This session covered the topics on Tech and Industrial Development as well as Tech and Innovation Management. Prof started the lesson with a youtube video on "The Story of Stuff". An interesting video, i would say, but a pity it was 21mins long that we were only able to watch the first few minutes of it. Not too bad though, as i learnt the difference between operating linearly VS cyclically. The bottomline is,we cannot operate linearly on a finite planet. One example mentioned was U.S. The rate at which people in U.S. use resources is terribly fast! Cant imagine if every country consume as much as them.. True that we'll need 3 to 5 planets to satisfy the wants of people. I feel that the only way to reduce consumption of U.S. is to allow more government intervention. It's not a good idea to let them deplete all the resources and leave nothing for the future generations.
However, even though every individual has a part to play in being green and saving resources, i feel that more can be done. Take a look at Singapore. We used to have a campaign to save plastic bags every Wednesday (if i am not wrong). People shopping at the supermarkets had to bring their own bags to contain their groceries. How about now? Well, i have no idea why the campaign has gradually stopped. Also, instead of recycling, reducing, and reusing, i still see loads of waste on the streets and everywhere else. But i have to agree on the fact that there are not enough bins (normal / recycling bins) around. Taking Jurong East Mrt Station for example, since i have to stop by at least twice a day to go and return from school, less than 5 bins could be seen on the long pathway. Even if one has been spotted, there is a high chance that the bin is full. Which thus explains why the area around the bins are especially dirty.
So much about being green, the question that was raised during class was: How to maintain the speed of growth but at the same time, be green? Some mentioned about creating a new industry - the Green Industry. Well, i think it's achievable if that happens, and if people are more socially responsible for the environment.
The 2nd half of the session covered the landscape model and the R-D-A translation process. (Nice model drawn by Prof, Could see the effort he made in spraying the paint for the hills, hahah)
Here, i learnt about the Market-driven opportunity VS Technology-driven opportunity. If one is able to afford R&D, he/she should branch into technology-driven side, where the market has not been created.
As for the R-D-A process, Prof used a pipeline to express the idea.
Research consists of Concept which is the generation of idea, and Technology Validation.
Development consists of Validation, Productization which is the production and packaging.
Application consists of Business Case Validation (understanding the market, knowing how to enter) and Rapid Growth.
The rest of the time was left for individual presentations by classmates and i think they did well. Good points were brought up and the class was active in discussions. Oh, it'll be my turn this coming Monday! I seriously hope everything will go smoothly! :)
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Session 2 - Technology overtaking mankind?
It's the start of Week 2! And today's session covered the topics on "Technology, Society and Global Dominance", as well as "Technology and Human Development".
During the first half of the session, we discussed about the different aspects of global dominance and the organizational behavior model. And this got me thinking about the various establishments which used to be dominant in the past but not anymore. Take a look at Microsoft. Years back then, it was the dominant one but has since been overtaken by another giant, Apple. Similarly, Nokia experienced a drastic plunge in the market share too, as compared to the past. Therefore, the bottom line is that: What was dominant today, may not be dominant tomorrow. And this brings us to the next point - The organizational behavior model.
I found this model (as attached from lecture slides) very useful in identifying potentially dominant players of the market based on their characteristics.
As suggested by the name, Rising Stars would be potential rising leaders. They approach new ideas/innovations with a totally different attitude. That is, they maintain an open perspective and are keen to learn more, invest and explore opportunities. With no doubt, this is a good trait as it means constant reflection and self-upgrading. In this day and age, having such a mindset plays a crucial role for survival. Open up and you will do better. An example of a Rising Star would then again, be Apple. It is constantly improving itself from the feedback given by its product users. As such, knowing what the market wants, enable them to retain their market share.
Falling Stars would have traits directly opposite of Rising Stars. Unwilling to learn, they shut off incoming feedback. No offense but in my opinion, i feel that Malaysia is one, in terms of their education system and policies.
Moving on, my fellow classmate, Jannah, did an oral presentation on Google. The question she posed to us was: Is Google making us stupid? While it is indeed true that Google has made lives easier for us based on the fact that we will get our search results easily by entering keywords in the search engine, but it has also allowed us to view data/articles/comments/forums posted by different people with different perspectives. From another point of view, it is basically the gathering of information online and analyzing them; Not just copying and pasting the entire article into our reports. Therefore, one key take-away would be that, it varies based on individual's reliance on technology - To take technology for granted and deprive themselves of analytical skills? Or to garner various perspective for general knowledge but still, have a mind of their own?
Next comes the second half of the session - Technology and Human Development where we watched a Youtube video on the 8 goals of Millennium Development and another on Hans Rosling's Human Population Growth in 4 Minutes.
After knowing the 8 goals of MD which they had wanted to accomplish all by 2015, it seems quite impossible to do so because the focus isn't totally on the areas lacking assistance. Example would be the remote areas of undeveloped or developing countries which have low standard of living (poor healthcare and sanitation, poverty), resulting in low lifespans. The advantage of having these 8 goals helped to raise awareness among the society so that the different nations can start taking action to improvise on the current situation. However, stating that all goals are to be accomplished by 2015 and yet being unable to do so would put them in an unfavorable situation. This is because UN, being such a huge international organization, is definitely very well-respected and look upon by other countries as a leader.
I found Hans Rosling's video especially interesting, due to the visual effects, presentation style and the statistical data. What caught my attention was the progress of the world over 200 years - From extremely low lifespan of below 40 years in 1810 to an average of 75 years in 2009. Something that i would like to compliment about the video is the detailed data of various countries. Although it shows the majority of them improving over the years, but there are parts of the world being overlooked. For instance, when Hans Rosling split China into smaller parts, we could see that there are thriving cities like Shanghai as well as undeveloped areas like GuiZhou. This is where i feel that the respective countries should intervene. After all, we all have equal human rights and they should receive assistance too.
After all the videos, another two classmates made their presentations. They were clear in bringing their points across and posed questions which started interesting discussions. Overall, i felt that this session was great and would rate it 8/10. I gained more insight regarding the world and therefore, the 2nd key take-way for me is that, although the current state of the world is much better than before, there are still rooms for improvement, especially in the rural parts of countries. If the respective governments are willing to intervene and help out those people suffering from poverty, poor healthcare, as well as to educate the young, i believe the mortality rate will decline and the standard of living in those countries will improve tremendously.
During the first half of the session, we discussed about the different aspects of global dominance and the organizational behavior model. And this got me thinking about the various establishments which used to be dominant in the past but not anymore. Take a look at Microsoft. Years back then, it was the dominant one but has since been overtaken by another giant, Apple. Similarly, Nokia experienced a drastic plunge in the market share too, as compared to the past. Therefore, the bottom line is that: What was dominant today, may not be dominant tomorrow. And this brings us to the next point - The organizational behavior model.
I found this model (as attached from lecture slides) very useful in identifying potentially dominant players of the market based on their characteristics.
As suggested by the name, Rising Stars would be potential rising leaders. They approach new ideas/innovations with a totally different attitude. That is, they maintain an open perspective and are keen to learn more, invest and explore opportunities. With no doubt, this is a good trait as it means constant reflection and self-upgrading. In this day and age, having such a mindset plays a crucial role for survival. Open up and you will do better. An example of a Rising Star would then again, be Apple. It is constantly improving itself from the feedback given by its product users. As such, knowing what the market wants, enable them to retain their market share.
Falling Stars would have traits directly opposite of Rising Stars. Unwilling to learn, they shut off incoming feedback. No offense but in my opinion, i feel that Malaysia is one, in terms of their education system and policies.
Moving on, my fellow classmate, Jannah, did an oral presentation on Google. The question she posed to us was: Is Google making us stupid? While it is indeed true that Google has made lives easier for us based on the fact that we will get our search results easily by entering keywords in the search engine, but it has also allowed us to view data/articles/comments/forums posted by different people with different perspectives. From another point of view, it is basically the gathering of information online and analyzing them; Not just copying and pasting the entire article into our reports. Therefore, one key take-away would be that, it varies based on individual's reliance on technology - To take technology for granted and deprive themselves of analytical skills? Or to garner various perspective for general knowledge but still, have a mind of their own?
Next comes the second half of the session - Technology and Human Development where we watched a Youtube video on the 8 goals of Millennium Development and another on Hans Rosling's Human Population Growth in 4 Minutes.
After knowing the 8 goals of MD which they had wanted to accomplish all by 2015, it seems quite impossible to do so because the focus isn't totally on the areas lacking assistance. Example would be the remote areas of undeveloped or developing countries which have low standard of living (poor healthcare and sanitation, poverty), resulting in low lifespans. The advantage of having these 8 goals helped to raise awareness among the society so that the different nations can start taking action to improvise on the current situation. However, stating that all goals are to be accomplished by 2015 and yet being unable to do so would put them in an unfavorable situation. This is because UN, being such a huge international organization, is definitely very well-respected and look upon by other countries as a leader.
I found Hans Rosling's video especially interesting, due to the visual effects, presentation style and the statistical data. What caught my attention was the progress of the world over 200 years - From extremely low lifespan of below 40 years in 1810 to an average of 75 years in 2009. Something that i would like to compliment about the video is the detailed data of various countries. Although it shows the majority of them improving over the years, but there are parts of the world being overlooked. For instance, when Hans Rosling split China into smaller parts, we could see that there are thriving cities like Shanghai as well as undeveloped areas like GuiZhou. This is where i feel that the respective countries should intervene. After all, we all have equal human rights and they should receive assistance too.
After all the videos, another two classmates made their presentations. They were clear in bringing their points across and posed questions which started interesting discussions. Overall, i felt that this session was great and would rate it 8/10. I gained more insight regarding the world and therefore, the 2nd key take-way for me is that, although the current state of the world is much better than before, there are still rooms for improvement, especially in the rural parts of countries. If the respective governments are willing to intervene and help out those people suffering from poverty, poor healthcare, as well as to educate the young, i believe the mortality rate will decline and the standard of living in those countries will improve tremendously.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Session 1 - Speed of technology advancement? Faster than expected.
Chose this template with a picture of a long stretch of road as background because i felt that it symbolizes the unknown future ahead. Howver, i experienced some technical issues with this blog! Whatever that was written yesterday disappeared from my draft today.. So let's rewind back:
Today is day that marks the official start of my school life in SMU! Had been looking forward to this day for a very long time as it was always my wish to study in a local university. And I'm glad that Technology and World Change was the kick start for Semester 1.
Being inquisitive since young, I would always ask WHY, WHAT and HOW questions, in hope of receiving satisfactory explanations. I have ever asked around, how exactly did technology come about? How fast is it advancing? Controllable? And whether it will, ever, stop?
After viewing the interesting Youtube video titled "Did you know; Shift Happens" shared by Prof. Shahi during class, I was awed by the facts provided in it! (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q) What a drastic change of figures..
Comparing today's world with the past, technology had advanced at an extremely fast pace and it will only continue to escalate to greater heights at uncontrollable speed as we move towards the future. That, is one key message I would want to keep in mind going forward. Listed below are the points which caught my attention during the video:
- We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist;
- Using technologies that haven't yet been invented;
- In order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.
I found this sentence very interesting and have to admit that i really agree with it. Schools are trying their best to equip students with the best skills they can provide so as to catch up with the world. Lagging behind doesn't do any good at all as we won't be able to foresee what's coming in the future. People always say, "Be contented with what you have". But this is something that we have to do the opposite in order to improve and upgrade ourselves.
- 1 in every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
With regards to the above point, how often have you heard of people meeting their other half from online games or social networking sites in the past? Not at all. The present? Too common. It's really amazing to see how people come up with ideas and innovations, be it gadgets, or social networking media to cater to the needs and wants of the younger generations.
How many hours are spent using the computer per day on the average? Probably 5 hours? Blogging, chatting online, facebook-ing, using twitter, gaming and watching videos! Of course, there's definitely more. Take a look at the things around you too. Colour printer, air conditioner.. even the chair which we're sitting on!
Basically everything involves technology!
Thus, the key message is that, we can't do without technology now. Just for the sake of making lives easier while upgrading ourselves, we have to invest in Research & Development (R&D). We can't stop letting our imaginations run wild! That's probably one of the ways how technology came about.
I would rate today's session a 7. I felt that the open discussion was good as it kept me pondering over the questions. A simple one such as "Why you white men have so much cargo, and we New Guineans have so little?" has many answers to it - that westerners tend to be more adventurous, hence, dreaming of possibilities. Whereas New Guineans are contented with what they have (Partly due to the lack of resources in terms of education). Personally, i agree and believe that white men do have more chances of traveling around to explore and keep up with latest technologies and developments, compared to New Guineans, which explains one of the reasons why they lag behind.
Overall, i believe more issues relating to Guns, Germs and Steel could be raised, and i will be interested to watch part 2 of it soon.
Today is day that marks the official start of my school life in SMU! Had been looking forward to this day for a very long time as it was always my wish to study in a local university. And I'm glad that Technology and World Change was the kick start for Semester 1.
Being inquisitive since young, I would always ask WHY, WHAT and HOW questions, in hope of receiving satisfactory explanations. I have ever asked around, how exactly did technology come about? How fast is it advancing? Controllable? And whether it will, ever, stop?
After viewing the interesting Youtube video titled "Did you know; Shift Happens" shared by Prof. Shahi during class, I was awed by the facts provided in it! (URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q) What a drastic change of figures..
Comparing today's world with the past, technology had advanced at an extremely fast pace and it will only continue to escalate to greater heights at uncontrollable speed as we move towards the future. That, is one key message I would want to keep in mind going forward. Listed below are the points which caught my attention during the video:
- We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist;
- Using technologies that haven't yet been invented;
- In order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.
I found this sentence very interesting and have to admit that i really agree with it. Schools are trying their best to equip students with the best skills they can provide so as to catch up with the world. Lagging behind doesn't do any good at all as we won't be able to foresee what's coming in the future. People always say, "Be contented with what you have". But this is something that we have to do the opposite in order to improve and upgrade ourselves.
- 1 in every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
With regards to the above point, how often have you heard of people meeting their other half from online games or social networking sites in the past? Not at all. The present? Too common. It's really amazing to see how people come up with ideas and innovations, be it gadgets, or social networking media to cater to the needs and wants of the younger generations.
How many hours are spent using the computer per day on the average? Probably 5 hours? Blogging, chatting online, facebook-ing, using twitter, gaming and watching videos! Of course, there's definitely more. Take a look at the things around you too. Colour printer, air conditioner.. even the chair which we're sitting on!
Basically everything involves technology!
Thus, the key message is that, we can't do without technology now. Just for the sake of making lives easier while upgrading ourselves, we have to invest in Research & Development (R&D). We can't stop letting our imaginations run wild! That's probably one of the ways how technology came about.
I would rate today's session a 7. I felt that the open discussion was good as it kept me pondering over the questions. A simple one such as "Why you white men have so much cargo, and we New Guineans have so little?" has many answers to it - that westerners tend to be more adventurous, hence, dreaming of possibilities. Whereas New Guineans are contented with what they have (Partly due to the lack of resources in terms of education). Personally, i agree and believe that white men do have more chances of traveling around to explore and keep up with latest technologies and developments, compared to New Guineans, which explains one of the reasons why they lag behind.
Overall, i believe more issues relating to Guns, Germs and Steel could be raised, and i will be interested to watch part 2 of it soon.
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