Managing Information Systems - Case Study Example

Managing Information Systems Information Technology (IT) products and services are having optimum applications and uses in many ‘spheres’ of human lives, particularly in organizations or business. From carrying out simple operations to high level advanced ones, IT and its related products has become a ubiquitous entity in organizations. “It is largely discussed in the literature that IT role in organisations can vary from simple administrative support to a strategic position (Henderson and Venkatraman, qtd. in Laurindo and Moraes). Because of this strategic and beneficial role of IT, many organisations from major corporations to Small Medium Enterprises (SME) are incorporating IT in every aspect of their functioning. By installing the relevant IT related hardwares and softwares, organisations can make all its processes efficient as well as effective. Because of this optimum utility of IT, Individual blinds, a small company owned by Mrs. Anderson and which is making roller blinds for clients in a county town, wants to actualize a computerised information system. Objective of the information system Individual blinds is a small company with limited resources both from the infrastructural sense as well as the human resources sense. So, Mrs Anderson, the own-manager, makes home visits to potential clients to discuss their design needs. Although, home visits could help provide the clients with personalized services, it delays the completion of the entire business transaction. Individual Blind’s business transaction starts with in-person collection of details about the design and measurements of the needed blind, then sourcing of materials to make the blind and ends with the fitting of the finished blind. “…time between Mrs Anderson’s first visit to the client and the blinds being fitted in the client’s home is too long.” (Case Study). Only if this long process is completed quickly, the organisation can become more efficient and importantly can bring in more clients. There is high number of prospective clients for blinds, but with one business transaction taking such a long time; it is not possible to cater them all. Also, apart from Mrs. Anderson, Individual Blind does not have employees to make more home visits and bring in a lot more clients. This need to cut down the time for each business transaction necessitates the introduction of computerised or IT system. More importantly, many windows are having standard sizes and so it is possible to classify the jobs into fabric types and standard sizes. That is, with standardization in sizes and fabric, IT based channel for communicating with the client can be implemented, reducing the turnaround times. This can bring in more customers and thereby optimize efficiency, reducing costs and increasing profits. So, there are valid and clear justifications to actualize an IT system. From these justifications, it is clear that the objectives to implement system are standardization, reduction in turnaround times and accentuation of client base and the resultant profits. Questions and justifications during the various phases of the project initiation and system development Among the three above mentioned objectives, if the first objective of reduction in turnaround times is achieved, then it would be easier to achieve the other two objectives, or the other objectives will get actualized automatically. With reduction in turnaround time being the crucial thing, appropriate IT options has to be found out. That is, what are the IT options that can bring down the turnaround times or reduce the long business transaction process? In the first phase of the 9 point planning system, Project Initiation, the user and the implementer of the IT system will discuss the objectives of the information system and how can they be matched with the organisational goals. The main process that increases the turnaround time is the long time gap between the actual taking of measurements and designs by Mrs. Anderson, and the start of the stitching process. After Mrs. Anderson takes in-person measurements, she has travel all the way back to the office to give that information to the senior designer, who again takes time to come up with the cost estimates and delivery. Then, the estimate is sent in a written form, most probably by mail, which again consumes a lot of time. Only after the prospective client gives the go-ahead, which again depends on their necessity and convenience, the materials will be purchased and stitching begins. So, the question that arises is, how this particular time consuming part of the whole process can be reduced with the aid of IT applications. Today’s businesses could not survive, let alone compete without appropriately well designed, streamlined and well implemented IT systems (Marshall, McKay and Prananto 2004). If this particular part of business transaction is made quicker, and importantly with this quickness all other orders are taken in bulk, the designer can order materials in bulk quantities. That is, if Mrs Anderson gets to know the details about the availabilities of raw materials, suppliers’ delivery times and costs, machinists workloads, their skills and availability, without coming to the office, while on the move, she can approach more clients and thereby take bulk orders. (Bedward and Stredwick 2003). In that way, materials can also be ordered in bulk quantities, thereby ensuring continuous work and productivity. The delivery of materials takes around two weeks, and so if the designer orders bulk quantities, materials will be available all the time and the machinists can work continuously, without any stoppage. So, to quicken the process of order taking and the commencement of stitching, apt IT solutions need to be implemented, after doing the requirement analysis. Requirement analysis followed by System design is a key thing because even if the customer is provided with an outstanding product, it may not guarantee success unless that product is user friendly, meets users’ requirements and importantly fulfils organisational objectives. Denis et al. (2002), Fennell and Warnecke (1988) and Ferlie et al. (2001) taking organisational perspective stated that compatibility with organisational targets norms, values, and ways of working is an additional determinant of successful assimilation of technology. The other question that arises is, even while this system aids Mrs. Anderson to make quick orders, how much it will further aid the senior designer. The fact is, both the work of Mrs. Anderson and that of the senior designer is interrelated. If each one is able to collect apt details, then they can make other one’s work easier. The senior designer needs to know the clients’ details, their preferences about fabric and size, availabilities of raw materials as well as labour, costs of materials, and finally labour work schedules(Bedward and Stredwick 2003). Finally, the other key participant, who can bring in clients as well as fulfil clients’ expectations, thereby increasing profits, is Joanne Anderson, the owner’s daughter, who is responsible for all the company finances. If a paper less environment with the aid of IT is created, then she can prepare invoices to the clients, pays the wages, settle the accounts, etc. in a quick and optimal manner. Fitter can also be given IT support to help him find the client’s details more clearly. So, the basic question is what type of IT support systems can be implemented to fulfil the work requirements of the key participants. Systems development process In todays environment, information and technology have become a critical component of successful businesses and organisations (Avison and Fitzgerald 2003). The key process of system development is system design. To develop the system, a design idea has to be first formulated and for that all the users including Mrs. Anderson, senior designer, Joanne and the fitter has to be given various IT options, thus constituting under the theory Diffusion of Innovations. Diffusion focuses on how, why, and also at what rate new technology spread through a social system like organisations. Rogers (2003) defined the social system as “a set of interrelated units engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal” (Roger 2003, p. 23). Thus, all the users have to work in cohesion to make the diffusion of IT successful. First, the relevant technical aspects particularly the hardware and the software details should be provided. Although, the users might take long to understand the technical aspects and which in turn could delay the designing, it would be better if the users understands all the details. In Individual Blinds, users might need hardwares like personal desktop computers, laptops and if financially feasible database servers, as well as those needed for internet connection like modems, particularly USB modems. Apart from these hardwares, information regarding the softwares including operating systems, data feeding and analysis softwares, accounting related softwares, etc should be provided to the users. Once, the needed hardwares and softwares are selected, the System Build phase has to be started. In this phase, the participation of the users is minimal, with the experts involved in the building of the system. The involvement of users at this stage might not even prove advantageous because they cannot design the system (Lapiedra, Alegre & Chiva 2006). So, experts should build the system, with the users providing inputs about their physical and logistical restrictions only. For example, with Mrs. Anderson always on the move, system has to be designed with laptop and USB modem to enable her to connect with the office from the client home itself. The next step in IT system development is, System Integration and Testing in which the users will be given apt training about both the hardware and software components, so that they can integrate it, into their functioning and in the process testing its usability. In Individual Blinds, all the three main users, Mrs. Anderson, Senior Designer and Joanne could or could not have knowledge and experience about the various hardware and software components. However, Slyke (1998) states that an individual even if he/she have technical education, will not be able to use technology in his/her workplace with training. They need to be trained on how to use the technology effectively in their work place (Spotts 1999). So, based on each user’s current understanding or needs, separate training can be given to each of them on how to aptly and optimally use the IT system. For Mrs. Anderson, training can be given on how to use the laptop, its’ OS and other softwares, and importantly how to connect to the office’s database server or the senior designer’s computer. For the senior designer, training can be given to use the PC and how to input the client’s order details and collected details from the machinists. In the case of Joanne, training can be given on how to operate accounting softwares to come with invoices and other account management functions. Steps to test the system Once the system is developed and incorporated into the users’ functioning, as part of User-acceptance phase, and System-implementation and handover phase, the system can be tested whether it is meeting their requirements and fulfilling the objectives. Henderson and Venkatraman (1999) state, that inability to realise value from IT investments is in part due to lack of alignment between business and IT strategies of organisations (Bricknall et. al. 2007). In Individual Blinds case, the main objective is quick turnaround time and this objective can be achieved by giving Mrs. Anderson a laptop with wireless internet connection. By taking a laptop during home visits and connecting to the office’s database or designer’s computer through networking with USB modem, she can get and send all the details from sizes and fabric to the designer immediately. Also, with standardization in window sizes and fabric, Mrs. Anderson can just feed the details without need for any manual measuring in a quick manner, and can move on to the next set of clients. Importantly, with the designer making available other details like fabric availability, machinist’s work schedule as well as cost estimate, Mrs. Anderson can provide the clients delivery date plus the costs then itself, as well as immediately giving the go ahead for the machinist to start the stitching process. This way, the earlier time consuming practice of sending the written estimate from the office, and waiting for the client’s reply to start the stitching can be totally avoided. Sahin (2006) states that innovation based decision taken by an influential individual could persuade the others in the group also to take the same decision. The designer from her computer can send the relevant details to the machinist, even while ordering the materials from the suppliers. As mentioned earlier, if the process of taking orders and the commencement of stitching is quickened, correct flow of materials can be actualized. Then, Joanne herself can access the cost details from the designer’s computer or office servers to prepare the invoices and can maintain correct sales records. Conclusion and recommendation The phases of System Review, Amendment and Maintenance and Evaluation can be carried out to test whether the currently running system is fulfilling the requirements. After this evaluation, if Mrs. Anderson thinks that they need to bring in more clients through other avenues apart from the home visits, they can open a company website, with options for the clients to order online. As the business of making and installing blinds maximally needs personalized care, most of the prospective clients will expect home visits. Even then, others may prefer accessing the company’s websites, see the various featured designs and fabric options, then select the standard sizes and make the order. For that, company website has to be designed and made available on the net. Robust information management architecture can be created to provide a solid foundation for the next generation of web services and portal applications (Applegate, Austin and McFarlan 2003). Based on financial feasibility, Individual Blinds can also include this website option as part of its computerised system. This option can reduce the turnaround times maximally, as there is no need for Mrs. Anderson to visit the client’s home, and importantly can bring in more clients from other counties as well. IT is critically important in today’s business world for Individual Blinds as it can optimally improve its organisational efficiency and effectiveness, as expected by Mrs. Anderson. Efficiency can be improved as IT can help in the apt use of resources, while effectiveness can be accentuated as the goals and objectives can be achieved with fullest satisfaction from the clients. References Applegate, LM, Austin, RD and McFarlan, FW 2003, Corporate information, strategy and management, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York. Avison D. E. & Fitzgerald, G., 2003, Information Systems Development: methodologies, techniques and tools, Paperback Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. Bedward, D and Stredwick, J 2003, Managing information: core management, Butterworth- Heinemann, London. Bricknall, R., Darrell, G., Nilsson, H and Pessi, K2007, Aligning IT Strategy with Business Strategy through the Balanced Scorecard, Proceedings of the 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, viewed on November 27, 2010 http://www.itu.dk/iris29/IRIS29/13-1.pdf Denis, JL., Hebert, Y., Langley, A., Lozeau, D and Trottier, LH 2002, Explaining Diffusion patterns for Complex Health Care Innovations. Health Care Management Review, vol.27, no.3, pp.60–73. Fennell, ML and Warnecke, RB 1988, The Diffusion of Medical Innovations: An Applied Network Analysis, Plenum, New York. Ferlie, E., Gabbay, J., Fitzgerald, L., Locock, L., and Dopson, s 2001, “Evidence- Based Medicine and Organisational Change”, In Organisational Behaviour and Organisational Studies in Health Care, ed. by L. Ashburner, Palgrave, Basingstoke. Lapiedra, R., Alegre, J and Chiva, R 2006, ‘User participation on the development of information systems’, European and Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (EMCIS), viewed on October 21, 2010 http://www.iseing.org/emcis/EMCIS2006/Proceedings/ Contributions/C108/CRC/Alicante.pdf Laurindo, FB. and Moraes, RO 2006, Processes for Ex-ante Evaluation of IT Projects case Studies in Brazilian Companies, Cited in Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, vol. 3. Marshall, P, McKay, J and Prananto, A 2004, A Process Model of Business Value Creation from IT investments, ACIS, London. Rogers, EM 2003, Diffusion of innovations, 5th ed., Free Press, New York Sahin, I 2006, Detailed Review of Rogers Diffusion of Innovation theory and educational technology - Related Studies based on Rogers theory, The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, vol.5, no.2 Slyke, CV 1998, Technology cluster innovations: impacts of adding a technology to an existing cluster, Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, Tampa . Spotts, TH 1999, Discriminating factors in faculty use of instructional technology in higher education, Educational Technology & Society, vol.2, no.4, pp.92-99 Read More