Technology and Learning

Technology has to be more than convenience ... it should enhance learning.

3 Keys to Training Effectiveness

There are three things that determine the effectiveness of training:

• Leadership. Gain management support before scheduling any training program. Any training program will be more successful if management supports it. Always involve top executives in planning your workshops. Ask them to attend. Recommend follow-up sessions to review the material covered in the workshop. If management doesn't value and support the learning, training effectiveness is almost guaranteed to suffer.
• Individual. Learners buy-into the value of the training and start applying it in their daily work so that it sticks and they remain engaged in the new way of doing things.
• Training Professional. Effectiveness of training is determined by the design and delivery of the training. That means, the instructional design process focuses on aligning the training to ensure learning objectives are met; and the facilitator creates a safe learning environment that is highly engaging.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Ravinder Tulsiani is the Author of the #1 BESTSELLER: “Your Leadership Edge”, an innovative step-by-step leadership training program that will help you develop a highly engaged and super-charged workforce... get your copy at http://www.yourleadershipedge.ca.

Supply Chain Management Basics

Simply put, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is about the 3 components:

Supply: Supplies are those inputs that a company relies upon to produce the product that will ultimately reach its customers. 

Chain: The chain is the group of suppliers that bring those inputs to a company and the process whereby those inputs are integrated into the company. 

Management: Management is the coordination and organization of all these inputs and their implementation. 

So, simply put Supply Chain Management is the science and art of improving the processes that bring suppliers of raw materials together and move those materials through the company until they reach the endpoint - the customer.

What SCM Involves

Supply Chain Management (SCM) covers every aspect of the business from input to output and as such requires an extensive array of tools and strategies to help managers to coordinate and organize a company. SCM involves managers who map out the entire process and look for inefficiencies and others who develop and maintain relationships with suppliers to ensure a steady supply of inputs. It involves the actual process of manufacturing or value add in which those inputs become the products that will be sold as well as the process of getting those value added products to customers. And finally it involves dealing with and compensating for supply chain returns, such as defective products. 

The Dilemma of SCM Software

While I discussed five sections that make up Supply Chain Management, each of these sections is unique to a particular business. As such, no single product has been developed to handle the software needs of a company from start to finish. As a result, when industry experts talk about Supply Chain Software, they are really talking about a combination of many different programs that, when applied together, help manage the supply chain. 

While literally thousands of different products are on the market today, they all fall into one of two broad categories, Supply Chain Planning (SCP) or Supply Chain Execution (SCE) software. 

Supply Chain Planning software covers those programs which use advanced mathematical algorithms to map out the flow of products through a company and to identify any inefficiencies. The ultimate goal of this type of software is to help reduce faulty products, to speed up the time to market, and to reduce inventory. 

Supply Chain Execution software is designed to automate different components of the supply chain. For example, Supply Chain Execution Software might update inventory listings in a central directory as soon as inputs are brought in from a supplier or are sold off to the customer. In this way, SCE software eliminates the costly and time consuming task of tabulating the total current supply so as to know when to place the next order.

The Goals of Supply Chain Management

Ultimately the goal of Supply Chain Management is to bring greater efficiency to a company by reducing errors, maintaining steady inputs, and reducing excess inventories. With the growth of the internet, however, it is transitioning into a means of collaboration between companies. By concentrating their efforts on better communication with suppliers and customers, inefficiencies are ironed out not only within the company but in those surrounding it as well. The internet has made the communication between firms necessary for this to take place possible. Consequently, the hope for Supply Chain Management in the future is not only to create a more efficient and profitable business, but to contribute to a more efficient and profitable global marketplace as well.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Ravinder Tulsiani is a Lean Six Sigma practitioner and the Author of the #1 BESTSELLER: “Your Leadership Edge”, an innovative step-by-step leadership training program that will help you develop a highly engaged and super-charged workforce... get your copy at http://www.yourleadershipedge.ca.

iteration to knowledge transfer ratio

There is a positive correlation between number of iterations required to transfer knowledge based on depth, complexity & scope.

Pros and Cons of Buying a Resale Home by Ravinder Tulsiani

Pros

•A resale house as the name suggest is the house, which is available for second sale. Since it is not a brand new house, its price is far lower than a brand new house.
•A resale house a lived-in feeling, and the general landscape is mature
•Since the landscape is mature enough, a resale house has well developed mature society and close neigbourhood area.
•Resale house offers the purchaser a completely developed community services.
•A resale house is usually an old house whose architectural style is out of place and looks unique with all the grandeur. This is simply sensed by most of the purchasers of resale house property and love it by al its nature.
•If there are any cracks, settling in the building, these are checked by an experienced building inspector and can be corrected on the very first instance.
•A resale house has often got extra features that were made or installed by the previous owners. These customized features sometimes add to the beauty of the house all the more.
•The purchaser does not have to pay GST. However, there are certain provinces that take Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which is the combination of GST, and provincial sales tax.

Cons

•The equipment already installed in the resale house has crossed the warranty date and there are chances that it might need repair.
•There have been instances where the house has been renovated many times through any local handyman, who lacks any building permit or inspection permit.
•Many of the old homes don’t have a good set up, with small rooms, poor layout, no lavish structures, low basement ceilings; bathrooms and kitchens might be too small. The costing of renovating such homes is not only time consuming but out of budget as well for many purchasers.
•There can be many hidden defects in the house, which cannot become evident immediately. It takes time and energy.
•Most of such houses do not often meet the electrical and insulation codes, using aluminum wires than copper wires. Many use lead pipes instead of copper pipes.

Resolving the Residential Condo Property Disputes by Ravinder Tulsiani

There are basically four ways in which you can come over from the property disputes. These are:

Litigation
Arbitration
Mediation
Negotiation

Litigation – This is the last resort of fight the property related dispute, where a case is filed in the court against the erring condominium corporation or council. The court then takes appropriate action on hearing the complaint. There are challenges in the entire litigation process. The litigation process is time consuming, expensive and many-a-times very uncertain, as to what will be the possible results. In case you are stuck between choosing litigation or arbitration as the solution for the dispute, then I would say that you should consult a condominium law specialist. Don’t be in haste, as you have to face dire consequences in the later stage.

Arbitration – Most provinces condominium legislations have certain procedures set aside for the arbitration process. The disputes that come under the arbitration largely includes, fines put in case of breach of bylaws or rules and regulations; disputes related to contributions related to expenses shared by those living in the condominiums; damage caused to common elements, amenities etc.

Under the arbitration process, it is necessary that parties agree to a single arbitrator. However, there are provisions available where each party selects an individual arbitrator, and the two arbitrators are presided over by a third arbitrator, who is a chairperson. Further, the arbitrators should have been the owner and occupier of a condominium unit in some another condominium development for at least a year. The arbitrator should not be a member of Condominium Corporation, who is involved in the arbitration. The arbitrators make just and a balanced decision, which is also considered the final decision by the court of law. Remember, the procedures in different provincial condominium legislations are different.

Mediation – Here the complaint is lodged to the condominium council of respective province in order to show that the other owner has bylaws, rules and regulations.

Negotiation – In this method, a direct, one-to-one conversation is carried out between two persons in order to get over the dispute. Just breaking your personal hindrances and doing the things in a better way, is just needed.

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Buying a Brand New House by Ravinder Tulsiani

Everybody dreams of buying a new house that can serve as the means of becoming your principal accommodation or becomes your primary source of investment. The prime advantages of going for a brand new home are:

• Comparing the market prices in the adjoining areas become easy, as there are other houses in the same locality that have been built in same land space and with almost similar model.
• New homes stand at lower rates, especially if they are built in the sub urban zones, where the land value is quite low.
• Being new, the house looks, fresh, neat and tidy, and also has a fresh ambience altogether.
• Since the homes are usually built by the builders who are registered under the New Home Warranty Program in the respective province, you have the foolproof safety from any of the builder defaults, as New Home Warranty Program takes all the necessary care.
• Since the houses are brand new, they adhere to the construction standards that include, plumbing, heating, cooling, insulation, and many more.
• Every builder offers to the buyer several house models. The buyers can go for the customized selection procedures, where they look for kitchen appliance colors; kitchen and bathroom floor coverings; etc.
• New houses are designed with sense and the room layout is also very structured. Care is taken to provide en suites, high ceiling level in the basement, well spaced family room, patios and much more.

Like advantages, a brand new house has also got some of the demerits to its credit. These include;

• A condition occurs where the builder who has made the property has not registered itself with the New Home Warranty Program. In such a case, it would become a difficult task for the purchaser of the property to approach any genuine person if any problem occurs with the house at any point of time.
• The purchase documents made by the builder are often confusing and too lengthy to be understood in a less time.
• In case the builder doesn’t acts, as thought, there is the possibility that the purchase might lose deposit funds. Though in Canada, there are some provinces also offer strong consumer protection legislation to safeguard the funds.
• Many a times what happens is that houses are purchased even before they actually come on the land. The architect sketches the model plan of the house and that’s it. A purchaser purchases the property based on it.
• There are very common occurrences where the constructions are delayed, wither there are some finishing touches that need to be done; landscaping or anything extra needs to be done. And all this requires time and more expenses, which often eat away the patience of the purchaser.

A piece of advice here! When you go for any of the purchasing the property, you need to know that following things about the builder and/or the contractor. These comprise:

• Check from the Local or Provincial Home Builder’s Association, whether the builder or contractor is the member of the association or not.
• Check whether or not any complaints have been lodged either in past or at present with the local Better Business Bureau.
• Check the buildings or houses made by the contractor or the builder in other localities. It is the right of the purchaser to ask the contractor about his ongoing projects as well as previous development projects.
• Check whether the builder who is making the property is registered with New Home Warranty Program. If they are not registered, then don’t sign any document without consulting or seeking your lawyer’s advice.
• You can also check about the credibility of the builder or contractor from municipal business licensing office.

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