Information Systems in Management - Internet of Things

 What is Internet of Things(IOT):

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enables these objects to collect and exchange data.

IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and the Internet. The concept may also be referred to as the Internet of Everything. A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has been most closely associated with machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities. Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often referred to as being smart. IoT term was first coined by British entrepreneur Kevin Ashton in 1999 making the statement that every object in the future will be cotrolled by electronic chips and is going to be connected to the internet where we can operate all the functions automatically literally without any human intervention. 

This is going to lead humans into a wonder land such that we see automatic garrage opening system, watering of plants whenever the ground sensors detect the inadequacy of ground water for plants to survive, low energy consumed automatic electronic productcs so on and so forth.  All these systems are being developed to make human life much more simpler to live in and one could be able to handle complex mechanisms with or without remote systems. Google’s innovation of driver less car, automatic car parking system etc come under the tree of IoT.

IoT is mainly classified into five types. They are:

·         smart wearable

·         smart home

·         smart city

·         smart environment and

·         smart enterprise

These smart products will be used by humans in the near future where technology is rapidly pacing with its rapid positioning power. Here is a small graph through which growth of IoT products being explained by CISCO, an IT and technology giant.

By 2020, it is estimated that the number of connected devices is expected to grow exponentially to 50 billion. The main driver for this growth is not human population; rather, the fact that devices we use every day (e.g., refrigerators, cars, fans, lights) and operational technologies such as those found on the factory floor are becoming connected entities across the globe. This world of interconnected things - where the humans are interacting with the machines and machines are talking with other machines (M2M) — is here and it is here to stay.

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be defined as "a pervasive and ubiquitous network which enables monitoring and control of the physical environment by collecting, processing, and analyzing the data generated by sensors or smart objects."

The concepts and technologies that have led to the IoT, or the interconnectivity of real-world objects, have existed for some time. Many people have referred to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and IoT interchangeably and consider them one and the same. In reality, M2M can be viewed as a subset of the IoT. The IoT is a more encompassing phenomenon, which includes Machine-to-Human communication (M2H), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Location-Based Services (LBS), Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) sensors, Augmented Reality (AR), robotics and vehicle telematics. Many of these technologies are the result of developments in military and industrial supply chain applications; their common feature is to combine embedded sensory objects with communication intelligence, running data over a mix of wired and wireless networks. In a broader context, the architecture encompasses the Internet of Things plus business engineering insights captured from the information transmitted by these so-called "smart objects." 

Concerns with IoT:

Concerns have been raised that the Internet of Things is being developed rapidly without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved and the regulatory changes that might be necessary.  According to the BI (Business Insider) Intelligence Survey conducted in the last quarter of 2014, 39% of the respondents said that security is the biggest concern in adopting Internet of Things technology. In particular, as the Internet of Things spreads widely, cyber attacks are likely to become an increasingly physical (rather than simply virtual) threat. In a January 2014 article in Forbes, cybersecurity columnist Joseph Steinberg listed many Internet-connected appliances that can already "spy on people in their own homes" including televisions, kitchen appliances, cameras, and thermostats. Computer-controlled devices in automobiles such as brakes, engine, locks, hood and truck releases, horn, heat, and dashboard have been shown to be vulnerable to attackers who have access to the onboard network. In some cases, vehicle computer systems are internet-connected, allowing them to be exploited remotely.

Children and the Internet of Things:

Young people are the target of a range of policy initiatives designed to realise the benefits of new developments in the internet while minimising the potential risks. These are often developed, of necessity, in the absence of rigorous empirical data, making an informed assessment of access, attitudes, skills and uses essential. The key ideas that reveal the complex dynamic between online opportunities and online risks include:

·         Digital in/exclusion

·         Learning and literacy

·         Peer networking and privacy

·         Civic participation

·         Risk and harm

This research raises key questions regarding identity, literacy, privacy, participation and risk which are all key issues in relation to IoT developments.

Data capture, or Big Data, is a key starting point whilst considering the effects of the IoT on young people.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/security/intelligence/iot_framework.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/josephsteinberg/2014/01/27/these-devices-may-be-spying-on-you-even-in-your-own-home/

http://www.businessinsider.in/We-Asked-Executives-About-The-Internet-Of-Things-And-Their-Answers-Reveal-That-Security-Remains-A-Huge-Concern/articleshow/45959921.cms

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is also the name of the academic field of study which studies how to create computers and computer software that are capable of intelligent behavior. AI research is highly technical and specialized, and is deeply divided into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other. The central problems (or goals) of AI research include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, natural language processing (communication), perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects. There are a large number of tools used in AI, including versions of search and mathematical optimization, logic, methods based on probability and economics, and many others. The AI field is interdisciplinary, in which a number of sciences and professions converge, including computer science, mathematics,psychology, linguistics, philosophy and neuroscience, as well as other specialized fields such as artificial psychology.

Certain applications of AI are

·         Computer vision, Virtual reality and Image processing.

·         Diagnosis (artificial intelligence)

·         Game theory and Strategic planning.

·         Game artificial intelligence and Computer game bot.

·         Natural language processing, Translation and Chatterbots.

·         Nonlinear control and Robotics.

These applications are certainly useful in so many fields in different ways.

They are:

Computer science:

Time sharing, interactive interpreters, graphical user interfaces and the computer mouse, rapid development environments, the linked list data structure, automatic storage management, symbolic programming, functional programming, dynamic programming and object-oriented programming.

Finance:

Banks use AI systems to organize operations, invest in stocks, and manage properties, Fraud detection, simulated financial trading, to detect charges or claims outside of the norm, flagging these for human investigation.

Hospitals and Medicine:

This is a key area where AI is playing a crucial role in developing ultra modern technologies to detect and cure diseases, treat patients etc.  to organize bed schedules, make a staff rotation, and provide medical information and other important tasks.

Artificial neural networks are used as clinical decision support systems for medical diagnosis, such as in Concept Processing technology in EMR software.

Other tasks in medicine that can potentially be performed by artificial intelligence include:

·   Computer-aided interpretation of medical images. Such systems help scan digital images, e.g. from computed tomography, for typical appearances and to highlight conspicuous sections, such as possible diseases. A typical application is the detection of a tumor.

·   Heart sound analysis

·   Heavy Industries:

Robots have become common in many industries. They are often given jobs that are considered dangerous to humans. Robots have proven effective in jobs that are very repetitive which may lead to mistakes or accidents due to a lapse in concentration and other jobs which humans may find degrading. 

Interestingly, Japan is the leader in using and producing robots in the world. In 1999, 1,700,000 robots were in use worldwide.

Some of the other fields that use AI significantly are

·         Online telephone and customer service

·         Transportation

·         Telecommunication services and maintenance

·         Toys and games

·         Music

·         Aviation

·         News, publishing and writing

Various tools of artificial intelligence are also being widely deployed in homeland security, speech and text recognition, data mining, and e-mail spam filtering. Applications are also being developed for gesture recognition (understanding of sign language by machines), individual voice recognition, global voice recognition (from a variety of people in a noisy room), facial expression recognition for interpretation of emotion and non verbal cues. Other applications are robot navigation, obstacle avoidance, and object recognition.

Amazon is now planning to deliver orders through drones in remote locations using Artificial Intellegence.

Apple has recently aquired two Artificial Intellegence(AI) companies so as to deal with competitve advantage over other companies.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applications_of_artificial_intelligence

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-unveils-futuristic-plan-delivery-by-drone/

http://www.businessinsider.in/Apple-has-bought-two-artificial-intelligence-companies-in-four-days/articleshow/49236214.cms

Micheal porter's Five Forces Theory- An insight

 The biggest advantage companies can draw in a developed economy is the Purchase Power of its citizens(PPP). Companies can directly concentrate on a single parameter like quality of the product/service where customers and consumers think about quality of the commodity. This leads to the exponential growth  in performance in terms of innovation of the prouct. Though the competition in such markets is very high, the yields companies get if the product is also very high if it is very well received by the customer .

Eg: U.S.market stands as an outstanding example where most of the innovations happen. Competition levels  are very high and companies exhibit monopolistic behavior despite the hyper competition exist.

The nature of competition of different markets is different in both developed economies like USA, Japan, Germany, France etc and emerging economies like India, China etc. However, the most common trends that were observed in most of the markets differentiating the developed from emerging economies are:

	Factors	Developed economy	Emerging economy
1	Market competition	Free competition,Monopolistic	Monopoly or oligopoly
2	% of Organized sector	High	Very low(3% offline;10% both offline and online)
3	Supply of products/services	High	Shortage of supply
4	Quality Preference	High	Low
5	Rights and Choices	Buyers have the rights and choices	Sellers have the rights and choices
6	Dominant power	Buyers are the dominant power in the market	Sellers are the dominant power in the market
7	Entry Barriers	Low	High
8	Restrictions imposed on sellers	Limited	High
9	Government intervention	Industry specific	High
10	Competition for capital	High	Low

    Intelligent competitors are those who try to get an edge over the competitor not through innovation but through techniques like mass production and sales. They might sometimes kill their existing products with the new products they offer and thus try to increase their sale numbers and maximize profits. They do it by improvising on their marketing abilities and not by differentiation of products, service etc.

Competitive intelligence is to gain an edge over the other competing players in the market by differentiating products, services and anything else that the company offers to the customers for a long period of time(present and future), thus making competition irrelevant.

For example, while Samsung is an intelligent competitor offering a variety of smart phones, Apple displays competitive intelligence through innovation in its products. Though intelligence competition gets you a reasonably good share in the market, Competitive intelligence makes you the price leader. Apple has set a standard for itself, differentiating itself in the crowd through its services, product quality, and technology and thus finds no other firm as competition. Samsung which is the market leader of smart phones still finds competition from firms like Micromax etc.

  Hyper competition is all about fast beating the slow, rather than big beating the small. With advancement in technology happening at a faster pace and no. of companies (start-ups included) growing like mushrooms in all industrial sectors, companies are under pressure to outperform themselves. Every firm is trying to figure out ways of reaching out to the customer better. Companies are competing with its competitors and inside as well for that matter.

A company should use competitive intelligence to gain competitive advantage in a hyper-competitive market. For example, Amazon has showed competitive intelligence by making use of analytics and displaying the “Most Viewed Item” or “Customers who viewed this have also viewed” segments and gained benefit out of it.

M-commerce is certainly very interesting growing industry. Lets have a look at this industry as of today’s scenario. Payment banks made the home work easy for m-commerce enthusiasts. Recent incident of government’s issue of licences to 11 corporates already created huge buzz in companies’ marketing strategies and also revealed their highly rival ad campains by the companies. The simple instance shows the competition between companies who are trying to offer best value at highly competitive prices to the customers.

SWOT Analysis for all frame works of Michael Porter:

The Strengths of Value Chain Analysis

1. It is a very flexible strategy tool for looking at a business, competitors and the respective places in the industry’s value system.

 2. The value chain can be used to diagnose and create competitive advantages on both cost and differentiation.

3. It focuses attention on the activities needed to deliver the value proposition.

 4. Comparing the business model with the competitors using the value chain can give a much deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses to be included in the SWOT analysis.

 5. It can be adapted for any type of business – manufacturing, retail or service, big or small.

6. The value chain has developed into an extra model, the industry value chain or value system which gives a better understanding of the much broader competitive arena.

The Limitations of Value Chain Analysis:

1. Its very strength of flexibility mean that it has to be adapted to a particular business situation and that can be a disadvantage since, to get the best from the value chain, it’s not “plug and play”.

 2. The format of the value chain laid out in Porter’s book Competitive advantage is heavily oriented to a manufacturing business.

3. The scale and scope of a value chain analysis can be intimidating. It can take a lot of work to finish a full value chain analysis for your company and for your main competitors so that you can identify and understand the key differences and strategy drivers.

4. The value chain idea has been adopted by supply chain and operations experts and therefore its strategic impact for understanding, analyzing and creating competitive advantage has been reduced

5. Business information systems are often not structured in a way to make it easy to get information for value chain analysis.

Strengths of four corners model:

Considers implicit aspects of competitive behavior

Firms are more often than not aware of their rivals and do have a generally good understanding of their strategies and capabilities. However, motivational factors are often overlooked. Sufficiently motivated competitors can often prove to be more competitive than bigger but less motivated rivals. What sets this model apart from others is its insistence on accounting for the "implicit" factors such as culture, history, executive, consultants, and board’s backgrounds, goals, values and commitments and inclusion of management's deep beliefs and assumptions about what works or does not work in the market.[1]

Predictive in nature

Porter's four corners model provides a framework that ties competitor's capabilities to their assumptions of the competitive environment and their underlying motivations. By looking at both a firm's capabilities (what the firm can do) and underlying implicit factors (their motivations to follow a course of action) can help predict competitor's actions with a relatively higher level of confidence. The underlying assumption here is that decision makers in firms are essentially human and hence subject to the influences of affective and automatic processes described by neuroscientists.[1] Hence by considering these

Strengths of Generic Strategies: Michael Porter’s generic strategies are very useful in strategic business planning. These strategies are unique and versatile. They can be used in almost all practical business planning.

 Limitations of Generic Strategies: Each generic strategy is based on erecting different kinds of defenses against the competitive forces, and hence they involve different risks.

1). Maintaining cost leadership can be risky because:

Innovations nullify past inventions and learning, and hence cost leadership requires continual capital investment to maintain cost advantage.

 Exclusive attention to cost can blind firms to changes in product requirements.

 Cost increases narrow price differentials and reduce ability to compete with competitors’ brand loyalty.

2). The risks involved in cost differentiation are:

i. Cost differentiation between low cost firms and differentiating firms becomes too large to hold customer loyalty

 ii. Buyers need for differentiation fall

Strengths of 5 force model: A means of providing corporations with an analysis of their competition and determining strategy, Porter's five-forces model looks at the strength of five distinct competitive forces, which, when taken together, determine long-term profitability and competition.

Limitations of 5 force model:  Whilst the Porter’s five forces model has its benefits there are certain considerations that one should bear in mind while using it.

 The considerations are:

üPace of change is now more rapid

üMarket structures were seen as relatively static

üThe model provides only the snapshot of the environment

üIt can be difficult to define the industry

üThe model is most applicable for analysis of simple market structures

üThe market is based on the idea of competition

 Here is what Micheal Porter says about five forces in much more detailed insights!!

Strengths of diamond model:

1. Porter’s Diamond model explains why corporations domiciled in certain countries are successful in penetrating foreign markets, why industry clusters are relevant

2. This model is an addition to Porter’s five forces model dealing with industry structure. The diamond model emphasizes that a firm should only internationalize when it has a strong position in its home market.

5. The model shows that apart from inter-firm rivalry, cooperation is a vital component of corporate strategy. Companies should form strategic alliances, especially with organizations in related and supporting industries.

4. The model explains in part the “resource curse” -- why a large natural resources base is not sufficient to develop industrial might.

 Limitation of Diamond Model:

1. The situation in which all four attributes are correctly lined up to boost the development of a given industry provides only a higher probability that an industry will develop. Its development depends on personal action for the favorable conditions to be fully commercially exploited.

 2. The absence of any of the four conditions from the diamond domestically, may not inhibit companies and industries from becoming globally competitive.

 3. The model pays no direct attention to competence building.

4. The level of importance of chance as a nucleus for change is not clear. How much ‘change’ is needed to make the transition to a globally competitive economic cluster?

FabIndia..a way to lead a firm!!!

FabIndia, the export house, was established in 1960 to export and sell soft home furnishings by John Bissell, a high-quality cotton buyer for a US firm. He found out potential in Indian market where there were people who had shown interest in producing cotton but economic barriers being the constraint. He wanted to establish a firm to bridge this gap and help weavers find market.

Business Model: The Company started off as an export house of upholstery fabric. Later, it was segmented to target different customers according to their need and achieved customer’s perceived value in terms of quality.

Value Proposition: To the customers: The Company had 3 kinds of stores (premium, regular, and concept) of exclusive handlooms, thus providing comfortable prices to different segments of the society. Organics developed the rural areas where green revolution had not reached.

 To the employees:  Nurturing rural artisans who are dependable on the company for their livelihood. Providing platform for Suppliers, helping them grow with the firm (as shareholders, business partners etc)

Mission:  To provide work and employment to India’s skilled rural artisans and protect traditional weaving and printing skills.

Vision: Continuous growth and expansion while still following the mission

Strategy: FabIndia aimed at short term goals. Target revenues are fixed and achieved by keeping in mind the mission, improving the product mix and expanding business.

Brand creation: “FabIndia Look”, a brand created by hand-woven fabrics in bright colors with traditional prints and patterns became famous.

Solution: Since the brand has already been established, the company must offer “Made on Order” clothing and furnishings to attract customers who look for personalization. To be a step ahead of competition, it should start mobile sales, thus enhancing its visibility to the common public who are unable to visit the store. Summer discounts should be provided. Personnel to overlook their activities can be chosen from among the workers as they already understand the company’s mission and then trained. The company should concentrate on its organic business. Instead of waiting for the demand of Organics to rise, they should promote its benefits in cities like Delhi and Mumbai which are open to such changes. And then analysis of market research results has to be done and thus depending on that they can be ready with adequate supply of the product.                               

CROWD FUNDING- VARIOUS TRENDS OF FUNDINGS

Crowd funding!!! This word has got sudden prominence in the recent lights of Greece bailout episode. All you need to know about this buzz word is put up here..Is crowd funding only about raising money? Lets have some insights here 

Crowd funding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet. It was first coined in 2005 By Merriem- Webster during their study on trends of internet and online communication impact.

The crowd funding model is fueled by three types of actors

1.       The project initiator who proposes the idea and project to be funded

2.       Individuals or groups who support the idea

3.       Moderating organization (the platform) that brings the parties together to launch the idea.

According to the figures from Massolution’s highly anticipated 2015CF – Crowd funding Industry Report, Global crowd funding experienced accelerated growth in 2014, expanding by 167 percent to reach $16.2 billion raised, up from $6.1 billion in 2013. In 2015, the industry is set to more than double once again, on its way to raising $34.4 billion.

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs flourish and benefit from the aid of this industry. However, being successful in crowd funding is not as easy as it seems. It comes with a lot of effort and dedication, but if one puts in the necessary work, they can realize fortunes that go far beyond just the raising of money. Capital doesn’t come so easy to entrepreneurs these days. Without a doubt, the current business-funding environment is in need of disruption.

One such disruption is the rising industry of crowd funding, which involves a platform, an individual or entity in need of funding, and a community of people willing to collectively contribute these funds in exchange for rewards and recognition. The amount of money raised by crowd funding platforms during 2012 is expected to reach $2.8 billion, up 91% since 2011.

Crowd funding does not necessarily need to be a monetary funding. There are several ways in which people fund to support a cause or an organization. It can be either business or charity or interest to develop a new innovation. People work for hours for free at NGOs these days to support a cause or a social activity. Similarly, there are few noticed instincts where people worked for few startups and had taken some services from those companies in return. The success rates of such startups are also trending to be high in modern days.

Below mentioned are some of the high end crowd funded Projects.

CROWD FUNDING IN GREECE:

There is no doubt in saying that crowd funding concept is helping Greece a lot to improve their economic condition. Greece was on the edge of a deadline to pay 1.5 billion Euros back to the international monetary fund, and a crowd funding campaign called Greek bailout fund wanted to help. The campaign set up on the fund raising website Indiegogo, raised more than €1,930,577 which was not just an insignificant amount from a single source to pool up.

Crowd funding from many individuals who give small amounts has financed a number of high-profile projects in recent years. Some campaigns seem to be intentionally wacky— like the one in 2011 that raised $67,000 to pay for a RoboCop statue in Detroit — while others seek to make the world a better place.

STATUE OF UNITY:

One of the most famous examples of crowd funding/crowd sourcing is STATUE OF UNITY project. Though the motto of the project is not to collect funds but collecting Iron which is a prime raw material to build the project in which the main aim is to unite people together. The estimated 1^st phase of the project required INR 2900 Crores/- in which INR 1400 Crores/- for statue was raised through the crowd by putting iron materials and funds forward which worked as a PPP model.

STATUE OF UNITY project got tremendous response which made a huge impact on Indian politics as well.

ANTI SPAMMING MOVEMENT BY GOOGLE:

                The anti spamming movement of the Calfornia based U.S. tech giant, Google seeks support from the netigens to support the cause through which they can come out with better solutions over spamming activities and fraud detections.  Google wallet,  even though not so familiar concept known in the east, stands as a best example of practice through this movement.

ONLINE COMPANIES:

                Companies like Freecharge, Uber, Ola etc built their business models keeping the people in their key strategies.  Customers (say people) utilize the services of the companies at lesser costs by increasing the volume of the business through referrals and points system also comes under crowd funding as they are the key contributors to the business in developing the brand name of the companies. Even though the benefits are returned to the customers back, it can be considered as crowd sourcing for business expansion with few rewards and gifts as a token of gratitude and thanks to the one who put those gifts as utilization of the same companies’ services as their gratitude.

Apart from these, there are crowd funding activities like selling the old items to support the causes the people chose, lending the unused stuff to put into a store by a group of people in a group for better utilization purposes wherein which people use the resources for free and put them back in place once the work is done.

BENEFITS OF CROWD FUNDING:

It hedges risk

Starting up a company is a very risky and challenging journey. Besides finding sufficient funding, there are always expenses that are impossible to forecast, challenges in market validation, and other people who want a piece of your venture in order to help get it off the ground. Launching a crowd funding campaign hedges these risks and serves as a valuable learning experience. Crowd funding as it is today allows an entrepreneur to gain market validation and avoid giving up equity before going all out and taking a product concept to market.

 It serves as a marketing tool

An active crowd funding campaign is a good one to introduce a venture’s overall mission to the market as it is easy way to reach numerous channels. Many crowd funding platforms incorporate social media mechanisms making it painless to get referral traffic to your website and other social media pages.

It gives proof of concept

Showing investors and convincing yourself that your venture has received sufficient market validation at an early stage is hard. However crowd funding makes it possible. The first question that any investor will ask will often be along the lines of the proof of concept and the good way to gain some respect and credibility is to show them your venture had a successful crowd funding campaign.

It allows crowd funding of brainstorming

One of the biggest challenges for small businesses and entrepreneurs is to be able to cover all the holes that a venture might have at an early stage. By having a crowd funding campaign, the entrepreneur has the ability to engage the crowd and receive comments, feedback, and ideas.

This feedback is extremely valuable, as it can help understand some aspects of their business that were previously un-thought of. It could also potentially inspire some other ideas.

CONCLUSION:

There will be an exponential growth in these several trends discussed and much more trends exist in near future where robots are also coming into picture as robots funding the work hours of the employees which will be a spell bound scene for the past generations and the traditional approaches followers. So, is there anyone with a business idea and no capital? Welcome to Crowd funding era.