Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles
FindLearning.com
888-644-2111
info@findlearning.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FindLearning.com Gives Companies a New Way to Control Training Costs
Livingston,, quality control, NJ, May 21, 2004 -- FindLearning.com today has launched a new service, quality control, to making it easier for companies to track the spending going on across their organizations, and subsequently,, quality control, control their training costs.
According to Training Magazine's Industry Report, 40% of all training purchases take place outside of central HR and training departments. They are sourced by business managers, IT managers and individual employees. This training spend is incredibly hard for HR and training directors to control, manage or even track.
In order to help HR and training directors get a handle on the distributed sourcing going on in their organizations, FindLearning is offering companies the ability to get a private version of FindLearning's procurement service. This custom service can be integrated seamlessly into a company's intranet or corporate university.
Leveraging its Lotus Domino infrastructure and the configurable design of its service, FindLearning can create a custom version of its service within a few hours. The new custom service is hosted by FindLearning to let companies avoid any major technology integration projects. All that is need is a link to the new service from the company's intranet or corporate university.
The custom FindLearning service gives companies a standard process that can be communicated to all employees for their use in sourcing learning solutions. Central HR or training, quality control, departments then have a way to track, control and begin reducing the costs of the distributed learning spend taking place across their organization.
Among the features that can be configured as part of the customized FindLearning service are:
Branded interface with the company's logo and color scheme to reflect the "look & feel" of their website. The service can be a seamless part of their intranet or corporate university.
Customized learning request forms to reflect the specific needs of their company, including department expense codes.
Approval processes to support the manager or corporate level sign off desired in sourcing and scheduling processes.
On-line Reports to meet specific needs for, quality control, centrally monitoring and tracking company-wide learning requests, transaction history and learning expenses.
On-line, quality control, Course Catalog to include courses, quality control, that have been strategically sourced, or courses that central HR wants gauge the level of interest in. Employees can sign up for scheduled courses or express interest in unscheduled courses. Authorized managers can request the scheduling additional course events.
Hosted by FindLearning so all you need is a link added to your intranet. There is no need any complicated technology projects.
HR and training directors can use the service to deploy a standard sourcing process across their organization. Once business managers, IT managers and staff across the company are aware of the new, quality control, process, requests submitted through the service are processed accordingly to rules applied to determine if they should be immediately sourced, put through an approval process, or held in queue until similar demand is identified elsewhere in the organization. Once an organization has a better handle on all its training spend, it can more easily determine how to more effectively source its learning needs.
About FindLearning
Information about FindLearning's custom service can be found at http://www.findlearning.com/learn/ls.nsf/menus/cs. FindLearning helps companies source learning solutions for classroom training or e-learning through its network of over 150 qualified training providers. Companies can save the time they typically spend searching for vendors, receiving sales e-mails and calls, attempting sales meeting and qualifying vendors. Companies can reduce their training costs as well by comparing competitive proposals from multiple training, quality control, providers. The learning marketplace contains a large base of highly fragmented vendors of varying size each, quality control, offering different types and quality of learning solutions. FindLearning helps companies navigate this complex landscape quickly and easily., quality control,
For learning solution vendors, FindLearning offers an additional marketing channel to find new training opportunities. FindLearning helps vendors learn about new training opportunites form both centralized HR and training professionals,, quality control, and business and IT managers distributed across organizations.
The FindLearning team has over 20 years of combined experience in the training industry, and has successfully delivered thousands of solution proposals to CEOs, CLOs, HR Executives, training professionals, and business and IT managers at all levels. Our professionals have connected companies with every learning solution imaginable;, quality, quality control, control, from onsite instructor-led, quality control, training, multi-user licenses of CD-ROMS, off-the-shelf e-learning libraries and e-learning course development. FindLearning, quality control, .com was developed and runs on Lotus Domino, and is hosting, quality control, by eApps (formerly Strategic Systems Consultings, Inc.) based out of Norcross, Georgia. For more information, you can contact FindLearning at info@findlearning.com or 888-644-2111.
Showing posts with label companies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label companies. Show all posts
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Six Sigma Training - Why and How
Author: Gary Preston
Source: articleage.com
Although Six Sigma sounds like a distant star in a galaxy far, far away, the term is very easy to explain, once you, quality, quality control, control, know sigma is the character in the Greek alphabet that is used in mathematical statistics to identify a standard deviation. A standard deviation is defined by how tightly the various outputs of a process are clustered around the mean in a set of data. In other words, how divergent the outputs are from the statistical average. In statistical terms, Six Sigma means that if there were 1 million opportunities for a defect (defined as anything outside of customer specifications) to occur, no more than 3.4 defects would be permitted, so that the quality of the output is near perfect. As such Six Sigma is seen as the ultimate goal, quality control, in achieving almost immaculate processes through, quality control, continual improvement.
Six Sigma achieves this by implementing a disciplined, data driven methodology for eliminating defects in any process, from the manufacture of a product to after sale customer service. It focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects using the following two Six Sigma sub-methodologies:
The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyse, improve, control), the most common Six Sigma improvement tool, which focuses on ensuring the improvement is clearly defined and measured and is used for existing, quality control, processes that have fallen below customer specifications and require incremental, quality control, improvement. Data is analysed to identify problems and the improvement is consolidated through process controls.
The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyse, design, verify), which is an improvement system used to develop new products or processes to Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if the current process needs more than just incremental improvement.
Both Six Sigma processes, which can be easily calculated using a Six Sigma calculator, are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts and Six Sigma Black Belts, and are overseen by Six Sigma Master Black Belts. Each Member of the Six Sigma team is given key responsibilities for analysing information that will have an impact on improving processes and customer satisfaction.
The question you'll be asking now is how much benefit Six Sigma training can give your company. Well, in classic Six Sigma style, just have a look at the data. General Electric, one of the most successful companies to implement Six Sigma training, estimated that it has benefited the company a staggering $10 billion in the five years after implementation. And the Six Sigma Academy estimates that the approximate saving Black Belts give companies is $230,000 per project, of which between four and six can be completed per year. Organisations, quality control, such as Motorola, who initiated Six Sigma training in 1987 and won the Malcolm Baldrige quality prize for it, ABB, Honeywell and Allied Signal will be happy to attest to this.
Perhaps one of the most critical reasons why Six Sigma has had such tremendous success lies in one of its, quality control, most distinctive differences from other quality management systems: the extent to which it is inextricably linked to business finances. No matter the project at hand, the financial benefits are quantified and used to help prioritise the various stages of improvement. These are then re-evaluated during the analysis phase to ensure, quality control, that the cost of the improvements will be supported by its overall benefit to the company. And the financial benefits are verified once again at the end of the project. Such a, quality control, rigorous procedure, quality control, also has the, quality control, benefit of including all sections, quality control, of the company in the Six Sigma training, because all are naturally linked to the company's finances.
Which Six Sigma Training Company is right for your you?
Now that you know what Six Sigma training involves and the reasons why your company should consider employing it, the final question is how to find the right consultant for your company, quality control, . Well, the first thing is to define what you want to achieve by implementing Six Sigma, and whether you want it implemented right across the company or only in selected areas. This decision should not be made by you alone, but in conference with other company employees, because implementation should be given the highest priority and support if it is to go ahead.
Once you have established the benefits of implementing Six Sigma and got approval for it from your colleagues,, quality control, you should seek references from your peers in other companies about how their Six Sigma training was handled, quality control, . Six Sigma is very much a people, quality control, business, so it is also important to speak to some of the Black Belts or managers, quality control, of any shortlisted Six Sigma companies to see if you click with them and they have the required level of experience. The level of experience they have of working in your field isn't necessarily that, quality control, relevant compared to the level of mutual understanding and their aptitude as trainers, because good training means your colleagues will have skills that are transferable to other industries. Also, consider the breadth of service being offered. Will the people who start out training you still be there at the end? Do they have their own training materials? Will there be a help desk for employees to call after the training has been completed to ask about any Six Sigma problems that may arise in the future?
Finally, once you have made sure you know the number of defects the process,, quality control, quality control, is currently producing and establish the number you will be satisfied with at the end of the project, you are in a position to start the process of finding the best Six Sigma trainer for your company. The best of luck!
This article has been provided the the UK's ApprovedIndex. Visit: http://www.approvedindex.co.uk
Source: articleage.com
Although Six Sigma sounds like a distant star in a galaxy far, far away, the term is very easy to explain, once you, quality, quality control, control, know sigma is the character in the Greek alphabet that is used in mathematical statistics to identify a standard deviation. A standard deviation is defined by how tightly the various outputs of a process are clustered around the mean in a set of data. In other words, how divergent the outputs are from the statistical average. In statistical terms, Six Sigma means that if there were 1 million opportunities for a defect (defined as anything outside of customer specifications) to occur, no more than 3.4 defects would be permitted, so that the quality of the output is near perfect. As such Six Sigma is seen as the ultimate goal, quality control, in achieving almost immaculate processes through, quality control, continual improvement.
Six Sigma achieves this by implementing a disciplined, data driven methodology for eliminating defects in any process, from the manufacture of a product to after sale customer service. It focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects using the following two Six Sigma sub-methodologies:
The Six Sigma DMAIC process (define, measure, analyse, improve, control), the most common Six Sigma improvement tool, which focuses on ensuring the improvement is clearly defined and measured and is used for existing, quality control, processes that have fallen below customer specifications and require incremental, quality control, improvement. Data is analysed to identify problems and the improvement is consolidated through process controls.
The Six Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyse, design, verify), which is an improvement system used to develop new products or processes to Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if the current process needs more than just incremental improvement.
Both Six Sigma processes, which can be easily calculated using a Six Sigma calculator, are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts and Six Sigma Black Belts, and are overseen by Six Sigma Master Black Belts. Each Member of the Six Sigma team is given key responsibilities for analysing information that will have an impact on improving processes and customer satisfaction.
The question you'll be asking now is how much benefit Six Sigma training can give your company. Well, in classic Six Sigma style, just have a look at the data. General Electric, one of the most successful companies to implement Six Sigma training, estimated that it has benefited the company a staggering $10 billion in the five years after implementation. And the Six Sigma Academy estimates that the approximate saving Black Belts give companies is $230,000 per project, of which between four and six can be completed per year. Organisations, quality control, such as Motorola, who initiated Six Sigma training in 1987 and won the Malcolm Baldrige quality prize for it, ABB, Honeywell and Allied Signal will be happy to attest to this.
Perhaps one of the most critical reasons why Six Sigma has had such tremendous success lies in one of its, quality control, most distinctive differences from other quality management systems: the extent to which it is inextricably linked to business finances. No matter the project at hand, the financial benefits are quantified and used to help prioritise the various stages of improvement. These are then re-evaluated during the analysis phase to ensure, quality control, that the cost of the improvements will be supported by its overall benefit to the company. And the financial benefits are verified once again at the end of the project. Such a, quality control, rigorous procedure, quality control, also has the, quality control, benefit of including all sections, quality control, of the company in the Six Sigma training, because all are naturally linked to the company's finances.
Which Six Sigma Training Company is right for your you?
Now that you know what Six Sigma training involves and the reasons why your company should consider employing it, the final question is how to find the right consultant for your company, quality control, . Well, the first thing is to define what you want to achieve by implementing Six Sigma, and whether you want it implemented right across the company or only in selected areas. This decision should not be made by you alone, but in conference with other company employees, because implementation should be given the highest priority and support if it is to go ahead.
Once you have established the benefits of implementing Six Sigma and got approval for it from your colleagues,, quality control, you should seek references from your peers in other companies about how their Six Sigma training was handled, quality control, . Six Sigma is very much a people, quality control, business, so it is also important to speak to some of the Black Belts or managers, quality control, of any shortlisted Six Sigma companies to see if you click with them and they have the required level of experience. The level of experience they have of working in your field isn't necessarily that, quality control, relevant compared to the level of mutual understanding and their aptitude as trainers, because good training means your colleagues will have skills that are transferable to other industries. Also, consider the breadth of service being offered. Will the people who start out training you still be there at the end? Do they have their own training materials? Will there be a help desk for employees to call after the training has been completed to ask about any Six Sigma problems that may arise in the future?
Finally, once you have made sure you know the number of defects the process,, quality control, quality control, is currently producing and establish the number you will be satisfied with at the end of the project, you are in a position to start the process of finding the best Six Sigma trainer for your company. The best of luck!
This article has been provided the the UK's ApprovedIndex. Visit: http://www.approvedindex.co.uk
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Outsourcing: Guidelines For Success
Author: Ralph Dandrea
Source: articleage.com
Many business executives believe "offshoring" to be the destiny of any company that wants to remain competitive. Labor costs can be reduced by 25-30% or more, and companies, quality control, across the country are doing it. How can responsible corporate officers not consider the offshoring option for their companies? But what are the real benefits and the pitfalls of offshoring?, quality control, When does it make sense to pursue outsourcing, and how can you safely take advantage of lower cost resources in other, quality control, countries without risk or loss of quality?
Background:
Moving jobs to cheaper work forces is nothing new. Even as recently as a few decades ago, significant segments of the manufacturing sector were transferred to locations such as Mexico, where labor was cheaper. Although the transfer caused some social turmoil, it was regarded as a growing pain on the way to a more sophisticated economy. Workers were retrained in new skills and assimilated into the "new" economy, based largely upon free trade and emerging technologies. It was reluctantly acknowledged that those jobs were gone forever, and that in the end both the workers and the economy would, quality control, be better off.
A new variation, quality control, on this familiar story occurred in the late 1990's. As the technology boom reached its peak, demand for skilled IT workers, quality, quality control, control, was far exceeding supply, driving labor costs to unsustainable levels and leaving companies without personnel for new projects. With the Y2K crisis putting additional pressure on technology, companies began to look to other locations to fill some of the excess demand for IT workers.
India and other, quality control, countries had a wealth, quality control, of highly skilled workers willing to work for dramatically less than was demanded by comparably skilled American workers.
With the Y2K crisis, the current wave of IT and other white collar job sector offshoring was initiated.
"The new telecommunications technologies are now making possible this pitting of domestic workforces against foreign workforces just as for centuries before domestic products have been pitted against foreign products."
Current State:
It is estimated by Goldman Sachs that since 2000 U.S. companies have sent 400,000 service jobs overseas, and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) believes that during the same period 104,000 technology jobs have moved overseas. Everyone agrees that this number will grow dramatically over the next five years. Some have estimated that as many as one million jobs may be sent to India alone by the end of the year, and that a million jobs a year may be lost to overseas locations for the next several years. But who is offshoring, what kinds of jobs are being transferred, and, quality control, how is it working?
Forty percent of the Fortune, quality control, 1000 firms have begun to offshore, according to Forrester Research, Inc., though 25 to 30 percent of these are offshoring on a limited basis, for small projects, spending no more than 5 percent of their IT budgets on offshore work. Only 5 to 10 percent are using, quality control, offshoring for complex projects and mission-critical operations. However, this is likely to change.
Sixty-four percent of, quality control, finance executives polled recently responded that they planned to do more offshoring in the next two years. A great portion of recently offshored jobs paid $50,000 or more before being transferred overseas. Although much of the offshoring has been in the information technology area, call centers, finance functions, data entry, and human resource operations have also been outsourced.
Benefits:
There, quality control, is no doubt that the primary benefit of offshoring is the cost savings. The ITAA estimates that outsourcing currently saves U.S. companies about $7 billion and that by 2008 the number will climb to $20 billion. The savings from offshoring varies. In the same survey cited above, over forty percent surveyed said they were saving as much as twenty percent or more. Nearly the same number are saving from ten to twenty percent.
Hazards:
The savings do not tell the whole, quality control, story, however. Offshoring does have hazards which companies considering the option must weigh.
ท Finding Skilled Labor: Before investing in a region, you must be sure there will continue to be an adequate supply of labor skilled in your areas of need. Look at the rates of graduation and the demand, quality control, for the skills in the country.
ท Geography Gap: Inherent in offshoring is the distance obstacle. Since work is being done in a different country, it is often more difficult to ensure that companies are getting what they are paying for until it is too late. Rework and quality control are problems.
Distances also mean travel and other communication costs.
ท Cultural Gap: Cultural gaps may be a problem for some types of work, such as call centers and business analysis, quality control, . For example, different cultures may have differing standards of customer service, and business analysis often requires a good understanding of American business practices. Cultural differences may be the source of some disconcerting surprises.
ท Language: It may be obvious,, quality control,, quality control, but language differences can be a major stumbling block to getting the work product and the working relationship you expect. Even different dialects and accents can cause problems in areas involving direct customer contact.
ท Infrastructure: The country's telecommunications infrastructure may be inadequate for some types of IT work. Even poor roads and airports may cause major headaches.
ท Security & Property Rights: Security and the status of intellectual property rights are often major considerations for those organizations dealing with sensitive data.
ท Movement of Money & People: Some countries impose burdensome restrictions on the movement of money out of the country. And obtaining visas in short order may be impossible for residents of some countries.
ท Politics: Finally, the political stability of the country must be considered, and the laws of the location must be carefully examined to avoid unforeseen consequences.
" By following some basic guidelines and having a clear plan of execution, offshoring may be the right strategy for your company."
Tips For Success:
ท Scope the work: Carefully define and scope the work to be offshored. Know what you want to accomplish and how much it should cost you.
ท Offshore non-critical functions: Maintain the integrity of your core competencies by offshoring only non-critical functions. And start small. Just as you wouldn't jump in too deeply with a domestic company before gaining some history and confidence in the company, so should you be similarly cautious with offshoring, quality control, partners.
ท Know what to offshore: Software development, data entry, and transaction processing have been successful; customer service and voice interaction are more risky.
ท Choose the right location: The type of work being outsourced will influence the location, quality control, . India has gained a reputation for software development. Between 2003 and 2004 it has seen over a 30% growth, quality control, in software and IT service exports, and by the year ending in March, 2004, Indian companies have earned $12.5 billion in technology exports. But, quality control, India is not the only source of reliable but inexpensive labor. Countries such as China, the Philippines, Romania, Argentina, and even Ghana and Ireland are all centers for offshore operations of various kinds.
Matching an outsourcing effort with the appropriate labor force requires consideration of a whole host of factors.
ท Measure performance: A plan for measuring performance and evaluating success must be in place. Companies must be able to measure the work. In order to measure the financial success of the offshore operation, current costs must be, quality control, understood. Pay may be linked to performance benchmarks to safeguard against poor performance.
An overall savings of 20 to 30% is reasonable, quality control, to expect as a bottom line measure of success.
ท Monitor the work: Monitoring the work is critical if surprises are to be avoided. Personal interaction with the offshore site should be incorporated in some fashion. Placing one or more managers on-site is ideal, but at least some face-to-face contact should be planned. An on-site presence will also help to alleviate security concerns.
ท, quality control, Consult experts: Extra caution must be used when negotiating the deal. International specialists should be consulted and, quality control, intellectual property rights retained.
ท Exit strategy: An exit strategy should be place in case the operation does not work, quality control, out.
Summary:
With large populations of educated workers in foreign lands willing to work for considerably less than similar workers in the U.S., the offshoring of strategic segments of work traditionally thought of as white collar work has begun. And this shift of work and work forces, quality control, will continue as long as these conditions exist. Companies with operations ripe for offshoring must consider this option if they are to remain competitive.
About Ralph, quality control, Dandrea:
Ralph Dandrea is the President, quality control, of ITX Corp., and leads its Business Performance practice. He is experienced in business and information technology management and holds graduate degrees in business and law.
About ITX:
ITX Corp is a business consulting and technology solutions firm focused in eight practice areas including Business Performance, Internet Marketing, IT Staffing, IT Solution Strategies, IT Solutions Implementation, Technical Services, Internet Services, and Technology Research. To learn more about what ITX can do for you visit our website at http://www.itx.net or contact us at (800) 600-7785.
Source: articleage.com
Many business executives believe "offshoring" to be the destiny of any company that wants to remain competitive. Labor costs can be reduced by 25-30% or more, and companies, quality control, across the country are doing it. How can responsible corporate officers not consider the offshoring option for their companies? But what are the real benefits and the pitfalls of offshoring?, quality control, When does it make sense to pursue outsourcing, and how can you safely take advantage of lower cost resources in other, quality control, countries without risk or loss of quality?
Background:
Moving jobs to cheaper work forces is nothing new. Even as recently as a few decades ago, significant segments of the manufacturing sector were transferred to locations such as Mexico, where labor was cheaper. Although the transfer caused some social turmoil, it was regarded as a growing pain on the way to a more sophisticated economy. Workers were retrained in new skills and assimilated into the "new" economy, based largely upon free trade and emerging technologies. It was reluctantly acknowledged that those jobs were gone forever, and that in the end both the workers and the economy would, quality control, be better off.
A new variation, quality control, on this familiar story occurred in the late 1990's. As the technology boom reached its peak, demand for skilled IT workers, quality, quality control, control, was far exceeding supply, driving labor costs to unsustainable levels and leaving companies without personnel for new projects. With the Y2K crisis putting additional pressure on technology, companies began to look to other locations to fill some of the excess demand for IT workers.
India and other, quality control, countries had a wealth, quality control, of highly skilled workers willing to work for dramatically less than was demanded by comparably skilled American workers.
With the Y2K crisis, the current wave of IT and other white collar job sector offshoring was initiated.
"The new telecommunications technologies are now making possible this pitting of domestic workforces against foreign workforces just as for centuries before domestic products have been pitted against foreign products."
Current State:
It is estimated by Goldman Sachs that since 2000 U.S. companies have sent 400,000 service jobs overseas, and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) believes that during the same period 104,000 technology jobs have moved overseas. Everyone agrees that this number will grow dramatically over the next five years. Some have estimated that as many as one million jobs may be sent to India alone by the end of the year, and that a million jobs a year may be lost to overseas locations for the next several years. But who is offshoring, what kinds of jobs are being transferred, and, quality control, how is it working?
Forty percent of the Fortune, quality control, 1000 firms have begun to offshore, according to Forrester Research, Inc., though 25 to 30 percent of these are offshoring on a limited basis, for small projects, spending no more than 5 percent of their IT budgets on offshore work. Only 5 to 10 percent are using, quality control, offshoring for complex projects and mission-critical operations. However, this is likely to change.
Sixty-four percent of, quality control, finance executives polled recently responded that they planned to do more offshoring in the next two years. A great portion of recently offshored jobs paid $50,000 or more before being transferred overseas. Although much of the offshoring has been in the information technology area, call centers, finance functions, data entry, and human resource operations have also been outsourced.
Benefits:
There, quality control, is no doubt that the primary benefit of offshoring is the cost savings. The ITAA estimates that outsourcing currently saves U.S. companies about $7 billion and that by 2008 the number will climb to $20 billion. The savings from offshoring varies. In the same survey cited above, over forty percent surveyed said they were saving as much as twenty percent or more. Nearly the same number are saving from ten to twenty percent.
Hazards:
The savings do not tell the whole, quality control, story, however. Offshoring does have hazards which companies considering the option must weigh.
ท Finding Skilled Labor: Before investing in a region, you must be sure there will continue to be an adequate supply of labor skilled in your areas of need. Look at the rates of graduation and the demand, quality control, for the skills in the country.
ท Geography Gap: Inherent in offshoring is the distance obstacle. Since work is being done in a different country, it is often more difficult to ensure that companies are getting what they are paying for until it is too late. Rework and quality control are problems.
Distances also mean travel and other communication costs.
ท Cultural Gap: Cultural gaps may be a problem for some types of work, such as call centers and business analysis, quality control, . For example, different cultures may have differing standards of customer service, and business analysis often requires a good understanding of American business practices. Cultural differences may be the source of some disconcerting surprises.
ท Language: It may be obvious,, quality control,, quality control, but language differences can be a major stumbling block to getting the work product and the working relationship you expect. Even different dialects and accents can cause problems in areas involving direct customer contact.
ท Infrastructure: The country's telecommunications infrastructure may be inadequate for some types of IT work. Even poor roads and airports may cause major headaches.
ท Security & Property Rights: Security and the status of intellectual property rights are often major considerations for those organizations dealing with sensitive data.
ท Movement of Money & People: Some countries impose burdensome restrictions on the movement of money out of the country. And obtaining visas in short order may be impossible for residents of some countries.
ท Politics: Finally, the political stability of the country must be considered, and the laws of the location must be carefully examined to avoid unforeseen consequences.
" By following some basic guidelines and having a clear plan of execution, offshoring may be the right strategy for your company."
Tips For Success:
ท Scope the work: Carefully define and scope the work to be offshored. Know what you want to accomplish and how much it should cost you.
ท Offshore non-critical functions: Maintain the integrity of your core competencies by offshoring only non-critical functions. And start small. Just as you wouldn't jump in too deeply with a domestic company before gaining some history and confidence in the company, so should you be similarly cautious with offshoring, quality control, partners.
ท Know what to offshore: Software development, data entry, and transaction processing have been successful; customer service and voice interaction are more risky.
ท Choose the right location: The type of work being outsourced will influence the location, quality control, . India has gained a reputation for software development. Between 2003 and 2004 it has seen over a 30% growth, quality control, in software and IT service exports, and by the year ending in March, 2004, Indian companies have earned $12.5 billion in technology exports. But, quality control, India is not the only source of reliable but inexpensive labor. Countries such as China, the Philippines, Romania, Argentina, and even Ghana and Ireland are all centers for offshore operations of various kinds.
Matching an outsourcing effort with the appropriate labor force requires consideration of a whole host of factors.
ท Measure performance: A plan for measuring performance and evaluating success must be in place. Companies must be able to measure the work. In order to measure the financial success of the offshore operation, current costs must be, quality control, understood. Pay may be linked to performance benchmarks to safeguard against poor performance.
An overall savings of 20 to 30% is reasonable, quality control, to expect as a bottom line measure of success.
ท Monitor the work: Monitoring the work is critical if surprises are to be avoided. Personal interaction with the offshore site should be incorporated in some fashion. Placing one or more managers on-site is ideal, but at least some face-to-face contact should be planned. An on-site presence will also help to alleviate security concerns.
ท, quality control, Consult experts: Extra caution must be used when negotiating the deal. International specialists should be consulted and, quality control, intellectual property rights retained.
ท Exit strategy: An exit strategy should be place in case the operation does not work, quality control, out.
Summary:
With large populations of educated workers in foreign lands willing to work for considerably less than similar workers in the U.S., the offshoring of strategic segments of work traditionally thought of as white collar work has begun. And this shift of work and work forces, quality control, will continue as long as these conditions exist. Companies with operations ripe for offshoring must consider this option if they are to remain competitive.
About Ralph, quality control, Dandrea:
Ralph Dandrea is the President, quality control, of ITX Corp., and leads its Business Performance practice. He is experienced in business and information technology management and holds graduate degrees in business and law.
About ITX:
ITX Corp is a business consulting and technology solutions firm focused in eight practice areas including Business Performance, Internet Marketing, IT Staffing, IT Solution Strategies, IT Solutions Implementation, Technical Services, Internet Services, and Technology Research. To learn more about what ITX can do for you visit our website at http://www.itx.net or contact us at (800) 600-7785.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Private Label Drinking Water: Pure Water as a Powerful Brand Builder
Author: Jon M. Stout
Source: articleage.com
February 6, 2006
All firms need to establish a strong brand in order to effectively compete with and be distinguished from other companies similar to theirs. A strong brand allows individual ideals that convey the durability and power of the company, its products and service offerings. in addition to showing how its offering is distinctive from other products, the brand clearly expresses features and benefits that appeal to the marketplace and individual customers. The companies that produce a clear statement about the strengths of their respective brands generally enjoy greater overall success in business.
A strong brand will achieve a number of results. The brand name will identify the products or services offered and will classify the quality of these offerings in the marketplace. Additionally, the core values of the product and firm should be evident and the mission and specialty, quality control, of the company should be clearly defined. The net result of brand creation should be an expression of the personality and character of the firm and a representation of the quality of the product offering.
Product and Service Branding:
Branding, which is not only limited to products, allows for individual service firms to often act as aggressive branders. Successful service providers are those, quality control, that identify a need in the marketplace and develop a message that appeals to the market; this message, quality control, identifies how the firm is best able to add value to the marketplace.
Objectives of a product are exceedingly important in that the objective of the message is to target prospective customers on an emotional level and provide reassurance that the brand will be strong and credible and will deliver with success. After the message, quality control, is successfully transmitted, the potential customer should be motivated to buy, quality control, and, if the message is powerful enough, brand loyalty should be established.
Sell on Quality Not on Price:
Studies have shown that companies that compete solely on price are almost guaranteed to fail. No matter how much firms discount their prices in order to capture the sale, in a price cutting environment there will always be another player willing to reduce prices even lower to maintain the level of competition. The result of price cutting is that all firms in the market run the risk of selling below, quality control, cost and, if cut rate continues, bankruptcy is a high possibility.
Companies that prosper in a market are those that can clearly distinguish their offering, quality control, from those of the competition. Most effective are those that develop a clear, quality control, message of the benefits of their product/service offering. Development of a clear message requires an analysis of the strengths of the firm and strategic thinking as to the portion of a market that the firm wants to capture. Following the creation of the branding message, decisions are required to promote the brand most effectively, quality control, in the marketplace.
Broadcast the Message:
A brand message that is not properly delivered is a misuse of time and resources. Even the best and most efficient brand message fails if it is not marketed correctly to potential customers and businesses. Nevertheless, care must be exercised when, quality control, promoting a brand because promotion is expensive and extremely unpredictable. There are many avenues to properly promote a brand, some being more effective than others.
The options for promotion range from print, radio and television advertising to private mailers and public relations. Each of these techniques varies in price and effectiveness and generally requires multiple exposures to be successful. Many companies dedicate substantial resources, quality control, to brand promotion using traditional techniques and advertising. Public promotion budgets often represent a substantial, quality control, portion of a company's operating budget. For smaller firms traditional promotion can be a tremendous, quality control, burden often producing either limited or only long term results.
Private Label Drinking Water as a Powerful Brand Builder:
A new and effective method of brand promotion, private label drinking water, is becoming very popular, particularly for small to medium sized companies with limited advertising and public relations budgets. Private label pure drinking water has captured the imagination of those companies wishing to convey, quality control, their message in clear and lasting terms. It is bottled water that includes, quality control, a custom label designed to customer specifications that convey a clear message. Private label drinking water has many uses and applications, which are as follows:
• High quality pure drinking water with custom designed labels creates a long lasting message without the need for various costly exposures. Prospective, quality control, customers and clients often keep individual bottles for future use where the image can be viewed repeatedly.
• Private label pure drinking water can be best described as portable advertising that is cost effective and conveys a sustainable message.
• Custom labels can be easily modified for specific occasions.
• Additional supplies of water can be ordered for meetings, events and public, quality control, displays.
• Cost is low and water offerings can be coupled with sales opportunities at sporting and other public events.
Quality is Critical:
Any type of brand message requires a concerted quality effort. A low quality, substandard presentation coupled with a powerful message will fail if it is perceived to be a poor quality product. This is particularly true with private label water.
The first element of quality involves the water in the bottle. Low quality, impure water will often result, quality control, in dissatisfaction and impairment of the message, therefore, the best way to ensure high quality water is to use ultra pure water that is distilled and oxygenated for highest, quality control, quality and the best taste.
Next, it is imperative that the label design look professional, address all aspects of the desired message and be configured in an attractive,, quality control, noticeable, quality control, design.
Lastly the label must be printed using a high quality, high resolution printer on laminated water proof label stock. During the creation and printing process, quality control checks are required in order to ensure the presentation of the most effective branding message.
Creating a powerful brand is critical to the success of any firm in the marketplace. The creation process is only as effective as the expression of the brand message. Many firms can either succeed or fail as a result of the perception of their brand in the marketplace; therefore, the use of pure private label water is a desirable tool for brand success.
Source: articleage.com
February 6, 2006
All firms need to establish a strong brand in order to effectively compete with and be distinguished from other companies similar to theirs. A strong brand allows individual ideals that convey the durability and power of the company, its products and service offerings. in addition to showing how its offering is distinctive from other products, the brand clearly expresses features and benefits that appeal to the marketplace and individual customers. The companies that produce a clear statement about the strengths of their respective brands generally enjoy greater overall success in business.
A strong brand will achieve a number of results. The brand name will identify the products or services offered and will classify the quality of these offerings in the marketplace. Additionally, the core values of the product and firm should be evident and the mission and specialty, quality control, of the company should be clearly defined. The net result of brand creation should be an expression of the personality and character of the firm and a representation of the quality of the product offering.
Product and Service Branding:
Branding, which is not only limited to products, allows for individual service firms to often act as aggressive branders. Successful service providers are those, quality control, that identify a need in the marketplace and develop a message that appeals to the market; this message, quality control, identifies how the firm is best able to add value to the marketplace.
Objectives of a product are exceedingly important in that the objective of the message is to target prospective customers on an emotional level and provide reassurance that the brand will be strong and credible and will deliver with success. After the message, quality control, is successfully transmitted, the potential customer should be motivated to buy, quality control, and, if the message is powerful enough, brand loyalty should be established.
Sell on Quality Not on Price:
Studies have shown that companies that compete solely on price are almost guaranteed to fail. No matter how much firms discount their prices in order to capture the sale, in a price cutting environment there will always be another player willing to reduce prices even lower to maintain the level of competition. The result of price cutting is that all firms in the market run the risk of selling below, quality control, cost and, if cut rate continues, bankruptcy is a high possibility.
Companies that prosper in a market are those that can clearly distinguish their offering, quality control, from those of the competition. Most effective are those that develop a clear, quality control, message of the benefits of their product/service offering. Development of a clear message requires an analysis of the strengths of the firm and strategic thinking as to the portion of a market that the firm wants to capture. Following the creation of the branding message, decisions are required to promote the brand most effectively, quality control, in the marketplace.
Broadcast the Message:
A brand message that is not properly delivered is a misuse of time and resources. Even the best and most efficient brand message fails if it is not marketed correctly to potential customers and businesses. Nevertheless, care must be exercised when, quality control, promoting a brand because promotion is expensive and extremely unpredictable. There are many avenues to properly promote a brand, some being more effective than others.
The options for promotion range from print, radio and television advertising to private mailers and public relations. Each of these techniques varies in price and effectiveness and generally requires multiple exposures to be successful. Many companies dedicate substantial resources, quality control, to brand promotion using traditional techniques and advertising. Public promotion budgets often represent a substantial, quality control, portion of a company's operating budget. For smaller firms traditional promotion can be a tremendous, quality control, burden often producing either limited or only long term results.
Private Label Drinking Water as a Powerful Brand Builder:
A new and effective method of brand promotion, private label drinking water, is becoming very popular, particularly for small to medium sized companies with limited advertising and public relations budgets. Private label pure drinking water has captured the imagination of those companies wishing to convey, quality control, their message in clear and lasting terms. It is bottled water that includes, quality control, a custom label designed to customer specifications that convey a clear message. Private label drinking water has many uses and applications, which are as follows:
• High quality pure drinking water with custom designed labels creates a long lasting message without the need for various costly exposures. Prospective, quality control, customers and clients often keep individual bottles for future use where the image can be viewed repeatedly.
• Private label pure drinking water can be best described as portable advertising that is cost effective and conveys a sustainable message.
• Custom labels can be easily modified for specific occasions.
• Additional supplies of water can be ordered for meetings, events and public, quality control, displays.
• Cost is low and water offerings can be coupled with sales opportunities at sporting and other public events.
Quality is Critical:
Any type of brand message requires a concerted quality effort. A low quality, substandard presentation coupled with a powerful message will fail if it is perceived to be a poor quality product. This is particularly true with private label water.
The first element of quality involves the water in the bottle. Low quality, impure water will often result, quality control, in dissatisfaction and impairment of the message, therefore, the best way to ensure high quality water is to use ultra pure water that is distilled and oxygenated for highest, quality control, quality and the best taste.
Next, it is imperative that the label design look professional, address all aspects of the desired message and be configured in an attractive,, quality control, noticeable, quality control, design.
Lastly the label must be printed using a high quality, high resolution printer on laminated water proof label stock. During the creation and printing process, quality control checks are required in order to ensure the presentation of the most effective branding message.
Creating a powerful brand is critical to the success of any firm in the marketplace. The creation process is only as effective as the expression of the brand message. Many firms can either succeed or fail as a result of the perception of their brand in the marketplace; therefore, the use of pure private label water is a desirable tool for brand success.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Advantage to Buying Promotional Products Online
Author: Rick Sheldon
Source: articleage.com
Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five major advantages: a greater selection, better pricing, convenience, customer, quality control, service, and faster ordering time.
Manufacturers often display their entire line of products on the internet, providing you with a greater selection of products. With all of these manufacturers online,, quality control, you gain the opportunity to compare pricing and quality in a simple and accessible online format, instead of wasting time flipping through endless catalogs that crowd your workspace.
Better pricing is readily available online, but you have to search for it. Type any promotional product related keywords into your favorite search engine and sift through the results until you find a company with discount pricing. Another great trick is to choose an item and have a few companies give you a quote with the price of freight included. This will get you a number much closer, quality control, to the total cost.
How do these online companies afford to sell the exact same product for less than other distributors? Traditionally, promotional items are sold by a distributor who has outside sales, quality control, people that will go to your place of business, show you samples, and walk you through the process of placing an order. These outside sales people are the primary expense of an off-line distributor. This expense is then factored into the price of the promotional item, thus raising your total cost. When purchasing discount promotional products online, you can eliminate this huge cost and save considerable amounts of money.
Convenience, quality control, comes with, quality control, the capability of placing your entire order online. All successful online companies offer this service with encrypted order forms to secure your purchasing information. It is always a necessary hassle to send the artwork to your promotional products, quality control, company, quality control, . This is made easy with the online form. With online ordering you gain the convenience of placing your order anytime, twenty-four hours a day.
A few of these online companies also provide customer service departments with long hours. They are set up primarily to take your calls, handle rush orders, and to answer your questions promptly. If you prefer to communicate through e-mail, this is a great way to document your order from start to finish. You can e-mail a question to your distributor, leave for lunch, and have it answered by the time you return.
A faster ordering time is the fifth major, quality control, result of the online purchase. I have personally visited hundreds of clients. This obviously requires an appointment, which naturally must fit into both parties' schedules. An off-line salesperson is forced to interpret your needs prior to your meeting. They bring what samples and catalogs they have on hand, but these may not meet your needs and thus your ordering time will be extended for a second meeting. If you have any questions about product availability, turn, quality control, around time, or any other factory sensitive inquiries, the, quality control, salesperson will have to return to his office in order to contact the factory, in order to answer your question. When you order from an online company, the customer service team is already, quality control, in their office, so they can contact the factory with your questions and call you back immediately.
I have given you five great reasons to buy promotional products online, but I must also remind you that there is always a trade-off. Online promotional products companies work very hard to cut all possible costs and to pass the savings on to you. You will find that this results in a charge for samples and pre-payment requirements. The charge for samples insures that the company will not give away products to non-customers, as this would considerably raise the real customers' costs. Paying in advance is very common among internet purchasing in general,, quality control, and necessary for almost every online company to insure payment. Pre-payment is nothing to worry about. You still have, quality control, the right to a quality product, and you gain an enormous savings.
One other tip, select an online company that has in-house embroidery or screen printing facilities. It has been my experience that these companies have much better control of expediting your orders, a stronger knowledge of branding, experience which allows them to better monitor quality control, and a great tendency to complete rush orders faster.
You will find that many more successful businesses are now placing their promotional product and corporate apparel needs in the hands of these qualified online distributors. The advantages are numerous; convenience, speed, selection, accountability, service, and above all, savings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author:, quality control, Rick Sheldon has 18 years experience in the Promotional Products Industry and is currently CEO of Save on Promotional Products Inc. a Discount Online Promotional Products Company. He can be contacted at 1-800-826-8706; email: rick@saveonpromotionalproducts.com; or visit www.saveonpromotionalproducts, quality control, .com.
Source: articleage.com
Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five major advantages: a greater selection, better pricing, convenience, customer, quality control, service, and faster ordering time.
Manufacturers often display their entire line of products on the internet, providing you with a greater selection of products. With all of these manufacturers online,, quality control, you gain the opportunity to compare pricing and quality in a simple and accessible online format, instead of wasting time flipping through endless catalogs that crowd your workspace.
Better pricing is readily available online, but you have to search for it. Type any promotional product related keywords into your favorite search engine and sift through the results until you find a company with discount pricing. Another great trick is to choose an item and have a few companies give you a quote with the price of freight included. This will get you a number much closer, quality control, to the total cost.
How do these online companies afford to sell the exact same product for less than other distributors? Traditionally, promotional items are sold by a distributor who has outside sales, quality control, people that will go to your place of business, show you samples, and walk you through the process of placing an order. These outside sales people are the primary expense of an off-line distributor. This expense is then factored into the price of the promotional item, thus raising your total cost. When purchasing discount promotional products online, you can eliminate this huge cost and save considerable amounts of money.
Convenience, quality control, comes with, quality control, the capability of placing your entire order online. All successful online companies offer this service with encrypted order forms to secure your purchasing information. It is always a necessary hassle to send the artwork to your promotional products, quality control, company, quality control, . This is made easy with the online form. With online ordering you gain the convenience of placing your order anytime, twenty-four hours a day.
A few of these online companies also provide customer service departments with long hours. They are set up primarily to take your calls, handle rush orders, and to answer your questions promptly. If you prefer to communicate through e-mail, this is a great way to document your order from start to finish. You can e-mail a question to your distributor, leave for lunch, and have it answered by the time you return.
A faster ordering time is the fifth major, quality control, result of the online purchase. I have personally visited hundreds of clients. This obviously requires an appointment, which naturally must fit into both parties' schedules. An off-line salesperson is forced to interpret your needs prior to your meeting. They bring what samples and catalogs they have on hand, but these may not meet your needs and thus your ordering time will be extended for a second meeting. If you have any questions about product availability, turn, quality control, around time, or any other factory sensitive inquiries, the, quality control, salesperson will have to return to his office in order to contact the factory, in order to answer your question. When you order from an online company, the customer service team is already, quality control, in their office, so they can contact the factory with your questions and call you back immediately.
I have given you five great reasons to buy promotional products online, but I must also remind you that there is always a trade-off. Online promotional products companies work very hard to cut all possible costs and to pass the savings on to you. You will find that this results in a charge for samples and pre-payment requirements. The charge for samples insures that the company will not give away products to non-customers, as this would considerably raise the real customers' costs. Paying in advance is very common among internet purchasing in general,, quality control, and necessary for almost every online company to insure payment. Pre-payment is nothing to worry about. You still have, quality control, the right to a quality product, and you gain an enormous savings.
One other tip, select an online company that has in-house embroidery or screen printing facilities. It has been my experience that these companies have much better control of expediting your orders, a stronger knowledge of branding, experience which allows them to better monitor quality control, and a great tendency to complete rush orders faster.
You will find that many more successful businesses are now placing their promotional product and corporate apparel needs in the hands of these qualified online distributors. The advantages are numerous; convenience, speed, selection, accountability, service, and above all, savings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author:, quality control, Rick Sheldon has 18 years experience in the Promotional Products Industry and is currently CEO of Save on Promotional Products Inc. a Discount Online Promotional Products Company. He can be contacted at 1-800-826-8706; email: rick@saveonpromotionalproducts.com; or visit www.saveonpromotionalproducts, quality control, .com.
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