Case 4: GE, Dell, Intel, and Others: The Competitive Advantage of Information Technology

Case Study Questions and Answers:

1. Do you agree with the argument made by Nick Carr to support his position that IT no longer gives companies a competitive advantage? Why or why not?

Answer:

I do not agree with Nick Carr, because I think advances in technology have unforeseen benefits in the workplace.

IT is expensive and at first difficult to understand, but if it is used in the capacity for which it was created, it can give huge returns on its investments. For example, how would Wal-Mart be able to stay on top of the market without its complex inventory technology? The use of new software has revolutionized that portion of their business. I agree with Michael Dell that, that blindly attempting to implement IT into your business is not a good strategy, but with careful use and training of a sophisticated IT department, the use of cutting edge technology is more of a necessity than an option.

2. Do you agree with the argument made by the business leaders in this case in support of the competitive advantage that IT can provide to a business? Why or why not?

Answer:

I agree with Michael Dell’s statement, that without the proper use of the equipment, it’s expense outweighs the benefits gained. This is why its so important to put people in positions that are competent in these emerging IT fields. With the advances in technology that are happening everyday, it would be an unwise choice not to capitalize on use of this new software, because when your competitor does, you will be at an obvious disadvantage.

3. What are several ways that IT could provide a competitive advantage to a business? Use some of the companies mentioned in this case as examples. Visit their websites to gather more information to help you answer.

Answer:

The major advancement that continues to help large corporate businesses is increase means of communication. The ability to spread, and share new information at a moments notices helps minimize downtime, and increase efficiency, which means larger profits in the end.

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Case 3: Aviall Inc.: From Failure to Success with Information Technology

Case Study Questions and Answers:

1. Why do you think that Aviall failed in their implementation of an enterprise resource planning system? What could they have done differently?

Answer:

Reasons why Aviall failed would include:

• The ERP system did not support adequately Aviall's business strategies.
• The ERP implemented did not improve the basic operational support system needed be Aviall to provide timely supply chain management.
• The ERP system project did not adequately address the issue of systems integration between applications.
• The implementation of the ERP failed due to inadequate consideration of the magnitude of the project.

What Aviall could have done differently would include the following:

• Project planning through the use of some form of a systematic development process.
• Analysis of the business requirements prior to making decisions about the software to acquire for the ERP system.
• Project management should have been a higher consideration of Aviall.

2. How has information technology brought new business success to Aviall? How did IT change Aviall’s business model?

Answer:

How IT brought new business success for Aviall would include:

• System integrated by using common business databases managed by database software from Sybase, Inc.
• Designing the new combined system to properly access and deal with customized pricing charts for 17,000 customers who receive various types of discounts, and with an inventory of 380,000 different aerospace parts.
• Developing Aviall.com to reduce the cost per order from $9 per transaction to 39 cents.
• Customers are able to transfer their orders from an Excel spreadsheet directly to the web site.
• Customers have access to price and availability information in less thatn five seconds - a real time feature.
• Sales force spends more time developing customer relationships than processing routine orders.
• Aviall can bettermatch production to demand from the IT improvements.

How IT changed Aviall's business model would include:

• Changed Aviall from a catalogbusiness to full-scale logistics business.
• Aviall became a provider of supply chain management services through the integration of a range of Web-enabled e-business software systems.

3. How could other companies use Aviall’s approach to the use of IT to improve their business success? Give several examples.

Answer:

Examples would include:

• Reposition a firm as a supply chain management services provider through Web-enabled e-business software systems.
• Redesign the customer relationship management system to minimize the routine order processing and permit the sales force to focus on product and service development efforts that will grow revenue.

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Case 2: Lufthansa: Taking Mobile Computing to the Skies While Keeping the Mobile Workforce Connected

Case Study Questions And Answers:

1. Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identified in the case similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy? Explain and provide some examples.

Answer:

Yes, the challenges faced by Lufthansa are similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy. Companies need to provide their employees access to work and training outside of the office. Employees also need to be able to continue communicating and working while traveling, which necessitates mobile technology. Other businesses also face challenges such as communicating efficiently between large groups of employees.

2. What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile technologies? Explain.

Answer:

Tangible benefits would include a laptop or other technologies to use for work at home. Also, costs will decrease for the company because they would no longer need to pay for training facilities, paper copies of training manuals, travel and teachers. Intangible benefits would include more productive, time-efficient and overall happier employees that could enjoy a more flexible work environment.

3. Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk and what others might be needed in today’s business environment? Provide some examples.

Answer:

Lufthansa created a list of parameters that notebook PCs needed to meet before purchasing the laptops. They created their own secure network.

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Case 1: The 2004 Athens Olympics Network: Faster, Stronger—and Redundant

Case Study Questions And Answers:

1. Could the 2004 Athens Olympics have been a successwithout all of the networks and backup technologies?

Answer:

Not really a successful one because the major events rely on the said system that Atos Origin developed.

2. The 2004 Olympics is a global business. Can a businesstoday succeed without information technology? Whyor why not?

Answer:

There are businesses that are globally comptetive, but developing an on-line business would help businessmens increase their profit. There are some existing but, they have the difficulties in introducing their products and/or services worldwide.


3. Claude Philipps said dealing with “crazy scenarios ofwhat might happen in every area: a network problem,staff stopped in a traffic jam, a security attack . . . everythingthat might happen,” was the reason for so muchtesting. Can you think of other businesses that wouldrequire “crazy scenario” testing? Explain.

Answer:

Other scenario like a terrorist attack might happen, we cannot predict the minds of the other people. In this case, dealing with it will be so much difficult just like the attack in the tower in New York, its unpredictable. But as long as they deal with it and make solutions to every possibilities would greatly help their system up and running without obstructions.


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