Information Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

7 Days to More Powerful Audio Information Products

When looking at the numbers of my own information products that get the most listeners, I’m fortunate enough to know how to go into my website’s C Panel. The C Panel is when you go into the back control panel of your website, and there’s an icon in there called, “Stats,” and you can click on the stats. It gives you all the statistics of how many people have clicked on a page.

It tells you how many unique visitors have come to your site. It tells you where your traffic is coming from, and then there’s a top ten. It’ll rank your interviews by the month, what are the top ten most listened interviews.

So, it’s really telling. It’s exciting to go in there and see what people are listening to. You can actually go into a section of that C Panel, and you can click on this thing. It’ll show you, if you had 300 visitors on your site, you can see exactly the path that someone has taken on your website.

They may come to the homepage. They may listen to an interview with Ben Settle, and you can see their traffic patterns. This really gives you a good idea of what is your market listening to on your website.

An interesting story, I just did an interview, it’s probably been two months. I did an interview with a lady named Elizabeth Hagen, and she is an organizing expert. She teaches ladies how to organize their life, and how to get rid of the clutter.

I was looking in the stats in January of 2009, and I couldn’t believe the traffic. On that mp3 file for January, it was hit on, I can’t say that all these people listened to it, but the mp3 interview had 4,304 hits. That’s a lot of hits.

It’s interesting that part two was listened to more than part one. Anyway, so I called Elizabeth and I was like, “Elizabeth, did you mail out to your list and promote that interview? The traffic on this interview is incredible.” She said she didn’t, and I’ll tell you it’s getting harder and harder for me to kind of nail down where all these people are listening to this interview.

I’m scratching my head still with the Elizabeth Hagen interview. It’s still getting a ton of traffic, but we can’t figure out where. The reason is recently I’ve been taking my interviews – and we’ll talk more about this – I have all my interviews on iTunes. I have ten minute clips of all my interviews up on YouTube. I have them being introduced on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and a lot of the social networking sites.

You may have someone who took some of the content from an ezine article on the organizing interview, and put it in their blog that has a large subscription base.

There’s an interesting point in this. As long as you start getting your interviews out there, and getting them on the internet, they’re going to go viral eventually. If you do it right and you provide good exciting and valuable content, these things will get passed around. So, you’ll never know sometimes where all this traffic is coming from, but I do remember that learning interview that I did with the gentleman. That was very popular.

I’m just looking here from January of 2009, the organizing interview was number one. An interview with Ben Settle was number two for January. There was one called The Obvious Expert with Elsom Eldridge, and that’s how to publish a book and become the obvious expert. That was number three.

This one was not that surprising. It was an interview I did with an expert on LinkedIn. It was a training on how to use LinkedIn, which is a business social networking site, and how to maximize that and meet people and network better. That was very popular in January.

These are just the top ten. Nick Gilbert, he’s the one who hosts my web server. We did an interview on internet security. That was one of the most popular ones. Then, there’s one more. A guy named Mark Imperial, it was on information product creation. That was very popular, too.

It’s great. Once you have a website, and once you start doing interviews, you will be able to track what’s hot and what’s not, and you can use that to your advantage when you’re marketing.

Information Feedback Loops In Stock Markets, Investing, Innovation And Mathematical Trends

It seems that no matter how complex our civilization and society gets, we humans are able to cope with the ever-changing dynamics, find reason in what seems like chaos and create order out of what appears to be random. We run through our lives making observations, one-after-another, trying to find meaning – sometimes we are able, sometimes not, and sometimes we think we see patterns which may or not be so. Our intuitive minds attempt to make rhyme of reason, but in the end without empirical evidence much of our theories behind how and why things work, or don’t work, a certain way cannot be proven, or disproven for that matter.

I’d like to discuss with you an interesting piece of evidence uncovered by a professor at the Wharton Business School which sheds some light on information flows, stock prices and corporate decision-making, and then ask you, the reader, some questions about how we might garner more insight as to those things that happen around us, things we observe in our society, civilization, economy and business world every day. Okay so, let’s talk shall we?

On April 5, 2017 Knowledge @ Wharton Podcast had an interesting feature titled: “How the Stock Market Affects Corporate Decision-making,” and interviewed Wharton Finance Professor Itay Goldstein who discussed the evidence of a feedback loop between the amount of information and stock market & corporate decision-making. The professor had written a paper with two other professors, James Dow and Alexander Guembel, back in October 2011 titled: “Incentives for Information Production in Markets where Prices Affect Real Investment.”

In the paper he noted there is an amplification information effect when investment in a stock, or a merger based on the amount of information produced. The market information producers; investment banks, consultancy companies, independent industry consultants, and financial newsletters, newspapers and I suppose even TV segments on Bloomberg News, FOX Business News, and CNBC – as well as financial blogs platforms such as Seeking Alpha.

The paper indicated that when a company decides to go on a merger acquisition spree or announces a potential investment – an immediate uptick in information suddenly appears from multiple sources, in-house at the merger acquisition company, participating M&A investment banks, industry consulting firms, target company, regulators anticipating a move in the sector, competitors who may want to prevent the merger, etc. We all intrinsically know this to be the case as we read and watch the financial news, yet, this paper puts real-data up and shows empirical evidence of this fact.

This causes a feeding frenzy of both small and large investors to trade on the now abundant information available, whereas before they hadn’t considered it and there wasn’t any real major information to speak of. In the podcast Professor Itay Goldstein notes that a feedback loop is created as the sector has more information, leading to more trading, an upward bias, causing more reporting and more information for investors. He also noted that folks generally trade on positive information rather than negative information. Negative information would cause investors to steer clear, positive information gives incentive for potential gain. The professor when asked also noted the opposite, that when information decreases, investment in the sector does too.

Okay so, this was the jist of the podcast and research paper. Now then, I’d like to take this conversation and speculate that these truths also relate to new innovative technologies and sectors, and recent examples might be; 3-D Printing, Commercial Drones, Augmented Reality Headsets, Wristwatch Computing, etc.

We are all familiar with the “Hype Curve” when it meets with the “Diffusion of Innovation Curve” where early hype drives investment, but is unsustainable due to the fact that it’s a new technology that cannot yet meet the hype of expectations. Thus, it shoots up like a rocket and then falls back to earth, only to find an equilibrium point of reality, where the technology is meeting expectations and the new innovation is ready to start maturing and then it climbs back up and grows as a normal new innovation should.

With this known, and the empirical evidence of Itay Goldstein’s, et. al., paper it would seem that “information flow” or lack thereof is the driving factor where the PR, information and hype is not accelerated along with the trajectory of the “hype curve” model. This makes sense because new firms do not necessarily continue to hype or PR so aggressively once they’ve secured the first few rounds of venture funding or have enough capital to play with to achieve their temporary future goals for R&D of the new technology. Yet, I would suggest that these firms increase their PR (perhaps logarithmically) and provide information in more abundance and greater frequency to avoid an early crash in interest or drying up of initial investment.

Another way to use this knowledge, one which might require further inquiry, would be to find the ‘optimal information flow’ needed to attain investment for new start-ups in the sector without pushing the “hype curve” too high causing a crash in the sector or with a particular company’s new potential product. Since there is a now known inherent feed-back loop, it would make sense to control it to optimize stable and longer term growth when bringing new innovative products to market – easier for planning and investment cash flows.

Mathematically speaking finding that optimal information flow-rate is possible and companies, investment banks with that knowledge could take the uncertainty and risk out of the equation and thus foster innovation with more predictable profits, perhaps even staying just a few paces ahead of market imitators and competitors.

Further Questions for Future Research:

1.) Can we control the investment information flows in Emerging Markets to prevent boom and bust cycles?

2.) Can Central Banks use mathematical algorithms to control information flows to stabilize growth?

3.) Can we throttle back on information flows collaborating at ‘industry association levels’ as milestones as investments are made to protect the down-side of the curve?

4.) Can we program AI decision matrix systems into such equations to help executives maintain long-term corporate growth?

5.) Are there information ‘burstiness’ flow algorithms which align with these uncovered correlations to investment and information?

6.) Can we improve derivative trading software to recognize and exploit information-investment feedback loops?

7.) Can we better track political races by way of information flow-voting models? After all, voting with your dollar for investment is a lot like casting a vote for a candidate and the future.

8.) Can we use social media ‘trending’ mathematical models as a basis for information-investment course trajectory predictions?

What I’d like you to do is think about all this, and see if you see, what I see here?

Using Information From Surveys to Stay Informed and Keep Ahead of the Game

Gathering market research data is an excellent way of identifying a target audience for your product or service, but understanding and acting upon it is the key to your success.

Market research falls into two broad categories – primary and secondary. Primary research describes the process of gathering information from customers directly, by conducting online surveys or organising focus groups or one-to-one interviews with carefully selected individuals from within your target group. Secondary research more involves picking up information acquired by others, by trawling the blogs and websites of other businesses, even competitors, and absorbing the data that they have.

Adapting to Customer Expectations

Online surveys are an excellent means of compiling vital information from your potential customers which enables products and services to be more finely tuned to their expectations as well as to possibly changing demographics. The proliferation of companies offering online research to businesses which seek important information, both from their target group and sometimes from the wider public, provides an alluring range of options and choices of approach and methodology. For those who would prefer not to outsource the information-gathering process there are options such as Survey Monkey, which allow businesses to design and manage their own surveys. Either way, as method and technology become more sophisticated with the development of better software, businesses are increasingly able to identify with precision the customer base which they are keen to interrogate.

As well using surveys to identify potential customers, many businesses will also employ them as a handy way of keeping up with trends and spotting any movements in customer expectations. Equally they are a useful tool for quality control, teasing intelligence from existing service users about satisfaction levels and how a product or service measures up against its opposition at any specific moment in time.

The Importance of Understanding Your Customers

Survey companies such as YouGov and Ipsos obtain their information from the public by offering a small financial incentive to their own members to complete questionnaires on specific topics. Of course there is the danger that particular demographic groups may be over- or under-represented amongst their users, for instance it would be reasonable to assume that, all else being equal, those on a higher income would be less in need of the usually modest financial inducements offered than those who are otherwise unemployed or in low-paid work. The competent provider will be able to redress this imbalance through the screening process at the beginning of every survey.

Knowing who your customers are, the nature of their expectations, the quality of your competition and the level of satisfaction that exists with your own service or product is vital to any business that aspires to stay ahead of the game.

Benefits Of Selling Products In The Information Marketing Business

In my opinion, the best home business in the world is the information marketing business. What is “information marketing”? Well it’s simply the process of selling instructional information in the form of: books, eBooks, CD’s, DVD’s, newsletters, seminars, and even membership sites. This is the ultimate lifestyle business.

And it’s even better on the internet. Many people have been running their own information marketing business offline for decades. But with the advent of the internet, it has taken information marketing to a totally new level. The main component of the information marketing business is something called, “information products”.

As I stated earlier, information products are simply products that deliver instructional information. It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in or the kind of products and services you sell – you can use info products to boost your sales and profits, along with adding another income stream into your business.

For example, a bakery shop owner could offer a free report (another form of information product) about how to make red velvet cupcakes. Then for every person who requests this information, the bakery shop owner can send out the free report, plus a copy of their menu – that already includes the red velvet cupcake that they can buy from their offline store, or website.

And the list goes on and on. Almost all businesses that I know of can use this very same approach to boost their sales, and add a new revenue stream. You can even make this your entire business, and sell products for hundreds of dollars – depending on your niche, and the components of your product.

You can get high profit margins with information products and the business of info marketing. Products are very cheap to produce also. You could sell a CD for $19, and have it only cost you 50 cents to reproduce it. Don’t believe me? Well, consider this for example.

Have you ever seen those late night infomercials about ab workouts or real estate ventures and etc? Well, those people are simply selling information products. They’ve exited out of the real estate game and the bodybuilding game, and are now making the bulk of their money selling information products.

Yeah you may buy their $19 product and they send you a lot of stuff, but more than likely after you order, a telemarketer will call you and try to upsell you on a $2,000 product, showing you the “real” secrets. This is nonsense – but this is how they REALLY make their money.

I don’t want to assimilate them as “sharks”, but I just want you to be aware of how information products are popular online. It’s easy for you to get started selling your information products, you just need the right guidance, and a good marketing plan to sell your products.

And yes, you can use information products in your business to boost your sales and add another stream of income in your life. Be sure to use them today – because they are very profitable. I even sell them in my business.

Good luck with selling information products today.

Graphic Design – Topography and Images to Present Information

Meaning

Graphic design is process of visual communication using topography and images to present information and attract people. It gives an interesting mix of presenting varied information in attractive formats to increase the overall users’ base. Whether you are reading your morning papers or commuting by a public bus, or open a book to read, element of graphics can be seen every where. It gives a great way to express your thoughts, ideas and opinion to reach millions of other users. This creative process involves different formats of graphics, which are easily available in today’s world:

Logos

Logo is an important form of graphics that conveys lots of ideas to its readers and users. A logo provides identify to the vision and the purpose of the organizations or any other agencies. In addition, it is difficult to register a company without a valid logo attached with it.

Websites

Websites reflect the major works of graphics aiming to attract promising clients to the organization. So, make sure your website reflect good piece of information prepared through graphic design services.

Business Cards

Business cards are essential in this competitive business boasting world. An impressive business card can get you really good impact and you will be successful to express your mind freely and effectively.

Advertisements

Graphics in advertisements have a specific role to play. You can hire a graphic design company to get your advertisement really rocking and reflecting you ideology.

Brochures

Brochures also consist major graphic designing in it. Without a good design, a brochure may not look very impressive. So, graphic can bring a life in brochures.

Billboards

Billboards or hoardings consist of advertisements promoting a product or services so the major attraction point is graphic designing.

Product Packaging

Nowadays, product packaging has a definite role to play in the promotion of a product or a service. Packaging clinches eyes positively and gives you several benefits in future context.

Posters

Posters are one of the popular methods to express the ideas and opinions. Therefore, it becomes necessary to make it really effective with lots of graphics and pictures in it.

Book Design

Graphic has a definite role to play in book designing. While designing a book, it is necessary to represent the content of the book to attract the promising readers.

Magazine Layout

Magazines offer wide information about varied subjects and current happenings. Therefore, it has to be attractive enough to tempt readers to go through its pages. So, the role of graphics can be really important here.

Newspaper Layout

While layout a newspaper, the importance of graphics can not be ignored. Anything colorful and informative attracts readers to a great extent.

Greeting Cards

In greeting cards too, graphics can do wonders and equally express your ideas to the fullest.

Forbes Africa – Delivering Information, Ideas and Technologies That Change the World

Started by B. C. Forbes and Walter Drey in 1917, Forbes Africa is published as a biweekly magazine. The original name of the magazine was Forbes: Devoted to Doers and Doings. Its current editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes, and its CEO is Mike Perlis.

At the time, B. C. Forbes was a financial columnist for Hearst papers, and Walter Drey was the General Manager of the Magazine of Wall Street. While B. C. Forbes went on to become the Editor-in-Chief, Walter Drey became the Vice President of B. C. Forbes Publishing Company. Ever since, the publishing company has stuck to being a family run business, with its headquarters in New York City, where all its primary competitors have their footing too.

Forbes is the one of the few magazines that features original articles on various topics including: finance, investing, marketing, and industry. In addition to the previously mentioned, the Forbes Africa magazine also features articles on technology, science, communications, and law.

Forbes is famously known for its lists and rankings, including lists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400); and rankings of world’s top companies (the Forbes Global 2000). One such list that was lately released is the Forbes Africa magazine list of the 50 Richest Africans 2013; where Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote is at the No.1 spot, with a net worth of $20 billion.

Forbes Africa’s mission is “Creating value and empowering people by accurately and passionately telling Africa’s business story – first.” It is distributed in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.

Apart from offering topics such as “The World’s Most Powerful People,” “Global High Performers,” and “The World’s Billionaires,” the magazine also features various topics from around the continent, adding relevant content, where necessary, from partners in the US.

The magazine makes the connection from various patterns, and explores beyond the obvious, to give insights of a completely different kind. This serves to deliver sharp, in-depth, and engaging stories written by experts who use an African standpoint to look at global and domestic issues.

Forbes has come to come to be known as a media brand that documents all things interesting and encourages business, culture, innovation, leadership, politics, entertainment, and technology. The distinguishing factor for Forbes is their special access to all of the world’s most powerful people; who are game changers and influencers in advancing industries across the globe.

Since 1917, Forbes magazine has been providing world business leaders useful strategic insights into the business world. A part of the Forbes’ initiative is to introduce in their agenda, cover stories of celebrated people who are changing the world for the better: Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Christine Lagarde, Jack Dorsey and more.

Forbes is an iconic status in the lexicon of American media and a huge success in both print and digital formats because of its wide editorial lens. The magazine has changed the way content is being created, propagated, read, and shared through their unique platforms of print, digital and mobile products. The Forbes Africa digital magazine and all the other Forbes e-magazines have seen an increased growth recently. It is so much easier now to carry your digital copy of the Forbes Africa rather than a paper magazine. The digital magazine stays accessible on your mobile device whenever and wherever you need it, and it offers you interactive content on the fly.

There are plenty of options when it comes to mobile devices and their operating systems, including: iOS, Android, Windows, and Symbian; you also have the option of the web and the newsstand apps that are used to download and view the magazines are plenty. Most of the apps are free to download for the user, who only needs to pay for the subscriptions to the magazines they choose. Some of the apps are free for use to the publisher, who is then able to offer competent prices to the user.

Get on the band-wagon and start downloading your favorite a few magazines! Make way for digital reading!

Human Resource Information System – HRIS

Human Resource Information Systems

The purpose of this paper is to identify other companies who have faced similar human resources issues in regards to information technology. Through benchmarking different companies we can learn how other companies have handled certain human resources issues related to information technology, information systems, new technology, and data security. An overall analysis has been completed using research on IBM Europe, Ameriprise Financial, Terasen Pipelines, Shaw’s Supermarkets, CS Stars LLC, IBM, WORKSource Inc., and Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. This paper also includes eight synopses of companies facing similar issue to those in the reading.

New Technology

With the changing world and constant new technology that is available, managers need to be aware of the technology that will increase effectiveness in their company. Human resource information systems (HRIS) have increasingly transformed since it was first introduced at General Electric in the 1950s. HRIS has gone from a basic process to convert manual information keeping systems into computerized systems, to the HRIS systems that are used today. Human resource professionals began to see the possibility of new applications for the computer. The idea was to integrate many of the different human resource functions. The result was the third generation of the computerized HRIS, a feature-rich, broad-based, self-contained HRIS. The third generation took systems far beyond being mere data repositories and created tools with which human resource professionals could do much more (Byars, 2004).

Many companies have seen a need to transform the way Human Resource operations are performed in order to keep up with new technology and increasing numbers of employees. Terasen Pipelines moved its headquarters from Vancouver to Calgary to be closer to the oil and realized a major growth in employees. In the past recording keeping was done on paper and with spreadsheets. Mangers at Terasen realized that there was a need to change to a more computerized system and looked into different HRIS vendors. By making the move to a HRIS system, Terasen is able to keep more accurate records as well as better prepare for future growth. Another company that saw the benefits of keeping up with new technology is WORKSource Inc. To meet the challenge of handling 100 new employees, WORKSource Inc. acquired Web-based technology programs from GHG Corp. like electronic pay stub, electronic timesheet software, time-off system, and human resource information system (“Tips,” 2006). By adapting these new programs, WORKSource was able to reduce waste and cost.

The Internet is an increasingly popular way to recruit applicants, research technologies and perform other essential functions in business. Delivering human resource services online (eHR) supports more efficient collection, storage, distribution, and exchange of data (Friesen, 2003). An intranet is a type of network used by companies to share information to people within the organization. An intranet connects people to people and people to information and knowledge within the organization; it serves as an “information hub” for the entire organization. Most organizations set up intranets primarily for employees, but they can extend to business partners and even customers with appropriate security clearance (Byars & Rue, 2004).

Applications of HRIS

The efficiency of HRIS, the systems are able to produce more effective and faster outcomes than can be done on paper. Some of the many applications of HRIS are: Clerical applications, applicant search expenditures, risk management, training management, training experiences, financial planning, turnover analysis, succession planning, flexible-benefits administration, compliance with government regulations, attendance reporting and analysis, human resource planning, accident reporting and prevention and strategic planning. With the many different applications of HRIS, it is difficult to understand how the programs benefit companies without looking at companies that have already benefited from such programs.

One such company is IBM. IBM has a paperless online enrollment plan for all of its employees. Not only has the online enrollment saved the company 1.2 million per year on printing and mailing costs, the employees enjoy working with the online plan. “Since we began offering online enrollment, we’ve learned that employees want web access,” Donnelly [Senior Communications Specialist] says, so they can log on at home rather than through the company intranet. So the company has been working to put in place a web-based enrollment system that employees and retirees can access from anywhere (Huering, 2003). By utilizing the flexible-benefits application HRIS has to offer, IBM was able to cut costs and give employees the freedom to discover their benefits on their own time and pace.

Another company that has taken advantage of HRIS applications is Shaw’s Supermarkets. In order for Shaw’s to better manage its workforce, the company decided it was time to centralize the HR operations. After looking at different options, Shaw’s decided to implement an Employee Self Service (ESS) system. The use of self-service applications creates a positive situation for HR. ESS gives HR more time to focus on strategic issues, such as workforce management, succession planning, and compensation management, while at the same time improving service to employees and managers, and ensuring that their data is accurate. With this solution, employees have online access to forms, training material, benefits information and other payroll related information (Koven, 2002). By giving employees access to their personal information and the ability to update or change their information as needed, HR was given more time to focus on other issues. Understanding the different applications HRIS has to offer will give companies the chance to increase employee efficiency and reduce costs.

Measuring the Effectiveness of HRIS

The evaluation should determine whether or not the HRIS has performed up to its expectations and if the HRIS is being used to its full advantage (Byars & Rue, 2004). One of the most significant challenges faced by public personnel executives today is measuring the performance of their human resources information system (HRIS) In order to justify the value-added contribution of the HRIS to accomplishing the organization’s mission (Hagood & Friedman, 2002). Implementing an HRIS program may seem a necessary stem for a company, but unless it will be an effective tool for HR operations, it will not help increase efficiency and may hinder it instead.

One company that implemented a HRIS system is Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. (TAMS). TAMS put all employee benefits information online and created an open enrollment option when TAMS changed healthcare providers. Almost immediately upon rolling out the UltiPro portal [new HRIS technology] to employees, TAMS began seeing improvements, with an estimated 70% increase in open enrollment efficiency (Wojcik, 2004). By determining the efficiency of the new program, TAMS was able to realize the benefits of the new HRIS system.

Security of HRIS

The privacy of employee information has become a major issue in recent years. With identity theft becoming a common problem, employees are becoming more sensitive about who sees their personal information, and the security it is kept in. By making sure employee information that is kept in the HRIS is relevant to the company and making sure there is limited access (password protection) to such information, companies can make its employees more secure with the safety of their information. Whether electronic or paper, employee files deserve to be treated with great care. Establishing security and end-user privileges calls for a balance of incorporating, HR policy, system knowledge and day-to-day operations (O’Connell, 1994).

One company that faced a major security issue was CS Stars, LLC. CS Stars lost track of one of its computers that contained personal information that included names, addresses and social security numbers of workers compensation benefits. The bigger problem was that CS Stars failed to notify the affected consumers and employees about the missing computer. Though the computer was retrieved and no information seemed to have been harmed, many employees lost their sense of security with the company. New York’s Information Security Breach and Notification Law, effective in December 2005, requires businesses that maintain computerized data which includes private information to notify the owner of the information of any breach of the security of the system immediately following discovery, if the private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization (Cadrain, 2007).

Another company that experienced a breach in security is Ameriprise Financial. In late 2005, a computer that contained personal information on clients and employees was stolen. Because many of the employees at Ameriprise take their computers between work and home, the company determined there was a need to put more security into those computers. Ameriprise made sure all employees had the new security suite installed on their computers. By responding quickly to the need for more security, Ameriprise made sure all information is being kept secure. Making sure employees information is kept as secure as possible there will be more trust in the company and the HR employees working with that information.

Conclusion

IBM, Terasen Pipeline, CS Stars LCC, and Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. are good examples of companies facing issues similar to human resources information technology and human resources information systems. All of these companies know the importance of new technology, human resources information systems, and data security. The remainder of this paper provides synopses of more companies facing human resources issues, how the company responded to the issues, and the outcomes of the company’s responses.

Companies Benchmarked

IBM Europe

The Situation:

IBM is a global organization offering research, software, hardware, IT consulting, business and management consulting, ring and financing. It employs around 340,000 people, speaking 165 languages across 75 countries, and serving clients in 174 countries. In January 2007, IBM established a separate “new media” function within its corporate communication department. IBM main goal is to educate, support, and promote programs that utilize social media. IBM Europe decided to expand internal communication by blogging guidelines. The recognition was that blogging was already happening among IBMers, just in an unregulated way. In a similar way, institutionalizing a function to deal specifically with new media is not a corporate move, or establishing from scratch. It’s a response to the issues already emerging in the company. Now that those technologies are here, people are using them, they’re growing and there here to stay-we’re just going to put some structure around them so that we can try to optimize their use.” The users decide what technologies they want to use and how they want to use them. That main idea is that IBM understands that they must remember to respect the fact that social media are social. IBM had the need to connect its 340,000 global employees more effectively.

The Response:

IBM’s intent around social media has now been officially formalized. From January 22 2007, the company established a separate “new media” function within its corporate communication department. “Its remit: To act as expert consultants inside and outside IBM on issues relating to blogs, wikis, RSS and other social media applications. The main idea is to educate, support and promote programs that utilize these tools. IBM has a history of being a t the forefront of technology based corporate communication. From the multimedia brainstorming “WorldJam” that made news headlines back in 2001 in which 50,000 employees worldwide joined a real time, online idea-sharing session about the company’s direction. IMB has always prepared itself to use breakthrough technologies to establish a two-way dialogue with its employees. The need for social media was necessary and could no longer wait.

The Outcome:

In the last few years IBM has been recognized as being the vanguard of social-media use: IBM was on of the first Fortune 500 companies to get behind collaborative wikis, published internal blogging guidelines as far back as 2003, and is now moving fast beyond RSS and podcasts into videocasting and “virtual world” technologies like Second Life. The intranet search facility extends to all areas of the site, including new media aspects. When an employee logs onto their portal an executes a key word search, the results they get back not only come from the main intranet pages, but include results from IBM forums, wikis, blogs and podcast/videocasts tags. IMB has an understanding that employees are no longer staying in a company their entire lives. It’s just not like that any more. In Belgium for example over 50 percent of 2,300 employees have been there fewer than five years. The company has come to the conclusion that with an increasingly young and mobile workforce, the likelihood is that an employee population full of a younger generation, for whom these tools are part and parcel of life, is not that far away. In years to come IBM will have to deal with employee base for which blogging is just the natural way to interact over a web platform. IBM has created centralized platforms for most tools that fall under its remit, which includes wikis. For Philippe Borremans, new media lead Europe for IBM, has the potential business applications of a wiki cover two broad benefits: Collaborating and knowledge sharing. IBM has scored some notable successes on both fronts in the near 5000 wiki pages now up and running in the organization. The company has been a huge pick-up in interest in podcasting over the last 18 months writing can seem such a technical skill, whereas people feel they can talk more freely than they can write. One of the most consistently popular IBM podcasts, with over 20,000 downloads a week.

Ameriprise Financial

The Situation:

The Department of Justice survey estimates that 3.6 million U.S. households were victims of identity theft in 2004. Trafficking in personal date goes beyond U.S. borders: the New York Times reports that stolen financial information is often distributed among participants of online trading boards, and the buyers are frequently located in Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East. One reason clients are concerned about data security is the widespread publicity generated by breaches at financial services firm. In late December 2205, an Ameriprise Financial employee’s laptop that contained unencrypted data on approximately 230,000 customers and advisors was stolen from a car. Other financial services firm, including Citigroup and Bank of America, also acknowledge large-scale customer data losses in 2005. President of NCS, Rita Dew, a compliance consulting firm in Delray Beach, Florida, says that the Securities and Exchange Commission requires investment advisors to have policies and procedures that address the administrative, technical, and physical safeguards related to client records and information.

The Response:

Ameriprise Financial had to fight back and had to implement “layers of protection.” It is important for employees who their primary business computer, and employees regularly transport the computer between home, office, and meeting sites. The vulnerability of this arrangement and the need for a safety software program is much needed.

The Outcome:

Employees who are transporting lab tops should install the Steganos Security Suite on their computer. This software allows employees to create an encrypted virtual drive on the laptop that serves as data storage safe. Employees stores all client related data and tax preparation software database on the encrypted drive, which employees has set up with one gigabyte of storage space. The best thing is that when an employee turns off the computer the information is stored “safe”, the software automatically encrypts the virtual drive’s data. The software also generates encrypted backup files, which employees store on CDs in a fireproof safe. This should keep the data secure if any employee’s laptop is stolen or if the drive is removed from the laptop. Other financial advisors are relying on encryption both in and out of the office. Other programs that are being used to protect client’s information are RAID Level 1 system to store data on the drives that are encrypted with WinMagic’s SecureDocs software. Encryption ensures that anyone who steals the computer will be absolutely unable to read the data, even by connecting it to another computer as a “slave drive. This has given many financial advisors the greatest peace of mind.

Terasen Pipelines

The Situation:

Terasen Pipelines is a subsidiary of Terasen Inc. located in Vancouver, Canada and is located in several provinces and U.S. states. In 2001 the company changed its headquarters to Calgary to be closer to the oil. With the big move, the company went through a growth spurt. With the company in many different locations and the growing numbers of employees, the HR department saw a need to find a new system to keep more accurate records.

The Response:

In the past Terasen had kept records on paper and with spreadsheets and with the growth of the company, this system does not work as well as in the past. In order to compensate for future growth, Terasen began to look into HRIS companies to help with the HR operations. After researching different companies, Hewitt’s application service provider model with eCyborg was found to be the right fit.

The Outcome:

Although there was difficulty adapting to a new way of recordkeeping, Terasen was able to find a system that will help support the current and future growth of the company. Fortunately, some of the HR staff had experience working with an HRIS and were able to help their colleagues imagine new processes, as aided by a system. One theme often voiced throughout this process was: “You guys don’t know how hard we’re working when we can make it so much easier with a system that could do a lot of this for us. You don’t always have to run to the cabinet for the employee file just to get basic information. It can all be at your fingertips.” (Vu, 2005). In order to help Terasen ease the HR burden of implementing a new HR system, the management of Terasen was convinced to look for a vendor to help implement and maintain a HRIS system. This system has helped Terasen better prepare for current and future growth.

Shaw’s Supermarkets

The Situation:

Shaw’s Supermarkets is the second largest supermarket chain in New England. With a workforce of 30,000 located at 180 stores throughout six states, Shaw’s HR staff is responsible for managing employees’ personal data. Their employee mix includes approximately 70 percent part-time employees, consisting of students, senior citizens, second-job part-timers, and career part-timers. One third of the workforce is made up of union associates, and Shaw’s staff oversees the company’s involvement with three unions and six separate contracts (Koven, 2002). In order to help manage the workforce, the HR staff became interested in centralizing its HR operations.

The Response:

In order to centralize HR operations Shaw’s decided to implement an ESS (employee self-service) solution. The use of self-service applications creates a positive situation for HR. ESS gives HR more time to focus on strategic issues, such as workforce management, succession planning, and compensation management, while at the same time improving service to employees and managers, and ensuring that their data is accurate. With this solution, employees have online access to forms, training material, benefits information and other payroll related information.

The Outcome:

Shaw’s has had positive feedback since implementing the ESS solution. “The reaction from our employees has been extremely positive,” Penney, VP of Compensation and Benefits, says. “We even had a significant increase in our medical coverage costs, and it was almost a non-issue because the online enrollment featured the plan choices, the employee cost, and the company subsidy. An employee self-service application makes it very easy for them to understand their contributions and coverage options. I received several e-mails from employees saying this was a great change and how easy ESS was, which the case is not often when employees are selecting their benefit options.” (Koven, 2002). By giving the employees more access to their information they are able to see the benefit choices available to them. Employees are also able to update their information online, which helps reduce the paperwork of the past. Shaw’s has also seen improvement in productivity because employees are updating information at home, not during work hours.

CS Stars, LLC

The Situation:

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced that New York State has reached its first settlement with a company charged with failing to notify consumers and others that their personal data had gone missing. Cuomo’s office, which enforces the state’s 2005 Information Security Breach and Notification Law, charged CS STARS LLC, a Chicago-based claims management company, with failing to give notice that it had lost track of a computer containing data on 540,000 New Yorkers’ workers’ comp claims.

The Response:

The owner of the lost data, which had been in the custody of CS STARS, was the New York Special Funds Conservation Committee, an organization that assists in providing workers’ comp benefits under the state’s workers’ comp law. On May 9, 2006, a CS STARS employee noticed that a computer was missing that held personal information, including the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of recipients of workers’ compensation benefits. But CS Stars waited until June 29, 2006, to notify Special Funds and the FBI of the security breach. Because the FBI declared that notice to consumers might impede its investigation, CS STARS waited until July 8, 2006, to send notices to the 540,000 New Yorkers affected by the breach. On July 25, 2006, the FBI determined an employee, of a cleaning contractor, had stolen the computer, and the missing computer was located and recovered. In addition, the FBI found that the data on the missing computer had not been improperly accessed.

The Outcome:

New York’s Information Security Breach and Notification Law, effective in December 2005, requires businesses that maintain computerized data which includes private information to notify the owner of the information of any breach of the security of the system immediately following discovery, if the private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization. The law affects not only businesses in their dealings with their customers, but employers in their role as custodians of employees’ personal data. (Cadrain)

Without admitting to any violation of law, CS STARS agreed to comply with the law and ensure that proper notifications will be made in the event of any future breach. The company also agreed to implement more extensive practices relating to the security of private information. CS STARS will pay the Attorney General’s office $60,000 for costs related to this investigation. (Cadrain)

IBM

The Situation:

IBM’s paperless online enrollment system, introduced in 1999, has proved to be a winner for both the company’s 135,000 active U.S. employees and the company, according to Cathleen Donnelly, senior communications specialist at company headquarters in Armonk, N.Y. The company saves $1.2 million per year on printing and mailing costs alone, Donnelly says, and the employees’ can take advantage of a variety of technologies to learn about issues, research program information and access decision support tools from their desktop computers. (Heuring, 2002)

The Response:

One of those tools, a personal medical cost estimator, enables employees to calculate potential out-of-pocket health care expenses under each of the plan options available to them, Donnelly says. Employees log in personally and are greeted by name and with important information regarding their benefits enrollment, such as the deadlines and when changes take effect. They automatically get access to health plans that are available to them, and the calculator lets them compare estimated benefit amounts for each plan.

“Employees can select the health care services they expect to use in a particular year, estimate expected frequency of use, and calculate potential costs under each plan option,” Donnelly says. “The feedback that we’ve received from employees tells us that this tool has really helped them to make a comparison between plans based on how they consume medical services.” The calculator shows both IBM’s costs and the employee’s. (Heuring, 2002)

The Outcome:

“Since we began offering online enrollment, we’ve learned that employees want web access,” Donnelly says, so they can log on at home rather than through the company intranet. So the company has been working to put in place a web-based enrollment system that employees and retirees can access from anywhere.

Employees can get summary information on the plans, drill down into very specific details and follow links to the health care providers for research. Donnelly says the system has received high marks for convenience because employees can “get in and out quickly.”

WORKSource Inc.

The Situation:

To meet the challenge of handling 100 new employees, WORKSource Inc. acquired Web-based technology programs from GHG Corp. like electronic paystub, electronic timesheet software, time-off system, and human resource information system (“Tips,” 2006). These tools enabled CEO Judith Hahn to handling payroll procedures efficiently and effectively.

The Response:

WORKSource has eight workforce centers, with approximately 108 employees, located throughout a six-county region. Previously, payroll, benefits, and human resources for those employees were processed and managed by a Professional Employer Organization. The company also has 52 administrative staff in its headquarters office. When the contract with the PEO terminated on June 30, 2006, those 108 employees were immediately moved to the payroll of WORKSource, which meant Hahn’s workload more than doubled effective July 2006 (“Tips,” 2006).

Hahn, in an interview with PMR, said she relied on LEAN to help get a handle on what needed to change for her to manage the increased workload. Two years earlier, Hahn’s CEO had introduced her to LEAN, a Japanese management concept of eliminating wasteful steps and motion when completing processes. “I began to read as much as possible about LEAN and joined an HR LEAN focus group” (“Tips,” 2006).

The Outcome:

Mastering the concepts of LEAN led Hahn to develop and apply her own acronym of “REASON” to her department’s payroll and HR processes. Review the process: map payroll tasks from start to finish. Eliminate waste: determine how to complete a payroll task most efficiently without unnecessary steps. Analyze alternatives: research and evaluate the applicability of new technology. Sell innovations to management: document the return on investment of each innovation. Open the lines of communication: communicate openly—and often—with all stakeholders, including employees and top management. Never allow negativity: make change simple and fun. Give employees plenty of encouragement and time to learn (“Tips,” 2006). Judith Hahn was able to implement the right human resource functions using information systems.

Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc.

The Situation:

Lynda Morvik, director of benefits and human resources information systems at Tustin, California-based Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. (TAMS), thought it would make sense to add a benefits communication component to it. By having all the benefit information online, the TAMS employee handbook would also be a living document, enabling Morvik to make changes when necessary. Such was the case halfway through the project, when TAMS changed health care plans from Aetna Inc. to United Health Group Inc (Wojcik, 2004).

The Response:

TAMS, an independent group company of Toshiba Corporation and a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, MRI, and information systems, had been using a payroll service bureau and an in-house solution for HR that didn’t include easy-to-use consolidated reporting or an employee portal. After evaluating UltiPro alongside several enterprise resource vendors, TAMS selected Ultimate Software’s offering and went live in September 2002 after an on-time and on-budget implementation. Almost immediately upon rolling out the UltiPro portal to employees, TAMS began seeing improvements, with an estimated 70% increase in open enrollment efficiency (Wojcik, 2004).

The Outcome:

In an effort to expand the usage of the Web beyond the benefits enrollment process, TAMS has posted a library of documents and forms on its HR portal, including the benefits handbook, which garnered a 2004 Apex Award for publication excellence. That same year, Business Insurance magazine also gave TAMS the Electronic Benefit Communication (EBC) award for outstanding achievement in communicating employee benefits programs over the Web. To continue elevating its use of Ultimate Software’s HRMS/payroll solution, TAMS modified the UltiPro portal to meet the imaging company’s unique needs (Wojcik, 2004). It was completely integrated with several proprietary applications created to address compensation and performance management issues so that TAMS employees have a central location for comprehensive workforce and payroll information from a Web browser that they can access with a single sign-on (Wojcik, 2004).

References

Byars, Lloyd L. & Rue, Leslie W. (2004). Human Resource Management, 7e. The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Cadrain, Diane (2007). New York: Company Settles Data Breach Charges. Retrieved June 3, 2007 from [http://www.shrm.org/law/states/CMS_021505.asp#P-8_0]

Clarifying IBM’s Strategic mission for social media (2007). Strategic Communication

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Friesen, G. Bruce (2003). Is your client ready for eHR? Consulting to Management, 14(3), 27. Retrieved June 3, 2007 from ProQuest Database.

Hagood, Wesley O. & Friedman, Lee ( 2002). Using the balanced scorecard to measure the performance of your HR information system. Public Personnel Management, 31(4), 543-58. Retrieved June 3, 2007 from ProQuest Database.

Heuring, Linda (2003). IBM: Laying Outing Enrollment Options. Retrieved June 2, 2007 from [http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/0803/0803heuring_paperless.asp]

Koven, Jeff (2002). Streamlining benefit process with employee self-service applications: A case study. Compensation & Benefits Management, 18(3), 18-23. Retrieved June 2, 2007 from ProQuest Database.

O’Connell, Sandra (1994). Security for HR records – human resources. HR Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2007 from [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m349] 5/is_n9_v39/ai_16309018

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Tips on Using Technology to Streamline Payroll Processes – and Cut Costs (2006). Payroll Managers Report, 6(10), 1-9. Retrieved June 2, 2007 from EBSCOhost Database.

Vu, Uyen (2005). Contracting out HRIS easy call at Terasen Pipelines. Canadian HR Reporter, 18(4), 5-9. Retrieved June 2, 2007 from ProQuest Database.

Wojcik, J. (2004). Toshiba Employee Handbook Goes Online. Business Insurance, 38(49), 18.

Retrieved June 2, 2007 from EBSCOhost Database.

Online Portals : Storehouse of information in World News, Entertainment, Online Shopping, Sports

If Barbara Tuchman claimed that “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.” No one would disagree with her famous quote. However, besides being a medium of conveying knowledge, books can be cumbersome and can take large amounts of time in finding information. The virtual effects of science have caused a breakthrough making the store houses of information right in front of our computer screen as opposed to a newspaper where news may be shortened for the sake of space.

The new generation has the power of online portals which provide information with a mere click. No magic, no drama just news served like a hot cup of coffee to revitalize your senses. It wasn’t that long after the Web first appeared that the first portals came into existence. Portals served and continue to serve as a important launch point for Web surfing, and although there are some special-interest portals out there that get some market share, the ones that started out early are the ones that get the lion’s share of viewership.

The magical online portals have given the world of knowledge to man’s finger tip. It covers all aspects from news, headlines, sports, entertainment, living, online shopping, articles, current events, current events, news updates.

But the portals of old were plain compared to what they are today, and what they will become in the next few years. Already a far cry from the plain, static first generation of portals, today’s Web portals take advantage of new technology to create a much more exciting surfing experience. The driving force behind all this is the pervasiveness of broadband, which allows portals to hold more rich graphics and multimedia, colorful and fun animation, and functional applets such as stock market tickers and news feeds.

EMarketer’s report highlights the future of the portal in this light, noting that portal services will go even beyond the Web itself, into the areas of personalized desktops, and video/multimedia search. And of course, portals make their money chiefly through advertising, and eMarketer makes note of the fact that the type of advertising found on portals is also changing.

The biggest changes in the future of portal services will be its expansion beyond traditional search, something we’re already seeing with Google’s branching out into other areas. Look for all major portals to launch desktop search products, personalized search tools, and even mobile search services in the coming years.

Private portals are also gaining in popularity as a convenient way to allow employees, clients, and customers to securely access personalized information via a password-protected portal site. Healthcare portals have become a extremely useful addition to large HR organizations, which save time and money by allowing employees to log into their own healthcare accounts–relieving HR staff from having to spend time on low-priority, standard requests for information. While the IT staff may be well-equipped to handle the technical end of the portal, leaving the project entirely in their hands (and not seeking participation from other areas) is likely to result in a portal that is not aligned with the true business needs of the company. The portal must be a priority not just of IT, but of the entire company. Online portals are the new generation information provider , and yes, if Late Barbara Tuchman was alive, she would have had a different quote altogether, what say ?

Tapping Into Information – Downloading Free E-Books

Downloading free ebooks is easier than you may think. It is possible to look into almost any portal online and find the information that you want in an eBook format. Because modern technology provides several areas and facets of information, you have the ability to get information and free ebooks for any need you have. Knowing exactly how to do this is the beginning to enjoying the most of the information age.

An eBook is also known as an electronic book. This concept was developed to provide an individual with the ability read information from a computer or electronic device through a simple download. Ebooks became popular during the dot com craze with technology moving across the nation. The main focus during this time was to provide customers to an introduction to information and business websites. Typically, ebooks are available in specific formats and computer software programs for easier downloading. The standard for this is Adobe Acrobat, also known as a.pdf file, as this is available on almost every computer for free downloads.

Once you find an eBook store that provides a library of information, then all you will need to is download the information you want. Most of the eBook providers will carry lower publishing costs because the author’s are first time writers or are interested in a different publishing method. Because most eBook stores work with a variety of authors, there is the ability to get into a range of subjects, with a complete library of materials available for every interest.

Not only can you find free ebooks by authors that are working their way into the market, but can also look into niche publishers that provide different sets of information. There are a variety of publishers that focus on providing niche ebooks to those that are in business. This information is given away for free, with the exchange that the authors will be able to provide knowledge and incentives to move customers into their business portal. By giving away this information, businesses are then able to get an exchange with heightened interest by potential customers.

The several facets that are a part of the eBook industry are one that is continuing to expand and offer individuals more opportunities in marketing and expansion of their business. The ability to gain knowledge and show potential customers that you carry a level of expertise to your business, you will have the ability to attract more individuals to your site. Making sure that you don’t overlook this marketing key by downloading free ebooks is the beginning to reaching new levels of success for your business.

Five Time Saving Tips Using the Computer for Information Management

Everyone is looking for more time to do the things they want and need to do. One way o accomplish more time is to spend less time on tasks that could be done better and easier using another method. For instance, using a computer wisely can greatly reduce time spent looking for information or doing repetitive tasks. Almost everyone has access to a computer and most computers will have one or more time-saving applications available. Here are just a few ideas on how the computer can save time.

1. Use spreadsheets to make lists, build budgets, and track multiple items.

Spreadsheets have built-in functions to help make math easier without a calculator. If database functions are used too, the information stored in the spreadsheet can be viewed in multiple ways.

2. Use standardized forms and checklists for work and planning that is repetitive.

This saves time because some of the thinking is taken out of the process. Instead of trying to remember everything, the form or checklist acts as a prompt for the necessary information.

3. Use email instead of the phone to save time and increase accuracy.

Stating what is needed or giving the message in an email is faster than picking up the phone and playing phone tag or leaving an unplanned voice mail. It also provides an opportunity to spell check and review the text before it is sent to avoid possible confusion.

4. Use a contact management database for quick lookup of key information on people.

Contact management databases have address information, notes, and reminder capabilities for keeping up with customers, suppliers, and other key people. Most email or calendar tools have a built in mini-contact database called an address book, which allows saving of name and email ID. Many also include phone number, company, title, and areas where other data may be entered. Using a contact database reduces the time needed to create emails and prevents typos.

5. Use form letters in a word processing application to reduce time spent in developing similar communications.

By creating form letters time spent sending the same type of letters, memos, and emails can be greatly reduced. If the application has a merge utility, it may also be able to add names and other data into printed documents using a contact management database or data table. Also use the grammar and spell-checking on messages before copy/pasting into or sending to an email tool. For emails where a word processing application is not available, save the standard email in the “draft” folder, then just edit key information before clicking send.

If it is hard to find out what an application does, try using the “Help” feature which is usually on the top menu bar of the application. If computer training is necessary to feel comfortable about using the tools mentioned, then invest the time wisely by taking a course or reading a book. It may take some time, but beginning to explore the computer-based options for using time wisely may be the best option for improved time management in the future.

Next time before looking up information, check out that computer and see which of these few ideas are available. Then find more time to accomplish the desired and necessary things by spending less time on repetitive tasks that could be done better and easier using the computer. Remember; don’t let available time be lost whenever there is another method to try.