Operational Risk Management Awareness

The term Operational Risk Management (ORM) is not new. It has been tossed about in businesses across North America for the last several years. ORM and the oft associated term Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) have generally been used as corporate buzzwords, business culture idioms referenced in board meetings and articulated during presentations. Recent developments, such as the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act in 2002 in response to growing financial scandals in the U.S., have brought Operational Risk Management, Enterprise Risk Management and related concepts from the backrooms to the forefront of corporate America.

The inescapable reality is that every single day businesses incur losses and experience operational disruptions due to failures by employees, incorrect implementation of processes and technologies as well as wilful disobedience to internal controls. These losses may be manifest in the form of uncollectible receivables from disappointed clients, lost sales due to call centre failures or unproductive employee downtime when computer systems are unavailable, or a host of other potential problems. While most businesses have developed ad hoc methods of dealing with such losses in the past, legislation (such as SOX and the Basel Accord) has made standardized compliance procedures much more complex. Thankfully, just as these new rules have given rise to increased awareness of ORM/ERM, new tools (including Risk Management software) have been developed to aid compliance efforts.

The new regime of Sarbanes-Oxley, under the direction of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) which is in turn accountable to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), has undoubtedly benefited the business world by providing a foundation from which to decrease corporate fraud. However, the complexity and associated technical, labour and administrative costs posed to business is also considerable. The realities of both individually large and collectively mundane errors resulting in loss, as well as the newly regulated reporting of those losses, affect virtually all areas of every business each and every day. Therefore, it is in each company’s best interest to simultaneously find ways to cut losses while keeping regulatory compliance costs down. Hence the rebirth of Operational Risk Management/Enterprise Risk Management and the new demand for Risk Management software solutions.

Traditionally, few operational losses were measured in any accounting system, and rarely were the loss incidents tracked and analyzed in any way; the time and paperwork required to do so was simply daunting. Because there was no standard legislation in place, any Risk Management software tools were often proprietary and slightly more than electronic log books at best. New technologies and attitudes have allowed loss incidents to be seen as more predictable and able to be grouped into risk categories. Proper analysis of these incidents can result in attribution to root causes which aids in mitigation. Even this beginning leads to dramatically reduced costs while achieving huge gains and strategic advantages from well crafted Operational Risk Management policies and Enterprise Risk Management procedures.

Changes in legislation, technology and attitudes related to ORM/ERM have produced not just economic gains, they have led directly to re-invigorated business innovation and even created improvements in the quality of life. For example, safety, quality and environmental related loss incidents have proven to be not only manageable and avoidable, but sound management of these issues has conferred greater advantage on those who succeeded while driving many who did not adapt out of business. While large scale corruption may have brought about regulatory changes, these changes have spurred a re-visioning of Enterprise Risk Management. Advanced Risk Management software has allowed business to more directly mitigate losses. This has resulted in a cleaner, more efficient and more competitive business environment.

In the post-SOX environment, the same social and political pressures on organizations are present. Improved attitudes and tools have encouraged the proliferation of sound Operational Risk Management to the economic and strategic benefit of those properly prepared for the journey.

Mastering The Difference Between Leadership And Management

It is a common belief that management and leadership are the same role. While it is common that a manager also plays the part of the leader, these two roles are truly separate in function and in the way they add to the success of an orginization. By understanding the difference between management and leadership you will become more effective in helping others see the road ahead.

To understand the difference between management and leadership, consider the construction of a new road. To build that road there are workers, machinery and tools which are all vital in the road’s construction. Managers help ensure those workers, machinery and tools work together in the most efficient way possible. A manager makes sure those workers are well-trained, motivated, rested and that they know what they’re supposed to do next. The manager does the same thing with the tools and the machinery to make sure that they’re working correctly and that the workers are able to use them efficiently and safely. This is the role of management. On the other hand, a leader makes sure that the road is going in the right direction before the construction begins. That leader also monitors conditions in new situations to ensure that the road under construction is still the correct one and is still going in the right direction.

How does this affect you as a leader? Are you spending your time managing people when you should be making sure that the road ahead is the one that you want to be on? To expect to be an effective leader you must present a clear vision and a trail you are willing to walk on first. While there are times when it is appropriate for a leader to fill a management role, it is vital to understand the difference between leadership and management so you can be effective no matter which role you happen to be filling at a given time. If you are a leader overseeing managers, it is important that you provide them with the correct perspective so they may be effective in their management role. Don’t manage the managers. Lead them.

If you are not in a formal leadership role, it is also important that you understand that when a leadership opportunity arises there is a difference between being a leader and managing the effort. Even if you end up filling both sets of shoes it’s important to understand the difference in roles in order to fill them effectively. If, on the other hand, you learn how to lead by showing people that you are walking down the right road, you will become a natural leader and will be able to help many others find success as your achieve your own.

Know When To Get Help - Performance Management Consulting

Most people dread performance appraisals because it is tiring and tedious, and people believe their jobs may be on the line. Of course, performance appraisals are really quite useful because management can fully make sense out of the things that have been happening in the company. Through a yearly performance appraisal of employees, companies can finally be able to find out about the reasons behind why the company is losing money here or there.

1. Perform Appraisals In A Serious And Scientific Manner

As the part of the management that ultimately runs the company, the superiors who are actually doing all that performance appraisals year after year, they should really take this task seriously so that that the company will be able to greatly benefit from the yearly performance appraisals of the employees. In case the people who are going to head these yearly employee performance appraisals are actually clueless on what they should really do, they actually have the option to get some performance management consulting so that they will able to know what people from the management like them should really do when its time to once again make those employee performance appraisals.

Employee performance appraisal may seem to be a scary and highly difficult task but through good performance management consulting, you are sure to be able to get the ideas as well as the strategies that other companies are doing with the aid of performance management consulting. When it comes to performance management consulting, experts in the field of business management will actually instruct company heads that before they actually go on to their employees' performance appraisal meetings. Whether they will give out a presentation to other company heads or just be talking to the employees, performance management consulting will actually advice the management to actually make a draft of what they are going to report first before actually going out to the meeting and fumbling on the employee appraisal meeting.

2. Appraisals Should Focus On Positive, Not Negative Aspects

When it comes to performance management consulting, it is highly recommended that you plan everything out from the beginning so that the whole process of the yearly employee performance appraisal will go on smoothly and without any hitch. The performance management consulting activity should be able to help out the company's management to actually be able to produce clear and concise ways for them to make their thoughts be fully understood throughout the performance appraisal report. Performance planning is definitely the key to a well-executed performance appraisal meeting according to the performance management consulting.

- Heed the advice of the performance management consulting group
- Decide on the important factors
- Tackle those factors

3. It Works!

According to the research from the performance management consulting, top companies today are using the performance management process to eliminate a best-effort directed culture in the company, instead the company should move on towards a results-driven culture instead, the next is to be able to establish as well as reinforce the extreme importance of the company's core competencies and lastly, the company should also be able to target the poor performers in the company for termination.

Based on this research from the performance management consulting, the management should be able to target he poor performers in their company by actively weeding out the bottom 10 percent of the pack while completely nurturing the upper 20 percent of the company's employees to be able to sustain their dedication and good work for the company. It is extremely important that the company is able to full acknowledge the presence of such beings in there company so as to be able to further motivate them into doing good for the companywhile the bottom feeders need not be kept in the company anymore since they are hired to do their best and not to actually become a liability to the company.

Key Measures of Success for System Implementation Project Management

Have you ever wanted a short list of of items to keep "in check" as you are managing projects? This short list would contain key measures which, if always kept in check and balance, would lead you to project success? Sure it is important to follow industry project guidelines from the Project Management Institute and within the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, but it is important to always keep these key measures at the forefront of my mind ALL THE WAY through the project - from beginning to completion. Sometimes these factors can be overlooked or forgotten, or thought of as "not needed" in the rush to get a project underway. Stand Up and stop the madness, make sure you have a clear path before trying to get to your destination.... Or you will get lost along the way.

Key Measures:
1.    Before even looking at business requirements or spending much time on a project, make sure you know:
        a.    Who the executive sponsor is and obtain the following information directly from that sponsor:
              i.    Project intentions and scope
              ii.    What the project is NOT or what is out of scope
              iii.    Who the “Customers” are for the project. (many times, customers are internal to the organization)
              iv.    If a Return on Investment document has been created and what is expected of a ROI document. What areas of the business are returns expected?
              v.    Project Budget and how expenditures are approved
              vi.    Expected Project Success Factors
              vii.    That they want this project moving forward at the present time, if not, when is it to start
              viii.    Timeline expected for project completion
              ix.    Agreement to put companies resources on the project to get it done
              x.    Required project status and reporting
              xi.    Agreement on a communication plan to sponsors, customers and other impacted parties
              xii.    Agreement as to the assigned project manager and support from the sponsor that if there are problems with the project that require the executive sponsors attention, that the sponsor will extend support for obtaining the resolution
        b.    Then put all of that information in writing, generally in some sort of project initiation document and then all project leaders, sponsors and customers and CIO SIGN the document. I cannot stress
how important this part is. I cannot stress how many times we have come the end of a project and at least one of these parties (sponsors, customers or CIO) state they never agreed to some portion of the documented information in the project initiation document. This is especially important for System Implementation projects as a lot of time can pass between the time the project got underway and the time the final product is delivered.

2.    Business Requirements
        a.    It is vitally important, before talking with any IT personnel (if the project involves internal IT – which, if it is system implementation, it most likely will) or product vendors, that you take the time needed to adequately document all business requirements from all customers. Documenting business requirements should, at a minimum, involve going through the following steps:
             i.    Identifying the subject matter experts and project representatives from each part of the business that serve as your customers for the end result of the project.
                   1.    Identify the current problem or need
                   2.    Document current processes
                   3.    Discuss what is not working about the process
                   4.    Review results they would like to see to support the business and analysis they need to perform to manage the business
             ii.    In business requirements documentation, DO NOT spend time discussing what systems or technology will allow them do. Discuss what is needed for the business. Do not let your customers try to define a process around systems or technology. Technology is there to support the business, not to dictate how a business should be run. Don’t worry, All the technical pieces will come together later.
             iii.    Document all the business requirements as discussed with all customer groups and subject matter experts. Be sure you specify the problems and needs, how it is hurting the business, what is needed, and how that will help the business. Be specific. This information will help you put together the ROI document to be sure the cost and expected benefits are in line with what the project sponsor(s) is expecting. Some project managers might disagree here and state that the ROI should be done before getting to the business requirements stage. However, I have always found new areas of investment (cost) and return on that investment present themselves when going through the business requirements discovery process.
             iv.    Always be sure to think about how a product will be used and how reporting will be required. This can really get you in the end if you don’t pay close attention up-front during the requirements phase.
             v.    You will then match the business requirements to the scope that you created in the project initiation document, or change the scope, which would require an amendment to the project initiation document requiring new signatures.
             vi.    Once the right set of requirements is documented and it lines up with project scope, then be sure to again have project sponsors, customers (remember, customers can be internal or external), and CIO acknowledging these are the business requirements, that the project is active and sponsored, and that they are in agreement with moving forward to the next project phases. This piece is especially important, as people tend to forget or say things like “I never said that” as you get further along in the project. You can always bring them back to the initial documentation and signatures.
If you do not get signatures, you are a sitting duck.

3.    Now it’s time to figure out how you are going to deliver on these business requirements. This usually leads to a buy or build decision. That is, buy software from a vendor that specializes in the type of product needed, or build with internal IT personnel. The business requirements document is your basis for evaluating the buy or build decision. Do not stray; do not extend scope or budget, without going back through the sign-off process. If you are “buying” a product from a vendor, do the initial “paring down” process of determining top software products which match the business requirements.

4.    Now that you have your top list of software contenders, have demonstrations performed by the vendors for your customer group(s). They can help cast the vote for the selected product. It is critical to get buy-in from your customers every step of the way.

5.    If possible, it is a good idea to perform a trial phase with 2 top vendors to see how the business requirements match up to the product.

6.    After the trial phase, get back with your customers to demonstrate the products against the business requirements. Then have your customers make their final selection. At that point, be sure a technical specifications document is written that matches up against the business requirements. The purpose of the technical specification document is to demonstrate within the product, how business requirements will be met, what business requirements cannot be met or can only be met partially, and the IT requirements for the product. Be sure that, before beginning a major development phase, that you have gone back to your sponsors, customers and CIO or other representative IT parties for agreement on the specifications and agreement for moving forward. This phase will also require an updated project schedule outlining the full development schedule, resource requirements, and commitment from involved parties.

7.    Be sure to do a “pulse check” with your customers and sponsors at many points throughout the development cycle. This will ensure your customers are not surprised by the end result or that you haven’t gone completely down a path that they did not want or that you developed something incorrectly. It is much better to catch these things while development is still going on – your time-line will probably be impacted much less this way AND the perception of project success by customers and sponsors will be much higher this way. Ultimately, it is best not to have any such “hang-ups” during the development process. But, it is probably not realistic to expect that you won’t have any. That’s the job of the project manager – to work through such issues and still complete the project on time.

8.    When the development phase is complete, it is important that you have documented not only how to use the product, but how it impacts that business processes. It will require discussion with customer group representatives about what the system will now do, and what the new process should look like. It is important to have this document and be in agreement with customer group representatives BEFORE any product rollout occurs. If you do this, you can expect a much smoother training and rollout phase of the product than if you just try to throw the product out there. If you do not have a carefully planned training and rollout phase, all your work will go down the drain, and the project will most likely not be perceived as a great success.

9.    During the rollout and training phase, it is extremely important to communicate what the users need to do if they need help with the product. What support for the product is available? A good project manager will already have this in place and be ready to put the support process into motion during the rollout and training phase. It is also important that you obtain agreement from the customer groups on the support process and that they think it will work for their group.

10.    Lastly, be sure to follow-up with customer groups ensuring things are running smoothly and to see what problems or issues need to be corrected. Keep doing so until your customers are happy with the product. 

Remember, there are no levels of success. Either it was a great success, or it wasn’t.

Is Excel Running Your Business?

Is Excel Running Your Business? A Transition to Project Management Software is Worth the Investment.
Businesses small and large have been using MS Excel for years to run processes and manage projects. For small, simple projects Excel is a useful organizational tool. However, projects have a tendency to grow in complexity at a rate that Excel can not keep up with.

Imagine that a business needs to track projects or processes and does not have the time or budget to put a sophisticated tracking system in place. An IT department does not exist or is busy handling other affairs. Excel often seems to be the obvious, quickest and easiest resource to get things started.

Skip ahead a few months or a year later and those same Excel spreadsheets have now become a burden to the company. Many different versions are being passed around. No one knows who has the most up-to-date files saved on their computer. The project has evolved, making the spreadsheets so complex that only one person understands how to update them or even interpret them, in some cases.

It is now nearly impossible to generate reports from the spreadsheets or track progress and historical data. The data is also not searchable since Excel does not function as a database. The list goes on and on with all the limitations.

It is very understandable why business professionals turn to Excel to run critical processes: most already own a license on their desktop and are familiar with enough to quickly get the project started. They can even bypass IT altogether and maintain the Excel files themselves. The problem is Excel was never intended to be used as project management tool. It is no surprise that collaborating via spreadsheets becomes unbearable rather quickly as projects and processes grow in complexity.

Project Management software solutions such as <i>Interneer Intellect provide business professionals with the same benefits they seek with Excel - ease of use, quick setup, ease of maintenance without IT - all with the full benefits and robustness of a database system, that is collaborative, web-based, multi-user and enterprise level. These systems even incorporated many other features that make it easier for the business users to manage documents, projects and process workflows.

Excel is best for what it was designed to do - accounting and financial calculations. Stop running your businesses on a thread and read white papers and view demos of project management software system. Web-based systems like Interneer Intellect allow for real-time collaboration between team members anywhere. The time saved using project management software will provide ROI.

Information Lifecycle Management: Mastering Complexity

The keystone to efficient information and repositing direction lies with a simple principle: information has a lifecycle and it should only be stored as long as compulsory by stage business and regulatory requirements. Nevertheless, the traditional methods of giving medication do not suffice for the complex relationships among structured and unstructured.

New generations of solutions ar evolving to meet byplay leaders' inevitably piece reducing in operation(p) peril, meeting regulatory submission, and improving system handiness. Withal, like every quantum change with strategic and operating(a) , reality is not keeping pace with the expectations of individuals and organizations that demand a quick, yet simple, solution to a very complex and growing problem.

To further complicate matters, new terminology is being introduced, additional skill sets mandatory, products immature, and the financial impact of effectuation is empirically only just being understood with the first generation of products. This ambiguity has a electric potential to derail a robust framework that has the ability to deliver on historically unmet necessarily needed for our ever-expanding, informationdependent industries.

Continued from page 1. First, a current service line mustiness be conducted. This should articulate and quantify the existent technologies, procedures and policies already adopted by the company. The also moldiness classify available personnel skill sets, organizational maturity, and functional windows needed to satisfy the SLAs.

With the foundation in place, known issues, risks and current initiatives be classified and ranked by significance. Secondly, the future state or "to-be" model be created. Clear benefits driven by the occupation drivers and corporate agendas (i.e., alignment) be amalgamated to create a cohesive framework that meets the organizational goals and objectives. With the "to-be" model defined and approved, a fit-gap analysis tin can be done that articulates the problem areas, opportunities and architectonic strengths.

After creating a program of work, a high-level design of the product and services should be developed. This design volition highlight the estimated benefits, potential difference vendors, proposed execution scenarios and sequence of activities that testament result in a working set of pilots. With the selection of headstone vendors, buffer projects toilet be undertaken. These cowcatcher projects wish provide the confirmation for the benefits, risks and approach needed for further investment.

Once completed, the results bequeath be a "go/no-go" decision point for the organization, and additional commitment and investments for ILM realization. Adjustments also leave be made from the pilot burner project's outcome to the plan, resources and budgets. With the pilot light projects and customizations completed, a rollout plan for the tested environment be undertaken. Only segments mature in their lifecycle be considered.

Proper training and education be conducted. A refresh approach to integrate future segments be defined and intermingled into the PMO, methods, and architecture. By its very nature, ILM is not static. It is a layered and mixed series of product, processes and reposition automation that lavatory result in drastically improved information accessibility, usage and bottom-line results. Many companies today unwittingly practicing ILM--using inefficient, manual processes contained within vendor-specific platforms resulting in a high TCO. A viable solution for organizational profitability, cost containment and risk of infection mitigation is contained within the ILM architecture.

Over the next two to three years, the robustness of the products rapidly advance in support of the architecture allowing for significant improvements in warehousing innovation, productivity gains (due to automated rules and policies) and conformity disposal. While caveats to ILM exist, the job drivers for its integration and carrying out cannot be ignored. Organizations seeking to deploy these enterprise-based solutions consider that the potential drop currently outweighs a vendor's ability to make it a reality in the short term. Still, the enterprise identify the critical requirements and embrace the winder strategies spell the market is maturing.

Identifying and embracing the vital requirements and strategies take time and executive commitment, which is usually greater than the time needful for delivery.

The offerings deployed today significantly mature in 2004/2005 as they assimilated into common applications, databases, middleware, and memory . ILM is not just about computer memory , it is about proper alignment with line of work of necessity to effectively ensure the capture, categorization, integration and disposal of . The tonality to the information "hydra" lies with in effective, qualitative and quantitative hazard governance coupled with a clear understanding of the interrelationships between project efforts.

Without an active ILM approach aligned to the organizational culture, the measured value (real or perceived) of technology investments continue to be disappointing patch exposing the organization to increased litigation and scrutiny.

Improving Management of Your Business

All companies have business processes that can be improved. Most companies can benefit from automation or further automation of solutions.

Improving Management of Your Business

Improving business processes is all about a work flow plan, often graphic, and implementation of automating and organizing work processes. It is also a way of defining software architectures and applications. Business process solutions help an enterprise monitor human and automated processes. It can also serve as an enterprise application integration (EAI) tool. Business process management solutions help you identify areas of your business that can be automated and used to apply business rules and guidelines. In practical terms, it acts like a virtual machine that executes process models rather than software code.

Business process solutions take business data and determine how the information is used to perform a task. By creating an overview, a business manager can plan and improve an existing business process. Some solutions also send data through a test set of tasks to ensure that a business process is being followed. These solutions permit a business manager to visually describe, control and trail the flow of a work process. Process solutions generally involve computer systems and software to automate a process.

Technologies used to implement process management solutions include work flow charts, BP-XML languages, ERP (Enterprise Resource Management), software development and EAI (Enterprise Application Integration). ERP is a set of applications that can cover financials, manufacturing, human resources and back-office business administration utilities of an enterprise. It is a business management system that integrates all components of the business as well as planning. On the other hand, EAI software operates as a center that interprets data and messages between different applications.

Improving and automating business processes is the path to gaining huge productivity. These management solutions monitor business presentation by defining a series of tasks that must be performed to attain a defined strategic goal. There are three obligatory requirements - flexibility, reliability and security.

A good solution must help in continuous process enhancement, but managing the huge amount of these processes becomes more and more difficult as organizations become highly complex. Process management solutions give you the capability to satisfy and retain your customers and also maximize your joint venture returns with other businesses.

Remember that business processes define your business, and they can also present your organization with a competitive benefit. If you can make your processes efficient, you will reap better customer relations and profits.

How Does Human Resource Management in the Workspace Effect Me?

How often do you find yourself saying: "I wish I knew how to learn more about this topic"

Well, we were listening! And this article is the result.

Today human resources management is opening up new horizons in many different offices around not only the United States, but the world. The reason for this is simply supply and demand. More savvy business owners –even of smaller companies, have understood the value of hiring professionals with experience working in HR. By doing so, and having HR representatives, companies have learned the importance of solid communication with their workforce

The fact is that Human Resource Management exists just for this purpose –to bridge the gap between staff and upper management. In doing so, compromises have been attained which preclude the need for unions or outside arbitration, and thus provide the services that employees feel is their right to have

A company which is not so progressive, on the other hand, neglects HR and the philosophy that goes with it. The result is, employees abandon any thought of fidelity towards their employer in favor of businesses that reward their service in greater ways. Examples of this begin at the most basic level of appreciation. Certificates of recognition awarded on a monthly, bi-yearly, or even yearly basis, for instance, are all that many employees wish.

Now, pay close attention. What you're about to read will help you save hours of frustrating, wasted hunting, and let you hone in on some of the best material on this subject!

Of course, on a more pecuniary basis, more constant raises –whether structured and awarded based on time and/or merit, are always welcomed. Likewise, health benefits are probably the second most important factor, besides these well-earned raises. The HR department is very often responsible for such aspects in the workspace.

Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Surely, the aforementioned has been a part of the American workspace for decades. What staff in HR try to instill are programs and emotional support that make employees feel a part of a winning, caring team –even a family.

This has been actualized by programs such as after-work softball and bowling leagues, on-site day care, free fitness memberships, and even after hours bar hopping and social events with the office staff and the boss. At work, people in HR have implemented office parties where before there were none, office pools, after-hour bingo (for charity or just for fun), and other such activities that create a cohesion within a workforce that makes it extremely difficult for an employee to ever consider leaving. It is just this feeling that managers and owners are looking for and why HR is so important.

This field is open to able-minded people of numerous backgrounds. There is training and certification which is available either in the office or at a local college. A fast growing field, the opportunities are currently expanding rapidly. Not only do people working in Human Resources enrich others, but they also benefit their own well-being in knowing that their job truly makes a difference in others' lives.

So, what did you think about this article? Please drop us a quick note to share your thoughts and comments on it.

For further information, be sure to check out the numerous resources available online on this topic.

Guide to Project Management

A project is an assignment or task taken up to achieve a specific goal. The development and introduction of new services or of a management information system are instances of a project. A project is different from the continuous or day-to-day processes of a company. It is confined within cost, time, and quality constraints. As a consequence to it a special team of expertise is appointed to manage a project.

Project management as the name suggests is all about nurturing or handling a project. This is done with the aid of requisite knowledge about the project, skills and techniques to complete the project within fixed tenure and resources. Project management involves step-by-step procedure along with a prudent approach towards the project.

At first the concerned organization prepares an outline of the project. This includes knowing and writing down what the project is all about, the cost involved in the project, the amount of resources needed. A thought is also given to the tentatively earliest possible time within which the project can be completed. Once the budget and other nitty-gritty’s about the project are known the organization looks for sponsors and a project manager. If the individual sponsoring the project is skilled and efficient enough, he too can be its manager.

The project manager then appoints a team of people to work under him. Together with the team the manager of the project prepares a project plan. This plan is not just about the cost and time factors but also regarding the manner in which the project is to be initiated and covered up later. This requires lot of discussions and settlements between the project manager and the team of employees.

The implementation stage of a project is where the project is put to execution as decided. While executing a project its progress and managing changes need to be carefully monitored. At this point in order to harness the resources well the project manager might feel the need to expand his team. For instance marketing of the product may be suffering due to more heed being paid to its manufacturing or due to lack of good marketing executives. This may also involve contacting new companies and organizations. Thus a set of people needs to be readily appointed to take charge of this. However then it is always at the onus of the manager to equip the new members with a proper and complete knowledge of the project. In some cases training may also be imparted.

After all these stages are over, the project comes at its stage of completion. This is known as the close down stage. Here the project manager safely handles the completed work in the hand of the client or the customer. Once a project is finished and handed over, a project review meeting should be held to study the work done, encourage if something good was discovered during the project and also learn from the mistakes made. These should also be documented and later published in warts and all. This acts as a great help in future assignments.

Free Time Management Software

Today, there is a wonderful opportunity to get your business or personal life in order using free time management software. Searching the Internet today yields several different varieties of free time management software. Using free time management software you can schedule important events, manage key projects, and alert yourself through reminder messages when deadlines are coming up for completing tasks. It is a good idea to use some type of tool or process for managing time, and using free time management software can be an easy and convenient way to balance your priorities.

Free Time Management Software And Your Phone

There may be free time management software available for your cellular phone. By downloading and making use of this, you can bring your daily tasks with you no matter where you go. You benefit from this be being reminded of your remaining tasks for the day and having the ability to add new tasks to your schedule as you move about – no more forgetting update your calendar when you get back to your office. Portable tools such a cell phones with free time management software will help you keep on task all day long and will result in higher productivity.

Other benefits of free time management software are the ability to identify scheduling conflicts, and helping to organize and prioritize tasks when you see that there are too many items to be completed in a single day. Free time management software can also help to identify parts of your day where time may be wasted, showing time that could have been used for goal-centered activities, but was not. Future similar times can be filled with planned tasks that could not be accomplished before, perhaps freeing night-time up that was being used for playing catch-up so you can spend it as you see fit – slowing down to watch a sunset, or getting up to watch the sunrise can be done without feeling guilty for wasting time because everything else is taken care of.

Things To Remember When Selecting Free Time Management Software

Today, you can find almost anything available for free on the Internet. Free Time Management Software is available in the form of online-base tools. Many of these tools offer persuasive benefits, but you should be aware that web-based services could sometime become temporarily or permanently unavailable. This could result in partial or total loss of your valuable information. If you plan on using an online form of free time management software, you should take care to keep a backup of you information to protect yourself.

Finding The Right Expense Management Solution For Your Company

In recent times, initiatives such as the Sarbannes Oxley Act in the US have dramatically raised the profile of compliance within the corporate world. As a key element of any corporate compliance policy, expense management has shared some of the limelight. As a result, an Expense Management Solution (EMS) is now critical to any business concerned with corporate compliance. But what is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)? Does your company need one? And where do you find a good one? Just as importantly, how do you successfully implement and integrate an Expense Management Solution (EMS) into your corporate environment. This article sheds some light on these issues.

What is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)?

The term “expense management solution” has been used to describe quite different commercial products and services. In the context of this article, an expense management solution is defined as a technology based system that processes:

(i) transaction records received from a credit card issuer (detailing employee use of corporate credit cards0; and

(ii) cash reimbursement claims originated by an employee.

In practice the target application is Travel and Entertainment expenditure. A robust Expense Management Solution (EMS) will also support procurement (pCard) activities as part of a broader strategy of effectively managing lower value, high volume business-to-business transactions.

The three core steps of any expense management process are:

1. the acceptance/input of validated source data;
2. the application of predetermined rules of handling expense records; and
3. the posting of transactions to a corporate repository such as an ERP system.

What is the purpose of an Expense Management Solution (EMS)?

The objectives of an expense management solution implementation should include the following:

1. to automate the preparation, submission, approval, and auditing of travel & entertainment claims, thus improving the productivity of account holders and reducing the time and cost of accounts staff;

2. to support the implementation of a standardized best practice method of managing high volume expenses through the use of corporate credit cards; and

3. to increase the transparency and enhance the governance of financial transactions conducted on behalf of the enterprise.

Sources of Expense Management Solutions

Australian and international organizations now have access to a range of quality expense management solutions which are well suited to driving down administration cost whilst meeting corporate compliance requirements. There are essentially three sources of “expense management solutions”:

1. ERP systems;
2. systems offered by card issuers; and
3. best-of-breed solutions.

Each will have their own merits and will suit organizations in different circumstances.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

ERP sourced expense management has the attraction of being fully integrated within the financial suite of software, therefore offering a standard look and feel to all users of the ERP. With ERP sourced expense management functionality, the ERP supplies the core software, and the enterprise needs to customize and configure the system to reflect its own structures and rules regarding the management of staff expenses. If you're considering the option of using their ERP for expense management, you need to be conscious of a number of factors, including:

• the actual functionality available within their specific installed ERP system;
• the backlog of work on the ERP system accumulated for the IT department; and
• the deployment time and the cost of the project (which will usually be substantial).
License costs can be an issue if an enterprise if your company has not paid a license fee that will cover all card account holders and cash claimants.

Card Issuer Systems

Some card issuers promote “expense management” solutions which can range from a computer generated report through to an online system with some embedded workflow concepts. The attraction of card issuer expense management solutions is that they are offered as part of a card deal, sometimes (apparently) for free. If you're considering a card issuer expense management solution, you need to know:

• will you be 'locked in' to the card issuer?; and
• will you be able to configure the expense management solution to adequately reflect internal requirements?

Best-of-Breed Solutions

Best-of-breed expense management solutions from specialist providers can be relatively seamlessly interfaced to an organization's internal systems such as HR and ERP, but will not present a common look and feel to the ERP system. You would usually choose a best-of-breed expense management solution if you want:

1. your company to be independent of a particular card issuer;
2. to achieve a fast implementation; and/or
3. to configure the solution to its own unique rules and policies of expense administration.

Best-of-breed expense management solutions are typically deployed as either an ASP (Application Service Provider) or self hosted solution. Although exceptions are common, small to medium enterprises tend to appreciate the lower up-front cost of an ASP expense management solution, and larger enterprises are attracted to the control available through a self-hosted expense management solution. ASP expense management solutions are typically paid for on a per statement per month basis, and self-hosted expense management solutions have a range of options available from up-front license fees to monthly license rentals.

Overcoming the Cultural Resistance to Expense Management Solutions

Some Finance Directors still have an aversion to corporate credit cards. It's not uncommon to hear a finance director say “if I give everyone a card, they'll spend us broke!”

However, the benefits of an Expense Management Solution are apparent as soon as the Finance Director considers the difficulties of controlling the expenditure behavior of thousands of employees using a manual system of reimbursements which is largely based around a set of uncoordinated spreadsheets. Basic activities such as enforcing travel policies, calculating tax implications, reconciling, posting to a chart of accounts at a detailed level and auditing, are so difficult as to be more honored in the breach than the observance...

Viewed from a different perspective, a company with revenues of $700m $50m in EBITDA, and $20m in annual employee business expenses, can make a dramatic impact on its bottom line using an expense management solution without increasing revenue. If automation reduces these expenses by only five per cent in the first year, the savings alone have the same impact on the bottom line as $14m in new revenue. It isn’t surprising that the return on investment of an expense management project is often achieved within its first 12 months of operation.

Expense Management Solutions also play a vital role in Fraud Control. “Fraud” in this context takes many guises, not all of which are the sort that land perpetrators in court. Information taken from our own customer experience and from publications of the USA Association of Certified Fraud Examiners identify the top four categories of fraud:

1. Mischaracterized expenses
2. Overstated (exaggerated) payments
3. Fictitious expenses
4. Multiple reimbursements

Research in the USA has pointed to as much as 1% of company revenues being lost to employee expense mismanagement. Expense Management Systems will not, in their own right, eliminate this but they are a vital tool in creating an environment that drives down the level of mismanagement.

Conclusion

Over the past 18 months, our company has observed a change in motivation for expense management projects. Whereas formerly expense management solutions were an exercise solely in the reduction of administration costs, now governance is equally a driver to implement technology based controls around high volume expenditure. The Sarbannes Oxley (SOX) act in the USA has captured the attention of any enterprise active in the USA. However, inside or outside the USA, the senior executives must warrant that their company has implemented adequate financial controls that prevent fraud and give a true and correct record of the enterprise’s financial activities. As a result, the Corporate Travel Manager who pitches a proposal on expense management to the senior executive team currently finds a willing audience.

Finding A Document Management Solution - In-House vs. Hosted Solutions

Before we get started, some of you may be asking what is document management?

Document Management is the ability to manage all of your paper documents in an electronic format. Let's define "paper documents in electronic format".

Basically, there are two types of document management systems, either an in-house solution, or an outsourced hosted solution.

So,which one will best suit your needs? Good question. Most companies base their decision on available staff to maintain these systems, and the technical abilities of those staff members. Cost of a solution is also a deciding factor. While the cost of an in-house solution is higher up front, having the technical staff to support it, it typically pays off in the long run due to the calculated Return On Investment (ROI). The lower cost of a hosted solution is appealing to many companies because this solution puts the technical responsibilities on the solution provider. It's also beneficial in that most of these solutions are web-based. While some companies can truly benefit from the hosted solution, many can't due to confidentiality of the information contained within their organization.

Finding a solution to fit your company's needs can be a time consuming venture. We recommend you first determine what solution fits your organization best, then shop for a solution with the features best suited to your business needs.

How much office space can I save? Good question. It depends on the amount of paper files you have taking up your valuable office space.

In most offices, there are filing cabinets everywhere. We've become attached and dependant on our paper files. Since most companies are mandated to hold their records from 3 to 7 years, that adds up to an exhaustive amount of paper needed to be maintained and stored. Where do you store it? In your office? A records storage company? What are those costs? All these questions lead this topic in a new direction. Why are you keeping these records in paper format? Why not an electronic format?

OK, let's look at some statistics. But before we do that, let's set the standard office environment so we have a reference point to start from. Now for the breakdown:

A typical filing cabinet drawer holds about 3000 pages when full.
So a full 4 drawer cabinet holds about 12000 pages.

A lateral file drawer holds about twice or 50% more files.
So a full 2 drawer lateral cabinet holds about 12000 pages.

The Simple Math

Ok, now that we know what we have in the space of our filing cabinets, let's look at space on storage media.

A standard 8 1/2 x 11 page scanned at 200x200 DPI (dots per inch) is about 50k in size (average)
There is 1024k in 1 megabyte of space.
There are 700 megabytes of space on a CD.
There are 4,700 megabytes of space on a DVD.

Ok, here's the simple math.

1,024k (1 megabyte) divided by 50k (standard scanned document) = 20.48 documents per megabyte
700 megabytes (1 CD) x 20 (scanned images per megabyte) = 14,000 documents per CD
4,700 megabytes (1 DVD) x 20 (scanned images per megabyte) = 94,000 documents per DVD

So here are the facts.

1 CD = 1 filing cabinet full of paper documents (12,000 documents)
1 DVD = 7 filing cabinets full of paper documents (84,000 documents)

Once these documents are scanned and placed on a CD or DVD (write once only media) they become legal documents that can be archived and retrieved later in the event you would like to print, fax, or email them.

Extracting Real Benefits From Travel & Expense Management

For your company to truly reap the rewards of a structured corporate travel policy, it must focus on one thing above all else: compliance. Unfortunately, while the explosion in convenient Self Booking Tools gives you a lot more freedom of choice, it also makes compliance a great deal more challenging. Any technology that supports an increase in compliance to policy has merit; it will save your company money and bring back the benefits of corporate travel.

Today's diversity of choice in self booking tools makes compliance through denial of access a very difficult protocol to enforce. What you really need is a funnel through which 100% of your company's travel activity must pass. In the corporate world, the only viable funnel is the payment mechanism – getting paid is the ultimate leveler. If you use a corporate credit card as the payment mechanism, supported by an expense management solution, and suppliers who can report back to you a reasonable level of data, you stand a very good chance of supporting the compliance objective.

A compliance-friendly Expense Management Solution (EMS)
An expense management solution which processes card transactions (and possesses decent workflow) requires the traveler to personally justify all deviations from policy to their supervisor – on a transaction by transaction basis. Just as importantly, the warehoused individual transactions give the corporate travel manager the opportunity to conduct spend analysis and examine individual and aggregate behaviors.

You might argue that this is after the act, but it still encourages compliance. As per all card based procurement systems, if an employee consistently deviates from company policy, they may be penalized (e.g. card withdrawal, official warning, employment termination, etc.). The threat of negative repercussions acts as a deterrent to card misuse, thereby increasing the level of compliance.

The benefits of policy compliance

80% of the business case benefits of corporate travel will come from travel policy compliance. This requires:

• Sound policy and procedures;
• A comprehensive communication strategy;
• A gate through which all activity can be channeled (the card and the expense management solution); and
• Tools to monitor and measure compliance.

There will also be some peripheral benefits to be gained from an expense management solution in the pre-trip phase:

For instance:

• The traveler can use the work flow component of an expense management solution to create travel request and approval records rather than using something less structured like emails.

• Using the expense management solution, the traveler can create a “commitment” record at the time of booking for subsequent matching of the credit card transaction when it comes through.

• You can obtain a download of trip data from your TMC, and travelers can seek to match that against trip card transactions, thus reducing the quantity of manual entries required of the travel coordinator.

• The expense management solution provides travelers with a real-time log of commitments beyond what might be recorded in a personal diary.

How does it apply to your company?

In looking at the business case for this exercise, you do need to closely examine a number of factors to determine the benefits you will actually realize:

• There are no industry-wide standards, and the market tends to work as a series of isolated closed provider loops – your efficiencies will be greatest if can conduct your business entirely within one closed loop. It is up to you to determine if you can obtain maximum purchasing power in this environment.

• The importance you place on understanding the cumulative value of travel booked but not yet paid.

• The extent to which you can source the data you require from your travelers via a TMC data feed and, consequently, the keystroke savings you can achieve for those travelers.

• The productivity gains you will obtain for your travelers by virtue of them setting up trip details in your Expense Management Solution (EMS) at time of booking rather than at time of arrival of the card transaction.

The combination of Electronic Travel Management and Expense Management is an important subset of eProcurement, and it is subject to the same challenges facing all eProcurement initiatives over the past 10 years – industry standards, supplier participation, and a seamless marketplace. Until these elements are all in place, greatest advantage will be gained by companies that focus on the big picture of where they can achieve maximum purchasing value with reasonable purchasing productivity – usually based on being able to perform an analysis of spend patterns and behavior.

Employee Performance Management

Fixation of compensation or wage rates for different categories of employees in a company is an important task of management. The employees are not only concerned with the wages received but also concerned with the level wages received by same level of employees in similar organizations. Hence wage structure may be considered very important. The relative wage-rules must be fixed carefully, because they have implications for promotion, transfer, seniority and other important personnel matters.

Wage plan should possess certain fundamental characteristics if the long term interests of the worker, management and the consumer are to be served. The wage plan must be linked with the productivity of the workers. Unless higher pay scales of workers are linked in some way to the productivity of workers, a wage plan will not be fair either to the management or to the consumers.

Basic wage for each job classification should be related to skill job requirements of job. Due consideration should be given to such factors as skill, length of time required in learning, versatility required and working conditions. In all fairness to management, the plan should usually result in a reduction of unit cost of manufacture, making possible lower prices and higher profits.

In all fairness to the consumers a share of higher efficiency should be passed on to them by way of lower price. This will be possible when there is reduction in cost due to higher efficiency. Thus the wage plan must ensure that all participate share the gains of higher productivity. The wage plan should include an incentive system for the efficient workers. The system should ensure higher pay to the workers who perform work at higher level of efficiency. The wage plan should guarantee minimum wage to protect the interest of workers against conditions over which they have no control.

Effective Data Management

Mining data is one of the keys to running an effective business. Here’s a primer on effectively managing your business data to maximize the efficiency of your business.

Effective data management plays an essential role for any growing business. Information technology has generated advanced tools for analyzing and managing data. Use of these tools can improve the performance of almost any operation. Steps made in capturing mass data electronically have developed the need for effective management strategies. Getting more and more data and transforming it into usable information is a major concern of today’s services and industries.

New technologies require new expertise, internal procedures and decision-making methods. Earlier companies were creating electronic databases, which were non-relational and difficult to use. Now with the use of highly sophisticated software and high-speed computers, businesses are reaping huge benefits from the computer/information revolution. Businesses are continuously making steps in managing data by using various tools to optimize information for sorting, searching and presentation in meaningful formats.

Many software programs and database applications are available on the market that enable companies to manipulate data in real time, capture knowledge for future use, ease the progress of operations to save time and costs and also to coordinate operations with partners.

The amount of data storage necessary and the duration it is kept online is growing swiftly, yet resources to manage data are limited. Data storage is a test to those companies wishing to maximize the value of their available data and also a huge task for storage professionals to manage and protect this data. Enterprises are struggling to bring together highly reliable platforms that can recognize where data is located in a company and whether it is utilized efficiently. Data management solutions must track, monitor and be vigilant of the conditions of your company data. It should also manage and distribute data efficiently. It should unify and simplify the administration of storage infrastructure.

Data is growing exponentially. Companies need maximum scalability, performance and production for data rigorous applications. They also need an easy to use, backup tool that provides transparency to where and how data and storage is utilized. Before choosing such and important process as data management, be sure to research your options and go with a solution that is flexible and scalable.

Database And Document Management Systems

Different business organizations use different types of software to manage their documents. This software performs the function of creating, full text indexing, controlling the different versions of documents, retrieval, and so on.

The vital component of any document management software system is the inherent database management technology that classifies and tracks the documents created and stored. The database system locates and retrieves the requested document from the archives or from the documents under its control on the basis of query submitted to it.

The database management system prevents unauthorized persons from accessing the information. Only users with passwords have access to the entire database or a portion of it. Any addition made to the data is carried out without altering the existing database. The system is also designed to filter out duplicate copies of the records.

For all documents created and stored, the database system generates a host of information about the documents. This information is maintained separately from the document itself. The information includes the name of the author who has created the document, the date of creation, the last occasion on which it was accessed and the subsequent changes made to it. The system also maintains information on the main topics or subjects contained in the documents, as well as details of documents that are relevant to the document requested for.

The database system has to be reliable and must have a high level of operational efficiency in managing large volumes of text-based documents, images, sound and video. The database may be either centralized or distributed, depending upon the data management software system installed in an organization. A centralized database, which stores document profile information in a single database, offers quick and efficient searching but faces the risk of losing information in case of failure or corruption in the document profile repository. In a distributed data base system the information is dispersed and stored at various points based on the company’s network or on the disk structure. This minimizes the risk of losing all the information, in case of failure or corruption.

Customer Relationship Management

Changing consumer attitudes are driving Customer Relationship Management. Fuelled by Internet induced expectations and an even increasing mood of self reliance among customers, companies have to compete in an environment where communication, buying processes, data management, delivery and service are all-important in the battle for longterm, profitable relationships.

Customers now require:

- Control over the buying process (information, comparison,
selection, easy to find, use and respond to)

- The best possible price (including delivery, and without
compromise to brand or product quality)

- The quickest, slickest delivery system (preferably free)

- All payment options (secure)

- Communications designed to suit the particular need
(computerised; complex; caring)

The above apply whatever the form of trading:

- Direct
- Traditional
- Retail
- E-commerce
- Wholesale
- Combination

These attitudes combined with the development of new technology and the growing convergence of a number of 'new - new' and 'emerging - new' communications and distribution technologies such as:

- 'Fixed link' telephony and telemarketing
- Internet and VOIP
- Mobile telephony, SMS etc.
- Digital TV, Cable, Satellite

is leading to an increasing focus on Customer Relationship Management by all types of organisations, as they realise that technological change allows them to re-organise the way that they manage customer relationships and make them more profitable.

Organisations are searching for something far more holistic, consistent and yet dynamic.

To achieve that and a sustainable competitive advantage in Customer Relationship Management means working with the management team, staff and suppliers of the company, where reasonable and cost effective using technology (e.g. intranet, extranet) to help to deliver the actions necessary to maximise performance.

One must:

- Define profitable market sectors and customers
- Understand customers needs and expectations
- Identify profitable product and service propositions
- Create effective, efficient, adaptable, cost effective
infrastructures

Customer Relationship Management is: the customer focussed management of the whole relationship with each customer, in order to measure, create and increase income and reduce costs for each customer and customer segment and thus to generate greater positive lifetime value across the portfolio.

Customer Relationship Management requires the organisation to know the answers to questions such as:

- Which of my customers are profitable or unprofitable?

- Do I know their lifetime value?

- Which of my products and services are they buying and not
buying?

- Have I measured customers' purchase behaviour patterns, their
loyalty/retention/repeat purchase and multiple product
purchases?

- What channel preferences do customers have?

- Who are my most profitable customers and what is their
ranking/grouping by risk, by product service grouping, by
profit, and by revenue?

- What strategies can I use to improve a customer's
profitability profile?

It also requires the organisation to deliver customer value. Customers must feel that
the organisation:

- ‘Understands what I want’
- ‘Communicates with me’
- ‘Provides me with added value’
- ‘Gives me reasons not to switch’
- ‘Treats me as an individual’

To achieve these answers Customer Relationship Management requires focus on both sides of the equation:

- Customer Communications Management
- Process Quality Management

and on three key delivery mechanisms, those of:

- Proposition
- Processes
- People

To be fully effective at Customer Relationship Management an organisation has to position the business unit or enterprise (proposition, processes and people) so that the customer is as the centre of their business. True Customer Relationship Management means that the business has streamlined customer management through the integration of all customer 'touch points', such as marketing, customer service and payment in such a way that true customer satisfaction and loyalty appear to occur effortlessly.

Customer Relationship Management is not a 'fad' it is a business philosophy that helps to increase revenue, reduce costs and to build and retain a loyal customer base.

Customer Management Relationship

The catch phrase of the 1990s, Customer relationship management, was an instant darling of large and medium business houses, which in theory promised to develop and manage a happy and cordial relationship with customers. Now a decade and more into customer relationship management, organizations are slowly realizing that the unwieldy process is no longer easy to handle easily, as they initially thought, and forging a relationship forever is not gaining ground.

The reasons for the slow progress of this magnificent management tool are not very difficult to understand, although it has taken years to dawn on the organizations. However, fundamentally, the theory of CRM, customer relationship management, is still the wonderful formula for insuring your customer base. Let us see the two biggest stumbling blocks on the road to successful customer management relationship.

Two of the Biggest Stumbling Blocks to CRM

1.The success of customer relationship management depends on whether each interaction of customers with the organization was satisfying enough.

2.The cumbersome process is cost ineffective and unfriendly to maintain and track product and user data accurately

However, software managed databases are coming close to inject efficiency with advanced features to track have changed the face of CRM vastly. Nevertheless, the recent advent of internet technology has proven to take CRM to an altogether different plane wherein customer can instantaneously interact with automated answer banks and/or a customer support executive.

So, What Is the Basic Structure of Automated CRM?

To make things simple, let’s take the three core structural elements of an automated CRM. These three can be enumerated as: 1) Operational structure, to automate the fundamental business processes like marketing, sales, and service;

2) Implementing analytical technology to support customer behavior analysis and finally,
3) Cooperative approach to ensuring customer contact through media such as web, phone, SMS etc.

Software based CRM brings in certain cutting edge advantages.

1. Round the clock and 365 days information delivery on products/services, usage, problem solving over the web.
2. Automated scheduling of sales and service calls
3. Automatic guidance to typical problems
4. Interactive web tools allow customer define quality and/or problems
5. Easy tracking of repeat customers facilitate quicker identification

Still There Is Shadow beneath the Lamp

As business world is moving towards ironing out lacunae, there still remains lot of things to attend to. Not all the customers who emailed to customer departments are satisfied. The general complaint is the quality of service remained the same despite interactive websites. Whosoever is answering the emails still has the traditional supportive back office works to do. Another point that could be sighted here is the bane of automated email reply.

The bottom line, however is, come what may, CRM is here to stay.

Crisis Management

The Internet may have opened worlds for businesses and consumers, but it has also created a public relations nightmare for businesses. Forums, opinion Web sites, blogs, and anything that is publishable can smear a company's name in moments.

Remember, "Yours Is a Very Bad Hotel" presentation that described one customer's bad experience with a hotel chain? Hotels are run by humans. Humans make mistakes. It's how you handle the mistakes that can make the difference in customer service. Since the hotel's employees didn't try to help the customer overcome a bad situation, the customer lashed back and bloggers blogged it.

If the hotel is on top of its game, it would unleash its crisis management (also known as reputation management) team to salvage its reputation while it can. It's possible for a company to overcome bad PR and come out ahead as in the case of PG&E (California's Pacific Gas and Electric company).

Another strategy is to use Internet monitoring to monitor online articles regarding a company's activities to prepare for negative publicity. Some go further and monitor chat rooms, newsgroups, and online discussion forums.

It's like the story of the town gossip who spread false stories about its people. One day, he felt terrible and went to the chaplain [Rabbi, pastor, priest, or other &mdash take your pick] to ask for forgiveness. The chaplain said,"I will forgive you, but you must do something first."

"Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds." The man thought this was a strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the chaplain that he had done it, the chaplain said, "Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can recollect the feathers."

The same can happen to a company without a crisis management plan in place. It's possible to survive the crisis and thrive as PG&E did. Don't expect Worldcom to pull out of its Enron-like mess. Fraud is not excusable. And Martha Stewart? She has hired a public relations strategist firm in an effort to do damage control. It'll be worth watching to see what happens in her case and how the PR firm attempts to save her reputation. Did you know there is a recall on one of her products? Adds fuel to the fire, doesn't it?

Corporate Identity Management

Competition is great in the market world today and in order to get your business noticed, you will need good corporate identity management. You need to bring together all of the good qualities of your company as well as emphasizing what a great benefit your company will be to those who use your services. Good corporate identity management will do just that if handled properly. It will give your business a clear positioning towards your customers and prospective customers as well as your staff, suppliers, authorities, and even your competition. By making your business easily recognizable to those who want what your selling, corporate identity management will also play a key role in the development and maintenance of your business, and keep it running like a well oiled machine. In today's world, we are all bombarded with information, every waking minute. Globalization increases competition, products are interchangeable, and new products come to the market at an ever faster rate. Every business is competing for our attention. Selection of a supplier is not solely based on price or availability anymore; customers have the luxury to choose suppliers they can identify with. That is why your company will need an edge of some kind so that when people decide they need the service that you're offering, either your logo, or a witty saying, will automatically pop into the consumers head, in turn, they will seek you out. However, your business image is not the only thing that will get you noticed. How the press and advertisers perceive your company will rub off on the public also, so you will always need to stay consistent and make a good impression.

Consistency is very important in the business world today, unless you want to loose your business before it even gets off the ground, you can't say one thing then completely do another. In order to ensure consistency in communication, you may need to ask for help from someone who know what their doing when it comes to corporate identity management. There are many good organizations that can help you do just that. They can take your company and create something that will be distributed all over, no matter what you're selling. Another important aspect is that your staff needs to be able to identity with your company's corporate identity so they feel comfortable with it. From your company's reception area, to telephone manners, the design of all printed materials and Web sites, to public relations, every aspect of a business has to breathe its Corporate Identity to be believable and distinguishable. Only then will your business have the chance of being taken seriously in the market, and ultimately to succeed. The primary idea behind a corporate identity program is everything your business does, own, and service it provides, should project a clear idea of what you and your business goals are. A good corporate identity management system works well and keeps the important things on tract.