Systems Support for a New Baxter Manufacturing Company Plant in Mexico - Case Study Example

Systems Support for a New Baxter Manufacturing Company Plant in Mexico Systems Support for a New Baxter Manufacturing Company Plant in Mexico 1. What alternative ways of providing systems support in Mexico did Collins consider? Collins considered three different ways through which they could provide systems support to the Mexican plant. The first alternative was to provide a connection of the Mexican plant to the existing system through a high-speed internet line. This approach faced two fundamental problems, which resulted in its rejection. First, the system was in English and second, there was no human resource capital in Mexico to support the system (Brown et al, 2012). The problem of language would have required the entire system to be availed in a Spanish version and this was deemed impractical because of the difficulties in making the translations. The problem with language resulted in the employees working in the American system being incapable of providing support to the system. This would have necessitated the availing of local individuals to provide support to the Mexican plant from there, but since the qualified support staff could not be gotten in Mexico, the alternative was rejected. The second option available to Collins was contracting an Application System Provider (ASP). This provided a better option since the company would not have to invest heavily on computer infrastructure and their support systems. With this approach, the company would have to purchases the application software, but the database support would be provided by the contracted ASP Company (Brown et al., 2012). There were fundamental difficulties in getting providers who could be able to offer this support and when Collins was able to get one, time was running out. Although the provider was capable of providing the system in Spanish, as well as offer customer services in the language, the costs of undertaking this option were relatively high as compared to the other alternatives. While the system could be effective in meeting the specified needs, it was rejected on the basis of the cost of purchasing, maintaining and training employees on its usage. The third and last available option was utilizing a piecemeal solution, which would involve acquisition of software running on the computer within the Mexican plant, and that would be networked through a Local Area Network. This was found as the only viable solution because it was quick and easy to implement, and could easily overcome the language barrier which existed within the company (Davenport, 2013). The solution would provide the essential support to the organizational functions at the beginning before an ERP would be implemented on the entire organization. 2. What were the major issues that Collins faced when deciding what to do about systems support in Mexico? Collins faced fundamental issues in making decisions about the support system. There was a limited timeframe within which he was supposed to deliver an operational support system to enhance the operations and functions of the Mexican plant. Because of the infrastructural development level within the country, getting the right systems support became relatively difficult as there was a limited technological advancement (Brown et al., 2012). When considering the second option of contracting an ASP company, the time factor contributed significantly to his rejection of this action; hence, the subsequent adoption of the approach that was deemed viable based on the time factor among other factors. The implementation of a comprehensive system for providing the essential support to the plant requirements would take time and result in a delay of the commencement of operations (Galegher, Kraut, & Egido, 2014). Another major issue faced was communication barrier, which limited the capability of understanding the services provided by the local organizations. This relatively delayed the process of making decisions since Collins needed to have substantial information before deciding on whether to use a particular approach. While there might have been qualified people in the organization to undertake the support on the company’s system, the existing language challenges became a limitation for Collins to search for such a person. Despite the first option being viable for application, the support for the system would still have to be undertaken from a central location and the existing language problem would eventually become an impediment to the operations of the organization (Davenport, 2013). 3. To what did Collins attribute the difficulties that he had in communicating with the managers in Mexico? There were four fundamental elements that Collins attributed to the development of communication difficulties between him and the managers in Mexico (Brown et al., 2012). First, there was an issue with the language, which the managers spoke. Although they were deemed to be people who could speak English, their level of communication in English was relatively poor. Collins himself did not understand any Spanish. This resulted in meanings of communicated messages not being relayed as desired, consequently leading to increased usage of gestures like nodding. Secondly, the existing cultural perceptions were an impediment to the Mexican managers’ abilities to present their views for consideration. Since Collins was American, the Mexicans considered Americans to be superior to them; hence, they could only take instructions from them. This resulted in all the suggestions provided by the Americans being accepted by the Mexicans, without being challenged or questioned for validation (Galegher et al., 2014). Thirdly, the existing distance between Mexico and America could not enable continuous communications in providing support to the Mexican plant. Continuous monitoring was essential at the beginning and this could only be enhanced through constant visits to the location. The existing distance, however, was disruptive to other operational functions, causing ineffectiveness on the basis of distance between the people. Another cause of difficulty was as a result of the mindset of the Mexican managers, which created a significant difficulty in relaying essential messages to them. The managers were only concerned with beginning operations within the plant and did not show any concern for the systems support being discussed, thus reduced attention and concentration on their part. Without the attention, communication breakdown occurred and no messages could be effectively relayed to the other parties. 4. How should the Mexican plant be provided with systems support for its operations? The Mexican plant should be provided support through approaches that enhance the functional capabilities of the system. The support provided should be aimed at eliminating the challenges that have been observed by the teams. Because of the exiting difficulties faced, a communication driven system support is most suitable (Galegher et al., 2014). The process of providing the system support would promote the undertaking of several activities and functions which include the acquisition and installation of infrastructure to undertake the necessary support services, testing of the infrastructure to ascertain their functional capabilities and ensuring that they are operational before the support team leaves the location. Secondly, the organizations should create a communication line through which the American and the Mexican plants can send messages to each other. This would be critical in ensuring the continuity of communication between the plants. Since support is required on the Mexican plant, any events that occur can be communicated, and the plant in America would be able to monitor the operations being undertaken in Mexico. Sharing of critical information would be enhanced through this communication line. Lastly, the plant should be provided with the essential software applications to support the different functions being undertaken. These may include finances, human resources and the production system monitoring applications that enhance the decision making capabilities of the management. These applications should have a backup support from a different location, and which can monitor and effectively enhance their functioning. This support will be able to ensure that the operations remains under control, and that problems are identified and solved as soon as they occur. References Brown, C. V., DeHayes, D. W., Hoffer, J. A., Martin, E. W., & William C. Perkins. (2012). Systems Support for a New Baxter Manufacturing Company Plant in Mexico. In Managing Information Technology (7th ed., pp. 642–648). New York: Prentice Hall. Davenport, T. H. (2013). Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Boston: Harvard Business School. Galegher, J., Kraut, R. E., & Egido, C. (2014). Intellectual teamwork: Social and technological foundations of cooperative work. New York: Psychology Press.  Read More