Case Study One
Question 1
Following Josh’s successful employment at IGG, Tonya warned him of some foreseeable problems that he would face during his time at the Company. The team had problems with accessing the Company’s social media sites because they need prior permission from the chief technologist, Rick Visser ( ). The team wanted to use the Company’s social media sites like Inst Messenger and Facebook to do market research on their proposed IT plan. Rick was familiar with his workers, asking for permission before accessing the Company’s social media sites. However, Josh team did not recognize this procedure and found it annoying because they were used to accessing social media sites from their previous employers without any permission. Besides, the team argued that social media was the new normal and needed no stringent procedures to access. Such a stringent procedure to obtain permission would only slow down their work progress.
Additionally, the team had a problem with the formal procedures in the Company. This issue was raised by Ben Nokony, who argued that the team needed to go through his office instead of talking directly to the products team manager. Ben Nokony was not happy with Josh’s team for bypassing his office and contacting the Company’s product team directly without his. The team argued that they just wanted to brainstorm some few ideas with the product team. However, Ben thought it was a formal meeting and aggressively reminded Josh’s team the need to follow the laid down company protocols strictly.
Question 2
To win the support of his team’s three-point plan, Josh needs to slow-roll his idea by presenting a small scale version of the IT project to the Company’s management team. He needs to provide the Company’s management team with a comprehensive update to on the various stages of the project. According to McKeen et al. (2012), this should include the estimated cost of the project, potential security risks, and the project’s benefits. Also, Josh should carry out a pilot phase to determine how the IT project works by using a small control group of IFG customers. As a result, he can evaluate how the project works on different market demographics.
Case Study Two
Question 1
An IFG face is facing various high-level problems both in business management and IT. One possible problem is the clustering of various IT systems. The clustering of different IT systems has to lead to data mess in the Company resulting in the production of unverified and invalid data and reports. Mark Szabo, a newly appointed head of the IFG business intelligence team, argues that the clustering of different IT systems in the Company can potentially end up messing all the recorded data. Another problem is that the IFG has no experienced IT experts that can help to manage and control the It systems in the Company. The employees have also failed to align it with the Company’s business management. Additionally, the Company faces the problem of IT security that can potentially result in the loss of data or access to customers’ data by unauthorized personnel.
Question 2
Some of the possible solutions to the IFG problems include the adoption of a New EPR program to leverage critical business opportunities. The Company can also modify its marketing goals and strategies to align with the current market demands and preferences. Additionally, the Company should rely on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to market its brand to a new customer base. Finally, the Company should employ skilled employees with interest to work as well as adopt user-friendly software in its business operations.
References
McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. (2012).IT strategy: Issues and practices (2nd ed.).Boston, NY: Prentice-Hall.