SMART BUSINESS

Posts Tagged ‘Management’

Planning, managing and executing an event is a complex process and requires careful planning and management to make the event successful. Online event software manages all aspects of events right from event registration to event planning to event management, all the aspects are managed and control through the software to make the process simple and distressful. Several software events are available that eases the different process required to be carried out for a successful event. Some of the popular online event software includes event registration software event planning software and event management software.

Event registration software makes the event registration process a simple task and efficiently handles various tasks related to event registration. This software proves to be a great help for the organization that facilitates and manage the event registration process of an organization. With online event registration software a registrant can register from any place and at any time for the event. It makes the process simple and easy to use making each and every aspect of registration transparent for both the event organizers and the attendees.

Event management software, an online application, is helpful for the event managers to plan, promote and manage an event successfully. To manage events that are more time consuming and require high resources is not possible without the help of event management software as it streamlines all the major issues of vents to a great extent. Event management software helps to achieve the desired objectives of the event. Event management software should be user friendly and should have excellent online support. It should save one time and take only few minutes to provide any information regarding event registration and management.

Event registration and management software automates the tedious tasks of event management and eases several tasks such as answering calls of the attendees, processing emails and faxes of attendees registering for the events etc. Event management software eliminates the tedious processing of each payment by hand and tracking outstanding payment. This software provide the event organizer with the opportunity to concentrate on the planning, and managing of the events that further help to nurture a strong and healthy community.

In today’s competitive era, medical practitioners not only just need to manage their practice but they also need to maximize it. To maximize the practice they just need to have best web-based practice management software that simplifies, accelerates and automates administrative tasks which otherwise completely exhaust the precious resources.  Reliable and trust worthy web-based practice management software will enable one to create a high-performance organization providing excellent health care services at minimum cost. With the help of this software one can manage several administrative tasks, from scheduling appointments to reconciling accounts to reporting information, to collecting co-pays, to sending account issues reminders to patients. All these administrative tasks can be well managed with the help of web-based practice management software allowing physicians and administrative staffs to concentrate on their core service area i.e. serving the patients.

Web-based practice management software streamlines and manages behind the scene practice services and the decisions are made based on the past actions. This software offers an innovative approach and manages tasks of front office to the back office. It saves time, eases work flow, offers flexibility and provides quick access so that the medical professionals can keep their priority in the right direction. In addition the practice management software is quite functionally simple to use that even a novice user can work on this system. This system even carries out the thinking process also, which is done based on the past decisions. Practice management software is developed after recognizing several key factors related to the healthcare professionals in order to avoid any drawback. All the key factors like time, accuracy, complete transparency, efficiency, and quick access are given equal importance while developing the software.

Practice management software provides completely affordable integrated web-based Electronic Medical Report and Practice Management Solution, which is specifically designed to make life easier for physicians, healthcare staffs and for the patients. This will further help to improve efficiencies, accelerate billing, control costs, and will build a more successful practice. Some of the features of this web-based practice management software include:

• Web-based practice management software meets the need of practices of any size providing complete range of functionality through a single and integrated solution.

• This software can be accessed and controlled anytime and from anywhere on the Web.

• Practice management software is cost-effective, as one just has to pay simple monthly fee and there is no hidden expenses.
• This software provides complete peace-of-mind, as this is simple and easy-to-use requiring no installations, no maintenance and no upgrades and it immediately get started.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Organization

Construction processes
Design team
Shasta Dam under construction

In the modern industrialized world, construction usually involves the translation of paper or computer based designs into reality. A formal design team may be assembled to plan the physical proceedings, and to integrate those proceedings with the other parts. The design usually consists of drawings and specifications, usually prepared by a design team including the client architects, interior designers, surveyors, civil engineers, cost engineers (or quantity surveyors), mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, structural engineers, and fire protection engineers. The design team is most commonly employed by (i.e. in contract with) the property owner. Under this system, once the design is completed by the design team, a number of construction companies or construction management companies may then be asked to make a bid for the work, either based directly on the design, or on the basis of drawings and a bill of quantities provided by a quantity surveyor. Following evaluation of bids, the owner will typically award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder.

Construction Manager as Constructor

Under this delivery method, a construction manager is hired prior to the completion of the design phase to act as a project coordinator and general contractor. Unlike the DBB method, a construction manager is hired during the design phase, which allows the construction manager to work directly with the architect and circumvent any potential design issues before completion of the construction documents. After documents are completed, the construction manager accepts bids for the various divisions of work from subcontractors or general contractors.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Value Engineering :Potential problems of Design-Build:

Cost estimating for a design-build project is sometimes difficult because design documents are often preliminary and may change over the course of the project. As a result, design-build contracts are often written to allow for unexpected situations without penalizing either the Design-Builder or the owner. Several organizations (such as the Design/Build Institute of America) provide standardized form contracts for design-builders to use, but it is not unusual for the design-builder to provide its own contractual documents.

This uncertainty requires the owner to rely a great deal on the integrity, accumen, and competence of the design-builder. As the certainty of estimates decreases, the opinion of the construction professionals of the Design-Build firm must be trustworthy, accurate, and reasonably verifiable in order to minimize risk.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Engineering

This approach has become more common in recent years and includes an entire completed package, including fixtures, fittings and equipment where necessary, to produce a completed fully functional building. In some cases, the Design and Build (D & B) package can also include finding the site, arranging funding and applying for all necessary statutory consents.

The owner produces a list of requirements for a project, giving an overall view of the project’s goals. Several D&B contractors present different ideas about how to accomplish these goals. The owner selects the ideas he likes best and hires the appropriate contractor. Often, it is not just one contractor, but a consortium of several contractors working together. Once a contractor (or a consortium/consortia) has been hired, they begin building the first phase of the project. As they build phase 1, they design phase 2. This is in contrast to a design-bid-build contract, where the project is completely designed by the owner, then bid on, then completed.

Kent Hansen, director of engineering for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), pointed out that state departments of transportation (DOTs) usually use design build contracts as a way of getting projects done when states don’t have the resources. In DOTs, design build contracts are usually used for very large projects.

Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans. As portions of a project are completed, they may be sold, supplanting one lender or owner for another, while the logistical requirements of having the right trades and materials available for each stage of the building construction project carries forward. In many English-speaking countries, but not the United States, projects typically use quantity surveyors.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Value Engineering :The design-bid-build method is the most common construction delivery method. This process begins with an owner selecting an architect to prepare construction documents. These are prepared using drafting standards such as the Institute of Civil Engineers ICE Conditions of Contract, or the NEC Engineering and Construction Contract. In most cases, the architect will release these construction documents publicly, or to a select group of general contractors, who will then place a bid on the project which reflects what they believe cost of construction will total. This bid is inclusive of a multitude of subcontractor bids for each specific trade. The general contractor’s fee is generally built into the bid cost. Most government contracts are bid competitively using this method.

Lorich Construction Management LLC Management Procurement

Procurement describes the merging of activities undertaken by the client to obtain a building. There are many different methods of construction procurement; however the three most common types of procurement are:

1. Traditional (Design-bid-build)
2. Design and Build
3. Management Contracting

Traditional
Main article: Design-bid-build

This the most common method of construction procurement and is well established and recognized. In this arrangement, the architect or engineer acts as the project coordinator. His or her role is to design the works, prepare the specifications and produce construction drawings, administer the contract, tender the works, and manage the works from inception to completion. There are direct contractual links between the architect’s client and the main contractor. Any subcontractor will have a direct contractual relationship with the main contractor.

Lorich Construction Management LLC This approach has become more common in recent years and includes an entire completed package, including fixtures, fittings and equipment where necessary, to produce a completed fully functional building. In some cases, the Design and Build (D & B) package can also include finding the site, arranging funding and applying for all necessary statutory consents.

The owner produces a list of requirements for a project, giving an overall view of the project’s goals. Several D&B contractors present different ideas about how to accomplish these goals. The owner selects the ideas he likes best and hires the appropriate contractor. Often, it is not just one contractor, but a consortium of several contractors working together. Once a contractor (or a consortium/consortia) has been hired, they begin building the first phase of the project. As they build phase 1, they design phase 2. This is in contrast to a design-bid-build contract, where the project is completely designed by the owner, then bid on, then completed.

Kent Hansen, director of engineering for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), pointed out that state departments of transportation (DOTs) usually use design build contracts as a way of getting projects done when states don’t have the resources. In DOTs, design build contracts are usually used for very large projects.

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Success of a corporate event is much depended on the management and services of that event. However, it is managed by experienced planners who understand the ultimate aim of organizing such an event. Today, event management services are offered by companies who specialize in corporate event management. It is a part of corporate culture that manages and arranges a number of events. There are several corporate events including award presentations, trade shows, new product intros, marketing conferences, road shows, exhibitions, reception, wedding party, birthday party, etc that need proper management and employing of services to make them successful.

Corporate event management encompasses the study of the intricacies of different brands, recognizing the target audience, creating event models and above all planning the logistics. The basic requirement for corporate event management is a well planning and arrangement from start to finish. However, the event management services depend on the nature of event as well as the targeted audience. For making the event exclusive and superb, event management service providers manage and arrange all the essential things necessary for the event.

Corporate event management service providers also sponsor your event online and provide with integrate system to collect online as well as offline payments, send invitations online, manage tickets and provide advanced reporting system. As these event planners offer online services, they inform attendees about an event with custom-made email. Above all, these planners present a vital solution to help you create event tickets, get the web ticket sales on the right track and record the details while promoting and selling tickets online.

These planners give you flexibility to manage your events in an ideal way and allow the organizer to add, review, remove or change any event detail and above all help to edit events even after they are live. These professionals have the proficiency of handling all the points of special corporate events such as right venue, cuisine and entertainment. In simple words, these event management service providers are outfitted to manage all problems that may come with planning a corporate event.

Several corporate events management companies have a great deal of experience handling the type of situation that a corporate house planned. These professional planners are adapted to handling the details of a major event and have doubtless experience. A corporate event management service provider manages and arranges state-of-the-art services that an event requires.

It doesn’t matter, what sort of event you need to plan, corporate event management solution is vital to make it unique and successful. From business events, conferences, meetings, seminars, exhibitions to weddings, an event management company keeps you away from stress and worries and saves a good amount of time and money as well. Organizers and corporate houses due to lack of time give preference to corporate event management companies to organize any kind of event. This is because; an event management company takes all the burdens from you and manages your special corporate as well as private event in a unique way from start to finish. These event planners also provide event concept development, budget settlement, marketing, advertising and support.

Many people still think what an event management company can do? It is simple, an event management company manages your corporate event, sales your tickets online, makes a dynamic plan to provide an impressive environment for business, promotes exhibitions for growing profits and volume and above all collects payments and keep you informed with financial updates to measure the events financial success. However, the task of an event management company is a difficult one because it needs good management skills and quickness of thought and above all patience.

Today, private as well as corporate events need proper management and arrangement to make them successful and unique. However, arrangements and managements depend on the nature of event and the targeted audience. In simple words, Event management company manages your corporate event, sales your tickets online, makes a dynamic plan to provide an impressive environment for business, promotes exhibitions for growing revenue and volume and above all collects payments and keep you informed with financial updates to measure the events financial success.

These companies also have the proficiency to handle all the points of special corporate events such as right venue, cuisine and entertainment. In simple words, an event management company is outfitted to manage all the event related problems. These professional planners are adapted to handle the details of a major event and have doubtless experience. A corporate event management service provider manages and arranges state-of-the-art services that a corporate event requires. Industry sectors like award ceremonies, fashion shows, sports, music, cultural gatherings, etc have become the essential options in the event management sector because event management companies endow you with skillful administration from beginning to end.

Management training should not just create good managers it should build upon existing skills with the intention of improving and enhancing those skills whilst passing on new practises. Through both management training courses and time management training courses one of the key areas managers must learn is the effective art of delegation. Delegation does not mean doing nothing yourself and abdicating work, but it does mean managing time more effectively and managing your staff.

Management training is likely to include guidance on how to communicate effectively and motivate employees, team building, and managing business meetings.To get the best management training possible you need to have a training course that is created to fit in with your business and reflect the objectives of your business and not be an ‘off the shelf’ type of training course which many outside agencies deliver to businesses. Today’s manager faces numerous and varied situations in which he or she needs to be able to react in a quick, appropriate, and confident manner.

Management training uk is a series of measure which organisations or firms can undertake in order to get the very best out of their staff. Management training may be available to you in form of in house workshops conducted by training companies, or alternatively, you may benefit from weekly/monthly training sessions conducted within your company itself.

Any good training course aimed at managers helps managers to develop effective time management, problem solving, collaboration and change management skills. Other benefits include expert handling of complaints and queries, planning, delegation, mentoring individuals or teams and other business coaching skills. An efficient management is the backbone of every successful company. Management training can help you to deal with a variety of problems in your organization and will help you to develop some key skills. Here is look at what all does it teaches you.

Both the team building and management training can be taken in the organization itself as well as at the training centers. So if you want your organization to benefit and scale new heights of success, invest some time in team building and management training. All aspects of a management training course are designed to enhance your perception, cooperation and communication skills to become a more effective manager. What you learn on the course isn’t just about what is being taught; it is about developing the correct attitude. Managers are leaders and they need to demonstrate to others the correct way to behave.

London management training can provide you with that particular skill so that you can plan, lead and control well. After completing the London management training a degree would be provided to the students that would be on the completion of professional study. There are thousands of students worldwide who apply for London management training, but only a few fortunate students would be selected in order to complete London management training programs.London management training programs are offered under different degree titles (project management, time management e.t.c) in a number of universities in and around the city. Therefore there are many good rankings universities in London that offer different courses in London management training programs.

Imagine opening 20 new business locations without having to foot the bill for real estate, equipment and development costs or taking on any of the risk. Even more, imagine finding managers to run all those locations, who are just as committed to growing the company as you, and you don’t have to pay them a dime. Finally, imagine that these managers will hire, fire and manage all employees as well as foot the bill for all operating costs and expenses. Sound far-fetched?

Not if you’re planning to enter the franchise industry, one of the fastest ways to grow a small business without breaking the bank. For many companies, franchising a business (or licensing) is a sensible way to achieve rapid, profitable growth without giving up any control or ownership. Going from a single location to a dozen in a couple years, or a hundred in ten years is possible and well-documented because franchise owner-investors put up all investment capital, shoulder all risk and assume all day-to-day operating responsibilities.

It’s expansion, using OPM – Other People’s Money. Also, the franchise company gets paid handsomely for teaching others the secrets of how to operate its business. First, there’s the up-front “membership” or franchise fee of $20,000 to $50,000 paid for using the brand name and operating methods. In addition, there are continuing royalties of 5% to 10% of gross sales for ongoing advice and consultation. In essence, a franchise development program allows a company to get out of the trenches and become a highly-paid general overseeing its soldiers. Long-term options are also attractive. Build an empire and relax, or let the franchise company be acquired by an increasing number of large companies that look for small, but growing franchise companies. According to the International Franchise Association, 900 new companies have franchised in the last three years.

ENTERING A NEW BUSINESS
A company planning to franchise must realize it is entering a new business, offering an entirely different service (training & support) to entirely new customers (business owner-operators). This new business requires different skills, abilities and expertise. In the new business of franchising, it is critical to develop effective evaluation, documentation, mentoring, training and consulting skills. Since these new skills are rarely present within existing personnel, an outside franchise expert is needed to train existing personnel and plan the transition. The first step involves determining whether or not a business can franchise, and if so, what needs to be developed. Next, strategic franchise planning is necessary to create a “blueprint” for successful expansion efforts. Experience shows that, just like a building, the foundation developed at the beginning will create lasting consequences affecting the relative success (or failure) of the entire venture. Legal (franchise disclosure document, franchise agreements) and operational documents (franchise operations manual, franchise training program) are prepared and drafted and finally a franchise registration process is required in some 14 states, depending on which state(s) the company sells franchises. These phases are discussed below.

THE FRANCHISE FEASIBILITY PHASE
An indispensable step before any franchise development program gets underway is an analysis of the concept and business model. Has the concept been sufficiently proven in the marketplace? How profitable are existing prototypes or company-owned outlets? Franchising will not solve existing problems, it will only intensify them – and usually at a serious cost to franchise investors. Franchising should not be viewed as a method to raise capital, expand a business that has existing problems, or a way to get rich quickly. There must be sufficient profitability in the business model so that royalty and other payments can be made and leave the franchise investor with a sufficient profit. With a franchise feasibility analysis, a determination can be made about:

(a) whether franchising or licensing expansion ideas should be pursued, postponed or abandoned; and
(b) assuming a positive result in (a), what needs to be fine-tuned or developed from scratch for the franchise program.

Besides determining if and when the business can franchise, the analysis should also include providing guidance and direction so as much of the groundwork as possible can be done by existing personnel. This has proven to be a very effective approach and significantly reduces franchise development costs. If the feasibility analysis is positive, the other phases discussed below follow. My twenty-eight years of experience in the franchise industry lets me share a valuable insight about franchise feasibility studies. Too many companies leap into franchising without doing a feasibility study, or if one is done it is performed by a franchise consultant or group that tells everyone good news – they’re all “franchise-able.” The vast majority of franchise feasibility studies I’ve done either identify areas that need attention before franchising makes any sense or tell the client to forget about it and pursue other options.

THE FRANCHISE STRATEGIC PLANNING PHASE
A successful franchise development program begins with a solid plan – a foundation for franchising. The long-term goal is to establish balanced, integrated, successful business relationships with qualified individuals who support the company’s goals and image. Creating an enduring relationship requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses all aspects of the franchise endeavor.

The starting point is a detailed analysis that covers:

(1) identifying profile characteristics of who will be the best franchise owners for the particular business;

(2) competitive positioning to make the franchise stand out from the other 3,000+ franchise companies;

(3) geographic scope – where and when will franchises be sold;

(4) analysis of the company’s organizational strengths and weaknesses relative to franchising;

(5) identifying the appropriate franchise organizational structure as well as staffing requirements and responsibilities; and

(6) structuring the franchise relationship for a balanced, win-win scenario.

What should emerge from this detailed analysis is a specific strategic plan and framework for guiding virtually all franchise efforts. Despite the long-term importance of the franchise planning step, too many emerging franchise companies enter franchising with no plan or planning – other than “let’s try and sell a lot of franchises.” They rush through (or neglect entirely) the strategic planning process, thereby creating future franchise litigation land mines that are ticking franchise lawsuits waiting to happen.

Often, this is because they only utilize the services of a franchise consulting firm or franchise attorney, where little or no attention is paid to critical strategic planning, operational and organizational issues. Normally, these firms draft “boilerplate” franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements and franchise operations manuals based on a questionnaire completed by their client, who is presumed to have made all strategic decisions. The franchise documents are presented, along with an invoice and a handshake – hardly the ingredients for success in the new business of franchising.

THE FRANCHISE DOCUMENTATION PHASE
If the company has made doing a good job at the planning stage the number one priority, franchise documentation goals will be apparent. Proprietary and intellectual property assets (like operating techniques, customer information, recipes, formulas and methods) need to be identified and protected. A trade secret protection program is developed and implemented. The name, logo and tag lines should have been previously registered as trademarks or service marks.

franchise operations manuals
Franchise operations manuals and training programs are developed, often from scratch, to impart business operating skills to the franchise owner as well as ensure uniformity of products and services. The franchise operations manual and training program curriculum must be drafted with a particular focus. Certain topics, chapters and policies found in manuals for a company-owned chain, for example, are entirely inappropriate in a franchise environment, creating significant liability (lawsuit) issues for the franchise division.

I routinely find franchise operations manuals drafted by franchise consultants or do-it-yourself manual kitscontaining inappropriate chapters or topics. Not knowing where the bullets come from in franchise litigation, they proceed blindly ahead using “boilerplate” manuals where most (but not all) instances of “hamburgers” are changed to “tax returns.” The support aspect of the franchise relationship needs to be carefully considered, structured and reflected in the franchise operations manuals.

Deciding who writes the franchise operations manual is a relatively simple question to answer, yet many new franchise companies also fall into a trap here. Bewildered by the new business of franchising, with its legal requirements, franchise operations manuals, training programs, etc., they decide to “delegate responsibility,” usually to a high-priced franchise consultant who produces the operations manual and sometimes even the legal documents. Putting aside the practicing law without a license issue on the legal documents, does using someone to write your franchise operations manual who knows literally nothing about your business, ever make any sense?

The best practice approach, developed over almost three decades of my writing, editing and reviewing hundreds of franchise operations manuals is based on common sense. Let the true “expert” in your business write the operations manual. And who is that expert? It’s usually the founder of the business or a handful of your management personnel who know the business inside and out. It’s true, an outside franchise expert should be involved in the process, but this should be limited strictly to a planning and editing capacity – helping develop the overall Table of Contents, giving samples of writing styles and technicques, then reviewing each chapter after it’s drafted by you or your management team. This approach produces a professional, easy to use and update franchise operations manual. It also ensures the most efficient use of resources and talent.

franchise disclosure documents
Finally, and only after all of the above are underway, a Franchise Disclosure Document, similar to a securities (stock offering) prospectus, is prepared by competent franchise counsel and registered with various regulatory agencies to comply with applicable federal and state laws. This document can contain thousands of discrete disclosures within its twenty-three chapters and attached exhibits, and obviously needs to be prepared by a franchise attorney. Doing it properly and with a balanced and fair perspective can help keep the company out of the courtroom later. In addition, a franchise registration process is required before any franchises can be advertised or sold in those 14 or so states having a franchise registration requirement. Having one firm author, edit and review all documents is not only cost-effective – it also avoids inconsistencies that can plague the franchise company as franchise legal pitfalls in the future (see discussion below).

RECOMMENDATIONS
My twenty-eight years of experience has demonstrated that in order for a franchise company to get off to a good start, a heavy emphasis should be placed on strategic franchise planning to manage future franchise relationships as discussed above. Then, before the franchise program begins, management needs training in how to effectively operate a franchise organization. At a minimum, the following programs should be in place before franchise marketing efforts begin:

1. Franchise Lead Processing System (sm):
Two key considerations for all franchise companies engaged in franchise marketing are the careful screening of franchise applicants and adopting the proper media plan, schedule and budget. Only the cream of the crop should be allowed to join the franchise network. Eliminating applicants at the entry stage is far easier than waiting for inevitable and costly problems later on. An examination of franchise networks plagued by troublesome franchise owners (who often ripen into future lawsuits) shows a lack of planning and attention to this relatively simple concept. Given the unlimited personal liability risk inherent in franchising, companies neglecting this important concept, or those using franchise brokers, are simply asking for trouble.

Before franchise marketing efforts start, a company should adopt a customized Franchise Lead Processing System that includes instructing key personnel in:

(1) adopting the proper organizational structure;

(2) defining the appropriate profile characteristics of prospective franchise owners;

(3) developing effective interviewing techniques, marketing materials, procedures and checklists;

(4) using a series of tests and other measures to ensure that inappropriate candidates are disqualified before joining the franchise network;

(5) detecting (and then avoiding) red flags that arise in the franchise marketing cycle; and

(6) adopting the appropriate media plan, schedule and budget.

2. Legal Compliance Program (sm):
A franchise lawsuit can result if inconsistent or misleading communications occur when a franchise is first sold. Most of the legal risk is franchising centers around what happens during the marketing cycle: the twenty-three chapters of disclosures in the franchise disclosure document as well as who said what, and when. Defending any franchise lawsuit, even a frivolous one, can be enormous. Franchise companies involved in franchise litigation are shocked to discover they have fallen into a quicksand that swallows up time and money without limit. The cost of prosecuting or defending even a “small” franchise lawsuit can quickly exceed $100,000, and up. Exposure can run into the millions. Although one study of franchise disclosure documents indicated 27 percent of franchise companies have a history of franchise litigation (slightly greater than 1 in 4), the real percentage is much greater and probably north of 50 percent. This is because only pending litigation and final judgments must be disclosed in franchise disclosure documents. Most franchise litigation cases, like other litigation cases are settled, so they’re only required to be in the franchise disclosure document from the time they’re filed until settled. After that, they vanish without a trace. And whether the chances of getting sued in a franchise lawsuit and getting embroiled in franchise litigation is greater than 1 in 2 or 1 in 4, who wants to get involved in a time-consuming, stressful and expensive mess?

It is almost impossible to avoid potential franchise liability unless a genuine program of education and instruction is conducted with marketing personnel as well as middle and executive franchise management. An integrated Disclosure Compliance Program that specifies rules and expectations (including legal rules in selling a franchise), manages franchise disclosure documents and controls the dissemination of all information is absolutely essential. It is also one of the best investments a franchise company will ever make. For all of the above reasons, the use of franchise brokers is definitely NOT recommended. Their statements (or other actions) made to “close the deal” will make the franchise organization (and the personal assets of its officers) liable for violations of federal or state franchise laws. This also explains why the overwhelming majority of successful franchise organizations set up their own in-house franchise marketing department so that actions and statements made during the franchise marketing cycle can be monitored and controlled within the framework of a Franchise Sales Control System (sm).

3. Franchise Sales Control System (sm):
Franchise Sales Control is the other half of the entire compliance equation. While legal compliance specifies rules and expectations, franchise sales control is the mechanism for detecting gaps and inconsistencies. When detected, their causes can be identified and corrected before injuring the franchise effort. A Franchise Sales Control System should be designed with this in mind, and should include a variety of feedback mechanisms to monitor performance and retrieve pertinent information for review by management. This not only increases the effectiveness of franchise marketing efforts – it also greatly reduces the likelihood that sales personnel will deviate from established procedures in selling franchises. Finally, a well-designed Franchise Sales Control System creates a complete back up file for every franchise sold that will qualify as business record evidence in the event of a future franchise dispute. It also satisfies the legal requirement of various states that franchise companies maintain a complete set of books, records and accounts of franchise sales. Since most of the legal risk in franchising arises during the franchise marketing cycle, a comprehensive Franchise Sales Control System is the company’s best protection against the quicksand of franchise litigation.

4. Managing Franchise Relations:
As franchises are sold, the communication lines that develop between the parties will have a major impact on the success or failure of the ongoing franchise relationship. Controlling who is brought into the network through the steps outlined above is the critical first step. Once inside the franchise network, franchise owners must be taught to realize they are members of a system of mutually dependent outlets, each working for the better of the entire network. Developing an awareness of this concept early in the relationship and implementing a franchise feedback system will create a positive attitude, encourage innovative ideas from franchise owners, ensure timely royalty payments and prevent franchise relationship problems later on.

© 1982-2008, Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. – all rights reserved

For more information, visit the Franchise Foundations website.

http://www.artifactmanager.com/papers/ArtifactManager_Organize-n-Search.pdf

WHITE PAPER
Organize-n-Search
State-of-the-art Low-budget Document Management Solutions

“We are living in the information age… The information explosion…” We have heard it so many times that have stopped paying any attention to it. However, information penetrates into every aspect of our lives. We are constantly trying to acquire new knowledge and looking for opportunities to benefit from it.

Users who actively work with documents and information, frequently face the problems related to search, organization and efficient use of documents. Copyeditors, writers, journalists, researchers, analysts, consultants, lawyers, medical workers, students, all run into the same challenges at home and at work.

This paper is intended for a wide range of people, who, for personal or business need, work with a large number of documents and other information. We take a close look at the problems of information management, benefits of using advanced technologies in the low-budget personal information management system, as well as system selection criteria to meet personal and professional needs of information workers.

Challenges of Document Management

Nowadays big part of information is stored in a form of text: books, articles, reports, memo, notes, specifications, descriptions, whitepapers, and manuals, not to mention a huge amount of time sensitive information, such as invoices, bank statements, schedules, contracts, and tax returns.

Yesterday, papers, photo albums, music disks, and video tapes were kept in drawers, boxes, and cabinets. But the development of personal computers and Internet has started the era of digital information.

Development of electronic formats has significantly increased system storage capacity and allowed accumulation of large information volumes. However, recent developments in the fields of computer systems and data storage have led to a new question: how can we effectively manage digital information?

Recent studies by IDC (Susan Feldman, Joshua Duhl, Julie Rahal Marobella, Alison Crawford. The Hidden Costs of Information Work. March 2005) revealed that on average 13 hours of every 40-hour work week are spent on creating documents. 9.5 hours per week are spent on searching for information, while almost 9.6 hours on analyzing the information. 6.5 hours are wasted on searching for information that is never found leading to the need to recreate the content. Formatting of information between different applications takes about 3.8 hours per week, whereas version control related issues take 2.2 hours.

Issues, effects and implications of information management are summarized in the following Figure.

Issues

Slow search
Search without desired results
Redundant search
Recreation of documents
Difficulty of use of the found information

Effects

Employer
Unplanned for wasted time
Work slowdown
Decrease in productivity
Decline in quality

Employee
Increased workload
Negative attitude towards work
Decline in the level of satisfaction from the job

Implications

Missed deadlines
Project failure
Lost revenue
Loss of employee

Figure 1: Issues, effects and implications of information management

* What is the best way to organize the information to find it faster in the future?
* How to easily find information inside of large volume of materials?
* How to find documents that are related?
* How to save the search results and view them in the future?
* How to share found information with colleagues and friends?
* How to effectively use found information?

Importance and significance of those problems are major factors that stimulate the development of new solutions and information management systems. Information Retrieval, Data and Knowledge Bases, Document & Content Management, to name a few, are the branches of information technologies that deal with the problems of information management.

Solutions to Document Management Problems

Solutions to document management problems are tightly linked to the following challenges: improving the efficiency of information access, improving quality and speed of search, improving the efficiency of information processing, improving reliability and safety of storage.

Efficient Access to Information

It is necessary to quickly and easily extract the text documents which meet certain criteria from an array of available information. These requirements are diverse and constantly changing. For example, original sources for articles, data for reports, textbooks to prepare for the exam, patient’s medical records, or precedents for court case – all have high, but temporary value to resolve the pressing challenges.

After finding the required documents, working through them, and creating a number of versions, the user will need to consolidate and store the results. For example, one may need to save a set of documents, or add comments to a set of documents for future use. One possible solution to meet the changing needs is to place a document in several groups. A group could consist of documents on certain topic, papers of the same author, articles of the same journal issue, previous versions of the article, or materials used to write an article.

Searching and organizing information in a meaningful way takes up a lot of time. To shorten the cycle and make a process more enjoyable, a number of solutions have been proposed.

Quality and Speed of Search

In some cases users can find the documents they need by using a query – a word or combination of words that might be in those documents.

In the past, search required scanning of all files on the computer drives and going through their content comparing the key words with words in the document. This called for the sequential scanning of all files for each request. But increased size and number of files have dramatically slowed down the search process. In addition, morphology was neglected and multiple queries were needed to find the document.

Best solutions for effective search of information are based on search engines and information retrieval technologies. The entire collection of files is pre-processed and the information about the documents and key words is stored in the index files. Indexing works for various file formats and takes into account all possible forms of the same word. This “smart” pre-processing mechanism significantly accelerates the search and improves its quality.

Organization

In many cases the user is unaware of the words contained in the document of interest. It’s also possible that the user is not able to generate a query that returns desired outcomes, or the number of documents is too large, or some documents may not contain the right words. In these scenarios the user has no choice but manually look for a desired document. To save the results of manual search, many use the systems designed specifically for organizing the information.

Simplified versions of organization systems use fields and registration cards to link the documents and accompanying information (date, author, title, a brief description, etc.) However, field sets are fixed and limited, and often do not allow grouping of the documents to accommodate changing needs of the users.

Enhanced systems use a hierarchy of folders (catalogs, or directories). However, in most cases, when a document belongs to multiple topics, the user may end up facing several problems. For example, in the hierarchy of file system folders, a document can not be assigned to several folders without duplication. In this case, duplication may result in an unnecessary increase of information volume as well as inconsistencies in content after one of the documents has been modified.

Top notch tools to organize the information use multiple hierarchical categorizations which came from the domain of knowledge bases and ontologies.

Version Control

Authoring of a complex document is a long process and requires many edits, corrections and rewritings. To avoid confusion, it is necessary to maintain a history of changes in the document. The old-fashion solution was to save the changes in the separate file with a unique name, which often resulted in lost files, more storage space as well as difficulties in finding the right version of the document. These and other problems related to tracking the history of the content, storing different versions of the document, and returning to its previous versions have been addressed by the invention of the versioning systems. These systems are designed to provide access to the previous versions and history of changes.

Figure 2: Authoring a document

Effective Work with Information

Search, organization, and version control, by themselves, significantly simplify the process. But till now, most of these functions were only provided by separate software tools. The first program implements search. The second program organizes information. The third program edits it. The fourth program keeps version history. And so on.

A user has to run multiple applications, toggle between them, import and export documents, and move and copy the files. This process dramatically slows down the work, decreases productivity, increases pressure, and therefore leads to mistakes and reduces work satisfaction.

To eliminate unnecessary labor and reduce the amount of wasted time, one needs an integrated solution that combines search, editing and version control functionality.

Privacy, Security and Reliability of Storage

It goes without saying that information is a valuable resource that is expensive to produce. It is necessary to not only provide a safe storage for the entire set of documents, but also protect valuable information from computer hardware and software failures, as well as human errors. In addition, the confidentiality of information should be preserved – unauthorized users should not have access to the information without the permissions from the owner. However, if necessary, the results of the work have to be publishable to third parties.

Earlier applications stored files on the secure computers in a folder structure. Individual users had access to specific folders, which required a complex access rights management policy. Thus the information was often duplicated on the users’ computers, causing many problems related to information relevance.

To address the above mentioned problems, modern document management systems store information in centralized repositories, which make it easy to store, retrieve, manipulate and modify documents. Advanced repositories support storage and processing of multiple documents and file formats including, but not limited to: text (Word, Acrobat, Open Office, etc.), spreadsheet, fax, e-mail, audio, and images.

Documents, images and other information stored in the electronic repository are easily accessible and retrievable. The losses associated with errors in streamlining, organizing, and placing of the documents are drastically reduced and possibly even eliminated. In addition, each document keeps not only a history of who viewed it, made changes and what changes were made, but also other information about the document, such as title, contents, themes, etc.

Valuable Benefits of Document Management Systems

Thus, state-of-the-art information and document management systems
* reduce information processing time (multi-category systems allow for fast categorization of the incoming information and re-organization of existing information)
* reduce the time required to access the information (full-text search tools and category system, history and version control provide an easy and quick way to find information)
* reduce the time required to create a document (integration of search, organization, modification and version control features in a single platform allow the user to work on new and existing documents in a more effective manner)
* eliminate the cases of lost data (electronic repositories automatically capture all document changes and allow the user to restore the history of changes)

By leveraging a wide range of features provided by information management tools, one may free up the time normally spent on unnecessary tasks and focus on more important activities. As a result, the use of information management systems increases the quality of work.

Criteria for Selecting the Right Document and Information Management System

Flexible categorization: The system must support the categorization of documents to meet specific requirements of the user. To do that, the system should include the following features:
* Flexible categorization (user should be able to create any categories or topics and place the documents there)
* Hierarchical categorization (high level topics that consist of more specific topics)
* Multiple categorization (the same document might be included in several topics, categories or groups of documents)
* Ability to merge related files in a package
Flexible grouping that keeps the history of the results simplifies future access to documents inside of assigned topics, and allows one to see the relationships between documents found in one category.

Powerful search tools: The system should be able to perform a full-text search of information by query which contains individual terms or phrases. The search feature should
* be fast, which implies indexing
* support full-text search for all common formats – pdf, doc, odt, etc.
* take into an account the differences in spelling of various grammatical forms of the words
* work with individual repositories, categories and themes (topics)
The above mentioned features allow the user to effectively query the documents, provide a fast access to desirable documents, and make it possible to work on documents that have not yet been classified.

Central repository: The system should be able to store information in a centralized repository that allows:
* storing high volumes of documents
* creation of multiple personal repositories
* protection of confidential information
Documents in the system should not be viewable by other applications. Only the owner of the information should be able to grant the access to the repository. Repositories not only eliminate the need to manually create the files and directories, but they also restrict access to information, tighten security and improve reliability by providing backup, recovery and data protection tools.

Composite documents: The system should be able to work with the collection of files as a single unit, allowing the user to make changes to the set of documents. This functionality helps to improve usability and makes it easier to work with documents that consist of multiple files – for example, html documents with pictures.

Figure 3: Composite document

Document registration cards: The system should support the functionality of attaching useful information, such as name, purpose, abstract, comments, author, date of creation and modification, etc. to the document or file. This type of information helps to increase the accessibility of the documents. The information about the document should be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of the user and the information unit type.

Supported file types: The system should be able to support a wide range of common document types and formats, including Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, etc.), Open Office, as well as the formats of scanned documents and images.

Versioning system: The system should be able to support multiple versions of the document, track history and changes in chronological order – who, when, why modified the document and which changes were made. If needed, this functionality enables the user to work on one of the previous versions of the document.

Navigation history: The system should record the sequence of events describing the steps the user took while working on the documents and have that information available to the user at any given time.

Easy-to-use interface: The system should provide a user-friendly interface that includes intuitive navigation as well as the panels displaying categories, history, versions, and search results. All of these will dramatically enhance user experience and therefore increase user satisfaction.

Modern technology and open architecture: The system should be built using the latest technologies. The architecture should be
* scalable – support an unlimited number of repositories, documents stored in a
* repository, categories and their levels, as well as a fast search through unlimited amount of information
* modular and expandable – provide a foundation for rapid development and fast delivery of new features requested by the users
* cross-platform – compatible with Windows, Linux, and MacOS operating systems
This allows the system to grow organically and reduce the time to deliver the new features to meet growing user needs.

Integrated solution: The user’s objective is an effective execution of her or his work. To accomplish this goal the user has to go through repetitive cycles of work with information and documents. These cycles may include:
* Gathering of the information for a document
* Analyzing information
* Creating the outline and the first draft of the document
* Placing the document to the repository
* Making changes to the document
* Preparing the document for future use
* Searching for other materials that will be used in a new version of the document
These phases are executed repeatedly to improve the quality of the document, bringing it to the desired results. A good system should be able to integrate the above mentioned features so that the user can complete the sequence of document development tasks in a single system. This implements agile document management.

Low cost of the ownership: Adoption of a document management system can save any organization millions of dollars. At the same time, the scale and broad functionality of corporate systems leads to the high cost of ownership unaffordable for personal users. It’s also important to note that a user might not need all the features available in a corporate system and therefore will only get overwhelmed by its complexity. The cost of a personal information management system should be low, but at the same time it has to provide the right set of features to match the needs of individual user. The system should be easy to install and run on any personal computer.

Artifact Manager

Artifact Manager is an advanced document and information management system. This simple, convenient, low-budget solution has all of the features of the enterprise information management system that helps to achieve higher productivity levels through a better management of personal documents and information.

Required Features Artifact Manager
* Flexible categorization Yes
* Powerful search tools Yes
* Centalized repository Yes
* Composite documents Yes
* Document metadata Yes
* Wide range of file types Yes
* Version control Yes
* History Yes
* User-friendly interface Yes
* Modern technology and architecture Yes
* Integrated soluton Yes
* Low-cost ownership Yes

Figure 4: Features of Artifact Manager

Artifact Manager is the first enterprise-class personal platform for document and information management. It combines a powerful search, flexible organization, reliable storage, and convenient interface in a single easy-to-use environment.

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http://www.ArtifactManager.com/downloads.html

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http://www.artifactmanager.com/papers/ArtifactManager_Organize-n-Search.pdf