Appropriate IT Projects for Bechtold Corporation - Research Proposal Example

?BERCHTOLD CORPORATION: INFORMATION SYSTEM STRATEGY Appropriate IT projects for Berchtold Corporation In accordance to the strategic and tactical objectives of Berchtold Corporation, various IT projects have to be implemented under different portfolios so that the company will be able to achieve its objectives in the most effective and efficient manner. The strategic responses which the company requires to implement in order to survive in the competitive business environment require that an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) is laid within the company. Through the ERP system, the company will be able to achieve an enhanced coordination of its human resource management, financials, supplies, logistics and transport (Jeffery, 2006). More importantly the company will be able to engage all stakeholders including the management, employees, suppliers, distributors and customers into healthy business relationships. This would be achieved through implementation of an ERP system and thus achievement of uniformity in hardware and software configurations, platforms and architectures within the company’s business functions. In return the company will achieve enhanced coordination through effective communication and exchange of data and information. Creation of an intranet within Berchtold Corporation business operations is another appropriate approach in ensuring that the company achieves its tactical objective of enhancing efficiency of business operation. Creation of an intranet means that the company has to adopt and implement local networking information systems in its business operations. In this sense, the various departments of the company such as finance, human resource, administration, supplies and sales and marketing will be allowed to operate under optimum efficiency. The analysis of the company’s information system illustrates that each of its functional areas is composed of systems with different architectures a platforms. This illustrates that there is incompatibility and lack or interoperability within these systems which leads to inefficiency in communication and sharing of data. The recommendation for the implementation of an intranet is the motivated by its benefit of creating a common platform under which the various business areas of the company are to operate. Additionally, an intranet will ensure that the business transactions and information exchanges are secure through a central control by a system administrator of the intranet. To achieve the strategic objective of enhanced management of the company’s subsidiaries and agents, it is recommended that the corporate board of the company supports the consolidation of all of the company’s networks and data centers. In this regard, the management of the operations of the company’s supply chain will be under a consolidated management system. Moreover, the consolidation of the data centers of the company will enable the various operations, subsidies and agents of the company to have access to relevant data within the data centers for informed decision making and efficient business operations. It is through the recommended consolidation that the management team will be able to oversee the creation, retrieval and use of data by the various stakeholders within the supply, manufacture, distribution and sale of medical equipment to the company’s customers. It is through this consolidation that the company will be able to efficiently and adequately meet the demand in the market and thus satisfy the customers leading to their loyalty for the company’s medical supplies. In order for the company to meet its tactical objective of meeting the information needs of its stakeholders, it is recommended that the server hardware of the company’s information system is standardized. Standardization of the server hardware means that the configuration of the company’s information systems and telecommunication network must be run under a standardized information system policy and procedures. Before this can be achieved the organization must endeavor to ensure that the information system architecture is uniform within all of its functional areas. The information system policy will then be laid to regulate the access, use and alteration of data and information within the computer system. Moreover, the standards of communication via the information system must be guided by a specified policy. The importance of standardization of the server hardware is revealed by the importance of securing the organizational data in addition to the privacy and confidentiality of employees and customer data. The business operations of Berchtold Corporation illustrate low motivation for its employees. In this regard it is recommended that for the company to achieve its objective of increasing the productivity of its employees, the group support systems must be improved significantly. For example, the manufacturing group needs to be provided with support systems to enhance their creativity, innovativeness and the sharing of ideas and information about the manufacture of medical devices. It is therefore through the improvement of the group support systems for the business teams in various functional areas that employees will be motivated to be more productive, innovative and creative in the production and provision of services to the customers. Customers are the most significant stakeholders of Berchtold Corporation’s business operations and success. To ensure that the company meets its strategic and tactical objectives on customer satisfaction and increased sales, it is recommended that a self service portal for customers is created by the company. It is through this portal that the company’s customers would be enabled to efficiently make orders for various medical devices (Jeffery 2006). Additionally, the customers will be allowed to trace the progress of the manufacture of the medical equipment and thus be able to determine whether the production process is adherent to their specification in terms of design, quantity and quality. In return the company will achieve enhanced customer satisfaction of its services leading to higher sales and increased return on sales. The company is in need of meting its strategic and tactical objectives which are related to the achievement of efficiency and effectiveness within its supply chain. For this to be achievable, it is recommended that new supply chain management software is adopted and implemented within the company. Through this software, the company will be able to effectively coordinate and mange its supply, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale processes. For example the ordering of supplies for the manufacture of medical devises would be achieved at a short time so that deficiencies in the supply will be eliminated. Through the supply chain management system therefore, the company will be enabled to meet the demand in the market by producing adequate quantities of medical equipment and as a result be able to fulfill the orders of the customers without detail. The gains that the company will accrue out of this include increased customer loyalty and improvement of its revenue of sales which is currently relatively low. Portfolio Application Matrix Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as one of the company’s IT projects is within the factory projects in the upper left of the Portfolio Application Matrix as postulated by McFarlan (Jeffery, 2006). The implementation of ERP will have the greatest value or benefit to the company which includes efficiency in achievement of business objectives and goals by all functional areas. Nonetheless it must be noted that ERP is relatively difficult to implement. This is due to the fact that it requires skilled and experienced expertise and sufficient time to develop ERP systems and fully implement them. This means that the company is likely to incur high costs in implementing the ERP system. Additionally, the ERP project is subject to a high risk of possible failure and thus high loss to the business in terms of money and time. Nonetheless successful implementation of ERP will be the most significant way achieving a competitive advantage by Berchtold Corporation within the medical device manufacture and sale market which is characterized with increasing competition and the threat of new entrants into the market. The consolidation of the company’s data centers and its networks is a project which lies within the upper left of the Portfolio Application Matrix. This is because regardless of the high value that this project would bring to the company, the implementation or execution is associated with a certain level of difficulty. Consolidation of the company’s networks reveals benefits of enhanced communication and knowledge sharing among the stakeholders of the company leading to efficiency in production and sale of the company’s medical devices. Nonetheless, the consolidation of the company’s data centers and networks is relatively hard to achieve because of the required human, financial and time resources. However, the comparison of the business risk of ERP implementation and the recommended consolidation, it is notable that the consolidation of data centers and networks of the company has less risks associated with it. The standardization of the company’s server architecture, improvement of group support systems, customer service portal creation and adoption and implementation of supply chain management system are projects which overlap within the consolidation of the company’s networks and datacenters. This is explained by the fact that a consolidated network system means that the server architecture has been standardized. Moreover, if the company consolidates its data centers and networks, it reflects that its supply chain is being managed by consolidated software. More significantly, consolidation of the company’s data centers means that the customers are able to access relevant data and through a customer service portal. Conclusion In the light of the above analysis, recommendation and their justification, it is apparent that Berchtold Corporation needs the support of the board of directors in creation of the company intranet as top priority project. This project will ensure that the company’s business functions continue to operate as it tries to solve the wider IT problems which are affecting its performance in the market. The benefits of the company intranet such as enhanced communication, uniformity and interoperability of the platforms and architectures of its information system justify why this project is treated a top priority. The consolidation of the company’s datacenters falls second in scorecard and thus it requires the support of the company’s board of directors. Through the consolidation of the company’s datacenters and networks, the company is able to efficiently achieve its objectives. This is made possible through the standardized server architecture, improved group support systems, creation of a portal for customer self service and implementation of a new supply chain management system or software. The implementation of ERP project is very significant for the company’s endeavor to achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Nonetheless, the ERP project is associated with a risk of possible failure and challenges of high expenses and need for skilled expertise. However, the company needs to adopt and implement an ERP project so that it would achieve its strategic competitive objectives. Referenceas Jeffery, M., 2006, “Berchtold Corporation, Inc. (A): IT Strategy Synchronization”, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Read More