Putting It All Together BOI (IKEA)

(Case Study) Executive Summary

Re-Designs By Kay

Re-directed Art is a fairly new genre whereby decorative art is selected and then modified to include a new twist. Usually, the decorative art is acquired at thrift stores or garage sales. These decorative art pieces are predictable and very often traditional. They are often prints but can be original. Someone with a good sense of humor, knowledge of pop culture and a bit of creativity can make some amazingly fun and salable pieces that can generate a nice profit.

Kay has recently developed a hobby interest in the re-directed art genre. Kay is an avid thrift store shopper. She has a nice sized collection of brooches, many unique nick-knack pieces, and several nice prints. Kay has also acquired some original pieces of art. While thrift shopping, Kay has accumulated quite a collection of photos of humorous and strange tee shirts. Kay has a Facebook album where she shares these tee shirt photos with friends and family. However, up until now, she has not shared any other items from thrift that have interested her to include decorative art ripe for re-direction.

Kay would like to re-sell some of the thrift items she finds. However, it is the re-directed art pieces upon which Kay wants to primarily focus. It is proposed that Kay takes the first step to introduce her unique art to her friends and family and start to build a platform upon which she can broadcast. Specifically, it is suggested Kay start to blog about the items she purchases. Photos of items are a valuable part of the overall process and should be included with blogged items. Currently, thrift item photos are stored in a haphazard way that is not searchable and that crosses a number of devices. It is suggested cloud storage be utilized to store and tag photos to make them more accessible to Kay. Generally, photos should be kept private and only moved into a public area as they are utilized by the blog or posted on other social media sites.

By taking the steps to share and broadcast the thrift shopping and re-directing of art a foundation is being set to be able to establish a market for Kay's work. Once market interest is generated, Re-Designs by Kay will be in a position to put products up for sale via an online store. This project creates the social media broadcast channels and the infrastructure needed to generate market interest so that Re-Designs by Kay is in a position to start selling online.

(Case Study) Competitive Strategy 

The works produced by Re-Designs by Kay are focused on a segment of the art industry, specifically the genre of re-directed art. It is Kay's intent to produce better than average quality work in terms of creativity. It is Kay's intent to sell pieces at 25% above the average price of a re-directed piece of art. Based on the prices of re-directed art sold at  Goodwill Online (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. , this would make most pieces have a sales price of $60; Goodwill Online sells most re-directed art pieces at $49.99. The following is a graphical representation of the competitive strategy employed by Re-Designs by Kay:

 

IS for Competitive Advantage

The Internet is ripe with opportunity for Re-Designs by Kay to leverage. The most obvious problem any artist has is becoming known. Kay currently utilizes Facebook by having a photo album dedicated to tee shirts she finds funny, odd and interesting. It is suggested Kay further push the competitive advantage that can be gained via social media by creating a blog dedicated to her thrift shopping adventures and includes any re-designed/re-directed art she produces. By utilizing social media, Re-Designs by Kay is positioning itself to have a competitive advantage over other artists who do not utilize such outlets to generate interest in their work.

(Case Study) Web 2.0 - The Interactive Internet 

The interactive web is ripe for usage by a business like Re-Designs by Kay. Since Re-Designs by Kay does not have a website, a blog is the easiest way to create a web presence. A blog is the first step in creating a comprehensive web presence that in the future will include an online store.

Blog

By starting and periodically updating a blog, Re-Designs by Kay can share not only the re-directed artwork but it will allow Kay to also share some other oddities and knick-knacks purchased at thrift. Kay has quite an imagination and is a wonderful storyteller. Often the knick-knacks she picks up spark a story of some kind. By sharing these items and the stories through a blog, Kay is adding value to the item and generating interest in the items and in future work. Once the blog is well established and Kay makes items available for purchase, she could even package it along with a signed copy of the story from the blog. If nothing else, a blog has the potential to keep her fan base interested and in touch with what is going on with her work.

Risks: The risk of a blog would be if Kay did not keep it up-to-date and it became stale. To mitigate this risk, Kay needs to set a maximum period of time between updates. It is suggested she post at least once a month but no more than twice a week.

(Case Study) Cloud 

Organizing the various photos of tee-shirts, inventory and finished re-designed art is a challenge faced by Re-Designs by Kay. Cloud storage offers the biggest benefit and relief in terms of taking workload and risk off the business. The best tool available for the purposes of Re-Designs by Kay is Flicker (Rothman, 2014). Flicker is free to use and comes with one terabyte of data storage. Photos can be organized and sharing of those photos can be controlled. By utilizing cloud storage, when it is time to upgrade her PC she can concentrate more on getting a machine that loads fast because it has a solid state drive versus her having to have a slower drive that is larger so that all her photos can be maintained on it. Moving storage of her photos to Flickr also means that Kay can worry a lot less about losing all the photo assets she has as the cloud provider becomes her back up.

References

Rothman, W. (2014, April 22). Cloud photo storage: The best way to bank family photos. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2014, from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304279904579517593807591638

 

(Case Study) Managing IS

IS Components

Surprisingly, as small an entity as Re-Designs by Kay is there are still many components that comprise the overall IS. Here is a visual of the IS Components to include items required by the proposed changes:

Hardware	Software	Data	Procedures	People
· Cell Phone (Samsung Galaxy S5)  · (MacBook Pro PC that runs both OSX & Windows 7) · NAS (LAN Network Storage 2TB) · Ink Jet Printer/Fax/Copier (Canon MX870) · Internet Modem & Router	· Messaging App (Message+ by Verizon) · Camera App (Built-in app on device) · GIMP (Open Source Image Editing Software) · Microsoft Office 365(Office suite of software) · [New] Flickr · [New] Blog	· Purchased Decorative Art · [New] Photos	· Thrift Shopping · Idea Exchange	· Kay · Spouse · Creative-Cousin · IT-Florida-Friend

Data Changes Required: Photos need to be uploaded and kept current on Flickr.

Software & Hardware Changes: There are no hardware changes required to implement the proposed changes. However, a Flickr account and a Blog account will need to be established. Access to these accounts will need to be set up so they can be utilized on a desktop or on a mobile device.

IS Department

Re-Designs by Kay has a flat hierarchical structure in which Kay has direct access to everyone and everything. Due to the simplistic IS structure of Designs by Kay, all IS Components have been included in the hierarchy chart.

Management Challenges

Managing photos is Kay's biggest IT challenge. Right now, photos exist on a cell phone, two computers and a network storage device. The photo collection no doubt has many duplicates and cannot be easily searched. Another problem is that the backups of these photos are all stored in one location. Should something happen to that location, such as fire or water damage, the entire digital photo collection could be wiped out. So far, Kay has taken the photos, uploaded the ones she wanted to share and then left the others on the phone and/or copied them to a computer as if to warehouse them. Kay's biggest management challenge is making those photos accessible. Making the photos accessible means they are sortable and searchable. Kay will have to take the time to add annotations and categorize the photos. By utilizing Flickr, the cloud-based photo storage utility, the problems of not having photos backed up is removed.

Security

The biggest security concern Re-Designs by Kay has is controlling access to the stock of photos related to the business. It should be easy enough using Flickr to control public and private access. The next concern would be improper access gained to the Flickr account wherein photos were permanently removed, deleted or defaced. The same thing could happen with the blog in that improper access could be gained and posts deleted or defaced. The best protection against improper access being gained is to utilize two-step authentication wherever possible. Additionally, strong passwords and periodically checking the blog and Flickr account to be sure they have not been changed is also recommended.

IS Disaster/Business Continuity Plan

The security and IS disaster/business continuity plans are one in the same for Re-Designs by Kay. If Kay were in a business where 24/7/365 up-time was required, a more formalized IS disaster/business continuity plan would be needed. However, since that is not the case, the security put in place should be sufficient to also serve as the disaster/business continuity plan.

Outsourcing

Currently, Re-Designs by Kay utilizes only the consulting advice from IT-Florida-Friend. IT-Florida Friend is a tech-savvy IT professional whose advice is trusted and valued.

Opportunities to Leverage Outsourcing: Kay might want to take advantage of some IT people who specialize in social media to edit and promote the blog. This would be the greatest opportunity for Kay to leverage IT outsourcing.

Managing IS in a Global Context

Kay often posts pictures of tee-shirts and anticipates she will also post photos of her re-directed art via a blog and an online store. Once on the internet, it is expected those photos and blog posts will cross international borders. The biggest management issue with this would be if someone left comments in another language or if Kay unintentionally posted something offensive to another culture. Comments posted in a foreign language can be translated easily enough. Hopefully, any misstep in the area of being offensive would be easily rectified by removing the offending content. Managing based on this global context is really not much different than managing IT in a local or regional context.

(Case Study) Project Feasibility

Some areas of feasibility are easier for Re-Designs by Kay than are others. Kay happens to be quite a wiz technically but does not have a large amount of time or money to put into this hobby business. The project is low-risk but does involve Kay's time to implement. Basically, the project's success comes down to Kay being willing to alter her work-flow and make the time to implement the project. Here is a breakdown of the feasibility resistance Kay can expect to encounter:

 

Economic

Designs by Kay is a hobby business and started with more of an intent as a creative outlet for Kay rather than a money-making venture. That is not to say that Kay is opposed to making money. Kay has made a marginal profit over the last three years. However, in order to justify spending money to optimize the business, the money must be OVERLY justified. The normal resistance to spending money to enhance Re-Designs by Kay is quite high. However, since this project does not involve any significant monetary outlay low resistance to economic feasibility is anticipated.

 

Technical

Kay has a number of technically inclined business associates. If a technical problem is presented it is rarely a deterrent. Technical difficulties are seen as a routine part of business and life and are dealt with as such. The normal resistance to technical difficulties encountered by Re-Designs by Kay is quite low and this is also what is anticipated for this project.

 

Operational

Kay has a few routines that have some built-in rigidity. An example of this is the time of day Kay thrift shops. The only time Kay has to devote to thrift shopping is about an hour a day around noon on weekdays. If a change were suggested that would necessitate a change in that time frame it would encounter quite a bit of resistance. The non-rigid parts of Kay's routines are fairly open to change with proper justification. An example of this is the suggestion that Kay review decorative art first thing when she enters a thrift shop rather than doing it last. This simple change allows Creative-Cousin additional time to respond with ideas on items Kay wants input. As a result of this mix, the normal resistance to operational changes suggested and encountered by Re-Designs by Kay falls in the middle-ground such that some resistance can be expected; this is also what is anticipated for this project.

 

Schedule

Designs by Kay is very good at allowing enough time to complete tasks. As a result, scheduling pressures are minimal. Kay would rather something be of high-quality and take a bit longer than to be of low-quality. Allowing for a proper schedule also tends to keep costs reasonable or even lower. The normal resistance to scheduling pressures at Re-Designs by Kay is rather low. However, because Kay is going to have to set aside additional time to implement and then maintain the blog and photo store scheduling enough time consistently might prove challenging. As a result, this project's schedule feasibility is rated some-moderate.

 

Legal

Kay's spouse is an attorney. Any legal issues that are flagged are given quite a lot of consideration and it is unlikely Kay will ever venture into territory where there are even shades of impropriety. There are obvious issues with using copyrighted work, modifying it and then reproducing it for sale. Any copyrighted work that is modified has to be sold as a single original piece. Work that has no copyright that has been re-directed can be reproduced; an example would be a limited edition printing. The spouse keeps a close watch and Kay is quick to bring up any potential issues. The normal resistance to potential legal issues at Re-Designs by Kay is high. However, since the overall project ideas have already been reviewed by the in-house attorney and approved as low risk, this project is expected to encounter very low resistance in the area of legal feasibility.

 

Political

Kay's spouse is notably concerned about having the house overrun by inventory. Any change in Re-Designs by Kay that would be obvious in terms of taking up more space or take up additional household funds would encounter push back. Changes not involving space and funds might receive a bit of resistance but could be reasonably overcome if justified. As a result, the normal resistance to political issues at Re-Designs by Kay is some to moderate. However, inventory can be kept to a minimum and even reduced if enough interest in Kay's works is generated and items start selling. As a result, the political resistance anticipated is low.

(Case Study) Summary

By starting and maintaining a blog and supplemental storage of photos related to blog items, Kay can create a foundation upon which to broadcast her work via social media channels. In doing so, Kay will be establishing the infrastructure needed to generate market interest so that Re-Designs by Kay can easily step into selling work online. Photos that are now stored in a haphazard manner will be made searchable and will be protected from loss and destruction. Kay will also be able to maintain control over when photos are released for public viewing.

Initially, Kay will need to make the time commitment to establish the blog and Flickr accounts. Once the blog and Flickr accounts are established an on-going effort to share thrift items, work in progress and completed pieces will begin. This project requires no out-of-pocket expenses and leverages existing inventory and photos. The biggest roadblocks to success are Kay letting time slip and not implementing the blog or photos. To mitigate this Kay should establish a timeline so she is sure she is on track.

(Case Study) CMIT-210 Justifications

Area of Study	Included?	Justification of Inclusion/Exclusion.
Competitive Strategy	Yes	-- Mandatory --
Competitive Strategy Identified	Yes	-- Mandatory --
IS for Competitive Advantage	Yes	This project does leverage IS for a competitive advantage. Therefore, this item is included in the final proposal.
Collaboration	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Data Silos	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Web 2.0 – The Interactive Web	Yes	Included because a blog is a major part of the proposed changes.
Open Source	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Business Process	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Business Intelligence (BI)	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Cloud	Yes	Included because storing photos on the cloud is a major part of the proposal.
Managing IS	Yes	-- Mandatory --
IS Components	Yes	-- Mandatory --
Data Changes Required	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
Software & Hardware Changes Required	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes.
IS Department	Yes	-- Mandatory --
IS in the Business Organization	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes and is therefore irrelevant.
Management Challenges	Yes	Included because managing photos is a challenge that needs to be mitigated.
Custom Software Development	No	Not included because it does not support the proposed changes and is therefore irrelevant.
Security	Yes	-- Mandatory --
IS Disaster Preparedness	Yes	-- Mandatory --
Outsourcing	Yes	-- Mandatory --
Managing IS in a Global Context	Yes	-- Mandatory --
Project Feasibility	Yes	-- Mandatory --