IMT - Case Study Example

Case Study: Selection of an Information Technology Platform Question The assignment which was given to Browning was notan easy one. However, it was a necessary task in terms of development and sustainability of the company as a subsidiary of International Machine & Tools. Browning had been asked to investigate and come up with appropriate recommendations that would help the company achieve this. IMT was a combination of several companies working with decentralized leadership structures and models in various geographic locations. These companies were further divided into two with cost and R& D separating them. Due to this, he was walking in a hornet’s nest and any single approach from the four options he came up with may have had detrimental impact on the performance of the company if not cautiously implemented. In general, he did a great job when it comes to the understanding of the tasks as well as the prevailing environment in the companies. He also strived to be honest with June, his superior, in his feedback and recommendations.
Question 2
CMCI’s statement is not inspiring enough. A mission statement should not come out as an old novel which lacks both sense of direction and purpose (Neto 24). However, after reading Fort Wayne MIS Directions and Objectives Statement, more light is provided on the direction the company was heading to. The latter talks about the company being structured and with some reasonable level of risk taking. Considering the difference in timelines when the two were written, they can both be said to combine well in giving some form of common management tool. The two statements appear to addressing the same issues with the organizational set up. It is worth pointing out that reading Fort Wayne MIS Directions and Objectives Statement maps it out more clearly than CMCI’s statement which has limited vision and is not comprehensive.
Question 3
Over the last five years, CMCI has been experiencing several developments. This is in terms of expansion through acquisitions. In order to reach out to a larger market. The business has acquire several businesses both within and outside USA. In all these entities, the leadership and the management structures have remained decentralized. This expansion and leadership structures will for sure impact on the overall system architecture of the Fort Wayne Plant.
Question 4
Four options were suggested. The first one was the centralized computing. This involved relying on single networks within each of the companies. The advantage of this proposal is that it allows the company to have more control over its operations (Khosrowpour 53). The shortcoming is that it gives the mother company limited control over the holdings. The second option is work station computing and it gives the company more control (Papp 106). However, it requires a shift from current company servers hence extra costs. The third option was cloud computing. This alternative allows the company to get outside professional services. However, extra cost will be incurred. The final option is watching carefully. This route allows the business to study the environment and react accordingly. The shortcoming is that it may prove to be very dangerous as operations may not be synchronized (Chew 21).
Question 5
Base on the operations at CMIC and the subsidiaries, the four options given by Browning were exhaustive as they took all the factors into consideration.
Works Cited
Chew, Eng. Information Technology Strategy and Management: Best Practices: Best Practices. New York: IGI Global, 2012.Print.
Khosrowpour, Mehdi. Cases on Information Technology and Business Process Reengineering. London: IGI Global, 2006.Print.
Papp, Raymond. Strategic Information Technology: Opportunities for Competitive Advantage. London: IGI Global, 2013.Print.
Neto, Francisco. Technology Platform Innovations and Forthcoming Trends in Ubiquitous Learning. Hershey: IGI Global, 2011.Print. Read More