Three Basic Rules for Management Communication

1. Tell them in advance
This brings up rule number one. Whether you’re dealing with salespeople, floor-sweepers or doctors, anytime you as a manager need to make a decision that affects peoples lives, tell them well in advance of the event taking place. At work, this usually affects the pocketbook or the employee’s benefits.

2. Give enough information
Another communication problem that will come back to bite managers and supervisors is miscommunication, being misinterpreted.A second rule of communication then, for those in authority, is to provide sufficient information for the employee to be able to answer the question "Why?"

3. Ensure your messages are congruent
What about non-verbal communication? I’m not talking here about tone of voice and hand gestures, although that stuff is critical for effective communication too. I’m referring to a more global aspect of management communication that I’ll simply call congruency.
By following these rules the manager's should build a strong relation with customers due to which the co workers work hard for the development of their company.theses 3 rules was given by karl walinskas

Differences between consumer and business markets

Hey guys, I studied consumer and business markets in the book and I came upon some conclusions about both these markets. First of all consumer markets are all those markets which cater to the needs and wants of those consumers who buy goods and services for final consumption. One good example is the bookstores where consumers come to buy books for themselves.
Business markets are those markets which produce those goods which are sold to other producers who use these goods in their own production processes or sell them at a profit. For example, my father has a construction firm and he buys bricks, concrete and steel from various different producers to use these materials in the construction of houses.
So, these are the major differences between the consumer and business markets.

Body Language

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication involving the use of stylized gestures, postures, eye movements and physiologic signs which act as cues to other people. Humans, sometimes unconsciously, send and receive non-verbal signals all the time.
It is often said that human communication consists of 93% body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves. Albert Mehrabian asserts that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior. Body language may provide cues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, besides may other cues. The study of body movement is known as kinesics Humans move their bodies when communicating because; ease the mental effort when communication is difficult. For instance
Hands on knees: indicates readiness.
Hands on hips: indicates impatience.
Lock your hands behind your back: indicates self-control
Locked hands behind head: states confidence.
Sitting with a leg over the arm of the chair: suggests indifference.
Legs and feet pointed in a particular direction: the direction where more interest is felt Crossed arms: indicates submissiveness.
One of the most basic and powerful body-language signals is when a person crosses his or her arms across the chest. This can indicate that a person is putting up an unconscious barrier between themselves and others. It can also indicate that the person's arms are cold which would be clarified by rubbing the arms or huddling. When the overall situation is amicable, it can mean that a person is thinking deeply about what is being discussed. But in a serious or confrontational situation, it can mean that a person is expressing opposition. This is especially so if the person is leaning away from the speaker. A harsh or blank facial expression often indicates outright hostility.
Consistent eye contact can indicate that a person is thinking positively of what the speaker is saying. It can also mean that the other person doesn't trust the speaker enough to "take his eyes off" the speaker. Lack of eye contact can indicate negativity. On the other hand, individuals with anxiety disorders are often unable to make eye contact without discomfort. Eye contact is often a secondary and misleading gesture because we are taught from an early age to make eye contact when speaking. If a person is looking at you but is making the arms-across-chest signal, the eye contact could be indicative that something is bothering the person, and that he wants to talk about it. Or if while making direct eye contact a person is fiddling with something, even while directly looking at you, it could indicate the attention is elsewhere. Also there are three standard areas that a person will look which represent different states of being. If the person looks from one eye to the other then to the forehead it is a sign that they are taking an authoritative position. If they move from one eye to the other then to the nose, that signals that they are engaging in what they consider to be a "level conversation" with neither party holding superiority. The last case is from one eye to the other and then down to the lips. This is a strong indication of romantic feelings.
Disbelief is often indicated by averted gaze, or by touching the ear or scratching the chin. When a person is not being convinced by what someone is saying, the attention invariably wanders, and the eyes will stare away for an extended period.
Boredom is indicated by the head tilting to one side, or by the eyes looking straight at the speaker but becoming slightly unfocused. A head tilt may also indicate a sore neck or Amblyopia, and unfocused eyes may indicate ocular problems in the listener.
Interest can be indicated through posture or extended eye contact. Such as standing and listening properly.
Deceit or the act of withholding information can sometimes be indicated by touching the face during conversation. Excessive blinking is a well-known indicator of someone who is lying. Recently, evidence has surfaced that the absence of blinking can also represent lying as a more reliable factor than excessive blinking.
Interpersonal space refers to the psychological "bubble" that we can imagine exists when someone is standing way too close to us. Research has revealed that in North America there are four different zones of interpersonal space. The first zone is called intimate distance and ranges from touching to about eighteen inches apart. Intimate distance is the space around us that we reserve for lovers, children, as well as close family members and friends. The second zone is called personal distance and begins about an arm's length away; starting around eighteen inches from our person and ending about four feet away. We use personal distance in conversations with friends, to chat with associates, and in group discussions. The third zone of interpersonal space is called social distance and is the area that ranges from four to eight feet away from you. Social distance is reserved for strangers, newly formed groups, and new acquaintances. The fourth identified zone of space is public distance and includes anything more than eight feet away from you. This zone is used for speeches, lectures, and theater; essentially, public distance is that range reserved for larger audiences.
False friendship:
Invasion is often done under the cloak of of familiarity, where you act as if you are being friendly and move into a space reserved for friends, but without being invited. This gives the other person a dilemma of whether to repel a 'friendly' advance or to accept dominance of the other.
Approach:
When you go inside the comfort zone of others without permission, you are effectively invading their territory. The close you get, the greater your ability to have 'first strike', from which an opponent may not recover.
Touching:
Touching the person is another form of invasion. Even touching social touch zones such as arm and back can be aggressive.
Facial signals:
Much aggression can be shown in the face, from disapproving frowns and pursed lips to sneers and full snarls. The eyes can be used to stare and hold the gaze for long period. They may also squint, preventing the other person seeing where you are looking.
Cross cultural body language:
In north America people can use left hand for eating, whereas in our part of the world, left hand is used for bath room hygiene, and considered disturbing to say the least. Similarly the familiar A-ok gesture is which expresses approval and pleasure is likely to be insulting to a French person who reads the message as you’re zero. the thumbs up gesture we take to be good job could get you in trouble in Australia where it means something else.
http://www.timeonline.co.uk/
www.wikipedia.com

Toyota’s Corporate Governance

Basic Perspective of Corporate Governance

Toyota Industries believes that it is of utmost importance to enhance the long-term stability of corporate value and maintain society's trust by implementing the Basic Philosophy of “Respect for the Law,” “Respect for Others,” “Respect for the Natural Environment,” “Respect for Customers” and “Respect for Employees,” and earnestly fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities. Together with contributing to the enrichment of society through our business activities, we also believe it is important to build an amicable relationship with all stakeholders, starting from shareholders and customers to business partners, local communities and employees. Acting on this conviction, we are striving to maintain and enhance management efficiency and the fairness and transparency of our corporate activities by building a corporate governance structure that can respond quickly and flexibly to changes in the business environment. At the same time, we are bolstering management supervision and emphasizing the timely disclosure of accurate information as part of efforts to upgrade our corporate governance.

Implementation Structure

Toyota Industries convenes monthly Board of Directors meetings to discuss and resolve important management matters and monitor the execution of the duties by directors. Important matters such as corporate vision, management policies, medium-term business strategies and major investments are discussed at meetings of the Management Committee composed of directors above the executive vice president level, corporate auditors and other relevant directors. The committee thoroughly discusses a variety of matters before such matters are passed on for debate at Board of Directors meetings, in addition to deliberating on responses to a broad range of management issues. In addition to delegating significant authority to each business division under the divisional organization system, we have established the Business Operation Committee to enable the president to meet with heads of each business division regularly to monitor and follow the status of execution of the business policies in each division. At meetings of the Management Council, which are held after Board of Directors meetings, directors, managing officers and corporate auditors convene to share management information with regards to matters resolved at respective Board of Directors meetings as well as the monthly status of the operations of each business. Furthermore, specialized committees are set up to discuss and follow through on such themes as compliance, quality, safety, the environment, human resources, export transaction controls and information disclosure.

Corporate Auditor System

Toyota Industries has adopted a corporate auditor/board of corporate auditors system. Two standing corporate auditors and three external corporate auditors attend meetings of the Board of Directors to monitor the execution of duties by directors. Meetings of the Board of Corporate Auditors are held once a month to discuss and make decisions on such important matters as auditing policy. The standing corporate auditors collect management information by attending primary meetings including those of the Management Committee and receiving reports directly from directors. This also enables the standing corporate auditors to monitor the execution of duties by directors. Additionally, the Corporate Auditor's Office has been established with a staff of dedicated personnel who are independent from the chain of command of directors to assist in the auditing tasks of corporate auditors and reinforce the auditing of duties carried out by the directors. The corporate auditors also exchange opinions and cooperate with independent auditors and the Audit Department to ensure the legality, soundness and efficiency of management.

Emergency Profit Improvement Committee

In response to the rapid downturn in our business environment, Toyota Industries has established the Emergency Profit Improvement Committee on December 1, 2008 directly under the president. Under the Emergency Profi t Improvement Committee, we have set up 14 different subcommittees, such as the General Expenses Subcommittee, and are actively working on profit improvement activities throughout the Company.
To the present, together with management and all employees, we have focused on thoroughly implementing cost reduction activities. We will also enhance planning and the execution of measures to increase sales and income.

Timely Information Disclosure

Toyota Industries has established the Information Disclosure Committee to provide all stakeholders with important corporate information, even if the information is unfavorable, to ensure management transparency and accountability. The committee discusses and determines the comprehensiveness and appropriateness of timely disclosure of information in such documents as the securities report.

Aim here was to give a picture of corporate governance and the various systems which work with it in an organization.

Reference: www.marketingteacher.com

GROWTH OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN

Telecom industry in Pakistan is among the growing industries in Pakistan. Here is some information about telecom infrastructure of Pakistan.

The telecom infrastructure is 100% digital, and provides a robust backbone for providing mission-critical services, such as call centers, ISPs, software houses, voice and videoconferences. The fiber optic infrastructure, initially laid during the early 1990s, now accounts for well over 85% of the backbone that supports international and national data exchange. More than 40 Pakistani cities are currently interconnected through fiber optic exchanges, and there are nearly 2950 digital exchanges. Tele-density is steadily increasing, and the Wireless Local Loop (WLL) sector is now open to private sector investment. Broadband licenses are open to ISPs since 2004. Pakistan offers the most competitive bandwidth charges in the whole Asia Pacific region. For more information click the link below.

source: http://www.itcnasia.com/telecom_infra.htm

i dont have the case study. please anyone can mail me the case study which was given on tuesday. please.
my ID is akeelakhtar90@gmail.com

hat is Culture?

Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization. Culture is one of those terms that's difficult to express distinctly, but everyone knows it when they sense it. For example, the culture of a large, for-profit corporation is quite different than that of a hospital which is quite different that that of a university. You can tell the culture of an organization by looking at the arrangement of furniture, what they brag about, what members wear, etc. -- similar to what you can use to get a feeling about someone's personality.

Corporate culture can be looked at as a system. Inputs include feedback from, e.g., society, professions, laws, stories, heroes, values on competition or service, etc. The process is based on our assumptions, values and norms, e.g., our values on money, time, facilities, space and people. Outputs or effects of our culture are, e.g., organizational behaviors, technologies, strategies, image, products, services, appearance, etc.

The concept of culture is particularly important when attempting to manage organization-wide change. Practitioners are coming to realize that, despite the best-laid plans, organizational change must include not only changing structures and processes, but also changing the corporate culture as well.

There's been a great deal of literature generated over the past decade about the concept of organizational culture -- particularly in regard to learning how to change organizational culture. Organizational change efforts are rumored to fail the vast majority of the time. Usually, this failure is credited to lack of understanding about the strong role of culture and the role it plays in organizations. That's one of the reasons that many strategic planners now place as much emphasis on identifying strategic values as they do mission and vision.

Some Types of Culture

There are different types of culture just like there are different types of personality. Researcher Jeffrey Sonnenfeld identified the following four types of cultures.

Academy Culture

Employees are highly skilled and tend to stay in the organization, while working their way up the ranks. The organization provides a stable environment in which employees can development and exercise their skills. Examples are universities, hospitals, large corporations, etc.

Baseball Team Culture

Employees are "free agents" who have highly prized skills. They are in high demand and can rather easily get jobs elsewhere. This type of culture exists in fast-paced, high-risk organizations, such as investment banking, advertising, etc.

Club Culture

The most important requirement for employees in this culture is to fit into the group. Usually employees start at the bottom and stay with the organization. The organization promotes from within and highly values seniority. Examples are the military, some law firms, etc.

Fortress Culture

Employees don't know if they'll be laid off or not. These organizations often undergo massive reorganization. There are many opportunities for those with timely, specialized skills. Examples are savings and loans, large car companies, etc.

The Toyota Production System

Toyota has been by far one of the few companies to have applied lean production techniques with the most success. Toyota effectively uses the just in time system, whereby stock of raw material is only ordered when needed. Management firmly believes in empowering the workers and they are given the responsibility of finding and correcting all defects. Cell production is also an important aspect of the Toyota Production System (TPS). This is when the entire car making process is divided into smaller processes which are confined into ‘cells’ for example the painting process will be done at one cell and the bumper will be fitted in another. Materials are provided to these cells through the kanban system where the materials are brought in through bins. A method that Toyota increases productivity is by making cells which do the same job compete against each other. This healthy competition improves the rate at which cars are produced. The following are the 7 principles of the TPS:

1. Reduced Setup Times:

All setup practices are wasteful because they add no value and they tie up labor and equipment. By organizing procedures, using carts, and training workers to do their own setups, Toyota managed to slash setup times from months to hours

2. Small-Lot Production: Producing things in large batches results in huge setup costs, high capital cost of high-speed dedicated machinery, larger inventories, extended lead times, and larger defect costs. Because Toyota has found the way to make setups short and inexpensive, it became possible for them to economically produce a variety of things in small quantities.

3. Employee Involvement and Empowerment:

Toyota organized their workers by forming teams and gave them the responsibility and training to do many specialized tasks. Teams are also given responsibility for housekeeping and minor equipment repair. Each team has a leader who also works as one of them on the line.

4. Quality at the Source: To eliminate product defects, they must be discovered and corrected as soon as possible. Since workers are at the best position to discover a defect and to immediately fix it, they are assigned this responsibility. If a defect cannot be readily fixed, any worker can halt the entire line by pulling a cord (called Jidoka).

5. Equipment Maintenance: Toyota operators are assigned primary responsibility for basic maintenance since they are in the best position to defect signs of malfunctions. Maintenance specialists diagnose and fix only complex problems, improve the performance of equipment, and train workers in maintenance.

6. Pull Production:

To reduce inventory holding costs and lead times, Toyota developed the pull production method wherein the quantity of work performed at each stage of the process is dictated solely by demand for materials from the immediate next stage. The Kanban scheme coordinates the flow of small containers of materials between stages. This is where the term Just-in-Time (JIT) originated.

7. Supplier Involvement: Toyota treats its suppliers as partners, as integral elements of Toyota Production System (TPS). Suppliers are trained in ways to reduce setup times, inventories; defects, machine breakdowns etc., and take responsibility to deliver their best possible parts.

Reference: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/cs_efficiency_toyota_ps.html

Tips on Effective Marketing Techniques

Tips on Effective Marketing TechniquesBy Elle Wood
We live in an age when advertisements dictate everything from which brand of toothpaste we should use in the morning to which mattress is the softest to sleep on at night. Film critics often complain about bad quality films becoming super hits simply for the marketing hype created around them. Still, one big problem about marketing is that nobody can guarantee a good return on investment on marketing or advertising expenses.
You book an advertising space for your products in the most popular show on the TV, but will have very few ways to find out if the advertisement is making consumers buy your products. There are some simple rules, which you can follow for cost effective marketing that will yield positive results as well.
Outsourcing
Even the most conservative marketing analysts will now agree that this is an age of outsourcing. With so many advertising media available, marketing a product is now more complex than ever. Therefore, not only the small business owners, but big corporation houses also are outsourcing Internet or other marketing to specialist companies. The business owners or corporations no longer need to recruit entire teams dedicated to marketing and this way they can save a lot of time and money.
Cover all aspects
It will not do to advertise your product or service only on the TV, radio and newspapers. If you want to capture the market and increase your client base, you must give a lot of importance on the Internet marketing also. Taking care of all avenues of marketing such as the print and electronic media, email marketing, search engine optimization etc. will ensure that your product gets as much visibility as possible.
The aim of all these marketing is to make users visit your shop or your website. However, a high traffic is of little use if there are a few conversions. The leads have to get converted in order for you to get a good return on investment on your marketing expenditure. This leads us to an interesting concept of marketing, which is described in the following paragraph.
Pay per performance marketing
The pay per performance marketing is becoming a popular choice with many companies or businessmen. Pay per performance marketing, as the name suggests, is the concept of paying only if the marketing yields positive results. For example, a pay per performance lead generation company will charge you only if it generates quality leads for your product or service. Also, the lead generators will get paid according the number of leads they are able to provide. This system ensures that they will try their best to provide as many good leads as possible and will not focus only on providing numerous unqualified leads that will not be of any use to you.
Keep track of conversions
You should also keep a track of your conversions as accurately as possible as against the investments that you are making. You can use Google Analytics, a free online application, to keep a track of the visitors to different pages to your website. There are many other online tools available to help you keep a track of your online conversions. It is not so easy to find out which conversions are coming from your off-line marketing such as TV ads. You can resort to consumer surveys to find out how your clients have reached you. Tracking your conversions will help you identify which marketing method is working and which is not.

Ref: http://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-on-Effective-Marketing-Techniques&id=1964769

The 6 Golden Rules of Meeting Management

Golden Rule #1: Run your meetings as you would have others run the meetings that you attend.
Golden Rule #2: Be prepared and ensure that all the participants can be as well.
Golden Rule #3: Stick to a schedule.
Golden Rule #4: Stay on topic.
Golden Rule #5: Don't hold unnecessary meetings.
Golden Rule #6: Wrap up meetings with a clear statement of the next steps and who is to take them.

FeedBack:-
These simple rules can go a long way in making meetings more productive. Implementing them is not always easy, as they require preparation and discipline, but doing so can make a huge difference to the productivity of your organization.For more information visit to govleaders.org

The Political-Legal Environment

The Political Environment Role of Government in the Economy Participator Regulator Ideologies and Marketing Capitalism, Socialism, or Democracy? Nationalism Stability Indicators of Instability International Relations Conclusions on the Political Environment The Legal Environment of International Marketing Taxes and Organisation Form FCN and Tax Treaties IMF and GATT UNCITRAL-A Step Ahead Patents Trademarks The International Air: ICAO, IATA, ITU, Intelsat IATA ITU and Intersat Regional Groupings and International Law The EC Example The World of International Law Foreign Laws and International Marketing Common Law versus Code Law Foreign Laws and Foreign Marketing The Enforcement of the Laws Arbitration or Litigation? The Marketer Is Not a Lawyer Key Terms Index Questions. The politics and the laws of a nation both influence the practice of international- marketing. The political environment of' international marketing- includes any national or international political factors that can direct its operations or its (decision making. The elements of' the, environment that concern us here, are the role of the government in the economy, economic and political ideology, international relation's, and business-government- relations in general.

reference: www.marketing.org

Marketing and Ethics

Marketing and Ethics


High profile scandals involving companies such as Enron and WorldCom have renewed interest in understanding how such debacles might be avoided. Corporate accountability is the new theme for concerned investors and politicians. Many agree that the culture of an organization influences the ethical and socially responsible behavior of its employees. The mission statement of a company can play an extremely important role in encouraging ethical corporate behavior.

If the top management put a lot of emphasis in the mission statement of its company, that they will serve all the stakeholders of the company honestly and will not tolerate any type of a fraudulent activity, then surely the rest of the workforce may also get motivated to act in an honest manner. However, over the years companies have adopted missions organization cultures entirely centered on profitability which has led to such type of scandals.

The top management of the company can put in controls at the various levels of the value delivery network in order to prevent frauds of any kind. There should be complete co-ordination between the company, its suppliers and its distributors. Such type of steps can easily create problems for those employees who intend to commit fraud of any kind.

Finally, a marketing audit can play an extremely important role in avoiding scandals. A marketing audit can be conducted by an objective and experienced outside party. The audit can easily spot trouble areas and it can provide good input for a plan of action to improve the company’s predicament.

In conclusion, marketing can play an extremely important role in preventing frauds in companies which are a source of great embarrassment for the modern corporate world.

How to write an effective survey

7A survey is a research method in which subjects respond to a series of items in a questionnaire or an interview. The procedure used frequently to obtain information is survey research. It is most easy way to get information from the participants. It may take from 4 to 5 minutes to few hours. This quantitative research involves systematically asking people their attitudes, feelings, ideas, opinion, behaviors or anything else. Of course, there are problems with surveys. If the question involves personal information about participant’s life, age or criminal activities the respondent may not reply honestly. A survey is as effective as its researcher’s conception of the question and how it should be asked, for example a survey about the attitude of people towards abortion with only two tentative answers can be ‘I think abortion should not be allowed under any circumstances’ or ‘I think abortion is permissible in situations involving danger to mother’s health’ would not yield valid information.[1]
An effective survey should have following things
Keep it simple:
The simpler the survey; the better the results. If you try to make the questions too complicated the participant will get confused and end up choosing the wrong option.
Avoid redundancy:
Do not repeat a question. This will get the participant annoyed. Be precise and to the point.
Have an interesting introduction:
An interesting introduction in the beginning establishes a good impact on the participant. It also tells the participant about the organization or company.
Avoid personal questions:
Unless it is necessary do not ask too personal questions. It makes the participant uncomfortable and they hesitate to respond. Besides, in most of the cases people tend to lie about their personal lives which make the survey more inaccurate.
Keep it short:
Companies tend to make tiresomely long surveys. Participants are prone to get irate because of that. A short survey is easy to fill out and a better way to go.
Give them incentives:
If you have a long survey for your participants make sure to give them some monetary incentive. That is the only way you can get them interested in answering it.
[1] Sociology by John J. Macionis

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Habit 1: Be Proactive

A unique ability that sets humans apart from animals is self-awareness and the ability to choose how we respond to any stimulus. While conditioning can have a strong impact on our lives, we are not determined by it. There are three theories of determinism: genetic, psychic, and environmental. Genetic determinism says that our nature is coded into our DNA, and that our personality traits are inherited from our grandparents. Psychic determinism says that our upbringing determines our personal tendencies, and that emotional pain that we felt at a young age is remembered and affects the way we behave today. Environmental determinism states that factors in our present environment are responsible for our situation. These theories of determinism each assume a model in which the stimulus determines the response.
Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the death camps of Nazi Germany. While in the death camps, Frankl realized that he alone had the power to determine his response to the horror of the situation. He exercised the only freedom he had in that environment by envisioning himself teaching students after his release. He realized that in the middle of the stimulus-response model, humans have the freedom to choose. Within the freedom to choose are those endowments that make us uniquely human. These are self-awareness, imagination, conscience and independent will.
The first habit of highly effective people is proactivity. Proactivity means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions not our conditions. Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them. They don’t blame conditions or environment. They subordinate feelings to values.
We can choose to be reactive to our environment. For example, if the weather is good, we will be happy. If people treat us well, we will feel well. We also can choose to be proactive and not let our situation determine how we will feel. Reactive behavior can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. By accepting that there is nothing we can do about our situation, we in fact become passive and do nothing.
Frankl suggests that there are three central values in life- experiential or that which happens to us, creative or that which we bring into existence and the highest of three values is attitudinal or our response in difficult situations. Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them.
There are many concerns in our lives, but we do not always have control over them. One can draw a circle that represents areas of concern, and a smaller circle within the first that represents areas of control. Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence. Reactive people often focus their efforts on areas of concern over which they have no control. Their complaining and negative energy tend to shrink their circle of influence.
In our area of concern, we may have direct control, indirect control, or no control at all. We have direct control over problems caused by our own behavior. We can solve these problems by changing our habits. We have indirect control over problems related to other people's behavior. For problems over which we have no control, first we must recognize that we have no control, and then gracefully accept that fact and make the best of the situation.

Defining SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

Stands for "Stock Keeping Unit," and is conveniently pronounced "skew." A SKU is a number or string of alpha and numeric characters that uniquely identify a product. For this reason, SKUs are often called part numbers, product numbers, and product identifiers.
SKUs may be a universal number such as a UPC code or supplier part number or may be a unique identifier used by a specific a store or online retailer. For example, one company may use the 10 character identifier supplied by the manufacturer as the SKU of an external hard drive.
for more detail visit the below site
http://www.techterms.com/

Local Government system

Local government

Local governments are administrative offices that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or (where appropriate) federal government.

In modern nations, local governments usually have fewer powers than national governments do. They usually have some power to raise taxes, though these may be limited by central legislation. In some countries local government is partly or wholly funded by subventions from central government taxation. The question of Municipal Autonomy—which powers the local government has, or should have, and why—is a key question of public administration and governance. The institutions of local government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Common names for local government entities include state, province, region, department, county, prefecture, district, city, township, town, borough, parish, municipality, shire and village.

A district is headed by a district nazim (mayor), who is an elected official and the local controller of the district level officers of all the departments under provincial government. The district nazim heads an elected district council which is composed of councilors, who represent various district-level constituencies. The councils have a constitutional requirement to be composed of a minimum of 33% women, there is no upper limit to that; so women can comprise 100% of these councils but men cannot.

Reference:www.wikipedia.org

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

Covey calls this the habit of personal leadership - leading oneself that is; towards what you consider your aims. By developing the habit of concentrating on relevant activities you will build a platform to avoid distractions and become more productive and successful.

Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen.

Begin with the end in mind is based on principle that all things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation and a physical or second creation to all things. Habit 2 is based on principles of personal leadership, which means that leadership is the first creation. Leadership deals with the top line: what are the things I want to accomplish? Management is doing things right; leadership is doing right things.

Proactivity is based on the endowment of self-awareness. Two additional endowments enable us to expand our proactivity and to exercise personal leadership in our lives:

• Imagination allows to visualize our potential
• Conscience allows us to develop our talents within the context of principles and personal guidelines.

The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop personal mission statement. It focuses on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based. Personal Mission Statement is lists of values that we wish to follow that will help us reach our desired destination. Our circle of influence and level of proactivity will help form these values, as will our roles and responsibilities.

Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom and power. Roles and goals give structure and organized direction to your personal mission. Our lives need to be centered on correct principles -- deep, fundamental truths, classic truths, and generic common denominators. As a principle centered person, you try standing apart from the emotions of situations and from other factors to evaluate options. We usually think of centeredness in terms of "self" as in only thinking of your self. Covey goes on to break this down further into more granular groups: Spouse, Family, Money, Work, Possessions, Pleasure, Friend, Enemy, Church, Self.

A person can be in one or more of these groups and ideally we need to find a balance between all centers as this will lead us to our core values and principles on which we will base our paradigms and mission statement.

Organizational mission statements will be more effective if developed and supported by all members of an organization rather than prescribed. We want to develop a principle-centered personal mission statement. Extend the mission statement into long-term goals based on personal principles.

What makes a good questionnaire?

Questionnaires are a way to gather data from a large group of people inexpensively, quickly, and statiscally.

The steps to design a questionnaire are:

Defining the Objectives of the survey
Determining the Sampling Group
Writing the Questionnaire
Administering the Questionnaire
Interpretation of the Results

(Source: www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/quest-design/)

It is very important to be clear when making a questionnaire. The goal is to eliminate the chance that the question will mean different things to different people. If the designers fails to do this,

then essentially participants will be answering different questions.

For example, it asking a question about frequency, rather than supplying choices that are open to interpretation such as:

1. Very Often
2. Often
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never

It is better to quantify the choices, such as:

1. Every Day or More
2. 2-6 Times a Week
3. About Once a Week
4. About Once a Month
5. Never

Most adjectives, verbs, and nouns in English have either a positive or negative connotation. Two words may have equivalent meaning, yet one may be a compliment and the other an insult.

For example questions that have neither strong negative or positive overtones. Consider the following two questions:

1. Do you agree with the Uniersity's plan to oppose ....?
2. Do you agree with the University's plan to support ....?

They both can ask the same thing, but will likely produce different answers. One asks in a positive way, and the other in a negative. It is impossible to predict how the outcomes will vary, so one method to counter this is to be aware of different ways to word questions and provide a mix in your questionnaire. If the participant pool is very large, several versions may be prepared and distributed to cancel out these effects.

Questionnaire are a long process that require careful attention. A questionnaire is a powerful evaluation tool and should not be taken lightly. Designing it begins with an understanding of the capabilities of a questionnaire and how they can help your research. If it is determined that a questionnaire is to be used, the greatest care goes into the planning of it.

DEFINING SKU

Definition of SKU’S (Stock keeping Units)

Warehousing item that is unique because of some characteristic (such as brand, size, color, model) and is therefore stored and accounted for separate from other items.

Usage of the SKU system is rooted in data management, enabling the company to systematically track their inventory or product availability, such as in warehouses and retail outlets. They are often assigned and serialized at the merchant level. Each SKU is attached to an item, variant, product line, bundle, service, fee, or attachment. All merchants using the SKU method will have their own approach to assigning the SKU system based on regional or national corporate data storage and retrieval strategies.

Successful inventory management systems assign a unique SKU for each product and also for its variants, such as different versions or models of product or different bundled packages including a number of related products. This allows merchants to track, for instance, whether blue shirts are selling better than green shirts.

Reference from wikipedia.org

Guide to Questionnaire making

Writing a good questionnaire. (Which hopefully wont leave your customers feeling irritated and confused.)

Questionnaires and other types of surveys are at times a burden on many people and they often don't like to participate in the blank filling process, its boring and its time consuming.But there is a way around this problem.
Design the questionnaire in such a way that it doesn't take up too much time, and also that it doesn't end up annoying the customer. following are the steps to writing up a good questionnaire:

1. Write a short questionnaire

Limit it as much as possible, don't go into unnecessary details, explanations and stuff which would irritate the customer. Focus on what feedback you want to get, which would be useful for the company, don't go around asking stuff just for the fun of it or stuff which wont get you anywhere.

2. Use simple words

DO NOT use jargon, that is a big No No. Your not asking your employees or the authorized personnel about stuff so don't go about using technical terms. Further it would do you much good if you stick with plain English rather than using elaborate words, the customer wont like that at all, and you will just confuse them.


3. Assure a common understanding

Make sure the questions you ask are interpreted by everyone in the same manner, make sure you don't use abbreviations which may not be quite popular or used by everyone.

4. Start with interesting questions

Now, you don't want to bore them right at the start, so be sure that you've got interesting questions which customers would love to answer. For example, if your surveying the market for ice creams you might want to start it of by asking what your favorite flavor?, which new flavor would you like to have?, stuff like that.

5. Don't write leading questions

Don't go on asking questions that ask for too much detail, that will just made the questionee skip that question as no one wants to waste their time in writing a paragraph about why you like blueberry ice cream so much.

6. Avoid double negatives

Respondents can easily be confused deciphering the meaning of a question that uses two negative words.

7. Balance rating scales

If your questionnaire includes ratings like very good and poor make sure you go to both extremes and same with numbers as well. Make sure its balanced, like on a scale of 5 or 10.

8. Do Not include too many choices for a question

Keep the options limited, don't give a lot of options or you will end up confusing the person.


9. Avoid difficult recall questions

Avoid asking questions that would deal with a previous experience as the customer may not remember exact details and end up giving false feedback.



10. Put your questions in a logic order

The order in which you ask the questions matters a lot, you don't want the customer pondering on a specific issue and then you bring him back to some totally different issue. That would just end up in making it difficult for the customer to answer correctly.


11. Pre-test your survey

Try testing the survey on your peers, ask them for feedback, or any problems they might have had while answering the questionnaire. This should also give you an idea about what kind of answers you might get.


12. Naming your survey

This is extremely important with e-mail surveys, having the subject named survey is just gonna give you a straight trip to the trash bin, instead try alternative and catchy subjects.
Here are examples of survey names that might be successful in getting attention:
Memo From the Chief Executive Officer
Evaluation of Services of the Benefits Office
Your Opinion About Financial Services
Free T-shirt
Win a Trip to Paris
Please Respond By Friday
Free Subscription
Win a notebook computer

Keep these tips, well not tips..... Guide, yea guide to questionnaire making and hopefully you will be successful in making a good survey which will get you what you need.

Guy Kawasaki on "Mantra vs. Mission Statement"

'Mantra captures the essence'. A conventional cemented, abstract, fixed mission statement cannot. It's a four-minute video that "captures the essence" of Mantra:



A nice blog post by Guy: "Mantras Versus Missions."