Case Study 2: Schiphol International Hub


INTRODUCTION

Schiphol Amsterdam airport is Europe’s fourth-busiest airport. Handling about 50 million passengers and 1.5 million tons of freight per year. It is often ranked among the world’s best airports by the Skytrax passenger survey. Producing that sort of quality 24 hours a day, seven days a week imposes high demands on the infrastructure and services, including Schiphol’s network.

Problems: According to a 2009 LATA CATS survey. Moreover, mishandled baggage is a $2.5 billion problem for this industry every year. Annually affect about 51 million passengers travelling through Schiphol airport alone.

Goals: Realize a monumental 1% maximum loss of transfer baggage (against the initial 22 million lost baggage); Increase capacity from 40 to 70 million bags and reduce cost per bag without increasing wait time.

CASE STUDY QUESTION

Question 1:

How Many Levels Of Complexity Can You Identify In Schiphol’s Baggage Conveyor Network?

Answer

There are 3 levels of complexities for Schiphol’s baggage conveyor network:
  • 21kilometers of transport tracks,
  • 6 robotic units, and
  • 9,000 storage capacitors, (No extending the system with more surfaces)
Schiphol's involved gigantic baggage conveyor network that includes 21 kilometers of transport tracks, 6 robotic units and 9000 storage capacitors, all behaving as one system. Extending the system with more surfaces is not possible given the land conditions surrounding the airport. The baggage conveyor network goal is to have the right bag must be at the right place at the right time. 

Network must perform several key roles that are moving bags from check-in area to the departure gate, move bags from gate to gate, move bags from the arrival gate to the baggage claim and plan and control peripheral hardware and software. System involves a wide variety of sensors, actuators, mechanical devices and computers and this network uses over 3 million lines of source code. Some advance technology used in baggage-handling system includes destination-coded vehicles (DCVs), automatic bar code scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and high-tech conveyors equipped with sorting machines. Baggage should move from its current location to its destination before travelers do. Further complications shows that all of this must be available and robust that are it must operate 99.99% of times while being able to minimize loss or damage in that 0.001% of time it doesn't.

Question 2:

What are the management, organization and technology components of Schiphol’s baggage conveyor network?

Answer

Management;
  • Manager sets organization strategy for responding to business challenges. Manager has estimated the budget for renewing the baggage control system is amounting $1.0 billion over a period of about 10 years.
Organization;
1.      Hierarchy of authority
  • Management and the employees to be working toward the same vision
  • Different task for employee according to their authority e.g controller, security and maintenance worker
  • Training all employees from the earliest stages of the project, and doing so in the most hands-on way possible.
  • Employees were to be trained about managing a robot to handle the baggage process.
2.      Separation of business process/operation
  • When the customers arrived at check in desk their bags are tagged
  • The tags contains the flight information/bar code/FRID that all of the computer in the baggage handling system can read.
  • When computers in the system scan the bar code/detect the RFlD, they process the information it contains and determine where to send your bag.
  • After being scanned (at least) once, the system always knows where the bag is at any point, and is able to redirect it based on three parameters: (a) time of its flight; (b) priority: (c) size.
3.      Unique business process
Driving a major effort to increase baggage processing capacity on the strength of intelligent routing and optimization.

Technologies;
1.      Networking and telecommunication technology

  • 3 million lines of source code
  • Networks; the internet
2.      Plan and control peripheral hardware and software

  • wide variety of sensor, actuators, mechanical devices and computer
3.      Advanced technology

  • Baggage- handling systems (includes destination-coded vehicles (DCVs))
  • Automatic bar code scanners,
  • Radio-frequency identification automatic (RFID) tags,
  • High- tech conveyors equipped with sorting machines.

Question 3:

What is the problem that Schiphol is trying to solve? Discuss the business impact of this problem?

Answer

The problem they are trying to solve is the increase efficiency in baggage handling in the Schiphol International airport, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Mishandled baggage is a $2.5 billion problem for industry every year and this problem may annually affect about 51 million passengers travelling through Schiphol airport alone. With the new system, the manager of Schiphol estimated this system operate 99.9%of times while being able to minimize loss and damage in that 0.01%. This system is extremely expensive, but if implemented successfully it can save 0.1% of $2.5 billion. 

Question 4

Think of the data that the network uses. What kinds of management reports can be generated from that data?

Answer

Data Network
Reports
Number of baggage
Total number of business handling every year
Total loss
Profit and loss report
Defect system-minimum loss and damage
Risk management report/ improvement system
Capacity of the baggage
Actual capacity for the baggage
Automatic data scanner
Efficiency of the data scanner

Case Study 1: Mashaweer


INTRODUCTION: The story of Mashaweer


Mashaweer started as an idea in Alexandria with 3 motorcycles and an investment of 30K EGP. “We built our own system through blackberry handhelds managing the orders. It took a while to be able to cover the whole city of Alexandria growing to a number of 30 motorcycles and 5 cars. We had always planned to expand business to Cairo but we wanted to make sure that we were established and strong enough to operate in such a huge scale. We recruited professionals from the field to help us build the prototype and manage the soon to discover very complicated operations plan. We started with a pretty simple call center that we built and recruited in-house which is currently being expanded in Cairo with a professional call center planned to be rented and outsourced by others as well.

The shares in Mashaweer started to grow, we needed to invest higher in our system so we bought PDAs for our representatives. We have been planning for our launch in Cairo, discovering an obvious need of having branches all over the city to be able to cover the orders efficiently with at least 130 motorcycles plus 15 cars and also a speed boat. Mashaweer plans to expand to cover the whole country and then internationally through bikes, cars, boats, and planes. We also have corporate objectives of dealing with organizations as their exclusive courier. Mashaweer has one main Corporate Social Responsibility which is to decrease the traffic crisis in Egypt, we want to produce documentaries and projects to educate people of this crisis. Maybe even collaborating with a governmental entity to provide good quality public transportation through the Nile River.

We also plan to establish an education institution or school to train representatives in the field of courier, delivery or transportation as well as customer service. We already take responsibility for training our own staff; we want to provide this experience for the public as well. One of the services that we are working on mastering is the public and legal services such as driver’s licenses and so on.”

CASE STUDY QUESTION


Question 1:
What Kinds of applications are described in this case? What business functions do they support?

Answer

The applications described in this case are: PDA, centralized application and SCADA. The business functions that the case supports: Manufacturing and production, finance and accounting and human resources.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 

A process by which a company (often a manufacturer) manages and integrates the important parts of its business. An ERP management information system integrates areas such as planning, purchasing, inventory, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, etc.

CISCO

A leading manufacturer of networking equipment, including routers, bridges, frame switches and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software. Cisco was founded in 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandra Lerner, a married couple both employed by Stanford University. Initially targeting universities, Cisco sold its first router in 1986.

Mashaweer’s Server

Another software components developed by Innov8 include the Mashaweer Server. The Mashaweer Server is a centralized application that manages the following elements:

  •   Orders (Placement, editing, pricing, review, tracking and reports) 
  •   Routes management and optimization
  •   Clients (Management, reports, discounts)
  •   Packages tracking
  •   Contracts
  •   Call Center
  •   Satellite offices 
  •   Representatives
  •   Cash transactions and expenses tracking or representatives and satellite offices
  •   Asset tracking and satellite offices
  •   Asset tracking of vehicles, PDAs and mobile printers 
  •   Management reports.
Application Programmers’ Interface (API)           

The Application Programmers’ Interface (API) is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a web-based software application or web tool. A software company releases its API to the public so that other software developers can design products that are powered by its service. 

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

SCADA is a category of software application program for process control, the gathering of data in real time from remote locations in order to control equipment and condition. SCADA is used in power plants, as well as in oil and gas refining, telecommunications, transportation, and water and waste control.

Major Business Functions:

1. Manufacturing and production: Assembling the product
2. Sales and marketing: Identifying customers
3. Finance and accounting: Creating financial statements
4. Human resources: Hiring employees

Question2:

What are the benefits from equipping their riders with PDAs?

Answer

Through this technology Mashaweer decreases the amount of errors due to the fact that the messenger is tied to an automated process where he receives his tasks through the PDA handheld. And also to manages the following: 

1. Tracking the order items progress.
2. Track the collecting of order fees.
3. Messaging the riders.
4. Track the cash and expenses.
5. Synchronizing data periodically and at the beginning of each shift.

Question 3:

Was it a good decision to expand the business to Cairo? What are the implications of information Systems?

Answer

Yes it was a good decision to expand the business to Cairo since the succeed in Alexandria. 

The implications: 

Mashaweer heavily depends on technological advances that occur every day and depends on the tools so it benefit from the advancements and prices reductions that continuously take place. As a result Mashaweer’s total costs will be decrease, enabling it to decrease its prices and further improve its quality to become even more convenient for a large number of people.

Question 4:

Do you think that Mashaweer will be able to accomplish their future strategy and sustain its market share?

Answer

Yes, Mashaweer will be able to accomplish their future strategy and sustain its market for below reasons:

Mashaweer is an online supermarket that will enable people to do their grocery shopping through Mashaweer’s website and get it delivered by its representatives within 30 minutes of placing the order. Mashaweer’s call center is expected to make up an important revenue stream for the company in the near future, as the company starts introducing marketing campaigns. Using the technology they have invested in building their infrastructure, Mashaweer now has the potential to easily enter and penetrate other markets in different regions as a very low initiation cost.

Question 5:

Do you think in near future, the competition between Mashaweer and Wassaly will be aggressive? Why?

Answer

No. the competition between Mashaweer and Wassaly will not be aggressive as Mashaweer is the only company of its kind in Egypt that operates on this scale. However, there is a company called Wassaly that was established in Cairo after Mashaweer’s success in Alexandria. 

Wassaly cannot compete with Mashaweer because they have following advantages:

• Database of thousands of loyal clients.
• Self-investment is manageable
• Highly qualified and carefully selected riders 
• Delivery sector in the Egypt.
• Various revenue streams.
• Being the owner of the IT Company

Case Study 9: The Battle Over Net Neutrality


INTRODUCTION

What kind of Internet user are you? Do you primarily use the Net to do little e-mail and look up phone numbers? Or are you online all day, watching YouTube videos, downloading music files, or playing online games? If you have smartphone, do you use it to make calls and check the web every so often, or do you stream TV shows and movies on regular basis? If you are a power Internet a smartphone user, you are consuming a great deal of bandwidth, and hundreds of millions like you might start to start to slow the Internet down. YouTube consumed as much bandwidth in 2007 as the entire Internet did in 2000, and AT&T's mobile network will carry more data in the first two months of 2015 that in all 2010.

CASE STUDY QUESTION

Question 1:

What is network neutrality? Why has the Internet operated under net neutrality up to this point in time?


Answer

Net neutrality also called network neutrality, Internet neutrality, or net equality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging deferentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode communication. In other definition, network neutrality is the idea that internet service providers must allow customers equal access to content and applications regardless of the source and nature of the content.

Presently, the Internet is indeed neutral: all Internet traffic is treated equally on a first-come, first-served basis by Internet back-bone owners. The Internet is neutral because it was built on phone lines, which are subject to 'common carriage' laws. These laws require phone companies to treat all calls and customer equally. They cannot offer extra benefits to customers willing to pay higher premiums for faster or clearer calls, a model knows as tiered service.


Question 2:

Who in favor of net neutrality? Who's opposed? Why

Answer

Those in favor of network neutrality include organization like MoveOn.org, the Christian Coalition, the American Library Association, every major consumer group, many bloggers and small businesses, and some large Internet Companies like Google and Amazon. Some members of the U.S. Congress also support network neutrality. Vint Cerf, a co-inventor of the Internet Protocol also favors network neutrality saying that variable access to content would detract from the Intenet's continued ability to thrive. This group argues that the risk of censorship increases when network operators can selectively block or slow access to certain content. Others are concerned about the effect of slower transmission rates on their business models if users can't download or access content in a speedy fashion.

Those who oppose network neutrality include telecommunications and cable companies who want to be able to charge differentiated prices based on the amount of bandwidth consumed by content being delivered over the Internet. Some companies report that 5 percent of their customers use about half the capacity on local lines without paying any more than low-usage customers. They state that metered pricing is "the fairest way" to finance necessary investments in its network infrastructure. Internet service providers point to the upsurge in piracy of copyrighted materials over the Internet as a reason to oppose network neutrality. Comcast reported that illegal file sharing of copyrighted material was consuming 50 percent of its network capacity. The company posits that if network transmission rates were slower for this type of content, users would be less likely to download or access it. Bob Kahn, another co-inventor of the Internet Protocol opposed network neutrality saying that it removes the incentive for network providers to innovate, provide new capabilities, and upgrade to new technology.

Question 3:

What would be the impact on individual users, businesses, and government if Internet providers switched to a tiered service model?

Answer

Proponents of net neutrality argue that a neutral Internet encourages everyone to innovate without permission from the phone and cable companies or other authorities. A more level playing field spawns countless new businesses. Allowing unrestricted information flow becomes essential to free markets and democracy as commerce and society increasingly move online. Heavy users of network bandwidth would pay higher prices without necessarily experiencing better service. Even those who use less bandwidth could run into the same situation.

Networks owners believe regulation like the bills proposed by net neutrality advocates will impede U.S. competitiveness by stifling innovation and hurt customers who will benefit from 'discriminatory' network practices. U.S. Internet service already lags behind other nations in overall speed, cost and quality of service, adding credibility to the providers' arguments. Obviously, by increasing the cost of heavy users of network bandwidth, telecommunication and cable companies and Internet service providers stand to increased their profit margins.

Question 4:

Are you in favor of legislation enforcing network neutrality? Why or why not?

Answer

We are not favor legislation enforcing network neutrality because, that will prevent globalization process, especially in business environment. Moreover, since this is a system which there are no government or ISP mandated restrictions with regard to the content, sites, platforms, equipment or modes of communication that user access. Internet users should be able to control the content that they access and have a choice in which applications they use to view that content.

As we know, the globalization is very strong supported by Internet and if the Internet is not neutral, it will disturb the process of globalization. The legislation will prevent the small business to promote their product abroad by cloud computing and also prevent the blogger to share ideas and knowledge. It's also as a disadvantage for service provider to provide a free service and platform to user.

 As for now, what ever service provider decided to charge additional fees for heavy bandwidth users, there are certain elements and criteria need to be concern, such as:

  1. Price differentials: how much more would heavy bandwidth users pay than those who consume less bandwidth?
  2. Speed: how much faster would network transmissions be with a tiered service model?
  3. Stifle innovation: would a tiered service model stifle innovation by charging more for heavy bandwidth use or would it free up bandwidth thus allowing more innovation?
  4. Censorship: would telecommunication and cable companies and Internet service providers increase censorship of content transmitted over networks?
  5. Discrimination by carriers: would the end of network neutrality be the beginning of more discrimination?

Case Study 3: Piloting Procter & Gamble From Decision Cockpits

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is one of the biggest consumer goods companies in the world, with 127,000 employees across 180 countries, 300 brands, & $82 billion in revenues in 2011. P&G is regularly ranked near the top of lists of "most admired companies" for its ability to create, market, and sell major consumer product brands. A major reason for P&G's success has been its robust information technology and willingness to pursue new IT innovations to maintain a competitive advantage in its industry.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

Question 1:

What management, organization, and technology issues had to be addressed when implementing Business Sufficiency, Business Sphere, and Decision Cockpits?

 Answer



Business Sufficiency
Issues
Management
o   Provides executives with prediction about market shares and key performance metric six month to one year in the future
o   Manage sales data at the country, territory, product line and store level, along advertising and consumer consumption, factoring in specific economic data at the regional and country level. Enable P&G to adjust pricing, advertising and product mix to respond to the prediction
Organization
o   Enable the P&G to set their goals and needs accordance to the company’s vision and mission.
Technology
o   The systems visualized the data of changes and market shares.
o   Sales data allows pricing adjustment, advertisement and product mix
System Lacking
o   The data is not detailed to lead the top executives to examine specific sales and market shares.


Business Sphere
Issues
Management
o   Moved from traditional way of holding a meeting to virtual meeting to gather data to relevant parties
Organization
o   Adapting new technology accordance current trend which enable them to deliver the data faster and more efficient.
Technology
o   Interactive system designed to reveal insight, trends and opportunity for P&G’s leader and prompt ask focus business question that can be address with the data on the spot.
o   The program managed to analysed 200 terabytes P&G data and display information quickly and clearly.
o   The system enables top managers gather via high quality video conferencing technology like Cisco TelePresence and immediately determine the biggest problem facing the business and who can fix those problem as soon as they arise.
o   Able to point of sales inventory at advertisement spending and shipment data that it did years ago much faster and at more frequent time intervals.
System Enhancement
o   Determine to extend the same principle deeper within the business.

Decision Cockpits
Issues
Management
o   Eliminate time spend by P&G employees debating the validity of competing version of data formed in emails, spreadsheet, letters and reports.
Organization
o   Provide one stop sources of accurate and detailed real time business data, all P&G employees are able to focus instead of an decisions for improving the business.
Technology
o   Dashboard displaying make easy to read chart illustrating business status and trend.
o   Automate alert when important event occurs, control chart, statistical analysis in real time, and ability to “drill down” more detailed levels of data.
System Enhancement
o   Encourage P&G employees and managers to manage by exception.


Question 2:

How did these decision-making tools change the way the company ran its business? How effective are they? Why?

Answer


These decision-making tools help managers and employees to make faster and better decision. It also reduce the complexity involved in generating a statistical report as well as cost reduction from maintaining one standardized set of data across the enterprise instead of duplicate, redundancy data. The systems also allows better messaging and video to make decision and enable to better anticipate future event affecting the business and more quickly respond to market stimuli.

Question 3:

How are these system related to P&G's business strategy?

Answer


These system leads P&G to achieve the business strategy by moving to digitalization the process from end to end and fundamental change the way its gather reports, and intemperate data. It also helps to trim cost from other areas of the business.
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