Foul Tech Sours

In a text prepared by Andrew Wicks, Edward Freeman, Patricia Werhane, and Kirsten Martin, the authors discuss various approaches to tackling business ethics in a global society. While there is some emphasis on different perspectives that represent extreme views on how to have a discussion about global ethics, the authors provide several concepts that present an intermediate platform to discuss conflicting views. Global goals, formally known as universal values, are just one way in which conflicts about sustainable development can be addressed. Global goals are important because they represent a “set of moral principles on which people can at least agree” (Wicks ,et al., 2009). This set of moral minimums provides overarching goals that address poverty, hunger, education, environmental sustainment, world peace, and global partnerships. Specifically, universally accepted global values bring people of varying cultures, socio-economic classifications, age groups, and professions togethe...

Good communication is known to be a key component of successful project management. Project managers are expected to have a broad set of communication skills: they must be interpersonal, amiable, tactful in their communications, and most importantly, they must be open minded. With open mindedness comes the expectation that project managers are tolerant of individuals of varying ethnicities, religious beliefs, knowledge levels, financial situations, personal characteristics, and temperament. The personality of an individual cannot be changed, however, the way in which a project manager communicates with stakeholder, can change. An experienced project manager will have likely dealt with different personalities over the course of his or her career. Some people are introverts while other are extroverts. Some people say exactly what they’re thinking, while other people may be more soft spoken. Some individuals may always require detailed guidance and direction, while others may be more au...

Photo courtesy of  Proof Positive Cash. Currency. Dinero. Mula. Capital.  Regardless of which term you use, it's all the same thing: MONEY. It's valuable and very highly coveted. To some, it's easy to obtain, for others, it eludes them very easily. With regards to Project Management, money is a very value resource, a necessity in some cases, that is required for a project manager and his or her team to successfully complete an assigned project. It's a commonly known fact that it's rare, if not impossible, to perfectly guesstimate a budget for a project. This is usually the case for long term, large scale projects. The mistakes that project managers make when it comes to the cost estimation of the overall project varies. Sometimes, project manager can be too optimistic. Other times, the project manager may fail to account for certain aspects of a project that may involve cost. And, very frequently, known unknowns come into play and unexpectedly dep...

Micro manager. Unpleasant. Incompetent. Dishonest. Unprofessional. Late. Demanding. Entitled. Unfortunately, most professionals can say that they've had a boss at some point in their career that has displayed one or more of these characteristics. Often times, these people tend to be c-level, or "higher ups", or just managers in general, that likely made it to the position they're in due to taking credit for other people's work. As cliche as it may seem, my recent experiences, both professionally and academically, have got me considering TRULY how different bosses are from leaders. From a professional perspective, I've been thinking about the bosses I've encountered: They are great at delegating work. Whether they actually SHOULD delegate the work is irrelevant to them. As long as it gets done and gets done correctly, protocol, pay grade, and job descriptions don't tend to matter too much. They refuse to communicate down unless it's to their...

Time, Cost, and Scope. Three attributes that can apply to just about any aspect of life. Regardless of the scenario to which one might decide to apply these constraints, there's always a give and take. For the sake of this entry, lets define time, cost, and scope as the following: Time: The duration required to complete the project and all associated sub-projects and deliverables. Cost: The total financial resources required to complete the project. This includes the cost of all resources, and the cost to complete individual work packages. DISCLAIMER: The next definition probably varies from source to source, however, this is my blog, and I will use knowledge that I've acquired over the course of my several years of formal education. Scope: The requirements and objectives that have been identified to determine what the end product is expected to accomplish. Photo Credit:  Cosmocatalano on Wikimedia | 2010 In a perfect world, time, cost, and scope would all be e...

Is the cost of a system worth the price of convenience? This question is something that I've been ruminating on after a brief discussion with one of my close friends. Scenario: My close friend, let's call her Kitty, has been applying for jobs. One particular company, a small to medium sized company (464 stores with 11,800 employees as of 1 October 2015), allows interested applicants to view open positions online. Kitty found several positions in which she was interested and proceeded to apply. Now, you would expect, like many systems, that Kitty would be redirected from the company employment website to some sort of under-thought, poorly customized employee application system powered by Oracle (you know, Taleo? Yup..it's Oracle). In this instance, that was not the case: She provided her email address and was then emailed  a fillable .PDF application which she was expected the send back electronically to the company email address provided. Pause: They want Kitty, the...

The American people "are sick and tired about hearing about your damn emails." Words uttered from a frustrated Dr. Bernie Sanders in the first Democratic presidential debate. Not to undermine the fact that decisions made by Ms. Hillary Clinton regarding those "damn emails" probably weren't in her (or America's) best interest, however, I agree that the FIRST Democratic debate is neither the time nor place. Quite frankly, as a registered voter, her "damn emails" were not of interest to me as I tuned in to the democratic debate. Between Jimmy complaining about not getting enough speaking time (despite the fact that he didn't get the least) in the midst of reminding us about the murders he's committed, and Hilary's seemingly super rehearsed, well practiced responses to the difficult questions asked of her, there were some good political discussions that occurred among the candidates. Bypassing the scripted introductions and discussi...