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My Cebu Trip as Travelling Filipino Entpreneur

Arlo Gilbert — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:21:17 +0000

I have never been to Cebu that’s why I was very excited when one of my clients arranged a meeting to meet me there last April. I decided also to stay there for a week as a gift to myself since the past months have made me so busy. It was summer so I looked for some resorts and hotels where I can spend my day in water to relax and also enhance my rudimentary swimming skills.

There are many hotels in the Cebu and I found some of them along the beach. In looking for some good hotel rates, I stumbled through a very informative website which served as a very useful guiding tool to compare hotels and resorts amenities and rates. Hotelscombined.com is a website and a search engine that compares over 30 of the major reservation sites all at once. I ignored the other two for they are very expensive because, as Filipino entrepreneur, frugality has been one of the traits that I’ve been practicing almost every time. The two remaining options in its search seem to be very good which I ended up staying at. Here are the 2 great destinations I stayed in:

1. Maribago Blue Water Hotel
Official Site: http://www.bluewater.com.ph/maribago/home.php

This seems to be the perfect choice for me because of the excellent recreation facilities like its garden massage, tennis courts and aqua sports. The ambiance is very soothing to the soul for it is surrounded with many trees while the large beach is waiting for you. The resort is very homely with the Filipino-Spanish style architecture. Sad to say, I only stayed there for three days for it was very crowded due to the spike of peak season of the ever warming Philippines. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my stay there because of room facilities specially the internet connection which has always been a requirement for me as most of my business transactions are conducted online.

2. Cordova Reef Village Resort
Official Site: http://www.cordovareef.com/index1.htm

My remaining days were spent in Cordova Reef Village Resort, a little far from Maribago Blue Water Hotel. I should say that I like its isolation and intimacy. It really suits a guest like me who recognize quality and seek luxury accommodations combined with the tranquility of a natural environment. The rates are quite a little bit higher than Maribago but it is the best place to the unburden stress from the days that made me busy.

The service is excellent as Maribago, they have also sports and entertainment facilities. But it has a better internet service because of broadband connection. I really enjoyed my stay on this resort. It was peaceful and relaxing with friendly and attentive staff. Rooms were excellently appointed and the toilet and bath was really fantastic. Food was also great, but the competence of their new bar staff left a lot to be desired which needs some training on what was on their menu and how to make it.

On my way back to the airport, I heard that Shangri-La Hotel, one of the two hotels I haven’t mentioned (the other is Hilton Spa and Resort, the most expensive one) is better than Maribago and Cordova but cost a bit more. I took a short visit before going back home and didn’t know that it has great views in its 13 hectares of lush greenery with landscaped gardens and boasting of a 350-meter exclusive white-sand beach. It is only a few minutes away from the Mactan International Airport which is really an exciting refuge for nature lovers and a favorite among holiday makers. Check it out on: http://www.hotelscombined.com/Hotel/Shangri_La_Hotel_Cebu.htm

Hope to see you there someday on a business trip.

Hard Drive Recovery

Arlo Gilbert — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:03:28 +0000

The brain, the most complex machine there is, has the ability to store unlimited amount of memory. The more memory you store, the greater the chances you’ll get solutions from your storage for any given situation. Sad to say, not all people has unlocked 100% of its potential so most of us depend on computers to fill in the gap. As in business, a greater memory results to a greater degree of providing solutions.

With breakthroughs in technology, hard drives keep on getting bigger up to 400 GB which makes it easier for us to store and retrieve significant amount of information. Generally, most drives last 2 to 5 years but hard drives may fail any time depending on the quality of the drive and the operating conditions. Family photos and videos, office presentations, and other important files that you saved may be lost and may never be recovered.

The process of extracting data from damaged and inaccessible hard disk drives is very hard these days with the increasing hard drive storage capacities. There is a company called DTI DATA which provides the easiest and most cost effective data recovery services throughout the United States. This company’s primary focus is on hard drive repair and hard drive recovery services.

In addition to these, they also sell Data Recovery Software developed in-house which is great because you can be sure that the software you pay for was made by the best people in the industry. They also have a 24/7 Software Support that you could easily call if you need any assistance.

Unlike other data recovery companies, DTI DATA is the only one authorized by manufacturers to provide free up front, flat rate pricing for hard drive recovery. What’s so great about this company is you do not have to worry about hidden diagnostic fees or unbelievably exorbitant service fees. They give you quotes upfront.

Most importantly, you will not pay anything if no data was recovered as long as your hard drive has not been opened elsewhere. However, DTI DATA provides 100% guarantee on data recoveries so you don’t have to worry if you could still retrieve your data or not. This company has been tried and proven and has served clients like CISCO, NASA, Ford Motor Company, etc.

It is also very important to note that they have Class 100 cleanroom. This means that their labs have very low level pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, and chemical vapors. Only a few data recovery companies in the United States have a cleanroom so DTI DATA can guarantee that your hard drives are safe.

You may also visit their Data Recovery Resources page which is a self help guide which provides step by step procedures for you to identify what services you need to avail of.

Types of Competitors

Arlo Gilbert — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:09:44 +0000

A business may face competition from various sources either within or outside its industry. Competition may come from essentially similar products or from substitutes. The competitor may be a small firm or a large multinational corporation. To gain an adequate perspective on the competition, a firm needs to identify all current and potential sources of competition.

Competition is triggered when different industries try to serve the same customer needs and demands. For example, a customer’s entertainment needs may be filled by television, sports, publishing, or travel. New industries may also enter the arena to satisfy entertainment needs. In the early 1980s, for example, the computer industry entered the entertainment field with video games.

Different industries position themselves to serve different customer demands-existing, latent, and incipient. Existing demand occurs when a product is bought to satisfy a recognized need. An example is Swatch Watch to determine time. Latent demand refers to a situation where a particular need has been recognized, but no products have yet been offered to satisfy the need. Sony tapped the latent demand through Walkman for the attraction of “music on the move.” Incipient demand occurs when certain trends lead to the emergence of a need of which the customer is not yet aware. A product that makes it feasible to read books while sleeping would illustrate the incipient demand.

A competitor may be an existing firm or a new entrant. The new entrant may enter the market with a product developed through research and development or through acquisition. For example, Texas Instruments entered the educational toy business through research and development that led to the manufacture of their Speak and Spell product. Philip Morris entered the beer market by acquiring Miller Brewing Company.

Often an industry competes by producing different product lines. General Foods Corporation, for example, offers ground, regular instant, freeze-dried, decaffeinated, and “international” coffee to the coffee market. Product lines can be grouped into three categories: a me-too product, an improved product, or a breakthrough product. A me-too product is similar to current offerings. One of many brands currently available in the market, it offers no special advantage over competing products. An improved product is one that, while not unique, is generally superior to many existing brands. A breakthrough product is an innovation and is usually technical in nature. The digital watch and the color television set were once breakthrough products.

In the watch business, companies have traditionally competed by offering me-too products. Occasionally, a competitor comes out with an improved product, as Seiko did in the 1970s by introducing quartz watches. Quartz watches were a little fancier and supposedly more accurate than other watches. Texas Instruments, however, entered the watch business via a breakthrough product, the digital watch.

Finally, the scope of a competing firm’s activities may be limited or extensive. For example, General Mills may not worry if a regional chain of Italian eateries is established to compete against its Olive Garden chain of Italian restaurants. However, if McDonald’s were to start offering Italian food, General Mills would be concerned at the entry of such a strong and seasoned competitor.

Currently, the thrust of the market is to satisfy existing demand. An example of a product to satisfy latent demand would be a liquid that promises weight loss; a liquid to prevent aging would be an example of a product to satisfy incipient demand.

The industries that currently offer products to quench customer thirst are the liquor, beer, wine, soft drink, milk, coffee, tea, drinking water, and fruit juice industries. Arelatively new entrant is mineral and sparkling water. Looking just at the soft drink industry, assuming that this is the field that most interests our company, we see that the majority of competitors offer me-too products (e.g., regular cola, diet cola, lemonade, and other fruit-based drinks). However, caffeine- free cola has been introduced by two major competitors, Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. There has been a breakthrough in the form of low-calorie, caffeine-free drinks. A beverage containing a day’s nutritional requirements is feasible in the future.

The companies that currently compete in the regular cola market are Coca- Cola, PepsiCo, Seven-Up, Dr. Pepper, and a few others. Among these, however, the first two have a major share of the cola market. Among new industry entrants, General Foods Corporation and Nestle Company are likely candidates (an assumption). The two principal competitors, Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, are large multinational, multi-business firms. This is the competitive arena where our company will have to fight if it enters the soft drink business.

Theory of Competition

Arlo Gilbert — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:53:07 +0000

Competition is basic to the free enterprise system. It is involved in all observable phenomena of the market-the prices at which products are exchanged, the kinds and qualities of products produced, the quantities exchanged, the methods of distribution employed, and the emphasis placed on promotion. Over many decades, economists have contributed to the theory of competition. A well-recognized body of theoretical knowledge about competition has emerged and can be grouped broadly into two categories: (a) economic theory and (b) industrial organization perspective. These and certain other hypotheses on competition from the viewpoint of businesspeople will now be introduced.

Economists have worked with many different models of competition. Still central to much of their work is the model of perfect competition, which is based on the premise that, when a large number of buyers and sellers in the market are dealing in homogeneous products, there is complete freedom to enter or exit the market and everyone has complete and accurate knowledge about everyone else.

The essence of the industrial organization (IO) perspective is that a firm’s position in the marketplace depends critically on the characteristics of the industry environment in which it competes. The industry environment comprises structure, conduct, and performance. Structure refers to the economic and technical perspectives of the industry in the context in which firms compete. It includes (a) concentration in the industry (i.e., the number and size distribution of firms), (b) barriers to entry in the industry, and (c) product differentiation among the offerings of different firms that make up the industry. Conduct, which is essentially strategy, refers to firms’ behavior in such matters as pricing, advertising, and distribution. Performance includes social performance, measured in terms of allocative efficiency (profitability), technical efficiency (cost minimization), and innovativeness.

Businesspeople must be continually aware of the structure of the markets they are presently in or of those they seek to enter. Their appraisal of their present and future competitive posture will be influenced substantially by the size and concentration of existing firms as well as by the extent of product differentiation and the presence or absence of significant barriers to entry.

If a manager has already introduced the firm’s products into a market, the existence of certain structural features may provide the manager with a degree of insulation from the intrusion of firms not presently in that market. The absence, or relative unimportance, of one or more entry barriers, for example, supplies the manager with insights into the direction from which potential competition might come. Conversely, the presence or absence of entry barriers indicates the relative degree of effort required and the success that might be enjoyed if the manager attempted to enter a specific market. In short, a fundamental purpose of marketing strategy involves the building of entry barriers to protect present markets and the overcoming of existing entry barriers around markets that have an attractive potential.

From the businessperson’s perspective, competition refers to rivalry among firms operating in a market to fill the same customer need. The businessperson’s major interest is to keep the market to himself or herself by adopting appropriate strategies. How and why competition occurs, its intensity, and what escape routes are feasible have not been conceptualized. In other words, there does not exist a theory of competition from the business viewpoint.

Some of the hypotheses on which his theory rests derive from military warfare:

• Competitors who persist and survive have a unique advantage over all others. If they did not have this advantage, then thers would crowd them out of the market.
• If competitors are different and coexist, then each must have a distinct advantage over the other. Such an advantage an only exist if differences in a competitor’s characteristics match differences in the environment that give those characteristics their relative value.
• Any change in the environment changes the factor weighting of environmental characteristics and, therefore, shifts the boundaries of competitive equilibrium and “competitive segments.’’ Competitors who adapt best or fastest gain an advantage from change in the environment.

Understanding Your Competition

Arlo Gilbert — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:40:19 +0000

In a free market economy, each company tries to outperform its competitors. A competitor is a rival. A company must know, therefore, how it stands up against each competitor with regard to “arms and ammunition”-skill in maneuvering opportunities, preparedness in reacting to threats, and so on. To obtain adequate knowledge about the competition, a company needs an excellent intelligence network.

Typically, whenever one talks about competition, emphasis is placed on price, quality of product, delivery time, and other marketing variables. For the purposes of strategy development, however, one needs to go far beyond these marketing tactics. Simply knowing that a competitor has been lowering prices, for example, is not sufficient. Over and above that, one must know how much flexibility the competitor has in further reducing the price. Implicit here is the need for information about the competitor’s cost structure.

The term competition defies definition because the view of competition held by different groups (e.g., lawyers, economists, government officials, and businesspeople) varies. Most firms define competition in crude, simplistic, and unrealistic terms. Some firms fail to identify the true sources of competition; others underestimate the capabilities and reactions of their competitors. When the business climate is stable, a shallow outlook toward the competition might work, but in the current environment, business strategies must be competitively oriented.

A useful way to define competition is to differentiate between natural and strategic competition. Natural competition refers to the survival of the fittest in a given environment. It is an evolutionary process that weeds out the weaker of two rivals. Applied to the business world, it means that no two firms doing business across the board the same way in the same market can coexist forever. To survive, each firm must have something uniquely superior to the other.

Natural competition is an extension of the biological phenomenon of Darwinian natural selection. Characteristically, this type of competition-evolution by adaptation-occurs by trial and error; is wildly opportunistic day to day; pursues growth for its own sake; and is very conservative, because growth from successful trials must prevail over death (i.e., bankruptcy) by random mistake.

Strategic competition is the studied deployment of resources based on a high degree of insight into the systematic cause and effect in the business ecological system. It tries to leave nothing to chance. Strategic competition is a new phenomenon in the business world that may well have the same impact upon business productivity that the industrial revolution had upon individual productivity. Strategic competition requires (a) an adequate amount of information about the situation, (b) development of a framework to understand the dynamic interactive system, (c) postponement of current consumption to provide investment capital, (d) commitment to invest major resources to an irreversible outcome, and (e) an ability to predict the output consequences even with incomplete knowledge of inputs. The following are the basic elements of strategic competition:

• The ability to understand competitive interaction as a complete dynamic system that includes the interaction of competitors, customers, money, people, and resources.
• The ability to use this understanding to predict the consequences of a given intervention in the system and how that intervention will result in new patterns of equilibrium.
• The availability of uncommitted resources that can be dedicated to different uses and purposes in the present even though the dedication is permanent and the benefits will be deferred.
• The ability to predict risk and return with sufficient accuracy and confidence to justify the commitment of such resources.
• The willingness to deliberately act to make the commitment.

Consumer Emotion in Attitude Formation

Arlo Gilbert — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:08:44 +0000

Consumers develop attitudes about products, brands, and advertisements, and these attitudes influence their buying decisions. What is the role of emotion and reason in developing and forming such attitudes? And what are the implications for positioning brands in different types of product categories? An attitude is an overall disposition towards an object or person.

Subsequently, the attitude-behavior relationship has continuously been examined by researchers. Because consumer behavior does not correspond to a simple stimulus-response theory, marketers are today, more than ever, concerned about finding out how attitudes are formed and maintained. Are they the result of a logical, sequential, and propositional synthesis? Or are they emotional and intuitive? Does the consumer define specific, rational reasons for an attitude, or is this attitude a spontaneous liking for a product, unsupported by any intellectual motion towards this conclusion?

A person’s attitude consists of his salient beliefs. Beliefs are the subjective associations between any two distinguishable concepts (“I believe that Brand X is pure”). Such salient beliefs are activated from memory and considered in a given situation. Attitudes are regarded as multidimensional and arrived at after evaluating several beliefs. Thus, by implication, such attitudes are more relevant for “high involvement” products, where evaluative criteria are more apparent and the degree of information processing on the brand’s attributes is higher.

The traditional hierarchy of effects postulates that consumer attitudes are developed through a sequence of mental stages—cognitive, affective, and conative. Attitude formation on a brand thus starts with beliefs (the cognitive stage) about the brand. This learning process then leads to brand evaluation (the affective stage) or a total attitude towards the brand, which in turn leads to behavior change (the conative stage) in terms of action or, at least, as a tendency to act.

The sequence of steps in the learning hierarchy is not always the same. The cognitive aspect need not necessarily precede the affective, which must precede the conative. Attitude formation could well start with a conative or behavioral change as in impulse purchases that may be preceded by very brief affects or rational cognitions. The consumer forms beliefs (positive or otherwise) about product attributes subsequent to purchase. The affective dimension could as well form the initial stage of attitude formation. An alternative “hierarchy” is suggested with emotion as the initial catalyst in the process.

Positive attitudes towards a product could develop as a result of the association of the product with music that had a positive effect on the listener. Hearing liked or disliked music directly affected product choice. Positive emotions generated by music become associated with the advertised product through classical conditioning. The liking for the ad gets conditioned onto the brand itself and becomes part of the brand. This can take place in the total absence of cognitive beliefs. The same conditioning effect appeared to determine attitudes when nonverbal (visual) information. Individuals were seen to develop perceptions of brands based solely on visual, nonverbal information. This is interpreted as the classical conditioning effect of pairing an unknown brand with a visual stimulus.

New luxury consumers are defined by their highly selective buying behavior. They carefully and deliberately trade up to premium goods in specific categories while paying less or “trading down” in many, or most, others. . . . The criteria for their selective purchases are both rational – involving technical and functional considerations – and emotional. (Silverstein and Fiske)

It would appear, then, that consumers seem to be able to convert visual information into knowledge and beliefs about the attributes of the advertised brands. Thus, the advertisement produces a favorable emotional response in the consumer (“I like Brand X”), which brings about beliefs about the brand (“Brand X is healthy”), leading to a purchase intention (“I intend to buy Brand X”). This “alternative” hierarchy thus validates the use of “image” advertising in which the consumer “feels” the confidence of the product, rather than “reasons” it out. In today’s world, major technological breakthroughs in terms of product attributes are few and more expensive to develop.

Brand differences are difficult to find and promote for gaining a competitive edge. Consumers find it even more difficult to clearly experience these supposed differences. Emotional positioning offers new scope to product differentiation. Brands can now be positioned as “cool” or “fun” or just plain “happy,” as in the case of a perfume by Clinique.

Thus, while product attributes are undoubtedly important for “high involvement” products, emotional communication is imperative for differentiating “low involvement” items and “parity” products, where actual product differences are either nonexistent or difficult to distinguish. It is clear today that even for high involvement products, the awareness stage of the product/brand life cycle need not be dominated by verbal information. Nonverbal, emotional advertising is viable throughout the product life cycle for almost all product categories and attains tremendous impact across all consumer segments due to its inherent ambiguity. We interpret such stimuli according to our personal needs and backgrounds—no one has to decipher the “correct” meaning for us and our interpretation is always true and accurate, so long as the stimulus produces a favorable response. Our “reasons” for liking it cannot be wrong. It is true because it is our own.

Define Early Roles And Responsibilities

Arlo Gilbert — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:48:02 +0000

Unlike the other initiation phase themes, which all start immediately, this final theme generally starts a short time after the project work has begun. This happens because as work progresses more people will become involved in the project. This results in a need for you to gain control of the work being undertaken. This quickly becomes difficult since in advanced projects many people within the organization will be keen to take a leading role. They will be keen to demonstrate to the organization that they are wholly behind the advanced project and its strategic aims. It is essential that you quickly gain and keep control. This means the definition of the roles and responsibilities of the people working on the project. You should consider two aspects: 1) reactive control; 2) proactive control.

Reactive control is gaining control of responsibilities that others assume without your agreement. To achieve this you should set up a mechanism that publishes who’s who within the project. If introduced successfully the mechanism will become an effective way of stopping people taking assumed responsibility. Instead they will realize that they need to go through the proper channels to be recognized by project team members as having a particular responsibility.

Setting up a suitable mechanism is a relatively simple task. First you should gather together a list of the people involved in the project. This list should include key information about the people on it. If possible you should create the list using a spreadsheet or database program. This allows it to be sorted alphabetically and allows for the easy insertion of new names and associated information. It also enables you to publish the information quickly using e-mail or Internet technology. At this initial stage in the project you should personally retain control of the content of this list. This enables you to ensure that the people who are on the list only have authority and responsibility that you are willing to give them.

Proactive control is gaining control by deliberately appointing people into certain roles and responsibilities. To achieve this you need to seek out appropriate people and appoint them into certain key roles. The roles that should be filled are those that can and will have a significant impact on the early project work. Identifying these roles is a relatively simple task. They are the roles that will be highly active in the initial day-to-day work of the project. They are likely to include the project sponsor, any major resource provider and any senior management interested in the project.

Once key roles have been identified you should spend some time agreeing a suitable role description. This can be very simple in nature and should state clearly what the role’s involvement in the project is. At this stage it isn’t necessary to go through the formality of writing down the role description. It is more effective to retain the informality that accompanies a lack of paperwork. This helps to reduce the potential barriers that paperwork can introduce to relationship building. However, it is helpful to add a simple description to the project who’s who.

Start Long-Lead Activities

Arlo Gilbert — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:31:26 +0000

One theme that is often overlooked during the early stages of advanced projects is the starting of activities that are likely to take significant time to complete. Often those involved in the project get caught up in the whirlwind that accompanies the business case and other project set-up activities. Project managers often feel that they need to get past the initial approval of the steering group before they can start any activities. Project managers assuming this are wrong.

Advanced projects require you, the project manager, to take risks. During the initiation stage of the project this means starting activities before they are approved. This doesn’t mean that you should start every activity that the project requires. Instead you should carefully select those activities that need early attention. Once you have identified the tasks you should approach suitable line managers in the work area most likely to undertake the task. You then need to convince those managers to help you by giving you unapproved resources. The managers you approach are likely to fall into one of two categories. Either they will be very keen to help or they will be completely ambivalent to helping out.

Managers who are keen to start work should obviously be encouraged. However, you must be careful to ensure that they have well-defined boundaries. These boundaries must be sufficient to ensure that the managers concerned have a clear understanding of what is and isn’t acceptable. This can be achieved through the use of a straightforward agreement. The illustration below shows a template for a simple form that you can use to make this agreement. This form includes the basic information that should be discussed and agreed between the line manager and yourself. The data below shows a template for a simple form that you can use to make this agreement. This form includes the basic information that should be discussed and agreed between the line manager and yourself.

Work Agreement
Reference number NN1NNN1NN
Date: DD/MM/YY

Description
Add a brief description of the activities that will be undertaken. This should specify the purpose of the work and the method by which that purpose will be met.
For example: The task is the early prototyping of a speech recognition module built through a software modeling technique. The description should include a description of the speech recognition and why it is being undertaken. The description should also include a description of the modeling technique that will be used.

Resources
Add a list of the resources that will be used to complete the work being undertaken. This list should include people, hardware, software, building materials, etc. Using some of the resources may require approval. This approval should be sought from the resource owner, normally a line manager or software director. Where approval is sought and gin it should be noted in this section.

Expected outcome
Add to this section a list of measurable deliverables that this work agreement is expected to achieve. These should be as specific and measurable as possible: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely. They should relate directly to the description given.

Risks
Add here a list of the risks that will occur undertaking this work. Often project managers only include here the obvious risk that the project might not be approved and the work will become worthless. Whilst this is a risk worth mentioning it is certainly not the only risk. Other technical risks should also be mentioned. For example: The prototype speech recognition software might never work properly and so the project would need to find a new way of achieveing the input of text into a computer.

Approva1s
Add here the signatures of the project manager, the line manager (and any resource owner if not the line manager). This should be a formality but can pro useful in helping to reinforce that commitment to complete work has been made.

Since this is an informal agreement it can be tempting to ignore it. However, it often proves to be an effective way of ensuring that work goes smoothly. It provides a focus for discussions between you and the line manager who is undertaking the work. It allows both of you a reliable format that ensures that all of the necessary topics have been discussed.

Completing the form can normally be achieved in a single meeting. It can be helpful if the form is completed electronically. This enables it to be quickly published and ensures that traceability is easy to achieve. The sections of the report are equal in terms of their relative importance. This means that you should give equal weight to completing each of the sections. When completing the form you should remember that this is only initial work. You should therefore set the timescales for completion appropriately.

At some stage during the initiation phase you should formally seek approval for this work from the project steering group. Often the first few meetings of the group are too busy to enable work agreements to be considered and therefore it may be the third or fourth meeting before approval is possible. Nevertheless the work agreement must be tabled for formal approval. As an absolute minimum there should be a review of the work agreement upon approval of the business case.

The same process should be followed for managers who are ambivalent to the project and who aren’t keen to be involved in work at this early stage. Future articles will cover some of the methods that you can adopt to overcome the reluctance of these managers. Ultimately if they won’t commit to giving unapproved resources you will have to delay the work and get authority from the steering group.

When the business case has been approved you should be able to terminate all of these work agreements. Normally this is a natural occurrence since many of the work agreements will have been superseded by other work orders or work packages. These work orders or work packages will have been developed as part of the macro plan production

Set Up A Project Steering Group

Arlo Gilbert — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:14:19 +0000

At this stage you and the project sponsor should have a business case production plan that you both believe in. This will include sufficient detail to ensure that you are confident of achieving the production of the business case in the given time. It will allow you to argue your case with others to enable you to secure the resources that you need to proceed. However, it is likely that you will now need significant support from others in the organization to enable you to produce the business case. Generally this is achieved by enlisting the help of a project steering group.

Often at this stage a project steering group will not have been formed. If this is the case then you should form the group. In practice it is helpful if you start the formation of this group in parallel to the production of the business case. To form the group you need to gather together a group of senior managers within the organization. These managers need to have significant authority and need to be able to authorize the release of funds or resources to support your project. It is likely that you will already have involved a number of senior people in the project. Normally these people are self-selecting and can be easily coerced into joining the project steering group.

The plan for the business case’s production should point you to a date for the presentation of the finalized business case for approval. However, you should not wait until this date before starting to work with the steering group and its members. Instead you need to spend time with the various members of the group explaining in detail the business case. As you explain the detail you should seek their opinion and you should then use that to influence the content of the business case and its production. Prior to the first steering group meeting you and the project sponsor should agree who the chair will be. This is normally the most senior manager present or sometimes the project sponsor. You should meet with the proposed chairperson and explain the business plan production schedule in detail and the different opinions that you have heard from the other steering group members.

At the first meeting of the steering group the project sponsor should present the business case production schedule. The sponsor should be clear what he or she is seeking from the steering group. Generally this will be resources, funds, hardware, etc to enable the business case to be produced. Often this requires a short paper seeking approval in principle for the project. It will set out the basic resources required in order to progress to a full business case and associated project plan. If you, and the project sponsor, have properly briefed the steering group then the outcome of the meeting should be a formality. The meeting should result in the approval of the business case production schedule and the initial paper seeking basic resources in support of the full business case and project plan. When approval has been achieved you can normally take this as a good indication that you have gained senior management support for the project.

Meeting Your Sponsors

Arlo Gilbert — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:57:48 +0000

Arranging a meeting with the project sponsor and building a strong rapport with the sponsor is the first step to establishing a successful path to the completion of the business case. By the end of your first meeting you should have established a number of goals.
These goals should lead to the completion of the business case. At this stage the goals can be set out simply on a sheet of paper with three or four dates against which measurable outputs have been defined. It is possible that at the end of this first meeting the dates and activities will not be fully agreed. When this happens a follow-up meeting should be arranged before you leave the first meeting. As a minimum it is recommended that the outcome of the first meeting is a draft of the business plan production schedule. A suitable form for capturing the schedule, with some sample text, is shown in this illustration:

At first glance the format of the plan might seem odd, but with minimum work it is simple to understand. The chart shows a funnel lying on its side. This is to indicate the lack of understanding at the beginning of the business plan production. The funnel indicates this improving over time towards clarity at the end of the business plan production. The funnel is included to remind you that you don’t have to understand everything at the first meeting.

Along the top of the chart are three time zones (more could be added but three is normally sufficient). These time zones group together the uncertainty about the project requirements. Uncertainty in these requirements means that the project cannot provide details about the implementation. This means that any business case produced at this stage will be fuzzy in its justification for the project. Therefore it is acceptable for the goals and associated measures for the tasks in zone 1 to show reasonable uncertainty in the project requirements. For example, this could mean a large number of requirements being missed from the initial project requirements list. As the work progresses, however, the clarity should improve. By the time the business plan production reaches zone 3 the clarity should have improved dramatically. The goals and associated measures for zone 3 should be clear and unambiguous. When zone 3 has been exited there should exist a clear understanding of what the project must ultimately deliver.

Once you have agreed with the project sponsor the production plan for the business case you next need to help the sponsor develop the material to allow the business case to be written. In some cases this will mean only the production of a very simple paper, perhaps 600 to 1,000 words in length. However, often it means a significant amount of work and the development of a macro plan. The development of the macro plan is a major undertaking and therefore it is dealt with separately in future articles.

Build the Business Case

Arlo Gilbert — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:55:14 +0000

Building a business case is one of the key parts during the initiation phase of any advanced project. Badly produced business cases will make organizations very nervous. This is particularly true of advanced projects because of the very large investments that are often involved. If the case is badly written then it is likely that the company will continue to prevaricate about the project. This will result in more time being used than is necessary before the project is fully commissioned. It is therefore extremely important that you ensure that the business case is produced efficiently and to the highest standards.
Normally the business case is the responsibility of the project sponsor and because of this many project managers feel that they should not waste time working on it. They do not believe that it is their responsibility to ensure its success. Instead project managers spend their time working on the other three initiation phase project themes: stakeholder management, long-lead item tasks and early roles and responsibility definitions. You should not do this. In advanced projects you cannot leave the success of the business case to someone else. Regardless of whose responsibility it is to complete the business case it is too important for you to ignore it. You must get actively involved in the production of the business case since it is this document that will normally secure you the needed project resources. Actively supporting the project sponsor in the project’s business case production is something that you must do.

Often the project sponsor will welcome any offer of support in the production of the business case. However, whilst this enthusiasm will make it easy for you to become involved, you need to exercise caution. Many projects have floundered because project managers and their teams have, wrongly, taken over the production of the business case. Frequently this is done with good intentions, for example to try to ensure that the business case production remains on target. However, despite project managers’ good intentions it can end up leaving the project sponsors feeling sidelined. As a result the project sponsors sometimes withhold their signature when it comes to the final approval. Skilful project managers must ensure that this does not happen.

To ensure that project sponsors feel that they are driving the process, you must approach the business case production in a methodical manner. This can be difficult since people are often very unsure at the start of an advanced project about the detail of what they want to achieve. Project sponsors can explain their desired strategy but normally they cannot explain any of the detail. This is unfortunate since project sponsors are also the people who want to see the detail before they are willing to support the case for committing substantial resources. This is a natural way of acting for most people. In general people find it difficult to commit to a high-level strategy without it being backed by significant amounts of detail. They want to be able to understand on a practical level the tasks and activities. Unfortunately this can prove very frustrating for project managers. They are working on something that is not their responsibility and they are being told that the result is not detailed enough.

To overcome the difficulties and get the business case successfully produced you should follow two simple steps. These steps are normally independent of the life cycle being used: 1) Meet the project sponsor. 2) Set up a project steering group.

Stake Holder Management

Arlo Gilbert — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:43:51 +0000

Stake Holder Management covers a topic that is often undertaken poorly by project managers. Although many organizations promote the management of stakeholders in projects, this rarely translates into active stakeholder management. This is a mistake since this theme is extremely important and is one that occurs continuously during a project. If stakeholder management is undertaken successfully, the project will run more smoothly. Because this theme is significant it is returned to many times throughout this book.

Project managers often do not understand the benefits to be gained from good stakeholder management. They simply see it as the production of a stakeholder management plan: an activity to be completed in response to the life cycle guidance material. This lack of understanding is often shared by the reviewers of the stakeholder management plan. At the milestone review those present simply check that a stakeholder plan exists. Reviewers often do not concern themselves with the content of the plan. They are more concerned with the content of other documents such as the business case or the project schedule. You, however, must look at the deeper purpose of producing a stakeholder management plan. It should mean far more to you than simply a life cycle milestone requirement. A well-written plan should demonstrate your understanding of the relationships that will ultimately drive the success of the project.

The most common reason given, by project managers, for not seriously attempting a stakeholder management plan is lack of available time. Project managers believe that other activities should take priority. They therefore choose to pay little attention to this area and they feel justified in this choice since many organizations accept this as the right decision. Organizations demonstrate this by allowing a project to pass a life cycle mandated milestone review without seeking evidence of stakeholder management. Organizations that do this are missing the fundamental reason for the stakeholder management plan.

The purpose of the stakeholder management plan is to ensure that the relationships between the principal people in the project have been discussed and the information flow between them agreed. Ironically, it often these principals who don’t value a stakeholder management plan. They are the ones who allow the relaxation of the project milestone. They are also the people who complain that the relationships don’t work and that they are not kept properly informed.

You do not need to follow this way of working. Instead you can follow a simple process that should result in successful stakeholder management. You can reap the benefits of a plan without the need for large amounts of your time. You can forestall the problems that will occur if stakeholders aren’t managed properly.
In particular you should try to identify those who have a high level of influence or a high level of involvement but who don’t support the project. Once these people are identified you must spend time with them building a strong working relationship. It is essential that you use this developing relationship as a method for understanding the reasons for the lack of support. You must then try to deal successfully with those reasons and in the process change a detractor into a supporter.
In its raw state it is not appropriate for this stakeholder management form to be seen by anyone other than you. It could be interpreted as being deliberately antagonistic towards people or groups within the project. Suggesting someone doesn’t support a project that is likely to be of strategic importance to an organization can be very damaging to morale. Therefore you should resist the temptation to submit this form as a cut-down version of the required stakeholder management plan. If you do not have time to complete a stakeholder management plan it is better to submit simply nothing than submit this form in its raw state. However, translating this form into a stakeholder management plan should be a relatively simple task. You should edit the form, removing phrases such as ‘doesn’t support the project’ or ‘is always difficult about providing resources’. You must remember that the stakeholders are part of the project and as such they deserve to be treated with respect. Treating the stakeholders with respect regardless of their views will help to make the project successful.
It is worth emphasizing again the importance of stakeholder management. Strong relationships with the principals within a project are essential for a project manager. These relationships will not become strong on their own. Instead they will need to be nurtured and worked on throughout the project. The stakeholder management plan is simply a handy tool that can be used to work out and write down the stakeholders’ needs. So at this stage if you choose to do nothing else on stakeholder management you should complete the form given for the main principals. This form should be kept private and you should review it every few days as the project initiation phase progresses.

Starting an Advanced Project Successfully

Arlo Gilbert — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:27:29 +0000

Surprisingly, once an organization has decided to undertake an advanced project, building the initial momentum can be difficult. The number of people involved in the project will grow quickly and as a result it becomes increasingly difficult to make progress. Often the early stages are characterized by significant time wasting. Since time is one of the most valuable commodities, this is something that should be avoided if at all possible. Fortunately a project manager can take effective action. If handled well, the initiation stage will be short and successful.

The accepted way for an organization to ensure a successful project is to adopt a tried-and-tested project life cycle. The life cycle sets out a range of activities that need to be undertaken. It specifies the order in which tasks need to happen and the content of each task. Life cycles also take into account that advanced projects are actually many smaller projects running in parallel. These smaller projects are bound together by the overall project and as a result they all share the same final goal. For example, at the highest level the project might be the building and fit-out of a corporate headquarters. Within this larger project there are many small projects that collectively deliver the necessary parts of the overall project jigsaw. Together the smaller projects result in the achievement of the larger project’s goal - a completed headquarters.

Understanding that there are a number of small projects all operating in parallel helps to unlock one of the key problems that needs to be overcome to ensure the success of an advanced project. Each of the small projects operates to its own life cycle and in response the people on these projects all operate in different ways. Those responsible for near-term deliveries (short project timescales and therefore short life cycle) will be agitated about lack of progress. Those with deliveries that are further away (longer project life cycle) will be more relaxed about lack of progress. As a result conflicts can often occur. There will be those, even in the initiation phase, who ‘just want to get on with it’. They will be very frustrated at slow methodical planning. It is essential to remember this when dealing with the various project teams. Those attending the various initiation phase meetings are likely to be at different places in their project life cycles. They need to be dealt with appropriately.

The other major difficulty with life cycles within advanced projects is the reliance by senior managers on them. Unfortunately senior managers often come to believe that project life cycles alone deal with the complexities of an advanced project. They often believe that the project life cycle will ensure the success of any project. This is not true. It is the skill of the project manager that will ensure project success, not the project life cycle. The main benefit for any given life cycle is its provision of well-thought-out guidance material. This material helps to ensure that the steps needed to ensure success in the process are not forgotten. Your role is the successful interpretation of the project life cycle tasks. Ultimately it is your interpretation of the project life cycle material that will ensure the success of the project.

You need to understand the true purpose of the life cycle tasks to be completed. This means understanding the underlying themes that must be nurtured to gain the success that the organization is desperately seeking. You should not simply follow the life cycle blindly. Completing the tasks that are detailed in the quality manual will not ensure success. Instead you should consider four themes that almost always are the underlying requirements of the initiation phase. These are the themes that you need to work on first. This means ignoring the letter of the life cycle and operating it within the context of the following four themes:

1. Stakeholder management.
2. Build the business case.
3. Start long-lead activities.
4. Define early roles and responsibilities.

Each of these themes has the potential to take up a significant amount of your time and therefore you need to think carefully about how you will manage them. This is especially true when you are in charge of an advanced project, where the scope and scale of work are usually far greater than for a standard project. In practice you will find it difficult to support all of these themes fully. This obviously presents difficulties for you since the themes will run continuously and in parallel throughout the initiation phase. Ideally you could use extra resource to enable you to cope with the additional work load. However, even if extra help is provided you still need to look after these four themes personally. Personal involvement from you is important since it is these themes that will ensure the project is a success! Despite the difficulty it is possible to cope with these themes by careful time management and by using some of the suggestions in the following discussion on each of the themes.

Causes of Burnout

Arlo Gilbert — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:13:54 +0000

The simplest and most logical answer to what causes burnout is that there is an excessive workload. However, workload alone does not explain burnout. Recent theoretical frameworks about burnout are integrating personal and situational factors rather than giving an either/or explanation. Although the idea of person-job fit is acknowledged at the point of hire and system entry, the concept of match or mismatch between the person and six domains of the job environment. Briefly, these domains are:

1. Workload - a mismatch can occur because of an excessive amount of work or the wrong work for the person’s skill set.

2. Control - person has insufficient control over needed resources, or responsibility exceeds authority.

3. Reward - insufficient financial rewards or lack of social rewards (work is not appreciated).

4. Community - isolation, impersonal contact, or unresolved conflicts produce continuous negative feelings.

5. Fairness - inequity of workload or pay, evaluations and promotions handled inappropriately, and grievance procedures do not allow voice to both sides of the conflict.

6. Values - conflict between personal values and what is asked in the job or conflict between the values of the organization and the actual practice.

Job-related stressors can include specific tasks, demands of the position, interpersonal relationships, and the physical environment. Research has shown antecedents to work exhaustion are more commonly situational, such as overload, role conflict and ambiguity, lack of autonomy, interpersonal conflict, and lack of rewards.

Experts reviewed the organizational and personal factors that may contribute to stress. Organizational factors include those intrinsic to the job, the role in the organization, career development, and relationships in the organization. They have speculated that with an uncertain economy, employees, specifically baby boomers who are at the peak of their careers, work longer hours. Although research shows that regular vacations lower the risk of death for men and the rate of heart attacks in women, the pace of the work environment continues to escalate. Experts noted that being busy has come to symbolize being important. Many workplaces have cultures of workaholism, and managers, in particular, feel the pressure to work long hours.

Factors external to the organization include family and community relationships and activities. These can be extensive, as many managers are active as volunteers and community leaders. Specific focus on women in the workplace outlines factors unique to women. These authors described the multiple factors that affect women in the workplace by looking at the total environment in which women interact.

Being a manager may coincide with several other critical life events. Most managers are over 25 and may have many roles. For example, your employee, a manager may be starting or have a young family. As a mother, the manager not only has childrearing stresses, but also may be a volunteer for her children’s activities. As a daughter, your employee may be helping aging parents make decisions about health care, finances, where they should live, and if they can live independently. This also may include providing physical care to parents or other relatives. Your employee may be in school to obtain an advanced degree or active in professional organizations. The potential combinations of roles are many. Any of these roles can conflict with another, adding to the stress of your employee.

Is your Manager Burning Out - Managerial Burnout

Arlo Gilbert — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:04:43 +0000

The phenomenon and term “burnout” emerged in the 1970s and was identified with people working in the human services careers. Initially seen as pop psychology because it lacked the traditional top down theoretically derived approach, burnout has been extensively researched and has generated theoretical models that illustrate the relationship that people have with work. Experts summarized the research on job burnout and defined it as a psychological syndrome characterized by overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism, and a sense of ineffectiveness or lack of accomplishment. Defined further, exhaustion is the feeling of being overextended, depleted emotionally and physically; cynicism and depersonalization are negative, disparaging responses to the job and can be seen as disconnection from the work; and ineffectiveness is the feeling of incompetence and lack of achievement.

Exhaustion is the most central characteristic of burnout. Typically, when people say they are “burned out” they are referring to their experience of exhaustion. The other two characteristics fully define the phenomenon. Research indicates that when one is exhausted, cynicism and depersonalization may be one way to cope . For your managers, that may be manifested as being less available to staff or approaching staff in a less personal and supportive way, not recognizing the uniqueness of each member of the staff. Another sign is the use of skeptical responses to organizational initiatives or indifference to organizational actions. Both of these characteristics can be related to work overload and conflict. Exhaustion and depersonalization may make it difficult to feel effective, but also a lack of key resources may contribute to ineffectiveness.

Research also has shown that women managers face greater sources of stress than their male colleagues. As they noted, historically, most research on occupational stress focused on white, professional men. Research that had been conducted with women produced conflicting results. Their analysis showed that some studies indicated that the multiple roles working women have increased stress. Other studies show that the number of roles does not influence a woman’s mental health, but the quality of experiences across the roles does. However, there is an indication that women in management face greater sources of stress. Given that nursing continues to be a predominantly female profession, healthcare organizations likely have more women in nurse manager roles and should consider what organizational support can be provided.

Leadership, Leadership and Leadership

Arlo Gilbert — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:13:18 +0000

Defining leadership is an elusive pursuit at best. Over the years, great leaders have been identified. We have had less success, however, in enumerating specific characteristics of leadership that can be universally replicated and form a firm foundation for identifying the full range of leadership characteristics. It appears that we know leadership when we see it, yet we are less able to define exactly what it is we see.

Over the past 40-50 years, much effort in the academic and business communities has been dedicated to assessing characteristics of leadership. Great leaders have been studied in detail, and traits of leadership have been defined, researched, and explicated as a way of getting at some fundamental numerators of leadership that conform with the foundations of our understanding and become the content of formalized programs directed toward teaching leadership. Leadership is known to be a valid and meaningful part of the human experience. Leaders have surfaced under all kinds of circumstances, from war to great political and social change, from religious and moral foundations, and from cultural and social transformations

Each age of human experience has produced a leader who represents the characteristics of the times. As we review the course of human experience, it becomes clear to anyone who understands history that leadership changes and adjusts depending on demand, social circumstances, and the particular needs of the time. Indeed, each generation of human interaction created the conditions from which leadership would emerge. These conditions are fundamental circumstances within which any model of leadership responds to the demands of the time. Leadership operates through the expression of vision, determination, and force of personality and will, converging to create a significant change in the order of things.

Leadership is about more than generalized characteristics. Leadership is about people. Leaders are both born and made. Leaders are born insofar as they are influenced by the genetic characteristics of their heredity. Leaders are made insofar as social development, circumstances, and personal experience converge to create the conditions and context within which specific leaders could emerge. This happens at the point of convergence where there is a good fit among the times, the demand, and the personal characteristics of the individual who would be leader.

Some generic and identifiable characteristics of leadership can be learned and replicated. Although these characteristics can be taught, the circumstances and knowledge in which leadership characteristics can be expressed are important considerations for the success of specific leadership traits. A good leader recognizes this convergence of forces and conditions and responds to them with such clarity and appropriateness that the actions undertaken are congruent with the demand for them, and a meaningful transformation occurs or valued outcomes are achieved.

Leaders and Managers

Arlo Gilbert — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:03:25 +0000

Manager, leader, supervisor, and administrator are often used interchangeably, yet they are not the same. A leader is anyone who uses interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a specific goal. The leader exerts influence by using a flexible repertoire of personal behaviors and strategies. The leader is important in forging links—creating connections—among an organization’s members to promote high levels of performance and quality outcomes. Leaders are skilled in empowering others, creating meaning and facilitating learning, developing knowledge, thinking reflectively, communicating, solving problems, making decisions, and working with others. Leaders generate excitement; they clearly define their purpose and mission. Leaders understand people and their needs; they recognize and appreciate differences in people, individualizing their approach as needed.

Leaders also have the capacity to earn and hold trust. They have a genuine concern for others and help others achieve their potential. Leadership is relationship management. The organizational structure heterarchy, exemplifies the importance of the leader’s relationship skills.

Leadership requires attending to and acknowledging others and being personally authentic and accountable. The leader must have enthusiasm, energy, and commitment, but most of all, the leader must be able to inspire others to commit to the goals of the organization.

The functions of a leader are to achieve a consensus within the group about its goals, maintain a structure that facilitates accomplishing the goals, supply necessary information that helps provide direction and clarification, and maintain group satisfaction, cohesion, and performance.

A manager, in contrast, is an individual employed by an organization who is responsible and accountable for efficiently accomplishing the goals of the organization. Managers focus on coordinating and integrating resources, using the functions of planning, organizing, supervising, staffing, evaluating, negotiating, and representing. Interpersonal skill is important, but a manager also has authority, responsibility, accountability, and power defined by the organization. The manager’s job is ussually to: clarify the organizational structure, choose the means by which to achieve goals, assign and coordinate tasks, developing and motivating as needed, and evaluate outcomes and provide feedback.

All good managers are also good leaders and the two go hand in hand. However, one may be a good manager of resources and not be much of a leader of people. Likewise, a person who is a good leader may not manage well. Both roles can be learned; skills gained can enhance either role.

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