Technology Articles Blog

Container Orchestration with Kubernetes
The ability to deploy and manage applications over containers as opposed to the traditional VMs is the building block and core concept that enables cloud based architectural setup, specifically any PaaS provider – whether its AWS or Google Cloud or MS Azure Cloud. The modern-day cloud native applications are tightly coupled with streamlined build/test/integrate/deploy pipelines… Read more: Container Orchestration with Kubernetes
Effort Devoted To Building Software
Studies show that more effort is devoted to software maintenance (including software enhancement, adaption to new technologies and bug fixing) than for software development activities (that is about 40% for analysis + design + implementation). According to Boehm, the total effort spend during the software development life cycle is as follows – The following deductions… Read more: Effort Devoted To Building Software
Software Engineering then and now
Software Engineering is and will be the backbone and driving force behind the technological advancements that we enjoy and that will lead us to greater realms of information and knowledge management. Its good for us to refresh our basics and foundations. Software Engineering is a discipline which was conceptualized, developed and is constantly reviewed for… Read more: Software Engineering then and now
Comparing roles of a System Analyst and other IT professionals
A system analyst is a person of multifaceted role who has to deal with each and every function of a system. He is involved in the process right from the development of such a computer system. Other professionals in the computer field include programmers, hardware specialists etc who are concerned with only their limited jobs.… Read more: Comparing roles of a System Analyst and other IT professionals
Attributes of a Good System Analyst
A system analyst is a person who conducts a methodical study and evaluation of various aspects related to business to identify the desired objectives and work out procedures to attain them. The system analyst is a person with unique skills – common sense, a structured framework and a disciplined approach to solving problems are a… Read more: Attributes of a Good System Analyst
Treating product requirements – The ideal way
Product requirements need to be treated with suspicion as if they really needed for the essential capability for a product release. Always prioritize product requirements and keep the bare minimum and most needed requirements on the top of the product backlog with fine-grained description of the requirements which could be easily implemented using any development… Read more: Treating product requirements – The ideal way
Product Vision – Rule of Thumb – Simplicity
One would think that the a product’s success is directly proportional to the amount of complexity that it offers. In other words, majority of people think that a software product could be successfull only if it buries the user with complex features and functionalities. However it has been proven that the rule of thumb is… Read more: Product Vision – Rule of Thumb – Simplicity
Agile / Scrum methodology – Explained simple
Agile software development methodology is suitable for time-boxed iterative system development scenarios. The software product is released as various versions or releases, typically in time-boxes of a month. Agile development assumes and welcomes delays and late requirements or scope changes even during development/testing phase! Agile software development might not be suitable for all software development… Read more: Agile / Scrum methodology – Explained simple
Reengineering Principles
The standard Reengineering principles are as follows – 1. Organize work around its end results, not tasks According to this principle, it is optimal to determine the work’s end result rather than dividing the work into small tasks & units. We try to rearrange the work process so that a single person can perform all… Read more: Reengineering Principles
Why Companies Do Reengineering?
Companies are doing reengineering since they want to remain stable in the dynamic business environment while facing changing strategies, financial crisis due to weak / poor / outdated business processes, technological changes, change in customer demands & business competition. Everyone is going for reengineering since it usually provides a quick fix for the present problem… Read more: Why Companies Do Reengineering?
Reengineering an accounts payable function
Consider the case of approving a loan application. In the manual process, it takes 6 persons and considerable amount of time to accept the details, calculating risks and repayment capabilities and letting the application trail through hands of various functional levels. But, when we reengineer the above process, the whole process may be converted to… Read more: Reengineering an accounts payable function
Creating Process based Organizations via Reengineering
While reengineering a business enterprise, we create a process based organization structure for the enterprise to avoid the inefficiencies and time wasting business process cycles as in a functions based organization. ie – the business process information systems and the enterprise wide information infrastructure are integrated in such a way that the people of various functions… Read more: Creating Process based Organizations via Reengineering
Basic approaches to Reengineering
The three basic approaches to reengineering are as follows – 1. STREAMLIING 2. INTEGRATING 3. TRANSFORMING 1. Streamlining – Streamlining approach to reengineering the business offers a basic, segmented, quick-fix methodology for reengineering. It cleans up and treats symptoms but doesn’t necessarily transform a process nor find a cure for a bad process. It doesn’t… Read more: Basic approaches to Reengineering
Basic steps in Business Process Reengineering
We can generalize Business Process Reengineering (BPR) efforts as an eight step process as follow – Step 1: Formulate / Modify business visions, policies, objectives Step 2: Formulate / Modify business strategies according to changing customer requirements, technology changes and competition Step 3: Analyze the existing business process cycles & workflows and determine how they… Read more: Basic steps in Business Process Reengineering
What is Re-engineering? Why companies are doing re-engineering?
Re-engineering or Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is way of rethinking or redesigning the existing business systems both in technical and behavioral terms. The ultimate goal of BPR is to continuously improve the business process cycles so that a total quality is built to the business system, its processes & workflows that reflects as high quality products… Read more: What is Re-engineering? Why companies are doing re-engineering?
Lack of Risk Management and an affected project
A classic example would be the project my company executed before the formal PM processes were implemented. The project’s core requirement was to generate reporting system for Medical Underwriting process. There was no Risk Planning for sure, otherwise the company would not have gone through two major design changes and the most worse cases of… Read more: Lack of Risk Management and an affected project
Managing the Managers – Showing importance of Risk Management
Suppose you called a meeting with your project team, various experts and the stakeholders, to start the risk planning process. One of the senior people asks, “Why are we doing this, anyway? It’s your job to deliver this project — are you saying that the project is already in danger of going down the tubes?”… Read more: Managing the Managers – Showing importance of Risk Management
Decision Tree / Expected Monetary Value model for risk analysis
EMV is a statistical concept (with a defined formula) which calculates average outcome when there is uncertainty in the final outcome (more than one possible outcome), where as Decision Tree model is an enabling analysis tool to represent the available decision choices as decision tree with their monetary value and probability of occurrence. So I… Read more: Decision Tree / Expected Monetary Value model for risk analysis
Project size driving Project risk
Project size and Project Risk: Another interesting topic in Project Management world. From my experience with software development, I think that project risk increases with the size of the project (I guess the size of the product would be directly proportional to the project size). Here is the reason – Consider that software product consists… Read more: Project size driving Project risk
Addressing risk due to interpersonal issues and incorrect project communication
Interesting question as I wonder this situation (Risk of failure due to interpersonal issues) is often less addressed anywhere. I shall address the situation using formal approach. Definition of Risk and symptoms: I would consider that the Risk (Project failure due to interpersonal issues within the team or between the team and other stakeholders) is already… Read more: Addressing risk due to interpersonal issues and incorrect project communication
Team Building/Motivation practices
What kind of team-building exercises and/or motivational practices have you used, or participated in? Would you recommend them for use by others? Have you been involved in a project that did not use such an activity or practice, but could have benefited from it? Team building experience: The crux of all the team building methods are… Read more: Team Building/Motivation practices
Sample Software Quality Issue
One of the major Software Quality issue that I experienced is with product xyz which my current employer deployed as the Version control and Change control system (SCCM). xyz is one of the major players (not the top performer) which offers composite package of Version control and Software Change Control management (SCCM). Our company was… Read more: Sample Software Quality Issue
Quality considerations for software projects
Define one or two aspects of IT product quality that should be considered when planning software project activities. How can they be measured? What are the foreseeable consequences of poor quality from your example(s)? How can the negative consequences be avoided? Interesting question. Some of the most important software quality aspects are – Scope aspect of quality that… Read more: Quality considerations for software projects
Quality Program in a typical organization
What quality programs, formal or informal, have you experienced in your work? How well do you feel they were implemented? What was the level of management involvement? If you have not experienced working in such an environment, what would you look for to determine whether a company’s quality program was working? I have had experience… Read more: Quality Program in a typical organization
Finding root cause of unsatisfactory Earned Value measurements
Describe how you would go about finding the root cause of unsatisfactory Earned Value measurements on a project, and what measures you might take to bring the project back into plan. Please be specific. Let’s say that two members of the team, working on unrelated tasks, have both run significantly over schedule in the same… Read more: Finding root cause of unsatisfactory Earned Value measurements
Time reporting for technology professionals?
How do you feel about the concept of such time accounting for technology professionals? (e.g. compared to just reporting progress via e-mail or a progress reporting form.) I guess, this is one the easiest ways to track actual cost/effort estimates for any IT project, so best suited for IT professionals. Reporting progress via email or… Read more: Time reporting for technology professionals?
Need for better time reporting systems
System Background (circumstances):Most of the employers uses a web based time logging application that falls into the category of time attendance systems that we are addressing in this discussion. The goal of the system is to track employee hours spend during a working day under various project heads. The idea is that the top management… Read more: Need for better time reporting systems
Schedule Compression – Scenario#2 – Less Time at hand
I guess, since we have lesser amount of time left (6 weeks as opposed to 1 year), I would certainly let the sponsor know that we need to utilize ‘Crashing‘ method to compress the schedule and would make sure that the sponsor is willing to put in money for extra resources to do the remaining… Read more: Schedule Compression – Scenario#2 – Less Time at hand
Schedule Compression Determination
If you were managing a software development project that was a year away from completion and the project sponsor asked you to cut a month from the schedule, what would you tell him or her? What factors would you consider? How would you determine an answer? I would warn him about increased cost in terms… Read more: Schedule Compression Determination
Importance of formal project planning
One of the projects that I executed for one of my employers was an internal employee goal tracking system. The system enables employees from CEO to bottom level, enter their goals supporting their superior’s goals. According to user levels, there is ability to view/edit/approve/reject goals and there are mechanisms to conduct performance management. This project… Read more: Importance of formal project planning
Importance of following well-integrated change control process (CCP) on IT projects
Change in IT projects’ life cycle is inevitable. This points at the importance of establishing means to identify, control and document change in a formal approach. There will be changes in Technology, resources and organizational priorities. Equally important is change requests that initiates from the customer/user. In my experience with software development, these change requests… Read more: Importance of following well-integrated change control process (CCP) on IT projects
Project Scope Change And its Impacts
Project background: Developer xyz was in the middle of a project that went several scope changes while in UAT. The project is about implementing capability in the current Underwriting software to do pre-issue Medical Underwriting. The project was initiated by client request to modify the software to account for some new insurance product feature. The system… Read more: Project Scope Change And its Impacts
Mind Mapping Technique to Prepare WBS
I would prefer the mind mapping technique to arrive at WBS (work break down structure), due to my liking for problem solving by visualization and modeling techniques. Another reason to like that technique is that it is very much similar to various modeling tools that we use during the System Analysis phase of product development… Read more: Mind Mapping Technique to Prepare WBS
Sample Project Management Problem Resolution
Project description: Project for xyz that included development, maintenance and enhancements to the official web site and web-based intranet applications that supported integrated work flows within various departments. I was leading a team of team members including developers, web-designer and Mr X. Communication Issue: During my tenure leading the project, I have encountered situations where I had… Read more: Sample Project Management Problem Resolution
Sample PM Day to Day Work
Project Management skill is very important in information management area. Let me paint a historical (early 2000) projet lead role where I was responsible for managing the E-governance project for the state of Maharashtra, India. Let me frankly state that, we had no defined project management process in place that adheres to PMBOK guidelines. The project processes… Read more: Sample PM Day to Day Work
Strategic alignment of IT resources – A case study in Grocery industry (Part 2)
Strategic alignment of IT resources – A case study in Grocery industry (Part 2) Japan UK Spain US Effect of economic situation The effect of recession has prompted Japanese to be more cautious while selecting grocery stores to shop. This situation is breeding ground for underdeveloped private label market in Japan to capitalize… Read more: Strategic alignment of IT resources – A case study in Grocery industry (Part 2)
Strategic alignment of IT resources – A case study in Grocery industry (Part 1)
Strategic Alignment of IT Resources Grocery Industry Kathleen Chan, Deepesh Joseph, Raymond Jones, Paul Walleck Introduction To investigate how and why grocery companies are aligning their information and communication resources (ICT?s) (hardware, software, networks, databases, service offerings, processes, and portal layers) around a focal strategy. Grocery Industry Introduction • NAICS 445110: Supermarkets and Other Grocery… Read more: Strategic alignment of IT resources – A case study in Grocery industry (Part 1)
Re-baselining of IT projects – Factors that makes it difficult and some recommendations
Before addressing the question, it would be beneficial if we understand what baselining and re-baselining is. Baselining is the common project management method where we lay down the cost and effort estimates and schedules based on assumptions that we have at hand. Once baseline is created, project plan is laid out based on this baseline.… Read more: Re-baselining of IT projects – Factors that makes it difficult and some recommendations
Where are federal IT initiatives heading – Success or Failure – Lessons learned
GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide is very extensive and gives us clear details of federal IT initiatives. The guide, together with OMB circular and IT dashboard web site gave some important hints towards how concerned and vigilant is US government in reviewing and evaluating Federal IT projects. The Cost estimating guide highlights customized methods… Read more: Where are federal IT initiatives heading – Success or Failure – Lessons learned
Will Rohr’s Secular Writings About Government Change In The Present?
If Rohr would have written his book in the present year, it would have a clear shift from the focus on defining what a perfect public administrative function is (which focused on employees themselves) to defining how a public administration be made more fruitful in satisfying the original essence of Constitution to bring about effective… Read more: Will Rohr’s Secular Writings About Government Change In The Present?
Effect of State of Technology Available on Open Government Authors
This reading materials as listed in the Bibliography, sets the stage for deeply analyzing the origins of the most long lasting government setup of the world and how does one appreciate Lincoln’s far reaching vision of – ‘a government of the people, by the people, for the people’ – as related to various points of… Read more: Effect of State of Technology Available on Open Government Authors
Federal IT Dashboard
Federal IT Dashboard
What measures need to be taken to make sure that offshore outsourcing does not adversely affect American jobs?
Offshore outsourcing is a highly debated topic. It would be nice if we reflect on the reasons that has lead to offshore outsourcing – 1. Highly skilled workforce for cheap labor – Most of the developing countries offers education that is highly specialized and with focus on international job economy. Difference in dollars and x… Read more: What measures need to be taken to make sure that offshore outsourcing does not adversely affect American jobs?
What non-regulatory practices can users follow to reduce the incidence of spyware on their computers?
Some tips will be – 1. Make a point that one would not visit web sites such as mass advertising web sites as they are usually infectious with ad-wares and browser hijackers 2. Switching on those pop-up blockers. This would reduce the chances of a malicious ad-ware/spyware process getting run. most of the web sites… Read more: What non-regulatory practices can users follow to reduce the incidence of spyware on their computers?
A revolutionary supposition – Advice for improved Education system
The educational system should revise the curriculum according to the current technology demands in the society and to build creativity of students. I think the engineering schools in US are already doing it. If not, it is sad and the management should take necessary actions to consult the industry and experts to see what subjects… Read more: A revolutionary supposition – Advice for improved Education system
Is there a more effective strategy for helping developing countries increase the computer and information literacy of their children?
Intel’s Maloney’s words – “It’s about the Web more than anything. I have young kids …….. doesn’t have access to the Web is overwhelming” – is very striking. OLPC efforts might be an answer to this concern. Strategy and plan alone doesn’t work when we are talking about reforming developing nations, cost effective infrastructure is… Read more: Is there a more effective strategy for helping developing countries increase the computer and information literacy of their children?
What can be learned from educational experiences where all students in certain school districts have been given computers?
The lesson learned should be lack of effective direction and control in implementing the plan. I remember from IST 601 that we should control technology, reverse should not happen. As wise users of technology, we should devise clear plans as how technology will be used, especially when it is to be used by kids. If… Read more: What can be learned from educational experiences where all students in certain school districts have been given computers?
What implementation plans should countries make before entering into contracts to purchase low-cost computers?
Here is a nice article on what determines the usage of XO type laptops in developing countries – http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/india/ . The article can be used as a base for understanding how various levels of developing economies see and plan the usage of low-cost computers such as the ones envisioned by OLPC.
Is it likely that placing laptops in the hands of students will help developing countries overcome the digital divide?
I think OLPC program is making a sincere effort with a clear vision from Negroponte. The idea is that it is not the only means to get rid of Digital divide. But carefully implementing it will do a great deal of work in reducing the digital divide. Just by placing the laptops in children’s hands… Read more: Is it likely that placing laptops in the hands of students will help developing countries overcome the digital divide?
Should funding be available for social impacts research when it is not likely to lead to new innovations?
I think we should encourage funding on social impact research as it would lead us to explore and find answers to long disputed or rather complex issues. One major area in which funding can be flown in can be reaching out of computers and Internet in mass usage in the rural and village areas (talking… Read more: Should funding be available for social impacts research when it is not likely to lead to new innovations?
Is there a need for languages (like Java/ActiveX) where a corporation controls the standard but can only modify it in public ?
Java (SunMicroSystems) and ActiveX (Microsoft) are two major technology platforms that has evolved itself a long way from years of R & D and support from the developer groups. In case of Java, Sun has invested a lot of money and effort to develop, innovate, maintain and release Java which can cater to all industry… Read more: Is there a need for languages (like Java/ActiveX) where a corporation controls the standard but can only modify it in public ?
What protections should the public have regarding access to broadband networks for reception and/or transmission?
700 Mhz band is being developed and utilized with the intention of allowing entrepreneurs with less capital to establish broadband services, since it offers cheap means to setup service. This is the reason for the major players influencing Congress to gain an upper hand so that they kill competition and innovation. The term “public” means… Read more: What protections should the public have regarding access to broadband networks for reception and/or transmission?
Should carriers have the freedom through contracts and licenses to shape how their networks will be used?
Again this is an instance of protecting consumer rights and freedom in utilizing the digital medium. The carriers have a very important role in maintaining a healthy pipe that is effectively utilized. There should be efforts to setup regulation and standards to avoid piracy and unauthorized usage of network traffic. At the same time the… Read more: Should carriers have the freedom through contracts and licenses to shape how their networks will be used?
Should distributors be allowed to charge differently for different types of traffic?
This reminds me of the most common issue – when should government leave the publishing of information to the private?. Intended quality and convenience of service determines the cost of the service. So its straight forward to believe and allow distributors to charge differently for different types of traffic. Faber’s view point is not different… Read more: Should distributors be allowed to charge differently for different types of traffic?
Should broadband distributors be regulated as common carriers by the FCC?
From the literature and court cases, FCC is less obliged to regulate broadband distributors as common carriers, as “Computer network Information” services are not subject to common carrier telecommunication service regulation under Title II of the federal Communications Act. (NCTA v. Brand X Internet Services et al., U.S. Supreme Court Nos. 04-277 and 04-281, June… Read more: Should broadband distributors be regulated as common carriers by the FCC?
Modifying World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement?
Here is another analysis article on a widely asked question – “Should treaties like the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement be modified so developing countries can ignore software patents without facing WTO retaliatory measures?” Read along.. In my opinion, IPR should be preserved anywhere in the world. Making strict TRIP regulations has its major advantage… Read more: Modifying World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement?
Should the Linux and Open Source communities be protected from software patent challenges?
Here is an short and to-the-point article on a most debated topic that I would want everyone to focus on now – “Should the Linux and Open Source communities be protected from software patent challenges?”. As a matter of fact, if we look deeply into the patents that various companies says Linux Kernel has violated,… Read more: Should the Linux and Open Source communities be protected from software patent challenges?
Impact of Software Patents on Innovation in the Software Industry
This article is a good resource for those who want to know more about the most raised question – What is the impact of software patents on innovation in the software industry? Read along .. Interesting that I found this online petition against Software Patenting – Petition Against Software Patents. The petition states that Software programs… Read more: Impact of Software Patents on Innovation in the Software Industry
Need for Legal and Technological Protection Mechanisms
This article is a good resource for those who want to know more about the most raised question – Is there a need for legal and technological protection mechanisms that are uniform internationally? Read along .. I reviewed the Betamax case (Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)) from Wikipedia. See… Read more: Need for Legal and Technological Protection Mechanisms
How can the intellectual property community protect their intellectual property without the DMCA safeguards?
This article is a good resource for those who want to know more about the most raised question – How can the intellectual property community protect their intellectual property without the DMCA safeguards? Read along .. In my opinion, DMCA safeguards are a necessity for the IP community to keep up in business, although we… Read more: How can the intellectual property community protect their intellectual property without the DMCA safeguards?
Should the prohibition in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against breaking intellectual property safeguards be modified?
This article is a good resource for those who want to know more about the most raised question – Should the prohibition in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against breaking intellectual property safeguards be modified? Read along .. I agree to the general consent that DMCA should be amended to shift its view from complete… Read more: Should the prohibition in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against breaking intellectual property safeguards be modified?
Can data quality regulations be used to keep agencies unbiased in their postings?
This is an interesting article that I would recommend which tries to find some conclusion as how agencies may be controlled on posting biased or un-biased information. I think that Data quality regulations should be strictly used while assessing data released by federal agencies. A good example of why this is so can be seen… Read more: Can data quality regulations be used to keep agencies unbiased in their postings?
Does making documents accessible over the web eliminate the need for printing documents?
The core idea of this article is to comtemplate on a most commonly discussed topic – Does making documents accessible over the web eliminate the need for printing documents? Here is the answer which you may not find in other all articles. This is an interesting question! The answer is NO. The very simple explanation… Read more: Does making documents accessible over the web eliminate the need for printing documents?
Shaping global business strategy based on cultural determinants
This article is based on a research paper that I reviewed recently as included in the reference section. The focus of this article is to draw the importance of cultural influences on global strategic positioning of any company/industry. Through his research oriented paper, author Tay H. K. has done a good job in analyzing the current and… Read more: Shaping global business strategy based on cultural determinants
Overcoming Competing Commitment
“Competing commitment and how to overcome it” – A review of work done by Kegan R. and Lahey L. L. Overcoming employee resistance has been and is one of the main issues that every manager face in his day-to-day functions. Whether it is Information systems department or customer service department or marketing or production or… Read more: Overcoming Competing Commitment
Theory of Business (TOB), Business strategy and more – A case study
Bertelsmann AG is the largest media and entertainment group in Europe and the second largest in the world to U.S. based Time Warner, Inc. Bertelsmann has operations in over 40 countries, primarily in North America and Europe. Bertelsmann’s Theory of Business is to provide information, entertainment and media services to inspire people’s daily lives, make… Read more: Theory of Business (TOB), Business strategy and more – A case study
Applying NPV, ROI – An example to guide IT strategist to evaluate IT investments
Case Study: Opportunity A: Your bank is looking at an optical character recognition (OCR) system to further automate the check processing function. Check processing is a time sensitive function. If outgoing checks miss daily clearing deadlines, the bank looses use of the money for one day. Since your bank clears over one million checks per… Read more: Applying NPV, ROI – An example to guide IT strategist to evaluate IT investments
Preparing Marketing Plans – Sample one for Amazon.com – A handy tool for strategic IT managers
Overview Amazon.com offers Earth’s largest selection of online products. Being the #1 online retailer, it offers the most advanced and innovative ways of e-commerce that is capable to continuously deliver fastest, reliable, cheapest and most user-friendly online shopping experience for the customer. Marketing Strategy Focus and Market Segments Company’s mission is to become extremely customer-centric… Read more: Preparing Marketing Plans – Sample one for Amazon.com – A handy tool for strategic IT managers
Theory Of Constraints (TOC) – A Case study (AOL, FCC, Verizon) based analysis
All organizations strive for excellence. The Theory of Business (TOB) of any company is considered the deciding factor, which determines the degree of excellence and ultimately defines the fundamental assumptions that the business is built on. The main thought process that leads to a well-defined TOB is an organization’s own experience and its openness to… Read more: Theory Of Constraints (TOC) – A Case study (AOL, FCC, Verizon) based analysis
M-Commerce? How could your company take liverage out of it?
Its my pleasure to introduce you to the emerging world of m-commerce and how your company can take a competitive edge by harnessing this technology towards effective information management. The industry has already seen a huge shift towards increasing end user value by enabling commercial transactions such as comparison shopping and directory services via handheld… Read more: M-Commerce? How could your company take liverage out of it?
Technology Cycles and Innovation
Technology cycles and innovation are two useful phenomena that can be used to explain how competitive advantage of companies can be maintained over time. Technology cycle can be defined as the period of time between the birth or introduction of a new technology and when it is replaced by a newer and substantially better technology.… Read more: Technology Cycles and Innovation
Costs and Benefits of Planning
Planning has advantages as well as disadvantages. This means that even though planning aids in improving organizational and individual performance, it might not work very well all the time throughout the existence of the organization. One important benefit of planning is that it encourages managers and workers to direct their persistent efforts towards activities that… Read more: Costs and Benefits of Planning
“Cognitive Dissonance” and how to ease it
Cognitive dissonance is an insecure feeling, or lingering doubts, consumers sometimes have after making large purchases. One way to reduce Cognitive dissonance (CD) is to introduce full money back guarantee on dissatisfaction within a stated time period, say 2-3 weeks after purchase. Another way to reduce CD is by allowing product evaluations where the user… Read more: “Cognitive Dissonance” and how to ease it
Influencing Problem recognition of customers
The consumer can be influenced by exposing him to some stimuli that makes him realize about his potential need or desire for something. A good method will be to expose him to some sort of advertisement. For example as a marketing manager of a ABC company that produces dandruff remover shampoos, I will work on… Read more: Influencing Problem recognition of customers
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is the process of separating the varied market into segments, each of which has similar characteristics. For example, a cosmetic company may segment its market according to age and sex, thus concentrating on baby lotion (age), adult shampoo (age), after-shave (sex) and eye-liner (sex). The organization could then do research in each segment… Read more: Market segmentation
Simple NPV & ROI calculation (Example 001)
Case: A company invests $15000 and receives a $11000 cash benefit at the end of the first year and a $12100 cash benefit at the end of the second year. (Assume Cost of Money = 10%) Calculation: t=0 t=1 t=2 Costs Onetime investment (15000) Benefits Cash 11000 12100 F (15000) 11000 12100 P (15000) 10000… Read more: Simple NPV & ROI calculation (Example 001)
Accounting Vs Financial Management
Accounting can be considered as an information system that provides various tools to summarize financial performance or economic activities of an individual, family, organization or any other entity. The reports generated from an accounting system, aids the interested individuals, management, owners and creditors to make intelligent decisions in allocating resources. Financial management is the discipline… Read more: Accounting Vs Financial Management
Balance sheet and Income Statement? – Another baisc stuff that IT manager need to know
Balance Sheet gives the snapshot of the business’s financial position at a particular instance. It basically measures the wealth of a business firm at that instance. On a Balance sheet, the main accounting formula is Owner’s Equity = (Assets-Liabilities). The Income statement on the other hand is the summary of the revenue and the expenses… Read more: Balance sheet and Income Statement? – Another baisc stuff that IT manager need to know
Assets and Liabilities for an organization – Yes basic stuff for anything including IT strategic planning
Assets and liabilities are the two major entities that find an entry in a business’s balance sheet for measuring its wealth. Assets are items owned by the business firm that have certain monetary value and will result in future benefits in the form of service and and/or cash flows. Two common assets are accounts receivable… Read more: Assets and Liabilities for an organization – Yes basic stuff for anything including IT strategic planning
Process Control and Process Improvement
Process Management has its relevance when managers begin to conceptualize business activities as interdependent processes instead of functions and tasks. The basic requirement towards effective process management is IT enabled business process automation, usually an outcome of a reengineering task. For the processes to accomplish the set goals, we need to set various standards of… Read more: Process Control and Process Improvement
Adopting "Systems View" while Process Improvement
Systems view refers to analyzing a problem situation as a system of interdependent processes that exchange input and output. This view helps to identify the important processes and their relationships as far as maximizing the organizational efficiency and goal achievement is concerned. This leads to the main principle of process improvement which is to emphasize… Read more: Adopting "Systems View" while Process Improvement
Equity Theory – How could we motivate effectvely in an organization
Equity theory states that a person is motivated when he perceives that he is treated fairly. He usually picks a colleague who works with him, as the “referent”. He tries to equate his outcome (pay, status, job-title, job assignment) over input (education, training, intelligence, experience, number of hours worked) ratio to that of referent’s and… Read more: Equity Theory – How could we motivate effectvely in an organization
Different kinds of diversity in organizational settings
Two major types of diversities is notable in an organizational setting, which every IT manager should take into consideration – Surface level diversity are those differences that are easily noticeable such as age, gender, ethnicity/race, culture, language, disability etc. Surface level diversity is easy to be measured and managers/recruiters can fall into the wrong practice… Read more: Different kinds of diversity in organizational settings
Working as team, not always good in an organization
Working in teams does not always ensure positive results. Two possible disadvantages are large number of employees quitting the job and “Social Loafing”. Teams require extensive learning of standard team policies and work procedures and adherence to specific individual responsibilities. This might lead to excessive team pressure when much is expected from each team member.… Read more: Working as team, not always good in an organization
Managers and their focus on diverse work force
Managing diverse workforce is a crucial skill for a manager since there exists both surface level (demographic, cultural and language) and deep level (personal differences in attitudes, values, beliefs and personality) diversity among an organization’s workforce. A diverse workforce has various advantages attached to it such as cost benefits by saving dollars spent on expensive… Read more: Managers and their focus on diverse work force
Motivation studies indicate that not all people are motivated by the same factors or rewards
Motivation is a very important psychological driving force that every individual require to complete an effort. An effort well done, leads to better performance and due satisfaction of one’s unfulfilled need. As we see from Maslow’s need hierarchy, this unfulfilled need belongs to various categories from physical (lower order) to mental (higher order) (William C.,… Read more: Motivation studies indicate that not all people are motivated by the same factors or rewards
Reengineering New York Public Library (NYPL)
After analyzing the NYPL website (www.nypl.org), it becomes clear that the Digital Library project is a part of a bigger reengineering initiative that has been in place in NYPL for past few decades. NYPL has realized the importance of refining its business processes by implementing efficient process automation systems. They have done extensive work on… Read more: Reengineering New York Public Library (NYPL)
Personal Internet Usage at Workplace
As a Director of Security for your organization, what policies or plans could you implement that might help control or diminish personal Internet use at the workplace? Do you trust that employees will use common sense and good judgment, or will you risk employee backlash when they discover that you’re implementing monitoring software? Personal Internet… Read more: Personal Internet Usage at Workplace
Spend Money or Lose It
Viscione’s article (as in Refernce section) pictures out how important is designing and implementing a continuously improving budget process, for any business firm to survive. He warns all business firms either small or big to build its budgeting system right from the beginning of first year of its inception. He suggests many helpful hints that… Read more: Spend Money or Lose It
Strategic Alliances – Review and Case Study
The goal of Milne et. al. article is to study how non-profit alliances lead to shape environment policy and market behavior. Focusing on this goal, they developed five hypotheses and conducted extended research to prove or disprove them, thus determining the true behavior of alliances that exist between non-profit and non-profit, non-profit and governmental organization… Read more: Strategic Alliances – Review and Case Study
Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning – An analysis from view points of Mintzberg and King 1. The way strategic planning originates: Mintzburg states that strategies can originate as specific intentions of the leaders, as deliberate strategies which take a linear path. King, on the other hand states that strategic planning originates from the need to identify best ways… Read more: Strategic Planning
Personal SWOT Analysis
Personal SWOT analysis is a good “data collection and analysis method” that we can use to arrive at high performance goal oriented plans. I feel that this is something that we do unintentionally, many times, during turning points in our life. We don’t do this process theoretically and we might be interested in deriving it… Read more: Personal SWOT Analysis
About surveys on International Business – Are you World-Minded?
One interesting thing that I have noticed about is that most of the business case surveys that deal with world-mindedness, stresses more on religious, cultural and racial factors (surface level diversities) which are always hard to deal with. Also, stress on immigrant jobs, national loyalty and patriotic feelings was relevant. I think most of these… Read more: About surveys on International Business – Are you World-Minded?
Interesting business case review – Taking a Business Decision based on Ethical intensity and Social Responsibility
This review of a chapter from a famous management book reflects on a sample business case when a company which was moving towards bankruptcy was offered a fund raising deal which might help her to to be saved. Read along the review as how we could apply ethical intensity and social responsibility to attach points… Read more: Interesting business case review – Taking a Business Decision based on Ethical intensity and Social Responsibility
Applying Wanous Study to a Real Life Example in an organization
Employee resistance due to cynicism will be a major factor in any organizational change process. The negative affectivity (NA) (Wanous et. al, Jun 2000 ) and fear factors (psychological and desire based) are the reasons for this kind of resistance. My organization recently went through a major change process where the development team migrated from… Read more: Applying Wanous Study to a Real Life Example in an organization
Handling Employee Negativity in an Organization- Review of Case study
The Wanous study (as in referred article) brings out the importance of considering negativity of employees during an organizational change and find remedies for it. Its core focus is on cynicism, defining it as “pessimistic outlook for successful change and placing blame on the managers and union leaders who are responsible for the change” (Wanous… Read more: Handling Employee Negativity in an Organization- Review of Case study
Motivation studies indicate that not all people are motivated by the same factors or rewards
Motivation is a very important psychological driving force that every individual require to complete an effort. An effort well done, leads to better performance and due satisfaction of one’s unfulfilled need. As we see from Maslow’s need hierarchy, this unfulfilled need belongs to various categories from physical (lower order) to mental (higher order) (William C.,… Read more: Motivation studies indicate that not all people are motivated by the same factors or rewards
Interesting business case review – Taking a Business Decision based on Ethical intensity and Social Responsibility
This review of a chapter from a famous management book reflects on a sample business case when a company which was moving towards bankruptcy was offered a fundreaising deal which might help her to to be saved. Read along the review as how we could apply ethical intensity and social responsibility to attach points to… Read more: Interesting business case review – Taking a Business Decision based on Ethical intensity and Social Responsibility
Theory of Business (TOB) – What is it? Explained with case study of Sassy Scrubs
The main problem areas that Doran focuses on are Money management and Planning. It would be interesting to reflect on how the lack of a well defined Theory of Business (TOB) must have affected Sassy Scrub’s failure. Looking at the circumstances under which the company originated, it is hard to believe that it had a… Read more: Theory of Business (TOB) – What is it? Explained with case study of Sassy Scrubs
SWOT -Putting yourself back to when Peggy Piontkowski first created Sassy Scrubs
Put myself back to when Peggy Piontkowski first created Sassy Scrubs. If she would have done a SWOT analysis, what might she have listed in each category (S, W, O, and T)? Quoting from an internet resource, about the circumstances in which Piontkowski started Sassy scrubs – Her daughter wanted a better scrub suit for… Read more: SWOT -Putting yourself back to when Peggy Piontkowski first created Sassy Scrubs