"For Brilliant Eyes Only"

Future Technology Case Study 3

2011-01-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid movies made me dream of what my life would be like when I grew up. After coming back from a great movie, I could sit in my room for hours and fantasize about the worlds I would see and the places I would visit outside my bedroom window, and now imagining how powerful these movies are, I actually I mean I almost watched all movies listed above as it is interesting and fun to watch. It has its own version of pointing people how cruel people are. As much as I want to give my review on all of these movies, I pick Wall e and 9.

Wall-E

I can't remember a film that was so adorable and accessible yet so expertly crafted and multifaceted. You've seen the commercials and you know the cuteness of the little trash-cubing robot Wall-E. Even though he's a machine, he's got more humanity than most characters you'll see in any medium in any year. He's infinitely curious about the world around him and how he finds magic in the most mundane of objects never feels cloying but refreshingly vicarious. Through Wall-E's eyes, our planet is not trash but treasure. The only thing missing is someone to share it with. WALL-E's such a joyous film you can't help but be totally caught up in the world of a lonely robot looking for love. Pixar's put together yet another movie to be enjoyed by all ages and one sure to go down in history as one of the best animated movies ever created. I know those are strong words, but I believe they are completely justified.

The film is visually stunning. The original short was all stop-motion animation while this has been updated to the highest level. But I just loved the atmosphere the film depicts as you are introduced to the world ravaged by war and these little creatures fight to survive. I also have to admire the project for how original and creative it is. It reminded me some of District 9’s unique way of taking so many parts of things we have seen before and blending them into something so original. Gorgeously animated, beautifully executed and incredibly imaginative, Shane Acker's 9 manages to nonetheless feel a little bit like something you've seen before. There is so much to love, or at the very least admire, about 9. From the terrific voice casting to the exciting action sequences. The animation is gorgeous and popping with detail. There's even a bit of existential dread to the proceedings, which is kinda heavy for an animated film. Make no mistake, this isn't for the kiddies.

9 is certainly no WALL-E, but its intentions are different. Like many action-oriented films, whether live-action or animated, the two movies doesn’t take the time to develop the characters and their relationships are telegraphed through recognizable clichés. Both excels in establishing a narrative-advancing breakneck pace that integrates exposition without bringing the action to a screeching halt, and represents a largely enjoyable 1 1/4 hours. Comparing this two movies to summer’s biggest; most bloated movie about malevolent robots, 9 and Wall e is about twice as enjoyable with half the length

Future Technology Case Study 2

2011-01-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

As a future IT professionals what do you think will be your contributions for the development of technology based on what you learned from college? Define each and state its implications towards our IT society and industry.

Information technology professionals within an organization tend to work together in a team environment. Team members within an organization must learn to work together to complete a job. Professionals that make up this team may include systems analyst, information systems management, programmers, users and other specialists. In order to work well together, I must strive to communicate clearly and completely with its members. To achieve this Ill impose that members will have to trust and respect each other. Furthermore each member should put one’s own views second to the views of the group. The responsibility and accountability within a team should be shared, for success in a team environment.

Technology Educators

Many people warn of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Will children lose their ability to relate to other human beings? Will they become dependent on technology to learn? Will they find inappropriate materials? The same was probably said with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately, but all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used interactively and with guidance they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills.

Inappropriately used in the classroom, technology can be used to perpetuate old models of teaching and learning. Students can be "plugged into computers" to do drill and practice that is not so different from workbooks. Teachers can use multimedia technology to give more colorful, stimulating lectures. Both of these have their place, but such use does not begin to tap the power of these new tools.

Contribute your skills and knowledge and the future will be as brighter as your vision and mission in life.

Future Technology Case Study 1

2010-12-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

Why we use technology today?

Technology is an absolute need we cannot escape from. Let's just say, it has a very big role in most aspects of our lives. In other words, it answers most of Mankind problems. Across centuries technology evolves. The importance of technology is aiming for comfort of use in whichever form it is. It always directs for easiness in life. The fact that the importance of technology in our daily basis is undeniable has inspired scientists to make improvements from time to time through their invented tools and devices for us to use, just to make our lives easier. We always tend to make one step ahead. Technology can help not just with the present but also approximating the future. It can calculate the potential profits and losses. And based on these, we can create plans and a list of pre-cautious steps for the future of our descendants.

What are some points that have influenced us?

There are many reasons why we are using this technology. What influenced us? People nowadays are hook to this widely spread of modern technologies, and I must say that the people surrounds us is the very reason why we engage in using technologies. Hence, what we see is what we get. The influenced of Media, Advertisements, School, Works, and even the futuristic idea of persons may influence us in using technology.

What are the factors involved in technology change?

The technological changes and innovations during the last 20 years have created a remarkable array of new creations. Many of the advances were based on philosophy and religion, but civilization basically developed from technological advances because with and tools and farming techniques, etc. they wouldn’t have been able to survive.

---Assignment No 1 SAD2---

2010-07-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

Assuming you were tapped by the university president to evaluate the new enrollment system implemented this semester, enumerate your observations/comments and suggest possible areas and ways where improvements can be made. Your observations/suggestions should be properly validated with facts and literatures

As a student and as a part of the University it is my privilege to speak whenever I see any malicious or unwanted act inside the campus. The suggestions and idea of every student contributes a big help to the improvement of the different system running in USEP. And speaking of the system, let’s take the example of the new enrollment system of the University. Is it effective enough having this process or do they need to improve it in a way that student would no longer take those sweat just to enroll in their corresponding college.
Let’s discuss the flow the enrollment system.

For old student first they need to comply all the necessary requirements including signing of clearance and pay all the fees coming from different organization (Local Council fee, Obrero Campus Student Council fee, collegiate headlight fee and Insurance). After the payment of fees they need to validate their scholarship in OSS or Office of Student Service, third the student should go to their perspective adviser and validate all their requirements and now ready for advising and secure PRF or Pre-Registration Form. They need to fill the PRF and gave the adviser to sign it, and then the student should submit the PRF to the encoder and secure Certificate of Registration. For scholar student they have to verify their accounts to the Bookkeeper and for none scholar they pay the tuition fee to the Cashier window. To officially enroll in the University the student should go to the registrar office and have a stamped of “Officially Enrolled”, and lastly they need to validate their library card to the University Library.

By this process I can say that it takes time before the student to officially enroll, they need to comply all the process and have it verify. It takes time to the old student to enroll in the University how much more to the new one, where they need to enroll to ROTC or CWTS and pass the interview by their chosen college.

The University can provide easier process in enrollment and have it more effective for the student to follow. In the process of paying the fees of various organization in the University, why not include the fees in the Cashier since the student fall in line in the Cashier to pay for their tuition fee. By this idea, the effort of the student to fall in line in different organization and pay their fees will lessen.

The University should post a clear and quality presentation of their enrollment system so that the student could easily understand the flow of the enrollment system. Having said that, the University should also construct a well shielded place to secure proper ventilation of the student and parents.

---SAD1 Assignment # 11---

2010-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Supposing I am an analyst hired by the IC-dean, I was asked to evaluate the enrollment system of the university. Before evaluating the system, I have to understand the enrollment process first. The university’s enrolment process includes advisement, registration and payment of fees. Each college prescribes a set of requirements in the different course offered by them provided that is duly approved by the university president.

The university has its own enrolment system. From my own observations, some university residents, be it a staff, faculty and especially the students, are not satisfied with the said system. They have complaints such as the long line and the time wasted or consumed in complying just a single requirement. It is not that effective compared to the other university who could cater hundreds of enrollees by just a day. Because if it is, a student be enrolled in a day without that hassle and hypertension feelings. Sometimes, developers of the system think that they already did the things required in their system. Only that they find out that their clients are not that satisfied. The success of the system also depends upon the environment on which it is being deployed.

Thus, here is the brief list and description of the characteristics we have to examine when choosing or defining the deployment environment of the system.

1. Location type or area type of probable deployment environment

The type of location should certainly be examined. A system could not just be deployed on any type of environment it should be an area wherein you can place computer units and possibly have network connections and is well-ventilated as well.

2. Identify available resources

Precedent resources could still be utilized for the system. Available resources should be considered for a deployment environment to be utilized upon deployment.

3. Site possible threat

Risks could never be avoided upon deployment of the system so an analyst should consider identifying possible risk to take place in the future just like bugs of power failure that could affect the performance of the system.

4. Existing systems

External or other existing systems in the deployment environment should be examined so the new system could conform to the external one for better performance.

5. Compatibility with system requirements and among hardware and system software

System requirement, computer hardware and system software configuration should also be considered so that the system could properly function as well as network link and development tools.

References:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/dmndhelp/v7r0mx/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.wps.doc/doc/tpln_implementnd.html

---SAD2 Assignment # 10---

2010-05-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

With reference to assignments 8 and 9, what characteristics does an analyst(you) examine when evaluating DFD quality?

Before discussing the important characteristics a data flow diagram (DFD) must have, let us first understand the concept of the diagram. As the name suggests, data flow diagram is a description of the data with respect to the processes performed in a system. It shows the permanent storage of such data and its transformation into the system.

Data flow analysis tracks the flow of data through business processes and determines how organization objectives are met. It studies the use of data in each activity and documents the findings in data flow diagrams, graphically showing the relation between processes and data.

There are two types of data flow diagrams and one of these diagrams is physical data flow diagram, let us discuss physical dfd.

Physical DFD

Using PDFD is desirable for analysts for the following reasons:

1. It is easier to describe the interaction between physical components than to understand the policies used to manage the application. Identifying people, what they do, which documents and forms trigger which activities and what equipment is used in the processing. The movement of people, documents and information between departments and locations is also identified.

2. Physical data flow diagrams are useful for communicating with users. Users relate easily to people, locations and documents as they work with these each day. Users may consider logical DFDs abstract as they do not contain these familiar components, however, with physical DFDs users can quickly identify incorrect or missing steps.

3. Physical DFDs provide a way to validate or verify the user's current view of the system with the way it is actually operating. If there are differences, they will be noted and discussed. It is not unusual to find that what a users thinks is happening differs in an important way from what actually occurs.

Evaluating Data Flow Diagrams for Correctness

A quality DFD should consider correctness as its primary characteristic. Correct DFD indicates that the analyst understand the data flows in the business processes of its clients. Understanding between the clients and the developer is the key factor in producing a good system. And developing a good system starts from its developing particularly in creating diagrams such as the DFD.

It is essential to evaluate all DFDs carefully to determine if they are correct. Errors, omissions and inconsistencies can occur for several reasons, including mistakes in drawing the diagrams. But the presence of what appears to be an error may in fact point out a deficiency in the system or a situation in which users are not aware of how certain processes operate.

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

---SAD2 Assignment # 9---

2010-05-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Create at least 3 different types of Data flow diagram of USEP's pre-enrollment system

Context Data Flow Diagram

Current physical Data Flow Diagram

Current logical Data Flow Diagram

---SAD2 Assignment # 8---

2010-05-23T06:47:00.001-07:00

Using the same narrative as refelcted in your assignment 4, develop an activity diagram and a fully developed description for a use case.

The diagram above is an activity diagram of the pre-enrollment process of the University of Southeastern Philippines.

The diagram above is an activity diagram of the enrollment process of the University of Southeastern Philippines.

---SAD2 Assignment # 7---

2010-05-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Consider USEP's pre-enrollment system, develop a use case diagram and write a brief use case description.

Actors:

Applicant - aspiring person who wants to be admitted in the university.

UGTO - personnels who validate and assess documents,examination schedule and result to all applicant students.

Cashier - collect all payments

Process:

Fill up and submit all necessary documents - all aspiring applicants should secure all the necessary documents for enrollment in UGTO.

Validates the Documents - the UGTO shall validate all the requirements of the applicant.

Pay entrance examination fee - the applicant should pay an amount for the test to Cahier.

Provide examination schedule - UGTO can now give the examination schedule to the applicant.

Take the USEPAT - describes an applicant taking the admission test.

Give the examination result - UGTO post the result of the examination of all students who took the entrance exam.

Actor:

Applicant - aspiring person who wants to be admitted in the university.
Interviewer - personnel in charge of the screening of the applicants through interview.
USEP Clinic - attending nurse or doctor in the clinic who does the medical check-up.
DEAN - post all the qualified students in the respective departments.

Process:

Department Interview Schedule - interviewer can now interview the applicant after passing the USEPAT.
Verify English Placement Test - interviewer should verify the english placement test of the applicants.
Enroll to English Bridge Program - if the applicant failed to pass the english placement test, he should enroll to english bridge program.
Take Medical Examination - if the student luckily passed the english placement test, he can now proceed to his medical examination.
Post all qualified student - this is the last point of the pre-enrollment process, if the applicant has satisfactory grade based on the requirement set by the college, the student is now ready for the enrollment process.

---SAD2 Assignment # 6---

2010-05-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

Consider the following dialogue between a systems professional, John Juan, and a manager of a department targeted for a new information system, Peter Pedro:

Juan: The way to go about the analysis is to first examine the old system, such as reviewing key documents and observing the workers perform their tasks. Then we can determine which aspects are working well and which should be preserved.

Pedro: We have been through these types of projects before and what always ends up happening is that we do not get the new system we are promised; we get a modified version of the old system.

Juan: Well, I can assure you that will not happen this time. We just want a thorough understanding of what is working well and what isn’t.

Pedro: I would feel much more comfortable if we first started with a list of our requirements. We should spend some time up-front determining exactly what we want the system to do for my department. Then you systems people can come in and determine what portions to salvage if you wish. Just don’t constrain us to the old system.

Required:

a. Obviously these two workers have different views on how the systems analysis phase should be conducted. Comment on whose position you sympathize with the most.
b.What method would you propose they take? Why?

For me, both sides state their opinion about on how to improve and develop the old system. It is essential and commendable that both parties have their own methods in implementing and creating new information system. But in the story above, they have their own notion which results to a conflict. Both ideas would convince you to choose one, at some point to the other. Anyways, for me to decide on which idea is better, let me first state my understanding on both parties.

John’s Points of View (P.O.V)

As what I understand of John’s point is that he tried to point out that in analyzing the problem it is more effective if they would first scrutinize the old system and this is through reviewing important documents and workers performance. By this, they could now determine the strength and weaknesses of the old system, by gathering all this information’s they could provide solutions for the weaknesses and improvements and add some strength features to the existing system.

Since John is consider as a system professional it is expected that he has more knowledge on how to develop and modify improvements to a certain system. He gains more experience since he encountered giving vices to his clients, and as a system professional he has wide understanding on how a certain project must be processed as to what method should be used and what stage to improve.

Peter’s Points of View (P.O.V)

Now this time let me discuss my understanding of Peter’s point, he stress out that since the project proposed to him is not unusual, thus assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the existing system is not a solution or not as successful method in creating new one. Since he encountered scenario like this, he conclude that in making and using the same method like this, they end up not getting their expectation to the system which they compromised.

He wanted that they have to define the need of requirements since it is the first phase of creating a new system rather than specifying the old one. In addition to his point, he wanted that they have to appraise the true needs of their departments to create a system that meet their requirements.

My Points of View (P.O.V)

After considering both opinions, I decided to go with Peter’s idea, provided that John’s idea is also considered

The problem arises because they are debating on what to do and how to work out to improve the existing system in the company. New system is created because of the deficiency of the old one or maybe because workers in organization stated the need to change the system as a solution to the problem which they all facing.

The problem can only be cleared by fully understand the needs of a certain team, or defining on what or who is really affected by the problem. In the case of Peter he knows what are the things that need to improve in his department. Although John can do some interview to show the problem of the department. If Peter could identify the requirements needed and if he has a different way of establishing a new system, then definitely, it wouldn’t align with the actual needs of the organization.

In analyzing the problem, one has to establish their goals on why they develop a system. Goals are considered as requirements in themselves, particularly high level since goals speak of the domains.

Method to use:

Choosing the method to use requires consideration of various factors. In my own notion thinking that the system is planned to be implemented in a certain department of the company, I would consider Agile Methodologies. It is because developers won’t strive to have new methodologies if they are contented in the existing methodologies such as the waterfall, or traditional sequential development. However, each methodology is advantageous over the other in its own way.

---SAD2 Assignment # 5---

2010-05-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Consider our school, how do we know that the life cycle was developed in our university and how do we know it meets our needs?

As a part of the university and as an IT student it is my privilege to know the development of the university, how it goes and how it works. System development is indeed contributing a big impact to any institution; but does the university apply this process to improve every form of transactions in the school? Does it meet the needs of every student, faculty and staff of the university? These are some of the questions that need an answer to be able to define a proper “development”. Let me first define what this life cycle means.

When I searched in the internet about the “life cycle”, I found different meanings in varied fields. Some in business meaning, from enterprise form to biological approach and there’s also from software life cycle to System Development Life Cycle also known as SDLC. With these various terms, I consider SDLC as a life cycle.

The system development life cycle is the process of developing information systems through investigation, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance. System development life cycle is a systems approach to problem solving and is made up of several phases, each comprised of multiple steps.

The major steps system development life cycle include the following steps.

Planning

It is the most important task in creating software products in making the planning steps they have to identify the scope and boundary of the problem, and plan the development strategy and goals.

Analysis

Study and analyze the problems, causes, and effects. Then, identify and analyze the requirements that must be fulfilled by any successful solutions.

Design

During the design phase the System Analyst will document the inputs, processing and outputs of each program within the application.

Implementation

Throughout the implementation phase programmers would be assigned to write the specific programs using a programming language decided by the system analyst. Once the system of programs is tested the new application is installed for people to use. As time goes by, things change and a specific part or program might need repair

Maintenance

In this phase, it goes through a mini planning, analysis, design and implementation. The programs that need modification are identified and programmers change or repair those programs. After several years of use, the system usually becomes obsolete. At this point a major revision of the application is done.

Now, how do we know if the cycle meets the needs of the university?

We would know that the chosen SDLC will meet the needs of the university if the understanding of its processes and the process itself gave way to easier and less time consuming software development with regards to the situation of the university. For example, we all know that the university is run by the government so we can assume that the budget will always be limited. Considering this fact, if our chosen SDLC will truly meet our needs then it must give processes that will less likely to rely on outsourcing.

---SAD1 Assignment #4---

2010-05-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

We are to identify and discuss at least three system development models and discuss each phase.

Before the caterpillar will turn into a golden and beautiful butterfly it is gone through many phases, the same with software there are various processes to make it work. It passes through planning, developing, coding and many more to make it more feasible to any form of deployment. And one of these process or development is what we called system development process. Through reading different definition of system development modes I can say that system development life cycle is the process of developing information systems through investigation, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance. System development life cycle is a systems approach to problem solving and is made up of several phases, each comprised of multiple steps.

What are the different system development models?

Waterfall model

Based on my understanding waterfall model describe as an extremely valuable tool to use in the implementation or revamping of any company. The waterfall model provides a strategic foundation in which a company can either update its existing system, or a company can create an entirely new system from scratch. There are seven phases to the systems development life cycle, and each phase must be completed in order, before the next phase begins, the phase before it must be complete. If a mistake is made, it may be necessary to start from scratch all over again, or go back several phases. If the phases are completed in order you should have a great foundation and you will be on your way to building a successful information system.

It is supposed to go down through a series of steps, reminding one of the routes a natural waterfall takes over a series of rocks at different levels.

In the traditional waterfall model, the first step in the software life-cycle is requirements analysis, this is the stage where the customers are queried for their needs, and a formal description of the software requirements is created. The next step is design, where the software that is to meet the requirements is planned. The third stage is implementation, where teams of developers create the software. The fourth step is testing, at which time developers, as well as representatives of the user community, is allowed to use the software and are asked to report any bugs they find. Upon completion of this step, the software is declared operational and only maintenance tasks are required thereafter.

The traditional waterfall model is much too simplistic, however, because each of the distinct steps it asks for is really itself a broad phase consisting of many sub-steps. In the detailed waterfall model, the requirements analysis step is extremely important. It is necessary to understand the customer's needs and to translate them into appropriate desired system behaviors. Any miscommunication with the customer could be fatal to the project as a whole, as it could result in a product that does not meet the customer's expectations, thus giving the company a bad reputation, a real disaster in the competitive software vendor's marketplace. Yet, communicating with the customer is not always easy either, because the customer may have only imprecisely-formulated objectives; or may have objectives that aren't vocalized very well and remain in the background for too long; or may have unrealizable or conflicting objectives. In some cases, it is necessary for the software development team to tell the customer exactly what he wants based on his vague utterances, and also whether he can get it needless to say, this involves a fair amount of skill at diplomacy and personal communication, in addition to knowledge of software engineering. Once the customer's requirements are understood, it is then necessary to document those requirements in a formal manner and reach an agreement with the customer about them.

Rapid Application Development

Rapid Application Development (RAD) refers to a type of software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself. The lack of extensive pre-planning generally allows software to be written much faster, and makes it easier to change requirements.
Below is a brief overview of the RAD process, including its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

The primary advantages of Rapid Application Development are speed and quality, while potentially reduced scalability and feature sets are the disadvantages.

As the name suggests, Rapid Application Development's primary advantage lies in an application's increased development speed and decreased time to delivery. The goal of delivering applications quickly is addressed through the use of computer aided software engineering or CASE tools, which focus on converting requirements to code as quickly as possible, as well as Time Boxing, in which features are pushed out to future releases in order to complete a feature light version quickly.

Requirements Planning Phase

The requirements planning phase requires that high level or knowledgeable end-users determine what the fuctions of the system should be. It should be a structured discussion of the business problems that need to be solved. It can often be done quickly when the right users and executives are involved. Requirements planning occurs in a Joint Requirements Planning workshop (JRP).

User Design Phase

The user design phase requires the users to participate strongly in the nontechnical design of the system, under the guidence of I.S. professionals. User design is done in a Joint Application Design (JAD) workshop similar to the JRP workshop. In the first two phases the users and executives should play a larger part than the I.S. professionals. Prototyping is used to aid in requirements specification and design. The user does not sign off a paper design, they sign off a CASE representation.

Construction Phase

The design created during the User Design Phase is added to using I-CASE tools. As each transaction is built it may be demonstrated to the end-users for revision. The CASE environment allows for the continuous changes in design. End-users are closely involved in the construction phase. Testing occurs throughout the process. The I-CASE toolset should generate the code as well as the database descriptions for the final product. Code optimizers may be used to improve the performance of the generated code.

Cutover Phase

When the cutover phase occurs, a variety of actions are needed, comprehensive testing, training of the end-users, organizational changes and operation in parallel with the previous system until the new system settle in.

Rapid Application Development is not appropriate for all projects. The methodology works best for projects where the scope is small or work can be broken down into manageable chunks. Along these lines project teams must also be small, preferably two to six people, and the team must have experience with all technologies that are to be used.

Scrum Methodology

It is a practice-based methodology for modeling and documentation of software-based systems. It is intended to be a collection of values, principles, and practices for modeling software that can be applied on a software development project in a more flexible manner than traditional modeling methods. The system development process is complicated and complex. Therefore maximum flexibility and appropriate control is required. Evolution favors those that operate with maximum exposure to environmental change and have optimized for flexible adaptation to change. Evolution deselects those who have insulated themselves from environmental change and have minimized chaos and complexity in their environment. An approach is needed that enables development teams to operate adaptively within a complex environment using imprecise processes. Complex system development occurs under rapidly changing circumstances. Producing orderly systems under chaotic circumstances requires maximum flexibility.

Phase Steps

Each of the phases has the following steps:

Planning

• Development of a comprehensive backlog list.
• Definition of the delivery date and functionality of one or more releases.
• Selection of the release most appropriate for immediate development.
• Mapping of product packets (objects) for backlog items in the selected release.
• Definition of project team(s) for the building of the new release.
• Assessment of risk and appropriate risk controls.
• Review and possible adjustment of backlog items and packets.
• Validation or reselection of development tools and infrastructure.
• Estimation of release cost, including development, collateral material, marketing,
training, and rollout.
• Verification of management approval and funding.

Architecture/High Level Design

• Review assigned backlog items.
• Identify changes necessary to implement backlog items.
• Perform domain analysis to the extent required to build, enhance, or update the
domain models to reflect the new system context and requirements.
• Refine the system architecture to support the new context and requirements.
• Identify any problems or issues in developing or implementing the changes
• Design review meeting, each team presenting approach and changes to implement
each backlog item. Reassign changes as required.

Closure

When the management team feels that the variables of time, competition, requirements, cost, and quality concur for a new release to occur, they declare the release “closed” and enter this phase. This phase prepares the developed product for general release. Integration, system test, user documentation, training material preparation, and marketing material preparation are among closure tasks.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model
http://hebb.cis.uoguelph.ca/~dave/27320/new/rad.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

---SAD1 Assignment # 3---

2010-05-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

We are to interview a system analyst and discuss the role of a systems analyst as a project manager.

It was 29^th of April 2010, thursday in the afternoon when my classmates and I visited Sta. Ana Multipurpose Cooperative (SAMULCO) to interview a system analyst. Sir James Bautista who is a system analyst of the cooperative gave her answers and entertained us for about 2 hours conversation. It was exiting and full of values, for we learned various things about system analyst. It’s not just a hi and hello front act but an educational experience interviewing this person. He simply answers the questions which we asked to him.

In the organization you are now, what is your role of a system analyst as a project manager?

Sir James Bautista first distinguished the difference between system analyst and project manager, he said that as a system analyst is the one who identified the need and the system opportunity by matching need and technical feasibility or as simple as a system analyst provides solution to the problem of a project, thus he look to the overall specifications of the project including its range and cost, the system analyst also make the design modeling including the different diagrams while a project manager is the head or leader of the project, as a project manager he has the ultimate responsibility for the planning and control of everything related to the project. Sir James added that as a project manager you are the one who communicate to your client set the entire responsibility of the members and set the time and also a project manager is the one who speak a front man in behalf of the group. But mostly today, a system analyst can be a project manager or as one for the reason that system analyst can have all the abilities of a project manager and knows all

the system requirements of the project.

Can you tell us some of your experienced as a project manager in your organization?

He tells us some of his project as a project manager managing it department in SAMULCO. Every year the corporation conducted a general assembly presented by all members of the corporation and Sir James and the rest of the team was given the task to assembly and operates for about 50 computers and brought to the venue. At around 6pm all the computers were in the mood and ready to set up, before the sun will rise the team should finish all the installation process to the computers and fortunately before the break of the dawn they all made it, tiring and sleepy. But he provides solution in the next year of assembly; he listed all the employees who will work for the setting of computers including the transportation and list all the people who will install the software to the computers. And luckily with the help of trainings and seminars for the personnel added to the team of Sir James, he successfully made a plan that would minimize his time working for the installation. From 3pm in the afternoon the all finished it around 7pm which less than 5 hours which has a big impact and improvement compare form the recent year plan. This is only one of his works as a project manager, who think for the possible solutions to minimize the work of the team, segregate well the responsibility of each member and create a plan that would possibly make the team effortless.

As a project manager what are your strengths and weaknesses?

Sir James Bautista shares to us his own strength and weakness and I quote “I know what I want, I get what I want.” And his weakness is “most of the time I think like a programmer” these could be also the weakness and strength of the entire system analyst and project manager of every organization. Lucky for us because we are given a chance to interview a project manager/ system analyst that is worth to be called a “professional and good system analyst”.

Giving an analogy unto it I believe that a project manager is like a DRIVER and take all the responsibility for many diverse tasks including, leading the project team through the process of creating and executing the project plan, mold every members into the project team, obtain all the approvals for the project plan, issue status report on the progress of the project compared to the plan and of course the project manager respond to the reques ts for changes to the plan. Also as a driver of the group one should remove obstacles for the team so they can do the job they are asked to do, call and run regular project meetings.

As a whole I think over to the interview we made and it knocks my mind to come up this summary about system analyst and project manager, that a successful project has the technical leadership of a system analyst and the management guidance of the project manager.

---SAD1 Assignment # 2---

2010-04-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

We are to interview a system analyst and ask what skills and characteristics must a system analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process.

Many temples should elapse before a successful building will completely finish. The same with system analyst, before to create and develop such a massive and extravagant system he should be able to define the range and statuesque of the system and be able to define his abilities and limitations. As what they said every move has a process, they should analyze and think well. In developing a system there are many mechanisms to consider, if how it cost, the duration of time and any more.

It was hot noon when the group decided to go to SAMULCO for the interview, it sting our ears as we listened to the loud beep of jeep, fortunately the company entertained us as we arrived to the area. It was a gloomy room full of mechanisms blunts our eyes, but just a little part of System Analyst of the Sta. Ana Multi-Cooperative or SAMULCO. What does this system analyst means? According to different writers and books, it was define that system analyst is a solution provider or a problem solver; it has its strong personality to be more effective in his fields. So knowing this definition, let us clarify and interview a system analyst who could provide skills and characteristics of a system analyst.

The question was what skills and characteristics must a system analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process?

Before Sir James Bautista answered the question, he let us first elaborate the different modeling process use by system analyst, we answered traditional and object oriented approach modeling including Data flow diagram. Out of this modeling process he define what does this “system analyst” means to him, a true system analyst should be a wide thinker of the scope of how a system must be develop and what are some details he need to put into it. Furthermore, he added that a system analyst should be careful and detailed in making design modeling process and look over the specification of the system. These are some of the examples of a true system analyst. Now moving on, he now answer the question of the different characteristic must a system should develop.

A system Analyst should be Observant:

In dealing with making the system a system analyst should be observant in all the facts and information of the system. He should be considerable of the possible output of the system; he should consider his self a flexible of some changes of the system and to different environments approach. To meet also the client’s expectation, a system analyst should be observant on to what the client wants.
A system Analyst should be good in different programming language:

Since system analyst is flexible to any environment, he should possess and learn different programming language to be able to know the flow of the system. This will help the system analyst to be more effective in developing the system for the reason that, it takes too much time to analyze and create a system, but if a system analyst is way better in coding the system, he can easily access and analyze the flow of the system, he can easily seen the error and modify it, he can easily change the command and many more.

A system Analyst should know to mingle with the team.

An effective system analyst should have a good communication skill, this will lessen the time in creating the system, and this will help minimize the misunderstanding of the group and meet the expectation of the client. It can help the team achieve the output and implement well the system.

These are some of the important characteristics of a system analyst according to Sir James. This interview gives us knowledge and adds information to our field; moreover in defining a system analyst one should be familiar with designing concepts that is appropriate for the particular development environment. This means one who is good at designing commercial buildings isn't necessarily a good person to design residential housing. Although a lot of concepts overlap, one who is good at designing mainframe system isn't necessarily a good candidate for web projects.

One should have the skills to use the tools to facilitate his/her work in designing software tools. If someone is struggling to use a hammer he is worrying about putting a nail in straight not about building a good structure. One should have the industry or business knowledge or the capacity to acquire them. System implementation is a lot like a bunch of blind people trying to figure out what an elephant looks like. Each person has his/her own field expertise. However, the more knowledge one person has would make the process easier and create better results. A good communication skill without saying is very important. It is important that system analyst has a good analytical skills and an understanding of the problems that business people face, otherwise known as the problem domain.

Choose an area of business usage, such as forms processing, on-line access, search and retrieval, or information handling in a specific industry such as government, banking or insurance, and you will be in great demand. Most people over generalize their skills and don't excel at anything. By knowing a business persons problem and understanding how software and computers can solve that problem, you are almost unique.

To sum up these characteristics, the system analyst must be able to communicate in writing and orally, the analyst must easily get along with people. The analyst must be a good listener and be able to react to what people say, the analyst must be knowledgeable of technology. The analyst is expected to know the intricacies of programming, and decent general knowledge of concepts and terms is essential, and lastly the analyst must be knowledgeable of business. The analyst is not expected to be an expert in business but a decent understanding of the client's world is required.

---SAD1 Assignment # 1---

2010-04-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Based on our learning’s in Chapter 1 report, we are to identify and discuss some of the characteristics we have as a good system analyst.

I never thought how tricky to be a system analyst, until the class discuss about how and what does “System Analyst” means. Yes, its ponder me of aiming all the qualities and requirements of a system analyst, but the question is Am I that capable to become one? This question knocks my mind when dreaming to achieve these necessities of system analyst. Glad that we are given the chance to listen and share some of the aspects of a good system analyst. As they said, a good system analyst is a solution provider and can cope up every little problem running inside and outside of the scope of the system.

As a student facing this futuristic generation, computers is hard to imagine without them. As a result of new technologies, our modern society has been almost deluged by a continual introduction of new products, both in computer hardware systems and software. And these things are created through also the idea and help of professional analyst. System analyst plays a very important role in producing a good, quality product either a plan, software or even hardware. An analyst can be called as a “Computer Scientist” because all of the remarkable and continuing advances in computer technology are credited to the highly trained and skilled system analyst.

“I can be a system analyst someday” a line which repeatedly comes to mind every time I think of inspiring to become one. As what I understand in the report systems analysts are in great demand, get paid well, and work in a thrilling field while enjoying many work place freedoms. The name it self is not very commonly known and the tasks are complicated but intriguing at the same time. The highlights for this job are total freedom, and a respectable salary. Many corporations would not be able to function without the assistance of systems analysts, and yet in many cases employers can't explain what it is they do, or how they do it. When new programs are not needed, a systems analyst may be required to maintain the software they have already created. It can be frustrating, not to mention financially devastating, to have computer or network crash, and no one on hand to fix it! A common cause for system crashes is pilot error, which is also easily avoided with instruction, however; glitches in programs do pop up from time to time. Such a crisis reinforces how important it is to have someone on hand to prevent, and cure problems. This area of problem solving grants him or her freedom, by having the most knowledge in crisis situations.

To be able to meet these requirements I have to set my priorities and identify some of my characteristics as a good analyst.

A system analyst should gather all information’s and a good listener.

I can make designs and implements the information gathered about the system, the first thing to do is to interview the company or any respondents which can help to our system development, this is to find out what kind of information’s do we need and improved. I should find whether the report is feasible or not. Actually, group 1 reported various tools in gathering information’s, but concisely interview is the most common and effective source of gathering information, this is to find and proved all the facts and questions left behind.

A system analyst knows how to analyze both negative and positive side of the possible outputs for the system.

As a student, I believe that I have the ability to analyze the possible different approach of the system, off course in analyzing the system I must find out where are they going to get the information, how, when is the project going to be done, the tools I need, the expense, and other related facts which talks about our project. Since system analyst has a big job to do, I know that am responsible enough to formulate design, the development, and implementation of the report, what purpose will it serve presentation, and many more. I can follow the first analysis of when the project will be finished. Basically a Systems Analyst is responsible for systems projects and from beginning to the end of a project; I can implement the system to good use. The Systems Analyst creates and helps finish the final product, making all the specifications and charts for what is to be done.

A system analyst knows how to formulate diagrams and can provide detailed documents.

They do flowcharting, specifications for the programmers of the report, and development control. They write specifications, of what is to be in the final report. The Systems Analyst then must follow up to make sure the program is running smoothly. A critical flowchart also helps the programmers along. The Systems Analyst helps to makes sure the work is done until the final report is achieved. After the development is finished and a prototype of the report is finished, the Systems Analyst helps the programmers in testing the program for bugs. The critical path also calculates how many man hours it will take to finish, enough time to prepare and many more. A critical path is like a due date, if the report is to be done in thirty days, the Systems Analyst makes sure the report is done in thirty days. Once the final report is finished and free of bugs, it is sent to the user.

These characters should attained every person specially student who aims to be a part of the group of “Professional System Analyst”.

---MIS2 Assignment #9---

2010-02-12T07:17:00.001-08:00

In our world today, people have put reading, and books, behind them. They have lost focus on an extremely important learning method. Reading not only helps us to learn vital information, but it also allows us to use our imagination. Most of us look at computers and new technology as the latest way to spend our down time and relax. We are becoming lazy. Our whole lives have become encompassed by the world of quicker, more advanced technology. In today's world, technology is constantly changing from a new paperclip to an improvement in hospital machinery. Technology lets people improve the way they live so that they can preserve their own personal energy and focus on the really important factors in life. Some people focus their energy on making new innovations to improve transportation and the health of people that may save lives. Technology is significant in everyone's life because it rapidly changes what is in the market. But, some new innovations of technology are ridiculous because they serve no purpose in helping mankind.

Technology affects every aspect of our lives. From romance to business, it has shown its presence everywhere. But technology has had a huge impact on education that cannot be denied, and has done nothing but improve the quality and quantity of education. It is conform that we as aiming the premiere university in the Asian region should poses the facilities with highly recommended technologies, since the University of Southeastern Philippines luck of the necessary “high-tech” machineries or software that enables every work easy to make.

One of the more demanding challenges of the University is educational selection of the right combination of technology for multiple educational objectives. Every place is different. Every student has his or her individual needs and interests. Various curricula require different technological approaches. We still think that the only way to educate is to put an adult in a room with 20 or 30 students, but with educational technology a great deal can be done with machines, particularly in higher education, where students have already learned the initial, fundamental intellectual skills. For example, how do people learn? By action they themselves perform, sometimes by thinking, sometimes by practicing, often by a combination of both thinking and motor coordination. In most cases, teachers cannot perform those actions for students; students must teach themselves, and teachers can only stand by to offer assistance

Educational technologies are being utilized in every facet of school education. Increasingly, teachers are asking students to access information from technological sources. Methods of instruction must change in order to keep up with the ever-changing world and we, as teachers must cease the technological movement. There are many factors and activities that can help teachers develop an attitude that is intrepid in the use of technology, encourages them to take risks, and inspires them to involve technology in the classroom environment. In the technological society of today, is it possible that the integration of computers will change the traditional methods of the classroom?

The use of technology in USEP has a great effect on not only students, but teachers as well. Today, we mostly think of technology as computers, but it is much more than that. In fact, one of the first technologies used in the classroom was the chalkboard.

Most students today use technology throughout their school day. Uses for technology can be found for every subject matter a student has. Some of the most widely used tools are found in the English and Language Arts classes. Writing on word processors allows students to cut-and-paste, save their work, and use spell checkers and thesauruses. With technology students are also given advantages in learning how to read. Reading programs use drill-and-practice techniques to help with reinforcing young students’ reading skills.

Technology is also used in science education. Scientific hardware such as handheld computers, thermometers, and sensors allow for out of class experimentation

The flow of every transaction in the University should be automated in accordance to the demand of time and work, this would help not only to in the field of work but also in maintaining the data of every individuals. The school should provide a WIFI Zone to easily access the World Wide Web which we all know that the basic of learning’s of research today is found through surfing the net. This would guarantee a massive help to every faculty and students in getting information’s on their reports as timely as they want, provided with the WIFI area.

This and many things should consider in making such steps in improving the quality of education in the University with the help of highly technologies.

---MIS2 Assignment #8---

2010-02-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. If I were hired and have been tasked to develop strategic information systems plan for a company, and asked to provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question, I would first make questions that would financially talks about the progress or the basic needs of the company. These are the following questions I formulate with its corresponding answers:

Why is their a need to create an Idea or strategy in putting up business?

In particular, you don't need a brilliant idea to start a startup around. The way a startup makes money is to offer people better technology than they have now. But what people have now is often so bad that it doesn't take brilliance to do better. An idea for a startup, however, is only a beginning. A lot of would-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is the initial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute. Venture capitalists know better. What matters is not ideas, but the people who have them. Good people can fix bad ideas, but good ideas can't save bad people.

What do are the costumers wanted from you?

It's not just startups that have to worry about this. I think most businesses that fail do it because they don't give customers what they want. It's the same with technology. You hear all kinds of reasons why startups failed. When most people think of startups, they think of companies like Apple or Google. Everyone knows these, because they're big consumer brands. But for every startup like that, there are twenty more that operate in niche markets or live quietly down in the infrastructure. So if you start a successful startup, odds are you'll start one of those.

What are the company’s objectives and goals?

This question is mostly asked by many interviewers, knowing that every company should possess an ideal success to the business. In making a business proper, the company should provide an objective and goal, because these two main words denote the achievement and success of the business. It would help give a direction and organize strategy to the business.

What are companies Information System Plan?

To be able that companies organize a proper or shall we say integrated system to its business, they have to create an Information System Plan. Strategic planning is very essential especially that technology evolves time to time. This would be a guideline in to maintain the duty of the system. It is not just the system involves in this plan, but also the people and the work embraces by the business.

Upon formulating these questions let us not just forget that success may be described only as the realization of an aim but hard work is essential. Hard work helps us to develop our potential to the maximum and strive for excellence in any field. Hard work makes us better prepared to face adverse situations. Hard work helps an athlete to persevere in a race and win it; it helps an average student to become extraordinary, it helps to transform destinies.

These are the following questions and answers if ever I would be hired in a certain company and invited to formulate or develop an Information System in an organization.

---MIS2 Assignment # 7---

2010-01-28T06:14:00.000-08:00

Google the number one most viewed website last 2009. The success of this business indeed covers the whole nation. When we want to search for something, we do say, “Google It”. A proven testimony that the business has its own strategy in making the number one website in the world according to sfaranda blogsite. But what are the ingredients behind this success? Hmmmmm..Let’s have a flash back.

What is Google?

Google is a company that started six years ago when its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a new way to do online searching in a Stanford University dorm room. This new idea then spread quickly to many people around the globe seeking information. Googles’ technologies have been able to sort through a large amount of growing information on the web and deliver it to its users for free, a service which returns accurate information in a very short amount of time. They rely on the millions of people who post websites to figure out which other sites have good content. Google uses a technique called PageRank to rank every page. It figures out all of the sites linking to a web page and gives them a value, based in part on the sites which are linked to them

How does Google make money?

Google is a business. Besides trying its best to satisfy its users it has to find ways of generating the most revenue. Google does this in a few different ways. The first one is the advertising which happens on the right side of the page when you search on Google, a program called AdWords. The second is offering its search technology to others, they do this with a program called AdSense which anybody on the web can start using. The third way in which they make money is through its Google Search Appliance which they sell to their customers. This appliance delivers accurate search results throughout a number of documents. Meaning your company would have its own search engine and it would work just as well as google.com.

Is Yahoo competition?
Yahoo and Google are battling over the same Web visitors and advertising dollars. There currently is an $8 billion global search advertising business, which is expected to rise to $22 billion in five years, according to Piper Jaffray. Worldwide online brand advertising is expected to increase twenty one percent this year from $11.3 billion to $18.2 billion, according to Goldman Sachs. These two companies are using very different approaches while going after the same advertising dollars. Yahoo uses human editors or “surfers” to organize web sites into categories. However humans cannot index everything so they are partnered up with a third party search engine to provide answers when its human – powered listing do not suffice. Google is about its search engine, done only with PageRank. There is no human indexing involved. Yahoo has been using a program called the “Idea factory” to promote inventive thinking in their company, staffers are supposed to improve everything from the company’s products to its campus.

Is Microsoft competition?

Microsoft is also competing with Google because Google is now a major threat to their dominance. While Google was launching all of its products for free, Microsoft was trying to catch up in search doing a project which they spent $150 million on but Google and Yahoo keep on getting ahead with new innovations such as complete maps and satellite photos. Bill Gates wishes he could have combined software innovation with a brand new Internet business model like Google did. Gates is worried about how much Google will hurt Microsoft’s core of franchise, control of what users will do when they first turn on their computers. Microsoft was always very powerful because it had control of the Windows operating system, they would decide which products and services consumers saw first. And so Microsoft did not have to make better products than its competitors, just about equal. It won because it went after competitors’ business models, not their technology. Now Microsoft’s strong points seem useless against Google. The people at Microsoft are worried that a “Google Office” will come out. And now that Google has come up with a desktop search there is no need for the start button in Windows.
What’s in Google’s future?

Google is only becoming more powerful. It has a desktop search utility on the way, a shopping engine, news aggegrator, and webmail services. Google is also hoping to offer a new browser (GBrowser). It would include all the Google properties such as Gmail, Froogle, Google News, Picasa, and Blogger. This means that the user could get all of his or her business done without ever having to leave the Google environment. This new browser would be another way to destination Google, meaning more revenue because more ads would be looked at by more users. It would also help Google control both data and applications, surpassing Microsoft.

So why is Google so popular?

A good way to get many users interested in the search engine is making it really easy to use. Google believes they should hide the complexity of their powerful search engine from their users so that they will be left with a simple, understandable way to get the information they need. So not only is the interface clear and simple, but the pages load instantly, the way the search results are placed is not sold to anybody, and the advertising
it relevant content which does not get in the user’s way.

Google’s Infrastructure is its Strategic Advantage

Google’s supply chain is made up of fiber networks, data centers, switches, servers and storage devices. From that perspective, its business model is no different than that of Dell’s (DELL): Google has to deliver search results (information, if you want to be generous about their other projects) as fast as possible at as low a cost as possible.

To better understand Google and its business model, one needs to break it down into three data inputs.

• Relevancy of results.
• Speed of search.
• Cost of executing a search query.

While their results aren’t optimal, they are good enough. Just like Microsoft Windows was good enough to dominate the market. In other words, the company has to make sure that the speed of its search is really, really fast. Any random search on Google these days takes between 0.12 to 0.06 seconds. Now that is really, really fast. Google does this by indexing the Internet quite well. The magic is in delivering the search results from this index at lightening speed, and that requires an infrastructure — oodles of bandwidth and specialized hardware — that is finely tuned much like a Formula One Car.

Reference: http://gigaom.com/2007/12/04/google-infrastructure/

---MIS2 Assignment # 6---

2009-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

We are to identify and discuss the steps for "critical success factors" approach. Every individual has a critical success factors in life. This would only means that a key to success should posses a wood curve for. Let me give some parameters of what and how a critical success factor is.

According to wikipedia Critical Success Factor (CSF) is the term for an element that is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. It is a critical factor or activity required for ensuring the success of your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology (IT) project is user involvement.

So many important matters can compete for your attention in business that it's often difficult to see the "wood for the trees". What's more, 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 (CSFs) can help. CSFs 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, CSFs 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.

The idea of CSFs was first presented by D. Ronald Daniel in the 1960s. It was then built on and popularized a decade later by John F. Rockart, of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and has since been used extensively to help businesses implement their strategies and projects.

Inevitably, the CSF concept has evolved, and you may have seen it implemented in different ways. This article provides a simple definition and approach based on Rockart's original idea.

Critical success factors (CSFs) have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organisations 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 organisation” (Rockart and Bullen, 1981). Identifying CSFs is important as it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSFs, or even allow firms to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet critical success factors (CSFs).

Success factors were already being used as a term in management when Rockart and Bullen reintroduced the concept to provide greater understanding of the concept and, at the same time, give greater clarity of how CSFs can be identified.

MAIN ASPECTS OF CSFs

CSFs are tailored to a firm's or manager's particular situation as different situations (e.g. industry, division, individual) lead to different critical success factors. Rockart and Bullen presented five key sources of CSFs: the industry, competitive strategy and industry position, environmental factors, temporal factors, and managerial position (if considered from an individual's point of view). Each of these factors is explained in greater detail below.

HOW TO WRITE GOOD CSFs

In an attempt to write good CSFs, a number of principles could help guide writers. These principles are:

• Ensure a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company – It was shown that CSFs have five primary sources, and it is important to have a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company in order to be able to write them well. These factors are customised for companies and individuals and the customisation results from the peculiarity of the organisation. This peculiarity stems from an organisation's strategy, current position, and resources and capabilities.
• Build knowledge of competitors in the industry – While this principle can be encompassed in the previous one, it is worth highlighting separately as it is critical to have a good understanding of competitors as well in identifying an organisation's CSFs. Knowing where competitors are positioned, what their resources and capabilities are, and what strategies they will pursue can have an impact on an organisation's strategy and also resulting CSFs.
• Develop CSFs which result in observable differences – A key impetus for the development of CSFs was the notion that factors which get measured are more likely to be achieved versus factors which are not measured. Thus, it is important to write CSFs which are observable or possibly measurable in certain respects such that it would be easier to focus on these factors. These don't have to be factors that are measured quantitatively as this would mimic key performance indicators; however, writing CSFs in observable terms would be helpful.
• Develop CSFs that have a large impact on an organisation's performance – By definition, CSFs are the "most critical" factors for organisations or individuals. However, due care should be exercised in identifying them due to the largely qualitative approach to identification, leaving many possible options for the factors and potentially results in discussions and debate. In order to truly have the impact as envisioned when CSFs were developed, it is important to thus identify the actual CSFs, i.e. the ones which would have the largest impact on an organisation's (or individual's) performance.

Conclusion

CSFs are used by organisations to give focus on a number of factors that help define its success. They help the organisation and its personnel to understand the key areas in which to invest their resources and time. Ideally, these CSFs are observable in terms of the impact on the organisation to allow it to have guidance and indications on its achievement of them.

CSFs can be utilised in both the organisation and the individual levels. Their identification is largely qualitative and can result in differing opinions in pinpointing them. Nevertheless, it is an approach that should be pursued as it provides value in giving due focus to a limited set of factors, which are deemed to be the most critical for an organisation or individual.

The company should have a critical success factors in order to know the improvement made by the company from the past up to the present generation. This is possible to every organization even to a smaller unit of business to maintain its progress and limits its capacity. This would show that critical success factors indeed contribute a big help to individuals not only for a certain corporation but also to a person.

Success is many things to many people. Worldbook defines success as a favorable result or wished for ending through the achievement of goals. That is, if one attains a desired goal through achievement, he would be considered a success. However, a successful character, cannot be produced from one successful feat. The true indicator of success is not what is accomplished, but what is felt. In order to be successful, one must be happy.
One of the most complex examples of success is the winning of money. Is the winning of money considered successful? If a person buys a lottery ticket, he is setting his goal on winning. In addition, if the person wins, he is obviously happy. However, this person is not considered successful. Although his goal is to win, he has no control over winning or losing. Achieving goals means working for them and knowing the result. The person is going to be elated about winning but not about achieving goals. Happiness from success results from the achievements accomplished.

Source:
http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/essays-and-dissertations/critical-success-factors.php

---MIS2 Assignment # 5---

2009-12-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

Base in our study and readings we are to discuss the spectrum of organizational change, and answer the question which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts?

According to them that the only thing that doesn’t change in this world is the time. Change is not an easy thing to go through. It does not matter if it is a change in where someone is living or where someone is working. The change process is not easy. You have to be able to adapt to your new environment quickly because you will be left behind. The change process is also not easy when it comes to changes that affect a whole organization. Everyone needs to be on the same page and all of the pros and cons of the change need to be weighed out before the actual change is taken place. In the following essay I will illustrate to you an organizational change that I was apart of and the result that it had on the future of the organization. In the 21st Century, you will not have an organization change which does not involve some sort of technology change or addition. Implementation of such a change must be planned well in advance and everything that could go wrong, from a production level, is accounted for and corrected. For example, if the new system will cause another system to function improperly then we can not set up that new system until we figure out a way to make sure that both systems work properly together. You have to make sure that business will be running as usual or at a good percentage.

Because of the rapid rate of all technological innovation, technological changes are becoming increasingly important to many organizations. One major area of change involves equipment, thus a change in work processes or work activities maybe necessary. Timex, for example, 3-D design software from Toronto based software Alias Research Inc. to be able to turn out watches faster. Organization control systems may also be targets of such a change.

Another area of organization change has to do with human resources. An organization might decide to change the skill-level of its work force and the level of performance of its workers. Perceptions and expectations, attitudes and values are also a common focus on organizational change. Organizational change is anticipated or triggered because of different changing circumstances; an organization might incur a change because of forces bending its environment. These forces might be either external or internal. The external forces derive from the organization's general or task environments. The general environment is parted into different dimensions: the international, the economic, the technological, the socio-cultural and the political-legal dimension.

Before to choose in which is the most radical type of change either automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts, let me first discuss the terminology “organizational change and its impact”.

What's "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.

Why is Organization-Wide Change Difficult to Accomplish?

Typically there are strong resistances to change. People are afraid of the unknown. Many people think things are already just fine and don't understand the need for change. Many are inherently cynical about change, particularly from reading about the notion of "change" as if it's a mantra. Many doubt there are effective means to accomplish major organizational change. Often there are conflicting goals in the organization, e.g., to increase resources to accomplish the change yet concurrently cut costs to remain viable. Organization-wide change often goes against the very values held dear by members in the organization, that is, the change may go against how members believe things should be done. That's why much of organizational-change literature discusses needed changes in the culture of the organization, including changes in members' values and beliefs and in the way they enact these values and beliefs.

How Is Organization-Wide Change Best Carried Out?

Successful change must involve top management, including the board and chief executive. Usually there's a champion who initially instigates the change by being visionary, persuasive and consistent. A change agent role is usually responsible to translate the vision to a realistic plan and carry out the plan. Change is usually best carried out as a team-wide effort. Communications about the change should be frequent and with all organization members. To sustain change, the structures of the organization itself should be modified, including strategic plans, policies and procedures. This change in the structures of the organization typically involves an unfreezing, change and re-freezing process.

The best approaches to address resistances is through increased and sustained communications and education. For example, the leader should meet with all managers and staff to explain reasons for the change, how it generally will be carried out and where others can go for additional information. A plan should be developed and communicated. Plans do change. That's fine, but communicate that the plan has changed and why. Forums should be held for organization members to express their ideas for the plan. They should be able to express their concerns and frustrations as well.

Some General Guidelines to Organization-Wide Change
In addition to the general guidelines listed above, there are a few other basic guidelines to keep in mind.

1. Consider using a consultant. Ensure the consultant is highly experienced in organization-wide change. Ask to see references and check the references.
2. Widely communicate the potential need for change. Communicate what you're doing about it. Communicate what was done and how it worked out.
3. Get as much feedback as practical from employees, including what they think are the problems and what should be done to resolve them. If possible, work with a team of employees to manage the change.
4. Don't get wrapped up in doing change for the sake of change. Know why you're making the change. What goal(s) do you hope to accomplish?
6. Plan the change. How do you plan to reach the goals, what will you need to reach the goals, how long might it take and how will you know when you've reached your goals or not? Focus on the coordination of the departments/programs in your organization, not on each part by itself. Have someone in charge of the plan.
7. End up having every employee ultimately reporting to one person, if possible, and they should know who that person is. Job descriptions are often complained about, but they are useful in specifying who reports to whom.
8. Delegate decisions to employees as much as possible. This includes granting them the authority and responsibility to get the job done. As much as possible, let them decide how to do the project.
9. The process won't be an "aha!" It will take longer than you think.
10. Keep perspective. Keep focused on meeting the needs of your customer or clients.
11. Take care of yourself first. Organization-wide change can be highly stressful.
12. Don't seek to control change, but rather to expect it, understand it and manage it.
13. Include closure in the plan. Acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments.
14. Read some resources about organizational change, including new forms and structures.

Managing Organizational Change

It is important to have a change in the organization. In addition, such change should be successful and must contribute towards the success of the organization. The main objective of this paper is to characterize the prevalence of the change process in organizations and understand what occurs during organizational change. Organizational change is an ongoing process in order to bring the organizational systems and processes in line with the factors prevailing in the external and internal environment of the organization. The forces of organizational change include internal and external forces. Organization Development OD refers to the framework consisting of planned-change.

Learning Objectives For Organizational Change

Organizational change is important to usher in long-term success in an organization. A change entails realignment of organizational systems and processes. Managing change involves institutionalizing the philosophy of change in the organization. Effective change management entails creating a definitive vision and managing the transition to the desired future state.

Organizational Change and Stress Management

The forces prevailing in internal or external environment of an organization necessitate organizational change. The prime challenge before organizations is to fully institutionalize the philosophy of the change. The organizational change can be either planned or unplanned. After the change has been effected, initially, there is a resistance to change.

Organizations and Organizational Change
An organization operates in an environment of constant change. In order to survive, it is imperative for the organization to anticipate any change in the environment and proactively work towards eliminating the effect of the same. Organizational Structure OS defines the roles and the activities of different organizational positions.

Types of Organizational Change

Automation: Using technology to perform tasks efficiently / effectively
Rationalization of Procedures: Streamline SOPs; eliminate bottlenecks
Business Reengineering: Radical redesign of processes to improve cost, quality, service; maximize benefits of technology
Paradigm Shift: A new perspective on things

Automation-using the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks
• most common form of IT-enabled change
• involves assisting employees perform their tasks more efficiently and effectively
• akin to putting a larger motor in an existing vehicle

Rationalization of procedures: the streamlining of existing operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient
• follows quickly from early automation
• Toshiba had to rationalize its procedures down to the level of installation manuals and software instruction and had to create standard names and formats for the data items in its global data warehouse
• Think: without a large amount of business process rationalization, computer technology would have been useless at Toshiba (what ERPs do)

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR): The radical redesign of business processes, combining steps to cut waste and eliminating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks to improve cost, quality, and service and to maximize the benefits of information technology
• Involves radical rethinking
• Can change the way an organization conducts its business
• IT allowed Baxter to be a manager of its customer’s supplies
• Strikes fear, its expensive, its very risky and its extremely difficult to carry out and manage
• Develop the business vision and process objective
• Identify the processes to be redesigned (core and highest payback)
• Understand and measure the performance of existing processes
• Identify the opportunities for applying information technology
• Build a prototype of the new process

Paradigm shift-paradigm is a complete mental model of how a complex system functions a paradigm shift involves rethinking the nature of the business, the organization; a complete reconception of how the system should function. Radical reconceptualization of the nature of the business and the nature of the organization
• akin to rethinking not only the automobile, but transportation itself
• e-business is a paradigm shift
• Deciding which business process to get right is half the challenge
• 70% of time programmatic reengineering efforts fail
• Why then change? Because the rewards are high!

To close those gaps managers should know how to face and overcome resistance to change. Although there are no certain solutions, several techniques at least have the potential to decrease or even eliminate this resistance. Participation is often the effective technique for overcoming resistance to change. Employees who participate in planning and implementing a change are better able to understand the reasons for the change. Uncertainty is reduced, and self-interests and social relationships are less threatened. Having had an opportunity to express their ideas and to understand the perspectives of others, employees are more likely to accept the changes more gracefully. Educating employees about the need for and the expected results of an impending change may reduce their resistance. And if open communication is established and maintained during the change process, uncertainty can be minimized. Several facilitation procedures, which include making only necessary changes, announcing those changes well in advance, and allowing time for people to adjust to new ways of doing things, can help reduce resistance to change.

We conclude that whatever the changes inside an organization might be, and whatever the reasons that made these changes necessary, a good way of implementing the changes successfully is for a manager to treat the participation and the communication with his employees as integral parts of the change process.

Sources:
http://managementhelp.org/mgmnt/orgchnge.htm
http://www.zturk.com/edu/zagreb/podiplomski/slides/02-1-short-IT-strategies.pdf
http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/organizational+change.html

---MIS2 Assignment # 4---

2009-12-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

We are to invite by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, and discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. Before to give the process and how to implement information system, let me first discuss briefly what Information System Plan is.

Hire by the president of the university to make an information system plan is indeed an overwhelming to everyone, knowing that it’s not easy as 1+3 to make a good and powerful information system plan for the improvement of the university. Since I don’t really know what are the parameters in making and implementing information system plan, let me first provide a meaning to each word.

The term information system refers to information technology that is used by people to accomplish a specified organizational or individual objective. The technology may be used in the gathering, processing, storing, and/or dissemination of information, and the users are trained in the use of that technology, as well as in the procedures to be followed in doing so. The specific technologies that collectively comprise information technology are computer technology and data communications technology. Computers provide most of the storage and processing capabilities, while data communications—specifically networks—provide the means for dissemination and remote access of information.

The term plan refers to A draught or form; properly, a representation drawn on a plane, as a map or a chart; especially, a top view, as of a machine, or the representation or delineation of a horizontal section of anything, as of a building; a graphic representation; a diagram. A scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or described in language; a project; as, the plan of a constitution; the plan of an expedition. Or it can be to scheme; to devise; to contrive; to form in design; as, to plan the conquest of a country.

To most effectively support knowledge workers, the enterprise should strive to create object oriented environments. These two concepts, knowledge worker and object oriented environments are brought together into technology architectures since both uniquely characterize the ideal working environment. The knowledge worker’s environment involves both automated and non-automated activities. Some non-automated activities involve the use of automation, for example, once a patient receives a treatment from a clinician (non automated activity), the characteristics of the treatment, and the clinicians observations about the patient’s reaction to the treatment are typically recorded in some automated system. A knowledge worker’s framework must therefore address manual and automated activities.

Knowledge workers perform groups of functions to accomplish their designated job or to accomplish some aspect of the enterprise’s mission. Knowledge workers may perform these function groups in different combinations depending on the enterprise’s organization. For example, if an organization is highly distributed into multi-functional units, there may be staff that performs diverse groups of functions. Conversely, a highly centralized organization may have certain staff devoted to specific and highly specialized functions. The knowledge worker is therefore a complex multifaceted person who performs diverse functions of different complexities for one or more organizations.

Enterprises commonly create computing supports for knowledge workers under the assumption that the functions they perform and the organizations through which they act are fixed and seldom change. Not only are these assumptions wrong, but when the functions and organizations do change, computing environment changes seldom keep pace because they are time consuming to specify, difficult to implement, and slow to accomplish. Slow-to-react computing environment changes, therefore, become the very reason why information technology support to business functions and organizations cannot keep pace with the demands of change. What is needed are computing environments that are object oriented, sensitive to knowledge worker functions and organizations, and that can react to the demands of change in a timely fashion.

Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies

The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes the planning characteristics in major ways. For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period. Other questions associated with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise corporate organization vs. strategic business unit, number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and deliverables.

Timely- The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned.

Useable- The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started.

Maintainable- The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away.

Quality- While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly.

Reproducible- The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.

The ISP Steps

The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner.

The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise.

Information Systems Plan Development Steps

Create the mission model-The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the Awho and the Ahow.

Develop a high-level data model-The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created.

Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes-Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource Alives@ through its resource life cycle.

Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes-Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives@ through its resource life cycle network.

Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes-The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work onto which the Aas is business information systems and databases can be Aattached. See for example, the meta model in The Ato-be@ databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects between the Aas-is and the Ato-be are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan.

Allocate standard work break down structures to each RLC node-Detailed planning of the Adifference projects entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning.

Load resources into each WBS node-Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The meta entities are those inferred by Figure 2.
Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities.- The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the APERT chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network.

Produce and review of the ISP-The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the Meta data environment the integrated project management Meta data and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized.

Execute and adjust the ISP through time- As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is automated the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less.

Executive and Adjusting the ISP Through Time

IT projects are accomplished within distinct development environments. The two most common are: discrete project and release. The discrete project environment is typified by completely encapsulated projects accomplished through a water-fall methodology.

In release environments, there are a number of different projects underway by different organizations and staff of varying skill levels. Once a large number of projects are underway, the ability of the enterprise to know about and manage all the different projects degrades rapidly. That is because the project management environment has been transformed from discrete encapsulated projects into a continuous flow process of product or functionality improvements that are released on a set time schedule. Figure 3 illustrates the continuous flow process environment that supports releases. The continuous flow process environment is characterized by:

• Multiple, concurrent, but differently scheduled projects against the same enterprise resource
• Single projects that affect multiple enterprise resources
• Projects that develop completely new capabilities, or changes to existing capabilities within enterprise resources

It is precisely because enterprises have transformed themselves from a project to a release environment that information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained on an enterprise-wide basis are essential.

There are four major sets of activities within the continuous flow process environment. The user/client is represented at the top in the small rectangular box. Each of the ellipses represents an activity targeted to a specific need. The four basic needs are:

• Need Identification
• Need Assessment
• Design
• Deployment

The box in the center is the meta data repository. Specification and impact analysis is represented through the left two processes. Implementation design and accomplishment is represented by the right two processes. Two key characteristics should be immediately apparent. First, unlike the water-fall approach, the activities do not flow one to the other. They are disjoint. In fact, they may be done by different teams, on different time schedules, and involve different quantities of products under management. In short, these four activities are independent one from the other. Their only interdependence is through the meta data repository.

The second characteristic flows from the first. Because these four activities are independent one from the other, the enterprise evolves by means of releases rather than through whole systems. If it evolved through whole systems, then the four activities would be connected either in a waterfall or a spiral approach, and the enterprise would be evolving through major upgrades to encapsulated functionality within specific business resources. In contrast, the release approach causes coordinated sets of changes to multiple business resources to be placed into production. This causes simultaneous, enterprise-wide capability upgrades across multiple business resources.

Through this continuous-flow process, several unique features are present:
• All four processes are concurrently executing.
• Changes to enterprise resources occur in unison, periodically, and in a very controlled manner.
• The meta data repository is always contains all the enterprise resource specifications: current or planned. Simply put, if an enterprise resource semantic is not within the meta data repository, it is not enterprise policy.
• All changes are planned, scheduled, measured, and subject to auditing, accounting, and traceability.
• All documentation of all types is generated from the meta data repository.

Information systems strategy planning is the process through which organizations identify a portfolio of IT applications to achieve their business objectives. It starts from identifying IT applications and underlying technologies for the present and future needs of the business. In a competitive business environment, effective information system planning is important because it shapes and changes the way a company does its business. The essence of IS strategy not only encompasses issues concerning technology management but also involves a broad range of organizational and human factors. IS research in developing countries such as India has largely focused on social and developmental issues. Existing literature focuses on the weaknesses in national setting and the contextual factors, including state of expertise, availability of technology and infrastructure, lack of financial and human capital, and constraints imposed by social contexts.

With increased usage and impacts of IS, the company started following a formal, systematic approach to defining, identifying and executing its IS projects. We have to meet the steering committee met periodically and ensured the appropriateness of the initiatives. The outcome of these efforts was a detailed IS objective and IS strategy documents that were approved by the top management committee. These two
documents were circulated among the key departments across the organization. One IS senior manager said “we have placed the two documents along with the vision and mission statements of the organization, the organization, being a privately held one, was very selective in disseminating information within as well as outside the firm.

Even the IS-related deliberations were not disseminated to organizational members at large. Further, since formal business planning system was not in place, IS strategy too was not formalized in terms of process and documentation. However, according to a senior IS executive, the very nature of ownership of the organization is the reason for the less formal planning systems. There was no formal steering committee or any other type of top management involvement that was found. Both IS and functional managers were only made aware of the less formal IS strategy of the organization. A consulting firm was used as part of the business and IS planning. Though IS strategy process was ormalized, IS strategy was less communicated to various functions of organizations. This was primarily due to the fact that top management wanted to try a suitable approach for implementation of IS strategy and kept the lower level IS and functional managers less informed.

As part of the IS strategy, the organization should include the responsibility for implementation along with detail and time dimensions. The implementation responsibility was rested with the steering committee unlike the previous periods during which IS function was responsible. Specific application areas along with appropriate technologies were identified along with approaches for implementation for the first time.
As part of the strategy the IS function was reorganized by diving the IS function with each having clear focus.

Specific technologies or approaches towards implementation were not part of the strategy. The implementation responsibility was with the steering committee headed by the director of IS. Implementation plan contained a time frame of three years and applications were defined as part of the strategy. As part of the implementation plan we have to decide to outsource key development and implementation projects to another company from the group.

We have to provide a descriptive account of IS strategic planning experiences of the university and also to evaluate the critical parameters that affect the ultimate performance of the IS. Examining the scenario, we have to identified and discussed the importance of the five important IS planning parameters that contribute to the IS implementation success in the developing university context. That management of IS planning parameters should undergone major changes in developing a certain plan. The changes witness high degree of linkage of IS planning with business planning, increased top management’s participation in planning process, evidence of formal processes for documentation and dissemination, redesigning IS governance structures and specifying details for plan for
implementation.

Organizations have to realize the need for linking the IS plans with business plans. Changing the mindset of the top management to realize the role of IT for achieving competitive advantage will lead to the participation of the top management in the IS planning process. Formal structures for SISP and dissemination of plans to key stakeholders would guide in achieving the organizational readiness for implementation. Many organizations have problems in evolving matured IS function due to several economic and organizational factors. Transforming the nature and role of IS function from a technical to managerial focus through suitable tactical approaches would lead to successful SISP.

The research has many implications for theatrical development. Firstly, we have to contribute to the understanding of IS planning practices in developing settings, a relatively new area in IS research. Secondly, the study also revalidates some of the earlier researches on IS planning that have largely been conducted in the developed country contexts. Thirdly, we have to identify critical factors that are likely to contribute to effective IS planning in an organizations. Future research could examine findings using field surveys in developing country settings. Further, we have to use retrospective case studies, based on interviews after the events had occurred. Future researchers could employ action research to examine the issues as they happen.

Sources:
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

---MIS2 Assignment # 3---

2009-12-12T07:28:00.000-08:00

What are the two most frequently experienced causes of frustration of IS professionals and users while working on an IS plan?

We are to interview IT personnel regarding their experienced or shall I say their most frequently experienced causes of frustration while working on IS plan. Basically many problems would arise in making plans; even a single and simple plan has a bit of frustration especially in implementing it. In a world of “professionals” they are expected to make or create projects which address to their client a perfect work, for what they are called a professional if their work is not excellent. Many frustrations would come to our way, if we all experience this scenario; even a big company like GSIS encounters a problem to their system which only sat that we cannot avoid such frustrations in dealing our own capacity to do so.

Before we would move on to the interview of on IT user or professional, let me first define what frustration is. According to wikipedia Frustration a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external.

In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in fulfilling personal goals and desires, instinctual drives and needs, or dealing with perceived deficiencies, such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations. Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration; when one has competing goals that interfere with one another, it can create cognitive dissonance. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside an individual, such as a blocked road or a difficult task. While coping with frustration, some individuals may engage in passive-aggressive behavior, making it difficult to identify the original cause(s) of their frustration, as the responses are indirect. A more direct, and common response, is a propensity towards aggression

This would means that every man or women must posses frustration if they have this so called “will” in every action they are making. According to the personnel we Interview there are two frequently experienced causes of frustrations of IS professional and users while working on an IS plan.

1. User Error (user did something they shouldn't have.)
2. User Error (They did it again)

In today's economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens continuously, and often at rapid speed. Because change has become an everyday part of organizational dynamics, employees who resist change can actually cripple an organization.

Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or status are threatened.

If management does not understand, accept and make an effort to work with resistance, it can undermine even the most well-intentioned and well-conceived change efforts.

The Nature and Causes of Resistance

Symptoms are the specific behaviors individuals exhibit when they are resistant to change. According to Bhutan, it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change, and the causes behind it. These behaviors fall into two categories -- active-resistance or passive-resistance. Symptoms of active-resistance include finding fault, ridiculing, appealing to fear, and manipulating. Passive-resistance symptoms include agreeing verbally but not following through, feigning ignorance and withholding information.

It is safe to assume that any attempts to cover all of them would produce volumes of literature. However, there are several that are quite common and prevalent, which help provide a solid basis to understanding the concept.

Employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many case there is not a disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown future and about their ability to adapt to it.

Low tolerance for change is defined as the fear that one will not be able to develop new skills and behaviors that are required in a new work setting. According to Kotter & Schlesinger, if an employee has a low tolerance for change, the increased ambiguity that results as a result of having to perform their job differently would likely cause a resistance to the new way of doing things. An employee may understand that a change is needed, but may be emotionally unable to make the transition and resist for reasons they may not consciously understand.

Personal compacts are comprised of formal, psychological, and social dimensions. The formal dimension is the most familiar. It is the aspect of the relationship that addresses the basic tasks and performance requirements of the job, and is defined by job descriptions, employee contracts, and performance agreements. Management, in return, agrees to supply the employee the resources needed to perform their job. The psychological dimension address aspects of the employment relationship that incorporate the elements of mutual trust, loyalty and commitment. The social dimension of the personal compact deals with organizational culture, which encompasses, mission statement, values, ethics and business practices.

Competing commitments should not be viewed as a weakness, but as a version of self-protection. If these competing commitments are a form of self-protection, then what are employees protecting themselves from?

Positive Resistance

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.

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 are 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

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.

Information systems (IS) planning is recognized as one of the dominated managerial issues of MIS. Based on prior studies in strategic and IS planning, this study integrates three domains to investigate the effects of organizational contexts and planning system dimensions on the effectiveness of IS planning from a contingency perspective. The model is supported by the empirical data, showing the importance of many contextual factors and planning system dimensions to attaining greater effectiveness of IS planning. In particular, the results demonstrate the pivotal role of an organization’s improved planning capability in mediating the effects of organization contexts and planning system dimensions on IS planning effectiveness. The implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.

To avoid this conflicts that causes frustration between IS professionals and user, they should know their own capability before making the entire plan…they should question their own selves if they can handle it together. The IS-professionals and users should have formal relationships to each other; there should be policies that give one group the ability to command actions during the development of the plan. If the user don’t know or doesn’t understand about the system the IS professional has a responsibility to share and to give the scope of the system and to explain it further. Typically, practical solutions to this problem have focused on specific problems in specific contexts and have ignored the group relationship itself. IS professionals especially, have tended to look at good individual and project relations, and then wondered why user’s attitudes were still so negative. I suggest that if the problem of poor user - IS relationships to be adequately addressed , it must be treated as a problem between organizational groups, since this relationship affects all other contexts in which users and IS people interact. In this solution problems may easily be fix because they will meet the problem as a whole not individually.

However, even if frustration would exist to everyone, this would not mean that we cannot avoid or block this existence. How to deal this issue?

1. Ask Yourself, “What Is Working in This Situation?”

Even if feels like nothing is working, look closely and you will probably find at least something that is going right. So, that’s good. You’ve found something that’s working. Now, how do you improve it? By asking this question, you’ve taken yourself out of the negative mindset of “it’s hopeless” and are back to focusing on the positive.

2. Keep an Accomplishments Log

Write down everything you accomplish in a log. If you do it in a monthly format you will be able to see all that you have accomplished in just one month. You may be surprised by how much you have done. If you realize there’s not much on the list, it may open your eyes to the fact that you may be procrastinating more than working or that you are using too much of your energy going in too many directions and that you need to focus more.

3. Multiple Solutions

You always have options. You just need to brainstorm and figure them out. Tell yourself you need to come up with 8 possible options to what you’re dealing with. Just knowing that you have lots of options will help to make you feel better. You won’t feel like you are trapped in one negative situation. From your list, figure out the best direction and go for it.

4. Stay Positive

Things are usually not as bad as they first appear. Sometimes, things seem much worse simply because we’re tired or mentally drained. Taking a break and remembering to keep your sense of humour can also help. This time of frustration will pass.

Effective communication with your clients

Nothing turns a person's perception of your web site, and therefore your company, suddenly sour than having first made the effort to contact your site and receiving no reply in return. This feeling is doubly so when the person is in contact with you regarding a problem they are experiencing.

This leaves your site user or client with the impression that your operation either does not value or even care about their opinion, or else it is totally inefficient and incompetent. If either of these feelings are experienced by a large enough amount of people in contact with your company and they are allowed to go unchecked, this negative feeling can spell disaster for the long-term stability of your Internet presence.

Feedback from your web site users in a personal format (e.g. e-mails, feedback forms etc.) is perhaps the single most important piece of data that you can be supplied with. As I have discussed elsewhere is detail, site statistics and survey results can be a valuable marketing tool, but if they have one flaw it is that they can not tell you how people feel about your product, site or general image.

To function effectively, professional IT practitioners need not only the appropriate technical knowledge, skills and experience, but also a broad understanding of the context in which they operate.
A good grounding in the relationship between technological change, society and the law, and the powerful role that computers and computer professionals play in a technological society, is essential.
Professional Issues in Information Technology aids IT professionals to be capable in their chosen professional areas, operate effectively in work and community situations and to be aware of their environments.

Sources:
http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html
http://www.akamarketing.com/communicating-with-clients.html
http://www.life-with-confidence.com/frustration.html

---MIS2 Assignment # 2---

2009-12-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

What should be the nature of the relationship between business plan and IS plan?

One of the most common sets of activities in the management is planning. Very simply put, planning is setting the direction for something -- some system -- and then guiding the system to follow the direction. There are many kinds of planning in organizations. Common to these many kinds of planning are various phases of planning and guidelines for carrying them out as effectively as possible.

Before we distinguish the nature of business plan and Information System Plan let us first define its category to understand further its uses and essence.

What is Business Plan?

As I surf the net I found some definitions of business plan and according to wikipedia business plan is a written proposal addressed to potential lenders or investors. Typically, it describes a new business and tells why it is deserving of financial support (Earl C.). The first step beyond coming up with an idea for a business is to try and organize the idea. When organizing the idea the first consideration is the business plan. The business plan is a written organized bound book about your possible business. Before even writing the plan there is a great deal of information that must be gathered. This information will tell the person writing the plan more about the business and also create a good base to writing an industry analysis which will also let that person know how well that particular business is doing in the world.

In addition to that answer.com also provide a definition to business plan which state that business plan is a document that summarizes the operational and financial objectives of a business and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized.

Because the business plan contains detailed financial projections, forecasts about your business's performance, and a marketing plan, it's an incredibly useful tool for business planning. A document prepared by a company's management, detailing the past, present, and future of the company, usually designed to attract capital investment.
And lastly A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.

Business Importance

The business goals may be defined for for-profit or for non-profit organizations. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals, such as profit or creation of wealth. Non-profit and government agency business plans tend to focus on organizational mission which is the basis for their governmental status or their non-profit, tax-exempt status, respectively although non-profits may also focus on optimizing revenue. In non-profit organizations, creative tensions may develop in the effort to balance mission with "margin" (or revenue). Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community. A business plan having changes in perception and branding as its primary goals is called a marketing plan.

What is Information System Plan?

A process for developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization.

Now after defining each plan, let us review each nature, importance and its strategy.

-Business Plan-
Here are five good reasons why you should write a business plan:

1) To test the feasibility of your business idea.

Writing a business plan is the best way to test whether or not an idea for starting a business is feasible, other than going out and doing it. In this sense, the business plan is your safety net; writing a business plan can save you a great deal of time and money if working through the business plan reveals that your business idea is untenable. Often, an idea for starting a business is discarded at the marketing analysis or competitive analysis stage, freeing you to move on to a new (and better) idea.

2) To give your new business the best possible chance of success.

Writing a business plan will ensure that you pay attention to both the broad operational and financial objectives of your new business and the details, such as budgeting and market planning. Taking the time to work through the process of writing a business plan will make for a smoother startup period and fewer unforeseen problems as your business becomes established.

3) To secure funding, such as bank loans.

You're going to need both operating and startup capital to start a new business and you have no hope of getting any money from established financial institutions such as banks without a well developed business plan. And established businesses often need money, too, to do things such as buy new equipment or property, or because of market downturns. Having a business plan gives you a much better chance of getting the money you need to keep operating or to expand.

4) To make business planning manageable and effective.

A business plan is essential if you're thinking of starting a business, but it's also an important tool for established businesses. Viable businesses are dynamic; they change and grow. The company's original business plan needs to be revised as new goals are set. Reviewing the business plan can also help you see what goals have been accomplished, what changes need to be made, or what new directions your company's growth should take.

5) To attract investors.

Whether you want to shop your business to venture capitalists, or attract angel investors, you need to have a solid business plan. A presentation may pique their interest, but they'll need a well-written document they can take away and study before they'll be prepared to make any investment commitment.
Be prepared for your business plan to be scrutinized; both venture capitalists and angel investors will want to conduct extensive background checks and competitive analysis to be certain that what's written in your business plan is indeed the case.

Writing a business plan is time-consuming, but it's essential if you want to have a successful business that's going to survive the startup phase. If your business doesn't have one, maybe it's time to start working on one. The process of writing a business plan can do wonders to clarify where you've been and where you're going.

-Information System Plan-

Information Technology strategy which determines the ‘how’ it is done, in terms of technology policies, a technology framework or architecture which drives, shapes and controls the IT infrastructure.

Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies

The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes the planning characteristics in major ways.

For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period.

Other questions associated with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise – corporate organization vs. strategic business unit, number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and deliverables. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it.

After we define business plan and information system plan we can now give the relationship of the two. In my own notion no matter how small your business is, creating a business plan is always a good idea. A business plan that includes thorough market research and analysis about your industry will help you identify your vision, costs, goals and obstacles. If you intend to seek financing for your business, you must have a business. The primary job of a business owner is to manage and run a business. The term manage implies the task of planning and execution.

The process of business planning helps reduce risks. he relationship of the business plan and the Strategic Information System Plan are the business plan is only focusing in the attainment of the goals of the business in short it gives more attention to the business side while the Strategic Information System Plan focuses in improving the management side and to improve the performance of the business. For me the Business Plan and the Strategic Information System are very essential in a business and these two factors can lead you to the right path of business. As a conclusion, if you don’t have goal in your life why you are still living now? We live in this world to reach our own goals and make your goals as your inspiration. Don’t wait for your goal you must work for it.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessplans/businessplancoachtimberry/article83818.html

http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/businessplans/a/bizplanwhy.htm

---MIS2 Assignment # 1---

2009-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

We are to think about our self worthy to be called as IT professional, how do we see our self 10 years from now, and what are our strategies to get there?

"The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." -Denis Watley-

Basically it is one of the toughest questions given to us for the reason that, it really hard to think of becoming an IT professional with our situation today. However since we envision of becoming a member of IT professional league, I think we must first define what does this “worthy IT Professional” means.

In the World of IT many people call our selves “IT Professionals,” but what I would like to know is the true meaning of a “worthy” IT professional? Can we be an IT professional if we only use the GUI side or do we really have to be able to use the command line area as well? Would I have the qualification to be called as IT professional?

Worthy, I have heard this word a million times before since when I was young up to now, and yet, I really don’t know the exact meaning. Why does this word exist? What is the word worthy? The word worthy, is it merely just a word? Or is there something deeper meaning beyond its word itself, can any anyone narrow its meaning? It has been used by most people. It is the mostly asked.

The word worthy just what is it? To define the word worthy, according to the dictionary, it is somebody who is good or morally upright or a respectable person. Am I fit to what the word worthy defines? If yes, I don’t know why and how. If not, are there ways to make my self praiseworthy? To be a worthy person, a respectable person, or a good person, they say it starts with small deeds. However, if a person fails to do so then, how could you do big deeds just to be called a worthy person?

Everything around us is changing. Technology is one of the most ideal examples of change. There has been a rapid pace of change in technology in these past years. New technologies were introduced to improve the quality of our life. It is for our own comfort. It is for ease of getting things done. Technology has change the way of our living. And it makes me wonder, “Are there still things that are needed to improve in our life?”

We are in line of what they so called future “IT Professionals”, not because we are soon to graduate as IT student only but the mere fact that we can contribute a massive development to the industry of technology. Can we commit our self worthy to be called IT professionals?

Well, IT professional covers a lot of different jobs similar to doctor a veterinarian, general practitioner, surgeon and all doctors; I would say the same for Programmer, helpdesk support, SQL designer are all types of IT Professionals. It all really comes down to one thing a good knowledge of Computers and a pay packet for doing it. Just as intended applicants to any club or organization are scorned, however, so are technology professionals scorned by the established professions. The intent is to maintain high standing of existing professions by demeaning all else. Most technical professionals are constrained to operate under duress, however, working under deadlines created by delusions and fantasies of persons having no particular technical basis for their determination. Any work product produced under such situations is bound to be flawed.

As I surf the net I found out that Information technology professionals within an organization tend to work together in a team environment. Team members within an organization must learn to work together to complete a job. Professionals that make up this team may include systems analyst, information systems management, programmers, users and other specialists. In order to work well together, a team must strive to communicate clearly and completely with its members. To achieve this, members will have to trust and respect each other. Furthermore each member should put one’s own views second to the views of the group. The responsibility and accountability within a team should be shared, for success in a team environment.

Not so long, I dream to become a boss in my own company or travel around the globe with the help of my premises, but never in my dream to become an It professionals. Really things are meant to be change as time goes by, and this would make me realize that upon choosing my carrier now, I can barely say that dreaming to be an It professional is indeed a big challenge in my life now. Although IT covers many works, still I’m confused on what to choose. Would it be an IT programmer? IT consultant? Or what?

Hmmmm maybe, just maybe 10 years from now Ill be an IT Consultant, not because it deals with meeting with different clients but also indeed it fit my personality as more comfortable in talking and convincing a lot. Here are some definitions about an IT consultant:

An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organization’s IT systems. IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development. They may also be responsible for user training and feedback. In many companies, these tasks will be carried out by an IT project team. IT consultants are increasingly involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.

Definition and Nature of the Work

The widespread use of computers in businesses of all sizes has created a need for computer consultants. Companies that are large enough to computerize their operations but too small to need a computer specialist on staff usually hire computer consultants on a contract or retainer basis.

Most computer consultants work independently, although some are employed by consulting firms. Their duties vary according to the needs of their client companies. A computer consultant might spend only a few hours helping a dentist select and learn to operate a small office system. For a larger company, the consultant might spend several months establishing a complicated database, creating a network of small and large computers, writing user manuals, designing a Web site, or conducting computer training classes. Consultants also may recommend and design security features for a computer system. Computer consultants can be software programmers, hardware system installers, networking specialists, database specialists, systems analysts, or a combination of the above.

Education and Training Requirements

Most computer consultants are college graduates. They may have degrees in computer science or data processing. Experts recommend that aspiring consultants gain experience as staff computer specialists before working independently.

Getting the Job

Interested individuals can apply directly to computer consulting firms. If someone wants to work independently, he or she can advertise in computer magazines or send a resume directly to firms that potentially require the services of a computer consultant.

Typical work activities

Task typically involve

• meeting with clients to determine requirements;

• working with clients to define the scope of a project;

• planning timescales and the resources needed;

• clarifying a client's system specifications, understanding their work practices and the nature of their business;

• traveling to customer sites;

• liaising with staff at all levels of a client organization;

• defining software, hardware and network requirements;

• analyzing IT requirements within companies and giving independent and objective advice on the use of IT;

• developing agreed solutions and implementing new systems;

• presenting solutions in written or oral reports;

• helping clients with change-management activities;

• project managing the design and implementation of preferred solutions;

• purchasing systems where appropriate;

• designing, testing, installing and monitoring new systems;

• preparing documentation and presenting progress reports to customers;

• organizing training for users and other consultants;

• being involved in sales and support and, where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organisations;

• identifying potential clients and building and maintaining contacts.

Information technology (IT) consultants work in firms of management consultants, software and systems houses within large manufacturers of computing equipment, or occasionally internally in major industrial companies.

What IT consultants do

• analyze IT requirements within companies and give independent and objective advice on the use of IT

• provide specialist support and back-up to professionals within client companies

• advise on strategic planning and operational efficiency

• may run facilities for clients

• design, develop and test new systems

• train staff in new systems.

Key skills for IT consultants

• analytical approach to work

• excellent problem-solving skills

• interpersonal skills

• communication skills

• ability to absorb complex technical information and pass this on clearly

• stamina to meet deadlines

• ability to work under pressure

• project-management skills

• detailed technical knowledge

• motivation.

Training to be an IT consultant

Training is usually on the job, and may include training in programming languages, systems analysis and testing, or in business skills. Practical project experience under supervision is also given.

Information technology consulting (IT consulting, Computer consultancy, Computing consultancy, technology consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

The IT consulting industry can be viewed as a three-tier system:

• Professional services firms which maintain large professional workforces and command high bill rates.

• Staffing firms, which place technologists with businesses on a temporary basis, typically in response to employee absences, temporary skill shortages and technical projects.

• Independent consultants, who function as employees of staffing firms (for US tax purposes, employed on "W-2"), or as independent contractors in their own right (for US tax purposes, on "1099").

There is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and IT consulting. There are sometimes overlaps between the two fields, but IT consultants often have degrees in computer science, electronics, technology, or management information systems while management consultants often have degrees in accounting, economics, Industrial Engineering, finance, or a generalized MBA (Masters in Business Administration).

According to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, IT consultants' revenues come predominantly from design and planning based consulting with a mixture of IT and Business Consulting. This is different from a Systems Integrator in that you do not normally take title to product. Their value comes from their ability to integrate and support technologies as well as determining product and brands.

With all these thoughts and beliefs, I would probably say that that the mere fact that I’m holding my own key to success is the fact that I have to struggle more in fulfilling my vision and mission in life not only an ordinary person but as the future IT professional.

I don’t know if this will help me a worthy person or a worthy IT professional. It is just small and there is nothing special. However, it will be a good start isn’t it? I shall end this with a quotation by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt saying that far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Sources:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsp
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/196/Computer-Consultant.html
http://www.get.hobsons.co.uk/advice/consultancy-IT-consultant
http://www.answers.com/topic/information-technology-consulting

---HRM Assignmrnt # 9---

2009-09-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

In this assignment we are to interview a personnel or human resource manager on his concept on the nature, scope and role of human resource management. Do we agree with him? Explain. Is his concept similar to that of the management of his organization? If not, ask him how the differences are settled.

Upon interviewing HR personnel, we gathered some information’s on her nature and scope of Human Resource Management but still its sufficient to answer the entire questions in this topic. We find hard time in interviewing her about the concept, nature and scope of Human Resource Management for the reasons that she only answers few questions. Let me first define some Nature, Scope and Role of Human Resource Management as a whole.

The nature of Human Resource Management Roles

Human resource management is also in the process of change with regard to the nature of the role performed. In the past many functions were performed by HRM professionals themselves, the role they are taking on, is one of consultant to line management, where line managers perform many of the functions traditionally handled by HRM professionals. Similarly there is a trend in which businesses are shedding all functions that are not directly related to core business, and in the process many HRM functions are being outsourced. Hence the change in the nature of services provided.

The activity of generating unit standards and designing qualifications can be used as an opportunity to catapult HRM practices into the future. To do this, those issues which are going to shape the future for HRM practices (termed transformation and development issues) need to be identified and analysed, especially in relation to current roles that will still be required of HRM practitioners. These issues are central to the activity of generating unit standards (e.g. outsourcing, societal responsibility) and their impact on HRM roles (e.g. staffing, performance management). In addition, supportive roles or functions required by HRM practitioners will also have to be identified in order to complete the HRM practitioners qualifications design package

Human Resource Management - Nature, Scope, Objectives and Function

Human resources may be defined as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organization's workforce, as well as the values, attitudes, approaches and beliefs of the individuals involved in the affairs of the organization. It is the sum total or aggregate of inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills represented by the talents and aptitudes of the persons employed in the organization.

The human resources are multidimensional in nature. From the national point of view, human resources may be defined as the knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes obtained in the population; whereas from the viewpoint of the individual enterprise, they represent the total of the inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills as exemplified in the talents and aptitudes of its employees.

Human Resource Management: Definition

Human Resource Management has come to be recognized as an inherent part of management, which is concerned with the human resources of an organization. Its objective is the maintenance of better human relations in the organization by the development, application and evaluation of policies, procedures and programmes relating to human resources to optimize their contribution towards the realization of organizational objectives.

In other words, HRM is concerned with getting better results with the collaboration of people. It is an integral but distinctive part of management, concerned with people at work and their relationships within the enterprise. HRM helps in attaining maximum individual development, desirable working relationship between employees and employers, employees and employees, and effective modeling of human resources as contrasted with physical resources. It is the recruitment, selection, development, utilization, compensation and motivation of human resources by the organization.

Human Resource Management: Evolution

The early part of the century saw a concern for improved efficiency through careful design of work. During the middle part of the century emphasis shifted to the employee's productivity. Recent decades have focused on increased concern for the quality of working life, total quality management and worker's participation in management. These three phases may be termed as welfare, development and empowerment.

Human Resource Management: Nature

Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met. The various features of HRM include:

• It is pervasive in nature as it is present in all enterprises.
• Its focus is on results rather than on rules.
• It tries to help employees develop their potential fully.
• It encourages employees to give their best to the organization.
• It is all about people at work, both as individuals and groups.
• It tries to put people on assigned jobs in order to produce good results.
• It helps an organization meet its goals in the future by providing for competent and well-motivated employees.
• It tries to build and maintain cordial relations between people working at various levels in the organization.
• It is a multidisciplinary activity, utilizing knowledge and inputs drawn from psychology, economics, etc.

Human Resource Management: Scope

The scope of HRM is very wide:
1. Personnel aspect-This is concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement, transfer, promotion, training and development, layoff and retrenchment, remuneration, incentives, productivity etc.
2. Welfare aspect-It deals with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety, recreation facilities, etc.
3. Industrial relations aspect-This covers union-management relations, joint consultation, collective bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, etc.

Human Resource Management: Beliefs

The Human Resource Management philosophy is based on the following beliefs:
• Human resource is the most important asset in the organization and can be developed and increased to an unlimited extent.
• A healthy climate with values of openness, enthusiasm, trust, mutuality and collaboration is essential for developing human resource.
• HRM can be planned and monitored in ways that are beneficial both to the individuals and the organization.
• Employees feel committed to their work and the organization, if the organization perpetuates a feeling of belongingness.
• Employees feel highly motivated if the organization provides for satisfaction of their basic and higher level needs.
• Employee commitment is increased with the opportunity to dis¬cover and use one's capabilities and potential in one's work.
• It is every manager's responsibility to ensure the development and utilisation of the capabilities of subordinates.

Human Resource Management: Objectives

• To help the organization reach its goals.
• To ensure effective utilization and maximum development of human resources.
• To ensure respect for human beings. To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals.
• To ensure reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization.
• To achieve and maintain high morale among employees.
• To provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees.
• To increase to the fullest the employee's job satisfaction and self-actualization.
• To develop and maintain a quality of work life.
• To be ethically and socially responsive to the needs of society.
• To develop overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect.
• To enhance employee's capabilities to perform the present job.
• To equip the employees with precision and clarity in trans¬action of business.
• To inculcate the sense of team spirit, team work and inter-team collaboration.

Human Resource Management: Functions

In order to achieve the above objectives, Human Resource Management undertakes the following activities:
1. Human resource or manpower planning.
2. Recruitment, selection and placement of personnel.
3. Training and development of employees.
4. Appraisal of performance of employees.
5. Taking corrective steps such as transfer from one job to another.
6. Remuneration of employees.
7. Social security and welfare of employees.
8. Setting general and specific management policy for organizational relationship.
9. Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling.
10. Staffing the organization.
11. Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels.
12. Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives.
13. Reviewing and auditing man¬power management in the organization
14. Potential Appraisal. Feedback Counseling.
15. Role Analysis for job occupants.
16. Job Rotation.
17. Quality Circle, Organization development and Quality of Working Life.

Human Resource Management: Major Influencing Factors

In the 21st century HRM will be influenced by following factors, which will work as various issues affecting its strategy:
• Size of the workforce.
• Rising employees' expectations
• Drastic changes in the technology as well as Life-style changes.
• Composition of workforce. New skills required.
• Environmental challenges.
• Lean and mean organizations.
• Impact of new economic policy. Political ideology of the Govern¬ment.
• Downsizing and rightsizing of the organizations.
• Culture prevailing in the organization etc.

Sources:
http://expertscolumn.com/content/human-resource-management-nature-scope-objectives-and-function

---MIS Assignment # 9---

2009-09-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

We are to identify an information environment of our choice and write an essay to address the following questions:

• What should be our role within this environment?
• How can the principles of information organization and representation help us in performing this role?
• What are our challenges facing in performing the role? How we will address these challenges?

Before identifying environment issues of my choice, let me first discuss the meaning of Information Environment as a whole.

Information Environment

There is now a critical mass of digital information resources that can be used to support researchers, learners, teachers and administrators in their work and study. The production of information is on the increase and ways to deal with this effectively are required. There is the need to ensure that quality information isn’t lost amongst the masses of digital data created everyday. If we can continue to improve the management, interrogation and serving of ‘quality’ information there is huge potential to enhance knowledge creation across learning and research communities. The aim of the Information Environment is to help provide convenient access to resources for research and learning through the use of resource discovery and resource management tools and the development of better services and practice. The Information Environment aims to allow discovery, access and use of resources for research and learning irrespective of their location.

We as human beings have grown accustomed to using up nonrenewable resources. I feel the role of humans is to first acknowledge our mistakes and then go about changing our behavior. This means trying to recycle, use renewable energy, not littering, using public transportation, buying products from green companies so that economically it is more profitable to conserve than waste, calling our congressman, etc. In short we must accept that we are wrong in thinking that it is someone else's problem. Look up on the inter net how you can help and do it. Make good habits in conservation, learn all you can and share with others what you have learned. You and I are the problem and unless we change, our environment could reach a critical threshold that takes thousands of years to fix. I am an environmental scientists and I know what could happen.

It is always like that ,those living in Paradise have no idea of what they got. I call them Pigs in Paradise

In civilized countries people love the Environment and many people are trying to return to it ,with gardens ,parks or doing some horticulture on free holds ,also many people are buying farms together with some friends and are returning to a healthy country way of life ,usually working for far less money ,but aiming for a better quality of life. So the attitudes are probably opposite of what one would think .

I’m very close to nature ,living in the jungle and with a tremendous knowledge of plants and animals ,but their forefathers were much more involved, Christianity is weaning people away from their roots ,and the difference is great when one compares converted native people to those who are still living the traditional way

As far as mental effects are concerned ,country people are more relaxed and time has a different meaning ,they tend to think in days instead of in minutes and are definitely more polite ,gracious and hospitable ,appreciating when people visit as opposed to people from the cities. They further one goes into the sticks the more polite people become and the more respectful they are of others and their surroundings.

Many are said to be the issues in our environment today, and its a massive problem which every country crucially facing nowadays. Two of these are the issue of nuclear energy in the environment and the most rampant Global Warming. I have to discuss these two major problems in our environment for it is widely spread in the entire globe. This are the meaning and my thoughts about the said matter:

Nuclear Energy:

Nuclear Energy and the Environment In our society, nuclear energy has become one of the most criticized forms of energy by the environmentalists. Thus, a look at nuclear energy and the environment and its impact on economic growth. Lewis Munford, an analyst, once wrote, Too much energy is as fatal as too little, hence the regulation of energy input and output not its unlimited expansion, is in fact one of the main laws of life. This is true when dealing with nuclear power. Because our societies structure and processes both depend upon energy, man is searching for the most efficient and cheapest form of energy that can be used on a long term basis. And because we equate power with growth, the more energy that a country uses, - the greater their expected economic growth. The problem is that energy is considered to have two facets or parts: it is a major source of man-made repercussions as well as being the basis of life support systems. Therefore, we are between two sections in which one is the section of resource availability and waste, and the other the continuity of life support systems pertinent to survival.

Thus, the environmentalists believe that nuclear energy should not be used for various reasons. First of all, the waste product, i.e. plutonium, is extremely radioactive, which may cause the people who are working or living in or around the area of storage or use, to acquire leukemia and other cancers. They also show how billions of dollars are spent yearly on safety devices for a single reactor, and this still doesn't ensure the impossibility of a melt down. Two examples were then given of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, in 1979, when thousands of people were killed and incapacitated. Finally, the environmentalists claim that if society wastes less energy, and develops the means to use the energy more efficiency, then there would be a definite decrease in the requirement for more energy producing plants. On the other hand, some business men and economists say that the present conditions should be kept intact, as the other forms of energy, e.g. oil, natural gas and coal, are only temporary, in dealing with surplus, and give off more pollution with less economic growth.

Concurrently, countries wanted a more reliable, smokeless form of energy not controlled by OPEC, and very little uranium was required to produce such a high amount of resultant energy. Lastly, they said that renewable energy is (a) unreliable in that the wind, for example, could not be depended upon to blow, nor the sun to shine, and (b) were intermittent in that a 1,000 mega-watt solar farm may occupy about 5,000 acres of land, compared with less than 150 acres of land for a similar capacity nuclear power generation station. Because the energy technology that society employs directly influences the quantity and quality of life, the energy option that is chosen should have the greatest cost- benefit effectiveness as well as maximizing flexibility and purchases. However, those who believe in continuous energy consumption growth, seem to forget that there is only a limited supply of energy in every energy system, and to overdo any resource may provide for an unacceptable impact upon global and regional ecology.

Thus, if the business world pushes the environment as far as it can go, Ceribus Paribus, please refer to figure 1. Thus, to use petroleum as a substitute for uranium, which is needed to power the nuclear system, would not be economically or environmentally sensible. I say this because, first of all, there is a major supply of uranium considering it was one of the last energy sources to be found as well as only a small amount of it is required to produce a lot of energy. Secondly, petroleum gives off carbon monoxide which is one of the reasons for ozone depletion; whereas, the uranium does not give off pollution except that it produces plutonium which needs to be buried for more than fifty years to get rid of its radiation. Finally, because so much of the petroleum will be required to power the vast area that nuclear energy can cover, the cost to us as the consumer would be massive! This would mean slower economic growth and/or expansion, especially when compared to nuclear energy.

Global Warming:

Global Warming The beginning of the Industrial Revolution brought many new, exciting inventions into our lives to simplify our lives and made them more efficient. Such inventions included cars, household appliances and plants that burn solid waste, fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, and wood and wood products for fuel. Before the Industrial Revolution, human activities caused very few gases to be released into the atmosphere, but now scientists say, through the burning of fossil fuels, a large population growth and deforestation, humans are affecting the mixture of gases in the atmosphere. This mixture of gases in the atmosphere is causing the worldwide problem known as Global Warming. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the earth has a natural “greenhouse effect” which is caused by energy from the sun controlling the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface.

In response to the sun, the earth radiates energy back into space. Atmospheric greenhouse gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases, trap the energy leaving the earth and retaining it as heat, much like a greenhouse ceiling. This is a natural and necessary effect, without it temperatures on earth would be much lower than they are now and life as it is today would not be possible, but with the greenhouse effect the earth’s average temperature is a more comfortable and life-supporting 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The problems that have arisen with the greenhouse effect have occurred due to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

Some major issues in the Environment:

At the very heart of these obstacles are several factors and events that reflect future environmental challenges:

• Some oil companies and the World Wildlife Fund agree to prohibit World Heritage site exploration
• The abundance and appeal of heavy oil resources in Canada and Venezuela and a new focus on producing those resources have collided with greenhouse gas commitments and waste disposal issues
• Aggressive “environmental liability management” has become the norm for major companies in dealing with legacy issues and in avoiding future liabilities
• The need to accurately measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions data for purposes of future internal and external trading is driving a U.S./industry push for “standardization” of management techniques
• Even as the consequences of global warming are becoming clearer - climate change impacts already recognized in the Arctic, with measurable disruptions to Aboriginal lifestyles, wildlife, existing communities, and industrial development —the exact causes are still debated, and in turn uneven global approaches have created unique business challenges
• There is a dire need to mitigate the worldwide loss of fisheries and underwater habitats due to overexploitation and collateral damage
• Activities in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea demonstrate the technical and cost benefits of oil company collaboration in addressing environmental research, and developing an environmental management strategy
The environmental challenges facing industrial companies and governments throughout the world are numerous and complex. Most governments and industrial companies now clearly realize and embrace the paradigm that environmental issues are intertwined with social/ cultural and socioeconomic issues. In fact, social and cultural concerns may far outweigh all other factors as industry and government make critical decisions regarding environmental issues.

Governmental Concerns

Promoting economic growth with environmental and human health safeguards in place seems to be the path forward for most governments. Decades of environmental mismanagement have created severe legacy issues throughout the developed and developing world. At the crux of this challenge are the current energy policies: economic growth demands energy and the choices for government – e.g., fossil fuel-based energy, renewable energy sources, and hybrid systems – drive related environmental management strategies.
The two huge tasks facing governments are: (1.) determining how to clean up legacy problems, restore natural resources, and achieve human health protection; and (2.) designing strategies to allow for future growth, while protecting the environment, maintaining biodiversity, safeguarding human health, and preserving cultural/ social values. This results in a very complex decision network for governments with varied experiences. A regulatory framework that leverages good science yet is targeted at supporting each country’s social and cultural values is an essential ingredient.

The study suggests that some environmental campaigning currently operates inadvertently to exacerbate these unhelpful aspects of identity. It also points to ways in which environmental organisations could begin to work in order to activate more helpful aspects of identity. Finally, it highlights new opportunities for collaborations across diverse civil society organisations to begin to address fundamental barriers to delivery on a range of concerns - from biodiversity loss to poverty alleviation, and racism to animal welfare abuses.

“Never have environmental problems appeared so insuperable. Whatever the past victories of the environment movement, we need a new and deeper approach - one that begins to engage the human values and identities that lie at the heart of environmental challenges. Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity does not flinch in insisting on both the possibility and the absolute necessity of working in this way. As such, it makes a clear and important contribution to a realistic response to today’s environmental crisis.”

Basic Principles on the Environment

1.Overall Policy

Give serious consideration to the impact on the environment in every aspect of corporate activities, including R&D, production, distribution, marketing, procurement and clerical works, and make the best efforts to conserve and improve the environment.

• (1) Consider the global environmental issues including nature, ecological system and resources for all business activities based on “Think globally, act locally”, and act actively for environmental protection starting around ourselves.
• (2) Review impacts on the environment and effects of measures of all the corporate activities such as research & development, production, distribution, sales, procurement, and clerical work all the time, and take necessary measures to cope with a situation flexibly and appropriately.
• (3) Regarding business activities abroad, not only comply with regulations in the country, but also promote measures contributing to keep the environment preferable voluntarily in accordance with condition of nature and society in the country.
• (4) Timely prepare corporate organization related to environmental issues and related regulations including handling the global environmental issues.

2.Efficient Utilization of Resources and Minimization of Waste

Conserve energy and other resources, and actively pursue waste minimization and resource recycling.
• (1) Minimize industrial waste and maximize recycling by focusing on production activity.
• (2) Promote to introduce a system including transportation and inventory control, which is more energy efficient and produce less waste, by focusing on distribution activity.
• (3) Actively promote reduction of energy and waste as well as recycling in office operation.

3.Assessment of Environmental Impact from Products and Manufacturing Processes

When developing new products and processes, evaluate the impact on the environment in advance, during development, and periodically after commercialization. Consider the entire business cycle from procurement of raw materials and supplies through the use and the final disposal of products to reduce the impact on the global environment.
• (1) Regarding our products, introduce a viewpoint of environmental protection in design idea of their development, and reduce impacts on and loads to the environment in a whole life cycle of the products from research & development at an early stage to manufacturing, distribution, use, consumption, and final disposal.
• (2) Regarding manufacturing processes, design to reduce environmental loads and energy consumption from a stage of research & development.
• (3) Minimize impacts on the environment, safety and health of handling substances.

4.Development and Utilization of Environmental Technologies

Develop technologies for environmental protection and improvement, and actively pursue outside technologies when it is beneficial.
• (1) Promote to develop efficient technologies for preventing environment pollution.
• (2) Develop alternative technologies not to use substances which pollute the environment.
• (3) Actively obtain, keep in correct order, and use information on environmental technologies.

5.Response to Emergencies

When an adverse effect on the environment is foreseen, exercise the best possible contingent efforts to eliminate or minimize such adverse impact.
• (1) Make efforts to prevent its occurrence in order not to give serious impacts on the environment.
• (2) While sending information to those who are related appropriately, make maximum efforts to minimize environmental impacts in emergency where adverse effects are given or likely to be given on the environment.

6.Clear Definition of Accountability and Responsibility

Appoint executives and managers in charge of environment-related activities and clearly define their authority.
• (1) Appoint an executive who is responsible for corporate environmental issues.
• (2) Assign a responsible person for the environment at business sections and work places.

7.Cooperation with the Community and Society at Large

Actively cooperate with the environmental efforts of local communities and provide fair and unbiased information.
• (1) Make our work places be green in a planned manner by planting, and cooperate in making surrounding areas greener.
• (2) Actively participate activities of implementation of environment protection and recycling activity such as creating comfortable environment in the area as a member of the area.
• (3) Make efforts to provide appropriate information to consumers, residents in the area, industry organizations, administration, and others.

8.Education and Training

Educate and train each employee to understand and realize the importance of environmental issues and to act accordingly in his or her daily routine.
• (1) Request that the employees improve understanding and awareness for local and global environmental protection as well as conservation of resources and energy.
• (2) Promote voluntary educational activity regarding environment protection in all departments of the business activity.

Sources:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/informationenvironment.aspxSources:
http://www.takeda.com/csr/policies/article_1007.html
http://www.battelle.org/Environment/publications/envupdates/Fall2003/article6.stm

---HRM Assignment # 10---

2009-09-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Various definition of Personnel Management and Human Resource Management

Personnel Management

1) The function of a personnel manager usually begins with the staffing process. The manager may be focused on screening and interviewing applicants, with an eye to placing individuals with the right skill sets in the right position within the company. Along with placement, the HR manager may also oversee, or at least be involved in, the creation of entry level training programs, as well as continuing education opportunities for existing employees.

Determining company policies and procedures as they relate to personnel is another important aspect of the personnel management process. HR functions often include drafting vacation, sick leave, and bereavement policies that apply to all employees. The personnel management team is also often responsible for managing any healthcare program provided to the employees as well.

One aspect of company organization that needs the input of effective personnel management is the drafting of a company handbook. Establishing operation policies and procedures, requirements for employment, commendation and disciplinary procedures, and even something as simple as a dress code has to be compared with state and federal guidelines before the handbook is ready for release to the company at large. Personnel managers and the HR staff are ideal for drafting and reviewing the company handbook.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-personnel-management.htm

2) Personnel management is concerned with the effective use of the skills of people. They may be salespeople in a store, clerks in an office, operators in a factory, or technicians in a research laboratory. In a business, personnel management starts with the recruiting and hiring of qualified people and continues with directing and encouraging their growth as they encounter problems and tensions that arise in working toward established goals.

In addition to recruiting and hiring, some of the responsibilities of a personnel manager are:

1. To classify jobs and prepare wage and salary scales.

2. To counsel employees.

3. To deal with disciplinary problems.

4. To negotiate with labor unions and service union contracts.

5. To develop safety standards and practices.

6. To manage benefit programs, such as group insurance, health, and retirement plans.

7. To provide for periodic reviews of the performance of each individual employee, and for recognition of his or her strengths and needs for further development.

8. To assist individuals in their efforts to develop and qualify for more advanced jobs.

9. To plan and supervise training programs.

10. To keep abreast of developments in personnel management.

http://www.zeromillion.com/business/personnel/personnel-mangement.html

3) Administrative discipline of hiring and developing employees so that they become more valuable to the organization. It includes (1) conducting job analyses, (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, (8) resolving disputes, (9) communicating with all employees at all levels.

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

4) The part of management that is concerned with people and their relationships at work. Personnel management is the responsibility of all those who manage people, as well as a description of the work of specialists. Personnel managers advise on, formulate, and implement personnel policies such as recruitment, conditions of employment, performance appraisal, training, industrial relations, and health and safety. There are various models of personnel management, of which human resource management is the most recent.

http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/Personnel+Management.html

5) Within organizations that employ people, this is the function with policy responsibility for the selection and recruitment of staff, training, performance assessment, career development, disciplinary proceedings, pre-retirement advisory work, equal opportunities policies, pay bargaining, and industrial relations. In small organizations these functions may be combined with other management responsibilities; in large organizations a substantial separate department may be involved in setting policy, its implementation, and in keeping up to date with developments in labour law. In recent years the newer alternative term 'human resource management' has come into use, reflecting the increased importance of this function in labour-intensive service-sector industries.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Definition_of_personnel_management

Human Resource Management

1) Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR) have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. In simple sense, HRM means employing people, developing their resources, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.

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

2) The Human Resources Management (HRM) by: Assembled by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD -function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

http://managementhelp.org/hr_mgmnt/hr_mgmnt.htm

3) 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.

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

4) "Human resource management is responsible for how people are treated in organizations. It is responsible for bringing people into the organization, helping them perform their work, compensating them for their labors, and solving problems that arise" (Cherrington, 1995, p. 5). There are seven management functions of a human resources (HR) department that will be specifically addressed: staffing, performance appraisals, compensation and benefits, training and development, employee and labor relations, safety and health, and human resource research.

http://www.answers.com/topic/human-resource-management

5) Human Resource Management Systems, also called Human Resource modules, is a link between Human resource management and information technology. A Human resource management system provides a single, accurate view of all human resource activities including recruiting, performance management, training and development and also compensation. Human resource management systems reduce the workload of the human resource department as well as increasing the efficiency of the department by standardizing human resource process. Human resource department plays an important role in the smooth running of the company by tracking and analyzing the time keeping and work patterns of the workforce.

http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1089745&tag=content;col1

---HRM Assignment # 8---

2009-09-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

On the assumption that we heard/read the SONA of the President last month (July 2009), we are to identify at least 3 areas related to Human Resource Mangement and explain how these areas can improve our quality of life.

1) Key Reforms

“Towards that vision, we made key reforms. Our economic plan centers on putting people first. Higit sa lahat, ang layunin ng ating mga patakaran ay tulungan ang masisipag na karaniwang Pilipino. (applause) New tax revenues were put in place to help pay for better healthcare, more roads, and a strong education system. Housing policies were designed to lift up our poorer citizens so they can live and raise a family with dignity. Ang ating mga puhunan sa agrikultura ay naglalayong kilalanin ang ating mga magsasaka bilang backbone ng ating bansa, (applause) at bigyan sila ng mga modernong kagamitan to feed our nation and feed their own family.”

Government Owned and Controlled Corporations Reform (GOCC)

After discussions and consultations, the Consulting Team, ADB, and DOF agreed to bring down to four (4) the initial six (6) pilot GOCCs. The key criteria for the selection of the four pilot GOCCs are, a) GOCCa??s importance to the sector, b) impact on fiscal position of the government , e.g extent of dependence on the national budget,c) broad sector coverage, possibility of quick gains from reforms, visibility of GOCCs, and willingness of the GOCC management to undertake reforms. The 4 pilot GOCCs identified are: Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC), National Development Company (NDC), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and Philippine National Railways (PNR). The proposed policy and GOCC specific reforms that will enable the 4 pilot GOCCs to operate more efficiently.

2) Infrastructures

“Compared to the past we have built more and better infrastructure, including those started by others but left unfinished. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is a prime example of building better roads. (applause) It creates wealth as the flagship of the Subic-Clark corridor.

We have built airports of international standard, upgraded domestic airports, built seaports and the RORO system. I ask Congress for a Philippine Transport Security Authority Law.”

Philippines to spend 28 billion dollars on infrastructure projects

MANILA, April 27, 2006 (AFP) - The Philippines plans to spend 1.5 trillion pesos (28 billion dollars) on major infrastructure projects over the next five years, seen as a hindrance to investments, the government said Thursday.

It plans to finance 56 percent of the costs and rely on the private sector for the balance of funds required for the projects.

About 743 billion pesos worth of transportation projects lead the list, the economic planning department said in a statement.

The rest would be spent on the power sector, water utilities, communications and social infrastructure.

Infrastructure spending would account for about four percent of the country's total gross domestic product for 2006-201O, the statement added.

"Infrastructure plays a crucial role in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty. Substantial investment is needed to create new infrastructure and maintain or improve existing ones," Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri said.

Kuwait firms plan $10 bln Philippines investments

KUWAIT, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Kuwaiti firms including logistics provider Agility plan to invest more than $10 billion in infrastructure projects in the Philippines, the company leading the group said on Tuesday.

The firms and one non-Kuwaiti company plan to develop airports, ports, railways, power stations and telecommunications, Kuwait investment firm Al-Abraj Holding Co said in a statement.

The deal is pending a signing with the Philippine government expected at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month, Abraj Deputy Chairman Sameer Nasser Ali Hussein told Reuters.

The Philippines government has said it wants to invest 1.7 trillion pesos ($41 billion) in its power, water, telecommunications and transport industries by 2010. Last year, it offered 10 infrastructure projects worth $2 billion to foreign investors.

LUCRATIVE

Gulf Arab states and companies, buoyed by record oil prices, have been looking to invest more in Asia, where economies are growing faster than in Europe and the United States, traditional destinations for their surplus funds.

Qatar's $60 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, said last month it plans to spend at least $850 million in Indonesia, its biggest commitment to the country. [ID:nL06717821]

Kuwait's Abraj said the group would set up a holding company in Europe, of which the Kuwaiti partners would own 75 percent and British firm Argon, acting on behalf of Philippine authorities, 25 percent. This could change a little, Hussein said.

He said Abraj wanted to raise the money possibly through an initial public offering, while Philippine institutions would also contribute to the project.

Kuwaiti partners include International Leasing & Investment and al-Mal Investment Co , Abraj said.

Agility said negotiations were continuing. "A big part of this project would come to Agility," Hussein said.

The biggest investment from the Middle East in the Philippines is a 40 percent stake held by state-owned Saudi Aramco in Petron Corp , the largest oil refiner in the country.

3) Microfinance

“Nakinabang ang pitong milyong entrepreneurs sa P165 billion in microfinance loans.

Nakinabang ang sandaan libo sa emergency employment ng ating economic resiliency plan. Kasama natin ngayon ang isa sa kanila, si Gigi Gabiola. (applause) Dating household service worker sa Dubai, ngayon siya ay nagtatrabaho sa DOLE. Good luck, Gigi”

• The Government of the Philippines took a decidedly pro-microfinance stance ten years ago. How has the sector evolved in relation to your expectations at that time? Do you feel that the 1997 National Strategy is still valid today?

About ten years ago, the vision to have a viable and sustainable private microfinancial market was espoused through the creation of the National Strategy for Microfinance. The main objective of this strategy is to provide low income households and microenterprises access to financial services.
I am happy to report we have made significant progress since then. Through the National Strategy for Microfinance, a policy framework was created and several laws and issuances were passed to ascertain that the private sector will have a greater role in the provision of financial services and that the Government will focus on the creation of an enabling policy environment. It is evident that these policy principles are being adopted. At present, more and more private microfinance institutions are providing this much needed service while the Government rationalized its directed credit programs and established a microfinance-friendly policy and regulatory environment. The strategy is definitely still the guiding principle of the development of the sector in the Philippines.

• What are the salient features of microfinance in the Philippines? What are the main challenges facing the microfinance sector in the Philippines today?
I would say that one of the most salient features of microfinance in the Philippines is that there is a microfinance-friendly environment in which microfinance institutions operate, whether Bank, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or Cooperative.

In the Philippines, the necessary infrastructure is in place for these microfinance institutions to flourish in a sound and sustainable way. Aside from the National Strategy, we have a regulatory framework and a uniform set of performance standards that cut across all types of microfinance institutions.
The development of microfinance in the banking sector is also one of the encouraging features of microfinance in the Philippines. The Bangko Sentral NG Pilipinas (Philippine Central Bank / BSP) has taken proactive measures in institutionalizing microfinance within the banking sector through the creation of an enabling policy environment, capacity building, as well as promotion and advocacy. We now have, in the BSP, a Microfinance Committee, a Microfinance Unit and a core group of examiners specialized in microfinance operations of Banks. These initiatives have borne much fruit as the number of Banks with microfinance operations has increased by 300%.

Because of the increased interest in microfinance and the ever-growing number of microfinance institutions, the main challenges lie in assuring that the operations maintain a good level of performance standards. At the end of the day, only sound and viable institutions can provide quality and timely services to the entrepreneurial poor, the microfinance clients.
Another challenge is the need for a comprehensive credit bureau. Again, because of the increased number of players in the field, credit pollution and multiple borrowings need to be addressed through the proper reporting and sharing of credit information.

Microfinance Focus August 31, 2009: Grameen Foundation on Monday announced it has facilitated the first privately placed corporate note issued by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Inc. (CARD) of the Philippines.
The $10.4 million transaction, which was supported by a $5 million guarantee from Grameen Foundation’s Growth Guarantee program and related advisory support, was oversubscribed by six local Filipino institutional investors: Security Bank Corporation, Allied Banking Corporation, Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., BDO Leasing and Finance, Inc., BDO Private Bank, Inc., and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation. SB Capital Inc, the investment banking subsidiary of Security Bank Corporation, served as the lead arranger for the notes issuance.

The five-year note is the first ever to be issued by a microfinance institution (MFI) in Southeast and East Asia, and marks an important milestone in opening up broader capital markets to MFIs in the Philippines.
This is Grameen Foundation’s third and largest Growth Guarantee transaction with CARD and will provide it with long-term financing to expand its outreach by an additional 100,000 poor families. The first two transactions, totaling $5.3 million in bank financing, were partially secured by guarantees of $1 million each through the program.

“In the current economic climate, when banks and investors are generally more risk averse than they were previously, this transaction sends a strong message about investor confidence in quality MFIs such as CARD, as well as in the broader microfinance industry,” said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation.
CARD is one of the first Grameen replication programs in the world and is the largest MFI in the Philippines. Formed in 1986, it targets primarily low-income landless rural women and serves over 435,740 clients throughout the Philippines. It is part of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, a family of organizations which focus on providing financial and non-financial services to poor Filipino women.
“This transaction is a watershed moment for CARD, as well as for the microfinance sectors in Southeast and East Asia,” said Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, founder and managing director of CARD.

4) Cheaper Medicine

“Mula pa noong 2001, nanawagan na tayo ng mas murang gamot. Nagbebenta tayo ng gamot na kalahating presyo sa libu-libong Botika ng Bayan at Botika ng Barangay sa maraming dako ng bansa. Our efforts prodded the pharmaceutical companies to come up with low-cost generics and brands like RiteMed. I supported the tough version of the House of the Cheaper Medicine law (applause) over the weak version of my critics. (applause) The result: the drug companies volunteered to bring down drug prices, slashing by half the prices of 16 drugs. Thank you, Congressmen Cua, Alvarez, Biron and Locsin.“

For the first time, half-priced essential medicines, universal health insurance coverage and lower rental rates for residential units are now being enjoyed by ordinary Filipinos under the government's social services program for the poor and the vulnerable sector of society.

In her last State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said her administration has been working hard to provide cheaper essential medicines which ordinary Filipinos are now enjoying at some 13,000 Botika ng Barangays nationwide.

To best serve the public welfare, the President said government efforts have now prodded the pharmaceutical industry to come up with a 50 percent cut on low-cost generics and branded medicines like RiteMed under the Cheaper Medicines law which she signed last year.

The President earlier gave a deadline to drug firms to voluntarily comply with the cheaper medicines law by reducing the prices of essential medicines by at least 50 percent. Otherwise, the government will mandate price ceilings for 22 commonly prescribed drugs.

"I supported the tough version of the House on the Cheaper Medicine law. I supported it over the weak version of my critics. The result: the drug companies volunteered to bring down drug prices, slashing by half the prices of 16 drugs," she said.

The President thanked the lawmakers who pushed for the passage of the tougher version of the cheaper medicines law even as she advised critics to just work hard to immediately provide relief for the poor and vulnerable.

The President pointed out that 86 percent of the population is now enjoying Philhealth insurance coverage.

As part of the its economic resiliency plan, the government is providing additional Philhealth benefits for the universal health coverage particularly of the poorest sector.

The President thanked Congress for the passage of the Rent Control Law which she recently signed providing for a one-year moratorium in the rental increase of residential units including the allowable seven percent annual increase until 2013. (PND)

Sources:
http://pid.adb.org/pid/TaView.htm?projNo=39606&seqNo=01&typeCd=2
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2001259&Itemid=2
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/archive/index.php/t-343729.html
http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/2009/09/01/grameen-foundation-mobilizes-10-million-investment-for-card-microfinance-2/
http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/pubs/newsletter/pages/2005_03/featured_guest.php

---HRM Assignment # 7---

2009-08-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

"Human beings are the most important, potent and critical, resource of any organization, and yet the least understood and the worst managed of its resources" This phrase which describe the human works in the organization. Let me discuss the factors which affect the behavior of human in his profession.

Humans are an organization’s greatest assets; without them, everyday business functions such as managing cash flow, making business transactions, communicating through all forms of media, and dealing with customers could not be completed....humans and the potential they possess drive an organization. Today's organizations are continuously changing and organizational change impacts not only the business but also its employees.

However to exploit this resource it has to be managed and management of this particular resource depends on multiple factors, depending mostly on the size of the company human resource management works to ensure that employees are able to meet the organization’s goals management should maximize organizational effectiveness, human potential, individuals' capabilities, time, and talents.

The effect of globalization lately has shown the value in educating employees in competency development. The relevance of this globalization is the proficiency at which Human Resource work is conducted within an organization. Recent studies show that developing the competence level is in high demand in today’s society and therefore many companies have chosen to give its’ staff adequate opportunities to utilize their skills. In theory the basic hypothesis states that knowledge and competence within the workforce will be the key to success in the future rather than financial resources. The investment of this proficiency within the private and public sector on a short-term and long-term basis is necessary for each corporation in the future. A well functional organization has good insight in what demands a company should require and what competence the employees must have. During the 90’s many corporations faced several cut backs which resulted in the lack of inadequate training procedures regarding skill development for its employees. In this particular research, we have two unique corporations that have been studied for the importance HR work has on the competence development. Through interviews with correspondents working within the HR sector in global corporations, the results show that both companies view competence development as an important aspect of its’ respective success for the future. During the interviews both of the correspondents said that financial resources are not enough to give the employees the opportunity to develop their skills on a regular basis. Therefore the main responsibility is up to each individual to keep their respective knowledge up to date.
Human Needs And Their Fulfillment
Even though we are all different, we each have the same 6 basic human needs. These needs must be satisfied, otherwise we feel uncomfortable where we are, with our lives and ultimately with ourselves.

Defining roles and competencies
Competencies – what a person is capable of doing, rather than what they are doing – help address both behavioural and technical skills needed to define job expectations and requirements. They provide a common language and framework for those critical – but sometimes elusive – aspects of job performance and are an effective tool for communicating about performance because they help people frame expectations and goals in clear terms.

Therefore in order to experience true fulfillment and satisfaction in life, it is essential to work on fulfilling all your basic needs.

One of the major roles of a human resources department in a successful business involves a lot of observation and analysis from behind the scenes. Indeed, the intelligence of the human resources department often involves what can be likened to “crunching numbers.” Compiling complex data and metrics that follow the performance of individual employees, as the move through the workforce is an important task, which has helped human resources, work out crucial solutions to inefficiency, sagging profit margins and more.

Due to the sensitive nature of human relations and the work that human resources departments must carry out, discretion is a crucial element to this field. That’s because the management of performance can often involve tough decisions such as choosing who to let go, who to promote and who to hire. Keeping the decision making process behind closed doors is an ethical practice that breeds the least amount of contention possible.
But how are these decisions made? Nearly every employee today should be able to relate to the hiring process and the term review interviews that come with starting out and maintaining a job almost anywhere. Yet what the employee sees in these interviews is really just the tip of the iceberg in when it comes to the vast amount of work done by human resources specialists.

Indeed, performance management, message creation, job recruitment and promotion decisions take countless hours of observation and data analysis that result in the most beneficial decisions in the end. Just the 3 month review for new employees can reveal the fact that a lot of careful observation has gone into the job performance and training adaptation evaluation. This means that a human resources specialist has been taking notes and methodically charting employees’ progress in the most efficient and professional manner possible. It’s not that easy, yet the work is essential to any company’s optimized success.

Academic field of study concerned with human behavior in organizations; also called organizational psychology. It covers topics such as Motivation, Group Dynamics, leadership, organization structure, decision making, careers, conflict resolution, and Organizational Development. When this subject is taught in business schools, it is called organizational behavior; when it is taught in psychology departments, it is called organizational psychology.

The terms "corporate culture" and "organizational behavior" are sometimes used interchangeably, but in reality, there are differences between the two. Corporate culture encompasses the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs and other characteristics that define an organization's operating philosophy. Organizational behavior, meanwhile, can be under-stood in some ways as the academic study of corporate culture and its various elements, as well as other important components of behavior such as organization structure and organization processes. Organizational behavior, said Gibson, Ivancevich, and Donnelly, is "the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individual perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the total organization; analyzing the external environment's effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies.…Effective managers know what to look for in terms of structure, process, and culture and how to under-stand what they find. Therefore, managers must develop diagnostic skills; they must be trained to identify conditions symptomatic of a problem requiring further attention. Problem indicators include declining profits, declining quantity or quality of work, increases in absenteeism or tardiness, and negative employee attitudes. Each of these problems is an issue of organizational behavior."

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of his or her changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptive, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional, who is considered necessary by line managers, is a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor.

Strategic Partner
In today’s organizations, to guarantee their viability and ability to contribute, HR managers need to think of themselves as strategic partners. In this role, the HR person contributes to the development of and the accomplishment of the organization-wide business plan and objectives.
The HR business objectives are established to support the attainment of the overall strategic business plan and objectives. The tactical HR representative is deeply knowledgeable about the design of work systems in which people succeed and contribute. This strategic partnership impacts HR services such as the design of work positions; hiring; reward, recognition and strategic pay; performance development and appraisal systems; career and succession planning; and employee development.

Employee Advocate
As an employee sponsor or advocate, the HR manager plays an integral role in organizational success via his knowledge about and advocacy of people. This advocacy includes expertise in how to create a work environment in which people will choose to be motivated, contributing, and happy.
Fostering effective methods of goal setting, communication and empowerment through responsibility, builds employee ownership of the organization. The HR professional helps establish the organizational culture and climate in which people have the competency, concern and commitment to serve customers well.
In this role, the HR manager provides employee development opportunities, employee assistance programs, gainsharing and profit-sharing strategies, organization development interventions, due process approaches to problem solving and regularly scheduled communication opportunities.

Change Champion
The constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization results in the need for the HR professional to frequently champion change. Both knowledge about and the ability to execute successful change strategies make the HR professional exceptionally valued. Knowing how to link change to the strategic needs of the organization will minimize employee dissatisfaction and resistance to change.
The HR professional contributes to the organization by constantly assessing the effectiveness of the HR function. He also sponsors change in other departments and in work practices. To promote the overall success of his organization, he champions the identification of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals and action plans. Finally, he helps determine the measures that will tell his organization how well it is succeeding in all of this.

Sources:
http://www.projectsparadise.com/human-resource-competence-development/
http://www.hrvillage.com/human-resources/role.htm
http://humanresources.about.com/od/hrbasicsfaq/a/hr_role.htm

---MIS Assignment # 8---

2009-08-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

As a student I may not know the real meaning of Out-source position and In-source position. But as I surf the net I found out the terms, advantages and disadvantages of this matter. Let me first discuss my chosen position which stands for Out-source.

There are many arguing that outsourcing jobs to other countries is taking jobs away from people of this country. This is a major concern to most; however, this is not the topic most under debate in most organizations today. In just about every major company, upper level management is meeting on how to increase the value of there company. Outsourcing is the topic under debate. Top executives are researching this topic and whether they should make (in-house) or buy (outsource). Let us look at the different types of outsourcing. Also , let examine the problems so many companies have with this decision and look at a strategic sourcing model that can aide them in making this decision.

Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a third-party company. The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering cost or making better use of time and energy costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of land, labor, capital, (information) technology and resources. Outsourcing became part of the business lexicon during the 1980s. It is essentially a division of labour. Out sourcing in the information technology field has two meanings. One is to commission the development of an application to another organization, usually a company that specializes in the development of this type of application. The other is to hire the services of another company to manage all or parts of the services that otherwise would be rendered by an IT unit of the organization. The latter concept might not include development of new applications. 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.

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 its 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.

Overview
Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider. The client organization and the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services. Under the agreement the supplier acquires the means of production in the form of a transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract. Business segments typically outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities, real estate management, and accounting. Many companies also outsource customer support and call center functions like telemarketing, CAD drafting, customer service, market research, manufacturing, designing, web development, print-to-mail, content writing, ghostwriting and engineering. Offshoring is the type of outsourcing in which the buyer organization belongs to another country.

Outsourcing and offshoring are used interchangeably in public discourse despite important technical differences. Outsourcing involves contracting with a supplier, which may or may not involve some degree of offshoring. Offshoring is the transfer of an organizational function to another country, regardless of whether the work is outsourced or stays within the same corporation/company.
Multisourcing refers to large outsourcing agreements (predominantly IT). Multisourcing is a framework to enable different parts of the client business to be sourced from different suppliers. This requires a governance model that communicates strategy, clearly defines responsibility and has end-to-end integration.
Activities for outsourcing
Research & Development
The competitive pressures on firms to bring out new products at an ever rapid pace to meet market needs are increasing. As such, the pressures on the R&D department are increasing. In order to alleviate the pressure, firms have to either increase R&D budgets or find ways to utilize the resources in a more productive way. There are situations when a firm may consider outsourcing some of its R&D work to a contract research organizations or universities.

Reasons why a firm could consider outsourcing are:
• new product design does not work
• project time and cost overruns
• loss of key staff
• competitive response
• problems of quality/yield.

The key drivers for R&D outsourcing are emerging mass markets and availability of expertise in the field. In this context, the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, provide huge pools from which to find talent. Both countries produce over 200,000 engineers and science graduates each year. Moreover both countries are low cost sourcing countries. Other strategic drivers for outsourcing R&D are access to expertise and intellectual property, filling gaps in the capabilities of the R&D function, managing risk better, reducing the time to market, and focusing on the core competence or activities of the firm.

Reasons for outsourcing
Organizations that outsource are seeking to realize benefits or address the following issues:
• Cost savings. The lowering of the overall cost of the service to the business. This will involve reducing the scope, defining quality levels, re-pricing, re-negotiation, cost re-structuring. Access to lower cost economies through offshoring called "labor arbitrage" generated by the wage gap between industrialized and developing nations.
• Focus on Core Business. Resources (for example investment, people, and infrastructure) are focused on developing the core business. For example often organizations outsource their IT support to specilaised IT services companies.
• Cost restructuring. Operating leverage is a measure that compares fixed costs to variable costs. Outsourcing changes the balance of this ratio by offering a move from fixed to variable cost and also by making variable costs more predictable.
• Improve quality. Achieve a step change in quality through contracting out the service with a new service level agreement.
• Knowledge. Access to intellectual property and wider experience and knowledge.
• Contract. Services will be provided to a legally binding contract with financial penalties and legal redress. This is not the case with internal services.
• Operational expertise. Access to operational best practice that would be too difficult or time consuming to develop in-house.
• Access to talent. Access to a larger talent pool and a sustainable source of skills, in particular in science and engineering.
• Capacity management. An improved method of capacity management of services and technology where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier.
• Catalyst for change. An organization can use an outsourcing agreement as a catalyst for major step change that can not be achieved alone. The outsourcer becomes a Change agent in the process.
• Enhance capacity for innovation. Companies increasingly use external knowledge service providers to supplement limited in-house capacity for product innovation.
• Reduce time to market. The acceleration of the development or production of a product through the additional capability brought by the supplier.
• Commodification. The trend of standardizing business processes, IT Services and application services enabling businesses to intelligently buy at the right price. Allows a wide range of businesses access to services previously only available to large corporations.
• Risk management. An approach to risk management for some types of risks is to partner with an outsourcer who is better able to provide the mitigation.
• Venture Capital. Some countries match government funds venture capital with private venture capital for startups that start businesses in their country.
• Tax Benefit. Countries offer tax incentives to move manufacturing operations to counter high corporate taxes within another country.

Criticisms of outsourcing

Quality Risks
Quality Risk is the propensity for a product or service to be defective, due to operations-related issues. Quality risk in outsourcing is driven by a list of factors. One such factor is opportunism by suppliers due to misaligned incentives between buyer and supplier, information asymmetry, high asset specificity, or high supplier switching costs. Other factors contributing to quality risk in outsourcing are poor buyer-supplier communication, lack of supplier capabilities/resources/capacity, or buyer-supplier contract enforceability. Two main concepts must be considered when considering observability as it related to quality risks in outsourcing: the concepts of testability and criticality.
Quality fade is the deliberate and secretive reduction in the quality of labor in order to widen profit margins. The downward changes in human capital are subtle but progressive, and usually unnoticeable by the out sourcer/customer. The initial interview meets requirements, however, with subsequent support, more and more of the support team are replaced with novice or less experienced workers. India IT shops will continue to reduce the quality of human capital, under the pressure of drying up labor supply and upward trend of salary, pushing the quality limits. Such practices are hard to detect, as customers may just simply give up seeking help from the help desk. However, the overall customer satisfaction will be reduced greatly over time. Unless the company constantly conducts customer satisfaction surveys, they may eventually be caught in a surprise of customer churn, and when they find out the root cause, it could be too late. In such cases, it can be hard to dispute the legal contract with the India outsourcing company, as their staff are now trained in the process and the original staff made redundant. In the end, the company that outsources is worse off than before it outsourced its workforce to India.

Public opinion
There is a strong public opinion regarding outsourcing (especially when combined with offshoring) that outsourcing damages a local labor market. Outsourcing is the transfer of the delivery of services which affects both jobs and individuals. It is difficult to dispute that outsourcing has a detrimental effect on individuals who face job disruption and employment insecurity; however, its supporters believe that outsourcing should bring down prices, providing greater economic benefit to all. There are legal protections in the European Union regulations called the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). Labor laws in the United States are not as protective as those in the European Union. On June 26 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the United States to increase its manufacturing base employment to 20% of the workforce commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much and can no longer rely on consumer spending to drive demand.

Language skills
In the area of call centers end-user-experience is deemed to be of lower quality when a service is outsourced. This is exacerbated when outsourcing is combined with off-shoring to regions where the first language and culture are different. The questionable quality is particularly evident when call centers that service the public are outsourced and offshored.
The public generally find linguistic features such as accents; word use and phraseology different which may make call center agents difficult to understand. The visual clues that are present in face-to-face encounters are missing from the call center interactions and this also may lead to misunderstandings and difficulties.
In addition to language and accent differences, a lack of local social and geographic knowledge is often present, leading to misunderstandings or mis-communications.

Social responsibility
Outsourcing sends jobs to the lower-income areas where work is being outsourced to, which provides jobs in these areas and has a net equalizing effect on the overall distribution of wealth. Some argue that the outsourcing of jobs (particularly off-shore) exploits the lower paid workers. A contrary view is that more people are employed and benefit from paid work. Despite this argument, domestic workers displaced by such equalization are proportionately unable to outsource their own costs of housing, food and transportation.
On the issue of high-skilled labor, such as computer programming, some argue that it is unfair to both the local and off-shore programmers to outsource the work simply because the foreign pay rate is lower. On the other hand, one can argue that paying the higher-rate for local programmers is wasteful, or charity, or simply overpayment. If the end goal of buyers is to pay less for what they buy, and for sellers it is to get a higher price for what they sell, there is nothing automatically unethical about choosing the cheaper of two products, services, or employees.
Social responsibility is also reflected in the costs of benefits provided to workers. Companies outsourcing jobs effectively transfer the cost of retirement and medical benefits to the countries where the services are outsourced. This represents a significant reduction in total cost of labor for the outsourcing company. A side effect of this trend is the reduction in salaries and benefits at home in the occupations most directly impacted by outsourcing.

Quality of service
Quality of service is measured through a service level agreement (SLA) in the outsourcing contract. In poorly defined contracts there is no measure of quality or SLA defined. Even when an SLA exists it may not be to the same level as previously enjoyed. This may be due to the process of implementing proper objective measurement and reporting which is being done for the first time. It may also be lower quality through design to match the lower price.
There are a number of stakeholders who are affected and there is no single view of quality. The CEO may view the lower quality acceptable to meet the business needs at the right price. The retained management team may view quality as slipping compared to what they previously achieved. The end consumer of the service may also receive a change in service that is within agreed SLAs but is still perceived as inadequate. The supplier may view quality in purely meeting the defined SLAs regardless of perception or ability to do better.
Quality in terms of end-user-experience is best measured through customer satisfaction questionnaires which are professionally designed to capture an unbiased view of quality. Surveys can be one of research. This allows quality to be tracked over time and also for corrective action to be identified and taken.

Staff turnover
The staff turnover of employee who originally transferred to the outsourcer is a concern for many companies. Turnover is higher under an outsourcer and key company skills may be lost with retention outside of the control of the company.
In outsourcing offshore there is an issue of staff turnover in the outsourcer companies call centers. It is quite normal for such companies to replace its entire workforce each year in a call center. This inhibits the build-up of employee knowledge and keeps quality at a low level.

Company knowledge
Outsourcing could lead to communication problems with transferred employees. For example, before transfer staff have access to broadcast company e-mail informing them of new products, procedures etc. Once in the outsourcing organization the same access may not be available. Also to reduce costs, some outsource employees may not have access to e-mail, but any information which is new is delivered in team meetings.
Failure to deliver business transformation
Business transformation has traditionally been promised by outsourcing suppliers, but they have usually failed to deliver. In a commoditised market where any half-decent service provider can do things cheaper and faster, smart vendors have promised a second wave of benefits that will improve the client’s business outcomes. According to Vinay Couto of Booz & Company “Clients always use the service provider’s ability to achieve transformation as a key selection criterion. It’s always in the top three and sometimes number one.” Often vendors have promised transformation on the basis of wider domain expertise that they didn’t really have, though Couto also says that this is often down to client’s unwillingness to invest in transformation once an outsourcing contract is in place.

Productivity
Offshore outsourcing for the purpose of saving cost can often have a negative influence on the real productivity of a company. Rather than investing in technology to improve productivity, companies gain non-real productivity by hiring fewer people locally and outsourcing work to less productive facilities offshore that appear to be more productive simply because the workers are paid less. Sometimes, this can lead to strange contradictions where workers in a developing country using hand tools can appear to be more productive than a U.S. worker using advanced computer controlled machine tools, simply because their salary appears to be less in terms of U.S. dollars.
In contrast, increases in real productivity are the result of more productive tools or methods of operating that make it possible for a worker to do more work. Non-real productivity gains are the result of shifting work to lower paid workers, often without regards to real productivity. The net result of choosing non-real over real productivity gain is that the company falls behind and obsoletes itself overtime rather than making investments in real productivity.

Security
Before outsourcing an organization is responsible for the actions of all their staff and liable for their actions. When these same people are transferred to an outsourcer they may not change desk but their legal status has changed. They no-longer are directly employed or responsible to the organization. This causes legal, security and compliance issues that need to be addressed through the contract between the client and the suppliers. This is one of the most complex areas of outsourcing and requires a specialist third party adviser.
Fraud is a specific security issue that is criminal activity whether it is by employees or the supplier staff. However, it can be disputed that the fraud is more likely when outsourcers are involved, for example credit card theft when there is scope for fraud by credit card cloning. In April 2005, a high-profile case involving the theft of $350,000 from four Citibank customers occurred when call center workers acquired the passwords to customer accounts and transferred the money to their own accounts opened under fictitious names. Citibank did not find out about the problem until the American customers noticed discrepancies with their accounts and notified the bank.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing#Overview

---MIS Assignment # 7--

2009-08-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Infrastructures
“We have built airports of international standard, upgraded domestic airports,
Built seaports and the Roll-on/Roll-off System. I ask Congress for a Philippine
Transport Security Law..”

Opinions:This would give easier transportations in every citizen in the country. The implemented project of President Arroyo was indeed contribute a sudden change in transporting products and even transporting our own self. The built international airports standard boost our confident to travel without any hesitations.

Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels. This is in contrast to lo-lo (lift on-lift off) vessels which use a crane to load and unload cargo. While the characteristics of seagoing RORO car ferries have inherent risks, there are benefits to its seaworthiness.

Banking System
“To that end, we improved our banking system to complement its inherent
Conservatism. The Bangko Sentral has been prudent. Thank you, Governor
Tetangco, being so effective. The BSP will be even more effective
If Congress will amend its Charter..”

Opinions:In dealing with improving the bank system in the Philippines, we guarantee that it is more accurate and appropriate to use by. This would help million of Filipinos in complementing their inherent conservatism. Through improving the system of many companies here in the country, we are to take a big step towards global competition in the field of Information Technology. This would not help us feel better but as well us to be more confident about the saving of money of the country.

They were more efficient in certain banking aspects such as money transfers and current accounts, and borrowing loans and opening saving deposits. Banks adopt several means of acquiring assets or financing projects and these can be categorized in three areas: investment, trade and lending.

Automated Electronic System
“As the seeds of fundamental political reform are planted, let us address the
highest exercise of democracy -- voting! In 2001, I said we would finance fully
automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress..”

Opinions:Well, basically automated elections are more convenient compare to manually done. They get a tally immediately, rather than having to count votes by hand. Philippine election officials can learn how to run automated elections properly. Primarily by designing election machines that make sense to the average Filipino voter, and relying on the results of sustained testing for any necessary revisions to the system. Automated voting (sometimes referred to as electronic or e-voting) technologies are increasingly used in elections across the world, particularly because they are often seen as symbolic of a country’s level of modernization.

The possibilities for rapid aggregation and analysis of results, as well as potentially greater accuracy, have all added to the attractiveness of computer-based voting equipment. There is little doubt that the ability to quickly publish results can be of particular advantage in conflict and post-conflict scenarios, where a prolonged period of counting can heighten tensions and reduce confidence in the final results. The potential to remove some traditional elements of unintentional voter error or intentional fraud can also contribute to greater confidence

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RORO#Benefits
http://rtvm.gov.ph/attachments/1506_SONA%202009%20(As%20Delivered%20Tagalog-English%20version).pdf

---HRM Assignment # 6---

2009-08-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

It is my understanding that in the past 200 years, technology has advanced at an astonishing rate. Man’s advances in modern science have led to several cures for once common fatal diseases. I believe fundamentally, as humans, we have a desire to live eternally. In part, technology exists for that reason. Also, technology exists to “better our lives”. Just how much “better” our lives have become over the centuries could be argued? I see two sides to this issue. One train of thought says that technology has brought us leisure, comfort and knowledge. Another train of thought proclaims that we have become slaves to our jobs and the dependence of technology. Cogs in a great combine.

The technology which surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology contains information that many would rather it did not have. It influences minds in good and bad ways, and it allows people to share information which they would otherwise not be able to attain. Even if a person does not own a computer or have credit cards, there is information on a computer somewhere about everyone. The technology which is just now beginning to be manipulated and harnessed is affecting the minds of small children and adolescents in ways that could be harmful. It is affecting our immediate future. It also gives another form of communication and exchange of information which was not available before, information that is both good and bad. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand.

Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel. Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed, clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure time activities. People have used technology since them first chipped stone blades to improve their hunting. Yet some people call the current age the Technological Age because of society's dependence on technology. For the first time in human history, almost all the goods and services people use depend on technology.

The products of technology are available to almost everyone in society. The economy of a country influences how the people of the county live. Technology is often considered the key to a nation's economic growth. Most economists would say that it is one of the factors in economic growth, but they would probably disagree about its importance. Many economists think that if technology sparks growth in one sector of the economy in the form of increased productivity, growth will also occur in other sectors of the economy. Jobs may be lost in one industry, such as agriculture but new jobs may emerge in other sectors of the economy. There may be more jobs or, in some case, completely new kinds of jobs. Technology may also be used to solve urgent problems.

Our growing population is using up infinite supplies of natural resources. Innovations in technology can allow for more efficient use of limited or scarce resources. More products might be made from the same amount of raw material using new techniques. Technology can increase productivity to help countries compete with other countries in selling goods and services. Some say that without technological improvements, the economy would grow slowly or not at all.

What is Corporation?

Corporations exist as a product of corporate law, and their rules balance the interests of the management who operate the corporation; creditors who loan it goods, services or money; shareholders that invest their capital and the employees who contribute their labor. People work together in corporations to produce value and generate income. In modern times, corporations have become an increasingly dominant part of economic life. People rely on corporations for employment, for their goods and services, for the value of the pensions, for economic growth and social development.

The defining feature of a corporation is its legal independence from the people who create it. If a corporation fails, shareholders normally only stand to lose their investment and employees will lose their jobs, but neither will be further liable for debts that remain owing to the corporation's creditors unless they have separately varied this, e.g. with personal guarantees. This rule is called limited liability, and it is why the names of corporations in the UK end with "Ltd.".

The Great Transformation
Sparked by new technologies, particularly the Internet, the corporation is undergoing a radical transformation that is nothing less than a new Industrial Revolution. This time around, the revolution is reaching every corner of the globe and in the process, rewriting the rules laid down by Sloan, Henry Ford, and other Industrial Age giants. The 21st century corporation that emerges will in many ways be the polar opposite of the organizations they helped shape.

The New Leadership
In recent years, top corporate executives have reaped a pay bonanza without precedent in the long and sweaty history of working for a living. Is today's boss overpaid? Probably, but to whom much has been given, even more will be expected. The job of leading a company has never been more demanding, and it will only get tougher in the 21st century.

The Enduring Corporation
Government also expects much more from the corporation than it did a generation ago. For some time now, corporations have been America's largest distributors of health care and private pension benefits. In recent years government also has increasingly looked to business to regulate employee behavior in the workplace in new ways, giving rise to the so-called nanny corporation.

The Ecosystem
The corporate ecosystem of the 21st century will be characterized by a blurring of once-distinct boundaries: between public and private, foreign and domestic, insider and outsider, friend and foe. The effect will be liberating in many ways. Corporations will be freer to pursue opportunity wherever in the world they find it, and to exploit it according to the requirements of circumstance, not the blind dictates of tradition. Outsourcing will become ever more prevalent, transforming many corporations into superefficient, virtual facsimiles of their old selves. But success will not come easy in this brave new world.

Designs for the Future
Few institutions embody their era as strikingly as the corporation. In form and function, it reflects the defining technologies and social organization of its time. This is as true of the physical manifestation as internal configuration, which is why corporations have captured the imagination of so many visionaries, especially architects.

Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_35/b3696001.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Century

---MIS Assignment # 6---

2009-08-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

A cohesive and robust IT infrastructure is of paramount importance for the development of any company. A successful IT department must be able to meet increasing business driven demands, whilst preparing for changing business dynamics in the future.

If I were hired by the university president as an IT consultant, I would you suggest to use or develop such Infrastructures in University. This is to improve not only the system of the University but as well as transactions, internet access and even operations made by the staff.

We define information technology (IT) to include not only computer technology (hardware and software) for processing and storing information, but also communications technology for transmitting information. Advances in computer and communications technologies have enabled firms to pursue IT investments. This will help them to gain maximum advantage from their knowledge assets-to leverage the knowledge of individual employees to the benefit of other employees and the organization as a whole. Businesses have strived to achieve a competitive advantage in the past by competing in one of two ways: 1. By Cost- by being a low-cost producer of a good and service 2. By Differentiation of a product or service- by competing on customer perceptions of product quality and customer support services.

You know, there is not all that much I would actually change about this university. Sure we could use some better facilities and the more diversity the better, but those changes have to take place over time, sometimes a long time. For now I am content with the prospect of throwing out ideas used by other universities to either increase student recruitment or enhance the image surrounding our college, that has without doubt been tarnished in past years.

Infrastructure can be defined as the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system. The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons. It s the set of interconnected structural elements that provide the framework for supporting the entire structure.

In other applications, the term infrastructure may refer to information technology, informal and formal channels of communication, software development tools, political and social networks, or beliefs held by members of particular groups. Still underlying these more conceptual uses is the idea that infrastructure provides organizing structure and support for the system or organization it serves, whether it is a city, a nation, a corporation, or a collection of people with common interests.

In the present world, which is dynamic and knowledge based, universities have a much wider role to play in creating, preserving, organizing, transmitting and applying knowledge. Modern educational technologies developed from information technology will certainly change in terms of access, interaction, curriculum and instruction etc. The physical locations and facilities will be less important in defining a college or a university due to the easy on-line access of the educational resources of a higher educational institution to the urban as well as rural public. This will provide opportunities to our high school graduated youths from rural areas as well as urban youths to access higher education without a need to forgo their working and earning opportunities to physically attend a college or a university. So universities need to adopt modern education technologies to provide increase access to knowledge resources.

Online technologies are going to make traditional class room teaching less important in many subjects except where it is absolutely necessary. Therefore interaction between teachers and students will have to play a vital role in imparting higher quality education. This means that more frequent and effective internal mechanism of interaction between university faculty and students need to be developed. This, in turn, causes an external relationship between universities and non-university communities. Such external relationship will necessitate universities to respond quickly to the changes in the outside world. Therefore a mechanism to increase both the internal and external interaction efficiencies has to be developed.

The curriculum and instruction are going to be changed greatly. Because the new technologies make the learning and teaching easier, the contents of some courses will be expanded, a considerable number of new courses will be generated, interdisciplinary courses and studies will be more possible. Students and faculties will contribute together to the development of curriculum.

Modern higher education technologies will also change present instructional methods to a more effective one. The faculties will have to adopt an instructional method best suited to the class of students whom they target or to develop new methods best suited for them based on their feedback. Video conferencing techniques, simulators and on-line access to many practical training kits will revolutionize instructional methods. Information Technology infrastructure in the campus provide quality higher education to students and to provide proper academic and research environment to support University’s endeavor for excellence.

More importantly, these technologies will provide the education and knowledge for these people to become prosperous nations that can fend for themselves and provide for their people. Transfers of technology from the developed world to the developing world will improve the standard of living, increase efficiency in production and become a base for economic growth, without this transfer these countries will fall further into poverty and economic ruin, with little hope for survival. For most people of the developed world, the developing world is not something they concern themselves with; they do not see it everyday and therefore it does not exist. This could not be farther from the truth. The developing world is in need of help but the developed world constantly turns a blind eye. Our current love affair with technology may provide the answer for underdeveloped nations problems. The standard of living is so low in these countries that our everyday conveniences are a struggle for the entire population to obtain. If the developed nations could meet these base needs, these countries may be able to overcome their current problems. The first issue that must be dealt with is the unsatisfactory health care and medical technology.

Most IT organizations still install and maintain computers the same way the automotive industry built cars in the early 1900's: An individual craftsman manually manipulates a machine into being, and manually maintains it afterward. This is expensive. The automotive industry discovered first mass production, then mass customization using standard tooling.

The standards and practices described here are the standarized tooling needed for mass customization within IT. This tooling enables:
• Scalable, flexible, and rapid deployments and changes
• Cost effective, timely return on IT investment
• Low labor headcount
• Secure, trustworthy computing environments
• Reliable enterprise infrastructures

This are the 5 services which Information Technology Infrastructures can give to the University:
1. Service Strategy
As the center and origin point of the ITIL Service Lifecycle, the Service Strategy volume provides guidance on clarification and prioritization of service provider investments in services. More generally, Service Strategy focuses on helping IT organizations improve and develop over the long term. In both cases, Service Strategy relies largely upon a market-driven approach. Key topics covered include service value definition, business case development, service assets, market analysis, and service provider types. Processes covered include service portfolio management, demand management, and IT financial management.

2. Service Design
The ITIL Service Design volume provides good practice guidance on the design of IT services, processes, and other aspects of the service management effort. Significantly, design within ITIL is understood to encompass all elements relevant to technology service delivery, rather than focusing solely on design of the technology itself. As such, Service Design addresses how a planned service solution interacts with the larger business and technical environments, service management systems required to support the service, processes which interacts with the service, technology, and architecture required to support the service, and the supply chain required to support the planned service. Within ITIL, design work for an IT service is aggregated into a single Service Design Package (SDP). Service Design Packages, along with other information about services, are managed within the service catalog. Processes covered in this volume include service level management, availability management, capacity management, IT service continuity management, information security management, supplier management, and service catalog management.

3. Service Transition
Service transition relates to the delivery of services required by the business into live/operational use, and often encompasses the "project" side of IT rather than "BAU" (Business As Usual). This area also covers topics such as managing changes to the "BAU" environment. Topics include Service Asset and Configuration Management, Transition Planning and Support, Release and deployment management, Change Management, Knowledge Management, as well as the key roles of staff engaging in Service Transition.

4. Service Operation
Best practice for achieving the delivery of agreed levels of services both to end-users and the customers (where "customers" refer to those individuals who pay for the service and negotiate the SLAs). Service Operations is the part of the lifecycle where the services and value is actually directly delivered. Also the monitoring of problems and balance between service reliability and cost etc are considered. Topics include balancing conflicting goals (e.g. reliability vs cost etc), Event management, incident management, problem management, request fulfillment, access management, and service desk. The functions include technical management, application management, operations management and Service Desk as well as, responsibilities for staff engaging in Service Operation.

5. Continual Service Improvement (CSI)
Aligning and realigning IT services to changing business needs (because standstill implies decline).
The goal of Continual Service Improvement is to align and realign IT Services to changing business needs by identifying and implementing improvements to the IT services that support the Business Processes. The perspective of CSI on improvement is the business perspective of service quality, even though CSI aims to improve process effectiveness, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the IT processes through the whole lifecycle. To manage improvement, CSI should clearly define what should be controlled and measured.
CSI needs to be treated just like any other service practice. There needs to be upfront planning, training and awareness, ongoing scheduling, roles created, ownership assigned, and activities identified to be successful. CSI must be planned and scheduled as process with defined activities, inputs, outputs, roles and reporting.

Infrastructure Management

ICT Infrastructure Management processes recommend best practice for requirements analysis, planning, design, deployment and ongoing operations management and technical support of an ICT Infrastructure. ("ICT" is an acronym for "Information and Communication Technology".)
The Infrastructure Management processes describe those processes within ITIL that directly relate to the ICT equipment and software that is involved in providing ICT services to customers.
• ICT Design and Planning • ICT Deployment
• ICT Operations
• ICT Technical Support
These disciplines are less well understood than those of Service Management and therefore often some of their content is believed to be covered 'by implication' in Service Management disciplines.

In information technology and on the Internet, infrastructure is the physical hardware used to interconnect computers and users. Infrastructure includes the transmission media, including telephone lines, cable television lines, and satellites and antennas, and also the routers, aggregators, repeaters, and other devices that control transmission paths. Infrastructure also includes the software used to send, receive, and manage the signals that are transmitted.

In some usages, infrastructure refers to interconnecting hardware and software and not to computers and other devices that are interconnected. However, to some information technology users, infrastructure is viewed as everything that supports the flow and processing of information.
Infrastructure companies play a significant part in evolving the Internet, both in terms of where the interconnections are placed and made accessible and in terms of how much information can be carried how quickly.

Service Support
The Service Support discipline is focused on the User of the ICT services and is primarily concerned with ensuring that they have access to the appropriate services to support the business functions.
To a business, customers and users are the entry point to the process model. They get involved in service support by:
• Asking for changes
• Needing communication, updates
• Having difficulties, queries.
• Real process delivery

The service desk is the single contact point for customer’s problems. If there is a direct solution, it tries to resolve the problem. If not, it creates an incident.
Service Desk / Service Request Management
Tasks include handling incidents and requests, and providing an interface for other ITSM processes.
• Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and not necessarily the First Point of Contact (FPOC)
• There is a single point of entry and exit
• Easier for Customers
• Data Integrity
• Communication channel is streamlined

The primary functions of the Service Desk are:
• Incident Control: life cycle management of all Service Requests
• Communication: keeping the customer informed of progress and advising on workarounds

The Service Desk function is known under various names .
• Call Center: main emphasis on professionally handling large call volumes of telephone-based transactions
• Help Desk: manage, co-ordinate and resolve incidents as quickly as possible
• Service Desk: not only handles incidents, problems and questions but also provides an interface for other activities such as change requests, maintenance contracts, software licenses, service level management, configuration management, availability management, Financial Management and IT Services Continuity Management
The three types of structure that can be considered are:
• Local Service Desk: to meet local business needs - is practical only until multiple locations requiring support services are involved
• Central Service Desk: for organizations having multiple locations - reduces operational costs and improves usage of available resources
• Virtual Service Desk: for organizations having multi-country locations - can be situated and accessed from anywhere in the world due to advances in network performance and telecommunications, reducing operational costs and improving usage of available resources

Incident Management
The goal of Incident Management is to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible and minimize the adverse effect on business operations, thus ensuring that the best possible levels of service quality and availability are maintained. 'Normal service operation' is defined here as service operation within Service Level Agreement (SLA) limits.
Problem Management
The goal of 'Problem Management' is to resolve the root cause of incidents and thus to minimize the adverse impact of incidents and problems on business that are caused by errors within the IT infrastructure, and to prevent recurrence of incidents related to these errors. A `problem' is an unknown underlying cause of one or more incidents, and a `known error' is a problem that is successfully diagnosed and for which either a work-around or a permanent resolution has been identified. The CCTA defines problems and known errors as follows:

The problem management process is intended to reduce the number and severity of incidents and problems on the business, and report it in documentation to be available for the first-line and second line of the help desk. The proactive process identifies and resolves problems before incidents occur. These activities are:
• Trend analysis;
• Targeting support action;
• Providing information to the organization.

The Error Control Process is an iterative process to diagnose known errors until they are eliminated by the successful implementation of a change under the control of the Change Management process.
The Problem Control Process aims to handle problems in an efficient way. Problem control identifies the root cause of incidents and reports it to the service desk. Other activities are:
• Problem identification and recording;
• Problem classification;
• Problem investigation and diagnosis.

Change Management
The goal of Change Management is to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient handling of all changes,
The main aims of Change Management are:
• Minimal disruption of services
• Reduction in back-out activities
• Economic utilization of resources involved in the change

Change Management Terminology
• Change: the addition, modification or removal of CIs
• Request for Change (RFC): form used to record details of a request for a change and is sent as an input to Change Management by the Change Requestor
• Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC): schedule that contains details of all forthcoming Changes

Release Management
Release Management is used for platform-independent and automated distribution of software and hardware, including license controls across the entire IT infrastructure. Proper software and hardware control ensures the availability of licensed, tested, and version-certified software and hardware, which functions as intended when introduced into existing infrastructure. Quality control during the development and implementation of new hardware and software is also the responsibility of Release Management. This guarantees that all software meets the demands of the business processes. The goals of release management are:
• Plan the rollout of software
• Design and implement procedures for the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems
• Effectively communicate and manage expectations of the customer during the planning and rollout of new releases
• Control the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems
The focus of release management is the protection of the live environment and its services through the use of formal procedures and checks.

Release Categories
A Release consists of the new or changed software and/or hardware required to implement approved changes
Releases are categorized as:
• Major software releases and hardware upgrades, normally containing large amounts of new functionality, some of which may make intervening fixes to problems redundant. A major upgrade or release usually supersedes all preceding minor upgrades, releases and emergency fixes.
• Minor software releases and hardware upgrades, normally containing small enhancements and fixes, some of which may have already been issued as emergency fixes. A minor upgrade or release usually supersedes all preceding emergency fixes.
• Emergency software and hardware fixes, normally containing the corrections to a small number of known problems.

Releases can be divided based on the release unit into:
• Delta Release: is a release of only that part of the software which has been changed. For example, security patches.
• Full Release: means the entire software program is deployed—for example, a new version of an existing application.
• Packaged Release: is a combination of many changes—for example, an operating system image which also contains specific applications.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology_Infrastructure_Library#ICT_Infrastructure_Management
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid80_gci212346,00.html

---MIS Assignment # 5---

2009-08-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

The technology which surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology contains information that many would rather it did not have. It influences minds in good and bad ways, and it allows people to share information which they would otherwise not be able to attain. Even if a person does not own a computer or have credit cards, there is information on a computer somewhere about everyone. The technology which is just now beginning to be manipulated and harnessed is affecting the minds of small children and adolescents in ways that could be harmful. It is affecting our immediate future. It also gives another form of communication and exchange of information which was not available before, information that is both good and bad.

Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel.
How to overcome Barriers to Information Technology/ Information System? Here are some examples states hot to overcome these barriers.

Overcoming barriers to information
Brian Martin, The University of Wollongong

What stops timely public access to information that people need and want to know? The answer is relatively easy: a range of barriers to information access, such as bureaucratic secrecy, defamation law and corporate pressure on the media. What is the best way to remove these barriers? The answer to this question is much harder.
An information strategy is an organised way of moving towards a desirable information future, taking into account the current reality, available resources, opponents and obstacles. There aren’t many people acting on the basis of explicit grand strategies, but there are quite a few making valuable contributions. The sum total of efforts in the same general direction can be thought of as a de facto strategy.
So let’s look at some de facto strategies in the information sphere, to see what can be learned. To begin, it’s useful to spell out some specific obstacles to information access. I focus on five particular ones (Martin, 1998).

• Government and corporate influences on mass media range from heavy-handed attempts to stop stories to the subtle self-censorship deriving from a fear of offending advertisers or sources. Typical things covered up include embarrassing policy failures and corporate malfeasance. Pressure is normally applied to editors and journalists behind the scenes; this pressure is seldom justified publicly.

• Defamation law is used to stop publication of critical material about individuals and organisations. For example, politicians and entrepreneurs may threaten to sue, and seeing the costs of actual suits scares potential targets, leading to excessive caution even when defamation suits are unlikely. The stated rationale for defamation is protection of reputation, but it is far more effective as a form of censorship. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) most commonly use defamation law (Pring and Canan, 1996).

• Intellectual property is used to restrict access to cheap copies of information and to inhibit innovation building on proprietary materials. The cost of intellectual property reduces access to databases, scientific articles, photographs and music, while worries about legal action inhibit efforts to create improved or creatively modified versions of existing works. Intellectual property is supposed to promote innovation but often slows it by creating intellectual monopolies and by reducing the "intellectual commons"—the public domain—which is the foundation for inspiration and innovation.

• Bureaucratic controls, especially in government and corporate organisations, are used to prevent disclosure of inside information. Employees know an enormous amount about corruption and bad policy but are subject to serious reprisals if they speak out. The usual rationale for organisational secrecy is efficiency; routine leaks by senior bureaucrats reveal a double standard. The power of the bureaucratic hierarchy induces conformity in most employees.

• Misleading information is produced in vast quantities by advertisers, governments and other vested interests, overloading people and making it hard to recognise what is really important. The constant diet of biased and inadequate information leads to confusion and cynicism, while independent sources of information are relegated to the sidelines. Production of misleading information is justified as freedom of speech.

Lack of adequate financial support is top IT implementation barrier.

Financial pressures are a powerful limitation on capital investment in information technology. The top three IT implementation barriers cited by 2001 survey respondents are lack of adequate financial support for IT (21%), difficulty proving IT quantifiable benefits/ROI (15%), and vendors’ inability to effectively deliver product or service to respondents’ satisfaction (14%). Although it is still a top concern, difficulty in proving ROI has decreased in significance from 22% last year.

Accessing capital and demonstrating return-on-investment are not the only challenges. While recruiting and retaining high-quality IT staff was mentioned, staffing concerns dropped for the second year in a row; only 6% of respondents cited it as a barrier, compared to 15% in 2000, and 23% in 1999.

I believe that every company has its own Information System or Information Technology Barriers, same with the company I adopted, they also facing this rampant situation in processing high technologies. Here are some obstacles in Information Management which also encountered most of the company today.

Obstacles to information sharing and their management

1. What are the obstacles to information-sharing?

Human resource problems
• Insufficient skilled management in information-gathering and retrieving information
• Insufficient trained personnel at all levels
• Insufficient communication skills

Technical resource problems
• Need for modern information systems
• Difficulties in setting up information programme
• Problems in data processing
• Technical constraints to reproducing or copying documents
• Decoding statistics collected and the structure of statistical reporting
• Time factor in the collection and updating of information
• Need for qualitative aspects of information

Physical resource problems
• Need for publishing houses
• Need for documentation centres

Financial problems
• Need for funds for processing, printing and dissemination of information

Communication problems
• Production of incomprehensible information
• Insufficient understanding of the objectives, goals and aims of programmes
• Top-down approach
• Languages: media of communication
• Information-filtering
• Untargeted information
• Insufficient understanding among interest groups

Operational problems
• Need for co-ordination and networking among professionals and educational institutions
• Need for supportive policy to release information
• Insufficient access to information source
• Confidentiality
• Redundancy of information
• Nature of policy directives
• Need for identifying sources of information
• Centralization of activities
• Need for systematic documentation

Psychological and other problems
• Need for mutual trust between professionals and administrators
• Need for trust in information-sharing
• Need for of goodwill
• Competition between organizations
• Censorship
• War

2. How can these obstacles be effectively managed?

Human resource development
• Training
• Other capacity-building

Technical resource development
• Establish documentation centre (independent non-governmental institution for processing and disseminating information ?)
• Install modern information technology
• Create database
• Encourage small-scale publishing

Physical resource development
• Improve infrastructure
• Build documentation centre

Operational improvement
• Set clear policy guidelines on information dissemination
• Encourage government to have depository laws and enforce them
• Introduce information system
• Use mass media
• Follow a bottom-up approach
• Develop grassroots level inventory of information
• Create awareness of the value of information
• Identify user information needs
• Consult target groups
• Develop target-oriented and useable information
• Develop effective system of information management and dissemination; information should be simple, understandable and manageable
• Institute efficient and effective co-ordination and networking
• Encourage a free flow of information — horizontally and vertically

Common Barriers in Information Technology

• When information technology is designed so that it does not work with assistive technology, it creates barriers to people with disabilities.
• Software that requires the use of a mouse to perform commands is inaccessible to people with disabilities that cannot use a mouse.
• A copier that has controls outside of accessible reach ranges is inaccessible for some persons who use wheelchairs.
• A computer laboratory that is located in an inaccessible building cannot be accessed by people with disabilities.
• Some of the barriers listed above are primarily the responsibility of IT vendors, but educational entities should take these barriers into account in the procurement process.
•

Sources:
http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2002/04/martin.html
http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/erd/english/wgesa/doc/ethiopia/appendice_2.htm