The Random Me

Systems thinking is a powerful tool for thinking about the world. It can be used as the basis for automating, simplifying, improving, and changing almost any aspect of an organization. Does systems thinking have a downside? What is it good for? And more importantly what is it not good for?

Online learners face many challenges – from staying motivated and beating procrastination, to meeting multiple deadlines. And, as we know, e-learning students are already busy; preoccupied with many competing priorities.

By favoring knowledge and skill acquisition over seat time, online options and competency-based learning are disrupting the traditional higher education market and perhaps have laid the foundation for a revitalization of American education. Despite the promise presented by these innovations, however, the antiquated higher education accreditation process remains a considerable obstacle to reform.

The author calls the new frame Yin-Yang Balance because it derives directly from the Chinese
Yin-Yang philosophy shared by all schools of thought in the history of China. In contrast to either/or logic, the Yin-Yang
Balance has three core tenets: (1) holistic tenet
(2) dynamic tenet and (3) duality tenet
The three tenets are particularly imperative for the often-neglected ‘soft’ issues
of ethics and trust owing to their complex and elusive natures . This new frame of thinking is necessary and effective to remedy the blind
emulation of natural sciences by management research toward the ‘scientific model'. It is clearly evident that the ‘scientific model’ is a ‘naked  emperor’ when it is applied to management research in particular and social studies in general.

The author distinguishes three primary types of relevance according to their context-specific engagement with three core stakeholders:

(1) theoretical relevance,

(2) practical relevance, and

(3) teaching relevance.

Tied to the above three
types of relevance, rigour can be reframed as three types as well:

(1) theoretical
rigour;

(2) practical rigour, and

(3) teaching rigour.

Source: Peter Ping Li (2011). The rigour–relevance balance for engaged scholarship: New frame and new agenda for trust research and beyond. Journal of Trust Research: Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-21.

DOI:10.1080/21515581.2011.550718

Peter Ping Li is Professor of Chinese Business Studies at Copenhagen Business School,
Denmark. Adopting the frame of Yin-Yang Balance with its holistic, dynamic and
duality tenets, his research focuses on re-examining the extant Western theories from the
indigenous perspectives of China and East Asia.

An invited presentation for the Learning Skills Group Conference, Olympia, London, on 14 June, 2011.

 Here's some of the top technology challenges IT managers need to think about in 2013 and over the next decade.
1. Cloud Computing
2. Online applications
3. Social networks and software
4. Document Management and Collaboration
5. CRM 2.0
6. Unified Communications
7. Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
8. Business Intelligence
9. Virtualisation / Green IT
10. Enterprise Mobility

Here's what College of the Canyons has on their Blackboard login page:

Through the entry of my username and password I affirm that I am the student who enrolled in this course. Furthermore, I affirm that I understand and agree to follow the regulations regarding academic integrity and the use of student data as described in the College of the Canyons Student Conduct Code that governs student rights and responsibilities. Failure to abide by the regulations may result in disciplinary action up to expulsion from the college