by Julie Gibbs. Sellout conference hosts more than 100 vendors and 2,400 attendees.
by Natasha Krol, META Group. State of the craft.
The Workflow Process Paradigm
by Jay Ramanathan, UES Knowledge Integrations Center. The case for collaboration.
Oracle Cooperative Applications Release 10, Oracle Media Objects, Oracle Workgroup Server
SMTI Development Services, Oracle Gateways, SQL*Net 2.1, Oracle CDE Tools for UNIX, Oracle Names, Oracle BPR Process Animator, RSA Data Security
What is the state of object-oriented technology today? How can you reap the benefits of object-oriented technology? Read this special section to learn all about the principles of objects in motion.
The Business Case for Objects
by Torsten Ek. Trying to integrate objects into IS? You need a framework for justifying object technology in the enterprise. This comprehensive package includes a glossary of terms and a look at CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture).
An Interview with Steve Jobs
by the editors. The CEO of NeXT talks about why he's staking his future on objects.
by Cheryl J. Goldberg. See how three leading organizations
in three different industries
are using objects to transform their business.
by Torsten Ek. This article unveils the true meaning of object technology, including object-oriented DBMSs and extended RDBMSs.
Object-Oriented Programming
by Michael R. Ault. OOP is a powerful tool, but it isn't for everybody
and here's why.
Nintendo: High-Tech Gains in High-Tech Games
by Ben Phillips. Nintendo, the home video game leader, gives its sales and marketing managers easy access to critical information by building a client/server system with Oracle7 and BusinessObjects.
Bechtel Group,Inc.: Global Workforce
by Shannon Mahorney. An integrated, automated Human Resource Information System (HRIS) based on Oracle Human Resources software enables Bechtel Group, Inc. to meet the demands of global People moving.
System-Level Roles in Oracle7
by Kevin Loney. The introduction of role groups in Oracle7 brings new meaning to database architecture. Kevin Loney shows you how to take advantage of the new Oracle7 system roles.
Customize Oracle Reports with PL/SQL
by Lori Ann White and Per Brondum. Customizing your Oracle Reports requires flexibility. By attaching PL/SQL constructs to Oracle Reports objects, you can gain the ability to modify default reports.
The Art of Concurrent Engineering
by Allan Hooks and Glenn Word. A four-step approach to using concurrent engineering techniques to help you share multidiscipline data.
MPP: Oracle on the IBM Power Parallel System
By Hrishi Kamat. How Oracle parallel technologies take advantage of the IBM Power Parallel machine SP2.
Mainframes: Oracle7 and IBM S/390 Parallel Technology
by Louis H. Selincourt. Is mainframe-designed software ready for client/server architectures and parallel processing? Oracle has ensured that it is.
Mainframes: Remote Procedural Access to Legacy Datastores
by Laurent Sandrolini. Oracle procedural gateway for APPC.
Desktop: Running Windows Applications on OS/2 with SQL*VDM
by Katrina Montinola. The benefits of running Windows applications under OS/2 2.1, a description of each SQL*VDM component, and more.
Technical Support: Intermediate
by Michael J. Sanders. Modifying Oracle Applications Without Making Software Changes.
Technical Support: Novice
by Christopher Chan. Using Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports with Oracle Open Client Adapter for ODBC 2.0.
Technical Support: Intermediate
by Ben Wright. Oracle Forms 4.0 Q&A.
Springtime at EOUG
34EDIT
Objects within MIS
34INSG1
34INSG2
Product News
34NEWS1
More Product News
34NEWS2
Objects in Motion
34OBINT
34OBJEC
34OBJOB
Real-World Objects
34OBALB
Working with Objects
34OBWRK
34OBOOP
34NINTE
34BCHTL
34DBSYS
34DEVEL
34METHD
34OEMPP
34MAIN7
34MAINF
34OPNDT
34SUP1
34SUP2
34SUP3
0INFO
20, tickedoff
searchSCRP
on tickedoff
global artnum,artcnt
if artcnt < artnum + 1 then
send beginsearch to this card
add 1 to artcnt
endif
end tickedoff
searchfielddata
<<FEATURE>>34BCHTL<<FEATUREEND>>
<<RUN>>HUMAN RESOURCES<<RUNEND>>
<<HED>>GLOBAL WORKFORCE<<HEDEND>>
<<SUB>>With Oracle Personnel and Oracle Payroll, Bechtel Group, Inc. manages over 30,000 of its employees assigned to engineering and construction projects in more than 135 countries on all seven continents.
BY SHANNON MAHORNEY<<SUBEND>>
<<TXT>>What do the Olympic Games, Cape Canaveral, and the EuroTunnel have in common? Bechtel Group, Inc. For over 94 years, the San Francisco-based engineering and construction giant has tackled enormously complex projects in the most remote locales all over the globe. From building industrial cities in the Arabian desert to erecting vast chemical processing plants in the Australian outback, Bechtel has successfully met the logistical challenges of conducting business on a global scale. This success has a lot to do with one of the company's core principles
continuous improvement
an integral part of the way it operates. That means Bechtel must respond to a rapidly changing world with entrepreneurial approaches, innovative solutions, advanced technology, and high-quality, timely decision making.
One application of this principle is Bechtel's approach to information management. Rather than simply viewing information management as a way to replace intense clerical function with automation, the company relies on its information management systems to improve its approach to managing the business. One part of this approach is to implement uniform software that can meet the needs of very small, remote locations as well as large engineering offices. Oracle Cooperative Applications helps the company attain this goal with software for managing financial information as well as data of a more personal nature
Bechtel's human resources information.
<<BOLD>>A WORLD OF INFORMATION<<BOLDEND>>
As an engineering and construction firm, Bechtel's business revolves around assigning, deploying, and reassigning employees to both large and small projects around the world. These projects require designing and building facilities in many industries and fields, including power, petroleum, chemicals, mining and metals, pipeline, surface transportation, aviation, space facilities, telecommunications, water management, environmental and pollution control, hazardous waste cleanup, and industrial and commercial construction.
With a workforce of over 30,000 nonmanual and craft employees assigned to projects in more than 135 countries on all seven continents, it's no surprise that handling the information involved in "people moving" is a central part of Bechtel's business.
To Bechtel, human resources information encompasses much more than "date of hire" and "date of termination." Maintaining other information, such as each employee's training, certifications, performance appraisals, and project assignment history is crucial to effective project staffing. "We needed a system that could not only handle the traditional human resources data for a company our size but could also give line managers access to the information they need for effective project, workforce, and salary planning," says Bob Klumb, Bechtel's Human Resources Information Systems Manager.
<<BOLD>>MORE THAN JUST THE FACTS<<BOLDEND>>
Until a few years ago, Bechtel used a central mainframe at its San Francisco headquarters to house the Personnel Database System (PDS). Because the system was cumbersome and unwieldy, it was largely inaccessible to end users. Bechtel's management found that people were maintaining only what they had to on PDS and keeping track of other critical information locally. As a result, PDS became a repository for only the most basic payroll information. "Because people weren't using the central mainframe, 'homegrown' databases began springing up at regional offices around the world," says Klumb. "A tremendous amount of critical HR data was stored in standalone databases in our offices in Los Angeles, Houston, London, and Gaithersburg, MD. As people moved from one office or assignment to another, information would simply get lost." When a particular business line wanted to staff a project, managers had to call each individual office to get employee information. There was no central place to find it, and no way for them to look themselves
they had to rely on someone else to find the information they needed.
Each of these databases also required maintenance, administration, and, if Bechtel didn't find a different solution, extensive upgrades and network integration. "Each office was essentially reinventing the wheel," Klumb explains. "They had their own unique solutions to many of the same problems, and none of the solutions was optimal. We wanted to become a one-solution company."
<<BOLD>>CLOSING THE INFORMATION GAP<<BOLDEND>>
To close the gap between critical information and the people who need it, Bechtel adopted additional technology from Oracle. The company was already using a financial reporting system based on the Oracle database server and Oracle Financials applications and firming up plans to implement Oracle Payroll. At the time, Oracle Personnel (now Oracle Human Resources) was available only in a United Kingdom version, but the software appealed to Bechtel because it provided a hardware-independent information management platform, it could support a large HR database, and it offered complete integration with Oracle Payroll.
Bechtel uses a standard method to evaluate the life cycle costs and benefits of a system before deciding to implement, buy, or develop a technology solution. After evaluating Oracle Personnel, the company made it the foundation of its new Human Resources Information System (HRIS).
<<BOLD>>A CUSTOM SOLUTION<<BOLDEND>>
Bechtel leveraged the flexibility of Oracle software to add custom modules for workforce planning, online resume access, and salary planning. Combined with standard features for human resources administration, these custom modules provide an up-to-date database that allows everyone to see the same validated workforce information. The integrated system allows users to accumulate data faster, reduce their reaction time and errors, streamline administration
and focus on continuous improvement.
HRIS runs on a three-processor VAX 7630 with DECnet terminal-emulation access. The 800-megabyte database houses 180,000 records and supports more than 700 users.
<<BOLD>>WORKFORCE PLANNING<<BOLDEND>>
Credited with inventing the concept of project management many years ago, Bechtel today does engineering in major permanent office locations worldwide. Currently, its engineering efforts support about 1,700 projects in 77 different countries for just under 900 clients. One of the company's recent projects, the Kuwait oil fires, involved mobilizing almost 10,000 workers from 35 nations to put together the biggest airlift since the 1948 Berlin emergency
all in a matter of weeks. Completing this unprecedented effort at a record speed helped keep billions of dollars worth of petroleum resources from literally going up in smoke and spared the skies from many more months of pollution.
"Bechtel's approach to managing complexity has always been to segment the work into packages of manageable size
in essence an organized, coordinated series of small projects," says Klumb. The HRIS workforce planning module simplifies and speeds the sometimes daunting task of staffing thousands of projects each year, ranging from jobs as small as an office-space conversion in California to large endeavors such as a major international airport project. Whatever the assignment, HRIS allows managers to track and plan each employee's activity, including start and end dates, location and relocation, and future assignments.
<<BOLD>>ONLINE RESUME SYSTEM<<BOLDEND>>
Each time Bechtel puts in a bid or sends people to work on a project, the manager has to develop a proposal. "When we do a proposal, in essence we're selling our staff. This is true not only for clients but also for internal managers," explains Klumb. "We have to give managers the information they need to explain why they've chosen particular employees for the job, what their backgrounds and credentials are, and why the client or department should be prepared to pay for their services."
Bechtel developed an online resume system to give project managers ready access to every employee's qualifications. Using Oracle's SQL*TextRetrieval text management software and Oracle Data Browser as an end user query tool, managers can search the resume database by keyword or defined data element, such as grade or location. HRIS then provides a list of people qualified to fill the required positions. Authorized users can also update the database to reflect additional training completed or certifications earned. "With access to this up-to-date resume system, we have all the information we need to confidently say 'If you hire us, we'll get you a qualified crew as fast as possible,'" notes Klumb.
<<BOLD>>GLOBAL OPERATIONS
GLOBAL INFORMATION<<BOLDEND>>
"In our business, our customers demand that we staff quickly
and staff effectively," Klumb explains. "To do that, managers and executives have to be able to tap into information about our workforce, make decisions, and get trained personnel to the site as quickly as possible."
HRIS provides management with access to a bigger pool of people and eliminates the gaps in information the company used to experience. Managers can quickly determine how many qualified people are available to work on a project, and all engineering departments have a tool that allows them to maintain and access consolidated data. "Now, when people move from Houston to Gaithersburg or transfer abroad to London, all of their HR information follows them, and managers know what their capabilities are," Klumb explains.
<<BOLD>>SALARY PLANNING<<BOLDEND>>
The geographical scope of Bechtel's business requires flexible salary administration and planning and often support for multiple currencies. Each regional office serves a different set of business lines and operates in a different competitive environment. The HRIS salary planning module allows Bechtel's human resources organization to define the policies and rules that govern salary planning and build them into the software. This brings information to the end user, allowing managers to set parameters, run reports, and enter and update employee salary information.
<<BOLD>>HR PARADIGM SHIFT<<BOLDEND>>
According to Klumb, the HRIS system represents a shift away from the traditional human resources model. "HRIS shortens the distance between the end user and the database, eliminating unnecessary administration."
Klumb estimates that between 60 and 75 percent of HRIS users work outside the human resources organization. To help these non-HR employees in client departments navigate the system and accomplish the work formerly left to administrative staff, Bechtel used Oracle Application Foundation, a tool for building extensions to Oracle Applications, to make screen modifications to the Oracle Human Resources graphical user interface. Klumb's goal is to allow the people who are actually responsible for the data and employees to use HRIS to assign people, adjust salaries, run reports, and update information
which will then be available to managers throughout the company.
"To transfer an employee from New Orleans to New Guinea, for example, all the manager will need to know is the person's name and salary. The system will fill in everything else," says Klumb.
Oracle and Bechtel are currently working together to develop training and benefits modules, as well as online approval capabilities. In the near future, Klumb plans to move HRIS to a fully distributed client/server architecture using Oracle7, Oracle Forms 4.0, and Release 10 of Oracle Human Resources.
<<BOLD>>ENGINEERED HARMONY<<BOLDEND>>
HRIS completely automates many transaction-oriented tasks, such as processing reviews, salary actions, and applications. This automation has resulted in an estimated $1 million savings in the San Francisco branch alone. The larger, centralized human resources database has allowed the company to reengineer its administrative structure and eliminate duplicate procedures.
"When it's fully deployed, HRIS will dramatically reduce the time and money Bechtel spends on handling people," says Klumb. "This will allow all departments to spend more time focusing on their core responsibilities, including working closely with our customers, key suppliers, and communities."
HRIS also changes the role of Bechtel's Human Resources Department. "We've raised the role of human resources from a mostly administrative, 'in-basket, out-basket' function to a much higher level," Klumb continues. "We are now the shapers of Bechtel's human resources environment, helping to define policies and rules that are responsive to our business needs."
<<ITALIC>>Shannon Mahorney is a Senior Writer in Oracle's Corporate Marketing Division.<<ITALICEND>> <<TXTEND>>
(.txt)