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The Institute of Solution Developers (ISD) offers three basic certificates in Information Technology; Software Engineering; and Solutions Architecture. ATL is one of many training companies certified by the ISD to offer training courses to prepare candidates for these three certificates. ATL has, traditionally, taught these courses over five days culminating in a multiple choice examination. It has differentiated itself in the marketplace by offering high quality training in well-equipped training centres. Its prices are slightly higher than its competitors, but it is well regarded by both candidates and employers. ATL also provides training courses through sales intermediaries known as training brokers. These brokers negotiate a reduced fee with ATL and then add a profit margin to determine the price that they charge the end customer. All ATL courses are run in Eothen, an established industrial nation with a high standard of living.<br>In the last six months, ATL has developed an e-learning course for the certificate in Information Technology. There are three main reasons for this development. The first reason is to allow candidates to prepare for the examination in a flexible way, studying ‘at their own pace in their own place’. Currently, courses are only run in Eothen and each certified course takes five days. In contrast the e-learning product will be delivered over the Internet. The second reason is to provide a cheaper route to the qualification. Course places currently cost $950 per person. Finally, ATL wishes to exploit a global market. It believes that there is a ‘very large market’ for e-learning for this qualification, particularly in countries where disposable income is less than in Eothen. It feels that overseas customers will be sensitive to price, but they have no estimate of this sensitivity.<br>Eothen, itself, is in a period of economic decline and the top 500 companies, which are specifically targeted by ATL, are reducing their training budgets. Figure 1 shows the results of research from MidShire University into the relationship between average training spend per employee and companies’ gross profit. Data given below is from 10 of the top 500 companies targeted by ATL. Statistics produced by the Eothen government suggest that the average gross profit of the top 500 companies in Eothen will fall to $50m next year. In this analysis, the independent variable (gross profit) is x, which is being used to estimate a dependent variable y (average annual training spend per employee).<br>Figure 1: Training spend analysed against gross profit<br>The e-learning product has been specified by an experienced lecturer and developed by a business analyst. The latter will also be responsible for supporting students once the product has been released. ATL is the first company to produce an e-learning product for the ISD market. It wishes to quickly build on its success and to offer e-learning for the other two certificates – Software Engineering and Solutions Architecture.<br>Each certificate examination costs $125 and is available on demand in test centres all over the world. This makes it very accessible to the countries that ATL are targeting. The managing director of ATL has also discovered the following analysis of nationwide e-learning sales published by Training Trends, a respected Eothen-based publication. Here the independent variable is time (x) and e-learning sales is the dependent variable (y).<br>Figure 2: E-learning sales in Eothen analysed by quarter (source: Training Trends).<br>The period column has been inserted to facilitate the regression analysis.<br>Required:<br>ATL needs to determine the price (or prices) of its e-learning product:<br>(a) Identify and discuss the factors that need to be taken into consideration when pricing the e-learning product. (15 marks)<br>(b) Figures 1 and 2 provide important, independent, statistical data:<br>Evaluate the potential of each set of statistical data for use in the pricing decision for the e-learning product, particularly highlighting any limitations in using such data. (10 marks)
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HomeDeliver is a nationwide company that sells small household goods to consumers. It produces an attractive, comprehensive catalogue which it distributes to staff known as catalogue supervisors. There are 150 of these supervisors in the country. Each supervisor has approximately 30 part-time home-based agents, who then deliver the catalogue to consumers in their homes. Agents subsequently collect the catalogue and any completed order forms and forward these forms to their supervisor. Payment is also taken when the order is collected. Payment is by cash or cheque and these payments are also forwarded to the supervisor by the agent. At the end of the week the supervisor returns completed order forms (and payments) to HomeDeliver. Order details are then entered into a computer system by order entry administrators at HomeDeliver and this starts an order fulfilment process that ends with goods being delivered directly to the customer. The supervisors and the agents are all self-employed. HomeDeliver rewards supervisors on the basis of how many agents they manage. Agents’ reward packages are based on how many catalogues they deliver and a commission based on orders received from the homes they have collected orders from.<br>In August 2010 HomeDeliver decided to replace the physical ordering system with a new electronic ordering system. Agents would be provided with software which would allow them to enter customer orders directly into the computer system using their home personal computer at the end of each day. Payments would also be paid directly into a HomeDeliver bank account by agents at the end of each day.<br>The software to support the new ordering system was developed in-house to requirements provided by the current order entry administrators at HomeDeliver and managers concerned with order fulfilment and invoicing. The software was tested internally by the order entry administrators. At first, both the specification of requirements and initial software testing progressed very slowly because order administrators were continuing with their normal operational duties. However, as project delays became more significant, selected order administrators were seconded to the project full-time. As a result the software was fully acceptance tested by the end of July 2011, two months behind schedule.<br>In August 2011 the software was rolled out to all supervisors and agents. The software was claimed to be easy to use, so no formal training was given. A large comprehensive manual with colour screenshots was attached as a PDF to an email sent to all supervisors and agents. This gave detailed instructions on how to set up and use the software.<br>Unfortunately, problems began to appear as soon as the agents tried to load and use the software. It was found to be incompatible with one particular popular browser, and agents whose computers used that browser were advised to use an alternative browser or computer. Agents also criticised the functionality of the software because it did not allow for the amendment of orders once they had been submitted. It emerged that customers often contacted agents and supervisors to amend their order prior to it being sent to HomeDeliver. This was no longer possible with the new system. Many agents also claimed that it was not possible to enter multiple orders for one household. However, HomeDeliver confirmed that entering multiple orders was possible; it was just not clear from the software, or from the instructions provided, how this could be achieved.<br>Most of the agents were reluctant to print off the manual (preferring to read it on screen) and a significant number claimed that they did not receive the email with the manual attachment. Agents also found quite a number of spelling and functionality errors in the manual. At certain points the software did not perform. in the way the manual stated that it would.<br>Internal standards at HomeDeliver require both a post-project and a post-implementation review.<br>Required:<br>(a) Explain the purpose of each of the following: a post-project review, a post-implementation review and a benefits realisation review. (6 marks)<br>(b) Evaluate the problems and the lessons that should be learned from a post-project review and a post-implementation review of the electronic ordering system at HomeDeliver. (12 marks)<br>(c) HomeDeliver does not have a benefits management process and so a benefits realisation review is inappropriate. However, it does feel that it would be useful to retrospectively define the benefits to HomeDeliver of the new electronic ordering system.<br>Identify and discuss the potential benefits to HomeDeliver of the new electronic ordering system. (7 marks)
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Section B – TWO questions ONLY to be attempted<br>iCompute was founded twenty years ago by the technology entrepreneur, Ron Yeates. It initially specialised in building bespoke computer software for the financial services industry. However, it has expanded into other specialised areas and it is currently the third largest software house in the country, employing 400 people. It still specialises in bespoke software, although 20% of its income now comes from the sales of a software package designed specifically for car insurance.<br>The company has grown based on a ‘work hard, play hard work ethic’ and this still remains. Employees are expected to work long hours and to take part in social activities after work. Revenues have continued to increase over the last few years, but the firm has had difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. Approximately one-third of all employees leave within their first year of employment at the company. The company appears to experience particular difficulty in recruiting and retaining female staff, with 50% of female staff leaving within 12 months of joining the company. Only about 20% of the employees are female and they work mainly in marketing and human resources.<br>The company is currently in dispute with two of its customers who claim that its bespoke software did not fit the agreed requirements. iCompute currently outsources all its legal advice problems to a law firm that specialises in computer contracts and legislation. However, the importance of legal advice has led to iCompute considering the establishment of an internal legal team, responsible for advising on contracts, disputes and employment legislation.<br>The support of bespoke solutions and the car insurance software package was also outsourced a year ago to a third party. Although support had been traditionally handled in-house, it was unpopular with staff. One of the senior managers responsible for the outsourcing decision claimed that support calls were ‘increasingly varied and complex, reflecting incompetent end users, too lazy to read user guides.’ However, the outsourcing of support has not proved popular with iCompute’s customers and a number of significant complaints have been made about the service given to end users. The company is currently reviewing whether the software support process should be brought back in-house.<br>The company is still regarded as a technology leader in the market place, although the presence of so many technically gifted employees within the company often creates uncertainty about the most appropriate technology to adopt for a solution. One manager commented that ‘we have often adopted, or are about to adopt, a technology or solution when one of our software developers will ask if we have considered some newly released technology. We usually admit we haven’t and so we re-open the adoption process. We seem to be in a state of constant technical paralysis.’<br>Although Ron Yeates retired five years ago, many of the software developers recruited by him are still with the company. Some of these have become operational managers, employed to manage teams of software developers on internal and external projects. Subba Kendo is one of the managers who originally joined the company as a trainee programmer. ‘I moved into management because I needed to earn more money. There is a limit to what you can earn here as a software developer. However, I still keep up to date with programming though, and I am a goalkeeper for one of the company’s five-a-side football teams. I am still one of the boys.’<br>However, many of the software developers are sceptical about their managers. One commented that ‘they are technologically years out of date. Some will insist on writing programs and producing code, but we take it out again as soon as we can and replace it with something we have written. Not only are they poor programmers, they are poor managers and don’t really know how to motivate us.’ Although revenues have increased, profits have fallen. This is also blamed on the managers. ‘There is always an element of ambiguity in specifying customers’ requirements. In the past, Ron Yeates would debate responsibility for requirements changes with the customer. However, we now seem to do all amendments for free. The customer is right even when we know he isn’t. No wonder margins are falling. The managers are not firm enough with customers.’<br>The software developers are also angry that an in-house project has been initiated to produce a system for recording time spent on tasks and projects. Some of the justification for this is that a few of the projects are on a ‘time and materials’ basis and a time recording system would permit accurate and prompt invoicing. However, the other justification for the project is that it will improve the estimation of ‘fixed-price’ contracts. It will provide statistical information derived from previous projects to assist account managers preparing estimates to produce quotes for bidding for new bespoke development contracts.<br>Vikram Soleski, one of the current software developers, commented that ‘managers do not even have up-to-date mobile phones, probably because they don’t know how to use them. We (software developers) always have the latest gadgets long before they are acquired by managers. But I like working here, we have a good social scene and after working long hours we socialise together, often playing computer games well into the early hours of the morning. It’s a great life if you don’t weaken!’<br>Required:<br>(a) Analyse the culture of iCompute, and assess the implications of your analysis for the company’s future performance. (13 marks)<br>(b) iCompute is currently re-considering three high level processes:<br>(i) Advice on legal issues (currently outsourced)<br>(ii) Software support (currently outsourced)<br>(iii) Time recording (in-house, bespoke software development)<br>Evaluate, using an appropriate framework or model, the suitability of iCompute’s current approach to EACH of these high level processes. (12 marks)
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Section A – This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted<br>Introduction<br>Rudos is a densely populated, industrialised country with an extensive railway network developed in the nineteenth century. This railway network (totalling 6,000 kilometres), together with the trains that ran on it, was nationalised in 1968 and so became wholly owned by the government. By 2004, RudosRail, the government-owned rail company, was one of the ten largest employers in the country. However, in that year, the general election was won by the Party for National Reconstruction (PNR) with a manifesto that promised the privatisation of many of the large publicly-owned organisations, including RudosRail. The PNR argued that there had been a lack of investment in the railway under public ownership and that the absence of competition had meant that ticket prices and costs (particularly labour costs) were too high for the taxpayer to continue subsidising it. The combination of high ticket prices and large public subsidies was very unpopular. As a result the government split the railway network into eight sections (or franchises) and invited private sector bids for each of these eight franchises. Each franchise was for ten years and was for the trains, tracks and infrastructure of each section. Each franchise would be awarded to the highest bidder.<br>The East Rudos franchise, one of the eight franchises, was awarded to Great Eastern Trains (GET), a company specifically set up to bid for the franchise by former members of RudosRail’s management. It was the only independent company to win a franchise. The other seven franchises were awarded to companies who were subsidiaries of global transport groups and, initially, were largely financed through investment from the parent companies. In contrast, GET was primarily financed through loans from the government-owned Bank of Rudos. The ten-year franchise started in 2006. GET is an unquoted company, owned by its management team.<br>GET – the early years<br>The first three years of the GET franchise were extremely successful, both in terms of profits and passenger satisfaction. This was partly due to government subsidies to help ease the transition of the network from public to private ownership. However, it was also due to the skill and knowledge of the management team. This team already had significant operating experience (gained with RudosRail) and they adapted quickly to the new private sector model. GET was the most profitable of the new franchises and it was held up as an example of successful privatisation. Its investment in new trains and excellent reliability record meant that it quickly built up a well-respected image and brand. GET uses a series of television advertisements to promote its services. These feature an old lady arriving at various stations and texting her family that she has ‘arrived safe & on time!’ In a recent consumer survey these advertisements were rated as both memorable and effective.<br>In the newly privatised rail system many passenger journeys crossed franchise boundaries, so that a journey often involved the use of two or more franchise operators. GET developed an innovative booking and payment system that also automatically reallocated revenue from fares between franchise holders. It also allowed Internet booking and gave discounts for early booking. This system was so successful that GET now uses the system to process the bookings of three of the other franchise operators. GET is paid on a transaction basis for the bookings that it processes on behalf of these other franchisees.<br>The fourth and fifth years of GET’s operation were not as successful. No government subsidies were paid in those years and economic problems in the country led to a fall in passenger numbers. Financial information for GET for 2010 is provided in Figure 1. Figure 2 provides data for the rail industry as a whole in Rudos.<br>Figure 1: Selected information for GET in 2010<br>Extract from the statement of financial position: All financial figures in $m<br>Extract from the statement of comprehensive income<br>All financial figures in $m<br>Figure 2: Financial information for the Rudos rail industry as a whole<br>Current position<br>Despite the apparent success of GET, there has been considerable criticism of the overall privatisation of the railway. Much of this criticism is concentrated in two of the geographical areas where the franchisees have struggled to provide an efficient and economic service. The government has appointed auditors who are reviewing the operation of these two franchises and a government minister has stated that ‘terminating the franchise and opening it up to re-bidding has not been ruled out as an option’. A major rail accident in Rudos (with many fatalities) has also led to concerns about safety and led to new legislation being enacted. Further safety legislation is expected concerning the relaying of track and all franchisees will be expected to implement the requirements immediately.<br>In 2009, the PNR was returned to power, but with a reduced majority. The leader of the main opposition party originally suggested that the railways might be re-nationalised if he were to gain power. However, he has since moderated his view, although he suggests that ‘they should return a significant percentage of their profits to the taxpayer’. Road transport has also suffered under the PNR government, with many of the roads in the country heavily congested. Fuel costs have increased to reflect increasing scarcity, causing many companies to face spiralling transport and storage costs. For the first time in the country’s history, an ecology (green) party has won seats in government, capitalising on the growth of the ‘green consumer’, particularly in urban areas.<br>International rail developments<br>The pioneering privatisation initiatives in Rudos have been observed by other countries and many have adopted similar policies. Recently, the Republic of Raziackstan announced that it intended to privatise its railway network. Raziackstan is approximately five hours’ flying time from Rudos and is part of the former eastern trading bloc. It is a country where there is currently very little health and safety legislation. Although there is also little employment legislation, public service jobs are traditionally viewed as safe, and employees perceive that a ‘railway job is a job for life’. At present the railway network, which is 1,500 kilometres long, employs 8,000 employees generating revenues of $180,000,000. The country itself still has a limited technological and financial infrastructure, with only an estimated 20% of the population having access to the Internet. However, all political parties are united in their desire to privatise the railways so that money can be invested elsewhere in the country, for example, for providing better health care.<br>Because of the poor condition of the railway, the proposal is to retain and upgrade the rail tracks under public ownership. However, the trains and infrastructure, such as stations, will be privatised. The government is looking for letters of intent from private companies who are willing to take over the complete network (excluding the tracks).<br>A stipulation of the contract is that the bidder should have a significant industrial presence in the country. For some time GET has been interested in acquiring the company that undertakes most of the track and train maintenance in Raziackstan. This company SOFR (SOciety Fabrication de Raziackstan) was established in 1919 and has a long tradition of engineering. GET has used the company to refurbish some of its equipment and they have been delighted with the results.<br>The board of GET now senses a great opportunity. It would like to combine the speedy acquisition of SOFR with a bid to run the rail network in Raziackstan. In fact, early informal indications from the Raziackstan government suggest that the bid will be successful if SOFR has been acquired by GET as no other prospective bidders for the network have yet come forward.<br>Required:<br>(a) Using appropriate models and frameworks, analyse GET’s current strategic position from both an internal and external perspective. (20 marks)<br>(b) GET’s proposed strategy is firstly to acquire SOFR and then the franchise to run the rail network of Raziackstan. You have been asked to provide an independent assessment of this proposed strategy.<br>Write a report evaluating GET’s proposed strategy. (16 marks)<br>Professional marks will be awarded in part (b) for appropriate structure, style. and fluency of the report. (4 marks)<br>(c) Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important business concepts in the context of franchising rail services.<br>Explain and discuss these concepts in the context of GET and the rail industry. (10 marks)
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Judy Sodhi is in her fi rst teaching year at the National College, a private college offering short courses in accounting, auditing and management. In her fi rst year Judy has primarily taught the Certifi cate in Managerial Finance. This is a three-day short course which ends in an externally set examination, marked and invigilated by staff employed by the Institute of Managerial Finance (IMF). The IMF also defi nes the syllabus, the length of the course and accredits colleges to run the course. There are no pre-conditions for candidates who wish to attend the course. Last year Judy ran the course 20 times with an average of nine students on each running of the course. At the end of each course every student has to complete a post-course evaluation questionnaire. Judy does not see these questionnaires and has received no feedback about her performance.<br>As the college is a virtual organisation using serviced training rooms, Judy rarely sees her manager Blake Jones. However, he contacted her recently to suggest that they should conduct her fi rst appraisal and a date and time was agreed. Blake explained that ‘it would be just a general chat looking at how the year had gone. We need to do one to satisfy the college and the IMF’. The time of the appraisal was set for 3.00 pm, fi nishing at 5.00 pm.<br>The appraisal did start with a general discussion. Blake outlined the plans of the organisation and his own promotion hopes. Judy was surprised to see that Blake was not following any standard list of questions or noting down any of the answers she made. She told him that one of her main problems was the numeracy level of some of the candidates. She recognised that the course had no pre-conditions, ‘but it does require some basic mathematical skills that some of our candidates just do not have’.<br>After listening to Judy for a while Blake produced a statistical summary of the feedback questionnaires from the courses she had run in the last year. He said that the organisation expected its lecturers to attain an acceptable result in all 10 questions given in the post-course questionnaire. An acceptable result ‘is that 90% of all candidates said that they were ‘satisfi ed or very satisfi ed’ with key aspects of the course’. Judy had achieved this on seven of the questions but specifi cally failed on the following performance measures;<br>– Percentage of candidates who felt that the course was relevant to their current job – only 65% of your candidates felt that the course was relevant to their current job.<br>– Percentage of candidates who passed the examination – only 88？88% of your candidates passed the examination.<br>– Percentage of candidates who felt that the course pace was satisfactory – only 75% of your candidates felt that the pace of the course was satisfactory.<br>After expressing her surprise that she had not been given this information before, she immediately returned to the problem of numeracy skills. ‘As I told you’ she said ‘some of these students lack the mathematical skills to pass. That’s not my fault, it is yours – you should not have let them on the course in the fi rst place. You are just fi lling the places to make money’.<br>After a heated discussion, Blake then turned to the ‘last thing on my agenda’. He explained that it was only college policy to give pay increases to lecturers who had achieved 90% in all 10 questions, so there would be no increase for Judy next year. However, he also needed to discuss her workload for next year. He produced a spreadsheet and had just begun to discuss course planning and locations in great detail when his mobile phone rang. ‘I am sorry, Judy, I have to collect the children from school – I must go. I will write down your planned course assignments and e-mail them to you. I think that was a very useful discussion. Overall we are very happy with you. See you at the end-of-year party, and of course at next year’s appraisal.’ He left at 4.30 pm.<br>Required:<br>(a) Based on Judy’s appraisal, evaluate the appropriateness of the appraisal process and performance measures at the National College, from both an employee and an organisational perspective. (15 marks)<br>(b) Explain the concept and purpose of competency frameworks for organisations, assessing their potential use at the National College and the Institute of Managerial Finance. (10 marks)
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Section B – TWO questions ONLY to be attempted<br>Ambion is the third largest industrial country in the world. It is densely populated with a high standard of living. Joe Swift Transport (known as Swift) is the largest logistics company in Ambion, owning 1500 trucks. It is a private limited company with all shares held by the Swift family. It has signifi cant haulage and storage contracts with retail and supermarket chains in Ambion. The logistics market-place is mature and extremely competitive and Swift has become market leader through a combination of economies of scale, cost effi ciencies, innovative IT solutions and clever branding. However, the profi tability of the sector is under increased pressure from a recently elected government that is committed to heavily taxing fuel and reducing expenditure on roads in favour of alternative forms of transport. It has also announced a number of taxes on vehicles which have high carbon emission levels as well as reducing the maximum working hours and increasing the national minimum wage for employees. The company is perceived as a good performer in its sector. The 2009 fi nancial results reported a Return on Capital Employed of 18%, a gross profi t margin of 17% and a net profi t margin of 9？15%. The accounts also showed a current liquidity ratio of 1？55 and an acid test ratio of 1？15. The gearing ratio is currently 60% with an interest cover ratio of 8.<br>10 years ago the northern political bloc split up and nine new independent states were formed. One of these states was Ecuria. The people of Ecuria (known as Ecurians) traditionally have a strong work ethic and a passion for precision and promptness. Since the formation of the state, their hard work has been rewarded by strong economic growth, a higher standard of living and an increased demand for goods which were once perceived as unobtainable luxuries. Since the formation of the state, the government of Ecuria has pursued a policy of privatisation. It has also invested heavily in infrastructure, particularly the road transport system, required to support the increased economic activity in the country.<br>The state haulage operator (EVM) was sold off to two Ecurian investors who raised the fi nance to buy it from a foreign bank. The capital markets in Ecuria are still immature and the government has not wished to interfere with or bolster them. EVM now has 700 modern trucks and holds all the major logistics contracts in the country. It is praised for its prompt delivery of goods. Problems in raising fi nance have made it diffi cult for signifi cant competitors to emerge. Most are family fi rms, each of which operates about 20 trucks making local deliveries within one of Ecuria’s 20 regions.<br>These two investors now wish to realise their investment in EVM and have announced that it is for sale. In principle, Swift are keen to buy the company and are currently evaluating its possible acquisition. Swift’s management perceive that their capabilities in logistics will greatly enhance the profi tability of EVM. The fi nancial results for EVM are shown in Figure 1. Swift has acquired a number of smaller Ambion companies in the last decade, but has no experience of acquiring foreign companies, or indeed, working in Ecuria.<br>Joe Swift is also contemplating a more radical change. He is becoming progressively disillusioned with Ambion. In a recent interview he said that ‘trading here is becoming impossible. The government is more interested in over regulating enterprise than stimulating growth’. He is considering moving large parts of his logistics operation to another country and Ecuria is one of the possibilities he is considering.<br>Required:<br>(a) Assess, using both fi nancial and non-fi nancial measures, the attractiveness, from Swift’s perspective, of EVM as an acquisition target. (15 marks)<br>(b) Porter’s Diamond can be used to explore the competitive advantage of nations and could be a useful model for Joe Swift to use in his analysis of countries that he might move his company to.<br>Examine using Porter’s Diamond (or an appropriate alternative model/framework) the factors which could infl uence Swift’s decision to move a large part of its logistics business to Ecuria. (10 marks)
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Since 1970 the authority has had its own internal Information Technology (IT) department. However, there has been increasing criticism of the cost and performance of this department. The CEO has commented that ‘we seem to expand the department to cope with special demands (such as the millennium bug) but the department never seems to shrink back to its original size when the need has passed’. Some employees are lost through natural wastage, but there have never been any redundancies in IT and the labour laws of the nation, and strong trade unions within the authority, make it diffi cult to make staff redundant.<br>In the last few years there has been an on-going dispute between managers in the IT department and managers in the fi nance function. The dispute started due to claims about the falsifi cation of expenses but has since escalated into a personal battle between the director of IT and the fi nance director. The CEO has had to intervene personally in this dispute and has spent many hours trying to reconcile the two sides. However, issues still remain and there is still tension between the managers of the two departments.<br>A recent internal human resources (HR) survey of the IT department found that, despite acknowledging that they received above average pay, employees were not very satisfi ed. The main complaints were about poor management, the ingratitude of user departments, (‘we are always being told that we are overheads, and are not core to the business of the authority’) and the absence of promotion opportunities within the department. The ingratitude of users is despite the IT department running a relatively fl exible approach to fulfi lling users’ needs. There is no cross-charging for IT services provided and changes to user requirements are accommodated right up to the release of the software. The director of IT is also critical of the staffi ng constraints imposed on him. He has recently tried to recruit specialists in web services and ‘cloud computing’ without any success. He also says that ‘there are probably other technologies that I have not even heard of that we should be exploring and exploiting’.<br>The CEO has been approached by a large established IT service company, ProTech, to form. a new company ProTech-Public that combines the public sector IT expertise of the authority with the commercial and IT knowledge of ProTech. The joint company will be a private limited company, owned 51% by ProTech and 49% by the city authority. All existing employees in the IT department and the IT technology of the city authority will be transferred to ProTech who will then enter into a 10 year outsourcing arrangement with the city authority. The CEO is very keen on the idea and he sees many other authorities following this route.<br>The only exception to this transfer of resources concerns the business analysts who are currently in the IT department. They will be retained by the authority and located in a new business analysis department reporting directly to the CEO.<br>The CEO has suggested that the business analysts have the brief to ‘deliver solutions that demonstrably offer benefi ts to the authority and to the people of the city, using information technology where appropriate’. They need to be ‘outward looking and not constrained by current processes and technology’. They will also be responsible for liaising between users and the newly outsourced IT company and, for the fi rst time, defi ning business cases with users.<br>In principle, the creation of the new company and the outsourcing deal has been agreed. One of the conditions of the contract, inserted by the fi nance director, is that the new company achieves CMMI level 5 within three years. The current IT department has been recently assessed as CMMI level 2. ProTech has recently been assessed at CMMI level 3.<br>Required:<br>(a) Evaluate the potential benefi ts to the city authority and its IT employees, of outsourcing IT to ProTech-Public. (12 marks)<br>(b) The role of the business analyst is currently being re-designed.<br>Analyse what new or enhanced competencies the business analysts will require to undertake their proposed new role in the city authority. (7 marks)<br>(c) Explain the principles of CMMI and the advantages to ProTech-Public of achieving CMMI level 5. (6 marks)
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Section A – This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted<br>The following information should be used when answering question 1.<br>Introduction<br>Arcadia is a country with great mineral wealth and a hard-working, well-educated population. It has recently enjoyed sustained economic growth generated by the expansion of its manufacturing industry. The population has grown as well and, as a result, agricultural output has increased to satisfy this population, with much previously marginal land converted to arable and pasture land. However, after 10 years of sustained economic growth the country, in 2009, began to experience economic problems. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined for three successive quarters and there is increasing unemployment. Surveys have shown that wages are stagnant and retail sales are falling. There are also increasing problems with servicing both personal and business debt leading to business bankruptcy and homelessness.<br>The formation of WET<br>In 2002, the environmental campaigner Zohail Abbas published a book on the Wetlands of Arcadia. The Wetlands of Arcadia are areas of natural habitat made up of land that is saturated with moisture, such as a swamp, marsh or bog. Dr Abbas’ book chronicled the systematic destruction of the wetlands due to population growth, increased economic development and climate change. Water had been progressively drained from the wetlands to provide land for farming and to provide water for the increasing population and industry of the country. Wetlands also provide an important habitat for wildlife. Dr Abbas showed that in the period from 1970 to 2000, there had been a dramatic decline in birds, mammals and fi sh dependent upon the wetland habitat. Some species had become extinct.<br>In 2003, Dr Abbas formed the WEtland Trust (WET), with the aim of preserving, restoring and managing wetlands in Arcadia. Since its formation, the Trust has acquired the four remaining wetland sites left in the country. The Trust’s work is funded through donations and membership fees. Donations are one-off contributions. Membership is through an annual subscription which gives members the right to visit the wetlands. Each wetland site is managed by volunteers who provide access and guidance to members. The wetlands are not currently open to the general public. Dr Abbas’ work on the wetlands has brought him to the attention of the Arcadian public and he is now a popular television presenter. WET is also a strong brand, recognised by 85% of Arcadians in a recent green consumer survey.<br>GiftHelp<br>WET is a registered charity. Charities within Arcadia have to be registered with the Commission of Charities which regulates charities within the country. The number of charities has increased signifi cantly in the last few years leading to widespread criticism from established charities, politicians and the public, who believe that many of these charities have been formed to exploit taxation advantages. Dr Abbas is a vociferous critic, particularly after the Commission of Charities gave permission for the establishment of a rival wetland charity (WWTFT) despite the fact that all wetlands in Arcadia are under WET’s control. WWTFT promised to create new wetlands artifi cially in Arcadia. They have so far only raised $90,000 of the $151,000,000 required for a pilot site. Dr Abbas was part of a group that lobbied the government for the reform. of the Commission of Charities, but the government has rejected their advice.<br>The government of Arcadia has recently changed the rules on charity taxation. Previously, once the charity’s accounts had been audited, the government paid the charity a sum of 20% of the total value of donations and membership fees. This refl ected the income tax the donor would have paid on the amount they had given to the charity. However, the government has now declared that this is unfair as not all donations or membership fees are from Arcadian taxpayers or from people in Arcadia who actually pay tax. Consequently, in the future, charities will have to prove that a donation or membership fee was from an Arcadian tax payer. Only donations or fees supported by this proof will receive the 20%, so called GiftHelp, refund. Research and evidence from other countries suggests that 30% of donors will not give the GiftHelp details required and so the charity will not be able to reclaim tax from these donors. An analysis of WET’s income for 2008 is given in Figure 1 and an analysis of income for all charities is given in Figure 2. Research has also shown that 55% of members and 85% of donors also give money to other charities.<br>WET 2003–2009<br>WET was originally a vehicle for promoting the vision and ideology of Dr Abbas. Volunteers were recruited to manage and administer the wetland sites and the number of members gradually increased (see Figure 3). Many of these volunteers have become acknowledged experts in wetlands and their knowledge and experience is valued by members. However, as the charity expanded a number of issues emerged.<br>1. Administrative costs rose at a faster rate than subscriptions and donations. Administrative staff are all full-time paid employees of the charity. However, despite an increase in staff numbers, there is a substantial backlog of cleared applications in the Membership Department which have not yet been entered into the membership computer system. The membership computer system is one of the systems used to support administration. However, the functionality of this software is relatively restricted and cumbersome and there have been complaints about its accuracy. For example, members claim that renewal reminders are often sent out to people who have already paid and that members who should have received renewal invoices have never received them. As a result ‘we seem to be wasting money and losing members’.<br>2. Members have become increasingly frustrated by their limited access to the wetlands and many wish to participate more in determining the policies of the organisation. They feel that the wetland sites should also have better facilities, such as toilets and concealed positions for bird watching. There were increasing criticisms of Dr Abbas’ domineering style. and cavalier disregard for the members. Membership is currently falling and very little money is spent on sales and marketing to arrest this fall.<br>3. Volunteers have also become disgruntled with Dr Abbas’ management style. They feel patronised and undervalued. The number of volunteers is declining (see Figure 3) which in itself is reducing the access of members to the wetlands. A recent decision not to pay travelling expenses to volunteers led to further resignations.<br>At the 2009 Annual General Meeting (AGM) Dr Abbas stood down and announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Offi cer (CEO). Dr Abbas admitted in an emotional resignation speech that he had not suffi ciently taken into account the views of members, donors or volunteers. ‘It is a matter of deep regret that I spent more time focusing on wetlands rather than people’. He was made honorary president of WET in recognition of his work in establishing and expanding the charity.<br>The new CEO, Sheila Jenkins, wishes to pursue a more inclusive strategy, and immediately set about consulting the membership and voluntary staff about what they expected from WET. The two clearest messages that came from this consultation exercise were that:<br>– Members wanted much better access to wetlands and they were more interested in the wildlife that used the wetlands (particularly the birds) than the wetlands sites themselves. This was not a view shared by Dr Abbas who wanted the wetlands preserved for their own sake.<br>– Volunteers wished to be much more involved in the running of the organisation and wanted to be treated by management in a way that recognised their voluntary commitment.<br>System review<br>Sheila Jenkins is particularly keen to improve the technology that supports WET. She has stated that the better acquisition and management of members, volunteers and donors is an important objective of WET. WET’s current website is very rudimentary, but she sees ‘e-mail and website technology as facilitating the acquisition, retention and satisfaction of our customers’ needs. And by customers, I mean both prospective and existing members, volunteers and donors of WET.’ She also wishes to gain increased revenue from each member and donor.<br>The current membership renewal process has come under instant review and it is shown in the swim lane diagram (fl owchart) of Figure 4. A narrative to support this diagram is given below.<br>Membership renewal process<br>One month before the date of membership renewal, the computer system (Membership System) sends a renewal invoice to a current (not lapsed) member giving subscription details and asking for payment. A copy of this invoice is sent to the Membership Department who fi le it away. Approximately 80% of members decide to renew and send their payment (either by providing credit card details (60%) or as a cheque (40%)) to WET. The Membership Department matches the payment with the renewal invoice copy. The invoice copy (stamped paid) is sent to Sales and Marketing who use it to produce a membership card and send this card together with a Guide to Sites booklet, to the member. The Membership Department passes the payment to the Finance Department.<br>Finance now submits payments to the bank. It currently takes the Finance Department an average of fi ve days from the receipt of renewal to notifying the Membership Department of the cleared payment. Once cleared, Finance notifi es the Membership Department by e-mail and they update the Membership System to record that the payment has been made. As mentioned before, there is a backlog in entering these details into the computer system.<br>Some cheques do not clear, often because they are fi lled in incorrectly (for example, they are unsigned or wrongly dated). In these circumstances, Finance raises a payment request and sends it to the member. Once the member re-submits a replacement cheque, it again goes through the clearing process.<br>Credit card payments are cleared instantly, but again there may be problems with the details. For example, incorrect numbers and incorrect expiry dates will lead to the transaction not being authorised and so, in these circumstances, Finance again raises a payment request.<br>The members’ response to payment requests is very low (about 5%). The fi nance manager has described this as scandalous and ‘an unethical response from supposedly ethical people’.<br>Also, not shown on the diagram: One week before renewal, the Membership System produces a renewal reminder and sends it to the member. Some members pay as a result of this reminder. If payment is not received then the member details are recorded as ‘lapsed’.<br>Required:<br>(a) The new CEO, Sheila Jenkins, recognises that she should understand the strategic position of WET before considering strategic options and changes. She wants a concise assessment of the strategic position; covering environment, strategic capability, stakeholder expectations and organisational mission.<br>Undertake the assessment, required by Sheila Jenkins, of the strategic position of WET. (21 marks)<br>Professional marks will be awarded in part (a) for the scope, structure and tone of the answer. (4 marks)<br>(b) Problems with the current membership renewal process include:<br>– the low response to payment requests<br>– the despatch of renewal reminders for people who have already paid<br>– the failure to send renewal invoices to some members.<br>Analyse faults in the current membership renewal process that cause the problems identifi ed above. Suggest solutions that would remedy these faults. (15 marks)<br>(c) Sheila Jenkins sees customers as ‘both prospective and existing members, volunteers and donors of WET’. She also wishes to gain increased revenue from each member and donor.<br>Evaluate how email and website technology might facilitate the acquisition and retention of WET’s customers and support WET’s aim to gain increased revenues from members and donors. (10 marks)
问答题
Jayne Cox Direct is a company that specialises in the production of bespoke sofas and chairs. Its products are advertised in most quality lifestyle. magazines. The company was started ten years ago. It grew out of a desire to provide customers with the chance to specify their own bespoke furniture at a cost that compared favourably with standard products available from high street retailers. It sells furniture directly to the end customer. Its website allows customers to select the style. of furniture, the wood it is to be made from, the type of upholstery used in cushion and seat fillings and the textile composition and pattern of the covering. The current website has over 60 textile patterns which can be selected by the customer. Once the customer has finished specifying the kind of furniture they want, a price is given. If this price is acceptable to the customer, then an order is placed and an estimated delivery date is given. Most delivery dates are ten weeks after the order has been placed. This relatively long delivery time is unacceptable to some customers and so they cancel the order immediately, citing the quoted long delivery time as their reason for cancellation.<br>Jayne Cox Direct orders wood, upholstery and textiles from long-established suppliers. About 95% of its wood is currently supplied by three timber suppliers, all of whom supplied the company in its first year of operation. Purchase orders with suppliers are placed by the procurement section. Until last year, they faxed purchase orders through to suppliers. They now email these orders. Recently, an expected order was not delivered because the supplier claimed that no email was received. This caused production delays. Although suppliers like working with Jayne Cox Direct, they are often critical of payment processing. On a number of occasions the accounts section at Jayne Cox Direct has been unable to match supplier invoices with purchase orders, leading to long delays in the payment of suppliers.<br>The sofas and chairs are built in Jayne Cox Direct’s factory. Relatively high inventory levels and a relaxed production process means that production is rarely disrupted. Despite this, the company is unable to meet 45% of the estimated delivery dates given when the order was placed, due to the required goods not being finished in time. Consequently, a member of the sales team has to telephone the customer and discuss an alternative delivery date.<br>Telephoning the customer to change the delivery date presents a number of problems. Firstly, contacting the customer by telephone can be difficult and costly. Secondly, many customers are disappointed that the original, promised delivery date can no longer be met. Finally, customers often have to agree a delivery date much later than the new delivery date suggested by Jayne Cox Direct. This is because customers often get less than one week’s notice of the new date and so they have to defer delivery to much later. This means that the goods have to remain in the warehouse for longer.<br>A separate delivery problem arises because of the bulky and high value nature of the product. Jayne Cox Direct requires someone to be available at the delivery address to sign for its safe receipt and to put the goods somewhere secure and dry. About 30% of intended deliveries do not take place because there is no-one at the address to accept delivery. Consequently, furniture has to be returned and stored at the factory. A member of the sales staff will subsequently telephone the customer and negotiate a new delivery date but, again, contacting the customer by telephone can be difficult and costly.<br>Delivery of furniture is made using the company’s own vans. Each of these vans follow a defined route each day of the week, irrespective of demand.<br>The company’s original growth was primarily due to the innovative business idea behind specifying competitively priced bespoke furniture. However, established rivals are now offering a similar service. In the face of this competition the managing director of Jayne Cox Direct has urged a thorough review of the supply chain. She feels that costs and inventory levels are too high and that the time taken from order to delivery is too long. Furthermore, in a recent customer satisfaction survey there was major criticism about the lack of information about the progress of the order after it was placed. One commented that ‘as soon as Jayne Cox Direct got my order and my money they seemed to forget about me. For ten weeks I heard nothing. Then, just three days before my estimated delivery date, I received a phone call telling me that the order had been delayed and that the estimated delivery date was now 17 June. I had already taken a day off work for 10 June, my original delivery date. I could not re-arrange this day off and so I had to agree a delivery date of 24 June when my mother would be here to receive it’.<br>People were also critical about after-sales service. One commented ‘I accidently stained my sofa. Nobody at Jayne Cox Direct could tell me how to clean it or how to order replacement fabrics for my sofa’. Another said ‘organising the return of a faulty chair was very difficult’.<br>When the managing director of Jayne Cox Direct saw the results of the survey she understood ‘why our customer retention rate is so low’.<br>Required:<br>(a) Analyse the existing value chain, using it to highlight areas of weakness at Jayne Cox Direct. (12 marks)<br>(b) Evaluate how technology could be used in both the upstream and the downstream supply chain to address the problems identified at Jayne Cox Direct. (13 marks)
问答题
The new management team introduced a new reward scheme for the hotel managers in an attempt to motivate managers to improve the revenue and profitability of the chain. The salary package devised for each manager comprised:<br>– A relatively low fixed salary<br>– A bonus payment based on high room occupancy rate. The occupancy rate is the percentage of usable hotel beds filled every night. Managers who achieved more than 90% occupancy rate receive a significant bonus. This target is aimed at keeping the hotel full.<br>– A smaller bonus payment based on the net profit margin achieved by the hotel. This is aimed at improving the profitability of the hotel.<br>However, despite these incentives the overall performance of the company is still declining. Managers are generally achieving a high occupancy rate but are largely failing to deliver higher net margins. It is also clear that some managers have achieved a high occupancy rate by declaring that some bedrooms were unfit for use or were being used as seminar rooms.<br>Also, the pursuit of high occupancy and high net profit appears to be affecting the perceived image of the hotel chain.<br>Once regarded as a mid-market hotel chain, the chain now seems to be perceived as a budget buy. A large percentage of bookings are received through the Internet broker lastsecondhotels.com and their view of the chain is given below, together with some visitor quotes from their web site.<br>Comments<br>‘Great last minute bargain … very easy to get rooms at half the advertised rate’<br>‘Full of school children on a trip … will not be using this chain again’<br>‘No Internet connections in the rooms or public areas, very disappointing’<br>‘The bath was cracked and the windows were dirty. Cheap, but badly in need of a clean’<br>‘Receptionists were very off-hand and unable to help. Did not seem to know much about the area surrounding the hotel’<br>‘The staff were surly and uncommunicative. Much worse than last time we visited it. It used to be such a lovely hotel’<br>‘Cheap, but don’t eat there. The price for breakfast was extortionate’<br>‘Cheap and cheerful but don’t pay the full rate! Always lots of cheap beds available’<br>‘Food was expensive and dull. The serving staff were uncommunicative, the cutlery was dirty and damaged. Staff were more interested in talking to each other than to the customers’<br>‘Restaurant food was very expensive and of poor quality. The two nights I stayed there I was the only customer in the restaurant’<br>Lastsecondhotels.com says: ‘Value for money hotels with rooms always available. Perfect for those last minute breaks’<br>Required:<br>(a) Analyse the unanticipated consequences of the management reward scheme at Elegant Hotels. (15 marks)<br>(b) The DMAIC methodology of Six Sigma includes five steps: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control.<br>Evaluate the potential benefits of using the DMAIC methodology at Elegant Hotels. (10 marks)
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