Reference no: EM132337534
Activity 1 - Take a few minutes to think about real life examples of where businesses have successfully borrowed strategies from each other. List as many as you can think of.
Activity 2 - Define the terms ‘strategic plan' and ‘strategic planning'.
Activity 3 - What can a SWOT Analysis tell you about an organisation in planning to meet the organisation's information technology needs?
Activity 4 - Where would you gain information on organisational practices?
Activity 5 - Describe ways an IT business can take a customer centric approach.
Activity 6 - Describe the effect of social media on business organisations.
Activity 7 - Outline who would be an appropriate person in a typical organisation to provide information on the organisation's current ICT systems.
Activity 8 - What is the purpose of information technology gap analysis?
Activity 9 - How could you measure and document the risk associated with implementing a new information technology?
Activity 10 - What are the differences between internal and external constraints? Provide examples of each.
Activity 11 - What would you expect to find in an action plan?
Knowledge Assessment
1. Fill in the missing word:
The IT system already in place at an organisation is often referred to as the ________ system of the organisation.
2. Answer True or False:
A gap is sometimes spoken of as the space between where we are and where we want to be.
(a) True
(b) False
3. What are the five commonly regarded steps of gap analysis?
4. In an IT environment, why would management appreciate assessing the information collected through the gap analysis process?
5. What happens during the review stage?
(a) monitor job performance
(b) review the proposed system
(c) review employee jobs
(d) review the current system
6. Answer True or false:
In gap analysis, the objective is to evaluate a condition or situation.
(a) True
(b) False
7. What might the proposed system include?
(a) hardware upgrades
(b) job upgrades
(c) a new information system
(d) restructuring procedures
(e) all of the above
8. Answer True or False:
The gap analysis develops a range of options or recommendations for the organisation to consider. Each of these recommendations made in the gap analysis may become an action plan.
(a) True
(b) False
9. Action plans take a number of forms, but generally may include similar elements. Which elements form an action plan?
(a) goal, activities, responsibilities, evaluation process, timeline
(b) resources, timeline, evidence of success, evaluation process, activities
(c) goal, activities, responsibilities, evaluation process, resources, timeline, evidence of success
10. Which of the following are internal considerations in an action plan?
(a) government bodies, competitors, legal issues
(b) HR considerations, financial considerations, legal issues
11. Which of the following are external considerations in an action plan?
(a) operational issues, government bodies
(b) financial considerations, competitors
(c) competitors, government bodies
12. Answer True or False:
Strategic plans set out to accomplish a specific goal through a plan of action.
(a) True
(b) False
13. In the IT industry, which of the following are major reasons that businesses fail to develop effective strategies?
(a) allowing corporate politics to dictate priorities
(b) failure to understand the challenges ahead
(c) failure to see a strategic challenge
(d) all of the above
14. What are the three common ‘descriptors' that are used in mission statements?
(a) purpose, reasons, goals
(b) purpose, business, values
(c) purpose, procedure, process
(d) none of the above Feedback
15. When preparing strategies, tangible and intangible resources are discussed. Which of the following resources are intangible?
(a) employee knowledge, equipment, employee relations
(b) managerial talent, cash balance of company, employee knowledge
(c) ideas, reputation, capacity for innovation
16. Answer True or False:
Competitive advantage is the ability of the organisation to outperform its competitors in key performance areas.
(a) True
(b) False
Task 1 - Analysis and Strategic Planning
Part 1 - Mission statements
Review and compare the following mission statements from Microsoft and LPPL.
LPPL mission statement
‘To satisfy our customers' desires for personal entertainment and information through total customer satisfaction.'
Microsoft mission statement
‘At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.'
Microsoft values
As a company, and as individuals, we value
• integrity and honesty
• passion for customers, for our partners, and for technology
• openness and respectfulness
• taking on big challenges and seeing them through
• constructive self-criticism, self-improvement, and personal excellence
• accountability to customers, shareholders, partners, and employees for commitments, results, and quality.
Which mission statement best conveys the what, how and why of the organisation?
Part 2 - Gather data on current information technology
Create a questionnaire that can be used to gather information about the organisation's current IT systems. Remember that an IT system is made of many elements and your questions should reflect this.
Here are some questions that will help in reviewing the legacy IT system to assist you in the development of your questionnaire:
Client server
• Do you currently have any client / server computers?
• If yes, what type and how many?
Network
• What is the network topology and cable type?
• Do you have an ISP? If so, who and what is the connection type?
Data
• How is your data stored?
• How do you archive older data?
Peripheral
• Do you use printers or faxes? If so, what type and how many?
Attach the questionnaire to this assessment task.
Part 3 - Determine objectives
Review the tables below and for every objective and finding, suggest:
• what the implications would be
• make recommendations (if required).
Question 1
Objectives Check the weather report to determine the temperature for today
Findings The temperature will be 22 deg. C with the likelihood of rain in the afternoon
Implications
Recommendations
Question 2
Objectives Evaluate customer feedback to determine the feasibility of introducing an e-commerce website for the organisation.
The current brochure site employed by the organisation received many hits.
Customers complain that the ordering process - either by phone, fax, email or in person - is confusing and long winded.
There are often errors made in the ordering process due to information being recorded incorrectly.
Findings The organisation has appropriate equipment and support personnel required to conduct ordering on-line.
Customers want the ordering of products to be easier.
The current ordering process is costing the organisation money in lost sales as customers are going to competitors to purchase the same goods.
Competitors use an e-commerce website to allow their customers to order goods on-line.
Implications
Recommendations
Question 3
Objectives Evaluate whether the current system database performs the tasks required by users.
Findings Information about current suppliers is not being recorded in the database.
We do not keep adequate records of the items we purchase from each supplier.
We are unable to predict the numbers of goods required from each supplier.
A new supplier has approached us with supposedly cheaper prices and discounts.
We are unable to compare suppliers with each other to see if we are getting the ‘best deal' from each of them.
Implications
Recommendations
Part 4 - Reviewing action plans
Visit the three links listed below for action plans and review the similarities and differences between them.
Task 2 - Project
You are required to write a gap analysis report comparing the current system with the strategic plan. You should:
- Review the critical issues and strategic objectives in the BCG Design strategic plan.