Reference no: EM133594950
You should write a two page on each topic, and submit as a Word Document upload below. Please answer all question prompts completely with your own original thoughts and analysis and concepts from the chapter
Topic 1: Global Information Systems at Toyota Motor Company
The Toyota Motor Company is a global automobile manufacturer that operates on five different continents. In the United States, it runs five major assembly plants. To manage its operations efficiently and effectively around the globe, Toyota uses several types of information systems. It uses the Internet and global networks to communicate with its offices, plants, and dealerships around the world.
Toyota is one of the founders of the Toyota Production System, an early version of the Just In Time (JIT) inventory system. This system allows Toyota to have on hand the exact number of components needed at any time to continue its operations, given that waste often occurs when components are inventoried and stored. To use a JIT inventory system, Toyota's GIS must be capable of managing real-time inventory, not only within its own manufacturing facilities but in all of its suppliers' facilities. Because of this, Toyota requires all of its suppliers to have a system capable of interfacing with the one Toyota uses for its own operations.
Toyota worked with Dell, Microsoft, and WorldCom (a part of Verizon Communications) to develop a
"Dealer Daily" system that offers a centralized data center for the more than 1,100 Toyota and Lexus dealers in the United States. This system allows dealers to spend more time focusing on selling cars and less time on paperwork. For example, the syster! is capable of providing a response to a financing application in 15 seconds.
Using Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1, Toyota Motor Europe (ME) implemented Toyota's Vehicle Order Management (VOM) system. This system, which encompasses 13 countries, enables ME to improve its European operations by reducing delivery time to customers and managing inventory more efficiently. As a result, the system reduces operating costs.
Answer the Following Questions:
a) What role do global networks play in the effective implementation of JIT?
b) What role does the Dealer Daily system play in Toyota's implementation of a GIS?
c) What is the function of Vehicle Order Management (VOM)?
d) How many countries will be impacted by VOM and in which part of the world?
Topic 2: Crowdsourcing Pays Off
Crowdsourcing is not only used for relatively simple tasks such as designing a Web site or a case for a smartphone. Today, it is increasingly being used in more complex designs as well. Precyse Technologies provides supply-chain products and solutions that assist organizations in tracking their inventories using RFID technology. The company was having difficulty improving the performance and battery life of a particular RFID device; there were not adequate internal resources to tackle the problem. So, Precyse asked InnoCentive, a crowdsourcing provide for assistance, believing that it would provide quick access to a worldwide talent pool and a higher return on investment (ROl). Ultimately, the company received more than 300 ideas from global experts for solving its problem. The company narrowed the pool of ideas down to three finalists, from which a winner was chosen. The whole process took approximately four
months and saved the company an estimated $250,000.
Answer the Following Questions:
a) What are some typical applications of crowdsourcing?
b) What are some advantages of crowdsourcing?
c) How could crowdsourcing reduce the cost of systems design?
d) Are there certain problems you would not want to use crowdsourcing to solve?