The article presents the author's views regarding the effects of three-dimensional (3-D) printing as a disruptive technology. Topics include the social impact of 3-D printers on local manufacturing and household-level production; the effects of 3-D printing on the manufacturing industry in China; and changes to business strategy and supply chains as 3-D printing becomes more available.
While several countries have passed legislation requiring boards to meet certain thresholds for female membership and others are considering such mandates, quotas remain a contentious and controversial subject. A central question is whether they have an overall positive or negative effect on board and company performance and under what conditions. The fact is, we do not yet truly know the effects of quotas. What we do know is that many myths and misconceptions infuse the debate, and more in-depth research is critically needed.
As managers seek to exploit the tremendous amounts of data now available from internal and external sources, they're likely to use the approach they use with all their IT projects-that is, they'll focus on building and deploying technology on time, to plan, and within budget. That works for projects designed to improve business processes and increase efficiency, but when it comes to extracting valuable insights from data and using information to make better decisions, managers need a different approach and mind-set. A big data or analytics project is likely to be smaller and shorter than a conventional IT initiative, such as installing an ERP system. It's also more like scientific research. Commissioned to address a problem or opportunity, such a project frames questions, develops hypotheses, and then experiments to gain knowledge and understanding. The authors have identified five guidelines for taking this voyage of discovery: � Place users-the people who will create meaning from the information-at the heart of the initiative. � Unlock value from IT by asking second-order questions and giving teams the freedom to reframe business problems. � Equip teams with cognitive and behavioral scientists, who understand how people perceive problems and analyze data. � Focus on learning by facilitating information sharing, examining assumptions, and striving to understand cause and effect. � Worry more about solving business problems than about deploying technology.
This looks to be the year that we reach peak big data hype. From wildly popular big data conferences to columns in major newspapers, the business and science worlds are focused on how large datasets can give insight on previously intractable challenges. The hype becomes problematic when it leads to what I call “data fundamentalism,” the notion that correlation always indicates causation, and that massive data sets and predictive analytics always reflect objective truth. Former Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson embraced this idea in his comment, “with enough data, the numbers speak for themselves.” But can big data really deliver on that promise? Can numbers actually speak for themselves?
A potent mix of modern technology and new government policy is about to transform disclosure-and with it the workings of many parts of the economy, say Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago and Will Tucker of ideas42. Increasingly, government-owned data and private-company disclosures will be made available in machine-readable formats, spurring growth of new services the authors call engines-technologies that interpret this data. Choice engines have already made significant inroads in revolutionizing markets. Consider the travel industry and websites such as Expedia and Travelocity that allow customers to bypass travel agents and quickly search for and purchase flights and hotels. And travel sites are just the beginning. Not sure whether you should buy a laptop now or wait until prices drop? Go to Decide.com. Worried that an unwanted subscription will automatically renew? Sign up for BillGuard, a service that monitors your bank and credit card statements and sends you alerts about recurring charges. Want to lower your household energy consumption? Check out your personal usage patterns through the industry-led Green Button initiative. Have a family member allergic to gluten? Get a choice engine to use your shopping history to analyze food purchases and highlight items to avoid. If this sounds too good-or scary-to be true, look at the history of GPS, the now ubiquitous global positioning system. When the U.S. government ordered the military to stop scrambling select data from Department of Defense satellites, in 2000, making the data freely available to the public, entrepreneurs quickly took over. GPS innovation has been a disaster for companies that sell maps on paper, but for consumers and the economy as a whole, it's been a boon. According to recent estimates, GPS added $90 billion in value to the U.S. economy just in 2011. The rise of choice engines, say the authors, will have an even greater, more transformative effect on the economy and on consumers' lives.
The authors studies 150 cases of mammary cancer treated at La Fondation Curie between 1960 and 1970 by lumpectomy followed by irradiation. At the 5th year the survival rate without recurrence is 85 p. 100 (128 out of 150 cases) and is 72 p. 100 (56 out of 78) at the 10th year. There were 17 local/regional recurrences in the first 5 years, say 11 p. 100, of which one was supraclavicular and one "acute". Of the 15 cases operated on 7 are alive without sign of recurrence at more than 5 years. Satisfactory conservation of the breast has been achieved since in the 128 cured patients the breast was preserved 123 times (96%). In the 78 cases followed for 10 years there were 13 local/regional recurrences, say 17 p. 100, of which one was "acute". In the 56 cured cases the breast was preserved in 49 (87%). The combination of lumpectomy/irradiation seems to be a viable therapeutic modality but with these limitations: 1. That the diagnosis of carcinoma should be pre- or per-operative and the lumpectomy generous. 2. That the radiotherapy dosage should be relatively moderate. 3. That the indications be strictly adhered to--only treat tumours less than 3 cm, taking due note of the respective volumes of tumour and breast without apparent involvement of axillary nodes. If these conditions are adhered to the results are good both aesthetically and curatively.
Reprint: R1301D In three major waves of change over the past 30 years, employers and workers have converged on new arrangements for getting knowledge work done. First, home computers and e-mail spawned an army of freelancers, offering both workers and employers new flexibility. Next, mobile technology and global teamwork gave the same kind of work-anywhere, work-anytime flexibility to full-time employees, without asking them to forsake career progress and development within their companies. Now, in a third wave, new ways of providing community and shared space are curing a side effect of virtualization—worker isolation—and driving increased collaboration. The authors write that to make the most of this third wave of change, employers should rethink the compact they forge with workers. Five fundamental aspects of knowledge work require fresh thinking: the value of the relationship with a larger enterprise; the settings in which work is done; the organization of workflows and how individual contributors add value; the technologies used to support higher achievement; and the degree to which employment arrangements are tailored to individuals. The three waves of transformation surge forward at differing velocities across sectors and geographies and mix together in societies. Understanding how your business participates in each wave will help you make wise decisions about technology, work models, talent sources, and people practices.