Business Driven Technology - Instructor’s Manual

UNIT TWO
Exploring Business Intelligence

Information is powerful. Information tells an organization everything from how its current operations are performing to estimating and strategizing how future operations might perform. New perspectives open up when people have the right information and know how to use it. The ability to understand, digest, analyze, and filter information is a key to success for any professional in any industry.

This unit demonstrates the value an organization can uncover and create by learning how to manage, access, analyze, and protect organizational information. The chapters in this unit include:

  • Chapter Six– Valuing Organizational Information
  • Chapter Seven – Storing Organizational Information—Databases
  • Chapter Eight – Accessing Organizational Information—Data Warehouse

UNIT TWO OPENING CASE – Additional Case Information

It Takes A Village to Write an Encyclopedia

This case focuses on the invention of wiki technology and the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Start the class off by taking a brief tour of Wikipedia so students can see the online edits. Wikipedia is located at Ask your students if they know which topic area has the largest number of daily changes? One of the hottest areas in Wikipedia is the Start Trek entries, which are changed more than any other topic area in the entire encyclopedia.

Wiki technology is taking off and people are continually finding new uses for the technology. Wiki is being used for collaboration among many businesses. Wiki is being used in education in a number of ways to support learning including:

  • A teacher could post some key revision words for students to expand into definitions / pages
  • Students could work in groups on collaborative documents such as a group report
  • Course notes could be refined over the duration of the course by both students and teachers
  • Students could research new topics and contribute their findings
  • A wiki could be used as a portfolio showing development of a project
  • Teacher can start a writing prompt and have students add parts to create a comprehensive class writing activity.
  • A teacher could start a story and students could create links off it which would allow the story to follow different, interactive paths.
  • States and school districts can develop and edit curriculae by allowing teachers to add in activities and assessments
  • A wiki would be a great tool for collaboratively constructing answers to exam questions!
  • A great tool for a team of students involved in project work
  • Annotating each other's work

Wiki Business

Start-ups such as JotSpot are out to harness the power of wikis for businesses. JotSpot’s wiki-based software lets companies create wikis for business processes. Opsware, a data center automation software vendor, has used JotSpot to create in a few hours applications that might have cost $50,000 to $100,000 to develop in Java. Opsware’s technical sales team uses one JotSpot wiki to manage information such as proposals and status reports associated with pilot projects for prospective customers.

“It’s a very rich database management system,” said Jason Rosenthal, vice president of client services at Opsware. “It’s so quick and easy that a new user can learn to use it in 10 to 15 minutes.” The software also reduced the time it took the company to prepare a proof of concept from five days to three, Rosenthal said, adding that wikis will revolutionize how companies share information internally.

Cellphedia

Know how long the Brooklyn Bridge is? The date of Andy Warhol”s death?The height of the Sears Tower? People using Cellphedia, a new cell-phone-based encyclopedia application, can find the answers to these and plenty of other random questions in a simple text message. Cellphedia is like Wikipedia on the go. Created as a thesis project by 33-year-old New York University Interactive Telecommunications Program graduate student Limor Garcia, Cellphedia lets users sign up to receive updates in one or more categories such as architecture, music, and technology. When a question is asked about one of those subjects, users receive a text message with the query.

The first answer, which could come within minutes, is forwarded to whoever asked the question and is posted to the Cellphedia site as well. Subsequent answers are sent only to the person who asked the question. Users can rack up points as an incentive for being the first to answer questions.

Jimmy Wales said he has seen Cellphedia but has not used the site. Wales thinks Cellphedia sounds like a great idea, and Wikipedia is in talks with Nokia about creating a Wikipedia client on Nokia cell phones.

  • There is a recent interview with Jimmy Wales in Fortune…
  • Wikipedia's next steps
  • Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talks to Fortune's David Kirkpatrick about his commercial project
  • Wikia, and why the world needs an open source search engine

Use with caution: The perils of Wikipedia
It's one of the top 10 most-visited sites worldwide, with over 2 million articles in its English language edition. But is online encyclopedia Wikipedia's strength -- that anyone can edit it -- also its greatest weakness?

For those of you who are big fans of wikipedia, here is an interesting comedic segment from the 'Colbert Report' on wikipedia. This video clip comes from youtube.com and lasts about 4 minutes. You might find this useful to share with your students regarding the need to critically evaluate information.

This link works - straight from comedy central.

Another great clip on using Wikipedia for lobbying.

Great video on Steven Colbert interviewing Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

CHAPTER SIX
Valuing Organizational Information

This chapter provides an overview of information levels, formats and granularities. It also discusses the differences between transactional and analytical information. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the issues found in low quality information and how to obtain high quality information.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

6.1Describe the broad levels, formats, and granularities of information.

Information levels include individual, department, and enterprise. Information formats include document, presentation, spreadsheet, and database. Information granularities include detail, summary, and aggregate.

6.2Differentiate between transactional and analytical information.

Transactional information encompasses all of the information contained within a single business process or unit of work, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of daily operational tasks. Examples of transactional information include withdrawing cash from an ATM or making an airline reservation. Analytical information encompasses all organizational information, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of managerial analysis tasks. Examples of analytical information include trends, sales, and product statistics.

6.3List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.

  • Accuracy determines if all values are correct. Example – is the name spelled correctly?
  • Completeness determines if any values are missing. Example - is the address complete?
  • Consistency ensures that aggregate or summary information is in agreement with detailed information. Example – do totals equal the true total of the individual fields?
  • Uniqueness ensures that each transaction, entity, and event is represented only once in the information. Example – are there any duplicate customers?
  • Timeliness determines if the information is current with respect to the business requirement. Example – is the information updated weekly?

6.4Assess the impact of low quality information on an organization and the benefits of high quality information on an organization.

Using the wrong information can lead to making the wrong decision. Making the wrong decision can cost time, money, and even reputations. Business decisions are only as good as the information used to make the decision. Low quality information leads to low quality business decisions. High quality information can significantly improve the chances of making a good business decision and directly affect an organization’s bottom line.

CLASSROOM OPENER

GREAT BUSINESS DECISIONS – Julius Reuter Uses Carrier Pigeons to Transfer Information

In 1850, the idea that sending and receiving information could add business value was born. Julius Reuter began a business that bridged the gap between Belgium and Germany. Reuter built one of the first information management companies built on the premise that customers would be prepared to pay for information that was timely and accurate.

Reuter used carrier pigeons to forward stock market and commodity prices from Brussels to Germany. Customers quickly realized that with the early receipt of vital information they could make fortunes. Those who had money at stake in the stock market were prepared to pay handsomely for early information from a reputable source, even if it was a pigeon. Eventually, Reuter’s business grew from 45 pigeons to over 200 pigeons.

Eventually the telegraph bridged the gap between Brussels to Germany, and Reuter’s brilliantly conceived temporary monopoly was closed.

CLASSROOM EXERCISE

Understanding Information’s Quality

Break your students into groups and ask them to compile a list of all of the issues found in the following information. Ask your students to also list why most low quality information errors occur and what an organization can do to help implement high quality information.

Customer ID / Customer First Name / Customer Last Name / Address / City / State / Zip / Phone
1771 / Larry / Shimk / 143 S. / Denver / NY / 178908 / 911
1771 / Caroline / Shimk / 143 N. West St. / Buffalo / NY / 14321 / 716-333-4567
1772 / Shimk / Caroline / 143 N. West St. / Buffalo / NY / 14321 / 716-333-4567
1772 / Heather / Schwiter / 55 N. W. S. Miss / LaGrange / GA / 14321 / 716-333-4567
1772 / Debbie / Fernandez / S. Main St. / Denver / CO / 80252 / 333-8965
1772 / Debbie / Fernandez / S. Main St. / Denver / CO / 80252 / 333-8965
1773 / Justin / Justin / 34 Kerry Rd. / Littleton / CO / 98987 / 716-67-9087
1774 / Pam / 66 S. Carlton / North Glen / CO / 98765 / 343-456-6857

CORE MATERIAL

The core chapter material is covered in detail in the PowerPoint slides. Each slide contains detailed teaching notes including exercises, class activities, questions, and examples. Please review the PowerPoint slides for detailed notes on how to teach and enhance the core chapter material.

GRADUATE MATERIAL

Here are a few items to add to your course if you are teaching graduate students.

  • Excellent video to jumpstart your BI lecture.

Is there any business intelligence out there? Mike Arcuri, group program manager on the business intelligence team shows off Excel 12's new features for looking at how your business is doing. You'll never look at pivot tables the same way again.

  • The Long Tail

Chris Anderson, the editor of WIRED (not to be confused with the curator of TED, who has the same name), explores the four key stages of any viable technology: setting the right price, gaining market share, displacing an established technology and, finally, becoming ubiquitous. To demonstrate this trajectory, Anderson explores the evolution of the DVD player as it passes through each of these four tipping points, then offers specific examples of current trends in technology -- ranging from DNA sequencing to the hybrid -- to illustrate each stage of the game.

OPENING UNIT CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

It Takes A Village to Write an Encyclopedia

  1. Determine if an entry in Wikipedia is an example of transactional information or analytical information.

From the customer’s perspective Wikipeida entries are an example of analytical information. They are using the information to research a topic, make a decision, or perform an analysis. From Wikipedia’s perspective each entry is an example of transactional information since it is their primary business to gain entries from individual contributors.

  1. Describe the impact to Wikipedia if the information contained in its database is of low quality.

If Wikipedia contained information that was inaccurate its customers would discontinue using it as a source for information. It could also find itself in legal trouble if it allows entries stating inaccurate information about people, which is known as defamation of character. This point is demonstrated in the case when Wikipedia had to start restricting access by tightening its rules for submitting entries following the disclosure that it ran a piece falsely implicating a man in the Kennedy assassination.

  1. Review the five common characteristics of high quality information and rank them in order of importance to Wikipedia.

Student answers to this question will vary depending on their personal views and experiences with technology. The important part of the question is understanding the students’ justifications for their order. Potential order of importance:

  • Timeliness – Wikipedia’s information must be timely. If users are receiving old and outdated entries, or no entries for a new topic, they will not continue using Wikipedia. An encyclopedia that is outdated is not very useful.
  • Accuracy – Wikipedia’s entries must be accurate, and if they are inaccurate the users can change the definition to ensure it is accurate. An encyclopedia that is inaccurate is useless.
  • Consistency – Wikipedia’s results must be consistent. Users will not trust the system if it provides different definitions for the same entry. An encyclopedia that offers inconsistent terms is not useful.
  • Completeness – Wikipedia’s entry results need to be complete. An encyclopedia that does not contain vast amounts of information is not useful.
  • Uniqueness – Wikipedia’s customers want unique answers to each entry. Multiple answers to a term will confuse the customer and they will not be able to know which answer is correct. An encyclopedia cannot have multiple answers for each term.
  1. Explain how Wikipedia is resolving the issue of poor information.

Wikipedia originally allowed unrestricted access so that people could contribute to the site without undergoing a registration process. As with any database management system, governance is a key issue. Without governance, there is no control over how information is published and maintained. But as websites like Wikipedia grow in volume, it will be nearly impossible to govern them.

Wikipedia began tightening its rules for submitting entries following the disclosure that it ran a piece falsely implication a man in the Kennedy assassination. Wikipedia now requires users to register before they can create articles.

CHAPTER SIXCASE

Political Microtargeting: What Data Crunchers Did for Obama

  1. Describe the difference between transactional and analytical information and determine which types Spotlight used to identify its 10 tribes.

Transactional information encompasses all of the information contained within a single business process or unit of work, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of daily operational tasks. Analytical information encompasses all organizational information, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of managerial analysis tasks. Spotlight is using transactional information to make analytical decisions. The transactional information includes individuals names, neighborhood details, family sizes, and spending patterns to categorize every Americanof voting age—175 million of us—into 10 "values" tribes. The analytical decisions that are made from this information include determining swing voters and important areas for Obama to campaign.

  1. Explain the importance of high quality information for political microtargeting.

If the information received by Spotlight was of low quality then any analysis about voters would be incorrect and Obama would not know where to campaign to win the election.

  1. Review the five common characteristics of high quality information and rank them in order of importance for political microtargeting.

Student answers to this question will vary depending on their personal views and experiences with technology. The important part of the question is understanding the student’s justifications for their order. Potential order of importance:

  • Timeliness – Without timely information it is impossible to make decisions. If voter information was 15 years old it would not be relevant today.
  • Accuracy – inaccurate information will lead to incorrect campaign decisions.
  • Completeness – incomplete information will make it harder to make campaign decisions.
  • Consistency – information inconsistency could occur if voters gave conflicting information during the information gathering process.
  • Uniqueness – voter information could accidently be entered twice
  1. In terms of political microtargeting explain the following sentence: It is never possible to have all of the information required to make a 100 percent accurate prediction.

No, Spotlight will never have every single piece of voter information. It would be almost impossible to contact and solicit accurate and complete information from every single voter. However, they have enough to make an accurate estimate aboutvoter behavior. If you wait to have every single piece of information you would probably never make a decision. We typically receive enough information to make an accurate decision. Of course, the more information you have, the better the decision you can make, but if you wait to get every piece of information you will take too long to make the decision.

  1. Do you agree that political microtargeting signals the dehumanization of politics?

Student answer to this question will vary. Makes for a great classroom debate.

CHAPTER SEVEN
Storing Organizational Information—Databases

This chapter focuses on the relational database model. It introduces students to entities, attributes, primary keys, foreign keys, and the four components in a DBMS:

  • Data definition component – helps create and maintain the data dictionary and the structure of the database
  • Data manipulation component – allows users to create, read, update, and delete information in a database
  • Application generation component – includes tools for creating visually appealing and easy-to-use applications
  • Data administration component – provides tools for managing the overall database environment by providing faculties for backup, recovery, security, and performance

LEARNING OUTCOMES

7.1Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

The relational database model stores information in the form of logically related two-dimensional tables. Entities, attributes, primary keys, and foreign keys are all fundamental concepts included in the relational database model.

7.2Evaluate the advantages of the relational database model.