Case Study MIS
Tài liệu học tập môn Management information technology tại Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Tài liệu gồm 30 trang giúp bạn ôn tập hiệu quả và đạt điểm cao! Mời bạn đọc đón xem!
Môn: Management information technology
Trường: Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Thông tin:
Tác giả:
Thông tin :
Môn:
Management information technology
Trường:
Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Tác giả:
Tài liệu liên quan:
Preview text:
l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Case Study 1. MEET THE NEW MOBILE WORKERS.
Question 1. What kinds of applications are described in the case? What business functions
do they support? How do they improve operational efficiency and decision making?
In this case the advanced features of Smartphone (including the common ones like browser,
telephone, camera, music/video player) are discussed. These applications include the use of
Smartphone as a Global Positioning Device, a secure system to connect to the database of a
particular organization, using tools and applications to interpret the certain medical, theorems,
and other results. The other applications include its use as a networking device to remain
connected with friends and employees. It is also used as an efficient and fast e-mail sending /
receiving device. A large number of tools and software are also available for solving different types of problems.
These applications nowadays can support almost every business activity, particularly those which
demands a strict timely delivery of services and products. This accounts for developing an
efficient supply chain management process, if the business demands so. Also the diversified
business functions like collecting data at some place while delivering the same at other place are
largely helped by these applications and those where each update/modification is to be reflected
in the main database of an organization as it is further used by members of that organization. The
employees and clients may be present in different offices which are located in different cities
(even different countries), but with the use of such applications on these devices will never force
the employees to feel any differences.
These applications improve the operational efficiency as the time factor involved is reduced
significantly. The work which earlier required extensive manual efforts can easily be done
instantaneously by the use of these applications. This also provides more accurate and reliable
outputs (compared to the manual results) which are to be used at different levels of Management
Information System. This in turn helps the manager to take quick and perfect decisions which
directly or indirectly will improve the operational efficiency. Thus all these applications will help
the organization to achieve its goals, together with making choices.
Question 2. Identify the problems that businesses in this case study solved by using mobile digital devices.
The use of these mobile digital devices have solved the problems, like providing a powerful and
secured mean of sending e-mails and messages among the employees and the clients. The
efficient communication is vital for any business activity. Problems like having a secured system
which can give access to corporate internal system were also solved by use of various tools and techniques on these devices.
For instance Doylestown Hospital’s had problem of accessing the medical records of the patients
from the different locations of the world, this was easily solved by the use of iPhone. Now the
doctors can also have information on medications, lab results, therapy results, nurses’ notes,
patient diets etc. on their iPhone screen. This directly helped the doctors to properly interpret the
lab results and diagnose accurately even when they are away from the patient. Also the advanced
voice communication system helped the doctors to consult with other specialists for a better
diagnosis. The less secured system of authenticating the access to different data was also
upgraded which now helped the doctors to store all the data on the hospital’s own server. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
The supply chain consultant and transportation service provider D.W. Morgan improved its
delivery services by the use of the services like Global Positioning System (GPS), digital
signatures for the very efficient and the timely delivery of raw materials and other components.
They were also able to know the exact location of the delivery trucks anytime. This was further
helped by the use of Google map. Earlier it used to be very cumbersome task as it involved a
great deal of manual efforts and phone calls.
Aedas sport designers had the problem in collecting photos at different locations and the sending
these pictures to their clients and other concerned employees. The use of iPhones helped them to
create a large database of visual assets with minimal effort. They can now take the photo and can
immediately send with use of these digital devices.
Question 3. What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from equipping their
employees with mobile digital devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys?
A number of business groups can be helped by the use of mobile digital services. Particularly
those, which require dealing with a handsome amount of data and information and then using
various tools and techniques to properly interpret the data, are likely to benefit with the use of
these technologically advanced devices. Also the businesses which require a secure and efficient
communication among the employees and clients are also likely to benefit by the use of iPhones,
BlackBerrys and other similar devices. These digital phones provide a secure communication
channel line which will verify the authentication of the organization’s employees and clients
accordingly. Even some dedicated services, tools and techniques can also be developed (if
required) for the different organizations. The supply and chain management business firms are
also likely to benefit with the use of these devices as time plays a major role in the profits and
success of the organization. This business of delivery goods/ products will now be managed in an
efficient delivery and tracking methodology. This can easily be supported by the use of certain
applications (software) on these Smartphones. For example the use of Global Positioning System
and Google maps can help an organization to develop an efficient system. The business firms
which are located globally or have their services which require a great amount of travelling will
also be benefitted with the use of these devices. This will provide the employees to communicate
easily as they need not to have a laptop carrying with them for video chats and conferencing.
Even if they are away from the office, they can easily be communicated without affecting the
business activities. They can also analyze the collected data, graphs; charts etc. on their phones
and then interpret the same. Then they can easily communicate their opinions / findings back to
the concerned authorities without hampering any profit making opportunity. Thus the business
involving sophisticated problem solving tools and techniques can also be benefited where every
employee can apply all these tools easily on his own digital mobile device.
Question 4. D.W. Morgan’s CEO has stated, “The iPhone is not a game changer, it’s an
industry changer. It changes the way you can interact with your customers (and) with your
suppliers.” Discuss the implications of this statement.
It implies that the use of iPhones (for D.W. Morgan) not only improved a particular sector of the
organization but rather helped the organization to succeed as a whole since the complete process
from collection of raw material to delivery of products was unmatched. D.W. Morgan’s CEO
stated that the use of iPhone in the business completely transformed their old techniques and
methods with the sophisticated but simple – to – use which changed their working methodology l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
in a positive way. His statement implies that the use of iPhone not only benefitted a particular
domain or sector of the organization but completely revolutionized it as a whole. The certain task
for which its rival took 20 minutes to 12 hours can be completed by the Morgan within no time.
Thus it provided an opportunity for them also to enhance or change their techniques as well. This
increase in the competition will improve the quality and the technology used which will
definitely produce quality services and products. Thus the whole industry is revolutionized for a
better tomorrow. As for D.W. Morgan, having operations in more than 85 countries, the use of
iPhones helped a great deal to improve their just-in-time strategy with a better time management
(up-to-the-minute information) of delivery trucks. Earlier the process of tracking the delivery
trucks and then guiding them to the next location required a great deal of manual efforts and time
but now all this was just the matter of few seconds. Also the information collection and updating
process was digitalized with a date-stamp and time-stamp. This whole process kept the suppliers
and the clients updated with the required information and helped D.W. Morgan to expand and
make profits at a much faster pace.
UPS COMPETES GLOBALLY WITH I.T
Question 1. What are the inputs, processing, and outputs of UPS’s package tracking system?
Inputs: The inputs are detailed information (customer information, package information),
pickup, delivery, current location, bar coded label, special software program by using the UPS Web site.
Processing: The all information are transmitted to a central computer, distribution centers,
logistical planning, (DIAD) program which was their drivers had been handheld delivery
information Acquisition Device, called UPS net, DIAD is collected from scan able label on
packages, and changing schedules.
Outputs: UPS served tools that able to a customer which is Cisco Systems, to include UPS
functions, such as tracking and cost calculations, into their own Web sites. Destination (on the
way), pick-up and delivery schedule.
Question 2. What technologies are used by UPS? How are these technologies related to
UPS’s business strategy?
Technologies include handheld computers (DIADs), barcode scanning systems, wired and
wireless communications networks, desktop computers, UPS’s central computer (large
mainframe computers), and storage technology for the package delivery data. UPS also uses
telecommunication technologies for transmitting data through pagers and cellular phone
networks. The company uses in-house software for tracking packages, calculating fees,
maintaining customer accounts and managing logistics, as well as software to access the World Wide Web. OR l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
( Everything is firstly started about “ scannable bar-coded label “. It’s the main thing that they
use their daily work. Also customers know fully, detailed information about their shipment.
Which contains complete information about the sender, location of where it must go, and date of
shipment should have arrive. If sender wants to get information about the package they can go to
company’s web site and download and print it out. Before the packages picked up information
transmitted to 2 main servers Mahwah, NJ or Alpharetta, GA and send to nearest distribution
centers of its final destination. Dispatchers of these centers received the information use the
special software plan the most efficiency delivery way to each driver to consider of traffic and weather conditions. 1.
UPS drivers used their daily work activities handheld computer named Delivery
information Acquisition Device (DIAD) which can access wireless network. Drivers once he/she
log in daily routes downloaded onto their device. The DIAD automatically captures customers
signatures according pickup and delivery information. Package tracking process is then
transmitted to UPS main server and storage on it. From there information can be accessed to the
worldwide. To provide proof of delivery to customers or to respond customer questions. Process
takes only 60 seconds and new information throughout DIAD to be available on the UPS’s site. 2.
In 2009 UPS launched new program called Web Based Posts Sales Order Management
System (OMS) which designed to global shipping services to provide service dangerous
shipment such as high-tech electronics, aerospace, medical equipment and any other company’s
critical shipment/inventory to fully responsibility.
These technologies involved company’s motto “best service and lowest rates “
They implement “best service” strategy. DIAD helps make it work easier and quicker for the
both sides, customers and company staff. It saves time, collect the all information make it
complete. As for the company side dispatchers schedule way routes, traffic/weather conditions
and notice the drivers. According to this information drivers can make their work more
efficiency. Company mainly focused on their high level of customer’s satisfaction. Customers
can easily go to company’s Web Site and to get complete information about the packages. All the
package are insured. UPS approximately spend 1billion USD in a one year customer’s
satisfaction guarantee for their customers while reducing cost low. )
Question 3. What stategic business objectives do UPS's information system address?
Some problems this information system solves relate directly to logistics and supply chain
activities, not just for itself, but also for other companies. These services include supply chain
design and management, freight forwarding, customs brokerage, mail services, multimodal
transportation, and financial services, in addition to logistics services. Because of the advanced
integration of its technology, UPS can provide these services cheaper and more efficient than
most companies can create them in-house.
•Operational excellence: l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
–UPS has maintained leadership in small-package delivery services despite stiff competition
from FedEx and the U.S. Postal System by investing heavily in advanced information technology.
•New products, services, and business models:
–In June 2009 UPS launched a new Web-based Post Sales Order Management System (OMS)
that manages global service orders and inventory for critical parts fulfillment. The system
enables high-tech electronics, aerospace, medical equipment, and other companies anywhere in
the world that ship critical parts to quickly assess their critical parts inventory, determine the
most optimal routing strategy to meet customer needs, place orders online, and track parts from
the warehouse to the end user.
•Competitive advantage:
–UPS is leveraging its decades of expertise managing its own global delivery network to manage
logistics and supply chain activities for other companies. It's Supply Chain Solutions division
provides a complete bundle of standardized services to subscribing companies at a fraction of
what it would cost to build their own systems and infrastructure.
Question 4. What would happen if UPS's information systems were not available?
1. Customer/ Sender: If there were not available for information system, the customer will
decrease faster. Senders want to choose the good one which has high proof and information
system and easy to understand system.
2. Global delivering: For the another countries it will be difficult to get their packages.
They will not know how is going their packages. It means no information about their
packages. 3. Saving Cost: Maybe it will be good to saving cost for the company. They do
not need enough employees and machines.
4. Time Losing: Those systems always give the information about their packages. For the
company it is the one of the advantage but if they has nothing then the company can lose their time.
At lastly, UPS will not be successful as today! OR
•Arguably, UPS might not be able to compete effectively without technology. If the
technology were not available, then UPS would, as it has through most of its history,
attempt to provide that information to its customers, but at higher prices. From the
customers’ perspective, these technologies provide value because they help customers
complete their tasks more efficiently. Customers view UPS’s technology as value-added
•services as opposed to increasing the cost of sending packages. -Incurs more cost
-Slow in providing information to customers l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9 -Slow Operation
-Slow in finsing customer information GOOGLE DATA CENTER
Question 1. What is PUE, and why is it an important place to start when considering how
to reduce data center power consumption? What value of PUE should data center
managers strive for?
• Power Usage Efficiency, or PUE, is the measurement used to compare these two types of
energy. In other words, PUE is a measure for how efficiently a building delivers energy to the IT equipment inside.
PUE = (IT Equipment Energy + Facility Overhead Energy)/ IT Equipment Energy
• The ideal PUE is 1.0, meaning there’s no facility overhead energy—every watt of power
going into the building is going straight to the computers and nowhere else.
• It is an important place to start because it allows Google to measure the change of usage effectiveness.
Question 2. Describe the five methods recommended by Google for reducing power consumption.
• The first practice is to measure PUE. Having a 1.00 PUE means that the facility energy is
being used in the most effective way possible, so when the company measures its PUE, it
can benchmark its energy use and use that number to make appropriate adjustments.
• The second method is to manage airflow. By efficiently managing airflow, Google
reduces its power consumption because the air is the correct temperature in the places it
needs to be. This means that less energy is needed to adjust the temperature because the
temperatures do not mix among rooms.
• Practice three is to adjust the thermostat. Contrary to popular belief, the cool rooms do
not have to be freezing, or even cold. Google sets its cooling rooms at a temperature of
80 degrees, which saves a lot of energy that would have been used to bring down the
temperature, as well as the money needed to use that energy.
• Method four is to utilize free cooling. This means that, in areas where the climate or
environment allows, Google will utilize the conditions for cooling instead of using
energy to produce artificial cooling. In areas such as Belgium and Finland, Google uses
the cold water and outside temperatures to cool their cooling rooms.
• The final practice is to optimize power distribution. By reengineering the power
distribution systems, there are less changes of power between AC and DC, so the energy
is distributed in the most effective way possible. The reduction of power loss saves the
company lots of money over time. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Question 3. How much of the world’s global greenhouse gases are the result of computing?
List several factors that will tend to retard or accelerate data center power consumption
both globally and in the United States.
According to Google, approximately 2% of the world’s global greenhouse gases are the result of
computing. Factors that tend to retard or accelerate data center power consumption both globally
and in the United States include: • Energy supply
• Demand for server equipment technologies and computing power o Affects power consumption in data centers
• Demand for broader network storage
• Computer equipment-generated heat (possible overheating)
Question 4. Where do you suspect that data center power consumption will be greatest:
developing and emerging economies or already-developed economies. Why?
I suspect that data center consumption will be greatest in already-developed economies. These
economies already handle large amounts of data and utilize increasing amounts of mobile technology.
Question 5. Imagine that a company has developed an advanced technology that allows it to
reduce its data center requirements by an unprecedented amount, and creates a
competitive advantage for the company in the data center market. Why should it share that
technology with other data center firms? If this firm does not share its techniques, the rest
of the industry will continue to operate less efficient centers, and increase global emissions
of greenhouse gases above what they would otherwise be.
By sharing this information, the company will be able to directly influence the efficiency of the
data center market, which will make the industry more productive overall. This can additionally
assist in the effort to decrease the carbon emitted from the other data centers. A company that is
interested in improving its technology in this way would seem to be interested in what is
beneficial to the environment, and so by sharing its technology, it can help the environment on a larger scale.
Question 6. Should the government or an industry association regulate the carbon
emissions of the data center industry as they do the airline industry? Or the automobile
industry? Or is it sufficient to rely on the competitive marketplace to drive down energy
consumption in data centers?
Since the amount of emissions from the data center industry makes up approximately .3% of
global greenhouse gases, it is small enough for the government to not allocate resources to
regulate it. I think it is sufficient to rely on the competitive marketplace to drive down
consumption. Since the PUE is a very popular way to measure the energy used by data centers,
and other companies are likely to follow Google, an industry giant, the government should not l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
regulate it. As seen through the Google case, it also seems as though the money saving incentive
may be enough for companies in the industry to reduce carbon emissions anyway. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9 Case Study 2:
Schiphol International Hub to become
faultless: Truth or Dare?
Q1: How many levels of complexity can you identify in Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network?
From the case study, I found that there are 3 layers of complexity:
i. System complexity: The conveyors network is large and complicated. It involved 21
kilometers of transport tracks, 6 robotic units, 9,000 storage capacitors all behaving as
one system. The system needs to co-operate between many technological layers both at
software and hardware levels, for instances, conveyor belts, security checkers, scanners and so on.
ii. Social complexity: The system is needed to support and help out the work of humans,
for instances to handle the baggage automatically. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
iii. Business complexity: The network needs to work in different way to cope with
different company’s operation. The conveyor network must cope with different baggage governance policies.
Q2: What are the management, organization, and technology components of
Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network? Management:
In terms of management, there are few elements to talk about. Setting the right goal is
one of the important elements to ensure the business is on the right track and being
managed well. The conveyors networks have a very simple goal, which is the right bag
must be at the right place at the right time.
To run the network smoothly, human resources are playing an important role. In every
department or section, there must be allocating a person in charge to control, manage
and handle the baggage just in case if there are any emergencies. Organization:
Just like the other organizations, Schiphol is made up of many different departments and
they work together to make sure the business run smoothly. For instances, the
information technology department to look over the network and system to make sure it is
updated and running smoothly to avoid mistake while the human resources department
ensure the people working with the company is happy and working efficiently to reduce
mistake and increase productivity. The rest of the departments such as the finance
department and marketing & sales department are also working together to ensure the
business is on the right track and profitable. Technology:
The networks involve variety of sensors, mechanical devices, actuators and computers. It
also uses over 3 million lines of source code. As for the baggage-handling systems, it
includes destination-coded vehicles (DCVs), automatic bar code scanners,
radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags and high-tech conveyors equipped with sorting
machines. All of these technologies are used for the normal operation which is to move
bags from the check-in area to the departure gate, move bags from gate to gate, move l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
bags from the arrival gate to the baggage claim and plan and control the peripheral hardware and software.
Q3: What is the problem that Schiphol is trying to solve? Discuss the business impact
of this problem.
From the case study, I found that the most critical problem that Schiphol was facing is
the mishandled baggage problem. Schiphol was trying to increase the efficiency in
baggage handling in the airport. Mishandled baggage was bringing huge impact to the
company, it is a $2.5 billion problem for industry every year and about 51 million
passengers traveling through Schiphol alone may be affected annually. With an
investment of around US$1 billion over a period of about 10 years, the Baggage Control
System has been renewed. With the new system, the manager of Schiphol estimated that
this system will be able to minimize 0.01% loss and damage when it operates 99.9%
times. Although this system is expensive but if it is being implemented right, it can save 0.1% of $2.5 billion.
Q4: Think of the data that the network uses. What kinds of management reports can be
generated from that data?
Data items used by the Schiphol Conveyors Networks comprise of 4 items, which are
scheduling data; hit/failure reports; delays and usage information. All of these data was
being used to plot the cost-per-baggage reduction progressions. Data Network Reports
Number of baggage Total number of business handling by the airport every year
Total loss Profit and loss report Capacity of the Actual capacity for baggage the baggage Automatic data Efficiency of the data scanner scanner Defect system Risk management l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9 report/ improvement system l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Q1: Identify the management, organization, and technology factors responsible for
impeding adoption of internal corporate social networks. Management:
No matter young or old employees, who were collaborating and doing business in more
traditional settings normally need an incentive to use social software. However, majority
of the companies are not providing incentives to the employees, there are only 22 percent
of the users of the social software believe the technology is useful and necessary to their job. Organization:
Those companies that have tried to set up the internal social network have found out that
the employees who are used to do business in a certain way and overcoming the
organizational inertia can prove difficult. About half of the survey respondents said that
internal social networks had a “very little impact” on employee’s retention, the speed of
making decision or the reduction of meetings. Technology:
To increase the motivation to adopt the social networking technologies, ease of use and
increased job efficiency are more important compared to peer pressure. Most of the IT
professionals consider their own internal social networks are only average or below
average and the biggest reason is low adoption rates of the employees. The content on the
networks must be relevant, up-to-date and easy to access. Users prefer to use the network
that is more user-friendly rather than difficult to reach.
Q2: Compare the experiences for implementing internal social networks of the two
organizations. Why was one more successful than the other? What role did
management play in this process?
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is the example who failed to implement the
internal social network. They set up a custom-built enterprise social network called
Spacebook, and it is to help small teams to collaborate without e-mailing the larger
groups. Spacebook included user profiles, group workspaces like wikis, discussion
forum, file sharing and group creation. However, spacebook was failed, and it was due to
it is not focus enough on people and the network was not taking into consideration on the
organization’s culture and politics. The employees do not understand and do not realise
how the network would help them to do their jobs.
Meanwhile, Red Robin is the one who succeed in implementing the internal social
network. Red Robin is a chain with 355 restaurants, about 20,000 employees working in
it. They uses the social networking to give their front-line employees who interact with
the customers a greater voice in the company because the CIO of the company believes
that engaging the employees would increase employee loyalty and bringing them
motivation to work. Red Robin is taking into consideration on the employee’s comments l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
and always improves the company accordingly. Red Robin decided to try Yammer,
which is a platform for people to create conversations, perform status updates, upload and
share files and set up workgroups for small project teams just like Facebook. It allows the
employees to communicate with the high management and receive immediate feedback.
The management must be clear of what is needed by the employees as they are the most
important assets to the company because they are the one working and bringing the
company towards its goal. Employee’s comments and feeling must be taken into
consideration for every decisions making. No matter how good the network and
revolution is, if it is not attractive to the employees, it would not be success.
Q3: Should all companies implement internal enterprise social networks? Why or why not?
Yes, I think all companies should implement internal enterprise social networks. Internal
social network is actually a very useful tool for the companies to reduce expenses, time
and improve productivity. People in the company can simply share documents and
information online and communicate via this platform, and this help to save time and as
well energy compared to the traditional way which is to deliver the hardcopy of the
document manually and using phone call which will cost money. Companies should
provide incentives to encourage the employee to adopt the new system. I believe that if
the employees are clear of what benefits they will receive with the new system, they
would be more willing to accept the changes.
AUTOMAKERS BECOME SOFTWARE COMPANY
Q1: How is software adding value to automakers’ products?
Software adding value to the automakers’ products via: Cutting cost and time
By using the on-board software, the automakers’ products can be managed via the cloud.
For instances, Ford Motor Company previously need to take about two and one-half years
to plan, design and build a new car. Design and production, including the metal stamping
equipment and assembly line setup must be finalised long before the car rolls off the line.
But now, by using the software, the automakers can create a new software interface
within months and update it over and over again for the customers in the future and the
process is not time consuming.
Improve customer’s experiences and values
Automaker will be able to keep updating the features and functions to improve the
customer’s experience. For instances, Ford is trying to fulfill customer’s needs because
they know it will bring them benefits at the end. They care about the complaints and
comments from the customer and keep improving their product based on what the l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
customers need because they know that a business will only be able to success when they customers are satisfied.
Q2: How are the automakers benefiting from software-enhanced cars? How are customers benefiting? Benefits to automakers
Firstly, automakers are entering uncharted territory with the inclusion of software in their
cars. Although they must putting in more resources to update and testing their software
and have to establish ways to provide the updated software to their customer, but they are
adding values to their company as well as this will increase the business volume of the
company. With the software-enhanced cars, Ford has save a lot of time and effort in
upgrading the functions of the cars, they do not need to gather all the cars back to the
factory and upgrade one by one but just to mail out the USB sticks to the customers and
in the stick, it contains all the updates which customer can do it on their own. Benefits to customers
GPS tracking system is included in the software-enhanced cars, therefore, customers will
get to enjoy additional function. It helps customers to navigate the road and as well helps
the customers to avoid using the roads that having bad traffic. At the same time,
customers will be able to communicate to the other road users (with the smartphone
connected to the car) on the road condition so that his/ her friends will get to know which
road to avoid. Besides, customers can as well listen to the songs they love by connecting
to the music application while they are driving alone to avoid sleepiness.
Q3: What value chain activities are involved in enhancing cars with software?
Value chain activities that involve in enhancing cars with software can be illustrated by
the case of Ford Motor Company. For instances, MyFord Touch interface is an in dash
touch screen available for select vehicles with controls for navigation, music, temperature
control and phone integration. Ford has upgraded the interface and the Sync software
behind the interface, they added the tablet and smart phone integration and better voice
response in the system. In year 2010, Ford even invested on the online music streaming
service Pandora which is very popular among the young potential buyers to boost up the
sales and gain more demands. Moreover, the chairman Bill Ford Jr. has championed the
use of software to alleviate urban congestion by investing in the technology that responds
to the problems arose by traffic in the big cities. Hence, we can see that by upgrading
their system, it is not only helping the company to improve and to satisfy the customer’s l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
need but also help them to get more competitive advantages and to boost up the demands
on their products and so they can create a higher barriers for the other competitors.
Q4: How much of a competitive advantage is software providing for automakers? Explain your answer.
For instances, software provides the automakers a competitive advantage of allowing cars
to be managed via the cloud. Ford Motor Company enable users to be able to remotely
track their cars or even diagnose problems with the car such as the problems of low tire
pressure or need for an oil change by using the software that operate online in the cloud.
These software developments provide a new platform for automakers to enhance many
car drivers’ life by just a touch of a finger through a touch panel. Those are the
competitive advantages that software provides for the company which is adding values to
the company compared to other competitors in the same industry. The reason why
software providing for automakers with so many competitive advantages is software
upgrading the quality of the cars and support the cars with many convenient facilities and
as well fulfilling customer’s need.
IDENTIFYING MARKET NICHES IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA
1. Describe the kinds of data being analyzed by the companies in this case.
Data about e-book purchases and reading habits are being collected and potentially sold to book
publishers. The data include whether a book is completed, if pages are skimmed or skipped, and
which genres are most often finished.
Airlines are collecting all kinds of passenger data that can be consolidated to build
comprehensive customer profiles. Cabin crews can then use the data to identify certain
characteristics about on-board passengers and personalize the flying experience.
Car companies integrate databases and use complex algorithms to more closely match car lot
inventory to buyer demand. Vehicle turnover rates improve and the price a consumer pays minus
the manufacturer subsidy rise, increasing Ford Motor Company’s profits. Using vehicle Internet
connections, the company intends to collect fuel economy data, mechanical failures, and other
safety and performance metrics to improve product engineering. Ford estimates that by 2016 up
to a third of all its consumer communications will occur inside vehicles.
2. How is this fine-grained data analysis improving operations and decision making
inthe companies described in this case? What business strategies are being supported? l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
E-book data: The idea is that writers can use it to better tailor their work to their
readership and book editors can use it to choose which manuscripts to publish. Business
strategy supported—focus on market niche, product differentiation.
Airlines: the data collected can enhance the passenger experience, improve customer service and
fashion relevant marketing pitches. Business strategy supported—product differentiation, customer intimacy.
Car companies: which cars to build, which features to include or enhance, which cars sell better
than others in different parts of the country. Business strategy supported—customer and supplier
intimacies, product differentiation, focus on market niche.
3. Are there any disadvantages to mining customer data? Explain your answer.
Companies can mine too much data on customers to the point of upsetting customers and turning
them against the company. Customers have complained that companies are collecting too much
data and integrating it from too many sources. Companies defend their use of demographic data
and data not covered under their privacy policies.Even customers who accept the inevitability of
profiling are miffed when they receive unsuitable offers based on faulty personal information.
Most customers want a line drawn between data collection to facilitate useful offers and data
collection that is too intrusive. Although some airlines have curtailed their use of data collected,
they continue to collect it nonetheless. None of the airline carriers currently allow customers to
opt out of their data programs.
4. How do you feel about airlines mining your inflight data? Is this any different
fromcompanies mining your credit card purchases or Web surfing?
They use my data to provide better service. Technology must serve the business. But it makes me feel no
privacy. They need to be more ethical
THE GREENING OF THE DATA CENTER
1. What business and social problems does data center power consumption cause?
The business of data center cause is such as video on demand, maintaining web sites,
analyzing large pools of transactions or social media data that require more and more
power-hungry machines businesses. Besides that, the social problem that the data center
power consumption cause is high corporate operating costs. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
2.What solutions are available for these problems? Are they management,
organizational, or technology solutions? Explain your answer. People, for example Acorda.
• A $210 million-per-year maker of drugs to treat nervous disorders such as multiple sclerosis.
• Installed motion sensors and invested in intelligent cooling system to boost energy
efficiency at the new facility.
• Preparing to test virtualized desktops.
Organizational, for example Facebook
• Publicly posted the specifications for the design of its data centers.
• Facebook’s engineers modified the programming in the servers.
Technology, for example cloud computing system
• Optimized for virtualization and for supporting as many different subscribing companies aspossible.
• Produce major savings when doing the computing for large numbers of companies.
3. What are the business benefits and costs of these solutions?
Reduce the human resources in data centre
Virtualization in data centre helps to reduce the number of servers and storage resources in a firm's IT infrastructure.
Make firm more energy- efficient
Installed motion sensors will shut off light after five minutes if no movement is detected. This
enable firm greatly reduce the power required to run workstation.
Reduce corporate operating costs
Intelligent cooling system will automatically changes setting of computer as the conditions
change. intelligent cooling system helps the firm to save the electric supply and thus, reduce the operating costs. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
4.Should all firms move toward green computing? Why or why not?
Yes. It is very efficient to reduce their power requirements
Reduce costs Reducing impacts on environmental and human health
Helps to minimize the energy consumption by educating consumers on efficient ways to keep power usage low. Case Study 11: Is it time for cloud computing? l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Q1: What business benefits do cloud computing services provide? What problems do they solve?
Cloud computing is a system in which software programs and applications are accessed
and used virtually by the companies through an Internet connection. The benefits of using
cloud computing service include: i.
Can store large amounts of data and information, it helps the company a lot
to store the important data and information ii.
It helps us build a large database and do not need large spaceiii. Can help us
to quickly find the desired information from the stored data and information
Cloud computing service improves the work efficiency and helps to solve the problems
faced by the companies, for instances: i.
Amazon has used the Web services division (AWS), which helps to get a large
amount of computing resources (separate, allocate and arrange computing resources).
Cloud computing helps Amazon to save costs and increase profits even spend more time
on other work which had more values. ii.
It helps to improve the response time for the customer. InterContinental company
lets their customers receive data faster if the data is located on a server that is physically close to them.
Q2: What are the disadvantages of cloud computing? i.
Possible downtime without internet connection
Cloud computing is a system that is totally dependent on internet connection. When the
internet connection or network is down or not available, cloud services are down as well.
If your internet service suffers from frequent outages or slow speeds cloud computing
may not be suitable for your business. Even if cloud computing providers take to prevent
the internet downtime issue, the risk will still always remains and hard to avoid. ii. Technical Issues
You should be aware of the fact that this technology is always prone to outages and other
technical issues. Even the best cloud service providers run into this kind of trouble, in
spite of keeping up high standards of maintenance. Besides, as mentioned, you will need
a very good Internet connection to be logged onto the server at all times then only you
can access to the stored data and information online. iii. Security in the Cloud
Although security in the cloud is generally good and reliable, established cloud
computing vendors ensure they have the latest, most sophisticated data security systems
as data security is always a big concern for businesses. It will make your company
vulnerable to external hack attacks and threats when you store information in the cloud
especially the P&C information. As the servers are interconnected in the cloud, a hacker
can breach one system and then make way into other linked systems. iv. Lack of support l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Cloud-based services always do not have the best customer care support system. It may
be difficult to get them on the phone or by e-mail, and they often do not provide
illustrated user manuals. Instead, normally they will ask the customers to rely on FAQ
pages and online community support which may be always hard to understand.
Q3: How do the concepts of capacity planning, scalability, and TCO apply to this case?
Apply these concepts both to Amazon and to subscribers of its services.
Capacity planning is the process of determining the production capacity needed by an
organization to meet the changing demands for its products. In another word, capacity
planning is the process of predicting when a computer hardware system becomes
saturated to ensure that adequate computing resources are available for work of different
priorities and the organization has enough computing power for its current and future
needs. By referring to the case of Amazon, they must plan its future needs to be capable
of providing sufficient computing power for both AWS and Amazon retail services, they
need to know that a lack of which will result the rejection by subscribers to use their services in the future.
Scalability is defined as the ability of a computer, product, or system to expand to serve a
large number of users and handle a growing number of works without breaking down and
having downtime issue. Scalability relates to both Amazon and AWS subscribers.
Amazon must be able to provide its customers with services that are scalable, as it claims
to do on its website: “Take advantage of our massive compute capacity and storage to
build whatever kinds of applications your business demands, no matter how fast it grows or how big it gets”.
Total Cost Ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate intended to help buyer and owners
determine the direct and indirect cost of a product or system. Amazon must provide
hardware capacity planning and scalability. With the development of information
technology, Amazon will have more and more customers. Both Amazon and Amazon's
customer requires a large database to store a variety of data and information and this help
the company to grow. Amazon must bear the total TCO of its services, while Amazon is
also needed to maintain the profitability of the company. However, the services'
subscribers benefit from not having to worry about these issues.
Q4: What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from using cloud computing? Why?
Nowadays, cloud computing has begun to seize the business world. Zynga is a good
example of a company using cloud computing to improve its business in a new way. i. More cost-effective
The game might be a mild success, or smash hit that adds millions of new users. Rather
the Zynga spending on computing resources of its own before the launch of the game, it’s
more cost-effective to use Amazon’s cloud services. ii. Data lost prevention l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Lose of data in an information economy can be one of the most devastating things that
can happen for a business. A company that previously had a great reputation could
quickly lose its popularity if it loses a significant portion of its data. For example,
Zynga’s move on the game onto its private zCloud, which is structurally similar to
Amazon’s cloud, but operates under Zynga’s control in data centers on the East and West coast. iii. Collaborative businesses
Many other companies share Zynga’s concern about cloud reliability and security and this
remains a major barrier to widespread cloud adoption. In order for large scale projects to
be completed, it is often necessary for people who are geographically separated from one
another to collaborate. Applications running on cloud based software make this process
very convenient and people can connect to each other even when they are at different locations.
Case Study 13: Driving ARI Fleet
Management with Real-Time Analysis
Q1: Why was data management so problematic at ARI?
Automotive Resources International (ARI) is the world’s largest privately-held company
for vehicle fleet management services. The huge volume of data collected by the
company on maintenance, fuel consumption, licensing and compliance with more than a
million vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe is horrible
to be managed. Add to their six call centers in North America that are operating 24/7, 365
days to support the fleet operations of their customers, and assisting in repairs, failures,
emergency response, preventive maintenance and other driver needs. Each of the requests
for the information by the users through the generation of the report will normally take an
average of five days to create the report and information.ARI is needed to manage the
huge amount of data but they do not have a good system to help them in managing the
data. We can say that this is the biggest factor causing the data management so problematic at ARI.
Q2: Describe ARI’s earlier capabilities for data analysis and reporting and their
impact on the business.ARI’s earlier capabilities •
ARI collects and analyses more than 14,000 units of data per vehicle •
Around 10,000 vehicles working simultaneously around the world at some fleets •
Too much manual work and time-consuming as they do not have a real-time data
management system to manage the data l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9 •
Provided very limited information, it might due to they do not have a good data management system •
Reporting process took up to five days and authoritative users are needed to
comply the data and create the report accordingly Impacts on the Business: •
ARI’s process of analysing its data was extremely delayed and it cause low efficiency •
Providing information and report become a challenging process •
Impossible to identify trends and make recommendations to the users •
Unable to aggregate data across its entire customer base •
ARI’s information system could not benchmark one customer’s fleet to other customer fleets.
Q3: Was SAP HANA a good solution for ARI? Why or why not?
Yes, HANA is a good solution for ARI.
In early 2012, ARI integrated SAP BusinessObjects Explorer with HANA, SAP’s
inmemory computing platform that is deployable as an on-premise appliance (hardware
and software) or in the cloud. HANA is able to perform real-time analytics and handling
very high volumes of operational and transactional data in real time which helps ARI a
lot in improving the business efficiency. HANA stored the in-memory analytics queries
data in random access memory (RAM) instead of on a hard disk or flash storage.
After SAP HANA has been implemented, things work faster in the company. SAP
HANA is able to produce the report of the impact analysis of the company’s top 10
customers in only 3 to 3 ½ seconds which the old system need around 36 hours to
perform the same thing. Using HANA, ARI is able to quickly mine its vast data resources
and able to generate predictions based on the results. With such helpful information, it
helps to create more value to its customers. HANA has also reduced the time required for
each transaction handled by ARI’s call centers as the information requested can be
generated fast and it bring major cost savings.
Q4: Describe the changes in the business as a result of adopting HANA.
As mentioned in the answer for the last question, HANA is able to perform real-time
analytics and handling very high volumes of operational and transactional data in real
time which helps ARI a lot in improving the business efficiency. It shows the impact in
the business and how it changes the way the business work previously. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
After SAP HANA has been implemented, things work faster in the company. SAP
HANA is able to produce the report of the impact analysis of the company’s top 10
customers in only 3 to 3 ½ seconds which the old system need around 36 hours to perform the same thing.
As well, by using HANA, ARI is able to quickly mine its vast data resources and able to
generate predictions based on the results. With such helpful information, it helps to create
more value to its customers. HANA has also reduced the time required for each
transaction handled by ARI’s call centers as the information requested can be generated
fast and it bring major cost savings to the business
Case Study 12:
The pleasure and Pitfalls of BYOD
Q1: What are the advantages and disadvantages of allowing employees to use their
personal smartphones for work? Advantages: •
Employees can use their own smart phones would allow companies to enjoy all of
thesame benefits of a mobile workforce without spending their own money on these
devices. • Easier for the company to keep track of each mobile device and easy to roll
out software upgrades or fixes because all employees were using the similar devices. Disadvantages: •
Because the employee work with more than one type of mobile device and
operatingsystem, company will need to quickly and flexibly confirm that their employees
are still able to remain performance while they are using the mobile device.• For those
companies who want to provide adequate technical support for every employee could be
difficult with the variety of phones and operating systems available.• On the other hand,
mobility puts assets and data at greater risk compare to if they were only located within
company wall on company machines.
Please find below the table for the ease of reference: Advantages Disadvantages Cost Savings: Managing Security:
Within BYOD environments, the costs associated are One of the riskiest aspects of a BYOD environment is very
personal, which means the individual employee managing security. Every BYOD policy should require will bear
the cost themselves rather than the minimum security measures. Consider scenarios such companies paying for it.
Most workers willingly as an employee who loses a mobile phone or laptop purchase their preferred laptop or l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
mobile device, and puts sensitive company data in the wrong hands. including their data plan, and simply want to
use it for Develop a process for establishing those controls business purposes. This can mean significant savings
before the employee is allowed to access company for your IT department as compared with the data is essential.
investment in company-issued devices.
Enhanced Productivity of the Employees: Controlling Acceptable Use:
Mobile devices offer the benefits of convenience and Allowing employees to use their own personal devices speed.
For instances, sales executives can do their jobs means that your company has suddenly lost some
while traveling, management can keep up with emails levels of control over the appropriate use of the
or review important documents on their tablets, and technology. Unlike a company-issued laptop or device,
anyone can stay connected with their own smart phone which comes with an acceptable use policy, it’s not
as long as they are connected with the internet.
exactly easy to control how someone uses a personal Improved Employee Morale:
When people are able to use the devices they already
know and love, and achieve higher success rates
because of it, they will be happier working for your
company. Studies have shown that even when
employees are responsible for fronting the cost of the
device and cell coverage, they are still happier using
their personal devices than bulk IT department issued devices.
device. That’s why many companies are turning to
BYOD policies to set reasonable expectations. Retrieving Data:
Your BYOD policy should also address what happens
if/when an employee leaves your company. Who will
discontinue their access to your company data? Do they
have their own phone number? What if clients were
calling that number directly? In a sales environment,
this is particularly risky. An exemployee may become
a direct competitor with easy access to your client’s contact info and vice versa. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Q2: What management, organization, and technology factors should be addressed
when deciding whether to allow employees to use their personal smartphones for work? Management:
• If employees are allowed to work with more than one type of mobile device
andoperating system, companies need an effective way to keep track of all the devices
employees are using.• When employees make change to their personal phones, such as
switching cellular carriers, changing their phone number or buying a new mobile devices
together. Company will need to quickly and flexibly ensure that their employees are still
able to remain productive.• A firm’s software development teams need to have one
professional focused on ensuring that new applications will be easily usable and useful on
smart phones. The applications and software need to be used on mobile devices to connect
to the firm`s existing IT platform and company-wide CRM, SCM, and ERP systems. The
mobility experts can help company leverage mobility more effectively. Organization:
• Integrate mobile devices to corporate and it strategy company needs to
carefullyexamine their business process and determine whether or not mobility makes
sense for them• The security, inventory management, support, integrating mobile devices
into preexisting IT functions and systems, and measuring return on investment should be
addressed when deciding whether to allow employees to use their personal smart phones
for work.• Firms need and efficient inventory management system that keeps track of
which devices employees are using, where the device is located, whether it is being used,
and what software it is equipped with company needs to provide adequate technical support
for every employee who is using a variety of phones and operating systems. Technology:
• With the variety of phones and operating system available, providing adequate
technicalsupport for every employee could be difficult• A firm software development
teams can benefits from having one person specifically focused on ensuring that new
application will be easily usable and useful on smartphone• The corporate IT resources are
important for managing and maintaining a large number of devices in an organization. The
company’s networks must be configured to receive connections from the employees’
mobile devices and operating systems to access the company’s information.• A firm’s
software development teams need to have one professional focused on ensuring that new
applications will be easily usable and useful on smart phones. The applications and
software need to be used on mobile devices to connect to the firm`s existing IT platform
and company-wide CRM, SCM, and ERP systems. The mobility experts can help company
leverage mobility more effectively. l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Q3: Compare the BYOD experiences of IBM and Intel. Why did BYOD at Intel work so well?
BYOD at Intel work so well might be due to the goal of Intel is make employees more
happy and productive to work efficiency but not to save money. Employees like being able
to use their own devices and apps alongside specialized Intel apps and it has been one of
the reasons why their strategy works better compared to others. Besides, Intel’s company
developed different policies, rules and access limits for each type of devices such as smart
phones, tablets, or laptop with multiple levels of control in place. BYOD experiences of IBM BYOD experiences of Intel
There is only creating new challenges for the IT Intel approached BYOD in a positive manner,
department and did not save any money for trying to find ways to make it work rather than IBM
because employees’ devices are full with to defeat it. the software.
IBM equips the mobile devices of the latter Intel hammered out a BYOD strategy and category of
employees with additional software created an end-user service-level agreement such as
programmes that encrypt information that clarified that end users were voluntarily as it travels to
and from corporate networks. using BYOD rather than being mandated by Intel. Intel knows what their employees need.
BYOD improve employees’ job satisfaction and Intel program offers 40 proprietary applications,
productivity but cause some problems if including travel tools to help schedule a flight managed
improperly. and conference room finders.
Q4: Allowing employees use their own smartphones for work will save the company
money. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Yes, I agree that allowing employees use their own smartphones for work will save the company money.
1. Eliminate monthly plan costs
Shifting an employee from a company-owned device to his own means the company will
cut down at least a portion of the monthly service plan cost to the employee. Many
companies are providing reimbursement for smart devices, there is typically only a small
or no reimbursement for a second device such as a tablet.
2. Eliminate device purchase and upgrade costs
When the cost of purchasing phones, tablets and even laptops can be shifted to employees,
the annual cost savings from BYOD can easily be in the hundreds of dollars per employee,
per year. Employees are the one that bear the cost of their own electronic devices.
3. Reduce IT or help desk support
Whether your support costs increase or decrease because of BYOD is largely dependent on
how many users you support today. But for every employee that goes BYOD rather than l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
with a corporate-owned device, activities related to device and plan provisioning is
eliminated. Help desk support might also be reduced considerably for BYOD users.
Case Study 13: Driving ARI Fleet
Management with Real-Time Analysis
Q1: Discuss the role of information policy, data administration, and efforts to ensure data quality in
improving data management at American Water. i. Role of information policy
· To determine the rules and standards that should be followed for storing and managing the data.
· Developing a database environment requires policies and procedures.
· The business users are responsible for reviewing all the pieces of data in the old system.
ii. Role of data administration
· To review all the pieces of data in the old system and remove the data which is not required and duplicated.
· Responsible for information policies, as well as for data planning, data dictionary development, and monitoring data usage.
· The data should be reviewed by data administrator to make sure that the data is correct and taking care of the information policies.
iii. Efforts to ensure data quality
· Identifying and cleaning the incorrect, inaccurate and inconsistent data to ensure the data quality.
· Managing the data and removing the duplicate data to ensure the data quality l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
Q2: Describe roles played by information systems specialists and end users in
American Water’s systems transformation project.
With standardised data, reports were easier to generate and gave
a more complete picture of operations. It made comparisons
among operating units easier and allowed business units to
review best practices more easily than before.
Besides, replenishing inventories could be less efficient if more
than one data entry per item were used in the database. The
database could reflect that a particular item is out of stock based
on one data entry while in reality it is in full supply but under a different data entry.
Management made the business users responsible for the data but not just a responsibility
of the information systems department on doing this thing. The business “owns” the data
and it is business needs that determine the rules and standards for managing the data.
Business users were required to inventory and review all the pieces of data in the systems
to determine which need to be migrated from the old system to the new system and which
would be left behind as they are the one who clear on this as they are the users for the
data. Business users were also required to review the data to make sure they were
accurate and consistent and redundant data were eliminated.SAP Business Objects Web
Intelligence enables business users to view, sort and analyse business intelligence data. It
includes generating queries, reports and interactive dashboards.
Q3: Why was the participation of business users so important? If they didn’t play
this role, what would have happened?
The participation of business users is important because business users are the ones who
primarily will use the data, it should be the way they want it and the way it works best for
them. Users are the ones who know best what they need and what they want. The
business users know what kind of data should be migrated and what should not be.
Imagine if someone else beside the business users to determine which data to migrate,
which data to leave behind, or how the data should be constructed it may simply end up a
failure and not meet the business users’ needs and it would cause low work efficiency.
Q4: How did implementing a data warehouse help American Water move toward a
more centralized organization?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed to replace disparate systems with a
single integrated software platform. Data warehouse allows the company to standardise
the data and eliminate the faulty data. All data pertaining to materials used by the l OM oARc PSD|35 97 4 76 9
company were standardized to make the data warehouse more efficient and to give a
consolidated view across all business units. Standardized data gave the company a better
picture of how it was performing and easier to be understand instead of messy data which
is not standardise and it might cause misunderstanding and issue of low accuracy.
Q5: Give some examples of problems that would have occurred at American Water if
its data were not “clean”?
If the data are not clean, it makes the data warehouse much larger than necessary. For
instance, a particular type of material may have two to three different data descriptions.
Comparisons and consolidation of the data are more difficult to make when there is more
than one description and definition of each data item. It may confuse the users and cause
the issue of low accuracy of data.
Q6: How did American Water’s data warehouse improve operations and management
decision making?
American Water is focusing on promoting the idea that data must be “clean” to be
effective and has poured an incredible amount of effort into its data cleansing work by
identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, and irrelevant pieces of data and then
replacing, modifying, or deleting the “dirty” data.By having clean data in a single data
warehouse that is easily accessible and reports are easy to generate, management and
users can make better decisions because the data are more complete. Clean data gives a
much better picture of the organization and a clearer direction for management. Data
mining is much easier and more complete with clean data. By implementing the data
warehouse, the whole company and its subsidiaries were able to standardize their
business processes so that they were all entering data in the same way and so the work
can be more reliable and creating more values to the company.
Document Outline
- GOOGLE DATA CENTER
- Cutting cost and time
- Improve customer’s experiences and values
- Benefits to automakers
- Benefits to customers
- IDENTIFYING MARKET NICHES IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA