Last day at Sun

Today is my last day at Sun, after working for 11+ years. And it's time for change. Good bye and Good luck!

Qingjiang

Posted at 04:10PM Jan 22, 2009 by byuan in General  |  Comments[2]

What's facilitation and a facilitator?

What's facilitation? By definition, it's the act of making easy or easier.

It's a skill, knowledge and mindset for:

• Guiding groups towards their objectives.


• Assiting people in building understanding and agreement.


• Bringing out the best in all group members.
  

A facilitator is a person who makes it easier for people to understand each other, build agreement and take concerted action.

Essential facilitation Competencies:

1. Guide the Process

• Build effective desired outcome statements for meetings or parts of meetings.


• Design an agenda that can guide a group towards its desired outcomes.


• Draw out participation, energy and creativity.


• Behave neutrally and contribute to content only when appropriate.


•  Facilitate discussions in a way that encourages an open exchange of ideas, generates useful information and keeps a group focused and on track.

2. Broker Communication

• Listen in a way that validates the speaker and confirms your reception of the speaker's words.


• Uncover the reasoning or feelings that lie beneath a speaker's assertions or concerns.


• Assess the meaning of body language and other non-verbal communication.


• Assist others in understanding a speaker's meaning, reasoning, feeling or intentions.


• Record speaker's ideas legibly on the group memory.

3. Build Agreement

• Build an atmosphere of openness, informality and collaboration.


• Identify and highlight areas of agreement.


• Navigate the group through a variety of strategic moments.


• Help the group build the appropriate sequence of agreements (e.g., agreement on the problem before agreement on the solution).


• Apply several tools for reaching consensus.

4. Resolve Conflict

• Protect individuals and their ideas from attack


• Handle difficult or argumentative behavior with directness and respect.


• Enroll disputing parties in a process for reconciling differences.


• Distinguish between issues, interests and positions.


• Tailor confidence-building measures and negotiate small agreements.

5. Transfer Capability

• Enroll the group in taking responsibility for the success of the meeting.


• Explain The Interaction Method in a way that builds confidence in collaborative approaches to decision making.


• use process commercials as a way of building awareness, understanding and skill.


• Model behaviors that inspire emulation.


• Provide positive and constructive feedback in a way that stimulates self-awareness, experimentation and risk taking.


• 
  

Posted at 02:11PM Jan 14, 2009 by byuan in Leadership  |  Comments[0]

Dimensions of Quality

We can group various definitions of quality under these key dimensions. David Garvin, in his text, Managing Quality, identified eight separate dimensions of product quality:

1. Performance

2. Features

3. Reliability: probability that a product or service surviving for a given time period

4. Conformance: design and operating excellence

5. Durability: amount of time or use before product quality deteriorates

6. Serviceability: speed, courtesy, competence

7. Aesthetics: subjective assessment of the product

8. Perceived Quality: brand name, image, indirect measures

The dimensions of service quality are:

1. Time: time the customer waits for the service

2. Timeliness: will the service meet time commitments

3. Completeness: were all commitments met?

4. Courtesy: was the user treated with respect?

5. Consistency: are services delivered in the same manner regardless of environmental conditions?

6. Accessibility and Convenience: was the service easy to obtain?

7. Responsiveness: were unexpected problems handled appropriately

8. Accuracy: was the service performed correctly?

Posted at 02:06PM Jan 05, 2009 by byuan in General  |  Comments[1]

History of Quality

The modern history of quality can be divided into seven distinct stages—those
being craftsman, industrial revolution, scientific management, human
relations, quality revolution, service revolution, and six-sigma
quality. Each stage is described in minor detail:

• One person makes one product from start to finish


• No two products are exactly alike


• Apprentices are trained, become focused experts

• Craft production using simple and flexible tooling


• Workforce subjected to numerous environmental changes (work structure, lifestyle, etc.)

• Based upon observation, measurement, analysis, improvement, and incentives


• Management is responsible for planning, selecting workers, and determining the best way to perform a job

• Murray
  (1938) focuses on need of achievement (accomplishment), need for
  affiliation (acceptance by others), need for power (persuasion), need
  for autonomy (freedom of choice)


• McGregor
  (1960) focuses on Theory X (employees are lazy, passive, irresponsible,
  uncreative, and motivated only by money) and Theory Y (employees view
  work as an extension of play, exercise self control in pursuit of
  objectives, responsibility is a learned trait, and capacity to solve
  problems is widely distributed in the population)


• Herzberg
  (1966) focuses on satisfaction and dissatisfaction are independent
  dimensions (e.g. better pay does not create satisfaction; receiving
  less pay than one feels they deserve will cause dissatisfaction


• Maslow
  (1968) focuses on physiological / survival need (food, water, sleep),
  safety need (job security), belonging need (acceptance by others),
  esteem need (recognition), self actualization need (personal
  fulfillment)

• Deming, Juran, Crosby, Ishikawa, Kano, Feigenbaum, Taguchi, Shingo, et al combined to form total quality philosophy—Employees
  experience guided job rotation, slower promotions, focused performance
  evaluations, emphasis on group and team environment, and trend towards
  consultative decision making - Quality focus is on participation and
  teamwork, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction

• Growth
  of service industries and need for increased efficiencies, reduced
  costs, a higher expectation of quality, etc. drive the need to apply
  operational practices in the service sector

• Six sigma concepts are used to access process capability, process stability, process variation, and defect risks


• Six sigma concepts are utilized in both product and service applications

Posted at 10:17AM Jan 05, 2009 by byuan in General  |  Comments[3]

What's Leadership

Here is a list I got from a leadership 360 degree survey, anyone who wants to be a successful leader can benefit from a self evaluation:

Management: 

1. Building a successful team.

2. Building strategic working relationships

3. Developing others

4. Empowerment/Delegation

5. Facilitating Change 

Leadership

1. Business Acumen

2. Customer Focus 

3. Decision Making

4. Entrepreneurship

5. Leading through vision and values

Technology

1. Continuous learning

2. Innovation

3. Technical/Professional Knowledge and skills

Posted at 09:32AM Oct 30, 2008 by byuan in Leadership  |  Comments[0]

The Four P's in Marketing Mangement

1. 
   
   Product - A good, service, or idea to satisfy the consumer's needs.  It
   includes the physical product and its packaging, or a service along
   with warrantees and guarantees.
2. 
   
   Price - What is exchanged for the product, usually money.
3. 
   
   Promotion  - A means of communication between the seller and buyer.  It consists
   of advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing,
   and personal selling.
4. 
   
   Place - A means of getting the product into the consumer's hands (via
   channels of distribution, e.g., wholesalers, retailers, etc.). Channel
   of distribution members help to physically move product from a
   manufacturer to the ultimate consumer via those wholesalers and
   retailers.

Posted at 09:31AM Mar 02, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[4]

The Marketing Orientation and the Marketing Concept

An organization with a market orientation focuses its efforts on 1)
continuously collecting information about customers' needs and
competitors' capabilities, 2) sharing this information across
departments, and 3) using the information to create customer value.

The market orientation simply defines an organization that understands the
importance of customer needs, makes an effort to provide products of
high value to its customers, and markets its products and services in a
coordinated holistic program across all departments.  In what we call
the "Marketing Concept," the company embraces a philosophy that the
"Customer is King."

The Marketing Concept is an attitude. It's a philosophy that is driven down throughout the
organization from the very top of the management structure.  The
Marketing Concept communicates that "the customer is king."  Everything
that the company does focuses on the customer.  Via the Marketing
Concept, a company makes every effort to best understand the wants and
needs of its target market and to create want-satisfying goods that
best fulfill the needs of that target market and to do this better than
the competition.

It wasn't always that way.  There were other orientations that companies embraced over the years.

The Production Concept has been around for years.  That concept simply suggests that customers
prefer inexpensive products that are readily available.  In effect, "if
we make it, they will come."

The Product Concept suggests that companies that build the "better mousetrap" will gain
favor. The thinking here is that customers want products that have
higher quality, that offer better perfromance or do something unique.

The Selling Concept preceeded the Marketing Concept.  From the 1920's until the 1950's,
most firms had a sales orientation.  Competition had grown, and there
was a need to pursue the scarce customer.  Sales could mean everything
from sales people to advertising to public relations, but little effort
was made to coordinate any overall marketing function. What we often
saw in the Selling Concept was the "hard sell" and the belief that
consumers wouldn't purchase unless they were sold.

The Holistic Marketing Concept that is embraced in the 21st century results in companies looking at
their overall marketing efforts.  This includes how their marketing
affects society, as a whole.  Marketing is also done internally
within the company.  Without customers, a company will quickly flounder
-- thus the importance of the relationship.  Holistic marketing looks
at the connectivity of the company, its people, its customers, and the
society in which it operates. The Societal Marketing Concept focuses
on.

From a lecture of Marketing Management from professor Rich Ottum.

Posted at 09:19AM Mar 02, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[33]

Core concepts of Marketing - needs, wants, and demands

What are the differences and relationships among needs, wants, and demands?

Needs are the basic human requirements. People need food, air, water, clothing, and shelter to survive. People also have strong needs for creation, education, and entertainment.

The above needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need. An American needs food but may want a hamburger, French fries, and a soft drink. A person in Mauritius needs food but may want a mango, rice, lentils, and beans. Wants are shaped by one's society.

Demands are wants for specific products backed by an ability to pay. Many people want a Mercedes; only a few are willing and able to buy one.

Companies must measure not only how many people want their product but also how many would actually be willing and able to buy it.

Understanding customer needs and wants is not always simple. Some customers have needs of which they are not fully conscious, or they cannot articulate these needs, or they use words that require some interpretation. Consider the customer who says he wants an "inexpensive car.". The marketer must probe further. We can distinguish among five types of needs:

1. Stated needs (the customer wants an inexpensive car).

2. Real needs (the customer wants a car who operating cost, not its initial price, is low).

3. Unstated needs (the customer expects good service from the dealer).

4. Delight needs (the customer would like the dealer to include an onboard navigation system).

5. Secret needs (the customer wants to be seen by friends as a savvy consumer).

References: 

Posted at 08:48PM Feb 27, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[26]

How to assess whether a company department is customer-minded?

Is everyone department in your company customer-minded? Check the following items:

 R&D:

• They spend time meeting customers and listening to their problems.
• They welcome the involvement of marketing, manufacturing, and other departments to each new project.
• They benchmark competitor's products and seek "best of class" solutions.
• They solicit customer reactions and suggestions as the project progresses.
• They continuously improve and refine the product on the basis of market feedback.

 Purchasing

• They proactively search for the best suppliers.
• They build long-term relationships with fewer but more reliable, high-quality suppliers.
• They don't compromis quality for price savings.

 Manufacturing

• They invite customers to visit and tour their plants.
• They visit customer plants.
• They willingly work overtime to meet promised delivery schedules.
• They continuously search for ways to produce goods faster and/or at lower cost.
• They continuously improve product quality, aiming for zero defects.
• They meet customer requirements for "customization" where possible.

 Marketing

• They study customer needs and wants in well-defined market segments.
• They allocate marketing effort in relation to the long-run profit potential of the targeted segments.
• They develop winning offers for each target segment.
• They measure company image and customer satisfaction on a continuous basis.
• They continuously gather and evaluate ideas for new products, product improvements, and services.
• They urge all company departments and employees to be customer-centered.

 Sales

• They have speciallized knowledge of the customer's industry.
• They strive to give the customer "the best solution".
• They only make promises that they can keep.
• They feed back customers' needs and ideas to those in charge of product development.
• They serve the same customers for a long period of time.

 Logistics

• They set a high standard for service delivery time and meet this standard consistently.
• They operate a knowledgeable and friendly customer service department that can answer questions, handle complaints, and resolve problems in a satisfactory and timely manner.

 Accounting

• They prepare periodic "profitability" reports by product, market segment, geographic areas (regions, sales territories), order sizes, channels, and individual customers.
• They prepare invoices tallored to customer needs and answer customer queries courteously and quickly.

 Finance

• They understand and support marketing expenditures (e.g., image advertising) that produce long-term customer prefernce and loyalty.
• They tallor the financial package to the customer's financial requirements.
• They make quick decisions on customer creditworthiness.

 Public Relations

• They send out favorable news about the company and "damage control" unfavorable news.
• They act as an internal customer and public advocate for better company policies and practices.

Posted at 08:33PM Feb 27, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[0]

Marketing Memo - Marketers' Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Marketing

Memo - Marketers' Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How can we spot and choose the right market segment(s)?

2. How can we differentiate our offerings?

3. How should we respond to customers who buy on price?

4. How can we compete against lower-cost, lower-price competitors?

5. How far can we go in customizing our offering for each customer?

6. How can we grow our business?

7. How can we build stronger brands?

8. How can we reduce the cost of customer acquisition?

9. How can we keep our customers loyal for longer?

10. How can we tell which customers are more important?

11. How can we measure the payback from advertising, sales promotion, and public relations?

12. How can we improve sales force productivty?

13. How can we establish multiple channels and yet manage channel conflict? 

14. How can we get the other company departments to be more customer-oriented?

References:

Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller. Marketing Management, Twelfth Edition.

Posted at 04:53PM Feb 24, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[1]

What's Marketing?

What's Marketing? It's both an "art" and a "science", there is constant tension between the formulated side of marketing and the creative side.. One of the shortest definitions of marketing is "meeting needs profitably."

 Formal definition from The American Marketing Association: Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stake holders.

Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value.

 The social definition of marketing shows the role it plays in society which is to "deliver a higher standard of living." Marking is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.

The managerial definition of marketing has often been described as "the art of selling products," but the most important part of marketing is not selling! Selling is only the tip of the marketing iceberg. Peter Drucker, a leading management theorist, puts it this way:

There will always, one can assume, be need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customers so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available.

References: 

Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller. Marketing Management, Twelfth Edition.

 

Posted at 04:45PM Feb 24, 2008 by byuan in Marketing Management  |  Comments[0]

简体中文Solaris系统管理员资料 (Multilingual BigAdmin)

欢迎大家到简体中文版的 BigAdmin System Administration Portal - http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hubs/multilingual/simp_chinese/

简体中文版的BigAdmin的目标是为世界各地的中文Solaris系统管理员提供服务。您不但可以阅读许多中文版BigAdmin文章,还可以上载您自己的文章、内容和各种相关知识并参与网站的合作建设。

我们将从翻译部分英文版BigAdmin的文章开始。欢迎您经常光临我们的网站，通过反馈标签对我们的翻译质量提供建议，把您希望翻译的BigAdmin的话题或内容或者需要对其他语种的支持告诉我们，您宝贵的意见对我们非常重要。

我们最大的愿望是与您和社区一起合作，在全球创建和扩充BigAdmin的内容。

“用我们最了解的语言来共享知识！”

Posted at 07:00PM Jul 24, 2007 by byuan in Globalization  |  Comments[0]

Differences Between Debt and Equity Capital

Started to learn about financial management this month, it's my 7th MBA course. The following link is a useful resource to learn about the Differences Between Debt and Equity Capital:

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/start/financestartup/SBA_INVPROG.html

Posted at 01:46PM Jul 10, 2007 by byuan in Economics  |  Comments[1]

Best practices of handling apostrophes ( ’) in .properties files

Problem: java.text.MessageFormat requires single ( ’) be escaped using double  ( ’’), other classes
don't have this requirement.

Best practices:

• Double the apostrophe (’’) when you see bracket(s) ({}) in the same message.
• Do not double the apostrophe( ’) if there is no bracket ({}) in the same message.
• Do not double the apostrophe( ’) if you see an apostrophe in the original English contents since it should have been confirmed to be displayed properly.
• Do not use apostrophe( ’), use quotation mark (′) instead.

Posted at 09:23AM May 29, 2007 by byuan in Globalization  |  Comments[4]

Specialization and win-win from trade

Specialization and trade increase the productivity of both sides'
resources and allow for greater total output than would otherwise be
possible, here is an example:

Assume company A can produce either
15 software products or 6000 servers per year, and
company B can produce either 30  software products or 9000 servers per year. If both of them produce both servers
and software products, then the following might be their productivities:

Company A's production possibilities table (resources for one software can introduce 6000/15=400 servers):

Software products	15	10	9	5	0
Servers	0	2000	24000	4000	6000

Company B's production possibilities table (resources for one software product can introduce 9000/30=300 servers):

Software products	30	20	19	10	0
Servers	0	3000	3300	6000	9000

Assume both companies need and produce both servers and software products themselves without trade, then the following might be their current
productivities:

 Company A:

Software products    9

Servers              2400

Company B: 

Software products    19

Servers              3300

However, if company A only produces software products while company B only
produces servers, and they trade servers and software products with one software product = 350 servers  (average of 300 and 400), then the following
would be the overall output:

Company A: 

Product	Quantity	Comments
Software products	10	Sell 3500 servers to company B to get 10 software products
Servers	2500	Produced 6000, sold 3500 to company B

Company B:

Product	Quantity	Comment
Software products	20	Produced 30, sold 10 to company A
Servers	3500	Sell 10 new features to company A to get 3500 servers

Now you can see it's very obvious that through specialization and
trade, comapny A gets 100 more servers and one more new software
feature, while company B gets one more software product and 200 more servers than they would get if both of them produce both servers and
software products. And this is a win-win!

Posted at 09:09PM Dec 08, 2006 by byuan in Economics  |  Comments[1]