MIS 2 (Assignment 1)

"The difference between a successful person and others is
not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge,
but rather a lack of will."
- Anonymous

Granted that I will be a worthy IT professional, ten years from now I will run my own IT Firm that showcase the skills of many IT professionals and we’ll gonna be partners in making large projects for the country and across the nation. Hoooh!!!!!! Wow, very rewarding! “Worthy IT professional”. The term can really paid off the years I’m going to spend in this college.

I was caught in a thought if why is it that there is this word “worthy”. I came to ask myself in silence, why such a “worthy” IT professional? Does it mean that some IT professionals are not worthy to be called IT professionals? Well, I just tried to examine the unnecessary question that pop up my mind.

As we try to see the reality, yes, there are many IT professionals that are not “worthy”. Simply because they never met the standard of this word, of being worthy to be called IT professionals. But why is it that there is a need to categorize those people? What makes a difference? The word “worthy” will sometimes taken for granted. Sometimes we believed that we are worthy because we did it! We believed that we are worthy because people around us believed we are. We believed that we are worthy because we surpass others, we are greater that others. But we never realized that being “worthy” to something means a lot of everything. The very life of a worthy, successful man is sober and dramatic.

When I was a child and people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always had an answer. That answer changed significantly as time went on, that’s the reality I guess, but one thing never did — I always had a plan. May it change or will it stay, planning for our future is very important. One way in which we plan for the future is by setting goals. When you try to look its definition in the dictionary or when browsing through the internet, you will find a lot of definitions of what is a goal. But I like this one from Merriam-Webster Online that defines a goal as “the end toward which effort is directed”, very brief but concise.

What are my strategies to see myself what I wanted ten years from now?

Planning

Many of us people want to experience a much more enriched life than the one that is currently unfulfilling. We are not contented of what we have. We always want to go higher. That is why we don't have to continue with what we have if we really desire to change or alter it. Don't be stuck in doing the same old things which get you the same old things over and over again. It’s redundant and time-consuming.

One way in which we plan for the future is by setting goals. We actually set goals regularly when we plan what we want to accomplish that day, that week, or even that month. Those are usually fairly simple goals, like we clean the house, finish an assignment, do laundry, cooking and etc. We decide what we want to do and then figure out what we need to do to achieve our goal. Then we get into more complicated goals -- our plans for the future.

The career action plan describes steps that we will take to reach our goals. In this case the goal is usually a particular career objective. It can be a particular occupation, a rung on the career ladder, or an earnings level. It's fairly simple to say that in five years we want to be a such and such. Or in two years we want to earn amount of money. It's achieving those goals that aren’t so easy. Of course the actions we take to try to accomplish our goals will play a huge role in whether we reach them. But, the way we formulate our goals is extremely important too. We need to have a criteria inline to achieve our goals.

One question that is often asked, "Can setting a goal make you a success, can it make you a winner, an achiever?" Well, our experience shows that it will help focus you on areas in both your personal and professional life that are important and meaningful, rather than being guided by what other people want you to be, do, or accomplish. Goal setting has made a tremendous difference in my life. They have allowed me to achieve success, and to accomplish what I had previously only dreamed of, or wished for. And, for me, I consider being successful when I reach the objective I set. My goals kept me on track and, in some cases, they gave me hope. They allowed me to see not where I was today, but where I could be in the future. And, yes I faced challenges and obstacles, but I persevered, found ways around these challenges. I was determined. And when you are determined and when you stay focused it is amazing what you achieve.In can order to attain some of my goals meant learning and developing new skills. More importantly, this process has helped me to focus not on what someone else thought I should do or be, but instead, on what I wanted to accomplish with my life.

A goal can be set and achieved in all areas of your life. Goals are not just to be dedicated to work related thoughts or endeavor’s; goals are key to accomplish a new skill, enjoy the finer aspects of a new hobby, the attainment of education in whatever field is of interest, or in renovating a house. The old adage holds true everyday in that if you don't know where you are going any destination will do. By setting a clear and precise goal or objective, you know where you are headed, and in knowing that, you will be more able to avoid going off in the wrong direction, or taking inappropriate action, or expending wasted energy. No matter what success you are looking for, you will always have issues to overcome, but if you have a strong desire you will find a way. Setting a goal in your life can help you achieve all that you dream of. Take your dreams and turn them into a goal, push through the obstacles, persist, and achieve what you are dreaming of.
But, just setting a goal without knowing how to overcome procrastination won't work. Neither will goals without knowing and learning how to achieve goals. Moving on with life means that you have chosen to close a door behind you in order to open a new door in front of you. Byron Pulsifer

Recipe for Success

A phrase for a recipe for success goes like this:
"Goals turned into action plans with time frames can bring you success."

Recipe for Success:

- Add what you want ( your goal)
- Measure correctly (be specific with your goal, make sure it is measurable)
- Mix in an action plan ( how you are going to get it)
- Combine time frames (when will each action plan be complete)

Put the ingredients in step by step. Keep stirring until you can see results - translated - do a little bit every day.

Don't be discouraged if it doesn't cook through first time around - translated - we sometimes hit obstacles and roadblocks, find a way around them.

Once completed take time to celebrate each action step.

Enjoy, your goal is achieved. Set another.

Now to get into the mixture in the success elements of goal setting.

Important distinction between a goal and an action plan. Simply put, a “goal” tells you

WHAT you want ;
and,
an “action plan” tells you
HOW you are going to get it.

To quote Bette Davis, "Success only breeds a new goal. The golden apple devoured has seeds. It is endless."

Goals will help you to use your time both efficiently and effectively. People without goals usually accomplish much less than they are capable of achieving. Its not saying that they have no accomplishments. However, if they had set goals, they could have accomplished a lot more. They could have attained what they currently have with fewer detours, false starts, misdirected motion, wasted resources, and a lot faster.

Goals Need Action

Without a goal setting strategy, or series of actions, that you are going to use to work towards the goal, whether or not you achieve the goal you have set is just a matter of blind chance. And blind chance is no way to run a successful business! To be successful, you need to make things happen, not just let things happen.

Goal + Action = Success

Other people suggest you should categorize goals for all areas of your life: for example, career, family, financial, leisure, educational. You then set goals for each category. I would caution you in using this method initially because it may result in setting so many goals that you find yourself becoming overwhelmed. Other people suggest picturing how you want your life to look in 10 years, and then set your goals accordingly. This method can work as long as you break the long term goals into a series of smaller ones.

While all of these suggestions have merit, you must be careful not to set goals that are too numerous, or too complex, so that you become overwhelmed, and end up accomplishing none of them. Like anything else you learn to do, start by keeping it straight forward and simple. As you learn by achieving actual results, you can expand the number of goals, the complexity, the time frames, and your horizons.

The best way I have found to determine my goals is to ask myself a couple of very simple questions. The first and most obvious question is, “what do I want?".

Sources/Reference:

http://www.goal4success.com/goal-now/index.html
http://www.goal4success.com/
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/settinggoals/a/goal_setting.htm
http://www.goal4success.com/success-elements/index.html

MIS 2 (Assignment 5)

“Begin at the beginning in organizational change”

In business, the only constant is change. Systems change, partnerships change, markets change, the business world is in a constant state of flux. Unfortunately, enterprise software applications are by their nature rigid, complex and often inaccessible to untrained users or external audiences. As such, users adapt by managing business processes with homegrown databases, spreadsheets and email. Visibility, cycle time and decision making suffer.


What is Organizational Change?

Typically, the concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller changes such as adding a new person, modifying a program, etc. Examples of organization-wide change might include a change in mission, restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.), new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, "rightsizing", new programs such as Total Quality Management, re-engineering, etc. Some experts refer to organizational transformation. Often this term designates a fundamental and radical reorientation in the way the organization operates.

What provokes Organizational Change?

Change should not be done for the sake of change -- it's a strategy to accomplish some overall goal. (See Organizational Performance Management.) Usually organizational change is provoked by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc. Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. Transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization.

Range of Organizational Change

1. AUTOMATION: Using technology to perform current tasks more efficiently & effectively

2. RATIONALIZATION OF PROCEDURES: Streamline Standard Operating Procedures; eliminate bottlenecks

3. BUSINESS REENGINEERING: Radical redesign of processes to improve cost, quality, service; maximize benefits of technology

4. PARADIGM SHIFT

PARADIGM: A complete mental model of how a complex system functions

A Paradigm Shift Involves:

– Rethinking the Nature of the Business,
– Overhaul of the Organization;
– A Complete Reconception of How The System Should Function


Business Re-engineering

"Business Process Reengineering, although a close relative, seeks radical rather than merely continuous improvement. It escalates the efforts of JIT and TQM to make process orientation a strategic tool and a core competence of the organization. BPR concentrates on core business processes, and uses the specific techniques within the JIT and TQM ”toolboxes” as enablers, while broadening the process vision."

Paradigm Shift

A major change in the way of thinking about something or doing something. For example, development of the Internet has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way people gather information.

The Most Radical Type of Change is… Paradigm Shift;

The term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought-pattern — a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing:

• Margaret Mead, noted anthropologist, shows a flashlight to the indigenous New Guinea people.
• People blind since birth are suddenly enabled to see.
• Development of new techniques in genetics impact long-standing assumptions in anthropology.
• An apparently miraculous healing is witnessed by someone who has never believed in miracles.
• Brainwashing — conversion experiences, patterned or forced shifts in ideology and social behavior.

Examples of paradigm shifts in complex systems and organizations:

• The English monarchy with the signing of the Magna Carta.
• The "explosion of life" during the Pre-Cambrian era.
• Society with the invention of any of several innovations (fire, the wheel, gunpowder, the microchip, etc.).
• Warfare and corporate structure with the development of the Prussian military model.


I don’t really know how to explain this further by my own interpretation of some articles that I have read. That is why I choose to paste some write ups that I found when browsing the internet. I know it could help to understand the real paradigm situation that I’m trying to discuss here.

Journal Article Excerpt
Coping with consumer fraud: the need for a paradigm shift.
by Monroe Friedman

For years law enforcement and consumer education practitioners have developed speaker programs, user guides, and other informational initiatives to help consumers avoid economic exploitation by criminal elements. (For recent examples, see Mott 1993; Schulte 1994; Shadel and John T. 1994; Whitlock 1994.) While these practitioner-launched undertakings are undoubtedly valuable to many consumers, it is the contention of this paper that they would be even more valuable if the advice they offered drew upon a larger and more diverse informational base.

In this paper an informational base commonly associated with consumer initiatives for avoiding victimization is described along with its limitations. Also described and illustrated with a detailed case study is a plan for enlarging the informational base to provide more useful behavioral guidelines for helping consumers avoid victimization.

CURRENT INFORMATIONAL BASE AND ITS LIMITATIONS

The informational initiatives noted above, like most consumer guides for avoiding victimization by criminals, are often authored by practitioners with considerable professional experience dealing with criminal cases of consumer fraud. This experience typically takes the form of criminal investigations or prosecutions at federal, state, or local levels. The natural unit of description and analysis is often the individual police or agency report which describes in detail the particulars of an alleged act of fraud and its impact on the victim (e.g., financial losses incurred).

While such reports offer several advantages to the practitioner who hopes to help consumers avoid victimization (e.g., the reports provide a wealth of swindle particulars useful in informational and educational programs), the cases they consider are unlikely to be representative of seams at large. Many crimes go unreported. This is especially true of confidence swindles (Alston 1986). The victims who fail to report these crimes are often found to be naive individuals who do not know they have been swindled, and if they do, they do not know to whom to turn once a swindle has occurred (Blum 1972). For these various reasons, among others, available case studies may offer an unrepresentative picture of the population of actual confidence swindles.

A second weakness of case studies concerns their lack of information about critical incidents or stimuli that lead to consumer victimization (Fattah and Sacco 1989). It may be helpful to get an impression, albeit unrepresentative, of when and where swindles occur, but this general information is unlikely to be sufficient to help consumers ward off a swindle's sophisticated approach. It is not enough to provide a set of general background characteristics to be on guard against as this leads to many "false positives" being identified by consumers in that many individuals or circumstances that fit the swindle category also fit the non-swindle category.

What is especially needed to resolve such dilemmas is what behavioral theorists refer to as discriminative stimuli and responses, stimuli and responses whose presence is associated with a swindle situation and whose absence is associated with a non-swindle situation (Donahoe and Palmer 1994). In lay terms we should think of discriminative stimuli as danger signals and discriminative responses as escape mechanisms.

Unfortunately, analyses of case studies of swindles reveal few danger signals and escape mechanisms. This finding should come as no surprise because case studies typically found in police files have been placed there as a result of the failure of swindle victims to recognize and act upon discriminative stimuli.

HELPING OLDER AMERICANS COPE WITH CONFIDENCE SWINDLES: A PILOT STUDY

To secure needed information on danger signals and escape mechanisms, it was decided that a new strategic approach was needed, one that focused on the coping behaviors of consumers who have been successful in dealing with the attempts of confidence swindlers to defraud them. As older Americans are often victimized by confidence swindles (Friedman 1992), it was also decided to focus on this population subgroup. The first step in implementing the new strategic approach consisted of placing public service announcements (PSAs) in various news media and newsletters regularly received by older Americans in an effort to identify such success stories. A primary source was the AARP Bulletin, the newsletter of the American Association of Retired Persons, which is distributed each month to the more than 30 million AARP members, all of whom are at least 50 years of age. These older Americans were asked by the PSAs to submit a short letter relating a personal story of a suspected confidence swindle directed at them that they managed to avoid; they were also asked to identify relevant ...

Here is another piece that tackle Paradigm Shift

The entire nation on some level knew what they were doing; they just never noticed what it was doing to them, or in the case of the sub-prime mortgage lenders and investors -- never cared. The United States is now riding on what appears to be an unstoppable conveyor belt towards losing its top ranking within the global hierarchy. With such a massive tipping point, often comes a new way of thinking.

Economic Tipping Point Leads to Consumer Paradigm Shift

According to Edmund L. Andrews and Jackie Calmes in the December 17, 2008 New York Times article, “Fed Cuts Rates to A Record Low,” the Federal Reserve cut federal-fund rates to zero in a desperate effort to revive frozen credit markets and to stimulate bank lending and consumer spending.

Some economists feel however, that despite the fact that money is now “on sale,” making it easier to pay credit card debt and afford equity loans; lowering interest rates might not be the golden ticket to boost consumer confidence. Americans are too worried about losing their jobs to assume more debt, while banks are unwilling to lend to people they view as a high credit risk. People are too scared to borrow what they might not be able to pay back and banks are reining in loose lending standards, two changes in fiscal behavior that in hindsight, seem long overdue.
This involuntary shift to how consumers and institutions view and manage money flow could move this once-or-twice in a century economic crisis into the next critical phase of social change: a complete paradigm shift. The nation might be ready to adopt an entirely new belief system about how to ensure the health of an economy. Consumers, lenders, bankers, investment firms and leaders will likely have to permanently alter how they now operate liquidity levels and money systems.

http://tim.oreilly.com/articles/paradigmshift_0504.html - This site offers an article which has the title of “Open Source Paradigm Shift” by Tim O'Reilly dated June 2004. He said that “This article is based on a talk that I first gave at Warburg-Pincus' annual technology conference in May of 2003. Since then, I have delivered versions of the talk more than twenty times, at locations ranging from the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, the UK Unix User's Group, Microsoft Research in the UK, IBM Hursley, British Telecom, Red Hat's internal "all-hands" meeting, and BEA's eWorld conference. I finally wrote it down as an article for an upcoming book on open source," Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software," edited by J. Feller, B. Fitzgerald, S. Hissam, and K. R. Lakhani and to be published by MIT Press in 2005”. See for more details…

Leaders in Organizations are in a position to change the evolution of humanity. For example, in changing our perception from wrong-mindedness to right-mindedness---moving from a fear-based to love-based perception---the scarcity principle of there's not enough and I'm afraid I won't get mine no longer governs. This movement can facilitate a change from the having mode to the being mode...not wanting more and consuming only what I need, thus sustainability by acting responsible. This transformation in perception no longer requires the endless search for outside material contentment which gives us an illusion of success for the intrinsic elements of happiness, security, satisfaction, purpose, and fulfillment are found within.

John P. Kotter's 8 steps to successful change:

John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of Change' (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change (see a more detailed interpretation of the personal change process in John Fisher's model of the process of personal change): Kotter's eight step change model can be summarised as:

1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.

2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.

3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.

4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather than against.

5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.

6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.

7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.

8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, new change leaders. Weave change into culture.

Sources/References:

http://managementhelp.org/mgmnt/orgchnge.htm#anchor493930
http://www.nexprise.com/solutions/business_process_automation.html
http://www.businessballs.com/changemanagement.htm
http://www.yourdictionary.com/business/paradigm-shift
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001350002
http://neohumanism.org/p/pa/paradigm_shift.html
http://americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/economic_tipping_point_leads_to_paradigm_shift

MIS 2 (Assignment 6)

Things that really matters for success : CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

It’s often difficult to see the “wood for the trees” in business because many important matters compete for your attention. Likely to said, it can be extremely difficult to get everyone in the team pulling in the same direction and focusing on the true essentials. That's where Critical Success Factors can help. These are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your business or project. By identifying your Critical Success Factors, you can create a common point of reference to help you direct and measure the success of your business or project. As a common point of reference, it will help everyone in the team to know exactly what's most important. And this helps people perform their own work in the right context and so pull together towards the same overall aims.

As we try to browse the internet and many other resources, we can find and will discover that there are potential but confusing variety of definitions and uses of Critical Success Factors.

Definitions

Critical Success Factor

An element of organizational activity which is central to its future success. Critical success factors may change over time, and may include items such as product quality, employee attitudes, manufacturing flexibility, and brand awareness. This can enable analysis.

Critical Success Factor

Any of the aspects of a business that are identified as vital for successful targets to be reached and maintained. Critical success factors are normally identified in such areas as production processes, employee and organization skills, functions, techniques, and technologies. The identification and strengthening of such factors may be similar.

Critical Success Factor

Is a business term for an element which is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology (IT) project is user involvement.

In the Re.ViCa project a critical success factor is defined as follow:

A critical success factor is a factor whose presence is necessary for an organization to fulfill its mission - in other words, if it is not present then its absence will cause organizational and/or mission failure.

Those are just some of various definitions that we could find when we will try to look for the critical success factors.

History/Background

The idea of identifying critical success factors as a basis for determining the information needs of managers was proposed by Daniel (1961) but popularized by Rockart (1979). The idea is very simple: in any organization certain factors will be critical to the success of that organization, in the sense that, if objectives associated with the factors are not achieved, the organization will fail - perhaps catastrophically so. Rockart (1979: 85), by referring to Daniel (1961), gives the following as an example of the CSFs: new product development, good distribution, and effective advertising for the food processing industry - factors that remain relevant today for many firms.

As we start to discuss the Critical Success Factors, it is important to realize that the specific factors relevant for you will vary from business to business and industry to industry. The key to using Critical Success Factors effectively is to ensure that your definition of a factor of your organizations activity which is central to its future will always apply.

Therefore success in determining the Critical Success Factors for your organization is to determine what is central to its future and achievement of that future.

What is a Critical Success Factor?

Critical Success Factors are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis.

Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organizations should focus on to be successful.

As a definition, critical success factors refer to "the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization”.

Inevitably, the CSF concept has evolved, and you may have seen it implemented in different ways.

Critical Success Factors are strongly related to the mission and strategic goals of your business or project. Whereas the mission and goals focus on the aims and what is to be achieved, Critical Success Factors focus on the most important areas and get to the very heart of both what is to be achieved and how you will achieve it.

The term “Critical Success Factor” is used differently, due to ambiguity of the word “critical”. But whichever definition we may use, just be sure it is understood by all the managers.

Types of Critical Success Factor

Four Basic Types:

1. Industry - resulting from specific industry characteristics;
2. Strategy - resulting from the chosen competitive strategy of the business;
3. Environmental - resulting from economic or technological changes; and
4. Temporal - resulting from internal organizational needs and changes.

It is said that things that are measured get done more often than things that are not measured. Each CSF should be measurable and associated with a target goal. It’s not necessarily that you need exact measures to manage. Primary measures that should be listed include critical success levels or, in cases where specific measurements are more difficult, general goals should be specified.

Identifying Critical Success Factors is important as it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSF's, or even allow firms to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet Critical Success Factors.

Using the Tool: Summary Steps

In reality, it is said that identifying a CSFs is a very iterative process. The mission, strategic goals and CSFs are intrinsically linked and each will be refined as it is developed.

Below are the Summary Steps that used iteratively that will help us identify the CSFs for the business or project:

Step One: Establish your business's or project's mission and strategic goals.

This is the mission statements and the vision statements. Vision Statements and Mission Statements are the inspiring words chosen by successful leaders to clearly and concisely convey the direction of the organization. By crafting a clear mission statement and vision statement, you can powerfully communicate your intentions and motivate your team or organization to realize an attractive and inspiring common vision of the future.

Step Two: For each strategic goal, ask yourself "what area of business or project activity is essential to achieve this goal?" The answers to the question are your candidate CSFs.

Tip: How Many CSFs?

To make sure you consider all types of possible CSFs, you can use Rockart's CSF types as a checklist.

1. Industry - these factors result from specific industry characteristics. These are the things that the organization must do to remain competitive.

2.Environmental - these factors result from macro-environmental influences on an organization. Things like the business climate, the economy, competitors, and technological advancements are included in this category.

3. Strategic - these factors result from the specific competitive strategy chosen by the organization. The way in which the company chooses to position themselves, market themselves, whether they are high volume low cost or low volume high cost producers, etc.

4. Temporal - these factors result from the organization's internal forces. Specific barriers, challenges, directions, and influences will determine these CSFs.

Step Three: Evaluate the list of candidate CSFs to find the absolute essential elements for achieving success - these are your Criticial Success Factors.

As you identify and evaluate candidate CSFs, you may uncover some new strategic objectives or more detailed objectives. So you may need to define your mission, objectives and CSFs iteratively.

Step Four: Identify how you will monitor and measure each of the CSFs.

Step Five: Communicate your CSFs along with the other important elements of your business or project's strategy.

Step Six: Keep monitoring and reevaluating your CSFs to ensure you keep moving towards your aims. Indeed, whilst CSFs are sometimes less tangible than measurable goals, it is useful to identify as specifically as possible how you can measure or monitor each one.

Examples of Critical Success factors

Statistical research into CSF’s on organizations has shown there to be seven key areas. These CSF's are:

1. Training and education
2. Quality data and reporting
3. Management commitment, customer satisfaction
4. Staff Orientation
5. Role of the quality department
6. Communication to improve quality, and
7. Continuous improvement

These were identified when Total Quality was at its peak, so as you can see have a bias towards quality matters. You may or may not feel that these are right or indeed critical for your organization.

The Critical Success Factors we have identified and use in the BIR process are captured in the mnemonic PRIMO-F

1. People - availability, skills and attitude
2. Resources - People, equipment, etc
3. Innovation - ideas and development
4. Marketing - supplier relation, customer satisfaction, etc
5. Operations - continuous improvement, quality,
6. Finance- cash flow, available investment etc

Key Points

Critical Success Factors are the areas of your business or project that are absolutely essential to its success. By identifying and communicating these CSFs, you can help ensure your business or a project is well-focused and avoids wasting effort and resources on less important areas. By making CSFs explicit, and communicating them with everyone involved, you can help keep the business and project on track towards common aims and goals

References/ Sources:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm
http://rapidbi.com/created/criticalsuccessfactors.html#WhatareCSFs
http://informationr.net/ir/6-3/paper108.html
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_90.htm

MIS 2 (Assignment 3)

“God has never promised a road of success without crossing the streets of failure, only a safe arrival”

Life is full of frustrations. From the minor irritations of losing something to the major problem of continued failure towards a desired goal. Since many of the things we truly want require a degree of frustration, being able to manage frustration is required in order to allow us to remain happy and positive even in trying circumstances.

This entry required us to interview an IS professional of what are the two most frequent experiences that caused their frustrations. Thus we visited the AMS Group of Companies located at F. Torres St., Davao City. It was Mr. Gemrald R. Glibara, the M.I.S Department Head of AMS Group of Companies who entertained us.

They said that experiences are the best way of learning. And most of us agree to the statement. True, what we experienced will help us direct our undertakings. But sometimes, our experience will lead us to frustrations. Anyway, let me put here a definition of frustrations from a site: http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/

Frustration is an emotion that occurs in situations where a person is blocked from reaching a desired outcome. In general, whenever we reach one of our goals, we feel pleased and whenever we are prevented from reaching our goals, we may succumb to frustration and feel irritable, annoyed and angry. Typically, the more important the goal, the greater the frustration and resultant anger or loss of confidence.

Frustration is not necessarily bad since it can be a useful indicator of the problems in a person's life and, as a result, it can act as a motivator to change. However, when it results in anger, irritability, stress, resentment, depression, or a spiral downward where we have a feeling of resignation or giving up, frustration can be destructive.

In the case of the interviewee, the two most frequently experienced causes of frustrations while working on an IS Plan is the lack of support/resistance to changes and communication gap. But primarily, the dissatisfaction and contrast in time plan to the time completion (Lederer and Sethi) and lack of support time concerns so as the communication and user’s fulfillment and acceptance.

Resistant to changes/Lack of Support

The interviewee plays a multi-role in their company. Aside from being the Head in his office, he is working as the Developer and Project Manager of the MIS department. He is working on the automation of manual systems of the HR Department of the company and developing the enterprise systems for the company. He said that in any organization, it should be practical to note that we cannot expect that everything in the work will go smoothly like in adapting to changes which is one of the frustrations of an IT professional. Since technology will evolve every now and then, changes will always take place and many cannot go along to adapt these changes especially that the users themselves will resist the changes. It is a fact that we cannot please everyone.

But there are reasons that some/many individuals resist to adapt changes, may it be technological or organizational change.

Nature and Causes to Resistant to Change

The list of reasons why individuals might be resistance to especially to organizational change has grown. However, there are several that are quite common and prevalent, which help provide a solid basis to understanding the concept. Most probably, employees may resist change because of something new they wanted to learn and acquire. De Jag er (2001) argues that “Most people are reluctant to leave the familiar behind. We are all suspicious about the unfamiliar; we are naturally concerned about how we will get from the old to the new, especially if it involves learning something new and risking failure” (p. 24).

Furthermore, Folger and Skarlicki (1995) investigated resistance to change as a response to the treatment employees receive in the change process. Specifically, they focus on the resentment-based resistance-reactions by disgruntled employees regarding the perceived unfairness of the change. They claim that “resent-based resistance behaviors, which can range from subtle acts of non-cooperation to industrial sabotage, are often seen by the perpetrators as subjectively justifiable-a way to “get even” for perceived mistreatment and a way for employees to exercise their power to restore perceived injustice” (p. 36).

There is a Positive Resistance

Most of the time, managers often perceive resistance negatively and employees who resist are viewed as disobedient and obstacles the organization must overcome in order to achieve the new goals. However in certain instances, employee resistance may play a positive and useful role in organizational change. Insightful and well-intended debate, criticism, or disagreement do not necessarily equate to negative resistance, but rather may be intended to produce better understanding as well as additional options and solutions. de Jager (2001) claims, "the idea that anyone who questions the need for change has an attitude problem is simply wrong, not only because it discounts past achievements, but also because it makes us vulnerable to indiscriminate and ill-advised change' (p. 25).

Piderit (2000) points out that what some managers may perceive as disrespectful or unfounded resistance to change might be motivated by an individual's ethical principles or by their desire to protect what they feel is the best interests of the organization. Employee resistance may force management to rethink or reevaluate a proposed change initiative. It also can act as a as a gateway or filter, which can help organizations select from all possible changes the one that is most appropriate to the current situation. According to de Jager (2001), "resistance is simply a very effective, very powerful, very useful survival mechanism' ' (p. 26).

Folger & Skarlicki (1999) claim "that not all interventions are appropriate as implemented -the organization might be changing the wrong thing or doing it wrong. Just as conflict can sometimes be used constructively for change, legitimate resistance might bring about additional organizational change" (p. 37).

Another Reasons Why there is a resistant to changes especially in the employees:

1. Creatures of habit

The usual things we did seems more comfortable. And changing the way people will operate or think is asking them to move outside their comfort zone. "We've always done it this way, so why do we need to change?" becomes the rallying cry for people who have difficulty changing their routines. In some cases, employees may ignore or deny the change simply because it requires them to experience something beyond their normal method of operation.

2. Fear of personal impact

Viewing change from a personal standpoint, some employees may respond by asking how the change will benefit them directly. Will it make their job easier? Will they have to work harder? Will the change put their job security in jeopardy? Will the change force them to work with different people or learn a new job?

3. Fear of the unknown

Employees may resist change simply because it is something unfamiliar. Not knowing much about the specifics of the change, they may imagine a worst case scenario, which can be very scary. They let fear of the unknown become their rationale for not giving the change a chance. These employees may acknowledge that a problem exists and agree that a change might improve it. However, they worry that the proposed change might actually make things worse! Their fear causes them to place roadblocks in the movement toward change.

4. Fear that the new way may not be better
If things have been going well, some employees may resist change because they fear that the change will not result in improvement. Focusing only on their part of the operation, they fail to realize that change is needed in order for the organization to stay competitive. They may resist forward movement because they are satisfied with the way things are going. Their current status is quite sufficient, and they wish to maintain business as usual.

5. . Unwillingness to learn

Some employees, hesitant to try new routines, express an unwillingness to learn anything new. They may say, "I already know all that I need to know." Like resistant employees who have already made up their minds that the change won't be productive, employees reluctant to learn something new impede the organization's growth and adaptation to change. They also hinder their own personal growth and development.

6. Closed mind

Some employees seem to have the attitude, "Please don't confuse me with any facts or supporting documentation about this change--I've already made up my mind!" Employees with this attitude approach the change process with their minds firmly made up, muttering, "No way!" during discussions and explanations of the future.

7. Concern about support system

Employees operating within predictable routines know their support system will back them up during challenging times. Changing the organizational structures may shake their confidence in their support system. They may worry about working for a new supervisor, with new employees or on unfamiliar projects because they fear that if they try and fail, there will be no one there to support them.

8. Loss of control

Familiar routines help employees develop a sense of control over their work environment. They feel they know what works and what doesn't, and this makes them confident about their contribution to the organization. Being asked to change the way they operate may make employees feel powerless and confused.

9. No obvious need

Some employees may see a change only from the perspective of the impact it has on them and their particular jobs. Not seeing the big picture, they may fail to recognize the positive impact of the change on the organization as a whole. Thus they may find the change disruptive and totally unnecessary. Their attitude may be, "If things have been working well all this time, why do we need to change?" or, in other words, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

10. Fear of failure

Fear maybe the root of resistance to change. During this period, some employees may feel the need to cling to the past because it was a more secure, predictable time. If what they did in the past worked well for them, they may resist changing their behavior out of fear that they will not achieve as much in the future.


These are all initial responses you may experience when you announce an organizational change to employees. Once you understand why some employees resist change and realize that their reactions are perfectly normal, you will be better able to change their attitudes and turn their resistance into cooperation.

Conclusion

Employee resistance to change is a complex issue facing management in the complex and ever-evolving organization of today. The process of change is ubiquitous, and employee resistance has been identified as a critically important contributor to the failure of many well-intend and well-conceived efforts to initiate change within the organization.

In many cases, vast amounts of resources are expended by organizations to adjust employees to a new way of achieving desired goals. The natural propensity for individuals to "defend the status quo" presents a set of challenges that management must overcome in order to bring about desired change. Management must also seriously take into account and consider the myriad of problems that may result if they are not responsive to issues of resistance in the workplace.

In order to facilitate a smooth transition fi7om the old to the new, organizations must be competent in effective change management. The process of change management consists of getting of those involved and affected to accept the introduced changes as well as manage any resistance to them.

This investigation stresses that change usually involves an individual's psyche, so there are no concrete textbook answers and solutions to the problem. Since each individual is different, their perceptions and reasons for resisting are also different. As a result, researchers and scholars can theorize on how to lessen or remove employee resistance to change, but in the final analysis the only way to do so effectively is to understand the unique circumstances within each individual that is causing their particular resistance.

Communication Gap

The fast and efficient exchange of information is undeniably a competitive advantage in business. And in a fluctuating economic environment, it’s paramount. Unfortunately, in the rush to adapt to market needs, many organizations sacrifice effective communication. As priorities shift, executives may impart only the immediate goals and fail to share the rationale and strategies behind them. They may be so focused on results; they neglect to praise and reward their staff. Most of all, managers may forget that communication is a two-way exchange – one part dialogue, one part listening.

What Is Communication?

Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. Use of these processes is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.

Communication is the exchange of thoughts or information, feelings, or gestures between two persons; one would act as the sender of the message while the other would be the receiver. In effect, communication happens both ways to achieve therapeutic communication. The key is to listen. Active listening is use in Transactional Analysis; it is when you truly comprehend the message of the sender, not just words but the meaning itself. When communication is then become ineffective? That is when we have communication gaps. What causes these gaps? Technically, it's due to cultural differences where in there's a diversity of language, ethnicity and race. However, the details in the channels of communication such as the sounds, physical actions or gestures, and the entire physical environment when the message was delivered could also be a barrier. A failure would mean that there is a breakdown in communication.

What Does Communication Gap?

Communication gap is a state that occurs when what is being said is not been communicated to the addressee properly and completely. There can be many causes of communication gap depending on where it exists. Actually Communication gap is the biggest hurdle in achieving the organizational goal and does not help at all in achievement of organizational goal. Communication gap in an organization means that the goals and objectives that are set by the top management are either not communicated to the employees of the organization at all levels or if communicated they are not been understood properly by the employees This can be because of improper communication channels, unrealistic goals, inappropriate language etc.

Workplace communication gap between line managers and employees is widening. The challenge is to ensure that their contributions aren't buried under unexpected differences.

The interviewee shares his experience regarding the communication gap between himself and the office he is working to automate transactions. It was during the time when they gathered the requirements, both the office specified the functionalities to cater on the system that the interviewee will developed, after all necessaries have been agreed and passed the documentations they came up to the development of the system. As he deployed the system, all specified functionalities were made and it is functional. As time goes by, there were functionalities that the office wanted to add which supposed to be addressed during the requirements gathering, in this case it is now difficult for the IS professional to do some revisions and debugging when the system was actually delivered already. He also said, he is not used to make some closure and agreements in every documentation when asked if he was able to do it, for the systems are just in-source, and he is the one making the system so every time that certain office will request some functionalities to be added in the system, it will be cater and its part of the maintenance. To him, making some agreements and closure is only applicable to those who engaged in business process outsourcing.

Powerful Ways to Solve Communication Problems at Work

Someone once said that "communication is the lifeblood of an organization" - and it truly is. An organization that is experiencing a breakdown in communication will not live for very long because many problems will crop up and eventually cause the organization to die a natural death.

If communication problems do exist in your organization, make a quick response to resolve it. The life of your organization is at stake.

12 possible signs that your organization is facing communication problems:

1) You find it hard to get some people to cooperate.
2) Some people are being left out of the communication
loop.
3) Replies to messages are being delayed or completely
ignored.
4) Groups in the organization are failing to reach their goals.
5) Mistakes are cropping up more and more often.
6) People are resorting more to criticism and placing the blame on other people.
7) Morale of teams is going down.
8) Productivity is dull or at zero level.
9) You receive many complaints.
10) Moments of conflict result in expressions of anger.
11) There is significant employee turnover.
12) Business is going to your competitors instead of
to you.

If you find that there are some or many (if not all) of these warning signs present in your organization, it is advisable for you to take steps to address such problems before they kill your organization.

How does one correct or resolve such problems?
There are different steps to take to counter the prevalence of communication problems in organizations.

1) First, listen to the people involved or who have caused the communication problem in the first place. Doing so allows you to uncover the depth, nature and roots of the communication problem for that particular group of people.
2) If the problems are quite vast and have deeply-rooted causes, you may want to secure the help of a neutral negotiator. This third party may be able to get inside the problem more thoroughly than an insider because when communication problems crop up, the group involved may choose to clam up or point fingers rather than admit to their role in creating the problem.

3) To maintain confidentiality, it is possible to use a
tool such as a survey. People who might be scared to tell the truth because of reprisals would then have another safer option compared to coming out of the crowd.

4) After you have uncovered the problem and its roots, you may choose to initiate group counseling or training. The point of this is to address the problem of the group, rather than focusing on just one person. Finger-pointing is avoided. The saying "united we stand, divided we fall" should become the motto of the group.

5) It is important for the leader to have great communication skills so that communication problems can be resolved. Communication skills are required to diagnose communication problems, and naturally, provide the necessary solutions. Leaders who lack adequate communication skills might benefit from more training in communication.

6) Do your research - perhaps the communication problem you are experiencing now has occurred before in the history of the organization. And perhaps someone knows the solution that could work now. So look inwards into the heart of the organization, ask around, and you may find the way to properly address your organization's communication problems.

Remember, if your organization is already suffering communication problems; don't wait for these symptoms to get worse. Good communication is necessary for an organization to function properly and stay viable amidst the influx of a multitude of challenges from the environment. Act immediately on communication problems and stem the bleeding of your organization.

Success depends on how well we communicate. There must be the anticipation to actively listen and the concentration to portray the idea intended.

Sources/References:
http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/04/communication-gap.html http://www.blurtit.com/q945114.html
http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculumInstruct/communications/default.aspx
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&contentId=874378 http://ezinearticles.com/?6-Powerful-Ways-to-Solve-Communication-Problems-at-Work&id=652778

MIS (Assignment 8)

Outsourcing

Outsourcing refers to a company that contract another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. Many large companies now outsource jobs such as call center services, e-mail services, and payroll. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service, and are often located overseas.

Reasons and Advantage…

There are many reasons that companies outsource various jobs, but the most prominent advantage seems to be the fact that it often saves money. Many of the companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money, as they don't have to provide benefits to their workers and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about.

Outsourcing also allows companies to focus on other business issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, which might fall on the shoulders of management professionals, can be used for more important, broader issues within the company. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined, and often has world-class capabilities and access to new technology that a company couldn't afford to buy on their own. Plus, if a company is looking to expand, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations in other countries.

If you want your organization to stay ahead of competition, concentrate on core competencies and make use of the latest technologies, then outsourcing can help your organization achieve all this and more. In outsourcing, the advantages of outsourcing are more than the disadvantages of outsourcing. The pros of outsourcing have driven more organization to step into offshoring and experience the benefits that it has to offer.

Disadvantage…

There are some disadvantages to outsourcing as well. One of these is that outsourcing often eliminates direct communication between a company and its clients. This prevents a company from building solid relationships with their customers, and often leads to dissatisfaction on one or both sides. There is also the danger of not being able to control some aspects of the company, as outsourcing may lead to delayed communications and project implementation. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable, and a company may become very dependent upon it’s outsource providers, which could lead to problems should the outsource provider back out on their contract suddenly.

While outsourcing may prove highly beneficial for many companies, it also has many drawbacks. It is important that each individual company accurately assess their needs to determine if outsourcing is a viable option.

The disadvantages of offshoring give organizations an opportunity to think about what they are stepping into. However the disadvantages of outsourcing are less than the advantages of offshore outsourcing. When outsourcing, you might not experience any of these disadvantages of offshoring, if you find a reliable outsourcing partner. Before outsourcing take the interests of your customers and employees into consideration and then make an informed decision. If your organization is genuinely interested in outsourcing, let not the disadvantages of outsourcing stop you.

http://www.outsource2india.com/why_outsource/articles/advantages-disadvantages-outsourcing.asp

Does Outsourcing Really Save Money?

Outsourcing is the practice of relocating certain parts or all of business off the shores of the country in which the business is located. Many companies employ this practice as a cost-saving device, and it undoubtedly can save money. This issue however is greatly complicated by all of the factors involved, and it’s valuable to look at how locating most business to foreign shores may save and cost money at the same time.

First, not all outsourcing goes to countries that have lower costs. Some countries relocate plants, stores, and facilities in countries that have higher costs but may have tax advantages. Typically, the practice involves using countries where costs to employ people and to rent or own facilities to house employees is significantly lower, and there may also exist tax advantages for employing large numbers of people within that country.

In highly industrialized countries, costs of wages and of facilities can be high, and companies may pay a fraction of this price elsewhere, while still employing workers who are just as skilled. For companies looking to cut expenses, outsourcing can be a viable means of accomplishing this, while still allowing a company to pay for more expensive employees in the country in which it was established. Many businesses have a combination of local employees and outsourced employees, while others relocate most business to foreign shores.

There have been some negative reactions to companies that outsource all aspects of their business. For instance, many businesses chose to relocate customer help lines to foreign countries and then some found this practice was not working well. People being helped by these lines weren’t getting the kind of service they required to remain customers, and some companies have chosen to stop outsourcing help line and customer service work to better serve customers. The bottom line is that if customer dissatisfaction mitigates cheaper employee costs, then outsourcing doesn’t save money.

Another way to evaluate outsourcing is by the way it affects the local economies in the main countries in which a business operates and depends on sales of products or services. Eliminating jobs from a country impacts its economy and the buying power of consumers. While outsourcing might result in being able to offer products at lower prices, number of customers and consumer spending decreases when jobs are not available. This is a common criticism of the practice.

When companies begin to outsource so much that unemployment rises and the general economy falters, these companies may be unable to make money. In other words, they may create a situation where no consumers exist to buy their products, no matter how inexpensive they are. It’s ultimately argued that decline in consumer buying power can cost companies money, far more than they’d save by outsourcing.

What companies that outsource must weigh is not just the short-term savings but the potential long term costs and possibly benefits for both itself and the society at large.

The Benefits of Outsourcing

Do you want to maximize your revenue and minimize your expenses?
Do you want to get access to specialized skills and services?
Do you want to concentrate more on your core business?
Do you want to save on money, time and infrastructure?

1. Cost Advantage

Outsourcing to countries such as India can give you access to cost-effective services. The same services with the same level of quality are offered in India for a much lower cost! This cost-advantage has increased the number of services that are being offered to India. Services such as call center services, teleradiology, medical billing, etc can help you save up to 60% of your total costs when outsourced! Getting access to high-quality services at a cost-effective price is the biggest benefit that you can get while outsourcing. Outsource and reap the benefits of outsourcing.

2. Save Big!

One of the benefits of outsourcing is that you can save on every aspect of your business and increase your profits. When you outsource, you can save on time, effort, infrastructure and manpower. Since you don't have to invest in infrastructure, you can also save on making unnecessary fixed investments. Outsourcing removes the burden of changing or maintaining infrastructure. You can also save on capital expenditure. Outsourcing can also help you save on training costs, because you do not have to invest in manpower. These savings will help bring about an increase in your revenue. Your organization can also save on investing in expensive software and technologies.

3. Get access to specialized services

By outsourcing you can get expert and skilled services. This benefit of outsourcing has been the key reason why several outsourcers opt for outsourcing. The function that you outsource may not be your core competency but you can find an outsourcing partner who is specialized in that particular business process. Your outsourcing partner will be able to provide more proficient services. This is yet another benefit of outsourcing, because if you perform all your business processes in-house, you will not be able to provide specialized and skilled services. Outsourcing can give you this advantage.

4. Concentrate more on your core business

One of the benefits of outsourcing is that your organization will be free to concentrate on your core business. By outsourcing all your non-core functions, your employees can be put to better use and you will be able to see a huge growth in your core business.

5. . Benefit from time zone advantages

Outsourcing to countries such as India has a time zone advantage. Your night will be India's day. With this advantage, your outsourcing partner can complete critical work and send it to you the next day. Thus, your work is continued by your outsourcing partner even after your employees go home. This enables the work to be completed much faster and gives your business a competitive advantage. This is one of the benefits of offshore outsourcing.

http://www.outsource2india.com/why_outsource/articles/benefit_outsourcing.asp

Insourcing? What is it?

Insourcing is the opposite of outsourcing; that is insourcing (or contracting in) is often defined as the delegation of operations or jobs from production within a business to an internal (but 'stand-alone') entity that specializes in that operation. The term insourcing is newer, and has several definitions that aren’t exactly the opposite of outsourcing, which can be somewhat complicated to understand.

The type of insourcing that represents almost an opposite form of outsourcing may be the most common definition. This is when companies look at their pool of employees to find those who may be tapped to do certain needed jobs. They may offer these employees extra training or they may merely find the employees that already possess the skills to take on specialty work.

This form of insourcing has become fairly common as a money saving practice. Hiring new employees can take considerable funds, and being able to redirect a current employee to new work can be much easier. Even if there is financial outlay for special training, a business may still save money, and it doesn’t have the negative connotations associated with many forms of outsourcing. Some companies practice this regularly and may boast to employees that they always promote from within, which can be an attractive point when employees are looking for jobs that will allow them opportunities to advance in their careers.

A different form of insourcing doesn’t utilize current employees but instead temporarily hires specialists to work onsite at a company. Occasionally these specialists help train employees on specialized equipment or methods, and part of this may also involve the leasing of various types of equipment. Even though the temporary employee comes from outside of the company, the fact that he or she is “brought in” means he can be considered insourced.

Sometimes the definition of insourcing is a matter of perspective. When a large company sets up part of their business in a foreign country, that company is outsourcing. However, to the country where the business is established, the new work there may be considered as insourced.This is a less common use of the term, but one that may help demonstrate the differing ways in which outsourcing work is viewed.

Insourcing is widely used in an area such as production to reduce costs of taxes, labor (e.g., American labor is often cheaper than European labor), transportation, etc.

Insourcing can be viewed as outsourcing as seen from the opposite side. For example, a company based in Japan might open a plant in the United States for the purpose of employing American workers to manufacture Japanese products. From the Japanese perspective this is outsourcing, but from the American perspective it is insourcing. Nissan, a Japanese automobile manufacturer, has in fact done this.

Sources:

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructurehttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/infrastructurhttp://www.wisegeek.com/does-outsourcing-really-save-money.htmhttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1185946,00.html

To Outsource Or Insource?

Outsourcing can provide technological advantages but loss of control is a problem.

As companies have grown more comfortable with the shared service approach, some have asked whether it makes sense to move a step further and hire an outside party to run the operation, says Tim Lloyd, partner with London-based ALS Consulting Ltd. On the positive side, a third party that focuses only on shared services may be more likely to invest in new tools and technology. Going with a third party also may enable a company to more quickly launch a shared service operation.

On the other hand, some loss of control is likely. Executives wouldn't want to outsource functions that are unique to their company, notes Richard Sypniewski, practice director for accounting and finance operations with Parson Consulting, Chicago. For instance, a company that produces highly engineered products may negotiate individual contracts with each client. Before management transfers responsibility for accounts receivable to an outside firm, it will want to determine how much information the firm will need, and the extent to which the firm will be able to act on its own when working with clients.

Know When to Send Projects out the Door

With many companies shipping work to India, Russia, and other parts of the globe, offshore outsourcing has been the hot topic in tech circles recently.Yet many IT managers are finding that when it comes to getting outside help, assistance is usually much closer to home.

With IT budgets tight and staff members overburdened, hiring consultants or other outside experts can be a boon for productivity and a way to keep operations running smoothly. Certainly, too, there are plenty of independent gurus eagerly waiting for business and ready to rent out their expertise. Frequently outsourced work includes data backup and recovery services, training, recruitment, application development integration, and project management.

The decision about whether to outsource work is only the first step in a longer list of choices. IT managers must decide how they're going to use internal resources and how the outsourcing relationship will be managed.

Considering all of these direct and indirect costs, outsourcing may be a good solution. It allows you to instantly acquire the required skill set and quickly deploy an improved landing page.

Perspective

Thinking outside the box is difficult if you work in it. Your experience in your industry, company, and department conspire to straitjacket you with invisible assumptions. It's hard to throw away all of your biases and beliefs and come up with truly original approaches to testing.

http://searchenginewatch.com/3630742

What's best for your Organization?

Outsourcing…

Outsourcing began in the early eighties when organizations started delegating their non-core functions to an external organization that was specialized in providing a particular service, function or product. In outsourcing, the external organization would take on the management of the outsourced function.

Most organizations choose outsourcing because outsourcing offers a lot of advantages. When organizations outsource to countries like India, they benefit from lower costs and high-quality services. Moreover organizations can concentrate more on core functions once they outsource their non-core functions. Outsourcing can also help organizations make better use of their resources, time and infrastructure.

In outsourcing, the outsourcer and the outsourcing partner have a greater relationship when compared to the relationship between a buyer and a seller. In outsourcing, the outsourcer trusts the outsourcing partner with vital information. Outsourcing is no longer confined to the outsourcing of IT services. Outsourcers in the US and UK now outsource financial services, engineering services, creative services, data entry services and much more.

Most organizations are opting to outsource because outsourcing enables organizations to access intellectual capital, focus on core competencies, shorten the delivery cycle time and reduce costs significantly. Organizations feel outsourcing is an effective business strategy to help improve their business.

Insourcing…

The internal entity will usually have a specialized team who will be proficient in the providing the required services. Organizations sometimes opt for insourcing because it enables them to maintain a better control of what they outsource. Insourcing has also come to be defined as transferring work from one organization to another organization which is located within the same country. Insourcing can also mean an organization building a new business centre or facility which would specialize in a particular service or product.

Organizations involved in production usually opt for insourcing in order to cut down the cost of labor and taxes amongst others. The trend towards insourcing has increased since the year 2006. Organizations who have been dissatisfied with outsourcing have moved towards insourcing. Some organizations feel that they can have better customer support and better control over the work outsourced by insourcing their work rather than outsourcing it. According to recent studies, there is more wok insourced than outsourced in the U.S and U.K. These countries are currently the largest outsourcers in the world. The U.S and U.K outsource and insource work equally.

Recommendation…

If your organization has a number of non-core processes which are taking plenty of time, effort and resources to perform in-house, it would be wise to outsource these non-core functions. Outsourcing in this case, would help you save on time, effort, manpower and would also aid you in making quicker deliveries to your customers.

If you require expertise services in areas which do not fall under your core competency, then outsourcing will be a good option as you can get access to expertise services. For reducing costs and making faster deliverables, outsourcing is again a good option.

If your work involves production, then it would be more ideal for your organization to opt for insourcing, as you can save on transportation costs and exercise a better control over your project.

It is not necessary to choose outsourcing over insourcing or vice versa. Your organization can outsource and insource at the same time. By outsourcing and insourcing simultaneously, you can have the best of what both offers and your business can get a competitive advantage!

http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/articles/outsourcing-versus-insourcing.asp

HRM (Assignment 10)

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT and HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Personnel Management
R.J. Reddy

“ Personnel Management is that phase of management which deals with the effective control and use of manpower as distinguished from other sources of power. The methods, tools and techniques designed and utilized to secure the enthusiastic participation of labour represent the subject matter in study of personnel administration” – Dale Yoder

Critique: I agree this definition. I think the author of this justifies his understanding on the concept and meaning of the subject. So think, it is more likely to say that this defines what is personnel management really means.

“Personnel Management is that part of management process which is primarily concerned with the human constituents of an organization”. – E.F.L Breach

Critique: So I guess, this definition gives a direct subject and from the word itself, “personnel management”, it primarily deals with persons.

“Personnel Management is that specialized branch of management which is concerned with solving the human problems of an organization intelligently and equitably in a manner that not only the employee potentials are developed but maximum satisfaction is also achieved by the individual, the group and the executives or managers and the goals of the organization are accomplished to the fullest possible extent”. – Dr. T.N Bhagoliwal

Critique: I think this definition is more likely above. Only, the author gives a deep meaning to he subject and how will it going to handle. And also, it says about he goals that a certain organization wants to achieve.

Source: http://books.google.com.ph/books

Personnel Management - Administrative discipline of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. It includes:

(1) conducting job analysis
(2) planning personnel needs, and recruitment
(3) selecting the right people for the job
(4) orienting and training
(5) determining and managing wages and salaries
(6) providing benefits and incentives
(7) appraising performance
( resolving deputes
(9) communicating with all employees at all levels.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personnel-management.html

Critique: I think this one enumerate the process on how will a management involving personnel should be handled. And I guess the author of this subject sees the flow of personnel management. I agree with the process cited above. Human resource should be given benefits that will equal to their industrial contribution of a certain company.

Personnel Management is responsible for the provision of specialist personnel and human resource management advisory services to departments, and the development and implementation of a relevant, coherent and modern framework of employment policies and practices throughout the University. Each member of Personnel Management is responsible for the provision of these services to a number of departments. This distribution is known as the Personnel Management Portfolio.

Personnel Management is also responsible for the delivery of the Human Resource Strategy and associated programmes of work.

Critique: For this definition from a university form of organization, I could say that it is well defined and it seems effective in the implementation. Also, It is associated with the Human Resource Strategy that’s why I believe that it is effective this way. It’s like a combination of the both or more strategies to result a more effective output.

Source: Staffordshire University website
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/uniservices/personnel/management/index.php *********************************************************************************************
Human Resource Management (HRM)

Administrative activities associated with human resources planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, training, appraisal, motivation, remuneration, etc. HRM aims at developing people through work.

Critique: For me, I might say that these two (personnel management and HRM) should go along to have a good result.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/human-resource-management-HRM.html

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed by line managers.

Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.

Critique: I would say that HRM focused on the process involving human resource. But I could see the similarity of both PM and HRM because it deals with the same subject which is persons/human. Only that I supposed that PM talks more on the needs of the human resource while the HRM talks not only their needs but deals with the persons behavior, attitude etc.

Source: http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/hr_management.htm

Human Resource Management is a model of personnel management that focuses on the individual rather than taking a collective approach. Responsibility for human resource management is often devolved to line management. It is characterized by an emphasis on strategic integration, employee commitment, workforce flexibility, and quality of goods and services.

Source: http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/human+resource+management.html

Critique: I think this definition hit my idea on how to differentiate the two despite their similarities in dealing both human resources.

While Miller (1987) suggests that Human Respurce Management relates to:
".......those decisions and actions which concern the management of employees at all levels in the business and which are related to the implementation of strategies directed towards creating and sustaining competitive advantage" (p. 352).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_management

Critique: Well, it’s more likely a decision-making that concerns the management of the employees. While Personnel Management tries to be effective in the control of manpower, HRM tried to hold an effective decision-making.


Reaccessing Human Resource Management
Edited by: Paul Blyton and Peter Turnbull

Keith Sisson, editor of Human Resource Management Journal applies the term HRM ‘in the most general of senses to refer to the policies, procedures and processes involved in the management of people in work organizations (1990:1).

Similarly, Michael Poole, editor of International Journal of Human Resource argues that beyond the central aspect of HRM being the link with business policy and strategic management, ‘the subject is perhaps best viewed as involving a synthesis of elements from international business, organizational behavior, personnel management and industrial relations’ (1990:1-2)

Source: http://www.google.com.ph/books?

Critique: It simply gives the summary of understanding the concept of HRM. And I like the idea that it is summarize into simple views. And I think, every organization had their own formulation of concept and strategies that they find to be effective.

MIS (Assignment 7)

Creation of ICT Department (Information and Communications Technology)

“Let’s have a Department of ICT”

The Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) hopes that the bill that seeks to establish the Department of ICT will be approved before the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends next year. The CICT was created in 2004 as a transitory measure to a DICT (Department of ICT) but five years have passed, and this has yet to become a reality. (By Ehda M. Dagoo) As a country who aims to lead globally, there should be a portal to have this goal. As the new technology continues to invade the global arena, the Philippines have to cope up the fast changing and fast growing modernization. Thus, the realization of having an ICT Department who will take part of the IT innovation is a big, big plus. How will the creation of an ICT Department improved our quality of life? Well for me, it will really help in terms of technological way of living. We should bear in mind that though we could say that the Philippines are among the leading country in Asia in terms of ICT, still, there are less fortunate that could not afford even to go to the Net café’s to be able to give a try on using techno gadgets. While if the passage of this bill will be granted, there would be allotted budget for the ICT. For the education, it could help in computer literacy for high school students or even elementary pupils who will benefit this program. And for computer laboratories and internet connections in various schools, colleges and universities supported by the government. Also, the CICT plans to give priority to the next wave cities in the country, thus, giving hopes to the nation to improve the people’s quality of life in the eWorld.

Telecommunications

I guess this area limit its talk in the controversial expiration of loads, dropped calls and missing loads. And also, the electronic issues. And this area relates ICT because as obvious as it is, Philippines is a texting capital. Even the young ones had their cellphones, ipods, and etc. This area had its pros and cons in improving our quality of life. We knew that having this modern way of communications made our routine easier, faster and accurate. Unlike before, information will be scattered in a split of seconds or just a click away. That’s how nice to consider the improvement of Telecommunications. But also, it gives a disadvantage. In the first place, it adds our usual expenses. And the load issues are additional expenses and were disgraceful because it was stolen from you (consumers). Thus, it’s up for the individual to balance their way to carry these changes.

Technical Education and Skills Training

This area is also important in improving our quality of life. For me, given this chance to benefit technical education and skills training could be a plus in improving the many lives of individuals especially those who can’t afford or do not like to enroll degree courses. As we are covered with new innovations and as the technology advancement continue to rise, a skill is very important to compete. Thus, skills training especially related to IT will help an individual to compete in the industry.

MIS (Assignment 5)

For the following months, we focused on how IS/IT is very important to the operations of a company. This time, we are going to point out the barriers and challenges in IS/IT Implementation. With the same company we visited for the first assignment, I would like to share about the case at EMCOR.

EMCOR, like any other companies used a computer-based information system which means that information during any transactions that will take place and data records of the company is stored in a specific application software in a computer system and being used when automates some of the information-processing activities of the company. This is where Information System has taken its place to make their work easier, accurate and faster than its traditional way of keeping records. While Information Technology serves as a help of their company in terms of general ledger to financial report because it is well structured and properly documented. Internal reporting was made manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistics, and gave limited and delayed information on management performance long before the spark of new technology.

When we say barriers, most probably it is any condition that makes it difficult to achieve a certain objective or to make any progress in a certain goal.

Say for example a case such having a perspective to implement successfully. In a situation such like, there are critical perspectives that must be managed properly. And these perspectives must be addressed in parallel to ensure that all aspects are dealt with and that the project is completed in time. See the following:

1. Project Management
- on time and within budget

2. Process Management
- ensure that business system supports the customer’s business processes

3. Solution Management
- Designing and configuring the right solution to support customer processes

4. Data Management
- Optimal management of data in the new system and migration of data from the old system.

5. Technology Management
- Configuring and installing the right technical platform and environment.

These are some of the critical areas to be considered and be managed properly to achieve its goal to implement successfully. Now, let’s try to consider some phases in implementing a project/system. According to what I have surf through the internet, the following are the three distinct phases in a typical project implementation:

Implementation Study

In the Implementation Study, we specify the solution and focus on what has to be done. Match the best-practice business processes with customer-critical business processes.

Project Management

• Scope & formation
• Planning
• Organization
• Staffing
• Site readiness assessment
• Appoint steering committee
• Documentation
• Audits & reviews

Process Management

• Definition of business-critical processes
• Core team training
• Solution Management
• Variance analysis (modifications, integrations, etc.)
• Package planning

Data Management

• Data migration strategy
• Data identification

Technology Management

• Implementation environment definition
• Infrastructure and system architecture
• Definition & strategy
• Training environment installation

Implementation

During implementation, there should be configuration and adapting the system that was specified during the Implementation Study. The business processes and the solution are validated, and the technical infrastructure is installed and configured. And if necessary, develop customizations such as integrations with other systems.

Project Management

• Goals and delimitations
• Planning
• Organization
• Staffing
• Implementation kickoff
• Steering committee
• Documentation
• Audits & reviews

Process Management

• Work routine development
• Process model validation
• Core team training
• Preparation of end-user training

Solution Management

• Package development and delivery
• Training material
• Core team training
• Application solution validation

Data Management

• Data collection
• Data cleansing
• Data migration module configuration
• Data migration (trial)
• Data validation

Technology Management

• Implementation environment installations
• Infrastructure and system architecture implementation
• Technical training

Go Live

The new enterprise system is now put into operation. End-user training is completed, data from the old system are migrated to the new, and users start working according to work routines that have been developed. The entire customer solution is validated in an extensive test by end-users using full-scale production data in order to confirm that the system meets the targets that were set when the project started. Together with the customer, it should be confirmed that customer expectations are fulfilled. If the customer has facilities at different sites, go live first at the pilot site, and, after evaluation, at the other sites, according to the site rollout plan.

Project Management

• Goals and delimitations
• Planning
• Organization
• Staffing
• Steering committee
• Documentation
• Audits & reviews

Process Management

• Work routine validation
• End-user training

Solution Management

• End-user training
• Customer solution validation
• Customer support routines fully operational

Data Management

• Data migration (full-scale)
• Data validation

Technology Management

• Implementation environment validation & fine-tuning
• Infrastructure and system architecture validation & fine-tuning
• Technical training

Now, we had ideas on how to obtain our goal which is to implement a successful project. But of course, it is not easy to be done without an expected barriers and hindrances. Let’s go back to the adopted company.

As a recap during our interview with the interviewee, last July 2009 we tackled little about IT/IS Implementation. See for instance, the interviewee said that during a time that EMCOR is planning to change their system into a centralized connection where each branches can access the transactions happened any time in every other stores. One of the benefits in the system would be; the customer from one place could pay his accounts through the nearest EMCOR store. But the said changes happened to meet some challenges and barriers that they would have to consider in implementing the new system. The following are to be evaluated:

Project management

- Planning
- Audits & reviews (Cost)
- Implementation kickoff

Process Management

- Variance analysis
- Process model validation
- Preparation of end-user training

Solution Management

- Application solution validation
- End-user training
- Customer solution validation
- Customer support routines fully operational

Data Management

- Data validation
- Data migration (full-scale)
- Data identification

Technology Management

- Training environment installation
- Technical training

And they find the following as the barriers in their IT/IS implementation:

- Data loss and errors
- Possible discrepancies
- Employees to be trained
- Time preparations
- Time consumption
- Establishing accuracy after the implementation
- User’s usage and acceptance

Also, if it happens that the consumer/users don’t like the usage of the new system, it might be a wrong option to shift into a new system.

Source: http://www.ifsworld.com/uk/services/implementation/default.asp