IT Consulting Firm - Essay Example

Introduction The corporate world is currently embracing information technology at a fast pace. However, there are certain sectorsthat have not taken full advantage of what IT can do. For instance, many companies use online consultancy firms to recruit their staff members. Additionally, they have also realized that one can save on numerous resources by training one’s workers online. However, the issue of embracing diversity through online firms is not quite common yet there is a need to make workers more culturally sensitive. Because of the latter mentioned problems, the report shall propose introduction of an online consultancy firm to deal with some of the problems facing companies today in relation to becoming culturally sensitive. (Hall and Hall, 1987) It should be noted that this consultancy firm will provide information and training about the obligation and legal requirements expected by employees and their employers. It will also give a platform for airing out all technical details involved in making employees culturally sensitive. The firm will not have the ability of instilling some sort of forced relationship between members of the company. An online consultancy firm cannot meet all the needs of the participating individuals because there will still need to be person to person interaction between the various individuals. Companies need not imagine the company will solve all their cultural and diversity issues at ago. Additionally, the consultancy firm will not have the capacity to reach all members of the organization because most of its methods will be technology based. This means that only the employees who are well versed with technology will be able to participate. This means that companies will need to look for alternative methods of reaching other employees because the program will only have an efficiency rte of thirty two percent. Evidence on the importance of the firm Online training is becoming a force to reckon with in the corporate world. Most companies have realized that there are numerous benefits that can come out such an approach. Evidence of this is seen in the fact that e-learning companies are making huge profits. Additionally, many companies are also becoming increasingly aware of the importance of making their employees culturally sensitive. Diversity management has become one of the most crucial issues in the human resource department. When managed properly, it could harmonize workplace relations and boost productivity within any given company. (Fatehi, 1996) Currently, most human resources employ consultancy firms who make appearances in person and coordinate everything online. This means that they are rather costly to any given business. There is a need to introduce a program that will still teach employees about diversity management but it should be at a lower price. This online consultancy firm will meet this need by providing a cheaper alternative. Proposed approach Most companies still have an inherent level of uncertainty about the use of information technology to make their workers culturally sensitive. For instance, many human resource managers would imagine that cross cultural awareness needs to be done in person and may not understand how one person can acquire these skills by looking at a screen. In order to address this misconception, the company will have a team of five individuals who will be in charge of public education. They will be responsible for dispelling this misconception among the masses and they will be called the Marketing educators. The company intends on targeting a variety of companies for business. The one thing that will make the company stand out from all other diversity or cross cultural related courses is its price and service quality. The service will only cost companies a maximum of twenty dollars for each person they bring to the program. However, if the person is interested in doing more courses, then they will have to pay extra or double this amount. The company will require participants to discus some cross cultural issues. These will range from Social causes of bias Psychological causes Other factors that cause prejudice Issues that can change these attitudes The consultancy firm will allow video conferencing through the internet. This will be mediated by a representative form the company. This will be especially useful for members of the organization who happen to be far from each other. (Fatehi, 1996) Managers representing the client base will be required to mix this online training with real time meetings and interactions. They should not think that they can simply but the programs and force their employees to comply with the regulations. Managers will also need to make sure that their employees are enthusiastic about the program. They could do this by telling them the potential benefits of the program even before the employees begin the program. Work plan There will be a basic template that will act as a basis for the approach used by the company. This template will be created by the production team and will include the following; Instruction Case studies Questions Discussions on assumptions The case studies will mostly revolve around companies that have embraced cultural diversity and the challenges they have met. The case studies will involve multinational corporations that have recently embraced totally different cultures in their workforce. They will comprise of companies that have chosen to start business in a country that is quite divergent form their mother company. The questions will most involve the kind of feelings that people have about culturally different workmates. They will be a bit controversial and will attempt to unravel some of the issues that cause biases. On the other hand, there will be some form of instructions. This will also be done by the production tem. One member of the production team will be working with a specific company at a time. The questions in the program will mostly revolve around recent happenings in the United States. For instance, employees will be asked to give their sentiment about some recent immigrants that have entered the country and their responses will be used to rate whether or not they are culturally sensitive. . (Hall and Hall, 1987) It should be noted that issues discussed in the template will be customized to suit the environment of the customer. Some of the questions, case studies and discussions will need to be adjusted to embrace this. These tasks will be assigned to the production team. Thy will always need to make sure that they change their specific approaches every time a different client is recruited. This means that the team will have to be highly creative and top on their heels. It should be noted that this will be a relatively new concept; consequently, not all companies will be ready to approach it. Therefore, the consultancy firm will come up with a list of potential clients. Thereafter, the marketing educators will visit their headquarters and meet with their human resource manager. Since they will already have come up with a plan to convince clients about the benefits of the program, then chances are they will be able to recruit a high number of candidates for the business. It is likely that the trend will start picking up as clients begin seeing the benefits of the program. They will act as marketers for the company and this means that the company will grow. (Fatehi, 1996) Marketing will mostly be centered on relationship marketing because once the company conducts a follow up of its meetings, then it can enhances the chances of making their clients satisfied. Also, the company will place numerous advertisements about its services on the internet. Because it will be an online program, then what better way of reaching the target market than through online advertisements. There will be postings on frequented business websites. There will also be postings on major search engines such as Google. This will go a long way in acquiring new clients. The company is providing a service, some there will be little use for distributors. However, because there will be numerous clients, then there is a need to ensure that the company’s client base has been taken care of properly through sound network management tools. Most IT companies fail to satisfy their clients because they lack the ability to deal with extra capacity. The company will prepare ahead of time for this occurrence by getting the best software developers and managers. Statement of qualification The consultancy firm will need a good team in marketing. There will be five project members. They will need to posses vast experience in the field of marketing in an online company. They will also need a minimum of three years experience in similar creative positions. The technical team will be made up of ten software experts. Their work will be to ensure that the video conferencing capabilities go on without any form of interruption. They will also be required to ensure that the off-the-shelf programs are in good condition with little or no hitches. The software experts need to posses a minimum of three years experience in similar position or an online company. They should also hold a degree in information technology with a bias towards software development The production team will comprise of three psychologists. They will be the brains behind the cultural and diversity management issues. These two psychologists will make template for the program and will also be responsible for mediating the conversations between respective members of the team. Consequently, they will need to have experience in related positions. They need not have worked in an IT firm but they should have worked in a company that has dealt with diversity management. A minimum of five years experience will be required for the job. They will also need to have majored in psychology for their bachelor’s degree. (Aaker, 1984) The financial department will be covered by two employees. They will need to have two years experience working or an online company. Thy will also be required to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting from a reputable institution. The company will need some advice about legal issues and this will be done by the legal counsel. He will advise the company on what sort of insurance, compensation and financial structures are most appropriate. He will take care of all the legal aspects of the company in relation to its clients. There will be an overall manager who will be responsible for overseeing all the sections of the company. He will coordinate the functions of the production, marketing, finance and the technical team. He will also need to have good interpersonal skills, communication skills, management skills and supervisory skills. He will need to have experience in an online company but could have held a smaller post. List of clients -Retail companies engaging in off shoring -Companies getting their supplies from outside companies -Companies in the export business -Companies doing internship in other countries -Companies based in culturally ‘rich’ towns and citied (with high level of immigrants) -Learning institutions such as universities and colleges; focus will be on those one that recruit international students -Financial institutions with overseas branches (Kobrin, 1984) Costs The recruitment exercise will require a high level of investment because the employee will be the most valuable human resource for the company. Each employee’s salary will need to be accommodated for the first six months before the company can begin getting ample profits from the exercise. Production team-$1600 Technical team-$ 3000 Finance-$ 1500 Manager-$ 3000 Legal counsel-$ 1000 Additionally, the company will need to invest heavily in its capital. It will require a series of mainframe computers and hard disk storage devices. On top of these, the staff members will nee to be located somewhere. Consequently, the company will buy a building for this purpose. Additionally, there will be some research services employed by the company and this will mean cast use of information sources especially by the technical and production teams. Also, the company will need to take care of some of the early operating costs. Some of these include computer maintenance service, network installation and maintenance services, electricity charges, and other minor production expenses such as telephone calls. (Goetz, 1994) Market research and analysis will also need to be covered in the budget too. This is because the marketing educators will have to do a lot of work surrounding the use of online consultancy firms. There will also be online advertising and this will nee to be incorporated. The total fixed capital will be $ 40, 000 while the total running expenses for the first six months will be $ 70, 000 inclusive the salaries. Conclusion The corporate world is embracing more and more technology in their work practices. Most of them have used it in training and this is an indication that they can use it to make their employees culturally sensitive. Most diversity management programs are quite expensive because they are administered in person. This project will allow firms to become culturally sensitive at relatively cheaper prices. Also, the project will allow conferencing of individuals in remote locations The Consultancy firm will be made up of a number of employees. Some of them will come up with ideas in the case studies and quizzes that clients will be expected to answer. Other employees will take care of the communication aspect and this will be the technical team. There will also be a number of other conventional employees such as accountants, a legal counsel and a manager. Online diversity systems are not common and this means that the market is not saturated. Consequently, it is likely that the business will yield high returns in comparison to a low investment of $110, 000. A donation is highly welcome as they will be refunded after six months. Reference: Hall, E. and Hall, M. (1987): Understanding Cultural Differences; Journal for Intercultural Interactions, 2, 13, 45 Kobrin, S. (1984): International Expertise in American Business; Institute of International Education Publishers Goetz, S. (1994): Global Market Analysis; Report for the University of Wisconsin Fatehi, K. (1996): A Cross-Cultural and Functional Perspective; Prentice-Hall Aaker, D. (1984): Strategic Marketing Management, New York: John Wiley Read More