Managing a Global IT Workforce

The topic related to managing a global workforce is very interesting, especially in the IT industry. Most of us believe that the world is flat and so is the workforce. There are many individuals sitting all around the world working on the same project/task and only one thing on their mind, how to make it a big success. Can you believe this, people with various backgrounds, sitting at various time zones, speaking different languages, wearing different kind of clothing but still thinking alike. That is ironic. What made them all think alike or focus alike or to have a common goal, global workforce. Of course nobody other than IT goes hand-on-hand with the global workforce.

Let's say for example IBM, its hiring around the globe is shifting to emerging markets in a big way. IBM currently employees 5 digit employees in 10 major countries, of course the 11th country is the US were it employees roughly 127,000 employees. IBM employs hundreds in the customer service in Brazil. According to Business Week the IBM Brazil is a true microcosm of the enterprise. In five years the workforce has grown from 4,000 to 13,000 people, many of them based in Brazil.

What about Nokia, who is setting up shop in Transylvania. According to a source the handset maker is expected to invest about $267 million in the project to build a technology center in the village of Jucu that will employ 15,000 people.

According to an interesting article in the Business Week, dispatching workers around the globe is more than any Human Resource (HR) can handle. So a new industry has sprung
up. This is so true; it can be a difficult job for the HR to place right people at right place with such a various background and culture.

One thing is for sure, in any industry, IT, Manufacturing, Engineering, Business, etc., global hiring means getting handle on how different cultures view important criteria’s such as taxes, salaries, benefits.

Strategy and the Internet

From our recent class decision and in reference to Dr. Miller’s input regarding Porters article Strategy and Internet, few things that I liked are worth sharing. It is so true that the Internet influences the industry structure and the sustainable competitive advantage but the million dollar question that always pops-up is whether a company should use the internet or traditional methods to compete in this so call E-world. According to Porter and to some extend I also agree to that, it will be beneficial to any company if they use both (internet and traditional methods) to their individual greatest strategic advantage.

I think relying 100% on the Internet is not a good idea at all, neither following the old traditional way completely is beneficial. There has to be some balance of both. Because now days we have a mix crowd who may like either or both or to some extend neither, so the advantage to a company is to use both at the same time. No doubt the combination of the two is indomitable.

One of the few examples that come to mind is related to real estate. It is a good idea to list your house on sale on the internet, it's fast easy and can be accessible by many via click of a button but I think most of us just don’t rely on that information. If the house on sale looks fancy and neat on the computer still nobody just buys them on-line, at least I won't. People like me will use the traditional method as well and will go to the actual site and talk to the seller(s) or to the party acting as the middle person. Look at the house and get a comfortable feeling before even doing anything further. What happened here, got the information from the internet within few minutes, got contact info from the net as well later contacted seller(s) and made a trip to the site. Here the combination works perfectly well.

Another good example is, searching job opportunities on the Internet, it's perfectly fine, but to get quick attention it's always helpful to have a good network or know people within the company who can forward your resume to the appropriate individuals. Internet for sure shoots your resume to the hiring manager in a fraction of second but the in-person networking is what will add value to that.

I really like the example Porter gave regarding Amazon.com. What Porter says is very interesting, "If Amazon.com offers an equal or lower price than a conventional bookstore and free or subsidized shipping, why not try it as an experiment? Sooner or later, though, some customers can be expected to return to more traditional mode of commerce, especially if subsidies end, making an assessment of customer loyalty based on conditions so far suspect". Many of us first perform their re-search online and later go to actual store look at the product and request for a price match from the internet. In short the internet gives a fast way to get information and traditional method makes gives us peace of mind that we have purchased the right product by actually looking, feeling the product.

RFID

Recently I was reading few articles and I came across a very interesting article. The information is not new to share but I thought may be it is worth putting out. Most of you might have already read this one or at least is aware of the content.

The article revolves around Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). It showed a linked how our arm forces troops identify each other in the field with the help of RFID-based “dog tags”. This idea is really fascinating and impressive. Think in this direction, if at all a troop come across an enemy dressed identical, the only way to check is via RFID.

Now a bit on this unit, this unit is so handy and miniature that it can be carried very easily by almost anybody: the RFID will be able to communicate information as well as position of the fellow trooper. These systems are intended to allow a shooter to query his target - "friend or foe?" - and have the target respond if friendly, reducing friendly fire incidents. This is such a neat idea, especially on the field when things are tensed and exhausting, that last thing one wants is to shoot their own kind. With such technology errors can be avoided.

This technology or the actual metal tags were offered to our troops in the early 1900s, plus the idea of the digital tag has been around for a while now.Inventor Hal Woodward impressed the DoD with a small, hardened device that could hold a soldier's medical history for quick access in the field in 1996. This convinced the Pentagon to start the Personal Information Carrier (PIC) project. RFID would allow the tag to be scanned most conveniently.

This article would not be complete without mentioning that the idea of the "digital dog tag" has already been implemented for canines; the Dog-e-Tag contains up to forty lines of information to store the owner's pager number, veterinary information and even messages.

In short RFID technology if used properly can become a huge asset.

Fashion and Computers

When ever I come across any new PC’s or computers the few things that always comes to my mind are, what is the configuration, what kind of processor, how about RAM, operating system, hard drive space, etc. Physical look of the computer is something goes last on my list. Of course the weight of a laptop and brand matters to me, but I am not too keen on silver, black, blue color and that matter looks of a computer. I want a reliable workable machine, which will not make me pull my own hair.

But after reading this article in Business Week I have started realizing that my theory is not always true there are few or may be many folks to whom looks do matter, may be more than the configuration, maker and even cost. Some might like a slick stylish laptop others might like a so called cool pink, red, purple type. With all this said and done one thing is clear these days many consumers want hardware that makes a fashion statement. That says something about them; unfortunately some of these so called fashionable computes are expensive way too expensive. For example Tulip, a European company is the ultimate example of fashion and computers. Their Ego-Galaxy cost almost $13,000, yeah that’s right. Some people cannot even afford a $13,000 car but there are few wealthy individuals who afford this so called “cool” computer. Do they really know the ABC of a computer, well that’s a different story and can be discussed separately. I think for now it looks like fashion goes with two important things, money and show-off.

The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry

After reading the article: The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry, it was kind of clear that how wireless providers rule the industry, they make sure what phone to built and for what cost and other associated things. But the iPhone kind of changed this trend. It has created a new revolution in the industry. This revolution will create true flexibility in usage, network connectivity, and pricing. But we should be very careful when concluding this, as the wireless providers still rule and may continue their trend.
Long before the design phase of the iPhone, Jobs and his team had to decide how to solve the problem illustrated in the article. The option was to use Linux, engineers even went a step ahead and gave Linux a consideration as it was rewritten for use on a mobile phones, but Jobs did not like the idea.
Anyway long story short, one thing is clear from this article, "as the iPhone has been to the fortunes of Apple and AT&T, its real impact is on the structure of the $11 billion-a-year US mobile phone industry".

Answers to Dr. Schultz's questions

(1a.) Very recently I was co-author of a 1000 pages long document. Of course the document was created using MS Word.
I am and was author of many technical and systems documents, average length of the documents ranges between 70-100pages. Word documents include technical write-ups, hyper-links, pictures, sketches, imports from excel, visio, paint brush, access and MS projects. Showing planning, scheduling, technical details, drawings, etc.

(1b.) I work on excel spreadsheet most of the times, most recently I have worked on an inventory control spreadsheet. This spreadsheet was very complex, various formula's were used and hyperlink and other functions were used.
I usually use spreadsheet to do my calculation, creating plans, tasks, etc.
For my home personal use, I use it for monthly expense planning, vacation trip expense planning, taxes, etc.

(1c.) I have used MS access database, in early 2000's I have created career center library inventory database. Other access experience include, for planning and weekly/monthly report purpose.
I have taken some training in Oracle database as a developer and DBA, but did not use at all, as the need never arrived and now I feel like I have lost it.

(1d.) I have not done much web-based development.

(1e.) None really

(2a.) 6
(2b.) 5

(3a.) Yes
(3b.) Yes
(3c.) Some what Yes
(3d.) May be
(3e.) Little bit of Pro*C, SQL*Plus, PL/SQL, Pascal

My Introduction

Hello class,

My name is Ranjeet Deshpande and I graduated from University of South Carolina, Columbia with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.
Some of my work experience include, project management, chemical/nuclear process, nuclear equipment design and authority. I am author of few technical and systems documents and papers. I also interface with software design group.