CASE 3: Aviall Inc.: From Failure to Success with Information Technology

Case Study Questions and Answers:

1. Why do you think that Aviall failed in their implementation of an airplane parts and components inventory control system?
What could they have done differently?

Reasons why Aviall failed would include:

• The ERP system did not support adequately Aviall’s business strategies.
• The ERP implemented did not improve the basic operational support system needed by Aviall to provide timely supply chain management.
• The ERP system project did not adequately address the issue of systems integration between applications.
• The implementation of the ERP failed due to inadequate consideration of the magnitude of the project.

What Aviall could have done differently would include the following:

• Project planning through the use of some form of a systematic development process.

• Analysis of the business requirements prior to making decisions about the software to acquire for the ERP system.

Project management should have been a higher consideration of Aviall.

2. How has information technology brought new business success to Aviall? How did IT change Aviall’s business model?

How IT brought new business success for Aviall would include:

• System integrated by using common business databases managed by database software from Sybase, Inc.
• Designing the new combined system to properly access and deal with customized pricing charts for 17,000 customers who receive various types of discounts, and with an inventory of 380,000 different aerospace parts.
• Developing Aviall.com to reduce the cost per order from $9 per transaction to 39 cents.
• Customers are able to transfer their orders from an Excel spreadsheet directly to the web site.
• Customers have access to price and availability information in less than five seconds – a real time feature.
• Sales force spends more time developing customer relationships than processing routine orders.
• Aviall can better match production to demand from the IT improvements.

How IT changed Aviall’s business model would include:

• Changed Aviall from a catalog business to full-scale logistics business.

• Aviall became a provider of supply chain management services through the integration of a range of Web-enabled e-business software systems.

3. How could other companies use Aviall’s approach to the use of IT to improve their business success? Give several examples.

Examples would include:

• Reposition a firm as a supply chain management services provider through Web-enabled e-business software systems.
• Redesign the customer relationship management system to minimize the routine order processing and permit the sales force to focus on product and service development efforts that will grow revenue.

Case 2: Lufthansa: Taking Mobile Computing to the Skies While Keeping the Mobile Workforce Connected

Case Study Questions And Answers:

1. Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identified in the case similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy? Explain and provide some examples.

Answer:

Yes, the challenges faced by Lufthansa are similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy.

While the specifics of each challenge are particular to Lufthansa’s situation, many are shared by other global organizations. Examples could include:

• Provide a mobile workforce with equipment that fits their needs while it does not get in the way of accomplishing their objectives (not only technical specifications, but also upgrades and updates, stability, etc)
• Distribute training and other non-directly value-adding activities during non-productive periods both to maximize efficiency and reduce downtime
• Provide adequate support to mobile operations while keeping a tight lid on cost and being able to justify the investment

2. What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile technologies? Explain.

Answer:

Examples could include:

• Increased, all-around, communication, both with the organization and with personal relationships (family, friends, etc). Especially important for a highly mobile workforce such as airline pilots.
• Remote access to corporate applications, important since increasingly more of the employee’s interaction is self-managed (payroll systems, expense reports, etc.)

Business benefits accrue in several different areas, such as Sales & Marketing, Customer Service and Operations. The value of those communications, and the effectiveness of its service representatives in addressing the customers’ needs.

Additional benefits could include:

• Measuring the response to a new offer or destination by reviewing both the amount and timing (relative to the announcement) of calls inquiring about it.
• Providing data to support new initiatives, either to solve issues being currently presented or to justify new investments.

3. Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk and what others might be needed in today’s business environment? Provide some examples.

Answer:

Steps taken to manage the risk:

• Ensured that technical specifications for the equipment were acceptable to both pilots and the union, given the very special work environment they would be used in.
• Increased the chances of user buy-in by providing convenient alternatives to traditionally cumbersome tasks (such as carrying manuals and technical documents around)
• Standardized on a unique hardware and software platform to reduce support and upgrade costs
• Structured the process in phases, pilot and general deployment, to both assess feasibility and obtain feedback before mass implementation

Case Study Questions And Answers:

1. Could the 2004 Athens Olympics have been a successwithout all of the networks and backup technologies?

Answer:
I think its not really a successfu one because the major events in the olympics is really rely on that system that the Atos Origin developed to make their job done easily.

2. The 2004 Olympics is a global business. Can a businesstoday succeed without information technology? Whyor why not?

Answer:
There are businesses today that are very successful in their field, but if a businessman would adopt Information Tecchnology in their business makes them become more sucessful and earn more proits, and totally known not only in their speciic area but world wide.

3. Claude Philipps said dealing with “crazy scenarios of what might happen in every area: a network problem, staff stopped in a traffic jam, a security attack . . . everything that might happen,” was the reason for so much testing. Can you think of other businesses that would require “crazy scenario” testing? Explain.

Answer:
Engaging in business will create a lot of posible scenario or "crazy scenario", and as a business man you must know what are those scenarios and how would you face it if it would come. No matter what are the scenarios, as long as you know your business, you have plan and idea of everything that could happen including the risks, that would make your business become more successful. You must think for strategy for everything.