In this case study, an aluminum company is struggling with its information technology (IT) structure. The position of director for IT had been vacant for a year, and Mr. Ouellette has been selected to lead the position. Ouellette discovered that a lot of information systems (IS) were out of date and projects were not being properly supervised from the top down. Without a clear and organized structure, strong leadership, or accountability any company is sure to fail. Ouellette’s ideas in reorganizing the issues within the ALCON IT infrastructure were vital in saving Alcan money and preventing system failure. In addition, there are some recommendations for how a company can identify the best route for improving hardware configurations. First off, the roles and responsibilities for each supervisor was not clearly defined. For example, one of the supervisors that Ouellette worked with did not understand what was expected of him as a department head. So he took it upon himself to manifest his own duty description in order to justify his position. Roles and responsibilities define what each person does in a company. Kumar (2013) states, “In order to effectively manage your staff and meet company objectives, it is important to provide everyone with a clear definition and understanding of their role, function, and responsibilities in the workplace. Failing to define workplace roles and responsibilities can create tension, mis-communication and inefficiency within your business” (Kumar, 2013, ¶. 3). Structure within an organization is critical and can play a significant role in how people are managed. The second part of this case study worked to the company’s advantage. Ouellette’s intent was for the supervisors to understan... ... middle of paper ... ...an1 Case – Part A2, 3. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from https://cdad.trident.edu/Uploads/Presentations/1039509652010007.pdf Dubé, L., Bernier, C., & Roy, V. (2009). Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan1 Case – Part B2, 3. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from https://cdad.trident.edu/Uploads/Presentations/1039569652010008.pdf Duggan, T. (n.d.). How to Develop an Organization Structure. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/develop-organization-structure- 4902.html Glomark & Governan. (2008). ITIL Benefits Benchmarks Study Release. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from http://www.glomark-governan.com/images/ ver_2_ITIL_one_pager.pdf Kumar, K. (2013, May 16). Copy of Human Capital Management. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://prezi.com/yvvo6i_lwlmj/copy-of-human-capital- management/
Do not let any one individual in your IT group become the sole point of failure. Correct assessment; ironically it was a knowledge management system that led to the crash of the network. Succession planning is key ingredient to success for businesses.
Saunders, C. S., & Pearlson, K. E. (2009). Managing and Using Information Systems. John Wiley&Sons, Incorporated.
Every manager wants nothing more than to see their organization succeed and an important part of their organizations succeeding is that their employees are completing their duties to their fullest potential. If for some reason the responsibilities’ of the employees are not getting accomplished, then it is up to the manager/supervisor to step in and resolve the situation. It is stated in the textbook that, “It is the supervisor’s responsibility to ensure that his or her unit meets its goals, ad that means ensuring that employees perform their tasks effectively.” (Werner & DeSimone, Pg. 327).
Upgrading new technology equipment is a challenge even for a skilled IT team. To implement such a task, management should have a subject matter expert (SME) to oversee this upgrade and implementation. Leon Lassiter, VP of marketing, should have no business in the IT technical transition for MSCC. To solve this problem, Lassiter should consult with an IT professional and have them create and assist in the implementation of the desired change. The second problem that I would like to address is having MSCC creating an IT transformation timetable that would include; new system employees training, test trials for new systems, address legacy system issues, and financial cost planning. It would be imperative that MSCC implements an IT transformation timetable that would address issues that were discussed in the problem section. Mr. Lassister needs to contact UNITRAK and have them involved in the implementation of the new systems, as well as to assist in the training of the employees on the new system. The third problem to address is and is transparent throughout the case study is MSCC lacks a good channel of communication. It seems to me that at times management is not on the same page. Because of this, small problems seem to multiply and create bigger issues. To address this issue, it would be prudent that Mr.
The case describes the evolution of IT management at the MNC during the period from 2006. At that time IT governance and the IT function itself were undergoing a complete transformation. The case follows the Vice President of Corporate Information Technology from the time of his arrival at Alcan: his observations on the current state of IT management his appointment to the position of Chief Information Officer and the development of his new strategic plan for IT management. The case presents the main features and challenges of IT management at Alcan up until the middle of 2006. The case reflects on the characteristics implications and challenges represented by IT management in a large global organization.
Top companies need to develop a strong performance anatomy which allows them to continually pursue customer-valued innovations and differentiate from the competitors. And an increasingly important component of this strong performance anatomy is the company’s IT capability which allows a business focussed on high performance to create and act on customer and business insights in real time, create new products and services and transform business models. Likewise a strong and proactive IT governance model is also important which insures that business leaders are involved in planning and aligning IT initiatives with business priorities which is well understood by Accenture. And the company’s IT governance demands are particularly heavy as well being a heavily matrixed organization with five operating groups, 17 focused industry grou...
Another aspect that Cheryl discovered was that was that half of the structure and organization of systems and procedures of the company met the industry standards. The company’s IT department had designed its operations based on the firm’s needs. The IT organization was structured according to internal
Over time, massive investment has made in its technology and information systems to support the strategy on the belief that information played a vital role for such a decentralization structure. The Management Information and Control System were used in collecting useful information and then disseminating back: all affilates have to input their performance results and revised budgets frequently and receive a full report summarizing comparative statistics by ranking their relative performance in return.
Lawrence, P. (2006, December). Frameworks of IT and IS. Lecture presented at the BUAD 683 : Information & Knowledge Management, Orange County Campus, CA.
This paper takes a look at the problem that organizations are having with the way in which new technologies are introduced into their businesses. The problem does not rest with the training packages that accompany the new technology it rest with the poor planning that takes place.
The organization that this paper is depicting has made these sacrifices and currently feeling the effects from no forethought of the long lasting upheavals. The adjustments that were made have made project completion dates shift the right that completion dates are constantly extended. Staff turnover is at the highest level even with the economy is a state of decay. There are two main hardware operating systems, identify as a standard system and a non-standard system. They are independent of each other. The question is asked repeatedly, “Why”? I best answer if have heard is, “Asked the government”.
The assignment research revealed that legacy programs endure due to the risks and expenditures of changing them (Lamb, 2008). Legacy replacement strategies can flop, not only injuring the reliability of the IT unit, but also the livelihoods of management (Lamb, 2008). The efforts and expenses required in system testing and the possibility of a colossal end-user reskilling program can be enormous (Lamb, 2008). Funds for upgrades are challenging to acquire due to the fact IT budgets are split amongst preserving the status quo and delivering modern functionality (Lamb, 2008). ...
Laudon, KC & Laudon, JP 2010, Management Information Systems: Managing the digital firm, 11th Global edn, Pearson Education, Inc, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
My interest in Information Systems Management was drawn when I was working on my final year project at Maharashtra Institute of Technology under the able guidance of the head of the Computer Engineering department. Professor R. K. Bedi’s support provided a much needed boost to my confidence in my programming skills. This new found confidence, in conjunction with the organization management skills I had acquired through active participation in extracurricular activities like “Tesla”, in inter college programming fest, made me realize I wanted to pursue a program that had comprised a blend of both the computer science and management disciplines.
Palvia P., Palvia S. & E. Roche (1996) Global Information Technology and Systems Management. Ivy League Publishing