Introduction to Business computingLast session : conclusions21 january 2003

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Official topicsMaster the Microsoft Office suiteWordExcelPowerPointAccessAn a bit of Internet

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The larger viewTo study tools for treating informationand to communicateThat involvesthe office suite toolsInternetInformation systemsE-commerceCRM (Customer relationship mgt), SCM (Supply chain mgt)And the history of all this

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Why study the history of information treatment and communication ?The purpose of studying history, in general, is to be better prepared to understand the future

The XXIst century is likely to be everything but uneventful !

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Lets look at the NTICNew Technologies in Information and CommunicationAs future managers you will deal a lot with Information and CommunicationThese are tools to create wealth(To create wealth is one of the central purposes of running businesses)

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Lets look at the NTIC (2)Communication has tremendous new tools at its disposal :Internete-mailNewsgroups (= forums)ICQ (= I seek you)Mobile phones

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CommunicationIn terms of tools it has a long historyNot to go farther in the past we can mentionThe telephoneEdisons electric telegraphThe Post office (mid XIXth century)PigeonsChappes Telegraph (1800, by Claude Chappe, in Paris there is a subway station called Tlgraphe, because a tlgraphe was installed there)Indians smoke firesThe Gaulois also used fires to communicate, to gather for Gergovie, and to call for reinforcements at AlesiaThe Marathon runner

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The XIXth century : the century of electricityAll along the XIXth century scientists worked to understand electricity (from Volta, Ampre, Faraday to Maxwell)Then engineers were able to replace many mechanical devices by electrical devices :Steam engine -> electric motorMechanical/optical telegraph -> electrical telegraphInvention of the telephoneThe understanding of the electromagnetic waves lead to the invention of the radio (tlgraphie sans fil, in French)Internet is the grand child of all these researches and inventions

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The technical XXth century : The XXth century capitalized on and developped many inventions of the XIXth century :ElectricityRailwaysCarsVaccinationIt added some new breakthroughs, among them :AeronauticsMedical breakthroughs (penicillin,)Nuclear powerThe XXIst century is already fascinating

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Communication (2)More to come

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InformationInformation media also have a long historythe invention of History about -3000 BCthe invention of the press by Gutenberg (the first metal caracters in the West ; there were some in Korea before http://130.238.50.3/ilmh/Ren/bokt-chartier-china.htm)Which date ? The Google reflex : 1447Newspapers (T. Renaudot) : 1631 (or 16something)more here : http://www.lian.com/TANAKA/comhosei/NPinEB.htm Photography (Niepce 1826 http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/wfp/)(improved by Daguerre, Eatsman, the Lumire brothers, etc.)Cinema : Les frres Lumire 1895Radio (in the 20s)TV (in the 30s)Internet

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TechnologyAs we see Information and Communication have been using more and more sophisticated technologies

It is unlikely that it will stop (right now we are witnessing the end of the argent-based cameras, more than half the cameras sold nowadays are digital ; we can buy a 3.3 million pixel camera for 670 rue du march notre dame, and send pictures of Poitiers to Beijing in seconds)

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NewAs we see there have been many steps in developping information media and communication techniques before the present day toolsThe Office suite softwares are a very small part of the history of new information and communication tools

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When using Word, Excel, PPT, or Access... it is important that we realise we use information and communication toolsThese have been created with a goalWord : to make nice looking but first of all efficient business letters, etc.Excel : to calculate and present productively, for instance accounting and budgeting data (Visicalc 1978)Access : same kind of comment

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Back to CommunicationThe tools have undergone tremendous technological leaps but the people are the same as beforeTherefore the rules of communicating havent changed much Know who we talk toRespectetc.

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NTIC and palaverWhen discussing, for instance, daily fees for an intervention with some interlocutor and the discussion goes on and on.It would be a tremendous mistake to curtail it by saying : well my fees are this, and thats it, or by saying right away OK I accept your conditions

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NTIC and palaver (2)It would be a tremendous mistake to curtail it by saying : well my fees are this, and thats it, or by saying right away OK I accept your conditionsWhy ?Because the real subject is not my fees but who Im and who are you ?That is a palaver.

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NTIC and palaver (3)The real subject is not my fees but who Im and who are you ?Thats a palaver.The purpose of a palaver is to get to know each other and see whether we can and want to work togetherFor instance :Is he rigid/stuck up ?Or flexible ?Is he too weak ? Or able to assert what he wants ?

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CommunicationCommunication tools nowadays are flabbergastingYet we communicate usually with one of the following goals :convince people to take such and such actionto sign a contract

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CommunicationIn both cases we need to master the psychological aspect of the communicationwho are we talking towhat do they perceive of mehow to convince themdo I want to sign a contract with themdo they want to sign a contract with meetc.

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CommunicationMastering the tools without mastering the psychology of communication...

...is useless

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Information (contd)Besides Internet there are many other recent toolsCRM customer relationship management : it treats customer information to make the sales dept much more efficientSCM supply chain management : it makes plants/factories much more efficient in getting their supplies (Raw materials)Manufacturing Information systems : to make plants more productiveE-commerce : commerce using Internet ; the commerce part hasnt changed (and in fact there are examples in the past of distribution channels with no client/product contact and no client/salespeople contact : mail order sales !)E-learning : using to NTIC to make teaching and learning more efficient

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Whats the purpose of learning ?(not get a diploma : thats only the proof that we learned, thats not the goal)Get a great jobTo be well trained, well preparedto open mindedPrepare for a good future (for ourselves and for what we will have in charge)Improve our knowledgeTo have informed opininonsTo be autonomous and creative and not just a mold-copyTo be usefulTo be accomplished, TO BE RESPONSIBLE

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Learning (contd)So we need to get informationmastery of techniques and factsUnderstand factsThinkWe need to know quite a bit of HistoryWhy ? To foresee a little bit the Future

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Learning (contd)We need to know quite a bit of HistoryWhy ? To foresee a little bit the Future

The XXth century was rather hectic (cf for instance the US interest rates in the 19th and 20th centuries http://www.forecasts.org/data/index.htm)

What will the XXIst be ?

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US interest rate

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Will there be major conflicts ?Conflicts of the XXth century :WWIArmeniaWWIIMiddle-East wars (1956, 1967, 1973, 1991, Intifadas)KoreaVietnamAlgeriaMany wars in Africa : Boers, Tutsis and HutusHow to reduce their number in the XXIst century ?

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Will there be major conflicts ? (2)How to reduce their number in the XXIst century ?Lets understand better how they arise-> lets study HistoryInternet is a great provider of information (neither more nor less reliable than in books), but much faster to get !Then lets understand and think.

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Will there be major changes in the World order ?What happened in the past ? Leading countries per period :200 AD : Roman empire, Han empire1200 : Cheng Ji Sihan (Genghis Khan)1500 : Spain1700 : France1850 : British empire1950 : America2030 - 2050 ?Possibly China (if you work hard at ESCEM ; here we teach mostly techniques and also some facts)

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Will there be major changes in the World order ? (2)2030 - 2050 ?Possibly China (if you work hard at ESCEM ; here we learn mostly techniques and also some facts)We need to develop a business and historical cultureRead the newspaper at least once a weekTake part in discussionsHave an opinion on all important societal topics (but an informed one)Not only will this land you great jobs but it will make you great managers and people responsible for the Future

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Techniques, Facts and OpinionsTechniques : ESCEM teachingsFacts : your questions, read the newspaper at least once a week, Internetexample : today is the 40th anniversary of the Elyse Treaty. What is the Elyse Treaty ?1963 French-German cooperation treatyOpinions (informed ones ; uninformed opinions are useless, weak and dangerous)

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What were the Evian accords ?

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Techniques, Facts and Opinions (2)An example of question :related to Turkeyshould it become a member of the European community ?

Have an opinion ! (an informed one)

Defend the Pros, then the Cons.

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Techniques, Facts and Opinions (3)An example of question :related to South Americashould the IMF lend more money to Argentina or not ?

Have an opinion ! (an informed one)

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International legal systemIt is likely that the XXIst century will witness the emergence of an international right to intervene into domestic affairs of countriesBut it will have to be codifiedArgentina is one of the next candidates for such an intervention

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Techniques, Facts and Opinions (4)An example of question :related to Africawhats going on these days in Marcoussis ?There is a peace conference concerning Ivory CoastKnow the fact !Have an opinion ! (an informed one)

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Techniques, Facts and Opinions (5)An example of more business oriented question :related to Americawhat is the US trade deficit in 2001 ? (the difference between their exports and their imports)http://www.uaw.org/publications/jobs_pay/01/0901/jpe06.htmlKnow the fact !Have an opinion ! (an informed one)

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Good sources of InformationGeneral : Search engines : Google, Altavista, Fast, Voil, etc.Newsgroups : Google Newsgroups (ex-dj News)On line newspapers : NYT, LeMonde, WSJ, Washington Post, etc.Specialised sites : for instance Hoovers on line for financial dataA page of tools : http://lapasserelle.com/sm/web_tools.html

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Good sources of InformationA page of tools : http://lapasserelle.com/sm/web_tools.htmlUse it to find Amazon sales revenues for the quarter ending Sept 2002 : .. ?In three days will be published the figures for the next quarter.Those persons working at Amazon, that already know the figures are forbidden to buy or sell Amazonstocks on the NasdaqWhy ? (After all they have the information)Because it would be using Insider information

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Using Hoovers on line...Who are Amazons main competitors ?Which ones are profitable ?What is Microsoft last quarter dataRevenue 7.7 billion dollarsand Profit 2.7 billion dollarsWhat is IBM last quarter dataRevenue 19.8 billion dollarsand Profit 1.3 billion dollars

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