DIFFUSION MODEL OF THE PROPOSED NOVELTY IN THE COUNSELING CENTER

Podjetja in vodstva podjetij se zavedajo, da je v današnjem procesu globalizacije, ki je razširil trg in poslovanje na najvišjo raven, potrebno biti dolgoročno konkurenčen in si izboriti konkurenčno prednost pred ostalimi tekmeci na trgu. V podjetjih je potrebno spodbujati ustvarjalnost, inovativnost, vlagati finančna sredstva v raziskave in razvoj novih izdelkov oziroma storitev ter izboljševati kakovost poslovnih procesov in proizvodov, če želijo doseči napredek in razvoj. Podjetje vodi do inovacije dolga pot. Začne se z idejo, ki se razvije v invencijo, ta v potencialno inovacijo in na koncu v inovacijo, ki za odjemalce pomeni dokazano koristno novost, kar potrdijo z nakupom in uporabo. Vzporedno z razvojem novosti teče proces difuzije, ki pomeni uveljavljanje novosti, saj mora novost priti do končnih uporabnikov. Uveljavljanje novosti lahko za različne možne odjemalce, ki so v različnih okoljih, traja različno dolgo. Hitrost in uspešnost difuzije je odvisna tudi od uporabljenih komunikacijskih kanalov. Ko gre posameznik skozi proces odločanja o novosti išče informacije, da bi zmanjšal negotovost glede znanja ki ga ima o prednostih, ki jih ponuja novost. Potencialni odjemalci želijo vedeti kakšne so relativne prednosti novosti v primerjavi s prejšnjo alternativo. Možnim odjemalcem lahko pomagajo agenti spreminjanja ali kot jim pravimo tudi promotorji novosti. Njihova naloga je prepričati odjemalce k sprejemu novosti, v kar morajo vložiti veliko truda in časa. Zgodi se, da pri tem potrebujejo pomoč, ki jo dobijo od mnenjskih vodij, ki so bolj homofilni z odjemalci, zato prepričevanje o sprejetju poteka lažje. Prepričevanje o sprejemu novosti bo uspešno le s spremembo in usmeritvijo miselnosti možnih odjemalcev. Kot že nakazuje naslov raziskovalne naloge sem difuzijo predlagane novosti preučevala v svetovalnem centru. Svetovalni center je javni zavod, ki deluje na področju vzgoje in izobraževanja. Njihova primarna dejavnost je dejavnost svetovanja otrokom in mladostnikom pri učnih in drugi težavah, svetovanje njihovim staršem, kako se spoprijeti z otrokovo problematiko in svetovanje odraslim v stiski. V zavodu trenutno vodijo vso dokumentacijo svojih strank in arhiv ročno, vse se beleži z roko, veliko je papirologije. Delo se podvaja, več krat pride do situacije, da se dosje izgubi ali založi. Zaposleni veliko svojega časa posvečajo administraciji namesto svoji primarni dejavnosti. Da bi za zaposlene v svetovalnem centru bilo lažje, preglednejše, vsa dokumentacija na enem mestu in dostopna vsem hkrati ob istem času, sem predlagala uvedbo novosti, to je računalniškega programa. Ta bi deloval kot interna aplikacija, dostopna na računalniku vsakega posameznega zaposlenega. V programu bi se hranili vsi podatki obravnavanih strank, to so osebni podatki, vsebina obravnav in strokovna mnenja, skratka vse, kar se zdaj zapisuje z roko. Poleg tega bi se letna statistika po različnih parametrih lahko izdelala veliko hitreje in natančneje. Tekom raziskave sem med zaposlenimi izvedla tudi anketo, da bi ugotovila ali bi novost sprejeli, so nanjo sploh pripravljeni, kakšne koristi vidijo iz njene uporabe in kako si predstavljajo oziroma želijo, da bi računalniški program izgledal. Katere specifike in funkcionalnosti bi naj imel? Ocenjujem, da uvedba novosti prinaša veliko koristi tako za zaposlene, kot za direktorja zavoda in njegovo ustanoviteljico, tj. Mestno občino Maribor. Delovanje celotnega zavoda bo zaradi spremenjenega sistema dela transparentejše in učinkovitejše. Racionaliziralo se bo poslovanje in stroški. Zaposleni bodo lahko svojim strankam posvečali več časa. Priprave na obravnavo bodo daljše in kakovostnejše, kar bodo občutili tudi klienti. Pred uvedbo novosti je potrebno zaposlenim in vsem sodelujočim v tem procesu predstaviti prednosti predlagane novosti, konkretne izboljšave in razbremenitve, ki jih čakajo pri njihovem delu. Spremeniti je potrebno njihovo mišljenje o novosti v takšni smeri, da bodoCompanies and executives of companies are aware that in today´s globalization process, which has incredibly spread the market and business, it s necessary to be competitive in a long term. They have to gain competitive advantage over other competitors. It is necessary for companies to promote creativity and innovation, invest funds in research and development of new products or services and to improve the quality of business processes and products in order to achieve the progress and development. The process of developing innovations is long. It starts with an idea which is converted to invention. Then invention is converted to potential innovation and ultimately to innovation, which for customers means proven useful benefit. They confirm that by purchasing and using the innovation. After novelty is developed, the diffusion process follows. Diffusion or enforcement of novelty, which means innovation, needs to be brought to the end users. Of course it needs to meet their expectations. Enforcement of novelty, for a variety of potential customers who are in different environments, takes different lengths of time. Communication channels also affect the speed and efficiency of diffusion process. Individuals seek for information when they go through the process of deciding whether to except novelty or not, in order to reduce uncertainty. Potential consumers want to know about the relative benefits of new versus the previous alternatives. Change agents can also help potential customers with making decisions. Their task is to persuade consumers to adopt innovations in what they usually invest a lot of time and effort. Often they need help with that which they get it from opinion leaders. Opinion leaders are more homophilious with customers, thus persuasion may go more easily. Persuasion of adopting innovations will be successful only by changing the mindset and orientation of potential customers. As the title indicates I examined in this research the diffusion of the proposed novelty in the counseling center. Counseling center is a public institution working in the field of education. Their primary business is giving advice to children and adolescents with learning and other difficulties, advising their parents how to deal with children’s issues and giving advice to adults in need. The Institute is currently keeping all documentation of its clients and archive manually. The work is duplicated, many times there is a situation that the file is lost or misplaced. Employees devote a lot of their time to administration instead to their primary activity. I introduced a novelty to employees in counseling center - the computer program, with which the work would be easier, more transparent, all documentation would be in one place and accessible to all at the same time. The program would act as an internal application accessible on the computer of each individual employee. It would keep all clients’ data that is personal data, the content of hearings and expert opinions. Even annual statistics could be made more quickly and accurately. During the research I carried out a survey among employees to determine whether they are willing to adopt the innovation, which benefits they see from using it and how they would like the computer program to look like. What specifics and functionality they expect? I estimate that the introduction of novelty brings many benefits for employees, director and its founder that is Municipality of Maribor. Because of the modified work system the functioning of the entire institution will be more efficient and transparent. Operations and costs will be rationalized. At the same time employees will be able to devote more time to their clients. Improvements will also notice clients because employees will have more time available for preparation to counsel. Before the implementation of the novelty is it necessary to introduce to employees and all participants the advantages of the proposed innovation and practical improvements which they will gain with it. Their way of thin