Distinct Drivers for Change in ZExpress - Assignment Example

Distinct Drivers for Change in ZExpress Selection of three most important drivers The three (3) most important drivers are: establishing full global presence within the next six months, innovation, and eliminating duplication between companies. I used critical success factors as a mechanism for this selection. ” Critical success factors were developed by Rockart in an attempt to identify the real information needs of chief executives – or any other executive of an organisation.” (Harrison, et al, 1993 p418) These three factors are critical to ZExpress. If the company fails to meet the standards required by these drivers they stand to lose customers, face high costs and lag behind the industry in terms of technology. Rockart defines it as: “the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the business. They are all the vital areas where ‘things must go right’ for the business to flourish. (qtd. in Harrison, et al, 1993 p418.) These drivers are also consistent with the four business goals of the organisation as explained in the new CEO’s vision: “increase revenue, reduce costs, improved customer service, to be agile and responsive to the changes in customer’s and business’ needs across the world.” Analysis of the three selected drivers Establishing full global presence within the next six months in order to obtain a new and substantial business partner is a very important driver for ZExpress. This will determine whether Bonsai Motor Corporation’s partner with the company for the distribution of accessories and spare parts of µcron. The likely impact if ZExpress does not establish full global presence within the next six months is that they would lose millions from the potential partnership with Bonsai Motor Corporation. This partnership would see ZExpress distributing accessories and spare parts for the µcron. They would hold stocks of parts and guarantee delivery within 24 hours to any location in the world. This vehicle is very economical and should be in high demand as it is demonstrated to travel in excess of 120 miles on a US gallon of petrol. With the price of petrol where it is now, this is a good buy for someone who is interested in energy conservation. Innovation is important within the context of ZExpress to ensure real time information and the reliability of the tracking system. The customer wants to be able to track the package to the delivery point within the specified time period. The relevant technology should therefore be in place to allow the delivery personnel to update the system with the use of a hand held device, at the point of delivery. If a package is to be delivered at 10:00 A.M. and the customer will not know until the delivery personnel returns to the office, then, by that time the information may not be relevant. The customer might have had to call the person expecting the package to find out if it was indeed delivered on time. This would be an unnecessary expense for the customer. It could have been avoided if the necessary technology was put is place. The likely impact of ZExpress ignoring innovation is that they would not be able to compete effectively with other players like Global Express Deliveries. The company may also loose the technology savvy customers who want to do everything on the internet. There are also customers who prefer the convenience of their homes and so they use the web to track their packages in order to inform the recipient of their location. The customer could also provide the recipient with a tracking number to track the package on the internet. Additionally, the partnership being sought between ZExpress and Bonsai Motor Corporation would be much helped by a partnership with 21C-Com who has a great deal of spare capacity and across all of the providers cover 92% of the worlds population. As stated in the case: “talks with 21C-COM about using their network together with GPS enabled devices to provide a real leap forward in package tracking. Eliminating duplication between companies is another important driver. Currently, there are practically three Chief Financial Officers (one being described as VP Finance of Pacific Rim Logistics in the case). Only one is really needed. We have two systems managers and two operations manager in Australia and there are some 20 other senior/managerial positions to look at in the rationalisation process. The likely impact on ZExpress of not eliminating duplication between companies means that the efficiencies from the mergers would not be reaped and they would not have gained any economies of scale from the operations of the merged entities. Two of the companies had their presence in Australia so there will be some efficiency to be gained in that region. Home and Colonial Carriers have major presence in North America (Canada), UK and Australia, while ZExpress have a presence in Atlanta, USA and Bangalore, India and Pacific Rim Logistics have a presence in North America, Japan and Australia. Part Two Selection of three most important drivers Three distinct aspects of usability of ZExpress’ new site are: visibility of system status, match between system and the real world, error prevention Usability aspect Number 1-Visibility of System Status Visibility of system status is important to the success of the site because the customer needs to know what the system is doing at a particular point in time. If the system is processing a query then it should have an icon such as the hour glass which depicts that processing is taking place, “please wait processing information”, written across the screen or the circular object – moving in a circular motion on the screen, indicating that the system continues to process information. This should be done in a reasonable time frame. If the customer is unsure of where he/she is, in the process, then they may get frustrated and try another service provider the next time they have a package to be delivered. Measurable objectives for visibility of system status would be established by having the IT department check the log to see how long it took for the customer to get to the information required. At what point did the customer decide to exit the system because of possible dissatisfaction with it. In order to ensure that the objectives of visibility of system status are met, I would first of all test the site for myself to determine what problems may exist in this regard. I would also carry out a survey to get the opinion of other users. Based on the foregoing I would make the necessary recommendations for a information systems department to remedy the situation. Usability Aspect Number 2 – Match between system and the real world Match between system and the real world is very important to the success of the site. The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order. ” Nielsen, J (2005. Web). If customers do not understand what they have to interface with, they are easily turned off. They feel that the system was not designed for their use and will move to a competitor whose system is considered to be more “user friendly”. Measurable objectives of match between system and the real world is to determine whether the information on the site appears in a natural logical order and whether the responses given by customers in request for information is consistent with what is required. If it is not, then it means that some terms, words and concepts are not understood. One would also look at the frequency in with which certain questions are responded to in an unexpected manner. To ensure that the objectives relating to of match between system and the real world are met, I would test it myself, ask persons of varying levels of education to consider the terms and the logical sequence of the information. I would also ask users to fill out a questionnaire. If the questionnaire suggests that improvement is necessary then the necessary procedures will be followed to ensure that it is done expeditiously. Usability Aspect Number 3- Error Prevention Error prevention is very important to the success of the site as users can get really frustrated and distraught if they are not able to use a system without hiccups. Designing the system to prevent errors from occurring in the first place is very important. According to Nielsen, “Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.” (2005. Web.) Measurable objectives of error prevention would be the number of error messages issued to a particular IP address accessing the site, or the number of error messages as a percentage of the number of hits on the site. The information systems department would be able to produce this information. To ensure that objectives relating to error prevention are met, I would test the system myself; carry out a survey to determine why errors are being made; and to determine how it can be prevented. References Harrison, J; Holloway, M; Jenkins, T; Martin, F; Mills, G. 1993, Management and Strategy. 1994 Ed., Certified Accountants Educational Projects, UK Nielsen, Jakobs. Ten Usability Heuristics. useit.com. 2005. Web. 20 November 2010. Read More