Jordan Specht

5/20/15
Intro to MIS
TASK HW8
So what? Questions, Chapter 8 (P. 305)
1. Chatter can affect value chain activities in many positive ways
by making these activities more efficient. One of the most useful
features of Chatter, in my opinion, is how it can connect
employees and customers. By doing this, salespeople can
communicate directly with managers to give instant feedback
about a new sales promotion (Using MIS). This will cut the time
needed to analyze data of a new promotion after a month of use
or so, and instead, instantly provide managers feedback of the
promotions and help them make a quicker decision either to
continue or discontinue the promotion.
2. I believe Apple Inc. could implement the polls feature in chatter
extremely well. It is well known that Apple is the most valuable
brand in the world, and one of the most popular as well. Given
that, Apple can use the polls feature to get information on
customers preferences or complaints, or even suggestions to
give the customer what they want. For example, Apple could
send out a poll asking which of these devices would you most
likely use? and then have a list of ideas theyve been
brainstorming, (iStove, iWasher/iDryer, iToothbrush, etc.) and
whichever product gets the most votes will be the project they
focus their time and money on. Communicating directly with the
customer in this way would possibly help Apple generate more
revenue (not they exactly need it. According to Forbes, Apple is
the most valuable brand in the world, $76 billion more valuable
than the second most valuable brand in the world).

3. Employees: I believe employees would enjoy using Chatter for

collaboration purposes. Chatter can keep all of your project and
company data in a cloud in one centralized spot, making
collaborative efforts accessible from anywhere on multiple
devices, preventing any lost data or files and allowing everyone
to be on the same page.
Managers: I believe managers would use Chatter to analyze
data within the company. Having all of this data so easily
accessible from anywhere could help managers make business
decisions that have to do with promotions and such more
accurately and efficiently.
Owners: I believe owners could evaluate company
performances well with Chatter. If it is a franchise restaurant for
example, owners can see what franchises are doing better than
others in particular areas, and which area seems the most
successful, helping them make decisions on whether or not to
expand their franchise further in that area, or even to shut down
that facility all together.
4. An example I can think of is a taxi service using data retrieved
from taxis such as speed, and fuel usage. The organization can
have a computer that has data specific to each car and they can
track if the taxis are following speed limit laws and how much
fuel they are using. This data will help the organizations
managers make decisions such as possibly implementing a cutoff pick-up and drop-off area based on the amount of fuel usage
costs, or investing in more fuel-efficient vehicles. The speed data
can help the organization avoid any liability from car accidents

due to drivers speeding by tracking their speed and punishing

the employees or even firing them for speeding at all.
5. I couldnt think of any machine-to-machine communications
through foursquare, but a machine could communicate to a
human telling them what is trending in the area based on
positive reviews (1-5 star rating system), and number of people
actually going there.
6. In all seriousness, the only machine-to-machine interaction
security concern I could think of is if the technology was
advanced enough and machines revolting against humanity (I
know this sounds like a joke, but its not). Machines are more or
less slaves to humanity, and as technology improves more and
more as time goes on, machines may develop social
consciousness and realize that theres more to life than serving
humans. In my opinion, this is inevitable if we keep trying to
advance artificial intelligence.

Discussion Questions, Ch. 8 (P. 327)

1. Considering I do not use social media obsessively like most of the
world today, I would grade myself pretty high but no perfect on
the criteria provided. Knowing that companies didnt hire some
candidates specifically because of things they found on their
social media accounts doesnt scare me at all. Ive never posted
anything lewd or inappropriate, just pictures of me and my
friends and family having a good time or goofing off. Ive maybe
used some vulgar language here and there, but nothing too bad.
Although, learning that 68% of survey respondents said they

hired a candidate specifically because of the content of that

candidates social networking site, makes me think I should be a
little more active on my Facebook profile or perhaps start up a
LinkedIn profile, because now, I maybe post something on
Facebook once or twice a month.

2. Ive chosen Apple and Google:

a. Three positive criteria that both companies could use to
evaluate applicants through social media could be whom
they know. Seeing who the potential candidate is friends
with on Facebook could lead to a current employee and
then they can get inside information on who that person is
if the given Facebook friend is close with the candidate.
Looking at work and school history on their profile could
validate that the information on their resume is legitimate,
finding pictures of them in the given school or workplace is
also a clear sign that they attended/worked there.
Analyzing the content of the profile itself, seeing many
pictures of family and happy quotes for example could
indicate that this candidate is a trustworthy person and is
worthy of an interview.
b. Three problematic issues that these companies can use are
analyzing posted pictures, if the pictures are lewd or
inappropriate, the candidate may look unprofessional and
make the companies look for another candidate. Analyzing
status updates on Facebook or Twitter can give them a
sense of the candidate as a person. They may reveal
potential behavior or attitude problems (Using MIS).

Seeing a small list of friends may indicate a lack of

connections, and in this world its usually not what you
know, but whom you know.
c. I wouldnt know it because all of the data on my Facebook
and Instagram (two social media sites I use the most) have
completely accurate information of me and contain
appropriate content. I do not believe there is anything on
there that would scare employers away, unless they look at
my history and took what I said as a high-school freshman
seriously. For the most part, I dont post much at all, and
when I do, it is legitimate and appropriate.
3.
a. Elements in my social data that support positive criteria
are all of the given information is accurate (school, work,
etc.). No vulgar photos or status updates that show me bad
mouthing a company or co-worker. All positive content.
b. The only real negative elements in my social media data
are status updates with inappropriate language. Over the
past few years Ive used social media less and less, and
when I do, I havent used any vulgar language. Although, in
high school I would use social media more frequently and
would post an occasional status update with some
inappropriate language, but I do not believe employers
would take that into consideration, as I was just a dumb
kid.
4. (Done.)
5. If I was asked about the status updates I posted in high school
that have inappropriate language I would laugh it off for the most
part. I would explain I was just a kid and Ive grown up a lot since

then. I believe whomever would be interviewing me would

disregard it and if they brought it up at all it would be just to give
me a hard time and would be a joke.
6. I believe one of the most key people at Apple is the Sr. VP of
Design. Apple prides itself as being one of the sexiest products
on the market, and it has obviously worked, as they are the
worlds most valuable brand. Im sure the Sr. VP of Design
leaving Apple for a competitor, like Microsoft, would affect the
company as a whole drastically. My opinion wouldnt change,
although if employees under his/her wing saw they left Apple for
Microsoft, it would then possibly make them follow because they
were working under their tutelage.
7. First of all, indispensable means absolutely necessary. I believe
If you have an indispensable employee, you should fire them
means that you shouldnt rely on a single employee for specific
tasks. If you have one employee to rely on for those tasks, they
have all the leverage in business decisions: Pay me (X amount
of money) or Im not doing it Pay me (X amount of money) or
Im leaving to start my own company. You should have a team
of people that are easily dispensable and replaceable should any
problems or confrontation arise.