Forum to explain on-line effects

A SPECIALIST who has spent many years helping managers and executives to understand the importance of new technology, will be the guest speaker at tomorrow's Hong Kong Quality Forum meeting.

John Underwood, who has researched information techniques for more than 20 years, will talk about the information superhighway at the forum's monthly meeting.

Mr Underwood said businesses simply wanted to know what all the noise was about and how the superhighway would affect the future.

'Executives do not want to understand how to use it, how it started or how it works,' he said.

'They want to know how it affects their business, should they invest in it and, if so, how and what do they invest in. Most importantly [they want to know] what obstacles and difficulties might be faced and when will be the pay back.' Jennifer Crossland, a steering committee member of the Quality Forum, said it would be to Asia's advantage to lag behind world powers in management techniques and technology.

'The cost of mistakes [made in management and technology] has been borne by others. Asia can now focus on implementing the latest solutions and practices and satisfy the quality requirement of local and international business,' she said.

Ms Crossland, who is the managing director of Buzan Centres, will introduce her firm's 'mental literacy techniques' to help participants learn in a simple way the information presented at the forum.

She will help speed up the understanding of the subject discussed tomorrow by summarising the topic.

The meeting will be held at 6.30 pm in Plaza Rooms 5 and 6 at the Century Hong Kong Hotel in Wan Chai.