Week 5 Project
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New Systems and Organizational Changes
Constructing a new IS involves a planned organizational change that should coordinate many people in the enterprise. Four structural organizational changes that IT enables are:
Automation: Refers to the use of the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks.
Rationalization of procedures: Refers to the streamlining of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and eliminating obvious bottlenecks so that automation makes procedures ef�cient.
Business process re-engineering: Refers to the radical redesign of business processes, eliminating paper-intensive, repetitive tasks to improve service, quality, and cost. The aim is to combine steps to reduce wastage and maximize the bene�ts of IT.
Paradigm Shift: Refers to the reconceptualization of the nature of the organization and that of the business, with far-reaching changes carrying the greatest rewards and risks.
In many instances businesses seeking paradigm shifts and pursuing re-engineering strategies achieve stunning, order-of-magnitude increases in ROI or productivity.
Other Roles of IS
IS can also support business process management (BPM), Six Sigma, TQM, and other initiatives for incremental process improvement. Let us discuss each one in detail:
BPM: Consists of business process modeling, change management, quality management, and work�ow management. Organizations that practice BPM use process-mapping tools to de�ne and document existing processes and create models of improved processes that can then be coded into software systems. The output of BPM includes analytics and process monitoring. Firms are able to measure the impact of process changes on key performance indicators and verify that process performance has improved.
Six Sigma: Measures quality to represent 3.4 defects per million opportunities and designates a set of techniques and methodologies for reducing costs and improving quality. It uses statistical analysis tools to detect �aws in the execution of an existing process and make minor adjustments. General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota have implemented Six Sigma methodologies with great success.
TQM: Makes quality control the responsibility of all the people in an enterprise. Quality management concepts that are developed by American quality experts, Joseph Juran and W. Edwards Deming, and popularized by the Japanese, are together known as TQM. TQM focuses on making a series of continuous improvements rather than dramatic bursts of change.
Benchmarking: Sets strict standards for activities, products, or services and measures organizational performance against the standards. Firms use standards set by other �rms, external industry standards, or internally developed high standards for benchmarking.