number is to blackmail the manager of a big company. Find a manager who gamble and lost a lot.

Disruption caused must be irreversible like crashing of a plane by disruption the traffic control system. Steal secret information and publish it. If the disruption is reversible such as disrupting a bank, then the bank can rolled back to previous version before the bank being hacked and then use the backup database. The bank can continue the usual process.

At the end of the seminar, the professor gave us a game. There is terrorist, banker, police, port, travel. Banker, police, port and travel are given resources to be protected. The game is played twice. The first time everyone make decision by themselves. Results in overlapping of protection on resources hence the terrorist succeed in their attack. The second game is played by coordinated defence. But the result is still the same, the terrorist also succeeded. We concluded that defence is more difficult than attacking, because too many things to defend with limited resources. The chance for terrorist to succeed is even better with the existence of intelligence of terrorist.

Business Plan

At this session the prof talk much about failure of a small business. Mainly about what causes failure of a small business and what can be done to avoid that failure.

What is small business? Small business is usually privately owned and has less than 100 employees. Characteristic of small business:
1. The owner usually is the manager of the company, unlike big company which pay a manager to deal with daily events.
2. The liability of the owner is unlimited. This means if the business fail and has debt, the private property of the owner has to be used to pay the debt (e.g. car, house)

Survey proofs that the survival rates of small business is not very good. The reasons for poor survival rates are:
1. Lack of experience (most of the people who start a small business is the retired people who have extra money)
2. Insufficient capital (Since their business is small, it is difficult for them to get credit from the bank)
3. Their business is not located at strategic place.
4. Unexpected growth (When their business expands, they have to hire people. Lack of managerial skill, they can't deal with the subordinates)

How to avoid business failure? Develop Business Plan.
Derive accurate financial information about the business. Estimate the overhead and operational expenses. Predict sales so that the time for break even can be estimated. Make sure the time requirement is not underestimated. Then carry out TOWS(threat, opportunity, weakness, strength) analysis to identify the position of the business in market.
The next thing is to determine the product, place, price and how to promote our new business.

Besides for our self guide(allocate resources, timeline), business plan must also explain why should investor give us the money.
Below are some tips for writing up business plan:
The executive is a very important part, the investor will first read this part, if it is unattractive, he won't go through the rest of the business plan. A good executive summary must contain the business' value proposition, the main objectives, revenue model and briefly describe what is needed(how much fund). The competitve advantage and the member strengths. It must also include the projected income and when the company will break even.

Week 9: Scenario Analysis

Scenario analysis is a very powerful tool to deal with uncertainty which is very common in our daily lives by considering the alternative outcomes. And is very important in decision making. A scenario is a hypothetical sequence of events constructed on uncertainty outcomes.

When there is new technology or new policy, a company need to forecast the outcome. What will other company do, will customer preferences changes, will structural changes occur, if there is structural changes what will be outcome. In that case change in strategy is needed.

The first step in scenario analysis we need to identify the stakeholders, all the parties that will be affected by the new policy(customer, producer, worker, competitor, investor). Then try to predict what will be the decisions of all these stakeholders. Then the permutation of interactions of all the decisions can be reduced to a few reasonable sets. It is also needed to interview the stakeholders, asking their opinion and what they will do when encountering such problem.
Then start to build the scenario, it is best to have 3 or 4 dimensions. Each dimension has only two states i.e. positive and negative. e.g. to deal with free wireless, the dimensions to be used could be:
1. the capability of consumers.
2. the law and regulations.
3. compliment service

Then develop the competing strategy. Then use the game theory (what will happen if this strategy is applied). Validate all strategies. Choose the most robust strategies.

Week 8: Design Issues

In the old days, to do experiment to develop an equipment have to use the real equipment. Now, a simulator can be created to simulate the work of the real equipment, and the result can be quite the same as the real one. It is a great advantage cost-wise. For training of pilot simulator not only reduces cost (fuel cost) but also reduces the risk of accident.
The advantage is enhanced by the availability of the program in variety of user interface such as program used in computer can also be used in handphone, PDA.

The code that has been generated for a function need to be communicated to the device that can carry out the function. In order for the communication to work, standard had to be established. In more advanced technology today, the standard created has to be more strict like the XHTML compared to HTML. Example of standard: in computer press alt+F4 usually close a program.

Iterative development is a way of development that build a model, test is and evaluate it. The process is repeated until the result is satisfying. The model build can be smaller than the intended thing, therefore save cost before building the real thing.

Designing a new model is not only designing job by engineer. It involved other task, such as marketing survey, promotion in order for the new innovation to hit the market. Marketing survey is needed, so that the innovation meet the need of customer. A new innovation with very advanced technology that already spent a lot of research fund may not have a good selling if what the technology can do doesnt meet the need of the customer. e.g. fuel cell car is very advanced technology with high efficiency and low pollution, but still people prefer gasoline car since it is cheaper than fuel cell car. Because most people don't care about the pollution generated by their car until there is a law that prohibit the use of gasoline car.

After the technology is developed, the next thing to do is promotion. People have to know what the technology can do, what is its advantage. Like the i-phone, even before the launching of the product, many people want to buy it because they have good introduction of their product.

Week 7: Podcast

Podcast is considered a new technology( I only heard of podcast after I registered for MB362 =p) introduced in 2004 that has a great potential to be developed. Podcast is radio show format with short duration of 2 or 3 minutes. Podcast use the web2.0 paradigm where everyone can contribute.

What makes podcast desireable?
1. Like radio, you can listen to it while doing something else. Podcast contents can be news, documentary, sports.
2. It is time shifted component. It can be downloaded from the internet, and can be listened at convenient time.
3. Narrowcasted audience (the long tail). Not every show has many audience but collectively can make up a market.
4. Detachable from computer. Can be listened without computer, can be downloaded into other devices such as PSP, MP3 player.
5. Alternative and unregulated content.

Podcast -> potential business to be developed
Today many businesses are podcasting including General motors, The Walt Disney Company.
Podcasting can be used to give motivation, lectures, instructions to the employers. It's useful because the motivation the employee give at a particular time may not needed by every employer at that time. So the employer can listen to the motivation record at his convenient time.

Besides for internal use in a company podcasting also can be used to generate revenue. The podcasting company can charge fee per view or by subscription or can use ads. Since podcast is narrowcasted, the sponsor also has to be choosy on the show they wanted to sponsor. Such as a company that sell baby product won't sponsor a cricket match. A cricket match is mostly watch by youngster so the sponsor could be beer company.

Podcast could be used to cast presentation of a product to prospective buyer. Other usage in business is to present a solution of a problem or present a new project to the manager of company.

Week 6: Case Analysis

This week the prof lead the discussion about case study. Why do we need case study in management? Why not just study the textbook? The reason is that the theory in text book is only theory, may not always be true. Unlike mathematics, 1+1 always equal 2, in management, the step taken to prevent a problem may not always have the same outcome, sometimes may be good outcome, other time may turn out bad. Case study is research strategy that will generate hypothesis. There are 3 methodology in doing case study:

1. exploratory -> fieldwork, and data collection may be undertaken prior to definition of the research questions and hypotheses. This type of study has been considered as a prelude to some social research. However, the framework of the study must be created ahead of time. Pilot projects are very useful in determining the final protocols that will be used. Survey questions may be dropped or added based on the outcome of the pilot study. Selecting cases is a difficult process, but the literature provides guidance in this area. It is recommended that the selection offers the opportunity to maximize what can be learned, knowing that time is limited. Hence the cases that are selected should be easy and willing subjects. A good instrumental case does not have to defend its typicality.

2. explanatory ->In very complex and multivariate cases, the analysis can make use of pattern-matching techniques. A study is conducted to examine the reason why some research findings get into practical use. Funded research project is used as the unit of analysis, where the topic was constant but the project varied. The utilization outcomes were explained by three rival theories: a knowledge-driven theory, a problem-solving theory, and a social-interaction theory.

3. descriptive ->Descriptive cases require that the investigator begin with a descriptive theory, or face the possibility that problems will occur during the project. This methodology is used to study special education, using a pattern-matching procedure. Several states were studied and the data about each state's activities were compared to another, with idealized theoretic patterns. Thus what is implied in this type of study is the formation of hypotheses of cause-effect relationships. Hence the descriptive theory must cover the depth and scope of the case under study. The selection of cases and the unit of analysis is developed in the same manner as the other types of case studies.

There are several different approaches in case study:
1. value chain or process flow analysis
2. value system analysis
3. competitive analysis
4. market analysis
5. policy analysis
6. financial analysis
7. organizational analysis

Each method will generate different hypothesis. e.g. value chain analysis definitely will generate hypothesis related to value chain
Better value chain will give better bargaining power in buying from suppliers and selling to buyers. If the product has high quality, it can be sold to buyers at higher price. If the company have a big order to the supplier they can get the supply at lower price.





In competitive strategy approach. The actions taken by the competitors will determine our actions. A same product of competitor will make the buyers have other alternatives hence the selling power is smaller

Week 5: Do we need new rules?standards?

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What can you see on the images besides. hmm...it's a simple rule governing the internet connection. Why do we need rules?
rules provide structure. Without rule, route A wouldn't have known it had to transfer data to route C. The more advanced the technology the more complex the rule.There have been many laws that govern the internet. e.g. the law that regulate internet in India.

Every place has its own law which is slightly different but with same purpose i.e. to keep everything in order. The law has to be amended because the things it govern is changing. Especially in the cyber world which grow intensively in the last 2 decades, need new standards and new rule governing the use of internet. Because of the development, now there is new term "cyber crime" which is crime in the cyber world. e.g. somebody called hacker enter into somebody else system and manipulate things in their databases. Before there was no law that specifically states hacker is a crime, so the law has to be amended. Other form of crime is the piracy of songs, movie. Nowadays people can easily download songs, movies from the internet without paying the royalty to the record company. Then new law emerge to govern the piracy.
e.g. rules that emerge due to advancement in technology click here

Besides new law, new standard is needed too for the digital convergence. Previously the language used in different platform has different standard. But now there is digital convergence, in order to be compatible in every platform, new standards have to be established. e.g. in HTML forget to close the tag is no problem but in XHTML (Combination of HTML and XML which in future people will use this language rather than HTML) an error will occur. This more restricted XHTML is compatible in more user interface than HTML.

In conclusion

• Standards shape technology
• technology alter the economy and enable new behaviour
• behaviour become norm
• norm become laws

Week 4: Business Model

This week MB362 has assignment about the problem faced by Jurong Bird Park. And we are told to present our proposed solution. The problem faced by Jurong Bird Park is non-English speaking visitor can not enjoy the show and the information in the signage is not enough to describe particular bird. There are many interesting ideas from the presentation of other group. My group's idea is to use sms and phone call, it looks a bit out of date but everyone can use it. =p
Other group also have idea not quite different. Some have the idea to use bluetooth which is a terrific idea. At the end of all our presentation, the Prof discuss the problem with us. In the discussion the Prof pointed some problem with our idea such as is everybody know how to use bluetooth? how about our mother? The Prof also mentioned the use of java application to make it more interesting by having a game with the visitor and also it is possible for market segmentation. JBP can have a different price for the customer. More expensive for visitors who wants better service or faster connection.

Then we move on to the next topic which is the "Business Model". Actually business model concept is a new concept but now is very popular concept and is very important for the business world. The function of the business model :
1. to articulate value proposition
2. to identify market segment
3. to define the structure of the firm's value chain
4. to specific revenue generation mechanism
5. to describe the position of the firm in the value network
6. to formulate the company competitive advantage strategy.

For a company to profit, it has to gain competitive advantage. Not only gaining competitive advantage but also have to sustain it, in order to gain more profit in the long run. A product must offer value proposition. What is value proposition? the benefit we get from the product. Simple example as an undergraduate student, the value proposition is the credential, knowledge, skill and networking. Identify market segmentation is crucial to serve our customer better. Last semester I learnt that for a new emerging company, is best to serve the market segment that is not well covered by other company. Like what Starhub did when they enter the telcom service provider. Their market segment is the people who want a cheaper service provider.
Business model have many elements:
1. customer value
2. scope

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3. pricing
4. source of revenue
5. connected activities
6. capabilities
7. implementation
8. sustainability

Each of the elements is very important. The shift in on component can change the respond of the customer. e.g. pricing: if your product pricing is depends on how much is the usage, people is more reluctant to use your product since there is uncertainty. People do not like uncertainty.

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Source of revenue is also an important factor. From where your company will get the revenue, the revenue may not necessary the money paid by customer like in Amazon. The buyer pay for the book before the shipping. But Amazon only pay the supplier much later. The money they get will be invested for a short period and they get their revenue from short term investment.

Week 3 : Crowd Wisdom

The first term I heard today is group think. I've learnt it before. Well for info, group think is a condition when in a meeting the participants don't voice out their opinion. They just follow whatever the leader says in the meeting. Group think makes the meeting inefficient because the purpose of meeting is to find the best solution the participants can think of. If there is group think the solution only comes from the leader which can't be the best solution all the time, therefore has to be avoided. There are several factor that caused group think:
1. The participants wants the meeting to end quickly because if there is a difference in opinion the meeting will last longer.
2. The participants don't want a conflict among themselves, so they just agree to others' opinion.
3. The leader usually never pay attention to his subordinates opinion. This caused the subordinate to think what's the use of his opinion anyway.
Group think has a bad effect to the company, the leader and even the subordinates. Like mentioned by Professor, the employees of TT Durai former Chief Executive Officer of National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in Singapore will be labelled as the people who won't voice out their opinions. Of course this will ruin their career life for years.

There is difference in opinion about the crowd size in decision making. As was said by Henry David Thoreau "The mass never comes up to standard of its member, but on the contrary degrades itself to a level with the lowest". James Surowiecki said"Under the right circumstances groups are remarkably intelligent, are often smarter than the smartest people in them." Actually these two persons didn't say the wrong thing the key word here is "under the right circumstances". A simple example is to calculate the load that a bridge can handle, one expert is better than a crowd. But for judging people's behaviour crowd's opinion is better than the experts.

Going back to James Surowiecki statements. For a group to be more effective than experts required diversity, independent of opinion, decentralization and aggregation. According to Surowiecki hypothesis decision quality is proportional to number of types of solutions. Diversity is needed as it provides more alternatives which then will give a better solution. Independent is the main problem in group think, people's opinion is determined by others opinions. One way to solve this is by making the decisions made simultaneously.

Then the Professor talked about the process to launched a new product to market. The first thing to do is to conduct a marketing research. There are several things to consider here i.e. the cost, the functionality, form of the product(small or big), appearance(nice or ugly). After doing research and know what the market wants they start building the product. The next process is to distribute it to the consumers through available channels. Because the time doesn't permit the professor only touched a little on the infrastructure for mobile commerce.

Week 2:Technology Infrastructure: The internet and the World Wide Web

This week seminar the professor started with presentation of the starhub study case. From the discussion we all mentioned that starhub should dominate the market. Why is it so? because telecommunication it a business with high start up cost and low variable cost. The cost of serving 1 million customers doesn't much from serving twice as many customers.

Definitely Starhub has to keep up to date with the current technology to gain market share. One of the professor ideas was to give information about the traffic by locating the position of the customers. If many people stay in their position, the service provider will send information to the customers who are going to that particular road. In that way, the customer can avoid traffic jam.

After 3 groups presentation the case study, the professor go on with the technology infrastructure. It starts with the origin of internet. Actually internet was first invented for military purposes of the U.S. department of defense. Then subsequently internet is available for public usage. For the past 2 decades internet has experienced an excellent growth(exponentially from 1991 - 2002). In 2003 and 2004 internet only grow linearly.click here

We may have always heard of the term TCP/IP, but I don't really know what is that. Well, TCP/IP is the heart of the internet. Why is that? let me explain, the data of the internet is sent in the form of little package. TCP controls the assembly and disassembly of the data. Of course IP can never be separated from TCP, IP is the address of the computer to receive the package sent. Currently IP addressing is using the internet protocol version 4 (IPv4), but soon the will be no more address to assign to internet users since the number of internet users are increasing. So they have improve the IP addressing to version 6(IPv6) which use 128 bit number bigger than version 4 which is only 32 bit. An interesting matter of this improvement is that why it isn't version 5? The explanation is like this when version 5 come out, version 4 can still be used. To change to newer version is not an easy task and isn't cheap. So none has changed to version 5.

I've also learnt something about the new technology in handphone that has connection with the wireless ethernet. The increasing use of wireless ethernet create the possibility of mesh routing. What is mesh routing? Directly transmits Wi-Fi packets through hundreds, or even thousands, of short-range transceivers acting as routers. The idea is like this, when every single household has wireless ethernet wherever we go we can receive the wireless signal from our handphone. In short wherever we go, we are connected to the internet. By using the internet connection people can send sms, call, without having to pay. In that case, can this technology be considered as disruptive technology? what will happen to the telecom service provider? will they survive?

First Week

Today is the first time I attend MB362 class. The first class is talking more about the structure and the overview of the course for this semester.

I also learnt some new things like VoIP, this term is not completely new to me, I've heard it before. I only know it has something to do with the phone and the internet. By the discussion in class I knew how it works and the advantages compare to telephone. This technology harm the telephone industry such as Singtel by decreasing Singtel's revenue alot. Singtel responsed to this by providing new service in order to survive in the industry.

The forward pace of technology has made the world change so much, not only in daily live but also the business world. The internet has harmed many industry such as the email service has caused the post office revenue decreasing. But the internet has also provided many opportunities for new industry such as Amazon.com which is not impossible without the emergence of internet service.

It's all about me, me and me