Week 3: Spider and the Starfish/ CSS Select Tutorial

Spider and the Starfish

1. In the seventeenth century, why were the Spaniards unable to defeat the Apaches? What implications does this have concerning current, or future organizational competition?

The Apaches defeated the Spaniards because they were decentralized unlike other native civilizations. The Apaches did not have a specific leader that could be targeted. Similarly, current and future organizations with a clear set hierarchy are easier to target and be taken down by competitors.

2. Briefly compare and contrast centralized and decentralized organizations.

A centralized organization has a leader, a setting, where important decisions are made, and rules which must be followed by everyone under him/her. A decentralized organization has an appointed leader but he/she does not rule the entire organization and does not necessarily have to be obeyed. Instead, the leader’s role is to just push his/her organization towards the right direction.

3. List a few of the traits of a decentralized organization.

The traits of a decentralized organization are flexibility, shared power, and ambiguity.

4. From a technical perspective, what is the primary difference between Napster and Kazza?

Napster was centralized due to it being run by a central server. Kazza is more decentralized because it was run by multiple users sharing their files/music.

5. Is this reading relevant to the current competition between new organizations such as Uber and Lyft and existing taxi companies? Why or why not?

This reading is relevant to the current competition. Uber and Lyft are decentralized. The drivers own their own vehicles and operate on their own. The companies only provide the app and form of contact. Taxi services are centralized due to companies owning the vehicles and controlling the drivers.

CSS Liquid Layout

The image below is a screen shot of my CSS Select tutorial. The webpage is here.

I learned how to style and created a four column liquid layout. It consists of multuple logical containers that link to my modules of assignments for the CIS 2336 course. I've also added multple links at the bottom of the webpage that link to various websites.