Research Articles Base: Hong Kong Health Management

The importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong

The Importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong   Abstract             Food safety issues are an important problem not only for the residents of Hong Kong but the world over. There are many people around the world who have no idea about how to handle food safely and thus expose themselves to the danger of getting an illness or disease. At the least improper handling can cause stomach upsets and on the worst can cause food poisoning of individuals and even death. Improper handling of food materials will not only affect the health of individuals but will likewise reflect on how healthcare management has performed. This project is done with the aim of determining the food safety practices of people in Hong Kong and how healthcare organizations have managed it. In order to do this, a telephone survey of residents is conducted in a period of two months. The respondents of this study will be asked a variety of questions regarding their knowledge and practices of food handling. The results of this endeavor would show that several trends in food handling techniques have the potential to contribute to an increase in food-borne disease. Additionally, this project can help health care organizations and the public to be more aware of the importance of following safe food handling procedures. Perhaps health care organizations can come up with a better strategy to educate the public regarding food safety handling practices.   1. Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT Meeting nutritional needs adequately and safely requires environmental controls and knowledge. Take for example at home, individuals need a refrigerator with a freezer compartment to keep perishable foods fresh. An adequate, clean water supply is needed for drinking and to wash fresh produce and dishes. Provisions for garbage collection are also necessary to maintain sanitary conditions.             When we eat, we should be aware of what we are eating. This does not mean what kind of food we are eating, but rather what exactly is in the food we are eating. Harmful bacteria could be present in the food we eat. Harmful bacteria that may be in the soil or water where the food we are eating used to grow may come in contact with the fruits and vegetables and contaminate them. Or, fresh produce may become contaminated after it is harvested, such as during preparation or storage of the food. Such harmful bacteria that contaminate our food could be toxic and produce infection and food poisoning. Food safety is therefore a matter that affects anyone who eats food. It is concern for both individuals and communities. It is true that there are people who thought about the safety of that food we eat, from farmers to scientists to company presidents to federal government officials and sanitarians. Yet, as individuals and communities, we also have the responsibility to protect ourselves from food contamination and poisoning with infection control strategies.   1.1 Bacteria and Viruses in Foods             Foods that are inadequately prepared or stored, or that are subject to unsanitary conditions, increase an individual or even an entire community’s risk for infections and food poisoning. Most bacterial food infections result from eating food contaminated by bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Shigella, or Listeria organisms (2004). More than 200 known diseases are actually transmitted through food (2001). Some come from eating or drinking products that contain poisons such as insecticides. Most varieties, however, come from harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites that grow in undercooked or spoiled food (2002). E. coli is only one of many harmful microbes that cause food borne illness. It is mostly found in ground beef, unpasteurized fruit juices, lettuce, or alfalfa or radish sprouts contaminated by cow feces. Early symptoms include cramps and bloody diarrhea within 24 hours of ingestion. The bacteria secrete a dangerous toxin that can eat at the intestinal walls and other internal organs. In some cases, this leads to massive bleeding, kidney failure, and other complications that may be fatal ( 2006). Salmonella bacteria commonly grow in raw meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, dairy products, salad dressing, peanut butter, coconut, cocoa, and other foods. Salmonella exists in the intestinal tracts of animals, including food-producing animals as well as turtles, cats, dogs, birds, rodents, and wild animals. Raw milk and eggs are also sources of Salmonella. While heat easily destroys Salmonella, inadequate cooking allows some of the organisms to survive (2001). Symptoms can begin six to 48 hours after eating, and last one to 14 days. These may include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, fever, and headache. Some people may develop symptoms of arthritis a month or so after infection ( 2006). Campylobacter infection is another particular threat because around one victim in ten suffers serious complications, including septicemia and even paralysis. The main source of campylobacter infection is undercooked, contaminated food, especially chicken (2006).             While bacteria cause most food poisonings, a group of viruses known as Norwalk-like viruses are at fault in many cases. Usually, people get infected by eating infested food. Recently, though, doctors discovered that these viruses can be passed from person to person ( 2002).             Seafood products contain some naturally occurring marine toxins that present unique food hazards. Molluscan shellfish, which includes oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels, can pick up toxins from algae that they feed on, and cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, amnesic shellfish poisoning, and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. Tropical and subtropical reef fish such as grouper, barracuda, snappers, jacks, and king mackerel can accumulate ciguatera toxin by feeding on smaller fish that have ingested toxin-forming algae. Ciguatera can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches in humans. Tuna, mahi mahi, bluefish, and mackerel have been the sources of scromboid poisoning, a type of food borne illness caused by the consumption of scombroid and scombroid-like marine fish species that have begun to spoil (2001). Most incidents of these infections and food poisonings, however, do not make headlines, so people remain unaware of how common they are. Young children, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are most vulnerable to complications or death. Most infected people survive with no lasting damage, but some develop chronic problems such as arthritis, kidney failure, or certain nerve diseases ( 2002).   1.2 Impacts of Food Poisoning Food poisoning and getting a food-borne disease can have a life-altering impact. Food poisoning can lead to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, reactive arthritis, or hemolytic uremic syndrome–diseases that can leave their victims with chronic pain, paralysis, and kidney damage ( 2002). The symptoms of other food-borne illness also vary with the offending source. Most cases involve abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms often pass on their own, but some must be treated with medication. Some victims of food-borne infections must be hospitalized if they become dehydrated or develop other complications (2002).   1.3 Infection Control Strategies Prevention is always better than cure. Individuals and communities must therefore be aware and be able to implement infection control strategies. Preventive measures include thorough hand washing before handling food, adequate cooking, and proper storage and refrigeration of perishable foods. These will be further discussed in the succeeding paragraphs. On the national level, protecting consumers require that food authorities, such as the Food and Drug Administration, subject commercially processed and packaged foods to certain regulations.             Harmful microbes can infect food or beverages during any stage of production or storage. This means that everyone from the farmer to the consumer must be aware of how to keep food safe. Government agencies in Hong Kong such as the Food and Drug Administration and other food departments and even the agriculture section regulate and inspect food supplies. But of course, individuals must be aware that they cannot catch every bacterium. Contamination often occurs when animal feces get into meat or water, perishable foods are not stored correctly, or harmful pathogens are spread in home or restaurant kitchens (2002). These are some things that are beyond the control of food safety agencies and are therefore the responsibility of communities and individuals.             Government agencies in Hong Kong responsible for food safety say that most cases of food-borne illness result from mishandled meats, poultry, seafood, or dairy products. Take for example, campylobacter bacteria are often found in foods in grocery stores. These bacteria can cause serious illness if the meat is not cooked enough or if the germs spread to other foods. Using the same knife or cutting board to slice raw chicken and salad fixings is one common way of spreading such germs. Because salad is not cooked, these bacteria are not killed (2002).       When individuals are purchasing foods from supermarkets, there are certain measures that the individual can follow in order to avoid contamination of foods. At the checkout counter, the shopper must be vigilant to put the meat, seafood, or poultry in a separate bag so leaking juices don’t contaminate other foods (1999). Also, it is important that individuals must purchase produce that is not in any way bruised or damaged. When selecting fresh cut produce – such as a half a watermelon or bagged mixed salad greens – it is important to choose only those items that are refrigerated or surrounded by ice. Fresh fruits and vegetables must also be bagged separately from meat, poultry and seafood products when packing them to take home from the market (2006). At home, these foods must be refrigerated as soon as possible. When preparing meals, it is inevitable to touch the meat. This is okay as long as after touching raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs, hands, utensils, and surfaces must be thoroughly washed with hot, soapy water. The same utensils and platters for raw and cooked meat, poultry, or seafood must not be used interchangeably. Frozen meat, poultry, and seafood in the refrigerator must also be completely thawed before cooking ( 1999).             When marinating foods, they should be done in the refrigerator and not on the counter. The marinade from raw meat, poultry, or seafood should not be used on cooked food unless it has been brought to a boil first to kill any bacteria. The internal temperature of meat, poultry, and seafood should be checked with an oven-safe, dial instant-read or digital meat thermometer (1999).             Raw sprouts that are served on salads, wraps, and sandwiches may also contain bacteria that can cause food-borne illness. Rinsing sprouts first will not remove bacteria. Home-grown sprouts also present a health risk if they are eaten raw or lightly cooked. To reduce the risk of illness, raw sprouts such as bean, alfalfa, clover, or radish sprouts should not be eaten. All sprouts should be cooked thoroughly before eating to reduce the risk of illness. This advice is particularly important for children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems, all of whom are at risk of developing serious illness due to food borne disease (2006).   1.4 Healthcare Management of the Issue             Health care professionals are more and more becoming involved in leadership endeavors. Such leadership is not only confined to those who hold high positions in an organization but rather to everyone within the organization. Emphasis on leadership should be taught to all health care professionals within an organization. The same thought is what is supported by  (2001). and  (2005) also placed emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership.             As health care professionals, it is important to acquire the necessary knowledge and competencies that ultimately allow them to practice their profession. Regardless of the type of setting that these health care professionals work within the health care organization, each individual health care professional is responsible for using organizational resources, participating in organizational routine while providing care to a patient, using time productively, collaborating with all members the health care team, and using certain leadership characteristics to manage others.             The delivery of health care services is definitely a challenge. As health care professionals develop the knowledge and skills, they will gradually learn what it takes to effectively manage patients as well as fellow health care professionals within a team and to take the initiative in becoming a leader among colleagues. This paper will further study on what can be done to influence effective leadership practice and how this could be applied within your own clinical setting.   1.5 Background on healthcare management and leadership             Effective leadership style is an integral part of creating an environment that nurtures the development of empowered health care professionals. (1997) defines leadership as “a process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.”       The major points of this definition are that leadership is a group activity, is based on social influence, and revolves around a common task. Although this specification seems relatively simple, the reality of leadership is very complex. Intrapersonal factors (i.e., thoughts and emotions) interact with interpersonal processes (i.e., attraction, communication, influence) to have effects on a dynamic external environment (1997). The demands of the health care environment have brought about changes and health care professionals have been concerned about the impact this has had on patient care. Managers have had to develop ways to achieve expected outcomes and meet targets required by their organizations. To address all these issues, health care professionals need to focus on developing relationships that facilitate working with each other from strengths and not just criticizing weaknesses ( 2001). Increasingly, a phenomenon called decentralized management is starting to become common within health care organizations (  2004). In decentralized management, decision making is moved down to the level of staff. This type of management structure has the advantage of creating an environment where managers and staff become more actively involved in shaping a health care organization’s identity and determining success. Developing an empowering culture in which positive relationships are nurtured, leadership capabilities are developed, and professional practice is supported can improve the work environment and satisfaction of health care professionals (2001). Simply put, collaborative work relationships where leadership is part of should be actively enhanced and promoted in order to create a positive work environment.             Leadership processes are directed at defining, establishing, identifying, or translating this direction for their followers and facilitating or enabling the organizational processes that should result in the achievement of the organization’s purpose. Organizational purpose and direction becomes defined in many ways, including through mission, vision, strategy, goals, plans, and tasks. The operation of leadership is inextricably tied to the continual development and attainment of these organizational goal states (2001). The lack of leadership skills is one major factor when there are problems within a health care organization, or any other organization for that matter. In order to solve this problem, focus should be given to the managers down to the staff. Leadership training programs should be offered and leaders as well as the health care staff should be required to attend. These leaders and staff in turn should perform their responsibilities of teaching and guiding the rest of the members of the health care organization in promoting a healthy work environment. In the hospital setting, this would most commonly be at the point of direct client care or staff nurse level; however, this kind of empowerment requires an environment of autonomy where mutual trust and respect are encouraged. The empowerment process requires that staff be prepared to accept and effectively use expanded decision-making responsibilities (1998). To start changing the work environment into a healthy one where leadership is emphasized for all members within the organization, there should first be mutual trust and encouragement in all the parties involved. Each and every opinion should be respected and given consideration in the decision-making process. There should also be an all-out support for this desire for change. The professional accountabilities of the health care professional includes having a sense of value about their work and willingness to provide the full scope of practice as well as ability to work as equal members of a comprehensive interdisciplinary team. In order to move into a fully empowered position, professional nurses need mentoring, education, awareness of political activism opportunities, and networking skills (1998). In order to achieve all these, shared leadership should be employed. Shared leadership is a health care management model that supports health care professionals in extending their influence about decisions that affect their practice, work environment, professional development, and self-fulfillment (2001). As previously mentioned, leadership is a group activity. In shared leadership, every voice is heard and given consideration. This could relate to Crisp’s idea that leadership must be exercised at all levels in all setting in the clinical team and in support services, in the ward and in the community and in the board room. Shared leadership is a collaborative team process in which team members share key leadership roles (2004). Shared leadership is empowering employees to act autonomously, be decisive at the point-of-service, and create a shared vision aligned with organizational goals. Shared leadership development and autonomously practicing nurses appear to be the equation for success in delivering quality patient outcomes in today’s organized health care delivery systems. Employees must develop or refine new behaviors and skills in empowerment, facilitation, negotiation, systems thinking, and accountability on behalf of patients (2002). Shared leadership is a way to strengthen continuous learning and enhance relationships between leaders/managers, staff and clients, which are the foundation upon which the nurses can develop a new type of relationship with management and with each other. This in turn could significantly improve the work environment. There is an emphasis on ‘relationships’ since these relationships can be tenuous at times as both managers and staff members adopt attitudes of contention and competition with each other. Shared leadership provides an organizational framework that offers the health care staff maximal participation in decisions about work and the work environment. Every staff has to be given a chance what he or she thinks about a current situation and what they think can help such issues. Aside from shared leadership, the transformational leadership theory can be employed within health care organizations. The transformational health care leader typically inspires followers to do more than originally expected. Transformational leadership theories predict followers’ emotional attachment to the leader and emotional and motivational arousal of followers as a consequence of the leader’s behavior. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the interests of followers, generate awareness and acceptance among the followers of the purposes and mission of the group and motivate followers to go beyond their self-interests for the good of the group (1997). Many health care staff are said to have the natural characteristics of transformational leaders, but these characteristics must first be nurtured and allowed to blossom. The health care managers/leaders have a responsibility to encourage and support this growth, as this is very important in the transformation of the work environment (1998). A practice/work environment in which transformational leaders strive to create new visions for enhancing patient care and nursing practice is a better environment to work. Various authors have discussed the use of transformational leadership. Many researches also suggest that all health care professionals could use this leadership style to enhance their practice environment (1998). The workplace can be transformed by creating a work environment that ensures quality patient care. This transformation can be achieved by health care professionals becoming transformational leaders in the workplace. When implementing new policies or rules, or even with simple matters, the staff should be allowed to contribute to the decisions to be made. Goals have to be set also. To support the health care professional’s use of shared leadership behaviors in the clinical setting, health care staff like nurse will be mentored by the manager or clinical nurse specialist to apply the shared leadership skills during their daily work to achieve the goals that are set. The creating and sharing of this setting and achieving of goals is a key implementation challenge, and also calls for transformational leadership. Through effective communication and persuasion, and confidence building, the transformational leader encourages the adoption of new values and beliefs, endorses the goal of organizational effectiveness, and sustains the effort to realize the improvement of work environment. To be included with the overall plan for achieving a positive and healthy work environment with leadership capabilities is the training of the health care professionals for empowerment. Training health care professionals for empowerment must include leadership techniques to prepare the health care professional for the integrative and collaborative role. The environment in which the health care professional works is influential in developing empowered behavior (1998) since professionals do not function in a vacuum. They need an environment that encourages empowerment. The health care professional cannot reach empowerment if there are unsatisfied needs within the working environment. Incorporated within the concept of empowerment is the individual’s willingness to see the vision and make the personal changes necessary to connect with that vision. It is how the concept of shared leadership works (2002). All management staff plays an important role in leading the emergence of legitimacy of this “new professional authority.” The encouragement of individual health care staff to establish individual goals that achieve more self-direction, more knowledge and self-confidence, and more networking ability by the process of shared leadership leads to a more committed employee. A more committed employee in turn contributes to a positive and healthy work environment. In this proposed approach, negative consequences may also present. Shared leadership may present a conflict and ambiguity of roles. Some of the staff might revel in the shared power to the point that they will forget what the essence of shared leadership is all about. Some staff might also take advantage of such opportunity and this creates competition and jealousy within the staff. All of these wouldn’t be in line with the goal of creating a positive and healthy environment. To minimize such problems, there should be an ongoing monitoring of the staff. Although they are given the rights to take part in decision-making, they should also not forget where they really belong. The staff should also be constantly reminded by the managers that this effort needs teamwork and this is done for the improvement of the work environment. Perhaps motivation would also work in minimizing this problem. Aside from all these discussed, effective clinical leadership also requires something else. Good clinical leadership can help identify inadequate governance structures and practices and provide a pathway for their understanding and resolution, but for this to happen, there must be adequate funding of individuals and teams, working with and learning from each other, in order to recognize ineffective practices, promote human rights, identify mistakes and prevent them (2005).             This perspective of leadership is therefore a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness. It takes not one but a collective effort in order to be an effective leader. It is very much the same sense as everyone in the group becoming a leader too. Describing a similar approach to team leadership, it has been argued that the leader’s main job is to do, or get done, whatever is not being adequately handled for group needs (2001). If a leader manages, by whatever means, to ensure that all functions critical to both task accomplishment and group maintenance are adequately taken care of, then the leader has done his or her job well. These assertions can be made whether leaders are leading groups, multiple groups combined into a department or a division, the organization as a whole, or conglomerates of multiple organizations. This defining element of organizational leadership also means that the success of the collective as a whole is a (if not the) major criterion for leader effectiveness.             In accordance with today’s practice environment, in which patient care is delivered by a multidisciplinary health care team, health care professionals must focus on the wider scope of professional and clinical leadership, addressing the roles of team members including nurses, physical therapists, radiology and laboratory managers, and occupational therapists. Integrating therapy, research, and practice, there are various leadership models that incorporate leadership development through mentorship and professional development planning, which could be beneficial for all health care professionals. This clearly relates to  emphasis on the importance of health care professionals becoming more involved in leadership. From physicians, managers, nurses, down to low-level employees, everyone should be trained to become effective leaders.   2. Chapter 2 – THE PROJECT PROPER             To determine the food safety practices of people in Hong Kong and how healthcare organizations have managed it, a telephone survey of residents will be conducted in a span of two months. The respondents will be asked about three food handling principles, and a comparison will be made on the percentage of how many know that hand washing reduced the risk of food poisoning, and how many actually wash their hands after handling raw meat or poultry. In addition, the respondents will be asked if they knew that serving steak on a plate that had held the raw steak increases the risk of food poisoning, this would then be also compared with how many percent of the respondents cleaned a cutting board after contact with raw meat or poultry. Also, respondents will be asked about knowledge that cooking meat until well done reduces the risk of food poisoning. Thus, this survey would also seek to find how many of the respondents are using safe practices for these three food-handling principles. Additionally the unsafe practices reported will be compared in terms of frequency by men, people aged between 18-29 years, and occasional food preparers, compared to women, people aged 30 or older, and frequent food preparers.             Given that certain groups of people are more at risk (in terms of both probability of suffering food poisoning and severity of symptoms) from food-borne illness than others, it is a source of concern that consumers are quite unaware of who these groups are. Woodburn and Raab (1997) showed that respondents could not identify groups of people particularly at risk for food poisoning; only 30 per cent mentioned children aged less than five years, and 21 per cent mentioned the elderly. Interestingly, it was the younger respondents who were better at identifying at-risk groups, whereas respondents aged over 65 years could not name any at-risk groups. An earlier study (1997) found that food safety was rated as significantly more important, when food shopping, by main meal planners who had one or more household members belonging to higher risk groups. Educational efforts should be focused on risk groups, as well as those preparing food for people in these groups.             Food poisoning is an increasing problem and it is essential that communication strategies to combat this problem be developed. The public perception research has identified barriers to reducing the incidence of microbial food poisoning. In the future we must develop methods to reduce optimistic bias and so encourage people to attend to risk communications. It is necessary to increase issue salience and make the communications more personally relevant as well as targeting the information to ensure delivery to at-risk groups (1998).             The media also plays an important role in providing information about the occurrence of microbiological food hazards; they could be equally useful in providing advice about how to reduce risk, but at present the public perception of the media regarding this issue is that of “scare-mongering”. Other natural information sources such as TV cookery programmes could be utilised to provide food safety information.             Risk-benefit communication has influenced consumer responses to food irradiation, particularly in the USA, where acceptance is higher than in the UK. Concerns of UK consumers are highly risk-oriented, and include concerns about the potential carcinogenity of irradiated food products, the risks to workers in food irradiation facilities, the risk of radiation escaping from irradiation facilities, and risks associated with transportation of radioactive material. The link between radiation and cancer may be the major reason for unwillingness to purchase irradiated food products. In addition, there is evidence that consumers may not place a high value on the potential benefits of irradiation, such as increased shelf life, because consumers do not associate increased shelf life with freshness. There is little positive consumer response to the major benefit of improvement in food safety. Survey data have suggested that the majority of consumers perceive the major beneficiaries of new technologies to be food manufacturers and retailers and, consequently, they question the necessity of the technologies (1995). Unless effective risk-benefit communication strategies are developed between regulators, scientists and consumers, the benefits of technologies like food irradiation may not be realised in the UK.             This survey will be conducted through telephones. Telephone surveys are a cheap method of interviewing, which is why almost a quarter of all surveys carried out are done by this method. Surveys conducted over the telephone are increasingly popular as they are so convenient for both interviewer and respondent. The interviewer can conduct the interview either without leaving the office or from home, and the respondent similarly can reply from an armchair. There is a ready supply of respondents to contact – you only need to look in a telephone directory. It is also possible to sample wide geographical areas, even abroad, very easily, and it is sometimes easier to ask and respond to sensitive questions when you do not have to look at the other person.             There are limitations to telephone interviewing. You automatically restrict your sample to those people who own telephones; admittedly this is the majority of people today, but you are excluding certain types of person, such as the deaf, those who are ex-directory, and full-time students away from home. Equally it is not possible to show the respondent prompts, and it can be difficult to build up a rapport between the interviewer and respondent. The other main problem with telephone interviewing is that so many companies are engaged in it and people become tired of being called at home and asked questions. The number of people who refuse to take part is on the increase.             Many organizations now use computers to assist telephone surveys, and the interviewer will input responses directly into a computer. This technique is known as computer assisted telephone interviewing, or CATI. Inputting directly to computer can make the analysis of quantitative data very rapid and the program can be designed so that it will display only questions that are relevant to particular respondents. Every participant in the study will be interviewed in the same manner and the data will all be collected in the same way. The timing of when the interviews will take place will also be within one timeframe – e.g. within a span of two weeks. The reason for this is because discrepancies in time could significantly affect the data collected. The researchers will use a questionnaire (with simple/dichotomous items and multiple choices) in obtaining the information relevant to this study. This will be administered through the telephone. This method is useful in collecting data for the following reasons: (1) subjects were asked to respond to the same set of questions, in the same order, (2) they had the same set of options for their responses, (3) it is economical. To assess the health care system’s strengths and weaknesses and to develop rational and credible options for reform, every effort will be made to ensure that the assessment was based on the best evidence available. The results of this endeavor would show that several trends have the potential to contribute to an increase in food-borne disease. Changes in diet will result in a greater variety of foods available and an increase in worldwide sourcing of foods. An increase in the use of animal waste and sewage sludge on land would involve an increased potential risk of contamination of food crops by pathogens. The increasing scale of production and distribution of foods means that even low level contamination of a food can affect very large numbers of people. Lifestyle changes will also lead to increased consumption of food outside the home with an increased involvement of food handlers, an increased use of prepared meals and possibly to a reduced awareness of food safety techniques in the home. The most important implications for the results can be twofold – more awareness for the public and more programs from health care organizations. Health care organizations can focus on communicating messages designed to help people understand and initiate the basic precautions which can be taken to reduce the risk of food poisoning and in the process provide fun and entertainment for thousands throughout Hong Kong. Additionally this can also create more attention from the media. The media, by promoting the best food safety handling practices, can significantly contribute to the problem of healthcare management regarding the issue. Both food safety incidents and media attention that focuses on food safety can influence the extent to which people perceive a particular food is risky. This can create more awareness for the public.                   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

The importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong

The Importance of Healthcare Management for Food Safety in Hong Kong Abstract Food safety issues are an important probl...

MARKETING PAPER

Introduction             The roots of western herbal medicine are ancient, yet at the start of the twenty-first century the modality finds itself vying for a place in mainstream healthcare in industrialized countries. At the same time, herbal medicine is becoming increasingly science based and as a result the theoretical foundations of the discipline are to some extent in a state o flux. Today’s practitioners of western herbal medicine occupy a broad spectrum as far as theoretical foundations are concerned. In this context it may be worth pointing out that it is entirely possible to use herbal medicines in a non-holistic, reductionist manner ( 2003).Doing so, herbal practitioners would argue, does not amount to true herbal medicine but rather to allopathic medicine practiced with plant-based medicines. In a holistic framework, the emphasis is on treating the patient rather than their disease. The patient is viewed as comprising a physical body, with mental, emotional and spiritual aspects, all of which potentially influence the individual’s state of health ( 2003).   In addition, the patient is viewed in the wider context of personal relationships, community and environment, and it is recognized that each of these could play a role in the person’s health. During the latter part of the twentieth century science played an increasing role in the development of the major herbal traditions, including western herbal medicine. Although this has led to concerns about the future of herbal medicine in some sections of the herbal profession, it also promises to make the practice of herbal medicine increasingly evidence-based in terms of both safety and efficacy. This, combined with the persistent demand for a range of natural healthcare options by a large section of the community, has seen herbal medicine move towards becoming an accepted part of mainstream healthcare in many western countries in recent years ( 2003).   This move towards the mainstream brings with it new challenges. Preserving a holistic approach to health and disease is paramount if herbal medicine is to survive as a distinct medical system. The increasingly scientific approach must be employed in a way that prevents the herbal medicine of the future from becoming conventional medicine practiced with plant-based pharmaceuticals. Science has immense potential to further the use and acceptance of herbal medicine, but it must be applied in a manner that respects the holistic philosophy so crucial to the successful practice of herbal medicine. Quality control is an area that presents itself as a challenge for the future. Complex natural products such as herbal medicines pose inherent problems in terms of quality and safety, and the herbal medicine industry must successfully address these problems if herbal medicine is to become a viable part of mainstream healthcare in the future ( 2003). The herbal medicine industry is becoming a newer trend that people want to invest it. It provides alternative healthcare service to different people. The paper will discuss about the company Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd. The paper will also discuss about the marketing mix and why does it matter to the company. The HK business industry and the company When attempting to analyze the present situation and predict the future of the business environment in Hong Kong, it must be remembered that they are still broadly in the post-handover transition period. What is certain from the outset is that it would be both wrong and irresponsible to lay the blame for the hostile challenges facing the Hong Kong business environment solely at the feet of the new SAR government. Indeed, many of the problems emerging are the function of a historical legacy handed down from the colonial period or are the consequence of external forces over which Hong Kong has little, if any, control (. 2000).A sober assessment of the Hong Kong business environment seems to point towards difficult times ahead. Internally, there are many structural economic problems to be addressed, in such areas as the over reliance of re-exports, the cataclysmic decline in manufacturing, the growing unemployment problem and the falling property market. Add to that the decline in tourism, retail sales and the stock market; factor in increased bankruptcies, high interest rates, and an overvalued dollar, and it is clear that business confidence cannot be high (. 2000).   The majority of the business conglomerates in Hong Kong have established joint ventures with various levels of government, party, or even military authorities and enterprises in the mainland. Many mainland enterprises, including direct subsidiary companies of central and provincial governments, are also operating and co-operating with local businesses in Hong Kong. There have been discussions about the problem of corruption with these ventures. The question, however, hinges not only on whether the HKSAR government is able to combat unlawful corruption, but also whether it can prevent rent seeking of the powerful who want preferential treatment in exchange for political support (. 2000). The Hong Kong business environment is doing well because of the different changes they have implemented. One company that is doing well is Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd. The company was founded in 1998. It brought about the trend of health by detoxification by launching beauty and healthy in the market. Through the breakthrough of combining traditional health care practices added with newer techniques in giving health service the company was able to provide a better consciousness for health by families and individuals.   The company’s presence was lifted by the hot sales of Long Far products.  After a few years after its inception the company transformed into a brightening star in the health supplement industry.  The success of the company can be attributed to the well researched and tested products and the ability of the employees to relate to clients needs. The company is still continuously introducing and applying modernized research and development and manufacturing technologies.  This will ensure that their products will be the best one in the market. It also ensures that the products will greatly satisfy customer needs.   The effort and tenacity of the company created a reason for it to have an well established brand name in Hong Kong. The company can double this feat through its other markets in Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean. The marketing mix Success in the market place depends not only on an ability to identify customer wants and needs but also upon an ability to be able to satisfy those wants and needs better than competitors are able to do. This implies that organizations need to look for ways of achieving a differential advantage in the eyes of the customer. The differential advantage is often achieved through the product or service itself but sometimes it may be achieved through other elements of the marketing mix. Marketers have to understand cultural values in all aspects of implementing the marketing concept and managing the marketing mix ( 2000).  The whole of the marketing mix is important in developing effective positioning, as attributes of the offering must be closely in line with the targeted customers’ expectations and needs, as must the associated price points and channels of distribution. However, promotional activity is one of the fundamental elements of creating an effective positioning, as it is through promotion that the positioning is communicated to the target audience ( 2000).   The organization has to communicate with the customer through the strategic window. This can be achieved in a variety of ways ranging from spoken and written communications to more symbolic forms of communication. This is the function of the marketing mix. The point is that the elements of the marketing mix should not be seen as individual entities, but as a set of interrelated entities which have to be set in conjunction with one another and in the context of the strategic window presented ( 2000). Positioning products in people’s minds and making them attractive to market segments requires careful formulation of the marketing mix. Getting the right blend of the product, promotion price and distribution is essential to put the carefully carried out analysis into operation. The aim is to portray an image for the product or service that will match with how one wants the product to be visualized in people’s minds. Image is not only reflected in the promotional messages which are directed towards the market target but also in the pricing strategy, the mode of distribution and in the appearance of the product or service itself ( 2000).    The marketing mix uses the 4P’s to describe the marketing position of a product in a certain marketplace. Marketing mix should be used well by a management team. With the proper use and strategization of the marketing mix it produces positive results for the organization and creates marketing effectiveness. Large and small changes can be made to the marketing mix. When large change is made then it is considered to be strategic change. When small change is made then it is considered to be a tactical kind of change.  Marketing mix helps the Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd to analyze itself and determine how to market its product to the clients at a limited time and limited cost. The marketing mix categorizes different aspects of the company and how the company can provide satisfaction of the needs of the customers. Through the marketing mix each aspect of the company can be checked and given consideration with regards to its ability to attract clients. Product Product ranges offered by businesses have to be managed within the context of an ever-changing business environment. Consumers’ product preferences change according to their life-stage, lifestyle and personal wealth. One business’s product offer is subject to scrutiny by consumers alongside those offered by many other companies, which also are likely to change over time; therefore product management is part of an on-going strategic management process which ultimately bears on the ability of a business to meet its long term objectives. Product management is a strategic process, supported, in the case of a large retailer, by a complex array of operational practices and organizational structures ( &  2001).  Strategic product management shapes the direction of growth taken by a business in response to changing consumer requirements. Its strategic contribution is augmented by the role that product management takes in keeping operational costs as low as possible whilst generating sales volumes to maximize profitability ( &  2001).   Introducing new products is a very good way of achieving differentiation and enhancing a retail identity in an over-subscribed retail market, but without corporate support new products may fail or go unnoticed. Although most of the buying decisions are centered on the ability of a product to satisfy a customer need at a price the customer is willing to pay, a business has to ensure that it meets its legal obligations with regard to the products it sells. It also has to consider its long term image in the eyes of the public. It is therefore necessary to ensure that a product conforms to legal standards and provides value for money ( &  2001). Selecting the right product requires an understanding of the complexity of the modern shopper and an ability to blend product detail in a way that satisfies both the physical and the psychological needs of that shopper .Product innovation is becoming increasingly necessary for businesses to keep customers interested in their product range. In a market that is saturated and competitive it is especially important to provide customers with the interest and excitement that newness engenders. It is therefore important for businesses to be able to use product development and innovation to their best ability ( &  2001).   The influences on the life-cycle of a product category are many and varied. If buyers are to use the life-cycle as a predictive tool, they must appreciate the underlying consumer trends that affect the rate of growth of the associated product market. Consumer trends include demographic trends, consumer economic trends, technological trends and societal trends, including lifestyle and fashion ( &  2001).  The product of the company is various supplemental health care products such as detoxification products, slimming products, products for men, products for women, body protection products and tea products.  These products are one of the main reasons for the company’s success and it is the company’s main source of profit. Without these products the company might not survive until this day.  The different product the company has makes it unique when compared to other companies. Price The market pricing approach is used when the environmental improvement under consideration causes an increase or decrease in real outputs and/or inputs. Examples may include a decrease in timber harvest and/or extraction of minerals from a legislative enactment that effectively expands the acreage set aside as a wilderness area; the expected increase in fish harvest due to the implementation of a new water pollution control technology; or an increase in crop yield arising from a legislative mandate of a higher air quality standard. In the above examples, benefits from environmental improvement are identified in terms of changes in outputs or inputs; more specifically, timber, minerals, fish and crops ( 2000). These outputs or inputs are expected to have market prices that accurately reflect their scarcity values or, where this is not the case, shadow prices can be easily imputed. Thus, where environmental improvement is directly associated with changes in the quantity or price of marketed outputs or inputs, the benefit directly attributable to the environmental improvement in question can be measured by changes in the consumers’ and producers’ surpluses ( 2000).   A variety of motivations explain the adoption of a new customer approach by global companies. A major reason is the cost of conducting personal visits or customer sales call continues to increase. Firms cannot afford to allow their sales force to make unproductive sales calls. Firms have come to believe that a more efficient method of marketing is to establish and maintain long-term relationships with their customers. When a long-term relationship is established and nurtured, it is less necessary to spend significant amounts of money advertising to make customers aware of the product offering and then employing a sales force to stimulate demand for unwanted products/services to potential customers ( &  2003).Global customers expect low manufacturing costs, excellent design, and having their needs met. The firm wants to form a relationship with its best customers because this orientation appears to generate lower-cost customers. The firm expects the sales force to work the marketplace to reach new customers or to find outlets for products that have been overproduced or under-engineered. While a firm’s orientation may change slightly, depending upon the market situation, the firm normally adheres to a single orientation more than the rest ( &  2003).   For the established clients, the pricing approach for them should concentrate on providing them the best product for the equivalent amount of price they pay. The company should maintain well made products for appropriate prices. The prices for established clients should not be too high nor too low. Rather it should be priced according to the quality of product made for them. For customers the price of the product should be lower since the company is trying to convince the client that it has the best product. The products of Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd have a price range of HK to HK8. Various products of the company are priced in accordance with its benefit and the materials used to create the product. Place The factors which determine choice of a channel, or channels, of distribution are both external and internal to the organization. These factors show how the options open to organizations are restricted. For example, small companies may not have the resource or expertise to become involved in foreign direct investment; markets with low break-even sales volumes favor  low-cost channels such as licensing or exporting. If a new market is found to have a high sensitivity to price, e.g. by removal of inhibiting regulations or tariffs, volumes may increase spectacularly, making a chosen channel, which was appropriate at an early stage in the development of the market, unsuitable at a later stage. This underscores the need for accurate information to identify an appropriate channel from the outset. Traditional decision-making techniques can be applied to such decisions. Market size is a primary consideration, together with trends in the market like segmentation and the estimated share of the market that can be achieved in view of the competition ( & 2000).    The existing distribution methods will determine whether single or multiple channels are developed. Host country policies are important since any special standards, import quotas or duties will increase the cost to the consumer and disadvantage foreign suppliers in relation to domestic ones. If a company wants to hold on to its technology, there is little point in trying to enter a market by means of a foreign direct investment (FDI) where there is insistence on its transfer. Market structure is important in that the number of competing intermediaries may contain organizations with affiliations to competitors either locally or from outside the market. The economic infrastructure becomes critical when specialized expertise is required or the services are needed for the competent financing, manufacture and distribution of a company’s output. Production costs are critical where these constitute a high proportion of the total costs of a product ( & 2000) Place elements of the marketing mix have been changing rapidly over recent decades, and these changes impact in many ways on the marketing operations of the Business ( &  2002).   To attain sales, profitability, and customer-satisfaction goals, the products must be available for customers to purchase. The portion of a firm’s marketing strategy that assures customers have access to the firm’s products is known as distribution strategy, and the institutions that take part in product distribution comprise the marketing or distribution channels for those products. Traditional channels may not always work ( 1997).  There are different places of selling for the product. Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd has different branches that can be found in Hong Kong and in places like in Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean. The company’s website has an online transaction function wherein transactions can be made without the buyer being physically present in the company’s store.  The different branches help in making sure that the company is able to sell to various clients in different places. The different channels of distribution help in strengthening the relationship of the company with the clients. Promotion Effective marketing communications with the customers are essential for business success. Advertising forms the central plan of most communications programs. The information conveyed in advertisements may be in the form of words or symbols. It can work to educate, persuade or simply to inform. An image can be supported or created, enquiries can be elicited and the functions of a product can be demonstrated. Advertising is far more likely to reinforce rather than create a good image ( 1999). A strong image is a function of the positive experiences which people have with a product or company. Attempts to create a positive image, while providing poor products or services, are likely to make customers cynical. A common mistake made in advertising is the tendency to over promise. While a creative advertisement may make a consumer buy a product once to try it, it cannot force them to repurchase. Thus, if a product does not deliver on the promise made in the advertisement this too will create resentment and negative feelings ( 1999).   Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd promote their products through various means. One is through the internet wherein the website helps in promoting the products; another is through TV commercials wherein the product is given a visual presentation for clients to see its benefits; other promotion techniques used by the company includes print advertisements. The different promotional techniques used by the company helps in increasing the number of clients of the company. Criticisms of the marketing mix There are some people that believe that the marketing mix does not necessarily leads into making profitable decisions.  Some people believe that the marketing mix is not grounded on certain financial objectives thus it does not lead into profitable decisions.  They believe that the marketing mix’s goal to generate solutions to clients for lower cost will not generate enough income. When it comes to the four P’s some people believe that the 4P are strongly oriented on the customer markets and this causes no appropriate models for industrial product marketing. There are still some who believes that the 4P’s have a tendency to have too strong product marketing perspective which makes it applicable more to products than services.  The criticism on the marketing mix proves that the marketing mix creates a huge impact not only on the business but with the society. The problem in marketing does not happen to some companies thus it cannot be entirely said that the marketing mix should not be used by companies.   Conclusion The herbal medicine industry is becoming a newer trend that people want to invest it. It provides alternative healthcare service to different people. Marketing mix helps the Long Far Pharmaceutical holdings Ltd to analyze itself and determine how to market its product to the clients at a limited time and limited cost. The marketing mix categorizes different aspects of the company and how the company can provide satisfaction of the needs of the customers. References Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MARKETING PAPER

Introduction The roots of western herbal medicine are ancient, yet at the start of the twenty-first century the modality find...

The Nature of Information and Systems

Using IT for cost saving in social welfare sector under budget pressure in Hong Kong               Abstract             The focus of this study is to assess and enumerate the advantages of using Information Technology strategies for increasing the advantage of an organisation. The main problem of the study is to find out how IT has affected the development of Social Welfare Sector in Hong Kong and how they have used these for their advantage. It has been identified that information technology is one of the key factors for the development of different organisations around the world and has largely contributed to the different aspects of business strategies.               The study utilised both the quantitative and the qualitative research methods which takes advantage of both the descriptive and statistical uses of the study. At the same time, both the primary and the secondary resources were used although emphasis was placed on the use of the primary resources. The random sampling was used for the selection of respondents and the tool used for gathering information were the interviews and questionnaires, which was distributed to 200 respondents; out of these, 124 returned the questionnaires, an acceptable number for the correlating assessment of the data. The interviews were done for follow-up questions that needed to be asked to specific respondents. The area of study is limited to the organisation within the location that utilises information technology and was selected randomly.               The findings of the study shows that many of the staff within the organisation has high regard for the importance of information technology and to the development of information technology which has contributed to the strategies used by organisation to advance their competitive abilities. Information technology has also been used for the advancement of the success of an organisation. Moreover, social welfare organisations apply one or more IT systems in order to handle multiple operational areas and thus they are supporting the continued development of information technology. The conclusion has thus found that IT is indeed an important factor for the success of an organisation. IT is also viewed to be one of the significant keys cost reduction.  In addition, IT applications benefit social welfare organisations other than reducing costs. The results of the survey and interview indicated other important benefits of IT applications in the social service industry, which in general, are helpful in enhancing the efficiency of public service organisations. However, the study found out that there are certain requirements to be met in order to apply information technologies effectively. Finally, the study identified the importance of the principle of project management in IT application to social welfare organisations.   Keyword List Social welfare, Social service, Information Technology (IT)   Acknowledgements           Plagiarism Declaration             Table of Contents   Title Page Abstract 2 Keyword List 2 Acknowledgements 3 Plagiarism Declaration 4 Table of Contents 5 List of Tables 6 1 Introduction   1.1 Background Outline   1.1.1 Concept of Information Technology 7 1.1.2 Kong’s Social Welfare Sector 7 1.1.3 Information Technology and the Social Welfare Sector 8 1.2 Problem Theme 9 1.3 Aim and Objectives 9 1.4 Significance of the Study 9 1. 5 Scope and Limitations 10 1. 6 Research Outline 10 2 Literature Review 11 2.1 Impact of IT to different Sectors   2.1.1 IT and Business Sector 12 2. 1.2 IT and the Government 13 2.1.3 IT and the Health Sector 13 2.1.4 IT and the Education Sector 14 2.1.5 IT and the Tourism and Leisure Sector 15 2.2 IT and Social Services 16 2.2.1 Application Strategies 17 2.2.2 Status in Hong Kong 18 2.2.3 Effects 20 3.1 Research Methodology   3.1.1 Overview 21 3.1.2 Method 21 3.1.3 Approach 22 3.1.4 Sample and Participants 23 3.2 Data Collection   3.2.1 Survey 23 3.2.2 Interview 24 3.2.3 Ethical Considerations 24 3.2.4 Data Processing 25 4 Result Discussion and Presentation   4.1 Results 27 4.1.1 Interview Results 27 4.1.2 Survey Results 34 4.2 Analysis   4.2.1 Strategies 36 4.2.2 Effects 38 4.3 Project Outcome 41 5 Conclusion   5.1 Summary 42 5.2 Conclusion and Implications of the Study 42 5.3 Achievement of Project Aim and Objectives   5.3.1 Project Aim 43 5.3.2 Project Objectives 44 5.4 Future Development and Recommendations 44 References and Bibliography 46 Appendices   Appendix A: Project Specification 51 Appendix B: Project Plan 57 Appendix C: Interview Schedule 58 Appendix D: Questionnaire 59 Appendix E: Contribution of Voluntary Welfare Agencies in Hong Kong (2006 Estimation) 62     List of Tables   Table 1 The IT tools that are used by the respondents 27 Table 2 The Areas that are using IT 28 Table 3 The reason for applying IT 28 Table 4 The Planning and Implementation Techniques 29 Table 5 The Common Problems in IT implementation 29 Table 6 The Problems encountered during IT implementations 30 Table 7 Problems in meeting the organizations’ requirements 30 Table 8 The Advantage of IT 31 Table 9 Affects of IT to the Social Welfare Providers 31 Table 10 Effects of It to the Social welfare providers 32 Table 11 The impact of IT in Improvement of Public Service Delivery 33 Table 12 Negative Impact of IT to the Social Welfare Industry 33 Table 13 & 14: Section 1 and 2 Survey Results   35-36         <p class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-before: always; layout-grid-mode: both; punctuation-trim: leading; text-autospace: ideograph-other; vertical-align: top; word-break: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-left: -1372.1pt; padding-top: 25.0pt">       1 Introduction   1.1  Background Outline   1.1.1     Concept of Information Technology             Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) defined Information Technology (IT) as the study, design, development, implementation, support and management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware. (2007) defined IT as the way of processing data through the use of technologies from computing, electronics and telecommunications to distribute into digital and other forms. The use of IT worldwide has helped many private and public sectors to develop and improve their systems.               The growing significance of creating, processing and management of information has been highly prioritised by most economies worldwide. Perhaps, this transition of resources from the traditional productive activities of industrial and agricultural workers to the handling of information of white collar workers represents one of the major changes of the century. The adoption of information technology is one of the related changes that has transformed to how modern businesses and work activities are conducted. 1.1.2     Hong Kong’s Social Welfare Sector             The social welfare sector is made up of government departments, non-government organizations (NGOs) and members of the private sector that are willing to serve the general public. The main targets of the said sector are those people that are facing difficulties in education, health, economy, social relations and other similar reasons. It also serves to the people who have been affected by natural calamities or disaster like typhoons and earthquakes.  The aim of this sector is to provide some form of assistance and opportunities for community members who are in need. Social workers typically would provide fund assistance, education, counselling or emergency feeding for affected individuals.               According to  (1998), social welfare in Hong Kong is based on the premise that society has an obligation to assists its member to overcome personal and social problems and to fulfil their role in life to the optimum extent in accordance with the particular social and cultural circumstances of their society. In particular, it recognizes a responsibility to help its disadvantaged members to attain an acceptable standard of living. The extent to which society can meet its obligations and the way in which it does so depends very much on its system of values and the resource available ().  (1998) also stated that the programs of the country was designed and developed with cognizance of the innate local values of concern for the family, commitment to self-improvement, self-reliance, mutual support and generosity, reluctance to be dependent upon welfare, high respect for social order and a combination of ingenuity and resourcefulness ()             The background provision of social welfare sector in Hong Kong is very low in comparison to countries with a similar per capita gross national product (). But like the social welfare sectors of most of the countries in the world, there are many groups that are contributing towards the provision of their social welfare services, such as government, different organisations, charitable bodies, religious groups, clansmen associations, employers and a lot more. But the main providers are the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and social welfare agencies (1998).               Like any other countries such as the Philippines, Hong Kong’s social welfare sector is also getting some of its funds from the Lottery and casinos. There are also non-governmental organizations that are helping their citizens in financial and emotional aspect.   1.1.3     Information Technology and the Social Welfare Sector             According to (2000), the increasing availability and application of IT will continue to affect social welfare and social welfare administration in a variety of ways, including how clients access services, how social welfare professionals perform their functions and how clients and social welfare professionals interact ().               IT enables social welfare professionals to perform client interviews, case planning, counselling, home visits and monitoring and evaluation activities via the use of cell phone, e-mail, fax, video conferencing and the Internet (Patti, 2000, p. 62). It also helps to decrease the lag time in social welfare technology sharing. All the new information, ideas, programs and lessons learned by social welfare agencies in one place of the country will be instantly shared with social welfare agencies in other place.               In the Hong Kong setting, a number of social service organisations have also been established to serve the locals. However, similar to other business organisations, agencies within the social welfare industry also go through operational difficulties such as increasing number of targets to serve inadequate resources as well as growing budgetary needs. All in all, the factors affecting the social welfare industry require the employment of means that would promote cost-effective operations. One of these important strategies is the application of information technologies. There had been social welfare organisations in the country that had applied this strategy; however, further studies would have to confirm its efficacy as well as its process of implementation.               A number of international governments have already realised the role of IT in the social service industry. In one of the world summits organised by the United Nations, the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in public service delivery had been discussed (2005). In particular, international governments who had been part of the said gathering had stressed the importance of applying technology not only in improving the delivery of public services but also in alleviating some of the major issues being encountered by most global nations today, such as poverty. In the summit, the eight countries who have attended the gathering expressed their plans on how IT application will be enhanced further for the delivery of most government and social services.               Specifically, the nations who attended the summit intended to use ICT in order to create better disaster and poverty management efforts, education-oriented programs as well as employment and health services. The attendees also discussed how IT was currently applied in their respective countries within the public service industry. Most of the governments have cited that IT has already been used by their social service organisations to improve public information dissemination on health, job offers, disaster relief operations and government programs (2005).   1.2  Problem Theme             The utilisation of information technology in other work sectors and its benefits had long been discussed in literature as well as recognised by various companies. However, the application of technology is not as widespread in the social welfare sector as compared to business industries. This then raises the concern whether IT application has the capacity to improve the operations of groups delivering social services, or whether this will only lead to complications. Naturally, workers and organisation under the social welfare sector would want to improve the services that they provide as well as reduce cost of operation. It is then essential to find out whether this strategy will work in this sector and how this will be applied to achieve successful outcomes.   1.3  Aim and Objectives This study aimed to determine the specific IT strategies that can increase the effectiveness as well as reduce the operating costs in the social welfare sector. This study was conducted in order to achieve the following objectives: l   To evaluate the current practice of IT usage in social welfare sector. l   To identify and examine the problem found on the real work. l   To make recommendations for a strategic plan for further IT implementation. l   To recommend a solutions for save budget and increase efficient.     1.4  Significance of the Study             Considering the growing demand within the social welfare industry, social service organisations are in need of maximizing its resources in order to operate successfully. One of these important resources is the application of information technology. By means of conducting this study, how technology can assist social service organisations in overcoming its operational issues can be of benefit to the head operators of the industry. This study may also be of significance to agencies that are yet to employ IT systems in their operations. This research can provide an overview or background as to how IT can be of use to the delivery of social services. Most importantly, the increased awareness and interest of the social service agencies on the application of IT will directly benefit the public by receiving more efficient services from the government and other social welfare organisations.   1.5  Scope and Limitations             This study was conducted in the attempt to identify the specific strategies used for IT application within the social welfare industry in Hong Kong. The research covered topics on the use of information technology on the delivery of social services, particularly on its effect on reducing operational costs. The discussion and findings of this research mainly focuses on the status of information technology application in Hong Kong and its social welfare organisations. Information used to answer the research question of the study was derived from both primary and secondary resources. The primary source of data were drawn from the survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview prepared by the researcher. The respondents of the study were randomly selected from different Hong Kong-based social welfare organisations and are working as social workers or employees. The secondary sources of data on the other hand, were taken from published books, journal, magazines as well as online sources discussing the application of information technology and its effect to social welfare organisations.  As this study will be utilizing a small sample of participants, the results may not effectively represent the general population. Due to time, budget and effort constraints, this study will be conducted over a limited period of time.   1.6  Research Outline             The entire study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, the objectives, research problem and its significance. In the second chapter, literatures and published documents pertaining to information technology, its effect on the social welfare industry and the strategies used for its implementation within the industry are discussed. The research methodology used for this study is discussed in chapter three. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the description of the participants, sampling technique and the research instruments utilised in the process. In chapter 4, the results of the survey and interview are presented. Literatures supporting the findings of the study are also integrated in the discussion section of the chapter. Finally, the fifth chapter summarises the findings of the research; significant conclusions as well as appropriate recommendations are also included in the final chapter.   2 Literature Review             Information Technology indeed helps different sectors and industry in the world. Application of IT is considered as the greatest competitive advantage of any organization and business in the world. It is also consider as a great weapon against the growing market and competition in the world. There is no doubt that modern IT has truly helped to shrink the globe, united different economic, cultural and technical elites and set in motion certain developmental engine that has a significant implication for the health of each country ( 1999). Using its principle of combined telecommunications and computations to obtain, process, store, transmit and output information in any form like voice, pictures, words and numbers. IT has number of ways in supporting different activities and operations of different work sector and different industries all over the world. The use of the said technology has helped many private as well as public sectors in developing and improving their systems.             Information communication or the process of transferring data and information from one location to another with the use of a transmission medium is one of the most important benefits brought about by IT. E-mail is the primary and well known technology using the Internet that helped scientist and researchers who are working on government-sponsored projects to communicate with colleagues who are located in other places. As of today, e-mail has been the primary communication tool that is used for business and personal used.           Another important use of information technology to most work sectors is information retrieval. This feature pertains to the recovery of data stored in particular storage medium. At present, the availability of computers and various information systems help in making information retrieval less tedious and time-consuming. Aside from making the sending and receiving of information easier, information technology had also aided in making production faster. For instance, computers are now being used in several institutions and companies to do certain jobs, which people may not be capable of doing or may be too dangerous for them to handle.             With the materialisation of computer technology, the preparation of invoices, issue checks, tracking of the stock movement and storage of personnel and payroll record can be done by different machineries and modern technologies. The patterns of work in offices have significantly changed through the use of word processing and personal computers. Indeed, the spread of information technology has greatly affected the efficiency and competitiveness of major businesses, structure of the workforce and the economic output in general.             In working organisations, information technology has been a part of its operation and workforce. Eventually, information technology has gained the attention of the organisations’ top management. Various factors had motivated the management division of companies to employ information technology. One of which is the constant and intense competition among similar corporations. Companies had then realised that by employing information technologies in their operations, they do not only become more cost-efficient but they are also able to improve the quality of their services. Another factor that had contributed to the increased need of information technology among working organisations is the necessity for global business operations to communicate through online computerised networks. This is so as to minimise time and distance barriers.             Over the years, IT performance had significantly improved. Sharp experience curves, distributed processing and communication, and integration of alternative technologies have also made information technologies more capable of solving organisational structure and strategy issues. Indeed, information technologies have evolved over time, both in their significance and applications. 2.1 Social Welfare Sector Social welfare was defined by  (1995), as a direct or indirect response to human needs (). It has been a great help in any government and countries whether local and international. The presence of social welfare started during the prehistoric period that was the time, when the mutual aid was a necessity for survival and when the tribe or clan takes good care of its member. Later on, both the religious and political sectors offered help for those who needed it and this has been practiced over many centuries (1995). Social welfare has been practiced by different civilization all over the world since time immemorial. Sumerians planned and organized aid for helpless, this is to follow the objective of their goddess, Nanshe about equity and social justice. Hammurabi also decreed that in the event of calamity, helping the victims is the primary responsibility of the society. Ancient Athenian state used to distribute grain to their citizens during times of famine and inflated corn prices; they also provide pensions for disabled soldiers and for the orphans that have been left by those who were killed in a battle (1995).. The first law that ever established that cater to the need of social welfare is the Elizabethan Poor Laws of Anglo-American government in 1601. It focuses on laws regarding the responsibilities of the state for their dependent citizens as a whole (Macarov, 1995, p. 4). Another major step about social welfare is the social insurance program of Bismarck in 1880s. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck introduced legislation regarding budget for national insurance (1995). This helps to spread the innovation of insurance to many other countries and used as a reference for social welfare during World War I and II.  Today, social welfare is following the flow of globalization. There are lots of international NGOs. They are catering to people that are in need in the whole world. In USA, they have an international social welfare that helps different countries during calamities and chaos. In Hong Kong, the presence of social welfare can be traced from around 1841 to 1937. During that time, the government of the country did not want to attract a large number of impoverished people from China and was very cautious in providing social services to the residents. This event give way to various private charitable individuals and institutions that are concerned to come forward and fill in the gaps (2006). According to (1999), four main divisions in the social welfare industry were centered on delivering public social services. These included religious missionaries, Chinese kinship organisations, non-kinship Chinese groups and secular agencies from the West.               The early religious groups in Hong Kong delivered a number of social services to the people including building establishments for the orphans and the blind. Reformatories, hospitals as well as services that enhanced education in the country were also provided through these missionaries. The Chinese kinship organisations were social welfare groups focused on taking care of the elders and the sick as well as in providing proper burial services. The Chinese voluntary organisations during the early times came in the form of temple and neighbourhood committees as well as regional associations. These organisations provide social services that were concentrated on providing assistance for victims of various crimes and human trafficking. The Hong Kong YMCA and the Hong Kong YWCA were some of the earliest voluntary groups that adapted the Western style of delivering social services. These organisations provided services that promote literacy among women as well as interest for sports, health and fitness. Later on, other organisations such as the Christian Youth Welfare Association, Children’s Playground Association, Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children and the Hong Kong Red Cross were also established (2006).             Because of the growing demand of people for social services as well as the growing number of NGOs in the country, the application It is believed to be a helpful tool that will improve as well as develop the performance of each NGO in serving the citizens of the country.             Another problem that can be seen is the insufficient budgets of each NGO, since most of the budgets of those organizations are from the donations and charity works of kind hearted private individuals and companies. It is believed that IT has the power to lessen the cost of each service that NGOs are offering to the citizens of the world. 2. 2 IT and Health Sector Health sector is one of the primary concerns of social welfare. Health is the most important issue that the social welfare is catering to. Most of the projects of any Non Government Organizations or NGOs are pertaining to health aspects of a family and the entire community. Most projects of social welfare sectors focuses on diseases and disorders of children and women. The world’s health care system has transformed significantly during the past two decades (1992). Medical technology is now widely used to make available solutions for the needs of patients in the health sector.  (2007) defines Medical technology as the procedures, equipment and processes that are used by the medical sector to improve their services for the patients. The application of IT mainly the use of Internet has affected the flow of information in the health sector. Because of the continuous change in medical technology, people who are involve in medical sector that are notoriously paper-dependent, are in need to go digital (). IT brings the days of the filing cabinet and folders to its end.             Applications like Electronic Patient Record System (EPRS), Electronic Health Record System (EHRS), Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) are only the most used information system in the health sector. The said system helps prevent error and lessen the works of the heath workers and serve more patients in a short period of time.             Telemedicine according to World Health Organization (WHO) is the practice of healthcare using interactive audio, visual and data communications.  It includes healthcare delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment and education and transfer of medical data (2003). In simple words, Telemedicine is medicine practice at distance (2002).             Telemedicine have been applied by many countries worldwide over the years. Africa has accepted the telemedicine technology over the past three years. Some of the organizations and places that have used the said technology are: the University of  UniversityTele-radiology between  ( 1999).             Hong Kong is also one of those countries that are implementing the use of telemedicine. The said country actually facilitated a seminar in 1997 and 1998 that enabled key speakers from Mainland China and overseas to give presentations and exchange experiences on topics like Chinese medicine over the net.  of  also has developed a Clinical Gait Analysis System in which the presentations of cases are placed on the Internet as digital videos (1999). According to  (1999), physician can also perform 3D biochemical analysis and discuss their findings online so as to facilitate the diagnostic process.  Using this technology, volunteer doctors can communicate easily and eventually exchange information in more faster and in effortless manner. It also open the possibility of distance service, and can be apply if volunteer doctor can’t go to a particular mission, this can help to continue their service even in the presence of distance. As of now IT is widely used in different countries around the globe like USA, India and Hong Kong. 2.3 IT and Social Welfare Sector IT has a great impact about the way we live, learn, work and play (2002). With the use and implementation of IT to social welfare, it will be easy for different NGOs as well as the government to communicate as well as to save money, since NGOs are operating using money from different private individuals and private companies. It can also help to reinforce the management, communication and delivery of services to different part of the country. The use of IT has a great advantage when applied to any sector and industry. It makes the life of many workers and employees a lot easier. It can help to lessen, reduce and even prevent errors for major processes of many organizations and company, It also help to store important data and use it for future preferences, therefore making the it easy to retrieve data and information. Application of IT in social welfare have been started even before, as a matter of fact, in 1989,  assessed the relationship of social work practice and IT. They consider three aspects that are involved in the said relationship: management of services, societal responsibilities and practice. Management of services focuses on provision and control of services such as accounting, case load, cost-benefit analysis and reorganization of service. On the other hand, societal responsibilities focus on the role of social work in mitigating the possible iatrogenic effects of IT both to the society and to each individual; in assisting the victim using technology; as well as preventing misuse of technology (1989). The said study shows the application of IT in social welfare during their time. This study only shows that application of IT is really helpful for development and improvement of the social welfare. Unfortunately during their time, the main problem is the refusal factors from the different entities that are involved in the said relationship. Another reason why it was not that successful is that during that time, technology especially computers cost high. Nowadays, application of IT is no longer that expensive and offers a cost-effective return towards its user.  The application of IT to the social welfare is important because it will affect the relationship between NGOs and the citizens of the world in more political and professional aspects ( 1989). It can help to record and monitor the record of the victim as well as the important calamities and other related phenomena. This can be used as a reference for future cases and eventually can help for decision making. This will help to lessen the maintenance cost of information keeping as well as help to minimize the works of the NGOs therefore, organization will be able to save money from getting another employees that will focus on the information gathering and keeping. This was opposed by the study made by  (2002), shows that application of IT in the social welfare sector of Sweden and Denmark, helps to save money because all of the information regarding the citizens, including their names, ages, marital status and other key data are all available from the national system of the said countries. NGOs in these countries will no longer have to conduct preliminary data gathering such as interviews and other data gathering method that will add to the works as well as add to the budget consumption of any NGO. Since the recent study reflects the modern situations and dilemma of application of IT as well as it was already applied by the said two countries. It is safe to say that application of IT will help improved the operation of many NGOs in Hong Kong. The use of website will be able to help many NGOs to accumulate money for their fund from any part of the globe. Using the technology of Internet, their organization will be able to advertise as well as inform their citizens as well as their citizens about the mission and vision of their organization and eventually will gain support from different individuals and organization from the other part of the globe. It will help them to save money from getting into another place just to get donations from their sponsor. It will help to save time, effort and money for all of the parties involved. 2.3.1     Application Strategies One of the most helpful products of IT to the social welfare is the presence of e-government. This IT system can be broadly defined as the concept that helps make governmental transactions simple and efficient (2000).  (2001) also suggests that e-government is somewhat synonymous to a virtual state wherein most of the operations, structure and capacity of the government are based on information and communication technology. The concept and use of e-government had been introduced to public service delivery during the latter part of the 1990s. During this time, both practitioners and scholars were still unaware on how e-government works. Nonetheless, similar to other managerial practices and concepts for public administration, the e-government concept followed the idea behind e-commerce and e-business. In public administration the use of web technologies can actually be divided into two internal and external categories. Internal web technologies pertain to tools that can be used to organise, store and manage huge amounts of information or data. With these functions, up to date government information can easily be uploaded and downloaded by the clients or displayed on the website on a real-time basis. The internal web function also allows governments to transfer funds through electronic means to other government agencies; the intranet or internet system provided by internal web technology can also be used for relaying information to public employees. Responding to the requests of employees is also made easy through this function (2002). This technology will help boost the communication between the NGOs and the government that is handling necessary information about their citizens. According to the study of  (2004) about the application of IT and e-government in the city of Tampere, IT helps the government to centralize the operation of their agencies to the operation and activities of the NGOs, this help different NGOs not to spend moneys about the necessary information about their citizens and help them to get the accurate and reliable information.             External web technologies on the other hand, also provide similar functions as with its internal counterpart. Through this, government linkages with the citizens are established through government web sites. Specifically, these online sites allow government agencies to conduct public relations and communication with the clients. Information or data sharing is also made easy through external web technology; external stakeholders such as the public, interest groups, businesses and non-profit organisations can benefit from this feature. Interactive bulletin boards accessed online also enable government agencies to encourage the public to participate in various government activities such as policy-making; exchanging messages with the people is also easier by posting public notices through the internet (2002).              (2002) noted in her article that e-government is actually made up of four main internal and external aspects. One of these aspects is the development of a secure central database and government intranet. This is for the purpose of observing more cooperative and efficient interaction among different agencies of the government. Another aspect is the delivery of service based on internet services. The application of e-commerce knowledge and expertise in order to conduct better government transaction activities is also an important aspect of e-government. Lastly, e-government is applied to utilise digital democracy, which in turn will create a more transparent and accountable government.             The rise of technology as well as information and communication systems did not only introduce new opportunities for producing or manufacturing fields but also even to those providing public services such as the government. Within the network of information, commerce and knowledge, ICT was able to bring servicing bodies and the public together. Indeed several technologies had already been used in order to support the e-government concept. Some examples are interactive voice response, wireless service delivery, electronic and voice mail, public key infrastructure and electronic data interchange. With this, the government and its officers become more accessible and transparent to the people. This outcome is in fact one of the reasons why governments realised the significant value technology has to their operations. 2.3.2 Status in Hong Kong             Voluntary agencies (see appendix e for table of contribution of voluntary welfare agencies in Hong Kong), has pioneered various kinds of service initiatives in 1960s, it helped to lay a good foundation for the social welfare development in Hong Kong (2007). In response to the rapid economic development, voluntary agencies worked together with the government to develop diversified welfare services to meet the social needs (2007). During 1990s, many welfare agencies cultivated partnership with different sectors in local and international counterparts in order to facilitate the development of society (2007). The social welfare sector of Hong Kong has developed rapidly in the past fifty years, from providing relief work to providing diversified and professional services at international level (HKSS, 2007).             The government of Hong Kong has been active in increasing the awareness and literacy of the locals regarding the use of information and communication systems. Along with its awareness programs, the national government has also encouraged different sectors, including the social service industry, to integrate information technology systems into their operation to support the creation of a more advanced and digitalised society. This effort was stressed further through the development and implementation of the Digital 21 Strategy in 1998 by the national government. This strategy was updated in 2001 and 2003 and aimed to develop and utilise IT infrastructures and applications so as to connect the city via online means. With the Digital 21 Strategy, public services that can be acquired through internet technology have constantly increased. From 2001 to 2003, such services increased from 70% to 90% ( 2004).             In a survey done by (2004), the researcher investigated on how ICT is applied in the social welfare industry of Hong Kong. The research mainly focused on identifying how the country’s NGOs are applying IT in their operations as well as where these technologies are specifically used. The findings showed that computers were the main IT instruments used in the social welfare industry. The networking capability of this IT application was also utilised by the NGOs in order to allow data interchange and sharing. The level of networking within an NGO however was greatly dependent on its size. Specifically, NGOs with greater members demonstrated more advanced connections with their computer units as compared to smaller organisations. This finding actually stress to possible conclusions. One is that NGOs with a larger number of members have access to greater resources to support IT investments. It is also possible that NGOs with more members exhibit greater interest on applying IT systems in their operations (2004).             Aside from using computers, the utilisation of internet technology has been one of the common tools used among NGOs in Hong Kong. NGOs in particular used broadband connection in order to establish faster communication with stakeholders. Electronic mailing or sending e-mails serve as the main communication tool used by NGOs that is based on information technology. The results of the investigations however also identified NGOS with low speed dial-up connection that hinders faster and more efficient exchange of information. Considering that the electronic mailing system has been an essential component of most public and private establishments, this finding suggests that improvements on IT infrastructure, especially in terms of the internet connection speed, are necessary (2004).               The research done by  (2004) also found out that majority of the NGOs in Hong Kong use multiple IT applications or systems for their operations. Among the NGOs investigated during the research process, the researcher noted that IT systems are commonly used by these organisations for human resource management, financial management and internal communication. The social service providers realise that IT can actually be used in other aspects of public service; nonetheless, the limited utilisation of IT in the industry constrains this possibility. This limitation was further stressed by another finding of the researcher. In particular, it appeared that staff with sufficient ICT expertise or training is employed by these organisations, especially by smaller NGOs. Without the technical support of IT professionals, developing new and better information systems in these organisations becomes difficult. 2.3.3     Effects             The application of information technology in Hong Kong as well as in other countries has led to positive results within the social welfare industry. These advantages also serve as the main drivers that encouraged other governments and social service organisations to implement IT within the industry. The use of e-government systems for example is beneficial as these lead to operational efficiency.  (2000) noted that e-government systems could be used in order to improve operational consistency or reduce errors in the outputs derived from automated tasks. The efficiency of operating procedures can also be improved by means streamlining, reducing operational layers or cost saving. Through e-government, duplication of positions can be eliminated, lessening the time necessary to accomplish various transactions. In addition, distributing different tasks to government employees can help in developing their skills and facilitating career growth. In general, the employment of e-government helps relevant agencies and organizations in making the services they provide better and more accessible.               As the operations and services of the governments are improved through the integration of information technology, their relations with different work sectors as well as the public also improves. Historical documents and publications are typical in governments and social service organizations.               However, through e-government people in need of these documents will no longer encounter much difficulty. By means of various ICT systems, governments can install a program that would not only allow quick data dissemination but also enable effective data storage and preservation. Rather than keep all documents in paper and folder files that do not promote long-term maintenance, saving all historical government files in the computer or online storages can guarantee the life-long availability of these valuable data. Aside from public users, this feature of e-government is also important for bureaucrats especially in keeping track or comparing various statistical findings.               In the United States, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) serve as an important storage and collection of historical government information. Through online access, users can easily access these data in a single and comprehensive website. Aside from providing an easy and searchable database, NARA also has a feature that allows users to request for offered documents in non-electronic format. Malaysia also has its Malaysian National Archives which provided a similar purpose. A website that works like a search engine, the Archive helps in preserving materials that pertain to the country’s history ( 2006). These are some of the concrete examples of this IT effect.             Governments can employ e-government initiatives to conduct online monitoring, perform data mining activities as well as track citizen and officer activities. In effect, enhancing administrative control can lead to several positive effects. One of which is the reduction of inefficiencies in the government as well as corruption (2003).  By cracking down corruptive and inefficient activities, economic development and stability are promoted. This effect is particularly helpful for nations that are still developing economically. This outcome is also synonymous to the process of increasing government transparency. With poor government transparency the public may be acquiring government or social services through high service costs. This can be resolved through e-government.             There had been limited researches that investigate the status of IT application within Hong Kong social welfare industry. However, the research discussed in this chapter clearly suggests that IT is typically applied by social service providers to ensure smooth and efficient managerial and clerical work activities. Certain factors such as inadequate resources, company size, overall IT usage as well as the access to technical support were identified as essential elements in the successful application and improvement of the organisations’ IT systems ( 2004). In general, IT had been of use to Hong Kong’s social service delivery. However, the absence of certain important factor for IT application appears to hinder further ICT growth within the industry.             IT will help to make the life of those volunteer members of different NGOs to lessen their work. The Internet will have a great part in implementation because it will serve as a medium of communication between the government, the members, the citizens and other entities that are involve in the chain of social welfare.       3 Research Design   3.1 Research Methodology   3.1.1     Overview             This study was conducted for the purpose of identifying the strategies used for applying IT in the social welfare industry in Hong Kong. This research also aimed to determine the effects of IT application in the industry particularly in reducing operational costs. In order to achieve these objectives, social workers or employees working within the Hong Kong’s social welfare industry were randomly selected to participate in the research process. A total of 124 agreed to participate in the survey and interview procedures. These research instruments had been used for data-gathering as these can help the researcher in gathering the most pertinent information that will answer the developed research question. In particular, these instruments were used to obtain data related to the experiences of the selected participants regarding IT application in the social welfare industry. IT strategies, requirements, benefits as well as disadvantages were the main factors considered during the process. 3.1.2     Method         The method that has been used for this study is the descriptive method.  (1997) noted that the descripted research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe “what exists” with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. This method involved a wide range from the survey which describes the status quo, the correlation study which investigates the relationship between variables, to developmental studies which seek to determine changes over time. The emphasis is on describing rather than on judging or interpreting. The aim of descriptive research is to verify formulated hypotheses that refer to the present situation in order to elucidate it. The descriptive approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial aspect.  Moreover, this method allows a flexible approach, thus, when important new issues and questions arise during the duration of the study, further investigation may be conducted. Moreover, the descriptive method is also used for researches that aim to identify and explore the cause or causes of a certain situation. The researcher opted to use this research method considering the objective to obtain first hand data from the respondents.             The descriptive method was advantageous for the researcher due to its flexibility; this method can use either qualitative or quantitative data or both, giving the researcher greater options in selecting the instrument for gathering information. The purpose of this research was to identify the specific strategies for applying IT in delivering social services as well as the impact these technologies have for the industry; the descriptive method is then appropriate for this research since this method is used for gathering prevailing conditions.       3.1.3 Approach             As this research made use of a survey questionnaire to gather data, the quantitative approach was used for this study. The quantitative approach is centred on the quantification of relationships between variables. Quantitative data-gathering instruments establish relationship between measured variables. When these methods are used, the researcher is usually detached from the study and the final output is context free. Measurement, numerical data and statistics are the main substance of quantitative instruments. With these instruments, an explicit description of data collection and analysis of procedures are necessary. An approach that is primarily deductive reasoning, it prefers the least complicated explanation and gives a statement of statistical probability. The quantitative approach is more on the detailed description of a phenomenon. It basically gives a generalisation of the gathered data with tentative synthesised interpretations.               Quantitative approach is useful as it helps the researcher to prevent bias in gathering and presenting research data. Quantitative data collection approaches create epistemological postulations that reality is objective and unitary, which can only be realised by means of transcending individual perspective. This phenomenon in turn should be discussed or explained by means of data analysis gathered through objective forms of measurement. The quantitative data gathering methods are useful especially when a study needs to measure the cause and effect relationships evident between pre-selected and discrete variables. The purpose of the quantitative approach is to avoid subjectivity by means of collecting and exploring information which describes the experience being studied.               Quantitative methods establish very specific research problem and terms. The controlled observations, mass surveys, laboratory experiments and other means of research manipulation in qualitative method makes gathered data more reliable. In other words, subjectivity of judgment, which is not needed in a thesis discussion, can be avoided through quantitative methods. Thus, conclusions, discussion and experimentation involved in the process are more objective. Variables, both dependent and independent, that are needed in the study are clearly and precisely specified in a quantitative study. In addition, quantitative method enables longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of the respondents.   3.1.3     Sample and Participants             The population of the study is made up of frontline social workers, service providers, members of non-government organisations as well as private organisation that deliver social services within Hong Kong. These types of respondents were utilised by the researcher considering that employees or workers of the social welfare industry have the necessary information that will answer to the study’s objectives; moreover, the employees of the industry are one of the most affected groups of IT application in delivering social services in the country. A total of 200 pre-designed questionnaires were randomly distributed for the sample selection.             The random sampling technique was conducted where each member if a population has an equal opportunity to become a part of the sample. As all members of the population have an equal chance of becoming a research participant, this is said to be the most efficient sampling procedure. In order to conduct this sampling strategy, the researcher defined the population first, listed down all the members of the population and then selected the members to make the sample. For this procedure, the lottery sampling or the fish bowl technique was employed. From this, the researcher aimed for a total of 120 valid returns (60%). The actual process resulted to 124 valid returns. These were then used for the analysis.    4         Data Collection             The data for this study was based on both primary and secondary sources. Primary information was gathered through the survey questionnaire distributed to the selected respondents as well as the interview process carried to a few heads of the social service organisations selected for the research. Secondary sources on the other hand, were derived from printed and electronic references; these had been used mainly to support the data analysis.   4.1.2     Survey             The survey questionnaire was used as the main data-gathering instrument for this study. The survey explored the perceptions of the respondents on the application of information technology in their respective organisations. The questions were structured using the Likert format. In order to use the questionnaire as an evaluation tool for the effect of IT application in the social welfare sector, the respondents rated each statement or question in the survey using a Likert scale with a five-point response scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement to a statement. In this survey type, five choices had been provided for every question or statement. The choices represent the degree of agreement each respondent has on the given question. In order to analyse the results of the questionnaire, the weighted mean computed from each survey item was computed. The weighted mean was used in order to obtain the average values that would represent the sample’s response to each question in the survey. This helped the researcher identify the general response of the participants to the given question or statement.               The Likert survey was the selected questionnaire type as this enabled the respondents to answer the survey easily. In addition, this research instrument allowed the research to carry out the quantitative approach effectively with the use of statistics for data interpretation. In order to test the validity of the questionnaire used for the study, the researcher tested the questionnaire to five respondents. These respondents as well as their answers were not part of the actual study process and were only used for testing purposes. After the questions have been answered, the researcher asked the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher revised the survey questionnaire based on the suggestion of the respondents. The researcher then excluded irrelevant questions and changed vague or difficult terminologies into simpler ones in order to ensure comprehension. 4.1.3     Interview             Aside from the survey method, this study also utilised the face-to-face semi-structured interview method. The researcher developed the interview schedule and served as the interviewer during the interview process. Phone interview are also done when the respondents are not available for personal interview.             Questions pertaining to the strategies, requirements, challenges and effects of applying IT in the social welfare sector were the main components of the interview schedule. This research instrument was selected as it allows the acquisition of insights from selected respondents; with semi-structured interview, interviewees are able to express their feelings, concerns and opinions. This data-gathering tool is useful for both the study and the researcher since it helped in gathering relevant information from specific respondents. In particular, this data-gathering tool allowed the researcher to obtain facts regarding the specific IT strategies employed by the different organisations under Hong Kong social welfare sector. With this method, a total of 30 randomly selected respondents from the survey sample were subjected to a brief interview. 4.1.4     Ethical Considerations             The study involved the use of human participants as well as the acquisition of some confidential company data. Thus, in this research, ethical considerations had been identified and prioritised. Specifically, consent and confidentiality factors were valued in the process. The researcher ensured that these factors were safeguarded during the entire duration of the study. In order to gain the consent of the social welfare organisations’ regarding this study, the researcher secured an approval from both managements by means of a written letter of permission. Securing the permission of the participants was also given importance.             Thus, a written letter explaining the details of the research, its objectives, purpose and procedure was distributed to the selected participants before participating in the actual interview process. The reasons why the employees were selected as respondents was also stated in the consent form; this enabled the employees to connect the research aims with that of the participants’ background. It was also ensured that rapport and trust were built between the researcher and the respondents; this helped in gaining the cooperation of the participants. Although the participants have initially given their consent, the researcher also informed them that they could withdraw even during the research process and even without providing any reason. By giving this freedom, the participants will not feel forced to participate in the process.               The privacy of the respondents as well as the confidentiality of their responses was prioritised by the researcher as well. In order to do so, the names of all parties involved were kept confidential. All details that were related to the study were included in the final report. The researcher also ensured that all data gathered for the study were protected from unauthorised access.             All of the information that has gathered from all the respondents will be used in this study alone. 4.1.5     Data Processing               After gathering all the completed questionnaires from the respondents, total responses for each item were obtained and tabulated. In order to use the Likert-scale for interpretation, weighted mean to represent each question was computed. Weighted mean is the average wherein every quantity to be averages has a corresponding weight. These weights represent the significance of each quantity to the average. To compute for the weighted mean, each value must be multiplied by its weight. Products should then be added to obtain the total value. The total weight should also be computed by adding all the weights. The total value is then divided by the total weight. Statistically, the weighted mean is calculated using the following formula:               The interviewees all answered that their organisations dealt with IT specialist or experts in order to design the proper system suitable for their specific operational needs. The respondents noted that the analysis of the department where the system will be applied serve as the start of the IT planning process. This then allowed both the management and the IT professionals to understand the operational process of that department and pinpoint its specific IT needs. Some of the social workers interviewed referred to this group of assessors as part of the project team. These project teams then serve as the core group responsible for designing the system and ensuring that it will work for the organisation. Training the employees on how these systems work are also part of the team’s responsibility.   5.       Have you encountered any problems in relation to IT implementation?     Table 5 The Common Problems in IT implementation               The main problem that majority of the interviewees was inadequate resources, particularly in the financial aspect. The respondents stressed that their organisations are not profit-oriented; hence, it is quite difficult to apply information systems. It is also difficult to make an IT project plan for such organisations where several resource constraints must be considered. They also cannot apply the newest technologies available; the difficulty to update their existing IT operations then makes the organisations less capable compared to other larger social welfare groups. In order for the organisations to overcome this problem, meticulous planning should be done. This however is a long term process that often delays IT gains.   Requirements 6.       What resources were used by the organisation for applying IT systems?       Table 6 The Problems encountered during IT implementations   The interviewees noted that the most important resources necessary to apply information technology used by their organisations include human resources, professional expertise, hardware and software, computer units and internet connections. Aside from these, the outputs of the IT project team, which include the system design, implementation schedules and training needs. All of these require financial assistance – an essential resource to make IT implementation possible.   7.       What problems did the organisation encounter in meeting these requirements?     Table 7 Problems in meeting the organizations’ requirements               As mentioned in the fifth question, one of the main problems of social welfare organisations in line with IT application is the inadequacy of financial resources necessary to support high-end technologies. Organisations do not have enough funds to invest on costly IT systems. As the skills of the employees are mainly concentrated on delivering social services, the implementation of IT in such organisation would require outside expertise; while this is necessary, this is considered as a required expense for public service organisations. This is then yet another problem encountered by the social service providers.   Effects 8.       In what way was IT application able to bring improvements in the internal or external communication needs of the organisation?       Table 8 The Advantage of IT                         The interviewees noted that through the use of internet technology, they are able to communicate well with their colleagues and head management. The respondents also noted that organisations that coordinate with government public service agencies are able to establish a faster and more efficient communication channel, especially with external parties. Respondents of the interview noted that one of essential benefits of IT application in social service industry is the enhancement of communication between the organisations and the public. Through online sites, people in need of social services can inquire and contact relevant organisations easily. This feature of IT also serves as an important tool in promoting the present programs and future plans of the organisation to the public. Overall, IT enhances the organisations’ external communication as the people they serve become more aware of the services they offer.   9.       How did IT strategies affect the social service providers or employees?       Table 9 Affects of IT to the Social Welfare Providers               The use of computers, internet technology, online databases and websites all facilitated the positive development of the employees of social welfare organisations. Through the training employees underwent in preparation for using IT systems, social workers became more adept in using various information technologies. The application of IT in the operations of social service organisations helped in improving the ease of organizing paper works and other activities, resulting to higher output quantity and quality. As daily responsibilities are accomplished more rapidly, social work employees have more time and resources to concentrate on more pressing matters such as program development and service delivery. The competency of the employees in terms of using IT in most activities in their offices has also been beneficial; specifically, the exposure of the social welfare employees to IT enable them to be more flexible and knowledgeable in handling other forms of technology.   10.    Did the use of information systems help the organisation in saving valuable expenses or reducing costs? How was this achieved?     Table 10 Effects of It to the Social welfare providers                 Although the application of IT systems in any organisation requires considerable finances, the interviewees agreed that IT is also capable of reducing operational costs. One of the interviewees cited an example. By comparing the conventional communication means (sending mails through postal service, placing phone calls, arranging for document deliveries) and the present online communication strategy, public service organisations can acquire significant savings from deliveries as well as long-distance phone calls. Through these IT-based alternatives, costs incurred due to message or document delivery errors will no longer be encountered. This also applies to the social work employees. As some of the activities of the employees are supported by IT systems, costs brought about by human errors are reduced considerably. In terms of information dissemination, displaying important messages online is easily accessible by a greater number of people. Compared to making printed or broadcasted public information dissemination, online information distribution is more economical.               Application of IT also helps to reduce the amount that is used in saving and storing important information and files about the transactions and activities of most of the social welfare organizations. Before the application of IT, lots of supplies such as papers, ink, folders, envelop and filing cabinets are needed in order to store data. With the use of IT particularly the use of databases, it will not only reduced the amount spent in supplies but also lessen the time that is spent in retrieving data and information. 11.    How did this innovative strategy improved public service delivery?       Table 11 The impact of IT in Improvement of Public Service Delivery               The availability of the organisational websites that display the programs, services and future plans of the organisations for the public to view served as an important development in the delivery of social services. The interviewees stated that the increased awareness of the public on the activities of individual social service organisations made the accessibility of social services in Hong Kong more pronounced. The online sites of the social service organisations also made it easy for the people to inquire or obtain important information even without visiting the main offices. Services such as information dissemination can then be delivered to the people even at the comfort of their own homes. The increased awareness of the public on these organisations on the other hand, encouraged the social service sector to continuously develop activities that lead to the development of better programs for the people. As gaining information for program development becomes easier and faster through IT systems, programs developed are of greater quality.   12.    In what way did the application of IT systems affect the organisation negatively?       Table 12 Negative Impact of IT to the Social Welfare Industry   While the IT systems employed by the social welfare organisations had been beneficial to the employees as well as the people, the interviewees noted that the application of IT in their operations has also caused some problems. For instance, in times when system malfunction occurs, work disruptions take place. Though proper maintenance of these IT systems is the known solution for this problem, respondents claimed that it is difficult to apply regular IT maintenance considering that this would require additional costs for the organisation. Some employees are also not as open to use technology-based systems for accomplishing their daily tasks. Thus, there are systems installed whose purpose is not optimised. Without encouragement and monitoring, IT application may only lead to company waste. Security issue is another big deal when it comes to application of IT. Most of the respondents answer that this is the biggest threat when it comes to the use of IT and other Internet technologies. This dilemma can be solved by installation and the use of updated software such as anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware and malware.     5.1.3     Survey Results A total of 15 questions/statements were given in the questionnaire, which were structured in likert format. Five choices were provided for the respondents for each survey item; these choices served as their basis for answering the survey. The questionnaire comprised of two parts; one section deals with how social welfare organisation plan, implement and maintain IT systems applied in their operations while the other is centred on the effects of these IT systems. Every member of the research sample answered the questionnaire of which there are 124 participants all in all. After retrieving the accomplished survey forms, the researcher tallied all the responses of the participants. The weighted mean for each survey item was then computed. The interpretation of the calculated mean was based on the Likert table cited and explained in the previous chapter. Below are the results of the survey:           Table 13 & 14: Section 1 and 2 Survey Results   5.2     Analysis             In this section, the thematic process of analysis is applied; sub-themes, based on the interview and survey, are formed in order to answer the research question. Along with the analysis of the results, related literatures are incorporated to support the findings. Major sub-themes for the analysis are comprised of the IT strategies applied in social welfare organisations (IT strategies, requirements, challenges) and their effects to social service delivery (information quality, cost reduction efficiency, relations). 5.2.2     Strategies IT Strategies             Based from the survey result, the selected respondents strongly agreed that their respective organisations apply multiple IT systems in order to handle different operational areas. These IT systems include the use of computers with internet connection, development of websites and creation of customised database systems for storing and retrieving valuable documents or files. As cited by the interviewees, these systems are typically used in file management, internal communications, human resource management as well as program development. In general, the IT strategies of the social welfare organisations in Hong Kong are concentrated on the use of computers and internet technology. Moreover IT systems in these organisations are typically applied in office and managerial tasks. The study conducted by (2004) in Hong Kong social welfare sector also revealed similar results.   Requirements             The respondents of the survey noted that the requirements necessary to apply information technology effectively are challenging to meet. In the non-profit oriented organisations, financial resources serve as the primary requirement for applying information technology, social service organisations then find it quite difficult to invent much on technology-based operating systems. Aside from funding, human resources, professional expertise, hardware and software, computer units and Internet connections are also considered as important requirements. Respondents also agreed on other essential requirements needed for successful IT application. These include sufficient training, a dedicated department for IT maintenance as well as the active participation of the organisational leaders. Though these factors are recognised as important, the survey results showed that respondents were uncertain whether these had been present during their organisations’ IT application effort. This then suggests that social welfare organisations need to consider these essential requirements in applying IT aside from identifying the type of IT strategy suitable for their needs.             The application of IT in any organisation utilise the concepts of project management; under this principle, organisations are encouraged to develop a particular project team. They are the ones in charge of ensuring that the new systems are effectively integrated to the organisation’s existing operations. In project management, coaching or training the employees who will eventually use the new system is as essential factor. In applying IT systems for example, technical operational skills need to be learned by the users. By means of training, IT can be applied with more successful outcomes. Specifically, as the users are mentored how to use the developed IS/IT systems, users will be more willing to use these new systems for their daily work activities (2000). This is also relevant to the need of establishing a designated department for IT system maintenance. IT experts and professionals can then serve as the mentors of other employees who need further IT learning and assistance.               Like any other solutions, IT has its own share of weaknesses. The primary problem that is caused by implementation of IT is all about technical problems. However, with the presence of effective leaders from the management, these problems will be addressed immediately before they cause delays to the organisation’s IT plans. The active participation of the leaders also helps in motivating other employees of the organisation to be more supportive and cooperative to the changes in the organisation. Overall, leadership is an essential requirement for IT application as leaders have the skills to address different issues that could hinder successful IT application (2003). Challenges               The survey and interview results both stressed that implementing IT in the social welfare industry is a challenging strategy to apply. The survey findings for instance, indicated that respondents agree that application of IT systems is a costly investment. The interviewees explained further that it is difficult to apply IT systems in their organisations due to insufficient funds for information technology investment. Aside from this, social welfare organisation are not experts when it comes to designing and implanting IT systems; for this reason, the employment of outside assistance, which naturally requires financial support, is a must. In the research of (2004), it has been concluded that certain factors within the organisation that hinder it from applying better IT systems. For one thing, the size of the organisation represents its ability to invest on IT. Thus, smaller social welfare organisations may find IT application a challenge. It can then be said that internal features of the organisation may restrain effective IT application. The presence of these restraining features then makes IT application difficult for social welfare organisations. 5.2.3     Effects Information Quality             The interviewees stressed that the quality of information given to the people being serve by their organisations had improved through the application of IT, particularly database systems. The respondents explained that as the storage and retrieval of information becomes easier through IT assistance, the development of programs that require these stored data become more organised and effective for specifically targeted groups. The creation of the organisational websites online also increased the accessibility of the organisation’s activities, services and plans to the public. Moreover, through internet technology, the dissemination of information to the public becomes more interactive for the online visitors, making data relayed comprehensive and interesting. Cost Reduction or Savings             The respondents agreed that the application of IT in social welfare organisation lead to significant reduction in expenses. Though the interviewees declined to give specific figures or percentages, they explained how the organisations were able to achieve this important outcome through IT systems. In communication for example, sending messages via conventional means to different agencies or other organisations is more costly as compared to sending e-mails or instant messages. Delivery of few documents or files can also be done online; this is also a cheaper alternative than using courier services. As activities of the social service organisation become more and more dependent on IT systems, human intervention becomes less necessary. This in turn limits the costs derived from human errors. With better and faster work outcomes through IT, resources such as time, energy and money are saved. The use of websites for information dissemination is also an important factor that helps in reducing operational costs. Instead of using print outs of broadcasted messages to communicate to the public, the social welfare organisations can make use of their official websites, that is not only economical but also more effective as it can reach a greater number of people.               A number of related literatures have also concluded that savings or cost reduction can be achieved through IT application; there are several means on how this can be achieved With information systems, provision overlaps can be determined immediately, resulting to time savings to these agencies (2002). During the Philanthropy News Network’s Nonprofits and Technology conference in Seattle in 1999, most of the speaker stated that IT can help many nonprofits organization to: become more effective in daily operations; plan financial aspects more effectively; improve fundraising efforts; and shield the organization against the effects of staff turnover (2005).  Efficiency             In the survey result, the respondents agreed on a number of operational factors that stress the ability of IT to enhance organisational efficiency. Specifically, the survey showed that respondents agree that IT improves internal communications. Technology also facilitates the establishment of stronger relations and the development of better quality social service programs. IT is also a useful tool in improving the employees’ productivity as well as in ensuring that databanks of the organisation are well-organised. The interviewees noted that the training the employees went through made them more adept in using different IT systems. As the speed and quality of their work are increased, the overall performance of the employees is improved.               Moreover, the training made the employees more competent as they become more capable in handling activities that need both decision-making and analytical skills. Aside from the skills, the communication within the workplace, which is very essential is social service organisations, is also said to improve through IT systems. In particular, the use of internet technology allowed the social workers to communicate and relay messages to others in a faster and more efficient manner. The application of IT systems not only improves the communication within the organisation; this strategy also facilitates the establishment of better communication channels between the organisation and the people it serves, helps in building better relations among the organisation and the public. From these developments, it is clear that IT application leads to the development of a more efficient organisation. Other researches in the past have also obtained similar findings.               In one research, the case of the Swedish health and social services was taken into account. The findings of this research revealed that efficiency in terms of employee productivity was observed in these organisations. Specifically, the use of computerised case management systems allowed the social workers to increase the number of cases that each employee can analyze. Through the use of automated systems, the employees are able to work faster and more actively. This then helps in promoting public safety and good health (Andersen & Danziger 2002). In other studies, public service organisations typically encounter greater efficiency through IT application in performing managerial tasks. For instance various studies have noted that efficiency in social welfare organisations are observed as IT is used for document administration, human resource management as well as case administration (2002).               The performance of the managers also becomes more efficient through IT systems. Specifically, managers can use IT in order to acquire performance and operational data, which is useful in resource allocation as well as in employee performance monitoring. In some cases, rather than the manager performing the information retrieval, an administrative staff member or information employees may do this task. The generated information is then given to the manager for interpretation and application (1994). In any case, the end result is the same – social welfare managers become more efficient in performing their responsibilities through IT systems.               The efficiency of the social welfare organisations has been enhanced by IT application as the decision-making skills of the employees or social workers are improved. For example, the utilisation of geographic information systems (GIS) has been helpful as these provide the digitised map representation of governments’ jurisdiction and service sites. Through this technology, the planning and implementation of public service programs such as utility provision, road construction, redevelopment efforts and other similar activities become less complicated. Moreover, as these systems provide economic and demographic information, deciding which social welfare programs are useful for each service area becomes easier and more efficient (2000).               The availability of various software programs and database systems like Microsoft Office and WordPerfect Office also contributed to the increased efficiency in the social welfare industry. Through these technology-based instruments social workers as well as public officials are able to obtain and present information in a more sophisticated manner. Moreover, the improved presentation of information helps social welfare analysts in producing better analytical findings. In turn, this also help in making good decision useful in managing human resources, developing policies and designing public services or programs (1994;1994).   5.3        Project Outcome             This research was conducted for the purpose of identifying the different IT strategies applied in Hong Kong’s social welfare industry. Furthermore, the research was done in order to determine how these systems could be of benefit to social service organisations, particularly in reducing costs. Based from the findings of the research process as well as the relevant literatures gathered, IT applications do benefit the social welfare industry. At present, social welfare organisations in Hong Kong are applying this innovative strategy through the installation of computer unit, use of internet technology as well as the development of database systems and customised programs. The impact of these applications to cost reduction had been significant. Specifically, social service organisations save on expenses through IT systems as they help in reducing company wastes, limiting human errors, improving internal communications as well as increasing the speed of work processes. These effects have also been supported by a number of previous researches.               Although the application of IT within the social welfare industry has been identified as beneficial to the social welfare industry, the project also stressed the challenge of applying this strategy. As the respondents answered in the survey and explained in the interview, IT applications are quite difficult to implement considering that the organisations within the social welfare industry are nonprofit-oriented. Moreover, a number of requirements and resources must be available in order to support such operational strategy. From this project outcome, it becomes clear that certain sacrifices must be made so as to obtain the benefits of IT application. Most importantly, the findings of the project stress the need for social welfare organisations to conduct extensive planning and preparation in order to ensure the successful implementation of applying IT systems.   6         Conclusion   6.1     Summary             This study was done in order to determine how information technology is applied among organisations operating within the social welfare industry. The research was also conducted for the purpose of identifying the impact of this strategy to the organisations, particularly in cost reduction. Using Hong Kong social workers as respondents, the researcher used the interview and survey method to gather data that will answer the developed research question. The survey was structured in Likert format; results were obtained by computing the weighted mean. The result of the interview on the other hand, was presented in narrative form. The analysis of both the interview and survey results was structured based on thematic analysis where sub themes were developed. Specifically, the sub themes of the analysis include the strategies applied by the social welfare organisations and the effect of these IT systems to their operations.   6.2     Conclusion and Implications of the Study             A number of important conclusions and implications can be drawn out from the findings of the study.   1. Social welfare organisations apply one or more IT systems in order to handle multiple operational areas.                                   .                      As indicated in the findings of the study, social welfare organisations in Hong Kong apply IT strategies such as computer networking, internet technology, online sites and database systems so as to manage various activities such as human resource management, data storage and retrieval as well as social welfare program development. Organisations in the social welfare industry then benefit from IT applications as specific IT systems are made or can be made available to suit their specific needs.   2. Applying information technology is useful in cost reduction. The respondents explained that the ability of information technology to develop the communication systems of their organisation as well as speed up common work processes are the main factors that lead to cost reduction. Moreover, as the common manual activities of the social welfare organisations are automated through IT systems, chances for error and resource waste are reduced considerably. Means of storing and gathering information are also improved through the use of IT applications; statistical reports, demographics and other relevant data for social welfare project development are then easily accessed. With this development, creating and implementing public services or social welfare programs are enhanced as programs are developed specifically for certain service areas.   3. IT applications benefit social welfare organisations other than reducing costs. The results of the survey and interview indicated other important benefits of IT applications in the social service industry, which in general, are helpful in enhancing the efficiency of public service organisations. As supported also by relevant literatures, IT systems help in making public service units more coordinated, leading to better service delivery. Through improved communication systems, the relation between the social service providers and the public is improved as well. This in turn, helps in increasing the people’s responsiveness and cooperation in various services and programs implemented by social service organisations. In terms of information quality, the use of software programs and database programs are helpful in achieving this purpose.   4. Certain requirements must be met in order to apply information technologies effectively. Although the use of IT as a strategy in achieving organisational efficiency, certain factors and requirements must be considered by the organisations before IT can be applied in their operations. Resources such as finances, time, energy and human resources must be taken into account. In addition, IT professionals or experts must be employed for this strategy considering that social service providers are not particularly skilled in designing, implementing and monitoring IT applications. A group that will function as the project team is also considered as an important element in making IT work for social welfare organisations. These requirements make IT applications in nonprofit-oriented organisations such as those in social services challenging. This finding emphasises that the necessary resource allocations must first be considered before the gains of this strategy can be fully achieved.   5. The principle of project management is essential in IT application. Applying information technology does not only involve the identification of the specific system appropriate for the needs of social welfare organisations. The implementation and maintenance of these systems must also be carried out, specifically by IT experts or professionals. The actual designing and application of these systems also require technical knowledge. As this strategy involves multiple tasks, a project team with skilled members is essential. Moreover, a project team will be useful in addressing possible problems that could rise before, during and after the IT systems are applied; the team will then help ensure that the entire process of applying information technologies will go smoothly and with less risks. This finding clearly stresses that the actual instrument for IT application are not the only elements necessary the strategy to work; intangible factors such as management and skills are also important.   6.3     Achievement of Project Aim and Objectives   6.3.2     Project Aim This study aimed to determine the specific IT strategies that can increase the effectiveness as well as reduce the operating costs in the social welfare sector. Based from the findings, although IT is not quite easy to implement in this industry, but most of the respondents and literatures supported IT is helpful and effective, and saving in running cost significantly.   6.3.3     Project Objectives             The main objectives is to evaluate the current of IT usage in social welfare sector, identify and examine the problem on real work, then make recommendation for strategic plan of IT implementation to increase efficient and save budget.               Although it is difficult to show the amount that is saving after IT implement, but many cases can proof that IT application can increase effectiveness. With the use of electronic communications, human resource and time effort will be reduced. All studies and research show IT implementation in social welfare sector is in a positive influence.   6.4     Future Development and Recommendations             Technology is an aspect of present work sector that goes through continuous development; thus, in the future, it is expected that better systems and new software programs will be made available for organisations, including those in the social welfare industry, to use. With this natural development, it is then likely for organisations to acquire even greater benefits from IT – perhaps, higher cost reduction, faster services, more efficient information exchange, stronger relations with the public and other similar outcomes. With the growing recognition for the role and significant purpose of IT in achieving better social service operations, it is also possible that more and more organisations in the industry will invest on IT applications in the future. Furthermore, rather than using IT systems for doing managerial and office activities only, the diversification of IT use in other operational areas of social welfare organisations may be observed in the future as well. Should these developments occur in the future, the people, particularly the population targets of these organisations will expect better and more effective social services and programs.             In order to support a brighter future for IT utilisation among social welfare organisations in Hong Kong and the rest of the world, the following organisations that could be of use in the implementation of this strategy are developed:   1. In applying IT systems in social welfare organisations or in any other establishments, it is important that a project team and plan be developed. As mentioned in the study implications, the project team will serve as the facilitators for the smooth implementation of IT in the organisation. A project plan must also be developed by the team; this plan will be of use in directing the multiple activities involved in IT implementation. IT implementers make use of the project plan in order to observe a step-by-step system of implementation. This is particularly useful in ensuring that the resources necessary for every project task involved had all been accounted for. The plan also allows the project initiators to recognise and note down all the resources necessary to make the strategy work. In this way, waste of resources will be avoided.   2. IT systems are costly, thus, less costly options must be considered. Though social welfare organisations may not have enough funds to support and invest on modern technologies, operators and users can go for inexpensive system alternatives. For this recommendation, it is also suggested that an initial analysis of the area where the system will be applied is done. Through this, the specific IT needs of the department can be pointed out.   3. Regular maintenance and monitoring of systems must be done when using IT as an operational strategy.                                          . The application of IT systems does not stop on the installation of the needed technologies. In order to ensure that the organisation can use these major investments for a long time, monitoring for maintenance purposes must be incorporated in the project plan. This will prevent major company losses and work disruptions from happening. The most important part of the software managements and implementation is the maintenance phase. This is to make sure that the system is working in accordance the rules and polices of a certain organization.   4. Organisations adopting the IT strategy from greater efficient must use the customisation approach.                                                                                         . The customisation approach pertains to the strategic technique wherein changes in the organisation are done in accordance to its specific need and work environment. Each social welfare organisation operates in a different environment, serves a different service area, targets a diverse population group and implements a different program; for this reason, it is not appropriate for organisation to pattern their IT systems to those used by other similar establishments or companies. Each IT application serves a different purpose; organisation must then be aware of these functions so as to develop a system that is truly suitable for their needs. This recommendation will then facilitate the creation of more cost-effective system designs.         Appendix A: Project Specification   Intention – no customer involved and project results will be used to produce a research paper.   Project Title Using IT for cost saving in social welfare sector under budget pressure in Hong Kong   Project Topic Area Overview In Hong Kong, many non-government organisations (NGOs) provide social welfare services to the public, nowadays every industry run for productivity enhancement and cost effectiveness, even NGOs also facing reduce budget and government Lump Sum Grant (LSG) policy, resources decrease substantially, so cost saving was a new challenge to those organisation and service provider. To improve welfare services with the lack of budget, broaden sources of income must be an effective way, but everyone think use of IT system may help to simplify the work, then reduce labor and time, thus reduce expenditure. How these advantages could bring to social welfare sector, let them enjoy the fruitful result with new technology, and importantly to save resource, reduce the pressure of budget. Aim to providing the same level of services with less labour involve and arise efficient.   Situation Overview The research is set independently to get user comment, focus on the needs for the service provider, and study the feasibility of promoting IT in social services sector.   Presenting Problem Theme Can IT system increase the working efficient, or it will make the work more complicated? Everyone want to improve service and saving cost with IT implementation, but how to make it success, a feasibility study and strategic plan can help.   Personal Theory Resource must be a main concern for IT implementation, purchase of hardware and software, hire of IT expertise, system design…etc, all of these are countable capital, but computerisation is not just go to buy a computer and put on the desk, many study and plan was behind.  Social welfare sector is not a profitable business, while people talking cost-effective, social services may not have a profit; also when IT solution was implemented, there are not easy and clearly perceive how much cost was save, so the result of IT implementation may not be seen in a short period of time, and the system may not improve service or reduce budget in a very direct way, a long termed strategy plan is need. So how to convince the managerial to invest in the IT system need a strong reason and hope the answer can find in this report.   Form of Answer The expected form of answer will be a feasibility report, describe the functionality of implementing IT solution in social service organisation. A number of questionnaire and survey question will be set, content will be around the situation of work, using of computing, and the hope for the IT system; aim to support with the research question, make assumption to the problem.  With reference and consolidation with the research result, complete a report with varies recommendations and strategic issue about implement IT solution to save cost.   Research Question How can IT be used in social welfare sector to increase effectiveness thus reduce operating cost?   Strategic value To determine the problem and needs of social service sector, and provide IT strategies that can increase effectiveness and reduce operating cost. Describe the critical success factor for develop IT solution, how to create a high usability and functionality system, that suit for the special need in this sector, to reduce manpower, increase the efficient and arise the service level to the client, thus reducing operating cost.   Ethical Overview There are no current users of the process being research, and there is no beneficial conflict all the person to be interview. It is not seem to be any ethical consideration.   Aim To determine IT strategies that can increase effectiveness and reduce operating cost in social welfare sector.   Objectives To evaluate the current practice of IT usage in social welfare sector. To identify and examine the problem found on the real work. To make recommendations for a strategic plan for further IT implementation. To recommend a solutions for save budget and increase efficient.   Research Design – Research Method The research method will be quantitative – survey. Through out some interview and questionnaire to the agency head, social service centre in-charge personal, frontline social worker and those client that receive such services, to gather idea and information.   Research Design – Phase 1: Primary Data Collection Process How can IT be used in social welfare sector to increase effectiveness thus reduce operating cost? Most of the literature state about the strategic fact and the figure of past experience. Through out a research such as survey, interview or questionnaire, can get a real details and users expectation, and the data are more updated, which can help in review and analysis to the problem.   Basic Activity for Generation Data The basic idea is to invite those social service units which have success or un-success cases of implement IT, make interview and questionnaire to client, social worker and service provider, to collect the information surrounding the problem that they are facing with limited resource and their ideal IT solution. The basic activity for generation data is to identify the strategy for promoting IT in social service sector to arise efficient and save operating cost.   Primary Data The research result by questionnaire and survey, including of: utilization of computer, IT skill level, software that common use, computerization inclination and acceptance, expectation to IT solution, etc. And some ideas and viewpoints for the person who invited for the face-to-face interview.   Location The sample frame is the frontline social worker, service provider, and the client, these persons will select from Hong Kong social welfare department, non-government organization, and all kinds of private society which providing social services. Sampling size will be around 120 valid returns out of 200 samplers.   Collection Protocols A pre-designed questionnaire will sent to 200 randomly selected samplers, there would be around 50 questions; they need to answer all those question independently. For the survey, the interview use face-to-face base to the selected candidate, beside answering of preset questions, and sharing their opinion and details suggestion to the discussing scope.   Primary Data Collection Presentation From such primary data, will be analysis and generation the result in table and chart format, to support the answering the research question. The set of primary data will be available in the project document appendix and will be presented in tables and charts format.     Research Design – Phase 2: Processing and Presentation In this phase, the primary raw data was collected, to analyze these qualitative data, and it will be consolidate, analysis, calculate and collate. Then present the processed data in table or graphic form and extract the graphs features.   Primary Data Manipulation Analyse the raw primary data from phase 1, with use a set of metric and statistic issue, describe the data, and inference some outcome and recommendation; use of many different measurement method, to check and measure the accuracy for those data.  For the result from interview, such as comment or idea, we can diversify to different category, for the use of reporting in different issue and state recommendation.   The result will use to answer the research question; it is preferable that the result can match with the hypothesis. Then we can base on the result to know what is the need, the want and how to help to the social worker and client, make assumption of the feasibility and the usability for implementing IT solution in their sector of business, then make suggestion and recommendation to those service providers, for the next step to build the system.   Result Processing and Presentation All the raw data after analysed is the most valuable source for the report, support each other to secondary data and literature.  After the contextual primary data analyse, the finding will show in the report to support with the research question, those result will display in simple chart or table format, let reader easier to get the impact; the opinion from interview and survey will also show in the content, the idea will firstly analyse and combine, show to support the research question and state recommendation to the feasibility study.   For the raw primary data, can show in the project document appendix in tables and charts format, with number and percentage, for a reference to the reader.   Logistics and Tools -Resources Required The logistic and research procedure perform by the researcher solely, the only costing will be the printing of questionnaire and postage fee, and no more human resource is need.   Outline Content List for Project         Appendix B: Project Plan       Appendix C: Interview Schedule   IT Strategy and Application   l   What were the types of information technology systems that your organisation had installed? l   In what areas of the organisation were these systems used? l   What were the company’s objectives for applying these IT systems? l   How were these systems planned and implemented? l   Have you encountered any problems in relation to IT implementation?   Requirements   l   What resources were used by the organisation for applying IT systems? l   What problems did the organisation encounter in meeting these requirements?   Effects   l   In what way was IT application able to bring improvements in the internal or external communication needs of the organisation? l   How did IT strategies affect the social service providers or employees? l   Did the use of information systems help the organisation in saving valuable expenses or reducing costs? How was this achieved? l   How did this innovative strategy improved public service delivery? l   In what way did the application of IT systems affect the organisation negatively?   Appendix D: Questionnaire   IT Strategy and Application   1.       The organisation applies multiple IT systems to its different operational departments.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   2.       The organisation sought the assistance of IT professional or experts in selecting and implementing the IT systems.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   3.       Social service providers are given sufficient training on how these IT systems are to be used.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   4.       A department dedicated for IT technical support and maintenance is found within the organisation.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   5.       Applying IT systems is challenging particularly in terms of the requirements it demands for efficient implementation.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   6.       Leaders of the organisation have been active in supporting the organisation’s efforts to apply IT in its operations.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   7.       The organisation encountered problems during the planning and implementation of the IT systems.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   Effects of IT Application   8.       IT application has been helpful in improving the speed of service delivered by the social welfare organisations to the public.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   9.       The application of IT systems led to significant expenses and losses for the organisation.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   10.    Internal communications was achieved through the application of IT systems.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   11.    The application of IT systems led to significant cost reduction for the organisation.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   12.    IT systems encouraged social service employees to become more productive.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   13.    The application of IT systems helped in organizing databases and documents used by the organisation.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   14.    The use of IT system led to the development of more quality service programs and delivery methods.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   15.    IT applications facilitated the creation of stronger relations between the organisation and the public.   1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Agree Agree Uncertain Disagree Strongly Disagree   Appendix E: Contribution of Voluntary Welfare Agencies in Hong Kong (2006 Estimation)   No. of Voluntary Agencies   ~370 % in Provision of Welfare Services   90% Benefited Service Recipients (men-times)   ~57 million Employed Staff   ~40, 000 Service Units Around   ~3,400 Source: (2007)                               </div> Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

The Nature of Information and Systems

Using IT for cost saving in social welfare sector under budget pressure in Hong Kong Abstract The focu...