Lin Marklin
EDT 6460
Assignment III
Due - February 16, 2006
lin.m.marklin@wmich.edu

Validate Timeline in School and Non-school Organizations

Introduction

My data set compares the experiences of a typical community college (where I teach) to that of a typical American company doing business on a global scale (where my husband works). As a note to the reader, my husband wished to have his employer remain anonymous, so it is for this fact that his work place is referred to as “the corporation” and my workplace is referred to “the community college.” The reader should not misunderstand these references to mean corporations or community colleges in general. All statements made in this document are meant to pertain only to the specific institutions studied. While some of the observations may be able to be generalized, not all statements are to be viewed as such.

For this assignment, I found it helpful to organize my information into two different timelines. Appendix I has the information organized strictly by date while Appendix II organizes the information chronologically for each individual world flattener. The two approaches provide different views and insights into the data set. Overall there were a few general similarities and a large number of specific differences.

Overall similarities

Both institutions experienced a great burst in flattening activity starting in 2000. Both implemented technology in a gradual way, with the support staff generally gaining the earliest access. In both businesses, improved workflow increasing pushed paperwork responsibility onto the non-secretarial employees, changing the job description of the non-secretarial employees, and resulting in both institutions experiencing a reduction in secretarial staff. In addition, both the community college and the corporation took advantage of outsourcing to reduce costs. Finally, both gradually implemented software solutions that eventually allowed for total integration of services and web-based access.

Specific Differences

Opening of the Berlin wall – The corporation took advantage of this change in both its supply chain and in its manufacturing process while this event really did not impact the community college.

Workflow - Improved workflow was more aggressively embraced and sought by the corporation than by the community college. The corporation seemed focused on its bottom line and seemed to recognize earlier that better workflow and its accompanying increase in productivity can increase profits. The community college seemed less driven by profit and more driven by what it perceived its students would need in the work place. Technology at the community college level is first and foremost driven by students needs and the faculty’s needs comes second. Technology and innovations are adopted when they are seen as either increasing profits or as enhancing learning. Technology and innovations are not adopted simply because they have the potential to lighten the workload of the faculty or support staff.

Outsourcing – The corporation outsourced janitorial first and food service second while the community college did the opposite. At the corporate level, neither of these job categories was unionized and at the community college level only the custodial workers were unionized. Being unionized protected the college janitorial staff for 10 years before their jobs went the way of the food service workers. The corporation also outsourced a greater variety of products and services than the community college outsourced.

Off-shoring – This world flattener has had a much greater impact on the corporation than on the community college. The corporation opened a plant in England in 1989, and since 2000, the corporation has opened manufacturing plants in 3 other countries. Off-shoring has yet to reach the community college. This past month, several Indian companies approached the college about outsourcing online course curriculum development, but the college declined.

Open-sourcing – Open sourcing is just beginning to impact the community college but the corporation is yet to be affected. The community college has never really considered Open Office because of its investment in preparing Microsoft certified graduates and because of the faculty expertise that is a result of the Microsoft certification program. However, the cost of course management systems and the increasing number of online courses is forcing the college to move to something other than its current bare-bones system. It is for these reasons that the technology committee has recommended an open source course management system. The corporation has never considered open source software, perhaps due to the proprietary nature of the information the corporation is managing.

Supply chaining – Supply chaining is aggressive at the corporation and almost non-existent at the community college. Studying and improving the supply chain has been a major focus of the corporation for decades, but this focus has become more intense in the past 5 years. My husband often refers to this focus as “beating up supply chain” because the pressure on suppliers is so intense, and at times it can be very counter-productive. The community college where I work has only experienced supply chaining in the sense that in the past few years the college has begun to look at instruction less in terms of craftsmanship and more in terms of the basic components of instruction with an eye toward improving the efficacy of key components. No action has been taken in this area at the college.

In-sourcing - In-sourcing has actually impacted the community college more than it has impacted the corporation. When my college adopted Blackboard as a course management system, faculty members were able to have courses hosted on the Internet, and that in turn allows the college to act like a national college. A year later, my college joined the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative which allows for more aggressive marketing of the online courses to students throughout Michigan. In contrast, my husband’s employer launched the Logistics Center two years ago which allowed small suppliers to act like global players. Along the model of UPS, all parts ship first to logistics center that holds them until a BOM initiates shipment to the various plants. However, the goal of the company was not to enable small companies to act big. Its goal was to keep the cost of parts off the company’s book for as long as possible while still maintaining oversight of parts inventory.

In-forming- This flattener had a bigger impact on the community college than on the corporation. Community colleges have always been in the information business, but once the country entered a new century, information literacy entered the curriculum of several departments at the community college, and there was a much greater push to bring the internet into the classroom. The corporation has not seemed to have experienced this flattener to any noticeable extent.

Steroids - The college experienced the steroids 2-3 years later than the corporation. The corporation seems to be more adept in utilizing and integrating the wireless and personal technology in a way that enhances work flow. At the community college the only employees taking advantage of the personal technologies are the early adopters, and the wireless technology still needs to have the protocols and the security issues worked out.

Conclusion

There are many more differences in the way the corporation and the community college experienced the 10 flatteners than there are similarities in their experiences. The corporation seemed to be in the forefront of technology adaptation while the community college seemed to lag behind. The corporation did more outsourcing and off-shoring than the community college. The community college seemed to focus more on how technology benefited its consumer (students) while the corporation focused more on the benefits of technology to its short term bottom line. In general, the community college lagged 2-3 years behind the corporation in its experiences of these world flattening events/technologies. Finally, in some ways it can be said that the corporation was more focused on the fungible aspect of the business/supply chain while the community college was more focused on the human aspect of the business/supply chain.

Appendix I

Timeline ordered by DATE

Community College Experiences	Corporation Experiences
1980-1989
1988 – Workflow - Mac Lab installed for students in graphic arts 1989 – Workflow - PC lab installed for CAD students	1980’s - Supply chaining – company encourages supply chain to provide items for less 1988 – Workflow -Human resource staff have PC’s with software just for their department 1989 – Off-shoring - company opens plant in England
1990-1994
1990 – Workflow -Main support staff given PC’s 1993 – Workflow -All support staff have PC’s 1993 – Workflow -Faculty given computer access in common faculty areas 1994 – Outsourcing - KCC out sources its food services	1990 – Workflow -All support staff and managers have PC’s with software for purchasing and billing 1991 – Workflow -Engineers all have PC’s. 1994 – Outsourcing - janitorial services outsourced 1994 – Workflow -Company starts using Oracle 7
1995-1999
1999 – In-sourcing - KCC adopts Blackboard as a course management system. Posting our courses on the Internet allows our college to act like a national college 1999 – Netscape - all employees have internet access 1999 – Workflow -Faculty members all given PC’s. Increased expectation for faculty to do their own word processing.	1995 - Supply chaining - company pressures supply chain to provide items for less 1997 – Netscape - all employees have internet access 1998 – Workflow -Company moves to version of Oracle 8 that includes internet technology which allows all applications in the business software to run on the web in a standard web browser.
2000-2001
2000 – In-forming - Information literacy enters the curriculum of several departments. 2000 – In-sourcing - KCC joins the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative which allows us to more aggressively market our online courses to students throughout Michigan. 2000 - Supply chaining - College begins to look at instruction less in terms of craftsmanship and more in terms of the basic components of instruction with an eye toward improving the efficacy of key components	2000 – Berlin wall opens -company considers opening a plant in Poland 2000 – Off-shoring - company opens plant in Mexico 2000 – Supply chaining - greater pressure put on supply chain to reduce price – vendors selection biased towards price 2000 – Workflow -All mid and low-level secretarial positions are eliminated 2001 – Off-shoring - opens plant in Poland 2001 – Outsourcing - food services outsourced 2001 – Outsourcing - some parts production outsourced
2002-2003
2002 – Workflow -Some support staff positions are eliminated 2002 – Steroids – Administrators start using Blackberry’s 2003 – Steroids - Wireless available in LRC 2003 – In-forming - The first Smart classroom is available at KCC. The internet comes to lecture halls	2002 – Steroids - building set up for wireless 2002 – Steroids - engineers given Blackberry’s 2002 – Steroids - mid and upper level personnel given cell phones 2003 – Berlin wall opens company explores Russia as a steel supplier 2003 – In-sourcing - Logistics Center launched. Along the model of UPS, all parts ship first to logistics center that holds them until a BOM initiates shipment to the various plants 2003 – Outsourcing - more parts production outsourced 2003 – Supply chaining - Logistics Center launched. All parts ship there first prior to being shipped to the various plants 2003 – Workflow -All of supply chain is integrated into a web-based system that streamlines ordering, building, and shipping of parts and final product.
2004-2006
2004 - Outsourcing - KCC out sources its janitorial services 2004 – Workflow -KRIS software allows faculty to easily access student information and to enter grades 2005 - In-forming - 15 Smart classrooms are now available 2005 – Steroids - As building upgrades are made, wireless becomes available in 4 of the 8 buildings on the Battle Creek Campus. The security issues are still being worked out, so this wireless system really is only being used in the LRC. 2005- Open-sourcing - KCC investigates open source Course Management Systems (Moodle and SAKAI) 2006 – Off-shoring Several Indian companies approach KCC about outsourcing our online course curriculum development. The college declines. 2006 - Open-sourcing – Technology committee recommends using Moodle instead of a proprietary course management system.	2005 – Berlin wall opens company closes a Michigan plant and moves most of operations to Poland plant 2005 – Off-shoring - company opens plant in China 2005 – Outsourcing - remanufacturing outsourced 2005 – Supply chaining - RFID implements to keep track of finished product w/i the supply chain

Appendix II

Time line ordered by EVENT

My Community College’s Experiences	My Husband’s Corporation Experiences
Opening of the Berlin wall No concrete impact to report	Opening of the Berlin wall 2001 - company opens a plant in Poland 2003 – company explores Russia as a steel supplier 2005 – company closes a Michigan plant and moves most of operations to Poland plant
Development of Netscape 1999 – all employees have internet access	Development of Netscape 1997 – all employees have internet access
Workflow – 1990 – Main support staff given PC’s 1993 – All support staff have PC’s 1993 – Faculty given computer access in common faculty areas 1999 – Faculty members all given PC’s. Increased expectation for faculty to do their own word processing. 2002 – Some support staff positions are eliminated 2004 – KRIS software allows faculty to easily access student information and to enter grades	Workflow 1988 – Human resource staff have PC’s with software just for their department 1990 – All support staff and managers have PC’s with software for purchasing and billing 1991 – Engineers all have PC’s. 1994 – Company starts using Oracle 7 1998 – Company moves to version of Oracle 8 that includes internet technology which allows all applications in the business software to run on the web in a standard web browser. 2000 – All mid and low-level secretarial positions are eliminated 2003 – All of supply chain is integrated into a web-based system that streamlines ordering, building, and shipping of parts and final product.
Outsourcing 1994 – KCC out sources its food services 2004 - KCC out sources its janitorial services	Outsourcing 1994 – janitorial services outsourced 2001 – food services outsourced 2001 – some parts production outsourced 2003 – more parts production outsourced 2005 – remanufacturing outsourced
Off-shoring 2006 – Several Indian companies approach KCC about outsourcing our online course curriculum development. The college declines.	Off-shoring 1989 – company opens plant in England 2000 – company opens plant in Mexico 2001 – company opens plant in Poland 2005 – company opens plant in China
Open-sourcing 2005- KCC considers open source Course Management Systems (Moodle and SAKAI)	Open-sourcing No concrete impact to report
Supply chaining 2000- college begins to look at instruction less in terms of craftsmanship and more in terms of the basic components of instruction with an eye toward improving the efficacy of key components	Supply chaining Pre 2000 – company always put pressure on supply chain to provide items for less 2000 – greater pressure put on supply chain to reduce price – vendors selection biased towards price 2003 – Logistics Center launched. All parts ship there first prior to being shipped to the various plants 2005 – RFID implements to keep track of finished product w/i the supply chain.
In-sourcing 1999 – KCC adopts Blackboard as a course management system. Posting our courses on the Internet allows our college to act like a national college 2000 – KCC joins the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative which allows us to more aggressively market our online courses to students throughout Michigan.	In-sourcing 2003 – Logistics Center launched. Along the model of UPS, all parts ship first to logistics center that holds them until a BOM initiates shipment to the various plants
In-forming Community colleges have always been in the information business. 2000 – Information literacy enters the curriculum of several departments. 2003 – The first Smart classroom is available at KCC. The internet comes to lecture halls 2005- 15 Smart classrooms are now available	In-forming No concrete impact to report
Steroids 2002 – Administrators start using Blackberry’s 2003 – Wireless available in LRC 2005 – As building upgrades are made, wireless becomes available in 4 of the 8 buildings on the Battle Creek Campus. The security issues are still being worked out, so this wireless system really is only being used in the LRC.	Steroids 2002 – engineers given Blackberry’s 2002 – mid and upper level personnel given cell phones 2002 – building set up for wireless