Emerging Technologies: RFID
General managers and IT Managers must assess
the potential effectiveness of emerging technologies and new applications of existing
technologies such as Internet of Things, Radio Frequency ID, blogging, social
networks, navigation systems, and wireless technologies.
The group will focus on RFID from a
managerial perspective.
According to Wikipedia:
“Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the
purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects.
The tags contain electronically stored information. Some tags are powered by
electromagnetic induction from magnetic fields produced near the reader. Some
types collect energy from the interrogating radio waves and act as a passive
transponder. Other types have a local power source such as a battery and may
operate at hundreds of meters from the reader. Unlike a barcode, the tag does
not necessarily need to be within line of sight of the reader and may be
embedded in the tracked object. RFID is one method for Automatic Identification
and Data Capture (AIDC).”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification viewed July 7 2015.
Your group might structure the presentation
as follows:
I. Overview of RFID:
Your group’s job would be to explain to
general managers the business value of RFID. Specifically, the group should
address:
Show the RFID technology (such as tags, writers, and
readers); Short video clips can be very helpful here or bring in actual RFID
devices.
Describe the different types of tags, their read
range, how much data they can store, and uses
Explain the major RFID standards—what
information can be coded on the tags? (http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/1335)
Size of market, dollars spent on RFID
Brief history of RFID (no more than 2 slides)
Promised business benefits of RFID
Future of RFID: micro tags, digestible tags, etc.
Limitations or controversies (such as tagging
hospital patients) of RFID
Suitable contexts in which general managers should
consider adopting RFID
II. Applications of RFID in
business:
Much
of the presentation could focus on innovative applications of RFID in
businesses such as retailers (Wal-mart), health care,
criminal justice, public services (libraries & subways), livestock, the
automotive industry, etc.
You
should do at least 3 interviews; All sorts of
organizations use RFID and it should be easy to find people who understand the
RFID application and the business impact of the RFID application.
III.
Lessons Learned
The group
might end the presentation on best practices for effective RFID systems, then map how your RFID examples fit into best
practices. This is essentially a
cross-case or cross-example comparison that integrates your primary
(interviews) and secondary (journal articles & books) research.