Saturday, June 3, 2017
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Administration tips (thinking)
Diligence is not my specialization however reading some headlines that are meant to sensationalize on the topic of productivity there is a clear impulse to suggest useful ways of being diligent in carrying out your administrative duties and other duties you might put upon yourself, that is before you get the adrenalin rush and start speaking out intuitively, in most cases this appears to be thinking that is slightly flawed although in some cases it's good to take notes and learn from mistakes, this seems common sense to me.
a) check your records and keep up-to-date records particularly in accounting, hoping your software is working right naturally. Don't despair if a bug happens, there are many reported on bug forums not all of these are functional, and in the majority of cases a workaround is possible therefore thinking skills help. The fact that a problem repeated itself does not mean you have the right to yell at someone, you do not yet know the real cause of the problem pending the analysis, naturally.
b) be as honest and as ethical as possible, don't defend your superior merely because they are in a three-week meeting, accountability is a legal responsibility. misinterpretation and negligence will likely result in a complaint, implied or explicit, this can be a legally controversial issue. Marketing themes should be fair and honest, and, cannot over-promise, there must be a value added in the offering to the consumer, people tend to sense information might be missing when there is a risk perceived, therefore it is useful to re-think your strategies and offerings..
GDPR Sping Conference
c) look at your budget but go beyond this there is social accounting do you remember this topic in school and did you budget well in retrospective or did you set limits to everything so you have basically shot yourself in the foot right now? Store and forward is not the only form of administrative support you can provide, there is more depth to administration.
d) Avoid paying late, get paid on time, because time is money.
e) be socially sensitive, not individual, be socially responsible, if you can, and, self-conscious if you just cannot make it to that stage of thinking because you are too stressed out.
See article at Occupational stress: the way ahead, your manager ought to be sensitive to labor issues, if they are not, write to them or let your worker's union know. Don't believe all you read but don't be sceptic about every complaint, it is not always as trivial as it appears to be, the intelligence of eliciting information is an skill that requires some note-taking, assuming literacy at least in the official languages English and Maltese.
f) avoid being subject to litigation as contracts are not drafted to be fair but to be objective and impartial, thus separating the conflicts of interests that parties might have for services provided, types of contract include professional services, purchases, sales, leases (rent), skilled services and employment.
Maltese business environment can be tricky to negotiate with and the government officials tend not to intervene, to avoid getting in litigation, conveniently passing the buck to lawyers, who have their charges to bill, and, as such social issues around contracts that are commonly grounds for litigation include zeal for money or value based on the interpretation of a contract or its billing and calculation thereof, employment contracts and their supervision which can be based on performance and is not necessarily fair towards the employee, since the employer has to pay the wages, thus there is instituted a trial period by employment law where both parties are free to cancel their commitment to the employment contract thereafter other regulations are applied depending on the duration of employment and other factors which are subject to procedures that have to be represented by a legal professional. Business mediation services are also available. Blackmail is a breach of a civil nature according to a police officer as I have complained about this various times and they find my complaints relatively trivial.
It is typical that business support personnel engage in very mind-boggling negotiation techniques that I generally try to avoid. Generally rubber stamped documentation has more bearing in formal legal processes [bureaucracy]. Studies have shown that poverty and helplessness can lead to recidivism, therefore the safety net is meant to [but apparently fails to] adapt to the needs of society and its basic needs of subsistence, although there are other allowances for severance, injury and other forms of tort. It is also shown that financial and numerical reasoning can drive people to obsessions and to making speculations to the detriment of other people's rights, thus in reflection we have to be objective and factual in processing. Mechanisms that process errors are not necessarily those that have to lead to victimisation and discipline, my view is that such old organisational management processes can be debated to be examples of bullying from the part of an organisation, thus can be considered abusive as well.
References
1. Determinants of labour productivity in Malta: Evidence from a Firm-level Survey (2016) - Central Bank of Malta
2. Late payments directive (EC)
3. Trade agreements 4. Directive on the processing of information (EC)
5. 2013/34/EU for certain large undertakings (EC)
6. Company rules established by MFSA. 7. Finance Malta 8. OHSA 9. What is autism and is is linked to MMR vaccines? 10. Chamber of Advocates, Malta 11. Education and Training page (www.facebook.com) 12. Late Payments Directive EC and an article at titled Stricter German rules on late payments. 13. Malta Arbitration Centre. 14. Malta Mediation Centre. 15. White Collar Crime. 16. archive.org Have you evaluated the cost of increased compliance? What is an MBA? Have you considered internationalization?
Forget it, the EU has got your back stone-walled, we are a nation of control freaks nowadays we control your breathing if necessary. Do you think it is your law or my law that has a prevailing judgement? oh my god! help help help! [pay pay pay]. You may wish to follow my academic group that includes links to various standards one may adopt it is available at LSE IS&M, you need to sign up and ask me as a friend to invite you to the group, I would require some information on your profile as well if you do not mind for security purposes.
John S. Internet
2. Late payments directive (EC)
3. Trade agreements 4. Directive on the processing of information (EC)
5. 2013/34/EU for certain large undertakings (EC)
6. Company rules established by MFSA. 7. Finance Malta 8. OHSA 9. What is autism and is is linked to MMR vaccines? 10. Chamber of Advocates, Malta 11. Education and Training page (www.facebook.com) 12. Late Payments Directive EC and an article at titled Stricter German rules on late payments. 13. Malta Arbitration Centre. 14. Malta Mediation Centre. 15. White Collar Crime. 16. archive.org Have you evaluated the cost of increased compliance? What is an MBA? Have you considered internationalization?
Forget it, the EU has got your back stone-walled, we are a nation of control freaks nowadays we control your breathing if necessary. Do you think it is your law or my law that has a prevailing judgement? oh my god! help help help! [pay pay pay]. You may wish to follow my academic group that includes links to various standards one may adopt it is available at LSE IS&M, you need to sign up and ask me as a friend to invite you to the group, I would require some information on your profile as well if you do not mind for security purposes.
John S. Internet
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Project management and contract management
Project management is the management of projects, my pyramid revolves around the measurement of time, cost and quality, these criteria are then expanded to a formal structure. Considerations that arise from day to day management include:
a) the project management framework used, usually leading to training courses e.g. PRINCE2, PMI
b) principles of fair pay, flexibility and daily stress management, and, balancing one with the other.
c) damages and the reasonableness of using outsourcing versus employment amongst other issues. is the legal system fair?
d) planning involved in order to plan adequately, including lead time, planning work packages, implementation, quality assurance and being available for audits.
e) notions of total cost accounting and social consequences of the work itself taking into consideration wider aspects of stakeholders
f) measurement of results using reliable frameworks e.g. Balanced Scorecard.
The selective ignorance of some are matters of psychology, and, there is a tendency to push the fire button quite often when one wants to lead thus many people management-oriented managers choose either to lead or to ask work to be carried out by others, and, I am not sure whether it is more convenient to measure or to do the technical work, however, both require some planning. It's important to take into consideration the time and resources others need to work as well if you are into managing people. Terms and conditions drafted can be tight to loose, one might seek legal advice in the context of corporate management in the preparation of contracts for service and for other purposes and services.
Many managers appear to have a need for speed, not sure if they review this in line of other objectives, I am guessing everyone reflects. Internet
a) the project management framework used, usually leading to training courses e.g. PRINCE2, PMI
b) principles of fair pay, flexibility and daily stress management, and, balancing one with the other.
c) damages and the reasonableness of using outsourcing versus employment amongst other issues. is the legal system fair?
d) planning involved in order to plan adequately, including lead time, planning work packages, implementation, quality assurance and being available for audits.
e) notions of total cost accounting and social consequences of the work itself taking into consideration wider aspects of stakeholders
f) measurement of results using reliable frameworks e.g. Balanced Scorecard.
The selective ignorance of some are matters of psychology, and, there is a tendency to push the fire button quite often when one wants to lead thus many people management-oriented managers choose either to lead or to ask work to be carried out by others, and, I am not sure whether it is more convenient to measure or to do the technical work, however, both require some planning. It's important to take into consideration the time and resources others need to work as well if you are into managing people. Terms and conditions drafted can be tight to loose, one might seek legal advice in the context of corporate management in the preparation of contracts for service and for other purposes and services.
Many managers appear to have a need for speed, not sure if they review this in line of other objectives, I am guessing everyone reflects. Internet
Sunday, January 1, 2017
3D Beach
3D is an interesting topic, and so is social media, so as I was watching people dancing yesterday I wanted to create a 3D virtual world where people dance and socialize with other people, however this is a model that is already available out there, so I did not feel very innovative in my thinking yesterday at Fra Ben Fra Ben Beach Bar and Restaurant near a beach marked with a blue flag. I thought I wanted to create a virtual world devoid of negative influences where people could happily socialize and meet other people even for professional reasons, this way we can reduce the risk of encountering sexually transmitted diseases using the internet connection, however, the President of Malta's research office does not quite think this is a good idea, as times citing internet addiction in research, but then what would our lives be without the information superhighway.
I hope to develop this 3D animation, and, to create an event out of it, using satire to attract people out of boredom, is this a good plan in your opinion?
Techy News.
Want to play?
social media games are cool!
Internet
you seem to like watching.
I hope to develop this 3D animation, and, to create an event out of it, using satire to attract people out of boredom, is this a good plan in your opinion?
Techy News.
Want to play?
social media games are cool!
InternetFriday, April 1, 2016
Search engine optimization tips
Optimize your site for search engines.
Search engines have always been a major way to get traffic for free. That is why you need to do your homework and optimize your site so that it ranks well for the keywords you target. SEO is still the most powerful way to get traffic for free and you really need to invest some time and efforts in the optimization of your site. SEO is not that difficult and if you want to get familiar with it in a nutshell, check our SEO Tutorial. If you are too busy for that, you can start with the 15 Minute SEO article.
Frequently update the contents of your site.
If you expected some shocking secrets revealed, you might be a bit disappointed. One of the first steps in getting traffic for free is trivial but vital – get great content and frequently update it. In terms of SEO, content is king. If your content is good and frequently updated you will not only build a loyal audience of recurring visitors, who will often come to see what is new, but search engines will also love your site.
Take advantage of social bookmarking sites.
Social bookmarking sites (especially the most popular among them) are another powerful way to get traffic for free. If you want to learn how to do it, check the How to get Traffic from Social Bookmarking sites article, where we have explained what to do if you want to get free traffic from sites such as Digg, Delicious, etc.
Use your Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Social networks are also a way to get traffic for free. If you are popular on networks, such as Twitter or Facebook, the traffic you get from there can easily surpass the traffic from Google and the other search engines. It is true that building a large network of targeted followers on Twitter and supporters on Facebook takes a lot of time and effort but generally the result is worth.
Get links with other sites in your niche.
Another way to get traffic for free is from other sites in your niche. Getting links with other sites in your niche is also good for SEO, especially if you manage to get links without the famous nofollow attribute. But even if the links are nofollow (i.e. they are useless for SEO), they still help to get traffic to your site. If you manage to put your link in a visible place on a site with high volumes of traffic, you can get thousands of hits from this link alone. If you need list of sites within your niche where you could get backlinks from, check the Backlink Builder tool. However, be careful if you exchange links because linking to bad neighbors can do you a lot of harm.
Use any chance to promote your site for free.
Free promotion is always welcome, so don't neglect it. There are many ways to promote your site for free and some of the most popular ones include free classified ads, submissions to directories, inclusion in various listings, etc. It is true that not all free ways to promote your site work well but if you select the right places to promote your site for free, this can also result in tons of traffic.
Create a free product or service.
Content drives most traffic when you offer something useful. There are many types of useful content you can create and they largely depend on the niche of your site. You can have articles with tons of advice, or short tips but one of the most powerful ways to get traffic is to create a free product or service. When this product or service gets popular and people start visiting your site, chances are that they will visit the other sections of the site as well.
Use viral content.
Free products and services are great for getting free traffic to your site and one of the best varieties in this aspect is viral content. Viral content is called so because it distributes like a virus – i.e. when users like your content, they send it to their friends, post it on various sites, and promote it for free in many different ways. Viral content distributes on its own and your only task is to create it and submit it to a couple of popular sites. After that users pick it and distribute it for you. Viral content can be a hot video or a presentation but it can also be a good old article or an image.
Use offline promotion.
Offline promotion is frequently forgotten but it is also a way to get traffic for free. Yes, computers are everywhere and many people spend more time online than offline but still life hasn't moved completely on the Web. Offline promotion is also very powerful and if you know how to use it, this can also bring you many visitors. Some of the traditional offline ways to promote your site include printing its URL on your company's business cards and souvenirs or sticking it on your company vehicles. You can also start selling T-shirts and other merchandise with your logo and this way make your brand more popular.
Include your URL in your signature.
URLs in forum signatures are also a way to get traffic for free. There are forums, which get millions of visitors a day and if you are a popular user on such a forum, you can use this to get traffic to your site. When you post on forums and people like your posts, they tend to click the link to your site on your signature to learn more about you. In rare cases you might be able to post a deep link (i.e. a link to an internal page of the site) rather than a link to your homepage and this is also a way to focus attention to a particular page. Unfortunately, deep links are rarely allowed.
Getting traffic for free is a vast topic and it is not possible to list all the ways to do it. However, if you know the most important ways – i.e. the ways we discussed in this article and you apply them properly, it is guaranteed that you will be able to get lots of traffic for free.
Sourced online.
Internet
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Teleworking today...is it a benefit?
Teleworking allows employees work at home or at a local telework center one or more days per week using communication tools, such as such as phone, fax, modem, Internet teleconferencing, e-mail or IM, to perform work duties from a remote location.
The term telework is the term favoured in Europe and other countries while telecommute is used more often in the U.S and Canada.
(webopedia.com)
Teleworking brings about the added benefit to employees, to be able to work from locations without having to travel long distances to their workplace. It also brings us closer to clients and business partners while we are travelling, because we can simply use information provided by the information systems of a company and showcase it there and then, rather than having to come back "later" with information.
Time to respond, can be an effective competitive advantage in a highly competitive business world.
For example, insurance representatives are usually armed with laptops and presentations demonstrating the forecasts of life policy returns instantly, and, they have been using remote means of working for over a decade, in the author's experience. Mobile working may also give the impression of flexibility, in that employees are given the option to work from any location or from locations where connectivity is securely allowed, for example over a virtual private connection between the head office and the branch office. Nevertheless, one needs to appreciate the fact that mobile working is limited by the availability and reputation of the underlying technologies, particularly the Internet infrastructure - which is running out of static IPv4 addresses - and, the connection speed, on which there have been complaints recently.
Whilst this practice seems to have been widely adopted, due to the perception that most persons can access their web-based email and avail from smartphones and other devices, Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo Inc. (2013) decided to do away with teleworking connections after finding out that some of the teleworking employees were found to have been "tele-slacking" i.e. the employees were not actually logging on to work, and, Ing. Meyer felt that she had to take a drastic decision, asking them to return to the office to work.
"The come-to-work order was first reported when a leaked memo from Yahoo's human resources director was published by a tech blog in February." Sourced from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayer-telecommuting/. This practice was not completely agreed with by magnate Richard Branson, who seems to favour teleworking as today's way of working. Nevertheless, the risk of abuse still exists:
Bob had simply outsourced his own job to a Chinese consulting firm. Bob spent less that one fifth of his six-figure salary for a Chinese firm to do his job for him. Authentication was no problem, he physically FedExed his RSA token to China so that the third-party contractor could log-in under his credentials during the workday. It would appear that he was working an average 9 to 5 work day. Investigators checked his web browsing history, and that told the whole story.
Sourced from http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2013/01/17/employee-subcontracts-own-work-to-china-collects-full-salary-watches-cat-videos/ Ryan seems to corroborate that speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. How does this influence productivity?
Within the Republic of Malta, teleworking is regulated by subsidiary legislation 452/104, which defines telework as "a form of organising and, or performing work, using information technology, in the context of an employment contract or relationship, where work, which could also be performed at the employer’s premises, is carried out away from those premises on a regular basis".
This indicates that the legal definition of teleworking allows for working at a branch office, and, this form of teleworking is adopted by real estate entrepreneurs, who prefer to recruit sales agents on a self-employed (sub-contracting) basis, and, offering the services of providing office equipment including a company telephone in order to carry out prospecting and sales duties from the branch office. The employer has the legal right to accept or refuse duties carried out over a teleworking connection.
Broadband connection problems, and, other Internet connection problems were common in the Maltese islands since the introduction of Internet service as commercially available to personal and corporate customers. 77.5% of households in Malta and Gozo had access to the internet last year (2012), according to NSO figures reported by timesofmalta.com.
Unfortunately more recent statistics were not available at the time of writing. The Government of Malta, had in the past introduced schemes such as Blue Skies to encourage third age citizens in buying broadband connection at subsidized rates, however, there is no guarantee that this was taken up by all the members of the ageing population, and, this leaves them at the risk of being marginalized.
Does this meant that the remaining 22.5% would not be familiar with using internet to carry out business, or attend to their day to day shopping needs?
Yet, technology moves on and awaits us, consumers to jump on the bandwagon and buy in to the latest technologies, such as the latest iPhone, or other smartphones available. Vodafone (Malta) have recently inaugurated the first 4G network in Malta. Will this bring about more options for mobile working, or are we feeling like we have more options than we might need? Do you still have a single mobile phone, or do you carry about a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, and, a few other devices as part of your daily carrybag?
Worksmart.org.uk clarifies that teleworking can be required as part of a job description for new starters, but if an existing office-based job is to be changed to teleworking, it should be a voluntary arrangement for both the worker and the employer. In either case, prospective employees being offered a job need to read the terms and conditions of the contract of employment and reflect how this will affect their work-life balance, particularly if they have parenthood responsibilities.
This essay does not attempt to understand whether this is perceived as fair or not considering the different forms of employment options available, but nevertheless provides evidence that teleworking has been adopted for over a decade that seems to have provided employers with the benefit of asking employees to access information hosted on companies' servers remotely, thus being able to read and reply their emails promptly, or even accessing the information systems used within the organization.
Employees may feel that they can never leave the workplace when teleworking, given the pervasive manner technologies such as smartphones, tablets and other devices surround us whilst we are trying to find some private space of our own. The boss might call and ask questions even though you are not meant to be working at 01:00 AM, because he is aware you read your emails till late morning. Does this create any stress related issues?
The author has been through burn down stress and other adverse health conditions that to date have benefited nobody, not even the author himself, who has been left to the consequences of his misfortune by the executives who once brandished their business suit as if it was the Knight's armor. You would not even imagine the costs in terms of health and recovery, not to mention the family related problems that stress may bring upon the dependants of the victim. Dr. Debono, a previous Member of Parliament also complained of health issues during 2012-2013, and, farcically, the people he represented perceived him as a rebel, and, at times as "weak".
After his public political feud between Dr. Franco Debono and ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, the latter had publicly complained to have been flooded with numerous SMSs by Dr. Debono. This is a fierce showcase of mobile telephony misused, since it alienated Dr. Gonzi from what might have been clarified in a face-to-face meeting, however, we do not intend to debate the personal issues between politicians, but merely to illustrate how mobile devices can be misused.
As a matter of fact, cyber-stalking is being currently debated by a prominent politician in order to protect the interests of individuals whose private lives might have been damaged with the influx of social media and the excessive use of mobile phones and social media to share our personal lives with the public. It is known that some software engineers have revealed company secrets over social media, and, other persons have had their employment terminated over improper conduct published on social media, through the careful prying eyes of modern day human resources practitioners who protect the interests of the employing organization, at times by prying into the employees' private lives, and, ensuring that the code of conduct has not been breached. At this point, some employees may feel that their privacy is being invaded. Similarly, for the purposes of security we have to undergo numerous checks such as checks at the airport, and, when one has to travel regularly, these checks may become a nuisance, and at times might be a valid question whether they are a health hazard. For example, the author tends to question airport staff whether X-Ray spot checks at Heathrow Airport, London will have negative side effects on one's health, since it is not healthy to expose oneself to too many X-Rays within a defined period of time. Unfortunately the staff handling the equipment are not usually qualified radiologists and tend to give 'white lies' encouraging the individual to undertake such tests.
Now this might not have happened to anyone else, so you would not even have an idea what it means to the victim, and, it would seem that few people do actually, according to research. Most people see stress-related symptoms as 'alien' until it hits them and they actually have to go through the side-effects of such symptoms.
This leads us to understand that publicly acknowledging stress can have a negative effect on the reputation of an individual, and, even, though prejudice is - strictly speaking - against the basic right to be respected, some employers and people who lack awareness of such rights prefer to follow their instincts and prejudices rather than understand what stress means for its victims.
Again, this brings about a perceived demand for professional human resources management, and, in understanding what empathy is about. Unfortunately, it would seem that managers who seem to have been educated by F.W. Taylor have little awareness of the basic needs around managing human beings. Indeed, sometimes we need to remind our managers that we are only human beings, because their expectations are as ambitious as the ways they organize to ensure that employees never actually 'leave the workplace'. Is there a need to force the state of being a workaholic upon employees, or is it just adrenalin that drives scientifically-driven managers?
White (2013), clearly states that when the spotlights are switched off most public figures have to manage the same debilitating effects of being human.
Not "being seen in the office" may affect a person's chances of promotion, result in a smaller pay rise than office-based peers and lower performance evaluations, according to research by the London Business School and the University of California. Sourced from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21588760, written by M. Ryan. This issue seems to have been confirmed as a negative perception by other employers as well (Theuma/Aquilina 2012/2013).
Nevertheless, teleworking brings about advantages, including technology at your fingertips. News feeds (e.g. RSS Feeds), email, and, information systems can be accessed from any device which connects to the world wide web, and, nowadays that includes laptops at WiFi spots, smartphones, tablets, and, even nifty devices such as Google Glass, useful contextual information on the locality being visited, or translations on the fly displayed through a tiny screen that is bundled along with in the form of a reading glass.
Mobile working has speeded up and has had an obvious impact on electronic commerce. We can download mobile applications instantly, and, read our emails from just about everywhere. We are so flooded by emails, that the Data Protection Legislation protects our privacy by requiring the explicit consent of the data subject prior to being provided with promotional information. Nevertheless, this regulation is not strictly adhered to, especially as Maltese political parties are approaching election time, and, they feel the urge to reach out to potential voters with their multi-channelled marketing campaigns that take the form of digital marketing, direct marketing and the most extroverted of public relations that rises to the level of a rock concert. Ironically, the politicians then complain about running out of funds when they are required to feed the needy, or to run campaigns for the socially disadvantaged, and, the layman would probably ask whether budgets are being allocated in a socially responsible manner, rather than being driven by "election fever". Does this happen in your country as well? One this is for sure, mobiles do not even leave politicians at rest, because they answer at every hour, and, publish campaigns on social media. This is an advantage given that up to a few years ago we accused politicians of being too secretive and lacking transparency. Liberalism and the need for transparency may have forced the politician to act more responsibly in the public interests, thanks to evolving technologies and mobile working.
Technologies have created thousands of jobs, and, the IT industry has not been seen any decrease in demand for integrated technologies, mobile applications, websites and all sorts of technologies that bring about convenience at anyone's fingertips. All this started with a few 'garage-bred' ideas of a few American and British entrepreneurs on the likes of Bill Gates, Sir Tim Berners Lee, and, others, and, technology is around us nowadays, looking at us with its prying eyes. Does this give you a sense of security or does it invade your privacy? It depends how you look at it, some people have nothing to hide, others cannot state the same. One man's meat is another man's poison, as the saying goes.
In the Maltese islands, if you are caught talking on your handheld mobile phone by a traffic policeman, you are liable for a fine, because, they assume that the human mind cannot focus on driving and on handling the phone. In fact, some people wish that managers had the same lines of thought before putting pressure on surrealistic commercial deadlines that must be met, and, in both cases you get penalized for breaching a rule that someone else has created. Therefore technology has brought about the added source of revenue for Transport Malta, to help Malta out of its public debt by giving hefty fines to people who are unaware of the use of mobile phones with "handsfree" earpieces or sets that can be integrated to the car speakers and microphone without distracting the driver of a recent BMW from keeping his or her eyes on the wheel.
Wang and Strong outline the following dimensions by which quality of information can be analysed including intrinsic, contextual, representational and accessibility of information. These dimensions bring about the importance of coding standards to be adhered to when engineering an application for mobile phones or for other mobile devices. How does this influence the importance of quality management upon the profession of software engineering, and, the need for coherence when displaying information required for productive use, and, for public scrutiny? What is the cost of an error nowadays in terms of rework and reputation?
Mobile working can be an advantage in the sense that it connects people in faraway places and allows managers not to worry about having to pay for travelling and work-permits since employees and sub-contractors can work remotely at a lower cost than an air-ticket and accomodation. Mobile working takes advantage of the Internet infrastructure to allow people to collaborate through various technologies, such as Skype and social media, and, shared applications. On the other hand, mobile working can result in information overload, undue stress, and, surreal expectations, if we do not manage human resources adequately.
References
1. They myth of working from home, available [online] at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21588760.
2. Stress and distress in public life, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131017/business-comment/Stress-and-distress-in-public-life.490760#.UmfLeXAbCUM.
3. Wang, R. & Strong, D. (1996) "Beyond Accuracy: What Data Quality Means to Data Consumers". "Journal of Management Information Systems", 12(4), p. 5-34., as quoted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_quality, last updated on 4th October 2013.
4. Employee Subcontracts Own Work to China, Collects Full Salary, Watches Cat Videos available [online] at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2013/01/17/employee-subcontracts-own-work-to-china-collects-full-salary-watches-cat-videos/, updated on 17th January 2013.
5. 2012: The year when Franco Debono ‘went the distance’, available [online] at http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/2012-The-year-when-Franco-Debono-went-the-distance-20121230 6. The principles of scientific management, available [online] at http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/taylor/principles/ch02.htm.
7. Debono denies ‘taunting’ Gonzi with SMSes at all hours, available [online] at http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Gonzi-claims-Franco-Debono-taunted-him-with-SMSs-at-all-hours-20130421.
8. Anti-cyber harassment alliance setup, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130810/local/anti-cyberharassment-alliance-set-up.481552#.Umfdo3AbCUM.
9. How X-Rays Work?, available [online] at http://science.howstuffworks.com/x-ray3.htm. 10. IPV6 Address Space, available [online] at http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-address-space/ipv6-address-space.xhtml.
11. 5600 new broadband connections thanks to Blue Skies, available [online] at http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2008-04-25/news/5600-new-broadband-internet-connections-thanks-to-blueskies-206728/.
12. Vodafone brings 4G to Malta, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131010/local/Vodafone-brings-first-4G-network-to-Malta.489665#.Umfi7HAbCUM.
13. Banking at your fingertips, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131017/technology/Banking-at-your-fingertips.490774#.Umfi5XAbCUM.
14. Major step for EU Telecoms Single Market, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130919/technology/Major-step-forward-for-EU-telecoms-single-market.486843#.Umfj6nAbCUM.
15. Ronald Aquilina, Innovation of e-Business Lectures (IS3167).
16. BMW Bluetooth Kit, available [online] at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlXznTtucSc.
Internet
(webopedia.com)
Teleworking brings about the added benefit to employees, to be able to work from locations without having to travel long distances to their workplace. It also brings us closer to clients and business partners while we are travelling, because we can simply use information provided by the information systems of a company and showcase it there and then, rather than having to come back "later" with information.
Time to respond, can be an effective competitive advantage in a highly competitive business world.
For example, insurance representatives are usually armed with laptops and presentations demonstrating the forecasts of life policy returns instantly, and, they have been using remote means of working for over a decade, in the author's experience. Mobile working may also give the impression of flexibility, in that employees are given the option to work from any location or from locations where connectivity is securely allowed, for example over a virtual private connection between the head office and the branch office. Nevertheless, one needs to appreciate the fact that mobile working is limited by the availability and reputation of the underlying technologies, particularly the Internet infrastructure - which is running out of static IPv4 addresses - and, the connection speed, on which there have been complaints recently.
Whilst this practice seems to have been widely adopted, due to the perception that most persons can access their web-based email and avail from smartphones and other devices, Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo Inc. (2013) decided to do away with teleworking connections after finding out that some of the teleworking employees were found to have been "tele-slacking" i.e. the employees were not actually logging on to work, and, Ing. Meyer felt that she had to take a drastic decision, asking them to return to the office to work.
"The come-to-work order was first reported when a leaked memo from Yahoo's human resources director was published by a tech blog in February." Sourced from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/19/marissa-mayer-telecommuting/. This practice was not completely agreed with by magnate Richard Branson, who seems to favour teleworking as today's way of working. Nevertheless, the risk of abuse still exists:
Bob had simply outsourced his own job to a Chinese consulting firm. Bob spent less that one fifth of his six-figure salary for a Chinese firm to do his job for him. Authentication was no problem, he physically FedExed his RSA token to China so that the third-party contractor could log-in under his credentials during the workday. It would appear that he was working an average 9 to 5 work day. Investigators checked his web browsing history, and that told the whole story.
Sourced from http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2013/01/17/employee-subcontracts-own-work-to-china-collects-full-salary-watches-cat-videos/ Ryan seems to corroborate that speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. How does this influence productivity?
Within the Republic of Malta, teleworking is regulated by subsidiary legislation 452/104, which defines telework as "a form of organising and, or performing work, using information technology, in the context of an employment contract or relationship, where work, which could also be performed at the employer’s premises, is carried out away from those premises on a regular basis".
This indicates that the legal definition of teleworking allows for working at a branch office, and, this form of teleworking is adopted by real estate entrepreneurs, who prefer to recruit sales agents on a self-employed (sub-contracting) basis, and, offering the services of providing office equipment including a company telephone in order to carry out prospecting and sales duties from the branch office. The employer has the legal right to accept or refuse duties carried out over a teleworking connection.
Broadband connection problems, and, other Internet connection problems were common in the Maltese islands since the introduction of Internet service as commercially available to personal and corporate customers. 77.5% of households in Malta and Gozo had access to the internet last year (2012), according to NSO figures reported by timesofmalta.com.
Unfortunately more recent statistics were not available at the time of writing. The Government of Malta, had in the past introduced schemes such as Blue Skies to encourage third age citizens in buying broadband connection at subsidized rates, however, there is no guarantee that this was taken up by all the members of the ageing population, and, this leaves them at the risk of being marginalized.
Does this meant that the remaining 22.5% would not be familiar with using internet to carry out business, or attend to their day to day shopping needs?
Yet, technology moves on and awaits us, consumers to jump on the bandwagon and buy in to the latest technologies, such as the latest iPhone, or other smartphones available. Vodafone (Malta) have recently inaugurated the first 4G network in Malta. Will this bring about more options for mobile working, or are we feeling like we have more options than we might need? Do you still have a single mobile phone, or do you carry about a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, and, a few other devices as part of your daily carrybag?
Worksmart.org.uk clarifies that teleworking can be required as part of a job description for new starters, but if an existing office-based job is to be changed to teleworking, it should be a voluntary arrangement for both the worker and the employer. In either case, prospective employees being offered a job need to read the terms and conditions of the contract of employment and reflect how this will affect their work-life balance, particularly if they have parenthood responsibilities.
This essay does not attempt to understand whether this is perceived as fair or not considering the different forms of employment options available, but nevertheless provides evidence that teleworking has been adopted for over a decade that seems to have provided employers with the benefit of asking employees to access information hosted on companies' servers remotely, thus being able to read and reply their emails promptly, or even accessing the information systems used within the organization.
Employees may feel that they can never leave the workplace when teleworking, given the pervasive manner technologies such as smartphones, tablets and other devices surround us whilst we are trying to find some private space of our own. The boss might call and ask questions even though you are not meant to be working at 01:00 AM, because he is aware you read your emails till late morning. Does this create any stress related issues?
The author has been through burn down stress and other adverse health conditions that to date have benefited nobody, not even the author himself, who has been left to the consequences of his misfortune by the executives who once brandished their business suit as if it was the Knight's armor. You would not even imagine the costs in terms of health and recovery, not to mention the family related problems that stress may bring upon the dependants of the victim. Dr. Debono, a previous Member of Parliament also complained of health issues during 2012-2013, and, farcically, the people he represented perceived him as a rebel, and, at times as "weak".
After his public political feud between Dr. Franco Debono and ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, the latter had publicly complained to have been flooded with numerous SMSs by Dr. Debono. This is a fierce showcase of mobile telephony misused, since it alienated Dr. Gonzi from what might have been clarified in a face-to-face meeting, however, we do not intend to debate the personal issues between politicians, but merely to illustrate how mobile devices can be misused.
As a matter of fact, cyber-stalking is being currently debated by a prominent politician in order to protect the interests of individuals whose private lives might have been damaged with the influx of social media and the excessive use of mobile phones and social media to share our personal lives with the public. It is known that some software engineers have revealed company secrets over social media, and, other persons have had their employment terminated over improper conduct published on social media, through the careful prying eyes of modern day human resources practitioners who protect the interests of the employing organization, at times by prying into the employees' private lives, and, ensuring that the code of conduct has not been breached. At this point, some employees may feel that their privacy is being invaded. Similarly, for the purposes of security we have to undergo numerous checks such as checks at the airport, and, when one has to travel regularly, these checks may become a nuisance, and at times might be a valid question whether they are a health hazard. For example, the author tends to question airport staff whether X-Ray spot checks at Heathrow Airport, London will have negative side effects on one's health, since it is not healthy to expose oneself to too many X-Rays within a defined period of time. Unfortunately the staff handling the equipment are not usually qualified radiologists and tend to give 'white lies' encouraging the individual to undertake such tests.
Now this might not have happened to anyone else, so you would not even have an idea what it means to the victim, and, it would seem that few people do actually, according to research. Most people see stress-related symptoms as 'alien' until it hits them and they actually have to go through the side-effects of such symptoms.
This leads us to understand that publicly acknowledging stress can have a negative effect on the reputation of an individual, and, even, though prejudice is - strictly speaking - against the basic right to be respected, some employers and people who lack awareness of such rights prefer to follow their instincts and prejudices rather than understand what stress means for its victims.
Again, this brings about a perceived demand for professional human resources management, and, in understanding what empathy is about. Unfortunately, it would seem that managers who seem to have been educated by F.W. Taylor have little awareness of the basic needs around managing human beings. Indeed, sometimes we need to remind our managers that we are only human beings, because their expectations are as ambitious as the ways they organize to ensure that employees never actually 'leave the workplace'. Is there a need to force the state of being a workaholic upon employees, or is it just adrenalin that drives scientifically-driven managers?
White (2013), clearly states that when the spotlights are switched off most public figures have to manage the same debilitating effects of being human.
Not "being seen in the office" may affect a person's chances of promotion, result in a smaller pay rise than office-based peers and lower performance evaluations, according to research by the London Business School and the University of California. Sourced from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21588760, written by M. Ryan. This issue seems to have been confirmed as a negative perception by other employers as well (Theuma/Aquilina 2012/2013).
Nevertheless, teleworking brings about advantages, including technology at your fingertips. News feeds (e.g. RSS Feeds), email, and, information systems can be accessed from any device which connects to the world wide web, and, nowadays that includes laptops at WiFi spots, smartphones, tablets, and, even nifty devices such as Google Glass, useful contextual information on the locality being visited, or translations on the fly displayed through a tiny screen that is bundled along with in the form of a reading glass.
Mobile working has speeded up and has had an obvious impact on electronic commerce. We can download mobile applications instantly, and, read our emails from just about everywhere. We are so flooded by emails, that the Data Protection Legislation protects our privacy by requiring the explicit consent of the data subject prior to being provided with promotional information. Nevertheless, this regulation is not strictly adhered to, especially as Maltese political parties are approaching election time, and, they feel the urge to reach out to potential voters with their multi-channelled marketing campaigns that take the form of digital marketing, direct marketing and the most extroverted of public relations that rises to the level of a rock concert. Ironically, the politicians then complain about running out of funds when they are required to feed the needy, or to run campaigns for the socially disadvantaged, and, the layman would probably ask whether budgets are being allocated in a socially responsible manner, rather than being driven by "election fever". Does this happen in your country as well? One this is for sure, mobiles do not even leave politicians at rest, because they answer at every hour, and, publish campaigns on social media. This is an advantage given that up to a few years ago we accused politicians of being too secretive and lacking transparency. Liberalism and the need for transparency may have forced the politician to act more responsibly in the public interests, thanks to evolving technologies and mobile working.
Technologies have created thousands of jobs, and, the IT industry has not been seen any decrease in demand for integrated technologies, mobile applications, websites and all sorts of technologies that bring about convenience at anyone's fingertips. All this started with a few 'garage-bred' ideas of a few American and British entrepreneurs on the likes of Bill Gates, Sir Tim Berners Lee, and, others, and, technology is around us nowadays, looking at us with its prying eyes. Does this give you a sense of security or does it invade your privacy? It depends how you look at it, some people have nothing to hide, others cannot state the same. One man's meat is another man's poison, as the saying goes.
In the Maltese islands, if you are caught talking on your handheld mobile phone by a traffic policeman, you are liable for a fine, because, they assume that the human mind cannot focus on driving and on handling the phone. In fact, some people wish that managers had the same lines of thought before putting pressure on surrealistic commercial deadlines that must be met, and, in both cases you get penalized for breaching a rule that someone else has created. Therefore technology has brought about the added source of revenue for Transport Malta, to help Malta out of its public debt by giving hefty fines to people who are unaware of the use of mobile phones with "handsfree" earpieces or sets that can be integrated to the car speakers and microphone without distracting the driver of a recent BMW from keeping his or her eyes on the wheel.
Wang and Strong outline the following dimensions by which quality of information can be analysed including intrinsic, contextual, representational and accessibility of information. These dimensions bring about the importance of coding standards to be adhered to when engineering an application for mobile phones or for other mobile devices. How does this influence the importance of quality management upon the profession of software engineering, and, the need for coherence when displaying information required for productive use, and, for public scrutiny? What is the cost of an error nowadays in terms of rework and reputation?
Mobile working can be an advantage in the sense that it connects people in faraway places and allows managers not to worry about having to pay for travelling and work-permits since employees and sub-contractors can work remotely at a lower cost than an air-ticket and accomodation. Mobile working takes advantage of the Internet infrastructure to allow people to collaborate through various technologies, such as Skype and social media, and, shared applications. On the other hand, mobile working can result in information overload, undue stress, and, surreal expectations, if we do not manage human resources adequately.
References
1. They myth of working from home, available [online] at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21588760.
2. Stress and distress in public life, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131017/business-comment/Stress-and-distress-in-public-life.490760#.UmfLeXAbCUM.
3. Wang, R. & Strong, D. (1996) "Beyond Accuracy: What Data Quality Means to Data Consumers". "Journal of Management Information Systems", 12(4), p. 5-34., as quoted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_quality, last updated on 4th October 2013.
4. Employee Subcontracts Own Work to China, Collects Full Salary, Watches Cat Videos available [online] at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/blog/2013/01/17/employee-subcontracts-own-work-to-china-collects-full-salary-watches-cat-videos/, updated on 17th January 2013.
5. 2012: The year when Franco Debono ‘went the distance’, available [online] at http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/2012-The-year-when-Franco-Debono-went-the-distance-20121230 6. The principles of scientific management, available [online] at http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/taylor/principles/ch02.htm.
7. Debono denies ‘taunting’ Gonzi with SMSes at all hours, available [online] at http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Gonzi-claims-Franco-Debono-taunted-him-with-SMSs-at-all-hours-20130421.
8. Anti-cyber harassment alliance setup, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130810/local/anti-cyberharassment-alliance-set-up.481552#.Umfdo3AbCUM.
9. How X-Rays Work?, available [online] at http://science.howstuffworks.com/x-ray3.htm. 10. IPV6 Address Space, available [online] at http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipv6-address-space/ipv6-address-space.xhtml.
11. 5600 new broadband connections thanks to Blue Skies, available [online] at http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2008-04-25/news/5600-new-broadband-internet-connections-thanks-to-blueskies-206728/.
12. Vodafone brings 4G to Malta, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131010/local/Vodafone-brings-first-4G-network-to-Malta.489665#.Umfi7HAbCUM.
13. Banking at your fingertips, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131017/technology/Banking-at-your-fingertips.490774#.Umfi5XAbCUM.
14. Major step for EU Telecoms Single Market, available [online] at http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130919/technology/Major-step-forward-for-EU-telecoms-single-market.486843#.Umfj6nAbCUM.
15. Ronald Aquilina, Innovation of e-Business Lectures (IS3167).
16. BMW Bluetooth Kit, available [online] at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlXznTtucSc.
Internet
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