Discussion Questions

1. Describe a business that you would like to start. Discuss how you would use global outsourcing to accomplish your goals. 2. Your university wants to recruit high- quality high school students from your state. Provide examples of ( 1) the data that your recruiters would gather in this process, ( 2) the information that your recruiters would process from these data, and ( 3) the types of knowledge that your recruiters would infer from this information. 3. Can the terms data, information, and knowledge have dif-ferent meanings for different people? Support your answer with examples. 4. Information technology makes it possible to “ never be out of touch.” Discuss the pros and cons of always being avail-able to your employers and clients ( regardless of where you are or what you are doing). 5. Robots have the positive impact of being able to relieve humans from working in dangerous conditions. What are some negative impacts of robots in the workplace?6. Is it possible to endanger yourself by accessing too much medical information on the Web? Why or why not? Sup-port your answer. 7. Is the vast amount of medical information on the Web a good thing? Answer from the standpoint of a patient and from the standpoint of a physician. 8. Describe other potential impacts of IT on societies as a whole. 9. What are the major reasons why it is important for em-ployees in all functional areas to become familiar with IT? 10. Refer to the study at Princess Alexandra Hospital ( in the “ Improvements in Healthcare” section). How do you feel about Google searches fi nding the correct diagnosis in 57 percent of the cases? Are you impressed with these results? Why or why not? What are the implications of this study for self- diagnosis?