THE ERA OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION.

THE ERA OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION.

The technological aspects globally have always intended standardization and uniformity practically in its every corner. Most of the western globe has almost adopted and adapted to such uniform standards. The eastern part of the globe however has always been effortful to match to these standards, except with country like Japan,who has already engraved their name in technology and are way ahead.  Our country also has exhibited its spark to adopt and adapt the trends with global standards. This time it is with " Digital Transformation".

There are many ways in which "Digital Transformation" defined, we may describe this as : 

Digital transformation is the profound transformation of business and organizational activities, processes, competencies and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of a mix of digital technologies and their accelerating impact across society in a strategic and prioritized way, with present and future shifts in mind. In fact  it is the application of information to implement innovative business models, improved customer experience and/or operational improvements that have to boost the efficiency of industries/ organizations.

Why is "Digital Transformation" Important?

Digital transformation is a journey with multiple connected intermediary goals, in the end striving towards continuous optimization across processes, divisions and the business ecosystem of a hyper-connected age where building the right bridges in function of that journey is key to succeed. Digital transformation is also important as communications are being redefined, It will reshape markets and industries thus will help to support to speed up economy and keep it more disciplined.

Let us practically consider a case of a Company like "UBER"- Why people have started relying on Uber and using it?  It is for the following reasons:

1) Cost Value- It is straight forward. 2) Experience Value. 3) Platform Value. 4) Real Time Status of Car arrival.  5) Incentive offerings.

Let us consider the " Platform Value- This has helped in generating employment opportunity, Cross platform integration is possible with Amazon, Echo, Google. Thus creates a better experience for customers and workers.

simplification→ Automation→ Optimization→Scale.

Experience of "Digital Transformation:

1) Finance.  2) Hospitality. 3) Automotive Schedule ( about 6o sensors already exists in a car nowadays.)  4) User based Insurance. and many such entities where it has been already adopted. 

In the end, the mindset, let alone somewhat vague term ‘culture’, and approach we need is one of continuous optimization, holistic improvement and a focus on what people need, far beyond the digital context.

Thanks to all my dear readers. Please feel free to comment or contact.

Girish. Kulkarni- Founder CEO Real Minds.Com

Virtual Office: realminds.com@gmail.com / realminds@hotmail.com

Contact: +91-9890331683

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Work culture in India:

Social scientists have put forward many definitions however it applies to the work environment.  In fact ‘Work’ (Karma) according to ‘The Bhagwad Gita’ describes distinctly to do something for well-being as a social cause without expecting any returns as per the Indian philosophy. According to Kavita Singh, the ancient Greek structure looked at work as a ‘curse’, the Hebrews looked at work as a painful task. Initially in Catholicism ‘Work’ seemed as natural affliction of a ‘fallen man’. As later with the development of human thinking it was closely referred to as service to God.

In Indian Work culture at the work-place means the same thing as to the work environment. It is a term that refers to the customs and norms which characterize the interactions of the members.  The work culture differs in every organization depending upon its size as well. Every organization has its own work-culture. For instance, in an organization a work group may be strongly bonded like a joint family. We may find employees wander into one another offices/tables/departments or cubicles without prior notice. Colleagues may meet informally over coffee or in common areas to confer over issues or projects. It may be difficult for any outsider to even tell who the ‘in-charge’ is.  On the other hand we may come across such Organizations where much more formal atmosphere may prevail. Colleagues may make formal appointments with one another. There may be quite distinct differences between the furnishings of the offices of different levels of employees. E-mail may be preferred means of contact. Perhaps everyone keeps an on-line calendar as a means of contact before scheduling any group meetings.

Work culture means work related activities, and meanings attached to such activities in the framework of norms and values, are generally contextualized in an organization. An organization has its boundaries, goals and objectives, technology, managerial practices, material and human resources as well as constraints. Its employees have skills, knowledge, needs and expectations. These two sets of factors – organizational and individual – interact and over time establish roles, norms and values pertaining to work. Now, we can see that how employees function in these two environments which is quite different. So now why is this something you need to be aware of?

With the growing influence of global trends in organizations the Indian organizations have to seek further its own identity to fit into global market. It means that the organizational key players recognize the “Purpose” of work culture size and implement them accordingly in their own organization.

Purpose To remain competitive during this period of accelerating change, organizations will have to continuously pay attention to the notion of work culture as the issues of positive work culture and improving productivity, not merely of labour but of all other factors of production have acquired special significance and urgency in the context of India’s quest for a place at the global market. It is widely recognized that if the Indian industry is to succeed in the ever-increasing international competitive environment, it will have to reduce costs, increase output and produce quality product at the right price. The change in approach to industrial development through thorough dismantling of controls and regulations, the pressures to modernize and invest in research and development, the resolve of Indian industry to become recognized leaders, at least in some selected segments, signal a welcome change and a new dynamism. But this, as well as foreign investor’s interest in the development potential and new investment prospects in India, can be sustained only by a positive work culture. Work culture is the social interlocking mechanism upon which the enterprise can function effectively.

I express my special gratitude to “Kavita Singh” while presenting references in this article.

Thanks a lot.

       

  Friends, hope you may have thoughtfully enjoyed this article. I would appreciate your views and comments on this.

Best Regards,

Girish. Kulkarni,

CEO-Real Minds.Com,

Cell:9890331683,

Virtual Office: realminds@hotmail.com

                       realminds.com@gmail.com.

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THE RISING HORIZONS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: Facts & Ideology.

Vocational Education has always been a source of empowerment,  not only to our country's economy, but also it has been supplementing to maintain trade, culture, traditions and technology of our country. As far as Vocational Education in Technology is concerned, it has always been dependent upon the the technologies of the developed countries, yet we are the pioneers in our tradition, cultural skills.  However now in the glowing era of human resource, many new dimensions for Vocational Education have rose up and it's time for us to adapt, introduce and implement such trends.

With the current trends in Vocational Education and Training (VET), there has to be a very strong interaction between the Vocational training institutions and Industries. Vocational institutions need to be more passionate over meeting the Board of Management of Industries as a need of time. A strong bridge needs to be built between the Management of Vocational institutions and the Board of Management of the Industries. The most convincing point here would be that, today, Industries are in desperate need of not only vocationally qualified human resource, but they also need an academically qualified candidate with an excellence of Soft-Skills.

We seek new 'Horizons' towards the ideology of " Skill Development", adapting the technological trends will however be the foremost challenge. It is important for candidates and Vocational institutions to compete with with the global technical standards.  For instance, while imparting vocational education it is important to concentrate on the candidate's overall performance, not only in vocational skills but also into 'Soft-Skills'. This will help the candidate to sustain and compete with the industrial world. The Vocational institutes needs to keep their faculties updated with the changing time.

The candidates seeking Vocational education from such institutions needs to be imparted with the following skills:

1. Behavioral skills.
2. Marketing skills.
3. Spoken skills.
4. Netiquettes.

     5. Overall management skills such as:

• Time Management Skills.
• Quality Management skills.
• Infrastructure Management skills.
• Transport Management skills.
• Marketing Management skills.
• Cost & Estimate Management skills.
• Finance Management skills.
• Stress Management skills.

The Industrial and labor market clearly tends indicate the need for strengthening the Vocational Education in India. 

The present study on the issues in the Indian Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been undertaken, at a time when our country faces both, opportunities and challenges in India's growth study. The challenges are basically in the Skill-gaps- hardly 2 percent of the Indian workforce has formally acquired skills, and another 2.4 percent some technical education.It is estimated that nearly 291 million workers are required to be skilled by the year 2022 in India in different trades. This is if India has to be a 'Leading Manufacturing Economy' in the world. he Primary survey shows that 36 firms out of 43 revealed that they were facing some sort of skill related problems, both in number as well as quality. Smaller companies are facing major shortage of skilled reliable persons, while large companies are facing quality related problems. (Courtesy-www.iamrindia.gov.in)

The Vocational institutions are in need to strictly be analytical and should monitor, maintain, evaluate and record the candidate's progress in the 'Skill and competence. On completion of such a training of the candidate, the institution should take moral responsibility to see the whereabouts of the candidates and his data should be maintained and monitored as a part of feedback. This should be continued till he is into the employment or self-employment scenario.

So, Friends we need to decide whether vocational education training institutions are just a profit making sources, or they are also a healthy ideological resource to provide the best of human resource to promote skill development for our country.

Thanks a lot,

Girish. Kulkarni,

Founder CEO-Real Minds.Com,

Cell: +91-9890331683,

Virtual Office; realminds.com@gmail.com. and realminds@hotmail.com

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THE DECLINE OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE INSTITUTIONS;

Today whilst I was reading The Times of India Ahmadabad I was not surprised to reach to the news that around 55% seats are vacant in Engineering colleges . I also viewed a program on one of the Marathi channel headed by Mr. Uday Nirgudkar, for the worry of tremendous displeasure of students to take admissions in :Science or Engineering colleges. This is not only a question in states of Gujrat or Maharashtra, but this state is practically in almost all the states of India.

The twenty first century presents a radically different economy and society, which is likely to have profound implications on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Emerging paradigms in teacher education with focus on TVET surround three issues which this paper will focus on: 1) Globalisation and Sustainability, 2) Emergence of Knowledge Society and ICT Revolution, and 3) Technology Obsolesces and Generic Skills. 

While these issues are not conclusive, they provide timely, if not new, eye-openers on what could be considered as necessary foundations for shaping teacher education and refining the role of teachers and learners in the new, independent and engaging environment that has been created for them.The familiar scenarios that have been existing for a few years now are looked into more closely towards, sustainable development and financial crisis, as cornerstones of the new teacher education models arising in the knowledge-based society.

...
It is important for us to be more analytical here for the causes for this sudden decline. The following reasons are perhaps responsible for this:

a)  Our Technical institutions have miserably failed in understanding the needs of today:s industrial attributes. Thus the technical human resource (Candidates) generated by these educational institutions for the industries do not match the trends of the industry.

b) The educational practices adopted -I mean teaching trends are typical traditional, and not much practical oriented. Therefore, the candidates coming out of the nutshells are purely unknown to the industrial world. 

c) There is no facility or rather a scope for one:s creativity or innovation.

d) There is lack of encouragement from the teachers of institutions to such candidates who exhibit creativity or innovation.

e) The teachers work in a typical traditional framework, and are not updated with industrial skills, therefore, there is a kind of  communication gap between the students and candidates.. 

f)  The Techno- educational institutions work like the huge profit making organisations. . The education imparted is not job oriented, but is profit oriented to the institutions. This has created a virtual inflammation of technical literacy.

g) The Institutions need to take care of periodically updating their faculties and staff, with the trends in industries, and then passing it on to their students.

The above said analysis concludes that such a technical or science based education and the system is outdated and needs a strict revival at the earliest. If these are not overcome soon then it will certainly lead to disaster towards technological, economical and social development of our country..

Thanks a lot dear friends for appreciating my previous articles.

Girish. Kulkarni,
Founder CEO-Real Minds.Com
Cell; +91-9890331683.
Virtual Office; realminds.com@gmail.com. and realminds@hotmail.com
copy rights reserved with Real Minds.Com

WHY IS HACKING SO DANGEROUS??

Hacking may simply mean exploiting a computer system. However, the classification of hacking is in terms of Ethical hacking and the other as Non-ethical hacking.

In many companies the exploitation of computer system is desired for good purpose of the organization. For instance, if there are any loop holes in the system, a firewall is developed. Windows security in companies may be upgraded everyday. It is important to understand such attacks by the system with the help of new software needed to be incorporated.

The real worry is of 'Unethical Hacking, this is a serious worry for every individual user who is using a computer with an internet access. Here the user's data is stolen by someone who has a bad intention for his or her personal gain. Stealing someone's password, or ID information, or credit card information. The thing of unethical hacking does not end here.  

If I tell you that "Unethical hacking" can cause an end to somebody's life, then perhaps one may realize its most malicious use.  The people who do this are called 'Unethical Hackers' and are enlisted as cyber criminals.

What can unethical hackers do?

Unethical hackers can :

Shut down Power plants.

Haunt your house.

Out to shock and to death thereon by taking charge of one's pacemaker.

One can be put to trace for his location via a GPRS system.

The unethical hackers can do much more.

DO WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL IN DIGITIZATION??

We need to be cautious while getting our data digitized, especially such data which is accessible via wireless internet.

Tele-medicine is a field is becoming popular practically every where. However we need to consider the risk factors there, and should also affix the parameters. 

THREAT TO LIFE: (coutesy-Theverge)

In 2006, about 350,000 pacemakers and 173,000 internal defibrillators were implanted in patients in the US alone. That’s also the year the Food and Drug Administration started fully approving wirelessly connected devices. Notorious hacker Barnaby Jack was scheduled to give a lecture on how to talk to and remotely take over these medical devices. This cyber attack is deadly: a hacker could stop a patient’s heart from 30 feet away. Jack passed away suddenly last week, but that doesn’t make what he discovered any less scary. He’s not the only one to have discovered vulnerabilities, either; security analyst Jay Radcliffe has been studying how bugs and viruses can seriously disrupt modern medical devices.

Thanks a lot friends,

Girish. Kulkarni,

CEO- Real Minds.Com

Virtual Office: realminds.com@gmail.com

                           realminds@hotmail.com

Cell: +91-9890331683

ABOUT MANAGERS IN GENERAL

 A wise person said: A 'bad' manager can take good staff and destroy it, causing it's employees to flee and the remainder to lose all motivation 

The action of delegating work for the progress and benefit of organisation actually describes the need for 'manager' in an organization.

Till the time the business is small and controllable, a single manager may handle the work of any organization independently. However, when the business of an organization is successful and it scales up to a large extent, then it is inevitable to have many managers to handle respective tasks in various departments. Thus the work through managers is expected to be completed effectively, authentically and efficiently. 

The larger or big size organisations employ mainly three types of managers:
1) The "First line Manager." 2) The " Mid level Manager." 3) The level Managers.
Although the functional part of all the above said managers is different, yet they are related and have a co-related function. 

The first line managers are mainly responsible to supervise and delegate responsibilities to their employees as per their capabilities into his/her department, and maintain the reporting structure in accordance.

The 'mid-level managers' are responsible to supervise the 'First line managers and help the first level managers to achieve for the goals that have been setup. Sometimes, the mid-level managers also suggest ideologically which helps the company to progress.

The "Top level Managers" are responsible for the performance of all the departments, and hence have a multi-departmental responsibility. In fact in many large or big size organizations the position of a "COO"(Chief Operating Officer) is borne to such a top level manager, who is actually being shaped or groomed to be the next CEO of the company, as the current CEO would be leaving or retiring from his/her position.

Though, further there are many categories of managers for example: The problem solving manager, the Pro-active manager, the passive manager etc. the organization progresses on the values in the prevailing trends.

Most important what managers need to understand is political dynamics which will have the potential to shape their environments. Political conflict is at the heart of how organizations function. Political conflict is legitimate disagreements about what is best for the organization. All managerial decisions involve trade-offs: the need to balance complex and ambiguous issues that generate political conflict. 

 The concept of promotions in our country within an organization has adopted the global trend, but what the managers need to realize is that, though after promoting the first line manager as the mid level manager or the mid level manager as the top level manager, yet the mind set is as of the Supervisor or the First level manager. Thus grooming and training steps need to be rigorously involved for all the managers. Very few managers realize to change as per their position.
Thanks a lot friends,

Regards,
 Girish Kulkarni
CEO-Real Minds.Com
Cell: +91-9890331683
contact: realminds@hotmail.com
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WHICH COMPANY SHOULD THE "TALENTED" JOIN??

Hi Friends -I'm back. I felt I should share my views with the freshers who generally are resources of talent and are in search of high profile jobs in Corporate or big organizations!!

It has been always true with the freshers especially to choose a right company for themselves-of-course assuming that the "Talented freshers"are more choosy about this.

Most of the interviewers especially for freshers end up by telling the candidates about their responsibilities, strategic work proceedings, the expected/desired salary, the candidates progress ladder etc. The candidate gets much satisfied and shakes hand with a beautiful smile as a token of acceptance to the job. The employer further obliges by telling the candidate as to what extra efforts the company had to make by making additional arrangements.  These are generally accepted protocols that are mutually acceptable.

Friends, the time now is to think especially while joining big reputed companies for the "Talented Candidates" to know from their interviewers about not only the facilities,but also to know about the liberties that the company shells to its employees. It is important to understand the policy of the organization/company towards its employees. The pressure of work imposed by the company/organizations towards the facilities and liberties needs to be 'directly proportional'. 

ENJOYING WORK:  The candidate should relate himself/herself whether his/her attitude is prevailing for the job.  Though there is no standard clock to measure satisfaction of work but generally the nature of the candidate itself will help to know about it. This will prevent the candidate from entering the monotony scenario.

FACTORS THAT CAN MAKE YOU FEEL AT HOME IN A COMPANY/ORGANIZATION:

1. Rewarding environment.
2. Health Care and other benefits.
3. Initiatives for women.
4. Other activities.
5. Fun at work.
6. Food.
7. Involving Families.
8. Environment that keeps the employees happy.
9. Work From Home facility.
10. Communication-Whether transparent and accessible.

There is much more to expect apart from the Salary, leaves and the above said benefits, yet this is to the greater satisfaction that an employee can expect.

Thanks a lot & Best Wishes for the coming time.

Girish. Kulkarni, 

CEO-Real Minds.Com,

Virtual Office: realminds.com@gmail.com, realminds@hotmail.com

Cell: +91-9890331683.
Copy Rights Reserved With Real Minds.Com.