Wi-Fi Takes Off in Region’s Hotels
It can be a real problem when the family is on vacation and dad is waiting for an important e-mail. The beach is beckoning and being stuck in the room till that e-mail comes is putting a glitch in the fun. But more and more of the region’s hotels are installing wi-fi — and not just in the lobby and conference rooms.
Starting last week, guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain were able to surf a different kind of wave at the beach. As part of the hotel’s extensive renovation, The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain now provides wireless access in all rooms, suites and public areas such as the restaurants, swimming pool and 600-meter beach. Leisure and corporate travelers may combine business and pleasure in the luxury resort all year round, and enjoy the services of a Technology Butler dedicated to assist them with all web-based questions. The two-hour minimum wireless connection costs 7 Bahraini dinars and 15 Bahraini dinars for 12 hours.
“Wireless access is another milestone in our mission to anticipate and meet our guests every need,” said General Manager Pascal Duchauffour. “A significant portion of our guests are corporate travelers and this facility will open up a lot of new meeting possibilities for them. A meeting on the beach or on our private island are now very popular options to meeting planners.”
World’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises
Teleos has announced the winners of the 8th annual Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE) study. Toyota Motor Corporation is the first Asian-headquartered company to be recognized as the overall Global MAKE Winner.
According to the “2005 Global MAKE Report,” Asian knowledge-driven organizations have now gained parity with their European and North American counterparts, and more organizations are becoming truly international - global operations with a decentralized headquarters.
The winners of the 2005 Global MAKE study, conducted by Teleos in association with The KNOW Network, are (in alphabetical order): Accenture, BMW, BP, Buckman Laboratories, Dell, Ernst & Young, General Electric, Google, IBM, Infosys Technologies, McKinsey, Microsoft, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Samsung Group, Science Applications International Corporation, Siemens, Sony, 3M, Toyota Motor Corporation and Wipro Technologies.
A panel of Global Fortune 500 senior executives and internationally-recognized knowledge management/intellectual capital experts chose the 2005 Global MAKE Winners. The panel rated organizations against the MAKE framework of eight key knowledge performance dimensions which are the visible drivers of competitive advantage and intellectual capital growth.
Contact Teleos for a free Executive Summary of the “2005 Global MAKE Report” at [email protected].
HP Eliminates 95% of the BFRs
HP has put forward the goal to eliminate the brominated flame retardant (BFR) tetrabromobisphenol A from external case parts of all new HP brand products introduced after Dec. 31, 2006. HP eliminated more than 95 percent of the BFRs used in the external case parts of its products more than 10 years ago, including two, PBDE and PBB, which were subsequently among the substances restricted by the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive. During the same timeframe, the company also eliminated polyvinyl chloride from the external case parts of its products.
The company’s “Design for Environment” initiative has resulted in the elimination of the use of mercury in most of HP’s all-in-one products by replacing mercury-containing scanner lamps with a new contact imaging technology lamp and shipment earlier this year of HP’s first products compliant with the EU Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive.
HP’s Design for Environment goals are to:
• Eliminate the use of BFRs in the external case parts of all new HP brand products introduced after Dec. 31, 2006 (to be accomplished while still meeting stringent international fire safety standards);
• Eliminate the remaining uses of BFRs and PVCs in HP brand products as acceptable alternatives are identified that will not compromise product performance or present health and/or environmental risks;
• Exceed compliance obligations by meeting the requirements of the EU’s RoHS directive on a worldwide basis;
• Eliminate lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium, as defined in the EU’s RoHS directive, in 50 percent of HP electronic products sold worldwide six months ahead of the July 2006 deadline of the EU RoHS directive.
IT Diversity Programs Give Competitive Edge
With an increasing global economy and the corporate strategies of global sourcing of labor, it is imperative for companies to implement IT diversity programs to obtain a competitive position in the global market, according to Gartner, Inc. In the Gartner report “Managing IT Workforce Diversity: Maintaining the Competitive Edge,” Gartner analysts examine the new dimensions of workplace diversity and provide strategic and tactical guidance on developing and implementing successful IT workplace diversity initiatives.
“Whether companies are trying to gain access to new customer bases domestically, are expanding business into international markets, are moving into a global IT sourcing model or are simply facing the challenge of recruiting and retaining the best and brightest people in the market, managing diversity must become a part of their strategic kit to maintain the competitive edge in this increasingly diverse and complex business world,” said Lily Mok, research director for Gartner.
Valuing diversity has become a management philosophy that is critical to not only attract but also retain the best talent available. True diversity is exemplified by companies that attract people who are “different” not just in their looks but in who they are — knowing and valuing that they will change the way they do business. Diversity is often defined differently from company to company based on individual organizational needs. Valuing diversity means to encompass every characteristic and experience, whether they are visible or invisible, that defines each individual’s talent desired by the organization to achieve its objectives.
