Another aspect of nonverbal communication that can easily drive a wedge between friends, and even romantic partners, is touching. I have learned to refrain from this unless I am given a cue from the other person that it would be acceptable for me to touch them in an appropriate way. As I would help parishioners deal with bereavement, a touch on the shoulder or taking their hand would say a lot. When permission is given, this is a very powerful nonverbal communication. I often tell my wife how her kiss touches me way down into my toes. It is very personal, and can be the one thing, when misrepresented, that could end life long friendships.

Personal space is quite another story, though, because it is the most difficult one for me to read. I am an emotional, touchy-feely person. This gets me into trouble at times because it usually leads me into violating somebody's personal space. I think I read somewhere once that people naturally consider a radius of about two-feet as their personal space. We see this in corporations where employees sit in cubicles to do their work. They are strategically set up to give the “owner” of that space plenty of room to maneuver while doing their job without violating any body else's personal space.

These are just three of the nonverbal communication tools we use on a daily basis. I am convinced, after watching my wife experience the birth of our two children, that proxemics is learned in the womb. The other nonverbal communication rules are learned and honed by participation. Life teaches us many things about communication, and when you think you know all you need to, you learn something new that causes you to want to learn more. Some would say this is the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

More often, real estate agents are also referred to as property “salesmen”. However, compared to the work of typical door to door salesmen or street peddlers, the job of a real estate agent is a little bit more complicated. The product that they offer is not some tiny package which can be placed in a box or delivered by mail. They are not selling consumables, such as food products and drinks which can be easily sold with little sales or marketing skills. The product that real estate agents sell demands more commitment from a customer. For example, buying a house is not an easy decision. Before a prospective customer can make a decision to buy a house, he or she must be fully aware of the features, advantages and disadvantages of the house. He must be fully convinced that he is making the right choice in picking that house, or else the time and money he intends to spend will all be wasted. It is therefore the real estate agent’s role to guide the prospective buyer into making the right choice and eventually reach a firm buying decision.

For the reasons mentioned above, the real estate agent should be highly trained, knowledgeable about what he sells, updated about the developments within his industry, and most importantly, should be skilled at face to face selling. This aspect of face to face selling is very essential because to be able to sell high priced items such as houses, lands and properties, a greater amount of buyer-agent rapport is necessary. While retail sales can be very impersonal, real estate sales is a lot more different. One sales transaction may take one week, one month or even one whole year, depending on the nature of the real estate property being sold. This would mean that it is normal for any real estate agent to meet the same prospect over and over again before they both reach a buying agreement. It is thus important to develop a friendly, positive relationship with the customer.

The real estate agent must be an aggressive salesperson and he must be flexible to different kinds of buyers. He must be able to talk on the same level with his prospects, instead of acting servile and inferior. There are many sales jobs that literally demote people from salespeople to mere order takers. In real estate, agents are not just order takers. They initiate the sale, meaning, they ask questions that probe and uncover the buyer’s needs. After discovering those hidden needs, the real estate agent puts himself or herself in a commanding position by giving the customer various options to choose from. He or she may also recommend options that best fit the client’s needs.

Perhaps the most difficult and exhausting job of a real estate agent is prospecting for new customers. Prospecting is simply the process of finding new prospects for the business. Without prospects, even the most skillful real estate agent will not make a single sale. While the company often provides good advertising to gather prospects, it is still the real estate agent’s responsibility to generate leads on his own. He must be familiar with various lead generation methods and be able to develop a huge list of potential customers. At times, a real estate agent may also opt to do his or her own advertising campaign.

There are a variety of available prospecting methods and strategies to choose from. According to Tom Hopkins, a great real estate salesman, there are two basic categories – referral and non-referral prospecting.

Referral prospecting is a very effective method because it allows the real estate agent to get referrals from his existing buyer’s list. The referrals are already qualified buyers because they belong to the same income bracket as the existing customer. Each time the agent makes a successful sale, he asks for referrals from the happy satisfied customer. The customer then gladly gives the names of some of his friends or relatives who might also be interested in buying a similar property that he has bought. He may even introduce the real estate agent to the referral. Most veteran real estate agents don’t do prospecting anymore because they have already built a huge referral base.

For starting or rookie real estate agents, there is no substitute to non-referral prospecting. This is the act or process of finding and approaching prospects that are not referred to the real estate agent. In this prospecting approach, the chances of making a sale are lower and the risks of rejection are higher. The real estate agent will have to deal with total strangers, which is the main reason for the high probability of failure.

One example of a non-referral prospecting method is “cold calling”. In this prospecting method, the real estate agent either acquires or buys a list of prospects and starts calling them one by one. This method is sometimes called “cherry picking” (Good, 1986), because it requires an agent to make a lot of calls before generating a single prospect. To be able to do an effective cold calling campaign, the agent must be determined, aggressive, has good phone skills, not a quitter and he must have a good list of qualified prospects. For example, calling a list of people who are looking for a house is much more effective than simply calling people from the yellow pages or the national street directory.

Another prospecting method that real estate agents often use is the “ten foot rule”. This means that the agent finds ways to talk to any person who comes within ten feet of him. With the use of personalized calling cards and leaflets, the agent initiates conversations with the strangers that he meets everyday. To enhance the agent’s chances of meeting someone who is qualified to buy a house or property, he makes himself available in places where his ideal customers will likely be found. Attending conventions, social events and joining clubs or organizations are all useful to the real estate agent because it gives him an opportunity to meet different kinds of social contacts who might someday become buyers, or may at least give a referral or two. In Tom Hopkins’ book entitled How to Master the Art of Selling, he said that to be able to constantly generate prospects on a regular basis, a good salesperson should be able to “talk to ten people belly to belly everyday”. (Hopkins, 1982)

There are hundreds of other prospecting methods. Modern technology has given the 21st century real estate agent a great variety of prospecting options. The internet and other such means can all be useful for anyone who is trying to generate new leads for real estate.

Finding prospects is one exhausting job, but approaching and making the initial contact with them is another task! Once the real estate agent finds or meets a good prospect for real estate, he must smoothly guide the prospect to the realizing the possibility of buying property. Using many possible approaches, the agent finds ways to settle an appointment with the prospect with the intention of showing him a sales presentation. To be able to do this, the real estate agent must uncover a specific need of the buyer, or if the buyer is not aware of the need, the agent must make him aware of it. If this need is not present, it is the role and responsibility of the agent to create that need and convince the prospect that he needs to own a real estate property. Qualifying, or the art of finding specific information about the customer with the purpose of determining whether he is a qualified buyer or not, is very important. There is no use of selling to a person who is not qualified. Some factors to be considered during the qualifying stage are ability to pay, ability to make a decision, size of family, and compatibility of the need to the product or service being offered or sold. Finding this information and putting them into consideration are still part of the difficult task of a real estate agent.

It is also the role of a real estate agent to stimulate buying desire. This may be done by presenting what he is selling in such a way that it appeals to the needs and wants of the buyer. It is the responsibility of the agent to magnify the strengths and weaknesses of the property he is selling, and to minimize the problems and disadvantages in the eyes of the prospect. In some cases, the prospect may not know exactly what kind of house he wants or needs, or he may have trouble in making a decision. At any event that a prospect finds difficulty in choosing what’s best for himself, the real estate agent is in a position to recommend a house or property that best suit the needs, buying capability and preference of the buyer. To be able to do this, the agent must be extremely knowledgeable about the various options that he can provide to the customer.

Familiarity with basic laws, policies and rules that apply to real estate will also be helpful to a real estate agent. However, he is not required to be an expert at these laws, policies and regulations. His main expertise should be the ability to close sales. In many real estate companies, the total revenue heavily depends upon the monthly sales turnover generated by real estate agents in the field. Simply put, applying mastery of the sales process is one of the greatest and most important roles of real estate salesmen.

Employers often use salary requests to weed out the unsuitable job hunters from the candidate pool. If you put in too high a request, the employer naturally thinks you are too expensive for them. On the other hand, if your salary expectation is too low, the prospective employer might think that you don't value yourself and thus many not be a valuable employee for them.

There are three kinds of advice experts give on how to tackle the issue of mentioning salary expectations. These advices may seem contradictory, but each advice has sound logic. Read them carefully and decide what is suitable for your particular case.

Three strategies for replying to salary requests:

1. Ignore salary request
2. Get around the salary request
3. Meet salary request with a range

Some experts will tell you to ignore the salary request. Now, what are the repercussions? If you totally ignore the salary request, the employer might think that you overlooked it because you are unsure of what you deserve, you are careless in filling forms or you are desperate and want to negotiate about salary but would accept whatever you got. If the employer specifically mentions a salary request, they have reasons for doing so. Usually, the salary request is a method for making sure that the candidate knows her/his market value.

The second advice you'd get is “Don't think that employers are so easily fooled if you omit your salary expectations! They will wonder why you didn't mention it.” So, try to get around this dilemma by using phrases like “Each position in my career has brought fresh challenges. I've been promoted regularly with suitable benefit packages. I'd rather discuss this issue of salary and benefits face to face during the interview.”

The third advice from the experts is “Meet the salary request directly with a range.” One good way is to put a little more than the minimum you can accept as the lower figure on the range and the higher figure a reasonable notch higher. A typical example would be “Depending on the nature and scope of my responsibilities, I could negotiate for $35,000 - 45,000.”

Overall, if the job ad doesn't mention a salary request, it is better that you don't either. There is a possibility that you are screened out if you give the wrong salary expectation. You have better leverage in negotiating a better salary package during the interview process itself.

There is also another point that should be mentioned about BPI. Business Process Integration (BPI) is shifting from a tactical to a strategic issue. According to statistical data of the market research firm Forrester Research 2002, there were only 78% of the companies, which were successful in providing good stuff according to the needs of the technological market.

BPI systems will not make current software technology obsolete. Organizations that have already implemented a componentization strategy will find BPI an almost natural fit. BPI systems will happily coexist with components, such as Java Beans and Enterprise Java Beans. The business process execution engine just appears as an additional integration layer. Also, the move to thin clients plays well with BPI systems.

XML is a key factor in the advancement of BPI technology. XML offers a method for integrating business processes by providing an open, extensible structure for data exchange. XML can be used for defining processes, the user interfaces of applications, and business documents. Beyond that, messages exchanged between two logical partners (e.g. client and business process engine) can be XML documents. Yet, XML documents can be used to transport Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).

BPI takes a top-down approach, rather than the bottom-up approach of application integration. It comprises three core elements:

• Business Process Modeling
• Business Process Execution
• Business Process Management
• Business Process Modeling

Today, business process modeling is an integral part of the software process. However, companies experience difficulties as they try to bring business process modeling and object-oriented analysis and design together. In general, business process models are semantically poor, making it difficult to derive user cases. Apart from that, companies use different tools from different vendors. Tool integration also remains a problem.

However, business process modeling is an area where significant productivity advances are possible. A new generation of business process modeling tools has the potential to eliminate existing technical gaps. The iterative and incremental design and development approach requires business process modeling and CASE tools to provide integration.

Business process modeling tools can generate analysis and design information that can be further refined using a CASE tool. Later on, as object-oriented design progresses, it might turn out that design decisions affect business processes and require process adjustments. Impact analysis indicates which processes and process steps are affected.

There is no general-purpose business process modeling syntax that has the backing of an international standards body. UML is a contender, of course, but only if extended. Business process modeling tools usually use proprietary syntax. As a consequence, it is not easy to do away with a business process-modeling product and replace it with some other tool set after it is in use. Therefore, a business process-modeling tool should be selected with great care.

E-Business operations in the Internet require semantic interoperability. Several organizations are currently working on meta-models, which describe business semantics, as roles, rules, interactions, messages, and data. The Meta model is used to build business process models, so that these can help to construct compliant models. The dream would be that some day there is a unified Meta model. Chances are that this dream becomes reality.

Business Process Execution

Process execution (process brokering) involves the execution of discrete steps (tasks) within a business process. A business process engine (BPE) is required to manage the finite state of a business process.

The BPE is at the core of a process execution environment. It is responsible for moving the right work item to the right person at the right time. Thus, the BPE provides flow over the business process. If a process step has failed or is delayed, compensating actions can be enacted as an alternative process execution branch. This compensating action may be as simple as an e-mail notification, or it may invoke another process to perform corrective action.

At process execution time, there are many cases that require immediate changes of process instances. Dynamic binding and releasing of process elements, such as sub processes and activities, is required. Also, users may decline work items assigned to them, reassign work items, or accept work items originally not assigned to them. These features are well received by users that participate in less structured processes, such as knowledge workers. They require the capability to adapt processes to their dynamic needs, in essence modifying them at will.

Business Process Management

In e-business environments, automatic interpretation and routing of online information about the status of business process execution will become a routine. Messages automatically created inside an organization will seamlessly integrate with those from business partners.

Process management allows monitoring the business process in order to correlate business service events to fundamental business metrics. It allows for the monitoring and, subsequently, the optimization of these business processes. By monitoring detailed business process statistics, business analysts can analyze the performance of business processes and derive approaches for optimization, if necessary.

Tools reporting status information are required for identifying process integrity and latency issues. Audit logs can also be used for searching and reporting purposes.

The “big picture” indicates how various current technologies are related to each other. For reasons of simplicity, only the run time aspects are shown.

The Key for Implementing Business Process Integration:

1. A stable, prosperous business partner with a successful track record

   Each and every company does certain job only for the satisfaction of its customers and to earn a good name for the company. For earning a good name it requires people with good qualification to demonstrate a sound solution track record in EAI, B2B and partner collaboration. Real world business relationships will also prove critical to ensuring integration success. This makes business transaction stable.

2. Realistic costs and Software: Implementation ratio

   Cost is another factor the company has to take under consideration. A company cannot afford to spend a huge sum of money and then meet a huge loss. That is the where implementation ratio comes under use. Analysts at Data monitor estimate the ratio of software to implementation and consulting costs comes to around1: 3. In the light of this, organizations must go into projects with a real view of potential costs.

3. Proof of concept

   Organizations are urged to tackle business process integration projects, ensuring that smaller segments of the "bigger picture" project are integrated successfully. Only after this the companies can have a proof and confidence to continue with Business Process Integration.

4. Management and integration of business processes

   Today's businesses should aim at improving their business process rather then focusing on the technology and application involved. By viewing operations from a business process perspective companies can identify what their processes are, both internally and externally, and gain greater control over them and predictability in managing them.

5. A customized solution designed to meet all needs

   A Successful integration can best be achieved by adopting a "total project management approach" using a combination of auditing, tools, consulting, knowledge and most importantly, providing the flexibility to adapt to each individual situation, thereby giving visibility throughout the enterprise.

6. Support of industry standards

   Standards are in a state of flux. Adapters and Security often create issues when trying to integrate internal and external applications and processes. This can lead to unexpected and costly integration work. Enterprises can implement a solution that is tied tightly at the architecture level to any XML / B2B standard and pay attention to the evolving web services landscape.

7. Look for a vendor with industry-specific expertise

   Business processes and integration issues vary from industry to industry. Businesses should look for an experienced credible vendor who can offer vertical market knowledge and expertise, and understands the market-specific solutions and standards that are relevant to that particular industry.

Conclusion

From the above discussion we get to know that Business Process Integration becomes a part and parcel of the successful organizations. For companies to be successful it becomes necessary that they have a good organized and well set up business to cope up with the up coming technology.

Business Process Integration is an approach for winners and an opportunity for the losers to correct their mistakes. It becomes necessary for the companies involved in business to maintain a clean set up of their business processes to have a good environment to work with. It is not necessary that only companies dealing with Information Technology should have a wide idea in these processes. Even a person having a very small firm can integrate his business process, to succeed in his endeavor.

We know that we are living in a sophisticated and a competitive world. A corporate will better known for its performance only when it meets international standards. Sure they would have attained that status only by the process integration. But they should have paid heavily in attaining such a status. But now we are just step ahead of it. Many well-sophisticated, customizable tools are available in the market. Even we are having vendors with very good track record for integrating process.

This brings an end to our presentation. We thus emphasize on process integration as a part and parcel of each & every business. Though very hard to implement at the beginning it will prove to be worth when implemented and followed. Every top ranking concerns and organizations will be having a very proper process integration mechanism, which ultimately led to their success in the highly competitive world.

Beginning in the Toyota plants of the 1960's, lean, or the Toyota Production System as it is also known, became their standardized working practice and a way of producing high quality vehicles delivered exactly when the customer demanded and at lower costs than their competitors. Such were the effects of the “Toyota way,” that organization's around the world, and from many areas of public and private sectors, began imitating their methods. One of the latest sectors to take on board the lean approach to drive improvements and change is healthcare where hospitals and family surgeries are learning the benefits of focusing on adding value with each activity.

Unfortunately many of these businesses, and usually at the suggestion of expensive consultants, begin their “lean journeys” without first laying down a necessary platform for improvement and growth. Jumping ahead to the more challenging and exciting aspects of value-stream mapping and problem solving, they miss the many aspects of lean that are vital in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the change effort and that the changes made will ingrain themselves in the very culture of the organization.

The Kaizen approach to Improvement

At the heart of the Toyota Production Method is the Japanese concept of Kaizen, which is often translated as continual improvement. The word itself is made up of two “kanji,” or Chinese, characters; the first, “Kai,” meaning “an ongoing change” and the second, “Zen,” meaning “for the better.” Hence a deeper understanding of the words meaning would be “continually changing for that which is better.”

Masaaki Imai, founder of the international consultancy practice, The Kaizen Institute, referred to Kaizen as the “the key to Japan's competitive success.” Central to this approach is the reliance on teams to drive operational improvements and change. Within a Kaizen/lean members staff at all levels are positively encouraged to offer improvement suggestions on a regular basis. These changes, if found to be feasible by management, are fully implemented bringing about a greater sense of ownership and a sense of belonging for the individual or department concerned whilst creating an atmosphere of entrepreneurial creativity.

The Japanese are by nature drawn to the group rather than the individual. It is a country that very much likes conformity and finds much reassurance in the security it brings. This is in direct opposition to the western view of individualism, where the preference is for uniqueness and being your own person. Due to these cultural differences, whilst the Japanese concentrated on forming harmonious groups within the organization, we in the western hemisphere looked at ways to stamp our own marks on projects and developed management theories more focused on top down control than horizontal integration.

One technique in the Kaizen toolbox, and the one most often misunderstood in the west, is 5S. The focus of this technique is to remove waste, or unnecessary items of stock and movement, in the workplace and by doing so, make these areas of activity more effective, productive and comfortable in which to work. Unfortunately many companies view this method as a simple tidying up exercise, and as such omit its implementation altogether, missing the full benefit it can offer us in laying down that all important platform for improvement. It is with this last thought in mind that this article will discuss.

The benefits of a 5S Kaizen approach

5S Kaizen integrates the workplace reconfiguration aspects of 5S with the other improvement tools associated with the Kaizen method in a very seamless fashion. 5S stands for 5 Japanese words that can be translated into English as:

1. Sort.
2. Straighten.
3. Shine.
4. Standardize.
5. Sustain.

The 5S method brings us a sequential approach to reorganization that involves all members of the department or area under review. As mentioned above the main focus is to remove waste from our working environments and as such fits seamlessly with the other tools and techniques that have been clustered under the umbrella of the Kaizen method, tools and techniques such as poke-yoke, kanban, hoshin kanri and pull systems.

Research conducted in Hong Kong in 2002 found that implementing a more integrated 5S program, 5S Kaizen, raises quality, efficiency and productivity levels, whilst lowering associated costs. Not only that, but workplace safety and staff morale also improved considerably. Producing clean and airy environments in which to work has also shown to improve concentration levels and lowers the causes of work related stress.

Another study conducted in the UK this year (2007) also agreed with the Hong Kong findings. A number of companies who had implemented 5S Kaizen wrote of the benefits it offered with one respondent in particular writing that, though being very skeptical to begin with, on seeing the results and the improvements made, became a staunch convert. A statement given by many who experience the transformational changes this approach can bring.

In short then 5S Kaizen offers us an integrated approach to Kaizen implementation. Using the 5S model as the basis, 5S Kaizen helps us achieve rapid improvements whilst installing a way of working that will stand the test of time and root itself in our organizational culture.

Implementing 5S Kaizen

Implementing this method follows the same steps as those listed above; Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. However besides focusing on only the housekeeping aspects of each stage, 5S Kaizen uses this opportunity to introduce other tools and techniques to improve the quality of the exercise and to enhance the potential benefits it offers.

To begin with, a team containing members of staff at all levels should be drawn up who will essentially lead the program through its five stages. This team should not only contain those members from the area under review but also others from above and below them in the supply chain in order to bring a fresh pair of eyes to the project. We can all get caught up in old ways of working, so much so that we are unable to “see the wood from the trees” - or in our case the waste from the value - and that is why others need to be included in the change to bring a new point of view on matters.

This team will then allocate space for holding "red tagged" items. These items are those whose existence within our immediate environment has been called into question. The name red-tag comes from the color of the ticket, or tag, that was placed upon them so as to make identification instant and highly visible. After such a space has been set aside, then the job of tagging and removing unused, broken and unnecessary equipment begins.

As this stage focuses primarily on removing waste it may be worthwhile to introduce you to the types of waste, or “muda” as it is called in Japan, we should watch out for during our exercise. A name that has become synonymous with waste removal is that of Taiichi Ohno. This man, who worked for Toyota and who is accredited with developing the Toyota Production System, identified seven types of waste. This is by no means a complete list, even Ohno-san acknowledged there were others, and you too may find more as you progress in your understanding of lean and kaizen, but for now this is the list than has gone down in lean history:

• Overproduction.
• Excessive Movement.
• Over processing/handling.
• The waste of waiting.
• Excessive transportation.
• Repairs/rejects.
• Excessive inventory.

After removal, these items are stored for an agreed period of time to determine if they are indeed unnecessary and the level of their usage. Obviously broken equipment is not stored but thrown out immediately and items belonging to others are returned to their rightful owners.

Another tip to keep in mind when sorting the waste is the “one is best rule.” This rule means that all replicated items are to be removed to their correct locations. Hence we leave one set of pens (if different colors are needed), one set of tools and one jotter on which to write. Doing so helps to keep the workplace clean and waste free.

Straightening the Flow

Once the red tagging has been completed, or is about to be finished, the team then moves on to the job of redesigning the workplace. Obviously large machinery will stay put, unless there is a strong reason for it to be moved, but for everything else, desks, chairs, filing cabinets, storage cupboards, etc. can be moved as best suites the environment.

Often, and over many years, items appear and their positions determined as need dictates. If there is a space spare that's were it goes with little thought given to the flow of work and whether the location of the new piece of equipment or furniture will hinder or ease the movement of work units throughout the department. Therefore we find in old established departments, a lot of work moving back and forth, retracing their steps on many occasions and hindering the overall flow of work and hindering the departments efficiency and productivity. Straighten is therefore the re-engineering stage of 5S Kaizen, where the items removed in the previous step cannot be returned until their location has been clearly identified.

Another aspect of Straighten is the re-engineering of processes and the redesigning of job functions to improve quality. Simplifying processes by removing wasteful activities helps overall improvement. Locating needed items within arms length of the operative and implementing the “30 second rule” - every item of equipment or piece of work can be retrieved in just 30 seconds - helps to keep the worker focused on the job at hand by lessening distractions.

The main function of Straighten is to implement improvement at an operational level and any ideas from those doing the work on a day-to-day basis should be sort. One central thought in Kaizen is that the “experts” are those who do the job and are the best qualified to offer suggestions. As Konosuke Matsushita said once, “Many little brains are better than a few big brains.”

Making Quality Shine

However, improving the work area to enhance efficiency is of nothing if the machinery and tools we use are damaged and in need of repair. I'm typing this now on a laptop and whilst I am nothing like my sister, who is a qualified PA, when it comes to words per minute, how less productive would my typing become if my keyboard was always sticking or my computer always crashed? That is the object of Shine, to clean, repair and maintain a spotless environment where every item is keep in optimal working condition and to make sure that it remains so.

More than any other step, it is probably this one that gets 5S the reputation of a cleaning exercise. However when we understand the reason behind the need for cleanliness we realize its relevance to TQM, or more appropriately TPM, (Total Productive Maintenance). By implementing Shine it becomes easier to spot the telltale signs that show us our equipment is in need of attention. Machinery leaking oil can go unnoticed if the floor or the machine is already covered in the stuff.

Over time what might have been a simple maintenance job if caught earlier, now becomes very expensive and may include having to replace the machine altogether. However on a spotlessly clean and shining floor, one drop of oil would be instantly noticeable allowing maintenance teams to remedy the problem immediately; and if the floor is already black - paint the area under these machines another color.

Making it the Standard

Now we should have a clean, orderly and efficient working environment. Whether we work in an office or on the factory floor, we can be pleased and have benefited from the reorganizing and cleaning performed in the previous three exercises. However this is the 5S method not 3S and next we move on to the fourth step - Standardize.

Standardize, as its name suggests, involves keeping sure that the new way of working is the one way of working. In companies that operate shift systems, confusion and thus errors can occur because different people work in different ways. One person likes to keep certain items over here, the next person, over there, and so on. Standardize puts pay to all that and through the use of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) ensures that the same procedures are followed in the same way and in the same order by all.

In it For Keeps

Finally we come to the most difficult stage in a 5S Kaizen program and it could be said the one with no end. Sustain is about ingraining the 5S Kaizen way into the very culture of our organization. Unless this happens then often old ways of working resurface, the place becomes gradually more cluttered and we all agree, “This approach just doesn't work in our environment.”

To counter this reoccurring problem, many companies introduce suggestion systems where at any time a member of staff can post an improvement suggestion to their managers with those that prove viable getting implemented and becoming part of the standardized working practice. Suggestion systems are also good for raising staff morale as employers feel their ideas are valued and that they belong and identify more with the company.

Whereas the first three steps, Sort, Straighten and Shine are very much workforce led, and Standardize, the managers, Sustain is very much an executive led stage in that only by their direction can such a program produce long term gains. Unless this is so, we will only receive very superficial and short-lived results for our efforts. Executives must be behind this effort and communicate clearly that others are empowered to follow this way and make the required changes where fit.

Biography

Andrew Scotchmer is a British writer and consultant recently acknowledged as a “renowned lean expert” by the American Society for Quality. His writings on Kaizen, change management and general management theory have been published and enjoyed in several countries including the UK, USA, South Africa and India, appearing in both paper and digital formats. Next year will see the publication of his book 5S Kaizen in 90 Minutes by Management Books 2000 Ltd. Andrew is also a sort after “charismatic and influential speaker” at business events and can be contacted on andrew@completekaizen.co.uk.

China is located in the continent of Asia with the highest population in the world of 1.3 billion people. They are the fastest growing economy due mainly to foreign direct investment in which occur because of cheap labor rates and manufacturing costs. With the tremendous progress in the last decade China has reduced poverty dramatically thanks to an economic system increasingly open to trade and foreign investment.

Their political system is run by the communist party in which according to the corruption index rated from 0-10 with 0 being absolute corruption in the political system. China ranks 71 out of 145 nations with the index at 3.4. Although China is a communist country they are taking a very western approach to how they are run with trying to become a much bigger player in globalization and using strategies in order to promote economic growth and development.

On the 17th of September 2001 China was admitted membership into the World Trade Organization after 15 years of lobbying for the position. They were then able and were participants of the Doha round on the 10th of November 2001. “International economic cooperation has brought about this defining moment in the history of multilateral trading system,” said Mike Moore, WTO Director-General, at the conclusion of the meeting of the Working Party on China's Accession.

Under the chairmanship of Ambassador Pierre-Louis Girard of Switzerland, the Working Party agreed to forward some 900 pages of legal text for formal acceptance by the 142 member governments of the WTO.

As a result of these negotiations China has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments and rules it must follow by, some of these include:

China will provide non-discriminatory treatment to all WTO members. All foreign individuals and enterprises, including those not invested or registered in China, will be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to enterprises in China with respect to the right to trade.

Price controls will not be used for purposes of affording protection to domestic industries or service providers.

The WTO will be implemented by China in an effective and uniform manner by revising its existing domestic laws and enacting new legislation fully in compliance with the WTO agreement.

China will not maintain or introduce any export subsidies on agricultural products.

“Now this economy will be subjected to the rules-based system of the WTO, something which is bound to enhance global economic cooperation “, said Mr. Moore.

As a result of this negotiation, China has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to open and liberalize its regime in order to better integrate in the world economy and offer a more predictable environment for trade and foreign investment in accordance with WTO rules. This more stable environment with hopefully then lead to a decrease the level of corruption in the political system which will lift its index and ranking as so then will become more attractive for foreign investors, to China's benefit and to the traders.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

The 2003 statistic provided by the Market Economy textbook displays China Producing their Gross National Income of $1417 [US Billion] with a ranking of sixth.

This indicates that a lot of output comes out of China, but one must encounter the population when calculating the real output of a nation and which China has a GNI per capita of only $US4980 with a rank of 119.

Between 1965 and 1979 the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 6.4 per cent a year, and between 1980 and 1988 the increase was 10.3 per cent annually. The growth rate dipped below 4 per cent in 1989, but returned to well above 10 per cent annually in the early and mid-1990s.

The 2005 growth rate started at strong at 9.5% and flattened out to average to 9.4% for the 2005 year. Since 2002 the Industrial production has increased by 15% along with the Consumer demand, which increased by 10.1%.

With reference with the agriculture sector as a % of GDP, has decreased from 29% in 1997 to just 13% in 2003, this is a result of more industrialization, more infrastructure and investments into China, and so some farms have been converted into cities and factories. Another factor due to the decrease into agriculture is the fact that this is a percentage of the GDP and expresses the fact that all other industries are producing a lot more and growing more than the agriculture industry itself.

Much of the growth as stated before is attributed to the Foreign Direct Investment increase, this is a very attractive market for western expansion. This is the result of a more market-based economy with globalization and deregulation by the Chinese government. These recent trends of growth that averages 9.4% growth rate over the past decade is 1.7 % higher than the Asia region which stands at an average growth rate of 7.7%, while the average growth rate of the rest of the world is at approximately 2.65%.

With China being a major economy in the world, they are usually only influenced by another major economy which now is the USA.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

While economic growth has resulted in improvements in the general quality of life in China, these gains have not been shared equally within the economy.

According to the Human Development Index China is ranked in the middle Human Development with a GDP per capita of $US 4580.

This shows that over the past two decades or so that the Human Development Index has increased by more than a third in the past twenty-three years as shown below. The current situation in China now only sees 16.6 % of the population in absolute poverty.

• 1980 HDI = 0.554
• 1990 HDI = 0.625
• 2005 HDI= 0.745 [ranked 94th currently]

These inequalities that exist in China are divided into certain sections in which you would find that especially qualities of life differ to these factors of rural/urban areas, east/west provinces and whether you are a male or female.

Examples of this are seen in these statistics provided by “The Corporate Classroom”.

• Urban incomes are an average of $US828: up 8.5% from 2002.
• Rural incomes $US211: up 5.7% from 2002.
• These growing income gaps between the rich and poor causing economic and social imbalance.

Positive factors that have occurred with the help of globalization is due to the rise in the HDI level and the statistics that contribute to the factors used in determining the HDI are as follows:

• Life expectancy at birth improved from 63.2 in 1970 to 71 in 2005.
• Infant mortality rate decreased from 35 in 1997 to 32 in 2003 [per 1000 live births]
• Adult literacy [% aged 15+] from 78.3 in 1990 to 90.9 in 2005.

Although you can argue that the income inequality rising is a negative effect, you cannot dispute the fact that even though this occurs, the rise in income for everyone is a major positive effect with the astounding amount of Chinese people coming out of absolute poverty and even with the HDI index rising. China is in a rapid transition from the once third world nation into one that is almost first class.

In 1997, savings deposits of urban and rural residents reached US$560 billion, over 218 times that of 1978 with an average annual increase rate of 32.8 %. Plus foreign currency savings, debentures and stocks, the amount of financial assets owned by rural and urban residents had exceeded US$725 billion.

The pattern of consumption underwent positive changes- the Engel Coefficient of both urban and rural population lowered by 11 and 12.6 percentage points. In conclusion of the economic development I would have to say that China has experienced positives from Globalization, even though I have en-taken that they now have a higher Gini index, but the fact is that it has increased peoples living conditions, HDI levels and income to the poorer people.

UNEMPLOYMENT

The increased exposure to the global economy has resulted in millions of jobs being cut from state owned enterprises. The statistic shows that in 2001, 5.15 million workers were retrenched from state owned enterprises; it was mainly due to that the restructuring in many inefficient industries.

Although China used to have really good employment in the past, today the unemployment is increasing as in 1997 the unemployment rate was 3.1% and in 2003 the unemployment rate had risen to 7.8%. This is not a very good sign to the government and some reorganizing needs to be made by the communist party for the China's welfare and the budget because by the end of 2003 almost 3.13 million people were receiving unemployment benefits.

TRADE

Prior to 1978, China's trade was conducted under a strict system of state trading where approximately a dozen foreign trade corporations monopolized all foreign trade. Under the central planning regime, imports were minimized and exports authorized only to the extent needed to pay for imports. Over the last twenty years, the system has changed dramatically and China's trade has expanded enormously. Its share of world trade has risen from 1% to 3% over the last quarter century and the World Bank projects that it will triple again by 2020, making it the world's second largest trader.

According to the statistics made in 2003 by “The corporate Classroom 2004” China is currently the 10th largest trading nation. 2004 forecasts may increase this ranking to 4th.

The accession into the WTO since the 17th of September 2001 encourages trade liberalization and opened more accessible markets to China. The total net volume of trade in 2003 increased by 7.5% on the previous year.

In 2003 China's exports were up by 32.3%

Imports were up 40.5%

Tourism is an increasing industry, which is up 9.7%

In the last decade globalization and the entry into the WTO has made China a more attractive country to invest and travel to, along with this and also their quick response to the rest of the worlds interest in China they have managed to turn around in less than ten years a CAD into a CAS.

These trade flows are very positive in relation to China with the second biggest trading nation in the world.

DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME

A main indicator to measure the income inequality is to use the Gini coefficient method as in 1990 the level was as 0.25 and then calculated in 2005 the level has risen to a level of 0.447. This is the comparison to Australia's Gini co-efficient index that now stands at the rate of 0.294 [2003-2004]. This increasing gap of income inequality is becoming more one of the extremes-causing economic and social imbalances.

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS AND TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS

FDI and TNC's have increased rapidly since globalization and the opening of markets and deregulation by the Chinese economy. The FDI has increased by 19% since 2002. Some statistics and developments concerning the development in TNCs and FDI include:

In 2003 some 34 000 new FDI projects and enterprises were approves.

FDI and TNCs encouraged in modern agriculture, in high tech industries, infrastructure and construction.

Focus is on the development of the western regions, and the re-engineering of State Owned Enterprises.

Foreign investment capital became a major factor in growth, with US$30 million of investment in 1994. This rapid growth has caused some problems, such as high inflation rates in urban areas and increasing economic inequalities between regions and social groups.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

There is concern that China may pursue unsustainable practices in an attempt to maximize opportunities of globalization. China perhaps has become too absorbed in becoming the fastest growing economy with such high growth, development, and HDI levels that environmental issues are not seen as being so important and the issue is just being ignored.

The air pollution in South East Asia is a particular problem with almost five times more pollution in the air than some parts of Sydney's pollution. These environmental problems occur due to the increasing industrial production contributing to poor environmental quality and increasingly frequent blackouts. With their increased use of oil used in production of such industries the rest of the world can feel the impact on the increase on a barrel of oil due to the demand created by China's increased consumption.

STRATEGIES USED TO PROMOTE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:

OPEN TO THE WORLD POLICY

In general China has adopted a more open policy that is in keeping with the WTO stance on trade liberalization. China continues to actively seek FDI and develop links with the international economy.

FDI AND TRADE POLICY

• Sustained economic growth rests with continued investment and trade.
• China actively seeks FDI and will continue to do so.
• Removal of some 120 regulations that limit private capital inflow
• China's export base is being broadened.
• Businesses are being encouraged to invest and compete for foreign contracts
• Key equipment and technologies are being imported to develop domestic industries.
• The liberalization had a fairly significant impact with the removal of government controls over prices, reduction of trade protection and also with the liberalization of investment and financial flows.

MICROECONOMIC REFORM

• China is committed to the reduction of administrative intervention
• The financial system is being reformed and to some extent deregulated.
• Consumer credit developing.
• Continued reform of SOE's.

FISCAL POLICY

• Much of the government expenditure is directed towards infrastructure economic redevelopment and job creation.
• Spending on education and health is increasing.
• State is committed to an active role in stimulated the economy through fiscal policy.
• In 2005 the fiscal revenue soared 18.2 % or more than 50 billion US$ for the first 10 months.

WELFARE POLICIES

The immature welfare system must be developed to address rising unemployment. Income protection insurance schemes being proposed for rural areas.

Job creation is important to addressing welfare problems of the economically disadvantages regions. As stated before, China is paying out welfare payments to over 1.3 million unemployment benefits. Will careful and accurate restructuring of the Chinese economy not so much payouts would be required thus a high budget to spend on other things.

The current position that China is in [as quoted by the “Gittins on Saturday” article by Ross Gittens in the Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition on the 3rd of December 2005.] is a transition from industrial to knowledge-based development. “Since 1949, rural China has for the most part broken free from economic isolation thanks to investments in basic infrastructure, development of a road system, basic disease control, lower fertility rates, increasing literacy and so on.” He also mentions how China has moved to a more market based economy due to the globalization and China being more opened up to the world market.

Deflation Looms: These extracts come from William Pesek Jr.

Officials in Beijing have used administrative measures to reduce over investment. Doing it slowly to achieve a soft landing means capacity growth remains high, causing an oversupply even when China's annual growth of more than 9 per cent slows.

Cutting the interest rates may even worsen deflationary pressure by encouraging capacity growth regardless of corporate profitability; the plentiful liquidity keeps interest rates low and, hence sustains the on-going investment projects and funds new investments in bottleneck areas.

Pushing China toward deflation is a high savings rate. While Americans save too little, Chinese save too much.

China needs to get consumers to spend more. To do that, the government should privatize state owned assets, shift fiscal expenditures away from investment and modernize pension, health-care and education systems.

The impact of globalization on the economic performance on China has proved to be a positive one as summarized throughout this essay. Globalization has created positives in the Human Development Index, there is more literacy and a longer life span as well as higher incomes and less and less people coming out of absolute poverty each year. China are not just benefiting themselves by becoming a more market based economy but they are also creating positives through the rest of the world by selling their comparative advantage of cheap labor to many transnational corporations and Foreign Direct Investors.

Although that they do have had an enormous positive out of globalization they also had negative in pollution levels and the income inequality. Although these are not what an economy is looking for the fact is that the positives that China has experienced outweighs the negatives a thousand to one.

As stated throughout the essay China has embraced globalization with open arms and uses many strategies to help the impacts that globalization has to offer which included their entry into the World Trade Organization, their active role in NAFTA, deregulation in many industries, privatization of many government owned organizations and the reduction of tariffs by almost 35% since 1980.

The wider business environment should be under constant surveillance from managers. Trends in the marketplace should be identified so that the business can change accordingly in order to capitalize. If the need for change can be identified prior to that of a competitor the Company can take full advantage of the "head start" and increase its competitive advantage.

Management of change however, is not merely ordering a change and then waiting to view the repercussions. The main challenge which today's businesses face in managing change successfully is implementing the change with minimum resistance and maximum benefit.

One of the major contributing factors to resistance to change is from "fear of the unknown". By building employee trust and offering support greater confidence is placed in management and thus resistance to change from employees is considerably smaller. In addition, if the change is supported by new training, and these changes are open to criticism and participation from the business' internal stakeholders, concerns which may have caused grievance and resistance can be laid to rest, streamlining the company's direction. When employee apprehension is minimized, common business goals can be more productively achieved.

In conjunction to the mission statement a business establishes specific company goals which are usually measurable, for example “Our Company will increase market share by 20% by the end of 2006”. Management should be ready to change these goals if reasons present, for example if an economic recession hits the company goals may be reassessed to ensure survival. Realistic goals should be set by management regardless of changes which are occurring; creating unachievable goals and not tailoring them to the respective situations may cause unease within employees and in turn may damage the invaluable interpersonal relations in the business.

A business culture which embraces change also contributes to the ease to which a business can manage the respective changes. Younger organizations such as Google and Virgin are better suited to change as they have a fresh and impressionable culture, surpassing autocratic organizations that are bounded by an historical culture, is PBL.

The business culture should be supportive of the risk taking, entrepreneurial nature of the company. This can be reaffirmed this culture via change agents who act as catalysts assuming responsibility for managing the change process. When the culture is reflective of the entire organizations focused goal changes can occur quickly without resistance. Change models are a useful aid in uncovering resisting a driving change forces in an organization.

Change models are simplified versions of reality and can aid business to manage change. The two main models which are of use to a business who wishes to manage change effectively are the force field analysis and unfreeze-change-freeze model both developed in the 1940's by Kurt Lewin. Organizations who have embraced Lewin's change models include Aimcorp and sectors of the Australia's Government .

The force field analysis suggests that any organization who implements a change program will experience two types of force that govern the effectiveness of the change; driving forces, in favor of the change, and restraining forces who oppose the change. Driving forces initiate and encourage change including; workplace culture, change agents, availability of training other resources used to drive forward the change.

Restraining forces on the other hand work against the change creating resistance. The equilibrium results from the two forces pushing in opposite directions. Methods of increasing the driving forces and reducing the restraining forces include; provide training to develop sympathy to the manager's (driver) view point, conducting surveys to clarify issues which are creating difficulties for some people and possible negotiation of rewards.

In the unfreeze-change-freeze model, "unfreezing" is represented in establishing the need to change and then undergoing a number of steps to begin the change. This unfreeze stage is developed by increasing the driving forces and reducing the restraining forces. The "change" technique follows when the change is ready and able to be administered. The "refreeze" technique solidifies the change process which has take place through feedback and reward.

Managing change effectively can be achieved through a number of different approaches, the initialization of strategies to reduce resistance to change, as well as setting achievable goals, creating a business culture of change and adopting Lewin's change models can aid the ease to which change is accepted in the business. The one constant in business has been described as many as "change", thus change should be embraced in order to maximize the businesses success in a dynamic world.