What is a Team?

Consisting of more than two individuals, Robbins and Judge (2007) describe a team as a group of interdependent individuals with special skills and/or knowledge, who have gathered together to achieve specific objectives; interaction is necessary and encourages “positive synergy through coordinated effort” (Robbins & Judge 2007, p299).

For example, 3 people (e.g. Lawyer, Programmer, Accountant) work together as a team producing high quality (computer/system) programs for an organization specializing in tax accounting. The programs produced require a high level of programming skills and aptitude to comprehend the law, with new laws and interpretation of existing laws have to be integrated quickly (and flawlessly) into the existing regulations and analysis tools. Each individual is equipped with the necessary (complimentary) skills and knowledge to integrate, as well as interpret new laws into the organization’s existing programs’ efficiently and effectively. Due to their education background and working experiences, each team member is able to contribute an area of expertise (law, accounting and programming); integrating desired objectives seamlessly and effectively through coordinated effort...Read more>>

Myung-wol The Spy / Spy Myung-wol (Korean Drama)

The drama revolves around Han Myung-wol, a North Korean spy, and Kang Woo, a big Hallyu star. Although Myung-wol works for the North Korean government, she is a member of the Hallyu crackdown squad, where she deals with the illegal distribution and smuggling of media (i.e. South Korean dramas). It has always been her dream to be in the special force unit, but she fails the final round of tests. Undeterred she tells Choi Ryu, a special force agent and friend. He tells her to stick to what she is good at instead of trying so hard. He does not want to see her bruise herself over the memory of her father, trying to become like him: her father was a solider and had died while in service.

Acting on intel, her team locates one such source. When Myung-wol tracks him down, she arrests him as he’s screening Kang-woo’s newest drama. From here on begins Myung-wol’s adventure: General Kim has a daughter who is a Kang-Woo fanatic and the General makes arrangements for Myung-wol to escort his daughter as her bodyguard with Ryu accompanying them. The mission has a dual purpose, the first is that Myung-wol play bodyguard to the General’s daughter at a Kang-woo concert in Singapore, and the second is for Ryu to track down some mysterious ancient books that apparently hold the fate of the world.

Kang-woo, appears to be quite the perfectionist, nitpicking every flaw which planning the performance in Singapore. However, he gives the impression that he an easy-going, smiling top star.

Finally in Signapore, the General’s daughter attempts to sneak out of the hotel room, only to be caught by Myung-wol. The General’s daughter assigns Myung-wol to get her a Kang-woo’s autograph. So off she goes to conquer Kang-woo’s autograph, which is proving to be more challenging that she initially thought... Read More>>

Review of Thai Restaurant: Sakon Thai (Singapore)

Sakon Thai is a "restaurant", more like open air cafe? It is located in a quiet part of Singapore along 77 Jalan Wangi, Macpherson. Initially what attracted me to this place was the reasonable pricing. However, standards don't seem to be consistent and fluctuate each time I go there. I have been to this restaurant a couple of times already, but today might be my last.

When my group of 4 arrived at the restaurant, business was rather good with a crowd forming a queue waiting to get seated. So we joined in the queue and waited patiently, however when it was our turn we were conveniently ignored by the restaurant staff and had to find our own table ourselves. Disaster soon ensued after we seated ourselves, despite our waving and calling the waitresses totally ignored us. It took some for time to take our orders and the food to actually arrive (45 min!). The drinks arrived first, however they were blend and tasteless. I had ordered an iced lemongrass drink and it tasted more like flavored water, it tasted better the first time I had it. Even my friend, who had previously ordered the lemongrass drink commented that the drink was much more blend and tasteless then the previous time she had ordered it.

After waiting (patiently) for 45min close to an hour, and some serious prompting the food arrived.  We had reminded them and asked about our order 3 times, each time they replied that the food was coming. There was a group that ordered after us, but by the time our food arrived they had already eaten, paid and left. All my group of 4  ordered was one tom yup seafood soup with rice (which they forgot and we had to remind them twice, which ended up in two plates of rice), one rice with bail leaf beef and egg, and 2 phat thai noodles.


It would be interesting to note that there was a lady seated at another table who demanded a change of her drink. She was asking the waitress why the drink tasted horrible when it had (previous) tasted fine. The waitresses were non-apologetic when it came to the appalling service and sub-standard drink quality. Neither were they friendly or helpful. Maybe it was because of the high influx of guests, but service standards nonetheless should not have been so deplorable to such an extent. Perhaps there was really too many people that the staff cannot cope with, perhaps we were just "forgettable" customers. Who knows?

Maybe the food is ok, maybe the pricing is reasonable (no 10% GST...yet), but the inconsistent service and drinks, on top of the bad attitude make it not worth the while. So either you avoid this place, or you may want to try this restaurant when there is no crowd. Now if the food was worth the wait and the waitresses approachable and friendly... that would be a totally different story altogether...Whichever the case, do let me know if you visit this place and is the service and food have improved.

China bans songs in culture crackdown

China has banned 100 songs from being featured on websites, barring artists ranging from Lady Gaga to the Backstreet Boys apparently for being out of tune with the country's cultural authorities.
The ministry of culture said it aimed to regulate the "order" of the Internet music market, adding songs that "harm the security of state culture must be cleaned up and regulated under the law". The notice, issued on August 19 and posted on the ministry's website, included American singer Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory", "Hair", "Marry the Night" and "Bloody Mary".

It did not explain why the songs were banned but China routinely censors anything it considers politically sensitive or offensive. Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary" ends with the line "Oh, libertad, mi amor (Oh, freedom, my love)", while "Hair" includes the lyrics "This is my prayer/ That I'll die living just as free as my hair".

Teng Jimeng, a professor of American studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said that sex, politics or religion could put a song on the black list but even songs about "youthful independence" may run afoul of censors. "Sexuality should be avoided, and politics," he said. But he saw the move as part of a broader tightening of controls over culture given the revolts in the Arab world, which have worried Beijing. "It's part of a cyclical chill in terms of cultural control," he said.

Boy band The Backstreet Boys, American R&B singer Beyonce, Canada's Simple Plan and British pop group Take That all had songs on the list -- the third to be issued by China's government. Asian artists with songs banned included Taiwan's Chang Hui-mei, who previously drew Beijing's ire after singing the Taiwan anthem at the inauguration of former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian in 2000. China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, temporarily banned her from mainland performances and pulled her product advertisements.

Songs placed on previous blacklists include Avril Lavigne's "What the Hell" and the Rolling Stones' version of "It's All Over Now" which dates to the 1960s. Since 2010, China has required all songs posted on music websites to receive prior approval, in a move the government said was aimed at controlling content and rampant piracy.

Pirated music in China is said to account for as much as 99 percent of all downloads, according to industry estimates. Authorities have blocked some foreign bands from giving live performances in China, or at least scrutinised set lists in advance to nix songs considered offensive. The culture ministry reportedly axed the Rolling Stones' sex-and-drugs anthem "Brown Sugar" from the set list when they played Shanghai in 2006. The official squeamishness over headline foreign performances was heightened when Iceland's Bjork closed a 2008 Shanghai show by shouting "Tibet!" at the end of her song, "Declare Independence".

 
By Bill Savadove 

10 Products that defined Steve Jobs' career

NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Jobs had no formal schooling in engineering, yet he's listed as the inventor or co-inventor on more than 200 U.S. patents. These are some of the significant products that were created under his direction:

1. Apple I (1976) — Apple's first product was a computer for hobbyists and engineers, made in small numbers. Steve Wozniak designed it, while Jobs orchestrated the funding and handled the marketing.

2. Apple II (1977) — One of the first successful personal computers, the Apple II was designed as a
mass-market product rather than something for engineers or enthusiasts. It was still largely Wozniak's design. Several upgrades for the model followed, and the product line continued until 1993.

3. Lisa (1983) — Jobs' visit to Xerox Corp.'s research center in Palo Alto inspired him to start work on the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface, with icons, windows and a cursor controlled by a mouse. It was the foundation for today's computer interfaces, but the Lisa was too expensive to be a commercial success.

4. Macintosh (1984) — Like the Lisa, the Macintosh had a graphical user interface. It was also cheaper and faster and had the backing of a large advertising campaign behind it. People soon realized how useful the graphical interface was for design. That led "desktop publishing," accomplished with a Mac coupled to a laser printer, to soon become a sales driver.

5. NeXT computer (1989) — After being forced out of Apple, Jobs started a company that built a powerful workstation computer. The company was never able to sell large numbers, but the computer was influential: The world's first Web browser was created on one. Its software also lives on as the basis for today's Macintosh and iPhone operating system.

6. iMac (1998) — When Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, the company was foundering, with an ever shrinking share of the PC market. The radical iMac was the first step in reversing the slide. It was strikingly designed as a bubble of blue plastic that enclosed both the monitor and the computer. Easy to set up, it captured the imagination just as people across the world were having their eyes opened to the benefits of the Internet and considering getting their first home computer.

7. iPod (2001) — It wasn't the first digital music player with a hard drive, but it was the first successful one. Apple's expansion into portable electronics has had vast ramifications. The iPod's success prepared the way for the iTunes music store and the iPhone.

8. iTunes store (2003) — Before the iTunes store, buying digital music was a hassle, making piracy the more popular option. The store simplified the process and brought together tracks from all the major labels. The store became the largest music retailer in the U.S. in 2008.

9. iPhone (2007) — The iPhone did for the phone experience what the Macintosh did for personal computing — it made the power of a smartphone easy to harness. Apple is now the world's most profitable maker of phones, and the influence of the iPhone is evident in all smartphones.

10. iPad (2010) — Dozens of companies, including Apple, had created tablet computers before the iPad, but none caught on. The iPad finally cracked the code, creating a whole new category of computer practically by itself.

 
By PETER SVENSSON

Health Consciousness Increase in Singapore

As Singaporeans become increasingly health conscious, this discusses the possibility that this trend could affect the future of businesses that sell food high in sugar and fat content and what they can do.

According to an online survey conducted by The Nielsen Company Singapore Survey (2009), it was discovered that one in two Singaporeans are trying to lose weight (Figure 1): 48% of Singaporeans considered themselves to be on the heavier side, while close to one in ten (8%) felt that they were hitting the lower end of the scale. The survey also found that majority of the 57 percent of respondents who want to lose weight would either change their diet (75%) or work out (66%) to achieve their goal.

Majority of Singaporeans who want to lose weight through dieting blamed sugars and fat as the biggest contributors to their weight gain, with over two-thirds of respondents resolving to cut down on these.

Furthermore, Barkar (2009) reported that many Singaporeans are going online to track weight loss: the Health Promotion Board website’s online diet tracker gets about a million visitors monthly, while its mobile diet tracker has attracted 7,650 registered users since its launch in 2007, which is increasing everyday...Read more>>

Three Limitations of Secondary Data

Firstly, secondary data (Hair et. al, 2009) may be designed in a biased manner towards the original study purpose. Hence, data will have to be carefully evaluated to determine if it suits the current research purpose: prior data manipulation may render the data unsuitable for present study purposes (i.e. if data had been manipulated to suit the previous research objectives, it renders the data less suitable for use in the current project).

Secondly, data relevancy affects the suitability of secondary data meeting the needs of the current problem. The time frame in which secondary data was collected will affect data relevancy and usability: secondary data not reported in the desired units of measurement could be misleading. Inconsistency in summarizing categories, different or undefined reporting periods, leads to incorrect inferences, as data conversion often is not an option... Read more>>