Cook 1 Alyssa Cook MIS Case Study #2 03/04/18 1. What kinds of wearable devices are discussed in the case study? Briefly describe each wearable device. In the case study “Wearable Computers Change How We Work”, the author discusses many wearable devices. Some that he talks about are smartwatches, smart glasses, smart ID badges and activity trackers. The case study explains how the work forces use wearable devices but really only focuses on a few devices. Doctors and nurses use smart eyewear while even people in different work environments such as oil rigs supply their employees with smart helmets. Then we will transfer focus to Apple watches, which has tons of features to help employees and better work environments such as taking phone calls and supply important calendar events, emails, etc. This is more effective because instead of buzzing or making a distraction, you have it right on your wrist. Another big wearable device “piloted” in business is the Bluetooth video cameras that were worn on employees heads for documentation and also worn in conferences/meetings so if someone was unable to make it they were able to still be informed like they were there. Finally, the last wearable device mentioned is the radio frequency identification (RFID) used at Walt Disney World. This in my opinion is the prime example of wearable devices helping businesses. This device does so much from being your entrance ticket to the park Cook 2 to even being your room key. It also can be sent a PIN and be connected to a credit card! These are all very useful devices and they all focus on the big picture which is not transferring data from other devices but to make businesses and the business process better. 2. Wearables have the potential to change the way organizations and workers conduct business. Discuss the implications of this statement. These wearable devices have the potential to change organizations because of the opportunities it brings. People mainly focus on wearable devices on health care, and all the things it brings to our health and safety. For example, Stephanie Citron states in the “Post-Its” magazine that there is a new form of smart jewelry that connects you with all the normal things that other watches do like Bluetooth, and activity tracking but what’s different is the “safety function “and you can tap the bracelet 3 times and it sends an alert where you are to your exact emergency contact which who can be anyone you chose. So safety and health is already being a big part of wearable devices but what they don’t know is all of the different business opportunity wearable computers bring. The devices can enhance communication, and organization. With smartwatches, and smart eyewear your information can be sent straight to your devices, which is very helpful if you are dealing with a patient/client at the time. It also is a good form of communication if you are in a meeting or an important business event and your family or anyone important to you needs to get ahold of you are more likely to see the alert with a subtle notification to your watch rather than not seeing it at all or disrupting the meeting with a phone call or loud text tone. Also, Disney World using the RFID bands is a huge move in Cook 3 the business world. It is giving the particular business so many opportunities just by a piece of jewelry. The customers will no longer have to juggle a room key, park tickets, credit cards, etc. because they will have it all at their wrists. It is a huge step in business innovation and if technology continues to grow this way then the possibilities will be endless. 3. How would a business process such as ordering a product for a customer be changed if the salesperson was wearing a smartwatch equipped with Salesforce software? The business process of ordering a product for a customer could definitely have a different outcome if the salesperson was wearing a smartwatch equipped with salesforce software for many different reasons. The first reason I want to touch on is the fact that saleforce.com has one important feature for this in particular situation. The fact that the software can give them instant notifications to their wrist while doing business is really important. While talking about the business the salesperson can request a discount. So, if they are granted that certain discount the sales person can get it right to their watch and work that discount into the business deal. Another reason the business deal might be more effective is the fact there are versions of power point on apple watches, and that could be a good way to remember and have your objectives ready and not forget them in the meeting. You can remember that you really want to stress this part of your bit because it relates to your customer and you believe you can get them more interested in the product you’re selling. Wearing smartwatches can just give you more information from your company that you usually wouldn’t be able to have if you weren’t wearing one and that will improve any business plan. Cook 4 4. What management, organization and technology issues would have to be addressed if a company was thinking of equipping its workers with a wearable computing device? If a company was looking to equip their employees with wearable computing devices the main things that they should focus on is how their employees react to them. The management aspect of the issue would be deciding what kind of devices each position in the business would wear. If you are in the office you wouldn’t wear the same type of device that someone in the sales field. In the first word article, Dan Costa speaks about wearable devices. He says “I’ve bought five different versions of the Fitbit-- three of them were lost, and two sit in a dresser drawer, quite powerless. “This is an organizational component of what the business needs to address. You must make sure everyone in the company is consistently using and wearing their devices because if you’re not all wearing them there is really no point and it’s a waste of time and money both. And lastly, technology issues. The technology issues that you will need to focus on are making sure everyone can connect their phones, laptops, etc. with their devices because if you can not get them all together, once again they will be useless. 5. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from wearable computers? Pick one business and describe how a wearable computing device could help that business improve operations or decision making. The businesses I feel would benefit most from wearable computers are sales and marketing companies that are doing business deals and I feel this way because of the saleforce.com portion of it. But on another hand, I feel that really big companies such as Cedar Fair, would be so beneficial to the wearable computers. Cedar Fair is an Cook 5 amusement park company that has 8 amusement parks across the United States, one being Cedar Point. Cedar Point is my home amusement park; I have been there 4-5 times every summer for the past 8 years of my life. Cedar Point is a place that families travel across the united states to visit because its home to the United States tallest roller coaster. A lot like Disney World, I believe that Cedar Point should implement the RFID. I believe this would be so beneficial to the company. At Cedar Point you could use it for your ticket, or credit card a lot like Disney. But, more, on those wristbands you could implement the wait of each ride, and another thing is that you can get drink passes and get one free drink per hour. Instead of going into the database to check to make sure you are not just getting free drinks they could scan your wristband! It could also link all of your family’s wristbands together so that if someone gets split up from the group, you can go to a staff worker and locate them. There are endless possibilities with Cedar Point and that’s only one of the 8 amusement parks. This would be such a good thing for the amusement parks across the US not even just Cedar Fair. Cook 6 Works Cited Citron, Stephanie. “Smart Jewelry .” Saturdayeveningpost.com, web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=5031a64d-8806-40d1-bbcabbc2b642a9f2@sessionmgr120. Costa , Dan. First Word . web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=afdee1a434a7-4300-ba9f-59ccb4787b0c%40sessionmgr104.
