The important business objectives are: Operational excellence, new products and services, Customer and supplier intimacy, improved decision making, Competitive advantage & Survival. The functions of every firm revolve around all these mentioned objectives. Accordingly the applications for the achievement of these objectives should be selected.
Ans1. In this case the advanced features of Smartphone (including the common ones like browser, telephone, camera, music/video player) are discussed. These applications include the use of Smartphone as a Global Positioning Device, a secure system to connect to the database of a particular organization, using tools and applications to interpret the certain medical, theorems, and other results. The other applications include its use as a networking device to remain connected with friends and employees. It is also used as an efficient and fast e-mail sending / receiving device. A large number of tools and software are also available for solving different types of problems.
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These applications nowadays can support almost every business activity, particularly those which demands a strict timely delivery of services and products. This accounts for developing an efficient supply chain management process, if the business demands so. Also the diversified business functions like collecting data at some place while delivering the same at other place are largely helped by these applications and those where each update/modification is to be reflected in the main database of an organization as it is further used by members of that organization. The employees and clients may be present in different offices which are located in different cities (even different countries), but with the use of such applications on these devices will never force the employees to feel any differences.
These applications improve the operational efficiency as the time factor involved is reduced significantly. The work which earlier required extensive manual efforts can easily be done instantaneously by the use of these applications. This also provides more accurate and reliable outputs (compared to the manual results) which are to be used at different levels of Management Information System. This in turn helps the manager to take quick and perfect decisions which directly or indirectly will improve the operational efficiency. Thus all these applications will help the organization to achieve its goals, together with making choices.
Q2. Identify the problems that business in this case study solved by using mobile digital devices.
Concept: The problem solving is a continuous four step process: Problem identification, Solution Design, Solution Evaluation and Choice, Implementation. Every competitive firm must follow these steps to deal with its problems.
Ans2. The use of these mobile digital devices have solved the problems, like providing a powerful and secured mean of sending e-mails and messages among the employees and the clients. The efficient communication is vital for any business activity. Problems like having a secured system which can give access to corporate internal system were also solved by use of various tools and techniques on these devices.
For instance Doylestown Hospital’s had problem of accessing the medical records of the patients from the different locations of the world, this was easily solved by the use of iPhone. Now the doctors can also have information on medications, lab results, therapy results, nurses’ notes, patient diets etc. on their iPhone screen. This directly helped the doctors to properly interpret the lab results and diagnose accurately even when they are away from the patient. Also the advanced voice communication system helped the doctors to consult with other specialists for a better diagnosis. The less secured system of authenticating the access to different data was also upgraded which now helped the doctors to store all the data on the hospital’s own server.
The supply chain consultant and transportation service provider D.W. Morgan improved its delivery services by the use of the services like Global Positioning System (GPS), digital signatures for the very efficient and the timely delivery of raw materials and other components. They were also able to know the exact location of the delivery trucks anytime. This was further helped by the use of Google map. Earlier it used to be very cumbersome task as it involved a great deal of manual efforts and phone calls.
Aedas sport designers had the problem in collecting photos at different locations and the sending these pictures to their clients and other concerned employees. The use of iPhones helped them to create a large database of visual assets with minimal effort. They can now take the photo and can immediately send with use of these digital devices.
Q3.What kinds of businesses are most likely to benefit from equipping their employees with mobile digital devices such as iPhones and BlackBerrys?
Concept: Systems that spans the enterprises are: Supply Chain Management Systems, Customer Relationship Management Systems, Knowledge Management Systems, Intranets and Extranets E-Business, E-Commerce, and E-Government. The use of the digital mobile devices will benefit those businesses where they can impact the above mentioned systems at one level or other.
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Ans3. A number of business groups can be helped by the use of mobile digital services. Particularly those, which require dealing with a handsome amount of data and information and then using various tools and techniques to properly interpret the data, are likely to benefit with the use of these technologically advanced devices. Also the businesses which require a secure and efficient communication among the employees and clients are also likely to benefit by the use of iPhones, BlackBerrys and other similar devices. These digital phones provide a secure communication channel line which will verify the authentication of the organization’s employees and clients accordingly. Even some dedicated services, tools and techniques can also be developed (if required) for the different organizations. The supply and chain management business firms are also likely to benefit with the use of these devices as time plays a major role in the profits and success of the organization. This business of delivery goods/ products will now be managed in an efficient delivery and tracking methodology. This can easily be supported by the use of certain applications (software) on these Smartphones. For example the use of Global Positioning System and Google maps can help an organization to develop an efficient system. The business firms which are located globally or have their services which require a great amount of travelling will also be benefitted with the use of these devices. This will provide the employees to communicate easily as they need not to have a laptop carrying with them for video chats and conferencing. Even if they are away from the office, they can easily be communicated without affecting the business activities. They can also analyze the collected data, graphs; charts etc. on their phones and then interpret the same. Then they can easily communicate their opinions / findings back to the concerned authorities without hampering any profit making opportunity. Thus the business involving sophisticated problem solving tools and techniques can also be benefited where every employee can apply all these tools easily on his own digital mobile device.
Q4. D.W. Morgan’s CEO has stated, “The iPhone is not a game changer, it’s an industry changer. It changes the way you can interact with your customers (and) with your suppliers.” Discuss the implications of this statement.
Concept: To achieve the competitive advantage the industry will judge the impact of new changes being brought on the following areas: Primary activities, Support activities, and Benchmarking and Best practices. The authorities will evaluate the performance as a whole on the basis of one or more of these above mentioned parameters. Here also, the CEO of D.W. Morgan will review the performance based on this concept and then decide whether the change was successful or not.
Ans4. It implies that the use of iPhones (for D.W. Morgan) not only improved a particular sector of the organization but rather helped the organization to succeed as a whole since the complete process from collection of raw material to delivery of products was unmatched. D.W. Morgan’s CEO stated that the use of iPhone in the business completely transformed their old techniques and methods with the sophisticated but simple – to – use which changed their working methodology in a positive way. His statement implies that the use of iPhone not only benefitted a particular domain or sector of the organization but completely revolutionized it as a whole. The certain task for which its rival took 20 minutes to 12 hours can be completed by the Morgan within no time. Thus it provided an opportunity for them also to enhance or change their techniques as well. This increase in the competition will improve the quality and the technology used which will definitely produce quality services and products. Thus the whole industry is revolutionized for a better tomorrow. As for D.W. Morgan, having operations in more than 85 countries, the use of iPhones helped a great deal to improve their just-in-time strategy with a better time management (up-to-the-minute information) of delivery trucks. Earlier the process of tracking the delivery trucks and then guiding them to the next location required a great deal of manual efforts and time but now all this was just the matter of few seconds. Also the information collection and updating process was digitalized with a date-stamp and time-stamp. This whole process kept the suppliers and the clients updated with the required information and helped D.W. Morgan to expand and make profits at a much faster pace.
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