New
Bookmarks
Year 2000 Quarter 3: July 1-September 30 Additions to Bob
Jensen's Bookmarks
Bob Jensen at Trinity
University
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For the other editions go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
For the full set
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additions to my New Bookmarks.)
Click here to go to Bob Jensen's home page http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/
Choose a Date for Additions to the Bookmarks File
September 26, 2000 September 20, 2000 September 12, 2000 September 5, 2000
August 29, 2000 August 22, 2000 August 9, 2000
July 26, 2000 July 19, 2000 July 12, 2000 July 5, 2000
For the other editions of my New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Click
here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search
Site.
This search engine may get you some hits from other professors at Trinity
University included with Bob Jensen's documents, but this may be to your
benefit. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities
is at http://www.searchedu.com/.
Quotes of the Week:
Budget --- an accounting system for going broke more methodically.
Don't use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice.
Every morning is the dawn of a new error (that's for sure if you are writing FAS 133 cases)
Technology for calm and quiet --- a phoneless cord.
I can see clearly since my brain was removed.
I used up all my sick days, so now I'm calling in dead.
Mental floss prevents moral decay.
There cannot be any crisis today --- my schedule is full.
A conclusion is simply a place where you got tired of thinking.
I don't have a solution, but I admire the problem.
It's not hard to meet expenses, because they're everywhere.
The wise man knows how
little he knows;
It is a foolish person who imagines he knows everything.
A Tribute to Jean Heck and "his" Academy of Business Education --- http://www.abe.villanova.edu/
Dr. Heck is one of the most amazing workers that I've ever encountered. In addition to teaching, research, and service responsibilities of a full-time professor of finance at Villanova University, he is the co-author responsible for most revisions of a finance textbook and editor of two journals. In addition, he manages to devote a minimum of four hours a day updating literature databases, most notably a database on economics literature.
About a year ago, Jean single-handedly formed a new multi-discipline academic association called The Academy of Business Education. There must have been a need for such an association, because within a matter of months there were over 500 dues-paying members of the Academy. The Academy now has a new journal (The Journal of the Academy of Business Education) and held the first ABE annual meeting in Bermuda last week. We were going to meet at Bermuda College, but the number of pre-registered participants exceeded the capacity of Bermuda College for such an event. Jean managed to shift us to the Southampton Princess Hotel. Over 200 papers were submitted for the first meeting. During the first year, Jean's success in incorporating the ABE, serving as the first editor of the JABE, refereeing the journal submissions, refereeing the annual meeting submissions, and tending to virtually all details of the Academy and its first annual meeting is mind boggling. Jean not only did all this, he did it very well with virtually no help (my title of ABE Vice President in Accounting has been a ceremonial title in that it did not entail any work other than attending the first Board meeting last week).
Next year, Jean has already lined up our second annual meeting site (around the third week in September) at a ski lodge near Jackson Hole in the Grand Teton Mountains. Since the lodge only has 200 rooms available, participants should think about getting reservations in early. Managers of the lodge warned us that we will be there during the mating season of the moose (mooses?). I'm not sure what this means, but apparently the lodge will be surrounded by large four-legged beasts making lots of testosterone-inspired calls of the wild.
I think the program for the first ABE meeting was excellent. In the sessions that I managed to attend, all the presentations were very informative. It was only possible to attend some of the many sessions since I could not be two places at the same time. A few of the programs I chose to attend are mentioned below:
You can view the complete program with abstracts at http://www.abe.villanova.edu/prog2000.html
The proceedings will be available online whenever our working dynamo, Jean Heck,
gets all that work done.
WOW Professor of the Week
At the first annual meeting of the new Academy of Business Education last week, I listened to a number of outstanding presentations. One in particular that I would like to mention to you was presented by the Head of the Department of Marketing & Management at Texas A&M University. His name is John Parnell. For two semesters, John has been delivering an online business strategy course for students at Monterrey Tech (ITESM). This may evolve into an entire Texas A&M degree program at both Monterrey and across Mexico in general.
One link of possible interest is http://business.tamu.edu/cibs/index.html
If any of you want a copy of Professor Parnell's paper, his email address is john_parnell@tamu-commerce.edu
An excerpt is quoted below:
The course considered in the present study was structured to utilize three weekend professorial visits (i.e., Friday evening and Saturday) to campus in one term and four in another (see exhibits one and two). Weekend visits were typically spaced two or three weeks apart. In total, approximately fifteen hours was utilized in each term for delivery of strategic management concepts; the remainder of the time was devoted to preparation and ultimate presentation of group case projects. Students were enrolled in the graduate program at the Ciudad de Mexico campus of Instituto Tecnologico Y De Estudios Superiores De Monterrey (ITESM). Facilities at the institution, including internet access, were excellent.
Students were allowed to form their own groups of three to four students. Each group selected a company from a list of instructor-approved publicly traded American companies to strategically analyze as its group project. The case analysis was the major assignment in the course, accounting for 35 percent of the overall grade. Because of the wealth of information available on the internet and the potential research difficulties for ITESM students, links to an extensive array of on-line sources (e.g., Hoover's for financial data, Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition (WSJIE), Lexis-Nexis, etc.) were provided so that students could complete all of the case research via the internet.
Students were also required to participate in on-line class discussions with graduate students taking a strategic management course at an American institution. In these discussions, students were free to post views on a variety of topics and current issues related to strategy formulation, implementation, and the international environment. Specifically, students were encouraged to comment on articles from the WSJIE and other sources, and to participate in discussions begun by others students or the professor.
RESULTS
The two classes considered in the present study had fifteen and twelve students respectively. Each student chose to pursue the course under the weekend format in English instead of taking it with a local professor on a one-night-per-week basis. There is no indication that students in the course differed from those in other sections, except that marginal English speakers would not have chosen to take the course in English.
At the end of each course, students completed a brief, anonymous survey containing three questions: · If you had the opportunity to take the course again, would you choose the same section? (yes/no/maybe) · How would you evaluate the internet component of the course? (strong/moderate/weak) · How would you evaluate the weekend structure of the course? (strong/moderate/weak) In addition, students were allowed to provide specific written comments.
None of the students stated that they would not take the same section. Twenty-three students (85 percent) stated that they would, while the remaining four (15 percent) chose the "maybe" response.
The internet component of the course was evaluated as "strong" by 25 of the 27 students (93 percent), while the other two (7 percent) evaluated it as "moderate." Twenty of the students (74 percent) evaluated the weekend structure as "strong," whereas the remaining seven (26 percent) evaluated it as "moderate." Written comments by those in the latter group suggested that some would have selected different combinations of dates for the visits to campus.
Student participation on the bulletin board was commendable, in many cases providing a rich, international perspective to the topics and issues presented by their American counterparts. One of the unintended and positive outcomes of the experience was that the Mexican graduate students were able to learn from those at the American institution-which included Americans as well as students from several other countries-and vice versa. These two groups would never have connected outside of the bulletin board experience.
Project quality was excellent in most cases. Students were able to secure from the internet more than enough objective and subjective information to complete their projects. From a research perspective, the quality of the internet research was vastly superior to traditional forms of case research, and would be appropriate to traditional classes as well.
FUTURE RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
Internet delivery in the international arena appears to be growing exponentially, but remains in its nascent stage of development. The use of the internet to address the tremendous international market opportunity is both logical and promising for universities and faculty equipped to do so. Several fundamental questions must be addressed, however.
First, does the host institution and faculty member possess the technical expertise-including appropriate support-to utilize the internet for delivery of instruction? Faculty members must understand the basics of web page creation and/or possess the university support necessary to post materials, change them as needed, and address any technical support issues raised by the learners. Delivery of courses via the web also necessitates that faculty members "buy in" to a nontraditional model of education, whereby the faculty member becomes the facilitator instead of the teacher.
Second, to what extent, if any, should the internet delivery be accompanied by face-to-face interaction? Is it desirable to require that learners travel to the host campus or the professor travel to the students? Face-to-face interaction provides a personal touch not easily secured in an on-line environment. Practitioners developing programs should consider that at least some personal contact may be warranted.
Third, should internet based discussions be synchronous or asynchronous? In other words, should students be required to "meet" on the internet at certain times so that class may convene electronically, or should the course be structured so that students can work when they choose? Under the former case, the internet can be used to simulate the classroom environment, and students can exchange ideas or "chat" in real time. Under the latter case, exchange of ideas is limited to e-mails and the bulletin board. Evidence from the present study suggests that the bulletin board is an effective as real time chat, and on-line meetings may not be necessary.
Fourth, how should students be evaluated? If there are no face-to-face meetings, verifiable "closed book" examinations may not be possible. Many internet classes have adopted a "portfolio" approach, where learners submit projects instead of exams. Others require that each student complete a proctored final exam.
Finally, how can outcomes in the internet-based environment be compared to those in the traditional classroom environment? Critics and accrediting agencies will desire evidence the former approach is essentially equivalent to the latter. Proponents may charge that quality in the internet-based environment is superior. At any rate, educators need to be prepared to assess the outcomes and address quality comparisons.
WOW Site of the WEEK --- Ucompass at http://www.ucompass.com/
At a conference in Bermuda last week, I listened to a wonderful presentation by John Parnell (Head of the Department of Marketing and Management at Texas A&M University). After comparing Blackboard, WebCT, and other options, his program for distance education across Texas and into Mexico, he and his Texas A&M colleagues opted for a software from http://www.ucompass.com/
Especially note the "Uniqueness" section that is linked at http://www.ucompass.com/
I asked Dr. Parnell to comment on Ucompass. He wrote back as follows on September 26, 2000:
Hi Bob,
Thank you for your e-mail and the write-up.
We selected uCompass because of the technical ability and extraordinary service commitment extended by its president, Ed Mansouri. uCompass is a small provider, so Ed is still very active in the day-to-day operations. The system is user-friendly, support is prompt, and Ed and his staff bend over backwards to meet our specific needs. We had originally narrowed down the choice to Blackboard and uCompass and invited presentions from both (individual, and then together on the same day). Most of us expected Blackboard to come out on top, but Ed's commitment to meeting our specific needs made the difference.
By the way, if Trinity is considering a partnership, I would strongly recommend uCompass.
If you have any additional questions, please let me know. Thanks again.
John
WOW Site of Last Week --- http://www.syllabus.com/syllabusmagazine/sept00_fea.html
I will be making a presentation at Villanova this week. One focal point will be the Forest of Rhetoric.
I want to repeat the WOW site of last week, because it is now online (as of last week it was only available in hard copy). The paper is entitled "The Portal's Progress: A Gateway for Access, Information, and Learning Communities," by David L. Eisler, Syllabus Magazine, September 2000.
This is important not only because of the article itself, but it is important because of the insert article entitled "Syllabus Case Study: The Forest of Rhetoric: A Learning Portal Stands Out in its Field." This "Case Study" illustrates how knowledge portals should be authored.
It all started, as Dr. Gideon Burton puts it, "innocently enough." A professor and scholar of rhetoric at Brigham Young University, Burton originally turned to Web pages and the hyperlinking of data as a way to make notes to himself, to organize the vast terminology of historical rhetoric from antiquity to the Renaissance. Three years later, Burton has added another dimension to his role of scholar-professor --- he is now Web master of a widely known and award-winning discipline portal on rhetoric: Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric.
The development of Burton's portal was also, in part, an outgrowth of his effort to improve his teaching, making an extremely complex subject easier for his students to grasp. Like educators everywhere, he had printed handouts of definitions and explanations, but still the terminology was confusing and overwhelming to his students. This struggle with the terminology seemed to be obscuring the primary functions of the larger field of rhetoric-not being able to see the forest for the trees. This would eventually become a metaphor for the Silva portal, where the "forest," "trees," and "flowers" of rhetoric inhabit separate frames on the same screen.
Burton himself had appreciated the simple charts of "rhetoric in a nutshell" provided by Edward Corbett's Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, and used this print model as a starting point for his Web site. He discovered that the Web environment could accommodate both the simplicity of Corbett's visual as well as the details of rhetorical terminology. "Through hyperlinks," Burton explains, "a reader could travel readily back and forth between the overview (forest), and the details (trees)."
Burton discovered that the multi-frame ability of the Web was actually superior to print media for organizing material simply. Web page organizational capabilities, he says, "accommodate well an esoteric subject and make it more accessible" to multiple audiences. Thus, when colleagues at academic conferences asked for more scholarly details and sources, Burton integrated a scholarly apparatus to accompany the more general information. While Silva is still simply organized, each frame addresses a different set of learning needs, a different audience. The frame on the left, trees, includes a limited set of choices and encourages the reader to "stay here so you won't be overwhelmed." The frame on the right includes a more daunting list of rhetorical terms; when a reader clicks on one entry, the term's home page comes into the center frame and includes comparative Greek, Latin, and English terms; etymologies; and the Greek in its original alphabet. At the bottom of every page appear citations to the primary texts where the particular term is defined or discussed.
"Though Web-based scholarship remains an oxymoron for many," Burton confides, this collegial interest in Silva resulted in his taking his Web site "more seriously as a scholarly endeavor precisely because others began to do so." Today, he comments, "my academic Web site has complemented and supplemented the professional meetings I regularly attend." For instance, a professor of Russian at the University of Tartu in Estonia employs Silva in teaching Russian stylistics and has, with Burton's permission, translated the site into Russian at a mirror site.
Rewarding to Burton is evidence that his work has had an impact on students. "That I succeeded in reaching students is apparent not only in my own teaching," he says, "but in the fact that secondary and elementary schools have recommended Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric as a resource. In September of 1997 the site received the Wise Owl Web award 'in recognition of exemplary design and educational excellence.'" Are Burton's students impressed by his Web expertise? He pauses to consider. "I know students are often more computer-knowledgeable than their teachers these days," he says. "Does the site make them think I'm hip? I hope so."
For more information on the Forest of Rhetoric, go to http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm
If you really want to see flashers (from Wired News on September 26, 2000)
Time for another dose of fantastic Flash action. Take a look at Alanski.com and Mighty Assemblyhttp://www.alanski.com
http://www.mightyassembly.com
Barnes & Nobel University (Free Online Courses With Live Instructors) --- http://www.barnesandnobleuniversity.com/
Two example messages from students to their B&N University instructors:
Shakespeare
Author: ClarenceD
Thank you for teaching the course. I took Shakespeare when I was an undergrad. I found that studying this course online was more beneficial than listening to a professor's lecture. Should you teach another course, I shall take it.Improving Communication Skills...
Author: Meetoo
I applaud you Ms. Floyd. The course was enlightening and easy to follow. I believe the content will be an asset in all the daily interactions that I will encounter. I am thankful for your time and efforts in pulling the information together. I pray God's continued blessings on all that you do.
"Drexel Tames the 'Dragon'" (Dragon's Naturally Speaking that is) by Katie Dean in Wired News http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,38918,00.html
This year, students at Drexel University will no longer have to pull all-nighters while they frantically type up research papers.
They'll still have to write their papers, and maybe even well after midnight. But instead of enduring sore fingers, they can spend the wee hours dictating their carefully crafted sentences into a microphone.
Drexel is providing all of its students with voice-recognition software, which turns spoken word into on-screen text.
The school handed out copies of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 4.0 at freshman orientation Wednesday, and plans to distribute 20,000 copies to all its faculty, staff and students when they start fall classes next week.
"It's a continuation of providing what we think is the latest technology on a yearly basis," said John Bielec, vice president of information resources and technology at the school. "Voice recognition is certainly the next big wave in terms of applications."
Every year, students are given a free CD of several different software programs that are relevant to their schoolwork. This year, in addition to Dragon, the students received Norton Anti-Virus software as well as Microsoft Office and various shareware and freeware.
Both school officials and Dragon representatives said that the software will save time and increase productivity.
Thank you Steve
Bob:
Below is something that might make a good entry into your Technology Glossary. (Text below from What is.com) Ever since I got a DSL line I have been unable to log onto Temple University's primary mail server. I receive an abrupt and annoying message "The TCP/IP connection was unexpectedly terminated by the server." It happens that Temple has security procedure in place for this server that traces my IP address back to my ISP to verify my name when I try to log on to get my mail. However, my ISP uses a newer system called "Reverse Address Resolution Protocol" (RARP), which does not keep a list of names on a name server for immediate verification. (Maintaining an up-to-date list of client names on a name server apparently is an expensive, labor-intensive process.) I doubt if my ISP is the only one using this technology. This is an interesting clash of old fashioned security procedures and newer technology.
Steve FoggReverse Address Resolution Protocol
RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) is a protocol by which a physical machine in a local area network can request to learn its IP address from a gateway server's Address Resolution Protocol (Address Resolution Protocol) table or cache. A network administrator creates a table in a local area network's gateway router that maps the physical machine (or Media Access Control - MAC address) addresses to corresponding Internet Protocol addresses. When a new machine is set up, its RARP client program requests from the RARP server on the router to be sent its IP address. Assuming that an entry has been set up in the router table, the RARP server will return the IP address to the machine which can store it for future use. RARP is available for Ethernet, Fiber Distributed-Data Interface, and token ring LANs.
Stephen L. Fogg, Ph.D., CPA,
Chair Department of Accounting Fox School of Business and Management
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122 Phone: 215-204-1915 Fax: 215-204-5587 URL: http://www.sbm.temple.edu/~fogg
My Technology Glossary is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm
The Complete History of the Discovery of Cinematography --- http://www.precinemahistory.net/
Forbes 400 Richest Americans (darn, I was overlooked again this year) http://www.forbes.com/tool/toolbox/rich400/
Dear Mr. Jensen,
My colleague sent me information about your research and the information you provide related to Online Learning. We would appreciate the opportunity of introducing you to our course management system, The Learning Manager, used by higher education, K-12, and corporations throughout the world.
We are a Tier-1 Microsoft online learning partner and have been delivering distributed learning for 25+ years. Our initial product, LMS, was the most popular higher education system in the 80s. We have distributors located in Europe, Asia, Canada, Australia, and the United States.
We found that many higher education institutions switch to The Learning Manager because of the advanced assessment functionality supported by our integrated learning system. Developers of Chemistry, Math, Statistics and Science courses often incorporate calculations, variables, and random question generation into assessment. All of these features and more are part of The Learning Manager's integrated assessment component.
I've included a URL that will provide you with sample questions that a gentleman from a University here in the U.S. developed using variables, random question generation, and calculations. He developed these assessments on our server without any type of training. The Learning Manager version 3.0 is so intuitive that I developed several courses without training or documentation.
Please feel free to take a look!! http://tlmcorp.com/r569ya/Login.asp
Student ID: question Student Password: questions
As you access the course, be sure to click on the course map on the left side menu and select "view document" for a description of this module. Then, click "course map" on the left side again to go back to the course map. Next, click the first map item and select "take test." This will enable you to see sample questions developed for an electrical engineering course.
I've also attached a couple documents for your review. Please let me know if you would like to receive additional information.
Regards, Jeanne Griffin Business Development Manager
The Learning Manager 865-938-7922 865-938-7923 - fax jgriffin@w-win.com
www.w-win.com
Educational Information on Credit Management http://www.abccompanies.com/resource/index.html
Investor Education and Assistance http://www.sec.gov/oiea1.htm
Formosa: Nineteenth Century Images (history, photography) --- http://web.reed.edu/academic/departments/history/formosa/
Professor Jensen - I subscribe to Fast Company magazine whose mission is "to chronicle how changing companies create and compete, to highlight new business practices, and to showcase the teams and individuals who are inventing the future and reinventing business." This month's web site contains two entries that I thought would interest you. The online pool concerning distance learning is especially fascinating.
Janet Flatley AVP-Controller 1st Fed S&L Assn Pt Angeles WA (360) 417-3104
FC:Learning < http://learning.fastcompany.com > Sneak Preview In a global economy, global learning is imperative. UMichigan Business School Dean Joseph White believes distance learning will open the doors of the ivory tower to a worldwide audience in the next quarter century, educating a universal talent pool and bridging the digital divide. More </feature/jwhite.html>
ONLINE POLL: The E-Learning Debate
Distance learning technology is:
Education's future and an important step to bridging the digital divide -- 61%
A waste of time that removes from teaching the crucial human touch -- 38%
"Distance-learning technology is only the enabler to learning. Companies will need to make the migration from 'podium to laptop' rapidly in order to remain competitive in the digital economy." -- Stephen D. Harris, Richmond, VA
Bob--
I'd like to give you some information concerning what we are doing: ZIP Publishing has recently been posting free reports in the areas of Health & Fitness, Genetics and Business using the Rocket eBook System. We are now offering supplementary course material in a program called ZIP Rocket Notes which also uses the Rocket eBook System. ZIP Rocket Notes allows Professors to post electronic material through us which their students can download from our Web site: www.zippublishing.com .
I'd like to propose that we each include a link to our respective Web sites-in a prominent place. Along with the link we have a paragraph defining our products and services:
Welcome to the world of electronic books and the Rocket eBook System! ZIP Publishing brings you free and low-cost books. Electronic ZIP Rocket Notes-course packs and material sold through University-area bookstores and downloaded from this site. Valuable links to bookstores, libraries, publishers and services for the electronic book user.
Please include this link and paragraph on your Web site.
We already have a link to your Web site on zippublishing.com. However, if you would compose a short paragraph (50 words or less), we will include this with the existing link.
Best wishes for continued success with your Web site.
Nick Petruzzella
ZIP Publishing PHONE: (614) 263-0214 CELL: (614) 348-3225 FAX: (614) 263-0257 http://www.zippublishing.com
You can read more about the advantages and disadvantages of e-Book publishing (including publishing that requires special hardware such a Rocket d-Books) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ebooks.htm
For Steve Zeff (Rice University) and others into both accounting/economic history and Holland --- Dutch National Accounts: 1800-1913 --- http://nationalaccounts.niwi.knaw.nl/
Confessions of a Record Producer --- http://www.mosesavalon.com/
Guide to E-Commerce http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/reference/guides/ecommerce/
HUD E-Maps --- http://www.hud.gov/emaps/
BusinessWeb (with special emphasis on B2B news) http://pinstripe.opentext.com/
The Kodak Girl Collection (history, photography) --- http://www.kodakgirl.com/
Encyclopedia of Corporate Governance http://www.encycogov.com/
A Journalist's Guide to Economic Terms http://www.facsnet.org/tools/ref_tutor/econo_term/glossary.html
Related glossaries --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbus.htm
The Living Room Candidate (history, politics, television) http://www.ammi.org/livingroomcandidate/
Web Digest for Marketers (business, marketing) http://wdfm.com/
Kodak: Olympics 2000: Olympic History --- http://www.journale.com/kodak/olympics/olympichistory/index_body1.shtml
The Small and Home Based Business Library http://www.bizoffice.com/library/library.html
Handspeak: A Sign Language Dictionary --- http://www.handspeak.com/
September 24th edition of the Internet Essentials 2000 Newsletter http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html
1. XBRL Update: Slides and Commentary
2. Duke, Princeton, Stanford, U of Michigan, UCLA and Others Say No to Blocking Napster
3. XML Elevates Middleware to Global Player
4. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO YOUR COMPUTER?
5. How Good is Your Company's Privacy Policy?
6. XBRL LIVE: Tuesday, October 3 AccountingWeb
7. XML NEWS! Live Feed for all News about XML All the XML you need to know, fresh stories daily.
PRO2NET ACCOUNTING WEEKLY UPDATE http://accounting.pro2net.com
For the Week of September 24, 2000
1. The Week's Top Accounting News
2. A Free Service from Pro2Net and VerticalOne
3. Feature Solutions Articles in Brief
4. CPAs: Earn Free CPE Credit!
5. Tip of the Week: Critical Tips On How To Improve Your Website
6. Enter to Win a Single User Fixed Asset System
Pro2Net Accounting Students Newsletter http://accountingstudents.pro2net.com September 18, 2000
1. Pro2Net Marketplace Grand Opening!
2. CPA Exam Tips: Allocate Your Study Time to Your Weak Areas
3. Perfect Timing: Passing the CMA Exam
4. Avoid the Credit Card Trap
5. PwC, Andersen Accounting Professors' Favorite Firms
Forwarded by a colleague
Subject: Riding dead horses
Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.
In business, however, it seems that we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Saying things like "This is the way we have always ridden this horse."
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards for riding dead horses.
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment over time.
10. Change the requirements to declare that "This horse is not dead."
11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.
12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
13. Declare that "No horse is too dead to beat."
14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
15. Do a CA Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.
17. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.
18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.
Forwarded by David Stephens [StephensD@CBS.CURTIN.EDU.AU]
"Welcome to the working world"
The following are designed as advice for graduating students. Origin unknown.
On SUCCESS - Success comes in CANS not CANNOTS.
PROGRESS - Be prepared to go anywhere as long as it's forward.
GOAL SETTING - Not reaching your goal isn't as dangerous as not having one.
FAILURE - Failure isn't falling down, it's staying there.
FOUL-UPS - Making mistakes isn't stupid* ignoring them is.
CRITICISM - If it had real power, the skunk would be extinct by now.
AVOIDING CRITICISM - It's easy* say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.
RECOGNITION - The best way to get credit is to try giving it to others.
DON'T GIVE UP - When you're being kicked from behind it means you're in front.
BEING CRITICAL - You can't sink the other person's end of the boat and keep your end afloat.
SELF ESTEEM - No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
SMART is when you believe only half of what you hear.
BRILLIANT is when you know which half to believe.
ETHICS - Honesty is not only the best policy; it's rare enough to make you conspicuous.
WORK ETHIC - The best form of industrial action is a full day's work.
HARD WORK - If you find the going is easy, you could be going downhill.
EXERCISE - The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their peers, side-stepping responsibility and pushing their luck.
LEARNING - Learn from the mistakes of others: you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.
CHANGE is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.
MORE LEARNING - Asking a question may make you appear a fool for two minutes: not asking may make you a real fool forever. Put another way: worse than not knowing is being too smart to ask.
LEARNING THE HARD WAY - Reading the fine print may give you an education, not reading it will give you experience.
EXPERIENCE is a wonderful thing: it enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again, but remember* EXPERIENCE is also a hard teacher: she gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards.
DIPLOMACY - Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. Conversely, there are times when the message has to be blunt so that you will see the point.
THE UNKNOWN - Never fear shadows. They simply mean there is a light somewhere nearby.
RESISTING CHANGE is like holding your breath - if you succeed, you die.
PROCRASTINATION is the thief of time. A procrastinator is one who puts off until tomorrow what he has already put off until today.
MEETINGS - When someone answers "That's a good question", you can be sure it's a lot better than the answer you're about to get.
THE BOSS - The person who know how will always have a job,,, the person who knows why will be the boss.
SUCKING UP - When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.
MONEY - You don't get paid for what you do, you get paid for what you get done.
If
you know any accounting educators with helpful materials on the web, please ask
them to link their materials in the American Accounting Association's
Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE) web site at
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm
Please send these professors email messages today and urge them to share as much
as they can with the academy by easily registering their course pages with ACE.
And that's the way it was on September 26, 2000 with a little help from my friends. If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.
In
March 2000 Forbes named AccountantsWorld.com as the Best Website on the
Web --- http://accountantsworld.com/.
Some top accountancy links --- http://accountantsworld.com/category.asp?id=Accounting
Professor
Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Voice: 210-999-7347 Fax: 210-999-8134 Email: rjensen@trinity.edu
Quotes of the Week:
"It is
difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his
not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
As quoted in the bottom of email messages from Mark S. Eckman, AT&T,
Financial Director
"I can only
please one person a day. This may not be your day. Tomorrow doesn't look real
good either."
Author unknown.
Forwarded by Debbie Bowling --- She spies on The Word Spy at http://www.logophilia.com/WordSpy/
cookie jar accounting (noun)
The corporate accounting practice of taking a reserve to reduce profits in good years and then using that reserve to increase profits in bad years.
"The SEC charged that Grace employed a 'cookie jar' accounting strategy that stashed as much as $20 million of excess profits at a time the company believed it would not be rewarded for beating financial expectations. The idea, according to the SEC, was to declare the profit at some later date when operations were not running so well in a process known as financial 'smoothing.'" --Steve Bailey and Steven Syre, "SEC files suit against W.R. Grace," The Boston Globe, December 23, 1998
See Also: fraud-u-Net, open-the-kimono
With that, Bob Jensen just had to check on "open-the-kimono"
To open a company's accounting books for inspection; to expose something previously hidden.
"Public companies also have much stricter rules of disclosure to potential investors. The company founder who used to keep his yearly salary a tight secret must reveal all when he goes public. 'You have to be prepared to open the kimono,' Meyers said." —George Hostetter, "Going public: Rewarding, dangerous," The Fresno Bee
133 Case Update Warning: I had to revise my 133ex07a.xls file for a couple of types of errors. The major error is the same error that Teets and Uhl made in their C.L. Smith and Sons case. The error lies in discounting when valuing futures contracts (as opposed to forward contracts). If you downloaded my 133ex07a.xls file prior to September 17, 2000, you should download a fresh copy from http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/
Since futures contracts are settled daily, a 0.0% discount rate should be used as illustrated in Example 7 of Appendix B in FAS 133 (although the FASB failed to test for cumulative hedged item cash flows using a non-zero discount rate in any of its FAS 133 examples). Professor Walter Teets sent me the following email message concerning his changing of the original answers in the Teets and Uhl case entitled "C.L. Smith and Sons: Accounting for Futures Hedging Commodity Purchases and Sales" at http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/teets/index0.html
September 7, 2000 The error in our case is simply that the futures values (due to changes in either spot or futures prices) shouldn't be present valued, since there is daily settling up. But the (change in) values of the anticipated cash flows of the hedged item should be present valued, because there is usually no periodic settling of the cash flows associated with the hedged item. The change to the case is minor; the major point of the futures case is to show exclusion of the change in the difference between future and spot price from the determination of effectiveness. Present valuing the cash flow associated with the anticipated transaction, while not present valuing the futures (change in) value adds additional ineffectiveness to the hedging relation. Walter Teets at Gonzaga University |
Even though I illustrate both zero percent and non-zero percent discounting in my futures contract accounting cases, I added the above update warning to these cases. My futures cases include the following:
My Request From Richard Campbell and Others in the World
I have been invited by University XXXXX to help them map out a strategy for an expanded distance education program. A couple of years ago, this university opted for WebCT. Faculty are not particularly happy with off-campus course delivery using WebCT. I have a limited amount of knowledge about software alternatives, but I would like some update information from users of software in present distance education courses. For openers, readers can check my document at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm
I would also like to thank you for the
lead on http://www.ctt.bc.ca/landonline/evalapps.html
I was wondering which of the systems analyzed in the above comparative analysis
you recommend and which software you would avoid. Since you are so experienced
in software, I respect your opinions on such matters.
I am mainly wondering what software you and others would recommend that universities use for online delivery of both synchronous and asynchronous courses. Assume for the moment that software cost is not an issue. Think more in terms of features. For example, some features that instructors like include:
Email messaging that shows the message being typed rather than having to wait until it is completely typed and sent (this is a great feature in chat rooms.)
Is there any magical solution in a single package or will universities still have to patch together software from different vendors?
Do you have any recommendations about outsourcing the delivery with pros such as eCollege and CyberClass?
I will be in Bermuda the rest of the week (tough life), so if I do not respond quickly it is because I am out of the office. Next week, however, I would like to thread your response and the responses of others on this important issue.
Thanks,
Bob (Robert E.) Jensen
Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212
Voice: (210) 999-7347 Fax: (210) 999-8134
Email: rjensen@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
The Wall Street Journal,
September 18, 2000, p. B10
Net2Phone is switching strategies after concluding that long-distance calling is
as cutthroat on the Internet as it is in the traditional off-line world.
---
http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB969058211191117045.djm&template=pasted-2000-09-18.tmpl
Net2Phone made a splash three years ago by charging only pennies for long-distance phone calls made over the Internet. Today, it claims a 40% share of the small but growing market for Internet telephony, enough of a presence to have attracted a $1.4 billion, one-third stake from AT&T in March.
But the Internet telephony market is a crowded and unprofitable one, with 300 companies using price cuts to win customers and driving toll rates to as low as two cents a minute for domestic Internet calls. Net2Phone is expected to report a loss of $41.5 million for the fiscal year that ended July 31, on sales of $70 million.
While Internet toll charges now account for 95% of the company's business, Net2Phone executives hope to shrink that percentage to 50% within two years.
They also hope that 20% and 30% of their revenue by then will come from their new business line: telephone network management software for major carriers, like AT&T, which are moving more of their calling to the Internet. The software allows carriers to handle such common network management tasks as call routing and fraud detection.
A new-business unit, to be called Adir Technologies, will be formed with Cisco, and will be majority-owned by Net2Phone. It will sell the company's software along with Cisco's hardware.
Analysts said the move by Net2Phone was inevitable, considering that its earlier strategy, while attention-getting, wasn't sustainable.
"Every carrier in the world is reducing its rates," said Mark Winther, vice president of telecommunications services at International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass., market-research firm.
Mr. Winther also warned that the move is a risky one. "It's a completely new business for them and there are a lot of companies offering this type of network management solution," he said.
The homepage for Net2Phone is at http://www.net2phone.com/
***********************************************************************
And a major competitor to Net2Phone is DialPad. The following news was sent to me by DialPad
Here are some of the new features to enhance your Dialpad experience!
dialpadStore - Check out the latest e-products in our new store! http://click.dialpad.com/dp123506651.201.0.105
Firewall Reflector - Use Dialpad at work or at home! http://click.dialpad.com/dp123506651.201.0.106
PC-to-PC calling - Call your friends whenever they are on-line! http://click.dialpad.com/dp123506651.201.0.107
Skins - Change the look and feel of your Dialpad applet!
http://click.dialpad.com/dp123506651.201.0.108
Dialpad Agent - Launch Dialpad from your desktop!
http://click.dialpad.com/dp123506651.201.0.109
WOW Website of the Week (as quoted from Yahoo's picks of the week)
A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
http://www.pbs.org/weta/forcemorepowerful/
India 1930, Denmark 1940, Nashville 1960, Poland 1980, Chile 1983, and South Africa 1984 -- these were rare historical moments when people succeeded in using nonviolent means to achieve social and political change. This PBS companion to the TV series looks at the resistance movements of the 20th century, at leadership and tactics, and the essential philosophy of nonviolent conflict. Consider this arsenal of 198 methods of nonviolent protest and persuasion, a fascinating list that includes everything from rude gestures to street theatre, from haunting and taunting to hunger strikes, as well as many varieties of sit-in, teach-in, stay-in, walkout, and slowdown.
Important Download Noted by Neil Hannon at http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html
Tom Peter's (Slides) Rant: Talent!
Tom Peters Web site is a wealth of management information including several recent slide presentations given by Tom in recent seminars. His staff has compiled a special presentation of 74 slides focused on talent. Here is what the Web page has to say about Tom's slides:
We're thinking about talent because Tom has extracted 74 slides from his master presentation to create a "Talent Presentation." The first slide is a quote from Christopher Meyer's and Stan Davis' new book, FutureWealth. "When land was the scarce resource, nations battled over it. The same is happening now for talented people." That's the good news. If you're talented, you're in demand. The problem with the good news is that there's always bad news. And the bad news is that talent has got a short shelf life. David Maister, author of a number of books on professional service firms, writes in True Professionalism: The Courage to Care About Your People, Your Clients, and Your Career: "If all you work on is what you already know how to do, you'll eventually be overtaken by someone younger." Ouch. If you're not doing something new today, you're in trouble. Need a kick start? Start here with Tom's Talent Slides.
New from Australia
Kerry politely asked me ahead of time if I would include some information about Australian authors. I replied that I would be glad to do so for any vendor as long as it was in good taste. The following website is most definitely in good taste.
Dear Bob,
Many thanks for your response.I trust that the following will be acceptable, and thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
KerryAustralian publishing site with links for new and emerging authors. http://www.sidharta.com.au
Best Selling Titles
Redheads
New Titles
Click Here!
Hello Mr. Jensen,
I think you are someone who enjoys seeing all the interesting sites on the WWW - I know I am. The only reason I am sending this to you is because the "Electronic Resources Review" included in this weeks free access is a review of websites around the world. I don't have the means to search, but I would be surprised if your website wasn't included (that is how impressed I am with what you are doing).
Scott Bonacker,
CPA McCullough,
Officer & Company,
LLC Springfield, Missouri www.moccpa.com
I (Bob Jensen) could not find any matches for "Bob Jensen." I guess I'm a nobody!
Scott also added the following link:
Thank you! That was extremely useful. Are you a fan of old time country/western music?
I hope you will find the following link useful as well: http://www.balducci.com/summer.asp
(I hear the lobster is good)
Scott
Internet Statistics --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/Statistics_and_Demographics/
You can consult a techie or become a techie consultant at Arzoo.com --- http://www.arzoo.com/
If you become a techie for Arzoo.com, your first advice should be on how to speed up the loading of their home page (presently it takes forever and a day).
Welcome to Arzoo Beta! Please explore our site and preview our service:
1. ASK QUESTIONS Tap the knowledge of tech professionals and expert consultants from around the globe.
2. ANSWER QUESTIONS Monetize your knowledge! From optical networking to IT support, your expertise is in demand.
3. BECOME AN ARZOO EXPERT - Register now as an Arzoo Technical Expert. If you have expertise in any of our dozens of tech categories, then you qualify to share your knowledge, earn money and ratings, and build up a great reputation. Even more great features are coming soon!
HP's buyout of PwC would be no easy deal
The two companies are still likely weeks away from completing a deal. But it's a move fraught with perils that could test the strength of HP's recent reorg. --- http://www.eweek.com/a/pcwt0009153/2628470/
WOW News of the Week (From Syllabus News, September 19, 2000)
Wireless Connection at UC Davis
Beginning this fall, students at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management will be able to wirelessly connect to the school's network and the Internet at speeds up to 11 megabits per second (Mbps) by plugging PRISM-based wireless LAN cards into their notebook computers. The school is currently recommending Dell, Cisco, and 3Com WLAN cards for student purchase. These cards fit into student laptops and provide a high-speed wireless link to the campus server, allowing students to collaborate and work in areas on campus that are not wired for the Internet. For more information visit http://www.intersil.com/
Also note the following:
Nokia and Midwest Establish Model Wireless Campus at MSUNokia and Midwest Wireless will collaborate to create a model wireless campus at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU). MSU will act as a wireless learning environment and a research and testing ground by enabling students to perform their daily work using mobile handsets and services. Faculty and students will be using mobile-messaging-capable Nokia 5100 series phones and 200 Internet-ready Nokia 7160 (tri-mode AMPS/ TDMA 800/TDMA 1900) phones. Nokia also will contribute a Wireless Application Protocol or WAP, server and WAP application developer toolkit. To provide maximum coverage on this model campus, Minnesota-based Midwest Wireless has constructed a cell site tower on the university grounds.This program is the latest in a series of MSU wireless initiatives on campus over the past several years, including campus-wide laptop wire- less capabilities, incorporation of wireless technology in the College of Business, remote facility wireless support, and an upcoming pilot with Midwest Wireless for a Local Multi Point Distribution System (LMDS), an emerging wireless broadband technology that may serve as a viable alternative to traditional fiber-based broadband solutions.
Windows ME from Microsoft purportedly does not add a lot vis-a-vis existing Windows systems. However, one feature that may interest some of you is the new Microsoft utility for recording audio that is built into the system. Recall that awful Sound Recorder that limited your recording to 60 seconds and forced you to install third-party software. That is no longer the case in Windows ME. Dell Computer Systems has announced that it is shipping Dimension desktop and Inspiron notebook systems running Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me). See http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/default.htm
From Syllabus News on September 12, 2000
Carnegie Mellon to Offer Online Classes in India
Carnegie Mellon University will soon offer computer-programming courses in India via the Internet. Software-development courses will be available through a partnership between Carnegie Technology Education and the Indian-based company Sterling Infotech Ltd. A subsidiary of Sterling, DishnetDSL will provide access to students via 90 computer centers across India. In six months, the company plans to add 100 more centers, with 20 to 120 computers in each location. The high Internet speed at the centers will mean that Indian students need not own computers to participate in the pro- gram. The online skill-certification program will include 10 courses identical to those Carnegie Technology Education offers to American students. Officials hope to enroll 15,000 people initially, with plans to train 100,000 students simultaneously within two years.
********************************************************
In response to significant protests from Canadian graduate students, Contentville officials recently announced that they would halt the selling of all Canadian theses until the national library and the graduate schools can come to some agreement that allows authors a chance to refuse to have their theses sold through the site. American authors already have the ability to limit the sale of their works by UMI.
Bob Jensen's discussion of Contentville can be found (by scrolling down a bit from August 22, 2000) at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q3.htm#082200********************************************************
Animated E-Mail
Learn2.com, a learning service provider, recently introduced a line of products in animated audio e-mail and animated character technology.Created with Learn2.com's proprietary and patented tech- nologies, these products will be marketed through the Company's Technology Division to other organizations for applications not competitive with Learn2.com's core online learning business. Learn2Mail, the Company's animated e-mail product, allows users to record and send computer-generated, animated, audio e-mail, lip-synched with and animated by the inflections of the user's voice. Learn2Mail also has text to speech capabilities, which will allow users without microphones to send an audio Learn2Mail. To use Learn2Mail, visit www.learn2mail.com.
And to think that Bob Jensen did not even know he was in Babylon!
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Ed-Tech Looks for Answers --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,38509,00.html Secretary of Education Richard Riley hosts a conference on educational technology this week. Researchers and educators want to figure out what works in educational technology, and the best way to assess it.