Before 2000, there was a problem known as The Year 2000 (Y2K) facing the computer-related functions, which was the abbreviation of a four-digit year into two digits. Since Delta have to fix this issues, Mullin convinced Feld to take on the role of CIO at Delta until January 1,2000. Mullin and Feld committed to not only fix the Y2K issue, but to restore the Information Technology as a strategic tool in Delta.
To lead the organizational transformation centered on the assumption of information in real time they created a small team that includes the senior executives- the chief financial officer, the executive vice president of customer service, and the head of airline operations (Wiell & Ross, 2004). The executive team was known by the name Information Technology Board. As one of the IT Board most important responsibilities in order to achieve their target is defining the IT role in the firm. They stated four principles:
• Adopt a process view of the firm.
• Build a corporate infrastructure to support cross-functional processes.
• Build and leverage a standardized environment.
• Focus on the customer.
Feld and the IT Board worked together to build the enterprise architecture as a first step in restore Delta’s Information Technology. As a second step the IT Board determined the core operations of the company: (1) customer experience, (2) airline operation, (3) digital dashboard for revenue management, and (4) wired workforce wired for administrative functions.
They knew the importance of developing and implementing all the four core operations, but they cannot do that at one time. The IT Board chose to repair the flight operations and the customer experience, two processes that ran on the firm’s existing outdated airport-based t...
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... Delta’s Nervous System demonstrates the following points:
• It is sometimes necessary to change business models and strategies to achieve success in the digital economy.
• Web-based IT enables companies to gain competitive advantage and to survive in the face of serious corporate threat.
• IT may require a large investment over a long period of time.
• Extensive networked computing infrastructure is necessary to support a large global organization.
• Web-based applications can be used to provide superb customer service (Turban, Rainer & Potter, 2005).
Having a fierce competition in the market drives the competitor companies to do and try everything to find ways to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve customer service. Web-based systems are one of the best channels to achieve these efforts by transform the business to e-business in this digital economy.
...System (SMS). Knowing that the Harley-Davidson’s employees were not very susceptible to quick changes, SiL’k team made sure to employ company’s model to highlight People, Processes and Technology for any change initiatives. Additionally, company’s Technology decisions were differed to company’s Architecture Integration group to ensure all technical solutions will be compatible with existing Information Systems architecture. Last but not least, the team took an open communication approach and throughout the process, each party involved, shared their monthly updates as well as project newsletter that communicated objectives, activities and progress to the community. This was clearly an ultimate teams collaborative effort, which brought them all toward shared vision of the new process and activities, resulted in shareholder’s decision in favor of the new supplier.
The IT department needs to collaborate with the business to better understand how organization changes impact applications and systems. Moreover, IT needs to strengthen the IT-business alignment to stay abreast of future changes. One methodology that may assist here is business architecture, a blueprint of the business that supports aligning strategic objectives and tactical demands. 7. There are limits to customer-centric responsiveness.
In summary, “Internet activities are not most significant in competition, such as informing customers, processing transactions, and procuring inputs”. (Porter, 2001) significant corporate assets--skilled employees, proprietary product, and efficient logistical systems – these factors are the most important to keep competitive advantages. In fact, it is foreseeable that the Internet's evolution will come up in the future involve a shift “in thinking from e-business to business, from e-strategy to strategy”. (Porter, 2001)Only by integrating the Internet into overall strategy will this powerful new technology become an equally powerful force for competitive advantage.
This paper focuses on the impact of Management of Information Systems (MIS) on Boeing. In this endeavor, it highlights the new technologies that will most likely impact on the organization and structure. In addition, the paper discusses possible impacts of new technological advancement on the company, to remain competitive in the face of the new technological developments. In this regard, the paper reflects on the possible strategies that Boeing is likely to adapt so that it remains competitive that is, by introducing new technological developments. Finally, with such a move of adapting or not adapting the new technology, this research paper looks at risks that are associated with both moves that the company might opt for.
The future of economic competitiveness for most enterprises relies on entrance and active participation in the e-commerce market. An essential problem with e-commerce is that the controls and organization are different for each site. There is no standard way of building t...
IT governance in the airline industry is specifically tied to sales and value chain management. By the late 1990s, international travel software traditionally used by travel agencies, such as SABRE, was opened up via application programming interface (API) to web developers (Nicolaou & Schick, 2011). As a result, consumers saw the advent of internet-based travel agencies, and many airlines and other travel companies began to sell directly to passengers (Buhalisa & Licata, 2002).
Since its first grand opening in 1971, Southwest Airlines has shown steady growth, and now carries more passengers than any other low-cost carrier in the world (Wharton, 2010). To expand the business operations, Southwest Airlines took over AirTran in 2010 as a strategy to gain more market share for the Southeast region and international flights. However, the acquisition of AirTran brought upcoming challenges both internally and externally for Southwest Airlines. In this case analysis, the objectives are to focus on the change process post the merger with AirTran, and to evaluate alternatives to address the impacts of the merger. II.
1. Continental Airlines, like other companies in the airline industry, is a volatile organization. However, Continental has many strengths that have allowed it to prevail through tough times and avoid complete ruin. The CEO of Continental Airlines played an important role in reviving the company. His “Go Forward Plan” vocalized the strategy of the company and focused on every aspect of the organization. Continental has a well-defined target market, providing services to upper-class and business travelers. The company has also been able to operate in the face of adversity (such as 9/11) due to effective decision-making.
When it came to IT, things really got out of hand. There was no clear path as to how money would be spent on it. IT was responsible for handling almost all of the transactions needed for the hotel. Things such as occupancy, check in/out, product inventory were all part of the IT infrastructure and there were several different configurations of hard/soft-ware, platforms and interfaces.
Effectively integrating information technology (IT) into an organization’s business processes is critical if the organization wants to increase productivity and remain profitable. IT includes items such as the systems software, application software, computer hardware, and the networks and databases that help manage the organization’s information. When implementing quality standards and processes that are forever changing in the IT world, organizations must balance these changes while continuing to rapidly implement new systems technologies in order to stay competitive.
The increase of business digitization processes, services and products ensures a better understanding of the digital strategies of a business. Some of the digital strategies such as IT outsourcing and investments in general information technology are major elements of overall business strategy, which most of the timesoften allow organizations to differentiate themselves from their competitors and also creating create demands that conform with the norms of the competition (Cadle, Paul & Turner, 2010). The needs need to changeof changing the digital strategies for competitive environments areis prompted by:
David Neelman realized his vision of creating an airlines company that is focused on customer service by starting JetBlue. During the startup phase or entrepreneurial stage, typically most of the companies go through the activities of marketing the service and /or product. But Neelman, perceptive of the industry needs, went about raising enough capital before starting JetBlue, as airlines industry is a capital intensive industry. His entrepreneurial style and previous experience enabled him to identify the core value of the service “To improve the passenger experience at a low cost” that he wanted JetBlue to provide. Neelman wanted to utilize technology to bring better customer experience at a low cost. Some of the technological activities that JetBlue planned include state-of-the-art revenue management system, paperless tickets etc. His in-depth experience enabled him to identify the external factors that would affect the business such as simple check-in and boarding process, hassle free ticketing procedures etc. This emphasized his knowledge of adapting to the ever changing customer needs. Neelman instilled the culture of...
The case study of Hefty Hardware shows a typical lack of inter-department communication, among company main business units and the IT department. Managers and stakeholders are unable to estimate the value that IT department brings to company business, and tend to neglect or debase it; the IT team, on the other hand, fails to communicate their milestones, technological difficulties and incompatibilities when implementing new projects and other aspects of IT operation in a comprehendible manner. The recent of suggestion by company CIO is to take some managers and top-ranking of IT department out into the field, to see for themselves how Hefty Hardware stores operate from the inside. Also, how can this vision to use for the improvements into current ERP implementation, or in general, company IT infrastructure, policies and procedures. Unfortunately, this suggestion has serious drawbacks, which will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
According to the author, e-business is conducting business on the internet by not only buying and selling goods, but also servicing clients and collaborating with business partners by using all the human technologies.
Consequently, e-business and especially online shopping is crucial for retail stores. They should provide necessary infrastructure for selling their products online. By taking advantage of e-business not only they can get competitive advantage of online shopping, but the...