Archive for October, 2009
Mortgages Usefull Advices For Italy And European Market
Mortgages Usefull Advices For Italy And European Market
Is the right time to buy a property? Prices have fallen? Rates are favorable at this time?.
We see the data. The European Central Bank has cut interest rates again just last week middle of March 2009 bringing interest rate at 1.5.
This does not mean that you pay the same rate by entering into a loan or mortgages because ‘your bank will want to’ win.
Surely this is’ the best rate ‘low applied since the European Bank exists.
Choose the right financial product could be complicated specially abroad here some basic advices to help you with your choice:
Talk to many different institutions and not be afraid to ask questions is allways the best advice to choose a Mortgages in Europe.
How much per month?
How are penalities in case of late payment?
The call charges hidden you think you have to pay x per month and then discover you pay x y z.
The property prices have not fallen significantly as in other countries in Italy for example to protect a price or a’ comparative marketing analysis to determine them there is a special observatory office.
What to choose: Fixed or variable Mortgages?
It depends by your level of expertise in the field:
If you are not experienced the best fixed rate or even better mixed.
The variable rate depends on the length of which will bind the bank issuing the loan. The rates charged to you are always a little ‘late about 6 / 12 and then’ how to bet on a horse to ride over.
But you must have some experience in assessing. Fixed rates around 5 are in the vast majority of cases judged favorable.
Mixed rates: Depending on the degree of flexibility ‘applied by your bank probably the best. 5 years subject to the same rate: far too many unless you are specifically trained on the process and know how to calculate the “spread” over 30 years.
For impartial guides and news from Mortgages in Italy and Europe visit our website. www.MutuoPrestito.org and compare thousands of mortgages and remortgage products.
About the writer: For impartial guides and news from Mortgages in Italy and Europe visit our website. www.MutuoPrestito.org and compare thousands of mortgages and remortgage products.
Managing Consultants
Managing Consultants
“An expert is someone who lives more than 50 miles out of town
and wears a tie to work.”
Bryce’s Law
INTRODUCTION
The need for outside contract services is nothing new. ITrelated
consultants have been around since the computer was first introduced for
commercial purposes. Today all of the Fortune 1000 companies have consultants
playing different roles in IT either onsite or offshore. Many companies are
satisfied with the work produced by their consultants others are not. Some
consultants are considered a necessary evil who tackle assignments
in an unbridled manner and charge exorbitant rates. For this type of
consultant it is not uncommon for the customer to be left in the dark
in terms of what the consultant has done where they are going and if
and when they will ever complete their assignment. Understand this the
chaos brought on by such consultants are your own doing.
IT consultants offer three types of services:
-
Special expertise representing skills and proficiencies your
company is currently without be it the knowledge of a particular
product industry software management techniques special
programming techniques and languages computer hardware etc. -
Extra resources for those assignments where inhouse
resource allocations are either unavailable or in short supply
it is often better to tap outside resources to perform the work. -
Offer advice to get a fresh perspective on a problem it
is sometimes beneficial to bring in an outsider to give an
objective opinion on how to proceed. A different set of eyes
can often see something we may have overlooked.
Whatever purpose we wish to use a consultant for it is important
to manage them even before they are hired. This means a company
should know precisely what it wants before hiring a consultant.
ASSIGNMENT DEFINITION
Before we contact a consultant let’s begin by defining the
assignment as concisely and accurately as possible; frankly
it shouldn’t be much different than writing a job description
for inhouse employees. It should include:
-
Scope specifying the boundaries of the work
assignment and detailing what is to be produced. This
should also include where the work is to be performed
onsite offsite both and time frame for performing
the work. -
Duties and Responsibilities specifying the types of
work to be performed. -
Required Skills and Proficiencies specifying the
knowledge or experience required to perform the work. -
Administrative Relationships specifying who the
consultant is to report to and who they will work with
internal employees and other external consultants. -
Methodology considerations specifying the methodology
techniques and tools to be used along with the deliverables
to be produced and review points. This is a critical
consideration in managing the consultant. However if
the consultant is to use his/her own methodology the
customer should understand how it works and the deliverables
produced. -
Miscellaneous inhouse standards depending on the company
it may be necessary to review applicable corporate policies
e.g. travel expenses dress code attendance behavior drug test etc.
Many would say such an Assignment Definition is overkill. Far from
it. How can we manage anyone if we do not establish the rules of the
game first? Doing your homework now will pay dividends later when
trying to manage the consultant. Assignment clarity benefits both
the customer and the consultant alike. Such specificity eliminates
vague areas and materially assists the consultant in quoting a price.
SELECTING A CONSULTANT
Armed with an Assignment Definition we can now begin the
process of selecting a consultant in essentially the same manner
as selecting an inhouse employee. Choosing the right consultant is
as important a task as the work to be performed. As such candidates
must be able to demonstrate their expertise for the assignment. Certification
and/or inhouse testing are good ways for checking required skills
and proficiencies. Also reviewing prior consulting assignments and
checking references is very helpful. Examining credentials is
imperative in an industry lacking standards. For example many
consultants may have a fancy title and profess to be noted experts in
their field but in reality may be nothing more than contract
programmers. In other words beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Ideally a consultant should have both a business and technical
background. True technical expertise is needed to perform IT
assignments but a basic understanding of business particularly your
business is also important for the consultant to adapt to your
environment. This is needed even if you are using nothing more than
contract programmers.
In terms of remuneration you normally have two options: an hourly
rate or a fixed price. For the former be sure the work hours are
specified including onsite and offsite. Many clients are
uncomfortable paying an hourly wage for an offsite consultant. Under
this scenario routine status reports should be required to itemize
the work performed and the time spent. However the lion’s share of
consulting services are based on a fixed price contract. Here the
role of the methodology becomes rather important. Whether you are
using “PRIDE” or another Brand X methodology it is important the consultant
and client both have a clear understanding of the project’s work
breakdown structure the deliverables to be produced and the review
points. From this an effective dialog can be communicated in terms
of managing the project. Further the methodology becomes the basis
for the preparation of estimates and schedules.
After examining your candidates it now becomes necessary to
balance the level of expertise against price. Sure a senior
person can probably get the job done in less time but perhaps
the costs may be too high for your budget. “Expertise” versus
“expense” becomes a serious consideration at this point.
Whomever is selected it is important that a written agreement
be prepared and signed. The agreement should reference the Assignment
Definition mentioned above and any other pertinent corporate
verbiage. Very important: make sure it is clear that the work
produced by the consultant becomes your exclusive property not the
consultant’s. Further the consultant shouldn’t use misappropriated
work from other assignments. Finally add a clause pertaining to
workmanship; that the consultant will correct at his/her expense
any defects found; e.g. defective software data base designs etc.
MANAGING THE CONSULTANT
The two most obvious ways to manage consultants is by having
them prepare routine status reports and project time reports. Such
reports should be produced on a weekly basis and detail what the
consultant has produced for the past week and detail his/her
plans for the coming week. You the client should review and
approve all such reports and file accordingly.
A methodology materially assists in tracking a consultant’s
progress. As a roadmap for a project the methodology takes the
guesswork out of what is to be produced and when. Without
such a roadmap you are at the mercy of the consultant. Along
these lines I am reminded of a story of a large manufacturing
company in the UK who used one of the large CPA firms to
tackle a major system development assignment. The system was
very important to the client but lacking the necessary inhouse
resources to develop it they turned to the CPA firm to design and
develop it. Regrettably the client didn’t take the time
to define the methodology for the project and left it to the
discretion of the CPA firm. The project began and the CPA
firm brought onsite many junior staff members to perform
the systems and programming work. So far so good. However
considerable time went by before the client asked the senior partner
about the status of the project after several monthly invoices. The
senior partner assured the client that all was well and the
project was progressing smoothly. More time past and more
invoices paid with still nothing to show for it. Becoming
quite anxious the client began to badger the consultant as
to when the project would be completed. Finally after several
months of stalling the consultant proudly proclaimed “Today
we finished Phase 1….but now we have to move on to Phase
2.” And as you can imagine there were many more succeeding
phases with no end in sight.
What is the lesson from this story? Without a methodology roadmap
it is next to impossible to effectively manage a consultant. The
project will lose direction almost immediately and the project will
go into a tailspin. The only person who wins in this regard
is the consultant who is being paid regardless of what work
is produced. Instead of vague generalities you the client
have to learn to manage by deliverables.
CONCLUSION
My single most important recommendation to anyone considering
the use of outside consultants is simple: Get everything in
writing! Clearly define the work assignment get a signed
agreement spelling out the terms of the assignment and
demand regular status reports.
I am always amazed how companies give consulting firms
carte blanche to perform project work as they see fit. Abdicating
total control to a consultant is not only irresponsible it is
highly suspicious and may represent collusion and kickbacks.
There is nothing magical in managing consultants. It requires
nothing more than simple planning organization and control. If you
are not willing to do this then do not be surprised with the results
produced. Failure to manage a consultant properly or to adequately
inspect work in progress will produce inadequate results. So do
yourself and your company a favor do your homework and create a
winwin scenario for both the consultant and yourself.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce Associates MBA
of Palm Harbor Florida and has 30 years of experience in the field.
He is available for training and consulting on an international basis.
He can be contacted at: timb001phmainstreet.com
Copyright 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.
Mail Surveys
Mail Surveys
This Article discusses best practices to consider in the administration of mail surveys. There is no single idea that alone will dramatically improve response rates. Rather it is a combination of properly planned steps that can result in overall enhancement. By keeping these practices in mind it will help insure a quality experience for both the survey participants and the company on whose behalf the survey is conducted as well as potentially improve response rates.
At the outset surveying companies should accept that most properly administered mail survey projects are fairly complicated. If done correctly they are far more involved than simple print mail tabulate and report. Companies might want to consider the factors mentioned below when planning a mail survey:
1. Is the length of the survey instrument appropriate for the audience?
2. Is there a wellwritten cover letter and instructions?
3. Is there a method of reaching someone in the event of support issues?
4. Is the mailing envelope properly identified?
5. Is the mailing being sent out by 1st class USPS?
6. Is a business reply envelope being used?
7. Are awards or other incentives needed?
8. Will online survey hosting increase the response rate?
Design of the Survey Instrument:
The length of the survey instrument must be appropriate for the audience. A survey participant who pays 50.00 for a product that is readily available from multiple vendors and that is not a priority item to the participant will be less likely to complete a longer questionnaire than a participant who purchased an expensive car or an enterprise product. This is a matter of common sense. Consider how much time you would be willing to spend responding to a questionnaire given the subject and offered incentives if any. In many cases a onesheet questionnaire printed on both sides called “duplex” printing is the appropriate length. This still might be too long depending on the subject of the survey.
To some extent consideration of length is accommodated by the topic. For example there are only so many questions that can be asked about the taste of toothpaste. Yet some companies might include six or seven basic questions 10 demographic questions and another bank of questions on buying habits. Before you know it the questionnaire is close to four pages long. If this happens the surveying company might want to consider using incentives to actually keep the costs down more about this later.
Packaging the Survey Instrument:
There are certain best practices a surveying company should consider relating to the packaging of the survey instrument. This starts with what the participant first sees when he/she receives the mailing. The mailing envelope should include the logo and colors of the surveying company so that the participant views this as an “official” mailing. Printing of color logo will increase the costs of the project but is something that should be strongly considered unless color logo is an expensive addon given its design.
Use of windows envelopes are preferred; although labels can be used if need be. The advantage of a window envelope is the personalization of the cover letter without the need for and cost of a match with the mailing envelope. We recommend the use of a clear and concise personalized cover letter signed by a person of high authority at the surveying company. The letter should set forth the purpose of the survey confidentially requirements support information and the end date of the survey. Instructions on completing the survey instrument should be included on the cover letter or even better at the beginning of the instrument.
Except for rare instances the use of 1st class USPS and business reply postage are important practices. Each will add to the cost of the project and can result in significant cost increases but they each can have a significant impact on response rates. Use of bulk rate postage can also result in delays in receipt of the mailings for varying percentages of participants.
Use of Incentives:
Deciding whether or not to use incentives is for the most part a budgetary consideration; although in certain instances it can also have a customerrelations element attached to it. Assuming large quantities of available sample one can always send out more mailings instead of offering incentives. However the key consideration is whether the use and costs of administration of an incentive saves money by producing more completes at a lower overall cost than sending out additional mailings. If the survey population is limited in size then awards might be needed to produce an adequate number of completes for actionable data. Keep in mind that there might be quality of data issues relating to the use of incentives. A surveying company should consult with an experienced survey company regarding the use of incentives and what the options might be.
Coordination of Mail Surveys with Online Survey Hosting:
It is not uncommon for surveying companies to consider the use of online survey hosting in conjunction with a mail survey. If this is done best practices suggest a variable insert of a unique login id into each mailing along with survey login instructions. It would also be correct to variable insert a tracking id onto the questionnaire to dedupe responders who complete both the mail survey and online survey. Technical support should also be available for online responders.
As is the case with incentives the use of an online survey is primarily a budgetary consideration. That is will the use of an online survey enhance overall response rates to offset the added costs of offering this option? If not then the use of an online survey might not be justified unless it is desirable from a clientrelations standpoint. Also keep in mind when calculating the comparative costs that mail surveys have data entry fees while online surveys do not.
In summary when conducting mail surveys a surveying company should carefully consider each and every step of the survey administration process. That includes length of the survey instrument; packaging of the survey materials including mailing envelope and type of postage; formatting and personalization of the cover letter; survey support options; use of incentives; and viability of coordinated online survey hosting.
About the writer: Marc I. Tillman is a member of the professional services staff at Amplitude Research Inc. a mail and online survey company headquartered in Boca Raton Florida. Amplitude is an industry leader in conducting fullservice mail surveys.
