Bancnet

Bancnet is considered to be the first and is now, the largest Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Consortium in the Philippines. It is the first multi-bank, multi-channel electronic payment network in the country. Bancnet enables its customers to transact, not only at any ATM anywhere, anytime, but also through Point-Of-Sale (P.O.S.), the Internet or through the use of mobile phones. Aside from the traditional cash withdrawal service at the ATM, Bancnet also provides a wide range of services through different channels, such as balance inquiry, checkbook re-order, statement request, interbank fund transfer, payment of bills, prepaid phone and Internet reloading, payment of purchases by direct debit to account, and remittance of taxes, Philheatlh and Social Security System contribution and loan repayments. Through interconnection with other ATM consortia in the country (Expressnet & Megalink) and International ATM & P.O.S. networks (Diners Club, Discover Card, JCB, MasterCard, Union Pay and VISA), Bancnet provides cardholders not only the widest nationwide access to their accounts but worldwide convenience as well.

During our visit last April 5, 2013 we were fortunate enough to listen to Bancnet leaders. The company has Core Values abbreviated as ExCI^2Te which stands for Excellence, Concern for the Individual, Integrity, Innovation and Teamwork. Having these core values embedded to your employees will definitely give you more productivity and competitive advantage. During the talk, I was very amazed on how Bancnet evolved or as they say, Innovation never ends. From an ATM consortium they partnered with multi-national companies, acquired IT infrastructures, provided leading technologies to various organizations and supported different sectors of our government. Their network truly expanded throughout the years. Despite this, if we really look at it the company is not that huge. When the speaker asked us to guess their number of employees all of us expected it to be in hundreds or even thousands. We were very surprised when they said they were only 55. I guess numbers are not the only basis for success. What is really important is the quality of service your company gives to the customers.

The class while waiting for the talk

The Speakers with Ms. Abesamis

ATM for Testing

Play Money

98M Account Balance :>

The class

JP Morgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.2 trillion that has been in operation for more than 200 years. With 220,000 employees in more than 60 countries including the Philippines, the firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began operations in the Philippines in 1961 with a representative office. Since then our firm has expanded its presence into a fully integrated franchise in the Philippines, including Investment Banking and Treasury and Securities Services.

Last March 26, 2013 our class went to JP Morgan Chase  & Co at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig for another IT-Expo class.  Looking at the company and its environment I can say that it is one of the prestigous multi-national company in the country. The office building  is very big with about 23 floors and the formal environment is very motivating. The security is also very tight, for taking pictures is strictly prohibitted and our bags were carefully inspected. When it comes to their company culture, I can see that they were very kind to accommodate us despite their hectic business agendas. Different people from different departments gave us a talk about their company (Around 6 people). We also toured around their offices and we have discovered that they really put investment in terms of technology. Such as the case wherein there is this conference room wherein there are big screens setup and installed that enables different teams to communicate with the other office located in Cebu.

Breathtaking view from JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Network Labs Visit

Last March 15, 2013 we visited Network Labs Inc. (A Joint Venture of Nokia Siemens Network) for another company visit for the IT-EXPO class. Among all the other visits or seminars we attended this is the most IT-related so it was really fun and interesting.  Network Labs is a one of its kind research and development (R&D) center in Asia that is internationally recognized in the telecommunications industry. NetworkLabs is directly involved in research work and software development for 3G and 4G radio communication networks for NSN and even LTE.

The main speaker Mr. Vanson So is a DLSU alumni an IST graduate of Catch2T6. Besides his talk about the company, it was also interesting hearing his experiences in DLSU like his interaction with Doc Lloyd and Ms. Kiran. I felt comfortable to his talk because I can relate with a lot of things especially about gox experiences. As a fellow Lasallian, I felt proud that he is one of the leaders in Network Labs and I think he is a really good human resources employee trainer.

In the talk of Mr. Vanson he mentioned that they have a unique organizational structure. It is not the usual hierarchical structure wherein there are only a few people on top, but so many at the bottom. In Network Labs, they kind of have a flat structure wherein anyone can voice out his/ her concerns, but there is still a manager to supervise the overall work. Looking at the environment, I noticed that all cubicles look the same which promotes equality and the employees look very comfortable in their workstations. I think this kind of organizational structure is important in companies geared towards technological innovation. This is because a comfortable and less pressured environment promotes confidence to share innovative ideas. This is why, their office has so many leisure places like karaoke bars, pods and relaxing pantries. 

The speaker, Mr. Vanson So

The Network Labs Workstations

Main Pantry

Meeting Pods

Boracay Lounge

         

Karaoke Room

Meeting Room

Brady Corporation Visit

Nowadays, call centers have been increasingly popular as outsourcing also increases. With outsourcing, a firm contracts out some of their jobs to be handled by other companies. Since it can be costly to maintain and keep track of call center equipment and staff, some companies therefore choose to outsource their telephone functions to an external call center. In this case, call center staff from the external company can be trained to answer phone calls from a number of different companies. Over the years, Philippines has become a significant outsourcing destination. BPO in the Philippines has been one of the fastest growing sectors; this is due to its supply of English-speaking professionals, low labor costs and availability of a good telecommunications infrastructure.

An example of this is Brady Corporation which we visited last March 5, 2013. Brady uses various technologies to help them ameliorate their performance and customer experience. The company of course first identify their business strategy to the IT strategy and then to the Infrastructure Technology.

Based on our visit I believe the operations process is the most vital, for controls and manages most of the important business functions. It is the heart of the company because it is handled by the leaders or officers with their agents who directly interacts with the customers. This is why, it should be carefully managed especially with the use of technology. The speaker, Mr. Alan emphasized this very well. IT has a huge role in BPO because it gives the company competitive advantage. It aims to lower total costs, improve efficiency and productivity and increase integration and flexibility. This is why, it should be carefully planned and implemented throughout the organization. To do this, the IT head must be excellent in his/her soft skills. One should always have a positive attitude and must be able to adapt in any environment.  

The speaker, Mr. Alan 

The inside

A closer look

Back to the Voters

Elections have always been a hot topic in our country may it be in schools, organizations, companies especially government. It has been around for so many years now, but a lot of people still fail to see the importance of it. Many citizens feels indifferent whenever elections come and do not maximize their right to suffrage. They won’t even bother to register because it is too hassle for them or even scrutinize the various candidates in their district. I believe than one of the main reasons for this is because these people treat elections a business for the greedy candidates we have. The voters are merely pawns for the selfish desires of senators, congressman and mayors and they will never truly benefit from it. They don’t get their vote’s worth and can’t see the changes in their place.

A better performance assessment process should be in place in our country. Citizens have the right to know all the actions of the leaders to see if they are doing well. Visibility should not stop before and during the elections and campaigns. The more important stage is when the time of incumbency. The projects and platforms they promised to the citizens must be accomplished well. Transparency especially in terms of finance must be given to the citizens.

IT can definitely play a big role in this kind of scenario. Information systems that aims to monitor and distribute vital information (e.g. budget, people involved, rationale, total expenses incurred) about a specific government project can be established, for the citizens to efficiently assess their leaders. With this, future citizens can have a basis for the next elections on who to vote.

All in all, the most important thing that I have learned in this forum is that the citizens should never be afraid to the government leaders. This is a democratic country and we have power over our leaders. We have the right to know all the little things our leaders do and make sure that they do their responsibilities well. The abuse, under the table, bribery and corruption should stop now!  This time, the power must be brought back to where it came from; to the voters. 

Ms. Niña Corpuz as the Forum's Host

Lasallians in the BMPM Election Forum

Avatar Groupwork

1. How do you define an avatar? Enumerate the consensus definition.

    An avatar is an online representation of a computer user that may reflect his/her identity. Since there are different types of computer users, an avatar can be project in different ways. It may be the person's projection or idealization, or it can just be any experimented character that the user wants to be seen as. In short, in can illustrate the user's appearance and personality or it may be the opposite. The appearance of an avatar depends on the computer user's motivation or purpose.

2. Does definition of what character or personality your avatar has would only be defined in the role-playing games? Explain your answers.

    No, an avatar would not only be defined in role-playing games because it is also a representation of oneself. Avatars can be an image of a person in a virtual world and it reflects his/her appearance, hobbies and interests. Basically, there is no rule in creating your own avatar an it can be anything under the sun 

3. Do you want to be defined as an individual or entity virtually based on your avatar or online name? Why or why not.

    The group all wanted not to be judged based on his/her own avatar or online name. Even though we believe that an avatar may be a reflection of one's personality, it cannot fully define you as a person. Your avatar or online name might have a different meaning for other people and they might misinterpret it. This is why it is important that we should not judge a person by merely basing it on the virtual world. 

4. Do you find any significance of having a purposeful avatar or online identity?

    Creating an avatar and treating it as a display picture to any of one's social networks or any online account is important since it represents oneself. It reflects the values, attitudes, and personalities of the owner which might affect on how people should treat the person. Having an interesting avatar also catches the attention of the viewers. At the same time, it can also tell something about the activities of a person.

5. Does having multiple characters imply negative or positive impact to the person? Give at least two examples and explain your answers.

    Having multiple characters online can actually bring both positive and negative impacts to the person.

    Example #1: A blogger changes his display picture or avatar from a basketball player to a golf player. Let's say from Lebron James to Tiger Woods because he decided to form a new content for his blog because of the change in his interests.

    Positive: Due to the change of his display picture, it might catch the attention of his followers which will cause the users to visit his page. This means that there is a big change that a lot of people will see his blog. It can also be a good part for the owner because he had this freedom to change the picture according to the type of article he is working on. Moreover, the new avatar will speak for the owner's work itself.

    Negative: Changing the display picture can cause people to unfollow the owner maybe because they don't recognize or they are not familiar with the new image. This means that a fewer number of people will read the blog. Changing the image in this case also means taking the risk since the owner is not yet sure of his specific audience because a change of theme also means change of audience. It might bring a hard time for the owner to look for new followers.

    Example #2: A Yahoo! Messenger user changes her avatar from a simple to an exaggerated one.

    Positive: She was able to have this sense of fulfillment of using the application's features about customizing the avatar. It's also part of experimenting or editing the avatar because she used it to picture her goal like "a picture of what she wanted to be". It's one way of telling people that there's a change/you want to change.

    Negative: It might not reflect who she really is and her chatmates might have a thinking that she is having a wrong avatar for herself. There might be a misunderstanding that can come along the way.

6. If you will be asked to make an avatar for yourself today as a Social Being in the #Socmed class, how will you draw your avatar? And what #onlinename will you use?

Andrea: I will make my avatar similar to my physical self as much as possible. I will also include some other stuff that can show my likes. For example, I can wear my favorite color or style of outfit. As usual, my online name would be Baorea which orignated from Baolong + Andrea. Baolong is the nickname of my favorite star Jerry Yan back in grade school.

Aica: My avatar should look like me. As much as possible, I want to see it as just a portrait of myself which has been animated. I want to keep it simple since it reflects my personality. The online name I am going to use might be: #aiczkey, #aiczzz, or #glitzyONE. Both #aiczkey and #aiczzz are termed after my nickname. #aiczkey was given to me by a classmate when we were in high school. Some people call me #aiczzz though I introduced myself to them as Aica. #glitzyONE is the username I have for this online game, Gunbound. 

http://aiczzz.blogspot.com/

Luigi:

http://ramoner.blogspot.com/

Bon: I wil make my avatar look like a pirate. I will picture my avatar with a bass guitar. I would name it 'theb0n' or since I always use that online name.

http://arawigum.blogspot.com/

My Avatar

Baorea

via Weemee

This avatar reflects my personality because it shows my favorite color which is green. It also shows my addiction to icecream because it holds a sundae. It's physical appearance is also similar to mine especially the hair and the headband. I also often wear this kind of outfit, so I chose this design.