The environment at Lenox is not one that promotes technology – thereby affecting IT system performance. All three top executives are negligent. Sullivan herself fails to realize the magnitude of her role. She fails to set up a multi-methodological approach to ensure that the information competencies are all tightly identified, described, and then looked at in an organizational context by the management team. A more organized method may have benefitted the CEO with realizing the relationship between IT and business competencies. The CIO fails to successfully align (or maintain mutual alignment between) herself with (and) department heads that need to be involved at various levels, causing delays in acquiring necessary data to input and test …show more content…
He has excessive expectations of Sullivan. If computers have always been a weakness, then what is the company’s attitude toward technology? The CEO errs in diagnosing the problem as solely IT related, instead of looking to the company’s business leaders too. An IT system alone is not significant unless it becomes more broadly applicable - an integral part of an overall work system of selling the product or service using business competencies. The problem at Lenox is beyond the scope of IT and overlaps into other departments. Only then can a new IT system “deliver” and achieve maximum impact for the …show more content…
Request a meeting with the management team, put together a presentation outlining a strategy going forward, defining IT responsibility and contribution, and developing information competencies and their elements. This information is then distributed throughout the company. Reevaluate organization structure by requesting to report directly to the CEO for strategic guidance, and together, monitor the new system and make changes accordingly.
Tomorrow: Work with top executives to create a vision that everyone fully understands, and help accelerate the delivery of the systems that affect earnings and put Lenox ahead of the competition. Improve communication - Sullivan needs to meet and ally herself with all departments that need to be involved, such as field operations, sales and marketing, and distinctly point out that the responsibilities for obtaining value from IT investments are well beyond the IT department. For a company to have these capabilities, it is critical to involve a coordination and combination from multiple departments, as well as the management team. She needs the support of those who have the influence, resources, and knowledge to make sure the new distribution system is effective. Schedule regular leadership meetings to facilitate
As a CEO I would want my company to be up to date in all aspects of technology so that we aren’t left behind. It seems that Atkins, the CFO, may have an old school way of thinking and wants to leave things as they are in working order. Atkins has the best interest of the company but will need to rethink certain things and accept that technology is a way of the future, and will not be going away. Vargo needs to identify that Devereaux is a risk taker, even at the expense of the company. Peterson, the Vice President of property and casualty, has said that the underwriters think that there’s too much judgment involved with their job, so the expert systems may not cut. The employees saying this may be valid reasoning, or a plea to keep from losing their jobs to artificial intelligence. More testing will be needed before the expert systems is fully in place.
This book details the “adventures” of Jim Barton, the head of Loan Operations for IVK, Inc. Barton was the head of Loan Operations until his boss, CEO Carl Williams, asks him to become the CIO in order to help turn the IT department around. The only disadvantage is that Jim does not have any kind of background or extensive knowledge of IT.
The current economic downfall has forced many organizations to strategically restructure and downsize. Broadway Brokers is not immune to these economic challenges and has been faced with competition from discount brokers and Internet brokerage services. Broadway Brokers position of holding the largest market share has been jeopardized by their slow reaction to the shifting changes within the industry. Broadway Brokers staff possessed strong selling and interpersonal skills however lacked in their knowledge of the high tech skills that had been inundating the market. The organizations lack of adapting to new technology and their absorbent overhead was threatening their profitability. The organization was faced with the need to restructure, consolidate, and implement employee layoffs in order to remain competitive with the current financial climate. Rumors of impending office consolidations and staff layoffs had existed for some time. However, the CEO commentary in a Financial Times article confirmed such gossip. In fact, decisions had already been made by top management to enact a structural plan that would severely curtail offices, close offices, and reduce the level of employees across the organization. Top management was firmly fixed upon downsizing and consolidation and was now relying on its management staff to come up with a plan to implement a transition. A dozen of the company’s most respected managers – everyone from assistant vice presidents to managing directors were join together to devise a plan for change (Jick & Peiperl 2003).
Bolman and Deal organize their book around the idea of framing, and they give many metaphors, examples, and comparisons in defining this approach. It is compared to a paradigm or a map, a mind-set or a general approach to problem solving. Managers work best, they claim, when they use a holistic approach, reframing problems in four different categories: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. Leading a complex organization requires artistry to combine these approaches as well as an embrace of uncertainty. The best management needs a commitment not only to excellence but also to flexibility, dialogue, and open-mindedness. In this paper, I shall examine the general topic of technology through Bolman and Deal’s four frames, demonstrating how a manager can consider and implement technology in multiple ways.
In the fall of 2001, business software pioneer Thomas M. Siebel was giddy as he looked ahead. Sure, the recession was hurting. But he claimed his company, Siebel Systems Inc. -- the leader in software for managing sales forces and customer-service departments -- would be more resilient than its competitors. ``Everybody is going to be naked,'' Siebel said with relish. ``We're going to find out who are the dilettantes. We're going to find out who are the scumbags, and who are the sleazeballs. Everybody is going to be exposed for who they are. It's going to be a remarkable time.'' Two months later, he confidently predicted that the high-tech downturn was about to end. He could be certain, he said, because of the forecasting capabilities in his own software. Well, both Tom Siebel and his software get failing grades for prognostication. The tech industry is still mired in slow growth, and Siebel Systems, software's highest flier in the go-go '90s, has tumbled farther than its ``dilettante'' rivals. Revenues last year tumbled 22%, to $1.6 billion, compared with a drop of only 2% for the overall corporate-applications-software industry. In the first quarter, Siebel's revenues dropped 30%, to $333 million. Siebel's stock price, at $8.50, is off a staggering 94% from its peak in 2000 of $119. It wasn't just the economy that hobbled Siebel Systems. A 2001 product upgrade was so difficult to install that customers were reluctant to buy it. The company's reputation suffered from bad publicity about its customer-satisfaction record. And it lost ground to corporate-applications leader SAP. In 2002, Siebel Systems' share of the customer-management market it helped pioneer slipped from 29% to 23%, according to Gartner Dataquest. No. 2 SAP gained ...
These recommendations below would be the first step to get information governance going. • Create a vision to drive change • Convene a steering committee • Consider all functions of the information life cycle • Conduct assessment to determine the current state of control for defined
It’s very important for the organizational leaders to be transparent and disclose as much relevant information as possible to show the team that they are an integral part of the process. Next, Department heads will be trained first so that they fully understand the new system in order to help answer existing questions and to work with the systems integrator on the organization specific issue which may come up in future employee level trainings. These department heads would also choose a senior team member in their department, preferably those with a longer tenure, to be partnered with the system integrator assigned to deliver the training to
“When technology is seen as a combination of devices, skills, and organizational structures, it becomes natural to think of it as a system.”
As CEO of the Andrews Company, my responsibilities were to operate my company in all fields including Marketing, R&D, financing and Production. As CEO, I followed certain steps to the of best my knowledge in order to ensure the success of each department and company as a whole. In the process of utilizing every skill possible, products were introduced to meet the demand of my Niche Cost Leader Strategy. My requirement for utilizing the Niche Cost Leader Strategy was for my company to focus on the traditional and low-end segments by automating in mass production in order to keep costs down for my company. My company’s agenda was not to compete with the latest technology advancements but to focus more on cost savings that will in terms provide
Nicholas G. Carr is a famous American essayist who has written many books and articles about the social, economic, and work implications of technology. He is the author of the article "IT Doesn't Matter" and the well-known book “Does IT matter?” Carr’s point of view is that the power of the information technology has decreased for all businesses to build competitive edge while its use is becoming more and more commonplace.
To further shore up his "IT as commodity" theory, Carr cites the fact that major technology vendors, such as Microsoft and IBM, are positioning themselves as "IT utilities," companies that control the provision of business applications over "the grid." Couple this IT-as-utility trend with the rapidly decreasing cost of processing power, data storage and transmission, and even the most "cutting-edge IT capabilities quickly become available to all."
The first step is to meet with corporate and discuss the overall goal of the company to ensure that the changes being made to the department are in line with the goals of the corporation. Information from this meeting with corporate will be communicated with management within my department and we will use this information to develop new policies and procedures. This information will also be helpful in developing new products and new marketing campaigns. New products are going to be a crucial part of turning the department around, product development will not only show the company that our department can contribute fresh ideas but that it can also make money for the company. The goal of my plan is to make this department a profitable asset for the company, which will increase corporate funding for the department, and this is the first step towards this goal.
Remove barriers: If follow these steps and reach this point in the change process, and will discuss the vision and build the support of all levels of the organization. The Organization shall review the organizational structure, job descriptions, compensation and performance systems to ensure they are in line with this vision. Create urgency for change to occur, it is useful if the whole society really wants. Develop a sense of urgency about the need for change. This can help the company Alphabet Games spark of motivation to get things moving. It will help to identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in the future. It also examines
Journey from an “Order-Taker” to “Next-Generation Demand Management”: Cooper lead the IS organization through this change from a mere order taker to building the solution together with the business managers. The relationship managers that were inserted in the business ...
N.A. Leadership. expertise.com. Current and Future Challenges: The Chief Information Officer Mastering the power of information. Retrieved Feb 2 2011 from http://www. leadershipexpertise.com/ resources/ CIO%20Current%20 and%20Future%20 Challenges.pdf.