MIS Assignment

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.

What is Outsourcing?????

So, what is outsourcing? Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.
Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry. Those processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively, by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained personnel.
Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits management. But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO).

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

Advantages of Outsourcing

Focus On Core Activities

In rapid growth periods, the back-office operations of a company will expand also. This expansion may start to consume resources (human and financial) at the expense of the core activities that have made your company successful. Outsourcing those activities will allow refocusing on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service in the back-office.

Cost And Efficiency Savings

Back-office functions that are complicated in nature, but the size of your company is preventing you from performing it at a consistent and reasonable cost, is another advantage of outsourcing.

Reduced Overhead

Overhead costs of performing a particular back-office function are extremely high. Consider outsourcing those functions which can be moved easily.

Operational Control

Operations whose costs are running out of control must be considered for outsourcing. Departments that may have evolved over time into uncontrolled and poorly managed areas are prime motivators for outsourcing. In addition, an outsourcing company can bring better management skills to your company than what would otherwise be available.

Staffing Flexibility

Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when you need them and release them when you’re done.

Continuity & Risk Management

Periods of high employee turnover will add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations. Outsourcing will provided a level of continuity to the company while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would bring to the company.

Develop Internal Staff

A large project needs to be undertaken that requires skills that your staff does not possess. On-site outsourcing of the project will bring people with the skills you need into your company. Your people can work alongside of them to acquire the new skill set.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Loss Of Managerial Control

Whether you sign a contract to have another company perform the function of an entire department or single task, you are turning the management and control of that function over to another company. True, you will have a contract, but the managerial control will belong to another company. Your outsourcing company will not be driven by the same standards and mission that drives your company. They will be driven to make a profit from the services that they are providing to you and other businesses like yours.

Hidden Costs

You will sign a contract with the outsourcing company that will cover the details of the service that they will be providing. Any thing not covered in the contract will be the basis for you to pay additional charges. Additionally, you will experience legal fees to retain a lawyer to review the contacts you will sign. Remember, this is the outsourcing company's business. They have done this before and they are the ones that write the contract. Therefore, you will be at a disadvantage when negotiations start.

Threat to Security and Confidentiality

The life-blood of any business is the information that keeps it running. If you have payroll, medical records or any other confidential information that will be transmitted to the outsourcing company, there is a risk that the confidentiality may be compromised. If the outsourced function involves sharing proprietary company data or knowledge (e.g. product drawings, formulas, etc.), this must be taken into account. Evaluate the outsourcing company carefully to make sure your data is protected and the contract has a penalty clause if an incident occurs.
Quality Problems

The outsourcing company will be motivated by profit. Since the contract will fix the price, the only way for them to increase profit will be to decrease expenses. As long as they meet the conditions of the contract, you will pay. In addition, you will lose the ability to rapidly respond to changes in the business environment. The contract will be very specific and you will pay extra for changes.
Tied to the Financial Well-Being of Another Company
Since you will be turning over part of the operations of your business to another company, you will now be tied to the financial well-being of that company. It wouldn't be the first time that an outsourcing company could go bankrupt and leave you holding-the-bag.
Bad Publicity and Ill-Will

The word "outsourcing" brings to mind different things to different people. If you live in a community that has an outsourcing company and they employ your friends and neighbors, outsourcing is good. If your friends and neighbors lost their jobs because they were shipped across the state, across the country or across the world, outsourcing will bring bad publicity. If you outsource part of your operations, morale may suffer in the remaining work force.

Reasons Companies Outsource

Improve company focus

Outsourcing sets up a framework for an outside expert to assume responsibility for operational details, allowing management to focus on the more important business issues associated with meeting customer needs.
Obtain access to world-class capabilities

Because of the nature of their specialization and their own core activities, outsourcing providers bring extensive world-class capabilities, including leading-edge technology, to help companies satisfy the needs of their customers and become more productive.

Accelerate reengineering benefits

An organization can realize the anticipated benefits of reengineering quickly if it contracts with an outside organization - which is already reengineered to world-class standards - to take over the process.

Share risks

Outsourcing enables management to turn over to its suppliers certain classes of risks - such as demand variability and capital investments. Unlike the buyer, the outsourcing provider can spread these risks over multiple clients.

Free resources for other purposes

Outsourcing permits and organization to redirect its resources from non-core activities to ones that have the greatest impact on the business.

Make capital available

Contracting out certain functions as operational expenses can reduce the competition for capital since the outsourcing company provides the capital investment as part of its overhead.

Obtain a cash infusion

Outsourcing sometimes involves the sale of assets to the provider, which the customer realizes typically as some combination of cash and loan.

Reduce and control operating costs

Access to the outside provider's lower cost structure, which may be the result of greater economies of scale, is one of the most compelling tactical reasons for outsourcing.

Obtain resources not available internally

Outsourcing is often a viable option for companies experiencing rapid growth, expansion into a new geography, or spin-offs from the parent company - where normally required resources are not readily available.

Function difficult to manage or out of control

Control problems are cited as a reason for outsourcing. However, there may be underlying causes - such as unclear management expectations or difficulty in measuring performance - for which outsourcing alone is not the solution. Management in this case should work with outsourcing providers to define requirements.

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

While outsourcing may prove highly beneficial for many companies, it also has many drawbacks. It is important that each individual company accurately assess their needs to determine if outsourcing is a viable option.



Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-outsourcing.htm
http://www.sourcingmag.com/content/what_is_outsourcing.asp
http://operationstech.about.com/
http://www.horizontech.net/toptenreasons.htm

HRM Assignment 7

Make a reflection on this statement ..

"Human beings are the most important, potent and critical, resource of any organization, and yet the least understood and the worst managed of its resources"

Many organizations profess to consider their employees their most important asset but all too often their policies, procedures and managerial practices contradict that view. Such contradictions and out-dated management practices inhibit improvements in productivity, sap motivation and reduce profit margins.

Managerial practices must keep pace with the changing workforce. The workforce of today is better educate and its value systems, career expectations, and basic work habits are drastically different from those of the previous generation. Unfortunately many managers have not changed their style to meet their needs.

Human beings are the most IMPORTANT…….

Because, they are the real assets of an organization. Human has the great ideas in terms of good choice. They are central or the heart of organization, without them the company is hopeless. If treated well, they can take organizations to commanding heights. Human will make an organization most effective in its goals and objectives.. For any business these days, scaling the heights of success is not always an easy task. This is because today's corporate world has become extremely complex and intricate. For any business to succeed nowadays it is very important that the organization's employees play a key role. This does not only refer to employees doing the best job possible, but it also means that every employee must be right for the job that they are doing. What this translates into is that every employee who is working at his or her own position is the best possible candidate for that job. So that human beings give important role in organization and give life in a company.

Human beings are the most POTENT…….

Because every human has the unique ability to produce a good quality services. For any business to achieve, its objectives that they must plan their resources and one of their key resources is human. They need to get the right people and develop them well in order to meet the organization’s aims successfully. And they could be able to produce high level techniques in terms of first-class conclusion.
Indeed, the intelligence of the human can be likened to the performance of individual employees, as the move through the workforce is an important task, which has helped human resources, work out key solutions to inefficiency. In terms of planning it helps determine futures needs .
The Human beings function provides significant support and advice to line management. The attraction, preservation and development of high caliber people are a source of competitive advantage for our business, and are the responsibility of HR.

Human beings are the most CRITICAL…….

Because, I believe that only human beings have the ability to guide the organization. They are the backbone in company, so that without them the organization became weak and unsuccessful. Human beings are very important if they where departed, the company will be down and unsuccessful. And only human beings have the potential to lead the organization. Humans give benefits of the company and also the community and to be able to judge and suppress.

Human beings are hard to UNDERSTAND……

Because, human beings have an individual sensation to make their judgment and decision making. Human is the most intellectual creature in the world, they can’t simply understand what they think because they have unique idea in terms of opinion and understanding in one situation.

Human beings are the WORST to manage…..

Because, Humans are smart thinker and they have individual distinction. In some reasons humans are the worst to manage because humans have own ideas and understanding. In some information, humans have own feelings and expressions to make their own choice without managing in different things. By organizing is one way to direct them in a right direction in terms of good decisions.

MIS Assignment 7

On July 27, 2009, our President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her annual State of the Nation address or better known as SONA 2009.
Information about SONA

The State of the Nation Address Filipino: Talumpati sa Kalagayan ng Bansa, abbreviated SONA) is an annual event here in the Republic of the Philippines, in which the President of the Philippinesreports on the status of the nation, normally to the resumption of a joint session of the Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate). This is a duty of the President as stated in Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution: “ The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any other time.”

These are the areas related to ICT that was stated by our President Arroyo during her SONA:

1. Education for all

Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another through institutions.

Education is central to development and a key to attaining the Millennium Development Goals. It is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and lays a foundation for sustained economic growth.

• Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

• Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.

• Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.

• Achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.

• Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.

• Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

2. Automated elections

To ensure a credible and transparent electoral process, the modernization of the electoral system through computerization shall be supported to ensure the credibility of polls and correct the deficiencies in the electoral system. Likewise, the Omnibus Election Code shall be further revised and amended to respond to the needs of the present electoral system.

A system using appropriate technology for voting and electronic devices to count votes and canvass/consolidate results.

3. Transportation and digital infrastructure

To ensure that the future Internet infrastructure develops in a way that maximizes the democratic potential of the Net and encourages a decentralized, open architecture.

The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.

Sources:
http://pinoyfrontpage.com/pres-arroyo-last-state-of-the-nation-address-sona/
http://www.cdt.org/digi_infra/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

HRM Assignment 6

21st -Century Corporation

What is Corporation???

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

For me, I think our future would be more improving in terms of new technologies….

• Modern Inventions

We are now getting close to a decade into the 21st century. The last 100 years or so have really seen the rise of some of the greatest inventions that have ever come our way. There are also some notable 21st Century inventions, although there are not as many as we have seen in previous years. The inventions of the 21st century mainly revolve around things such as the personal computer and the Internet. These things will continue to be developed and improved upon throughout the coming century.

One of the most notable 21st Century inventions, if you would like to call an invention is that of Google. This is probably a company that has had an impact on more people's lives than any other. Yes, Microsoft certainly has their place in history as well as other companies, such as IBM but Google is a thriving company that continues to bring out new products and ideas on a regular basis. For example, page rank is one of the inventions of the 21st century that most of us tend to gloss over. The fact of the matter is, page rank is one of the determining factors that show how well a website is going to rank in the Google index. Without page rank, the results that you get from the search engine would be far less accurate.

Another one of the 21st Century inventions is a type of artificial heart. Known has the AbioCor heart, it is one of the first fully artificial hearts that is in existence. The first patient that receive one of these hearts lived for 151 days after the transplant. There are still some problems with this particular technology, such as the heart being rather large but as new methods of miniaturization of components take place, the heart may become smaller. It certainly is a large step forward in the replacement of such a vital organ.
The inventions of the twentyfirst century will no doubt continue to give us things that we need in order to thrive. It will be interesting to see where the new agent technology that we are now living in will take us.

• THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

The impact of global climate change is not limited to specific areas of our lives. With its social, cultural, economic and psychological implications, climate change represents a shift towards a new era, which concerns all levels of the global community: markets and mindsets, global cooperations and democracy. To embrace this complexity the
The global economy of the coming recovery may well look very different from the global economy of the last expansion. Every business cycle leaves its mark on both the nature of business and the role of government in the economy. Not since the 1930s have we seen the government policy response to a recession as transformative as the response by the U.S. government to the current recession. Going forward, the U.S. government is going to have a much larger role with the issues of governance, green economics, energy and transparency taking center stage.

• Becoming Successful 21st Century Corporations

The Globalisation and Internet are the two major forces that are responsible for the radical changes that are going on among the business firms in Asia. Successful 21st century corporations responded
well to the threats and opportunities of the business environment. What makes these corporations different? Its the effective management systems in place that is responsible for their success.

• New Leadership

In recent years, top corporate executives have reaped a pay bonanza without precedent in the long and sweaty history of working for a living. Is today's boss overpaid? Probably, but to whom much has been given, even more will be expected. The job of leading a company has never been more demanding, and it will only get tougher in the 21st century. The CEO will retain ultimate authority, but the corporation will depend increasingly on the specialized skills of a host of subordinate leaders. Long live the chief of customer relations, the chief of knowledge, the Web chief! The accelerated pace and complexity of business will continue to force corporations to push authority down through increasingly horizontal management structures. In the future, every line manager will have to exercise leadership's prerogatives--and bear its burdens--to an extent unthinkable a generation ago.



Sources:
http://www.inventionpop.com/21stcenturyinventions.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Water/emerging_global.asp

http://www.deloitte.com/view/

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_35/b3696014.htm

MIS Assignment 6

IT consultant

An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an 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.

Is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

If I would be hired by the university president as an IT consultant, I would suggest….

• Technology

Technology, broadly, is a tool or set of tools aimed at making some aspect of life better, easier, or more efficient. On the web, that could mean scripting languages that make it easier for developers to create applications, or it could mean applications that make it easier for us to accomplish a task.

I would suggest better equipments that are provide a skill to assessment, training and tutoring services. In this way, all students, teachers and Staff could benefits. Using that high technology, we could be ensured a better future in terms of academic situation, we could think easily in terms of program with reliable and easy to understand.

• Infrastructure

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 development and maintenance of essential public infrastructure is an important ingredient for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.
Poor infrastructure is perhaps the most binding constraint to growth throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

• Improving poor people's access to essential infrastructure services such as energy
• Assisting the creation of enabling environments for both private and public financing and management of infrastructure
• Supporting human resources development, institutional strengthening and capacity building in the infrastructure sector.

• Innovations

A new way of doing something. It may refer to incremental and emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. A distinction is typically made between invention, an idea made manifest, and innovation, ideas applied successfully.

• Steps and Processes

Decision making can be hard. Almost any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction. The difficult part is to pick one solution where the positive outcome can outweigh possible losses. Avoiding decisions often seems easier. Yet, making your own decisions and accepting the consequences is the only way to stay in control of your time, your success, and your life.

A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making techniques. One of the most practical decision making techniques can be summarized in those simple decision making steps:

Identify the purpose of your decision. What is exactly the problem to be solved? Why it should be solved?
1. Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?
2. Identify the principles to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgement criteria should the solution meet?
3. Brainstorm and list different possible choices. Generate ideas for possible solutions. See more on extending your options for your decisions on my brainstorming tips page.
4. Evaluate each choice in terms of its consequences. Use your standards and judgement criteria to determine the cons and pros of each alternative.
5. Determine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the above preparation steps.
6. Put the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action steps. Execute your plan.
7. Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps. What lessons can be learnt? This is an important step for further development of your decision making skills and judgement.


Sources:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_consulting
http://www.time-management-guide.com/decision-making-skills.html
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/keyaid/infra.cfm

MIS Assignment 5

Based on our adopted company, we are tasked to identify and discuss barriers in their IS/IT implementation.

What is Barrier??

• a structure or object that impedes free movement
• any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective; "intolerance is a barrier to understanding"
• anything serving to maintain separation by obstructing vision or access

A coordinated series of obstacles designed or employed to channel, direct, restrict, delay, or stop the movement of an opposing force and to impose additional losses in personnel, time, and equipment on the opposing force. Barriers can exist naturally, be manmade, or a combination of both.

One of the most effective things that you can do for your startup is to build barriers to entry, strengthening your competitiveness and making it more difficult for your competition to encroach on your opportunities.

Successfully growing a business is much more than just selling more stuff. You must also prepare yourself and your business for a larger more complex world. Through our work with small business owners during the last 25 years we have identified seven key barriers that stop business growth in its tracks.

Our world today has changed a great deal with the aid of information technology. Things that were once done manually or by hand have now become computerized operating systems, which simply require a single click of a mouse to get a task completed. With the aid of IT we are not only able to stream line our business processes but we are also able to get constant information in 'real time' that is up to the minute and up to date.

The significance of IT can be seen from the fact that it has penetrated almost every aspect of our daily lives from business to leisure and even society. Today personal PCs, cell phones, fax machines, pagers, email and internet have all not only become an integral part of our very culture but also play an essential role in our day to day activities. With such a wide scope for the purpose of this article we shall focus on the impact of the internet in information technology.

Although Information System takes care for all input and output in a computer system but they have some barriers, such as:

These are the barriers in our adopted company:

• Lack of job security

Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure.

• Hacker

A person who breaks into computers, usually by gaining access to administrative controls. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground. Proponents claim to be motivated by artistic and political ends, and are often unconcerned about the use of illegal means to achieve them.

• Viruses

a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the permission or knowledge of the owner. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability.

• Cost

In business, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In economics, a cost is an alternative that is given up as a result of a decision.[1] In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this case, money is the input that is gone in order to acquire the thing. This acquisition cost may be the sum of the cost of production as incurred by the original producer, and further costs of transaction as incurred by the acquirer over and above the price paid to the producer. Usually, the price also includes a mark-up for profit over the cost of production.

• Trainings for employees

They need to equip our employees to handle their employee relations responsibilities competently.The right employee training, development and education at the right time provides big payoffs for the employer in increased productivity, knowledge, loyalty, and contribution. Learn the approaches that will guarantee a return on your investment in training.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://humanresources.about.com/od/training/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/barrie

HRM Assignment 5

Visit and identify a company website that has undergone HR downsizing. Identify the cause of downsizing and describe its processes.

In this assignment, we are tasked to visit a company website that has undergone HR downsizing.

• What is Downsizing?

• To reduce in number or size
• To dismiss or lay off from work
• To make in a smaller size

Downsizing is a commonly used euphemism which refers to reducing the overall size and operating costs of a company, most directly through a reduction in the total number of employees. When the market is tight, downsizing is extremely common, as companies fight to survive in a hostile climate while competing with other companies in the same sector. For employees, downsizing can be very unnerving and upsetting.
There are several reasons to engage in downsizing. The primary reason is to make the daily operations of a business more efficient. For example, a company may be able to replace assembly line employees with machines which will be quicker and less prone to error. In addition, downsizing increases profits by reducing the overall overhead of a business. In other instances, a company may decide to shut down an entire division; a car company, for example, might decide to stop making sedans altogether, thus cutting an entire department.
In some cases, it becomes apparent that a business has too many employees. This may be because there has been a decline in demand for the company's services, or because a company is running more smoothly and efficiently than it once was. Many offices are heavily bloated with support staff and redundant departments, and these businesses may refer to downsizing as “trimming the fat.”
Numerous terms accompany downsizing. Employees may be terminated, fired, laid off, made redundant, or released. A business may be optimized, rightsized, or experiencing a reduction in workforce. Some of these terms have different legal meanings depending on where one is in the world; a layoff, for example, may refer to a mass temporary release of employees who will brought back in once business picks up, while a redundant employee is one who is asked to leave permanently.
Numerous consulting firms offer assistance with downsizing, often with the use of specialists who visit a business to evaluate it. Since profit is an important bottom line for companies, downsizing measures should be expected by employees, especially when they observe a troubled market or they are working for a struggling company.
For employees, the process can be stressful, because they may feel uncertain about whether or not they will continue to employed. Sometimes, downsizing is very abrupt, with a huge batch of employees being released from employment on the same day, while in other cases it may be a more drawn out and nervewracking process in which employees are slowly let go. Employers should remember that downsizing is very upsetting and stressful, and they should take steps to make it run smoothly while assuring valued employees that their jobs are secure.
In a business enterprise, downsizing is reducing the number of employees on the operating payroll. Some users distinguish downsizing from a layoff , with downsizing intended to be a permanent downscaling and a layoff intended to be a temporary downscaling in which employees may later be rehired. Businesses use several techniques in downsizing, including providing incentives to take early retirement and transfer to subsidiary companies, but the most common technique is to simply terminate the employment of a certain number of people.

Downsizing is a cutback in a company's operations and usually implies a reduction in its employee headcount as well. Downsizing results from many factors, including increased global competition, new technologies, and weaker labor unions; it takes various forms and has various outcomes. Some firms use downsizing as part of a long-term effort to transform their businesses; others turn to downsizing simply to slash costs and boost earnings. Sometimes downsizing boosts employee morale by giving the remaining workforce new responsibilities and opportunities; in other cases, downsizing leaves a demoralized staff that is undermanned when economic conditions improve. Some firms carry out downsizing relatively gently by offering workers strong incentives to retire; for other companies, downsizing means chopping heads as quickly and cheaply as possible. Whether downsizing generally helps or hurts a company's long-term profitability remains controversial. Evidence can be presented on both sides, but most would agree that the answer greatly depends on how the downsizing is executed.

Many companies today are under intense economic pressure. Reorganizations, takeovers, mergers, downsizings, joint ventures, and other major changes are extremely common, as companies try to grow and survive.

• Philippine Airlines

Formerly one of the largest Asian airlines, PAL was severely affected by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. In what was believed to be one of the Philippines' biggest corporate failures, PAL was forced to downsize its international operations by completely cutting operations to Europe and eventually Southwest Asia, cutting virtually all domestic services excluding routes operated from Manila, reducing the size of its fleet and terminating the jobs of thousands of employees. The airline was placed under receivership in 1998, gradually restoring operations to many of the destinations it formerly serviced. PAL exited receivership in 2007 with ambitious plans to further restore services to its previously-serviced destinations, as well as diversify its fleet.

Causes of Downsizing

• Changing market conditions
Ultimately, it is the small business owner who must accept responsibility for downsizing his company. There are just so many factors that an owner can control, but changing market conditions isn’t one of them. The market determines the lifecycle of a business, and the small business owner must stay in touch with changing market conditions in order to keep up the pace of growth. But this doesn’t always happen. Market shifts and the introduction of new technology can make a business become obsolete almost overnight. To restructure to meet changing market needs isn’t always possible. No amount of funding will breathe life into a dead horse. There comes a time when you have to let go.

• Disaster
A natural disaster can occur swiftly so that there can be little to do but batten down the hatches and wait it out. But a natural disaster on the scale of the hurricanes Katrina and Rita that destroyed thousands of small businesses along the Gulf Coast, can decimate a business and literally wipe it from the face of the earth. Natural disasters occur everywhere, from floods in the Midwest, tornadoes in the central belt, earthquakes in California, to volcanic eruptions in the Pacific Northwest. No area of the country is immune. Insurance can’t cover all the expenses of rebuilding, so a business owner has a choice of rebuilding with less, or letting go and shutting down for good.

• Change in management

The change in the top brass of a company can also result in downsizing. The working methods and procedures vary with the management. Therefore, a significant change in the management roles may drastically affect the employee size to suit a particular style of working.

• Economic crisis

This is the single biggest cause of downsizing. Often, it consists of huge lay-offs by a number of organizations across various domains. The recent economic recession facing the world, has triggered a number of lay-offs in many reputed and popular firms in the world. According to a survey conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, organizations consisting of higher percentage of managerial staff downsize more than the ones with higher percentage of production process employees.

One of the more common reasons for corporate downsizing is a decrease in the demand for a company’s goods and services. This decrease may be due to competitors gaining a larger share of the available consumer market, or economic downturns that cause consumers to focus more on necessities and less on any luxury items. In both situations, the lack of demand means that the corporation can no longer continue to operate with the same level of expenses and remain solvent. Thus, the company is likely to limit or shut down some portion of the manufacturing facilities in order to adjust to market demands. This usually means that hourly employees and managers will be laid off for an undetermined amount of time or let go completely.
When corporate downsizing is due to corporate mergers, there is usually the need to streamline the operations of the company in order to prevent duplication of effort. Often, a merger will mean that at least some of the executives are likely to be laid off or let go as various upper level operations are combined. A merger can also often lead to closing some physical plants and other facilities where both entities formerly operated. In turn, this means a reduction on the number of line employees, shift managers, and plant directors as two or more operations are restructured to operate out of one facility.
While corporate downsizing is usually viewed as a negative situation, that is not always the case. Severance packages sometimes take some of the sting of a layoff out of the picture. Many companies who go through a downsizing process make efforts to fund job retraining programs for their former employees, while others actively seek to identify other employers who would be interested in hiring some of the laid-off work force. People who have been laid off due to corporate downsizing sometimes use the event as a springboard into an entirely new career or line of work, one that ultimately proves to be more personally fulfilling as well as more lucrative.


Sources:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-downsizing.htm
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci759501,00.html
http://www.investorglossary.com/downsizing.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Airlines
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-for-downsizing.html

Assignment1(HRM)

In this assignment we are tasked to visit company to ask some associated information about the Human Resources' best practices. And my chosen company is Davao City Hall.

City Hall of Davao was first constructed as a municipal hall in 1923, the city hall of Davao is where all progress and developmental plans take shape and get approved for implementation. Today we see a potential Davao City but everything starts and hinges on the daily grind that happens at the city hall of Davao.
There’s strict discipline being implemented in Davao City—no smoking, no littering, curfew hours, no fireworks, among many others, and the city is known for its strict compliance. No other city in the country is as disciplined. Criminals stay far from it. These no nonsense policies and exacting implementation are all forged at the city hall of Davao.
Sitting along San Pedro Street and bounded by Pichon and Bolton Streets, the city hall of Davao is a classical building with two main posts in front and 3 archaic columns in the middle complete with pedestal-bases and capitals on top. It looks much the same as it was in 1903, with some improvements and much different surroundings.
Just at the back of the city hall of Davao is the Magallanes Elementary School along Pichon, and not far is the San Pedro Cathedral at the corner of San Pedro and C.M. Recto. The City Council is also in the vicinity. Along Bolton Street we see Durian Park where visitors and passersby get a whiff or taste of the fruit.
Davao City Human resource executives from the government sector have hailed as innovative and replicable the practices employed by the Davao City’s human resource management office (HRMO).
The city government, which employs more than 9,000 Davaoeños, is one of the biggest local government units (LGUs) in the country.
Around 30 HR managers from selected local and national government units nationwide were unanimous in praising Davao City’s personnel acquisition, development and maintenance practices as presented by its HRMO chief Marcelino Escalada Jr at the Human Resource Development Symposium/Workshop held at the Grand Regal Hotel.

And now, the person who entertained us when we were there was Mrs. Florita L. Olegario, Administrative Officer V (HRMO III) the head of training division. According to her, that HR Department is one of the 19th departments of Davao City Hall and there are 3000 employees. According to her that the best practices of HR in City Hall of Davao are the followings:

We work as a team
They have given a chance to salo-salo to together and give them a travel packages worth of 300 per travel and 100 for salo-salo together.
It’s actually so easy just remember the word TEAMWORK as a guideline. Also remember that all these should work together should be there hand in hand from the conception of the team to the achievement of the final goal. No one of these can be enough and can work in isolation to be able to come up with a successful team.

Oriented new employee
• Oriented of the Republic Act 713
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 713 - AN ACT TRANSFERRING THE CUSTODY AND THE FUNCTION OF INVESTING FUNDS FOR THE RETIREMENT OF BONDS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, PROVINCES, MUNICIPALITIES, AND CITIES TO THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES BY AMENDING ACT NUMBERED THIRTY HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN
• Oriented that they are employee
• Oriented on the benefits
GSIS
Pag-ibig
• Oriented in rules and regulation

Resolve conflict
Decide whether you want to confront the person who is bothering you. It is usually better to air grievances in the open than to let them fester.
Speak to the other person calmly, politely and rationally. Focus on the situation and facts, avoiding gossip and personal attacks.
Be careful not to express hostility in your posture, facial expression or tone. Be assertive without being aggressive.
Listen to the other person carefully: What is she trying to say? Be sure you understand her position.
Express interest in what the other person is saying. You can acknowledge her ideas without necessarily agreeing or submitting. Saying, "I understand that you feel this way. Here's how I feel..." acknowledges both positions.
Communicate clearly what you want, offering positive suggestions and recommendations. Be willing to be flexible.
Speak to your supervisor if a problem with a difficult co-worker seriously threatens your work, but avoid whining.

Improve the activity of the employee
• They cant immediately layoff the employee due process

Promotion
• Criteria
• Good relations with co-workers
• Punctuality
• Neatness

That’s all about the best practices in City Hall of Davao…Thank you…..



Sources:
http://www.ehow.com/how_3820_resolve-conflicts-work.html
http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno713.html
http://www.davaoboard.com/davao-city-hall.php
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&rp=1&fi=p050113.htm&no=6&date=01/13/2005