Delivering Business Value with IT at Hefty Hardware

“IT is a pain in the neck,” groused Cheryl O’Shea, VP of retail marketing, as she slipped into a seat at the table in the Hefty Hardware executive dining room, next to her colleagues. “It’s all technical mumbo-jumbo when they talk to you and I still don’t know if they have any idea about what we’re trying to accomplish with our Savvy Store program. I keep explaining that we have to improve the customer experience and that we need IT’s help to do this, but they keep talking about infrastructure and bandwidth and technical architecture, which is all their internal stuff and doesn’t relate to what we’re trying to do at all! They have so many processes and reviews that I’m not sure we’ll ever get this project off the ground unless we go outside the company.”

“You’ve got that right,” agreed Glen Vogel, the COO. “I really like my IT account manager, Jenny Henderson. She sits in on all our strategy meetings and seems to really understand our business, but that’s about as far as it goes. By the time we get a project going, my staff are all complaining that the IT people don’t even know some of our basic business functions, like how our warehouses operate. It takes so long to deliver any sort of technology to the field, and when it doesn’t work the way we want it to, they just shrug and tell us to add it to the list for the next release! Are we really getting value for all of the millions that we pour into IT?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s as bad as you both seem to believe,” added Michelle Wright, the CFO. “My EA sings the praises of the help desk and the new ERP system we put in last year. We can now close the books at month-end in 24 hours. Before that, it took days. And I’ve seen the benchmarking reports on our computer operations. We are in the top quartile for reliability and cost-effectiveness for all our hardware and systems. I don’t think we could get IT any cheaper outside the company.” “You are talking ‘apples and oranges’ here,” said Glen. “On one hand, you’re saying that we’re getting good, cheap, reliable computer operations and value for the money we’re spending. On the other hand, we don’t feel IT is contributing to creating new business value for Hefty. They’re really two different things.”

“Yes, they are,” agreed Cheryl. “I’d even agree with you that they do a pretty good job of keeping our systems functioning and preventing viruses and things. At least we’ve never lost any data like some of our competitors. But I don’t see how they’re contributing to executing our business strategy. Surely in this day and age with increased competition, new technologies coming out all over the place, and so many changes in our economy, we should be able to get them to help us be more flexible, not less, and deliver new products and services to our customers quickly!”

The conversation moved on then, but Glen was thoughtful as he walked back to his office after lunch. Truthfully, he only ever thought about IT when it affected him and his area. Like his other colleagues, he found most of his communication with the department, Jenny excepted, to be unintelligible, so he delegated it to his subordinates, unless it absolutely couldn’t be avoided. But Cheryl was right. IT was becoming increasingly important to how the company did its business. Although Hefty’s success was built on its excellent supply chain logistics and the assortment of products in its stores, IT played a huge role in this. To implement Hefty’s new Savvy Store strategy, IT would be critical for ensuring that the products were there when a customer wanted them and that every store associate had the proper information to answer customers’ questions. In Europe, he knew from his travels, IT was front and center in most cutting-edge retail stores. It provided extensive self-service to improve checkout; multichannel access to information inside stores to enable customers to browse an extended product base and better support sales associates assisting customers; and multimedia to engage customers with extended product knowledge. Part of Hefty’s new Savvy Store business strategy was to copy some of these initiatives, hoping to become the first retailer in North America to completely integrate multimedia and digital information into each of its 1,000 stores. They’d spent months at the executive committee meetings working out this new strategic thrust—using information and multimedia to improve the customer experience in a variety of ways and to make it consistent in each of their stores. Now they had to figure out exactly how to execute it, and IT was a key player. The question in Glen’s mind was how could the business and IT work together to deliver on this vision, when IT was essentially operating in its own technical world, which bore very little relationship to the world of business?

Entering his office, with its panoramic view of the downtown core, Glen had an idea. Hefty’s stores operate in a different world than we do at our head office. Wouldn’t it be great to take some of our best IT folks out on the road so they could see what it’s really like in the field? What seems like a good idea here at corporate doesn’t always work out there, and we need to balance our corporate needs with those of our store operations. He remembered going to one of Hefty’s smaller stores in Moose River and seeing how its managers had circumvented the company’s stringent security protocols by writing their passwords on Post-it notes stuck to the store’s only computer terminal.

On his next trip to the field he decided he would take Jenny, along with Cheryl and the Marketing IT Relationship Manager, Paul Rivera, and maybe even invite the CIO, Farzad Mohammed, and a couple of the IT architects. It would be good for them to see what’s actually happening in the stores, he reasoned. Maybe once they do, it will help them understand what we’re trying to accomplish. A few days later, Glen’s emailed invitation had Farzad in a quandary. “He wants to take me and some of my top people—including you—on the road two weeks from now,” he complained to his chief architect, Sergei Grozny. “Maybe I could spare Jenny to go, since she’s Glen’s main contact, but we’re up to our wazoos in alligators trying to put together our strategic IT architecture so we can support their Savvy Stores initiative and half a dozen more ‘top priority’ projects. We’re supposed to present our IT strategy to the steering committee in three weeks!

“I need Paul to work with the architecture team over the next couple of weeks to review our plans and then to work with the master data team to help them outline their information strategy,” said Sergei. “If we don’t have the infrastructure and integrated information in place, there aren’t going to be any Savvy Stores! You can’t send Paul and my core architects off on some boondoggle for a whole week! They’ve all seen a Hefty store. It’s not like they’re going to see anything different.” “You’re right,” agreed Farzad. “Glen’s just going to have to understand that I can’t send five of our top people into the field right now. Maybe in six months after we’ve finished this planning and budget cycle. We’ve got too much work to do now. I’ll send Jenny and maybe that new intern, Joyce Chan, who we’re thinking of hiring. She could use some exposure to the business, and she’s not working on anything critical. I’ll email Jenny and get her to set it up with Glen. She’s so great with these business guys. I don’t know how she does it, but she seems to really get them onside.”

Three hours later, Jenny Henderson arrived back from a refreshing noontime workout to find Farzad’s request in her priority in-box. Oh #*!#*@!, she swore. She had a more finely nuanced understanding of the politics involved in this situation, and she was standing on a land mine for sure. Her business contacts had all known about the invitation, and she knew it was more than a simple request. However, Farzad, having been with the company for only eighteen months, might not recognize the olive branch that it represented, nor the problems that it would cause if he turned down the trip or if he sent a very junior staff member in his place. I have to speak with him about this before I do anything, she concluded, reaching for her jacket.

But just as she swiveled around to go see Farzad, Paul Rivera appeared in her doorway, looking furious. “Got a moment?,” he asked and, not waiting for her answer, plunked himself down in her visitor’s chair. Jenny could almost see the steam coming out of his ears, and his face was beet red. Paul was a great colleague, so mentally putting the “pause” button on her own problems, Jenny replied, “Sure, what’s up?”

“Well, I just got back from the new technology meeting between marketing and our R&D guys, and it was just terrible!” he moaned. “I’ve been trying to get Cheryl and her group to consider doing some experimentation with cell phone promotions—you know, using that new Japanese bar coding system. There are a million things you can do with mobile these days. So she asked me to set up a demonstration of the technology and to have the R&D guys explain what it might do. At first, everyone was really excited. They’d read about these things in magazines and wanted to know more. But our guys kept droning on about 3G, 4G, LTE, and HSPA technology and different types of connectivity and security and how the data move around and how we have to model and architect everything so it all fits together. They had the business guys so confused we never actually got talking about how the technology might be used for marketing and whether it was a good business idea. After about half an hour, everyone just tuned out. I tried to bring it back to the applications we could develop if we just invested a little in the mobile connectivity infrastructure, but by then we were dead in the water. They wouldn’t fund the project because they couldn’t see why customers would want to use mobile in our stores when we had perfectly good cash registers and in-store kiosks! “I despair!” he said dramatically.

“And you know what’s going to happen, don’t you? In a year or so, when everyone else has got mobile apps, they’re going to want us to do something for them yesterday, and we’re going to have to throw some sort of stopgap technology in place to deal with it, and everyone’s going to be complaining that IT isn’t helping the business with what it needs!” Jenny was sympathetic. “Been there, done that, and got the T-shirt,” she laughed wryly. “These tech guys are so brilliant, but they can’t ever seem to connect what they know to what the business thinks it needs. Sometimes, they’re too farsighted and need to just paint the next couple of steps of what could be done, not the ‘flying around in jetpacks vision.’ And sometimes I think they truly don’t understand why the business can’t see how these bits and bytes they’re talking about translate into something that it can use to make money.” She looked at her watch, and Paul got the hint. He stood up. “Thanks for letting me vent,” he said. “You’re a good listener.”

I hope Farzad is, she thought grimly, as she headed down the hall. Or he’s going to be out of here by Thanksgiving. It was a sad truth that CIOs seemed to turn over every two years or so at Hefty. It was almost predictable. A new CEO would come in, and the next thing you knew, the CIO would be history. Or the user satisfaction rate would plummet, or there would be a major application crash, or the executives would complain about how much IT cost, or there would be an expensive new system failure. Whatever it was, IT would always get blamed, and the CIO would be gone. We have some worldclass people in IT, she thought, but everywhere we go in the business, we get a bad rap. And it’s not always our fault.

She remembered the recent CIM project to produce a single customer database for all of Hefty’s divisions: hardware, clothing, sporting goods, and credit. It had seemed to be a straightforward project with lots of ROI, but the infighting between the client divisions had dragged the project (and the costs) out. No one could agree about whose version of the truth they should use, and the divisions had assigned their most junior people to it and insisted on numerous exceptions, workarounds, and enhancements, all of which had rendered the original business case useless. On top of that, the company had undergone a major restructuring in the middle of it, and a lot of the major players had changed. It would be a lot easier for us in IT if the business would get its act together about what it wants from IT, she thought. But just as quickly, she recognized that this was probably an unrealistic goal. A more practical one would be to find ways for business and IT to work collaboratively at all levels. We each hold pieces of the future picture of the business, she mused. We need to figure out a better way to put them together than simply trying to force them to fit.

Knocking on Farzad’s door, she peeked into the window beside it. He seemed lost in thought but smiled when he saw her. “Jenny!” he exclaimed. “I was just thinking about you and the email I sent you. Have you done anything about it yet?” When she shook her head, he gave a sigh of relief. “I was just rethinking my decision about this trip, and I’d like your advice.” Jenny gave her own mental sigh and stepped into the office. “I think we have a problem with the business and we need to fix it—fast,” she said. “I’ve got some ideas, and what to do about the trip is just part of them. Can we talk?” Farzad nodded encouragingly and invited her to sit down. “I agree with you, and I’d like to hear what you have to say. We need to do things differently around here, and I think with your help we can. What did you have in mind?”

Discussion Questions

1. 1. Overall, how effective is the partnership between IT and the business at Hefty Hardware? Identify the shortcomings of both IT and the business.

2. 2. Create a plan for how IT and the business can work collaboratively to deliver the Savvy Store program successfully.

Is there a way to bring consensus and standardize the EMR systems without alienating productive physicians who bring large revenues to the hospital?

How can the dilemma of inefficiency and patient dissatisfaction be prevented?

What steps should the CIO take in the future to prevent these types of issues from occurring again?

Identify two projects in which you have been involved recently.

1. Describe each project briefly and suggest criteria that may have been used to identify the start of the termination phase of each project.

and

2. Give two examples of activities that were performed poorly during the termination phase of either project, and suggest measures that might have been taken to improve the situation.

1. What are the HOME DEPOT firm’s mission and strategy

I need the technical Feasibility and the Operational Feasibility for one recommendation solution .

A few years ago, Ronald Montgomery founded Cultural Learning Experiences (CLE), Inc., a small firm in Chicago that organizes and plans educational trips for faculty and students seeking a unique learning experience abroad. At first, the company focused mainly on organising these educational experiences in France and Switzerland, but as the interest continued to grow, Ronald increased the scope of operations to include many other countries, including Spain, New Zealand, Germany, and others.
Ronald has the help of Isabella Aubel (office manager) and two other employees that help with the day-to-day office tasks. At the present time, the work processes are entirely manual for this organization. With the recent growth in the business, it has become quite challenging for the current workforce to manage all of this manually. Everything is rather disorganized, with many mistakes being made with the recording of important information regarding students and their scheduled classes and locations, for example. Such errors are adding to the existing inefficiencies, thereby creating a work. environment that is stressful and hectic. Even more importantly, customer needs are not being met and customer satisfaction is at an all-time low. It is, therefore, necessary to implement a database solution at the present time. It is important to note that while Ronald intends to eventually automate all business processes, including payroll and accounts payable, the more immediate concern is to make certain that efficiencies in data storage are improved. The database solution should include a user-friendly interface that allows for entry, modification, and deletion of data pertaining to students, teachers, and classes, for example. Additionally, the database solution should be designed to ensure consistency of data entry (formatting) and should include enhanced reporting capabilities. Such functionalities should be considered in order to resolve the problems the company is currently experiencing. The total amount available to fund this project is $65,000. It may be possible to expand this budget, if necessary, but the company is hoping that the project can be completed with the specified amount. The company currently has only two computers, both with the Windows 7 operating system and Microsoft Office Professional 2010 installed. The machine is currently being used for electronic mail communications and simple word processing and spreadsheet tasks. It will be necessary to purchase two additional machines for this office, as Ronald would like all of his employees to have access to the new database management system. Ronald is hoping that this database solution will be instrumental in improving customer relations and employee morale, as both are critical to the continued success and growth of his business. With an automated work process, Ronald knows that efficiencies within the organization will be dramatically improved.
Cultural Learning Experiences, Inc. is essentially the middleman between faculty and students & international opportunities to teach and learn. CLE organises educational trips/programmes for college students (to take) and college professors (to teach/lead) in the USA and across the world.
You have been hired to provide them a mean to keep track of the classes offered in destinations around the world, all of the students who sign up for a particular class, the professors who are teaching specific courses, etc. You have several goals that you want to accomplish with this database. First, you will need to keep track of all the

students –their studentID number, address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. You will need to keep track of faculty members and their contact information as well.
As students register for classes and pay their registration fees, the owners of CLE want to be able to record this information directly in their database. An outside accounting firm handles all of the billing processes. CLE simply provides this firm with a physical copy of a report containing the information necessary for billing. (Your team is responsible for designing this report.) All payments are made directly to CLE. Beyond the recording of whether or not the registration fees have been paid, this system should not be concerned with accounting practices. The recording of all billing and payment details will be handled outside of the boundaries of this system. CLE also outsources the marketing function and provides reports on a regular basis to an outside marketing firm that seeks to inform potential faculty participants of the educational trips that are available through CLE and to increase awareness in general. You should design at least one report that would provide useful information to this marketing firm. (You may make assumptions here.)
CLE would like the database to be password protected. Beyond the creation of these reports, Ronald wants you to focus on making data-entry as easy and efficient as possible for her staff while simultaneously ensuring accuracy of the entries. An organised database, focusing on data-entry and reporting, is essential. (Your team will need to explore various options within Access that will allow for this).

Based upon the materials considered thus far, as well as our engagement over the past six weeks, IDENTIFY and DESCRIBE (list format) FIVE key aspects, concepts, or elements that drive organizational and societal change as it pertains to Information Systems. Include in-text citations

The VP of admissions has a second concern as well.  There are variety of ways to attract students and increase applications.  The university can purchase online advertising, send out traditional mailings, and do in-person recruiting at various functions.  The VP estimates that each online ad will result in 50 new applications, each traditional mailing will result in 30 new applications, and each recruiting event will result in 12 new applications. Online advertising costs $800 per ad, mailings cost $600 each, and in-person recruiting events are quite inexpensive at $150 per appearance.   The university wants to maintain a broad presence, so at least 2 of each form of recruiting is desired.  There are limited personnel available for recruiting, so a maximum of 5 in-person recruiting events can be managed.   At least half of the advertising must be online, as the university president wants to expand enrollments in on-line programs.  The VP has a budget of $8,000.  The VP wants to understand the mathematical problem that must be solved to figure out how many of each type of advertising should be used, and have an Excel file that can solve the problem.  (For convenience, feel free to solve the problem in terms of partial units…i.e. the final answer can be 1.2 online ads, 2.6 mailings, etc.).  How many of each form of outreach should be purchased?

Consider the portfolio of projects described in the table. The resource requirements are in numbers of labor hours. The Greatest Resource Utilization rule would begin work with project:

Options:

A.

B.

C.

D.

R3. 25:

Total Preventive Maintenance is used to watch for which of the following?

1. A. Ensuring quality checks are performed
2. B. Overproduction
3. C. Symptoms of machine failure
4. D. Signs that a part will go out of specification

JCL Inc. is a major chip manufacturing firm that sells its products to computer manufacturers like Dell, HP, and others. In simplified terms, chip making at JCL Inc. involves three basic operations: depositing, patterning, and etching.

• Depositing: Using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, an insulating material is deposited on the wafer surface, forming a thin layer of solid material on the chip.
• Patterning: Photolithography projects a microscopic circuit pattern on the wafer surface, which has a light-sensitive chemical like the emulsion on photographic film. It is repeated many times as each layer of the chip is built.
• Etching: Etching removes selected material from the chip surface to create the device structures.

The following table lists the required processing times and setup times at each of the steps. Assume that the unit of production is a wafer, from which individual chips are cut at a later stage.

Note: A setup can only begin once the batch has arrived at the machine.

(a) What is the process capacity in units per hour with a batch size of 100 wafers?

Answered in a table like:

Deposition units/hr

Patterning units/hr

Etching units/hr

(c) Suppose JCL Inc. came up with a new technology that eliminated the setup time for step 1 (deposition), but increased the processing time to 0.58 minute/unit. What would be the batch size you would choose so as to maximize the overall capacity of the process? (Round your intermediate computations to 2 decimal places. Round your final answer to the nearest whole number.)

Batch size is ___ units?

You are to select 1 business that does not already have a Web site, and develop an Internet strategy for it. Most large corporations already have Web sites, so you may have to think of something on a smaller scale such as a local bike store. Sole proprietorship businesses that provide services like car repair, house cleaning, tax preparation, and that use the Internet and similar services are also good options. You will also consider and describe how the business that you select can use social media to achieve its objectives. Use the Internet and the library to research and analyze markets and competitors.

After selecting a business, you will need to answer the following questions:

• What Internet business model would be appropriate for the company to follow in creating a Web site and why?
• In what ways can the business benefit from a Web site? What functions should it perform for the company (e.g., marketing, sales, customer support, internal communications, etc.)?
• In what other ways might the company use the Internet for its own benefit?
• Prepare functional specifications for the company's use of the Web and the Internet. Include links to and from other sites in your design.
• Prepare a list of technological specifications for implementation (e.g., what hardware and software are necessary to support your design)?

1. Is information systems (IS) performance linked to business performance? Share a specific company example that you feel supports your position.
2. Based on your knowledge, what types of products do not fit well in the E-commerce model? Why?
3. Have you ever been involved in any step of the System development life cycle? If so, what did you learn? If not, how does the system development life cycle impact an organization?

A recommendation report of aimed at your client proposing the most appropriate change intervention from your exploration as a change agent within the organization. Your recommendation as a change agent.

Q. Discussion on how to sustain change in the organization.