Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Intraprenuers have mentors. Do ?

What mentors do 5 things
 Build Confidence
 Are a resource
 Develop knowledge and skills
 Challenge and question
 Are a role model

5 qualities of a mentor
 Effective communication skills
 experienced
 Knowledgeable
 Approachable
 enthusiastic

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Characteristics of an intraprenuer Two

Intraprenuers are anti-hierarchical, creative people who are obsessed with the organizations business. They are also a fountain of ideas, but often need others to help make them happen. They are aware that life is not black and white, so they don’t get bogged down in endless analysis of data to reach a factually considered conclusion –they follow their instincts because often they are absolutely right. They know they are responsibility to set the right tone whatever position they occupy, to live the values the company espouses, and to really lead by example. They don’t just talk, they take action.. Instincts Te Self-Reliant Leader

 Intraprenuers listens because they know it is a vital skill in the business world; it enables them to understand what another person is really thinking and wanting so they don't monopolize conversations by doing all the talking by them self.

 Intraprenuers exhumes confidence. They are aware that there is a link between their action and that of other employees. They know that if a person appears to lack confidence, other people can wrongly assume they are lacking in competence too. Therefore it is important to project confidence at all times

Monday, November 27, 2006

Characteristics of an intraprenuer 1

Intraprenuers get noticed and become a sought after resource by their superiors. More duties are entrusted into their care. They get to solve more problems and as a result attract higher remuneration and get rapid promotion. Intraprenuers create value where value didn’t exist before at some risk; intraprenuerial thinking creates value with less risk. They think out of the box and are visionary.

 They always seek continuous improvement of processes in their work environment. They are aware that there is more than one right way to achieving an objective. They possess strong interdisciplinary awareness and abilities in other words they are cross-functional.

 They always find a way to meet the needs of the customer/client i.e. they are customer focused. Intraprenuers are willing to take personal risk. They put themselves on the line. They are creative and innovative with solving problems. Intraprenuers are in search of the opportunity for growth rather than stability. They know that if you’re willing to hustle, great gains await you.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

THE DNA OF AN INTREPRENUER

Ownership makes you go the extra mile to see that the project is completed even at a personal cost to you. The owner of a project or company has the capacity to endure, persevere and persist until the goal or objective is accomplished. what are the motivation of an owner; it may include a] the desire to be rich, b] the desire to be independent c] the desire to leave a legacy behind.

What is the desire of the average employee? Is To collect salary at the end of the month? Is it to get a better job? Is it to learn enough business tricks and then go out and set up a company? This questions needs to be answered.

As an individual do you work only on instructions? Are you seeking only to please the boss and not the clients or customers? Can you actually write new businesses? Do you look forward to closing time? Do you initiate working extended hours to meet clients need? Answers to these questions will indicate the stuff you are made off.

Are you an intraprenuer? If you are, then you are one individual organizations will be fighting to keep. Intraprenuers are the equivalents of entrepreneurs but with the key difference that they work in large organizations.

The Intraprenuers 10 commandments

1. Build your team, intrapreneuring is not a solo activity

2. Share credit widely

3. Ask for advice before you ask for resources

4. Underpromise and overdeliver—publicity triggers the corporate immune system

5. Do any job needed to make your dream work, regardless of your job description

6. Remember it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission

7. Keep the best interests of the company and its customers in mind, especially when you have bend the rules or circumvent the bureaucracy

8. Come to work each day willing to be fired

9. Be true to your goals, but be realistic about how to achieve them

10. Honour and educate your sponsors.

Gifford Pinchot



Sunday, November 12, 2006

HORSEPOWER...MANPOWER ....ICT POWER

The last twenty years has seen a dramatic growth in information and communication technology in Nigeria. Sprouting ICT service private companies, growing import of computers, introduction to the Internet, recognition of government of the fundamental roles of information and communications technology there by proposing a national information and communication development plan and the national information policy, the ongoing phased liberalization of telecommunications and the energy sector, establishment of computer science unit and information science school are some of the promising activities. Despite these developments, the impact of information and communication technologies on the productivity of the human resources in Nigerian remains minimum.
The technology has not yet diffused to the social fiber of the society [According to an excellent account by Manuel Castells•, the impact of information and communication technology and development in information society cannot be achieved by rotheric statements. It is important to create enabling environment for the information and communication technologies to diffuse into the social fiber of the society. The "industrial society, by educating citizens and by gradually organizing the economy around knowledge and information, prepared the ground for the empowering of the human mind when new information technology become available." Woefully, developing nations continued to grapple with low productivity, poverty, population explosion, etc. The irony is that least developing nations such as Nigeria are those that acutely need the organization of their people around knowledge and information to break away from debt, destabilization, drought, desertification, demographic problems and dependency] A number of obstacles are still on the road in making information technology useful to the society.


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Monday, November 06, 2006

we can do more with our present ICT resources

Despite banks general appreciation of the benefits of information technology a huge volume of tasks are done manually. This translates to a low level of service delivery and computer adoption. This has been largely caused by resistance to change, inadequate manpower, poor telecommunication, infrastructures and epileptic power supply of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN} and extra costs to bank expenses in maintaining a generating set.

According to Bill Gates, “Very few companies are using technology for new processes that radically improve how they function that give them the full benefit of all their employees capabilities, and give them the speed of response they will need to compete in the emerging high-speed business world. Most companies don’t realize that the tools to accomplish these changes are now available to everyone. Though at heart most business problems are information problems, almost no one is using information well”. This statement is applicable to a large extent in Nigeria even today. Human resource productivity is actually being limited by ineffective deployment of ICT infrastructure. In essence, higher levels of productivity can be attained even with the available resources.


CONCLUSION
Since the major aim of the banking operations of FBN Plc is based on the need to provide the best financial services possible; and these must be done profitably, then the employees must be productive. The benefits of computerization cannot be overemphasized. To the customers, computerization has provided quality and prompt services while to the management they now have an improved internal control system. Also management efficiency is improved with provision of better, prompt and accurate reports. Appreciate cost of savings have been achieved through the introduction of electronic banking. The profit of the shareholders and FBN Plc has increased appreciably.

The spreading nature of information technology has empowered banks to introduce new products and services such as automated teller machine (ATM). It has also enabled the bank to use labour more effectively and extensively, ensure more efficient bank office operation and better delivery of services. Information communication technology has improved management efficiency; increase customer base and deposit mobilization.

While the immediate effect of this technological growth in the Nigerian financial sector may be seen in employment reduction, the long-term effect is to entrench innovative skills, retrain staff and expand employment in more lucrative and less labour-intensive operations- the aim of boosting productivity in the long term. Therefore ICT should be seen as a vital and important tool in the delivery of effective services of any banking industry and financial services as a whole.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The deployment of Information and Communication Technology has altered the landscape of Nigeria’s banking industry and has become a strategic resource for achieving competitive advantage in the 21st century digital economy. But some banks are still faced with the problems of ICT adoption.

It is important to invest in human capital for a long-term development and the accumulation of required technologies capabilities to use. This can be done when banks contract with ICT firms to hire their staff to manage and maintain their ICT. During the contract period the banks ICT staff will understudy the ICT firm staff and eventually take over the management of ICT facilities at the expiration of the contract.
With the new global order of liberalization and privatization, private sector initiatives should be fully promoted by the state while it concentrates on providing basic infrastructure and a conducive macro-economic environment. This is to suggest that PHCN has to be privatized as a solution to the problem of epileptic power supply. The ongoing process of privatizing NITEL must be concluded to improve the efficiency of the company. Also more telecommunication outfits should be given license to increase the degree of competition and quality of services available in the economy. This will allow the full capabilities of ICT to be realized; thus giving room for more effective computerization of banking functions.

Further, with Nigeria’s large and growing market, a national ICT policy must aim at establishing parts-and-components manufacturing sector in the medium and long term. There is the considerable dissatisfaction with the quality and timely availability of components and parts while this can be met with imports in the near term. A more strategic solution will be the establishment of an indigenous component sector.
For greater impact of information technology to be felt in the banking industry, the large segment of our banking population still on the fringes of a high technology should begin the full application of information technology into their products and services so that banks can influence the perception of their customers.

It therefore becomes imperative to add here that all stakeholders in the banking industry must capitalize on information communication technology to reinforce the volume and speed of efficient service delivery in the banking industry. Alcino Rodrigues de Assuncao says, “It is better to take a proactive stand. Technology threatens us if we sit back and let someone use it. It helps us if we use it to move quickly to design services where the bank becomes the value added intermediary to our customers”. Today employees must take a cue from this by learning and embracing ICT skills and exploiting it for their career development to ensure they remain relevant today and tomorrow.


Thursday, November 02, 2006

EFFECTS OF ICT ON EMPLOYEES IN GENERAL


Personal Computers are meant for productivity applications, network and electronics mail (E-mail) for communication based business application. They are used for business analysis, allowing knowledge workers to be shifted into high-level thinking work about products, service and profitability.

Groups of people are using electronic tools to act together almost as fast as a single person could act, but with the insights of the entire team. ICT allow you have faster access to information about sales, our partners, and customers. We are able to react faster to problems and opportunities. It allows for accuracy, immediacy and richness of the information it brings to knowledge workers the insight and collaboration made, possible by the information. It helps to stimulate a concerted response by employees to develop and implement a business strategy.
ICT enhances knowledge sharing and helps to build on each other’s ideas in real time. You need a fast flow of good information to streamline processes, raise quality and improve business execution. ICT helps you achieve this. ICT give you access to data that leads to insight into your business.

ICT allows you to automate routine processes and allow employees do thinking work, not manual work. ICT helps to cut research from hours to minutes.
ICT also enhance work style flexibility. For instance, a web work style also makes it easier for people who have good skill sets but who can’t or choose not to work full-time. With the use of Internet such people can find work and opportunities and yet work from remote locations. Many knowledge workers will live where they want to live and structure the work the way they want it and still make major contribution to the business they work for or with.

ICT enables an organization to empower its employees. It makes workers to pursue life-learning skills, which will ultimately boost their productivity. This could be through training or even getting higher degrees online, we can develop our most valuable asset there is our brains and increase our intelligences. ICT according to Gates extend the capabilities of our mind.