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Case Study 3

2011-01-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

All of the movie choices are all about futuristic one. They portray the world several years from now which is as we observe in those movies that there are new technologies. The following are the two movies I already watched:

WALL-E

The movie WALL-E is a 3D animation about a robot named WALL-E who is responsible and design to clean up a waste that covered the earth. He is a good programmed robot because of his kindness and hard-working. The earth there was empty because all the people abandoned it and was transferred to a big ship or they called it AXIOM. There the people are the passengers and they have also a captain who led for their meals and daily routines. The ship sent an advanced robot named EVE to the earth that covered from trash to look for a sign of life there which is a plant. Fortunately, WALL-E met EVE, at first WALL-E cannot come closer to EVE because EVE was a little bit cold robot who do not want to be friend to WALL-E. But because of what WALL-E felts to her he tried his best to make friends with EVE and fortunately they become friends. Eventually what EVE looking was in WALL-E’s area which is the plant, when WALL-E shows it to EVE, EVE was automatically open its body and sealed the plant and then shutdown. The ship get EVE back but WALL-E join her, when they arrived in AXIOM WALL-E noticed the human who were obese and served by the robots. The plant was the chance to get back the people to the earth. EVE, WALL-E and the captain tried their best to launch the plant in order to bring them to the earth and start a new life against the robots who brainwash them.

After watching the movie WALL-E I was amazed because aside from futuristic one it has a moral lesson to us as a human who need to take care our mother nature in order to avoid those matters which is happening in the movie. This movie gave us vision in the possible things happened to the future and alarm us to be responsible in the field of technology.

SURROGATES

The movie Surrogates is somewhat kind of human having its own what we call surrogates or like avatars or humanoids who represent them in doing their works and activities. The human only put a kind of helmet in their head and fell asleep and by that their surrogates or avatars wake up to replace them. It is a remotely controlled surrogates which acts also like as a human. The essence of having surrogates is the operator or the human itself is safe in their own homes and cannot feel pain when they use their own surrogates. A bad human came who invent a new type of weapon which overload to every surrogates, disable the system and kill the operator itself. But there’s a good man who want to stop this bad deeds. He found out that the newly produce weapon who design to destroy systems in surrogates by a virus and kill the operators is in the same company whom surrogates was originated. Going to end this synopsis the good man or agent there was successfully destroy all the surrogates and fortunately all the operators or people came out from their home and realize that the world is beautiful to live.

This movie was good and has also a moral lesson. They help people realized that do not drown yourself into too much advanced or I mean that as a human you are the superior and control every wants you like. Robots are just inventions who cannot replace missions of a human in the world. We should be thankful for having a beautiful and nice world to live. God gave this to us and we must take care of it. It was a great movie to watch and because I watched this movie I like movies which are science fiction-action film.

COMPARISONS

The two movies have the same concept who is a futuristic one. It gives also moral lesson and awake people in the possible things will happen in the future who we know that technologies are fast changing and developing into a better one, brilliant and great features and functionalities like we saw in the movies WALL-E and SURROGATES.

Case Study 2

2011-01-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

As a future IT professional, 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.

Almost 4 yrs. of learning new things about being an IT Professional I can say that it is not only the key for the steps you will take to get what is related to your course. You need also to take some trainings for the degree you have taken, this will keep your skills fresh to manage the work professionally. The following will be my contribution as an IT Professional based on my learnings from my college years:

1. Support FOSS

As an IT student you need to explore things in the internet or anywhere which is related to the field you have. And from that I learned about Free Open Source Software which is I myself is one of the beneficiaries of it. This help students like me to get what we need through the internet through the availability of its source code or somewhat we call free like downloading softwares which we can use for our studies. By supporting FOSS we can contribute for the development of technology in our society.

2. Support Green Computing

We are aware that every minute or every day new technology come out and encourage people to use it because of its features and advantages. As an IT students our life is engage on that matter and before that as a human we are responsible to protect and care our mother nature. By supporting Green Computing this will help lessen the materials used in some technology or machines which harm the environment.

3. Skills in Creativity

As what I learned in my college days, having the creativity to think is one of the key for you to be successful. All the people has this skills but most of them use it. I myself will use this skills for my contribution of being an IT Professional because this would help to develop new and brilliant technologies that is useful for our society. We should think widely or across the boundary for us to have a good product to come up.

4. Managing Skills

This skills is all about managing your time, managing your project and managing yourself or somewhat call discipline. This would help for the development of technology because if you become a project manager you need to cheer up and have a good preparation or plan for the project. By making it you need to manage also your time, every time you waste it deducts the confidence of the project and to prevent that you need to discipline yourself first before entering to that situation. And I can say that I can manage those skills and adopt all of those for the contribution of the development of technology to our society someday.

Case Study 1

2010-12-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

Why we use technology today?

When I heard the word technology it simply means to make life easier. Most of us depends in technology today because of its functionalities which help us to manage some works which people cannot handle it in a manual way. Here are some reasons why we used technology today:

- to make a better communication
- reduce human effort and increase the speed in doing some works
- to gain new learnings from its features and uses
- for business purposes

What are some points that have influenced us?

I think to go with the flow of the people around us. We are living in a world of machines or what we call a modernized generation, which when we look from side to side one thing that we can see is some machines working with people or produce for our usage.

What are the factors involved in technology change?

Satisfaction and Human Skills. Satisfaction because when people are not satisfied he needs changes to it that's why when a technology doesn't satisfied its target it needs to have some developments in order to address the problem. And Human Skills because their are some people have brilliant ideas which can produce some amazing works for another features and technologies which they think that it can easily adapt in the environment.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR....

Assignment 4 (SAD2)

2010-09-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

PRE-REGISTRATION FORM (screen shot by: Joverly Gonzales)

SRIS (screen shot by: Joan Rose P. Dandoy)

Above images are the Pre-Registration Form and SRIS. Pre-Registration Form is a piece of paper which the enrollee needs to fill-up some inputs or information for them to have records in the corresponding colleges they have enrolled. As we can see the PRF form requires name, address, ID number, and the subject codes and descriptions. Also the students need to check the box of the sex type, type of students whether if your old, transferee or new enrollees. While in the SRIS which is the automated one requires ID number, student’s name, address, class, gender, contact email address, religion, year, type of student, desired career, parents, course, major and the subject codes and description.

Comparing the two tools of the enrolment system in the university it shows some similarity and differences in the data field. But before I will discuss that issue I will first cite the advantages of having this kind of tools for enrolment system. Using or having a Pre-Registration Form (PRF) is good, even though it is manual but it serves us a help or a guide to those encoders which they make their work easier. They will easily encode the data from the PRF to the SRIS and by this it reduce the waste of time. SRIS also has a big help to the enrolment system of the school because aside from being automated it keeps records of the students and it can easily search or track the student records if it is needed. Going back to the issue of the differences between the two tools, the Pre-Registration Form (PRF) and SRIS differ on the system interface, as I observed they has some fields in the SRIS which I cannot see in the PRF. Example of this are the religion, desired career and email address, if you are a new enrollees you need to face the encoder to fill up those fields verbally. I will suggest the uniformity of the two tools must be consistent and the layout of the two tools must be users friendly as what we call in a system, so that is readable and the student can easily understand it. Generally, Pre-Registration Form (PRF) and SRIS are has the same purpose in the enrolment system of the school, although it needs some improvements this two functions well for having a good kind of system in the enrolment.

Assignment 3 (SAD2)

2010-07-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Interview your university network specialist. Ask how various parts of the system communicate with each other throughout the university. (Q) Given the chance to redesign the existing setup, enumerate and discuss your key points for an effective and efficient network environment ideal for the university.
(At least 3000 words)

In this assignment we are task to interview a network analysis in our university. Engr. Ariel Roy Reyes is the assigned network analysis in the university. Supposed to be last week we have an interview schedule with Sir Reyes but unfortunately he could not make it because of some important matter. He wants to have a group or class discussion in order to share his answers to everyone. Good to say that this week he allows us to pass a questionnaire for him to answer via email. Now, I will discuss the questions with the corresponding answers from Sir Reyes.
The first question was all about the components involved in the system/s in the university including the hardware, software, technology they are using, and etc. According to Sir Reyes, he is not the right position to discuss the details of the software components used as there are other assigned personnel for such job. However, talking about hardware component and technology used, basically I, assigned as the network administrator, am entrusted to maintain our different servers to run 24/7. Currently, we have our Web Server hosted here in our University in our HP ProLiant ML350 Server. It’s an old but stable server set-up here in our Networks Office and has been active since Engr. Val A. Quimno , not yet a dean, was appointed as the Network Administrator.
The said server has the following specification:
• Intel Xeon 3.0 GHz, 3.2 GHz, or 3.4 GHz processors (dual processor capability) with 1MB level 2 cache standard. Processors include support for Hyper-Threading and Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T)
• Intel® E7520 chipset
• 800-MHz Front Side Bus
• Integrated Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Adapter
• Smart Array 641 Controller (standard in Array Models only)
• NC7761 PCI Gigabit NIC (embedded)
• Up to 1 GB of PC2700 DDR SDRAM with Advanced ECC capabilities (Expandable to 8 GB)
• Six expansion slots: one 64-bit/133-MHz PCI-X, two 64-bit/100-MHz PCI-X, one 64-bit/66-MHz PCI-X, one x4 PCI-Express, and one x8 PCI-Express
• New HP Power Regulator for ProLiant delivering server level, policy based power management with industry leading energy efficiency and savings on system power and cooling costs
• Three USB ports: 1 front, 1 internal, 1 rear
• Support for Ultra320 SCSI hard drives (six hot plug or four non-hot plug drives supported standard, model dependent)
• Internalstorage capacity of up to 1.8TB; 2.4TB with optional 2-bay hot plug SCSI drive
• 725W Hot-Plug Power Supply (standard, most models); optional 725W Hot-Pluggable Redundant Power Supply (1+1) available. Non hot plug SCSI models include a 460W non-hot plug power supply.
• Tool-free chassis entry and component access
• Support for ROM based setup utility (RBSU) and redundant ROM
• Systems Insight Manager, SmartStart, and Automatic Server Recovery 2 (ASR-2) included
• Protected by HP Services and a worldwide network of resellers and service providers. Three-year Next Business Day, on-site limited global warranty. Certain restrictions and exclusions apply. Pre-Failure Notification on processors, memory, and SCSI hard drives.
Aside from it, our mail server running under Compaq Proliant ML330 Server, our oldest server, is also hosted here in our Networks Office. Together with other Servers, such as Proxy and Enrollment Servers, both proxy and our enrollment servers are running in microcomputer/personal computers but with higher specifications to act as servers.
Next question was how the system or how do these communicate with one another, (topology, network connectivity, protocols, etc.)? According to Sir Reyes, all Servers are connected in a shared medium grouped as one subnetwork. In general, our network follows the extended star topology which is connected to a DUAL WAN Router that serves as the load balance between our two Internet Service Providers. All other workstations are grouped into different subnetworks as in star topology branching out from our servers subnetwork as in extended star topology. At present, we are making use of class C IP Address for private IP address assignments. Other workstations IP assignments are configured statically (example: laboratories) while others are Dynamic (example: offices). All workstations are connected via our proxy servers that do some basic filtering/firewall to control user’s access to the internet aside from router filtering/firewall management. So, whenever any workstation has to connect to the internet, it has to pass through software and hardware based firewall.

Next question was all about the processes involved in the communication (each system to other systems). According to Sir Reyes, as mentioned above, in item 3, all workstations are connected via a proxy server. It means that whenever a workstation is turned on, it requests for an IP address from the proxy server (for dynamically configured IP address) and connect to the network after IP address is acquired. As connection is established, each system can now communicate and share resources within the same subnetwork and to server following the concepts discuss in your Computer Network Class.

Next question was how do you go along with the maintenance of the system? According to Sir Reyes, Basically, our servers are expected to be in good condition since it is required to be up 24/7. Daily, during my vacant period, monitoring on the servers are observed that includes checking logs, checking hardware performance such as CPU health, etc. If problems are observed, remedies are then and then applied. Once in a week, regular overall checkup is observed as preventive maintenance to ensure not to experience longer downtime if possible.

Next question was the system follow a specific standard? According to Sir Reyes, as I was appointed as the Network Administrator, everything was already in place except for some minor changes. Basically, different networking standards was already observed such as cabling standards, TIA/EIA 568A-B, different IEEE standards as discussed in your Computer Networks Subject, etc.

Next question was how is the security of the system? Are there any vulnerability, risks, corresponding mitigation techniques and access control? According to Sir Reyes, as I have mentioned, we have implemented both software and hardware based filtering/firewall. Basically, Risks or vulnerabilities and different mitigation techniques were considered to increase security in our network. Aside from filtering/firewall, constant monitoring on networks activity also increases the security of the system.

And the last questions are there any interference? During what (most) times do these occur? Explain their effects especially with regards to the business of the university? According to Sir Reyes, major Interferences are normally encountered as an effect of unforeseen and beyond our control events such as black outs, and the like. The said interference would of course affect University’s day-to-day businesses for obviously this will paralyze all our activities that rely on electricity and further this might cause damage on our network devices, etc. that may later be the reason for longer downtime. Problems encountered by our providers such as connection to the National/International Gateway also affect University’s business such as correlating to University’s Business Partners outside and within the country.

Given the chance to redesign the existing setup, enumerate and discuss your key points for an effective and efficient network environment ideal for the university.

For me, if I will given a chance to redesign the existing setup of the network environment in our university I would probably improved or enhance it instead of redesigning it because in redesigning a network environment it takes time, money, and other factors which are possibly cause of failures or delays. As what Sir Reyes said he rather has some improvement and maintenance instead of redesigning another one setup of network environment. And as I observed the existing setup in network environment in the university are providing the needs of the university.

Assignment 2 (SAD2)

2010-07-20T07:46:00.001-07:00

Relative to your answer in Assignment 1 .... what's your take on the design of the enrollment system?

From my answer in assignment 1 it was written there that the new enrollment system is much better than the old enrollment system. The administration gave their full effort to have another design in enrollment system because they noticed and observed the problems in the old enrollment system. Having a new design in enrollment system will reduce all the problems in the old one.The administration or the designer of the new system design in enrollment was using a kind of diagram to illustrate the processes or procedures. By this the students can easily understand the flow during the enrollment. But as I observed the new design was not too sensitive in delivering their understanding of the flow to the students. I cannot totally expressed the word/s in describing the design of the enrollment system in the university because all of the designer or the system analyst who were responsible for this were using their full-knowledge in creating a design of a system. Although it has some disadvantages for now, I appreciate their effort which trying their best to improve the enrollment system of the university. I think by collecting and observing the feedback of the students in their enrollment system design will challenge them to create or develop a new one which address the advantages or the problems in the existing one. We all know that we cannot have a perfect system design. They need to have a better plan which is plan to succeed.

Assignment 1 (SAD2)

2010-07-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Above is the diagram of the enrollment system in University of Southeastern Philippines. Based on my experienced I can say that the new enrollment system in the university is much better than the old enrollment system, because the old enrollment system consumed how many days for you to be officially enrolled in your department. I observed that this kind of delays happened because of the process and system used in the enrollment are not enough to enroll a student in the university. This must have some improvements to do in order to address the said delays. That’s why the university has a new enrollment system which they think it will address the problem in the old enrollment system. Based on my experienced again, the new enrollment system in the university takes a few days in order for the student to be officially enrolled. The process of this new enrollment system lessens the delays in the past old system in enrollment. Let’s discuss the process of this new enrollment system and provide suggestions for some improvements so that the few days of enrolling in a university will make an hour for you to be officially enrolled.

Below are the enrollment processes for the old and new students in the university:

1. (FOR NEW STUDENTS) Go to UGTO and fill up student records
2. Payment of fees (Local Council fee, OCSC fee, Headlight fee).
3. (FOR SCHOLARS) Apply/Validate scholarship at the Office of Student Services.
4. (FOR NEW STUDENTS) Enroll in ROTC or CWTS.
5. Submit or present all required documents to the adviser, and get a Pre-Registration Form.
6. Fill up the Pre-Registration form and go back to the adviser to sign it.
7. Submit the Pre-Registration form to the encoder and get the Certificate of Registration.
8. (FOR SCHOLARS) Verify student accounts at the bookkeeper. (For non-scholars) Pay tuition fee at the cashier.
9. Complete enrollment by getting stamped “Officially Enrolled” at the Registrar.
10. Apply/Validate library card.

I will discuss each of the process in enrollment and possibly put some suggestions or remedy for some improvements in the enrollment process.

1. (FOR NEW STUDENTS) Go to UGTO and fill up student records

This is the first process or first step for the new students in enrolling in the university. I think it is good and I cannot provide suggestion to it because this process is not too hassling for the new students, they must fill it up correctly because the information they input is important for the records in the UGTO.

2. Payment of fees (Local Council fee, OCSC fee, Headlight fee).

This process is the first step for the old students and the second step for the new students and this kind of hassle for the students. Based on my experienced as an old student in the university during enrollment when I reached this step I was confused because we must pay the local council fee in the other building which is where your department located and the OCSC and Headlight fee in the other building too. This kind of hassle because like me I’m a BSIT student and our building is far from the OCSC offices. What if these 3 fees will be merged in the encoding process of enrollment and the fees will reflect in the C.O.R. Even though this step is needed first in order to pass the other steps in the adviser because in the adviser’s process they collect the receipts of all the fees for you to have a PRF. By this, it will lessen the work of the adviser and the payment of these 3 fees will be made at the cashier’s office.

3. (FOR SCHOLARS) Apply/Validate scholarship at the Office of Student Services.

This step is okay with me even though it takes time because we all know the fact that almost of the students in the university are scholars. But I have some suggestion, what if the university provides more authorized people at the OSS to validate the scholarship of the students.

4. (FOR NEW STUDENTS) Enroll in ROTC or CWTS.

5. Submit or present all required documents to the adviser, and get a Pre-Registration Form.

From my suggestions in the step number 2 this step will be easy now.

6. Fill up the Pre-Registration form and go back to the adviser to sign it.

7. Submit the Pre-Registration form to the encoder and get the Certificate of Registration.

Based on my experienced when I reached this step it takes time for you to get the C.O.R because the departments is lack of resources and people (encoder), what if the respective departments at the university add encoders, I will cite an example in our department only one encoder are working to encodes all the PRF of hundreds of students. This suggestion will help to make the flow of encoding process faster.

8. (FOR SCHOLARS) Verify student accounts at the bookkeeper’s window.
(FOR NON-SCHOLARS) Pay tuition fee at the cashier’s window.

9. Complete enrollment by getting stamped “Officially Enrolled” at the Registrar.

As I observed it is good that the university provides more registrar’s window because it will cater or entertain more students during the enrollment process.

10. Apply/Validate library card.

I hope that the university will study more the situation happening during the enrollment process in using the new enrollment system which they provide. By that they will see the differences and some problems in that precious day of the students which is the enrollment day. For me, the university will also get some ideas or suggestions from the students because the students are the one who are experiencing the situation in the enrollment.

Ass.10 (SAD1)

2010-05-31T20:57:00.001-07:00

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

In order to understand a Data FLow Diagram let's first define it:

Data Flow Diagram is a “description of data and the manual and machine processing performed on the data as it moves and changes from one stage to succeeding stages of the diagram. A typical DFD doesn’t show information on how the process will operates, the sequence of the processes.

Here are some characteristics of a Data Flow Diagram to ensure quality:

1. Design and Information Flow

• Data flow-oriented design, i.e., “structured design”, defines a number of different mappings that transform information flow into program structure.

2. Two Information Flow Types

• A transform flow is a segment of a DFD that consists of an incoming flow, a transform center, and an outgoing flow.

3. Design Process Considerations

• The transition from information flow to structure is accomplished as part of a five-step process:
(1) The type of information flow is established;
(2) flow boundaries are indicated;
(3) the DFD is mapped into program structure;
(4) the control hierarchy is defined;
(5) the resultant structure is refined using design measures and heuristics.

4. Completeness

• A quality Data Flow Diagram must check the completeness of the process model, particularly in the understanding of data which are being required by the system being modeled.
5. Simplifying Complexity

In making diagram especially if the system to be modeled is a complex one, it must be ensured that items in the diagram are being simplified. One characteristic that a quality Data Flow Diagram must have is simplifying complexity by isolating some major process.

6. Symbols

One important thing to consider in quality data flow diagram is the use of correct and understandable symbols. It should be considered that in making diagrams it must follow the correct usage of symbols in naming the flows of data whether inflows or outflows

Common symbols used in Data Flow Diagrams are the following:

1. Squares representing external entities, which are sources or destinations of data.
2. Rounded rectangles representing processes, which take data as input, do something to it, and output it.
3. Arrows representing the data flows, which can either be electronic data or physical items.
4. Open-ended rectangles representing data stores, including electronic stores such as databases or XML files and physical stores such as or filing cabinets or stacks of paper.

And most of all, an analyst must know if the developer of the process model follow the stages in making DFD’s.

The normal stages are:

1. Model the current system as it is presently implemented. It is rare that a system is designed to do something entirely new.

2. The essential activities of the system are extracted. What is now left is just the data, information stores and starts and destinations. What is removed is physical things like any IT used, the media on which the data is recorded and stored, and who does what

-The DFD remaining is called the Current Logical System.
-Make minor improvements in the logic of stored data
-Combine references to data stores using replicated data
-Remove data stores which are only used because of inefficiencies in the present system

3. Eventually the new system takes physical shape according to factors like the existing IT platform it will have to operate on, the data model adopted by the organization and organizational procedures favored within the corporate culture.

References:

http://faculty.babson.edu/dewire/Readings/dfddiag.htm
www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~gwatkins/.../04.../lec2data_flow_diagrams.doc

Ass.11 (SAD1)

2010-05-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

You were tasked by the IC-dean to evaluate the enrollment system of the university, list and briefly describe the characteristics that an anlayst(you) examines when choosing or defining deployment environment.

One of the primary considerations in developing a new information system is the application deployment environment. The application deployment environment is the configuration of computer hardware, system software, and network in which the new application software will operate. An important part of any project is ensuring that the application deployment environment is defined and well matched to application requirements. At this life cycle stage, the analyst’s goal is to define the environment in sufficient detail to be able to choose from among the competing alternatives and to provide sufficient information for design to begin. Additional details are added as design proceeds.

When choosing or defining the deployment environment, analysts are concerned with several important characteristics including the following:

• Compatibility with System Requirements. Requirements such as user locations speed of access and update, security, and transaction volume have a significant impact on environmental requirements. For example, high-volume transaction processing systems such as powerful servers, and compatible operating systems and database management systems.

• Compatibility among Hardware and System Software. Although hardware and system software compatibility has generally improved over time, it is still a significant consideration. Ensuring compatibility among hardware and system software will lessen the work on configuring system software for the sake that these sofwares will be compatible with current hardware. Besides, will also lessen the installation, since both component (system software and hardware) are compatible so there’s no need to install several drivers for compatibility sake.

• Required Interfaces to External Systems. Modern applications often interact with external systems operated by entities such as consumers, suppliers, and the government. Implementing external interfaces may require a certain system software and, less frequently, specific hardware. Example of this characteristic is the interaction between a web-based application and a typical cellular phone. In this case, system software to be used in phones is not the only concern in interacting with a web-based application; you also need to do some on the networking side.

• Conformity with the Strategic Plan and Architecture Plans. Because there are so many choices in hardware and system software organizations find it difficult and expensive to support many different types. Most medium and large-scale organizations have strategic application and technology architecture plans that focus their efforts on a limited set of hardware and software alternatives. Although that environment might not be the best for every application type, sticking to whenever possible will minimize the total cost of infrastructure maintenance and maximize the long-term compatibility among systems for that particular organization.

• Cost and Schedule. Deployment environment alternatives may vary in their impact on the project cost and schedule. Typically, environment choices that match the IT strategic plan and existing systems are the least expensive to acquire, configure and support. In deployment you need to go over with the cost, you need to be assured that upon deployment the system to be deployed will run as expected; otherwise cost problems will arise and may result to deployment failure for the system.

Reference:

http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=-ot62DeCKO4C&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292&dq=choosing%20or%20defining%20deployment%20environment.&source=bl&ots=V0x_SqKERs&sig=Td2mLV-mt4TRrO0v-1EVUKhbS64&hl=tl&ei=ppePS52NNIyqtgOWo53LCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CC4Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=choosing%20or%20defining%20deployment%20environment.&f=false

My Blog: www.minenor.blogspot.com

Ass.4 (SAD1)

2010-05-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

Identify and discuss at least 3 systems development models .. discuss each phases ... (at least 500 words/model)

Systems Development Models

A system development models help the system analyst to create algorithms of a program for the systems to be done. All the types of models has different steps to organize the building of a system. It has many types of Systems Development Models and the following are the three familiar models that we use.

1.) The Waterfall Model

For me, when I heard waterfall model it is some kind of process which is sequentially or it is be done by process. You cannot go to another phase if you cannot finish the first phase. The Waterfall Model is the earliest method of structured system development and it is still widely used.

Advantages:

The most important aspect of the waterfall model is that none of the stages can be started off with before the preceding stage is complete. The software life cycle has to follow the sequence. This type of model is easy to use and understand. Needless to mention, it is a linear model and of course, linear models are the most simple to be implemented. The amount of resources required to implement this model is very minimal. One great advantage of the waterfall model is that documentation is produced at every stage of the waterfall model development. This makes the understanding of the product designing procedure simpler. After every major stage of software coding, testing is done to check the correct running of the code.

Disadvantages:

According to a critic Schacchi this kind of model is lack of functionality. The waterfall model is said to be the easiest model to understand because it provides a sequential succession of phases to be followed but then it is not that reliable. Because of its simplicity it would only be suitable for certain classes of software development and would not work well with the other software like interactive applications. Ironically, the biggest disadvantage of the waterfall model is one of its greatest advantage. You cannot go back, if the design phase has gone wrong, things can get very complicated in the implementation phase. Many a times, it happens that the client is not very clear of what he exactly wants from the software. Any changes that he mentions in between may cause a lot of confusion. Small changes or errors that arise in the completed software may cause a lot of problem. The greatest disadvantage of the waterfall model is that until the final stage of the development cycle is complete, a working model of the software does not lie in the hands of the client. Thus, he is hardly in a position to mention if what has been designed is exactly what he had asked for

Different Phases in Waterfall Model:

Stage 1: Requirement Phase
Whether you design a small program to add two numbers or you are into developing a software system for the automation of an entire airline company, this is the first stage which can never be overridden. Unless you know what you are going to design, you cannot approach the problem. Here, the specifications of the output or the final product is studied and marked. If the software that is going to be designed should not contain certain features, for reasons like security, then it is also mentioned in this stage.

Stage 2: Specification Phase
With all the requirements and constraints in hand, a final view of how the product should exactly be, is decided. The exact way in which the software should function is mentioned in this stage.

Stage 3: Design Phase
Well, here the actual work begins. Every type of resource which will be required for the smooth designing of the software is mentioned here in this phase. What type of database will be required, what type of data should be supported, etc. are some of the important aspects that are decided in this phase. The algorithm of the process in which the software needs to be designed is made in this phase. This algorithm forms the backbone for the actual coding part in the next phase.

Stage 4: Implementation and Testing Phase
Now starts the coding part. Here, the software is designed as per the algorithm. Hence it becomes very important that the algorithm should be properly designed. The software designed as per the algorithm needs to go through constant software testing and error correction processes to find out if there are any flaw or errors. The output of this stage should be a well designed software which is at par with the algorithm designed.

Stage 5: Integration and Testing Phase
Here the various codes designed by different programmers are integrated together and is tested if the software works as per the specifications provided. The setup of the final software which needs to be installed at the clients system is also designed and tested so that the client does not face any problem during the installation of the software. The product is then handed over to the client.

Stage 6: Maintenance Phase
The work of software development does not end with the handing of the software to the client. The software designers may have to constantly provide support to the client to resolve any of the issues which may arise. There may be some flaws which get detected during the actual implementation of the project. During the maintenance phase, support and debugging is provided for all such problems.

Stage 7: New Requirements Phase
Changing times may require that the product requirements be changed. The client company may be expanding into other fields and it may want new features to be added over to the existing software. Hence, it is very important that the updated requirements be taken from the client. This requires the entire product life cycle to start all over again.

2.) The Prototyping Model

Rapid prototyping is a process wherein a working model or prototype is developed for the purpose of testing the various product features like design, ideas, features, functionality, performance and output. This process of development of working model is quite quick. The user can give an early feedback regarding the prototype. The product can be produced if the prototype meets the requirements of all designing objectives after sufficient refinement.

Advantages:

Reduction in project cost and risk.
Can be used in different industries.
Easily the errors in previous design can be detected and errors can be rectified.
Only upon the complete satisfaction the complete product is designed. Factors like manufacture ability, robustness and functionality of design are checked before sending it for production.
Greater visualization capabilities are improved right from the first stage if designing.
This helps the user in knowing how the final product will look like.
All the designing flaws can be detected easily before the manufacturing of the product starts.
Manufacturer, designer and user can discuss the product and work forward to get the best product. This helps to give the user higher output product.

Disadvantages:

Some people are of the opinion that rapid prototyping is not effective because, in actual, it fails in replication of the real product or system. It could so happen that some important developmental steps could be omitted to get a quick and cheap working model. This can be one of the greatest disadvantages of rapid prototyping. Another disadvantage of rapid prototyping is one in which many problems are overlooked resulting in endless rectifications and revisions. One more disadvantage of rapid prototyping is that it may not be suitable for large sized applications.

3.) The Spiral Model

The spiral model, also known as the spiral life cycle model, is a systems development life cycle (SDLC) model used in information technology (IT). This model development combines the features of the prototyping model and the waterfall model. The spiral model is favored for large, expensive, and complicated projects.

The steps in the spiral model can be generalized as follows:

1.The new system requirements are defined in as much detail as possible. This usually involves interviewing a number of users representing all the external or internal users and other aspects of the existing system.
2.A preliminary design is created for the new system.
3.A first prototype of the new system is constructed from the preliminary design. This is usually a scaled-down system, and represents an approximation of the characteristics of the final product.
4.A second prototype is evolved by a fourfold procedure: (1) evaluating the first prototype in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and risks; (2) defining the requirements of the second prototype; (3) planning and designing the second prototype; (4) constructing and testing the second prototype.
5.At the customer's option, the entire project can be aborted if the risk is deemed too great. Risk factors might involve development cost overruns, operating-cost miscalculation, or any other factor that could, in the customer's judgment, result in a less-than-satisfactory final product.
6.The existing prototype is evaluated in the same manner as was the previous prototype, and, if necessary, another prototype is developed from it according to the fourfold procedure outlined above.
7.The preceding steps are iterated until the customer is satisfied that the refined prototype represents the final product desired.
8.The final system is constructed, based on the refined prototype.
9.The final system is thoroughly evaluated and tested. Routine maintenance is carried out on a continuing basis to prevent large-scale failures and to minimize downtime.

Advantages:

The spiral model is a realistic approach to the development of large-scale software products because the software evolves as the process progresses. In addition, the developer and the client better understand and react to risks at each evolutionary level.
The model uses prototyping as a risk reduction mechanism and allows for the development of prototypes at any stage of the evolutionary development.
It maintains a systematic stepwise approach, like the classic life cycle model, but incorporates it into an iterative framework that more reflect the real world.
If employed correctly, this model should reduce risks before they become problematic, as consideration of technical risks are considered at all stages.

Disadvantages:

Demands considerable risk-assessment expertise
It has not been employed as much proven models (e.g. the WF model) and hence may prove difficult to ‘sell’ to the client (esp. where a contract is involved) that this model is controllable and efficient.

Conclusion:

For me as an analyst (hehehehehe) I think I will be more detailed in using each kind of models because it depends to me and to the system if what kind of model best fit or can give a more understandable figure of a system. They has different phases to follow, advantages and disadvantages, by that I can use those factors to choose a type of model to my system. And if I choose among the 3 familiar types of model in system development I would choose WATERFALL MODEL simply because you cannot escape or jump into another phase if you are not already finish the 1st phase and lastly it is easy to use and understand.

References:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/waterfall-model-advantages-and-disadvantages.html
http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid92_gci755347,00.html
http://scitec.uwichill.edu.bb/cmp/online/cs22l/spiralmodel.htm
http://www.rp4baghdad.com/36/prototype-disadvantages-and-rapid-prototyping-disadvantages

Ass.3 (SAD1)

2010-05-02T04:09:00.001-07:00

Discuss the role of a systems analyst as a project manager. (at least one thousand words) .... you need to interview an analyst/project manager ..show evidences ..

April 29,2010 me and my classmates in this subject System Analyst and Design 1 was conducted an interview to the System Analyst or the Management Information System Manager in Sta. Ana Multipurpose Cooperative (SAMULCO) who is Mr. James Bautista. In my assignment 2 I explained and discuss there about the opinion and answers of Mr. James Bautista of being a System Analyst and its characteristics. We almost had a 2 hours of conversation in his office. It was a nice experienced for us because Mr. James Bautista expressed his answers very well and it brought us lessons that I can use someday.

When Mr. James Bautista started to read the set of questions he smiled to us and formally start answering it. These are the questions that we gave to him to answer:

What is your role (system analyst) as a project manager?

Mr. James Bautista explained what is the difference between a system analyst and being a project manager. He explained that most of the time a system analyst compares to a project manager. According to him a system analyst is a person who provide solutions to a problem or somewhat we call a problem-solver and also who look to the overall scope or specification of a project, overall graph a system and making design modeling like flowcharts, UML. While a project manager is a person who manages a team, manages a project, talking to the team, a client, and to interacting with the system analyst, doing the design modeling also but in his own overview, delegate or a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization for the team, set time-lines for the team, project and to the client and in-charge with the people, with the client and to the hardware. For him although there's a similarities of job between a system analyst and project manager but they are different. Sometimes a system analyst in a company appoint as a project manager because the company knows the capability of a system analyst of becoming a project manager. But it is not a big deal for him about the differences between the two positions.

How do you describe yourself as a project manager in your information system department or organization (in general)?

He laughed and said it was good but quiet stressful. It is good because his knowledge is very useful in this job. He can perform well with his team. Fortunately he can manage well the project and can provide a solution to it. Without the help of his team it is possible to finish and make a project because not only a system analyst and a project manager is needed in making a project. In his team there's a project manager, system analyst, programmer (developer) and a technician or familiar with the hardware. It is stressful because we all aware that the responsibility of a project manager is not easy , most of the time he use his mind thinking of some solutions and an overview of the project he was holding. He cannot stop thinking and thinking to meet the needs of a client. Overall he is happy and proud of what job he has right now.

Can you cite related experiences of being a project manager of a team in a certain project? How do you deal with it?

He cited some examples of his project he was managing in SAMULCO. In the company he is working every year there is a general assembly with the members of the cooperative. He was task to make the assembly automated or sets all the computers in the venue where the assembly was held. In his first year with the help of his team they sets and installed an estimated of 50 computers in the said venue. They brought all the computers and around 6pm before the day of the assembly they started settings and installing all the computers and finished it around 4 in the morning. It means they had less rest in that day. The following year he suggested and provided a solution that his team was not in-charge in bringing all the computers in the venue They were only in-charge in installing and settings the computer. They started at 3 in the afternoon and finished the assigned job around 12 in the midnight. It is good for them because they done it earlier than the other year. Another year in managing his team in the company's assembly. He thought that he was not fully satisfied of the result last year. He provided it another solution. He has a list of the workers in the company, he chose some of them to help his team. After choosing people to help them they provided them a training about the kind of work they will do. Fortunately, the people he chose was doing well in training and absorbed the lessons. Mr. James was happy because his team was big and around 3 in the afternoon they started settings the computers with the people he chose and finished it 7:30 in the evening. There's a big difference and good result of what Mr. James did. He also added from his experiencing he has a client who was a foreigner and didn't know how to talk English language. He can talk to his own dialect only. Sir James was worried because he cannot understand what the client wants. They only communicate in email. Sir James thought about translating the client's message in a kind of software in order to meet and understand the needs of the client. Fortunately, in 3 months of dealing with that client it has a good result. He gave us also a nice fact about the difference between a Filipino client and American client. In a project the project manager set time-lines to it, some Filipino client is not strict in the deadline or time-lines of his project but some American client is strict and wants a daily updates of his project.

What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses as a project manager?

According to Mr. James Bautista his strength is “I know what I want, I get what I want.” And his weakness is “most of the time I think like a programmer”

Overall it was a good experienced of interviewing Mr. James Bautista because if we want to become a system analyst or a project manager someday he help us by sharing his knowledge to us.

Ass.2 (SAD1)

2010-04-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Interview a Systems Analyst and ask what skills and characteristics must a systems analyst develop in order to be more effective in any design modeling process [include in your answer evidences (pix, ltrs, etc)]? at least 1000 words excluding your evidences.

This assignment require us to interview a System Analyst. Before I will reveal who was the System Analyst I've interviewed and discuss his answers, I will first define a System Analyst. First thing that came out on my mind about System Analyst is a solution provider and analyzing the system well. Based on my answers in assignment 1, a System Analyst has different characteristics which is very useful. I will now reflect it to the person I've interviewed, Mr. James Bautista, a System Analyst of the Sta. Ana Multi-Cooperative (SAMULCO). Many of us came there to interview him in order for us to answer and comply the assignment 2 and assignment 3. Sir James introduced also his co-workers the programmer and the technician of the organization (SAMULCO). First, we gave him a list of questions and start the interview session.

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

Sir James Bautista asked us what kind of design modeling process, we said that the traditional and object oriented approach modeling like UML, Data Flow Diagram. Before he answered the question, Sir James defined a System Analyst on his own. According to him a System Analyst is a person who look to the overall scope or specification of a project, overall graph a system and making design modeling like flowcharts, UML. He also mentioned that a system analyst is a solution provider or a problem solver, he told us that becoming a System Analyst must see the problem first (see the problem alone) not the solution. After seeing the problem alone that's the time you think of some possible solutions to that problem. A system analyst also must be a global thinker. He cited one example why a System Analyst must think globally and a developer (programmer) think systematically. There's a 2 men who was digging, suddenly 1 man came and ask the first man what are you doing? The first man replied “I was digging” and the man asked the second man who was digging, what are you doing? The second man replied “I will build a house.” See the difference? According to Sir James the first man is the developer (programmer) who answered he was digging and the second man is the System Analyst who answered he was building a house. Why? Because a developer (programmer) have the systematic way of thinking or he is a systematic thinker and the system analyst thinks globally or wide. A System Analyst has a wide scope of thinking how a system must be develop and what are some details he need to put into it.

After the long conversation about what is a system analyst he cited some characteristics of a system analyst must develop to be more effective in design modeling process.

Observant, system analyst must observe and think broadly to have a nice output of the system. He must consider some details on it in order to less the waste of time and resources. To meet the client's need you must be flexible of some changes and also to your environment.

Has a basic programming skills, system analyst must have this kind of skills because a good system analyst are good also in terms of programming or coding. Programming skills is important in making a project or system because how can you implement the system without this skills. A system analyst must be flexible in anything which is related to his job.

Effective Communicator, according to Sir James it is one of the important characteristic of a system analyst because you must able to communicate well to your client in order to understand what the client want. And if the system analyst communicate well to the programmer they will understand each other and has a good output to the system they are developing.

Sir James asked each one of us to add some characteristic of a system analyst. When its my turn to answer the question, I gave him a basic characteristic of a system analyst which is being patience to your work. It possibly occurs when the project he made is failed and his team member are lazy or not properly participating in the said project. System Analyst must control his temper and mood when facing or interacting people especially his client and team members. When hearing that answer Sir James laughed and say that he almost forgot some basic characteristics of a system analyst. We also asked him about the feeling of being a system analyst, he said it was a great job but quiet stressful because all the time he use his mind to think and think and think for developing a system and provide solutions to the problem. When the organization demand to him to make this kind of system he already start thinking of the possible design and solutions in order to meet the needs of the organization he is working.

This interview is one of my very great experienced as a Information Technology student because Sir James shared a lot of his experienced being a system analyst and by that I got some lessons or learning's from his experienced. It almost takes 2 hours before the interview was done. After Sir James answered all the questions , he let us speak and ask some follow up questions. But when there's no one asking him some follow up questions, he asked us if we were already experiencing a system development, we said yes, and we shared our system we'd develop in DBAD 3 the “cashiering system” he said it was a good start for us. He also gave some advise in developing a system and being a good system analyst someday.

Ass. 1 (SAD1)

2010-04-25T19:31:00.001-07:00

Based on your learning's of chapter 1, identify and discuss some characteristics you have as a good Systems Analyst. (at least 1000 words)

As what I remember in our group reporting regarding this chapter the reporters discussed what is a System Analyst and what are the different characteristics of a good System Analyst. As what I recall, System Analyst is a person who can solve a problem using the skills and attitude they have, they can manage a project by planning and analyzing the situation of a system and the possible outcome of it. A system analyst also is researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They will be familiar with multiple approaches to problem-solving. Analysts are often familiar with a variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms. Because they often write user requests into technical specifications. Being a good System Analyst you must be a problem solver, understanding, good listener, effective communicator, knowledgeable in technology, patience sand has a management skills and technical skills. I can compare those characteristics of a good System Analyst to myself.

First, a System Analyst is a problem solver. An analyst have this kind of characteristic because it is there duty in an organization to solve a problem in a system and find best solutions to it. In my case, every time there's a problem I'm trying to solve it properly and in a good manner. Sometimes problems kills me but because of my will to solve that problem there's a way where I can find a solution to it. Problems are everywhere, so that I'm always ready to face all of them and find some solutions to it. But before solving it I will first analyze what is the cause of that problem and persons behind to it. Because if I will not considered it there's a tendency that I will fail to find solutions.

Second, a System Analyst is understanding. An analyst have this characteristic because in there profession they need it much in order to have a good result to there assignments or projects. In my case, I can say I am an understanding person because if I'm not well I have nothing. Being an understanding person is important, you need to have this characteristic in order for you to be complete. You must understand the things surrounds you. Being a student I'm not trying bu to do my best to understand every lesson I have to learn and share it. Sometimes there's a what we call misunderstanding, its cause is when a person misinterpret the act of the another person and or the situation.

Third, a System Analyst is a good listener. An analyst must have this characteristic because we know they face or meet some people (client), for them to have a good result to there project they must listen to there client very well. In my case, as a daughter I need to be a good listener to my parents for me to have better future and right path to go through. It is important for me to listen to those words from my parents because it will help me to become a good person. Words that came out from our parents are words of protection and lessons to us.

Fourth, a System Analyst is an effective communicator. An analyst is an effective communicator because of there ability to work with people and understand the problem that a system solution can solve. In my case, as a person I need to have this kind of characteristic because it helps me to find some solutions to my problem.

Fifth, a System Analyst is knowledgeable in technology. An analyst are using technologies for there projects and works. Today's generation there's a fast changing in technologies, new inventions were made and others are continue making useful and adoptive technology. In reality technologies are helping people to make the work easier. So that many of us are trying there best to practice and learn the existing technology. In my case, as a student in Bachelor of Science in Information Technology I need to have knowledge in technology. It is part of my course to study, understand and operates some kind technologies like computers.

Sixth, a System Analyst is patience. An analyst must be patience in terms of making projects. It possibly occurs when the project he made is failed and his team member are lazy or not properly participating in the sad project. System Analyst must control his temper and mood when facing or interacting people especially his client and team members.

Seventh, a System Analyst has management skills. An analyst must has this kind of skills because many of the System Analyst are also a project manager. They are managing people in an organization. It's not easy to do this kind of job because many instances will occur. If the system analyst don't know what he is doing the project of the team he manage will fail. In my case, as student in our other subject we have some groupings and sometimes I was appointed as a leader to a group. Being a leader is not easy, you need to know your members and manage your members.

Lastly, a System Analyst has technical skills. An analyst must have this kind of skills because a good system analyst are good also in terms of programming or coding. Programming skills is important in making a project or system because how can you implement the system without this skills. A system analyst must be flexible in anything which is related to his job.

It is not easy to become a System Analyst because you need to have a wide learning's which will help you in your profession. In order to be successful try your best, love your work, keep your feet on the ground and especially keep God always in your life and thanks Him for what you have now in your life.

Ass.9 in MIS2

2010-01-30T04:04:00.003-08:00

The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years.

I think 3 years from now these are the three changes of University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) that improve the school service for the students.

1.)Improved Facilities and Classrooms

As I observed, University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) has a lack of facilities like computer sets and ceiling fans. Being a student we need computers for us to have an easy tools to do our research and assignments. Ceiling fans is also important because students can be more comfortable to their studies inside the classrooms. It is also good if the school improve some classrooms or add some for the large students studying in the university. In my research classroom attempts to provide a safe space where learning can take place uninterrupted by other distractions and classroom is clearly the dominant setting for learning .

2.)Automated Process in Library

We are aware that every process we had in our university is manual like the log-in and log-out system of students who go inside the library. It is good if we make this process automated so that the students will only swipe their ID and the machine will automatically read it and if the ID is valid then the students allow to use the library. This process minimize the hassle of the librarian and of course the students as well. And it minimize the use of papers and traffic in the log-in and log-out station. This process involve machines like computers and scanner in order to implement the new system. By this implementation I am looking that the school will also apply this kind of system or automated process in different area which will make the work easier. In my research automation is the use of control systems (such as numerical control, programmable logic control, and other industrial control systems), in concert with other applications of information technology , to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.

3.)Free WiFi Zone

We know some students has their own laptops because of the increase demand of technology in our generation. I observed that the school has some spots of Free WiFi Zone area but those spots are not enough to serve those students who has their laptops. It is good if the school will make the whole campus a free wifi zone area. A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a personal computer, video game console, mobile phone, MP3 player or personal digital assistant can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more interconnected access points called a hotspot can comprise an area as small as a few rooms or as large as many square miles covered by a group of access points with overlapping coverage.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classroom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi

Ass.8 in MIS2

2010-01-30T04:04:00.001-08:00

Ass.7 in MIS2

2010-01-30T04:03:00.001-08:00

Google is the world's largest search engine. The Google's Business Model makes them popular and profitable search engine because it is easy and fast to load, has a reliable search results not always, but most of the time and a powerhouse of the new products. The important product of Google is us, the people. We are the reason why this search engine is still on the top of the best search engine.

Google's Competitors:

Major Competitors:

1. Yahoo! Inc.
2. Microsoft Corporation

Minor Competitors:

1. American Online
2. Baidu

Using Google, and some finely crafted searches we can find a lot of interesting information. Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. It's first step is to online search that quickly spread to information seekers around the globe. Google is now widely recognized as the world's largest search engine -- a free service whose utility and ease of use have made it one of the world's best-known brands almost entirely through word of mouth from satisfied users.

Google's Services:

Google Labs
Google Pack
Google Translate
Google Co-Op
Google Code
Google News
Google Patent Search
Google Blog Search
Google Alerts
Google Catalogs

One of the Google's New Service offered is the Google TiSP.

I think why Google is unique because their company shows a great deal of business in this generation. They have good services offered to the people. And a mission which is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Sources:

http://www.vertygoteam.com/google_marketing_strategy.php
http://scenariothinking.org/wiki/index.php /Who_are_Google%27_s_competitors_%28Core_Business_and_General%29%3F
http://gigaom.com/2007/12/04/google-infrastructure/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-google-services-that-get-no-love/

Ass.6 in MIS2

2009-12-21T20:45:00.001-08:00

Definition

Critical Success Factors - Focusing attention on the things that are important in the things you do. 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 ideas.

Rockart defined CSFs as:

"The limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. They are the few key areas where things must go right for the business to flourish. If results in these areas are not adequate, the organization's efforts for the period will be less than desired."

He also concluded that CSFs are "areas of activity that should receive constant and careful attention from management."

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

An Example:

CSFs are best understood by example. Consider a produce store "Farm Fresh Produce", whose mission is:

"To become the number one produce store in Main Street by selling the highest quality, freshest farm produce, from farm to customer in under 24 hours on 75% of our range and with 98% customer satisfaction."

Summary Steps:

In reality, identifying your CSFs is a very iterative process. Your mission, strategic goals and CSFs are intrinsically linked and each will be refined as you develop them.

Here are the summary steps that, used iteratively, will help you identify the CSFs for your business or project:

Step One: Establish your businesses or project's mission and strategic goals (click here for help doing this.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Critical Success Factor Method: Establishing a Foundation for Enterprise Security Management

Every organization has a mission that describes why it exists (its purpose) and where it intends to go (its direction). The mission reflects the organization's unique values and vision. Achieving the mission takes the participation and skill of the entire organization. The goals and objectives of every staff member must be aimed toward the mission. However, achieving goals and objectives is not enough. The organization must perform well in key areas on a consistent basis to achieve the mission. These key areas—unique to the organization and the industry in which it competes—can be defined as the organization's critical success factors.

The critical success factor method is a means for identifying these important elements of success. It was originally developed to align information technology planning with the strategic direction of an organization. However, in research and fieldwork undertaken by members of the Survivable Enterprise Management (SEM) team at the Software Engineering Institute, it has shown promise in helping organizations guide, direct, and prioritize their activities for developing security strategies and managing security across their enterprises. This report describes the critical success factor method and presents the SEM team's theories and experience in applying it to enterprise security management.

Understanding Critical Success Factor Analysis
Overview of CSF Analysis
CSF analysis is:
• A method developed at MIT’s Sloan school by John Rockart to guide businesses in creating and measuring success
• Widely used for technology and architectural planning in enterprise I/T
• A top-down methodology that is especially suitable for designing systems as opposed to applications
• A reductionist method for going from an abstract vision to concrete requirements
What Is a Critical Success Factor?
• A key area where satisfactory performance is required for the organization to achieve its goals
• A means of identifying the tasks and requirements needed for success
• At the lowest level, CSFs become concrete requirements
• A means to prioritize requirements
The CSF Method
• Start with a vision: mission statement
• Develop 5-6 high level goals
• Develop hierarchy of goals and their success factors
o Leads to concrete requirements at the lowest level of decomposition (a single, implementable idea)
o Along the way, identify the problems being solved and the assumptions being made
• Cross-reference usage scenarios and problems with requirements
Results of the Analysis
• Mission statement
• Hierarchy of goals and CSFs
• Lists of requirements, problems, and assumptions
• Analysis matrices
o Problems vs. Requirements matrix
o Usage scenarios vs. Requirements matrix
• Solid usage scenarios
Relationship to Usage Scenarios
• Usage scenarios or “use cases” provide a means of determining:
o Are the requirements aligned and self-consistent?
o Are the needs of the user being met as well as those of the enterprise?
o Are the requirements complete?
CSF analysis:
• Produces results that express the needs of the enterprise clearly and (hopefully) completely
• Allows us to measure success and prioritize goals in a sensible way
• When used together with traditional usage scenarios, ensures that the needs of both the user and the enterprise are being met

Reference:

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/04tr010.cfm
www.w3.org/2002/ws/arch/2/04/UCSFA.ppt

Ass.5 in MIS2

2009-12-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

In the spectrum of organizational change, which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts?

Definition of Organizational Change

Companies that are undergoing or that have undergone a transformation. This keyword should always be used in conjunction with "Success Story" or "Experiment" or "Failed Experiment." (Process)

Organizational Change

Significant organizational change occurs, for example, when an organization changes its overall strategy for success, adds or removes a major section or practice, and/or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. That's why the topic of organizational change and development has become widespread in communications about business, organizations, leadership and management.

Leaders and managers continually make efforts to accomplish successful and significant change -- it's inherent in their jobs. Some are very good at this effort (probably more than we realize), while others continually struggle and fail. That's often the difference between people who thrive in their roles and those that get shuttled around from job to job, ultimately settling into a role where they're frustrated and ineffective. There are many schools with educational programs about organizations, business, leadership and management. Unfortunately, there still are not enough schools with programs about how to analyze organizations, identify critically important priorities to address (such as systemic problems or exciting visions for change) and then undertake successful and significant change to address those priorities. This Library topic aims to improve that situation.

Organizational Change Theory
Article By: eHow Contributing Writer

An organization may have no other choice but to change. There are many reasons for an organization to change, such as a sudden change of the economic climate or the arising threat of competition. Through understanding the process and theory of organizational change, you and your organization can handle change in the best possible way.

In Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George's book, Contemporary Management, organizational change is defined as "the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some desired future state to increase its efficiency and effectiveness." During organizational change, managers must balance the need to improve current operations with the need to respond to new and unpredictable events.

Lewin's Force-Field Theory of Change

Kurt Lewin developed a theory about organizational change called the force-field theory. George and Jones describe the force-field theory as follows: a "wide variety of forces arise from the way an organization operates, from its structure, culture and control systems that make it resistant to change. At the same time, a wide variety of forces arise from changing task and general environments that push organizations toward change. These two sets of forces are always in opposition in an organization." For an organization to change, managers must find ways to increase the forces for change, decrease the resistance of change, or do both at the same time.

•Evolutionary Change
Evolutionary change is described by George and Jones as "gradual, incremental, and narrowly focused." It is not drastic or sudden, but a constant attempt to improve. An example of evolutionary change is total quality management that is consistently applied and shows improvement over the long term.

•Revolutionary Change
Some organizations need change--fast. When faced with drastic and unexpected change, an organization may have no other choice but to implement revolutionary change. George and Jones describe this as "change that is rapid, dramatic, and broadly focused. This bold shift may be due to a change in the economic climate or a new technological advancement that is integral to the function of the organization."

•Managing Change
Four steps exist in organizational change. First, assess the need for change through recognizing that a problem exists and identifying the problem's source. Secondly, decide on the change needed to be made by deciding what is the organization's ideal future state, as well as the obstacles that may occur during change. Thirdly, apply the change and decide whether change will occur from the top down or bottom up, then introduce and manage change. Lastly, evaluate the change by comparing the situation before and after the change or using benchmarking.

Explaining change and how it occurs has been a central theme in management and related disciplines. In a recent literature search using change and development as key words, researchers found more than a million articles on the subject in the disciplines of psychology, sociology, education, business, economics, as well as biology, medicine, meteorology, and geography (Van de Ven and Poole, 1995). We know from this research that concepts, metaphors, and theories used to investigate change have yielded a rich, diverse theoretical landscape. Yet, at the same time, such diversity often has confounded rather than enlightened. It is difficult to compare and contrast theories and their results, let alone work out the relationships among them, when different units, levels of analysis, time frames, and perspectives are employed. Ideally, it would be useful to have a basic road map to guide us through the conceptual maze. While no map could possibly cover the entire terrain, one that puts the major elements of change into relief would be of advantage. That is the intention of this article. The goal is to provide an overview of change—its definition, scope, pace, and processes, with particular attention paid to radical change given the focus of this Special Issue. We seek to answer such questions as: “What is change? What are the types of change? How does change occur?” in order to inform the efforts to dramatically transform acquisition policy and process. While acquisition reform is not in the foreground of this analysis, it certainly provides the impetus and rationale for this endeavor. We begin with a conceptual framework that provides the backdrop for our understanding of radical change. We introduce four types of change that are differentiated by two dimensions—the pace and the scope of change. Building on these two dimensions, radical change is defined as the swift, dramatic transformation of an entire system. In the next section, we explore alternative explanations of how radical change occurs. Here the attention shifts to how change happens rather than what actually is changed. Four radical change processes are examined: radical change by chance, radical change by consensus, radical change by learning, and radical change by entrepreneurial design. We explore radical change by entrepreneurial design in the next section, since the overall focus in the symposium is how individuals can influence the radical change process. The intent is to outline various strategies and tactics that well-known public entrepreneurs have employed to affect radical change. The article concludes by identifying the conceptual framework’s most important implications for acquisition reform, such as whether radical change in acquisition can be pursued and who would be the likely public entrepreneurs leading the charge.

The most radical type of Organizational Change is the Automation.

Automation is the use of control systems (such as numerical control, programmable logic control, and other industrial control systems), in concert with other applications of information technology (such as computer-aided technologies [CAD, CAM, CAx]), to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.[1] In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the muscular requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well. Processes and systems can also be automated.

These are the other types of Organizational Change:

A Business Definition for Rationalization

The application of efficiency or effectiveness measures to an organization. Rationalization can occur at the onset of a downturn in an organization's performance or results. It usually takes the form of cutbacks intended to bring the organization back to profitability and may involve layoffs, plant closures, and cutbacks in supplies and resources. It often involves changes in organization structure, particularly in the form of downsizing. The term is also used in a cynical way as a euphemism for mass layoffs.

Business process reengineering (BPR)

Business process reengineering (BPR) is, in computer science and management, an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.

Paradigm shift

Paradigm shift (or revolutionary science) is the term first used by Thomas Kuhn in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) to describe a change in basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science. It is in contrast to his idea of normal science.

The term paradigm shift, as a change in a fundamental model of events, has since become widely applied to many other realms of human experience as well, even though Kuhn himself restricted the use of the term to the hard sciences. According to Kuhn, "A paradigm is what members of a scientific community, and they alone, share." (The Essential Tension, 1977). Unlike a normal scientist, Kuhn held, "a student in the humanities has constantly before him a number of competing and incommensurable solutions to these problems, solutions that he must ultimately examine for himself." (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). Once a paradigm shift is complete, a scientist cannot, for example, posit the possibility that miasma causes disease or that ether carries light. In contrast, a critic in the Humanities can choose to adopt a 19th-century theory of poetics, for instance. Since the 1960s, the term has been found useful to thinkers in numerous non-scientific contexts. Compare as a structured form of Zeitgeist.

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution, and fathered, defined and popularized the concept of "paradigm shift" (p.10). Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather is a "series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions", and in those revolutions "one conceptual world view is replaced by another".

Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change. For example, agriculture changed early primitive society. The primitive Indians existed for centuries roaming the earth constantly hunting and gathering for seasonal foods and water. However, by 2000 B.C., Middle America was a landscape of very small villages, each surrounded by patchy fields of corn and other vegetables.

Agents of change helped create a paradigm-shift moving scientific theory from the Plolemaic system (the earth at the center of the universe) to the Copernican system (the sun at the center of the universe), and moving from Newtonian physics to Relativity and Quantum Physics. Both movements eventually changed the world view. These transformations were gradual as old beliefs were replaced by the new paradigms creating "a new gestalt" (p. 112).

Likewise, the printing press, the making of books and the use of vernacular language inevitable changed the culture of a people and had a direct affect on the scientific revolution. Johann Gutenberg's invention in the 1440's of movable type was an agent of change. Books became readily available, smaller and easier to handle and cheap to purchase. Masses of people acquired direct access to the scriputures. Attitudes began to change as people were relieved from church domination.

Similarly, agents of change are driving a new paradigm shift today. The signs are all around us. For example, the introduction of the personal computer and the internet have impacted both personal and business environments, and is a catalyst for a Paradigm Shift. We are shifting from a mechanistic, manufacturing, industrial society to an organic, service based, information centered society, and increases in technology will continue to impact globally. Change is inevitable. It's the only true constant.

In conclusion, for millions of years we have been evolving and will continue to do so. Change is difficult. Human Beings resist change; however, the process has been set in motion long ago and we will continue to co-create our own experience. Kuhn states that "awareness is prerequisite to all acceptable changes of theory" (p. 67). It all begins in the mind of the person. What we perceive, whether normal or metanormal, conscious or unconscious, are subject to the limitations and distortions produced by our inherited and socially conditional nature. However, we are not restricted by this for we can change. We are moving at an accelerated rate of speed and our state of consciousness is transforming and transcending. Many are awakening as our conscious awareness expands.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering
http://www.taketheleap.com/define.html
http://managementhelp.org/org_chng/org_chng.htm#anchor61645
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dau/roberts.pdf
http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/rationalization.html

Ass.3 in MIS2

2009-12-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

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

What is Frustration?

Frustration is 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.

Causes:

To the individual experiencing frustration, the emotion is usually attributed to external factors which are beyond their control. Although mild frustration due to internal factors (e.g. laziness, lack of effort) is often a positive force (inspiring motivation), it is more often than not a perceived uncontrolled problem that instigates more severe, and perhaps pathological, frustration. An individual suffering from pathological frustration will often feel powerless to change the situation they are in, leading to frustration and, if left uncontrolled, further anger.

Frustration can be a result of blocking motivated behavior. An individual may react in several different ways. He may respond with rational problem-solving methods to overcome the barrier. Failing in this, he may become frustrated and behave irrationally. An example of blockage of motivational energy would be the case of the worker who wants time off to go fishing but is denied permission by his supervisor. Another example would be the executive who wants a promotion but finds he lacks certain qualifications. If, in these cases, an appeal to reason does not succeed in reducing the barrier or in developing some reasonable alternative approach, the frustrated individual may resort to less adaptive methods of trying to reach his goal. He may, for example, attack the barrier physically or verbally or both.

Here are some explanation about frustration of IS Professional

IT was supposed to make work easier, but IT glitches cause us to swear, throw things and miss out on seeing family and friends according to a survey by Touch paper. A third of end-users surveyed admitted to missing family and social commitments because a glitch had kept them at their desks late. Two thirds admitted to swearing, over half to missing deadlines, 45% to being in a bad mood all day and 15% have even resorted to throwing things. The findings show that often it is the poor old IT service desk worker who gets the brunt of people's frustrations when technology goes wrong. Four-fifths of service desk workers admitted they or a colleague had been verbally abused by disgruntled callers, and over a fifth had been tempted to resign their job on-the-spot after a particularly difficult call. Service desk workers voted male callers as more difficult than females. Senior staff and over 30s were also thought to be worse than younger, junior workers.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frustration
http://blog.flaphead.dns2go.com/archive/2005/11/23/3204.aspx

Ass.1 in MIS2

2009-12-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how do you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there? (at least 3000 words)

When I was in high school, I already thought of what I want to be in the future. What kind of job I have if I finish my studies in college. 10 years from now I’m an IT Professional and probably work as an IT Consultant or an IT Manager in a big or small corporation. It is one of the hard jobs of an IT Graduates because it has a big role in the company especially in planning. Being an IT people is hard and enjoy. It is hard because it is more in paper works and making programs. Enjoy because during in hard times you are learning and collecting ideas that educate us.

As a student we have a big role when we talk about information technology because as an IT people our studies have encounter different explorations to gather some information from the different sources in the environment. We communicate to the people surround us. We write journals and read some books, newspapers, etc. and share what we had read to the people. An IT Professional is a person who is responsible for giving or suggesting ideas for the development of the systems and information technology.

Planning is one of the key in passing the challenges of being an IT Professional. To reach our goals in life we need to plan it and have a good result. I know there are challenges I will face in reaching my goals but with some strategies I have I think it is enough to pass those challenges. And I know God will help me with this path I take.

What is IT Professional?

IT Professional is a bimonthly publication of the IEEE Computer Society for the developers and managers of enterprise information systems. Coverage areas include emerging technologies, Web services, Internet security, data management, enterprise architectures and infrastructures, software development, systems integration, and wireless networks.

Strategic Planning in Today's IT Environment

Today's organizations are complex systems in which the interactions among various processes, structures, and functions—sales, finance, products and service developments and distribution, manufacturing, materials, support, and maintenance—must be managed such that the results meet a shared goal of delivering maximum value to customers at an optimum price.

In the current, relatively unstable economy—which is both highly competitive and dynamic—effective management of IT is essential for any firm's success because it improves the firm's strategic value. IT managers, by structuring an improved flow of information, add product value and help their firms respond to client demands more quickly. However, to accomplish these tasks effectively, managers must have complete and up-to-date knowledge of the IT operations within their organizations.
Many leading firms may not fully recognize the importance that IT has in keeping them moving forward, and issues remain about the extent to which management must change to accommodate variations in the economy. How can they be assured that their management decisions are optimal relative to limiting expense and maximizing profit? Management decisions not only impact product and delivery values, but they also might restrict innovation, limit expansion into new areas, or diminish organizational flexibility or responsiveness to change.
There appears to be a continuing struggle in industry today about how to manage information systems or IT in general, and it has carried on for decades. The bottom line is how to find management styles and approaches that lead an organization to success in its market area.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STRATEGIC IT PLAN

This Strategic Information Technology Plan sets the direction for Tarrant County Government, including the activities of the Commissioners Court and the information technology efforts of all departments and offices that make up the Tarrant County Government. The plan communicates Tarrant County Government's strategic direction to the Commissioners Court as it makes decisions related to information technology.
This 5-year Strategic Information Technology Plan is a living document. Through continuous input from departments and ongoing data collection, the Strategic Information Technology Plan will remain a valuable document. The plan provides guiding principles and broad goals outlining the basic roadmap for information technology into the 21st century. The Strategic Information Technology Plan will be updated by the Steering Committee’s direction each year where it will be modified to adjust to inevitable changes in Tarrant County's environment. During the summer of 2003, the Strategic Information Technology Plan should be completely reassessed. This process will insure that the plan remains a strategic document and a roadmap for the effective use of information technology in the future. The Strategic Information TechnTechnology Plan supports governmental functions and will be coordinated with other strategic plans including the Tarrant County Strategic Plan.

The scope of the plan includes computer, telephone, radio, and video systems, applications and infrastructure. Through successful implementation of this plan, Tarrant
County Government will make the best use of information technology to meet the business requirements and to raise County services to an unprecedented level of quality at the lowest possible cost. The County Executives established a vision for Tarrant County in April of 2000. That vision is strategically supported by the use of information technology as described in this plan.

STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Citizens are demanding seamless, integrated services that can be accessed without knowing how government is organized. Corporations are demanding streamlined government processes, less bureaucracy, and less cumbersome regulations. The private sector is putting pressure on State and local government to provide education services to meet the demand for a well-educated, technology-literate work force with up-to-date skills. Everyone wants government to cost less, yet be more accountable for the management of our tax dollars and for the delivery of quality services that have measurable value. The County has responded to these challenges with a directive to develop this Strategic Information Technology Plan. This has led to a fundamental rethinking of the County’s role in service delivery, the types of services it offers, and how these services are provided. The new model for government will be based on multi-organization cooperation to deliver a coordinated set of technology-enabled services that are designed from the citizen’s point of view. This is a complex model that cannot be implemented without the use of advanced information technologies.

STRATEGIES:

STRATEGY 1

Maintaining vision for citizen-centric services, and beyond
In the next few years, citizens of Tarrant County will demand services without regard for where the base service is located. They will be looking departmental transparency and will expect services to cut across organizational boundaries, thus making it unnecessary to know the structure of County government or its department’s procedures, but still get to the desired function and service. For example, it will be possible to obtain a license from the County with a single transaction from any networked personal computer, or with a single phone call to a Call Center, without regard to which department is responsible for completing the transaction. Citizens and corporations will increasingly be able to transact business with the County from any locally available facility, at any hour, from home, office, school, library, or commercial site. While direct human interaction will always be available, people will be able to complete much of their business quickly from the networked computer of their choice. When a social worker is needed by a family, when a nurse is needed in a medical crisis, or when police are needed to protect against threats to people or property, new IT tools will support them and other members of the County’s work force as they deliver those services in the field—in real time, in real life.
The personal computer of the near future will be location-independent (mobile and Internet accessible) and whenever useful, keyboard-independent (voice or touch-screen activated). Information technology will continue to change not only how government delivers services to its citizens, but how citizens work, learn, commute, conduct business transactions, and play. The economic engines that drive the County’s market for skilled jobs—that result in prosperity for Tarrant County—are also being changed by information technology. As the industrial age becomes the digital age, information technology skills are required for our labor force to remain marketable in this changing economy.

STRATEGY 2

Creating an IT environment for the 21st century
The effort to create a government that is simpler and more effective for citizens and corporations has created a need for multi-organizational collaboration and more sharing of tasks, financing and responsibility. The partnerships required to provide consolidated service delivery across agencies, coordinated service delivery among levels of government and increased interaction with the private sector present a number of challenges. Those challenges include:

Changing the way we plan for, fund, and manage information technology, to reflect a countywide perspective.

The increasing need to manage information and services across departments requires new ways to plan, budget, and implement IT on a countywide basis. We are changing the way we do Countywide and departmental IT planning to an integrated process that identifies common business needs and funding issues across all departments. This will enhance the preparation of the Countywide IT budget that supports multi-department projects, Countywide and departmental IT services, and core business systems. The Countywide
IT budget and its companion IT plan will establish the dependencies between
Countywide and departmental IT services, multi-department projects and individual department programs, projects, and budgets.

Changing the information technology infrastructure so that it can support new services and service delivery methods.

It is impractical and costly to reorganize departments each time a service or government function is changed. An information technology environment that transcends current departmental organizational boundaries can enable streamlined business processes, and reengineered government services. To truly enable improvements in government services, the infrastructure that connects County employees to each other must also connect them to the external government organizations and providers that are an integral part of the County’s business.

Changing information management practices to support the complexity of multiorganizational cooperative services.

Multi-organizational service delivery and management require close cooperation and direct information sharing. The practices necessary for multi-organizational information management will assure:

• Appropriate accessibility
• Protection of personal and sensitive information
• Stewardship to ensure currency and authenticity of shared information

The complexity of multi-organizational information management requires collaboration on a number of information sharing issues. Key issues include the following:

• Common data definitions
• Common storage formats or data transformation rules
• Cross-system countywide security model
• Access rights and rules of usage
• Data aging and re-authentication schedules
• Common information repository design and management
• Document exchange and management
• Multi-media archives
• Electronic records retention

Information management issues must be identified, analyzed and resolved across the entire spectrum of electronic media and technologies that will be used to accomplish cooperative service delivery.

STRATEGY 3

Realigning IT department resources to maximize their impact on the delivery of technology-enabled services.

The county must realign its IT department resources to support the Countywide IT environment we have defined for the 21st century. This is necessary to provide for multi-departmental needs and to support individual departmental initiatives that are critical to the County. The realignment of IT department resources will entail:

• Upgrading and updating IT skills so that the County can use new technologies more effectively.
• Integrating enterprise technology platforms and products to promote cost efficiencies.
• Selective sourcing of IT services to outside providers whenever this is more effective than maintaining them in-house.
• Emphasizing business-oriented technology so that the value of IT as an enabler to the county is better understood.
• Making specialized IT expertise available to all departments, regardless of the department in which it is found, through project management and coaching principles.
• The realignment of IT resources is critical to creating the 21st century IT environment. The following chapters define the specific goals and objectives that must be achieved in order to realize the County’s vision.

GOALS
• To guide Tarrant County in developing an information systems infrastructure that is effective, reliable, efficient, and flexible and secure for county departments and citizens.
• To provide an IT service delivery framework that encourages collaboration and supports team-building and will allow utilization of enterprise solutions to meet common needs.

Reference:

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/abs/html/mags/it/2009/06/mit2009060006.htm
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/itpro/about
http://www.tarrantcounty.com/etechnology/lib/etechnology/Strategic_IT_Plan.pdf

my blog: www.minenor.blogspot.com

Ass.2 MIS2

2009-12-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

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

Business Plan
There are two ways to start a business. One is on a shoestring; the other, with financial backing. There is no in-between.
Starting on a shoestring means working part-time out of your garage, basement, or kitchen while continuing to work full time at your regular job. For the shoestring operation, a business plan is advisable, but not essential.
Starting with financial backing means obtaining enough money from investors to sustain you for at least one to two years before your business ever earns a profit. For a well-financed operation, the business plan is the means by which capital is acquired.
Starting a business along the in-between path means withdrawing your savings from the bank, mortgaging your house, quitting your job, and going for broke on the new venture. For one out of three entrepreneurs, however, broke and out of business is the result twelve months later. A business plan will not prevent you from failing, but it might make you think twice before taking that fateful first step—such as mortgaging your house or quitting your job.
Why a Business Plan?
Writing a business plan clarifies and concretizes your thoughts about the new venture. It forces you to think explicitly about issues you might not otherwise have considered and makes real to you what up to the time of writing has only been an idea or dream. The business plan objectifies your dream.
In addition, a business plan can be used to persuade prospective investors to give you money. To obtain financial backing—even from friends or relatives—you must prove to your prospective investors that you will be able to make money for them, by proving that you are competent to run a business and that your idea is sound. A business plan is your sales tool for raising debt and equity capital.
Existing firms also need business plans—as control devices to clarify management’s thoughts about what must be done tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and next decade, and as tools for raising capital, for example, for major expansions of the business.
The Components of a Business Plan
I. Cover Page
A cover page goes first. On it are the name of the business, a brief phrase describing the nature of the business, the name of the founder and/or writer of the plan, and the date the plan was written.
II. Executive Summary
The summary also capsulizes your thoughts about the business. The art of summarization is the art of thinking in essentials. The summary, therefore, forces you to separate what is important from what is secondary.
The summary is written after the rest of the plan has been completed.
III. Contents
A table of contents, of course, listing the major sections of the plan and their page numbers should be included.
IV. The Business and Its Mission
This section states the essence of the business—in one sentence. A two- to three-paragraph elaboration follows.
The mission statement answers these questions: What is the nature and scope of your business? or What do you foresee it to be? Who is your prospective customer? What are his needs? and How do you propose to satisfy them? How do you differ from the competition? In what direction do you propose to grow and expand?
V. Market Review
The market review identifies and evaluates the opportunities and problems your business will face on opening day (or on the day your existing firm’s major expansion begins). It describes the past behavior of the market (at least five years’ worth of data), projects its future (for one, five, ten, and even twenty-five years), and states where the market stands in the present. The objective of the market review is to state why, given the nature of the competition and the motivation and behavior of your prospective customer, you think there is a niche in the marketplace for your business.
A. The General Environment
B. Competition
D. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Business
E. Opportunities and Threats Facing the Business
VI. Marketing Plan
The marketing plan states how your business will take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the problems identified in the market review; the marketing plan describes your product and your strategy for selling it.
A. Objectives and Goals
An objective is a general statement of the end result you intend to achieve with your business or with specific strategies.
A goal is a quantified objective; it specifies magnitude and a time frame.
The objectives and goals should be specified in detail for the first year of operation and sketched out for the next two to four years.
B. Strategy
Your marketing strategy is the means by which you will achieve your objectives and goals. The objectives state what you intend to accomplish; the strategies state how you intend to accomplish the objectives.
C. Action Program
Your action program, or tactics, spells out how you will implement the strategies. It states the who, what, when, and how much?
VII. Financial Plan
The financial plan shows in detail how and when your venture will turn a profit. It presents profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet projections for three to five years. It predicts the breakeven point and lists the sources of capital that you will use to finance the business.
A. Profit and Loss Statement
The profit and loss statement should give your best estimates of sales and expenses over the first three to five years of operation. The first year should present the numbers on a month-by-month basis. The estimates for the remaining years may be presented by quarters.
B. Cash Flow Statement
This statement is your most important financial projection. The cash flow statement specifies when, and how much, the new business will need cash over the first three to five years. Again, projections should be made on a monthly basis for the first year, quarterly for the remaining years. The cash flow statement tells the entrepreneur how much initial capital he will need, as well as working capital, once the business is going.
C. Balance Sheet
The balance sheet shows what assets are required to start and operate the business and how those assets are to be financed (i.e., through owner’s equity and/or creditors’ loans). Balance sheet numbers should be provided for opening day, the end of each quarter for the first year, and the end of each of the first three to five years.
D. Breakeven Point
The breakeven point is the level of sales at which sales covers all costs; it is the point of zero profit and zero loss.
E. Sources of Capital
This section spells out how your business will be financed. You should give the names of all equity investors, amount invested, and shares of ownership received.

VIII. Operating Plan
The operating plan describes how you will run the business; it can be viewed as the execution of your marketing and financial plans. The operating plan describes your facilities, your method of producing the product, your labor force, and your time schedule for launching the business and implementing the business plan.
A. Geographic Location
B. Facilities
C. Operating Strategy
D. Management
E. Time Schedule

IX. Attachments
This final section of the business plan is where you put the supporting documentation that is required to aid readers in their understanding of your claims. No more, no less.

Rationale for an Information Systems Plan

Every year, $300-700 million dollar corporations spend about 5% of their gross income on information systems and their supports. That's from about $15,000,000 to $35,000,000! A significant part of those funds support enterprise database, a philosophy of database system applications that enable corporations to research the past, control the present, and plan for the future.
Even though an information system costs from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000, and even through most chief information officers (CIOs) can specify exactly how much money is being spent for hardware, software, and staff, CIOs cannot however state with any degree of certainty why one system is being done this year versus next, why it is being done ahead of another, or finally, why it is being done at all.
Enterprises do not have model-based information systems development environments that allow system designers to see the benefits of rearranging an information systems development schedule. Questions that cannot be answered include:

•What effect will there be on the overall schedule if an information system is purchased versus developed?
• At what point does it pay to hire an abnormal quantity of contract staff to advance a schedule?
• What is the long term benefit from 4GL versus 3GL?
• Is it better to generate 3GL than to generate/use a 4GL?
•What are the real costs of distributed software development over centralized development?
•If these questions were transformed and applied to any other component of a business (e.g., accounting, manufacturing, distribution and marketing), and remained unanswered, that unit's manager would surely be fired.

We not only need answers to these questions NOW!, we also need them quickly, cost effectively, and in a form that they can be modeled and changed in response to unfolding realities. This paper provides strategies for developing answers to these questions. Under this same title, Whitmarsh provide a book, course, and ISP software creation components.
Too many half-billion dollar organizations have only a vague notion of the names and interactions of the existing and under development information systems. Whenever they need to know, a meeting is held among the critical few, an inventory is taken, interactions confirmed, and accomplishment schedules are updated.
This ad hoc information systems plan was possible only because all design and development was centralized, the only computer was a main-frame, and the past was acceptable prologue because budgets were ever increasing, schedules always slipping, and information was not yet part of the corporation's critical edge.
Well, today is different, really different! Budgets are decreasing, and slipped schedules are being cited as preventing business alternatives. Confounding the computing environment are different operating systems, DBMSs, development tools, telecommunications (Lan, Wan, Intra-,
Inter-, and Extra-net), and distributed hard- and software.
Rather than having centralized, long-range planning and management activities that address these problems, today's business units are using readily available tools to design and build ad hoc stop-gap solutions. These ad hoc systems not only do not interconnect, support common semantics, or provide synchronized views of critical corporate policy, they are soon to form the almost impossible to comprehend confusion of systems and data from which systems order and semantic harmony must spring.
Not only has the computing landscape become profoundly different and more difficult to comprehend, the need for just the right--and correct--information at just the right time is escalating. Late or wrong information is worse than no information.
Information systems managers need a model of their information systems environment. A model that is malleable. As new requirements are discovered, budgets modified, new hardware/software introduced, this model must be such that it can reconstitute the information systems plan in a timely and efficient manner.

Reference:

http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~meinkej/inss690/larock.pdf
http://www.csupomona.edu/~jkirkpatrick/Grad/BusinessPlan.html

Ass.4 in MIS2

2009-12-16T20:20:00.001-08:00

If I were given a chance to prepare an IS plan in a university for the improvement of our school in Information System (IS). Before I discuss about planning I would probably suggest first that the school must find an Information Technology (IT) expert to share us new kinds of Information Technology (IT) that our school should adopt. For example, new facility use in studying. Our school should also consult different Information Technology (IT) Companies of what is the best technology who teach the student. In my personal views about outsourcing, our school is a state university means we can ask the government to give us support in improving our quality education in Information Technology (IT) by asking them to provide manpower which is expert in Information Technology (IT) and also give us latest facilities such as new computers. In outsourcing the school should discover a students who has a special talent and skills in Information Technology (IT) such as a student who is expert in making a programs, developing new gadgets and etc. by giving them a special attention. The school should give the student an assistance to improve more his or her talent and skills.

We know nowadays, technology is improving faster, when we talk in communication, years ago there is only a telephone but now we used mobile phones and sometimes we can have an internet service there that's why the school should give an attention to give the students a knowledge in Information Technology (IT) so that we can go with a new technology. We like it or not we should know to use computers this days because if we apply for a job the employer should ask if we are computer illiterate.

By that suggestions there would be a plan for the implementation. For me, planning is important because it organize and guide us to have a good result in our projects. As what I've learn in our MIS 2 subject there are lots of steps and information which can help about planning a project and have a good implementation to a establishment.

What is Planning?

Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them.
The term is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as the creation of documents diagrams, or meetings to discuss the important issues to be addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Beyond this, planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which it is used.
Two attitudes to planning need to be held in tension: on the one hand we need to be prepared for what may lie ahead, which may mean contingencies and flexible processes. On the other hand, our future is shaped by consequences of our own planning and actions.
Planning is a process for accomplishing purpose. It is blue print of business growth and a road map of development. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in view the resources.

This step involves interpreting your aims and intended outcomes to create a curriculum plan that has a clear focus on what is to be learned, how learning will take place and how it will be assessed.
What do you want to achieve?
It is essential to be very clear about the aims and intended learning outcomes of experiences outside the classroom experiences. Here are some common features of learning outside the classroom that you may want to build into your plans:

• knowledge, skills and understanding – related to subjects or learning outside the classroom activity
• Every Child Matters – achieving the five outcomes underpins the planning and delivery of extended services in and around schools
• social, citizenship or sustainability education, for example values, attitudes, aesthetic awareness
• personal skills, for example problem solving, self-reliance, independence, teamwork
• personal enjoyment and motivation
• adding value through building in, for example, ICT, literacy and numeracy.

How do you provide continuity and progression?
These issues are key to the success of curriculum design. Perhaps the most obvious place to begin is from the perspective of the individual learner.

Do all learners have sufficient opportunities for learning outside the classroom?
Are opportunities varied to suit learning needs? (age, key stage, SEN)
Does your planning build on prior learning outside the classroom to provide challenge– within and across phases and key stages? Find out whether your school is using the TDA School Improvement Planning Framework.

How do you plan time?
Issues arising from inflexibility in curriculum design are often cited as barriers to learning outside the classroom taking place. A range of strategies have been used in many schools to provide solutions, instead of the 45-minute to one-hour lesson as the basic building block of the timetable. Simple changes in the way in which time is chunked can strongly affect learners’ experiences of schooling and facilitate learning outside the classroom. Different approaches are being designed that give the learner a varied experience of the school day, week, term and year.

What should a plan be?

A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.
Purpose of Plan
Just as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions:
Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their business's or project's development and prospects.
Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years.
Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.
Importance of the planning Process
A plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it.
A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition.
Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.
Essentials of planning
Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research. For a comprehensive business plan, management has to
1.Clearly define the target / goal in writing.
1.It should be set by a person having authority.
2.The goal should be realistic.
3.It should be specific.
4.Acceptability
5.Easily measurable
2.Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed.
3.Review past performance.
4.Decide budgetary requirement.
5.Focus on matters of strategic importance.
6.What are requirements and how will they be met?
7.What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure?
8.Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps.
9.Strategies for implementation.
10.Review periodically.

As practiced by local or national government, the direction of development. Proposed changes are scrutinized, and planning permission is only given if the development does not conflict with agreed aims.

Planning presupposes an ability to foresee events and a capability for analysing situations and solving problems—See environmental impact assessment—and policy varies with political outlook. Until 1977 the building of new housing was based on the principle of ‘predict and provide’. Environmental activism, and public resistance, have eroded this policy; predictions are now guidelines for Regional Planning Authorities who must also give weight to the spatial implications of any new development.

Any developer refused planning permission may make an appeal to the Secretary of State for the Environment, who will consider both sides of the proposal and may suggest an altered plan. Planning blight is the adverse effect of a proposed development, such as a motorway, which could cause a drop in house prices. If the landowner cannot dispose of the property, or cannot make as much use of it as was previously possible, he or she may serve a purchasing notice on the planning department of the local authority. See externality.

The ‘new’ planning issues include: regional and local economic decline, as in the inner cities (See regional inequality); understanding regeneration processes; lessening social exclusion by improving accessibility to quality services; consumerism versus ‘greenfield’ in housing; planning for environmentally sustainable development; and the exploration of issues of public versus popular control: is it always ‘nimbyist’ to protect localities?

Personal Planning Steps

Assess Your Risk of Needing Long-Term Care Services
While you can never know for certain if you will need long-term care, assessing your risk factors can help you understand if you are at a higher or lower risk. Begin by talking with your doctor about whether you might be at increased risk based on your medical and family history or lifestyle choices. You will gain a better understanding of your risks, and your doctor may be able to help you decrease your risk. You should also review other risk factors, such as gender, listed in the Understanding LTC section of this website.
Investigate Opportunities to Help Maintain Your Health and Independence
Many people fail to make the connection between healthy behaviors today and their impact on later life, but the science of aging indicates that chronic disease and disability are not always inevitable. Studies by the National Institute of Aging indicate that healthy eating, physical activity, mental stimulation, not smoking, active social engagement, moderate use of alcohol, maintaining a safe environment, social support, and regular health care are important in maintaining health and independence.
Even if you haven’t been active in the past, it’s not too late to start. You can begin by reviewing the information on healthy lifestyles and programs in the Resources section of this website.
• Talk with Your Family about Caregiving
It is estimated that individuals turning 65 today could need up to 3 years of long-term care services, with almost 2 years of that care provided at home. Currently most care provided in the home is by an unpaid family member or other caregiver. You should talk to your family (spouse, adult children, siblings) or friends who would want to, or be able to, care for you if you became ill or disabled for a long time. Or, you might already be a caregiver for someone else. In either case, it is important for you and your family to understand how caregiving activities can affect you and your family, and what resources and supports are available.
The Resources section of this site provides a range of information and supports including the Administration on Aging’s Caregiver Resource Room, and other sites where you can share your story and read other caregiver’s stories, and learn more about programs and resources for caregivers. In addition, in the Understanding LTC section you can review the home and community-based services that can supplement unpaid caregiving, or provide respite for a caregiver.
Think about Where You Want to Receive Care
If you were to need care for an extended period of time, and were not able to stay at home, where would you want to receive care? If you need more information on long-term care services, review the list of services and providers in Understanding LTC. One way to find out what services are in your community is by contacting the Administration on Aging's Eldercare Locator

Financial Planning Steps
Review Your Current Insurance Coverage
Do you know if your current health care insurance would pay if you needed to be in a nursing home or needed care at home for an extended illness? Unless you have purchased a specific long-term care insurance policy, your existing medical coverage, Medicare, Medicare supplement, or HMO will provide little if any coverage for long-term care. Review the policies you have with your insurance advisor or benefits counselor to learn what is covered and what is not.
Decide if You Can or Want to Pay for Long-Term Care Privately
If you don't have coverage for long-term care or prefer to pay out of your own resources, do you know if you would be able to cover all the costs from your retirement income and savings? Think about the financial resources you have and how you feel about using them to pay for long-term care. This could include various sources of income (for example, Social Security, pension, interest income, dividends from investments, payments from an IRA or 401 (k)), as well as cash, savings, stocks and bonds, and your home.

The Long-Term Care Savings Calculator can give you a rough idea of how much you might need and whether you would be able or want to use your private resources to cover long-term care services.
Investigate Future Insurance or Benefits You Expect or May Qualify for in Retirement
It is important to know and understand what your future benefits will cover, if you are not yet retired. If you only have Medicare, even with a Medicare supplemental plan, most of your long-term care services may not be covered. If you have limited resources, now or in the future, Medicaid may pay for your services. More information on Medicare, Medicaid and other public programs can be found in the Paying for Long-Term Care section of this website. You can also go to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [offsite] web site for more information on Medicare and Medicaid.
Find Out What Other Resources Can Help Cover Long-Term Care Expenses
Most people currently don't have coverage or do not have enough private funds to pay for all their long-term care needs, particularly if service needs are extensive or last a long time. There are an increasing number of private payment options available for this purpose. Two of the more common options are long-term care insurance and reverse mortgages. Review private financing options carefully to ensure that you understand all the details, eligibility requirements, and costs. Read about the range of private long-term care financing options in the Paying for Long-Term Care section of this web site.

10 STEPS TO THE SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROJECT
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Drawing on the experience of companies that have successfully implemented a new project portfolio management system, there are a number of important steps that have been identified which can maximise the chances of a smooth transition and implementation.

1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION
Senior management must recognise that resistance to change is a potential problem. There needs to be an acceptance that some time, budget and internal resources should to be allocated to deal with this.
2. CLEAR OBJECTIVES
Senior management must have a clearly defined statement of objectives for the system, detailing the expected benefits. Without this it will be impossible to determine whether the implementation is a success from a business perspective.
3. IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER
An internal manager should be appointed to co-ordinate the implementation. This person should be given the necessary skills and authority to guide users through the new procedures and promote their adoption of the project portfolio management system.
4. REVIEW PROCEDURES
Existing procedures must be understood by all system users and clearly documented. Any proposed changes to these procedures should be highlighted and the benefits detailed and communicated to all system users.
5. INVOLVE ‘EXPERTS’
Highly respected and influential individuals must be involved in the planning process and should be consulted early on in the process so that any valid points they may have can be factored into the final solution.
6. COMMUNICATION
All staff and contractors whose work is affected by the new system should be briefed about the objectives of the system, the expected outcomes and the timeline for implementation. It should be made clear at this stage that old systems WILL be removed at a specific time in the future, thereby encouraging everyone to be involved.
7. TRAINING
All staff and contractors involved in using the new project portfolio management system should be provided with appropriate training within the context of their roles. This training should also include any new procedures that are to be adopted. Training should not be a one-off event. Staff turnover and new project contractors often results in new users attempting to figure out how a system works and learn on the job. Inevitably some expertise is lost with a change of staff and over time this can degrade the performance of the team. In the long run it is simpler and more cost-effective to have new starters and contractors properly trained, possibly combining this with a refresher course for existing staff.
8. IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW TEAM
An internal Implementation Review Team should be established comprising key personnel who will be involved with the new system e.g. project managers and resource/line managers. Weekly meetings, chaired by the Implementation Manager, should be held during the implementation process to highlight any perceived problems and discuss resolutions.
9. OLD SYSTEM SHUT-DOWN
At a pre-designed date, that has been communicated to all staff and contractors, the old system should be shut down and removed from company hardware, after giving reminders in the run up to the date.
10. VENDOR CLINICS
Building on the work done by the Implementation Review Team, a good system vendor will offer clinics to review and resolve teething issues and provide additional training if necessary.

Eight common management mistakes that should be avoided;

There are a number of common management mistakes that can lead to users
resisting adoption of a new system:
1. ABDICATION
Senior management appoint a manager to oversee the implementation of an new project portfolio management system and then turn its attention to other matters assuming that all will be well, without any further involvement from them.
2. POOR COMMUNICATION
Senior management believe that everyone will conform to a new set of procedures for planning and managing projects without having communicated the reasons behind the implementation to the users of the system.
3. FAILURE TO TACKLE NON-CONFORMISTS
Often senior management is aware of one or two dissenters in the organisation but they rely upon the introduction of the new system to improve these individual’s productivity and performance, within the new project management processes, rather than tackling them head-on through direct communication.
4. WEAK MANAGEMENT
Senior management often have a mistaken belief that the new project portfolio management system alone will introduce and enforce new processes.
5. NOT COMMUNICATING OBJECTIVES
Senior management have recognised the potential return on investment that can be achieved from the new project portfolio management system, but have not explained this to the implementation manager to engage their support and promote adoption of the system throughout the organisation.
6. POORLY SPECIFIED SOLUTION
Senior management believe that it is the responsibility of the software supplier to design and implement a complete solution in isolation and fail to appreciate that the organisation and its key personnel are a vital part of that solution.
7. FAILURE TO ANTICIPATE RESISTANCE
Senior management do not recognise there will be a natural resistance to accepting and adopting the new system by many users and fail to devise a plan to overcome this.
8. FEAR OF THE ‘EXPERT’
A special mention must be given to one of the greatest threats to a successful implementation of a new system, fear of the ‘expert’. In a typical scenario, senior management is dependent upon a highly
respected and influential project manager. Failure to engage with these knowledgeable individuals to harness their experience and help them to embrace the changes can result in them being allowed to continue to plan their projects in their own way, using the old system. This is the worst of all outcomes for the business that now has two systems running in parallel with some people embracing the new technology and those, loyal to the powerful ‘expert’, using the old system. The chances of completing a successful implementation can be seriously hampered by any one of these mistakes. Making multiple mistakes without taking corrective action is almost consigning the implementation to failure.

Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.
In computer science, an implementation is a realization of a technical specification or algorithm as a program, software component, or other computer system. Many implementations may exist for a given specification or standard. For example, web browsers contain implementations of World Wide Web Consortium-recommended specifications, and software development tools contain implementations of programming languages.
In the IT Industry, implementation refers to post-sales process of guiding a client from purchase to use of the software or hardware that was purchased. This includes Requirements Analysis, Scope Analysis, Customizations, Systems Integrations, User Policies, User Training and Delivery. These steps are often overseen by a Project Manager using Project Management Methodologies set forth in the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Software Implementations involve several professionals that are relatively new to the knowledge based economy such as Business Analysts, Technical Analysts, Solutions Architect, and Project Managers.
In political science, implementation refers to the carrying out of public policy. Legislatures pass laws that are then carried out by public servants working in bureaucratic agencies. This process consists of rule-making, rule-administration and rule-adjudication. Factors impacting implementation include the legislative intent, the administrative capacity of the implementing bureaucracy, interest group activity and opposition, and presidential or executive support.

Implementation process. The implementation process includes the following four steps:

1.Mapping. The mapping stage covers a detailed analysis of customer's requirements and consequently the adaptation of ATLANTIS ERP software to the operations through the configuration process. Based on a detailed checklist following elaborate planning, design, scheduling and implementation, the end result of this stage is the formulation and configuration of company's operational model.
2.Piloting. The piloting stage essentially tests the predefined model and includes strategic issues such as:
Advanced key users training;
Generation of internal documentation;
Data conversion plan finalization;
System application management finalization;
Customisations / adaptations completion;
External interface specifications & testing completion;
Agreement on final business solution;
Integration and testing.
3.Data Migration. This stage covers the data migration to ATLANTIS. Furthermore, the following essential events are conducted:
Installation at customer's site;
Data conversion and data migration;
Final configuration of the Information System;
Parallel running of the old and the new system;
End users training.
4.Optimisation. This stage includes optimisation of the system based on the targets set by the company according to the functionality, control, development and completion of the information system.

Implementation problems

Internal problems e.g change of management
External problems e.g. changing competition
Poor planning e.g. Hoover’s flight tickets
Poor intelligence e.g. 1985 Coca-Cola
Poor execution
Implementing a programme - an action checklist
Agree the implementation strategy
Agree a timeframe
Draw up detailed implementation plans
Set up a team of stakeholders
Establish good project management
Personalise the case for change
Ensure participation
Create a sense of purpose and urgency to tackle real problems which have prevented progress in the past
motivate
be prepared for conflict
Be willing to negotiate
Anticipate stress
Build skills
Build in the capacity for learning
Monitor and evaluate

References:

www.marketingteacher.com/powerpoint/k.Implementation 11.ppt
http://www.unisoft.bg/implementation_en.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation
http://www.teamplan.co.uk/products/pdf/10%20steps%20to%20successful%20implementation.pdf
http://www.longtermcare.gov/LTC/Main_Site/Planning_LTC/Considerations/index.aspx
http://www.answers.com/topic/planning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning
http://www.lotc.org.uk/pdf/1.3.2%20Step%202%20Planning.pdf[url=http://www.marketingteacher.com/powerpoint/k.Implementation 11.ppt http://www.unisoft.bg/implementation_en.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation http://www.teamplan.co.uk/products/pdf/10%20steps%20to%20successful%20implementation.pdf http://www.longtermcare.gov/LTC/Main_Site/Planning_LTC/Considerations/index.aspx http://www.answers.com/topic/planning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning http://www.lotc.org.uk/pdf/1.3.2%20Step%202%20Planning.pdf]www.marketingteacher.com/powerpoint/k.Implementation 11.ppt http://www.unisoft.bg/implementation_en.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation http://www.teamplan.co.uk/products/pdf/10%20steps%20to%20successful%20implementation.pdf http://www.longtermcare.gov/LTC/Main_Site/Planning_LTC/Considerations/index.aspx http://www.answers.com/topic/planning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning http://www.lotc.org.uk/pdf/1.3.2%20Step%202%20Planning.pdf[/url]

Assigment 9 in MIS

2009-09-01T05:06:00.001-07:00

This essay talks about Information Environment, so I will discussed the following questions:

• What should be my role within this environment?

• How can the principles of information organization and representation help me in performing this role?

• What are the challenges I will face in performing the role? How can I get possible solution to address these challenges?

As a student we have a big role when we talk about information because in our studies we encounter different explorations to gather some information from the different sources in the environment. We communicate to the people surround us. We write journals and read some books, newspapers, etc. and share what we had read to the people.

I chose radio and television network or mass media network as my information environment. Nowadays, communication is easier, with the use of cell phone and other means of communication. I can relay information in some various media network. On that way I can give some information that you and I should know. Some media networks created some hotlines or communication hotlines that simple person can give an access to relay their information as fast as possible. They can help us to become more vigilant in our own little way.

Communications is the art and technique of using words effectively to impart information or ideas. The field of study concerned with the transmission of information by various means, such as print or broadcasting. Any of various professions involved with the transmission of information, such as advertising, broadcasting, or journalism. The exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior. Interpersonal rapport.A system, such as mail, telephone, or television, for sending and receiving messages. A network of routes for sending messages and transporting troops and supplies.

Source: www.answers.com/topic/communication

MASS MEDIA

"Mass media" is a deceptively simple term encompassing a countless array of institutions and individuals who differ in purpose, scope, method, and cultural context. Mass media include all forms of information communicated to large groups of people, from a handmade sign to an international news network. There is no standard for how large the audience needs to be before communication becomes "mass" communication. There are also no constraints on the type of information being presented. A car advertisement and a U.N. resolution are both examples of mass media.

IMPORTANCE OF MASS MEDIA

Mass communicated media saturate the industrialized world. The television in the living room, the newspaper on the doorstep, the radio in the car, the computer at work, and the fliers in the mailbox are just a few of the media channels daily delivering advertisements, news, opinion, music, and other forms of mass communication.

Because the media are so prevalent in industrialized countries, they have a powerful impact on how those populations view the world. Nearly all of the news in the United States comes from a major network or newspaper. It is only the most local and personal events that are experienced first-hand. Events in the larger community, the state, the country, and the rest of the world are experienced through the eyes of a journalist.

Not only do the media report the news, they create the news by deciding what to report. The "top story" of the day has to be picked from the millions of things that happened that particular day. After something is deemed newsworthy, there are decisions on how much time or space to give it, whom to interview, what pictures to use, and how to frame it. Often considered by editors, but seldom discussed, is how the biases and interests of management will impact these determinations. All of these decisions add up to the audience's view of the world, and those who influence the decisions influence the audience.

Mass communicated media saturate the industrialized world. The television in the living room, the newspaper on the doorstep, the radio in the car, the computer at work, and the fliers in the mailbox are just a few of the media channels daily delivering advertisements, news, opinion, music, and other forms of mass communication.

Because the media are so prevalent in industrialized countries, they have a powerful impact on how those populations view the world. Nearly all of the news in the United States comes from a major network or newspaper. It is only the most local and personal events that are experienced first-hand. Events in the larger community, the state, the country, and the rest of the world are experienced through the eyes of a journalist.

Not only do the media report the news, they create the news by deciding what to report. The "top story" of the day has to be picked from the millions of things that happened that particular day. After something is deemed newsworthy, there are decisions on how much time or space to give it, whom to interview, what pictures to use, and how to frame it. Often considered by editors, but seldom discussed, is how the biases and interests of management will impact these determinations. All of these decisions add up to the audience's view of the world, and those who influence the decisions influence the audience.

• What are the challenges I will face in performing the role? How can I get possible solution to address these challenges?

They encourage the person to be more observant to the surroundings that could affect us, the challenges that I possibly encounter in this information environment is that we should relay only facts information without bases. And to other those challenges we should verify the information that I would give so that I could not give wrong information that will lead to the destruction of the said matter. On my research I discussed the definition of Mass Media, its imporatance, the positive and negative effects on it.

POSITIVES EFFECTS

Without the media, most people would know little of events beyond their immediate neighborhood. The further one goes outside of one's circle of friends and family, the more time-consuming and expensive it becomes to get information. Very few, if any, individuals have the resources to stay independently informed of world events. With the news, however, all one has to do is turn on a television or turn to the Internet. Even when it is biased or limited, it is a picture of what is happening around the world.

The more sources one compares, the more accurate the picture that can be put together. In addition to the media conglomerates, there are also a range of independent news outlets, though they have a much smaller audience. Some of these provide an alternative view of events and often strive to publish stories that cannot be found in the mainstream media. Technological advances in many industrialized (primarily Western) countries make it possible to read papers and watch broadcasts from around the globe. While language skills can be a barrier, it is possible to live in the United States and watch Arab-language broadcasts from the Middle East, or to get on the Internet and read scores of Chinese newspapers. Having access to these alternative voices limits the power of monopolies over information.

Another important benefit of a functioning mass news media is that information can be relayed quickly in times of crisis. Tornado and hurricane announcement can give large populations advance warning and allow them to take precautions and move out of harm's way. In a country suffering war, a radio broadcast outlining where the latest fighting is can alert people to areas to avoid. In quieter times, the media can publish other useful announcements, from traffic reports to how to avoid getting HIV. It is a stabilizing and civilizing force.

NEGATIVES EFFECTS

The news media thrive on conflict. The lead story for most news programs is typically the most recent and extreme crime or disaster. Conflict attracts viewers, listeners, and readers to the media; the greater the conflict the greater the audience, and large audiences are imperative to the financial success of media outlets. Therefore, it is often in the media's interest to not only report conflict, but to play it up, making it seem more intense than it really is. Long-term, on-going conflict-resolution processes such as mediation are not dramatic and are often difficult to understand and report, especially since the proceedings are almost always closed to the media. Thus conflict resolution stories are easily pushed aside in favor of the most recent, the most colorful, and the most shocking aspects of a conflict. Groups that understand this dynamic can cater to it in order to gain media attention. Common criteria for terrorist attacks include timing them to coincide with significant dates, targeting elites, choosing sites with easy media access, and aiming for large numbers of casualties.[1] Protesters will hoist their placards and start chanting when the television cameras come into view. It is not unusual for camera crews or reporters to encourage demonstrators into these actions so they can return to their studios with exciting footage. The resulting media coverage can bestow status and even legitimacy on marginal opposition groups, so television coverage naturally becomes one of their planned strategies and top priorities. The "30-second sound bite" has become a familiar phrase in television and radio news and alert public figures strategize to use it to their advantage.

INFLUENCE OF MASS MEDIA

The term mass media describes many forms of entertainment: television, film, music, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and advertising. For decades these resources have been available to people of all ages. Because this is where we receive most of our information, it is used by media organizations to target and impact America’s youth. Idealized beauty standards, irrelevant sexualization, and domestication are only some of the ways that young women in the media are portrayed today. This article provides a general overview of how many of the things we are used to seeing, are sending a negative image to young people everywhere.

Let’s be honest, the average person in this country does not look like Angelina Jolie, Halle Barry or Giselle Bundchen. So why is it that average women are not represented in mass media formats? It’s actually a simple answer. Idealized beauty standards are seen everywhere from commercials, to TV shows and movies.

The ideal of beauty has dramatically changed throughout the years, considering that Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 at the height of her career. In today’s media environment she would have been expected to be at least 5 inches taller and weigh at least 25 pounds less. This ideal puts pressure on young women to look like the people featured in music, magazines, film and many other mass media formats, even if the goal of being that thin is unattainable without harming your body’s health.

The film industry is one that has a major effect on how young women are viewed in society. Young women often have roles as passive and vulnerable characters who tend to leave the tough, strong and assertive roles to men. Women’s roles are written with irrelevant sexualization – their characters primary function is to please men. They ten display risqué and careless behavior. For example, wouldn’t it make sense that if two characters in a film are going to have sex that either one of them wears a condom? Especially if the target is a young audience since this is the population in which HIV has increased the most. Yet women in the movies rarely take steps to protect their sexual health.

The music industry just like the film industry exhibits the use of irrelevant sexualization to attract an audience of young people. Music videos showcase behavior that is just as promiscuous as what you see in film. Women’s bodies are constantly displayed in a sexual way, and this behavior is imitated by young girls across the country who idolize them. Another negative portrayal is domestication. The majority of commercials about house products or child care are still aimed at women. This reinforces the sexist and dated stereotype of women only working inside the home (and men never contributing to housework or child care).

It is clear that images of young women in the media have a tremendous impact on young people everywhere. Whether it is through film, music, or any other mass media format the public is constantly pressured to fit into today’s ideal of what beauty is. Young people are influenced to act like the characters they watch on TV. It seems that now more than ever in an industry obsessed with youth, there is no better way to describe what really matters than with the age old saying “sex sells”.

Source: http://www.mysistahs.org/features/media.htm

INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

For me, the web, websites, and the information contained within is a constantly growing and changing collection of data. Architecture by definition is based on the concept of physical structures. The concept we deal with on the web is often very different than simple architecture because we must design around the concept of an ever expanding information set.
For these reasons I prefer to call what we deal with in the web community as Information Environments, and their planning and construction, Information Environment Design or IED. From large to small, these are the web areas in which our data and information lives, growing and changing over time. In fact, with the growth of search and social media, the science of how web environments interact has become increasingly important. No longer does an Information Architecture stand alone, it is being shaped by its surrounding environments.
PageRank and the semantic web are just examples of how Information Environments co-exist and effect each other.
Our web is not dead, it is alive, and we must plan the use of our sites information accordingly.

The Importance of Information Environment Design

A well crafted Information Environment has repercussions on both usability and the optimization of a site for search.

CreativeGood.com once found that 56% of internal search queries on e-commerce sites ended in failure. This is an obvious results of poorly constructed data sets.

Poor Information Environment design will also lead to user abandonment, due to poor or counter intuitive navigation.

For search, the difficulty of search engine spiders to effectively crawl data, and then relate the data sets within a site to each other.

Source: http://www.searchandsocial.com/seo-blog/search-friendly-information-environment-design/

System flexibility is a key advantage in today's fast-moving marketplace. The right solution can help you asses, design, integrate, and manage your information technology (IT) environment. To keep pace with business needs as they change, you need to build an adaptive system, one where your business and IT solutions synchronize to capitalize on change.

Assigment 10 in HRM

2009-09-01T05:05:00.004-07:00

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

1.) Personal management

Personal management is about mapping a plan for your life that will involve setting short-range and long-range goals and investigating different ways to reach those goals. Education, training, and experience all help make your goals become a reality. To achieve your goals, you will choose the best path and make a commitment to it, while remaining flexible enough to deal with changes and new opportunities.

Source: Bodnar, Janet. Kiplinger's Money-Smart Kids. Kiplinger Books, 1999.

Critique: Yes I agree that in management you must have first a plan which is the key to reach your goals. This plan helps you to perform your role in order to have those goals.

2.) Personnel Management
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.

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

Critique: It describes that the people who is responsible for his employees and keeping them a good followers is an act of managing. The manager train properly his employee for the betterment of the firm.

3.) Personnel Management - personnel having overall planning and direction responsibilities

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/management+personnel

Critique: As what I said in the first definition you must plan first before you decide in order to have a good result in your management. It is your responsibility as a personnel manager.

4.) Personnel Management

In all organizations, there should be someone concerned with the welfare and performance of persons who are a part of the operation. When an individual or a team of individuals takes on this task of seeing to programs and setting policies that impact everyone associated with the company, they are engaged in the process of personnel management, sometimes referred to as human resources (HR) management.

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

Critique: The definition explains that it is helping the session of the firm for their plans and directions to go to a process for the implementation.

5.) Personnel Management

Personnel Management is responsible for recruiting and hiring qualified individuals to deliver city services, administering the pay classification plan to insure competitive wages. Through the personnel policies, Personnel Management administers guidelines for employee behavior, hiring & terminations, disciplinary actions, tuition reimbursement and employee leave including FMLA.

Source: http://www.ci.palm-coast.fl.us/government/departments/employment/personnelmanagement.aspx

Critique: It discussed the acquisation of the employees that is qualified to the vacant position of a firm. The personnel manager evaluates the applicants to see his qualifications and if it is qualified the manager guide the new hire to become more comfortable to his position.

Human Resource Management

1.) Human Resource Management

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.

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

Critique: The definition describes the acquisation of employees to address the objectives of the company. This objectives help the firm to increase its position.

2.) Human Resource Management

Staffing function of the organization. It includes the activities of human resources planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, training, performance appraisal, compensation, and safety.

Source: http://www.crfonline.org/orc/glossary/h.html

Critique: The definition also describes the activities, plans of the firm with the help of the employee.

3.) Human Resource Management

The management of the workforce of a business to ensure sufficient staff levels with the right skills, properly rewarded and motivated.

Source: http://www.business2000.ie/resources/Glossary_H.html

Critique: We see that in a Human Resource Management the people are busy because this department is the home of the employee in the company. All the records and activities are all in Human Resource Management so by this we can see the importance of it.

4.) Human Resource Management

All methods and functions concerning the mobilization and development of personnel as human resources, with the objective of efficiency and greater productivity in a company, government administration, or other organization.

Source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Human_Resource_Management

Critique: The description explains the cycle of the Human Resource Management in the firm. It deals different things not only to the employee or the people inside the firm.

5.) Human Resource Management

The effective and efficient use of human resources available to the business. Also referred to as personnel management.

Source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Human_Resource_Management

Critique: We observed that in this definition personnel management is engaged because in Human Resource Management it has a person who is responsible to all transaction, activities and planning for the firm and that's the work of the personnel manager.

Assigment 9 in HRM

2009-09-01T05:05:00.003-07:00

Human Resource Manager

Employees in this job function, as professional human resource managers, direct the work of professional staff. The employee, under general or administrative supervision, works within general methods, procedures, and exercises considerable independent judgment to select proper courses of action. The work requires knowledge of the policies, procedures, and regulations of personnel management and human resources development programs, and supervisory techniques, personnel policies, and procedures.

Human Resources Manager will be responsible managing the human resources function for a growing next-generation message switch company. This hands-on role will include: staffing, compensation, benefits, employee relations, performance management, policy administration and compliance. In this role you will be Designing and implementing HR strategies and plans that meet business priorities and deliver high quality programs that result in improved performance and retention that are required within a dynamic organization.

This is a leadership position where the candidate is expected to take personal accountability for the deliverables and work closely with management on the delivery of milestones.
Source: http://www.tervela.com/content1158

The Role of Human Resource Management in Risk Management
Human resources have two roles in risk management. First, people are a source of risk, e.g., shortage of employees, people doing sloppy work, an employee refusing to take on additional responsibility, or a key employee leaving two months after completion of a one-year training program. Second, people are important in handling risk, e.g., people using their ingenuity to solve unexpected problems, employees going the extra mile for the good of the organization, a key employee redesigning her own job to avoid unnecessary delays in getting work done, or an employee persuading a talented friend to apply for a position in the business.

Human resources include more than regular full-time employees. They include all management and labor personnel, family and non-family members, full-time and part-time people, and seasonal and year-round employees.

Human resources play important roles in farm businesses of all sizes. Orientation and training matter as much for one employee as for 20 employees. A business with just two people can have serious conflicts that jeopardize the business’ continuity and success. No team of people is so small as to avoid the need for leadership or so large as to make leadership impossible.

Risk specialists have traditionally focused mostly on important causes of risk such as weather, disease and natural calamities, and ways to deal with the risk. Risk management has paid little attention to human resources and human resource calamities such as divorce, chronic illness, accidental death, or the impact of interpersonal relations on businesses and families. Including human resources in risk management reflects the fact that people are fundamental to accomplishing farm goals. Human resources affect most production, financial, and marketing decisions. People can help or get in the way of accomplishing what managers have planned.
Smaller family businesses do not escape the impact of people. In these businesses, as in larger businesses, people are a source of risk and are important to the business’ ultimate success or failure. Overdependence on family members for management and labor negatively affects family business effectiveness and efficiency. A family may have highly talented people in one management or labor area but fall short in another area. Confronting human resource risk may take the family business outside its usual boundaries to fill critical labor and management gaps.

Source: http://www.extension.org/pages/The_Role_of_Human_Resource_Management_in_Risk_Management

Human Resource Management Nature

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 multi¬dimensional 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 view¬point 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 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 deve¬lop 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-moti¬vated employees.
• It tries to build and maintain cordial relations between people working at various levels in the organization.
• It is a multi-disciplinary activity, utilizing knowledge and inputs drawn from psychology, econo¬mics, etc.

Human Resource Management Scope

The scope of HRM is very wide:

1. Personnel aspect-This is con¬cerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, place¬ment, transfer, promotion, train¬ing and development, layoff and retrenchment, remuneration, incentives, productivity etc.
2. Welfare aspect-It deals with working conditions and ameni¬ties 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 rela¬tions, joint consultation, collec¬tive bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, settle¬ment of disputes, etc.

Human Resource Management Functions

In order to achieve the above objectives, Human Resource Manage¬ment undertakes the following activi¬ties:

1. Human resource or manpower planning.
2. Recruitment, selection and place¬ment 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 organiza¬tional relationship.
9. Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance hand¬ling.
10. Staffing the organization.
11. Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels.
12. Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by pro¬viding 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.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Human-Resource-Management---Nature,-Scope,-Objectives-and-Function&id=2658370

Assigment 8 in HRM

2009-09-01T05:05:00.001-07:00

Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT.

Improve the quality of education by providing more classroom expert in teaching staff. The government should allocate a big budget to answer the needs of facilities in enhancing with quality education. Improve our skills in oral and written capacity of a student. Nowadays, BPO () is in need of more skilled workers who speak fluent English, years ago Filipinos were competitive in English skills that’s why many business like BPO () invest in the Philippines. The government should provide scholarship to those students who has a special talent I this field.

Nakinabang ang pitong milyong entrepreneurs sa P165 billion na microfinance. Nakinabang ang 1,000 sa economic resiliency plan.

Nowadays, in times of global recession the government should promote small and medium enterprises by allocating budget to finance the small and medium entrepreneur. The government should also need to conduct several trainings in livelihood and also the government should help the entrepreneur to market their products. The government should lend to the small and medium enterprises with no interest. On the other hand cooperatives are one way of creating more jobs especially the various sectors like farmers and fisherman.

Lumikha tayo ng walong milyong trabaho, an average of a million per year, much, much more than at any other time.

The government creates more jobs by hiring skilled workers in the government project like creating infrastructure projects, instead of hiring through construction field. The government can create jobs by self-contracting, instead of having bidding a construction firm but the agency itself can manage the project through hiring skilled workers, instead of paying other companies. For example, in a one locality in creating roads the city engineer on that locality can implement, the government can save more money on that way.

Assigment 7 in HRM

2009-09-01T04:51:00.000-07:00

Human being is the highest form of creation that God created in the world. God give us the knowledge, the skills and the talents that we have now to explore things in the world so that, we can live. God also give us the right to manage things in the world. We, humans has the capacity to find ways and means to improve our borrowed talents by educating ourselves. We can manage ourselves in doing things around us. We can easily organize a group to improve our community but we know the fact it is difficult to manage human because of our individuality in attitude and character. God made us unique from other person, each of us has own thoughts, decisions and feelings in an organization we cannot perfectly impose a rules because someone is contradicting it. There's a saying that we cannot place everybody.

According to a book entitled Business Organization and Management (Authors: Gutierrez, Pura and Garcia)

The most complicated problem of business is people. Technical processes may be mastered; requirements of materials may be correctly figured; plants and offices may be built according to required specifications; and intricate machines may be devised to perform with accuracy; but if the human elements in business are disregarded, trouble is ahead. Human beings essentially differ from each other. They cannot be standardized like inanimate things. They are dynamic, not static. The most certain thing about people is their uncertainty.

Human beings are also, to a certain extent, selfish, both by nature and by environment. A person who is an altruist is one who has regard for; and is devoted to the interest of others than himself alone. Altruism is a desirable trait to be aspired for but is, generally, hard to find among people in its ideal form. There are some people who seem to lack even a trace of altruism in their makeup; still others believe that there is such thing as enlightened self-interest, which may be made to benefit everybody through cooperation. Thus,
self-interest and the welfare of others do not have to conflict with each other.
Both can be achieved or satisfied at the same time.

The Basic Personnel Problem: The basic problem about personnel is that ----- the employer has work to do done. The employee wants to receive for his work, enough money to live according to the standard of living as established for himself. When the employer has to pay too much to get the work done, the increased costs will be reflected in the higher price of the finished product to the point of diminishing orders from customers. On the other hand, if the employee cannot get the money that he thinks he is worth, he will leave the job, or look for another job elsewhere.

Assignment 8 in MIS

2009-09-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

My Opinions: If I were given a chance to give my suggestion for the improvement of our school in Information System (IS), I would probably suggest that the school must find an Information Technology (IT) expert to share us new kinds of Information Technology (IT) that our school should adopt. For example, new facility use in studying. Our school should also consult different Information Technology (IT) Companies of what is the best technology who teach the student. In my personal views about outsourcing, our school is a state university means we can ask the government to give us support in improving our quality education in Information Technology (IT) by asking them to provide manpower which is expert in Information Technology (IT) and also give us latest facilities such as new computers. In outsourcing the school should discover a students who has a special talent and skills in Information Technology (IT) such as a student who is expert in making a programs, developing new gadgets and etc. by giving them a special attention. The school should give the student an assistance to improve more his or her talent and skills.

We know nowadays, technology is improving faster, when we talk in communication, years ago there is only a telephone but now we used mobile phones and sometimes we can have an internet service there that's why the school should give an attention to give the students a knowledge in Information Technology (IT) so that we can go with a new technology. We like it or not we should know to use computers this days because if we apply for a job the employer should ask if we are computer illiterate.

OUTSOURCING...

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

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

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.

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-outsourcing.htm

INSOURCING...

Insourcing is a business practice in which work that would otherwise have been contracted out is performed in house.

Insourcing often involves bringing in specialists to fill temporary needs or training existing personnel to perform tasks that would otherwise have been outsourced. An example is the use of in-house engineers to write technical manuals for equipment they have designed, rather than sending the work to an outside technical writing firm. In this example, the engineers might have to take technical writing courses at a local college, university, or trade school before being able to complete the task successfully. Other challenges of insourcing include the possible purchase of additional hardware and/or software that is scalable and energy-efficient enough to deliver an adequate return on investment (ROI).

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

Source: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1185946,00.html

There is a big debate going on at the moment and people are constantly arguing whether or not it is better to outsource or to insource. We can mention a lot of good reasons and bad reasons for both but at the end of the day what is important stand in your own personal needs.

The biggest benefit that insourcing has stands in the fact that you get a very close contact with the person you are hiring. This can create a very good working environment but at the same time it does bring in some negative aspects that we have to think about. Unfortunately sometimes we can not find what we are looking for through insourcing. This basically means that what we want done can not be found locally. Such a fact shows us the biggest advantage why outsourcing is preferred in a comparison with insourcing: a wider set of choices. The truth is that when outsourcing we are faced with more people or companies to consider hiring. We are basically moving everything towards a much larger scale. Why outsourcing towards a single area or even country when we can think at a global scale.

If you talk to most Internet Marketers about outsourcing they will tell you that it is a must have. Most of them don't even think about insourcing when we have the possibility of outsourcing. The Internet has made it possible for a lot of people to meet. We now have a chance we never did in the past. In the past we had to invest into newspaper ads and similar actions in order to get in contact with professionals we needed. This does bring everything down in terms of time and possible success. When thinking about why outsourcing is better than insourcing we should always think about numbers. For instance, there is a huge chance that we can spare money by hiring someone from abroad that will do everything cheaper than on a local scale search. Also, the number of potential people worth hiring is much bigger. We can thus make sure at all times that we hire the best professionals we can afford.

There shouldn't be any doubt in anyone's mind that outsourcing is a lot better than insourcing. The reasons mentioned above are just the most obvious but the list can go on. In short, the most important facts we need to consider when thinking whether or not outsourcing is better than insourcing can be written with ease.

Why Outsourcing?

- It is Cheaper
- It is Better
- You can Work with More Competent People
- You can make sure you get what you are looking for
- The Quality is Better in Most Cases
- Marketing time needed to look for people is drastically reduced
- Less Risks

"Outsource Method Saved Me Over 500% On My Staffing Costs"
Outsourcing can be a very costly and mistake ridden path if you don't have the connections or know the pitfalls. When we Interviewed the CEO of RentACoder.com we were amazed at how many buyers get this wrong.
Learn how to save yourself mistakes that could cost you 10's of thousands of dollars and how you can more effectively manage your business process outsourcing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Thomas

Assignment 7 in MIS

2009-09-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

1.) "Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone. We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law. And we need to do it now...."

My Opinions: Same as what the President say we need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law to fit the law in a present situation. The National Telecommunication Commission should impose the law strictly, so that the Telecommunication Companies would not abuse. The Congress should pass a law giving the consumer a safeguard that gives them the best service to the public.

2.) "Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT...."

My Opinions: To improve the life of a Filipino people by way of BPO the government should focused the education system of our country. First, improve the quality of education by giving the teachers a good training and tools for them to teach the student a quality education. We should lessen the commercialization of our educational system. Second, for those who are student that are not capable in studies but have a special talent and skills, the government should give them scholarship. And lastly, the government should invite business investment who gives adequate benefits and salaries.

3.) "As the process of fundamental political reform begins, 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.... "

My Opinions: For me, it has a big help on the part of the government like the following factors:

- Lesser expenses to be incurred due to decrease of manpower during the election.
- To ease the tension of suspension of cheating of both parties.
- It has a big possibility to have an accurate results of the election.

By those factors I mentioned I can assure that by this new system of election or by using this new technology on 2010 election the people are expecting of a good and fair results.

Source: http://www.zappafly.com/zapaframe.php?url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tdWthbW8uY29tL2dsb3JpYS1tYWNhcGFnYWwtYXJyb3lvLXNvbmEtMjAwOS1zcGVlY2gtc3VtbWFyeS10cmFuc2NyaXB0Lw==&title=R2xvcmlhIE1hY2FwYWdhbC1BcnJveW8gU09OQSAyMDA5IHNwZWVjaCBhbmQgc3VtbWFyeSAodHJhbnNjcmlwdCk=&searchid=831690&zapurl=speech+in+sona+2009+summary

Assigment 6 in HRM

2009-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

I think hundred years from now corporations or companies were using an advance or a high technology for the development and improvement of their business. Introduce to the people how the things in the future generation change the business environment of their company. This generation also companies uses a new systems which is very advance than today's generation.

What is Corporation?

A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons who own it or the persons who manage or operate it. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole (an office held by an individual natural person, which is a legal entity separate from that person) or a corporation aggregate (involving more persons). In American and, increasingly, international usage, the term denotes a body corporate formed to conduct business, and this meaning of corporation is discussed in the remaining part of this entry (the limited company in British usage).

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 possibly, in the unusual case where the shares are not fully paid up, any amount outstanding on them - and not even that in the case of a No liability company), 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." (or some variant like "Inc." and "plc").

Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like actual people. Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state,[1] and they may be responsible for human rights violations.[2] Just as they are "born" into existence through its members obtaining a certificate of incorporation, they can "die" when they lose money into insolvency. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offences, such as fraud and manslaughter.[3] Five common characteristics of the modern corporation, according to Harvard University Professors Hansmann and Kraakman are:

* delegated management, in other words, control of the company placed in the hands of a board of directors
* limited liability of the shareholders (so that when the company is insolvent, they only owe the money that they subscribed for in shares)
* investor ownership, which Hansmann and Kraakman take to mean, ownership by shareholders.[4]
* separate legal personality of the corporation (the right to sue and be sued in its own name)
* transferrable shares (usually on a listed exchange, such as the London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange or Euronext in Paris)

Ownership of a corporation is complicated by increasing social and economic interdependence, as different stakeholders compete to have a say in corporate affairs. In most developed countries excluding the English speaking world, company boards have representatives of both shareholders and employees to "codetermine" company strategy. Calls for increasing corporate social responsibility are made by consumer, environmental and human rights activists, and this has led to larger corporations drawing up codes of conduct. In Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, corporate law has not yet stepped into that field, and its building blocks remain the study of corporate governance and corporate finance.

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

Improving the company's system by implementing a new technology. It is a technology that makes the production of the company easier and improving the quality of their product.

Here are some of the technologies that will possibly come out on the 21st century in a corporation.

• Robot Operated Machine

This technology uses a censored robot to operate a machine but with the intervention of a human by giving some command, it is use especially on the dangerous procedure like in the industrial factory. For example in mixing some dangerous chemicals in creating industrial products.

• Robotic Manpower

It helps to become faster the production of the goods. It can work 24/7 a day not just like a man that can only work 8 hours a day. It also use to answer the high demands of goods needed.

• Microchip

Microchip is a technology where is attach to a a certain things.

• Advance Tele-Video Conference Room

It is a technology use to communicate other person from other place by using sophisticated technology. It use satellite signal in order to access other person by seeing her or him personally and hear his or her voice clearly. This technology is a big help for the business transactions, meetings and others in the company.

Assignment 5 in HRM

2009-08-16T06:30:00.001-07:00

What is Downsizing?

Downsizing refers to the permanent reduction of a company's workforce and is generally associated with corporate reorganization, or creating a "leaner, meaner" company. For example, the database developer Oracle Corporation reduced its number of employees by 5,000 after acquiring rival PeopleSoft. Downsizing is certainly not limited to the U.S.; Jamaica Air cut 15 percent of its workforce in an effort to trim expenses and anticipated revenue shortfalls.

I got some of the discussions in the internet about the cause of downsizing...

When do Firm Downsizing?

Downsizing and closure also visit substantial costs on the communities in which they occur. The businessmen and women responsible for employment and plant closure choices act responsibly, but their responsibility is primarily to their shareholders. The workers and surrounding community affected by the choices face substantial restructuring, retraining and perhaps relocation costs.
In a perfect world, perhaps, the businesses would alert their workers and communities of impending plans to downsize or close plants. In our imperfect world, however, there are two major reasons why this will not happen.

First, the businesses themselves will often have little warning of a change in market conditions requiring downsizing. Business people are optimists by nature, and they have faith that something will turn up to permit continued operation.

Second, any alert to workers and community of a possible closure will be the end of business as usual for that plant. Suppliers will not sell on credit; customers will not make long-term commitments; banks will not provide working capital; workers will search for new jobs on company time. Under those conditions, the possibility of downsizing becomes a certainty.

Source: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/De-Ele/Downsizing-and-Rightsizing.html
http://www.unc.edu/~pconway/Textiles/conway_downsize.pdf

I found some articles of the companies about downsizing...

Posted on August 5, 2009 by BioJobBlogger
Lilly to Restructure and Downsize Its Sales Force

Eli Lilly & Co. is offering buyouts to 4,000 U.S. sales representatives to eliminate several hundred jobs and restructure its operations. Sales representatives will be offered four months' pay in addition to the typical Eli Lilly severance package, which ranges from two to 18 months' salary depending on seniority. The company had a total of 40,500 employees at the end of 2008.

Lilly’s best-selling drugs include Zyprexa for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Cymbalta for depression, Byetta for type 2 diabetes, and Evista for osteoporosis. The patent supporting Zyprexa, which bought in $4.7 billion in revenue last year, will expire in 2011. The patents on the company's next three top drugs —Cymbalta, Humalog insulin, and cancer drug Gemzar —are set to expire in 2013.

The restructuring is expected to start in mid-November and take effect in January.

Sales reps and R&D scientists have suffered the most during pharma’s recent three year downsizing binge. While many R&D jobs have been shipped overseas, pharma sales reps might consider a new career in biotechnology drug sales. Growth in biotechnology and personalized medicine drugs is expected to increase for the foreseeable future.

Posted on August 5, 2009 by BioJobBlogger
Lilly to Restructure and Downsize Its Sales Force

Eli Lilly & Co. is offering buyouts to 4,000 U.S. sales representatives to eliminate several hundred jobs and restructure its operations. Sales representatives will be offered four months' pay in addition to the typical Eli Lilly severance package, which ranges from two to 18 months' salary depending on seniority. The company had a total of 40,500 employees at the end of 2008.

Lilly’s best-selling drugs include Zyprexa for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Cymbalta for depression, Byetta for type 2 diabetes, and Evista for osteoporosis. The patent supporting Zyprexa, which bought in $4.7 billion in revenue last year, will expire in 2011. The patents on the company's next three top drugs —Cymbalta, Humalog insulin, and cancer drug Gemzar —are set to expire in 2013.

The restructuring is expected to start in mid-November and take effect in January.

Sales reps and R&D scientists have suffered the most during pharma’s recent three year downsizing binge. While many R&D jobs have been shipped overseas, pharma sales reps might consider a new career in biotechnology drug sales. Growth in biotechnology and personalized medicine drugs is expected to increase for the foreseeable future.

Source: http://www.biojobblog.com/tags/downsizing/

Company Website:[url] http://www.lilly.com/[/url]

Other Company Articles about downsizing:

Yet Again :More Downsizing at Bristol Myers Squibb

In a previous post, I suggested that more layoffs would occur at Bristol-Myers Squib (BMS) by December, 1, 2008. The Pharmalot Blog reported today that 800 more BMS employees ( including scientists) would lose their jobs before the end of 2008. Okay, so I was off by about two weeks.

A company spokesperson told the Pharmalot folks that “We are reducing the global Bristol-Myers Squibb workforce as part of our previously announced second wave of productivity initiatives designed to enhance our ability to address the significant challenges and uncertainties our company faces in the short- and long-term. Headcount reductions associated with the second wave of productivity initiatives will continue through 2010, with a goal of a 10 percent reduction in our global workforce. This [layoff of 800] is in addition to the 10 percent workforce reduction previously announced in December 2007.”

Things are obviously not going well at BMS these days. Look for more layoffs in early 2009 and beyond. Who do you think is going to buy BMS?

In a previous post, I suggested that more layoffs would occur at Bristol-Myers Squib (BMS) by December, 1, 2008. The Pharmalot Blog reported today that 800 more BMS employees ( including scientists) would lose their jobs before the end of 2008. Okay, so I was off by about two weeks.

A company spokesperson told the Pharmalot folks that “We are reducing the global Bristol-Myers Squibb workforce as part of our previously announced second wave of productivity initiatives designed to enhance our ability to address the significant challenges and uncertainties our company faces in the short- and long-term. Headcount reductions associated with the second wave of productivity initiatives will continue through 2010, with a goal of a 10 percent reduction in our global workforce. This [layoff of 800] is in addition to the 10 percent workforce reduction previously announced in December 2007.”

Things are obviously not going well at BMS these days. Look for more layoffs in early 2009 and beyond. Who do you think is going to buy BMS?

Posted on July 23, 2009 by BioJobBlogger
Bristol-Myers Squibb to Buy Monoclonal Antibody Maker Medarex

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced late yesterday that it intends to purchase Princeton, NJ-based Medarex for $2.1 billion. BMS and Medarex were working collaboratively to develop a monoclonal antibody called Ipilimumab as a treatment for late stage melanoma.

The acquisition represents BMS’s public commitment to transform itself into a “next generation pharmaceutical company” with both pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in its arsenal. Last year, BMS bought Kosan Biosciences, Inc a California-based biotechnology company developing novel cancer treatments. Also, as you may recall, BMS lost ImClone to Lilly in a bidding war over Erbitux—a monoclonal antibody-based colorectal cancer treatment that was co-marketed by BMS.

Medarex was one of the last independent, public, late stage monoclonal antibody development companies in the biotechnology industry. Many of its competitors, like ImClone and Cambridge Antibody Technologies, had already been acquired by big pharma and I was wondering when Medarex would be acquired. I have always held Medarex in high regard and it is a solid and well position company. To that end, I recommended that my mother purchase Medarex stock several years ago telling her that I thought it had a huge upside. Not surprisingly, the stock has been soaring since the announcement; so much so that my mother called me today to tell me how smart I was—go figure.

It is not clear, at present, what effect, if any, the Medarex acquisition will have on the employment situation in New Jersey. Although BMS is headquartered in NYC, it has two large sites in New Jersey, one in Lawrenceville and the other in Plainsboro. As mentioned above Medarex is based in Princeton, NJ. BMS has been steadily downsizing over the past three years and I suspect that there may be more layoffs after the Medarex deal closes. If there are layoffs, more are likely to occur on the Medarex side of the business.

While I have been critical of some of BMS’ strategic moves in the past, I think the Medarex acquisition is an outstanding one and BMS will likely benefit from it!

Source:http://www.biojobblog.com/2008/12/articles/biojobbuzz/yet-again-more-downsizing-at-bristol-myers-squibb/
http://www.biojobblog.com/tags/downsizing/
http://www.biojobblog.com/2008/12/articles/biojobbuzz/yet-again-more-downsizing-at-bristol-myers-squibb/

Company Website: http://www.bms.com/careers/Pages/home.aspx

Assignment 5 in MIS

2009-08-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Based on your adopted orgnaization(s), identify and discuss barriers in their IS/IT implementation ..(2000words)

Before the discussion of the Information System Barriers in the company I adopted let's define barrier first.

What is Barrier?

In economics and mostly especially in the theory of competition, barriers to entry are obstacles in the path of a firm that make it difficult to enter a given market.
Barriers to entry are the source of a firm's pricing power - the ability of a firm to raise prices without losing all its customers.
The term refers to hindrances that an individual may face while trying to gain entrance into a profession or trade. It also, more commonly, refers to hindrances that a firm (or even a country) may face while trying to enter a market, industry or trade grouping. Barriers to entry restrict competition in a market.

We know that EMCOR is a well known company here in Davao City. EMCOR is a 100% Filipino-owned retail business corporation specializing in appliances, furniture, IT products, motorcycles, and money transfer through its network of specialty chain stores in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan areas. With the launching of our online store, EMCOR will now be making its presence known in the online industry and promote its company’s goals and vision to the global community.

Source: http://emcor.com.ph/about.php

On the case of EMCOR here are the following list of the barriers in IS/IT implementation which their company identify possible solutions.

•Control of resources and Research and development - Some products, such as microprocessors, require a large upfront investment in technology which will deter potential entrants. If a single firm has control of a resource essential for a certain industry, then other firms are unable to compete in the industry.

The company has maintenance of the database through their programmer and system analyst. They are responsible in creating programs in different sections in the company. But in some case their programmers encounter failures to their work so the company decided to have Outsourcing.

• Cost advantages independent of scale - Proprietary technology, know-how, favorable access to raw materials, favorable geographic locations, learning curve cost advantages.

• Network effect - When a good or service has a value that depends on the number of existing customers, then competing players may have difficulties in entering a market where an established company has already captured a significant user base.

In economics and business, a network effect (also called network externality) is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people.
The classic example is the telephone. The more people own telephones, the more valuable the telephone is to each owner. This creates a positive externality because user may purchase their phone without intending to create value for other users, but does so in any case.

In EMCOR they sometimes encounter problem in internet connection
they are only using the management monitoring system for their transaction in different store. They have two stores in Mangagoy, their system cannot access in that store so they planning to have some possible solution to address the problem. Because of their initiative the two stores in Mangagoy are now having their own database and can have their own system which is efficient.

EMCOR is now planning to have a Disaster Recovery System for the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster.This system will automatically update every five minutes by the access of the internet and provides back-up and transfer to another system all the data of the company so that if something will happen to the company they can easily restore the entire file.

• Changing their system

The development stage of the company uses a Visual FoxPro as their front end and SQL 6.5 then change into SQL 7.0 and lastly the to SQL 2000 which they are currently using. Because of the system change the company's employee has a big adjustments on it that's sometimes the reason of having a failure on their work. The company provide solution to address this problem which is to help the employee to have trainging and studies in the new system of the company which they are using. This kind of solution is helping the employee to know better the new system to continue their work in the company.

• Employees

Like I said before in the system change employees must have training in order to learn how to operate or access the new system implemented in the company. The company decided to train their employees to address this problem.

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

Assignment 6 in MIS

2009-08-16T05:47:00.001-07:00

If I were given a chance to work as an IT (Information Technology) Consultant in the university. First, it was a big privilege or an honor for me to become a part of the IT (Information Technology) Consultant in the university because as an IT (Information Technology) student I can use my knowledge and share it in our university. This job would challenge me to explore and learn more things and experiences in the IT (Information Technology) environment. It will also help me to develop my ability int his field.

What is an IT (Information Technology) Consultant?

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.

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

On my own opinion an IT (Information Technology) Consultant is a person who is responsible for giving or suggesting ideas for the development of the systems and information technology.

In a university, like USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) which has a LAN (Local Area Network) connections for the internet. The advantages of having an internet connection inside the school is to help students to explore and learn more things by surfing through the internet. It also makes the transaction easier like sending data which is accurate and fast. But, as I observed USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) has also a problem in the internet connection, they has a low and slow internet, that's why it needs more improvement.

What is Internet?

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. The Internet carries a vast array of information resources and services, most notably the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail, in addition to popular services such as online chat, file transfer and file sharing, online gaming, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) person-to-person communication via voice and video.

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

Internet, computer-based global information system. The Internet is composed of many interconnected computer networks. Each network may link tens, hundreds, or even thousands of computers, enabling them to share information and processing power. One of the best-known resources on the Internet is the World Wide Web, which uses the Internet to display text and multimedia content on Web pages, along with interactive features.

The Internet has made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another effectively and inexpensively. Unlike traditional broadcasting media, such as radio and television, the Internet does not have a centralized distribution system. Instead, an individual who has Internet access can communicate directly with anyone else on the Internet, post information for general consumption, retrieve information, use distant applications and services, or buy and sell products.

The Internet has brought new opportunities to government, business, and education. Governments use the Internet for internal communication, distribution of information, and automated tax processing. In addition to offering goods and services online to customers, businesses use the Internet to interact with other businesses. Many individuals use the Internet for communicating through electronic mail (e-mail), retrieving news, researching information, shopping, paying bills, banking, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, and even making telephone calls. Educational institutions use the Internet for research and to deliver online courses and course material to students.

Source: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761579729/Internet.html

For me, Internet is one way of making our communication more easier. It has a big help for searching information to the other areas which we cannot reach.

Now, I have some suggestions to improve the internet connection in the university. In my observation, USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) is dealing a problem in the internet connection, they have a low and slow connection. It takes a number of minutes to the students or users of internet inside the school before they reach the site they want to go in. As an IT (Information Technology) Consultant I would suggest to upgrade the internet connection or provide a better router which is fast and advance for the internet connection. It is better also to provide a good quality and new computer units in the school. It will minimize the problem of slow and low internet connection. I want to suggest also to have some area in the school which is WIFI Zone to have a better and easy internet access freely for the students. As I observed most of the students has their own laptops. The students can already access the internet inside the school freely.

As far as I know the university has several good programmers and database administrator which is responsible for the Information System in the school. I suggest that in their department they must have a "Discovery Team" which is responsible for the system failure of programs inside the school. They are on-call if somethings happened like interruption in the server or shutdown.

I've researched also some technology which is related to internet connection:

Internet Connection Speedometer
How fast is your internet connection?

Now you can find out how fast or slow your Internet connection is with our Internet Connection Speedometer.

You could be using your network connection at work, or at home using a dial-up modem, ISDN connection, a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (DSL). Whatever the device or technology you're using to surf the Web, we'll tell you the speed of your Internet connection.

Source: http://us.mcafee.com/root/speedometer/default.asp

Having a good internet connection, it makes easier for the university to send data directly which is fast and accurate. So I come with some ideas to have a new and advance technology in the university.

Like in the enrollment system in USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines), it is state university which is many freshmen and new comer students want to enroll here. So, during the enrollment it needs a number of days before the enrollment process end. My suggestion is to have a new system in the registrar department which scan the application form of the students and directly present it ti the screen of the encoder. And the encoder distribute the data to the respective college department which is the student's choice by sending it through internet. If the students finished the transaction in the registrar it is easier to encode his or her subjects to be enrolled because she or he has a record which came from the registrar to his or her college department. The encoder of the college department ask only the name of the students to check his record. It is also better to have an online enrollment which the students fill-up the application form available in the website of the school. By this the students has already a record in the school. The students need to confirm his or her application form to the registrar and pass the requirements needed in order to receive his or her confirmation sheet, receipts and C.O.R which determines that she or he is already enrolled. This kind of system is minimizing the redundancy and hassle in the records of the school.

In terms of technology, I would better suggest to have a new technology in the attendance system in the school for the employees like a new Biometric Scanner.

What is Biometric Scanner?

Biometrics refers to methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In information technology, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.

Biometric characteristics can be divided in two main classes:

* Physiological are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint, face recognition, DNA, hand and palm geometry, iris recognition, which has largely replaced retina, and odor/scent.
* Behavioral are related to the behavior of a person. Examples include, but are not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice. Some researchers[1] have coined the term behaviometrics for this class of biometrics.

Strictly speaking, voice is also a physiological trait because every person has a different pitch, but voice recognition is mainly based on the study of the way a person speaks, commonly classified as behavioral.

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

I suggest this kind of technology for such advantages like it makes the attendance of the employee accurate and fast because it needs the finger print of the employee in order to have his or her attendance. Not like in the log book it is hassle and not too accurate because some employees who is absent because of some reasons he or she call her or his co-employee to write his or her name to the log book in order to have an attendance on that day or as an excuse for being late. Unlike in the Biometric Scanner you cannot cheat or use other people to have your attendance because your presence is fully needed to use this new attendance technology.

Another suggestion is a Unified Identification (ID) System within the campus. This kind of system is combining all the Identification (ID) card inside the campus in every department like the library, virtual laboratory and a passes in order to enter the school campus. We know that Identification (ID) card is one of the important gadget of a student to the school. This new Identification (ID) card has a bar code which is validated every semester by a computerize system. By this, the school administrator lessen the burden of those students who are not validating his or her Identification (ID) card every semester. Currently, the university is validating the Identification (ID) card every semester by putting a sticker at the back of the Identification (ID) card. We can easily cheat with this kind of system because its easy to produce a copy of the validated sticker. But in a new Identification (ID) card I suggested, the student cannot easily cheat or copy the bar code because it is monitored by the school. Before entering the campus you must scan the bar code at the back of the new Identification (ID) card into the bar code scanner.

What is a Bar Code Scanner?

A bar code reader (or bar code scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed bar codes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all bar code readers contain decoder circuitry analyzing the bar code's image data provided by the sensor and sending the bar code's content to the scanner's output port.

Types of technology

The reader types can be distinguished as follows:

* Pen type readers

Pen type readers consist of a light source and a photodiode that are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or wand.[1] To read a bar code, the tip of the pen moves across the bars in a steady motion. The photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected back from the light source and generates a waveform that is used to measure the widths of the bars and spaces in the bar code. Dark bars in the bar code absorb light and white spaces reflect light so that the voltage waveform generated by the photo diode is a representation of the bar and space pattern in the bar code. This waveform is decoded by the scanner in a manner similar to the way Morse code dots and dashes are decoded.

* Laser scanners

Laser scanners work the same way as pen type readers except that they use a laser beam as the light source and typically employ either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism to scan the laser beam back and forth across the bar code. As with the pen type reader, a photodiode is used to measure the intensity of the light reflected back from the bar code. In both pen readers and laser scanners, the light emitted by the reader is tuned to a specific frequency and the photodiode is designed to detect only this modulated light of the same frequency.

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

It is a big help also to the security guard because this system lessen their work in checking the students if her or his Identification (ID) card is valid. They only watch and making sure that the students and other school property inside the campus are secured.

Assignment 4 in HRM

2009-07-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

How can the university help you achieve what you want to be in the future?

Based on my answers in assignment 2 and 3 I stated some of the possible job I want to have in the future. In order to achieve those goal there are some factors to consider. Like in the university which I enrolled now which is the University of Southeastern Philippines, they have a big role to help me in achieving my goal in studies and having a great job in the future. For me, these are some things that the university can help me in my dreams:

• In terms of facilities in USeP (University of Southeastern Philippines) they need to improve it by placing new updated technology and systems. Like in our college the Institute of Computing we are in need of computers for our studies, laboratory exercises and online exams but as I observed the computers we are using in the laboratory are not in good condition. I want them to look forward to it for us to have a good facilities which is useful in our studies.

• Provide a classrooms which is clean and organize. Like in our college we are lack of classrooms because we dont have a building.

Many struggles I had already encountered in this university. As a student we are the important person in the school. As what I've learned, share your knowledge to the school and to other person. The school is only the guide in achieving our dreams but we are the one who can decide what kind of life we want to have in the future. Just trust yourself.

Green Campus Computing

2009-07-07T21:03:00.001-07:00

1.)http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3214/webcasting-a-few-ideas-for-green-computing-on-campus

Webcasting a Few Ideas for Green Computing on Campus

Campus computers are energy hogs. Whether they are dorm room devices or large college data centers, computer processors suck in huge amounts of electricity and give off a lot of heat. What is an energy-conscious (and budget-conscious) CIO to do?

The California State University-Monterey Bay has some ideas. On their education and technology roundtable, Ready2Net, which is both Webcast and broadcast on TV, they tackle computing, energy and the environment.

Casey Green, founder of the Campus Computing project, moderates a panel that includes CIOs from Washington State, San Diego State, Bryant Universities, as well as executives and specialists in high-tech energy conservation from Pacific Gas and Electric and Cisco Systems.

Another place to find useful ideas is The Chronicle’s latest Tech Therapy podcast, “How Green Is Your IT?” Tune in, turn on, and drop your big carbon footprint.—Josh Fischman

2.) http://ready2net.csumb.edu/site/x21966.xml

Green Computing and
Higher Education:
The New "3 Rs"--
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, Reuse & Recycle (60 minutes)

The dramatic increase in energy consumption and costs have caused a renewed interest in the effective management and use of computing throughout the campus. The proliferation of new computing devices now reaches almost every area of campus service to support instruction, facilities, and student life. Every time we leave computers on without regard for energy conservation and planned use, we potentially waste electricity. Burning fossil fuels generates most of our electricity and also emits pollutants, sulfur, and carbon dioxide into the air. These emissions can cause respiratory disease, smog, acid rain and global climate change. Many campuses are looking to CIOs to conserve energy and to promote more sustainable solutions in labs and data centers. How will CIOs contribute to a more sustainable future?

3.)http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/06/10/u-connecticut-developing-green-tech-to-clean-up-environment.aspx

U Connecticut Developing Green Tech To Clean Up Environment

* By Dian Schaffhauser
* 06/10/09

The University of Connecticut and VeruTEK Technologies are teaming up to research and develop green chemistry solutions for eliminating the toxic effects of chemical waste in the environment.

VeruTEK, which develops green technologies to clean up the environment, has an option to license any resulting solutions or technology from the project, which will research environmental catalysis and photocatalysis of pollutants.

"We at the Department of Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut are thrilled to be collaborating with Dr. George Hoag and his team at VeruTEK ... in the development of new green chemistry solutions to clean the environment," said department head Steven Suib. "Researchers at VeruTEK are leaders in the field of environmental research and are dedicated to development of functional green technologies. VeruTEK's ongoing projects and products are well thought out, operational, and exciting."

My Opinions...

For me, to promote green technology in our school we must cooperate and do something like:

- use electricity wisely
- turn off other appliances which is not being use like (computer,television,etc.)
- love our environment
- do not use wires in plugging if it is broken

those are the simple ways for us to have a green technology in our environment. We, are the Information Technology (IT) students must adopt this simple ways in a simple mission in our high technology environment.

COMDDAP 2009 Learnings

2009-07-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Last July 2, 2009, we attended an exhibit called COMDDAP (COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES) in Apo View Hotel.

What is COMDDAP (COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES)?

THE POWER OF INTERDEPENDENCE COMDDAP is an association of the country's top information technology businesses. Its primary objective is to promote the sustainable development of the of the country's information technology industry through voluntary collaboration of its member companies. It is the goal of COMDDAP to be able to provide its members general views and updates from different sectors - private and government, and highly regarded individuals to further uplift the morale and knowledge of its organization.

The vision of promoting and elevating the standards of Information technology (IT) in the Philippines fueled a group of prominent computer companies to form the Computer Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines or COMDDAP. Its initial member-companies represent the world's leading makers and providers of computer products, solutions and peripherals.

In 1997, the manufacturing sector - represented by industry leaders Hewlett Packard, Epson and Compaq, among others - was integrated into the COMDDAP membership, making the association a more diverse representation of the IT sector and thus the new name, COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Source: http://www.comddap.org/aboutus.htm

Sir Rand Gamboa told us about the exhibit and he invited his students to attend the said exhibit. We need to register first through the internet in the Nexus group for us to attend atleast 2 semnimars or sessions in the exhibit. It has 4 seminars or sessions held in the exhibit. But we only attended 2 seminars or sessions which was the ERIC DMS (Dealership Management System) and the HP Invent. Before we attend to the seminar we watched the different technology and products o f the different company who present their exhibit. I saw and observed new technologies they present. Their were also many businessman, visitors and students from different schools and other people who watched the exhibit. We took some pictures and registered to the different raffle draw. Other exhibitors gave some tokens like the GH Office Depot, they gave us ballpens as a token.

The first seminar was all about the ERIC DMS (Dealership Management System) they used in their company. Mr Celmir L. Santos was the presentor or the speaker. He explained about the usage and features of the DMS (Dealership Management System) they had in their
company.

What is ERIC DMS - Dealer Management System?

The ERIC Dealer Management System (DMS) is an end-to-end software solution for automotive sales, parts, and service businesses. ERIC DMS covers the full range of dealer activities- from marketing to sales and services.

Aside from core business operations, DMS includes a full ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and completely automates and integrates back office operations all the way to financial reporting.

Seamless integration with core ERIC ERP modules for inventory, procurement, and financial accounting completes the package. This enables management to have full visibility on operations and finances through a comprehensive set of reports.

Source: http://www.jupitersystems.com.ph/edms.aspx

These are the general features of the system:

- Sales lead monitoring from initial inquiry to actual
- Sales quotation processing
- Supports sales of new and used vehicles
- Financing and Insurance transactions
- Vehicle reservation and deposit collection
- Vehicle Inventory
- Customer incident and resolution recording
- Reports and Queries
- Customer Appointments
- Repair, Order and Estimates
- Customer and Vehicle service History
- Technincian Time-in/Time-out
- Control Parts and Consumable cost

The following are the ERIC DMS (Dealership Management System) clients:

- Honda
- Mercedes Benz
- Mitsubishi
- etc.

Dealer Management System is a complete, end-to-end relationship.

The second seminar or session was all about the new product of the HP Invent which is the THIN CLIENTS.

About HP Company

Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co., established in Montreal, Quebec in 1961, is a wholly owned subsidiary of California-based Hewlett-Packard Co - a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. HP Canada has an extensive network of dealers and authorized service personnel in Canada and operates 28 offices across the country.

Led by Paul Tsaparis, President and CEO, HP Canada delivers solutions for Canadian consumers, enterprises and small to medium businesses. We explore how technology and services can help people and companies address their problems and challenges, and realize their possibilities, aspirations and dreams. We apply new thinking and ideas to create more simple, valuable and trusted experiences with technology, continuously improving the way our customers live and work.
No other company offers as complete a technology product portfolio as HP. We provide infrastructure and business offerings that span from handheld devices to some of the world's most powerful supercomputer installations. We offer consumers a wide range of products and services from digital photography to digital entertainment and from computing to home printing. This comprehensive portfolio helps us match the right products, services and solutions to our customers' specific needs.

Source: http://www.hp.com/canada/corporate/hp_info/aboutus.html

Mr. Leonard Zapa was the presentor or speaker in the seminar. He is the Market Developer Manager of the company. I had take down some notes from their presentation. About the product THIN CLIENTS is a computing device without a hard drive which displays data and applications from remotely located servers, blade PC's, or Virtual Desktops.

THIN CLIENTS OS (Operating Systems):

- Linux
- windowsCE
- WindowsXPe

There were also challenges for Information Technology (IT) Professionals:

- Provide Information Security
- Deployment and Maintenance
- Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Advantages of the THIN CLIENTS:

- Enhanced Security
- Easy Manageability
- High Reliability
- Environment Friendly
- Lower-Overall Costs

After the presentation they gave several questions regarding to their presentation. If somenone answer the question they gave some tokens like T-Shirt, Flashdrive (5 pieces of 2G USB and 1 piece of 8G USB) and 1 piece of mouse in the computer. We're very excited to answer the question for the tokens. After the seminars, we left the room because we want to continue our viewing in the exhibit. We continue collecting flyers or magazines for us to have a references. Because of this event I had gathered some information regarding the technology and other things which is related in our course.

Assignment 3 in MIS

2009-07-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

What is Automated Election?

As far I know, Automated Election is a system from manual counting to computerize counting in which results could be known with in 2 days or 3 days. It could minimize cheating and a so called "dagdag bawas."

How it can help our government by this system?

For me, it has a big help on the part of the government like the following factors:

- Lesser expenses to be incurred due to decrease of manpower during the election.
- To ease the tension of suspension of cheating of both parties.
- It has a big possibility to have an accurate results of the election.

By those factors I mentioned I can assure that by this new system of election or by using this new technology on 2010 election the people are expecting of a good and fair results.

About SMARTMATIC

Higher Performance through Engineering Excellence

Smartmatic is a privately-owned, multinational company that designs and deploys end-to-end, custom technology solutions to enable government agencies and large enterprises to fulfill their missions with the utmost efficiency. Founded around a core team of elite engineers who are guided by the principle of continuous improvement in process, performance and results, Smartmatic delivers unsurpassed technology to clients in four key business divisions:

- Electronic voting systems
- Intelligent and integrated security systems
- Identity registration and authentication of large population groups
- Technology research and development, and consulting.

Our concentration on these business areas over several years has given us competitive advantage and insight in each field. It has also allowed us to develop strong, long-term relationships with our customers.

Source: http://www.smartmatic.com/company/article/article/profile/

Technology Used:

A superior technological solution is the foundation of the many advantages that SAES brings you. From hard wearing voting machines to highly efficient software and intelligently engineered transmission systems, the SAES solution ensures you will always be dealing with the most advanced technology available.

Counting Devices

Our three voting machine models are virtually indestructible, 100% secure and auditable. They can be adapted readily to the specific needs of your electorate

SAES4000

- Features redundant memory to avoid possibility of information loss.
- Encrypts information and protects it with several security levels that are superior to bank standards.
- 10.4” screen designed to support multiple choice election processes.
- Special module for the disabled includes tactile remote control, earphones, sip and puff device, among others).
- Easy to transport and maintain.

SAES1800

- Over 99.99999% accurate.
- Supports any mark type, such as shaded circles (full and partial), checkmarks and/or crosses.
- The LCD display can be configured to provide real-time feedback to the voter on the choices selected.
- Supports multiple ballot layouts.
- Full ballot-level audit log of each scanned ballot.
- Low maintenance.

SAES3300

- Heavy duty construction.
-Integrated printer.
- 10.1” screen designed to support multiple choice election processes.
- Includes tactile remote control and earphones for blind voters.
- Easy to transport.
- Low maintenance.

Source: http://www.smartmatic.com/solutions/automated-election-system/single-view/article/voting-machines/

How it works:

Ease of Operation and Security

The flexibility of the SAES platform makes it possible to automate any election in accordance with the legal requirements of the governing electoral agency, the local voting customs and the socio-political factors of the host country.
We place paramount importance on the security and integrity of the entire electoral process.

That is we base our system on a series of encryption algorithms that safeguard the collection and transfer of every vote at each of the following verification points:

1.Voting receipt printed on special paper and identified with a random code to ensure the secrecy of the vote;
2.Fixed memory (internal) of every SAES machine;
3.Removable memory of every SAES machine;
4.Station tally from the voting table;
5.The electronic vote transferred to the tallying centers;
6.Electronic act transferred to the tallying centers;
7. The tallying act.
Each of these checkpoints ensures the transparency of the electoral process and together they provide the most complete guaranty available. They offer ample opportunities to pinpoint anomalies, if they occur, and early enough, to prevent them from becoming a big problem.

Source: http://www.smartmatic.com/solutions/automated-election-system/single-view/article/ease-of-operation-and-security/

Because of the development of the technology, we come up with this system in our election.

About Total Information Management (TIM)

Total Information Management (TIM) Corporation is a wholly Filipino owned Information Technology (IT) company with nationwide operations offering varied products and services. It considers itself as "The Filipino IT Company" competing in a field dominated by multinationals.
In all its undertakings, TIM has pursued the challenge to excel. It is this intensity and dedication that enabled TIM to win accolades and recognition from its foreign technology partners every year. Consistently showing double digit growth rates in the last decade, TIM has always been counted among the country's top 1000 corporate enterprises.
Established in 1985 initially as the leading supplier for re-certified and refurbished IBM mainframes and peripheral equipment, TIM has grown into the Philippines' leading technology services company providing the full range of solutions for the IT needs of the country's largest enterprises. Our partnerships with technology suppliers such as HP, SUN, & EMC² and solutions suppliers such as Oracle, Microsoft, Infosys and CA to name a few, have allowed us to consistently develop highly successful and loyal relationships with our customer base. Our best references are our customers and the benefits that they have enjoyed from working with us.
Our proven track record has enabled us to bring the benefits of our highly skilled and experienced pool of technical resources to the global I.T. services industry, particularly in the more complex areas of Remote Data Center, and Network Management. We have invested in developing two of the largest fully equipped Data Centers in redundant configurations to ensure fault tolerant 24/7 support operations for our Outsourcing and Business Continuity Services.
TIM faces the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead with better skilled personnel, stronger alliances, and sound financials. It is prepared and ready to achieve its vision of becoming the most admired and responsive Information Technology Company in Asia.

Source: http://www.timcorp.net/main/index.php?pg=about.tim

Assignment 1 in HRM

2009-07-06T02:34:00.000-07:00

On July 6, 2009, I with my fellow classmates we're scheduled for an interview about the best practices in Human Resource (HR) management in Ansuico, Incorporated. This is one of the assignment in our Human Resource Management (HRM) under Dr. Randy S. Gamboa. We need to identify a local organization(s) or company and discuss some of their best practices in Human Resource (HR) management. I chose the Ansuico, Incorporated as my company to interview regarding their Human Resource (HR) management best practices. First I will give a brief introduction about the company which I interviewed.

HISTORY

Our trucking company started in 1953 when IRINEO S. ANSALDO and his brother in-law PEDRO C. SUICO bought the first truck with a price of one peso (Php 1.00) to Smith Bell & Co. Ltd, which was their former employer. The truck was partially damaged by a fire and it was being rebuilt and completed with conglomeration of American and Japanese parts assembly. Our first client was the former owner of the truck itself (Smith Bell & Co., Ltd) at Daliao, Toril, Davao City.

Barely a year we acquired the third unit a heavier capacity model which was equipped with a Buda Diesel Engine (which was later replaced with Cummins Engine). With only one unit delegated to Coca-Cola Bottling to deliver their products to Cotabato area, we observed that our operation was not to be as promising, than if we operate more bigger units. A decision was made to acquire those Army surplus International K-11 model prime movers and semi-hi-bed trailers.

At present, we are operating with more than 100 prime movers, more than 150 reefer vans, more than 200 chassis, more than 100 generator sets and other heavy equipment.

We are serving all major exporters of bananas and pineapples here in Mindanao. Some of our major customers we are currently serving are; American President Lines, California Manufacturing Corp., Ching Bee Trading Corp., Dateline Cargo Express International, Inc., Davao Agricultural Ventures Corp., Davao Central Chemical Corp., Davao Corrugated Carton Corporation, Davao Light and Power Co. Inc., Del Monte Fresh Produce, Inc. Del Monte Philippines, Franklin Baker Co. of the Philippines, Global Fruits Corporation, Maersk-Sealand Filipinas, Inc., Marsman Drydale Corporation, Metro Combine Logistics, Mt. Kitanglad Agri-Development Corp., Mt. Kitanglad Agri-Ventures, Inc., National Power Corporation, National Transmission Corp. (Transco), Nestle Philippines, Unifrutti Philippines, Inc., Uniliver Philippines (PRC), Inc., and others.

With over 50 years in the business, you can count ANSUICO on its specialized driver, the right equipment and safe, timely truck arrivals. We can move anytime just about anything, heavy lift equipments, fruits for export, imported goods and more because we own our trailers, reefers and trucks, in the quantities that meets our customers’ requirements.

Our support staff is empowered with complete knowledge of the trucking industry.

ANSUICO, INCORPORATED is a family owned business with reputation and a corporate priority for a high quality service.

OUR VISION

ANSUICO, Inc. continues on with its efforts to be the leading logistics provider to key companies in the Philippines who value and afford high quality and innovative services.

OUR MISSION

Ansuico, Inc.'s founding principle is based on assisting clients and business partners in achieving their service and profit goals by rendering efficient logistics, characterized by a defined economic edge through prompt, safe and reliable services.

This is achieved by utilizing the full effectiveness of its organization, equipment and transport units, expertise and experience, financial and other resources.

We formulated some questions regarding the Human Resource (HR) management of their company. Sir John Lebozada was one who entertain us. He is the school administrator of the company and also the arms of the Human Resource (HR) management. The company Human Resource (HR) department has three(3) personnels. The Personnel Manager is Ms. Marife Cruzada and now acting as the OIC in the department. The company is more on trucking and warehousing. These are some questions we had asked:

1.) What are the best practices in Human Resource (HR) management in their company?

They have daily routine which they call 5 S:

a.) Sorting of Materials

Their employees must sort the material properly because the company don't want a what they call "burara" employee.

b.) Systemized

They must have a good system regarding to their work.

c.) Sanitized

They truly practice to be more clean and neat people inside their company.

d.) Self-Discipline

Their employee must have a self-discipline to thereselves regarding this 5 S daily routine.

e.) Swift

This 5 S came from the Japanese and adopt here in the Philippines with the other government organizations which has an International Standard Oraganization(ISO). And Ansuico, Inc. adopt this 5 S.

2.) What are the advantages of their Human Resource management in the company?

The company trained their people properly. Example their drivers has a 6 months training in defensive driving lesson and maintenance. The company has several clients like Davao Light, Holcim, Mindanao Trucking Company , Philip Morris, Lapanday and etc.

3.) What are the disadvantages?

When they finished train their people inside the company. The finished trainee apply to the other company instead of staying in Ansuico because when they apply to the other company and found out that they came from Ansuico company and finished their training, there's a high possibility that they qualify to that company.

4.) Do you think, you won't come this far without this Human Resource (HR) department?

Sir John told us that having a Human Resource (HR) department in the company is a big help for the company to meet their goal and succeed. So, it simply means that it is important to have a Human Resource (HR) department in the company.

This interview was a very informative to us because it gives us basic knowledge in Human Resources (HR). It was a very great experienced to meet people who shared there knowledge in the students like us about their company. Supposed to be the person we are looking is the Human Resource (HR) Personnel Manager in their department but they brought us to their school administrator which is the arms of the Human Resource (HR) department that's why we're very thankful because the person we interviewed was nice, friendly and professional.

Assignment 2 in MIS

2009-07-06T02:33:00.000-07:00

On July 6, 2009, I with my fellow classmates we're scheduled for an interview about the best practices in Management Information System (MIS ) in Emcor Company, loacted at Jp Laurel, Bajada, Davao City. This is one of the assignment in our Management Information System (MIS ) under Dr. Randy S. Gamboa. We need to identify a local organization(s) or company and discuss some of their best practices in Management Information System (MIS ) and the risks associated with business and IS/IT change?I chose the Emcor as my company to interview regarding their Management Information System (MIS ). First I will give a brief introduction about the company which I adopt.

EMCOR

EMCOR is a 100% Filipino-owned retail business corporation specializing in appliances, furniture, IT products, motorcycles, and money transfer through its network of specialty chain stores in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan areas. With the launching of our online store, EMCOR will now be making its presence known in the online industry and promote its company’s goals and vision to the global community.

EMCOR was founded by JESUS V. del ROSARIO in 1958 and we are currently under the JVR Foundation Inc.—one of the many companies of the JVR Group of Companies. Others include:

• Kawasaki Motors (Philippines) Corporation
• K-Servico Trade, Incorporated
• Wodel Incorporated
• Delsa Chemicals and Multi Products Incorporated
• International Wiring Systems Philippines Corporation
• Hecny Forwarders Incorporated
• Wodel Manpower Services

We carry a wide array of product lines like Panasonic, JVC, Philips, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Electrolux, La Germania, Whirlpool, FS Furniture, Sanyo, Canon, Brother, Epson, Toshiba, Acer, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki and many others. We have also partnered with Western Union for our money transfer services. The core of our existence is our ability to provide high quality service to our customers by providing the right products at the right time, in the right place and at the right price.

We believe that as responsible members of our society, we at EMCOR should pursue our profit objectives in the spirit of service to the community. We believe in reconciling the profit motive of our Company with service to the nation. Thus, we strive to maintain a balance between the interests of our customers, employees, shareholders and the government by supporting national and local agenda for economic development, social reform, educational/scientific research, healthcare and environmental sanitation and preservation. To date, the JVR Foundation has given more than PhP200 Million in philanthropic work.

SERVICES:

1.) Motorcycle Repair

2.) Airconditioning Cleaning

3.) Appliance Repair

4.) Customer Inquiries

Source: http://www.emcor.com.ph/about.php

We formulated some questions regarding the Management Information System (MIS ) of their company. Mr. Nilo Ricafort was one who entertain us. He is the MIS/EDP Manager of the Management Information System (MIS ) department of the company. He was trained in Digital Interface about programming. He is also the first user of the computer in their company. The company Management Information System (MIS ) department has many personnel. These are some questions we had asked:

1.) What are the best practices in Management Information System (MIS) in their company?

The company have a security of their data or a Back-up for them to have a copy if there's a failure in their database system. They have programmers and system analyst who control the server of their database system.

2.) What are the advantages of their Management Information System (MIS) in the company?

In terms of transfering of data to the other network. They are fast and accurate of transfering the data. And if suddenly they have a failure in their server or the server shutdown they have a Disaster Recovery Position who recover the system.

3.) What are the disadvantages?

The Management Information System (MIS) Manager told us that they have a Disaster Recovery Position but they have no Disaster Recovery Site. The company looking forward for this plan to have a Recovery Site. Until now, the company system is not centralize. One disadvantage also is the incorrect data uploading.

4.) Do you think, you won't come this far without this Management Information System (MIS)?

Having an Management Information System (MIS) deaprtment is important to their company. It has a big help in the comapny in terms of computerization and technology. Mr. Nilo said that their system is manual without a computer. So that having a computer to their company is fast and accurate in the system.

This interview was a very informative to us because it gives us basic knowledge in Management Information System (MIS). It was a very great experienced to meet a person who shared there knowledge in the students like us about their companies best practices in Management Information System (MIS). Supposed to be the person we are looking is the Management Information System (MIS) Assistant Manager in their department but the Management Information System (MIS) Manager of the department entertain us that's why we're very thankful and honored because the person we interviewed was the manager. He is nice, friendly and professional.

Assignment 2 in HRM

2009-07-06T02:24:00.001-07:00

When I was in high school, I already thought of what I want to be in the future. What kind of job I have if I finish my studies. After my graduation in high school I listed some possible courses I want to take in college. These are the list of the possible courses I want to enroll in college:

1.) Custom Administration

2.) Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT)

3.) Pharmacist

4.) Flight Attendant

5.) Commerce

During the enrolment in college, I and my parents decided to enrol me in University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP). I passed the entrance exam of the school. From the list of the courses I had, I chose to take the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT). I had already basic knowledge in computers but I want to develop and improve it by enroling in Information Technology (IT) course so, I tried to take this course. Now, I'm in 3rd year of Bachelor of Science in Infromation Technology (BSIT) in University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP). If I finish my college with this course "hopefully" I have thought of some several jobs which is related to my course. I dont know what kind of job I want to have in the fututre that fits my course. But currently, I want to be an Information Technology (IT) Supervisor.

What is Information Technology (IT) Supervisor?

Supervisor manages the activities of the Information Technology Division; performs specialized information technology work in the development, implementation, support and maintenance of the technology based information system. Work is performed within a broad framework of general policy and requires creativity and resourcefulness to accomplish goals and objectives and to apply concepts, plans and strategies that may deviate from traditional methods and practices.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES:

− Install, configure, administer, and maintain the network, wide area network, file servers, e-mail server, application servers, and print servers.
− Update hardware and software as needed.
− Monitor and maintain the website(s).
− Provide direct support and training to users.
− Prepare user procedure manuals/materials as required.
− Develop maintenance schedules and records for computer equipment and applications.
− Backup and restoration of information systems critical data.
− Preparation of reports for computers, peripherals, and network devices to determine the needs of repairs or addition of new equipment.
− Authorize system access to users and maintain necessary documentation of authorities assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge of:

− Information system technologies.
− Network and computer security practices.
− Word processing, Spreadsheet, database, website, and desktop publishing techniques.
− Capabilities, limitations, characteristics, and uses of computer and records information systems.
− Practices and procedures of repairing microcomputers, computer networks, peripheral devices, cabling, and telecommunications equipment.
− Management and supervisory principles and practices including supervision and employee relations.
− Principles of budget preparation, budget estimation, and tracking.

Skills in:

− Analyzing, designing, programming, installing, and maintaining technical and complex programs.
− Reading, interpreting, and applying complex technical publications, manuals, and related documents.
− Training individuals or groups in using computer system hardware and software in an easy-to-understand manner.
− Effectively working with staff members of all computer skill levels.
− Organizing work effectively and efficiently.

Ability to:

− Maintain information technology systems
− Supervise staff effectively

Source: www.cityofukiah.com/city_hall/joblisting_its.pdf

Sometimes, I thought to take Custom Administration but I learned and realized that somebody comes the demand of Information Technology (IT) expert will increased. So, I pursue it until I finish it. If ever there's a better position for me that fits my course and I can handle it, I will grab it. I know that God's has a better plan for me in the future.

WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeW

Assignment 3 in HRM

2009-07-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

Medical Transcriptionists

Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribe them into medical reports, correspondence, and other administrative material. They generally listen to recordings on a headset, using a foot pedal to pause the recording when necessary, and key the text into a personal computer or word processor, editing as necessary for grammar and clarity. The documents they produce include discharge summaries, medical history and physical examination reports, operative reports, consultation reports, autopsy reports, diagnostic imaging studies, progress notes, and referral letters. Medical transcriptionists return transcribed documents to the physicians or other health care professionals who dictated them for review and signature or correction. These documents eventually become part of patients’ permanent files.
To understand and accurately transcribe dictated reports, medical transcriptionists must understand medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, pharmacology, and treatment assessments.

Source: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm

Web developer

A web developer is a software developer or software engineer who is specifically engaged in the development of World Wide Web applications, or distributed network applications that are run over the HTTP protocol from a web server to a web browser.
Web developers can be found working in all types of organizations, including large corporations and governments, small and medium sized companies, or alone as freelancers. Some web developers work for one organization as a permanent full-time employee, while others may work as independent consultants, or as contractors for an employment agency.
There are no formal educational or licensure requirements to become a web developer. However, many colleges and trade schools offer coursework in web development. There are also many tutorials and articles, which teach web development, freely available on the web - for example: http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Basic_JavaScript

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

On-line tutoring

Online tutoring refers to the process of tutoring within an online virtual environment or networked environment where teachers and learners are separated by time and space.
Online tutoring refers to the process of tutoring within an online virtual environment or networked environment where teachers and learners are separated by time and space. These online environments usually involve the use of learning management systems or Virtual Learning Environments such as Moodle, Sakai, WebCT, Blackboard. Online tutors often determine the culture and tone of the online learning environment. Tutoring is also referred to as e-moderation and facilitation to achieve goals of independent learning, learner autonomy, self-reflection, knowledge construction, collaborative or group based learning, online discussion, transformative learning and communities of practice (Salmon, 2004;Benson, 2001; Mezirow, 2000; Schon, 1987; Wenger, 1998).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-line_tutoring

CALL CENTER AGENT

A call center agent is the person who handles incoming or outgoing customer calls for a business. A call center agent might handle account inquiries, customer complaints or support issues. Other names for a call center agent include customer service representative (CSR), telephone sales or service representative (TSR), attendant, associate, operator, account executive or team member.

Source: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci1265040,00.html

Information Technology Supervisor

Supervisor manages the activities of the Information Technology Division; performs specialized information technology work in the development, implementation, support and maintenance of the technology based information system. Work is performed within a broad framework of general policy and requires creativity and resourcefulness to accomplish goals and objectives and to apply concepts, plans and strategies that may deviate from traditional methods and practices.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

− Install, configure, administer, and maintain the network, wide area network, file servers, e-mail server, application servers, and print servers.
− Update hardware and software as needed.
− Monitor and maintain the website(s).
− Provide direct support and training to users.
− Prepare user procedure manuals/materials as required.
− Develop maintenance schedules and records for computer equipment and applications.
− Backup and restoration of information systems critical data.
− Preparation of reports for computers, peripherals, and network devices to determine the needs of repairs or addition of new equipment.
− Authorize system access to users and maintain necessary documentation of authorities assigned.

Source: www.cityofukiah.com/city_hall/joblisting_its.pdf

Among that five(5) online job services, what I like best is the Online Tutorial...haha... But it is not my final job I want to have in the future. I like it because you can share a basic knowledge to the other people by using the internet. Even though the teacher and the student are separated in this online tutoring, because of the technology you feel like face-to-face sharing.

Company...Reflection...

2009-06-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

Our assignment is to identify some Small and Medium Enterprises or Local Organization(s) and discuss some of their best practices in Information System (IT)/Information System (IS). This are the lists of my companies with their profile which I proposed to Dr. Randy S. Gamboa:

1.) Far East Seafood, Inc.

Luen Thai Fishing Ventures,

Ltd.Philippines – Davao

Davao Fish Port Complex,Toril, Davao City

8000Tel: +63 (82) 291-3397

http://www.ltfv.com/

Brief Company Profile:

Luen Thai Fishing Ventures, Ltd. (LTFV) is a leading seafood company engaged in fishing-based operations, processing, packaging and distribution of fresh tuna and seafood products. Every year, we supply over 11,000 tons of fresh tuna and other seafood products to customers in Japan, the United States, Canada, Europe and China. We provide quality products to major auction markets, wholesalers, food service, distributors, as well as clubs, retailers, restaurant chains and specialty outlet stores. Our products range from fresh and frozen whole fish, processed products of various cuts, and value added packaging.

Source:ltfv.luenthaienterprises.com/page.php?id=14 -

2.) EAST ASIA FISH COMPANY, INC.

Business Type: Industrial Services and Equipment

EAFCI Building, Davao Fish Port Complex, Toril, Davao City, Philippines

Davao City, Region 11

Tel: (082) 291-3397 to 98 / (02) 851-0234

Fax: (082) 291-3398 / (02) 851-0234

eafci@attglobal. net / eafci@mozcom. com

Fresh / Frozen Marine Products

3.) Davao Tek Huat Marine Factor Corp.

Davao Fish Port ComplexDaliao Toril District

Davao City, Philippines

A Philippine corporation establish in 1997. the primary purpose is to provide services to foreign fishing vessels, full and partial crewing of vessel, trading of marine products and equipments, as agents to the vessel, its captain, and the crew

4.) Solariega Subdivision Davao City

Solariega carries the Caribbean concept. It combines a diverse mix of European, American, Dutch and other Western influences. The islands are home to rich and colorful palm trees and flowers which are in full bloom all year round. Tropical and sunny, these islands are favorite resort get-aways of the rich and famous. This is the general ambience that Solariega brigns in its entire community development. Gardens of tropical plants serve as background to houses which come in colorful hues predominantly Caribbean. This Carribean-themed community offers amenities and facilities for enjoyment with your family and friends.

5.) Toscana Subdivision Davao City

Toscana is a name of a region in Italy most famous for its landscaping of rolling terrain of vineyards, olive groves and sunflower fields. An Italian-themed community, Toscana is Communities Philippines' (formerly Crown Communities) second development project in Davao City after Solariega's Toscana is a dream come true for those who want to live their hard earned dreams. This is where your special investment will yield great returns for years to come.

6.) RIZAL MEMORIAL COLLEGES

Rizal Memorial Colleges today is located at the corners of Lopez Jaena and F. Torres Streets in Davao City. The campus has four concrete buildings which house the administration offices, Colleges of Liberal Arts, Education, Commerce, Secretarial Education, a 5,000 capacity gymnasium, and educational media center. It also houses the building s for Elementary, High School, Technology, Criminology, Agriculture, Caregiver, and medical clinic. It has a sports field for ROTC/CMT units formations, physical education, and other sporting activities. Other agricultural facilities are a nursery, farm shop, green house, piggery and poultry, vegetable gardens, organic farming, cornfield, and orchard.

7.) Ming Trading Corporation

Davao Fish Port Complex, Daliao, Toril

Davao City Davao Del Sur 8025 Philippines

Ming Trading Corporation is duly licensed processor for all kind of fresh chilled and frozen fishery products. Currently, we are looking for buyers of our Ball Type processed Frozen Octopus, Mahi Mahi Slab, Gindara Fillet, Choice cuts tuna, Round Scad, Whole Round Milkfish among others. We are operating under GMP/SSOP provisions being implemented and guided by Philippine Laws on fishery products specifically the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources under the wings of the Department of Agriculture. We can offer of at least 2 3 containers of all the above mentioned products.

8.) DXRA Radio Station

DXRA (783 kHz Davao City) "Radyo Arangkada" is an AM station of Rizal Memorial Colleges Broadcasting Corp. in the Philippines. The station's studio is located along A. Bonifacio St. in Davao City. The main format of the station is public service and news.

9.) Department of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines)

The Philippines' Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) (Filipino: Kagawaran ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal) is the executive department of the Philippine Government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety, and strengthening the capabilities of local gorvernment units. It is also responsible for the Philippine National Police.

10.) The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world and is one of the largest corporations in the United States.

But Dr. Randy S. Gamboa approved only 5 companies in my proposal which are:

1.) Far East Seafood, Inc.
Luen Thai Fishing Ventures

Services:

BASE OPERATIONS A stronghold in its stable, LTFV bases services approximately 150 long-line fishing boats from China to the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Philippines. These bases have extensively embraced the entire tuna-fishing ground in the Western Central Pacific region.

VESSELS AND SUPPLIES SERVICES LTFV bases also serve as the maintenance and supplies depots for fishing vessels operating in Western Pacific. More than 150 long-line vessels benefit from LTFV bases' strategic locations and maintenance capabilities. These bases provide fuel, baits, materials and crew supplies to the vessels.

LOGISTICS AND AIRFREIGHT SERVICES The critical need for freshness has been the major component which has prompted LTFV's sister company, Asia Pacific Airlines to operate three (3) Boeing 727 aircraft. These planes ensure reliable airfreight and transshipment services for the timely export of fresh chilled tuna from bases to buyers. Through its Guam branch, LTFV has been able to coordinate and oversee the logistics operation effectively and efficiently.

FOOD PROCESSING To answer the growing demands for fresh tuna products in the US, Europe, China and Japan markets, LTFV operates 4 processing plants in Davao, Pohnpei, Majuro and Palau.
A newly formed joint venture with Honolulu-based NORPAC Fisheries Export further strengthens LTFV's processing capabilities by providing branded and value added tuna products to the US mainland market.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION LTFV established its foothold on major tuna markets by developing local key liaison offices in Japan, Honolulu, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and China. These offices manage the local supply distribution processes, as well as thoroughly conduct on-location customer relationship, and marketing and distribution analyses.

2.) EAST ASIA FISH COMPANY, INC.

3.) Davao Tek Huat Marine Factor Corporation

4.) Solariega Subdivision Davao City

5.) Toscana Subdivision Davao City

My Reflection•••My Learnings•••My MIS•••

2009-06-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

On June 18, 2009, was our first day of class in Management Information System (MIS). Dr. Randy S. Gamboa was our facilitator in this subject. He preferred to call facilitator than instructor or teacher. At the start of our class we were having a prayer led by one our classmate. We met new classmates from higher years and 3rd year Information Technology (IT) students in University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP), Tagum Campus. They were transferred because there’s no 3rd year Information Technology (IT) course in their campus. So, they continue their course here in University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero Campus. I love the way Sir Gamboa handle his students because from what I experienced in our Analytic Geometry and Statistics class you cannot forget his attitude of teaching. While teaching he delivered some jokes and punchlines which can get the attention of the class. But sometimes he is strict and his facial expression is “makakulba.” I expect that Dr. Randy S. Gamboa will help us to understand well the subject and hope that his tasks, activities, quizzes, exams, and assignments in the class or in this subject is not too hard to cope and work. Dr. Randy S. Gamboa discussed to us about the background of Management Information System (MIS) and he also gave a brief description about himself. He was our formal teacher in Analytic Geometry and Statistics subject. Jezreel Jyl P. Hilado, one of our classmates was called to give also a brief description of who is Dr. Randy S. Gamboa. According to her Dr. Randy S. Gamboa is strict in wearing complete school uniform. After that, Dr. Randy S. Gamboa started the formal introduction about Management Information System (MIS).

According to my research in wikipedia, Management Information System (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems. An 'MIS' is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management. In a way it is a documented report of the activities those were planned and executed. According to Philip Kotler "A marketing information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers."
The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not intended for decision making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as information technology management. That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support.
As what I understand it simply means that this system has planned of collecting data, process it then store and disseminate it which form into information.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_information_systems

Dr. Randy S. Gamboa told us about PDOC in Management Information System (MIS) which means P for Planning, D for Directing, O for Organizing and C for Control. He also gave the equation of Information Technology (IT) which is:

IT = HW (Hardware) + SW (Software)

And the equation of Information System (IS) which is:

IS = HW (Hardware) + SW (Software) + PW (Peopleware)

This first day of meeting with Dr. Randy S. Gamboa was a nervous, challenging and exciting day. I felt nervous because of some questions from Dr. Randy S. Gamboa about Management Information System (MIS). I felt challenging because you exert more effort of thinking to those questions in our topic about Management Information System (MIS). And I felt exciting because I expect that this subject can give us more learning’s which can help in our profession in the future. Aside from those discussions in the class, Dr. Randy S. Gamboa told us to make our own blog, this serve us our site in our online assignments. He gave us several assignments and posts it in our own blog. We will not meet our class next week that’s why he gave us homework.

Managerial Roles

2009-06-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Mintzberg: The Managerial Roles

Mintzberg (1973) groups managerial activities and roles as involving:

Managerial activities & Associated roles

Interpersonal roles - arising from formal authority and status and supporting the information and decision activities.

• figurehead
• liaison
• leader

Information processing roles

• monitor
• disseminator
• sp

Decision roles: making significant decisions

• improver/changer
• disturbance handle
• resource allocator
• negotiator

The broad proposition is that, as a senior manager enacts his/her role, these will come together as a gestalt (integrated whole) reflecting the manager's competencies associated with the roles. In a sense therefore they act as evaluation criteria for assessing the performance of a manager in his/her role.

1.Figurehead.
Social, inspirational, legal and ceremonial duties must be carried out. The manager is a symbol and must be on-hand for people/agencies that will only deal with him/her because of status and authority.

2.The leader role
This is at the heart of the manager-subordinate relationship and managerial power and pervasive where subordinates are involved even where perhaps the relationship is not directly interpersonal. The manager
• defines the structures and environments within which sub-ordinates work and are motivated.
• oversees and questions activities to keep them alert.
• selects, encourages, promotes and disciplines.
• tries to balance subordinate and organisational needs for efficient operations.

3.Liaison:
This is the manager as an information and communication centre. It is vital to build up favours. Networking skills to shape maintain internal and external contacts for information exchange are essential. These ontacts give access to "databases"- facts, requirements, probabilities.

4.As 'monitor'
- the manager seeks/receives information from many sources to evaluate the organisation's performance, well-being and situation. Monitoring of internal operations, external events, ideas, trends, analysis and pressures is vital. Information to detect changes, problems & opportunities and to construct decision-making scenarios can be current/historic, tangible (hard) or soft, documented or non-documented.This role is about building and using an intelligence system. The manager must install and maintain this information system; by building contacts & training staff to deliver "information".

5.As disseminator
- the manager brings external views into his/her organisation and facilitiates internal information flows between subordinates (factual or value-based).
The preferences of significant people are received and assimilated. The manager interprets/disseminates information to subordinates e.g. policies, rules, regulations. Values are also desseminated via conversations laced with imperatives and signs/icons about what is regarded as imprtant or what 'we believe in'.
There is a dilemma of delegation. Only the manager has the data for many decisions and often in the wrong form (verbal/memory vs. paper). Sharing is time-consuming and difficult. He/she and staff may be already overloaded. Communication consumes time. The adage 'if you want to get things done, (it is best to do it yourself' comes to mind. Why might this be a driver of managerial behaviour (reluctance or constraints on the ability to delegate)?

6.As spokesman (P.R. capacity)
- the manager informs and lobbies others (external to his/her own organisational group). Key influencers and stakeholders are kept informed of performances, plans & policies. For outsiders, the manager is an expert in the field in which his/her organisation operates.

7.A senior manager is responsible for his/her organisation's strategy-making system - generating and linking important decisions. He/she has the authority, information and capacity for control and integration over important decisions.
As initiator/changer
- he/she designs and initiates much of the controlled change in the organisation. Gaps are identified, improvement programmes defined. The manager initiates a series of related decisions/activities to achieve actual improvement. Improvement projects may be involved at various levels. The manager can
1. delegate all design responsibility selecting and even replace subordinates.
2. empower subordinates with responsbility for the design of the improvement programme but e.g. define the parameters/limits and veto or give the go-ahead on options.
3. supervise design directly.
Senior managers may have many projects at various development stages (emergent/dormant/nearly-ready) working on each periodically interspersed by waiting periods for information feedback or progress etc. Projects roll-on and roll-off,

8.The disturbance handler
- is a generalist role i.e. taking charge when the organisation hits an iceberg unexpectedly and where there is no clear programmed response. Disturbances may arise from staff, resources, threats or because others make mistakes or innovation has unexpected consequences. The role involves stepping in to calm matters, evaluate, re-allocate, support - removing the thorn - buying time. The metaphors here are
If you are up to your backside in alligators it is no use talking about draining the swamp.
and
Stop the bleeding as only then can you take care of the long term health of the patient. (not Mintzberg's anecdote)

9.As resource allocator
- the manager oversees allocation of all resources (£, staff, reputation). This involves:
0. scheduling own time
1. programming work
2. authorising actions
With an eye to the diary (scheduling) the manager implicitly sets organisational priorities. Time and access involve opportunity costs. What fails to reach him/her, fails to get support.
The managerial task is to ensure the basic work system is in place and to programme staff overloads - what to do, by whom, what processing structures will be used.
Authorising major decisions before implementation is a control over resource allocation. This enables coordinative interventions e.g. authorisation within a policy or budgeting process in comparison to ad-hoc interventions. With limited time, complex issues and staff proposals that cannot be dismissed lightly, the manager may decide on the proposer rather than proposal.
To help evaluation processes, managers develop models and plans in their heads (they construe the relationships and signifiers in the situation). These models/constructions encompass rules, imperatives, criteria and preferences to evaluate proposals against. Loose, flexible and implicit plans are up-dated with new information.

10.The negotiator
- takes charge over important negotiating activities with other organisations. The spokesman, figurehead and resource allocator roles demand this.

Source: www.bola.biz/mintzberg/mintzberg2.html

IS Leadership Roles

2009-06-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

Changes in both information technology and competition continue to change the role of the information systems executive. CSC (1996) has suggested six new IS leadership roles which are required to execute IS’s future agenda: chief architect, change leader, product developer,
technology provocateur, coach and chief operating strategist. These roles are described in table 1. Although these roles were produced by the CSC consultancy firm without any scientific approach, they seem very well tailored for scientific investigation into IS leadership roles. People who fill these roles do not necessarily head up new departments or processes, but they exert influence and provide leadership across the organizational structure.

When Stephens et al. (1992) selected CIOs for observation, they applied the following criteria:

•Highest ranking information technology executive
•Reports no more than two levels from CEO, i.e., either reports to the CEO or reports to one of the CEO's direct reports
•Areas of responsibility include information systems, computer operations, telecommunications, office automation, end-user computing/information center
•Responsibility for strategic planning of information resources.

As originally conceived, the chief information officer's responsibility would include all corporate information, not just information on computers. Historically, however, the focus of the CIO's job was predominantly information technology. This involves a number of roles including
strategic information system roles, the most critical of these being strategic information systems planning, strategic management through participation in top management planning teams, strategic alignment of business and information systems plans, and interpretation of external IT success stories for potential applicability for the organization. In addition to strategic planning, the CIO's responsibilities also include a number of tactical IT roles. These include architecture planning, development, and management; fostering relationships between the information systems department and including the superiors, functional units/line
managers, vendors and end users; and technology champion - gaining support and commitment of top management during the implementation of new technology. In this research, we will use the same selection criteria as Stephens et al. (1992): the highest ranking information technology executive, areas of responsibility include information systems and computer operations, and responsibility for strategic planning of information resources.

Six IS leadership roles (CSC, 1996)

1. Chief architect. The chief architect designs future possibilities for the business. The primary work of the chief architect is to design and evolve the IT infrastructure so that it will expand the range of future possibilities for the business, not define specific business outcomes. The infrastructure should provide not just today's technical services, such as networking, databases and desktop operating systems, but an increasing range of business-level services, such as workflow, portfolio management, scheduling, and specific business components or objects.

2. Change leader. The change leader orchestrates resources to achieve optimal implementation of the future. The essential role of the change leader is to orchestrate all those resources that will be needed to execute the change program. This includes providing new IT tools, but it also involves putting in the place teams of people who can redesign roles, jobs and workflow, who can change beliefs about the company and the work people do, and who understand human nature and can develop incentive systems to coax people into new and different behaviors.

3. Product developer. The product developer helps define the company’s place in the emerging digital economy. For example, a product developer might recognize the potential for performing key business processes (perhaps order fulfillment, purchasing or delivering customer support) over electronic linkages such as the Internet. The product developer must "sell" the idea to a business partner, and together they can set up and evaluate business experiments, which are initially operated out of IS. Whether the new methods are adopted or not, the company will learn from the experiments and so move closer to commercial success in emerging digital markets.

4. Technology provocateur. The technology provocateur embeds IT into the business strategy. The technology provocateur works with senior business executives to bring IT and realities of the IT marketplace to bear on the formation of strategy for the business. The technology provocateur is a senior business executive who understands both the business and IT at a deep enough level to integrate the two perspectives in discussions about the future course of the business. Technology provocateurs have a wealth of experience in IS disciplines, so they understand at a fundamental level the capabilities of IT and how IT impacts the business.

5. Coach. The coach teaches people to acquire the skillsets they will need for the future. Coaches have to basic responsibilities: teaching people how to learn, so that they can become self-sufficient, and providing team leaders with staff able to do the IT-related work of the business. A mechanism that assists both is the center of excellence - a small group of people with a particular competence or skill, with a coach responsible for their growth and development. Coaches are solid practitioners of the competence that they will be coaching, but need not be the best at it in the company.

6. Chief operating strategist. The chief operating strategist invents the future with senior management. The chief operating strategist is the top IS executive who is focused on the future agenda of the IS organization. The strategist has parallel responsibilities related to helping the business design the future, and then delivering it. The most important, and least understood, parts of the role have to do with the interpretation of new technologies and the IT marketplace, and the bringing of this understanding into the development of the digital business strategy for the organization.

Source: http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/hicss/2000/0493/07/04937055.pdf