TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PLAN
Running Head: TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PLAN 1
TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PLAN 2
Technology Management Plan
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Technology Management Plan
Abstract
The evolution of technology across the world is changing all the environments and sectors because most of the organizations are functioning on information systems. The age of computers is helping companies process large amounts of data within a short duration which is positive. However, most organizations are failing to see the productivity of the technology because of poor management that is still a human problem. The incorporation of the technology systems requires proper planning and utilization to make sure that they are productive. The Rustic Americana Company requires a productive CIO that will oversee all the technology related problems and it is important to analyze the situation on the ground, before coming up with the best suitable practices in the company and then find the best ways to improve the existing operations. The findings and recommendations will be forwarded to the other executive leaders in the company to make it easier to come up to a decision and help raise the company’s sales before the company collapses.
Introduction
Rustic Americana Company has a major problem with its management and information technology systems in the company. The company’s executive leaders failed the organization because it needed to oversee all activities of the CIO but then it let the individual get away affecting all the other operations in the organization. Most companies that rely on technology should have a functional IT department that is dedicated for them executing their daily activities because once the system goes down it might result in numerous losses and incur large costs to help revive the system. It is important to come up with a technology system that incorporates technology investment, expertise and aids in business judgment. The move will help incorporate some of the best practices for the organization and come up with best protocols that will help improve the operations. The organization works and strives for positive results and given that the functions in the company are linked like a chain the functioning of one department affects the next and the end thus it is important to have the best principles to help make sure that they do not lose the system. The company conducts all the processes within a single warehouse thus it is vital to make sure that there is flow of information and applicability of technology should boost the operations and tracking of all activities in the organization.
Analysis of the situation
The Rustic Americana Company comprises of the brick-and-mortar stores with incorporation of the internet retail. Numerous companies in the modern age are applying the model because it affects and simulates the business models whereby most of the market is transferring to the internet. The organization strives to capture the attention of both the online and walk-in clients as a measure to help improve their productivity. the general technology that the company is implementing in its operations is weak and outdated. The company is implementing the UNIX program through the operations which might fail to configure with some current systems that make it important to update the system to fit a modern standard. It is evident that the company is more like a one-stop shop whereby all the operations take place in a single warehouse that makes it important for the company to cut back on the employees. The number of employees is sufficient to carry out the daily interactions at the workplace and given that it is also an online franchise more employees should be at the call center to help ensure excellent customer service. However, because the company is invested in the online business platform it is important to upgrade the computers and the systems as a measure to help oversee and take charge of all the operations within the workplace.
The company has major managerial issues that make it a challenge for them to execute their duties and contributing to the current drop in sales that the organization is experiencing. The company has a poor employee structure given that they are striving to function on the internet, and it does not have an IT department that solely focuses on making sure that the system is functional. The company could have outsourced the job to other data management companies if they did not want to set up the department. In addition, the company set the CSR to take over the duties of the IT without proper planning or execution that makes it a challenge to achieve their goals. In addition, the CSR did not have the basics of taking over the technology expertise that then interfere with the productions and led to the gap of the IT to be felt at the workplace which was not sufficient. The leadership in the company has had a major problem because they do not have a grasp on their ideas that make it a challenge for them to keep up with the daily operations at the workplace. The CIO was non-existent for the duties at the workplace and the executive leadership did not realize until it was too late. It is important to have leadership practices that involves hands-on practices to help improve their performance through making sure the CIO would have to sent reports and check in on daily reports. It is evident that the CSR had the operations at the company without the aid from the leaders which makes it a risk move for the organization. The response time of the leadership to an issue within the organization is long and this resulted in additional issues in the company because the CIO got away with numerous issues such as working for another organization during company time and being the leader implies that there is no proper work etiquette and would have a conclusion at an earlier stage.
Identify best practices
It is important that the company incorporates some better management skills into the work because it will help improve their performance. Proper leadership is an important tool for any organization because it will push them to work and strive towards the best goals and objectives for the organization. It is important that the company will have to reshuffle better leadership practices into the organization that will see leaders working together and thus making it easier to track the potential problems within the organization that will then help them manage the arising issues (Hottenstein & Dean, 2012). Proper leadership will help introduce an IT department and ease the responsibilities from the Customer Service Representative (CSR) and then replace incompetent leaders with visionary leaders to help change the organizations principles and approach towards online business.
It is important that the company has to come up with an IT strategic plan that will influence all the operations within the workplace including the budgeting. The company should come up with specific IT activities vital for the organization that will help push them towards achieving their operations and missions. Metz explained that the specificity is important because it will help with the proper timing and division of resources that will make sure that there is an advancement in projects (2016). It is important for the company to stay ahead of the differences and competition that is essential for the growth. The strategic planning will also require that the organization comes up with programs that are non-essential or expensive for the company. The move will focus on aspects such as the UNIX program that is a tool that might become a problem for the company because it is old and outdated and there are other better systems. The company strategic planning will help identify the problem and make sure that they work towards their growth.
The fact that the organization did not have a dedicated IT department with specialists made it a challenge for them to stay ahead of all the threats facing the organization thus it is important to try and introduce relative principles to aid the organization establish a successful department. The company should come up with an IT department that will help relieve the duties from the CSR that was crossing over and executing duties from other departments that made it a challenge for the company. It is important for the company that has an online venture to have a specific IT department to help push them to their goals that will help improve their performance. There is no way that a company can survive on an online business without proper IT specialists. In addition, the company could outsource the IT department to other IT organizations across the world as a measure to cut costs and saving the need to invest in the department.
The top leadership should be invested and committed to the organization throughout the process that will make it easier for them to understand the daily operation in the company. There were numerous issues with the company at the time they realized that its sales were decreasing, and the leadership is liable to some of the issues. It is important that the company’s leadership take up more interest in the organizations activities that will help improve their productivities. The CIO was getting away with all the negative activities within a company and the top management was not even realizing it a major problem thus it is important that they take the initiative within the organization so as to work with the morale of seeing the organization is succeeding.
Applicable operational improvements
It is important that the company should have come up with an IT department that would help resolve major problems for the company. It is evident that the organization did not have an IT department that then the duties were automatically relegated to the call center manager who did not have a clue on how to carry out those activities making it a challenge to meet the various goals. In the evidence that the company does not have costs to hire more positions then it will have to introduce the department and then outsourcing might be a better idea for the company. It is vital to have an IT department in the current technology transfer because it focuses on elevating the business to the online platform where most consumers migrated leaving the traditional marketing behind. The company will still save its costs through giving away the IT and it will not have to restructure the organization to accommodate the employees at the workplace.
The organization needs to change their general attitude and approach towards the IT and the business will take shape. The concept makes it easier for the company to keep up because it will help improve their performance. The company does not have an IT department and it is using one of the oldest systems that makes it execution of services and duties a major problem. The company has to make sure that the CIO understands the responsibilities that come up with the position and given that the call center is directly linked to the department it is important to make sure that they are functional. The fact that the company has identified that the CIO was a problem then it is important to seal the loopholes that might become a problem in future such as introducing a hands-on approach from the leaders. In addition, the leaders might require constant reports and performance records to help keep the CIO on toes while demanding for better performance. It is also vital to come up with records that can help push the employee to work harder and make sure that they remain in charge of their goals.
The leadership was generally at fault and they have to also question their activities and involvement in the performance of the organizations to help improve the outcomes. The leaders let the CIO make some poor decisions and they did not act swiftly to make sure that they captured the issue on time to help resolve some of the issues. The move resulted in poor standards at the office. It is important that the company upgrades and adopts other better systems such as the ITIL that is an integrated system to help improve the customers experience and the organizations delivery of IT services (Lehman & Schelling, 2013). ITIL focuses on making sure that the businesses IT strategies are aligned with the general goals for the company.
It is important that the company improves it ethical standards and instill the new perspectives in all the employees within the workplace. The company might have to stop and restart to make sure that the employees are on board with the new principles in the company to help improve their participations. The company let the CIO lose the direction of the company and it might have affected the dedication and performance of many of the employees within the workplace. The leadership can introduce a training program for the employees regarding the work ethics as a way to help bring the employees to the same working standards that they were before the former CIO corrupted them (McDowell, Steinberg & Tomasello, 2018). In addition, the move will require a participating and hands-on CIO to help mend some changes not only operational but skills and working standards among the employees. the move might take time, but it will be the best decision because it will reshape the organization and help bring them to the best performance.
Findings and recommendations
Rustic American Company has had major business changes that it did not properly anticipate thus affecting their general performance. The company shifted to the online platform to help increase productivity and get in touch with its customers. However, the did not anticipate the concept of IT becoming vital and thus ending up making much losses especially with an incompetent CIO who did not have the interests of the company at heart. The company changing to the online platform is not a problem but they should have gathered information and anticipate some changes such as the importance of the IT and incorporate them (Bellamy, 2017). The move would have made it clear to them that the system that they incorporated into their workplace was a major problem and would become a liability instead of productive. The company will have to incorporate further researches into the market and change their entire business structure to incorporate the IT department or if it is expensive then it can try and adopt the outsourcing concept for the department to another leading department.
It is important to understand that the leadership including the CEO, CFO and Director of marketing failed the company because the company was deteriorating while they did not focus on the issue. The issue was evident and open that the CIO did not have a handle on the company. The CIO had left majority of the work on the CSR and some duties did not fit into the responsibilities thus making it a challenge for them to execute them. The move led to the drop in performance of the work and a heavy expectation from the call center manager alone. the CIO was working for another company within company hours and was a bad example and this questions how he managed to execute the daily responsibilities. A serious and tough leadership would have noticed earlier before it became a problem that made the company incur numerous losses.
In addition, it is evident that the company made huge changes without proper planning because the UNIX program in the organization that is changing and adopting the online platform will not make sense. The company requires to adopt other system such as the ITIL because it is modern and applicable in many systems that will ease the work and pressure off the call center managers and ensure that the customers get worthy services. The system will make the flow of information easier through the company while making sure that their clients do not experience any challenges when accessing the system or seeking to communicate with the company.
Conclusion
Leadership practices was a major issue of concern for the company before even extending to the technology aspects. The company did not have a handle on their CIO despite pushing for the development directly associated with the department. It would have been important to notice and make changes in the department to make sure that the employees understand the ethical standards. It is important to respect the workplace and make sure that they strive toward their responsibilities and achieving their short term and long-term goals. It is important to upgrade the system in place because when the workload increases the old system will crumble and it might become a major issue because the company might loose numerous customers. In addition, it is vital the company introduces numerous principles and standards for the employees and might include training programs to help make sure that they gain better insights for their company getting rid of the poor working standards that they might have obtained under the previous CIO.
References
Bellamy, A. (2017). Exploring the Influence of New Technology Planning and Implementation on the Perceptions of New Technology Effectiveness. The Journal of Technology Studies, 33(1/2), 32-40.
Hottenstein, M., & Dean, J. (2012). Managing Risk in Advanced Manufacturing Technology. California Management Review, 34(4), 112-126. doi:10.2307/41166706
Lehman, R., & Schelling, T. (2013). Strategic Stability: Contending Interpretations (pp. 147- 200, Rep.) (Colby E. & Gerson M., Eds.). Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College.
McDowell, S., Steinberg, P., & Tomasello, T. (2018). Managing the Infosphere: Governance, Technology, and Cultural Practice in Motion. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Metz, P. (2016). Integrating Technology Planning with Business Planning. Research Technology Management, 39(3), 19-22.