NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check processing systems, barcode scanners, and business consumables. They also are one of the largest providers of IT maintenance support services[citation needed]. From 1988 to 1997 they sponsored the NCR Book Award for non-fiction. It was based in Dayton, Ohio since 1884, but in June 2009, they sold most of the properties in Dayton and moved its headquarters to the city of Duluth (Gwinnett County), Georgia.[5]
The company was founded in 1884 and acquired by AT&T in 1991. A restructuring of AT&T in 1996 led to NCR's re-establishment on 1 January 1997 as a separate company, and also involved the spin-off from AT&T of Lucent Technologies; NCR is the only AT&T acquisition that has retained its original name – all others have either been purchased or renamed following subsequent mergers.
NCR is committed to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of Personal Information you entrust to us, as well as information to which we must have access in order to provide products and services to our customers (in this policy, “you” includes any person about whom NCR collects or possesses Personal Information). NCR takes appropriate steps to safeguard this information in accordance with the applicable laws of the countries in which we conduct business as well as with contractual requirements.
In keeping with this commitment, we created this privacy policy to help you understand how NCR will protect Personal Information. NCR complies with data protection principles applicable in the major jurisdictions in which we operate. These principles require that Personal Information:
Will be used fairly and lawfully. In particular, Personal Information will only be used in accordance with NCR’s privacy policies and procedures.
Will be obtained only for specified and lawful purposes, and will not be further used in any manner incompatible with those purposes.
Will be relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which it is used.
Will be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
Will not be kept for longer than is necessary for the specified purposes or as otherwise required by law.
Will be used in accordance with your rights as required by applicable legislation.
Will be subject to appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent accidental, unauthorized, or unlawful processing, disclosure or loss.
Will not be transferred without adequate protection.
This December marks a time of global apprehension as many companies finalize their books and prepare for another year. Corporate leaders look warily toward a bleak and uncertain future in these trying economic times while making adjustments to already modest budgets. Remarkably, all too many are doing what has already been done; preparing to reduce headcount through layoffs and mandatory retirement programs. The results this time will certainly prove to be no better for long-term strategies than in previous years.
A Reduction-In-Force (RIF) or layoff is the easiest, fastest way to cut costs as companies trade immediate, short-term gains for long-term growth and performance. The detriment of this approach is wide-spread and lasting, yet management continues in this mode with greater frequency. More and more companies believe this policy just makes good business sense. But year after year, hard data and analysis disprove this notion.
Corporate fitness programs have existed in one form or another for nearly three decades and for a multitude of reasons. Increasing productivity, improving employee morale and decreasing absenteeism are just a few of the vast array of justifications given over the years.
Today, however, recruitment and retention have become among the leading reasons for implementing workplace fitness programs. Employees typically no longer stay at one company for their entire adult lives—or even for 10 or 15 years. Companies not only compete for the best employees, but they also try to keep those employees for a longer time. To stay competitive, many companies are now building full-service, on-site fitness facilities for their employees.
"With the economy where it is today, companies are looking for added benefits to provide for their existing employees and to use as a recruitment tool for future employees," says Brenda Loube, president and co-owner of Corporate Fitness Works, which develops and manages on-site fitness facilities for about 30 corporate clients. "Companies are trying to get the best of the best in employees, and if several companies are offering basically the same job, one company having an on-site fitness or wellness center definitely gives that company a competitive advantage."
Although recruitment and retention have become important reasons for companies to build on-site facilities, these are by no means the only motivations. Many companies see decreasing health-care costs as another important goal of on-site centers. After all, inactive people are twice as likely to suffer from premature heart attacks than active people, and regular exercise greatly reduces the risk of premature death from preventable conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and colon cancer.
According to health-care statistics from the Wellness Councils of America, preventable illness makes up approximately 70 percent of all illness and associated health-care costs. Preventable illnesses account for eight of the nine leading categories of death and amount to roughly 980,000 deaths per year. If a company can get its employees into programs—whether the programs focus on fitness, behavior modification, weight management or nutrition — that company can increase its potential to save on health-care costs in the long run.
The makeup of corporate fitness and wellness programs depends upon each company’s specific characteristics, such as employee population, company culture and employer motivations. No two programs are alike. One company might outsource management of an on-site facility while another company might staff and manage a facility on its own.
Honeywell, a $24 billion diversified technology and manufacturing company based in Arizona, outsources the management of its on-site wellness centers (one at each of two locations) to Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, a management firm that serves about 70 corporate clients. Honeywell’s 7,273-square-foot wellness center in Tempe and its 10,000-square-foot wellness center in Phoenix include free weights and weight-training equipment, cardiovascular machines, locker rooms, towel service and a studio for exercise classes. Employees and their spouses each pay $15 dollars a month for wellness services, with billing performed through payroll deductions. About 30 percent of the company’s corporate population, or 2,600 employees, are members of the facilities. A recent survey conducted by Johnson & Johnson found that 92 percent of the members were satisfied with the services.
Johnson & Johnson also delivers a variety of seminars and programs, including work conditioning, back safety, smoking cessation and weight-management classes, as well as "heart smart" workshops and aerobics and kickboxing classes. In addition to its two facilities, Honeywell has four on-site clinics that offer medical assessments, treatment, health surveillance exams and case management. "We promote wellness because we know that 48 percent of illness and injury is preventable by controlling high-risk health factors, according to the U.S. Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control," says Pam Witting, manager of health services for the Engine and Systems Business Unit at Honeywell. "We want to reduce employees’ preventable risk factors."
To measure whether the wellness programs and facilities are actually meeting their goals of improving employees’ health, Johnson & Johnson keeps a log of outcome measurements after each program. For example, after the completion of a weight-management program, each participant is asked to record pounds lost, pounds maintained and the number of risk factors reduced as a result of the program.
In order to use the outcome measurements in future programming, Honeywell has partnered with the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center, which collects the medical claims information and health risk factors from the personal health assessments and performs data analysis to determine which programs are most cost-effective and whether participants spend more or less in medical care dollars than nonparticipants. From that data, the top five risk factors for Honeywell’s corporate population are identified, and the wellness staff then designs its programming around those particular risk factors.
Although Honeywell has a very thorough wellness process, from implementation to data collection to revision of programming based on the data, there is still no standard method of evaluation that all companies use today. It seems, however, that regardless of whether the company asks for it, most programmers go to some length to record measurements as a way to both help their programming and demonstrate accountability.
"A lot of companies don’t ask their wellness staff or management firm to justify the existence of the on-site facility," says Ralph Colao, president of the Association for Worksite Health Promotion. "But many staff members are trying to give that information anyway so that employers really do understand the value of the center, and to ensure that it will be around long-term."
A case in point: Motorola, a communications and electronic solutions provider with 15 on-site wellness centers at company locations across the country, usually only requests participation numbers from its wellness staff, but the staff tracks much more than that. "The company does not ask for a certain set of statistics in order for us to be here," says Betty-Jo Saenz, regional manager of North America Wellness Initiatives at Motorola. "Collecting data is more a part of our philosophy that says we have to add value to the organization and build a business case—just in case somewhere down the line management or employees ask, ‘Why should Motorola invest in wellness?,’ we can continue to present to them our business case. It’s always good to be prepared by demonstrating the benefits of wellness and what it is we’re trying to do."
And what they’re trying to do, above all else, Saenz says, is increase their number of healthy employees. Data collection falls on the business side of the job, which includes collecting fitness assessment data after programs and conducting impact evaluations to identify which employees are participating in programs, as well as those who aren’t. This information is then used to target both groups.
The company was founded in 1884 and acquired by AT&T in 1991. A restructuring of AT&T in 1996 led to NCR's re-establishment on 1 January 1997 as a separate company, and also involved the spin-off from AT&T of Lucent Technologies; NCR is the only AT&T acquisition that has retained its original name – all others have either been purchased or renamed following subsequent mergers.
NCR is committed to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of Personal Information you entrust to us, as well as information to which we must have access in order to provide products and services to our customers (in this policy, “you” includes any person about whom NCR collects or possesses Personal Information). NCR takes appropriate steps to safeguard this information in accordance with the applicable laws of the countries in which we conduct business as well as with contractual requirements.
In keeping with this commitment, we created this privacy policy to help you understand how NCR will protect Personal Information. NCR complies with data protection principles applicable in the major jurisdictions in which we operate. These principles require that Personal Information:
Will be used fairly and lawfully. In particular, Personal Information will only be used in accordance with NCR’s privacy policies and procedures.
Will be obtained only for specified and lawful purposes, and will not be further used in any manner incompatible with those purposes.
Will be relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which it is used.
Will be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
Will not be kept for longer than is necessary for the specified purposes or as otherwise required by law.
Will be used in accordance with your rights as required by applicable legislation.
Will be subject to appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent accidental, unauthorized, or unlawful processing, disclosure or loss.
Will not be transferred without adequate protection.
This December marks a time of global apprehension as many companies finalize their books and prepare for another year. Corporate leaders look warily toward a bleak and uncertain future in these trying economic times while making adjustments to already modest budgets. Remarkably, all too many are doing what has already been done; preparing to reduce headcount through layoffs and mandatory retirement programs. The results this time will certainly prove to be no better for long-term strategies than in previous years.
A Reduction-In-Force (RIF) or layoff is the easiest, fastest way to cut costs as companies trade immediate, short-term gains for long-term growth and performance. The detriment of this approach is wide-spread and lasting, yet management continues in this mode with greater frequency. More and more companies believe this policy just makes good business sense. But year after year, hard data and analysis disprove this notion.
Corporate fitness programs have existed in one form or another for nearly three decades and for a multitude of reasons. Increasing productivity, improving employee morale and decreasing absenteeism are just a few of the vast array of justifications given over the years.
Today, however, recruitment and retention have become among the leading reasons for implementing workplace fitness programs. Employees typically no longer stay at one company for their entire adult lives—or even for 10 or 15 years. Companies not only compete for the best employees, but they also try to keep those employees for a longer time. To stay competitive, many companies are now building full-service, on-site fitness facilities for their employees.
"With the economy where it is today, companies are looking for added benefits to provide for their existing employees and to use as a recruitment tool for future employees," says Brenda Loube, president and co-owner of Corporate Fitness Works, which develops and manages on-site fitness facilities for about 30 corporate clients. "Companies are trying to get the best of the best in employees, and if several companies are offering basically the same job, one company having an on-site fitness or wellness center definitely gives that company a competitive advantage."
Although recruitment and retention have become important reasons for companies to build on-site facilities, these are by no means the only motivations. Many companies see decreasing health-care costs as another important goal of on-site centers. After all, inactive people are twice as likely to suffer from premature heart attacks than active people, and regular exercise greatly reduces the risk of premature death from preventable conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and colon cancer.
According to health-care statistics from the Wellness Councils of America, preventable illness makes up approximately 70 percent of all illness and associated health-care costs. Preventable illnesses account for eight of the nine leading categories of death and amount to roughly 980,000 deaths per year. If a company can get its employees into programs—whether the programs focus on fitness, behavior modification, weight management or nutrition — that company can increase its potential to save on health-care costs in the long run.
The makeup of corporate fitness and wellness programs depends upon each company’s specific characteristics, such as employee population, company culture and employer motivations. No two programs are alike. One company might outsource management of an on-site facility while another company might staff and manage a facility on its own.
Honeywell, a $24 billion diversified technology and manufacturing company based in Arizona, outsources the management of its on-site wellness centers (one at each of two locations) to Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems, a management firm that serves about 70 corporate clients. Honeywell’s 7,273-square-foot wellness center in Tempe and its 10,000-square-foot wellness center in Phoenix include free weights and weight-training equipment, cardiovascular machines, locker rooms, towel service and a studio for exercise classes. Employees and their spouses each pay $15 dollars a month for wellness services, with billing performed through payroll deductions. About 30 percent of the company’s corporate population, or 2,600 employees, are members of the facilities. A recent survey conducted by Johnson & Johnson found that 92 percent of the members were satisfied with the services.
Johnson & Johnson also delivers a variety of seminars and programs, including work conditioning, back safety, smoking cessation and weight-management classes, as well as "heart smart" workshops and aerobics and kickboxing classes. In addition to its two facilities, Honeywell has four on-site clinics that offer medical assessments, treatment, health surveillance exams and case management. "We promote wellness because we know that 48 percent of illness and injury is preventable by controlling high-risk health factors, according to the U.S. Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control," says Pam Witting, manager of health services for the Engine and Systems Business Unit at Honeywell. "We want to reduce employees’ preventable risk factors."
To measure whether the wellness programs and facilities are actually meeting their goals of improving employees’ health, Johnson & Johnson keeps a log of outcome measurements after each program. For example, after the completion of a weight-management program, each participant is asked to record pounds lost, pounds maintained and the number of risk factors reduced as a result of the program.
In order to use the outcome measurements in future programming, Honeywell has partnered with the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center, which collects the medical claims information and health risk factors from the personal health assessments and performs data analysis to determine which programs are most cost-effective and whether participants spend more or less in medical care dollars than nonparticipants. From that data, the top five risk factors for Honeywell’s corporate population are identified, and the wellness staff then designs its programming around those particular risk factors.
Although Honeywell has a very thorough wellness process, from implementation to data collection to revision of programming based on the data, there is still no standard method of evaluation that all companies use today. It seems, however, that regardless of whether the company asks for it, most programmers go to some length to record measurements as a way to both help their programming and demonstrate accountability.
"A lot of companies don’t ask their wellness staff or management firm to justify the existence of the on-site facility," says Ralph Colao, president of the Association for Worksite Health Promotion. "But many staff members are trying to give that information anyway so that employers really do understand the value of the center, and to ensure that it will be around long-term."
A case in point: Motorola, a communications and electronic solutions provider with 15 on-site wellness centers at company locations across the country, usually only requests participation numbers from its wellness staff, but the staff tracks much more than that. "The company does not ask for a certain set of statistics in order for us to be here," says Betty-Jo Saenz, regional manager of North America Wellness Initiatives at Motorola. "Collecting data is more a part of our philosophy that says we have to add value to the organization and build a business case—just in case somewhere down the line management or employees ask, ‘Why should Motorola invest in wellness?,’ we can continue to present to them our business case. It’s always good to be prepared by demonstrating the benefits of wellness and what it is we’re trying to do."
And what they’re trying to do, above all else, Saenz says, is increase their number of healthy employees. Data collection falls on the business side of the job, which includes collecting fitness assessment data after programs and conducting impact evaluations to identify which employees are participating in programs, as well as those who aren’t. This information is then used to target both groups.