Actual for You - Business

Advertisements - Varieties and Forms Reviewed
From the psychological point of view advertisements may be classified according to their general purpose or intention and also according to the particular tasks which they set themselves. Thus we may have the three following types, according to the task attempted: Classified Advertisement. Takes initial attention, interest, and memory for granted, and merely seeks to direct the response.Publicity Advertisement. Takes for granted the elements of persuasion, decision, and response, and merely tries to accomplish the tasks which the Classified Advertisement explicitly ignores - namely, to attract and hold attention, and to fix an impression in the reader's mind.Complete Advertisement. Attempts to perform all the various tasks of an appeal. These are, in their logical order: to attract initial attention; to hold attention in an interesting way; to bring about an association or impression which will have permanence or memory value; to convince, persuade, or induce; to suggest and lead to specific response Still dif

>The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-

Sales Improvement Projects such as :-

a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing

And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-

a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc

This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.

In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc

D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Imp

Why Discussion Fails in Meetings
Most people use discussion for their meetings. And it seldom works. Here’s why.1) No structureDiscussion is like conversation in that it is a free-form dialogue without any direction. Each person responds to what the last person said. While this can produce entertaining party chatter, it seldom leads to agreements or decisions. In fact, in a meeting, discussion can even make things worse. For example, suppose you said:"We need to talk about the new database."And then someone says:"Is that the one that crashed last night?""Actually, it was a minor bug.""It shut down the Chicago office.""I heard their IT department is being reorganized.""Hey, what do you call a Chicago organ transplant?"And so on . . . .This happens because discussion is a divergent process. Each idea elicits a response from someone else.2) No equalityDiscussion favors those who think quickly. It also favors those who are loud, expressive, intimidating, entertaining, and important. As a result the more aggressive participants do all of the talking while the

This article contains a summary of implementation of TQM improvement projects in the Manufacturing and Service Sectors over the last 5 years. It highlights difficulties encountered in using specific improvement tools as well as handling of the team members.

The TQM Improvement Methodology - D.A.I.C

Throughout these TQM improvement projects, a common methodology was used as a systematic way to Define-Analyse-Improve-Control the opportunity or problem. 7 QC tools are widely employed within this methodology

The DEFINE phase

In this phase, team members are required to identify improvement projects. Some tools commonly used to help members to select improvement projects are as follows :-

a) Brain Storming
b) Multi Voting
c) Selection Grid
d) Problem Statement

Upon completion of using the tools, team members will be able to select and agreed to a project which may be an opportunity for improvement or problem. A Problem Statement is used as a summary of this phase to state the nature of the project, boundaries of the process to be improved, goal and target, resource required and potential constraints

While this is a simple phase to accomplish, often team members are faced with difficulties for some valid reasons. Some of the common difficulties encountered are as follows :-

a) Team leader cannot decide whether to use the above tools to select project eventhough project is already assigned by the management
b) Team leader lack experience in directing team members
c) Lack of initial data to support decision making
d) Team members are not well verse with the subject matter
e) Lack understanding of the improvement tools

The ANALYSE phase

This is a critical phase where the current state of the subject matter as well as root causes will be analysed in detail. This analysis is done systematically and logically as follows:-

a) The scope of the subject matter
b) Current performance (problematic) trend
c) Identify possible causes of the opportunity or problem
d) Detail diagnostic to the root cause of the confirmed true causes

Certainly, these steps are performed using common improvement tools include 7-QC tools such as Brainstorming; Data collection; Trend Charting; Fish-Bone Diagram and why-Why Analysis. Team members use these tools selectively to dissect the problem into smaller junks and look at them critically. As expected, team members do not seems to able to grasp the use of these tools effectively. Often than not, team members make conclusion to the "root cause" too soon without factual data to support. The reason for this are several, some of them are as follows:-

a) Team leader dominate in team discussion
b) Some team members used past experience to make conclusion
c) Data collection is tedious
d) Lack data analytical skill
e) Lack focus during brainstorming on possible causes
f) Did not spend enough time to validate the possible causes
g) Too judgmental on the causes
h) Root cause analysis is often skip after possible causes is identified

The IMPROVE phase

There are two steps in this phase, namely; plan the improvement and Implement the improvement plan. Upon completed the Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-

a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner

Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-

a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected

The CONTROL phase

This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-

a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification

During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-

a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution

The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-

Sales Improvement Projects such as :-

a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing

And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-

D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Impr

HR Payroll Software
A major roll of the human resource department is to manage payroll. Relying on your employees to do this by hand costs your company money and resources and is not efficient. Instead of hiring an extra employee to take care of payroll, consider purchasing HR payroll software.Payroll subjects can be complicated and the more employees you have, the more confusing it gets. HR payroll software is designed to eliminate the confusion by helping you keep track of employees electronically. Each employee may require different payroll options. Some get paid more than others. Some waived insurance. Others contribute to the 401K, but some don’t. HR payroll software offers a way for human resources to keep track of everything and insures that everyone gets paid the correct amount.To find HR payroll software that fits your needs, you need to first consider how large your company is. Certain HR payroll software packages are better equipped to handle the demands of larger companies. Other HR payroll software packages are designed to benefit small to mid-sized companies. Also consider what benefits you offer your e

s are not well verse with the subject matter
e) Lack understanding of the improvement tools
The ANALYSE phase
This is a critical phase where the current state of the subject matter as well as root causes will be analysed in detail. This analysis is done systematically and logically as follows:-
a) The scope of the subject matter
b) Current performance (problematic) trend
c) Identify possible causes of the opportunity or problem
d) Detail diagnostic to the root cause of the confirmed true causes
Certainly, these steps are performed using common improvement tools include 7-QC tools such as Brainstorming; Data collection; Trend Charting; Fish-Bone Diagram and why-Why Analysis. Team members use these tools selectively to dissect the problem into smaller junks and look at them critically. As expected, team members do not seems to able to grasp the use of these tools effectively. Often than not, team members make conclusion to the "root cause" too soon without factual data to support. The reason for this are several, some of them are as follows:-
a) Team leader dominate in team discussion
b) Some team members used past experience to make conclusion
c) Data collection is tedious
d) Lack data analytical skill
e) Lack focus during brainstorming on possible causes
f) Did not spend enough time to validate the possible causes
g) Too judgmental on the causes
h) Root cause analysis is often skip after possible causes is identified
The IMPROVE phase
There are two steps in this phase, namely; plan the improvement and Implement the improvement plan. Upon completed the Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-
a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner
Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-
a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected
The CONTROL phase
This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc
D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Imp
The Best Franchise Business Opportunities
The best franchise business opportunities that exist in the world today has many factors in them that makes the franchise become one of the best in the industry. The main factors in the best franchise opportunities in the world today are information, home base business, and work from home companies, small business start up capital, and a turnkey business system that produces results in a company profit margin in today’s economy. Information is a hot commodity in today’s market place in the world. Franchise opportunities that provide a lot of up to date information on products and services that people want to buy are the best in the world.A franchise business that is revolved around a home base business is number one in the world. Many people in life today want to be home with their families, and still earn a substantial amount of income while working at home. A franchise business that can give people that freedom is one the main factors of being the best in the world. The work from home companies that give individuals more benefits and potential to earn a big profit in a short period of time are the best
e Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-
a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner
Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-
a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected
The CONTROL phase
This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc
D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Imp
Burton Upon Trent Businesses
Burton Upon Trent as many other towns is losing its roots mainly because Coors has taken over the world reknown brewer Bass. The same as HP being taken from Birmingham to go to Europe. When will it stop? I started to see it with pub companies planting the same pubs in every town in the UK and the same with department stores. Every town starting to look the same. England and everytown within it has its one underlying attraction - tradition. This is soon disapearing and this really gave me a blow to the ribs when they have even taken our British beer Bass away from us. We need to encourage UK businesses, firstly from leading by example by not selling our national iconic businesses to other countries. For more information on Burton Upon Trent visit www.squareseeker.comThere are so many business finders on a national scale, offering lots of information about businesses but actually no information that can really be used effectively. Why because none of them are local, lots of them are out of date have no real idea about the local area and the businesses in them. We are losing the local feel of towns and citi
glected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc
D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Imp
Frontline Success
All too often, businesses impose strict guidelines as to how customer service focused employees should correspond with their client base. First and foremost, the majority of companies, no matter in what industry, stress how important it is to respect and develop strong relationships with their customers. This trend was commenced years ago, when it was a genuine gesture to make a courtesy call or visit to ensure customer satisfaction. Today, we experience the monotone customer service representatives who do not necessarily associate follow-ups and call backs as rapport-building techniques.Firstly, let’s discuss the importance of our customer service departments. Whether we like it or not, customer service has been overshadowed by the overwhelming amount of office politics and the so-called need to have meetings about what the next meeting will be about. Customer service representatives are the key to a successful business venture. They are the backbone and frontline contacts that are able to make or break the sales targets. They are also the individuals who will encourage customers to come back, pe
>The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc
D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Improvement projects. It is designed by the author based on a collation of best practices from TQM, Strategic Planning, 6-Sigma, PDCA, 7-QC tools etc . He welcomed feedback from readers of this articles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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