Chief information officer Essay Example for Free

Chief information officer Essay Knowledge management at Accenture Richard Ivey School of Business 20090770 †¢2. Accenture A well known global firm that became a public company with a successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2001. Great revenue increment in 2001, 2004(two digit increment) Embarked upon a new strategy †High Performance Delivered† Substantially increase company’s focus on outsourcing Oriented to improving shareholder value for its clients Emphasizing the creation and application of intellectual and technological assets to apply in work with clients organizational structure also evolved 5 operating groups 18 industry groups which made up the five operating groups, eight capability groups †¢3. Knowledge Management In 90s Adopted a knowledge-oriented strategy: build a knowledge management organization under the chief information officer By the mid-1990s, the firm built thousands of knowledge repositories on the Lotus Notes platform: Knowledge Exchange From 2000 to 2002 Responsibility for KM was shifted from CIO to the training and learning organization at Accenture Learning knowledge management were combined into a single new group called capability development in 2001 In 2002, the toughening fiscal conditions, training budgets had been cut substantially for Accenture employees †¢4. Knowledge Management Substantial budget pressures on both the training and knowledge management groups Several of the most senior knowledge managers left Accenture 30% of all the knowledge managers left or were laid off Cost reduction by moving knowledge management functions â€Å"offshore† Capability Development organization had developed a KM staffing model in which decentralized groups would employ a few â€Å" onshore† knowledge managers with high domain expertise and a high need for contact with their internal client; the rest would move offshore Although the learning and KM activities remained largely separate and decentralized within Accenture’s business units, there were some joint initiatives. Developed a personalized learning management system called â€Å"myLearning† As the content of KM proliferate, information finding problems happened Accenture employees dedicated to developing new content often remarked that they found it more and more difficult to get the attention of partners and employees . KNOLEDGE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY The problems for managing existing KM system The KM system was being replaced or augmented with Web-based portals Most major Accenture groups had their own portals Despite one central â€Å"Accenture Portal† that contained links to many decentralized portals, it could be confusing to find the information one needed Duplication of documents throughout the organization was very high The local optimization done by each local company, didn’t seem to work well It was very important that there be a clear governance structure for the new Knowledge Exchange to improve the consistency of the experience Target for the new KM system Barfield who was in charge of KM strategy, decided to develop a governance structure that incorporated senior representatives from each part of the organization †¢6. The new knowledge exchange Accenture changed the foundation of the Knowledge Exchange, from Lotus Notes to Microsoft’s Sharepoint Design of the new Knowledge Exchange were to leverage existing and packaged software to extend SharePoint only to support critical requirements The solution was designed to be simple, cost efficient and effective without an attempt to recreate all existing Lotus Notes functionality to contain all high-value content Opposed to trying to get everything working from the beginning from an end-user perspective user Internal Content Accenture Portal: Knowledge Resources Search (find.accenture.com) Job Aid / Topic page/ Community of Practice Collaboration: Submit question to experts/CoP’s Direct link via browser favorite Contributions/Accenture developed content Accenture purchased content(Research) Browse to other topic pages/COP myLearning courses method Answer from Accenture experts Accenture Discussions †¢7. The new knowledge exchange(cont’d) The strategy identified key insights that drove the overall design: Search quality is the most important aspect of the infrastructure Topic pages are very important for providing context to users who do not immediately find what they need or who are seeking a broader range of content about a subject While collaboration capabilities are not as widely used, this is a required capability for those who can’t find what they need or are working in an area that requires expertise †¢8. LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Training is an investment, not a cost: Vanthourrnout(later Chief Learning Officer) Training function at Accenture was revitalized Accenture employees were again rating training as one of the areas that most drove their satisfaction on the company’s annual employee satisfaction survey †¢9. STRATEGY SESSION 20 people critical to the delivery of Accenture’s KM capability came together to meet and discuss the future direction of KM There was a general feeling that the new Knowledge Exchange would provide a strong technical foundation for a renewed contribution from KM to Accenture’s corporate goals Knowledge Management Mission Drive value from knowledge to enhance revenue, reduce cost and foster innovation Knowledge Management Vision To create a world class knowledge-sharing culture and environment that contributes to Accenture’s success †¢10. Issues The way in which content was added to the system had to be designed Using SharePoint templates An initial typology for documents had been developed Focused on business processes, so that it was easy for people to find relevant documents Users be represented properly in the management and future development of the Knowledge Exchange KM would support, as completely as possible, the entire business cycle within Accenture from initial sales proposal to final client delivery Document obsolescence How can integrate learning and knowledge management? Too tightly integrating them might focus knowledge management on reuse and training and reduce its impact on innovation and collaboration 11. Knowledge Management Vision(cont’d) Five critical goals for KM Fostering and sustaining a knowledge sharing culture Improving the time to competency for new hires Enabling and enhancing Accenture’s sales capability Ensuring and improving the ROI for KM Improving margins and delivered quality on client engagements such as outsourcing and large consulting commitments through speed to capability, use of best practices, etc. †¢12. Five forces Making the knowledge available to the employees Accenture can make entrance barriers high Can analyze customers based on the customer information in KM system Can acquire the experts’ techniques to customers Can help delivery(finding the information of suppliers can be a help) There are plenty of information of substitution of products/services

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois Essay -- William Ed

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois – known simply as "W.E.B." – was 83 when the government indicted him as a foreign agent in 1951. The only crime he had committed, however, was circulating the Stockholm Appeal, which said any government to use an atomic weapon against another country "should be treated as a war criminal." After spending six months in disgrace and paying $35,150 for his defense, the government dismissed its case against him. The old man was freed and declared himself a communist 12 years later at age 93, dying in Ghana, a country that loved him. It was a sad end for an intellectual giant whom Kim Pearson, a professor of journalism at The College of New Jersey who teaches a class on Du Bois, calls, "the premier African American intellectual of the 19th and 20th centuries." Born in Great Barrington, Mass. in 1868, during the era of Reconstruction, Du Bois’ maternal great-grandfather was born a slave and his father, Alfred, simply wandered away when he was a boy, never coming back. Du Bois was reared on a farm by his mother Mary and experienced little racism. He would later say that as a boy in Great Barrington, he had "almost no experience of segregation or color discrimination." Even though Du Bois was the only black student in his graduating high school class of 12, Principal Frank A. Horner encouraged him to prepare for college. Du Bois headed to Nashville, Tennessee to the halls of Fisk University, an all-black school. There, he declared, "I am a Negro. I glory in the name! I am proud of the black blood that flows in my veins †¦ (I) have come here †¦ to join hands with my people." He graduated in 1888 and headed to Harvard. While there, he received a grant and loan to study at the University of Berlin, where he experienced little discrimination and became fascinated by European grievances against Jews. Reflecting on his stay at Berlin, Du Bois would say, "I began to feel the dichotomy which all my life has characterized my thought; how far can love for my oppressed race accord with love for the oppressing country? And when these loyalties diverge, where shall my soul find refuge?" Du Bois earned his doctorate from Harvard in 1895 and his dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was hailed as the first scientific work authored by ... ... to result in the exacerbation of prejudice and inner conflict here in America." The case against Du Bois was eventually dismissed. Du Bois did not declare himself a communist until he was 93. He finished his autobiography in 1960 and declared, "I now believe that private ownership of capital and free enterprise are leading the world to disaster. Democratic government in the United States has almost ceased to function. I shall therefore hereafter help the triumph of communism in every honest way that I can: without deceit or hurt; and in any way possible, without war; and with goodwill to all men of all colors, classes and creeds." Du Bois wrote a tremendous amount of material. Only a small number of his works have been considered in this short description of his life. In his final years, Du Bois spent his time working on an Encyclopedia Africana, which he had unsuccessfully tried to begin without financial backing in 1909 and 1931. Kwame Nkrumah, the first premier of Ghana, invited him to live out his life in Ghana and offered him funding for the final project. Appropriately, news of Du Bois’ death in 1963 reached America as blacks and whites peacefully marched on Washington.

Tragic Hero: Creon or Antigone

Joachim Ogundipe English Comp 2 Tragic Hero: Antigone or Creon? In Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, the characters Creon and Antigone both fit into a few of Aristotle’s criteria. They are both choices of tragic heroes. They both are neither good nor evil in the extreme but just a man like any of us; they are both born of a better social status than most of us, and both have a tragic flaw in their characters. But even though the story is called Antigone, it is not necessary for Antigone to be the tragic hero. Other things that only Creon does that make him the tragic hero should be responsible for his downfall, the misfortune they get should be greater than what he deserves, and should also have recognition of a truth about himself. By many of Creons actions, he shows all of the characteristics of a tragic hero and fits in these descriptions perfectly. Creon fits in all of the characteristics of Aristotle’s criteria and is the tragic hero. Creon is neither good nor bad. He is not completely bad because he didn’t really want to kill Antigone. Instead, he just wanted to keep all of the laws in order to make his men follow his orders. He was just a stubborn man who wanted to show his people that he was a man of his word. Creon is the king in the play and he is definitely more powerful than the rest of the characters. Creon makes it a point to show of his pride. Self-pride is the tragic flaw Creon faces in this play. He showed so much arrogance in every decision he made. Creon insisted on punishing Antigone and would not change his mind. He is responsible for his own downfall. Even though Creon sentenced Antigone, his misfortune is way worse than hers. All he wanted was to keep his country at peace, and did not want to let people go against his laws. In conclusion, the play titled Antigone by Sophocles has Creon as the tragic hero. Creon shows all of the characteristics of a tragic hero. He is neither good nor bad in the extreme, he is in a high status than us, he receives pity through the audience, recognizes his weakness, and his downfall comes from his own self-pride. Therefore, he is definitely the tragic hero of this play.

Discussing Temperatures in Spanish

The most common way of indicating temperature in Spanish is to use a form of estar a followed by the number of degrees (grados). Estar is a verb that typically means to be. How to Talk About  Temperature in Spanish In the present tense, it is usual to use the phrase estamos a (literally, we are) to discuss the temperature being experienced by the speaker and the persons around them. Està ¡ a (literally, it is) is used to discuss the temperature of other places. See the following examples: Estamos a 30 grados. (Its 30 degrees.)Si la temperatura està ¡ a dos grados o mà ¡s, los nià ±os juegan afuera excepto si llueve o nieve. (If the temperature is two degrees or higher, the children play outside unless its raining or snowing.)Estamos a 10 bajo cero. (Its 10 below zero.)Hace una semana estaban a 30 grados, pero ahora estamos a 10. (A week ago it was 30 degrees, but now its 10.) ¡Cuà ¡ntas veces el aire està ¡ a 15 grados mientras que el agua està ¡ a 17! (How often the air is 15 degrees while the water is 17!) Temperatures can be discussed in other ways, as well. As shown in the following examples, the temperature is frequently preceded by a preposition: Oscila entre ocho y 20 grados centà ­grados. (Temperatures vary between eight and 20 degrees Celsius.)You also could use the phrase grados Celsius here.Colocar en horno a 200 grados durante 15 minutos. (Set in a 200-degree oven for 15 minutes.)El agua del mar Mediterrà ¡neo alcanza los 32 grados de temperatura. (The water of the Mediterranean Sea reaches a temperature of 32 degrees.)Las bacterias se reproducen a una temperatura entre 20 y 30 grados. (The bacteria reproduce at a temperature of 20 to 30 degrees.)Una temperatura normal del cuerpo humano es aquella que se encuentra entre los 36.6 grados y los 37 grados. (A normal temperature for the human body is one between 36.6 and 37 degrees.)Tenà ­a una temperatura de 36.8 grados. (She had a temperature of 36.8 degrees.) The Metric System Is Widely Used Keep in mind that most of the Spanish-speaking world (indeed, nearly the entire world) uses temperatures in Celsius. To convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 and multiply the result by 0.556 (or five-ninths). To convert temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply the temperature by 1.8 and add 32. Mathematically, the formulas look like this: C (F-32) X (5/9)F 1.8C 32 If you try these formulas, youll find that a body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the same as 37 degrees Celsius, and vice versa. And the 200-degree oven in one of the examples above is the same as one thats set at a bit under 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Approximating Temperatures Mathematical precision isnt always necessary, though. Heres one way to think of temperatures in Celsius. Of course, you may see it differently if you come from an extreme climate: -20 degrees C or below (-4 degrees F or below): frigid (muy frà ­o)-20–0 degrees C (-4–32 degrees F): cold (frà ­o)0–10 degrees C (32–50 degrees F): cool (fresco)10–20 degrees C (50–68 degrees F): mild (templado)20–30 degrees C (68–86 degrees F): warm (caliente)30–40 degrees C (86–104 degrees F): hot (muy caliente)40 degrees C and above (104 degrees F and above): unbearably hot (insoportablemente caliente) Temperature-Related Vocabulary Here are some words and phrases that may come in handy when discussing temperatures: calor asfixiante o calor abrasador — scorching or blistering heatExample: El cuerpo ve el calor asfixiante como una amenaza y reacciona aumentando el estrà ©s. (The body sees scorching heat as a danger and reacts with increased stress.)frà ­o intenso — bitter coldExample: Por frà ­o intenso activan alerta roja en cinco ciudades. (They are activating a red alert in five cities because of the bitter cold.)ola de calor — heat waveExample: Hay una advertencia meteorolà ³gica por ola de calor en el centro y norte del Uruguay. (There is a meteorological warning for a heat wave in central and northern Uruguay.)ola de frà ­o — cold snapExample: Una ola de frà ­o sin precedentes dejà ³ mà ¡s de 20 muertos. (An unprecedented cold snap left more than 20 dead.)