Back to the Basics - atoms, molecules and cells
Lets go back to our early biology classes in school and refresh our knowledge.
How is the human body constituted?
The smallest forms in our body are atoms and molecules.
Organelles (the next higher form) are sub-parts of a cell which
help in its functioning. Nucleus, mitochondria, golgi bodies are
all examples of organelles. The nucleus contains all genetic
material. Mitochondria are termed as a powerhouse of the cell
because they generate energy by breaking down oxygen. The cells
having similar structure and function aggregate and form tissues.
Organs are formed by integration of these tissues and are responsible for specific functions in our body. Heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder, brain are all examples of organs. The next level of constitution in a human body are organ systems. Organ systems are defined as the interplay of related organs for a specific function. The human digestive system is one such example which starts from our tongue and ends with excretion of waste from our anus. Similarly, digestive system, circulatory system are examples of organ systems. Finally, the human body is the consolidated physical structure consisting of organ systems, organs, tissues and cells.
And a dose of Chemistry . . .
Oxygen is a gaseous element which is colorless, odorless and
tasteless. We breathe oxygen to survive. It is this same oxygen
which causes rusts on pieces of iron. It is highly reactive in
nature and always looks for free electrons to form convalent bonds
to stabilize itself. Again going back to chemistry sessions on
periodic table, the number of protons in a nucleus is called the
atomic number and always equals the number of electrons in orbit
about that nucleus (in a nonionized atom). The atomic number of
oxygen is 8 and it has 6 electrons in its outermost shell also
called the L shell. In order to make itself stable it needs 2
electrons to form covalent bonds. (Elements form either ionic or
covalent bonds)
Water is formed by sharing of electrons between Oxygen and
Hydrogen. The bonding capacity of an atom is determined by the
electrons. Thus, oxygen keeps on looking for 2 electrons to
stabilize itself and till both its free radicals are stabilized. This gives oxygen its reactive nature.
Burning is an example of fast oxidation
Let us now understand what is oxidation? It is the process of
combination of a substance with oxygen. It is a reaction in which
the atoms of an element lose electrons and its capacity to react
increases accordingly. Rusting of iron pieces is an example of slow oxidation.
Free Radicals cause Oxidative Stress
Imagine the number of processes that are occuring in a human body
at all times. The number would easy run into millions. These
processes require oxygen. In the process of utilizing oxygen
during normal metabolism with in the cell to create energy
(oxidation) free oxygen radicals are created. These free radicals
need to be neutralized immediately using anti-oxidants otherwise
they can easily harm the cells. Aggregation of these cell damages
will subsequently increase to tissue and organ levels thus
affecting the entire human body. It basically affects the immune system at the cellular level. This is called “oxidative stress”.
Oxidative stress in human bodies is one of the main causes of
chronic degenerative diseases. Degenerative means gradual
destruction of organs and cells thus leading to loss of their
functions. Cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease are all
degenerative in nature. It also means the damage of cells by free
radicals. Free radicals are mainly oxygen molecules that have at
least one unpaired electron in their outer orbit.
Oxidants are also created by smoking, regularly intake of alcohol
beverages, inadequate exercise and insufficient diet which lacks
relevant portions of protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Antioxidants . . .
Antioxidants, or anti-oxidation agents, reduce the effect of
dangerous oxidants by binding together with these harmful
molecules, decreasing their destructive power. Antioxidants can
also help repair damage already sustained by cells.
An antioxidant is substance that has the ability to give up an
electron to a free radical and balance out the unpaired electron
thereby neutralizing it. Some anioxidants are created in our body
but it does not produce all of the required ones. This deficiency
of antioxidants has be fulfilled through nutritional intake. Our
intake should be such that it balances the free radicals with adequate amount of antioxidants.
Sources of Antioxidants
The most common source of antioxidants are green leafy vegetables
which contain Vitamin C and E. Some of the sources of Vitamin C
are all kinds of berries like cherry, blueberry, black currant,
strawberry. Our body also requires sources of various carotenoids
like betacarotene, lycopene, lutein etc to fulfill the antioxidant
requirements. Items containg carotenoids are tomatoes, mangoes,
apricots, red peppers, oranges, peaches, carrots, peas,
watermelon, spinach etc. Some other food sources are walnuts,
ginger, pomegranate. Selenium is essential for formation of
enzymes like glutathione peroxidase which is an important
antioxidant enzyme. It is found in chicken, fish, liver and other
dairy products. Fruits and vergetables which are consumed raw or
marginally cooked provide the highest amount of antioxidants.
If you have insufficient diet due to your lifestyle then there are
options like nutritional supplements laced with antioxidants which
you can pop everyday to keep yourself fit.
Green Tea is also considered to have excellent antioxidant
properties. Recent studies have proven that Chinese herbal teas
have therapeutic effects and are proven source of antioxidants.
The leaves in Chinese herbal teas contain EGCG (epigallocatechin-gallate) fluoride, catechins and tannins. Having 4 cups of Chinese herbal tea can prolong the healthy condition of the cells and maintain your youth.
Bottomline
If you understand the organization of our body explained in the
first section and the role of oxygen then you will be able to
gauge the depth of the problem if your body cells start becoming
bad and defective. Taking care of your body starts at the cellular
level.
Intake of antioxidants after diseases have set in is not the
solution. One has to start early. Mom always said, “Eat your
fruits and vegetables, they’ll help you grow big and strong.”
Inculcate the habit of balanced, nutritional diet in your children
and explain why they need to eat well. Today’s fast paced life has
led to lot of compromise on the quality, quantity and periodicity
of the food that we consume. Look around you, heart diseases are
affecting people in their 30’s whereas your grand parents are
still young and full of life.
There is no elixir to youth. The cycle of life and death is
inevitable. What is possible is that you can have a healthy and
disease free life if you ensure that you eat good balanced diet
everyday and exercise regularly.
Eat and exercise well, enjoy life!!!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Thought to be a Lion, turned out to be a Lamb
In my opinion this movie is an example of Corporate Social
Responsibility of Hollywood towards their country and countrymen.
I have been watching these Hollywood movies since childhood and
they all have the same theme where Americans are always right and
they always win in the end be it against the enemy on earth or in
our galaxy and outer space.
This movie is an amalgamation of three different settings. The
political interview or rather discourse between a young (would-be
Prez candidate) gung-ho senator and senior journalist, a professor
trying to awaken the soul of his disillusioned student and a army
forward location in a third world country.
The senator has a typical all-American attitude of fighting the
enemy with “whatever it takes” but there are subtle moments where the character acknowledges that the great country went wrong in cases like Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq. But that does not mean that the troops will be called back home.
Media also plays equal roles in today’s world when it comes to
pushing and propagating political agendas and actions. Are they
also somewhere responsible for the way they have projected these
wars? There is a question of conscience and right or wrong on the
role of press. No one is winning the war, and lots of human lives
are being unnecessarily lost in these political interplays.
The few scenes of the war zone are ok though there are some
instances when the special effects look too unrefined especially
the Apache part. Anyway it is not a war movie but the politics
behind the wars.
The professor - student dialogues lack depth and leaves a lot to
be desired. The director has not been able to do much justice and
leaves the viewer unconvinced.
The star cast of the movie creates lot of interest and was the
main reason why I trotted to the movie hall - Tom Cruise as the
Senator, Meryl Streep as the Journalist and Robert Redford as the
Professor. The performance of each of these characters is
engaging. The weakest part of the movie is the storyline which
loses its punch after the interval.
This movie is replete with dialogues and is unlike many of the
recent loud graphic-loaded movies which are a must-see on giant
screens in the dolby digital environment of a movie hall. Dont
waste your money by going to a hall.
If you watch the movie closely then there is a scene where Meryl
Streep looks at a framed article in the senator’s chamber and then
there is a final scene of a news strip on TV. The interpretation
between the two is left to your imagination. Overall the movie
looks half-baked and amateurish. The story is always mightier then
the cast.
My verdict: Lion for Lambs is a DVD/ VCD Movie. Watch this movie in the cool confines of your home on a lazy day when you have nothing else to do.
Responsibility of Hollywood towards their country and countrymen.
I have been watching these Hollywood movies since childhood and
they all have the same theme where Americans are always right and
they always win in the end be it against the enemy on earth or in
our galaxy and outer space.
This movie is an amalgamation of three different settings. The
political interview or rather discourse between a young (would-be
Prez candidate) gung-ho senator and senior journalist, a professor
trying to awaken the soul of his disillusioned student and a army
forward location in a third world country.
The senator has a typical all-American attitude of fighting the
enemy with “whatever it takes” but there are subtle moments where the character acknowledges that the great country went wrong in cases like Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq. But that does not mean that the troops will be called back home.
Media also plays equal roles in today’s world when it comes to
pushing and propagating political agendas and actions. Are they
also somewhere responsible for the way they have projected these
wars? There is a question of conscience and right or wrong on the
role of press. No one is winning the war, and lots of human lives
are being unnecessarily lost in these political interplays.
The few scenes of the war zone are ok though there are some
instances when the special effects look too unrefined especially
the Apache part. Anyway it is not a war movie but the politics
behind the wars.
The professor - student dialogues lack depth and leaves a lot to
be desired. The director has not been able to do much justice and
leaves the viewer unconvinced.
The star cast of the movie creates lot of interest and was the
main reason why I trotted to the movie hall - Tom Cruise as the
Senator, Meryl Streep as the Journalist and Robert Redford as the
Professor. The performance of each of these characters is
engaging. The weakest part of the movie is the storyline which
loses its punch after the interval.
This movie is replete with dialogues and is unlike many of the
recent loud graphic-loaded movies which are a must-see on giant
screens in the dolby digital environment of a movie hall. Dont
waste your money by going to a hall.
If you watch the movie closely then there is a scene where Meryl
Streep looks at a framed article in the senator’s chamber and then
there is a final scene of a news strip on TV. The interpretation
between the two is left to your imagination. Overall the movie
looks half-baked and amateurish. The story is always mightier then
the cast.
My verdict: Lion for Lambs is a DVD/ VCD Movie. Watch this movie in the cool confines of your home on a lazy day when you have nothing else to do.
I think we need to "Diversify"
The costs are not coming down. Look around you - everything is
becoming day by day. The cost of milk, paper, electricity, water,
transportation, education. You name it. But the sources of income
are not increasing many folds for all classes of the society.
The need of the hour is to utilize your earnings and make them
grow at an accelerated pace to cover your future requirements of
finance.
The economy has opened up in many nations and we are no longer
confined to the boundaries of our country.
Any movement in the global capital markets affect the Indian
Sensex too. If you have all your investments in shares then your exposure is
very high since if the share market becomes bearish you end up
losing a lot of money.
What is the solution? If you have noticed the advertisement of a
mobile phone company where one of the manager says, “Sir, I think
we need to DIVERSIFY”.
In this dynamic scenario, it is highly recommended that one should
have a neatly diversified portfolio of financial assets for future
sustenance.
A portfolio is basically a list of financial assets held by an
individual or a firm.
What are the avenues of diversifying investments for a normal
middle-class person? There are many options of investment available
today. The most common option used by people are savings account
in a bank but the returns from a savings account are the least.
One can choose from risky options to relative secure ones based on a person’s propensity to absorb risk.
Let us look at few such options.
1. Mutual Funds - Regularly invest in diversified mutual funds in
the form of SIP (Systematic Investment Plan). If you understand
the market a bit and can invest some time regularly then only
consider sectoral funds. Sectoral funds are those which invest in
the stocks of a particular industry like infrastructure, power,
metals etc. Starting a SIP is very simple. You can give instruction to your bank so that a fixed amount is invested in the fund directly from your account on a fixed date of the month. This leads to a discipline and saves lot of your time.
These funds are liquid and you can withdraw your money within 2 business days. The benefit of mutual funds is that you need not keep track of them on day to day basis like stocks.
All you need to do is keep an eye on the list of stocks that form the
investment basket of a particular fund.
It is better to invest in some good mutual fund rather then keep your money lying in a savings account earning meagre interest. You can check these details on www.moneycontrol.com or www.valueresearchonline.com
2. Fixed Deposits - There are lot of banks these days which
advertise 390 or 590 days lock-in period FDs. There are others which run upto 5 years. All you need is walk-in to a bank branch. The whole procedure can be completed in no time. If you have an existing account with the branch then it makes it all the more easier. The money that you invest in FDs should be that amount which you dont need in the immediate (read less then 1 to 1.5 years)future. I recommend that one should invest in the FDs of reputed banks rather then lesser know cooperative ones since their reliability is always questionable. The management of cooperative banks are also not always above par. One source of security while investing in banks is that they are bound by RBI guidelines.
3. Public Provident Fund (PPF) - PPF is a type of investment which is overseen by the Government of India. The lower and the upper limit of investment in a financial year is Rs. 500 and Rs.70000. PPF accounts can be opened at select post offices around our country and in certain branches of public sector banks like SBI. The account matures for closure after 15 years. Hence, this is a long term investment. You can withdraw your depositis prematurely every year after completion of 5 years from the end of the year of opening the account.Government backed investment option; hence it is considered to be one of the safest and rish is lowest. You can have a PPF account in your/ spouse or children’s name. Imagine the impact if you start saving for your child when he/ she is 3. You will have a corpus of funds ready when your child turns 18. This is an option for all those people who do not have the Provident Fund component in their salary. In case of Provident Fund some part of your basic is deducted form your salary and saved in your PF account. Your employer also contributes the same amount. When you leave your company you can either withdraw your PF amount or get it transfered. Getting it transfered makes more sense since the longer the money remains in the account, the more interest it earns.
4. National Saving Certificate (NSC) - is another Government of India sponsored investment option. The lock-in period is around 6-7 years. The lower limit is Rs. 100 and there is no upper limit of investment.
NSC investment is also liable to Income Tax rebate if it is under Rs. 100,000.
5. Gold - Yes, gold but not in the form of jewellery but pure 24 carat coins or biscuits if money permits. Some part of your investment should be in the form of gold. It helps in diversifying your investment basket. Investing in gold does not mean buying ready or custom-made jewellery. Why? Because they dont have the requisite resale value. Why? Because the gold in jewellery is normally 18 carats since it has to be reinforced with other metals to make it strong otherwise gold is basically a malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold strips can be easily bent. Gold coins come in pure form and have excellent resale value. The best place to buy these coins are from your trusted jeweller. There are lot of advertisement of certified gold sold by banks like ICICI and HDFC. These gold are much more expensive due to a slew of taxes paid at different stages. But if you dont know a good jeweller then it is recommended that you buy the gold from the back. You will be given necessary certificates to prove its purity.
6. Stocks - Last but not the least is the most riskiest option - shares and stocks. You can buy/ sell stocks from the market through your shares agent or from sites like www.icicidirect.com or www.sharekhan.com. All these sites will charge you some amount for the transactions. You will need a demat account with a depository participant in case you wish to deal in stocks. Many companies come out with IPOs (Initial Public Offering). You can invest some amount at that time and see if you are alloted some shares. This is a risky option where the market sways with lot of heresay and emotion. Critical news about companies can make stocks shoot up or bomb. If you do not understand the share market or do not have the requisite time and discipline to follow it then do not enter into stocks and shares.
Please ensure that you check your tax liability in case of each of
these investment options. It can vary from person to person based on age, income, investment and gender. All types of investments come with some amount of risk but then this whole life is about risk.
Money will not grow by itself, it is you who has to nurture it properly like a plant. Save regularly and follow a discipline.
becoming day by day. The cost of milk, paper, electricity, water,
transportation, education. You name it. But the sources of income
are not increasing many folds for all classes of the society.
The need of the hour is to utilize your earnings and make them
grow at an accelerated pace to cover your future requirements of
finance.
The economy has opened up in many nations and we are no longer
confined to the boundaries of our country.
Any movement in the global capital markets affect the Indian
Sensex too. If you have all your investments in shares then your exposure is
very high since if the share market becomes bearish you end up
losing a lot of money.
What is the solution? If you have noticed the advertisement of a
mobile phone company where one of the manager says, “Sir, I think
we need to DIVERSIFY”.
In this dynamic scenario, it is highly recommended that one should
have a neatly diversified portfolio of financial assets for future
sustenance.
A portfolio is basically a list of financial assets held by an
individual or a firm.
What are the avenues of diversifying investments for a normal
middle-class person? There are many options of investment available
today. The most common option used by people are savings account
in a bank but the returns from a savings account are the least.
One can choose from risky options to relative secure ones based on a person’s propensity to absorb risk.
Let us look at few such options.
1. Mutual Funds - Regularly invest in diversified mutual funds in
the form of SIP (Systematic Investment Plan). If you understand
the market a bit and can invest some time regularly then only
consider sectoral funds. Sectoral funds are those which invest in
the stocks of a particular industry like infrastructure, power,
metals etc. Starting a SIP is very simple. You can give instruction to your bank so that a fixed amount is invested in the fund directly from your account on a fixed date of the month. This leads to a discipline and saves lot of your time.
These funds are liquid and you can withdraw your money within 2 business days. The benefit of mutual funds is that you need not keep track of them on day to day basis like stocks.
All you need to do is keep an eye on the list of stocks that form the
investment basket of a particular fund.
It is better to invest in some good mutual fund rather then keep your money lying in a savings account earning meagre interest. You can check these details on www.moneycontrol.com or www.valueresearchonline.com
2. Fixed Deposits - There are lot of banks these days which
advertise 390 or 590 days lock-in period FDs. There are others which run upto 5 years. All you need is walk-in to a bank branch. The whole procedure can be completed in no time. If you have an existing account with the branch then it makes it all the more easier. The money that you invest in FDs should be that amount which you dont need in the immediate (read less then 1 to 1.5 years)future. I recommend that one should invest in the FDs of reputed banks rather then lesser know cooperative ones since their reliability is always questionable. The management of cooperative banks are also not always above par. One source of security while investing in banks is that they are bound by RBI guidelines.
3. Public Provident Fund (PPF) - PPF is a type of investment which is overseen by the Government of India. The lower and the upper limit of investment in a financial year is Rs. 500 and Rs.70000. PPF accounts can be opened at select post offices around our country and in certain branches of public sector banks like SBI. The account matures for closure after 15 years. Hence, this is a long term investment. You can withdraw your depositis prematurely every year after completion of 5 years from the end of the year of opening the account.Government backed investment option; hence it is considered to be one of the safest and rish is lowest. You can have a PPF account in your/ spouse or children’s name. Imagine the impact if you start saving for your child when he/ she is 3. You will have a corpus of funds ready when your child turns 18. This is an option for all those people who do not have the Provident Fund component in their salary. In case of Provident Fund some part of your basic is deducted form your salary and saved in your PF account. Your employer also contributes the same amount. When you leave your company you can either withdraw your PF amount or get it transfered. Getting it transfered makes more sense since the longer the money remains in the account, the more interest it earns.
4. National Saving Certificate (NSC) - is another Government of India sponsored investment option. The lock-in period is around 6-7 years. The lower limit is Rs. 100 and there is no upper limit of investment.
NSC investment is also liable to Income Tax rebate if it is under Rs. 100,000.
5. Gold - Yes, gold but not in the form of jewellery but pure 24 carat coins or biscuits if money permits. Some part of your investment should be in the form of gold. It helps in diversifying your investment basket. Investing in gold does not mean buying ready or custom-made jewellery. Why? Because they dont have the requisite resale value. Why? Because the gold in jewellery is normally 18 carats since it has to be reinforced with other metals to make it strong otherwise gold is basically a malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold strips can be easily bent. Gold coins come in pure form and have excellent resale value. The best place to buy these coins are from your trusted jeweller. There are lot of advertisement of certified gold sold by banks like ICICI and HDFC. These gold are much more expensive due to a slew of taxes paid at different stages. But if you dont know a good jeweller then it is recommended that you buy the gold from the back. You will be given necessary certificates to prove its purity.
6. Stocks - Last but not the least is the most riskiest option - shares and stocks. You can buy/ sell stocks from the market through your shares agent or from sites like www.icicidirect.com or www.sharekhan.com. All these sites will charge you some amount for the transactions. You will need a demat account with a depository participant in case you wish to deal in stocks. Many companies come out with IPOs (Initial Public Offering). You can invest some amount at that time and see if you are alloted some shares. This is a risky option where the market sways with lot of heresay and emotion. Critical news about companies can make stocks shoot up or bomb. If you do not understand the share market or do not have the requisite time and discipline to follow it then do not enter into stocks and shares.
Please ensure that you check your tax liability in case of each of
these investment options. It can vary from person to person based on age, income, investment and gender. All types of investments come with some amount of risk but then this whole life is about risk.
Money will not grow by itself, it is you who has to nurture it properly like a plant. Save regularly and follow a discipline.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Using Microsoft Word for Beginners – A Kick Start Guide
We all need to use some kind of documentation tool in different areas of our life most common being writing school or office project reports, term papers, project reports, thesis, everyday letters in your workplace, manuscripts, articles, proposals etc. It has touched every aspect of our life in some way or the other. This article is also written using one such tool.
Microsoft Word is one of the most common documentation tool used by people across the world. Unfortunately many of the users just start working on it without having much knowledge about its vast capability in streamlining the activities.
In this article, I am going to touch upon some fundamental points which can make it easy to use MS Word for beginners*. I will be touching upon lot of keyboard shortcuts in this document so that the reader can reduce his/ her dependency on the mouse. Believe me it is much easier and faster to work solely with the keyboard.
* (It is assumed that the prospective reader of this article is reasonably versed with the basic computer operations.)
STARTING UP MS WORD IN A COMPUTER
Click on Start Button --> Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Office Word
There are other ways of executing the application too. You can create a Shortcut of Word on the Desktop. (This will be explained at the end of the document) Alternately one can also find a tab called New Office Document on clicking the Start button.
GET ORGANIZED, SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT
Yes, you read it right. Most people have the practice of writing the document and then saving it. Imagine what will happen if there is an error in your application and the program shuts off or the computer stalls and has to be rebooted – Whoosh!!! All your data that you had painstakingly typed will be lost. One of the best practices while working with any document using computers is to save it at the outset.
Another aspect is that once you are clear about the aim of writing the document, you need to store it in a particular location which will help you retrieve it easily next time when you need it. Novices sometimes store their file in odd locations and then end up futilely searching for it when it is needed the most. A computer is used to help you get your work organized. Start getting organized from the beginning.**
** (Activating Auto-Save is outside the scope of this document)
Click on File --> Save as --> Select the location in the Save In Drop Down Menu (This could be your C or D Drive or a sub-folder in one of these drives) Write an appropriate file name in the File Name Box (The name should be short but self explanatory) Save as Type should be Word Document --> Click on the Save button
You can also Press Alt+F and then A keys. Alt+F and A is equivalent to clicking on File Save As. You will straightaway get you the Save As window. Your file will be saved on completing the above steps.
When I type the character ‘+’ as in Alt+F, I imply that one has to press Alt and the F key together at the same time. Do not touch the + key.
FAST SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT ON THE RUN
Once a file has been saved with a file name then subsequently you should save it after short intervals by simply pressing Ctrl+S keys. Here you do not need to specify the file name since it has already been done.
ORIENTATION, PAPER SIZE AND MARGINS – DEFINE THE PAGE SETUP
Orientation: How do you want your document to be printed or displayed on the computer once it is ready? The 2 common orientations are portrait or landscape. Portrait is basically when you print a document whose height is more then its breadth and landscape is when the width is more then the height.
Paper Size: Another consideration is whether you want to print on an A4 or A3 size paper. The most common paper sizes are A4 or Letter and in some cases A3 when you want to print a huge tabular data. A3 size paper is larger then A4.
The usual sizes in ascending order are A5 A4 A3 A2.
(A4 is twice the size of A5 and A3 is twice the size of A4 or four times the size of A5.)
Margins: When you print on a document, you do utilize the entire area. There are 2 main segregations in a document in terms of printing – printable and non-printable area. In order to differentiate between the 2 you have to define the margins of the page. It is important that you leave more margins to the left of your document since normally it is punched and filed. Visualize a scenario if you print too much to the left of the document. A part of the document will get cut due to the punch holes and will make it difficult to read.
Click on File Page Setup Margins (Set the Top, Bottom, Left and Right Margins which are defined in inches) (Suggested Settings: Top – 0.5”, Bottom – 0.5”, Left – 1.25”, Right – 0.5”) Do not touch the Gutter or Gutter Position settings. (Try to set too less left margin and then file the document and see the difference)
Click on Orientation – Portrait or Landscape (as required)
Click on the Paper Tab on Top (There are 3 tabs – Margins, Paper, Layout)
To set the paper size – select the drop down menu and click on A4, Letter or A3 as may be required
Click on the Layout Tab to set where you want to print the Header and Footer of your document. Normally we print the page numbers, document name etc in the header and footer areas. These areas are relative to the Top and Bottom margins. You can set it to 0.3” each.
Click on OK
The shortcut key to get the Page Setup window is Alt+F and U. Try it!
You have now saved your document and set the print attributes of your page. This will ensure that your document will automatically set itself for printing and ensure that you do not write in the non-printable areas.
ARIAL OR TIMES NEW ROMAN – SET THE FONT
The standard fonts used in formal communication are Times New Roman or Arial. Times New Roman is a Serif Font and Arial is Sans Serif. Serif means a short line at the end of the main strokes of a character. See the difference in the examples given below.
Times New Roman – Serif - Sun rises in the east.
Arial – Sans Serif - Sun rises in the east.
Your document will look highly unprofessional if you use fonts like Windings or Comic Sans.
One other font used commonly in the websites is Verdana.
Wingdings –
Comic Sans – Sun rises in the east.
Verdana – Sun rises in the east.
Click on Format Font Select the Font, Font Style (See example below), Size (Suggested size is 10 or 12) Click on OK
Font – Arial, Style – Regular, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Bold, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Italics, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Bold, Italic, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
The shortcut key for setting the font is Alt+O and F.
SET THE PARAGRAPH ATTRIBUTES
The most common attribute is the spacing between 2 lines. You can set it to 1 or 1.5. You can set the attributes before you start typing your document or alternately the settings can be done after writing the text in the body of your document. See the examples below.
Sun rises in the east.
Sun rises in the east.
-------------------------
Sun rises in the east.
Sun rises in the east.
Secondly you can specify how your document should be aligned - left, right, center or justified aligned. See the examples below:
Left aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+L after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Right aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+R after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Center aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+E after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Justified aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+J after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Sample Text Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Independence
Click on Format Paragraphs Select the Alignment, Select the Line Spacing in Spacing option (Suggested – Single or 1.5 Lines)
The shortcut key is Alt+O and P. to get the Paragraph Settings box.
The shortcut key for setting the line spacing is Ctrl+1 for Single spacing and Ctrl+5 for 1.5 Lines spacing. These shortcut keys should be pressed only after selecting the text for which you want to set the attributes.
The basic blueprint of your document has been defined. You can proceed by typing the body of your text. It is recommended that first you should complete typing the entire body and then make the necessary attributes like Heading, Sub-heading, bulleted points, indention etc.
The only way you can move from being a Beginner to an Expert is by practically implementing what has been mentioned in the document. Working with Microsoft Word is an iterative process whereby you can learn more features by trying them out in a real life situation.
We had discussed about creating a shortcut of Word on your Desktop in the beginning of the article.
Click on Start Button --> Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Office Word (Right click on the Name – Microsoft Office Word and select Send To --> Desktop (create shortcut)
I will be touching upon points like page number, inserting tables, pictures, drawing items, adding footnotes and endnotes, additional font features and using columns in my next article.
For the formatted pdf version leave me a comment! :)
Microsoft Word is one of the most common documentation tool used by people across the world. Unfortunately many of the users just start working on it without having much knowledge about its vast capability in streamlining the activities.
In this article, I am going to touch upon some fundamental points which can make it easy to use MS Word for beginners*. I will be touching upon lot of keyboard shortcuts in this document so that the reader can reduce his/ her dependency on the mouse. Believe me it is much easier and faster to work solely with the keyboard.
* (It is assumed that the prospective reader of this article is reasonably versed with the basic computer operations.)
STARTING UP MS WORD IN A COMPUTER
Click on Start Button --> Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Office Word
There are other ways of executing the application too. You can create a Shortcut of Word on the Desktop. (This will be explained at the end of the document) Alternately one can also find a tab called New Office Document on clicking the Start button.
GET ORGANIZED, SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT
Yes, you read it right. Most people have the practice of writing the document and then saving it. Imagine what will happen if there is an error in your application and the program shuts off or the computer stalls and has to be rebooted – Whoosh!!! All your data that you had painstakingly typed will be lost. One of the best practices while working with any document using computers is to save it at the outset.
Another aspect is that once you are clear about the aim of writing the document, you need to store it in a particular location which will help you retrieve it easily next time when you need it. Novices sometimes store their file in odd locations and then end up futilely searching for it when it is needed the most. A computer is used to help you get your work organized. Start getting organized from the beginning.**
** (Activating Auto-Save is outside the scope of this document)
Click on File --> Save as --> Select the location in the Save In Drop Down Menu (This could be your C or D Drive or a sub-folder in one of these drives) Write an appropriate file name in the File Name Box (The name should be short but self explanatory) Save as Type should be Word Document --> Click on the Save button
You can also Press Alt+F and then A keys. Alt+F and A is equivalent to clicking on File Save As. You will straightaway get you the Save As window. Your file will be saved on completing the above steps.
When I type the character ‘+’ as in Alt+F, I imply that one has to press Alt and the F key together at the same time. Do not touch the + key.
FAST SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT ON THE RUN
Once a file has been saved with a file name then subsequently you should save it after short intervals by simply pressing Ctrl+S keys. Here you do not need to specify the file name since it has already been done.
ORIENTATION, PAPER SIZE AND MARGINS – DEFINE THE PAGE SETUP
Orientation: How do you want your document to be printed or displayed on the computer once it is ready? The 2 common orientations are portrait or landscape. Portrait is basically when you print a document whose height is more then its breadth and landscape is when the width is more then the height.
Paper Size: Another consideration is whether you want to print on an A4 or A3 size paper. The most common paper sizes are A4 or Letter and in some cases A3 when you want to print a huge tabular data. A3 size paper is larger then A4.
The usual sizes in ascending order are A5 A4 A3 A2.
(A4 is twice the size of A5 and A3 is twice the size of A4 or four times the size of A5.)
Margins: When you print on a document, you do utilize the entire area. There are 2 main segregations in a document in terms of printing – printable and non-printable area. In order to differentiate between the 2 you have to define the margins of the page. It is important that you leave more margins to the left of your document since normally it is punched and filed. Visualize a scenario if you print too much to the left of the document. A part of the document will get cut due to the punch holes and will make it difficult to read.
Click on File Page Setup Margins (Set the Top, Bottom, Left and Right Margins which are defined in inches) (Suggested Settings: Top – 0.5”, Bottom – 0.5”, Left – 1.25”, Right – 0.5”) Do not touch the Gutter or Gutter Position settings. (Try to set too less left margin and then file the document and see the difference)
Click on Orientation – Portrait or Landscape (as required)
Click on the Paper Tab on Top (There are 3 tabs – Margins, Paper, Layout)
To set the paper size – select the drop down menu and click on A4, Letter or A3 as may be required
Click on the Layout Tab to set where you want to print the Header and Footer of your document. Normally we print the page numbers, document name etc in the header and footer areas. These areas are relative to the Top and Bottom margins. You can set it to 0.3” each.
Click on OK
The shortcut key to get the Page Setup window is Alt+F and U. Try it!
You have now saved your document and set the print attributes of your page. This will ensure that your document will automatically set itself for printing and ensure that you do not write in the non-printable areas.
ARIAL OR TIMES NEW ROMAN – SET THE FONT
The standard fonts used in formal communication are Times New Roman or Arial. Times New Roman is a Serif Font and Arial is Sans Serif. Serif means a short line at the end of the main strokes of a character. See the difference in the examples given below.
Times New Roman – Serif - Sun rises in the east.
Arial – Sans Serif - Sun rises in the east.
Your document will look highly unprofessional if you use fonts like Windings or Comic Sans.
One other font used commonly in the websites is Verdana.
Wingdings –
Comic Sans – Sun rises in the east.
Verdana – Sun rises in the east.
Click on Format Font Select the Font, Font Style (See example below), Size (Suggested size is 10 or 12) Click on OK
Font – Arial, Style – Regular, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Bold, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Italics, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
Font – Arial, Style – Bold, Italic, Size – 10: Sun rises in the east.
The shortcut key for setting the font is Alt+O and F.
SET THE PARAGRAPH ATTRIBUTES
The most common attribute is the spacing between 2 lines. You can set it to 1 or 1.5. You can set the attributes before you start typing your document or alternately the settings can be done after writing the text in the body of your document. See the examples below.
Sun rises in the east.
Sun rises in the east.
-------------------------
Sun rises in the east.
Sun rises in the east.
Secondly you can specify how your document should be aligned - left, right, center or justified aligned. See the examples below:
Left aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+L after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Right aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+R after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Center aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+E after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Justified aligned Shortcut Key. Ctrl+J after selecting the text
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
Sample Text Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Independence
Click on Format Paragraphs Select the Alignment, Select the Line Spacing in Spacing option (Suggested – Single or 1.5 Lines)
The shortcut key is Alt+O and P. to get the Paragraph Settings box.
The shortcut key for setting the line spacing is Ctrl+1 for Single spacing and Ctrl+5 for 1.5 Lines spacing. These shortcut keys should be pressed only after selecting the text for which you want to set the attributes.
The basic blueprint of your document has been defined. You can proceed by typing the body of your text. It is recommended that first you should complete typing the entire body and then make the necessary attributes like Heading, Sub-heading, bulleted points, indention etc.
The only way you can move from being a Beginner to an Expert is by practically implementing what has been mentioned in the document. Working with Microsoft Word is an iterative process whereby you can learn more features by trying them out in a real life situation.
We had discussed about creating a shortcut of Word on your Desktop in the beginning of the article.
Click on Start Button --> Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Microsoft Office Word (Right click on the Name – Microsoft Office Word and select Send To --> Desktop (create shortcut)
I will be touching upon points like page number, inserting tables, pictures, drawing items, adding footnotes and endnotes, additional font features and using columns in my next article.
For the formatted pdf version leave me a comment! :)
How insurance surveyors can make your life miserable?
Recently there was an article in Economic Times dated 24.10.2007, Page 21 - "New India asked to pay Rs. 10 Lakh to Clinic"
I am happy that the consumer power managed to get this judgement against New India Assurance (NIA) company.
We have been insuring our cars with NIA for last many years.
I am writing this in order to appraise others of what happens to common customers and the kind of treatment meted out to them by the "esteemed" surveyors many of whom are doing nothing but trying to swindle money out of the customers on the pretext of processing the insurance claim. Many of us Indians take the easy way out by paying this money to reduce our hassles.
Our car met with an accident on the Ahmedabad - Mumbai National highway this September. We swerved off the road while trying to save a cow. The cow was saved but our ordeal had just started. We managed to bring the car upto Thane and sent it to a reputed garage. My husband wrote the entire details of what had happened, how, when and where as per the surveyor's requirement. We also had a photo of the car at the accident site as well as photos of how the car swerved off the road. It was a clear case of getting insurance for the damages. We do not have a track record of missing any premium dates.
We had to wait for more then 3 weeks for the surveyor to complete the entire process. First 5 days the garage people could not touch the car since the surveyor had not checked it. He also asked my husband to repeatedly tell him about the incident though the same was written and given to him. He complained of not receiving a fax and other petty issues. We had to resend the fax multiple times. Then his complaint was that no senior person is available in the garage when he went to visit which is again a lie. Do you need the owner of the garage at your beck and call. I think these demands are absurd. The owner's son was around throughout this incident.
This same car when it had earlier met with an accident was repaired in another garage with much lesser capability and facility and the insurance was claimed from your organization only.
We found the surveyor's behavior highly fishy and we were given the feeling that our work would have been completed easily if we had agreed to some financial considerations.
We could manage without that car for more then 2 weeks simply because we had other resources. There are many people out there in our country who do not own more then 1 car. Imagine their plight when they have to go through these delaying and arm-twisting tactics of your surveyors. I hope the NIA vigilance department does something about these errant surveyors.
This is what is happening in NIA at grass root levels.
I and my husband had done our Medical Insurance through New India. Now we are having second thoughts about the decision.
For the vehicles, we changed to a private company. Reason - pathetic and unethical treatment from the surveyor after an accident of our car. We have also told all our relatives to stay clear of NIA in future for any dealings. We hope that all the others who have insurance with your company get better treatment then what we got. It is a sad state of affairs.
I am happy that the consumer power managed to get this judgement against New India Assurance (NIA) company.
We have been insuring our cars with NIA for last many years.
I am writing this in order to appraise others of what happens to common customers and the kind of treatment meted out to them by the "esteemed" surveyors many of whom are doing nothing but trying to swindle money out of the customers on the pretext of processing the insurance claim. Many of us Indians take the easy way out by paying this money to reduce our hassles.
Our car met with an accident on the Ahmedabad - Mumbai National highway this September. We swerved off the road while trying to save a cow. The cow was saved but our ordeal had just started. We managed to bring the car upto Thane and sent it to a reputed garage. My husband wrote the entire details of what had happened, how, when and where as per the surveyor's requirement. We also had a photo of the car at the accident site as well as photos of how the car swerved off the road. It was a clear case of getting insurance for the damages. We do not have a track record of missing any premium dates.
We had to wait for more then 3 weeks for the surveyor to complete the entire process. First 5 days the garage people could not touch the car since the surveyor had not checked it. He also asked my husband to repeatedly tell him about the incident though the same was written and given to him. He complained of not receiving a fax and other petty issues. We had to resend the fax multiple times. Then his complaint was that no senior person is available in the garage when he went to visit which is again a lie. Do you need the owner of the garage at your beck and call. I think these demands are absurd. The owner's son was around throughout this incident.
This same car when it had earlier met with an accident was repaired in another garage with much lesser capability and facility and the insurance was claimed from your organization only.
We found the surveyor's behavior highly fishy and we were given the feeling that our work would have been completed easily if we had agreed to some financial considerations.
We could manage without that car for more then 2 weeks simply because we had other resources. There are many people out there in our country who do not own more then 1 car. Imagine their plight when they have to go through these delaying and arm-twisting tactics of your surveyors. I hope the NIA vigilance department does something about these errant surveyors.
This is what is happening in NIA at grass root levels.
I and my husband had done our Medical Insurance through New India. Now we are having second thoughts about the decision.
For the vehicles, we changed to a private company. Reason - pathetic and unethical treatment from the surveyor after an accident of our car. We have also told all our relatives to stay clear of NIA in future for any dealings. We hope that all the others who have insurance with your company get better treatment then what we got. It is a sad state of affairs.
The Fuss about Albus being GAY
Times Of India 28.10.2007. Pg. 19. Title. The Fuss about Albus
I am a die hard fan of HP.
Why is there so much hue and cry about Dumbledore being gay? I find it absolutely unnecessary.
Why are we raising questions and casting doubt on JKR and her timing of this announcement?
Has her declaration rattled the image that we had conjured in our mind of Dumbledore?
What is the harm if JKR creates a spin and wants to increase her target audience? Has it been ever explicitly mentioned that HP is a children's book? Our Indian mythological books are interpreted in different manner by different people. That is the freedom of our mind and maturity and expanse of thought.
When I saw "6th Sense - The movie" for the first time I did not understand the concept. It took me awhile. But the next time I saw it from an entirely different perspective and it made it quite enjoyable all over again. Same with the 7 books. I should say that
JKR has ignited our minds with a lateral view and have drawn us back to all the books once again.
If we try to make it sound that Dumbledore being gay clouds his ability as a wizard then there is something wrong with our thought process. Martina Navratilova, George Michael, Elton John have made different choices in their sexual preference but does that undermine their skill and achievements?
JKR has just cast a charm and we are swayed by it. :)
I am a die hard fan of HP.
Why is there so much hue and cry about Dumbledore being gay? I find it absolutely unnecessary.
Why are we raising questions and casting doubt on JKR and her timing of this announcement?
Has her declaration rattled the image that we had conjured in our mind of Dumbledore?
What is the harm if JKR creates a spin and wants to increase her target audience? Has it been ever explicitly mentioned that HP is a children's book? Our Indian mythological books are interpreted in different manner by different people. That is the freedom of our mind and maturity and expanse of thought.
When I saw "6th Sense - The movie" for the first time I did not understand the concept. It took me awhile. But the next time I saw it from an entirely different perspective and it made it quite enjoyable all over again. Same with the 7 books. I should say that
JKR has ignited our minds with a lateral view and have drawn us back to all the books once again.
If we try to make it sound that Dumbledore being gay clouds his ability as a wizard then there is something wrong with our thought process. Martina Navratilova, George Michael, Elton John have made different choices in their sexual preference but does that undermine their skill and achievements?
JKR has just cast a charm and we are swayed by it. :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Durga Puja and Dussehra
It is the time of the year again when Goddess Durga begins her journey for her parental house.
This period of Navratri starts just after Pitra Paksh (a period when you are supposed to pray to your fore fathers)(people generally do not start any good activities during this period).
The ninth day is followed by Dussehra. This day signifies victory of good over evil or bad.
Wishing you all a very Happy Durga Puja and Dussehra. :)
This period of Navratri starts just after Pitra Paksh (a period when you are supposed to pray to your fore fathers)(people generally do not start any good activities during this period).
The ninth day is followed by Dussehra. This day signifies victory of good over evil or bad.
Wishing you all a very Happy Durga Puja and Dussehra. :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Change . . . . . .
Introduction
Today we are in the 21st century. Mankind has come a long way from Stone Age somewhere around 600,000 B.C. The Homo sapiens (human beings) had the aptitude, which helped them make their own weapons and tools for hunting and eating food. This is what separates human beings from animals till date. The earliest invention of fire and wheel are glaring examples of man’s capability to think and create and are the highlights of Stone Age. Initially the process of invention was slow but steady. Man made boats, ink, coins etc in the period know as Before Christ. A set of important inventions that took place between the 9th and the 11th century were Lateen Sails, Compass and Sternpost rudder. The sail helped man to move against the direction of wind and not depend on the wind to flow with it. The compass and the rudder led to the Discovery Age when men started finding new lands and civilizations. The first major invention After Christ was Paper. The invention of Printing Press by Gutenberg in 1439 marked the advent of the Knowledge Age. Books could be easily printed, circulated to the masses and thus knowledge started spreading to the farthest corners of the world. People became enlightened and emancipated. Knowledge no longer remained the virtue of a handful of people. In 1765, James Watt invented the Steam engine. The far-reaching implication of this invention was that man was no longer dependent on animal power. Railroads, ocean going steamships, mining and textiles came to the forefront and comprised of the Industrial Revolution, which changed mankind forever. Trade and business prevailed in the era Before Christ too but it was restricted to a limited area and did not have any far reaching effects. The movement of man, material and money started around the world at a pace never attained earlier after the Industrial Revolution. This boosted the growth of business, organizations were formed, trade started growing between nations, the life style of men started changing. It was the year 1928; Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery of Penicillin. Till date no other medicine has saved more lives then Penicillin in the history of mankind. It was a conquest of sorts. And finally – the Information Age. John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert made the ENIAC (first calculating machine) in 1945. The last century is marked with numerous inventions and discoveries by man that is affecting our lives in both good (heart-lung machine) and bad ways (the atom bomb). Today we are moving into the realm of robots and artificial intelligence, man has landed on the moon and as I write this article a mission to Mars has commenced.
What is remarkable in the above observation is that each and every invention from fire to fighter jets is that each one of them has affected the lives of man in some way or the other. We had to realign our lives to the new inventions and discoveries around us in order to survive and sustain. Bullets were invented to kill people and at the same time we invented bulletproof vests to protect against bullets. It is rightfully quoted that necessity is the mother of invention.
The most common and striking impact of all this invention is Change – in every aspect of life.
It is an inevitable part of our life. Charles Darwin in his famous book – The Origin of Species mentions about survival of the fittest. The crux of his theory is that the world is not constant or recently created nor perpetually cycling, but rather it is steadily changing, and that organisms are transformed in time. According to his theory of Natural selection, evolutionary change comes about through the abundant production of genetic variation in every generation. The relatively few individuals, who survive, owing to a particularly well-adapted combination of inheritable characters, give rise to the next generation. The views of Darwin in The Origin of Species have percolated into our business world of capitalist ideas surrounding the organizations. Organizations go through the cycle of “Survival of the fittest” and “natural selection” in this environment of globalization and competition.
Why do so many organizations take birth but dwindle away and some grow bigger and wider each day? How do we identify the reasons? Organizations go through different phases of growth. The first challenge for leaders who wish to grow their organizations is to understand what phase of the organizational life cycle one is in. (Murray Johannsen) The Organizational life cycle is very similar to a Product Life cycle. It can be divided into various phases. We will refer to the simple phases mentioned by Murray Johannsen.
Startup (or Birth), Growth – This is sometimes divided into an early growth phase (fast growth) and Maturity phase (slow growth or no growth). However, maturity often leads to Decline. When in decline, an organization will either undergo Renewal or Death and bankruptcy
Organizations encounter different kind of situations and circumstances at each of these stages. Today, we have revised/ new laws laid by the government, banks modify their lending rates based on the global scenario, new technological advancements affect the existing manufacturing or service processes, competitors come up with newer strategies to compete in the market, customers are better informed, newer channels of delivery are created. All these issues lead to a situation where the organization has to modify its strategy, systems, and structure either individually or all at a time. The chances of survival and growth increase proportionately with the pace of adaptation and transformation of these organizations. At the fundamental level in order to adapt, an organization has to modify the way it used to function. It has been found that when businesses are not clear about their strategies, practices, policies, processes, behaviors and expected outcomes there is chaos. Chaos and uncertainty can severely hamper the ability to achieve organizational goals and can jeopardize the ability to implement long lasting change strategies.
Organizations today are operating in environments that require different approaches, different ways of functioning and different structures. Organizational change demands a "new way of life." Business is about managing, and managing is about handling change. Business is always changing, and change comes in basic three forms: routine day by day, non-routine planned, non-routine unplanned. The nature of change and the organization's role in influencing and responding to it are issues with which humankind has grappled for a long time. The ancient Greek thinker, Heraclitus, remarked more then thousand years ago that "everything is born in strife and constant flux; and whatever lives, lives by destroying something else." Many other Greek philosophers offered opposing beliefs as to whether change is real or simply appearance, what causes it, and whether or not it has a purpose. What is man's role in change? Does it really even matter? Ancient thought, it turns out, is highly relevant to the management of change in business today (Wagner, 1995).
Most organizations – and most jobs – are in a constant state of evolution: introducing new technologies, new systems and new products. These incremental changes come in small, manageable steps: word processors replace typewriters, calculators replace mechanical adding machines, computer skills become important in all kinds of work. Major transformations outside require dramatic adaptation inside. Some changes are not incremental. Rapid, large-scale changes in the world force organizations to make equally dramatic adaptations just to preserve status quo. If an organization is to make an abrupt, radical change in its structure or systems, the people of that organization must change the way they work, they relate to each other, and the way in which they think about their work. People must change to make change last. To transform itself, an organization must call on its employees to change themselves and the way they function. Many believe that it's hard for people to change. Some believe that people really don't change. People do change. It is our nature to change. Our adult lives are a history of unique, personal change. We make changes that are more dramatic than growth or evolution. We change on purpose. We change our skills. We change our surroundings and the places that we live. Most of us change jobs. Some of us change spouses. We even change our beliefs and rearrange our values. The gist of the above discussion is that Change is inevitable. It is rightly said that the only thing constant about change is change itself. The question now arises is that – How should we initiate any kind of change in an organization? Transforming a company's culture is like starting an earthquake.
Organizations can change their relationship to their environments - the nature of their ties to their markets and major stakeholders - by structuring or redefining their identity and boundaries through mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, or alliances and partnerships. Organization survival today depends on courage and imagination - the courage to challenge prevailing business models, and the imagination to invent new services, new products, and new markets. Increasingly, neither business leaders nor rank-and-file employees question whether to change but how. The challenge of change is not simple a large-scale conceptual and philosophical issue. It is every bit as much an immediate practical issue: choosing first steps and concrete actions. (Kanter, Barry and Todd, 1992:489)
(Note. Some references might be missing but this is just a draft idea)
Today we are in the 21st century. Mankind has come a long way from Stone Age somewhere around 600,000 B.C. The Homo sapiens (human beings) had the aptitude, which helped them make their own weapons and tools for hunting and eating food. This is what separates human beings from animals till date. The earliest invention of fire and wheel are glaring examples of man’s capability to think and create and are the highlights of Stone Age. Initially the process of invention was slow but steady. Man made boats, ink, coins etc in the period know as Before Christ. A set of important inventions that took place between the 9th and the 11th century were Lateen Sails, Compass and Sternpost rudder. The sail helped man to move against the direction of wind and not depend on the wind to flow with it. The compass and the rudder led to the Discovery Age when men started finding new lands and civilizations. The first major invention After Christ was Paper. The invention of Printing Press by Gutenberg in 1439 marked the advent of the Knowledge Age. Books could be easily printed, circulated to the masses and thus knowledge started spreading to the farthest corners of the world. People became enlightened and emancipated. Knowledge no longer remained the virtue of a handful of people. In 1765, James Watt invented the Steam engine. The far-reaching implication of this invention was that man was no longer dependent on animal power. Railroads, ocean going steamships, mining and textiles came to the forefront and comprised of the Industrial Revolution, which changed mankind forever. Trade and business prevailed in the era Before Christ too but it was restricted to a limited area and did not have any far reaching effects. The movement of man, material and money started around the world at a pace never attained earlier after the Industrial Revolution. This boosted the growth of business, organizations were formed, trade started growing between nations, the life style of men started changing. It was the year 1928; Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery of Penicillin. Till date no other medicine has saved more lives then Penicillin in the history of mankind. It was a conquest of sorts. And finally – the Information Age. John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert made the ENIAC (first calculating machine) in 1945. The last century is marked with numerous inventions and discoveries by man that is affecting our lives in both good (heart-lung machine) and bad ways (the atom bomb). Today we are moving into the realm of robots and artificial intelligence, man has landed on the moon and as I write this article a mission to Mars has commenced.
What is remarkable in the above observation is that each and every invention from fire to fighter jets is that each one of them has affected the lives of man in some way or the other. We had to realign our lives to the new inventions and discoveries around us in order to survive and sustain. Bullets were invented to kill people and at the same time we invented bulletproof vests to protect against bullets. It is rightfully quoted that necessity is the mother of invention.
The most common and striking impact of all this invention is Change – in every aspect of life.
It is an inevitable part of our life. Charles Darwin in his famous book – The Origin of Species mentions about survival of the fittest. The crux of his theory is that the world is not constant or recently created nor perpetually cycling, but rather it is steadily changing, and that organisms are transformed in time. According to his theory of Natural selection, evolutionary change comes about through the abundant production of genetic variation in every generation. The relatively few individuals, who survive, owing to a particularly well-adapted combination of inheritable characters, give rise to the next generation. The views of Darwin in The Origin of Species have percolated into our business world of capitalist ideas surrounding the organizations. Organizations go through the cycle of “Survival of the fittest” and “natural selection” in this environment of globalization and competition.
Why do so many organizations take birth but dwindle away and some grow bigger and wider each day? How do we identify the reasons? Organizations go through different phases of growth. The first challenge for leaders who wish to grow their organizations is to understand what phase of the organizational life cycle one is in. (Murray Johannsen) The Organizational life cycle is very similar to a Product Life cycle. It can be divided into various phases. We will refer to the simple phases mentioned by Murray Johannsen.
Startup (or Birth), Growth – This is sometimes divided into an early growth phase (fast growth) and Maturity phase (slow growth or no growth). However, maturity often leads to Decline. When in decline, an organization will either undergo Renewal or Death and bankruptcy
Organizations encounter different kind of situations and circumstances at each of these stages. Today, we have revised/ new laws laid by the government, banks modify their lending rates based on the global scenario, new technological advancements affect the existing manufacturing or service processes, competitors come up with newer strategies to compete in the market, customers are better informed, newer channels of delivery are created. All these issues lead to a situation where the organization has to modify its strategy, systems, and structure either individually or all at a time. The chances of survival and growth increase proportionately with the pace of adaptation and transformation of these organizations. At the fundamental level in order to adapt, an organization has to modify the way it used to function. It has been found that when businesses are not clear about their strategies, practices, policies, processes, behaviors and expected outcomes there is chaos. Chaos and uncertainty can severely hamper the ability to achieve organizational goals and can jeopardize the ability to implement long lasting change strategies.
Organizations today are operating in environments that require different approaches, different ways of functioning and different structures. Organizational change demands a "new way of life." Business is about managing, and managing is about handling change. Business is always changing, and change comes in basic three forms: routine day by day, non-routine planned, non-routine unplanned. The nature of change and the organization's role in influencing and responding to it are issues with which humankind has grappled for a long time. The ancient Greek thinker, Heraclitus, remarked more then thousand years ago that "everything is born in strife and constant flux; and whatever lives, lives by destroying something else." Many other Greek philosophers offered opposing beliefs as to whether change is real or simply appearance, what causes it, and whether or not it has a purpose. What is man's role in change? Does it really even matter? Ancient thought, it turns out, is highly relevant to the management of change in business today (Wagner, 1995).
Most organizations – and most jobs – are in a constant state of evolution: introducing new technologies, new systems and new products. These incremental changes come in small, manageable steps: word processors replace typewriters, calculators replace mechanical adding machines, computer skills become important in all kinds of work. Major transformations outside require dramatic adaptation inside. Some changes are not incremental. Rapid, large-scale changes in the world force organizations to make equally dramatic adaptations just to preserve status quo. If an organization is to make an abrupt, radical change in its structure or systems, the people of that organization must change the way they work, they relate to each other, and the way in which they think about their work. People must change to make change last. To transform itself, an organization must call on its employees to change themselves and the way they function. Many believe that it's hard for people to change. Some believe that people really don't change. People do change. It is our nature to change. Our adult lives are a history of unique, personal change. We make changes that are more dramatic than growth or evolution. We change on purpose. We change our skills. We change our surroundings and the places that we live. Most of us change jobs. Some of us change spouses. We even change our beliefs and rearrange our values. The gist of the above discussion is that Change is inevitable. It is rightly said that the only thing constant about change is change itself. The question now arises is that – How should we initiate any kind of change in an organization? Transforming a company's culture is like starting an earthquake.
Organizations can change their relationship to their environments - the nature of their ties to their markets and major stakeholders - by structuring or redefining their identity and boundaries through mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, or alliances and partnerships. Organization survival today depends on courage and imagination - the courage to challenge prevailing business models, and the imagination to invent new services, new products, and new markets. Increasingly, neither business leaders nor rank-and-file employees question whether to change but how. The challenge of change is not simple a large-scale conceptual and philosophical issue. It is every bit as much an immediate practical issue: choosing first steps and concrete actions. (Kanter, Barry and Todd, 1992:489)
(Note. Some references might be missing but this is just a draft idea)
Friday, September 7, 2007
The Goal of a Company . . . .
The Goal of any Company is to make MONEY. Simple!!!
I was on a short vacation in June 2007 and read the book by Dr. Goldratt titled The Goal. I was deeply impressed by the same.
I gave a small presentation on the same alongwith a bit of the principles from The Toyota Way.
In case if anyone is interested in viewing the ppt, drop me a note on this blog and I will send the same.
The crux is that it is all about managing your CONSTRAINTS!!!
Adios,
Yps
I was on a short vacation in June 2007 and read the book by Dr. Goldratt titled The Goal. I was deeply impressed by the same.
I gave a small presentation on the same alongwith a bit of the principles from The Toyota Way.
In case if anyone is interested in viewing the ppt, drop me a note on this blog and I will send the same.
The crux is that it is all about managing your CONSTRAINTS!!!
Adios,
Yps
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Information Technology – Quo vadis? – My view
We are moving towards an integrated and well-connected world where geographical boundaries will remain only in the geography books when it comes to Information Technology. Change is a continuous process.
I envision that we will have virtual web-based existence such that we can access our data anywhere in the world by simply logging into the net. All our work related files, music, movies and other data will be stored in virtual drives which will be secure as well as available 24X7X365 anywhere. Google is coming out with newer applications each day. Soon our entire workplace will look like a portal where we can work on our files, read the news, play games, check emails, sms our friends, book tickets, buy stuff online and publish our material through a single interface.
Networking technology will also grow leaps and bounds so that accessibility becomes faster and securer. The physical distance will cease to matter. These technologies will become cheaper and accessible by the masses and not restricted to corporate only. But managing these futuristic technologies will require lot of skilled staff. These equipments will also be powered by renewable solar energy so that they don’t add burden to our depleting energy resources.
The mobile gadgets and phones have become highly evolved but they will develop further. Nokia’s new ad says - It is not one thing it is many. Phones will act as normal computers too. They will become much more compact and power packed with features. Memory capacity of phones will also increase simultaneously to decreasing sizes of memory cards and chips. Presently the phones have smaller screens and keyboard facility. I envisage that we will come up with futuristic features like projection screen and keyboard such that we can put our phone anywhere and generate a screen and keyboard like a projector image. This will bring in a new meaning to anywhere anytime!
Though I have the vision that everything will be on the web but we cannot simply write off the existence of a personal computer or laptop. They will continue to form an integral part of our lives. We will be able to synchronize our web contents to our personal computer each time we start working on it. This will ensure that we have a single copy of data both on the web as well as on our local work station.
Personal computers and laptops will become more efficient and standardized. There will be generic drivers applicable to a particular family of gadgets like RAM, video card, soundcard etc. This will ensure that the OS itself will detect the devices and make them functional. Hence even layman can buy, install and maintain his own machine without too much dependence on hardware staff. With the advent of flatter and larger screens, the computer can also work as a television for some people. The DVD drive can be used to double as a regular DVD player of movies which it already does. The monitors will have more evolved and futuristic speakers with excellent sound quality which is lacking at the moment.
Computers in general will also come with faster chips, larger disc space (and smaller disc size), compact space conserving design with plug and play features. The CPU designs will change and can have the option of being docked with the monitor directly so that a work place will have only the monitor and the wireless keyboard with navigation device integrated in it.
One major area where there will be significant improvement is recovery of data in case of crashed machines. This will take disaster management to newer heights. We hope that the open source program will grow leaps and bounds thus ensuring that we have much more stable OS and programs. Easier licensing norms should be focus where users will not have to wield through a gamut of clause and sub-clauses to understand what is required for them. Database technology especially will evolve further to become more robust and dependable like a flight’s black box.
Free, open and standardized is where the world is headed towards. Reliance has made telecommunication cheap and accessible by the masses. This was unthinkable way back in the early 90s. Though we see lot of expensive gadgetry around us today, the prices are headed southwards. People will derive better value for money in terms of tangible benefits too. I also visualize utilization of lot more recyclable eco-friendly material in IT. The times have changed from the days of shell scripts and slow telephone lines to connect to the net which would snap in an instance to broadband connection and graphics rich interface. There is a lot remaining to be changed. A few more Linus Torvalds will change this world of information technology in the years to come and today’s vision will become tomorrow’s reality.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Corporate Intranet - Start one today!!!
Corporate Intranet
We have been using Internet for more then two decades. It has brought revolutionary changes in the way we do business and communicate with our internal as well as external customers. Nowadays companies have done lot of computerization and most of the employees are connected to each other through email and other workflow techniques. Organizations however small or large have started making there presence felt through information and interactive websites. This is the age of information. We now talk about ERP, CRM, SCM, BI, BW, EAI applications to enable business processes and systems. We will look into another highly effective tool of information sharing in organizations which can have varying levels of complexity – Intranet.
Wikipedia defines Intranet as a private computer network that uses Internet Protocols, network connectivity, and possibly the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees.
Generally we all have a local area network in our office and the computers are connected to each other through a workgroup or a domain. An Intranet as the word suggests is restricted to the users within the company and its network. It is not meant for the external customers.
There are various types of information which can be made available on the Intranet since it is a direct tool of communication with your employees. You can put training documents, holiday list, important contact numbers, employee manual, online templates of various reports, the item and vendor master, in-house newsletter, employee birthday information, promotions, achievement of various personnel be it professional or personal (if shared by the employee), latest happenings in the organization, new initiatives by the management, targets for the financial year and the target versus actual figures, status of various projects etc. There is no limit to what can be put on the Intranet as long as it complies with the organizations’ policies.
This Intranet can also be connected to the HR – Payroll system so that employees can download their salary slip and Form 16. Employees can also view their leave record and apply for their leaves in case of advanced systems where workflow is integrated into the Intranet. Companies can avail this facility to make announcements and put other bulletin board information. The employees of an organization do various kinds of activities based on their job description and responsibilities allocated to them. This is one platform where different functions can share information about there activities thereby educating the other employees. Company can share their vision and goals and communicate the same to each and every employee through this system. It also leads to lot of transparency and team spirit. HR department can utilize this feature to advertise vacancies in case there is a policy of internal referrals. This tool can be utilized for cost saving through intelligent usage.
A very basic Intranet application can be created by designing a website using Microsoft FrontPage (which comes bundled with MS Office Professional version) or other HTML tools available free on the Internet. In case you wish to have an entry level Intranet then you do not need a dedicated IT person to manage the same. Tools like FrontPage are very simple to use and have lot of help available free on the Internet to develop your own application. A normal user can be given the responsibility of maintaining the site. This site can be published on the local file or data server. Users can simply type the path on their browser screen and access the site. In case your company wants to go for an entry level Intranet then a single desktop computer is all that you need to get started. You can also use Microsoft SharePoint Server Portal 2003 to get a jumpstart on your Intranet implementation project.
There is no pre-defined format of an Intranet site. The layout, contents, color scheme, software entirely depends on the needs and objective of the organization. The site can be as simple as a single text-based page; text based multiple pages, text and image based or a highly complex one which is connected to a database or the corporate ERP system.
An organization can accrue various gains by using intranet in innovative ways. This can prove to be one application which will aid in the creation of paper-less office. People outside the company can also access the intranet through the corporate website which can be secured by user-specific login access.
There are companies who link there application or ERP application database to their intranet site. It helps in better workflow systems. Employees can fill in their leave form, generate their payslip, superiors can authorize the leave directly from the system instead of having access to the direct application. The same feature can also let people fill up various kinds of forms like travel or vehicle requisition, reimbursements, insurance etc.
Project status can be updated by various teams in the form of a forum so that they can share ideas and updates (which can also be done through marking copies of emails) and keep track of the historical information. Some sites can be customized based on the role of the personnel who has logged in so that only relevant areas of the intranet are visible. This will ensure the confidentiality of projects if any.
An organization can utilize an intranet site if it does not have an integrated application like ERP. The intranet site can link the data of various modules like purchase, stores and distribution. Personnel can check the current stock level of various materials consisting of raw materials and finished goods, the purchase order register, production plan for the month or week, MIS report, manpower status, shift plans, parts list, maintenance plan etc. Instead of issuing multitude of notices and writing emails with copies marked to an entire gamut of functions the information can be simply displayed on the site. The problem of version control can also be handled through intranets. Since the information is displayed only on one platform the changes can be made without keeping track of re-issuing the document.
Company employee information manual can be managed on the intranet. It will reduce the burden of printing and issuing hard copies and re-printing them in case of policy changes or inclusion/ exclusion of certain information.
Organizations can also put all the user-related documents on the site instead of making copies of the same and distributing among employees or concerned personnel. Nowadays many books especially related to commercial (excise notifications, company law, income tax etc) and technical aspect (operation manuals, guides, training documents, drawings, blueprints etc) of business come with CDs. This information might be relevant for many personnel who can log on to the site and view the data they need instead of storing copies in their desktop.
The benefits of the application look very interesting and promising but there is also a flip side to this. Is your staff ready for an intranet experience? Are they ready to read all the information online instead of skimming through pages of a document and writing unnecessary emails? Majority of the employees would just brush it off as another technological jargon or wasteful activity and never bother to open the site even once. Change is one of the most difficult things and adapting oneself to the newer way of things is an uphill task which most people would not like to embark upon.
Implementing an Intranet site is only half the job done. The employees should be given formal training on how to benefit from the same. The training can include topics like the objective of the initiative, the features available in it, why it is better then the present system prevailing in the organization, how they can contribute for its improvement, how the system will enhance overall efficiency and of course making it a daily practice of logging into the site for updates and changes. They should be clarified that soon information will be only on the intranet and will not be circulated through hoards of mailers and letters.
There are many tools and methods employed by organizations to keep enhancing their systems and procedures.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
It is ONE life – LIVE. Don’t just QUIT
In the Old Testament of Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1) there is an interesting section on life. It says - To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun; a time to be born and a time to die; a time to love and a time to hate. But there is never a time to QUIT.
From the age of three life begins in a play school where toddlers enter the world of formal education holding the index finger of their parents. That is when the “grind” begins. Through the years we move from one class to another through a myriad set of teaching sessions, projects, assignments and of course tests. It is these tests which decide whether we get promoted to the next grade or not. Over a period of time many students start becoming serious about how much they score and how well they perform in their class. The benchmark becomes the total marks scored vis-à-vis their counterparts. Nothing else really matters. This sense of so-called rat race or “annihilating competitiveness” is further fed by the ambitions of their parents who overtly or covertly make it felt that if they fail then that is doomsday!
Failure is a difficult affair to handle. Whether it is failure in tests, job, and relationships or in life itself; it is one of the toughest things to overcome. TOUGHEST but not impossible. What we need to do is to try and see beyond the immediate failure. In a battle a soldier has two options – go down fighting or retreat and come back another day stronger and wiser. Many parents might disagree with my thought but I request them to sit back and ponder – what is more important – a healthy child with some amount of failure and uncharted future or no child at all! No amount of remorse or propitiation brings back the dead.
It is that time of the year again when many youngsters will be appearing for their board exams across the nation; an exam to test their skills and knowledge. Tests whose outcome decides the future of many and sometimes become the sheer deciding factor of ones existence.
It is sad to note that young children these days are living under tremendous pressure to perform and excel. There is frequent news of students committing suicide. Believe me no failure necessitates death.
Today there are lots of options in life. We need to look around for them rather then believing that being a doctor or an engineer is the sole destination. It is one life for all of us, one life to laugh and play, sing and dance, fall in love, one life to dream and make dreams come true. The beauty of dreams is that they can change and so can your life. But you need to LIVE in order to dream newer dreams and build a beautiful future. And the only person who can help you fight and overcome failure is YOU yourself. Believe in yourself!
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