USERS MOURNING FOR FAMILIAR SYSTEMS
Some therapists and IT managers are beginning to realize that users often react to major changes to the corporate information systems in ways similar to that of the grief felt over the death of a family member. Be it grief or a neurotic aversion of anything new, project managers and trainers are advised to recognize the signs (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) and take a proactive approach.

Recommendations include creating a corporate culture that embraces change and a gradual introduction of the changes to help lessen the sense of loss. Experts also say that users need to understand that the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of the change. Involving the users in the decisions and implementation will help them have a sense of control.

Ignoring the workers feelings can lead to aggressive behaviors. A project manager overseeing the installation of a new automated forms process at a flour mill was the target of a group irate workers who dropped a 100-pound sack of flour from several stories towards him. Fortunately for all involved, the sack missed the project manager. (Source: Computerworld, 5/29/2000)

SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE BUSINESSES
The small and medium size business (SME) is often overlooked when it comes to their potential impact on the Internal. The 25 million small businesses in the United States employ 52% of the private workforce, make 47% of all sales and constitute 96% of the companies that export. The recent surveys conducted by Dun & Bradstreet and Arthur Anderson found 70% to 85% of the small and medium businesses have access to the Internet and 38% to 53% have their own web site. Estimates of SME online sales range from US$25 to US$45 billion per year.

The Dun & Bradstreet study showed that SMEs owned and operated by women and minorities are more likely to use the Internet to make purchases and sell their products.

A small business is generally referred as one with 50 or fewer employees and a medium size company is 250 or few employees. (Source: http://www.nua.ie, 6/26/2000)

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH
Give SurfWax a spin the next time you want to conduct a search of multiple search engines. SurfWax searches ten different search engines and bring back the results usually in less than three seconds. (Source: Netogether Weekend Web Picks 5/21/00).
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Technology Tidbits is published monthly by Jerry Price, Eau Claire, Wisconsin © 2000 Jerry W. Price

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