CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction
Usage of papers in the organization is greatly reduced by using updated information and database systems. As the digitalization of documents and processes is in pursuit, the cost of administrative maintenance diminishes. This could allocate more resources for use in the distribution of other valuable social goods. Transaction time with the administration is shortened. Efficient service provision requires having the right services delivered to the right people, and delivered fast when the people need it most. These perks would not be present without IT, which serves part of the realization of company’s good governance. (Magno & Serafica, 2006)
Good Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development. The essence of good governance was described as predictable, open and enlightened policy, together with a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos and an executive arm of the policy-making bodies accountable for its actions (The World Bank Group, 2005).
IT promotes good governance in three basic ways: (1) by increasing transparency, information, and accountability; (2) by facilitating accurate decision-making and public participation; and (3) by enhancing the efficient delivery of public goods and services. The use of IT could enable the organization, as well as the public, to inform their rights and privileges.

Background of the Study
Coreware Technologies Inc. is a group of IT professionals with expertise in online real-time transaction processing and banking operations, decided to put-up a company that will provide cost-effective, reliable and secure solutions in the area of financial transaction processing using current and matured web and mobile technology. With the current lifestyle prevalent nowadays, people tend to perform some of their work-related or even family-oriented activities on-the-go, or through the use of the Internet. The company acknowledged that such trend also requires or encourages people to perform their financial transactions using mobile devices or the Internet, which they identify as a gap in terms of available solutions.
Coreware Technologies, Inc. was thus formed to focus the founders' expertise in providing solutions and applications to fill this gap. As an organization, the company consists of talented individuals with a collective experience equivalent to around 75 years in the field of banking operations, development of financial solutions, project management and technical support. It is geared towards the development of payments and transaction management software designed from the ground up to handle extremely high transaction volumes involving both legacy (ATM, bank branch, and EDC-POS terminal) networks, and next generation wireless and Internet devices. (http://corewaretech.com/, Retrived July 1, 2014).
In this study, the chosen respondents were the employees involved in running the business located in Quezon City. These include the top and middle management people of Coreware Technologies Inc. They are given the chance to assess the effectiveness of the good governance existing inside their company in terms of processes and outcomes. Furthermore, the researchers will then be able to determine the necessary recommendations that they can offer to the company for the better improvement of the processes for making and implementing decisions.

Theoretical Framework
The concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put "governance" means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance.
Since governance is the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision.
Good governance has eight major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

Figure 1. Characteristics of Good Governance
Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making. Participation needs to be informed and organized. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand.
Participatory development is essential for at least two reasons: it strengthens civil society and the economy by empowering groups, communities and organizations to negotiate with institutions and bureaucracies, thus influencing public policy and providing a check on the power of government, and it enhances the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of development programs.
Participatory development, or what is sometimes referred to as popular participation, may be defined as a process by which people take an active and influential hand in shaping decisions that affect their lives. Popular participation may involve difficult and long processes but brings many benefits: the contribution of local knowledge to activities; an increased chance of objectives and outputs being relevant to perceived needs; greater efficiency and honesty of officials and contractors because they are under public scrutiny; “ownership” of the activity by community-based organizations. Through empowerment, participation can also lead to changes in knowledge, skills and distribution of power across individuals and communities thus improving social equity.
“Employee participation” can refer to the range of ways in which employees can participate in the major decision-making that affect their working lives and environments. Employee participation can refer to participation at levels of governance higher than the corporation, including employee participation in governance at the level of the economy as a whole or of specific sectors within the economy. Employee participation can also refer to decision-making at levels below the board such as the workplace or within the employee’s immediate “team”. This participation might be direct,with each individual employee participating in the decision-making process. More usually, however, it will be indirect in that employees participate in governance through representatives. Codetermination is the best-known form of employee participation in corporate governance. This system reserves seats on the board of directors for employee representatives. It is not, however, the only form of employee participation in governance.
Communities should be “personal” in that they serve some range of personal values so that they play their part in enhancing the personality of their members. They should also be personal in the sense that they reflect the personality of their members. Each community, each corporation in our case, will have its own style of governance because it will reflect the unique style of its participants and the way in which the corporation, over time, has managed to harness the energies of its members. One of the cardinal rules for the design of governance structures should, therefore, be that they facilitate the active participation of as many as possible in ways that are compatible with effective collective action. The corporation’s governance structure should not be a bureaucratic machine but, rather, should ensure the intelligent and appropriate participation of management, employees and shareholders. Codetermination allows employees to participate indirectly, through representatives, in the life of the corporation. It would, of course, need a supporting structure of mechanisms to allow the individual employee to engage with governance. Otherwise, codetermination might do little to make a reality of the corporation as a community of persons.

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework detailed in the figure presents the interrelationships and chronology of the processes and variables involved in the study. The study used the systems approach. Thus, by itself, already outlined the step-by-step manner by which the study is conducted. The system of three frames is composed of input that undergoes the process or operation that results to output.

* Policy Recommendations for: * Giving more attention to employee benefits, rewards and incentives * Giving more attention to the manager-employee coordination in addressing problems and issues encountered. * Advancing knowledge about the good governance circulating inside the corporation. * Reviewing of the development of old policies. * Reviewing the compliance with the policy implemented in a constant rate. * Designing the corporate processes for the benefit of the majority. * Considering the interest of general public while strict-ly implementing its rules and regulations.

PROCESS
OUTPUT
INPUT * Survey through Questionnaires * Observation * Documentary Search * Statistical Analysis * Likert Scale * Frequency and Percentage * Ranking * Weighted Mean * ANOVA

* Company Perspective * Nature of business * Location * Years of Existence * Profile of the Employees * Age * Sex * Civil Status * Highest Educational Attainment * Length of Service * Employees Viewpoint * Accountability * Transparency * Responsive-ness * Employee Participation * Equitability * Problems and Issues Encountered and Possible Solutions

FEEDBACK
Figure 2. Conceptual Framework

The first frame contains all the inputs. The input contains the company perspective, the profile of the management personnel, the employees viewpoint, and the problems encountered and possible solutions.
The second frame contains the methods and procedures to use to analyze those variables by making questionnaires, conducting interview, research, and the use of statistical tools.
The third frame is the output that contains the recommendation for the improvement of Coreware Technologies Inc. good governance.
The arrows include the workflow of information in the research process. The feedback loop connects the output to the process involved as well as to the input. It made the system continuous.

Statement of the Problem
This research entitled “Discerning the significant factors affecting the good governance of Coreware Technologies Inc.” aimed to discover the suggestive factors that pave way to the success and sustainability of Coreware Technologies Inc. through good governance.
Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions: 1.0 What is the business perspective of Coreware Technologies Inc. in terms of the following: 2.1 Nature of the business; 2.2 Location; and, 2.3 Years of existence? 2.0 What is the profile of the management employees of the Coreware Technologies Inc. in terms of the following: 3.4 Age; 3.5 Sex; 3.6 Civil Status; 3.7 Highest Educational Attainment; and, 3.8 Length of Service? 3.0 What is the viewpoint of the employees on the following practices in good governance of Coreware Technologies Inc.: 4.9 Accountability; 4.10 Transparency; 4.11 Responsiveness; 4.12 Employee Participation; and, 4.13 Equality? 4.0 What are problems and issues encountered and possible solutions by the management? 5.0 Is there a significant difference between the profiles of the employees and the following: 6.14 Viewpoint of the employees on the following practices in good governance of Coreware Technologies Inc.; and, 6.15 Problems and issues encountered and possible solutions by Coreware Technologies Inc.?

Hypothesis
The study seeks to prove or disprove the following hypotheses: 1. There is no significant difference between the profile of the employees and the viewpoint of the employees on the following practices in good governance of Coreware Technologies Inc; and, 2. There is no significant difference between the profile of the employees and the problems and issues encountered and possible solutions by Coreware Technologies Inc.

Scope and Limitations
This study will cover the effectiveness of the good governance running inside Coreware Technologies Inc. This was done to have an understanding of how the good governance is attained and maintained inside the company.
The respondents of the study were composed 33 persons in charge with management. These include the total company personnel. The questionnaires were administered in August 15, 2014 and retrieved on the same date. A questionnaire will be administered to the respondents concerned with the management, decision-making and implementation of the policies based on the decisions.

Significance of the Study
This study was presumed to contribute additional information to serve the following individuals and groups:
ATM Users. This study may result to the users’ gain of awareness on how the IT environment affects the continuous extensive care towards the betterment of ATM services.
Community. As the IT environment constantly adapt to globalization, people might have an increase to their perception on the IT’s vital role in ATM processing as this study caters.
Other Businesses. IT provides critical day-to-day operational support and enables enterprise-wide change. With that, this study might result to businessmen’s realization on how this department affects the decision-making activities as it provides its contribution in improving a business’s performance.
Government Officials. Officials affected may arrive to a realization on how they should help to improve the IT environment towards achieving the country’s better globalization competence through this study.
Coreware Technologies, Inc. This company may initiate, develop, and implement an effective IT environment that will successfully provide the company’s services, while incessantly providing wide-ranging services since its mission is to develop the payments and transaction management software designed from the ground up to handle extremely high transaction volumes involving both legacy (ATM, bank branch, & EDC-POS terminal) networks and next generation wireless and Internet users.
Other researchers. This study will be an effective instrument and reference for the researchers who would intend to make further relevant study particularly on the IT environment of Coreware Technologies, Inc. including its program processes.

Definition of Terms
The following terms were defined operationally in accordance with the concepts presented in the study. Accountability. In ethics and governance, accountability is answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. Age. It refers to the respondents’ span of life which is divided into the bracket of below 20 years old, 21-30 years old, 31-40 years old, 41-50 years old, 51-60 years old and above 60 years old. Civil Status. It shows the status in life of the respondent. They were classified as single, married, legally separated and widowed. Company Perspective. It includes the respondent’s form of business organization, years of existence, nature of business, location and years of existence. Employees Participation. To take part in an event or activity. Employees’ Viewpoint. This refers to the personal opinion of the employees regarding the factors affecting the good governance inside the company. This includes, accountability, transparency, responsiveness, employee participation and equality. Equality. All groups should have opportunities to participate in the decision making process. Good governance. Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It’s not about making ‘correct’ decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions. Highest Educational Attainment. Refers to the highest educational achievement of management people respondents classified as high school undergraduate, highschool graduate, college undergraduate, bachelor’s degree, vocational/ technical course, master’s units, master’s degree, doctorate units and doctorate degree. Length of Service. This refers to the span of time where the employees devoted working in the corporation. It is classified as less than 1 year, 1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years and more than 15 years. Location. This refers to the place where the business is located. It is classified as urban or rural. Nature of Business. It indicated the nature of business of the company as to manufacturing, merchandising or service business. Possible Solutions. It refers to a reasonable basis taken as consideration by the respondents as possible solutions to resolve problems encountered in the company. Problems Encountered. It refers to the troubles that come across the company in implementing the program. Profile of Employees. It refers to the respondent’s age, sex, civil status, highest educational attainment and length of service. Respondents. These are the persons intended to be the subject of the study who were asked to answer the questionnaire such as the management people and employees. Responsiveness. One characteristic of good governance. The management should always try to serve the needs of the entire organization while balancing competing interests in a timely, appropriate and responsive manner. Rural. A geographic area that is located outside cities and towns. Sex. This refers to the classification of respondents according to male or female. Transparency. It is the ability of the people in the organization to follow and understand the decision process. Urban. Characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Years of Existence. It refers to the years in which the company has been operating. It ranges from 1 to 20, 20 to 30, 31 to 40,41 to 50 and above 50 years