Mining through systems: Facebook and Tesco

Facebook and Tesco supermarket (private companies) seem to be going in opposite directions right now. The former is increasing its share value, the latter has diminished it. Both companies work with information systems that are generating benefits but also headaches.

I am not an expert in valuing companies neither am I knowledgeable of initial public offerings (IPO). But I can venture to guess why is it that the information systems of these companies seem to be playing a key part in the companies current valuation and with it in their successes or shortcomings.

Facebook could be offering any potential clients a database of active customers who increasingly spend more time in the Facebook site. Advertising from this database could increase sales for those announcing in Facebook. With new applications coming to feed from and into such database, we now see that our preferences and those of our 'friends' could be used for those wanting to sell us things. Moreover, those individuals or organisations who want to remain connected to customers or to other people can do it through Facebook. The value of 'attention', the value of 'retention', and the value of 'networks' are now playing in Facebook's favor.

It still remains to be accurately seen though, how much conversion to sales can Facebook offer from its advertising.

Tesco supermarket is one of the textbook cases that we normally use to teach our students about management information systems and in particular data mining. Tesco was/still able to gather data from its customers, mainly purchasing habits. This data feeds into the systems that forecast demand and connect to Tesco's suppliers. A sophisticated system that enables managers to track the behavior of customers and products, and act appropriately.

As with Facebook, it remains now to be seen how their data mining systems can help Tesco 'recover' or 'bounce back' from their disappointing end of the year sale season.

One thing to consider though is that (un) fortunately Tesco and Facebook databases do not store everything about us. They do not store our worries, the tricks that we do on a daily basis to get by money wise, or if we decide to go with the competition. They can store what we fail to do (yes, we did not turn up to buy things, or we did not comment on the status of our friends, we did not upload pictures from our last trip, sorry). But they do not ask us questions unless being told to do so by a software application and the person in charge of it.

You might say that there is a problem of quality here, that without good quality data or good quality products and services to provide there is not much that data mining systems can do. But rather than focusing on 'data', maybe these systems should start asking us questions. Not the questions of the sort "What do I need to do for you to buy from me?", but "How can I help you to live your life better?", "What is going on in your life?" or by really listening to what we have to say. Here data mining can still play a role if we direct it to answer these and similar questions.

IT Education and Joy

Last week in the UK, the government has announced plans to reform education in information technology (IT) in schools. This follows an imminent report to be published soon in which existing education does not fare very well. I read some of the news paper articles and could pick up a feeling of 'boredom' with the ways in which IT is being currently taught. There are complaints about the tutors who often do not inspire their pupils to get interested in what technology (mainly computers, computer programmes) can to for them.

During last week also, other news reported that school children are not happy, again, they get bored easily, they become anxious with the current economic climate. The family home does not seem to be for many a place where anxieties can be soothed or transformed positively into opportunities for learning and sharing life together.

IT education is not and should not be about getting pupils to consume more technology. The government is encouraging collaboration to find ways of motivating pupils to program their own software applications. This is only part of a more comprehensive plan to bring joy back into education. Joy is about discovering who you are and who you can become with appropriate support. Joy is also about recognising other important things in life than preparing ourselves to get a job and get on with plans to grow up and be 'someone'.

IT should be a window (but not the only one) through which pupils discover the world and by doing that they discover themselves. It should not become a communication barrier in the family environment. Yes, the kids are enjoying the latest video games, they all have mobile phones and tablets, they have a computer and they draw and paint fantastic works of art, but they do not talk to their parents as they used to...

There is a deeper problem here. The problem of collective joy. Who does not remember watching a film together at home with siblings. In my house it was me, my brothers and sisters, my parents. My father also took us to watch films at the cinema. He wanted all of us sitting in the same row. Many of these experiences were very joyful. They remind me of me and the family, of the family and me.

I keep encouraging my students to work together, and help each other whenever possible, so if they discover something, they did it together. I hope the UK government and others who are looking at transforming education keep the simple and joyful things that make education worth going for.

Technology and Trust

2012 has started with many expectations about new technological developments. Just recently I was reading about the plans of Google and Apple to get into the interactive TV market. New TV sets would connect to the Internet and would offer programmes on demand. I am also sure we will also see more and faster mobile phones, mobile applications, cloud services and security developments in the next few years. In the UK, these will also be enhanced by the availability of information and content for the Olympics.

2011 has left us though with a feeling that not technology but our institutions, organisations, markets and society in general requires us to rethink how best we can manage them. The occupy and spring movements reflect a desire to establish new ways of communicating, deliberating and addressing pressing problems. With less to spend and invest, many organisations are also asking themselves how they can become part of the new landscape they are in. Going global seems to have been an alternative but now organisations have to look after the trees as well as the forest, something that perhaps the markets have not done so well.

For us as IS users, educators, designers or managers, the challenge starts in making sure we rebuild the trust of our audiences. This trust seems to have been eroded by the lack of appropriate responses to crises. Not only we need to 'stop', and 'reduce' what we do as we did last year, but we also need to start thinking of new ways of doing our jobs. Perhaps it is time also to re-define the core of what we do.

It was Peter Drucker in his book "The Effective Executive" of 1967 who suggested that we are all managers, and that as such we need to think of the value that we offer to our organisations and societies. We should focus on outwards contributions, those which our audiences value. With the advent and now widespread use of the Internet, these audiences have become global, but at the same time what we offer has become a commodity rather than a relationship. We might have stopped considering the importance of relationships and how we contribute to them with something valuable.

It is in relationships where we build trust not as a commodity but as an essential property of being human. It is time we think of using technology to facilitate communication to rebuild the trust that seems to have diminished with situations of crisis and also with situations of prosperity. Many would say that it is only in the former where trust suffers. But I also think that the good times can lead us to want more and get more from each other to limits that could then affect the trust we have in each other.