GM 518 IT For Managers LIXIAN

1.  How is software adding value to automakers’ products? Software adding value to automakers’ products by cutting the cost and time for new vehicle production. In addition, by using on-board software, it can help to improve and allow the automakers’ products to be managed via the cloud. For instance, Ford Motor Company take about two and one-half years to plan, design, and build a new car. Design and production, including metal stamping equipment and assembly line setup must be finalized long before the car rolls off the line. But, by using the software, the automakers can create a new software interface for a car within months and update it again and again over the life of the car without much lead time. This enables Ford and other automakers to significantly improve the passenger experience and add new features to cars years after they are built. Hence, from the example, we can conclude that software can add value to the Ford Motor Company products while cutting the cost and ti

SCHIPHOL INTERNATIONAL HUB TO BECOME FAULTLESS: TRUTH OR DARE? 1.How many levels of complexity can you identify in Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network? There are four layers of complexity each of them is intermingled with others. The layers are given as below: 1.        The first level of complexity with Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network is where the bags are moved from check in area to departure gate. There was less coordination between software and hardware levels (e.g. conveyor belts, scanners, security checkers, etc.) 2.        The second level of complexity is at the level where the bags are moved gate to gate the place where the bag are handled by human support and aid the work (e.g. human baggage handlers) and also human-to-human relations (e.g. security officer with conveyor technician). 3.        Third level of complexity is at movement of the bogs from the arrival gate to the baggage claim where owner claim their bags from the security officers and conveyor tec

1.What kinds of applications are described in this case? What business functions do they support? In this case, they started their own IT company, Innov8 (innovate), where they created a customized Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which they then connected to their customized PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) through a cloud computing system that was made by LinkDotNet and Mobinil. Each rider receives tasks one at a time on the PDA, which also includes a GPS to provide detailed directions. The GPS monitors the rider’s location. 2.What are the benefits from equipping their riders with PDAs? Windows Mobile PDAs were used for viewing and updating orders on the move. Each PDA is paired to a Bluetooth mobile printer for printing receipts. The printer is also equipped with a swipe card reader module so that it can be used in the future for credit card payment collection, and for promotion cards. 3.Was it a good decision to expand the business to Cairo? What are the implic

Modernization of NTUC Income 1. What were the problems faced by Income in this case? How were the problems solved by the new digital system? Incomes insurance processes were very tedious and paper-based. This resulted to humongous Income also experienced frequent breakdown of the HP 3000 mainframe which hosted the core insurance applications and the accounting and management information systems. In addition to this, HP 3000 back-up system only allowed restoration to the previous day’s back-up data. Hardware failures caused six days of complete downtime. COBOL programs also encountered frequent breakdowns that halted the systems and caused temporary interruptions. At the same time, development of new products using the COBOL is quite cumbersome and took weeks, even months, to accomplish. They also lost opportunities to cross-sell because transaction processing for policy underwriting was still a batch process and information is not available to agents and advisers in real-time. Th

IS SOCIAL BUSINESS WORKING OUT? 1. Identify the management, organization, and technology factors responsible for impeding adoption of internal corporate social networks. Management:  Employees that are used to collaborating and doing business in more traditional ways need an incentive to use social software. Most companies are not providing that incentive: Only 22 percent of social software users believe the technology to be necessary to their jobs. Organization:  Companies that have tried to deploy internal social networks have found that employees are used to doing business in a certain way and overcoming the organizational inertia can prove difficult. Enterprise social networking systems were not at the core of how most of the surveyed companies collaborate. About half of the survey respondents said that internal social networks had “very little impact” on employee retention, the speed of decision making, or the reduction of meetings. Technology:  Ease of use and i