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The News - June 9, 2008
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill
Top Picks
Fliers in for pain as airlines pack it in
“A USA TODAY analysis of fall airline schedules shows the nation's most popular vacation destinations will be among the biggest air-service losers. Many flights to Honolulu, Orlando, Las Vegas and other favorite vacation venues have vanished or will soon because cheap tickets bought by tourists don't cover the cost of getting there.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-06-03-airlines-cuts-flights-fares_N.htm
Homes in foreclosure top 1 million
“The Mortgage Bankers Association's first quarter report showed that a record 2.5% of all loans being serviced by its members are now in foreclosure, which works out to about 1.1 million homes. That's up from the 2% of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007.”
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/05/news/economy/foreclosure/index.htm?postversion=2008060510
Book Recommendation
The Goal by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt
This is the book that started it all. Basically Dr. Goldratt had been developing finite capacity scheduling software and became increasing interested about what made companies “tick”. After studying them for a while he decided to write a business novel that would allow him to set forth some of his ideas inside a love story. Many of his peers thought it was a bad idea and the writer was so disbelieving that he insisted on being paid up front versus on a percentage – and that was a huge mistake. The Goal has gone on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide and the Theory of Constraints has been proven to work across diverse industries and organizations. Today, readers have to options, they can get the book or an audio CD.
The book is at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0884271781?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0884271781
The CD is at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565114248?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1565114248
The book in Japanese is at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4478420408?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=4478420408
IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance
Is Sox a Failure?
“After the recent collapse of Bear Sterns, and the litany of other problems that other financial institutions are having controlling their balance sheets, taking write offs, and losing shareholder value, I have to ask. Has the SOX regulation and the massive investment to training corporate executives failed us?”
http://www.trainingindustry.com/fsc/articles.asp?id=8165
[ Thank you for sending this Ari! ]
Hello, Goodbye
“BearingPoint Inc.'s new CFO, Eileen Kamerick, has resigned after just three weeks on the job.”
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11520785?f=alerts
[ They must be really challenged. ]
IT Process Improvement / Quality Management
The Challenges of RCA in ITIL and the “New” Deming Cycle
“Proactive problem management (pPM) and root cause analysis (RCA) is the right path but you may find open revolt along the way, writes ITSM Watch columnist Jan Vromant of Deloitte Consulting.”
http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3751206
[ Great article Jan! ]
IT in Support of the Business
“IT Service Management is about creating and delivering services that meet the needs of the organization. In this regard, IT is an enabler of the business and cuts in IT will affect other areas. Rather than arbitrary cuts, organizations must make careful efforts to understand what is operating and what is planned.”
https://swarm.jupitermedia.com/itsmwatch/2008/06/it-in-support-of-the-business.html
Security and Risk Management
Experts speculate on what could have caused Walter Reed Hospital's data breach
“Though Walter Reed has not made a formal statement about exactly what went wrong with the May 21 breach of identifiable patient data from one of its computers, experts like Dietz speculate it could have easily happened with the use of peer-to-peer applications like instant messaging.”
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9362
GAO: Sensitive healthcare data still at risk
“Sensitive information remains at risk at 24 of the nation’s federal agencies, including some that handle healthcare data, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Among the 24 agencies found lacking on the security front were the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7306
Healthcare / Bio-Informatics / Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs)
ONC puts forth plan for transforming healthcare with IT
“The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has released plan for advancing healthcare information technology. The stated aim: Using the power of IT to transform healthcare.”
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9319
The 2008-2012 Strategic Plan is online at: http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/resources/reports.html
Testimony on healthcare IT highlights privacy, connectivity
“Business, government and healthcare leaders testifying before a Congressional subcommittee on Wednesday pressed for passage of healthcare IT legislation. They also called on Congress to make privacy paramount.”
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9363
Human Error / Safety / Environment
NASA's own watchdog: Agency misled on global warming
“In a report released Monday, NASA's inspector general office called it "inappropriate political interference" by political appointees in the press office. It said that the agency's top management wasn't part of the censorship, nor were career officials.”
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jun02/0,4670,NASACensor,00.html
The report is at: http://oig.nasa.gov/investigations/OI_STI_Summary.pdf
Air Force: Moisture caused $1.4 billion bomber crash
“The crash probably could have been avoided if knowledge of a technique to evaporate the moisture had been disseminated throughout the B-2 program, Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Carpenter, who headed an accident investigation board, said Thursday.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/crash.ap/index.html
Global News / Business / Economics
World needs $45 trillion energy plan
“The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.”
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/news/international/japan_iea.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008060609
http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKSP11179420080606
Presentation is at: http://www.iea.org/Textbase/techno/etp/ETP_2008.pdf
Energy Technology Perspectives Page is at: http://www.iea.org/Textbase/techno/etp/index.asp
Ex-military men think it’s best to hold hands with China
“Today a group of retired military officials met to discuss their experiences, activities, and interactions with Chinese military leaders. Known as the ‘Sanya Initiative’, the intention of visiting China was to foster better communication and understanding between the United States and China without necessarily promoting a political agenda.”
http://talkradionews.com/2008/06/ex-military-men-think-it%E2%80%99s-best-to-hold-hands-with-china/
US News / Business / Economics
Summer airfares double, triple, quadruple
“This week, six (American, (AMR) United, (UAUA) Delta, (DAL) Northwest, (NWA) Continental, (CAL)US Airways (LCC)) raised prices again for flights on many domestic routes where there's no non-stop competition from low-fare carriers. The result, says travel price guru Tom Parsons of BestFares.com, is that the cheapest tickets available on many routes in July are 100% to 300% higher than a year ago.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-06-04-non-stop-fares_N.htm
Soaring fuel prices drive some to try four-day workweeks
“Escalating gas prices are prodding businesses and local governments to take a drastic step to curb costs: Many are cutting back to four-day workweeks, with employees generally working four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days.”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2008-06-01-work-week-four-day-gas-prices_N.htm
Looking Closely at Coal
“Coal will continue to be the engine that carries the nation forward. But it will have to be re-invented to comport with changing environmental and economic standards.”
http://www.energycentral.com/centers/energybiz/ebi_detail.cfm?id=517
Unemployment soars to 5.5%
“The unemployment rate took its biggest jump in more than two decades in May as employers once again cut jobs, according to a government report Friday.”
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/news/economy/jobs_may/index.htm?cnn=yes
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