Organizational Development Program

                                             KAMOTE Organization 

A. Introduction

At the core of OD is the program of organization, defined as two or more people working together toward one or more shared goals.It is based on the understanding of behavioral sciences and is concerned with how people and organizations function and how they can be made to function better through effective use of human and social processes. Development in this context is the notion that an organization may become more effective over time at achieving its goals.

                                             B. General Goal

The KAMOTE Organization aims to equip the members with the knowledge and know how individuals and the teams work in an organization to achieve organizational objectives.

C. Specific Objectives

The  Kamote Organization aims at reinforcement of organization strategies, structures and processes for improving organization’s effectiveness and health; aims at the change of organization culture; and targets long term institutionalization of new activities such as operation of self managed or autonomous work teams and other problem solving capabilities.


                                           D.  Calendar of Activities

Month	Activities
January 5	Team building
February 15	Making outreach programs
March 22-25	Four-day interactive workshop designed for OD practitioners, consultants and trainers
April 7	Consultations for Instructional designs, training and development
May 27	Seminar- Leadership Process: Motivating Achievement Workshop
June 3	Giving of school supplies in public schools
July 5	Organization Skills Program
August 13	Cultural Change Situation (Business Simulation)
September 12	Designing and Running  Better Meetings
October 31	General meeting
November 6	Hiring of new applicants
December 22	Christmas Party

E. KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Attitude) with Description

We don’t just give people knowledge, we emphasis the practical application of skills, and so we will use:

	interactive facilitation to ensure all managers participate and gain maximum benefit from the program;
	organization specific practice scenarios to make the learning relevant and easy to relate to;
	a variety of training methods to cater to all the managers’ learning style;
	facilitator and peer feedback systems so that the managers know what they are doing well and how they can improve their skills, specifically; and
	accelerated learning techniques to speed up the process.

                                               F.  OD Norms

• The individual should be treated with respect and dignity. 
• The organization climate should be characterized by trust, openness and support.  
• Hierarchical authority and control are not regarded as effective mechanisms. 
• Problems and conflicts should be confronted, and not disguised or avoided.
• People affected by change should be involved in its implementation.

                                                                                         
                                    G. Activities for Collaboration

There's a collaborative effort between the consultant and the client’s members who engage in joint planning diagnosis, implementation, evaluation and further planning with regards to organizational goals.

H.  Evaluations

         Team work is vital to the functioning of modern organizations. Members of teams bring different strings to the group such as leader, investigator, motivator, finisher, clown, coordinator, thinker, negotiator or politician. These roles are used at different stages of production when such role play becomes essential in the groups work. Teams take over from hierarchical systems where individuals are assumed to know everything depending on their level in the authority ladder. This system denies the organization the cumulative advantage of skills and strengths in different individuals.
         I can say that in our organization, cooperation really exists. Facilitators exert their efforts in order to make the activities an excited one. While every members are trying their best to contribute different ideas and knowledge.


                                          I.  Recommendation

     I recommend that this organization needs to do some effort in terms of studying the different concepts related to the organization.  This would also benefit them to gain new knowledge and acquire skills through searching for more things.


                     J. Personal Learning Summaries

                 From the organization that we had, I realized and learned a lot of things that I never appreciate before.  Through the activities in the learning circle, it helped me to improve my communication skill.  It also enhance the individual skill and knowledge through learning and training opportunities.  In the organization, we use the term “learning” in a very broad sense to encompass those activities that engage us in changing the way we think about or do things resulting in new insight and action.  And I'm so blessed and thankful for having this opportunity to learn these things, with the help of our dear professor Mr. Miranda.

Organizational Change

1.  Why is diagnosis so vital in organizational change programs?

           Because we can recognize the problem of areas in an organization through diagnosis, and we can do any appropriate action necessary preceded by diagnosis of problems.  In addition, employees issues can be assessed through this.  At may comes about through interviews and human resource management department information.

2.  Explain the concept of organization intervention and why any particular management or organization change can be considered an intervention.

          It is a specific action that a change agent takes to focus the change process.  An organization can be an intervention because there's a changing process that happens in an organization in order to improve it.

3.  Might some managers attempt to implement a particular intervention, such as TQM, without first diagnosing whether the intervention would be appropriate for their organization's problems?

          I think, they should diagnose first the intervention so that they could prevent any problems of an organization.  The intervention was made to have a change in a particular organization, in able to improve them, not to destroy it by taking a risk of disregarding the process of diagnosing.

4.  Why is it important for managers to reduce the resistance to change exhibited or covertly practiced by employees?

          Resistance change is a human response, and management must take steps to minimize it.  Reducing resistance can cut down on the time needed for a change to be accepted or tolerated.  The performance of the employees can rebound more quickly if resistance is minimized. 

5.  Evaluate the ethical issues associated with downsizing the organization by reducing its labor force to increase the organization's long-run chance of survival.  What other ethical issues can you identify in the practice of organizational development as you understand it thus far?

          For me, downsizing the organization in a process of reducing its labor force can not help increase the organization's long-run chance of survival.  We all know that the manpower is the most needed in any business operations or organizations, without it, you can not run your organization 'cause they are the one who performs different tasks.  I think, we should empower the labor force in order to have the survival of a company or organization.

6.  Describe the relationships among the steps of the change model depicted in this chapter and the process of unfreezing-new learning-refreezing.  Which steps of the model are related to which elements of the relearning process?

         Management and all those involved must have high and visible commitment to the effort.  People who are involved need to have advance information that enables them to know what is to happen and why they are being asked to do what they are to do.  The effort must be connected to other necessary.  And management must remain committed to the effort throughout all its steps, from diagnosis through implementation and evaluation. Evaluation is essential and must consist or more than asking people how they felt about the effort.  And, people must see clearly the relationship between the effort and the organization's mission and goals.

7.  How is the appreciative inquiry approach to organizational change different from a problem-solving approach?

          An appreciative inquiry approach is an organizational change process that focuses on diagnosis and presentation of positive characteristics of change, the process and outcomes.  It is also a method of focusing on positive or potential opportunities.  A positive approach to change that completely lets go of problems-based management.  It's also an emphasis on individual engagement to bring about creative solutions.

8.  What would be the characteristics of an organization or situation for which the use of reason would be an effective approach  for managing change?  Are such organizations and situations relatively rare?

          Organizations should become more organic, virtual, flat, or modular.  Jobs and work can be enriched, combined, expanded, or converted to a virtual arrangement.  The approach focuses on changing or redesigning jobs, work-flow, or organizational structure.

9.  Explain the difficulties that you would encounter in attempting to obtain diagnostic information from members of two groups that believe they're competing for scarce resources.

          There is a confusion that exists as to roles and relationships.  Members often pay more attention to the tasks of the team than to the relationships among the team members.


10.  Explain why a change program should be evaluated and why such an evaluation is so difficult to conduct.

          We have to evaluate in order to gather data and then analyzing it in such a way that the resulting information can be used to determine whether your organization or program is effectively carrying out planned activities. An evaluation can also illustrate the extent to which your organization or program is achieving its stated objectives and anticipated results.  It will be difficult because program evaluation conducted on a regular basis, which requires understanding the differences between monitoring and evaluation. 

          Case for Analysis:  Bayer's Major Changes in One Plant

           There are several types of changes occurred at Bayer's, first one is, in the production facility in Myerstown, Pennsylvania,  the plant had changed ownership three times and the workforce seemed to have dissolved as lines.  That was a lot change to absorb in a facility that had been steadily producing over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals for more than half a century.  Another, the employees were uncertain about what it would be like to work for Bayer, and the plant manager post had been vacant for a while.

          Bayer involved the employees needed at the heart of any turnaround.  Selecting some employees at random to participate in seven focus group meetings to get a clear indication of what was going on at the plant.  They addressed workers at an all-employee meeting about the first initiative- developing a site strategy and goals.

           Several changes can lead us to improve different grounds in an organization.  The reason why failure exists in their management is that, there is less collaborative and reactive management style, instead of proactive one. But knowing those things can help us realize on what alternative steps could be done in order to overcome those problems, and develop new strategies to attain specific goals of our organization.  I have learned that we should value each person's opinions, and treat people equally.  And building a harmonious relationship between every member in an organization is very important, because they could enjoy each others companionship when they perform their individual tasks.

Learning Circle Summary

 Learning Circle (C2) Summary

                                                 Knowledge Management Skills

Knowledge Management (KM) -comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice. 

- It is the concept of taking data and turning it into useful and applicable knowledge in a business environment. There is no one specific way that this done, and there's really no one specific definition of the process or the concept. The ideas are more general, though there are many specific benefits of knowledge management that can be named as well as some specific steps that must be included, no matter how simple or complex an organization's concept of knowledge management is.

Many large companies and non-profit organizations have resources dedicated to internal KM efforts, often as a part of their 'business strategy', 'information technology', or 'human resource management' departments (Addicott, McGivern & Ferlie 2006). Several consulting companies also exist that provide strategy and advice regarding KM to these organizations.

Knowledge Management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with organizational learning, and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge.

A broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline exists with no unanimous agreement; approaches vary by author and school. As the discipline matures, academic debates have increased regarding both the theory and practice of KM, to include the following perspectives:

§                     Techno-centric with a focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing and creation.

§                     Organizational with a focus on how an organization can be designed to facilitate knowledge processes best.

§                     Ecological with a focus on the interaction of people, identity, knowledge, and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system akin to a natural ecosystem.

Regardless of the school of thought, core components of KM include People, Processes, Technology (or) Culture, Structure, Technology, depending on the specific perspective . Different KM schools of thought include various lenses through which KM can be viewed and explained, to include:

§                     community of practice 

§                     social network analysis

§                     intellectual capital

§                     information theory

§                     complexity scienc

§                     constructivism

 

Strategies

Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities. Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into measurement plans. Considerable controversy exists over whether incentives work or not in this field and no consensus has emerged.

Other knowledge management strategies and instruments for companies include:

§                     rewards (as a means of motivating for knowledge sharing)

§                     storytelling (as a means of transferring tacit knowledge)

§                     cross-project learning

§                     after action reviews

§                     knowledge mapping (a map of knowledge repositories within a company      accessible by all)

§                     communities of practice

§                     expert directories (to enable knowledge seeker to reach to the experts)

§                     best practice transfer

§                     knowledge fairs

§                     competence management (systematic evaluation and planning of competences of individual organization members)

§                     proximity & architecture (the physical situation of employees can be either conducive or obstructive to knowledge sharing)

§                     master-apprentice relationship

§                     collaborative technologies (groupware, etc.)

§                     knowledge repositories (databases, bookmarking engines, etc.)

§                     measuring and reporting intellectual capital (a way of making explicit knowledge for companies)

§                     knowledge brokers (some organizational members take on responsibility for a specific "field" and act as first reference on whom to talk about a specific subject)

§                     social software (wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, etc.)

 

Motivations

A number of claims exist as to the motivations leading organizations to undertake a KM effort. Typical considerations driving a KM effort include:

§                     Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services

§                     Achieving shorter new product development cycles

§                     Facilitating and managing innovation and organizational learning

§                     Leveraging the expertise of people across the organization

§                     Increasing network connectivity between internal and external individuals

§                     Managing business environments and allowing employees to obtain relevant insights and ideas appropriate to their work

§                     Solving intractable or wicked problems

§                     Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals)

 

Technologies

Early KM technologies included online corporate yellow pages as expertise locators and document management systems. Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular Lotus Notes), KM technologies expanded in the mid-1990s. Subsequent KM efforts leveraged semantic technologies for search and retrieval and the development of e-learning tools for communities of practice

Knowledge manager

"Knowledge manager" is a role and designation that has gained popularity over the past decade. The role has evolved drastically from that of one involving the creation and maintenance of knowledge repositories to one that involves influencing the culture of an organization toward improved knowledge sharing, reuse, learning, collaboration and innovation. Knowledge management functions are associated with different departments in different organizations. It may be combined with Quality, Sales, HR, Innovation, Operations etc. and is likely to be determined by the KM motivation of that particular organization.

Knowledge managers have varied backgrounds ranging from Information Sciences to Business Management. An effective knowledge manager is likely to be someone who has a versatile skills portfolio and is comfortable with the concepts of organizational behavior/culture, processes, branding & marketing and collaborative technology.

The Purpose of the Knowledge Management Process 

The entire point of gathering data, storing it, organizing, analyzing it and sharing it is so that the company can use vital business information to see what needs to be done, what needs to be improved, what can be eliminated, what needs to be maximized and what's possible in the future. The knowledge from this information processing cycle can be used to reach goals, whether those goals are more sales, more clients, less waste, more employee productivity, a better public image or almost any type of goal a company could have. Knowledge can be used to further those goals if it's gathered and processed correctly.

The knowledge management process has not always been something that companies have focused on, at least not in a formal way. Few people in a company several years ago would have used the term "knowledge management." But companies that were successful have always practiced knowledge management whether they called it that or not. Gathering data and turning it into useful information and shared knowledge has always been crucial.

Information technology (IT) is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications

-It is the area of managing technology and spans wide variety of areas that include but are not limited to things such as processes, computer software, information systems, computer hardware, programming languages, and data constructs. In short, anything that renders data, information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via any multimedia distribution mechanism.

IT professionals perform a variety of functions (IT Disciplines/Competencies) that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as management and administration of entire systems. Information technology is starting to spread farther than the conventional personal computer and network technology, and more into integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones, televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for such jobs.

Technology Management- is set of management disciplines that allows organizations to manage its technological fundamentals to create competitive advantage. Typical concepts used in technology management are technology strategy (a logic or role of technology in organization), technology forecasting (identification of possible relevant technologies for the organization, possibly through technology scouting), technology roadmapping (mapping technologies to business and market needs), technology project portfolio ( a set of projects under development) and technology portfolio (a set of technologies in use).

The role of the technology management function in an organization is understand the value of certain technology for the organization. Continuous development of technology is valuable as long as there is a value for the customer and therefore the technology management function in an organization should be able to argue when to invest on technology development and when to withdraw.

Technology Management can also be defined as the integrated planning, design, optimization, operation and control of technological products, processes and services, a better definition would be the management of the use of technology for human advantage.  Technology Management programs typically include instruction in production and operations management, project management, computer applications, quality control, safety and health issues, statistics, and general management principles

              Perhaps the most authoritative input to our understanding of technology is the diffusion of innovations theory developed in the first half of the twentieth century. It suggests that all innovations follow a similar diffusion pattern - best known today in the form of an "s" curve though originally based upon the concept of a standard distribution of adopters. In broad terms the "s" curve suggests four phases of a technology life cycle - emerging, growth, mature and aging.

  GROUP MEMBERS:

AGTE, JHON ERIC

ATACADOR, MA. JENNE PEARL

BARRERAS, REGILYN 

MURIAL, JONATHAN

RAMOS, JOANNE

 

Christmas For Sale

                                           Learning Objectives

 Organizational Behavior
           - is  the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals' perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment's effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies. 

Contingency Approach

          - there's no one best way to manage in every situation and managers must find different ways that fit different situations.

 Managing Workplace Behavior
          - here in the Philippines, the managing workplace behavior is different from the other countries, like in Germany, they offer wireless onboard computers that use global positioning satellites to give vocal directions to any destination.  Some other countries use technological inventions  that affects any profession, company and business practice, while here in the Philippines, we seldom use such high technological gadgets and equipments in our work.


Approaches to Effectiveness
                  Goal approach is the oldest and most widely used evaluation approach.  According to this approach, an organization exists to accomplish goals.  It reflects purposefulness, rationality, and achievement.  On the other hand, systems theory enables us to describe organizations' internal and external behavior.  Internally we can see how and why people inside organizations perform their individual and group tasks.  Externally we can assess organizations' transactions with other organizations and institutions.  The multiple-constituency approach, compared to goal and systems approach, it means that achieving balance among the various parts of the system by satisfying the interests of the organization's constituency.



Environmental forces that initiates changes to Organizations

                  Successful change is associated with a multistep process that creates power and motivation to continue.  The change process is driven by top-quality leaders who exert a lasting influence on the changes being made.  These leaders establish direction; align people with their vision; and inspire people to overcome political, personal, and bureaucratic barriers to change.  As changes occur in workforce technology, the economy, competition, social trends, and world politics, it is inevitable that leaders will have to initiate organizational development interventions.  Because competition is becoming stronger each day, organizations have no choice- they must change.  In all industries, a standard of continuous improvement and learning is becoming the norm around the world.


Organizational Culture
            - is what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values, and expectations.


Difference in how some employees talk about positive culture and negative culture
           Management at Alberto-Culver believes that a positive culture can result in positive performance.  Culture and performance are linked.  The culture of Alberto-Culver is based on honesty, trust, commitment, customer orientation, fun, innovative risk, speed, teamwork, and ownership.  Bruce Pfau, a vice president of the Hay Group of Philadelphia, states that firms such as Pfizers have unique organizational cultures.  He states, "The corporate cultures of high-performing companies are dramatically different from those of average companies."


The impact of an organization's culture on individual and team behavior
           Because organizational culture involves shared expectations, values, and attitudes, it exerts influence on individuals, groups, and organizational process.  It had studied the impact of culture on employees indicate that it provides  and encourages a form of stability.  There is a feeling of stability, as well as a sense of organizational identity, provided by an organization's culture.
           In addition to stability and identity, a culture can generate a sense of loyalty and commitment.  Individuals by joining an organization and working hard to perform and compete create a sense of "we" and "me".  This involves loyalty and remaining committed to the goals of an organization.



Spirituality
          The term spirituality has found its way into the organizational literature.  It is a state or experience that can provide individuals with direction or meaning, or provide feelings of understanding, support, inner wholeness, or connectedness.  Connectedness can be to themselves, other people, nature, the universe, a god, or some other supernatural power.  This definition involves inner feelings, being connected to the work and to colleagues.  Because work is such a major part of the lives of employees, organizational culture and practices can contribute to a person's spiritual development and growth.  Research results suggests that the encouragement and support of spirituality in the work setting can contribute to creativity, honesty, trust, commitment, personal need satisfaction, and improved organizational effectiveness.
            The spirituality benefits in addition to improved effectiveness include attaining a broader worldview; concern with working with integrity; acquiring a strong sense of community; and a willingness to work to make a positive difference by making contributions to colleagues, stakeholders, and society. In addition to these benefits there is also the individual benefit of creating a more reasonable work/life balance, attitude, and set of behaviors.


Socialization
          - is the process by which organizations bring new employees into the culture.  In terms of culture, socialization involves a transmittal of values, assumptions, and attitudes from older to newer employees.  


            There are three stages of socialization, namely Anticipatory socialization, Accommodation, and Role Management. Anticipatory Socialization, the first stage that involves all those activities the individual undertakes prior to entering the organization or to taking a different job in the same organization.The primary purpose of these activities is to acquire information about the new organization and/or new job.  Accommodation, the second stage of socialization occurs after the individual becomes a member of the organization, after he or she takes the job.  During this stage, the individual sees the organization and the job for what they actually are.  Role management, in contrast to accommodation stage, which requires the individual to adjust to demands and expectations of the immediate work group, this stage takes on a broader set of issues and problems.  


Practices and Programs used by Organizations to facilitate socialization


Anticipatory Socialization
1.  Recruitment using realistic job previews.
2.  Selection and placement using realistic career paths.  Recruitment and selection and placement programs.  Recruitment programs are directed toward new employees, those not know in the organization.


Accommodation Socialization
1.  Tailor-made and individualized orientation programs.  These are seldom given attention they deserve.  The first few days on a new job can have very strong negative or positive impacts on the new employee.
2.  Social as well as technical skills training.  These are in invaluable in the breaking-in stage.Training programs are necessary to instruct new employees in proper techniques and to help them develop requisite skills.
3.  Supportive and accurate feedback.  In the context of socialization, provides important feedback about how well the individual is getting along in the organization.
4.  Challenging work assignments.  Assigning challenging work to new employees is a principal feature of effective socialization programs.
5.  Demanding but fair supervisors.  Assigning demanding bosses is a practice that seems to have considerable promise for increasing the retention rate of employees.


Role Management
1.  Provision of professional counseling.
2.  Adaptive and flexible work assignments.
3.  Sincere person-oriented managers.

Globalization
              -it is the interdependency of transportation distribution , communication and economic networks accross international boarders.

Importance of cross-cultural Management
             -it involves the study of the behavior of individuals in organizations around the world.  It attempts to understand and improve the interaction and behavior of co-workers, clients, supplies, and alliance partners from different countries and cultures.

The global skills managers must learn, practice, and refine to deal with a changing world.     -the global skills that the managers must learn and practice are the following:

1. Global Strategic Skills- Wherein the global managers operating in a globally shifting work environment will need a working knowledge of international relationships and foreign affairs, including global financial markets, international law, and exchange rate movements.
2. Team-building Skills- the increased complexity of global operations will require more use of work teams, including culturally diversed group.  The need for  global  teamwork is obvious  when considering how accounting and auditing are conducted in various parts of the world.   Teams should not ignore or minimize     either cultural differences or the difficulty faced in trying to develop and manage multicultural teams.
3. Organization Skills- In addition to multicultural diversity, managers must consider individual differences when organizing firms, units and jobs.  Minimum requirements for managers operating in loiobally shifting world would include:

• Creativity and inventiveness in designing organizations and jobs.
• High tolerance for ambiguity and cultural differences.
• Ability to coordinate finance, marketing, operations managements, and human resources interdependencies.

4. Communication Skills- Managers will need to be able to communicate with diverese group of people.  The communication task would be easier if managers possessd multilingual skills and high levels of of cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity.  Lack of communication skills would result in misunderstanding.
5. Transfer of Knowledge Skills- The increased competitiveness troughout the world has placed special emphasis on technological advances for prosducts and process innovations.  This emphasis has increased the need to transfer knowledge.  Learning about the practice, technique, or approach in one country that can be transferred elsewhere is a skill that managers can apply on a regular basis.

Characteristics of culture that can influence the behavior and attitudes of employees.             -a culture is a set of values, attitudes, norms and beliefs shared by majority of inhabitants of a country.  These become embodied in the laws and regulations of the society as well as in the generally accepted norms of the country’s social system.People in the society learn what to notice and what not to notice, how to behave with each other and how to handle responsibility, success and failure.

Hofstede's original cultural dimensions.

    -Geert Hofstede, a dutch researcher who studied how cultures in countries are similar and different. His research has resulted into four dimensions explaining differences and similarities in cultures these are the: 

1. Uncertainty Avoidance- Concerns the degree to which the people are comfortable with ambigous situations and with the inability to predict future events with accuracy.

2.  Masculinity- Feminity- High masculinity in a culture designates assertiveness,dominance and independence.  High feminity in a culture designates interdependence, compassion, and emotional opinions. 

3. Individualism- Collectivism-Individualism emphasizes pursuits of individual goals, needs and success.  Collectivism emphasizes group needs, satisfaction and performance.

 

                                       Taking it to the Net

 

1. How much of each company's revenue and profit is generated outside its country of origin? 

Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.

GulfMark reported net income of $21.5 million, or 84 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $14.2 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2009. The figure for the past quarter includes a $15 million, or 59 cents per diluted share, benefit from accrued taxes and repayments from the Norwegian government after a revision to the tonnage tax system in 2007 was declared unconstitutional in February this year. Revenue for the period was $84.7 million, down from $108.8 million a year ago. The company said the fall in revenue was due low utilisation of its vessels as a result of the slowdown in offshore activity amid the worldwide recession. Effective average dayrates for its vessel also fell in Europe and the US. In Europe this was due to dollar strengthening against local currencies, while in the US it was due to the return of several lower-dayrate vessels to the operating fleet in the region. However, GulfMark said its operating income rose to $8.9 million in the period from just $1.6 million in the year ago period.

SMART Communications, Inc.

SMART Communications, Inc. increased operating revenues in this period by 40% to P31 billion, compared to P22 billion this same period. Operating income increased to 91%, to 15.27 billion, and net income by 90% to 11.64 billion.

2. What does the code of ethics statement for each company say?

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics-  Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.

The Board adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to all of our employees and agents as well as a Code of Ethics for our Principal Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers, which are posted on our website at www.gulfmark.com. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement regarding any changes to our code of ethics we adopt and/or any waiver from our code of ethics that we grant by posting such information on our website, www.gulfmark.com, or by filing a Form 8-K for such event.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics- SMART Communications, Inc.

Our company, directors, officers and employees strive to promote a culture of corporate governance by observing and maintaining our core  business principles of accountability, integrity, fairness and transparency in our relationships among ourselves and with our customers, suppliers, competitors, business partners, regulators, and the public.

3. What changes have they had to cope with in their people policies and product/service mix in the past decade?

Gulfmark Offshore, Inc.

The Company defines the North Sea market as offshore Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland. The North Sea market is divided into three service segments: exploration support, production platform support and field development and construction (which include subsea services). Its North Sea-based fleet provides support vessels that work in the markets, including production platform support and field development and construction. The Company’s vessels based in the North Sea but operating temporarily out of the region are included in its North Sea operating segment statistics, and all vessels based out of the region are supported, through its onshore bases in Aberdeen, Scotland and Sandnes, Norway.

The Southeast Asia market is defined as offshore Asia bounded roughly on the west by the Indian subcontinent and on the north by China, then south to Australia and east to the Pacific Islands. This market includes offshore Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. All vessels based out of the region are supported, through its onshore bases in Singapore and Malaysia.

SMART Communications,Inc.

By applying rapid, relentless, and relevant innovation, they are making technology work to fit the needs of our subscribers. In the past years, SMART has refocused, over¬hauled and expanded its business by "thinking out of the box" while sticking to the basics. By applying rapid, relentless, and relevant innovation, we are making technology work to fit the needs of our subscribers. “

    

4. How effective are the firms? (Describe what basis you use to determine effectiveness.)

For me, Gulfmark Offshore, Inc. is very effective because of the profit that is gaining and it is one of the Top 100 transportation companies in the world. Even the SMART Communications, Inc., it is also effective because of the number of people who use their services.

5. Would you want to work for either of these firms? Why?

If I will have a chance to work in SMART Communications, Inc., maybe I will grab that opportunity because we all know that it is one of the companies that is best performing today.