The study — "Work-Family Roundtable: Technology's Affect on Work/Life Balance" — is based on a survey of 62 human resources executives in companies throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States.

While it is not usually a formal policy, many employees and departments are expected to monitor their e-mail and voice mail after work hours. Some surveyed executives say such discipline is needed to maintain balance.

The study includes wide-ranging comments from executives representing a diversity of industries. Says Sandy Fazio, manager of employee relations at Gannett Co. Inc.: "If your manager is on vacation and e-mailing people daily, that sets a terrible precedent for other people at the company."

"Devices like beepers and e-mail can make it difficult to escape work and even harder to catch up with missed work," says Deborah Parkinson, research associate in The Conference Board's Human Resources/Organizational Effectiveness Division, and author of the report.

Ted Childs, vice president, work force diversity at IBM, says that setting new work boundaries will become a matter of ethics. "We have to come together and talk about the concept of ethics, this 24-hour access to people, and what technology is doing," he says. "It's like the scales of justice. It's promoting productivity, but we have to begin to ask the question, 'At what cost, at what price?' And promoting productivity, but disrupting morale or our ability to retain employees is not equitable. It is not a return that any of us wants to have."

Says Kathy Gallo, director, human resource matters, Andersen Consulting LLP: "Like any major change, it's going to take us a while to set boundaries. It's amazing to see the accelerated change over the past 10 years, and I think we can expect even more over the next 10."

While more than 80 percent of companies allow employees to telecommute, only 6 percent of employees do so. More than 60 percent of employees are unable to telecommute, largely because of job requirements — such as operating machinery and greeting customers — that make it necessary for employees to be on-site. Other inhibitors include concerns on the part of both supervisors and workers who want employees on-site where they can be supervised.

Supply Chain Management Is Not Meeting Needs, According to Survey Although billions of dollars have been spent by U.S. industry on supply chain resources in the last year, 86 percent of supply chain professionals believe that current supply chain techniques do not address today's marketplace demands. A recent survey conducted by Tompkins Associates, an engineering-based consulting firm, reveals that supply chain management techniques cannot keep pace with the marketplace's demand for mass customization, SKU (stockkeeping unit) proliferation and shorter cycle times. More than 50 percent of respondents agreed that supply chain management is not meeting these needs. Overall, respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the current approaches to achieve real flow in their supply chains — the survey found that they believe that current supply chain management techniques do not take into account marketplace turbulence and change. Current supply chain management techniques are also not providing the expected paybacks. Nearly 53 percent agreed that they are not satisfied with the return on investment provided by existing supply change management technologies for the logistics pipeline. According to the survey, organizations recognize the need for a holistic, continuous improvement process that focuses on customer satisfaction — and meeting ever-changing marketplace demands. Ninety-eight percent of respondents believe that their organization would benefit from such a process throughout their supply chain. In addition, they agree that an approach that involves continuous improvement and prioritizing opportunities for improvement is more successful than typical "management by fad" approaches. "The awesome rate of change that is occurring in today's business environment demands a holistic continuous improvement process that supports the optimization of the total supply chain and not the traditional, link-at-a-time optimization that has been pursued over the last few years," said Jim Tompkins, president and founder of Tompkins Associates.

Results from the latest Everything2000.com survey indicate 75 percent of respondents have not made reservations or purchased tickets for New Year's 1999, or any year 2000 celebration. The news contrasts with claims made by various tour organizations and cruise lines that their millennial packages are sold out.

"With the Y2K computer bug grabbing more headlines, people are wondering if it's smart to travel or just stay home and wait it out," said John Locher, publisher of Everything 2000.

These results were unveiled by Everything 2000 on its Web site www.everything2000.com. The site is a source for year 2000 news and information, and it includes daily millennial news updates and listings of year 2000 related events and resources.


META Group Donates Y2K Research to the U.N.

To help the global community tackle the Y2K problem and address the urgent need for information, the META Group — an IT research and advisory firm — has announced its willingness to provide the United Nations with all of its research on the Y2K problem.

"META Group has stepped up to provide our intellectual capital on Y2K to the U.N. because we believe Y2K issues should be addressed on a global basis," said Dale Kutnick, META Group president, CEO and co-research director. "We know many countries do not have access to in-depth research and solutions. Therefore, we are offering $500,000 worth of intellectual capital to help get these countries access to critical Y2K information."

META Group estimates the worldwide cost to fully address the Y2K issue is $600 billion. Its research shows that 50 percent of Global 2000 companies have not fully funded the Y2K project, and 65 percent do not understand the associated liability.

"About 80 percent of the participating countries are behind the eight ball," said Dr. Howard Rubin, META Research Fellow. "In today's global economy, this is everyone's problem."


Online Database Lists Y2K Readiness Information

Infoliant Corporation's Year 2000 Network Advisor is an interactive, on-line database that currently catalogs readiness information of more than 20,000 desktop, midrange systems, and network hardware and software products from more than 400 manufacturers. Subscribers access the Year 2000 Network Advisor through the Internet with a standard Web browser, or by having it set up on their organization's internal network.

Users of the Network Advisor will find an overview of the manufacturer's Y2K readiness efforts, readiness status of specific products and a recommended corrective action plan for each product. In addition, the Compliance Tracker feature eliminates a user's need to repeatedly check manufacturers' readiness information because it sends users unlimited e-mail notifications as manufacturers update their information.

The Year 2000 Network Advisor was recently licensed by IBM Global Services.

For more information, visit Infoliant's Web site at www.infoliant.com.

Technology Report Focuses on Telecommunications "Technology Forecast: 1999," released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, focuses on the enormous changes underway in the world of telecommunications and predicts the significant impact of technological advances and innovation on corporate IT organizations over the next one to three years. "Businesses today face a rapidly changing technology landscape," said Mike Katz, contributing editor of the report. "Every aspect of the enterprise is evolving from hardware platforms and operating systems to telecommunications." This year's edition of 'Technology Forecast' takes an in-depth look at telecommunications issues and the impact of the Internet. With the volume of Internet traffic doubling every 100 days, the Forecast predicts that within the next two years, the volume of data traffic carried over the world's telecommunications infrastructure will exceed that of voice. Key predictions of "Technology Forecast: 1999" include: Merging technologies: The trend toward transmitting data in digital form will make the separation between voice, fax, data and video, and between fixed and mobile services less distinct. Carriers will migrate their networks from circuit switching to packet switching to accommodate the growing volume of data traffic. Market consolidation: Continuing consolidation in the telecommunications market will result in the emergence of four or five global supercarriers by 2002 together with up to 4,000 national and regional niche players. Growing trust in e-commerce: Trust in Internet security technologies will grow among consumers and businesses alike, paving the way for electronic commerce to reach critical mass and become the key strategic consideration for many businesses in the next few years. Long live the mainframe: The mainframe will remain the "super-server" cornerstone of business computing, assuming that mainframe suppliers double processing power every 18 months while maintaining the same price point. Year 2000 solutions: Even with the Year 2000 problem solved by modifying existing systems, many companies still will undertake a total system replacement using commercial packaged applications in the early years of the new millennium. The report costs $450 and can be ordered from PricewaterhouseCoopers at 800-654-3387 or 314-997-2540.

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