Case Map for Turban, McLean & Wetherbe: Information Technology for Management (Wiley) This map was prepared by an experienced editor at HBS Publishing, not by a teaching professor. Faculty at Harvard Business School were not involved in analyzing the textbook or selecting the cases and articles. Every case map provides only a partial list of relevant items from HBS Publishing. To explore alternatives, or for more information on the cases listed below, visit: hbsp.harvard.edu
Chapter 1 Information Technology in the Digital Economy and Chapter 2 Information Technologies: Concepts and Management Information Technology Management from 1960-2000 (HBS background note):Richard L. Nolan Product #: 301147 Length: 31p Dairy Farm Group: Redesign of Business Systems and Process: Ali F. Farhoomand, Pauline Ng, Eugenia Ng, Probir Banerjee Product #: HKU049 Length: 20p
AOL, Cisco, Yahoo!: Building the Internet Commons: James E. Austin, Liz Kind Product #: 302088 Length: 23p
Abstract Covers the history of IT management from 1960 to the present. Applies the Stages Theory as a basis to trace the evolution of the three dominant IT designs (mainframes, microcomputers, networks) and how companies used and managed IT in each era. Subjects Covered: Information age; Information technology; Internet; Management philosophy 1997 marked the beginning of a slump in retail sales for the Dairy Farm Group of Companies (DFG), a major food retailer based in Hong Kong with operations in many major cities in Asia Pacific. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 was one cause. However, another major cause was increasing competition from aggressive European and U.S. retail chains that were preparing to gain a foothold in the growing Asian market. DFG realized that to combat competition and retain its dominant position in Asia Pacific, it had to change its business strategy from that of "buying and selling" to "sensing and responding." The case investigates DFG's existing business systems and processes and looks at the possibilities of gaining competitive advantage, either by acquiring state of the art systems and technical infrastructure or through radical redesign of its critical business processes supported by technology. Learning Objective: 1) How organizations gain competitive advantage through business process reengineering (BPR); 2) IT as a facilitator of BPR; and 3) Competitive advantage through supply chain integration and logistics management. Since the spring of 2001, AOL, Cisco, and Yahoo! had collaborated on ways to improve the effectiveness of using the Internet to benefit society. Each company considered itself strongly committed to philanthropy, making significant charitable donations, and fostering a variety of active community outreach programs. Yet, executives at the three firms recognized the potentially larger impact that a joint effort could have on the greater public good. Overcoming a multitude of barriers to such intercompany cooperation, the firms
First Direct (A): Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson L. Louie Product #: 897079 Length: 30p Teaching Note: 901033 B case#: 898145
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges: Richard L. Nolan Product #: 196017 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 196089
Chapter 3 Strategic Information Systems For Competitive Advantage Rosenbluth International and Biztravel.com: Roger Hallowell Product #: 800356 Length: 24p Teaching Notes: 800416, 802168, & 802169
Note on the Structural Analysis of Industries: Michael E. Porter Product #: 376054 Length: 19p
decided to create Network for Good, a charity portal that individuals and nonprofit agencies in the e-philanthropy space could use to facilitate donations, volunteering, and citizen advocacy. Learning Objective: Demonstrates corporate leadership in the social sector, analyzes challenges in developing a multicompany collaboration for social good. Describes the operations and strategy of the world's largest, fastest growing branchless bank. Using a person-to-person interface over conventional phone lines, First Direct provides standard banking and related financial products to nearly 700,000 customers throughout the United Kingdom. By employing a sophisticated customer information system and a highly educated workforce on the frontline, the bank has achieved customer satisfaction and retention levels that are roughly twice those of its nearest competitor in either direct or traditional retail banking services. This outcome was achieved through the use of information infrastructure to personalize services, model preference profiles, and cross-sell relevant products in the course of over-the-phone banking interactions. This breakthrough service model has demonstrated that banks may deliver greater quality of service at significantly lower costs by exploiting virtual or "marketspace" channels for service delivery and customer relationship management. The question facing the bank, a unit of Midland plc (which was, in turn, owned by HSBC), was how fast, in what manner, and in what market segments the organization should grow. Subjects Covered: Customer service; Direct marketing; Information technology; Marketing strategy; Service management Presents the outcome of Air Products ICON decentralization projects. New issues are explored, including the challenges of having a decentralized MIS staff, global network, client/server architecture, new data center issues, outsourcing, a new highly strategic customer interface, object-oriented programming (OOPS), and the future of the MIS organization. A rewritten version of two earlier cases. Subjects Covered: Computer systems; International operations; Multinational corporations
Abstract Rosenbluth, the third largest U.S. travel agency, uses the Internet to serve new customers with a high-service strategy. Rosenbluth acquires Biztravel.com and integrates the customer support and logistics aspects of service delivery. Learning Objective: Illustrates the role of service in many ecommerce firms, including the continuing role of people. Also shows a successful "clicks and mortar" strategy for entering ecommerce. Provides a framework for the analysis of industry structure. Identifies the major structural features that influence the profit potential in industries and some illustrative implications of these for strategy formulation. Can be used as a reference note for business
How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review): Michael E. Porter, Victor E. Millar Product #: 85415 Length: 12p
Intellect Exchange, Inc.: James I. Cash Jr., Janis L. Gogan Product #: 802113 Length: 15p PSA: The World's Port of Call: Lynda M. Applegate, Nancy Bartlett, Dolly Chang-Leow, Boon Siong Neo Product #: 802003 Length: 34p Teaching Note: 802230 Foremostco, Inc. (A): David M. Upton, Virginia A. Fuller Product #: 604017 Length: 11p Teaching Note: 605032
Chapter 4 Network Computing: Discovery, Communication, and Collaboration
policy courses and/or as the background for a lecture on industry analysis. Subjects Covered: Business policy; Industry analysis; Industry structure; Strategy formulation Information technology is more than just computers. It must be conceived of broadly to encompass information as well as a spectrum of technologies that process the information. An important concept that highlights the role of information technology is the "value chain." This concept divides a company's activities into the technologically and economically distinct activities it performs to do business (marketing and delivery to buyers, support and servicing after sale, installation, repair, and parts inventory management, for example). Subjects Covered: Competitive advantage; Information management; Information systems; Information technology; Technology; Value of information A start-up intellect exchange initially offered a public expertise exchange, connecting experts with clients. Now management wonders whether a new, more focused strategy will succeed. Subjects Covered: Knowledge management Details the evolution of an e-business strategy and capabilities over a 16-year period. What began in 1984 as an effort to automate the port of Singapore to achieve productivity savings, by 2000 had evolved into a global e-business called Portnet.com. Closes as senior managers contemplate the progress they have made and the challenges still ahead. Subjects Covered: Government policy; Information systems; Information technology; Strategic planning Describes the rocky transition from an outdated, nonintegrated information system to a new customized system built by programmers in the small, IT-dependent foliage company in which the case takes place. The old system has increasingly become a "burning platform," but the project to build the new system is plagued by delays, the idiosyncrasies of the business, and lack of IT knowledge on the part of senior managers. The transition threatens to put the company out of business and the crisis forces the COO to take charge of the project personally. After the new system goes live, however, it proves to be buggy and unreliable. The company comes even closer to collapse, and COO Penny Roberts must rally the team around an unpopular project whose success no one can guarantee. Teaching points include IT systems transition, IT management in small companies, and how to deal with an IT-based, business-interrupting disaster. Learning Objective: To teach methods for managing IT system transition and the management of potential crises in such situations.
Abstract
Strategy and the Internet (Harvard Business Review): Michael E. Porter Product #: R0103d Length: 11p
Akamai Technologies: Benjamin Edelman, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Eric J. Van Den Steen Product #: 804158 Length: 25p Teaching Note: 808024
Sun Microsystems and the Ntier Architecture: Richard L. Nolan, Kelley Porter Product #: 399037 Length: 20p
Cisco Systems, Inc.: Managing Corporate Growth Using an Intranet: Michael Parent, Debra Rankin Product #: 97E018 Length: 13p
Many of the pioneers of Internet business, both dot-coms and established companies, have competed in ways that violate nearly every precept of good strategy. Rather than focus on profits, they have chased customers indiscriminately through discounting, channel incentives, and advertising. Rather than concentrate on delivering value that earns an attractive price from customers, they have pursued indirect revenues such as advertising and clickthrough fees. Rather than make trade-offs, they have rushed to offer every conceivable product or service. It did not have to be this way--and it does not have to be in the future. When it comes to reinforcing a distinctive strategy, Michael Porter argues, the Internet provides a better technological platform than previous generations of IT. Gaining competitive advantage does not require a radically new approach to business; it requires building on the proven principles of effective strategy Learning Objective: To discover how integrating Internet initiatives into a company's existing strategy and operations creates unique value that is difficult for rivals to copy. As the leading content delivery network, Akamai helps Internet companies deliver web site content to end users with fewer delays and lower costs. This case describes strategic management challenges facing Akamai in late 2001, as the three-year old firm's growth slows due to the failure of many dot-com customers. Akamai has launched a new product, EdgeSuite, which promises significant cost savings for large enterprise customers--a new market for Akamai. Describes several decisions facing management as they accelerate efforts to penetrate enterprise customers. Learning Objective: To explain how the Internet's network of networks architecture can lead to data delivery delays and solutions to improve performance; and to illustrate the challenges confronting a network infrastructure company as it shifts its target customer focus to include enterprise customers, in particular, sales and channel management priorities. Sun Microsystems is a pioneer in networking computing. Sun's servers maintain a large market share and are considered highly scaleable. The case describes the n-tier architecture for building and managing large networks in which thousands of workers and customers are connected to enterprise servers. Learning Objective: To analyze and assess network architectures in structure and cost for building enterprise-wide intranets. Cisco is the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of routers and switches. In order to achieve this position, it has adopted an aggressive growth strategy, acquiring companies, their employees, and new employees at a rate of 250 to 300 employees per month. The Cisco Employee Connection (CEC), a corporate intranet, is the primary means by which new employees are absorbed and acculturated. The CEC is also the principal means of interaction for the multi-functional work team approach Cisco employs. This case critically assesses this approach to scaling an organization and the extent to which it can be maintained and transferred.
Subjects Covered: Employee training; Organizational culture; Teams Chapter 5 Electronic Commerce Quicken Insurance: The Race to Click and Close (A): Lynda M. Applegate Product #: 800295 Length: 27p Teaching Note: 802138 B case#: 803071
Leadership Online: Barnes & Noble vs. Amazon.com (A): Pankaj Ghemawat, Bret Baird Product #: 798063 Length: 21p Teaching Note: 798119 B case#: 705492 eBay, Inc.: Stephen P. Bradley, Kelley Porter Product #: 700007 Length: 32p B case#: 703499
Citibank's e-Business Strategy for Global Corporate Bank: Julie Yu, Ali F. Farhoomand, Marissa McCauley, Shamza Khan Product #: HKU197 Length: 13p Teaching Note: HKU198
Abstract ES Technologies started as a storefront in Tempe, AZ in 1976 selling personal computer kits to hobbyists. Twenty years later, revenues exceeded $3.5 billion and the business had evolved from a computer store to a master reseller and full-line integrator of information technology products. At the time of the case, the founder (who remains as CEO) must decide whether to reinvent the company yet again to become an online "orchestrator" for the information technology (IT) industry. Learning Objective: Provides an excellent look at the value chain, industry dynamics, and evolution of the IT industry. Describes the attempt of a traditional retailer, Barnes & Noble, to counter the challenges posed by an Internet-based start-up, Amazon.com. Subjects Covered: Competition; Internet
eBay was the world's largest and most popular person-to-person trading community on the Internet. In early 1999, the company was doing very well and seemed to have solved many of its early problems. However, on March 30, 1999, Amazon.com announced that it was entering the online auction arena. This powerful firm could prove to be eBay's strongest competitor to date. Learning Objective: What should eBay do in light of the entry of its most recent and serious competitor to date. In 2001, Citibank's Cash and Trade Group division transformed itself into an e-business, with the strategic intent of converting traditional money management business into an e-business framework. This case discusses how Citibank is using its traditional assets and integrating Internet initiatives into its e-business strategy to create sustainable competitive advantages. Competition in the cash and trade business is becoming intense and a new breed of competent and aggressive competitors is vying for the market, including technology companies interested in B2B e-payment. Citibank is responding to the competition by continually evolving its e-business strategy--connect, transform, extend. Also looks into the challenges that Citibank e-Business Group is facing in developing a single global web platform for the corporate market. The focus is on how Citibank is developing an e-business product that would serve the highly segmented market and how to encourage these markets to use a global single platform online. At one end of the spectrum are multinationals and top-level domestic corporates that operate sophisticated treasuries, and at the other end are companies and small- and medium-size businesses that are not yet ready to upgrade and transform their systems. Subjects Covered: Business to business; Competitive advantage;
CEMEX: Global Growth Through Superior Information Capabilities (Abridged): Donald A. Marchand, Katarina Paddack, Rebecca Chung Product #: IMD084 Length: 13p Teaching Note: IMD135
Chapter 6 Supply Chain Management And ERP General Motors: Building a Digital Loyalty Network Through Demand and Supply Chain Integration: Hau Lee, Peter Koudal, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat, Richard Tully Product #: GS29 Length: 25p
Syncra Systems: Andrew McAfee, Mona Ashiya Product #: 601035
Marketing strategy In a decade, CEMEX has become the third largest cement company in the world and has achieved an enviable growth record. CEMEX has established its public image as a digital leader, leveraging information technology and e-business ventures in the traditional low-tech and conventional cement industry. The case, however, illustrates that being a digital leader is only part of the story. The CEMEX Way is focused on developing the right behaviors and values in CEMEX people globally to use information about products, customers, and operations effectively. This requires deploying common processes, information practices, and IT infrastructure to promote profitable growth globally and locally as well as integrate its acquisitions to its way of doing business rapidly. As the cement industry is rapidly consolidating worldwide, the case raises the issue of how a company competes with information, people, and IT capabilities to use its knowledge and information to bring the company's growth to new levels. This is an abridged version of a case. Subjects Covered: Business growth; Information management; Information technology; Mergers & acquisitions
Abstract Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors (GM), knew that something was "broken" in the automobile industry long before a USA Today article made the announcement in December 2001. Wagoner, along with top lieutenants, had launched several initiatives to realize their shared vision of value creation within GM. Several of these initiatives were aimed at integrating GM's demand and supply chains, supported by the latest technologies. Their goal was to strengthen and integrate GM's demand and supply chain systems to build what is known as a digital loyalty network (DLN). As its name implies, a DLN includes the three components GM was addressing: "digital" for technology enabled; "loyalty" for a focus on customers and on increasing their loyalty and lifetime value to GM; and "network" for coordinating and leveraging all supply and distribution chain partners to serve those customers. Wagoner and his team believed their efforts would be fundamental to a sustainable, value-creating auto industry business model that would lead to increased efficiency and profitability. The group had made excellent progress, and Wagoner decided to get together with his team to take stock of where they stood in realizing their overall vision. But the words "industry business model is broken" stayed with him. He wondered whether the investments in these myriad initiatives would actually pay off--and whether they would help fix the problem of low value creation. Subjects Covered: Information technology; Networks; Supply chain management Syncra Systems makes Internet-based software that allows supply chain partners to compare disparate forecasts and production plans, to uncover any discrepancies among them, and to address
Length: 18p Teaching Note: 602051
Li & Fung: Internet Issues (A): F. Warren McFarlan, Fred Young Product #: 301009 Length: 20p Teaching Note: 302031 B case#: 302075
eSourcing Strategy at Sun Microsystems: Chuck Holloway, Andrea Higuera Product #: OIT34 Length: 17p Teaching Note: OIT34T
Tektronix, Inc.: Global ERP Implementation: Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, George Westerman, Mark Cotteleer Product #: 699043 Length: 22p Teaching Note: 602078
these issues. However, many potential Syncra customers perceive that they will pay for the software others will benefit from, making Syncra's products a questionable investment. Syncra must find effective ways to address this concern and must decide how to best position its products for the marketplace. Learning Objective: 1) Highlights the information intensity of multipartner collaborations involving supply chain planning; 2) addresses the circumstances under which IT investments that benefit many partners are good ones for a single firm to make; and 3) considers whether Internet-based collaborative activities are best executed in a point-to-point manner between trading partners, or centrally in an e-marketplace. Focuses on the issues facing a Hong Kong-based trading company, which links hundreds of factories in India and Asia with major customers like the GAP and Limited in Europe and in the United States. The company has recently launched a dot-com operation to allow its extraordinary network of factories in Asia to target much smaller retail chains in Asia and Europe than they were able to do before. Learning Objective: To gain new insight on the possibilities of global logistics. In May 2000, Sonia Syngal, director of procurement strategy and supplier relations at Sun Microsystems, needed to make a critical decision. Under Syngal's leadership, the company had just completed its first "dynamic bidding" pilot tests and, as a result, cut its sourcing costs by 30%. Given these results, the potential for cost cutting via the implementation of a dynamic bidding system on a widespread scale at Sun was enormous; on an annual basis, the company was currently spending about $9 billion in direct materials procurement. Although the potential to cut costs significantly was clear, Syngal had several other issues to consider, including: 1) Sun's suppliers and the potential impact of a dynamic bidding program on the company's critical relationships; 2) the reaction of Sun's internal constituents, namely, its commodity directors who had spent years trying to identify the most effective way to work with the company's suppliers; and 3) selecting the best software vendor, which would be difficult in a crowded space. Learning Objective: Exposes students to several issues, including 1) the pros and cons of using technology to manage supplier relationships and 2) the complexity of making a large capital expenditure decision in a large organization such as Sun Microsystems. Reviews Tektronix's implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution in all three of its global business divisions. This case tells the story of three implementations, each with its own character and requirements. Tektronix managers needed to synchronize the requirements of each division with the company's overall need to standardize business practices and its desire to adhere to a common business model across the enterprise. Details the difficulty of major business change in a mature business and technical environment.
Subjects Covered: Business process reengineering; ERP; Enterprise systems; Implementing strategy; Information technology Chapter 7 Transaction Processing, Innovative Functional Systems, CRM, and Integration Safeway Manufacturing Division: The Manufacturing Control System (MCS) (A): Donna B. Stoddard, Maryellen Costello Product #: 193134 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 196077 B case#: 194014 Moore Medical Corp.: Andrew McAfee, Gregory Bounds Product #: 601142 Length: 21p Teaching Note: 603030
FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking: Frances X. Frei, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar Product #: 601042 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 601088
Abstract Describes a decision that SMD management made to implement an MRP II system in its 38 plants. Raises the issues that needed to be addressed to enable the implementation, and is positioned so the students can develop a detailed implementation plan. Subjects Covered: Control systems; Implementing strategy; Information systems; Manufacturing
Moore Medical is a medium-sized distributor of medical supplies to practitioners such as podiatrists and emergency medical technicians. Up to the time of the case, it has relied on traditional customer channels such as catalogs, phones, and faxes to communicate product offerings, promotions, and availability, and to take orders. It is now attempting to transition into a "bricks and clicks" distributor with a strong Internet presence. It has already made substantial investments in an eCommerce web site and in "back office" ERP software to improve the fulfillment performance of its four distribution centers. The ERP software has not lived up to expectations in all areas, and the company must decide whether to invest in more modules for this system that might address its shortcomings. It must also decide whether to make a significant additional investment in customer relationship management software. Learning Objective: Examines the factors underpinning IT investment decisions. At the time of the case, Moore must decide whether it has "enough" of the "right kind" of IT. The decision is complicated by the fact that the company has recently made substantial IT investments that have impacted financial performance and caused organizational disruption. In addition, it is not clear that all of Moore's known issues related to customer retention and satisfaction will be addressed by the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) under consideration. Students preparing the case must understand this environment and formulate an IT investment program that makes sense within it. As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet and the rise of new competition from both within and outside the banking industry. Students examine how Fleet's internal operations and business model should adapt to the new competition. Learning Objective: Provides an opportunity for students to
Grey Worldwide: Strategic Repositioning Through CRM: Julie Yu, Ali F. Farhoomand, Shamza Khan, Marissa McCauley Product #: HKU164 Length: 18p Teaching Note: HKU165
Chapter 8 IT Planning and BPR ToyWorld, Inc.: Information Technology Planning: Lynda M. Applegate Product #: 195262 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 396216
Working with Your Shadow Partner in Analyzing IT Strategic Planning (HBS Exercise): Richard L. Nolan Product #: 301003 Length: 3p
explore a common service setting. The majority of the discussion is aimed at acquainting students with how customers interact with financial services, how these firms make money, what challenges they face, and what opportunities exist going forward. The majority of retail banking customers are unprofitable, making for a unique operating environment where innovations are consistently aimed at reducing costs. Because customer behavior contributes directly to costs, innovations center on providing lower cost channels for customer transactions. Unfortunately, each new channel increases overall costs. Grey Worldwide Hong Kong and China (Grey WW-HK/China) is repositioning itself through defined e-marketing and CRM strategies for the Asian market. The case examines how integral its customer relationship group is in building a CRM strategy to deliver client value proposition. Grey WW-HK/China has strong umbrella brand equity, but the brand capital has to be invigorated through a renewed e-marketing focus. Constrained by changing market conditions, particularly industry pressure on commission margins, Grey WW-HK/China needs to differentiate itself and is assessing CRM's value in developing loyal and lifetime customers. However, in a growing Asian market, Grey WW-HK/China is in heated competition with other players. Grey WW-HK/China's CRM team is developing an Asia-specific CRM blueprint for its internal management, something that is transferable to Grey's clients. Grey WW-HK/China is considering merging technology with traditional marketing philosophy, and the team is expected to deliver a proposal that outlines the CRM tools that Grey WW-HK/China should use to reposition its brand and build customer loyalty. Subjects Covered: Brand equity; Customer relationship management; Implementing strategy; Knowledge management; Market positioning
Abstract ToyWorld, a fast growing retailer, was revitalizing its information technology (IT) infrastructure and called in AT&T to help plan for the future. Five strategic alternatives for use of information and communications technology were identified through value chain analysis and use of proprietary AT&T methodology. While two could be implemented by ToyWorld action alone, two would require external cooperation, and one represented an entirely new (but related) line of business. Subjects Covered: Information systems; Information technology; Logistics; Planning systems; Strategic planning A team-based exercise allowing students to conduct a strategy analysis of the leading companies in the IT business. Involves searching on the web for both public information sources and company information sources. The teams work together to analyze the information and ferret out the unique strategies of three different companies. Subjects Covered: Information age; Information management;
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges: Richard L. Nolan Product #: 196017 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 196089
Dairy Farm Group: Redesign of Business Systems and Process: Ali F. Farhoomand, Pauline Ng, Eugenia Ng, Probir Banerjee Product #: HKU049 Length: 20p
Reengineering a Business Process (HBS background note): Thomas H. Davenport Product #: 396054 Length: 16p
Chapter 9 Knowledge Management Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL): Dorothy Leonard, David Kiron Product #: 603062 Length: 30p Teaching Note: 603095
Information technology; Internet; Strategic intent; Strategic planning Presents the outcome of Air Products ICON decentralization projects. New issues are explored, including the challenges of having a decentralized MIS staff, global network, client/server architecture, new data center issues, outsourcing, a new highly strategic customer interface, object-oriented programming (OOPS), and the future of the MIS organization. A rewritten version of two earlier cases. Subjects Covered: Computer systems; International operations; Multinational corporations 1997 marked the beginning of a slump in retail sales for the Dairy Farm Group of Companies (DFG), a major food retailer based in Hong Kong with operations in many major cities in Asia Pacific. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 was one cause. However, another major cause was increasing competition from aggressive European and U.S. retail chains that were preparing to gain a foothold in the growing Asian market. DFG realized that to combat competition and retain its dominant position in Asia Pacific, it had to change its business strategy from that of "buying and selling" to "sensing and responding." The case investigates DFG's existing business systems and processes and looks at the possibilities of gaining competitive advantage, either by acquiring state of the art systems and technical infrastructure or through radical redesign of its critical business processes supported by technology. Learning Objective: 1) How organizations gain competitive advantage through business process reengineering (BPR); 2) IT as a facilitator of BPR; and 3) Competitive advantage through supply chain integration and logistics management. Describes the six steps included in most reengineering initiatives: selecting the processes for reengineering; identifying change enablers; developing a business vision of process objectives; understanding and measuring existing processes; designing and prototyping the new processes; and implementing the new processes. Subjects Covered: Business process reengineering; Process analysis; Prototypes
Abstract Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) faces a serious loss of knowledge-both because of the "faster, better, cheaper" mandate for Mars missions and from the retirement of key personnel. An extensive knowledge management system for NASA/JPL includes formal knowledge capture mechanisms such as web pages and digitized manuals and such informal ones as storytelling. The former are much easier to get funded and to implement than the latter, but chief knowledge architect Jeanne Holm is concerned that technology cannot solve some of the most difficult issues she faces. This case focuses more on managing the tacit knowledge held in the heads of scientists and experienced project managers than on the information technology that Holm has put in place. The
Siemens ShareNet: Building a Knowledge Network: Alan MacCormack, Kerry Herman, Sven Volpel Product #: 603036 Length: 27p Teaching Note: 606128
Intellect Exchange, Inc.: James I. Cash Jr., Janis L. Gogan Product #: 802113 Length: 15p PricewaterhouseCoopers: Building a Global Network: Ali F. Farhoomand, Marissa McCauley, Peter Lovelock, Minako Fukagata Product #: HKU095 Length: 17p Teaching Note: HKU096
switch from expensive but infrequent Mars missions to 2 missions every 26 months propelled a number of junior managers into positions of responsibility and decision making for which they had inadequate experience. In the face of increasingly tight budgets, Holm must decide what kinds of knowledge management initiatives to back--and how to encourage the cultural change that is needed in the organization. Learning Objective: To highlight the challenges in managing the transfer of knowledge, both between experts and between projects. Describes the development of ShareNet, an innovative knowledge management system used by a division of Siemens. ShareNet attempts to capture the knowledge and experience of Siemen's many dispersed sales and marketing units around the globe, making it available to all. ShareNet has to date been funded as a corporate initiative, free to all who use it. But as the telecommunications market has collapsed, the group who run it are under increasing pressure to cut costs. As a result, they are considering charging users who subscribe to the tool in the belief that these users will willingly pay for it. This relies, however, on being able to demonstrate that the tool/system has a positive return on investment--a notoriously difficult task. Learning Objective: To analyze the design and construction of a knowledge management system; to explore the major issues in deploying these types of systems (e.g., creating incentives for use, ensuring relevant knowledge is stored); and to examine the return on investment from these types of systems. A start-up intellect exchange initially offered a public expertise exchange, connecting experts with clients. Now management wonders whether a new, more focused strategy will succeed. Subjects Covered: Knowledge management Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merged in July 1998, creating one of the world's largest full-service professional organizations. This case provides a study of how two major organizations are putting together a global knowledge base that would facilitate communication and coordination within the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) practice. Eventually, this knowledge base would be made available to PwC clients. Discusses the changes, issues, and challenges at PwC in building its Intranet, called KnowledgeCurve, a knowledge management system that incorporates all the assets (knowledge, people, skills) of the company to be utilized by the firm. In order for the organization to be successful, it is crucial for PwC to encourage the users to fully utilize the available resources and to contribute information to the KnowledgeCurve. At the time this case was written, PwC is in its initial stages of setting up its Global Knowledge Curve, which would ultimately serve the entire practice. The limitations in using the Global Knowledge Curve led to the creation of Knowledge Curve at each office level, which incorporates the knowledge base and information important to the local level.
The World Bank and Knowledge Management: The Case of the Urban Services Thematic Group: William E. Fulmer Product #: 801157 Length: 22p Chapter 10 Supporting Management and Decision Making American Airlines: Object Oriented Flight Dispatching Systems: F. Warren McFarlan, Espen Andersen Product #: 195046 Length: 14p
Firefly Network (A): Erik Brynjolfsson, Jean-Claude Charlet Product #: OIT22A Length: 16p B case available
Chapter 11 Data Management: Warehousing, Analyzing, Mining and Visualization Pilgrim Bank (A): Customer Profitability: Frances X. Frei, Dennis Campbell Product #: 602104 Length: 8p
Subjects Covered: Accounting; Information systems; Knowledge management The World Bank has implemented a knowledge management initiative. One of its communities of practice is to take the lead in a $50 billion commitment to address urban slums. The community of practice is struggling with its mission and how knowledge management can help. Learning Objective: To illustrate the challenge of implementing a knowledge management system, especially communities of practice.
Abstract Describes the organization and development of American Airlines Systems Operation Control (SOC) center, located in Dallas, from which the day-to-day running of the airline takes place. Specifically, the decision support system used by the flight dispatchers, and the object-oriented tools and techniques used to develop it, are detailed. Learning Objective: Shows the value and experience of an iterative approach to systems development and the use of graphical user interfaces in a highly complex, real-time environment. It also outlines some areas in which the computer, at present, is unlikely to be of much help. Firefly Network develops software that allows Internet-based businesses to gather information about their online customers and deliver personalized information to them in return. Firefly was founded in March 1995 by a group of researchers of the MIT Media Lab working on applications of intelligent software agents. This case discusses the role of personalization software in building online communities and enhancing electronic commerce, with a particular focus on online book selling. It compares the different technologies available, including "rules-based systems," and analyzes the related issues of trust and privacy. Finally, it questions revenue models for Web-based businesses, as well as the strategy of a young Internet software company trying to create an industry standard. Subjects Covered: Applications; Artificial intelligence; Consumer marketing; Entrepreneurship; Information technology; Internet; Marketing strategy; Virtual communities Abstract
Analyzes customer profitability in a retail banking setting. Puts students in the position of a recently hired analyst who has data on a sample of customer and who must make recommendations about the entire customer base regarding the effect of online banking on customer profitability. The data consist of customer-level
Teaching Note: 608115 B case#: 602095
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.: Rajiv Lal, Patricia Martone Carrolo Product #: 502011 Length: 27p Teaching Note: 502091
Chapter 12 Intelligent Support Systems BroadVision: Erik Brynjolfsson, Jean-Claude Charlet Product #: OIT21 Length: 17p
Firefly Network (A): Erik Brynjolfsson, Jean-Claude
information on demographics, online channel use, and profitability. Taught over three sections of an optional module on data analysis in the second-year elective on managing service operations. Tailored to teach how specific analytic techniques can be used to address widely varying managerial challenges. Learning Objective: 1) To communicate research findings in the area of customer profitability analysis; 2) to provide a compelling context for students to learn sampling and estimation, hypothesis testing, OLS and logistic regression, and predictive modeling; and 3) to expose students to the extent and causes of variation in customer profitability and the challenges and benefits associated with calculating customer-level profitability. A rewritten version of an earlier case. Describes a situation facing Philip Satre, chairman and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. Satre was reading a May 2000 Wall Street Journal story that discussed the company's marketing success in targeting low rollers, the 100% growth in stock price and profits in the year to December 1999, and the revenue growth of 50%, which significantly outpaced the industry. The exciting articles aroused Satre's desire to know more about the activities of his then COO, Gary Loveman, and his team of "propeller heads" with respect to their database marketing efforts and the Total Reward Program. Satre was interested in two questions: He wanted to know how much these marketing efforts had contributed to Harrah's overall performance and whether these marketing results were a one-shot event or could be achieved year after year, especially as the competition introduced similar programs. Learning Objective: Assessing the short-term and long-term benefits of database marketing and loyalty programs.
Abstract BroadVision develops software that allows Internet-based businesses to gather information about their online customers and deliver customized information to them in return. The firm was founded in May 1993 by a successful entrepreneur with a track record of two previous successful startups. The case discusses the role of "rules-based systems" in delivering personalized information directly to the consumer and allowing one-to-one marketing to happen on the Internet. Trust and privacy issues related to the use of this "mass-customization" technology are discussed. Related personalization technologies, such as "collaborative filtering" are analyzed as well. Finally, the case deals with the growth strategy and business model of BroadVision, as a young Internet software company competing with software giants such as Microsoft, Netscape, and Oracle. Subjects Covered: Applications; Artificial intelligence; Business models; Consumer marketing; Entrepreneurship; Information technology; Internet; Marketing strategy; Virtual communities Firefly Network develops software that allows Internet-based businesses to gather information about their online customers and
Charlet Product #: OIT22A Length: 16p B case available
DoubleClick, Inc.: Gathering Customer Intelligence: Ken Mark, Scott Schneberger Product #: 901E05 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 801E05
Alibris (A): Andrew McAfee, Kerry Herman Product #: 601111 Length: 11p Teaching Note: 602054 B case#: 601166
deliver personalized information to them in return. Firefly was founded in March 1995 by a group of researchers of the MIT Media Lab working on applications of intelligent software agents. This case discusses the role of personalization software in building online communities and enhancing electronic commerce, with a particular focus on online book selling. It compares the different technologies available, including "rules-based systems," and analyzes the related issues of trust and privacy. Finally, it questions revenue models for Web-based businesses, as well as the strategy of a young Internet software company trying to create an industry standard. Subjects Covered: Applications; Artificial intelligence; Consumer marketing; Entrepreneurship; Information technology; Internet; Marketing strategy; Virtual communities DoubleClick, Inc., with global headquarters in New York City and over 30 offices around the world, was a leading provider of comprehensive Internet advertising solutions for marketers and web publishers. It combined technology, media, and data expertise to centralize planning, execution, control, tracking, and reporting for online media companies. DoubleClick was able to track Internet users' surfing habits (but not the surfers' identities), allowing it to personalize ads for specific market groups. When DoubleClick announced it was merging with Abacus Direct, a direct marketing company with a database of consumer names, addresses, and retail purchasing habits of 90% of American households, it raised many privacy-related questions and concerns. Several Internet privacy activists had filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission after being informed by media sources that DoubleClick had the ability to divulge a person's identity by merging the databases of the two companies and matching the information in "cookies" with a surfer's profile. The president was confident that its internal practices were sound, but he wondered whether they would placate advertising clients afraid of consumer backlash, the concerns of Internet surfers, and the company's investors. Subjects Covered: Advertising; Computers; Direct marketing; Internet; Risk management Alibris is an Internet-era company providing search and fulfillment services for hard-to-find (rare, used, and out-of-print) books. At the time of the case, the company previously made decisions to change its revenue model, to become involved in the fulfillment process for each book it sells by establishing a cross-dock facility, and to purchase Oracle's Internet commerce software. However, the implementation of this software has been very difficult, delaying the launch of the new fulfillment business and costing large amounts of money at a time when cash is scarce. The company's leaders, who are not IT professionals, must decide whether to continue with Oracle or begin anew with another product. Learning Objective: Used to discuss the elements of a viable Internet-era business. Alibris has made a number of decisions that move it far from the business of its predecessor, Interloc. Interloc was a profitable business, and it is not immediately clear why
Alibris has decided to take on substantial additional cost, risk, and complexity. Can be used to surface the reasons for this change and their legitimacy. Examines how a company that bought off-the-shelf software from a leading vendor to accomplish tasks that seemed straightforward could find itself in the extremely difficult circumstances outlined. Involves issues of the functionality that Alibris required and the dynamics of commercial software development and release. Chapter 13 IT Economics Boeing Australia Ltd.: Assessing the Merits of Implementing a Sophisticated eProcurement System: Ali Farhoomand, Peta Ashworth Product #: HKU271 Length: 15p Teaching Note: HKU272
Andina Bottling Co.: V.G. Narayanan, Alberto Ballve Product #: 102040 Length: 26p Teaching Note: 103070
Increasing Returns and the New World of Business (Harvard Business Review article): W. Brian Arthur Product #: 96401 Length: 10p
Abstract Formed in late 1996, Boeing Australia Ltd. (BAL) was a relatively new company and a global extension of the U.S. firm, the Boeing Co. BAL developed capabilities in the areas of space and communications, site management, and the upgrade and maintenance of military aircraft and equipment. As BAL grew, so did the legacy information system it used for both internal communications and external dealings with customers. BAL, however, faced difficult decisions as it sought to upgrade its procurement systems and processes to improve operations. In early 1999, BAL recruited a new national procurement manager, Russell Menere, whose immediate task was to look for gains in productivity by improving procurement processes, either through cost savings or by reduced processing time. To meet this objective, Menere initiated a number of short-term improvements. These included the rationalization of a large number of BAL's suppliers, improving BAL's relationships with its key suppliers; the introduction of a credit-card purchasing system for low-value, large-volume consumables; and the adoption of electronic ordering processes with BAL's larger suppliers. In 2002, with new opportunities available through e-business technology, Menere needed to decide what BAL's next step should be. Should BAL invest in a new system that would simplify the procurement process across different divisions and support complex interfaces with suppliers? Should BAL continue to sit on the fence and seek short-term improvement tools for integration with its existing legacy systems? Subjects Covered: Information systems; Operations management; Process analysis; Suppliers Andina Bottling develops an information system for monitoring the performance and operations of its various foreign and domestic subsidiaries. Learning Objective: Affords students the opportunity to use this measurement and monitoring system that Andina calls "control panel" for making several operational decisions. Illustrates the role of measurement systems for achieving operational excellence. Our understanding of how markets and businesses operate is based on the assumption of diminishing returns: products or companies that get ahead in a market eventually run into limitations so that a predictable equilibrium of prices and market shares is reached. The theory was valid for the bulk-processing, smokestack economy of Alfred Marshall's day. But in this century, Western economies have
gone from processing resources to processing information, from the application of raw energy to the application of ideas. The mechanisms that determine economic behavior have also shifted-from diminishing returns to increasing returns. Increasing returns are the tendency for that which is ahead to get further ahead and for that which is losing advantage to lose further advantage. If a product gets ahead, increasing returns can magnify the advantage, and the product can go on to lock in the market. Subjects Covered: Industry analysis; Macroeconomics; New economy; Return on investment Chapter 14 Building Information Systems American Airlines: Object Oriented Flight Dispatching System: F. Warren McFarlan, Espen Andersen Product #: 195046 Length: 14p
Harley-Davidson Motor Co.: Enterprise Software Selection: Robert D. Austin, Deborah Sole, Mark Cotteleer Product #: 600006 Length: 23p Teaching Note: 603047
eBay (A): The Customer Marketplace: Frances X. Frei, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar Product #: 602071 Length: 17p Teaching Note: 602126 B case#: 602152
Abstract Describes the organization and development of American Airlines Systems Operation Control (SOC) center, located in Dallas, from which the day-to-day running of the airline takes place. Specifically, the decision support system used by the flight dispatchers, and the object-oriented tools and techniques used to develop it, are detailed. Learning Objective: Shows the value and experience of an iterative approach to systems development and the use of graphical user interfaces in a highly complex, real-time environment. It also outlines some areas in which the computer, at present, is unlikely to be of much help. Describes Harley-Davidson's decision process for defining and selecting an enterprise-wide procurement software package and the institutional changes introduced as part of this process. Tells the story of Harley-Davidson's approach in developing integrated business processes and information systems to meet the needs of a visionary procurement strategy. Central to this activity was the evaluation and selection of an enterprise software package and implementation partner to support the strategy. Describes managerial reasoning and tactics to introduce significant organizational change into a setting where team-based responsibility and a culture of autonomy are prominent. Learning Objective: Discussion of processes for and effects of introducing enterprise-wide IT systems. Since its inception in 1995, the popular Internet marketplace company eBay has enjoyed tremendous success, a key to this success being eBay's ability to keep its cost structure in check while significantly increasing its customer base and transaction volume. From merchandising to order fulfillment to quality control, eBay customers together perform myriad tasks typically performed by companies. The cornerstone of the company's operational success is the technological infrastructure that supports much of this work. The dilemma presented in this case concerns the company's recent practice of allowing large businesses, such as Sun and IBM, to play a more prominent role on the eBay site. The company must decide how to respond to complaints from some of its best customers about the increased presence of such large corporate customers. Learning Objective: 1) To develop a framework to help students identify what a firm does operationally to satisfy the specific needs of
its target market, 2) to introduce students to the notion of customer participation in firm production processes and provide an example of how a firm can design large amounts of this participation into its business model, 3) to develop the concept of the service-wrapper, which defines the elements of a service relationship that a firm must perform to maintain control of the relationship--by performing these few tasks, the firm is in a position to outsource the rest of the service interaction either to third-party firms or, in the case of eBay, to customers, and 4) to explore self-service in a variety of settings, understanding how the benefits to the consumer and firm vary under different circumstances. Chapter 15 Managing Information Resources and Security Web and IT Hosting Facilities, Technology Note: Robert D. Austin Product #: 601134 Length: 11p
CaseTrust: Building Third-Party e-Tailing Trust: Ali F. Farhoomand, Pauline Ng, Shamza Khan Product #: HKU122 Length: 18p Teaching Note: HKU123
Microsoft Security Response Center (A): Mike Wade, Jeffrey Clayman Product #: 901E19 Length: 11p Supplements available
DoubleClick, Inc.: Gathering Customer Intelligence: Ken Mark, Scott Schneberger Product #: 901E05 Length: 16p
Abstract Introduces students to the data centers where IT infrastructure is increasingly physically housed. These centralized hosting facilities represent in the information age the equivalent of power utilities in the industrial age. Students are introduced to issues of physical and Internet security, infrastructure management, and service provider partner selection. Learning Objective: To introduce students to a fundamental component of Internet infrastructure, the web hosting data center. In March 2000, CaseTrust, an accreditation scheme designed to promote consumer confidence in Web-based retailers, was in the third year of implementation in Singapore. The plan was to extend CaseTrust's success to other countries. However, this raised a number of issues with regards to the legal framework required, CaseTrust's marketing and branding strategy, technical issues relating to security, and cultural factors. This case seeks to draw out the learning experience in Singapore as to what builds trust in the B2C marketspace and to apply these to CaseTrust's strategy for other countries. Subjects Covered: Globalization Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) is a key component of the security infrastructure for Microsoft--the large, internationally known software manufacturer. A hacker has informed the program manager of the center of potentially damaging security vulnerability in a piece of Microsoft's Internet server software. Neither the hacker nor MSRC knows for sure whether systems using the software have been compromised, but they do know that the vulnerability has been discussed in hacker news groups. The program manager must determine who should be told, what needs to be done, and when. Subjects Covered: Applications; Internet; Public relations; Risk assessment; Security; Strategic planning DoubleClick, Inc., with global headquarters in New York City and over 30 offices around the world, was a leading provider of comprehensive Internet advertising solutions for marketers and web publishers. It combined technology, media, and data expertise to centralize planning, execution, control, tracking, and reporting for
Teaching Note: 801E05
Chapter 16 The Impacts of IT on Organizations, Individuals and Society The ITC eChoupal Initiative: David M. Upton, Virginia A. Fuller Product #: 604016 Length: 20p Teaching Note: 604077
Dubai Ports Authority (A): Andrew McAfee, Karen OomsWall, Lubna Al Qasimi Product #: 603061 Length: 16p Teaching Note: 603097
online media companies. DoubleClick was able to track Internet users' surfing habits (but not the surfers' identities), allowing it to personalize ads for specific market groups. When DoubleClick announced it was merging with Abacus Direct, a direct marketing company with a database of consumer names, addresses, and retail purchasing habits of 90% of American households, it raised many privacy-related questions and concerns. Several Internet privacy activists had filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission after being informed by media sources that DoubleClick had the ability to divulge a person's identity by merging the databases of the two companies and matching the information in "cookies" with a surfer's profile. The president was confident that its internal practices were sound, but he wondered whether they would placate advertising clients afraid of consumer backlash, the concerns of Internet surfers, and the company's investors. Subjects Covered: Advertising; Computers; Direct marketing; Internet; Risk management
Abstract Soybean farmers in India have traditionally sold their product through ineffective and frequently dishonest physical marketplaces (mandi). Farmers are generally poor and often illiterate and are forced to be "price-takers" after an arduous journey to the mandi. They also have very limited access to information and education on farming techniques. Describes the use of Internet technologies to reach these farmers and, in particular, examines a new system called the eChoupal, developed by the Indian conglomerate ITC. The eChoupal has reengineered the antiquated soybean export supply chain using digital technology in rural farm villages. Based on a clever understanding of technology, sociology, and the incentives of the various players involved, the eChoupal provides farmers with effective methods of price discovery, honest trading, and information sharing to the benefit of all in the channel. Discusses the achievement, opportunities, and challenges of the managers of the new supply chain. Subjects Covered: Commodity markets; Developing countries; Information technology; Internet; Social enterprise; Supply chain management The Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) wishes to digitize many of the documents it shares with its external partners, including shipping lines and agents, merchants, and the country's customs authority. DPA also wishes to automate the many document transmissions related to ships' manifests. At the time of the case, the worldwide shipping industry is characterized by low levels of automation, a proliferation of incompatible data standards, and many independent players. All of these factors complicate digitization efforts. DPA decides to write its manifest documentation system itself, and must make several other decisions related to system implementation and rollout. Learning Objective: To make students aware of the difficulties in
Women.com: Myra M. Hart, Sarah Thorp Product #: 800216 Length: 26p B case available
rolling out an interorganizational information system. Entrepreneurs Ellen Pack and Marleen McDaniel have founded a women's on-line network and watched it grow from an on-line subscription service in 1992 to one of the best known, widely visited women's networks on the web in 1999. While the company's vision has remained consistent, the company has taken on new forms as the Internet world in which it operates changes. The company reincarnates its business model and creates new strategic partnerships in an Internet space that is rapidly filling with other women's media organizations. McDaniel's challenges include "getting her stars aligned" before an IPO. Does she have the proper systems in place to ensure that an IPO will be successful? Learning Objective: Allows students to analyze transitions. Set against the backdrop of the rapidly transforming Internet industry, students will learn about the evolution of the Internet, e-commerce, and women's networks, and the co-evolution and revolution of Women.com. They will discuss important transition points and triggers for founder Ellen Pack and CEO Marleen McDaniel as the company develops. They will discuss what has enabled the company to survive and thrive and consider important elements of the company that have changed, and important elements for the company that stay the same.
