Articles

4 Key Leadership Skills in Higher Education and How to Develop Them

August 30, 2017 

Virtually every success—regardless of one’s occupation—can be achieved through leadership. How do people get ahead in their careers? Leadership. When tensions flare, how do cooler heads prevail? Again, through leadership, displaying the kinds of characteristics that have come to define this highly sought-after personality trait. Discipline In a publication titled Leadership Lessons, produced by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, former university administrator James Wagner noted there at least five characteristics that are instrumental to roles in higher education. Chief among them is discipline.Discipline is manifested through a strict code of conduct that’s usually needed to accomplish […]

Emerging trends in global cyber crime

August 28, 2017 

Nothing remains static within the world of technology, and cybersecurity is no different. All around the world, developers and engineers at tech companies – or in IT and information security departments of other businesses – continually work on methods to safeguard valuable personal, financial and professional data. Methods such as encryption, multi-step verification and others have been implemented to protect vulnerable systems. The problem, however, is that while they think they draw a bead on cyber criminals by researching past and present crimes and attempt to act preemptively – and sometimes they do so, successfully – the opposite also occurs. […]

Smart home device security is widely overlooked

August 28, 2017 

Modern society, in the U.S. as well as around the world, now relies on technology more than ever before, and there are no clear and present signs that this trend is going to slow down by any significant degree anytime soon, let alone pause in the near future. By extension, it stands to reason that cybersecurity would rise exponentially in importance. To some extent, that’s exactly what has happened during the past several years. Despite the occurrence of quite a few high-profile cyber attacks within the last decade, information security occupies a role of considerable importance to many, even on […]

Soft Skills: Why Businesses Crave Them

August 28, 2017 

Companies today are thinking in new and innovative ways about what makes a qualified and valuable employee. On the surface, the definition seems obvious: Someone who fits a list of professional and educational characteristics is the right fit for a particular role. That narrow view disregards the way a modern office works, however. Someone with all the technical, “hard” knowledge to complete day-to-day duties may still fail to make a positive impact due to an inability to communicate effectively, or work productively with teammates. Interpersonal abilities and compatibility with a workplace’s unique practices and culture – these are “soft skills,” […]

Data Anonymization: What It Is And What It Is Not

August 28, 2017 

For data to be used effectively and shared between business entities, it must be stripped of all identifiable characteristics in a way that does not render it useless to analytics algorithms. The practice of data anonymization and de-identification walks a thin line between data that can be used for analysis and data that divulges too much personal information and violates privacy rights. Unfortunately, we have learned through experience that there is no such thing as “completely secure” when it comes to computers and the internet. Companies that take advantage of data analytics must continually refine and adapt data procedures for […]

Can an MBA help leaders harness the power of digital disruption?

August 28, 2017 

Digital business is the order of the day in nearly every field today. To rise to the top of an industry, a company needs to be on the cutting edge of technology. Instead of fitting in with their peers, the most ambitious and effective organizations are disrupting their respective industries. This is the playing field executives have to compete on. The new state of affairs raises an important question: Does a Master of Business Administration degree still matter? Can this longtime mark of business knowledge still hold weight in a world that has changed so radically in recent years? Any […]

How Successful People Unplug

August 28, 2017 

For accountants, stepping away from work to relax and recharge can seem like an impossible task. In any profession, high achievers may be tempted to keep working in the evenings, over the weekend, and even while on vacation, as smartphones, tablets, and work-issued laptops make it easier to work remotely than ever before. That’s why unplugging can seem like an unwise choice if you want to get ahead. But the truth is accounting executives and high-earning professionals in a variety of fields know that taking meaningful breaks from work is one of the keys to success. Discover why taking breaks […]

Software Development And Marketing: A Harmonious Relationship

August 28, 2017 

While corporate America continues to devote more and more resources to technology, analytics, security, and product development, the demand for skilled software designers is steadily increasing. Not too long ago, if you wanted to call in a to-go order at a nearby restaurant, you would have had to pull out a phonebook (or open a web browser), look up the restaurant’s number, and actually phone in an order. Today, we can open a restaurant’s app on our phones, place an order, schedule a time for pickup or delivery, watch the delivery person inch closer to your house in real-time via […]

Genome Analytics: The Battle Between Science and Privacy

August 28, 2017 

The application of deep-learning data analytics to genomics (the study and mapping of gene sequences) can achieve amazing feats that were impossible just a few years ago. Genome analytics can allow doctors to spot life-threatening diseases long before they become a threat, farmers to engineer better crops, and nutritionists to fashion precise diets tailored to a person’s specific dietary needs. But there’s a rub — privacy rights. Healthcare, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries now hire data analytics specialists to study massive amounts of genome data to derive insights that will revolutionize almost every aspect of research and development – all while […]

Where Big Data and Software Development Collide

August 28, 2017 

Corporate America is turning to data analytics, machine learning, and business intelligence to answer the following questions of business operations, marketing campaigns, and other important management decisions: What’s wrong?What’s going to happen next?Is this going to work? In order for these questions to be answered accurately and in a timely manner, programmers are being asked to develop software capable of harnessing the full potential of Big Data. Aspiring developers can prepare for programming positions in data-heavy organizations or cloud service providers with a Master of Science in Software Development degree. With more companies becoming dependent on data analytics, developers with […]