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2/1/2021 ✏ Case: Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1110975/assignments/8648714?module_item_id=12600878 1/4

✏ Case: Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

Due Sunday by 11:59pm Points 40 Submitting a text entry box Available until Feb 10 at 11:59pm

Submit Assignment

Due Date: February 7

Goal and Purpose The goal of this assignment is to analyze a type of organizational structure.

Directions Read the following case (taken from Chapter 13 of our textbook). You are welcome and encouraged to do additional research of your own.

What do you do when you have more than 600 business units operating through 360 independent affiliates in 140 countries around the world—processing complex invoices in various languages and currencies? You seek out the best technology solution to make the job easier.

At global pharmaceutical giant Novartis, the IT department is a strategic resource, a community of 2,000 people serving 63,000 customers in 200 locations and 25 data centers. Because most of the company’s invoices come from international suppliers, they have differences in design, language, taxes, and currency. Consequently, many ended up as “query items” requiring manual resolution by Novartis accounting staff—which delayed payments and made those invoices extremely costly to process. In fact, finance personnel spent so much of their time resolving queried invoices that other work suffered. A solution was badly needed.

To maximize its investment, Novartis needed a flexible solution that would meet its current and future needs and function in other business departments in a variety of geographic locations. It should provide fast, accurate document capture and multi-language support, and should extend to other types of information—such as faxes and electronic data—in addition to paper documents. Finally, in order to obtain financing for the project, return on investment (ROI) was required within nine months of project implementation.

InputAccel for Invoices from EMC/Captiva was the answer. The software extracts data from paper documents, apply intelligent document recognition (IDR) technology to convert them to digital images, and sends relevant data to enterprise resource planning, accounts payable (A/P), and other

2/1/2021 ✏ Case: Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

https://canvas.pasadena.edu/courses/1110975/assignments/8648714?module_item_id=12600878 2/4

back-end management systems. The specialized InputAccel server manages output by recognizing and avoiding holdups in the workflow process. It also ensures if a server goes offline, others will carry on functioning, thus avoiding downtime.

Now Novartis scans incoming invoices at a centrally located site, and the images are transmitted to the InputAccel for Invoices server for image improvement. Invoice data is then extracted and validated against supplier information. Most invoices are transferred directly for payment, with relatively few invoices requiring transfer to one of three accounts payable clerks who deal with queries manually. Novartis is a global leader in the research and development of products that improve health issues. InputAccel was selected by Novartis to be part of its accounting system.

Thanks to IT, overall efficiency has increased, processing errors are reduced, and accounting personnel can use their time and expert knowledge for more meaningful tasks than resolving invoice errors. For Novartis, it is “mission accomplished.”

Submission Instructions In the textbox, answer the following questions:

1. What factors contributed to Novartis’s invoice processing being so complex? 2. How did IT help the company solve that problem? 3. What other uses and functions does InputAccel serve, and how will this be useful to Novartis over

the long term? (You may want to visit the EMC/Captiva website (https://www.emc.com) , for more information on InputAccel’s capabilities.

Grading and Feedback Please view the rubric for a description of the grading and points. Please use proper spelling and grammar. The total word count of your response should be at least 300 words (total, not per question). You are welcome to write more if you choose.

Important Information on Turnitin: This assignment uses Turnitin, a plagiarism checker that is integrated in CANVAS. You can find information on submitting an assignment to Turnitin here. (https://help.turnitin.com/integrity/student/canvas/assignments/submitting-an-assignment.htm)

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2/1/2021 ✏ Case: Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

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Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

How do I submit an online assignment? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-9539- 421241972) How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10663-421254353) How do I submit a text entry assignment? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC- 14129-4212833572) How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission? (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-14128-4212833582) How do I submit a TurnItIn assignment? (https://help.turnitin.com/feedback- studio/canvas/lti/student/submitting-a-paper/submitting-a-paper-by-file-upload.htm) Canvas Student Guide - Assignments (https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC- 4121#jive_content_id_Assignments)

Sources: “OpenText Acquires EMC Enterprise Division,” MetaSource, http://www.metasource.com, September 20, 2016; Novartis corporate website,

http://www.novartis.com, March 20, 2006; “Processing Invoices From Around the World,” ECM Connection, https://www.ecmconnection, February 2,

2006; Kathryn Balint, “Captiva’s Paper Chase Paying Off,” San Diego Union-Tribune, December 9, 2005, pp. C1, C5.

2/1/2021 ✏ Case: Novartis’s Prescription for Invoice Processing

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Total Points: 40

Criteria Ratings Pts

10 pts

10 pts

10 pts

10 pts

Factors

What factors contributed to Novartis’s invoice processing being so complex?

10 pts Full Points

The question was answered in full with a detailed and well-thought response.

5 pts Partial Points

The question was answered but could use more detail.

0 pts No Points

The question was not answered.

IT Solution

How did IT help the company solve that problem?

10 pts Full Points

The question was answered in full with a detailed and well-thought response.

5 pts Partial Points

The question was answered but could use more detail.

0 pts No Points

The question was not answered.

Uses and Functions

What other uses and functions does InputAccel serve, and how will this be useful to Novartis over the long term?

10 pts Full Points

The question was answered in full with a detailed and well-thought response.

5 pts Partial Points

The question was answered but could use more detail.

0 pts No Points

The question was not answered.

Spelling, Grammar, and Word Count 10 pts Full Points

The assignment was at least 300 words (in total) with correct spelling and grammar.

0 pts No Marks

The response was either under the required word count and/or had spelling and grammatical errors.