As a student, you were invited by the Dean of the Institute of Computing to attend a seminar-workshop on information systems planning with some of the faculty members. In one of the sessions, a discussion of outsourcing came up. You have been asked to present your evaluation about outsourcing the information systems functions of the school.
Outsourcing IT
Perhaps the most crucial contemporary issue of information management is whether to outsource all or some of the information technologies to specialized-services firms. The issue is not a transient phenomenon; the shift from company-management computing to outsourcing is accelerating. The decision when, how, and where to outsource is likely to be one of the few information-management issues that will be coming up for review at board meetings.
So far, there is only one good explanation that fits almost every case of outsourcing information technologies: The outsourcing corporations are trying to return to profitability by cutting employment.
That is not, however, the rationale one finds in press releases announcing the transfer of most information-processing assets to an outsourcer. One hears assertions about computers no longer being a core competency. "Partnership for innovation" is another oft-quoted phrase. The plain fact is that top executives have become disenchanted with their capacity to digest information technologies. Massive divestment of a corporation's IT resources appears to be more like an emetic than a miracle cure.
One would expect outsourcing to be a widely spread occurrence throughout the Fortune 1,000 if it does indeed improve strategic fit, realizes lower costs, takes advantage of vendor's skills, and overcomes the dearth of technical expertise. Outsourcing should be an equally good solution for anyone. It would work well for all corporations, without regard to size, industry, assets, profitability, or growth, as each finds that one or more of the many claimed benefits satisfy their needs.
Applying such reasoning, outsourcing would show up as a random phenomenon, modestly biased in favor of growth corporations seeking added resources to enhance their capabilities. Statistical analysis would then reveal whether outsourcing is a random, evenly spread phenomenon or clustered around some causal connection.
//Outsourcing is, in reality, only one aspect of a currently popular downsizing trend among troubled corporations. It takes place under a more palatable label, just as reengineering is, in most cases, a euphemism for cutbacks.
The IT community has consistently ranked, in a wide range of surveys, as one of the least admired corporate functions and therefore becomes an attractive target when there is a new quota regarding how many bodies must leave.
Cutting staff, divesting business, and getting rid of hundreds of person-years of accumulated skill seems to be a prevailing compulsion among large firms that are seeking to improve profitability by shrinking their size. Although the number of papers that deal with outsourcing is considerable, only a 1993 work by MIT researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Loren Hitt has studied the relationship between outsourcing and profitability.
They noted that, "Companies that try to jump on the outsourcing bandwagon may be chasing a parked car. We found no association between outsourcing and success. If anything, companies that outsourced more of their information systems work tend to have lower productivity and profitability. The only performance measure heavy outsourcers did well on was stock-market returns. In the short term, the market reacts favorably to outsourcing. Whether the market will continue to react favorably, especially if productivity doesn't improve, remains to be seen."
One could say that outsourcing has many of the attributes of anorexia nervosa. People with anorexia have a distorted self-image that makes them feel fat even when emaciated; preoccupation with food, low self-esteem, and emphatic denial of the problem characterize most anorexics. Similarly, executives in companies with poor financial performance seem to concentrate on downsizing as the preferred method for restoring competitiveness.
Unfortunately, shareholders and investors don't have a clue about the losses to the firm whenever knowledgeable workers leave in droves. There is no such thing as a balance-sheet write-off for human capital. When machinery or buildings become scrap, the auditors reflect that cost with a great deal of precision. The government even allows taking decisions to scrap as a tax deduction. Because outsourcing always takes computers off the list of financial assets, the accountants see that reduction in costs while neglecting the loss of the employees' know-how and commitment to serve the enterprise.
There's always a test to see if a corporation did or did not abandon its essential information capabilities, and it's a simple one: Does the firm retain the choice to repatriate, or move its systems to another vendor without excessive expense, no matter what has been outsourced? If that exit option from outsourcing has an executable plan, then the essential managerial competence of the firm remains intact.
I am in favor of outsourcing for any of the good reasons that would take advantage of somebody else's capacity to accumulate knowledge faster than when it remains homegrown. It should not be a substitute for the corporate version of an emetic. I shall find encouragement about the prospects for outsourcing when I see a large list of prosperous and growing organizations that use this option to enhance their mastery of information management.
There are good and sufficient reasons for selectively outsourcing:
• The organization is incapable of attracting or retaining talent for specialized technologies, especially for innovative uses. It is increasingly true in the public sector.
• The budgeting and capital-investment process is spasmodic, short-term-oriented, and subject to reversals in top management's goals, objectives, and preferences. Increasingly, this characterizes much of the industry, as well as most of the public sector.
• The learning curve for a new or risky technology is especially steep. Therefore, it pays to have an experienced firm introduce the technology at a much lower cost. If the new service becomes attractive, one can always reconsider the outsourcing decision. I have used this strategy over the years with considerable success by negotiating a favorable licensing and technology-transfer agreement as a clause in the initial agreement.
• The organization is internally in turmoil and cannot manage IT because its managerial energies are concentrating on the survival of the firm.
• The organization is very profitable but does not wish to devote scarce managerial resources to managing IT. This calls for inventing new forms of relationships that may not be arm's-length commercial contracts.
Reference: http://www.strassmann.com/pubs/outsourcing.shtml
In-sourcing IT
IT insourcing, or bringing previously outsourced IT functions back in-house, is on the rise, experts say, as the global economic recession, IT outsourcing scandals and the potential cost savings of decreasing the number of outsourced contracts have caused companies to give insourcing another look.
"The pros of insourcing are the speed and control of business change," said Ben Trowbridge, CEO of Alsbridge Inc., a Dallas-based IT outsourcing and business process optimization consulting firm. Trowbridge said his company's IT insourcing evaluations have increased about 15% this year. "There's a sense of intimacy with the business users that's hard to achieve with outsourcing. And it can mean saving jobs."
Dave Rice, previously global CIO at Insight Enterprises Inc., said he once pulled IT help desk and customer service functions back in-house when outsourcing companies were not properly meeting his organization's needs.
"We had some unpleasant experiences -- our customers were unhappy," said Rice, currently CEO at True Cloud LLC, a cloud computing services firm. "I wasn't satisfied that we were getting the same proximate IT services. You have to be very, very careful with anything that affects the broader perception of IT, and make sure you don't diminish that service -- people will immediately notice."
Only 9% of CIOs said they planned to increase IT outsourcing this year, according to the latest update to Gartner Inc.'s 2009 CIO Agenda survey, and many are considering insourcing previously outsourced functions.
In most cases, the newly insourced work previously involved contract programmers and consultants, according to Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research at the Stamford, Conn.-based consultancy and author of the CIO Agenda study. "For the average company, the cutback is temporary as investments are delayed or postponed," McDonald said.
Rice said a slowdown in outsourcing activities this year could stem from companies reaching a "saturation point." He also posited that it is very difficult to get sustainable cost savings out of outsourcing.
"It's intriguing, because of the initial cost benefit -- you look like a hero in the short term," Rice said. However, when it comes time for clients to renew their contracts, their companies have often grown or added requirements that might drive up the price of the IT outsourcing contract.
Rice said he takes a good, hard look at which functions to outsource and which to keep in-house in the first place. In his experience, when moving toward outsourcing a hosted infrastructure, "that's a step you don't come back from," he said. To bring it back in-house would basically entail hiring and training an entire in-house workforce.
Trowbridge said insourcing is strongest around applications and development, although it varies from company to company. In addition, virtualization has given infrastructure outsourcing less of an edge.
"Virtualization could take the upside out of outsourcing and make it more effective to do it yourself," Trowbridge said.
Doing so, of course, demands a lot of work, and Trowbridge warned that it's a difficult task involving application and server work. Plus, given the number of layoffs over the past year, many companies are currently short on skill sets if not the number of employees that would be needed to insource previously outsourced IT functions.
Why IT insourcing appears to be on the upswing?
Insourcing has been attractive in the past for businesses in the throes of change, but market conditions are ripe these days as well. The economic recession and the scandal at IT outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services Ltd. have led some companies to renegotiate lower prices in exchange for more flexibility in how outsourcers complete the work.
These same factors are also causing companies to look in-house to see if internal staff could do the work for even less money or greater benefits than a renegotiated outsourcing contract could provide. A company's decisions should largely depend on whether the right labor is located in its geographic marketplace. "If the labor's not there, you could get into a pretty high-cost game," Trowbridge said. "The question is, is it more efficient?"
Rice said that good candidates for insourcing are smaller, auxiliary services that affect the external perception of the business. Whenever renewing an outsourcing contract, "it's certainly worth a conversation" whether to bring the work in-house, Rice said.
Trowbridge advises companies to benchmark prices in the market before making any decisions.
"Look at what you would spend to do it yourself, and make a good, measured decision on this," Trowbridge said.
Reference: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid182_gci1359601,00.html
In-Source Benefits
Reduced Costs
-The cost of an In-Source professional could be 75% lower than the total cost for an IT worker in the U.S.
Increased Professional Resources
-Integrate 3 or 4 In-Source professionals for the total cost of one U.S employee.
Direct Management
-Our clients choose in-sourcing because they prefer hands-on control through the development life cycle of their projects. Instead of relinquishing control to an outsourcing firm who does not understand your business as you do, In-Source allows your knowledge and direction to more effectively impact the development process.
Turnkey Services
-In-Source provides a turnkey solution including facilities, recruitment, human resource management, payroll and benefits administration, tax filings, and communication tools, so you can spend more time focused on your core business.
Reduced Operational Expenses
-We operate a state-of-the-art IT facility in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, at a significantly reduced rate compared to U.S. facilities.
Extended Productivity Hours
-Because of the time difference between the United States and India, your projects could be developed and supported nearly 24/7, including many of the major U.S. holidays, which are not holidays in India. In-Source offers flexible shift times to allow overlap and coordination with your IT professionals.
Faster Time to Market
-Complete projects faster with a larger IT development team.
Increased Company Profitability
-With reduced costs, increased development resources at an affordable price, and faster development periods, In-Source clients can significantly increase profitability.
Reference: http://www.in-source.com/benefit.html
Information Technology (IT) is a critical part of the business process that can require technical competence beyond the scope of the current management. In this case, a third party should manage the IT function.
Here are some of the reasons why outsourcing is a better choice for managing the IT department, rather than maintaining IT internally:
Improve Cost Management Control
•IT costs become more visible as all billable hours must be accounted for
•Outsourced services are utilized as needed, and organizations pay only for what services are actually used
•An outsourced IT department can reduce costs by utilizing its extensive knowledge base of various IT specialists, as opposed to an organization maintaining a comprehensive in-house staff
Improve Service Quality
•Outsourced companies make performance reports and measurements available to their clients
•Communications between business functions improve at all levels and ensure that IT resources are not being misused
•Outsourced companies can provide 24x7 support at a fraction of the cost
•Outsource staff tend to drive planning and budgeting improvements
•Service Level Agreements (SLAs) can be established
Staffing
•Staffing levels can be adapted quickly to client requirements, thereby avoiding gaps due to attrition, business growth or economic downturns
•IT consultants are fully trained on the latest technologies
•Retention of technically qualified in-house personnel is more difficult when external job opportunities are rapidly changing
•Continuous IT support coverage without having to rely on only one or two key people
Equipment and Software Tools
•Outsourced services use established standards for equipment and software requirements, saving time and money
•Outsourced services use approved lists of reliable vendors, which improves the quality of goods and services received
Client can focus on business core Competencies
•Client management can concentrate on core competencies and revenue generating activities, while leaving technology management to IT professionals
•Management of non-essential core functions is transferred to the outsourcer
Reference: http://www.unameits.com/why_it/benefits_advantages_outsourcing_information_technology.jsp
INSOURCING
Advantages Disadvantages
• High degree of control. • Reduces strategic flexibility.
• Ability to oversee the entire process. • Requires high investment.
• Economies of scale and/or scope. • Potential suppliers may offer superior products and services.
OUTSOURCING
Advantages Disadvantages
•High strategic flexibility. • Possibility of choosing a bad supplier
•Low investment risk. • Loss of control over the process
•Improved cash flow. • & core technologies
•Access to state-of-the-art • "Hollowing out" of the corporation
products and services.
Reflections:
As an IT student of the University, if the dean would invite me to attend a workshop-seminar on Information system planning it will be an advantage to me to enhance my knowledge about information system strategies and plans. This workshop is a very important thing to IT personnel because of the techniques and the information that you can get.
As the workshop goes on, in one of the sessions, a discussion of outsourcing came up. I have been asked to present your evaluation about outsourcing the information systems functions of the school. In my own, evaluating the outsourcing of the information system of the University is really a big task to me as an IT student. If I’m going to evaluate the IT outsourcing of the University I would first need to know the outsource of their information system. I am really thinking what are the things need to learned by outsourcing. As you have seen the data above about the outsourcing and the in-sourcing of the information system is nearly or almost opposite on its advantages and disadvantages. To evaluate it, the University has a very good choice of information system strategy because it is public University or under government services therefore by expecting the capacity of the University about the cost to be needed in the implementation of the information system, outsourcing of its information system is a very good solution. The university has a low risk of investment and had choose the right supplier or a right information system outsourcing, therefore there is nothing to worry about security of the data.
In choosing the position about the plan of the implementation of information system of the University I choose outsourcing. As to categorize the company status or the profile of the University, in-sourcing is not capable or the right plan for the university. Outsourcing is the best pick because University is just a school and besides a government establishment. In-sourcing is just good if the company is private and owned by a single person or manage by a single management that can afford the cost.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Assignment 7(MIS) SONA ICT related
On the assumption that you heard/read the SONA of the President last month, (July 2000), identify at least 3 areas related to ICT and identify how these areas can improve our quality of life.
GMA, in SONA, bats for dept. of ICT
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG
July 28, 2009, 12:11am
Pres. Gloria Arroyo on Monday made a final push for the creation of DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) in her last State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Speaking before members of both chambers of Congress, the chief executive urged the country to “have a Department of ICT” as she highlighted the huge role that the BPO sector has played in the local economy.
A proposed law calling for the creation of DICT has been pending in Congress for the last five years. This even if Malacanang has certified the bill as urgent.
Arroyo made the endorsement as she noted in her Sona that the Philippines is now starting to create wealth with the development of the BPO industry as an engine 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,” she said.
The president’s call for the creation of DICT, however, was less urgent compared to the appeal she made to revise consumer laws as she underscored her directive to the National Telecommunications Commission to act on complaints against dropped calls and lost cellphone load.
“We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law. And we need to do it now,” Arroyo declared.
In an earlier interview, CICT (Commission of Information and Communications Technology) chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua said there’s time left and that the government is still hoping that Congress would pass the DICT bill.
“Unlike a full-fledged department, the problem with CICT just being a commission is that it can be easily demolished by the next administration. All that is needed by the next president is to sign another EO. That would be the end of the programs we’ve put up over the years,” he said.
Reference: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/213088/gma-sona-bats-dept-ict
ICT players await PGMA’s SONA speech
DAVAO CITY — ICT (information and communications technology) industry players and stakeholders will be tuning in to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation Address (Sona) for her pronouncements on the economy particularly on the IT sector.
Andre Fournier, chair of the ICT committee of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) said that any pronouncement by the President would be an add-on to the IT roadmap which the group will be preparing.
“The President has been very supportive of the ICT industry.” Fournier said, citing Arroyo’s IT policy which allowed the industry to grow and flourish recording a 4.8 billion dollar market share in outsourcing operations and employing a total of 650,000 workers.
A week after the President’s Sona on July 27, IT stakeholders from Davao, including the Commission of ICT (CICT) will have a summit to create a roadmap of a short to medium term plan for Davao’s IT industry.
A study by the CICT lists Davao as the 4th most preferred investment destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country . BPO operations in the city are on the rise despite the ongoing global recession. The industry currently employs 6,000 workers locally, with job demand steadily growing as several big-ticket BPO players are expanding operations while others are moving in to the city, with the opening of the Ayala and Robinson IT parks.
Fournier said that government’s policy towards IT has contributed to the growth of the sector.
Arroyo was recently cited by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines for her support to the industry. Among the concrete government initiatives cited by the group are the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) incentives, CICT (Commission on Information and Communications Technology) formation and the 50-million peso scholarship fund for call center training.
Reference: http://davaotoday.com/2009/07/20/ict-players-await-pgmas-sona-speech/
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s speech during the 9th e-Services Global Sourcing and Exhibition
Function Room 1, SMX Convention Center
SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
February 9, 2009
Chairperson Rey Chua of CICT, members of the Diplomatic Corps, our leaders of the E-service industry both here in the Philippines and around the world, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Philippines!
As the world heads deeper into recession, we meet today in interesting times, so
to speak. But to the fiscally strong, this is a time of opportunity. The Philippines has been compared to an island of stability amidst the raging world economic storm. That’s not just coming from me. Standard & Poor’s said it.“Reasonably healthy.” -- Fitch said it. “Macroeconomic risk the lowest.” -- Credit Suisse. “Inherently strong, a potential beneficiary of the world’s financial woes.” -- JP Morgan, speaking of the Philippines.
We now have 36 quarters of uninterrupted growth since I took office as President in 2001. We have created almost 8 million jobs in eight years. We remain cautiously optimistic that our resources and plans will allow us to manage our way through this time. This is because we “rebooted” our economy several years ago with dramatic reforms in revenue collection and generation, fiscal controls and banking reform. All of these actions were taken before there was a hint of a global crisis. They have held us in good stead. Our GNP grew 8.0 percent in 2007 and in 2008, when two-thirds of the world went into recession; we managed to still have a respectable GNP growth of 6.0 percent. And we have a cushion in place to help the poor.
Aside from revenue, we have focused on reducing our debt-to-GDP ratio, and building up new industries such as the BPO sector. We have created the BPO’s industry from almost nothing in 2001. In 2001 there were 4,000 BPO workers when our Administration started; today there are 400,000 BPO workers. Thank you so much for so much job creation. (applause)
I’ve been asking your industry leaders, how was the industry? And the response is that our BPO industry continues to boom as global cost cutting is sent to outsourcing. As you know the Philippines is ranked among the most attractive off-shoring destinations in the world because of cost competitiveness and more importantly the country’s highly trainable, English-proficient, IT-enabled quality manpower.
Early in our Administration, we understood that we must act rationally and strategically, to foster a digital culture that maximizes the benefits of ICT. We initially concentrated our efforts on three areas.
The first area was the building of physical infrastructure. We worked to speed up the telecommunications network infrastructure by bringing down the cost of connectivity. We supported wider public access to communications and information services through the provision… encouraging the provision of broadband services in cities and identified growth areas, and a redundancy of telecommunications gateways. This infrastructure improvements have been among the most important reasons why BPOs have been coming, flocking to the Philippines.
The second area was ensuring an appropriate policy and legal environment. It is not the role of government to determine technological outcomes -- that is the role of the market. Our role is to provide the environment to grow ICT. To that extent, I created a Cabinet level Commission on ICT headed by Rey Chua to lead our ICT policy formulation and implementation. Its function includes harmonizing and coordinating all public ICT initiatives. Our ICT sector is successful because it is driven by the private sector with minimal government intervention.
Finally, the third area of development is the development of human capital to close the digital divide and to provide the world-class workers that you need for your industry. The Philippines is one of the highest among the different countries in the number of training facilities for computer programming and other computer-related courses. And to make BPO world competitive, the world competitive industry that is today, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority is working closely with the Business Process Association of the Philippines or BPAP on training courses on BPO to further enhance English proficiency to help near-hires develop the skills needed to qualify for employment.
To date, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry, in cooperation with the Business Process Association of the Philippines, have identified what they called the Next Wave Cities that are best capable of hosting IT-BPO and E-services operations. The original Cyber Corridor spanned Metro Manila, going down south to Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu up to Davao. Now it has been lengthened -- and I hope I get the facts right, they came to Peter Favila -- to include Baguio, Dagupan, Tarlac, Pampanga especially Clark, Metro Manila especially Marilao, Meycauayan and
Malolos, Metro Rizal namely Cainta and Antipolo, Metro Cavite were we have
Dasmariñas and Imus, Metro Laguna where we have Santa Rosa and Calamba,
Metro Batangas where we have Lipa and Batangas City, Dumaguete, and
Cagayan de Oro. In any case if there are refinements to this list that comprises the cyber corridor that will be discussed during this conference.
What we can say is that, BPO and E-services are key drivers of our economy.
They generate investment, they generate jobs, they alleviate poverty, they improve the lives of our people. And we are proud to be among the world’s leaders in this field. So we are proud to have you all today in this conference and exhibition.
To our first-time visitors who have come here to check out the opportunities we offer, I’m sure you will find that the Philippine BPO and E-services sector is among the best in the world. And to our existing investors, thank you for being a big part of the country’s sustainable and resilient growth.
Reference: http://www.op.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20098&Itemid=38
… As the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo speeches on her State of the Nation Address, she also mentioned things that her administration did related to Information and Communication Technology. First thing I heard on her speech which I think relates to Information and Communication Technology such as the following:
1. BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)
This industry is regarded as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. International investment consultancy firm McKinsey & Company predicts that the demand for outsourcing services will reach $180 billion in 2010, with the customer contact services, finance and accounting, and human resource sub-sectors taking up the biggest shares. When it comes to the trend in primary business requirements, experts are seeing a shift from cost-effectiveness to skills quality and competence. This development all the more strengthens the Philippines' position as an emerging global leader in the BPO industry (BPAP 2006).
The BPO boom in the Philippines is currently led by demand for offshore call centers. The Philippines raked in offshore service generating revenues of $2.1 billion in 2006, placing third behind India and China and slightly ahead of Malaysia. That's up 62% over the $1.3 billion it gained in 2004, and a huge increase from the start of the decade when the outsourcing industry in Manila employed just 2,400 people and the industry had revenues of merely $24 million. It is estimated that 200,000 people are working in 120 BPO (mostly Contact Centers) in the Philippines in 2006. Overall, Philippine BPO is forecast to earn US$11 billion and employing 900,000 people by the year 2010 (Shameen 2006).
The recent growth spurt in the outsourcing industry in the Philippines has been fueled not by traditional low-value-added call centers but more higher-end outsourcing such as legal services, Web design, medical transcription, software development, animation, and shared services. Though call centers still form the largest part of the sector, the Philippines has begun leveraging its creative design talent pool, its large pool of lawyers, and its professionals in accounting and finance (Shameen 2006).
To achieve and sustain this rapid growth, the Philippine government is offering significant fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to attract foreign direct investment in these industries as part of the 2006 Investment Priorities Plan. The IPP was prepared by the Board of Investments (BOI), as the lead agency in promoting investments, focused on the sectors identified in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2004-2010 (PBOI 2006).
Majority of the BPO facilities are located in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Bacolod City, although other regional areas such as Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro, Clark (Angeles City), Dagupan City, Davao City, Dumaguete City, Lipa City, Iloilo City and [[Legazpi City], Iligan CIty are now being promoted and developed for offshore operations.
The Philippines' Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) report for 2004 cited the Philippines as among the top 10 choices for offshore operations. Consultancy firm McKinsey & Co has been tapped to draft a five-year roadmap for the country's BPO industry.
2. Telecommunication Industry
The deregulation of the country's telecommunications industry has created a large amount of investment in this sector, estimated to total PhP130 billion (US$3.25 billion) over the next three years.1 The total number of main telephone lines in the country increased from only 785,000 in 1993 to 3.353 million at the end of 1996 to 6.64 million in 1998. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reported a 1998 9.08 teledensity ratio (the number of installed telephones per 100 people). Expansion is projected to slacken this next year as the telephone companies will (hopefully) have fulfilled their commitments in terms of telephone lines they have to put up. The implementation of the Service Area Scheme to make sure that all regions of the nation have access to the telecommunications network, carried out through the National Telephone Program, accelerated local exchange growth. However, it is important to note that telephone distribution still remains somewhat unevenly distributed throughout the Philippines. Satellite communications in the country has been developed in case of disasters or emergencies. Satellite technology now links Metro Manila government stations to all regions of the country.
3. Information Technology Financing
The Philippines government, recognizing the importance of Information Technology, is helping to fund IT investments within the country. The government's budget for IT spending is increasing: as of 1997, the national government had an average annual operating budget on Information Technology of P643 million (US$17.9 million). At that time, about P7 billion (US$192 million) worth of IT assets had already been put in place by the national government in the last five years. As of April 1998, the Philippines government's IT budget was expected to increase to P21 billion (US$582 million) over the next five years.1
Most support to Research and Development institutions is being provided by the government (60%) with very minimal contribution from the private sector. However, R&D expenditures have still remained very low. In 1992, R&D expenditures were estimated at P1.5 billion (US$4 million) representing only 0.22 percent of GNP; newly industrializing countries spend 1.5 percent of their GNP on R&D.2
Though local governments are also expected to spend and provide a budget for IT investment, the national government has projected a substantial increase in the annual budget for IT. The government is also encouraging and looking towards the participation of private companies and investments in IT as the developing country cannot take all the weight of the costly upgrades in technology. Despite the Asian economic crisis and currency fluctuation within the Philippines, investor confidence in the country is still high.
The IT sector is still a healthy one in the country, regardless of economic troubles. Major IT projects and investment continue. Within the last year, there has been a definite increase in the number of computerization projects in the government and elsewhere . Much of the government has now moved online, especially with the strong encouragement from the President and the National Information Technology Council (see the IT Action Agenda for the 21st Century (IT21) under Government Policies). In 1998, 73 government agencies were already connected to the Internet, with many of them having an Internet presence through their own web sites.
IT companies are continuing to invest in the country to meet their outsourcing needs located in the Philippines. Seagate Technology Inc. opened its US$70 million manufacturing plant in Cebu in the first half of 1999. Another IT vendor, Fujitsu Ltd., will build a US$200 million hard disk media plant in the First Philippine Industrial Park Ecozone in Batangas. James Martin & Co. also plan to invest US$6 million to expand its Global Development Center in the next two years.3
Oracle signed the Philippines on as the first international participant to the US$50 million Oracle Academic Initiative (OAI) where Oracle will extend a US$1.5 million grant to the APEC Foundation to finance the training of young Filipinos in computer software applications.4
Soon after the approval of IT21 Microsoft signed four Memorandum of Understandings with the Philippines President, agreeing to:5
• explore the possibility of cooperation in the area of IT core competency and information infrastructure development;
• jointly undertake specific projects and activities such as the establishment of interconnected learning centers, as well as to explore such other cooperation possibilities as in the development of advanced software;
• provide technical assistance in translating electronic commerce initiatives into technology applications;
• provide technical assistance, training and administrative support for the implementation of a software management and review program to sustain the software legalization process in government.
Investments continue to pour in elsewhere as well. Intel has been investing between $300 and $400 million in local manufacturing facilities over the last 2-3 years. Apple Computers opened a full subsidiary in the Philippines. NEC will build a board wiring plant in Laguna, Acer is building additional facilities in Subic, and Cypress Semiconductor is investing $110 million in a new assembly and test plant in the country.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) estimates that total investments in the IT sector over the next three years will reach an amazing P130 billion (US$3.25 billion).
...those 3 ICT related are things can improve our quality life by Technological enhancement, as we all know technology can help our life become easier.
GMA, in SONA, bats for dept. of ICT
By MELVIN G. CALIMAG
July 28, 2009, 12:11am
Pres. Gloria Arroyo on Monday made a final push for the creation of DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) in her last State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Speaking before members of both chambers of Congress, the chief executive urged the country to “have a Department of ICT” as she highlighted the huge role that the BPO sector has played in the local economy.
A proposed law calling for the creation of DICT has been pending in Congress for the last five years. This even if Malacanang has certified the bill as urgent.
Arroyo made the endorsement as she noted in her Sona that the Philippines is now starting to create wealth with the development of the BPO industry as an engine 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,” she said.
The president’s call for the creation of DICT, however, was less urgent compared to the appeal she made to revise consumer laws as she underscored her directive to the National Telecommunications Commission to act on complaints against dropped calls and lost cellphone load.
“We need to amend the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law. And we need to do it now,” Arroyo declared.
In an earlier interview, CICT (Commission of Information and Communications Technology) chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua said there’s time left and that the government is still hoping that Congress would pass the DICT bill.
“Unlike a full-fledged department, the problem with CICT just being a commission is that it can be easily demolished by the next administration. All that is needed by the next president is to sign another EO. That would be the end of the programs we’ve put up over the years,” he said.
Reference: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/213088/gma-sona-bats-dept-ict
ICT players await PGMA’s SONA speech
DAVAO CITY — ICT (information and communications technology) industry players and stakeholders will be tuning in to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation Address (Sona) for her pronouncements on the economy particularly on the IT sector.
Andre Fournier, chair of the ICT committee of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) said that any pronouncement by the President would be an add-on to the IT roadmap which the group will be preparing.
“The President has been very supportive of the ICT industry.” Fournier said, citing Arroyo’s IT policy which allowed the industry to grow and flourish recording a 4.8 billion dollar market share in outsourcing operations and employing a total of 650,000 workers.
A week after the President’s Sona on July 27, IT stakeholders from Davao, including the Commission of ICT (CICT) will have a summit to create a roadmap of a short to medium term plan for Davao’s IT industry.
A study by the CICT lists Davao as the 4th most preferred investment destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country . BPO operations in the city are on the rise despite the ongoing global recession. The industry currently employs 6,000 workers locally, with job demand steadily growing as several big-ticket BPO players are expanding operations while others are moving in to the city, with the opening of the Ayala and Robinson IT parks.
Fournier said that government’s policy towards IT has contributed to the growth of the sector.
Arroyo was recently cited by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines for her support to the industry. Among the concrete government initiatives cited by the group are the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) incentives, CICT (Commission on Information and Communications Technology) formation and the 50-million peso scholarship fund for call center training.
Reference: http://davaotoday.com/2009/07/20/ict-players-await-pgmas-sona-speech/
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s speech during the 9th e-Services Global Sourcing and Exhibition
Function Room 1, SMX Convention Center
SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
February 9, 2009
Chairperson Rey Chua of CICT, members of the Diplomatic Corps, our leaders of the E-service industry both here in the Philippines and around the world, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Philippines!
As the world heads deeper into recession, we meet today in interesting times, so
to speak. But to the fiscally strong, this is a time of opportunity. The Philippines has been compared to an island of stability amidst the raging world economic storm. That’s not just coming from me. Standard & Poor’s said it.“Reasonably healthy.” -- Fitch said it. “Macroeconomic risk the lowest.” -- Credit Suisse. “Inherently strong, a potential beneficiary of the world’s financial woes.” -- JP Morgan, speaking of the Philippines.
We now have 36 quarters of uninterrupted growth since I took office as President in 2001. We have created almost 8 million jobs in eight years. We remain cautiously optimistic that our resources and plans will allow us to manage our way through this time. This is because we “rebooted” our economy several years ago with dramatic reforms in revenue collection and generation, fiscal controls and banking reform. All of these actions were taken before there was a hint of a global crisis. They have held us in good stead. Our GNP grew 8.0 percent in 2007 and in 2008, when two-thirds of the world went into recession; we managed to still have a respectable GNP growth of 6.0 percent. And we have a cushion in place to help the poor.
Aside from revenue, we have focused on reducing our debt-to-GDP ratio, and building up new industries such as the BPO sector. We have created the BPO’s industry from almost nothing in 2001. In 2001 there were 4,000 BPO workers when our Administration started; today there are 400,000 BPO workers. Thank you so much for so much job creation. (applause)
I’ve been asking your industry leaders, how was the industry? And the response is that our BPO industry continues to boom as global cost cutting is sent to outsourcing. As you know the Philippines is ranked among the most attractive off-shoring destinations in the world because of cost competitiveness and more importantly the country’s highly trainable, English-proficient, IT-enabled quality manpower.
Early in our Administration, we understood that we must act rationally and strategically, to foster a digital culture that maximizes the benefits of ICT. We initially concentrated our efforts on three areas.
The first area was the building of physical infrastructure. We worked to speed up the telecommunications network infrastructure by bringing down the cost of connectivity. We supported wider public access to communications and information services through the provision… encouraging the provision of broadband services in cities and identified growth areas, and a redundancy of telecommunications gateways. This infrastructure improvements have been among the most important reasons why BPOs have been coming, flocking to the Philippines.
The second area was ensuring an appropriate policy and legal environment. It is not the role of government to determine technological outcomes -- that is the role of the market. Our role is to provide the environment to grow ICT. To that extent, I created a Cabinet level Commission on ICT headed by Rey Chua to lead our ICT policy formulation and implementation. Its function includes harmonizing and coordinating all public ICT initiatives. Our ICT sector is successful because it is driven by the private sector with minimal government intervention.
Finally, the third area of development is the development of human capital to close the digital divide and to provide the world-class workers that you need for your industry. The Philippines is one of the highest among the different countries in the number of training facilities for computer programming and other computer-related courses. And to make BPO world competitive, the world competitive industry that is today, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority is working closely with the Business Process Association of the Philippines or BPAP on training courses on BPO to further enhance English proficiency to help near-hires develop the skills needed to qualify for employment.
To date, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Trade and Industry, in cooperation with the Business Process Association of the Philippines, have identified what they called the Next Wave Cities that are best capable of hosting IT-BPO and E-services operations. The original Cyber Corridor spanned Metro Manila, going down south to Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu up to Davao. Now it has been lengthened -- and I hope I get the facts right, they came to Peter Favila -- to include Baguio, Dagupan, Tarlac, Pampanga especially Clark, Metro Manila especially Marilao, Meycauayan and
Malolos, Metro Rizal namely Cainta and Antipolo, Metro Cavite were we have
Dasmariñas and Imus, Metro Laguna where we have Santa Rosa and Calamba,
Metro Batangas where we have Lipa and Batangas City, Dumaguete, and
Cagayan de Oro. In any case if there are refinements to this list that comprises the cyber corridor that will be discussed during this conference.
What we can say is that, BPO and E-services are key drivers of our economy.
They generate investment, they generate jobs, they alleviate poverty, they improve the lives of our people. And we are proud to be among the world’s leaders in this field. So we are proud to have you all today in this conference and exhibition.
To our first-time visitors who have come here to check out the opportunities we offer, I’m sure you will find that the Philippine BPO and E-services sector is among the best in the world. And to our existing investors, thank you for being a big part of the country’s sustainable and resilient growth.
Reference: http://www.op.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20098&Itemid=38
… As the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo speeches on her State of the Nation Address, she also mentioned things that her administration did related to Information and Communication Technology. First thing I heard on her speech which I think relates to Information and Communication Technology such as the following:
1. BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)
This industry is regarded as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. International investment consultancy firm McKinsey & Company predicts that the demand for outsourcing services will reach $180 billion in 2010, with the customer contact services, finance and accounting, and human resource sub-sectors taking up the biggest shares. When it comes to the trend in primary business requirements, experts are seeing a shift from cost-effectiveness to skills quality and competence. This development all the more strengthens the Philippines' position as an emerging global leader in the BPO industry (BPAP 2006).
The BPO boom in the Philippines is currently led by demand for offshore call centers. The Philippines raked in offshore service generating revenues of $2.1 billion in 2006, placing third behind India and China and slightly ahead of Malaysia. That's up 62% over the $1.3 billion it gained in 2004, and a huge increase from the start of the decade when the outsourcing industry in Manila employed just 2,400 people and the industry had revenues of merely $24 million. It is estimated that 200,000 people are working in 120 BPO (mostly Contact Centers) in the Philippines in 2006. Overall, Philippine BPO is forecast to earn US$11 billion and employing 900,000 people by the year 2010 (Shameen 2006).
The recent growth spurt in the outsourcing industry in the Philippines has been fueled not by traditional low-value-added call centers but more higher-end outsourcing such as legal services, Web design, medical transcription, software development, animation, and shared services. Though call centers still form the largest part of the sector, the Philippines has begun leveraging its creative design talent pool, its large pool of lawyers, and its professionals in accounting and finance (Shameen 2006).
To achieve and sustain this rapid growth, the Philippine government is offering significant fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to attract foreign direct investment in these industries as part of the 2006 Investment Priorities Plan. The IPP was prepared by the Board of Investments (BOI), as the lead agency in promoting investments, focused on the sectors identified in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2004-2010 (PBOI 2006).
Majority of the BPO facilities are located in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Bacolod City, although other regional areas such as Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro, Clark (Angeles City), Dagupan City, Davao City, Dumaguete City, Lipa City, Iloilo City and [[Legazpi City], Iligan CIty are now being promoted and developed for offshore operations.
The Philippines' Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) report for 2004 cited the Philippines as among the top 10 choices for offshore operations. Consultancy firm McKinsey & Co has been tapped to draft a five-year roadmap for the country's BPO industry.
2. Telecommunication Industry
The deregulation of the country's telecommunications industry has created a large amount of investment in this sector, estimated to total PhP130 billion (US$3.25 billion) over the next three years.1 The total number of main telephone lines in the country increased from only 785,000 in 1993 to 3.353 million at the end of 1996 to 6.64 million in 1998. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) reported a 1998 9.08 teledensity ratio (the number of installed telephones per 100 people). Expansion is projected to slacken this next year as the telephone companies will (hopefully) have fulfilled their commitments in terms of telephone lines they have to put up. The implementation of the Service Area Scheme to make sure that all regions of the nation have access to the telecommunications network, carried out through the National Telephone Program, accelerated local exchange growth. However, it is important to note that telephone distribution still remains somewhat unevenly distributed throughout the Philippines. Satellite communications in the country has been developed in case of disasters or emergencies. Satellite technology now links Metro Manila government stations to all regions of the country.
3. Information Technology Financing
The Philippines government, recognizing the importance of Information Technology, is helping to fund IT investments within the country. The government's budget for IT spending is increasing: as of 1997, the national government had an average annual operating budget on Information Technology of P643 million (US$17.9 million). At that time, about P7 billion (US$192 million) worth of IT assets had already been put in place by the national government in the last five years. As of April 1998, the Philippines government's IT budget was expected to increase to P21 billion (US$582 million) over the next five years.1
Most support to Research and Development institutions is being provided by the government (60%) with very minimal contribution from the private sector. However, R&D expenditures have still remained very low. In 1992, R&D expenditures were estimated at P1.5 billion (US$4 million) representing only 0.22 percent of GNP; newly industrializing countries spend 1.5 percent of their GNP on R&D.2
Though local governments are also expected to spend and provide a budget for IT investment, the national government has projected a substantial increase in the annual budget for IT. The government is also encouraging and looking towards the participation of private companies and investments in IT as the developing country cannot take all the weight of the costly upgrades in technology. Despite the Asian economic crisis and currency fluctuation within the Philippines, investor confidence in the country is still high.
The IT sector is still a healthy one in the country, regardless of economic troubles. Major IT projects and investment continue. Within the last year, there has been a definite increase in the number of computerization projects in the government and elsewhere . Much of the government has now moved online, especially with the strong encouragement from the President and the National Information Technology Council (see the IT Action Agenda for the 21st Century (IT21) under Government Policies). In 1998, 73 government agencies were already connected to the Internet, with many of them having an Internet presence through their own web sites.
IT companies are continuing to invest in the country to meet their outsourcing needs located in the Philippines. Seagate Technology Inc. opened its US$70 million manufacturing plant in Cebu in the first half of 1999. Another IT vendor, Fujitsu Ltd., will build a US$200 million hard disk media plant in the First Philippine Industrial Park Ecozone in Batangas. James Martin & Co. also plan to invest US$6 million to expand its Global Development Center in the next two years.3
Oracle signed the Philippines on as the first international participant to the US$50 million Oracle Academic Initiative (OAI) where Oracle will extend a US$1.5 million grant to the APEC Foundation to finance the training of young Filipinos in computer software applications.4
Soon after the approval of IT21 Microsoft signed four Memorandum of Understandings with the Philippines President, agreeing to:5
• explore the possibility of cooperation in the area of IT core competency and information infrastructure development;
• jointly undertake specific projects and activities such as the establishment of interconnected learning centers, as well as to explore such other cooperation possibilities as in the development of advanced software;
• provide technical assistance in translating electronic commerce initiatives into technology applications;
• provide technical assistance, training and administrative support for the implementation of a software management and review program to sustain the software legalization process in government.
Investments continue to pour in elsewhere as well. Intel has been investing between $300 and $400 million in local manufacturing facilities over the last 2-3 years. Apple Computers opened a full subsidiary in the Philippines. NEC will build a board wiring plant in Laguna, Acer is building additional facilities in Subic, and Cypress Semiconductor is investing $110 million in a new assembly and test plant in the country.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) estimates that total investments in the IT sector over the next three years will reach an amazing P130 billion (US$3.25 billion).
...those 3 ICT related are things can improve our quality life by Technological enhancement, as we all know technology can help our life become easier.
Assignment 6(MIS) IT Consultant
If you were hired by the university president as an IT consultant, what would you suggest (technology, infrastructure, innovations, steps, processes, etc) in order for the internet connectivity be improved?
First let us identify each element of this topic:
IT Consultant
Job description:
An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organsiation's IT systems. IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development. They may also be responsible for user training and feedback. In many companies, these tasks will be carried out by an IT project team. IT consultants are increasingly involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.
Tasks typically involve:
• meeting with clients to determine requirements;
• working with clients to define the scope of a project;
• planning timescales and the resources needed;
• clarifying a client's system specifications, understanding their work practices and the nature of their business;
• traveling to customer sites;
• liaising with staff at all levels of a client organization;
• defining software, hardware and network requirements;
• analyzing IT requirements within companies and giving independent and objective advice on the use of IT;
• developing agreed solutions and implementing new systems;
• presenting solutions in written or oral reports;
• helping clients with change-management activities;
• project managing the design and implementation of preferred solutions;
• purchasing systems where appropriate;
• designing, testing, installing and monitoring new systems;
• preparing documentation and presenting progress reports to customers;
• organizing training for users and other consultants;
• being involved in sales and support and, where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organizations;
• Identifying potential clients and building and maintaining contacts.
Reference: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/ITConsult/
Technology
Technology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment. Technology is a term with origins in the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.[1] However, a strict definition is elusive; "technology" can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as machines, hardware or utensils, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "state-of-the-art technology". The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology
Infrastructure
Infrastructure can be defined as the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services; for example, roads enable the transport of raw materials to a factory, and also for the distribution of finished products to markets. In some contexts, the term may also include basic social services such as schools and hospitals. In military parlance, the term refers to the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces. In this article, infrastructure will be used in the sense of technical structures or physical networks that support society, unless specified otherwise.
The term infrastructure has been used since 1927 to refer collectively to the roads, bridges, rail lines, and similar public works that are required for an industrial economy, or a portion of it, to function. The term also has had specific application to the permanent military installations necessary for the defense of a country. Perhaps because of the word's technical sound, people now use infrastructure to refer to any substructure or underlying system. Big corporations are said to have their own financial infrastructure of smaller businesses, for example, and political organizations to have their infrastructure of groups, committees, and admirers. The latter sense may have originated during the Vietnam War in the use of the word by military intelligence officers, whose task it was to delineate the structure of the enemy's shadowy organizations. Today we may hear that conservatism has an infrastructure of think tanks and research foundations or that terrorist organizations have an infrastructure of people sympathetic to their cause. The Usage Panel finds this extended use referring to people to be problematic, however. Seventy percent of the Panelists find it unacceptable in the sentence FBI agents fanned out to monitor a small infrastructure of persons involved with established terrorist organizations.
Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/infrastructure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure
Innovations
The term innovation refers to a new way of doing something. It may refer to incremental and emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. Following Schumpeter (1934), contributors to the scholarly literature on innovation typically distinguish between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully in practice. In many fields, something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change, e.g., in the arts, economics, business and government policy. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy. Innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. Colloquially, the word "innovation" is often synonymous with the output of the process. However, economists tend to focus on the process itself, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation; and on the system within which the process of innovation unfolds. Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation
…in this situation, or in this moment I am already a professional IT personnel. If I am ask or hired by the president of the University to become an Information technology Consultant what are the thing I could suggest about all the elements said above to improve the Internet Connectivity of the University. On the Technology, as describe or as being identified above, I can say that it is very important or the heart of IT. Considering Technology as the main problem of the University, I could only say that we need to move our way of competency on the fashion of today’s world. We need to improve the technology of the University so that we can be in the flow of today’s world that we are living. We are dealing with internet connectivity of the University, and the question is, as an Information Technology consultant how can I improve it using Technology. Internet is a piece of technology, so therefore I can say that through satisfying the proper technology or improve the technology that the University have is a key to improve the internet connectivity of the University. Example, the University has a weak internet connection and the users are having a problem because the data that are transferred to the other domain are having a delay that would take much time, because of poor internet connectivity still problems arises. The solution of it by focusing on technology or the resources that the University, we just need to use the right facilities or resources in order to have a fast connectivity, if the University is using the coaxial cable for LAN connectivity to each users or offices of course as we measure the area of the University that device is not really recommendable, so we need to change the device use into a proper one such as fiber optic cable that can satisfy the area of the University and to have a faster internet connectivity, and also the main problem of poor connectivity is from the source of connection you are acquiring, so as a consultant I should recommend the faster internet connectivity source.
Next is by infrastructure, here are some example of discussing IT infrastructure, Investing in IT infrastructure is one of the most challenging tasks facing senior managers who often feel ill equipped to make these decisions. Investing in the right infrastructure at the right time enables rapid implementation of future electronically based business initiatives and cost reduction of current business processes. This paper presents a framework for senior executives to view IT infrastructure in business terms and to lead in making investment decisions. By studying 180 electronically based business initiatives in 89 top performing enterprises we identified the specific infrastructure capabilities needed for different types of business initiatives and how this capability is provided as an integrated IT infrastructure. An integrated IT infrastructure has ten clusters of IT infrastructure services fine tuned to the enterprise's set of electronically based business initiatives. Using the frameworks for describing IT based business initiatives, executives can identify the future family of initiatives (i.e., their desired strategic agility) the enterprise desires to lead their industry with. This is a process of strategic choice and balancing investing in longer-term agility with shorter-term cost minimization. Successful enterprises get this infrastructure balance right more often than not because they make regular, systematic modular and targeted investments while having a clear picture of their own overall infrastructure capability and how each incremental investment adds value. To lead on multiple dimensions in strategic agility required an integrated infrastructure with high capabilities in all infrastructure clusters and a deliberate approach to data management to manage conflicts. The paper concludes with a set of suggested steps to link an enterprise's desired strategic agility with the above average infrastructure capability needed. So being an IT consultant of the University I need to identify the infrastructure capabilities of the University if their infrastructure is capable of renovation or not.
Innovation, here is some article how innovation take place to improve a certain thing. “Mr. McGee said companies need “IT innovation of the third kind.” The first kind of IT innovation occurs when IT practitioners improve technical solutions to meet IT needs that were identified and initiated by IT people. This can be done through infrastructure modernization with faster Internet speeds, cheaper storage, or improved flexibility through virtualization. The second kind of IT innovation occurs when IT practitioners design innovative IT solutions to meet business needs that were identified and initiated by business people. This can achieved with more CRM channels, smarter business intelligence analytic tools, or better mobile devices. “The third kind of IT innovation takes place when IT practitioners design innovative IT solutions to meet business needs that were identified and initiated by IT people,” Mr. McGee said. “While innovation itself is the first imperative, focusing the value of IT to your organization over the coming years will require attention to five more imperatives.” The six imperatives for innovation of the third kind include: Innovate, Globalize, Connect, Socialize, Advance, and Industrialize.” Through innovation is much recommended to a certain company changes or company that needs improvement, as to our problem the poor internet connectivity of the University innovation or in other words “improvement, advancement and originality”, these things are very important to achieve you goals.
Other thing to do in order to satisfy the need of the University is the process of your work or the steps you are going through is very important so that by achieving your goals of your work it should be organized and well planned.
First let us identify each element of this topic:
IT Consultant
Job description:
An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organsiation's IT systems. IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development. They may also be responsible for user training and feedback. In many companies, these tasks will be carried out by an IT project team. IT consultants are increasingly involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.
Tasks typically involve:
• meeting with clients to determine requirements;
• working with clients to define the scope of a project;
• planning timescales and the resources needed;
• clarifying a client's system specifications, understanding their work practices and the nature of their business;
• traveling to customer sites;
• liaising with staff at all levels of a client organization;
• defining software, hardware and network requirements;
• analyzing IT requirements within companies and giving independent and objective advice on the use of IT;
• developing agreed solutions and implementing new systems;
• presenting solutions in written or oral reports;
• helping clients with change-management activities;
• project managing the design and implementation of preferred solutions;
• purchasing systems where appropriate;
• designing, testing, installing and monitoring new systems;
• preparing documentation and presenting progress reports to customers;
• organizing training for users and other consultants;
• being involved in sales and support and, where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organizations;
• Identifying potential clients and building and maintaining contacts.
Reference: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/ITConsult/
Technology
Technology is a broad concept that deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment. Technology is a term with origins in the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē (τέχνη), 'craft' and -logía (-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.[1] However, a strict definition is elusive; "technology" can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as machines, hardware or utensils, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "state-of-the-art technology". The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology
Infrastructure
Infrastructure can be defined as the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services; for example, roads enable the transport of raw materials to a factory, and also for the distribution of finished products to markets. In some contexts, the term may also include basic social services such as schools and hospitals. In military parlance, the term refers to the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces. In this article, infrastructure will be used in the sense of technical structures or physical networks that support society, unless specified otherwise.
The term infrastructure has been used since 1927 to refer collectively to the roads, bridges, rail lines, and similar public works that are required for an industrial economy, or a portion of it, to function. The term also has had specific application to the permanent military installations necessary for the defense of a country. Perhaps because of the word's technical sound, people now use infrastructure to refer to any substructure or underlying system. Big corporations are said to have their own financial infrastructure of smaller businesses, for example, and political organizations to have their infrastructure of groups, committees, and admirers. The latter sense may have originated during the Vietnam War in the use of the word by military intelligence officers, whose task it was to delineate the structure of the enemy's shadowy organizations. Today we may hear that conservatism has an infrastructure of think tanks and research foundations or that terrorist organizations have an infrastructure of people sympathetic to their cause. The Usage Panel finds this extended use referring to people to be problematic, however. Seventy percent of the Panelists find it unacceptable in the sentence FBI agents fanned out to monitor a small infrastructure of persons involved with established terrorist organizations.
Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/infrastructure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure
Innovations
The term innovation refers to a new way of doing something. It may refer to incremental and emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. Following Schumpeter (1934), contributors to the scholarly literature on innovation typically distinguish between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully in practice. In many fields, something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change, e.g., in the arts, economics, business and government policy. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy. Innovation is an important topic in the study of economics, business, design, technology, sociology, and engineering. Colloquially, the word "innovation" is often synonymous with the output of the process. However, economists tend to focus on the process itself, from the origination of an idea to its transformation into something useful, to its implementation; and on the system within which the process of innovation unfolds. Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation
…in this situation, or in this moment I am already a professional IT personnel. If I am ask or hired by the president of the University to become an Information technology Consultant what are the thing I could suggest about all the elements said above to improve the Internet Connectivity of the University. On the Technology, as describe or as being identified above, I can say that it is very important or the heart of IT. Considering Technology as the main problem of the University, I could only say that we need to move our way of competency on the fashion of today’s world. We need to improve the technology of the University so that we can be in the flow of today’s world that we are living. We are dealing with internet connectivity of the University, and the question is, as an Information Technology consultant how can I improve it using Technology. Internet is a piece of technology, so therefore I can say that through satisfying the proper technology or improve the technology that the University have is a key to improve the internet connectivity of the University. Example, the University has a weak internet connection and the users are having a problem because the data that are transferred to the other domain are having a delay that would take much time, because of poor internet connectivity still problems arises. The solution of it by focusing on technology or the resources that the University, we just need to use the right facilities or resources in order to have a fast connectivity, if the University is using the coaxial cable for LAN connectivity to each users or offices of course as we measure the area of the University that device is not really recommendable, so we need to change the device use into a proper one such as fiber optic cable that can satisfy the area of the University and to have a faster internet connectivity, and also the main problem of poor connectivity is from the source of connection you are acquiring, so as a consultant I should recommend the faster internet connectivity source.
Next is by infrastructure, here are some example of discussing IT infrastructure, Investing in IT infrastructure is one of the most challenging tasks facing senior managers who often feel ill equipped to make these decisions. Investing in the right infrastructure at the right time enables rapid implementation of future electronically based business initiatives and cost reduction of current business processes. This paper presents a framework for senior executives to view IT infrastructure in business terms and to lead in making investment decisions. By studying 180 electronically based business initiatives in 89 top performing enterprises we identified the specific infrastructure capabilities needed for different types of business initiatives and how this capability is provided as an integrated IT infrastructure. An integrated IT infrastructure has ten clusters of IT infrastructure services fine tuned to the enterprise's set of electronically based business initiatives. Using the frameworks for describing IT based business initiatives, executives can identify the future family of initiatives (i.e., their desired strategic agility) the enterprise desires to lead their industry with. This is a process of strategic choice and balancing investing in longer-term agility with shorter-term cost minimization. Successful enterprises get this infrastructure balance right more often than not because they make regular, systematic modular and targeted investments while having a clear picture of their own overall infrastructure capability and how each incremental investment adds value. To lead on multiple dimensions in strategic agility required an integrated infrastructure with high capabilities in all infrastructure clusters and a deliberate approach to data management to manage conflicts. The paper concludes with a set of suggested steps to link an enterprise's desired strategic agility with the above average infrastructure capability needed. So being an IT consultant of the University I need to identify the infrastructure capabilities of the University if their infrastructure is capable of renovation or not.
Innovation, here is some article how innovation take place to improve a certain thing. “Mr. McGee said companies need “IT innovation of the third kind.” The first kind of IT innovation occurs when IT practitioners improve technical solutions to meet IT needs that were identified and initiated by IT people. This can be done through infrastructure modernization with faster Internet speeds, cheaper storage, or improved flexibility through virtualization. The second kind of IT innovation occurs when IT practitioners design innovative IT solutions to meet business needs that were identified and initiated by business people. This can achieved with more CRM channels, smarter business intelligence analytic tools, or better mobile devices. “The third kind of IT innovation takes place when IT practitioners design innovative IT solutions to meet business needs that were identified and initiated by IT people,” Mr. McGee said. “While innovation itself is the first imperative, focusing the value of IT to your organization over the coming years will require attention to five more imperatives.” The six imperatives for innovation of the third kind include: Innovate, Globalize, Connect, Socialize, Advance, and Industrialize.” Through innovation is much recommended to a certain company changes or company that needs improvement, as to our problem the poor internet connectivity of the University innovation or in other words “improvement, advancement and originality”, these things are very important to achieve you goals.
Other thing to do in order to satisfy the need of the University is the process of your work or the steps you are going through is very important so that by achieving your goals of your work it should be organized and well planned.
Assignment 5(MIS) IT/IS Implementation Barriers
IT Implementation Barriers
Lack of adequate financial support is top IT implementation barrier.
Financial pressures are a powerful limitation on capital investment in information technology. The top three IT implementation barriers cited by 2001 survey respondents are lack of adequate financial support for IT (21%), difficulty proving IT quantifiable benefits/ROI (15%), and vendors’ inability to effectively deliver product or service to respondents’ satisfaction (14%). Although it is still a top concern, difficulty in proving ROI has decreased in significance from 22% last year.
Accessing capital and demonstrating return-on-investment are not the only challenges. While recruiting and retaining high-quality IT staff was mentioned, staffing concerns dropped for the second year in a row; only 6% of respondents cited it as a barrier, compared to 15% in 2000, and 23% in 1999.
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE LINK BETWEEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IMPLEMENTATION BARRIERS AND COPING STRATEGIES IN THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
R.A. Stewart1, S. Mohamed2 and M. Marosszeky3
ABSTRACT: The need for the improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) has been identified in both empirical and highly structured research studies as being critical to effective innovation and development at an industry and enterprise level. This need is greater in the construction industry as it has been relatively slow to embrace the full potential of IT based technologies. In an attempt to understand1 why the construction industry lags other industries in the uptake and effective implementation of IT, this study reports on an investigation of the Australian construction industry, which identifies the impediments or barriers to IT implementation and the most effective coping strategies to overcome them. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 134 valid survey responses were received from various architectural, engineering and construction professionals. The questionnaire was designed to identify perceptions of the most significant barriers to IT implementation and to determine the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ corresponding coping strategies to mitigate their effects at three decision-making levels: Industry; Organization and Project.
Keywords: information technology, barriers, coping strategies, decision-making tiers, construction.
INTRODUCTION
The uptake of Information Technology (IT) in construction has lagged well behind most other industries. A number of historical, industrial and market forces have shaped the industry’s structure and culture, thus affecting the rate, extent and nature of IT adoption in key business processes. Reasons for the slow uptake of IT have been investigated and are well-documented (Marsh and Finch, 1998; Betts 1999; Marosszeky et al., 2000; Stewart et al., 2002). They include the very nature of how the industry constructs one-off projects creating a project rather than a process perspective of production and of investment opportunity, supply chain fragmentation, lack of client leadership, low level of technology awareness and training, necessary up-front investment, on-going maintenance costs and resistance to change. Surveys have also shown that IT is still restricted to administrative and accounting functions, or for highly specific technical functions within the various disciplines (Betts and Clark, 1999; Marosszeky et al., 2000). Within the building and construction industry cluster in Australia, the constructors make the greatest contribution to employment, 158,000 firms employ on average 2.3 people. Less than one percent of this sector employs more that 20 people. Among designers, the average size of the some 4,600 architectural firms is 4.6 employees and of the approximately 4,600 engineering consultants, 5.6 people (DISR., 1999). As a consequence, a supply chain consisting of hundreds of organizations delivers major projects. With such fragmentation and such small organizations, only a relatively small number of industry leaders are in a position to plan for strategic IT implementation (Marosszeky et al., 2000). Betts (1999) argues that there is a rather limited strategic use of IT in construction and advocates that industry leaders, national agencies and professional institutions should drive towards a more effective strategic exploitation of IT in the sector. Marosszeky et al. (2000) recommend the development of inter-organizational collaboration to re-engineer the supply chain using IT. To assist in the development of a soundly based strategic approach to IT implementation in construction, this paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey-based investigation into the significant barriers to effective IT implementation and coping strategies to overcome them.
The paper first of all presents a literature review of the barriers to effective IT implementation in the construction industry categorized into three (3) discrete levels: industry, organization and project. Next a similarly structured approach presents coping strategies reported in the literature. The combination of barriers and associated coping strategies provided the background to the development of the survey instrument. The paper then outlines the research methodology, analysis and results. The analysis identifies the most commonly perceived barriers at each level and looks for correlations between barriers and coping strategies.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE IT IMPLEMENTATION
Effective IT implementation in construction is essential to improve productivity. However, the take-up of innovative IT applications and tools has been limited. In an attempt to understand the reasons for the poor diffusion of IT, some researchers have investigated the barriers to effective IT implementation in construction. Reconciling the relevant literature (Love et al., 1996; Tucker and Mohamed, 1996; NSW; 1998; Marsh and Finch, 1998; DIST, 1998; Baxendale, 1999; Smith, 1999; Marsh and Flanagan, 2000; Love et al., 2001; Marosszeky et al., 2000; Marosszeky, 2002) a holistic view of the top-down effect of these barriers is illustrated in Figure 1. The barriers detailed in this figure have been drawn from an extensive review of the literature and categorized into the three levels at which IT implementation barriers exist: industry, organization and project. In the paragraphs that follow, each of these levels and their respective barriers are briefly described. At all levels, numerous barriers inhibit a higher level of IT diffusion in this industry. At the industry level, the barriers that tend to inhibit the adoption of information and communication technologies are typically related to the competitive nature of the industry, the fragmented supply chain comprising mainly small organizations and the dispersion of expertise. One major contributing barrier is the poor inter-operability between different computer applications and/or organizational management strategies. The cost-driven culture of the industry has a profound effect on the uptake and effective utilization of IT investments by individual organizations. Small and medium organizations are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in profit margins resulting in limited resources available for IT expenditure. At the enterprise level, research indicates that many managers are reluctant to invest in innovation and of those that do; they usually provide limited strategic planning to ensure its efficient implementation. Reasoning behind this reluctance to invest in IT may stem from a lack of perceived return on investment on IT expenditure, and a project focus that seeks to achieve the full return on process investment from single projects. Conservative practices of business managers and limited funding devoted to IT expenditure at the organization level sets the scene for poor IT implementation on construction projects. However, the overriding factor at the project level is their relatively short duration and the very tight time frames under which they are delivered, these factors inhibit training and experimentation with IT at the project level. Moreover, many project staff may have low IT literacy and fear changing their work practices to embrace innovative IT applications and tools.
COPING STRATEGIES
The importance of coping strategies as a means of identifying and prioritizing business needs and technical systems has been recognized in several IT planning approaches (Ward and Griffiths, 1996). However, the use of coping strategies in the context of IT implementation in construction has received limited research focus. The first step in this study was to identify a set of IT coping strategies specifically for the construction industry, this was drawn from the literature (Tucker and Mohamed, 1996; Miozza et al., 1998; Finks, 1998; Pena-Mora et al., 1999; Mitropoulos and Tatum, 2000; Mak, 2001; Duyshart et al., 2002; Marosszeky, 2002; Stewart et al., 2003). Figure 2 provides an overview of the top-down effect of coping strategies on the efficient and effective diffusion of IT in construction. The coping strategies have been categorized in the same three levels as the barriers: industry; organization, and project. The first of these levels describes industry-specific strategies that are required at the macro level to promote more effective IT implementation. The second level presents strategies to ensure the smooth diffusion of proposed IT projects at the organization level. The third level describes coping strategies on individual construction projects to ensure that IT has a positive influence on operational processes. All of these coping strategies were included in the questionnaire survey and they were linked to related specific barriers. In the paragraphs that follow, the compiled list of coping strategies, at every level, are briefly described. To overcome barriers to IT uptake, practical and effective coping strategies should firstly be implemented at the industry level (Miozzo et al., 1998). This requires a high degree of commitment from Government, institutions and associations to raise awareness of available IT applications/tools and their benefits. Moreover, to overcome the IT literacy gap between the large and small/medium enterprises (SMEs), a series of IT information forums need to be developed. A possible strategy is to procure construction projects using alliance-based management approaches; this ensures that standardized processes/outputs derived from commonly available IT applications are used throughout the supply chain (Stewart et al., 2003). Clients and their project managers need to drive such a process. At the organization level a series of forums for promoting standardized IT implementation may aid improved IT diffusion but only with the full support of senior management (Miozzo et al., 1998). Their support will ultimately influence the level of funding allocated towards IT investments, which in turn, dictates the degree of training and support provided (Stewart et al., 2003). Achieving these objectives should encourage employees to embrace IT related applications throughout the organization and its projects. Construction projects are very unique environments, which are largely decentralized from the IT architecture of the organization. These projects face very specific IT implementation challenges and thus require definitive coping strategies to overcome them. Appointing a project IT champion would help ensure an improved appreciation and increased level of utilization of IT projects by site staff (Pena Mora et al., 1999). Additionally, dedicating IT training and support sessions within the construction program would enhance the degree of IT diffusion (Duyshart et al., 2002). At all levels, a series of practical and effective coping strategies are required to help overcome IT implementation barriers.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology was developed with the purpose of achieving the following research goals:
• Refinement of the screened list of barriers;
• Ranking the refined barriers in order of significance;
• Linking barriers to coping strategies;
• Establishing the effectiveness and practicality of coping strategies;
• Recommending guidelines for effective IT implementation.
The study looks at these issues at the above-mentioned three levels.
a. Questionnaire Design
In order to achieve the above research goals, the questionnaire contained questions on the background of the survey respondents and the IT portfolio of their organization. This was followed by eight questions relating to the significance of the barriers at the industry level. For these questions, respondents were required to rate the level of significance of each barrier using a five-point Likert scale from 1 to 5 (“1” not significant to “5” most significant). The next group of questions asked the respondents to link each of the eight barriers to a series of coping strategies and then rate the level of effectiveness (i.e. its potential to overcome one or more of the barriers) and practicality (i.e. ease of implementation) of these strategies. This was done using a scale from 1 to 5, where “1” has very little potential, or most difficult to implement to “5” has great potential or very easy to implement, for effectiveness and practicality, respectively. Following this are two sections that incorporate barriers and coping strategies specifically designed for the organization and project tier, respectively, which also follow the above-mentioned questioning process.
Sampling Procedure
The questionnaire was targeted at respondents from the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Responses were sought from respondents with different position descriptions to gauge perceptions from a broad range of perspectives that are representative of opinions throughout the sector. The questionnaire was sent to 520 professionals from the AEC industry. A small sample of government project managers also participated in the survey. One hundred and forty (140) positive returns were received, representing an average response rate of 27%. This rate appears to be consistent with other reported mail surveys (Fellows and Liu, 1997). Six questionnaires were eliminated due to missing data, leaving a final sample size of 134. Prior to determining significant barriers, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to test whether the group of values of each item were equal for each group of respondents: Principal Engineer/Director/Department Head, Site Engineer/Project Manager, Design Engineer, Architect, HRM/Finance/Administration officer, IT professional and Other. This helped clarifying whether or not the opinions of these seven groups were the same for the various barriers at the three levels. The results suggest a consensus between the seven groups in relation to all barriers covered in the survey.
SURVEY RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The following sections detail the following sections detail the results of the questionnaire survey starting with a brief classification of the respondent profiles, followed by the ranking of barriers according to mean significance, and finally the linking of these barriers to possible coping strategies.
Classification of Respondents
This section details the profile of the organization, business, respondent position and IT applications/tools utilized. Firstly, the questionnaire survey was targeted mainly at the private AEC industry (94%), in addition to, a small percentage (6%) of government and quasi-government AEC professionals. The questionnaire survey primarily aimed to gauge the perceptions of Australian consultants and construction contracting personnel. However, the respondents’ business type profile was categorized into five categories to include secondary businesses types. As expected, most respondents were employed by construction-contracting organizations (48%), followed closely by consultants (39%), with government employees (5%), developer employees (4%) and other (4%) making up the remainder of the respondents. The respondents’ position description was categorized into seven categories. The position description of Principal Engineer/Director /Department Head was the most common (45%), followed by Site Engineer/Project Manager (16%), Design Engineer (14%), Architect (8%), HRM/Finance/Administration Officer (8%), IT professional (7%), and other (2%). The next part of the questionnaire asked respondents to detail what IT applications and tools they had available to them on construction projects. As mentioned previously, the survey adopted an information-centric definition of IT, and thus only those types of applications/tools were included in the survey. In total, seven IT applications and tools were included in the survey, as follows: (1) Internet; (2) e-mail; (3) Local Area Network (LAN); (4) Wide Area Network (WAN); (5) Web-Based Project Management Application (WBPMA); (6) Video conferencing; and (7) On-line remote network (mobile). As expected, all respondents had embraced basic IT applications and had access to e-mail and the Internet (100%). Also, LANs (77%) were widely adopted by these organizations. However, more innovative project management and communication technologies, such as Wide Area Networks (WAN) (37%), Web Based Project Management Applications (WBPMA) (35%), video conferencing (23%) and On-line remote networks (26%), were not yet widely adopted. It is important to note that this research did not focus on establishing the extent to which innovative IT was utilized, but rather it was more concerned to identify the availability of certain IT based technologies in the work environment and the level to which respondents had an appreciation of the role of IT in managing project information and its associated benefits. Respondents were also asked to detail the period within which they had implemented specific IT tools. This time frame was used to reflect the link to previous surveys where IT utilization was limited (Love et al., 1996). A couple of trends can be identified such as: most respondents began to embrace the internet and email in the last 4-6 years; and the more innovative IT applications and tools, that have been implemented, have only been in the last 1-3 years.
Significant Barriers to IT Implementation
The barriers that had been grouped as a result of the literature review were kept together in the survey and respondents were asked to rate their significance on a scale of one to five as detailed previously. Table 1 details the mean significance scores for the eight industry level barriers labelled A through to H. Respondents rated barriers E: Cost driven and/or ill informed client organisations (3.48), H: Poor inter-operability between different applications/organisations (3.46), and G: High cost associated respondents did not see barrier D: Lack of leadership by major client organisations (2.96) and B: Cyclical variations in workload activity levels (2.71) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation for communication. Surprisingly, respondents did not link barriers G and B together as one would expect cost and stability of income to be linked. Perhaps this can be explained by the inherent short-term view of practitioners working in the industry. Table 2 details the mean significance scores for the six organization level barriers labelled A through to F. Respondents rated barriers E: Limited resources available to small and medium enterprises (3.96) and H: Lack of perceived return on investment of IT expenditure (3.77) as the most significant barriers. Adversely, respondents did not see barriers A: Conservative business practices (3.02) and B: Resistance to change by staff (3.00) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation. Finally, Table 3 details the mean significance scores for the six project level barriers labelled A through to F. Respondents rated barrier F: Tight project timeframes inhibit training and experimenting with IT (4.00) as the most significant barrier. Adversely, respondents did not see barriers B: Fear of change and uncertainty by some project participants (2.95) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation.
Table 1: Mean significance of industry level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
E Cost-driven and/ 3.48 1
or ill-informed client
organisations
H Poor inter-operability 3.46 2
between different
applications
G High cost associated 3.45 3
with IT applications
C Low profit margins 3.33 4
F Relatively low level of
IT awareness(exposure to IT) 3.18 5
A Fragmented nature of 3.07 6
the industry
D Lack of leadership by major 2.96 7
Client organisations
B Cyclical variations in
workload activity levels 2.71 8
Table 2: Mean significance of organization level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
E Limited resources available 3.96 1
to small and
medium enterprises
F Lack of perceived return 3.77 2
on investment on IT
expenditure
C Lack of organisational 3.26 3
strategic planning
D Reluctance by management 3.08 4
to invest in innovation
at a company level
A Conservative business 3.02 5
practices
B Resistance to change 3.00 6
by staff
Table 3: Mean significance of project level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
F Tight project timeframes 4.00 1
inhibit training and
experimenting with IT
D Limited IT expenditure 3.48 2
on projects
E Lack of IT leadership 3.45 3
on projects
C Low technology literacy 3.43 4
of some project participants
A Security & privacy issues 3.31 5
B Fear of change and 2.95 6
uncertainty by some
project participants
Linking IT Barriers to Coping Strategies
The next group of questions asked respondents to link the barriers detailed in Tables 1 through to 3 to a series of coping strategies for the industry, organization and project levels, respectively, and then rate the effectiveness and practicality of these strategies. The results of this part of the questionnaire survey are detailed in Tables 4 through to 6 for the three levels, respectively, and described as follows. Columns (1) and (2) detail the coping strategies codes and descriptions. Column (3) details the barrier codes and the percentage of the respondents who linked them to relevant coping strategies (i.e. for Table 4: H (38%) means that 38% of respondents linked barrier H to coping strategy CS1). Column (4) details the mean significance of the linked barriers as per Tables 1 to 3 above. Columns (5) and (6) detail the mean effectiveness and practicality scores, respectively, for the linked barriers in question. These scores are combined in Column (7) (i.e. for Table 4: the CS1-H link = 3.36 + 2.64 = 6.00) to represent a more meaningful rating for the ‘usefulness’ of the coping strategy for overcoming the linked barriers. Finally, each link is ranked according to the significance of the barrier and the ‘usefulness’ of the associated coping strategy. For example, for the industry level link CS1-H (38%) detailed in Column (Cool of Table 4, the importance of the link is determined by multiplying the mean significance by the usefulness score (3.46 × 6 = 20.76). This ranking provides industry and enterprise leaders with a means to focus on the most important barriers that can be overcome by the suggested coping strategies, see Column (9). In order to retain the most significant barriers and their respective links to coping strategies, the authors refined the analysis as follows: (1) Remove barriers with a mean significance < 3; (2) Remove links where less than 30% of respondents linked barriers to coping strategies; and (3) Remove barrier-to-coping strategy links that have a mean usefulness (i.e. mean effectiveness + mean practicality) less than 6. The purpose of these steps is to refine the analysis to ensure that only significant barriers are identified for each level, that coping strategies target their intended barriers, and that the coping strategies are reasonably ‘likely’ to achieve their desired result. The following sections describe the most significant findings from the study at each level.
Industry level
In general, respondents indicated that the suggested coping strategies for the industry level barriers are impractical with a mean score for all links as 2.91 (i.e. < 3) while the mean effectiveness for all links was marginally higher at 3.27. The indication that the coping strategies are impractical could be explained by a perception that these IT barriers are out of the control of individual organisations and need to be addressed at the industry level. This assertion would reinforce the observation of Miozzo et al. (1998), that Government departments and client organisations should provide guidance to the industry. In addition to linking the barriers to coping strategies, respondents were asked to suggest other coping strategies for more effective IT implementation. Only two additional coping strategies were suggested: (1) develop tertiary/professional development courses to raise awareness of IT opportunities, and (2) obtain industry agreements on software types and upgrade timing to ensure improved interoperability. It is interesting that only two respondents were willing or able to provide any additional coping strategies. This could reflect pessimism, a sense of limited control or a lack of understanding of the direction that industry should take. At the industry level, 11 links remain from the above-mentioned refinement process (see Table 4). The CS2-H link (22.32) was ranked first and this was followed closely by the CS4-E link (22.10) as the most appropriate to target by the respondents.
Organization level
The results from the organization level (Table 5) follow similar patterns to the industry level analysis. As with the industry level results, the respondents indicated that the suggested coping strategies for the organization level barriers are impractical with a mean score for all links (e.g. average score for all links) of 2.89 (i.e. < 3) while the mean effectiveness for all links was higher at 3.47. Since the only suggestion for a coping strategy at this level was to “educate managers within the organization” it could be inferred that respondents see many of the suggested strategies as difficult to implement within the operating constraints of the construction industry environment. Perhaps, an IT champion, who has the full backing of corporate management, is required to ensure these strategies can be properly implemented. At the organization level, eight links remain from the refinement process (see Table 5). The CS3-E link (27.40) followed by the CS5-E link (24.00) was ranked as the most appropriate to focus on by organisations.
Project level
The project level results (Table 6) follow a similar pattern, respondents indicating that they considered the suggested coping strategies to be impractical, the mean value for all links is low at (2.88). However, two coping strategies, CS1 and CS2 were perceived to be both practical and effective for overcoming barriers . These relate to providing adequate technical support and involving IT staff with construction projects. Other suggestions were again limited with only two responses for the project level: (1) Ensure on-line firewalls/security is adequate; and (2) Develop methods to evaluate the benefits of IT investments. At the project level, only four links remain from the refinement process (see Table 6). The CS1-C link (24.28) was ranked as the most important at the project level.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations have been formulated from the above analysis. Tables 7, 8 and 9 detail individual barriers at the three levels together with corresponding coping strategies considered most suitable to overcome them. Utilising the ranking procedure outlined above, the barriers and their corresponding coping strategies have been presented in order of perceived effectiveness. However, organisations may wish to target particular barriers, for instance, to specifically target barrier number five from Table 7 – Relatively low level of IT awareness (exposure to IT). In this case, three coping strategies are recommended and these are listed in order of perceived effectiveness. A company could proceed to develop a detailed plan for the implementation of each coping strategy. The same approach can be followed for the industry and project levels. To ensure that the empirically determined coping strategies are fully embraced by all tiers of the construction industry it is important that a number of practical recommendations are followed:
• Top management commitment be established and maintained throughout the
IT project lifecycle;
• Adequate budgets are allocated towards IT endeavers to ensure that
their implementation and long-term utilization is sustained; and
• Implement IT-induced changes in a planned and progressive manner.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The use of IT is growing rapidly, and is expected to become the dominant technology for business communication between organisations in the near future. However, data from the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE, 2000) shows that the national construction industry lags well behind other industries in its uptake of IT based technologies. This paper has presented an extensive literature review, which was used to identify barriers to, and coping strategies for, IT implementation. Based on the literature review, IT implementation barriers and coping strategies were identified and categorized into three levels; namely industry, organization and project level. The first of these groups focuses on macro level industry-specific factors and barriers. The second group deals with factors and barriers at the organisational level which impact on the efficient and effective diffusion of IT projects throughout an enterprise. The third and final group presents barriers and coping strategies on individual construction projects which impact on the positive influence of IT on operational processes. The questionnaire survey validated the identified set of barriers to IT implementation and the corresponding coping strategies that can assist to overcome them. From the refinement process the most significant barriers to IT implementation and the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ coping strategies to overcome them were selected. The most significant barrier for each level and the most ‘useful’ coping strategies to overcome them, respectively, were identified as: o Industry level: Poor interoperability between different applications/organisations; Develop standardized processes/outputs with commonly available IT applications to facilitate inter-operability between members of the value chain; o Organization level: Limited resources available to small and medium enterprises; Adopt IT related applications with short learning curves; o Project level: Low technology literacy of some project participants; Ensure adequate technical support is provided to project staff. From the above it could be concluded that the issue of interoperability between different electronic exchanges is a major challenge facing the industry. This may well explain the continual growth in using web-based applications – as an alternative – to facilitate increased efficiency in data exchange. It may also pave the way for future development of open standards, which is a vital component in attracting small and medium enterprises to participate broadly in adopting information and communication technologies. Such enterprises would definitely opt for technologies with short learning curves to avoid stretching their limited resources and to provide opportunities for the skilling of their staff. This agrees well with the high degree of consensus in the respondents’ perception that IT training and technical support is one of the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ means to improve IT implementation. In conclusion, this paper has identified critical barriers to IT implementation and a series of useful coping strategies as perceived by Australian construction professional at the industry, enterprise and project levels.
references: http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/handle/10072/5153
http://www.himss.org/2001Survey/HIMSS/surveyfinal/6.htm
Lack of adequate financial support is top IT implementation barrier.
Financial pressures are a powerful limitation on capital investment in information technology. The top three IT implementation barriers cited by 2001 survey respondents are lack of adequate financial support for IT (21%), difficulty proving IT quantifiable benefits/ROI (15%), and vendors’ inability to effectively deliver product or service to respondents’ satisfaction (14%). Although it is still a top concern, difficulty in proving ROI has decreased in significance from 22% last year.
Accessing capital and demonstrating return-on-investment are not the only challenges. While recruiting and retaining high-quality IT staff was mentioned, staffing concerns dropped for the second year in a row; only 6% of respondents cited it as a barrier, compared to 15% in 2000, and 23% in 1999.
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE LINK BETWEEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IMPLEMENTATION BARRIERS AND COPING STRATEGIES IN THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
R.A. Stewart1, S. Mohamed2 and M. Marosszeky3
ABSTRACT: The need for the improved implementation of Information Technology (IT) has been identified in both empirical and highly structured research studies as being critical to effective innovation and development at an industry and enterprise level. This need is greater in the construction industry as it has been relatively slow to embrace the full potential of IT based technologies. In an attempt to understand1 why the construction industry lags other industries in the uptake and effective implementation of IT, this study reports on an investigation of the Australian construction industry, which identifies the impediments or barriers to IT implementation and the most effective coping strategies to overcome them. A questionnaire-based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 134 valid survey responses were received from various architectural, engineering and construction professionals. The questionnaire was designed to identify perceptions of the most significant barriers to IT implementation and to determine the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ corresponding coping strategies to mitigate their effects at three decision-making levels: Industry; Organization and Project.
Keywords: information technology, barriers, coping strategies, decision-making tiers, construction.
INTRODUCTION
The uptake of Information Technology (IT) in construction has lagged well behind most other industries. A number of historical, industrial and market forces have shaped the industry’s structure and culture, thus affecting the rate, extent and nature of IT adoption in key business processes. Reasons for the slow uptake of IT have been investigated and are well-documented (Marsh and Finch, 1998; Betts 1999; Marosszeky et al., 2000; Stewart et al., 2002). They include the very nature of how the industry constructs one-off projects creating a project rather than a process perspective of production and of investment opportunity, supply chain fragmentation, lack of client leadership, low level of technology awareness and training, necessary up-front investment, on-going maintenance costs and resistance to change. Surveys have also shown that IT is still restricted to administrative and accounting functions, or for highly specific technical functions within the various disciplines (Betts and Clark, 1999; Marosszeky et al., 2000). Within the building and construction industry cluster in Australia, the constructors make the greatest contribution to employment, 158,000 firms employ on average 2.3 people. Less than one percent of this sector employs more that 20 people. Among designers, the average size of the some 4,600 architectural firms is 4.6 employees and of the approximately 4,600 engineering consultants, 5.6 people (DISR., 1999). As a consequence, a supply chain consisting of hundreds of organizations delivers major projects. With such fragmentation and such small organizations, only a relatively small number of industry leaders are in a position to plan for strategic IT implementation (Marosszeky et al., 2000). Betts (1999) argues that there is a rather limited strategic use of IT in construction and advocates that industry leaders, national agencies and professional institutions should drive towards a more effective strategic exploitation of IT in the sector. Marosszeky et al. (2000) recommend the development of inter-organizational collaboration to re-engineer the supply chain using IT. To assist in the development of a soundly based strategic approach to IT implementation in construction, this paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey-based investigation into the significant barriers to effective IT implementation and coping strategies to overcome them.
The paper first of all presents a literature review of the barriers to effective IT implementation in the construction industry categorized into three (3) discrete levels: industry, organization and project. Next a similarly structured approach presents coping strategies reported in the literature. The combination of barriers and associated coping strategies provided the background to the development of the survey instrument. The paper then outlines the research methodology, analysis and results. The analysis identifies the most commonly perceived barriers at each level and looks for correlations between barriers and coping strategies.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE IT IMPLEMENTATION
Effective IT implementation in construction is essential to improve productivity. However, the take-up of innovative IT applications and tools has been limited. In an attempt to understand the reasons for the poor diffusion of IT, some researchers have investigated the barriers to effective IT implementation in construction. Reconciling the relevant literature (Love et al., 1996; Tucker and Mohamed, 1996; NSW; 1998; Marsh and Finch, 1998; DIST, 1998; Baxendale, 1999; Smith, 1999; Marsh and Flanagan, 2000; Love et al., 2001; Marosszeky et al., 2000; Marosszeky, 2002) a holistic view of the top-down effect of these barriers is illustrated in Figure 1. The barriers detailed in this figure have been drawn from an extensive review of the literature and categorized into the three levels at which IT implementation barriers exist: industry, organization and project. In the paragraphs that follow, each of these levels and their respective barriers are briefly described. At all levels, numerous barriers inhibit a higher level of IT diffusion in this industry. At the industry level, the barriers that tend to inhibit the adoption of information and communication technologies are typically related to the competitive nature of the industry, the fragmented supply chain comprising mainly small organizations and the dispersion of expertise. One major contributing barrier is the poor inter-operability between different computer applications and/or organizational management strategies. The cost-driven culture of the industry has a profound effect on the uptake and effective utilization of IT investments by individual organizations. Small and medium organizations are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in profit margins resulting in limited resources available for IT expenditure. At the enterprise level, research indicates that many managers are reluctant to invest in innovation and of those that do; they usually provide limited strategic planning to ensure its efficient implementation. Reasoning behind this reluctance to invest in IT may stem from a lack of perceived return on investment on IT expenditure, and a project focus that seeks to achieve the full return on process investment from single projects. Conservative practices of business managers and limited funding devoted to IT expenditure at the organization level sets the scene for poor IT implementation on construction projects. However, the overriding factor at the project level is their relatively short duration and the very tight time frames under which they are delivered, these factors inhibit training and experimentation with IT at the project level. Moreover, many project staff may have low IT literacy and fear changing their work practices to embrace innovative IT applications and tools.
COPING STRATEGIES
The importance of coping strategies as a means of identifying and prioritizing business needs and technical systems has been recognized in several IT planning approaches (Ward and Griffiths, 1996). However, the use of coping strategies in the context of IT implementation in construction has received limited research focus. The first step in this study was to identify a set of IT coping strategies specifically for the construction industry, this was drawn from the literature (Tucker and Mohamed, 1996; Miozza et al., 1998; Finks, 1998; Pena-Mora et al., 1999; Mitropoulos and Tatum, 2000; Mak, 2001; Duyshart et al., 2002; Marosszeky, 2002; Stewart et al., 2003). Figure 2 provides an overview of the top-down effect of coping strategies on the efficient and effective diffusion of IT in construction. The coping strategies have been categorized in the same three levels as the barriers: industry; organization, and project. The first of these levels describes industry-specific strategies that are required at the macro level to promote more effective IT implementation. The second level presents strategies to ensure the smooth diffusion of proposed IT projects at the organization level. The third level describes coping strategies on individual construction projects to ensure that IT has a positive influence on operational processes. All of these coping strategies were included in the questionnaire survey and they were linked to related specific barriers. In the paragraphs that follow, the compiled list of coping strategies, at every level, are briefly described. To overcome barriers to IT uptake, practical and effective coping strategies should firstly be implemented at the industry level (Miozzo et al., 1998). This requires a high degree of commitment from Government, institutions and associations to raise awareness of available IT applications/tools and their benefits. Moreover, to overcome the IT literacy gap between the large and small/medium enterprises (SMEs), a series of IT information forums need to be developed. A possible strategy is to procure construction projects using alliance-based management approaches; this ensures that standardized processes/outputs derived from commonly available IT applications are used throughout the supply chain (Stewart et al., 2003). Clients and their project managers need to drive such a process. At the organization level a series of forums for promoting standardized IT implementation may aid improved IT diffusion but only with the full support of senior management (Miozzo et al., 1998). Their support will ultimately influence the level of funding allocated towards IT investments, which in turn, dictates the degree of training and support provided (Stewart et al., 2003). Achieving these objectives should encourage employees to embrace IT related applications throughout the organization and its projects. Construction projects are very unique environments, which are largely decentralized from the IT architecture of the organization. These projects face very specific IT implementation challenges and thus require definitive coping strategies to overcome them. Appointing a project IT champion would help ensure an improved appreciation and increased level of utilization of IT projects by site staff (Pena Mora et al., 1999). Additionally, dedicating IT training and support sessions within the construction program would enhance the degree of IT diffusion (Duyshart et al., 2002). At all levels, a series of practical and effective coping strategies are required to help overcome IT implementation barriers.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology was developed with the purpose of achieving the following research goals:
• Refinement of the screened list of barriers;
• Ranking the refined barriers in order of significance;
• Linking barriers to coping strategies;
• Establishing the effectiveness and practicality of coping strategies;
• Recommending guidelines for effective IT implementation.
The study looks at these issues at the above-mentioned three levels.
a. Questionnaire Design
In order to achieve the above research goals, the questionnaire contained questions on the background of the survey respondents and the IT portfolio of their organization. This was followed by eight questions relating to the significance of the barriers at the industry level. For these questions, respondents were required to rate the level of significance of each barrier using a five-point Likert scale from 1 to 5 (“1” not significant to “5” most significant). The next group of questions asked the respondents to link each of the eight barriers to a series of coping strategies and then rate the level of effectiveness (i.e. its potential to overcome one or more of the barriers) and practicality (i.e. ease of implementation) of these strategies. This was done using a scale from 1 to 5, where “1” has very little potential, or most difficult to implement to “5” has great potential or very easy to implement, for effectiveness and practicality, respectively. Following this are two sections that incorporate barriers and coping strategies specifically designed for the organization and project tier, respectively, which also follow the above-mentioned questioning process.
Sampling Procedure
The questionnaire was targeted at respondents from the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Responses were sought from respondents with different position descriptions to gauge perceptions from a broad range of perspectives that are representative of opinions throughout the sector. The questionnaire was sent to 520 professionals from the AEC industry. A small sample of government project managers also participated in the survey. One hundred and forty (140) positive returns were received, representing an average response rate of 27%. This rate appears to be consistent with other reported mail surveys (Fellows and Liu, 1997). Six questionnaires were eliminated due to missing data, leaving a final sample size of 134. Prior to determining significant barriers, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to test whether the group of values of each item were equal for each group of respondents: Principal Engineer/Director/Department Head, Site Engineer/Project Manager, Design Engineer, Architect, HRM/Finance/Administration officer, IT professional and Other. This helped clarifying whether or not the opinions of these seven groups were the same for the various barriers at the three levels. The results suggest a consensus between the seven groups in relation to all barriers covered in the survey.
SURVEY RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The following sections detail the following sections detail the results of the questionnaire survey starting with a brief classification of the respondent profiles, followed by the ranking of barriers according to mean significance, and finally the linking of these barriers to possible coping strategies.
Classification of Respondents
This section details the profile of the organization, business, respondent position and IT applications/tools utilized. Firstly, the questionnaire survey was targeted mainly at the private AEC industry (94%), in addition to, a small percentage (6%) of government and quasi-government AEC professionals. The questionnaire survey primarily aimed to gauge the perceptions of Australian consultants and construction contracting personnel. However, the respondents’ business type profile was categorized into five categories to include secondary businesses types. As expected, most respondents were employed by construction-contracting organizations (48%), followed closely by consultants (39%), with government employees (5%), developer employees (4%) and other (4%) making up the remainder of the respondents. The respondents’ position description was categorized into seven categories. The position description of Principal Engineer/Director /Department Head was the most common (45%), followed by Site Engineer/Project Manager (16%), Design Engineer (14%), Architect (8%), HRM/Finance/Administration Officer (8%), IT professional (7%), and other (2%). The next part of the questionnaire asked respondents to detail what IT applications and tools they had available to them on construction projects. As mentioned previously, the survey adopted an information-centric definition of IT, and thus only those types of applications/tools were included in the survey. In total, seven IT applications and tools were included in the survey, as follows: (1) Internet; (2) e-mail; (3) Local Area Network (LAN); (4) Wide Area Network (WAN); (5) Web-Based Project Management Application (WBPMA); (6) Video conferencing; and (7) On-line remote network (mobile). As expected, all respondents had embraced basic IT applications and had access to e-mail and the Internet (100%). Also, LANs (77%) were widely adopted by these organizations. However, more innovative project management and communication technologies, such as Wide Area Networks (WAN) (37%), Web Based Project Management Applications (WBPMA) (35%), video conferencing (23%) and On-line remote networks (26%), were not yet widely adopted. It is important to note that this research did not focus on establishing the extent to which innovative IT was utilized, but rather it was more concerned to identify the availability of certain IT based technologies in the work environment and the level to which respondents had an appreciation of the role of IT in managing project information and its associated benefits. Respondents were also asked to detail the period within which they had implemented specific IT tools. This time frame was used to reflect the link to previous surveys where IT utilization was limited (Love et al., 1996). A couple of trends can be identified such as: most respondents began to embrace the internet and email in the last 4-6 years; and the more innovative IT applications and tools, that have been implemented, have only been in the last 1-3 years.
Significant Barriers to IT Implementation
The barriers that had been grouped as a result of the literature review were kept together in the survey and respondents were asked to rate their significance on a scale of one to five as detailed previously. Table 1 details the mean significance scores for the eight industry level barriers labelled A through to H. Respondents rated barriers E: Cost driven and/or ill informed client organisations (3.48), H: Poor inter-operability between different applications/organisations (3.46), and G: High cost associated respondents did not see barrier D: Lack of leadership by major client organisations (2.96) and B: Cyclical variations in workload activity levels (2.71) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation for communication. Surprisingly, respondents did not link barriers G and B together as one would expect cost and stability of income to be linked. Perhaps this can be explained by the inherent short-term view of practitioners working in the industry. Table 2 details the mean significance scores for the six organization level barriers labelled A through to F. Respondents rated barriers E: Limited resources available to small and medium enterprises (3.96) and H: Lack of perceived return on investment of IT expenditure (3.77) as the most significant barriers. Adversely, respondents did not see barriers A: Conservative business practices (3.02) and B: Resistance to change by staff (3.00) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation. Finally, Table 3 details the mean significance scores for the six project level barriers labelled A through to F. Respondents rated barrier F: Tight project timeframes inhibit training and experimenting with IT (4.00) as the most significant barrier. Adversely, respondents did not see barriers B: Fear of change and uncertainty by some project participants (2.95) as being highly significant barriers to effective IT implementation.
Table 1: Mean significance of industry level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
E Cost-driven and/ 3.48 1
or ill-informed client
organisations
H Poor inter-operability 3.46 2
between different
applications
G High cost associated 3.45 3
with IT applications
C Low profit margins 3.33 4
F Relatively low level of
IT awareness(exposure to IT) 3.18 5
A Fragmented nature of 3.07 6
the industry
D Lack of leadership by major 2.96 7
Client organisations
B Cyclical variations in
workload activity levels 2.71 8
Table 2: Mean significance of organization level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
E Limited resources available 3.96 1
to small and
medium enterprises
F Lack of perceived return 3.77 2
on investment on IT
expenditure
C Lack of organisational 3.26 3
strategic planning
D Reluctance by management 3.08 4
to invest in innovation
at a company level
A Conservative business 3.02 5
practices
B Resistance to change 3.00 6
by staff
Table 3: Mean significance of project level barriers
Code BarrierDescription MeanSignificance Rank
F Tight project timeframes 4.00 1
inhibit training and
experimenting with IT
D Limited IT expenditure 3.48 2
on projects
E Lack of IT leadership 3.45 3
on projects
C Low technology literacy 3.43 4
of some project participants
A Security & privacy issues 3.31 5
B Fear of change and 2.95 6
uncertainty by some
project participants
Linking IT Barriers to Coping Strategies
The next group of questions asked respondents to link the barriers detailed in Tables 1 through to 3 to a series of coping strategies for the industry, organization and project levels, respectively, and then rate the effectiveness and practicality of these strategies. The results of this part of the questionnaire survey are detailed in Tables 4 through to 6 for the three levels, respectively, and described as follows. Columns (1) and (2) detail the coping strategies codes and descriptions. Column (3) details the barrier codes and the percentage of the respondents who linked them to relevant coping strategies (i.e. for Table 4: H (38%) means that 38% of respondents linked barrier H to coping strategy CS1). Column (4) details the mean significance of the linked barriers as per Tables 1 to 3 above. Columns (5) and (6) detail the mean effectiveness and practicality scores, respectively, for the linked barriers in question. These scores are combined in Column (7) (i.e. for Table 4: the CS1-H link = 3.36 + 2.64 = 6.00) to represent a more meaningful rating for the ‘usefulness’ of the coping strategy for overcoming the linked barriers. Finally, each link is ranked according to the significance of the barrier and the ‘usefulness’ of the associated coping strategy. For example, for the industry level link CS1-H (38%) detailed in Column (Cool of Table 4, the importance of the link is determined by multiplying the mean significance by the usefulness score (3.46 × 6 = 20.76). This ranking provides industry and enterprise leaders with a means to focus on the most important barriers that can be overcome by the suggested coping strategies, see Column (9). In order to retain the most significant barriers and their respective links to coping strategies, the authors refined the analysis as follows: (1) Remove barriers with a mean significance < 3; (2) Remove links where less than 30% of respondents linked barriers to coping strategies; and (3) Remove barrier-to-coping strategy links that have a mean usefulness (i.e. mean effectiveness + mean practicality) less than 6. The purpose of these steps is to refine the analysis to ensure that only significant barriers are identified for each level, that coping strategies target their intended barriers, and that the coping strategies are reasonably ‘likely’ to achieve their desired result. The following sections describe the most significant findings from the study at each level.
Industry level
In general, respondents indicated that the suggested coping strategies for the industry level barriers are impractical with a mean score for all links as 2.91 (i.e. < 3) while the mean effectiveness for all links was marginally higher at 3.27. The indication that the coping strategies are impractical could be explained by a perception that these IT barriers are out of the control of individual organisations and need to be addressed at the industry level. This assertion would reinforce the observation of Miozzo et al. (1998), that Government departments and client organisations should provide guidance to the industry. In addition to linking the barriers to coping strategies, respondents were asked to suggest other coping strategies for more effective IT implementation. Only two additional coping strategies were suggested: (1) develop tertiary/professional development courses to raise awareness of IT opportunities, and (2) obtain industry agreements on software types and upgrade timing to ensure improved interoperability. It is interesting that only two respondents were willing or able to provide any additional coping strategies. This could reflect pessimism, a sense of limited control or a lack of understanding of the direction that industry should take. At the industry level, 11 links remain from the above-mentioned refinement process (see Table 4). The CS2-H link (22.32) was ranked first and this was followed closely by the CS4-E link (22.10) as the most appropriate to target by the respondents.
Organization level
The results from the organization level (Table 5) follow similar patterns to the industry level analysis. As with the industry level results, the respondents indicated that the suggested coping strategies for the organization level barriers are impractical with a mean score for all links (e.g. average score for all links) of 2.89 (i.e. < 3) while the mean effectiveness for all links was higher at 3.47. Since the only suggestion for a coping strategy at this level was to “educate managers within the organization” it could be inferred that respondents see many of the suggested strategies as difficult to implement within the operating constraints of the construction industry environment. Perhaps, an IT champion, who has the full backing of corporate management, is required to ensure these strategies can be properly implemented. At the organization level, eight links remain from the refinement process (see Table 5). The CS3-E link (27.40) followed by the CS5-E link (24.00) was ranked as the most appropriate to focus on by organisations.
Project level
The project level results (Table 6) follow a similar pattern, respondents indicating that they considered the suggested coping strategies to be impractical, the mean value for all links is low at (2.88). However, two coping strategies, CS1 and CS2 were perceived to be both practical and effective for overcoming barriers . These relate to providing adequate technical support and involving IT staff with construction projects. Other suggestions were again limited with only two responses for the project level: (1) Ensure on-line firewalls/security is adequate; and (2) Develop methods to evaluate the benefits of IT investments. At the project level, only four links remain from the refinement process (see Table 6). The CS1-C link (24.28) was ranked as the most important at the project level.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations have been formulated from the above analysis. Tables 7, 8 and 9 detail individual barriers at the three levels together with corresponding coping strategies considered most suitable to overcome them. Utilising the ranking procedure outlined above, the barriers and their corresponding coping strategies have been presented in order of perceived effectiveness. However, organisations may wish to target particular barriers, for instance, to specifically target barrier number five from Table 7 – Relatively low level of IT awareness (exposure to IT). In this case, three coping strategies are recommended and these are listed in order of perceived effectiveness. A company could proceed to develop a detailed plan for the implementation of each coping strategy. The same approach can be followed for the industry and project levels. To ensure that the empirically determined coping strategies are fully embraced by all tiers of the construction industry it is important that a number of practical recommendations are followed:
• Top management commitment be established and maintained throughout the
IT project lifecycle;
• Adequate budgets are allocated towards IT endeavers to ensure that
their implementation and long-term utilization is sustained; and
• Implement IT-induced changes in a planned and progressive manner.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The use of IT is growing rapidly, and is expected to become the dominant technology for business communication between organisations in the near future. However, data from the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE, 2000) shows that the national construction industry lags well behind other industries in its uptake of IT based technologies. This paper has presented an extensive literature review, which was used to identify barriers to, and coping strategies for, IT implementation. Based on the literature review, IT implementation barriers and coping strategies were identified and categorized into three levels; namely industry, organization and project level. The first of these groups focuses on macro level industry-specific factors and barriers. The second group deals with factors and barriers at the organisational level which impact on the efficient and effective diffusion of IT projects throughout an enterprise. The third and final group presents barriers and coping strategies on individual construction projects which impact on the positive influence of IT on operational processes. The questionnaire survey validated the identified set of barriers to IT implementation and the corresponding coping strategies that can assist to overcome them. From the refinement process the most significant barriers to IT implementation and the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ coping strategies to overcome them were selected. The most significant barrier for each level and the most ‘useful’ coping strategies to overcome them, respectively, were identified as: o Industry level: Poor interoperability between different applications/organisations; Develop standardized processes/outputs with commonly available IT applications to facilitate inter-operability between members of the value chain; o Organization level: Limited resources available to small and medium enterprises; Adopt IT related applications with short learning curves; o Project level: Low technology literacy of some project participants; Ensure adequate technical support is provided to project staff. From the above it could be concluded that the issue of interoperability between different electronic exchanges is a major challenge facing the industry. This may well explain the continual growth in using web-based applications – as an alternative – to facilitate increased efficiency in data exchange. It may also pave the way for future development of open standards, which is a vital component in attracting small and medium enterprises to participate broadly in adopting information and communication technologies. Such enterprises would definitely opt for technologies with short learning curves to avoid stretching their limited resources and to provide opportunities for the skilling of their staff. This agrees well with the high degree of consensus in the respondents’ perception that IT training and technical support is one of the most ‘practical’ and ‘effective’ means to improve IT implementation. In conclusion, this paper has identified critical barriers to IT implementation and a series of useful coping strategies as perceived by Australian construction professional at the industry, enterprise and project levels.
references: http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/handle/10072/5153
http://www.himss.org/2001Survey/HIMSS/surveyfinal/6.htm
Assignment 2(MIS) Company Visit
We are task to visit some large local companies/organizations that can be found here in Davao or near to Davao in order for us to learn, and know something about business administration and business flow of information. I myself could say that this kind of activity could challenge me as a student and learn thing through reality. Yeah! This activity is very tiring especially if you have been rejected by the company you choose but at least this will help us especially when we talk about management (time management), that has been taught(always!) by our facilitator. With this, we learn how manage our time (even if we did not perfectly manage it), we learn how to become patient in many rejections we receive, and we learn to have determination. Finally, I found the local organization together with some of my classmates, which would help me comply the requirement and help me gather information. The company that warmly welcomes and accepts us to conduct an interview and visit their company is the RHINE MARKETING CORPORATION. First, I will post some information about this company…
RHINE MARKETING CORPORATION
ORIGIN
In 1947, the late Claude Marion Wilson Jr. after has retirement from the US Army, invested his savings and set up the Claude M. Wilson Trading Co., a company engaged in the imporation and selling of construction materials, essential items needed for the country's reconstruction after World War II. The small enterprise was later renamed Claude Wilson Corporation. The company started selling imported sewing machines, and business machines, principally the Italian Olivetti typewriter.
The Claude Wilson Corporation established its Cebu branch in 1957, at the center of Juan Luna and D. Jakosalem Streets, under the supervision of Mr. Juan Ross. Mr. Lou Da Costa was then General Manager of the Manila Head Office.
In less than a year, the company grew and Cebu branch moved to bigger offices of the old Osmella situated at the corner of D. Jakosalem and Magallanes Streets. Mr. Jose Antonio Martinez became the first branch manager, while another trusted Wilson executive, Mr. Senen Valero, took charge of company operations.
In the later 50's and early 60's, the Philippine economy began to flourish resulting in an increased demand for sewing machines and other home appliances. This gave the company through Claude Wilson's entrepreneurship, the impetus to diversify and expand its product lines.
In line with the government's call for the establishment of more factories, Mr. Wilson decided to manufacture instead of import sewing machines. This daring move was vigorously challenged by competitors who could import sewing machines more cheaply than to manufacture them.
In 1961, Claude Wilson Corporation became Philippine Sewing Machines Manufacturing Corporation (PSMMC). The company head office was in Manila with branches in Cebu and Dagupan, locations designed to meet demands in Luzon and the southern part of the country. Martinez was transfered back to head office in Manila and A.F. Martelino was appointed Cebu Branch Manager.
On May 26, 1964, PSMMC (now METERCOR) formed a marketing arm called Rhine Marketing Corporation principally to sell Rhine sewing machines. Paid-up capital was P50, 000.00.
In the 70's product lines were expanded to include other consumer durables which, like sewing machines, were also in short supply. Since the company's main thrust was to be installment sales, Wilson and his executives reasoned that a provincial head office would stand a better chance of succeeding. That nationale was that a small, cohesive community where people knew each other and have lived in the area for many years would result in safer, less risky sales on credit. Cebu was a natural choice. That policy was a wise one indeed and Rhine today continues to operate a nationwide network of branches from its home base in Cebu.
The following year there more branches opened in 1980. These are located in Makati, Mati, Gingoog, Valencia, San Jose, Calamba and San Fernando.
Rhine Marketing Corporation - Computer Division (RMC-CD) is a leading manufacturer of personal computers, and distributor of a complete line of peripherals and other computer-related services. Established in February 1992, when Rhine Marketing Corporation's interest has evolved from home appliance business to Information Technology (I.T.), we now enjoy a rapid growth and have achieved a good reputation immediately. We not only provide expertise to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of our clients, but also offer solutions that set new standards for quality performance and value.
Reference: http://www.rhine.com.ph/about-us/rhine-marketing-corporation.html#about%20us
Based on the organization(s) that you visited, what do you think are the risks associated with business and IS/IT change?
…the company chooses one of their employees who is capable or has knowledge/skills that could help us gather information on their company that would reflect to our studies. One of their employees introduces himself to us. He is Mr. Crisologo Abella, MIS staff and a programmer of their branch. He is our interviewee of that company. After introducing each other I ask him a lot of questions that would help us gather information about the question above, together with my co-interviewer.
The branch of Rhine Marketing Corporation we visit is located at San Pedro St., Davao City.
These are some of the important questions that we asked or presented to him:
…How important IT/IS to your company? …What are the systems you have implemented to help the company, how do you call it? …Can you give us some details about the flow of information on this system? …How do you maintain or manage it? …are there any problems you have encounter on developing this system? …what are the risks on maintaining or managing the system? …I’m sure you’ve gone though updating your system? What are the problems or risks you’ve met on updating your system? …what are your techniques or way in order to solve these problems?
…Those are the questions we have presented and after every question, he answered it well. These are the information I have gathered from the interviewee (but I put it in my own words based on my own understanding)… He said that Information System is the most important thing on business because without it their will be no exact flow of information. In order to lessen the capacity of their work, they develop a system and they called it Rhine System. On this system, every data and information for their company such as supplies, payroll, inventory and etc., will be saved and retrieved for every moment they will needing it. He said that he is one of person who developed the software of the Rhine System such as programs, database, as well as managing or maintaining the system. He also rate to us how important is Information system; he rated it as 101%. He also taught us some of the flow of information of their companies. He also taught us what are the components or the thing flows to their system, such us the supplies sales inventory payroll etc. He said that being the head of the IS personnel and a head of their system maintenance, it cause a lot of work and problem. He said that maintaining IS/IT is as challenge because there are a lot of risks and problems you will encounter and need to solve immediately. He said that first problem you will encounter is from making or developing programs for your system. And as usual it starts from planning what kind of system capable for their company and also its limits. But, a lot of problems you will encounter are from maintaining the system, because it includes updating or changing some aspect of the system. He said that, as time goes by; many changes should be done because technology is also evolving. He also said that one of their main problems is the risk for their data security. Their system is not well secured that can be accessed by unauthorized person and probably cause system error and system change, and the flow of their information will be affected that will cause false information. Updating or changing a system is a lot of work because the whole flow of information will be interrupted that is why they will make an immediate solution for the problem. In order to solve those risks, you should be an expert for this job and well planned. He also said that they encounter a lot of error of their system that is why they have developed a backup system for data recovery. Those are the information he shared to us…
RHINE MARKETING CORPORATION
ORIGIN
In 1947, the late Claude Marion Wilson Jr. after has retirement from the US Army, invested his savings and set up the Claude M. Wilson Trading Co., a company engaged in the imporation and selling of construction materials, essential items needed for the country's reconstruction after World War II. The small enterprise was later renamed Claude Wilson Corporation. The company started selling imported sewing machines, and business machines, principally the Italian Olivetti typewriter.
The Claude Wilson Corporation established its Cebu branch in 1957, at the center of Juan Luna and D. Jakosalem Streets, under the supervision of Mr. Juan Ross. Mr. Lou Da Costa was then General Manager of the Manila Head Office.
In less than a year, the company grew and Cebu branch moved to bigger offices of the old Osmella situated at the corner of D. Jakosalem and Magallanes Streets. Mr. Jose Antonio Martinez became the first branch manager, while another trusted Wilson executive, Mr. Senen Valero, took charge of company operations.
In the later 50's and early 60's, the Philippine economy began to flourish resulting in an increased demand for sewing machines and other home appliances. This gave the company through Claude Wilson's entrepreneurship, the impetus to diversify and expand its product lines.
In line with the government's call for the establishment of more factories, Mr. Wilson decided to manufacture instead of import sewing machines. This daring move was vigorously challenged by competitors who could import sewing machines more cheaply than to manufacture them.
In 1961, Claude Wilson Corporation became Philippine Sewing Machines Manufacturing Corporation (PSMMC). The company head office was in Manila with branches in Cebu and Dagupan, locations designed to meet demands in Luzon and the southern part of the country. Martinez was transfered back to head office in Manila and A.F. Martelino was appointed Cebu Branch Manager.
On May 26, 1964, PSMMC (now METERCOR) formed a marketing arm called Rhine Marketing Corporation principally to sell Rhine sewing machines. Paid-up capital was P50, 000.00.
In the 70's product lines were expanded to include other consumer durables which, like sewing machines, were also in short supply. Since the company's main thrust was to be installment sales, Wilson and his executives reasoned that a provincial head office would stand a better chance of succeeding. That nationale was that a small, cohesive community where people knew each other and have lived in the area for many years would result in safer, less risky sales on credit. Cebu was a natural choice. That policy was a wise one indeed and Rhine today continues to operate a nationwide network of branches from its home base in Cebu.
The following year there more branches opened in 1980. These are located in Makati, Mati, Gingoog, Valencia, San Jose, Calamba and San Fernando.
Rhine Marketing Corporation - Computer Division (RMC-CD) is a leading manufacturer of personal computers, and distributor of a complete line of peripherals and other computer-related services. Established in February 1992, when Rhine Marketing Corporation's interest has evolved from home appliance business to Information Technology (I.T.), we now enjoy a rapid growth and have achieved a good reputation immediately. We not only provide expertise to meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of our clients, but also offer solutions that set new standards for quality performance and value.
Reference: http://www.rhine.com.ph/about-us/rhine-marketing-corporation.html#about%20us
Based on the organization(s) that you visited, what do you think are the risks associated with business and IS/IT change?
…the company chooses one of their employees who is capable or has knowledge/skills that could help us gather information on their company that would reflect to our studies. One of their employees introduces himself to us. He is Mr. Crisologo Abella, MIS staff and a programmer of their branch. He is our interviewee of that company. After introducing each other I ask him a lot of questions that would help us gather information about the question above, together with my co-interviewer.
The branch of Rhine Marketing Corporation we visit is located at San Pedro St., Davao City.
These are some of the important questions that we asked or presented to him:
…How important IT/IS to your company? …What are the systems you have implemented to help the company, how do you call it? …Can you give us some details about the flow of information on this system? …How do you maintain or manage it? …are there any problems you have encounter on developing this system? …what are the risks on maintaining or managing the system? …I’m sure you’ve gone though updating your system? What are the problems or risks you’ve met on updating your system? …what are your techniques or way in order to solve these problems?
…Those are the questions we have presented and after every question, he answered it well. These are the information I have gathered from the interviewee (but I put it in my own words based on my own understanding)… He said that Information System is the most important thing on business because without it their will be no exact flow of information. In order to lessen the capacity of their work, they develop a system and they called it Rhine System. On this system, every data and information for their company such as supplies, payroll, inventory and etc., will be saved and retrieved for every moment they will needing it. He said that he is one of person who developed the software of the Rhine System such as programs, database, as well as managing or maintaining the system. He also rate to us how important is Information system; he rated it as 101%. He also taught us some of the flow of information of their companies. He also taught us what are the components or the thing flows to their system, such us the supplies sales inventory payroll etc. He said that being the head of the IS personnel and a head of their system maintenance, it cause a lot of work and problem. He said that maintaining IS/IT is as challenge because there are a lot of risks and problems you will encounter and need to solve immediately. He said that first problem you will encounter is from making or developing programs for your system. And as usual it starts from planning what kind of system capable for their company and also its limits. But, a lot of problems you will encounter are from maintaining the system, because it includes updating or changing some aspect of the system. He said that, as time goes by; many changes should be done because technology is also evolving. He also said that one of their main problems is the risk for their data security. Their system is not well secured that can be accessed by unauthorized person and probably cause system error and system change, and the flow of their information will be affected that will cause false information. Updating or changing a system is a lot of work because the whole flow of information will be interrupted that is why they will make an immediate solution for the problem. In order to solve those risks, you should be an expert for this job and well planned. He also said that they encounter a lot of error of their system that is why they have developed a backup system for data recovery. Those are the information he shared to us…
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Assignment 2(HRM) My future Job!
In our world today, from the level of our education you will be able to play an active role in planning and directing your future jobs. In my case, I have a lot of desired careers that I want to achieve for the future. There are a lot of jobs exists today and among those jobs, I choose what job I would like to have in the future. But using our own way of thinking, if you are in a high level of education, you can imagine or think a job that never yet exists. I, as a third year IT student, I can hereby say that I am capable or has the knowledge to develop my own job that haven’t yet exist except on my mind. Speaking of future, all of us have no idea of what our future is, but we can guide or lead our right way from the present to the future by management. Managing our time, actions and the way we does in order to have an idea of what will be our future.
Here are some guidelines on developing you future job:
1. Analyze your current/future lifestyle. Are you happy with your current lifestyle? Do you want to maintain it or change it? Be sure to identify the key characteristics of your ideal lifestyle.
2. Analyze your likes/dislikes. What kinds of job do you like? Think of a job that fit for you.
3. Analyze your passions. Reflect on the times and situations in which you feel most passionate, most energetic, most engaged.
4. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Step back and look at yourself from an employer's perspective. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Think in terms of work experience, education/training, skill development, talents and abilities, technical knowledge, and personal characteristics.
5. Analyze your definition of success. Spend some time thinking about how you define success. What is success to you: wealth, power, control, contentment…?
6. Analyze your personality. Are you an extravert or an introvert? Do you like thinking or doing? Do you like routines or change? Do you like sitting behind the desk or being on the move? Take the time to analyze yourself first, and then take one or more of these self-assessment tests.
7. Analyze your dream job. Remember those papers you had to write as a kid about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Take the time to revert back to those idyllic times and brainstorm about your current dream job; be sure not to let any negative thoughts cloud your thinking. Look for ideas internally, but also make the effort to explore/research other careers/occupations that interest you.
8. Analyze your current situation. Before you can even do any planning, clearly and realistically identify your starting point.
http://www.quintcareers.com/career_plan.html
By the guidance of our HRM facilitator, we are tasked or assigned to develop a Job Description for a job we would like to hold. If you just expand your mind about your learning from the day you start learning until today, you can think a future job you would like to be. By looking forward into the future, you should expect that the job you will create is in a high demand. In my side, I expanded my knowledge on how can I create a job for the future that is best and right for me and would help other people. I don’t think if my chosen job that popup in my mind already exist or not, but I know that among those millions of job exists that are IT related I can definitely say that the job description that I will develop is also related to some of those jobs. This is the job that I really want to be in the future and I think that this job fit for me. The job description that I would like to become in the future is… Software Developer!
This is one of my dreams that someday in the future I could develop my very own unique software that would help technological enhancement and can be useful in the future especially to IT world. I choose this kind of job I want to be in the future because I was amazed by different software exists nowadays, and how those things help me and everyone. I choose to become an educated IT person because I want to experience or want to know what is behind in the world of technology that is definitely a parner of our daily lives.
God Bless!
Here are some guidelines on developing you future job:
1. Analyze your current/future lifestyle. Are you happy with your current lifestyle? Do you want to maintain it or change it? Be sure to identify the key characteristics of your ideal lifestyle.
2. Analyze your likes/dislikes. What kinds of job do you like? Think of a job that fit for you.
3. Analyze your passions. Reflect on the times and situations in which you feel most passionate, most energetic, most engaged.
4. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Step back and look at yourself from an employer's perspective. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Think in terms of work experience, education/training, skill development, talents and abilities, technical knowledge, and personal characteristics.
5. Analyze your definition of success. Spend some time thinking about how you define success. What is success to you: wealth, power, control, contentment…?
6. Analyze your personality. Are you an extravert or an introvert? Do you like thinking or doing? Do you like routines or change? Do you like sitting behind the desk or being on the move? Take the time to analyze yourself first, and then take one or more of these self-assessment tests.
7. Analyze your dream job. Remember those papers you had to write as a kid about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Take the time to revert back to those idyllic times and brainstorm about your current dream job; be sure not to let any negative thoughts cloud your thinking. Look for ideas internally, but also make the effort to explore/research other careers/occupations that interest you.
8. Analyze your current situation. Before you can even do any planning, clearly and realistically identify your starting point.
http://www.quintcareers.com/career_plan.html
By the guidance of our HRM facilitator, we are tasked or assigned to develop a Job Description for a job we would like to hold. If you just expand your mind about your learning from the day you start learning until today, you can think a future job you would like to be. By looking forward into the future, you should expect that the job you will create is in a high demand. In my side, I expanded my knowledge on how can I create a job for the future that is best and right for me and would help other people. I don’t think if my chosen job that popup in my mind already exist or not, but I know that among those millions of job exists that are IT related I can definitely say that the job description that I will develop is also related to some of those jobs. This is the job that I really want to be in the future and I think that this job fit for me. The job description that I would like to become in the future is… Software Developer!
This is one of my dreams that someday in the future I could develop my very own unique software that would help technological enhancement and can be useful in the future especially to IT world. I choose this kind of job I want to be in the future because I was amazed by different software exists nowadays, and how those things help me and everyone. I choose to become an educated IT person because I want to experience or want to know what is behind in the world of technology that is definitely a parner of our daily lives.
God Bless!
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