Memorandum - WW Distribution Company - Case Study Example

Memorandum - WW Distribution Company MEMORANDUM The President (WW) Distribution Company SUBJECT: CIO Organization Paper for Wobbly Wheels (WW) Distribution Company Carol’s audit of the existing IT structures throughout the organization has revealed the need to re-organize the functions of this department if the new sets of strategies are to achieve their intended objectives. She visited all terminals, from book keepers to maintenance personnel, revealing of serious lapses that can be corrected under the new outfit that replaces the existing IT department with a competent and functional CIO organization. Leadership Style There appears to be no clear performance benchmarks in the IT department at WW Distribution Company, which explains the lack of clear delivery timelines for ongoing projects. Among the 22 people in the IT department, there is an overlap of roles as was revealed during Carol’s interview with the staff. This calls for the need to change the type of leadership to the department if the new outfit of a CIO organization is to yield intended results. The most appropriate leadership style given the facts is Transactional Leadership. This style has the fundamental concept that; team members agreed to remain obedient to their leader at the time of accepting the job. It follows the principle that the members are paid for their effort and compliance with the rules, failure to which the leader is at liberty to punish (Kippenberger, 2002). It is the right style because it clearly defines everyone’s roles and responsibilities which will bring to an end the present overlap, and rewards performers, so any ambitious member of the team will receive reward for extra effort. The reward system under this style challenges employees to work hard and find a reason to love their jobs. Given the current situation, Transactional leadership will bring new ways of conducting business in the CIO organization and inject fresh energy among employees for optimal productivity. Internal IT strategies The current IT framework at WW appears to be segmented with various systems serving specific areas of the organization. Accurate Financial System serves finance; Mobile Application is intended for sales staff, route optimization and freight checking system for operations and dispatch with fleet maintenance system meant for scheduling routine and preventative repairs. The fragmented aspect of this system implies that IT support staff is needed at each terminal with six support people currently offering support at the present six terminals, one per location. This has left few members of the team to handle development of new systems, carryout routine system security checks and keep tab with the new financial system. To ensure WW becomes a CIO organization, these systems must be merged so that on a single platform, all the departments can be served. The fragmentation is presently responsible for the poor coordination between operations and fleet maintenance that has clearly strained the maintenance department because of uncertainties around equipment available when it’s time for repairs. Having one system with functional parts that meet the unique needs of all the departments at WWW while sharing a common database that coordinates operations and reporting in the back end, will not only ensure information accuracy, but also ease the generation of relevant management reports. Since money has been spent on the financial system and there is ongoing work on the mobile application for sales team, a software engineering expert should be contracted to offer consultancy services on how these fragmented sections of the system can be merged. This will come with some cost and given the strained budget situation, may not be popular with many, will clearly lead to a reduction in operation costs and better coordination. The end result will be a seamless service package and more revenue. Current and new organization structures The current organization of the IT department has the CIO at the top with no clear structures in between since staff are scattered between supporting terminals, the new finance system and working on new projects. This structure must be demolished for a more accountable system that measure individual staff efficiency. The support staffs at terminals, for example, do not have clear performance measurement parameters, which may lead to their underutilization. A new structure must, therefore, be adopted as follows: At the helm will be the CIO, Carol, who will only have one assistant. The rest of her support staff can be re-deployed to other areas with the IT department based on their skill-set. There will be the position of; Head of Projects. This individual will set delivery timelines and coordinate new system development projects. He will be responsible for selecting who among the 22 employees in the new department are responsible for writing new software, how the new systems will be merged into the larger organizational frameworks. This function will be performed under close supervision of the CIO-Carol, and she will help in evaluating who among the available employees are suitable for which project based on their skill set. She has the liberty to replace if the skills are not commensurate to the task at hand. Head of the support department; this individual will work with the IT support team to help all aspects of WW’s operations. From coordinating with the sales staff through their app, to ensuring that the terminals are efficient through their web portals, the support team will see that all aspects of operations are covered. They will be charged with guaranteeing that all aspects of the systems from servers, finance to maintenance are fully operational. The head of this department will answer directly to the CIO and has the liberty to select from the available staffs, who takes support responsibility for which department. Having a clear segmentation of roles with people responsible for each department will ensure accountability and proper use of the available human resource. An explanation of how the new organization will differ from the current one The new organization will have significant dissimilarity from the present setup in the following aspects: 1. An integrated single online platform for all departments – having one online platform that synchronizes the activities of all departments will be a major step away from the current operations at WW Distribution Company. The system will centralize all the It functions and make it much easier to detect problem areas for quick redress. If the dispatch department has a system problem, it will be much easier to isolate the challenges and identify the source of the problem. The quick identification and response mechanism under an integrated system means that other related departments can be notified in proper time to ensure the desired customer service are upheld through timely communication 2. Centralized support - Support will come from one team, which makes consultation among the support personnel much easier. Presently, if one terminal has an IT problem, then coordination must involve the physical movement of other support staff to the location with the problem. This not only consumes valuable time, but also leads to staff deficiency in other terminals. Centralizing support function will save on travel time and enhance interdepartmental coordination. 3. Coordinated departmental functions – With centralized support and a single integrated system, the current problems of operations and maintenance will be avoided because all will know interdepartmental happenings in real time and work together better. Sharing knowledge between dispatch and storage on available space will be enhanced. 4. Performance measuring and reward/punishment – Effort will be measured and rewards given. Identifying top and poor performers will be much easier under the new system unlike the present scenario where there is none. Key services to be provided by the new CIO organization The following will be WW’s service menu: Transportation and distribution- This is the company’s core business and will continue to be provided in a more efficient manner given the new changes. Provision of warehousing services- This new segment will help customers who would like to store their goods to reduce delivery time by receiving space close to their intended destinations ahead of the delivery dates. Provision of freight tracking services -The efficient freight tracking service to be developed under the new outfit can be open to other customer organizations that may require the same for their internal use at a fee. These companies should not be competitors. Equipment maintenance and repairs – The maintenance department is the least utilized at WW because they only service equipments during weekends. The proposal is to open the department up to external customers seeking to have their trucks serviced so that this department can be engaged 100 percent. Having them work on other equipments during week days will open up a new revenue stream for the company with no extra investment. This is a sure way of using efficiency to create new opportunities and improve profitability. Milestones for making the necessary changes Completion of on going projects- Completion of the mobile Application, Accurate finacials and the management reporting system are pivotal landmarks to the transformation of WW from its current state to a CIO organization. It is important that these projects be completed as scheduled, and any reason for their extension shuld be a voided if the new system is to be seen to work Hiring a consultant to oversee system integration – Once the on-going projects are complete, a consultant should be hired to oversee their integration. This will be an important step in achieving the CIO organization objectives. Creation of new structures- With the system fully integrated, structures as proposed above should be created and people with matching skills either promoted or hired to fill them up. Reassignment of IT staff- With departmental heads in place under the new structure, interviews should be conducted with a clear skill evaluation so that IT staffs are reassigned in line with their capabilities. This will set ground for great performance as intended by the CIO organization. Training of departmental staff on the new system – Now that an integrated system is in place, and IT staff reassigned, other members of staff should be trained to understand the new framework. Training is a continuous process, but this scenario represents transitional training where members of staff are upgraded to meet the new system demands. The old system will still be kept during transition to ensure serve provision is not broken as a result of the change. Having this transformation will not only see efficiency and significant change in service delivery standards, but will also open up new revenue streams to the profitability of WW distribution Company. It is my belief that these recommendations will be found not only practical, but also acceptable in line with the specific growth objectives. Reference DuFrene, C. L. (2010). Business Communication. Mason Ohio: Cengage Learning. Page 395 Kippenberger, T. (2002). Leadership Styles. Chichester: Capstone Pub. Read More