ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

From Elearningpost, June 27, 2005:

“This is a wonderful explanation for why we prefer some items over others. This can have some learning design implications. The finding: We prefer items that we ‘remember’, rather than that we ‘know’. So, what’s the difference between ‘remembering’ and ‘knowing’?

“When we ‘know’ something, we’re completely aware of its existence, but we don’t recall the specific instance when we learned of it. When we ‘remember,’ we’re recalling a particular occasion.”

“To put it simply, if we have story to tell about the item, we are inclined to prefer it. Not a bad marketing mantra if you think about it.”

Strange. Wouldn’t it be the other way round? When we like something, we are impressed by it and so we remember it? Could the researchers be inverting the symptom (remembering) and the cause (preference)? Read the rest of this entry »

An extract from a case study in “Information Systems Today – Why IS Matters” by Jessup & Valacich (2006), pg. 58:

“DOMINO’S [Pizza's] inventory system automatically deducts the proper inventory files every time an order is placed. With the help of sophisticated supply-chain-management software, historical demand is calculated into the forecasts for the coming days, store inventories are checked, and orders are placed as necessary, so that the stores neither are over-stocked nor run out of ingredients for their pizzas. For all this to happen, management does not have to intervene, except for approving the order…

“Domino’s stores employ a custom software package that combines Caller ID with their order database to display to the employee the customer’s name, address, phone number, and most recent order. The system can even display special delivery instructions to save time. All customers need to do is call up, say they want the same order as last time, and that is it… the production and delivery processes are automatically set into motion, and the inventory system prepares the reorder report based on the order.”

Read the rest of this entry »