Change, I Must Change and The World Will Change With Me

Change had been interpreted as a shift or transformation from one situation or state towards another situation or state. Dictionary.com defines change as an act or instance of making or becoming different either in location, situation or even behavior.

Often when we talk about change we stress on the requirement for others to change but along this process, we also often forget that we need to be the agent of change. The phrases "change, I must change and the world will change with me" emphasizes every single person in an organization to become the agent of change. Mahatma Ghandi in one of his speech mentioned about being the agent of change by saying "Be the change you want to see in the world".

So, let us start the journey of change with ourself as the agent of change.

Housing Issue in Pulau Indah

Banks, developers accused of cheating
BERNAMA
Saturday, May 14th, 2011 19:22:00
PORT KLANG: About 1,400 buyers of apartments planned for five sites on Pulau Indah are asking the authorities to investigate allegations that bank personnel and the developers are colluding to deceive them.

The buyers made part payments in 1999 for apartments at Bahtera, Yamin Tower, Indah Heights, Yamin Heights and Mutiara Heights costing RM45,000 to RM120,000 which were supposed to be completed in 2003.

While none of the apartments had been completed, many of the buyers had received letters from banks asking them to pay what they still owed for the units or risk being declared a bankrupt.

Chairman of the committee of Indah Heights, Yamin Heights and Mutiara Heights buyers Wan Zamzahidi Wan Zahid said that some of the banks appeared to have issued the full amount of loans to the developers even though the projects had not been completed.

He was especially concerned because the developers did not seem to have obtained approval to change the status of the project sites from agricultural to residential land.

"A file search showed that the developers had not obtained permission from the Klang Municipal Council to build on the land," he told reporters here.

Chairman of the committee for the Bahtera apartment buyers Anuar Ibrahim said the banks had given loans in full to the developers without them meeting the stipulated conditions.

He said that he had lodged reports with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Selangor government.

The talent that should be

Another day another challenge

Here start another term of life. Another semester, another challenge.
Hope to have a happy end.

Balanced Scorecard

Article taken from Balancedscorecard.com

Balanced Scorecard Basics

The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is used extensively in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals. It was originated by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton as a performance measurement framework that added strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to give managers and executives a more 'balanced' view of organizational performance. While the phrase balanced scorecard was coined in the early 1990s, the roots of the this type of approach are deep, and include the pioneering work of General Electric on performance measurement reporting in the 1950’s and the work of French process engineers (who created the Tableau de Bord – literally, a "dashboard" of performance measures) in the early part of the 20th century.

The balanced scorecard has evolved from its early use as a simple performance measurement framework to a full strategic planning and management system. The “new” balanced scorecard transforms an organization’s strategic plan from an attractive but passive document into the "marching orders" for the organization on a daily basis. It provides a framework that not only provides performance measurements, but helps planners identify what should be done and measured. It enables executives to truly execute their strategies.

This new approach to strategic management was first detailed in a series of articles and books by Drs. Kaplan and Norton. Recognizing some of the weaknesses and vagueness of previous management approaches, the balanced scorecard approach provides a clear prescription as to what companies should measure in order to 'balance' the financial perspective. The balanced scorecard is a management system (not only a measurement system) that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the balanced scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an enterprise.

Kaplan and Norton describe the innovation of the balanced scorecard as follows:

"The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation."

(Adapted from The Balanced Scorecard by Kaplan & Norton)

Perspectives

The balanced scorecard suggests that we view the organization from four perspectives, and to develop metrics, collect data and analyze it relative to each of these perspectives:

The Learning & Growth Perspective

This perspective includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to both individual and corporate self-improvement. In a knowledge-worker organization, people -- the only repository of knowledge -- are the main resource. In the current climate of rapid technological change, it is becoming necessary for knowledge workers to be in a continuous learning mode. Metrics can be put into place to guide managers in focusing training funds where they can help the most. In any case, learning and growth constitute the essential foundation for success of any knowledge-worker organization.

Kaplan and Norton emphasize that 'learning' is more than 'training'; it also includes things like mentors and tutors within the organization, as well as that ease of communication among workers that allows them to readily get help on a problem when it is needed. It also includes technological tools; what the Baldrige criteria call "high performance work systems."

The Business Process Perspective

This perspective refers to internal business processes. Metrics based on this perspective allow the managers to know how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to customer requirements (the mission). These metrics have to be carefully designed by those who know these processes most intimately; with our unique missions these are not something that can be developed by outside consultants.

The Customer Perspective

Recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business. These are leading indicators: if customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good.

In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analyzed in terms of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which we are providing a product or service to those customer groups.

The Financial Perspective

Kaplan and Norton do not disregard the traditional need for financial data. Timely and accurate funding data will always be a priority, and managers will do whatever necessary to provide it. In fact, often there is more than enough handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate database, it is hoped that more of the processing can be centralized and automated. But the point is that the current emphasis on financials leads to the "unbalanced" situation with regard to other perspectives. There is perhaps a need to include additional financial-related data, such as risk assessment and cost-benefit data, in this category.

Strategy Mapping

Strategy maps are communication tools used to tell a story of how value is created for the organization. They show a logical, step-by-step connection between strategic objectives (shown as ovals on the map) in the form of a cause-and-effect chain. Generally speaking, improving performance in the objectives found in the Learning & Growth perspective (the bottom row) enables the organization to improve its Internal Process perspective Objectives (the next row up), which in turn enables the organization to create desirable results in the Customer and Financial perspectives (the top two rows).

Balanced Scorecard Software

The balanced scorecard is not a piece of software. Unfortunately, many people believe that implementing software amounts to implementing a balanced scorecard. Once a scorecard has been developed and implemented, however, performance management software can be used to get the right performance information to the right people at the right time. Automation adds structure and discipline to implementing the Balanced Scorecard system, helps transform disparate corporate data into information and knowledge, and helps communicate performance information.

Benefits of Implementing Balanced Scorecard

Increase focus on strategy and results
Improve organizational performance by measuring what matters
Align organization strategy with the work people do on a day-to-day basis
Focus on the drivers of future performance
Improve communication of the organization’s Vision and Strategy
Prioritize Projects / Initiatives

Return on investment is an important consideration before investing a significant amount of money to build and implement a new strategic management system.

What are the Primary Implementation Success Factors?

Obtaining executive sponsorship and commitment
Involving a broad base of leaders, managers and employees in scorecard development
Agreeing on terminology
Choosing the right BSC Program Champion
Beginning interactive (two-way) communication first
Working through mission, vision, strategic results, and strategy mapping first to avoid rushing to judgement on measures or software
Viewing the scorecard as a long-term journey rather than a short-term project
Planning for and managing change
Applying a disciplined implementation framework
Getting outside help if needed

Definitions of Balanced Scorecard Strategic Planning & Management Terms

Customer Value Proposition

The Customer Value Proposition is the unique added value an organization offers customers through its operations; the logical link between action and payoff that the organization must create to be effective. Three aspects of the proposition include Product/Service Attributes (Performance/ Functionality considerations such as quality, timeliness or price), Image and Relationship.

Mission

A mission statement defines why an organization exists; the organization's purpose

Performance Measures

Performance Measures are metrics used to provide an analytical basis for decision making and to focus attention on what matters most. Performance Measures answer the question, 'How is the organization doing at the job of meeting its Strategic Objectives?'

Lagging indicators are those that show how successful the organization was in achieving desired outcomes in the past. Leading indicators are those that are a precursor of future success; performance drivers.

Perspectives

A Perspective is a view of an organization from a specific vantage point. Four basic perspectives are traditionally used to encompass an organization's activities. The organization's business model, which encompasses mission, vision, and strategy, determine the appropriate perspectives.

Strategic Initiatives

Strategic Initiatives are programs or projects that turn strategy into operational terms and actionable items, provide an analytical underpinning for decisions, and provide a structured way to prioritize projects according to strategic impact.

Strategic Initiatives answer the question, ‘What strategic projects must the organization implement to meet its Strategic Objectives?’

Strategic Objectives

Objectives are strategy components; continuous improvement activities that must be done to be successful. Objectives are the building blocks of strategy and define the organization's strategic intent. Good objectives are action-oriented statements, are easy to understand, represent continuous improvement potential and are usually not 'on-off' projects or activities.

Strategic Result

Strategic results are the desired outcome for the main focus areas of the business. Each Strategic Theme has a corresponding Strategic Result.

Strategic Theme

Strategic Themes are key areas in which an organization must excel in order to achieve its mission and vision, and deliver value to customers. Strategic Themes are the organization's "Pillars of Excellence."

Strategy Map

A Strategy Map displays the cause-effect relationships among the objectives that make up a strategy. A good Strategy Map tells a story of how value is created for the business.

Strategy

How an organization intends to accomplish its vision; an approach, or “game plan”.

Targets

Desired levels of performance for performance measures

Vision

A vision statement is an organization's picture of future success; where it wants to be in the future

Last minute tip for exam questions

Question 1 : Business Intelligence

by definition : BI refers to any activities or skills or compiling, processing, storing or providing access to data to bring out a timely and precise information that make impact to overall business performance.

factors :
1. Alignment of the system to the business objectives
2. Type of system being used - suitability to organizational needs
3. Knowledge in handling the system
4. Accesibility and availability of data/information

Question 2 : Hardware and Software

by definition : Hardware are components of the system that perform the processing, storing, input and output to and from the system. Software are programs or applications that runs on the hardware.

Selection should be based on :
1. Organizational needs - too less = can't function, too much = waste of effort
2. System's capability and limitation - what it can do and what it can't.
3. Software compatibility to the hardware. e.g if you only can afford RAM 256MB then you should not go for Vista.
4. Organization readiness to the system - if user too slow, should look into a simpler solution.
5. System suitability for future upgrade

Question 3 : Data Communication Evolution

Data communication evolved. Take an example, some few years ago, purchaser had to send the PO through despatch or courier service. Take time to arrive to supplier. Evolve to fax system when can immediately arrive supplier. Some organization uses computerized PO which linke them with the supplier.
Reverse that to the supplier perspective. Last time, when you search for something, have to ask the supplier to come and bring the catalogue. Current system by database sharing through internet permits fast and accurate selection of parts through electronic catalogues.
In daily operation it saves time, cost and also effort.

Question 4 : Integrated Information System

By definition : Integrated Information System is a set of system that interact between each other without human intervention. Output of one system immediately become input to another system.
By example, if we can integrate maintenance reporting system, production report and breakdown record, any stoppages happened in production that reported by maintenance personnel will directly appeared in production report and breakdown record. So total downtime will be tally between this three reports. If output of maintenance report had to be key in manually into production report, then there are possibility of mistake or error to happen so output of production report will be different or not accurate. Action that may triggered from the report may not be accurate.

Strategic Information System and Its Role in Enhancing Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness - Introduction

Introduction

Information system played a rather important role in most organizations ranging from small business up to large multi national companies. Information system as a basic act as a support in documentation and most of administrative works. Information system can be defined as a set of information resources that interconnected and under same management control and also shares common functionality. This system usually consists of hardware, software, data, information (processes data), applications, communication and user1

Somewhere around late 60’s to early 70’s, some type of information system had been identified to have a strategic importance to the organization. Avison, Eardley and Powell (1996) named Kriebel (1968) and Whisler (1970) as the first two researchers that identified and discussed about strategic importance of information system and linkage between information systems to business framework. Based on the discussion, it can be concluded that information system that have this kind of linkage that enable the organization to perform specific business strategy are called Strategic Information System.

Basically, strategic information system can be described as an information system that has intention to enable the organization to achieve and later to sustain its competitive advantages against their competitors under a variety of environmental conditions. Pant and Hsu (1995) concluded that there is a strong realization by organizations that implementation of information system to the organization’s strategic activities had become one of effective way to improve business performance.

In this review, we are going to establish a hypothesis on the function of strategic information system in enhancing the organizational efficiency and effectiveness. By literature, efficiency means the ratio of output over the input and in depth; efficiency can be explained as achieving the intended result without additional effort, time or expenses. Effectiveness is a measurement of a degree where effect can be attained or how much influence to achieve the effect. To make things simple, efficiency means doing the thing right and effectiveness refers to doing the right thing.

It is important to look into the link, between the system and the businesses strategic objectives.

Basically, review will cover on linkage part which among all will discuss about the alignment of information system to the business strategy, selection of information system to be implemented, knowledge in implementing and handling the information system and also on the factor that either to enable and ease up the implementation or, in the other hand, created hurdles along the path of implementation.

1 http://www.bricker.com/legalservices/practice/hcare/hipaa/164.304.asp