IT for Management

CASE – 1 Dartmouth College Goes Wireless

1. In what ways is the Wi-Fi technology changing the life of Dartmouth students? Relate your answer to the concept of the digital society.

The college society is changing under the influence of Wi-Fi technology. The college society is enjoying the new and influential network in many ways, but is yet developing constantly improvements how to make the technology even more effective by introducing new programmes and procedures. The wireless technology is accelerating the innovation among the society, resulting emergence of new technologies that the students are developing. Wi-Fi has changed the way the college's professors educate and also how the students are learning. Interactivity has increased students' involvement during the taught courses and using new technology has enabled students “wanting to give answers”. Wireless network has introduced virtual communities, provided on-line entertainment and altered the way the students obtain information – all characteristics of the digital society.

2. Some say that the wireless system will become part of the background of everybody’s life—that the mobile devices are just an afterthought. Explain.

Ans. In the near future companies and societies are introducing increasingly more wireless solutions because they tend to increase productivity by simplifying communication, removing physical obstacles and when installed they are able to serve big masses at the same time. Wireless systems will also replace wired systems and it has already started in a large scale. Some states have even introduced a nation-covering wireless networks for the citizens. The wireless technologies give pressure to the device manufacturers to produce such devices that take advantage of the given wireless technology.

3. Is the system contributing to improved learning, or just adding entertainment that may reduce the time available for studying?

WI-Fi system is impacting positively on both studying itself and increasing entertainment in the network. Actually, partially the increased entertainment is a result of innovations made by the members. Further, new teaching techniques enabled by the new technology motivates students to be active and involved during the courses. People who want to study will study no matter how much entertainment was available.

4. What are the major benefits of the wireless system over the previous wireline one? Do you think wireline systems will disappear from campuses one day? (Do some research on the topic.)

Major benefits of the new technology are numerous. The most obvious one is that the computer and other devices do not need no be physically attached to wirelines anymore. This enables people to use the network where ever in the network area. The second benefit is that both the students and the college's employees learn to use the technology effectively. Innovativeness increases as people try to use the given technology even more effectively. The third benefit for the college, students and the society is that the new teaching methods make students more involved. The involvement will increase the learning intensity and thus the college will produce people with more knowledge to the society.

Wireline systems are old-fashioned and will be replaced by the Wi-Fi in the near future. In many Universities it has already happened entirely and some Universities have applied the new technology partially. Of course, some server units must remain in the network.

CASE – 2 E-Commerce Supports Field Employees at

Maybelline

1.IVR systems are still popular. What advantages do they have over even older systems in which the reps mailed or faxed reports?

IVR systems don’t’ force reps to type their reports in order to mail them or fax. They save them time. To push button instead of typing “Yes” is easier for eyes and fingers in the evening after a long working day.

2.Summarize the advantages of the new system over the IVR one.

Corporate panels and decisions makers can now respond much more quickly because they receive necessary information earlier.

The new system also performs market analysis that enables managers to optimize merchandising and customers service efforts.

It enables managers regardless of where they are to view retail information within the hours of its capture.

The new system provides an opportunity to gather more important information.

The quality of life of Maybelline reps has been greatly improved.

3. Draw the flow of information in the system.

Reps information -> PDA -> Microsoft SQL Server database at headquarters ->

Corporate panels and decision makers

4. The existing technology enables transmission of data any time an employee can access the Internet with a wireline. Technically, the system can be enhanced so that the data can be sent wirelessly from any location as soon as they are entered. Would you recommend a wireless system to Maybelline? Why or why not?

Most of the decisions that Maybelline needs to make are not time sensitive on a day-to-daybasis, so the company does not need the continuous connectivity and added expense of wireless.

In a more volatile market, like the paper industry, the cost would be justified. In that industry,real time pricing and availability is the only way to sustain a competitive advantage, so wirelesswould be very useful. In cosmetics, most women will wait a few days, or go elsewhere to get theproduct, so whilst inventory levels are important, they are not critical.

I would strongly recommend implementing wireless system to Maybelline, because it will speedup an up-to-date information transmission and, as a result, accelerate manager’s reactions to new market situations.

CASE – 3 Precision Buying, Merchandising, and Marketing At Sears

1. What were the drivers of SPRS?

Previous inefficient information system forced to implement SPRS. For example, frequent mismatches between accounting sales figures and information scattered among numerous databases forced users to query multiple systems, even when they needed an answer to a simple query. Summarized data made it difficult to conduct analysis. Finally, errors were virtually inevitable when calculations were based on data from several sources.

2. How did the data warehouse solve Sears’s problems?

Data warehouse united previous 18 old databases in one and includes comprehensive sales data, information on inventory in stores, in transit and so on. Sears now fine-tunes its buying, merchandising and marketing strategies with previously unattainable precision. SPRS allows authorized employees to view necessary information from a multidimensional perspective (by region, district, store, product line and individual item). Sears managers can monitor examine and adjust inventory quantities, merchandising and order placement along with myriad other variables, so they can respond quickly to environmental changes.

3. Why it was beneficial to integrate the customers’ database with SPRS?

The strategic impact of the SPRS-LCI data warehouse is that it offers Sears employees a tool for making better decisions and Sears retailing profit have climbed more than 20% annually since SPRS was implemented.

4. How could RFID change Sears’s operations?

RFID implementation will speed up Sears’s operations and simplify data storage.

CASE – 4 Dollar General Uses Integrated Software

1. Explain why the old, nonintegrated functional system created problems for the company. Be specific.

Old system was not scalable — adding new store or entering new state was a problem. Many things were done manually and concerning the large size of the company, many employees, many stores, etc. that also was the big problem.

2. The new system cost several million dollars. Why, in your opinion, was it necessary to install it?

These inputs are justified and will be reworded in future. The system is scalable, that is very important for such a large company. This system will help the company to save much money in the future, as it saves company from many manually done operations. Using of web-based applications is also a big advantage of that system — you need not to install some additional software to your personal computer to use that system, you can access functions from every computer all over the world via the Internet.

I feel the tendency for our professor not to check the content of our home assignments so I pretty simply borrowed this stuff from Tatyana Mikhailova. My closest plans are to implement this home assignment myself and replace this issue with my own result. The problem is I am not habitual to work from Christmas till New Year so I still had no time for it. But where will be plenty of time for this job from New Year till exam, so if you read this for any reason check soon for new release.

3.Lawson Software Smart Notification Software (lawason.com) is being considered by Dollar General. Find information about the software and write an opinion for adoption or rejection.

“LawsonВ® Smart Notification simplifies the process of reporting, analysis and information dissemination. Smart Notification automatically delivers actionable information and insights to the right people at the right time, empowering them to act quickly and intelligently.

Smart Notification improves employee effectiveness and business performance by proactively monitoring data sources, filtering out the noise and delivering vital, easy-to-understand information to decision-makers at all levels of your organization.” (lawson.com)

In my opinion, Smart Notification can be useful for Dollar General. Filtering of the information is very important for such a large company, which deals with big amount of information. If right people will get information that they need at the right time it would improve decision-making in the company.

4.Another new product of Lawson is Services Automation. Would you recommend it to Dollar General? Why or why not?

“Many internally-focused organizations, such as information technology departments, strive to meet a growing demand for their services even while they contend with a limited supply of human and financial resources. Increasingly, they are also expected to play a more strategic role in the enterprise, directly contributing to the company’s financial performance and competitive position. Lawson Services Automation assists service organizations in overcoming their obstacles, responding to tough questions and meeting or exceeding the goals they’ve set for themselves.” (lawson.com)

To my mind, Lawson Services Automation can be useful for Dollar General´s IT department, as it should operate with a huge amount of information and perform many various functions.

4.The airlines use ADSs for their pricing strategy (pricing and yield optimization). Can they use an ADS for crew management? Why or why not?

Yes.The Crew Duty Assignment(CDA) module provides automatic assignment of dutiesto all flight crews. The system consider work rules, regulatory requirements and crewrequests to produce an optimal monthly crew rosters.So, from the above both system used by Singapore and Malaysia Airlines, we can see thesimilarities in terms of crew accommodations or replacement if any problems occur to the crew, the system will determine the best way to reschedule the different crew members’ rosters and efficiently plan and optimize staff utilization and activities associated withlong term planning or daily operations.

Singapore and Malaysia Airline Expert System IT for Managers, UUM 2006

CASE STUDY 5: Singapore and Malaysia Airline Expert System

1. Why do airlines need optimization systems for crew scheduling? Because airlines fly around the globe, mostly with their native crew. If a crewmember is ill on route, there is a problem of quickly finding a replacement. This is just one example why crew scheduling may be complex, especially when it is subject to regulatory constraints, contract agreements, and crew preferences. Disturbances such as weather conditions, maintenance problems etc., also make crew management difficult. Airlines need optimization systems for crew scheduling to prevent short of staff during operation especially in the foreign port. If it is happen the management have to reposition the crew or calling in backup staff. Thus, it helps to minimize the costs of associated with the crew accommodation and transportation and to efficiently plan and optimize staff utilization and activities associated with long-term planning and daily

operation. It is also provide information such work rules regulation requirement and crew request to produce an optimal monthly crew roster.

2. What role can expert knowledge play in this case? Web-based intelligent systems such as expert systems and neutral computing to manage the company flight crew scheduling and handle disruptions the crew rosters. The important role that plays by expert knowledge is make very accurate decision making for very critical situation that might cause loss of the company and organized proper scheduling roster if uncertain and unexpected circumstances occurred. It can minimize the cost of associated with the crew accommodation and transportation and to efficiently plan and optimize staff utilization and activities associated with long-term planning and daily operation.

3. What are the similarities between the systems in Singapore and Malaysia? The Integrated Crew Management Systems (ICMS) project that implemented in Singapore since 1997 consists three modules: one roster assignment module for cockpit crew, one for the cabin crew, and a crew tracking module. The first two

modules automate the tracking and scheduling of flight crew’s timetable. The second module tracts the positions of the crew and includes and intelligent system that handles crew pattern disruption. In Malaysia Airline, use the same web-base and also call ICMS in 2003, it leverages optimization software from ilog.com. Its Crew Pairing Optimization (CPO) components to ensure compliance with airline regulation, trade union agreements, and company policies. The Crew Duty Assignment (CDA) module provides automatic assignment of duties to all flights crews.

ques 4. (of case study 5) The airlines use ADSs for their pricing strategy (pricing and yield optimization). Can they use an ADS for crew management? Why or why not?

Yes. The Crew Duty Assignment(CDA) module provides automatic assignment of duties to all flight crews. The system consider work rules,

regulatory requirements and crew requests to produce an optimal monthly crew rosters. So, from the above both system used by Singapore and Malaysia Airlines, we can see the similarities in terms of crew accommodations or replacement if any problems occur to thecrew, the system will determine the best way to reschedule the different crew members’rosters and efficiently plan and optimize staff utilization and activities associated with long term planning or daily operations.

MUDEE MATMAN 86035 2