Post 9: Cloud Computing; Big Data

Class discussion revolved around the uses of Cloud Computing and the significance of Big Data.

Post 8: Innovation

Tolerance for Failure
Since beginning my studies in Industrial Engineering, I have heard Toyota mentioned dozens of times. Toyota is the father of Lean, and an example that many companies across industries should learn from. According to the article "Toyota Innovation Culture Profile," there are several factors that influence Toyota's success, including 'tolerance for failure.'
Tolerance for failure is what enables failure to happen. But why would we want failure? Failure is important for organizational innovation, for the simple reason that the if one doesn't try new things, one can never move forward, and trying by nature is prone to failure. An organization that does not allow room for failure is therefore doomed to become obsolete.

Availability of Reward Mechanisms for Innovation
Another important factor in Toyota's success is it's reward system for employee innovation. Who in Toyota is rewarded and how?

Blue Oceans


Shark Fin
In class we discussed the shark fin model. This model refers to market adoption of new technology, and is contrary to the traditional bell curve model. But what causes this shark fin?

Post 7: Crowdsourcing

An organization plans to use crowdsourcing in developing a new type of robot. How can crowdsourcing help?

Post 6: Knowledge Preservation

As we learned, most of a company's knowledge lies between the ears of its employees. Employees might not even be aware of the knowledge they have.

Post 5: Organizational Digital Content

The questions at hand refer to management of digital documents within a company.